It was a bright and sunny day in Konohagakure no Sato, at least it was for all but one nineteen year old shinobi. Naruto Uzumaki was slowly meandering down the street with his hands stuffed in his pockets and a slight slouch to his posture. He had no destination in particular, except for maybe where ever his long-standing crush of Sakura Haruno wasn't. Today marked the day the blond now-Tokubetsu Jōnin would cross the pinkette off the potential girlfriend list. Shortly after receiving his promotion a little over two months ago for his vast skill in the lost sealing techniques of his now defunct clan and considerable proficiency with Wind Style ninjutsu he was assigned to a team to capture Sasuke Uchiha, dead or alive. Unfortunately it turned out Sasuke chose the former and after a gruelling battle and the rest of the team had been incapacitated Naruto was forced to kill Sasuke himself. After he returned with the corpse slung over his shoulder Sakura would have nothing to do with him, and that's when Naruto made the mistake of trying to ask her out and received the most violent tongue-lashing of his entire life. Only now did Naruto realize that he was far better off without Sakura, if she was so obsessed with a shallow, treacherous hate-monger that she wouldn't even give any other male the time of day she didn't deserve anybody else but the object of her ridiculous obsession. At first Naruto was angry with Sakura, but as he reflected on it more he realized the situation was actually kind of sad. Sasuke had tried to kill her at least once Naruto knew of, not to mention he'd tried to kill the blond, Kakashi and that other red-haired girl that had been around for the fight with Danzō. It was clear Sasuke didn't care about anyone but himself, yet she insisted she loved him, even in death.

Naruto's thoughts then drifted to Karin, after intense interrogation and vetting from Ibiki and Inoichi she was given the choice to become a Leaf kunoichi on a probationary agreement until she could prove her loyalty or get thrown in prison for the rest of her life for aligning herself with Orochimaru, Sasuke and by extension, Akatsuki. Naturally she chose to become part of Konoha's military force. Naruto had met the girl several times since, she seemed nice enough but he couldn't help but be a little disturbed by her masochism at times.

The blond's reverie was cut short when he ran into somebody else. Bowing slightly, Naruto offered his apologies to find that he'd run into a woman with long, black, unkempt hair and crimson eyes and a singularly raised eyebrow.

"Kurenai-sensei?"

Kurenai frowned at his current demeanour, they'd been working together somewhat infrequently when Naruto could find time in between missions to try and help him with his genjutsu for that final leap to a full jōnin, and from what she knew of him the rest of the time he was almost always all smiles, even during training he was usually fairly cheeky despite his frustration caused by the slow learning curve of his less than ideal skill with the illusionary arts.

"Hello, Naruto." She smiled warmly, "Something wrong? You seem pretty down today."

Naruto sighed, "It's Sakura-ch – Sakura-san."

Kurenai nodded in understanding, she'd caught wind of the boy's crush shortly after they started training together and from what she could tell he'd been chasing after someone who barely even knew he existed for years.

"Relationship troubles then?"

Naruto snorted, "That's putting it mildly. Last time I asked her out she completely tore me apart. It's for the better though, I guess we're just not meant for each other."

Kurenai frowned again, it was less about his words but the look in his eyes. The phony smile might fool other people but the look in his eyes told him that it still hurt, even if he knew better. She momentarily considered going to find Hinata to set them up with a date to show him that he wasn't quite as hopeless in love as he thought, but then she remembered that the Hyūga heiress mentioned that Naruto had told her he simply didn't think of her in the same way some time after her confession during Pain's invasion. Then she hatched another plan to cheer him up.

"I'm free tonight." She said with a smile.

Naruto's eyebrows instantly shot skywards.

'Did she just say what I think she just said?'

Noticing the look on his face, the crimson-eyes woman moved to defend her offer, "You and Kakashi have been out on missions since your promotion right? Plus you're getting a lot better with your genjutsu. Why don't we go out and celebrate?"

Naruto's face softened somewhat at her explanation, but he still couldn't help but feeling that it was actually a pity date regardless of what excuse she gave him. Given that, he was conflicted about what to do. He liked Kurenai well enough, and he thought she was an attractive woman even if she was fifteen years older than him. But even so, he didn't particularly like the idea of being pitied by anyone.

"Sure." He said in spite of himself.

Kurenai smiled, "Great, see you at six then?"

"Yeah." Was all Naruto said in response.

Later that day – 5:53 PM

Naruto took a deep breath to steady himself, he hoped he wasn't too informally dressed, all he had on was a black short-sleeved t-shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on the left sleeve in his favourite colour of orange, beige cargo pants and a pair of white sneakers. But then again maybe he was over thinking things, maybe she really just did want to congratulate him on the promotion to Tokujō and it wasn't really any kind or formal date at all. Steeling himself, Naruto reached up to rap his knuckles on the wood of the door of Kurenai's apartment several times.

Nearly a minute passed and he was about to knock again when the door opened to reveal none other than Kurenai Yūhi, Naruto inwardly sighed in relief when he noticed she was wearing a simple yet nice looking dark red v-neck with a modestly high cut and dark blue denim Capri pants and her regular shinobi sandals. She also seemed to be going without make-up today, or at least she was going for the 'natural' make-up look. Naruto couldn't really tell the difference. He did notice that she was fidgeting with the clasp of a necklace that consisted of a decently sized tear drop shaped amethyst on a white-gold chain. It didn't really go with her current attire, so Naruto guessed it was probably something important to her, maybe a gift from Asuma shortly before his death at the hands of Hidan.

"Hi, Naruto." She smiled warmly.

"Hey, Kurenai-sensei. Need some help with that?" He asked, gesturing toward the necklace.

"I'd appreciate that." The crimson-eyed woman let out a small sigh of relief and turned around while pulling her hair to the side to allow Naruto access to the infuriatingly small mechanism.

Kurenai felt a chill run down her spine as Naruto's fingers brushed the back of her neck. Although much to he displeasure his touch was gone almost as instantly after she first felt it.

"All done." He said. Kurenai turned around to stare at the blond shinobi in half-sincere amazement, it usually took her ten minutes of fighting with the stupid thing to get it right whenever she had a chance to actually wear it.

"I might have to call you every time I need help putting on a necklace, it always takes me forever."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and chuckled somewhat nervously at her joke, causing his companion to just grin at him.

"So, where are we headed to?" He finally asked.

"Tonight is your night, remember? Your choice."

Naruto looked thoughtful, naturally his first instinct was to make a bee-line directly for Ichiraku, but Kurenai was going out of her way to hang out with him tonight so he should at least pick somewhere a little nicer than a small ramen stand. Then he remembered a place Jiraiya had told him about years ago, he just hoped it was one of the places that had been rebuilt in roughly the same spot after the village was destroyed.

About fifteen minutes later, after a little bit of searching around, the duo arrived at the new Shushuya and were seated at a table in a corner out of the way of the main traffic, which was a littler higher than during the day given the time, but the food rush-hour of mid-afternoon had since died down considerably. When they had arrived Kurenai inwardly sighed in relief, she was fully expecting to be seated at Ichiraku's with a wall of empty ramen bowls between the two of them by this point. Even more surprising still was the fact that Naruto had actually ordered some sake along with their food. Shortly after the waiter left the blond's sombre mood from earlier in the day returned, eliciting the same frown from Kurenai once again.

"So what's up with you and Sakura?" She openly broached the subject, "You've mentioned she turned you down before but I've never seen you so gloomy about it."

Naruto sighed yet again, much in the way he did when she brought this up during their earlier meeting. Deciding to just go ahead and lay all his cards on the table, it would probably just make things uncomfortable if he brushed Kurenai off or told her it wasn't any of her business. Plus if there was one thing he learned from his genjutsu training, she was a very persistent woman when she wanted to be.

"Ever since I got back from that mission to get Sasuke a few weeks ago she's been cold to me and Kakashi-sensei. Sakura blames me for the Teme's death."

Kurenai just looked at Naruto, she was fully aware of the mission report and thought he was trying to pull one over on her. Naruto noticed the message she was conveying and moved to defend himself.

"I was the one who killed him, but I didn't have a choice!" He looked around and noticed he'd attracted the attention of some of the other patrons before forcing himself to calm down and lower his voice, "The mission was to bring him back dead or alive, we tried convincing him first but just like when we fought at the Valley of the End he wouldn't listen. That bastard was so wrapped up in his own hatred and convinced he was above us just because of that stupid Sharingan and his family name he attacked us and killed the squad captain before we could even react. After he took out the rest of the team I had no choice but to fight him."

Naruto bit his bottom lip obviously trying to tame his emotions, "I didn't want to kill Sasuke, but he didn't leave me any choice."

Kurenai just looked at her companion sympathetically, she'd certainly been there before. When you couldn't land a debilitating hit without killing a target you didn't particularly want to kill was not a pleasant feeling at all, even less so when you considered that person a friend. Or at least they used to be your friend. But that only partially explained the drama with the pink-haired medic, her infatuation with the angsty youth was no secret, but it was also obvious to anybody with a sense of humanity that her and Naruto had grown much closer since that traitor ran out on Team Kakashi. She figured it would only be a matter of time before Sakura came around and realized what she had. Any girl in Konoha would be lucky to have Naruto, he was one of the strongest shinobi the village had to offer and he was always putting others' happiness before his own. That and he was quite handsome, over the year's he'd become almost like a carbon copy of his father, save for the shorter hair and whisker marks on either cheek Naruto and Minato could even pass for identical twins if it weren't for the obvious age difference and the fact that everyone and their cat knew Naruto Uzumaki was the son of Minato Namikaze, the infamous Yellow Flash of Konoha.

"Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto said, trying to get her attention. The woman in question blushed lightly when she realized she'd been staring, not only that but she'd been mentally appreciating his looks and personality.

"Sorry, Naruto. What were you saying?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the Genjutsu Mistress, it wasn't usually like her to randomly space out, or to gawk at him while doing so, but he decided to let it slide. Naruto just waved off her apology and took this chance to get off Sakura and onto a somewhat more upbeat topic when the waiter came back with their drinks and food.

"So how's my genjutsu coming along? I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it a little better but it doesn't really feel like I'll ever very good at it." He said, changing the subject abruptly.

Kurenai looked thoughtful before responding, "Well, you're not really well suited to genjutsu to begin with. Your chakra control has gotten better since your genin days but you still have too much of it to control it as precisely as a Hyūga or a medic-nin which makes using genjutsu difficult."

Naruto nodded in agreement, if this were several years ago he would have taken offence and started shouting, mistaking the honest truth as an insult or belittlement, but he'd come to terms that with his massive reserves of chakra and lack of control thereof, for him casting a genjutsu was like trying to sign his name on a postage stamp with a paintbrush. He could only succeed in basic D-rank techniques once in a blue moon, and that was only when practising with a partner, for Naruto using genjutsu in live combat would be out of the question.

"On the plus side, your partnership with the Kyūbi makes you completely immune to all genjutsu attacks, even high level ones like Tsukuyomi." Kurenai continued.

Naruto once more nodded his agreement, not that having an immunity to Tsukuyomi really mattered, it was exclusive to the Mangekyō Shaingan and the only man left alive that even had a Sharingan was incapable of performing that technique anyway, not that Kakashi would be too keen on using it against his student in the first place, even if it were for training purposes. Still, it did help when you have a partner inside your own body that could effortlessly dispel any and all illusions before Naruto would even notice he'd been caught in one.

"But I think with a bit of hard work you should be able to get your skill in genjutsu to a level where you can qualify for full jōnin." Kurenai finished with a warm smile that Naruto couldn't help but return.

The two continued on to more light-hearted topics and eventually they were exchanging jokes and even laughing at some embarrassing situations they shared from time to time.

A little over an hour later, Naruto and Kurenai were nearing the latter's apartment arm-in-arm and still thoroughly enjoying each others' company. Naruto didn't much care what Kurenai's original motives were when she offered to spend time with him earlier in the day, he was just glad he ended up accepting. When they reached her door the laughter died down awkwardly as Naruto wasn't sure what to say, mostly because he still didn't know whether or not this was an actual date. Thankfully Kurenai was the first to break the silence.

"Congratulations again on your promotion to Tokubetsu Jōnin, Naruto." She said with a smile.

Naruto felt relieved that he finally had a definitive answer, but at the same time he was a little disappointed. He wouldn't have minded if it were an actual date, in fact he almost found himself wishing it were. But then again what really constitutes a date? It was just the two of them, they talked, they hung out, the both had a good time, that was pretty much the point of a date after all. Or was it only considered a date if they came to a mutual and verbal agreement that that's what it was?

"Thanks," He said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I don't have another mission for a few days, you want to meet at the usual time tomorrow morning?"

"Sure."

Naruto nodded and turned to walk away when he heard his name. He turned to see Kurenai moving toward him with the intent to give him a kiss on the cheek, only to miss and have their lips meet each other instead.

The crimson-eyed woman pulled away after less than a second and took a few steps back to put some distance between them.

"S-Sorry." She fumbled the word, clearly a bit startled by the unintentional kiss.

If the look on the blond's face was any indication he was also quite startled by it, but she saw something in his eyes, something that told her he enjoyed it regardless. As if to reinforce her suspicions, Naruto took several tentative steps forward, closing the distance she created and then some.

"Naruto...?" She questioned nervously.

Naruto ignored the question as he stopped just inches away and slowly leaned toward Kurenai, mentally cheering when she didn't back away, push him away, or hit him. Naruto stopped with their lips just centimetres apart, looking into her eyes as if asking for permission, then down to her pink lips before closing the distance and kissing her proper.

Kurenai's eyes went wide with the contact, she knew what was coming when Naruto started closing the distance, but at the same time she really wasn't expecting him to actually follow through with it. After a second or two she closed her eyes and began to return the kiss, putting her arms around Naruto's neck as he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her body against his. The kiss lasted several seconds, or minutes, possibly hours, Naruto wasn't really sure, he was just enjoying the feeling of her soft lips on his. It was passionate, yet innocent at the same time, inexperienced as Naruto was in this particular field he knew that tongue would be inappropriate for the situation.

The purple-haired off-duty ANBU standing just around the corner that came to return Kurenai's offspring from babysitting so she could go out with Naruto went unnoticed by the duo as she watched the saliva exchange with a grin.

Finally after an indeterminate amount of time the pair separated due to their mutual need for oxygen.

Naruto looked away shyly and scratched his whisker marks out of nervous habit.

"That was... Nice..." He said awkwardly, unsure of what was the proper thing to say in this situation, if anything at all.

Kurenai's cheeks took on a light pink colouration when she realized what she'd just done, with one of her students no less. But she found herself unconsciously nodding her assent. Naruto cleared his throat to get her attention.

"So, usual time and place tomorrow morning?" He asked again.

"Uh, y-yeah. I'll... uhh... I'll see you there."

"Well, see you tomorrow then, Kurenai-chan." Naruto smiled, changing his form of address without realizing it and turning on his heel to leave.

Naruto would swear on his deathbed that he heard someone else say 'Nice work, kid', but try as he might, when he looked around there wasn't another soul in the hallway aside from himself and Kurenai.

The next day – 8:27 AM

Naruto sighed to himself as he was perched atop the wooden post he was tied to during the bell test Kakashi had given Team 7 at the Third Training Ground, this time clad in the standard jōnin garb consisting of a blue long-sleeved shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on both sleeves, blue pants and a flak jacket. He also went the extra mile to emulate Kakashi by wrapping the lower half of his calves in white bandages along with blue fingerless gloves with a metal plate on the back of the hands, he had also reverted to wearing his maroon haori with a black flame pattern on the bottom to honour his father as well. Him and Kurenai had been meeting there at eight sharp whenever they could for his genjutsu training. The training ground was thankfully unused, as the next batch of academy students wouldn't be ready to be assigned a jōnin sensei for another two years at least, and Naruto was lined up to fill that role for the next Team 7.

'Guess she's not coming. I shouldn't have kissed her last night, what was I thinking?' Naruto mentally berated himself.

Just as he hopped off the post a figure jumped from a tree branch at the edge of the forest surrounding the training ground and started walking towards him.

"Sorry I'm late, Naruto-kun!" She yelled from some distance away while waving in greeting.

"No problem, but I was starting to think you weren't going to show." Naruto returned when she had gotten closer.

"I had a little trouble finding someone to watch Bī-chan for the day."

Naruto just looked at her curiously, at first Kurenai had no idea why, until she remembered him sharing stories of the only other Jinchūriki to survive the war, Killer Bee, or Uncle Bee as Naruto called him.

"Bī-chan is my daughter," She explained, "Her full name is Biwako, after Sandaime-sama's wife that died the night the Kyūbi attacked nineteen years ago, but she hates it when people call her that, so I call her Bī instead."

Naruto stiffened slightly at being reminded of just one of the many hundreds of people that died the night of his birth, but ultimately shrugged it off. He came to accept that what happened that night wasn't his fault, even if the majority of Konoha disagreed for his entire childhood. Besides, he'd gotten his revenge. He let Tobi know, shortly before ending his life, just how extensively Naruto resented his very existence for causing the deaths of his parents and the others that night. Naruto may have found it in him to forgive Nagato, but as far as he was concerned Tobi was a vile man, far beyond even his – or anyone else's – forgiveness.

"Right, let's get started then." Kurenai said whilst stretching.

Naruto smirked, he'd successfully cast a D-rank genjutsu only once before before, and even then it took him several tries and the illusion didn't do what it was supposed to, but he was confident that he could do it right this time, and on the first attempt no less. He'd been training in secret at night and in the afternoon using a shadow clone for a partner, clones may be immune to illusions, but Naruto discovered they can still cast them, and if Naruto asked the Kyūbi not to disrupt his chakra flow unless he absolutely couldn't break the genjutsu himself, it turned out to be quite an effective training method. He got first hand knowledge of what exactly the technique did and, once the clone dispelled itself, he gained the knowledge of how to perform said technique as well.

Naruto formed the clone seal and shadow clone poofed into existence behind Kurenai, the clone was never needed, but they both agreed that it would be a good idea to have someone close by who could help break her out a genjutsu if by some miracle Naruto actually managed to get one off successfully, and on the off chance she couldn't do it herself.

"Let's see what you've learned so far, Naruto." Kurenai said as she popped her knuckles.

Naruto nodded and formed the appropriate hand seals before intoning the name of the technique.

Mi, Ne.

"Demonic Illusion: Death Mirage Jutsu."

Kurenai smiled as she saw the swirl of leaves envelop her, it may be a simple technique, but the fact that it seemed to be going well right off the bat was impressive. Although that's where her joy of being trapped in the technique ended, as the illusion it manifested was quite simply, horrifying. The raven-haired woman looked to her right to see a man with slicked-back silver hair wearing an Akatsuki cloak and wielding a triple-bladed scythe with a red paint job and a steel cable attached to the end which was running under the man's cloak, whom she instantly recognized as Hidan, the man who killed her lover and father of her daughter. Not wishing to see where this illusion would lead, she shakily formed the Tiger seal and commanded the technique to dispel.

"Release."

Much to her displeasure, the illusion didn't disperse, instead it plugged forward as Hidan seemingly pulled a young child from his cloak, a young child that looked quite familiar. Then he looked directly at Kurenai, grinning and licking his lips sadistically.

"Release!" She commanded.

Still nothing happened, as Hidan just laughed soundlessly and threw the Biwako into the air and took a stance in preparation of swinging his scythe upwards that would almost certainly cleave the child in two. Biwako reached the apex of her air-time and started to fall back toward the ground at the same time Hidan swung his weapon.

"RELEASE!" She shouted desperately.

Just as the sharp instrument was about to make contact with human flesh Kurenai felt a hand on her shoulder, causing Hidan and Biwako to disappear and a Naruto clone to appear at her side while the real one began running towards her. Kurenai felt her legs give out as she dropped to all-fours, hyperventilating.

"Kurenai-chan!" Naruto shouted while skidding to a stop directly in front of her as his clone vanished from existence in a puff of smoke.

"Kurenai! Are you okay?" Naruto asked, kneeling down beside the frantic woman and placing a hand on her shoulder.

She seemed to relax slightly under his touch as she eased herself into a sitting position and leaned her left side into Naruto's chest, to which he responded by wrapping his arms around her shoulders in a hug and resting his chin on the top of her head. After several minutes she seemed to have calmed down considerably, her breathing returning to normal.

"Are you okay, Kurenai-chan?" Naruto asked again in a soft voice.

The woman in question just nodded weakly.

"I'm really sorry about that..." He continued.

"Don't be," Kurenai said firmly, "I'm proud of you for finally casting your first genjutsu successfully."

Naruto didn't argue, he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere, and he also had no control over what the victim would see when caught in that particular jutsu, but that didn't mean he liked it.

Kurenai clutched Naruto's haori as her shoulders trembled slightly causing the blond to hold her tighter. To think, the mighty Genjutsu Mistress of Konohagakure was brought to her knees by a simple D-rank technique cast by a shinobi who was once thought to be completely inept in every aspect of life. Of course she knew better than that, Naruto was a powerful and skilled shinobi, and a fine young man to boot, she thought with a light blush. Still, the idea could almost make her laugh out loud.

"My my, you two seem to be getting along well." A new voice chirped from some distance away, causing the pair to separate out of embarrassment.

"S-Shizune-nēchan!" Naruto explaimed in surprise, realizing the Godaime's assistant had snuck up on them.

"So do you two normally cuddle during training?" She said in jest.

The duo in question each went red in the face, causing Shizune to giggle at them. Thankfully before the younger of the women could get another jab in, a fourth person appeared from behind her to interrup the woman's teasing who turned out to be none other than Kurenai's daughter, Biwako.

Bī bounded up to the pair and Kurenai held out her arms thinking the child was running for a hug, only to be completely passed over in favour of her blond companion.

Naruto looked down to the small brunette girl with an inquisitive gaze as she stood before him, simply studying his facial features.

After several minutes of this her face lit up, seemingly coming to a realization.

"You're the man Aunty Yūgao said was kissing Mommy last night!" She proclaimed, rather loudly.

Naruto and Kurenai both turned an impossible shade of red and looked to Shizune as they heard her let out a surprised 'eep' and covered her mouth with one hand while supporting Tonton in the other, who also looked rather surprised. Shizune simply stared back with wide eyes.

Kurenai coughed into her fist lightly and spoke with a calm tone, her true emotions betrayed only by the pink colouration that stubbornly remained on her cheeks.

"What are you doing here, Shizune-san?"

"Bī-chan wanted to watch you and Naruto train." Shizune answered honestly. The child merely nodded vigorously.

Kurenai and Naruto stiffened, remember the little mishap that just occurred, although the former was remembering the illusion, Naruto was worried that small child might have seen the state her mother was in before, and shortly after, the illusion was dismissed. The medic-nin first looked to Kurenai, who had a far-off look in her eyes, then to the blond whose own gaze seemed to ask the question that was on his mind. Shizune simply shook her head in the negative, causing Naruto to let out a sigh of relief.

"So," Shizune began with a playful smirk, "Naruto and Kurenai, huh? You two love birds set a date for the wedding yet?"

"W-w-w-wait a minute, it's not like that! Dattebayo!" Naruto sputtered in self defence, clearly flustered beyond reason, his infamous catchphrase slipping out accidentally much in the fashion of the late Kushina Uzumaki.

Shizune held back the fit of laughter that was threatening to escape her throat with all her willpower, and instead frowned playfully, clearly enjoying the teasing.

"So you're just using the poor girl as a make-out buddy? It's not nice to play with a woman's heart, Naruto-kun." She said in a scolding tone.

Naruto paled, if Tsunade caught wind of his supposed impure intentions he'd surely get the thrashing of the century. Shizune saw the absolute terror in Naruto's eyes and failed to hold back her giggle-fit any more and roared with laughter while clutching her sides.

After several minutes of nearly suffocating from laughter, Shizune managed to get herself under control between the odd hooing and hawing here and there between giggles while wiping the tears from her eyes.

"S-sorry, Naruto. I couldn't resist." She said through a few more chuckles.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief, thankful Tsunade wouldn't beat him like a drum, much in the same fashion of his late master, Jiraiya. But he couldn't help but be a little embarrassed that he'd been had.

"So, care to explain?" She asked seriously.

Naruto furrowed his brows slightly, this time all three adults were standing and Bī was happily seated in Kurenai's arms.

"It was, er, an... accident." He said awkwardly, scratching a whisker mark out of nervous habit.

Shizune merely raised an eyebrow.

Kurenai cleared her throat, drawing the other woman's attention.

"What he means is, neither of us planned for it to happen." Kurenai said, going on to explain how they were out celebrating his promotion to Tokujō, although she left out the fact that it was also a pseudo-date, and how she went to give him a quick peck on the cheek but missed, and how Naruto initiated the 'real' kiss, much to his chagrin.

As soon as Shizune heard the last part, she blinked at Naruto a few times, his face flushing a deep crimson.

"That doesn't sound like an accident." She said, mock pouting.

Naruto looked like he was about to say something, but was stopped when the medic-nin spoke first.

"I didn't think you had it in you. Nice work, kid." Shizune said, punctuated by a friendly slap on the back.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the woman, "What did you just say?"

"'Nice work, kid'?" She repeated.

The blond's face scrunched up in thoughtfulness momentarily before he spoke up again, "You already knew about it, didn't you?"

Shizune shook her head, "No, I just found out when a certain little munchkin said she caught you red-handed. Why?"

Naruto's face contorted once more.

"Someone said the exact same thing to me last night, right after we, you know..." He said.

Something seemed to click for Kurenai at that very moment, a certain purple-haired ANBU might have something to say about this.

"I just remembered something I have to do." She said simply while handing Bī to a confused Naruto.

The blond sighed in exasperation, "I guess training is over."

Later that day – 7:42 PM

Naruto stood outside a familiar door and rapped his knuckles on the wood as lightly as he could while still being loud enough to make his presence known. A very sleepy Biwako Yūhi stirred at the unwelcome sound and buried her face into Naruto's shoulder where she had been snoozing the entire walk back to the apartment.

Almost immediately a woman with long purple hair, chocolate eyes and reddish-purple lipstick answered the door. When she saw who it was, and who was happily napping on his shoulder she smirked and slipped out the door.

"Kurenai, your hubby is back with Bī-chan." She called back inside and winked at a yet again embarrassed Naruto before saying her goodbyes and taking her leave.

The crimson-eyed woman rounded the corner and saw a tall blond man, still in his jōnin gear, standing outside the door with a small child, she blinked a few times at the sight.

"Naruto-kun? What are you doing here? Wasn't Shizune-san babysitting today?"

"You handed her to me when you stormed off earlier." He whispered so as to not disturb the girl on his shoulder.

"Oh, sorry." She said flatly. Naruto just chuckled at her brief moment of air-headedness. Kurenai motioned for him to come inside and moved to take her daughter back, to which the child protested by attaching herself to Naruto's haori causing Kurenai to sigh in defeat while Naruto smiled at the scene.

Kurenai led the way to Biwako's room where Naruto patiently dislodged the child from his person and tucked her in, giving her cheek a goodnight peck with his lips, to which she responded by smiling and snoring cutely.

Kurenai was leant against the door frame in her night clothes, which consisted of a large plain white wife beater, which he assumed to have once belonged to Asuma due to it's size, and a pair of navy blue men's boxer shorts. Naruto couldn't help at marvel how the top showed off a small bit of cleavage and, very slightly, the sides of her ample bust.

"You're a natural, Naruto-kun. You'll make a great father some day." The raven-haired woman complimented in a whisper after they had both exited the room and pulled the door shut. Naruto simply looked away with a light flush on his face.

"What have you two been doing all day?" She asked while the two of them made their way back to the living room.

Naruto looked thoughtful as he recalled the day's events, "We had lunch at Ichiraku's, we went to the park, we even talked for a little."

Kurenai couldn't help but smile warmly at well the two seemed to get along.

"Sounds like you two really hit it off." She said sincerely.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, and after you left she told me how much she wanted to be a ninja, like you and Shizune-nēchan and myself, so I showed her a few taijutsu moves."

The crimson-eyed woman set the tea tray she had carried back from the kitchen down rather harshly on the coffee table.

"You did what?" She questioned incredulously.

"It was nothing fancy, just some of the basic forms they teach to first-year academy students." Naruto defended.

Kurenai scowled, "You had no right to do that, she'll never be a kunoichi."

"But Kurenai-chan, she's a natural, I only had to show her the moves once or twice and she got them almost perfectly." Naruto said while pouring himself some tea.

"Don't question me, Naruto. You never had parents to do what was best for you, you always just did what you felt like as a child. Biwako is not going to become a shinobi." Kurenai continued berating her blond companion.

Naruto's expression hardened in an instant as he set the cup of tea back on the tray. Kurenai winced when she realized her mistake, she turned the tongue-lashing to herself and mentally scolded herself for saying something so insensitive to Naruto, especially when she knew full well of his parents.

"Thank you for the tea, Kurenai-sensei. I'm not feeling well, I should go home and get some rest." He said coldly.

Just when Naruto stood from his position on the sofa, a hand shot out to grab onto his own when he began walking away.

"Naruto wait, I'm... I'm sorry. I was out of line." Kurenai said.

"Yeah, you were." The Hokage-wannabe replied, his tone still icy.

Kurenai clasped her other hand over Naruto's effectively sandwiching his hand and squeezed slightly.

"I really am sorry... It's just that I'm scared... Bī-chan is all I have left after Asuma was killed by that Akatsuki bastard, if she got killed on a mission I-I don't know what I'd do..." Kurenai whispered softly.

Naruto forcibly freed his hand, causing Kurenai's eyes to mist up in fear that she'd drove Naruto away with one stupid remark when he grabbed Kurenai's hand and held it in his own, gently playing with her fingers.

"It's okay, Kurenai-chan." Naruto said, although his tone was anything but reassuring as he still sounded a bit down.

For the next several minutes the pair just sat in a semi-comfortable silence, hand-in-hand. Naruto decided to broach a subject that had been on his mind all day.

"Kurenai-chan?"

"Hm?"

"W-What do you think of me?" Naruto asked somewhat uneasily.

Kurenai pondered his meaning momentarily and decided there's only one thing that he could mean.

"Is this about last night?" She asked. Naruto simply nodded in the affirmative.

"Let me ask you a question first." Kurenai said. Naruto looked wary for a moment but ultimately agreed.

"What do you think of me?" She asked seriously.

Naruto frowned at having his questioned flipped back on him, but he answered anyway.

"I really like you, Kurenai-chan." Naruto said shyly, "Back in the academy, when the teams were first assigned I remember thinking you were really pretty. I even asked Kakashi-sensei if I could trade places with Kiba, Shino or Hinata. I had the biggest crush on you up until I left to go on the training trip with Ero-sennin."

Kurenai giggled at his nickname for Jiraiya and his shy admission to his crush.

"'Had'? Why'd you stop?" She questioned.

Naruto sighed, "You're fifteen years older than I am, and I was just a kid. I shrugged off as some shallow puppy love, fawning over you because of the way you looked. I didn't even know anything about you except your name, we barely said two words to each other after the genin teams were assigned."

Kurenai nodded in understanding, although she was blushing slightly at the second and unintentional compliment to her looks.

"The age gap doesn't bother you now?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

Naruto shook his head, "Age is just a number."

Kurenai smiled at this new Naruto, he'd moved farther away from his brash, loud-mouth self over the past three years to be sure, but he usually didn't talk openly, easily or in a mature manner such as this. Naruto had taken after Kakashi in more than just his fashion sense, he usually had a calm and easygoing, borderline lazy, attitude when he was just sitting around doing nothing in particular like the duo was doing now. Although when the situation called for it, the blond was every bit the bull-headed and opinionated person everyone came to love.

Kurenai lightly squeezed Naruto's hand to get his attention, and for several moments they just looked into each others' eyes and Kurenai reached her free hand over to cup Naruto's face and caress his cheekbone her thumb before moving down slightly to run the digit the length of one his apparently very sensitive whisker marks. Naruto's eyelids suddenly felt heavy, and he closed them as a small smile refused to leave his features no matter how much he mentally protested against it. Kurenai couldn't help but giggle at the scene.

Naruto frowned when the ministrations on his cheek ceased, but opened his eyes to find that Kurenai was looking at him intently, slightly chewing on her lower lip. Before Naruto could react the raven-haired woman slowly started closing the distance, and seconds later their lips met in another chaste kiss.

The blond Tokujō lifted Kurenai gently and set the woman on his lap, her legs off to his right, and wrapped his arms around her waist as Kurenai cupped both of his cheeks.

After several seconds the duo pulled apart and Kurenai put her arms around Naruto as well and rested her head in the crook of his neck, leaning into him fully, just enjoying her new lover's warmth.

"Naruto?" She asked softly.

The blond stopped the motion of his hand, which had been gently rubbing Kurenai's back, for a few seconds and resumed his actions to show he was paying attention.

"Was I your first kiss?"

"Yeah." With a woman, anyway. Naruto elected not to voice that last thought lest he explain the academy incident that involved a certain Uchiha.

Kurenai just smiled contentedly and felt herself start to drift off with the gentle massaging of her back and rather comfortable position.

Several days later – 9:29 AM

Naruto stood in the Hokage's office with a scowl on his face as he was engaged in one of his usual arguments with Tsunade.

"I'm not giving you an S-rank mission, Naruto." The blond Hokage said while massaging her temples.

"Why not?" He whined, "I can handle it no problem!"

A vein on Tsunade's forehead became more pronounced as her anger rose.

"You're only a Tokubetsu Jōnin, you should be grateful I even allow you to go on A-rank missions."

Naruto muttered something about stingy old hags under his breath. Unfortunately for Naruto, Tsunade's hearing was better than he would have guessed.

"What did you say, brat?" She said while slamming both palms down on her desk and standing up suddenly.

Naruto merely made a derisive noise and crossed his arms over his chest while looking away, nose proudly stuck up in the air.

The vein in Tsunade's forehead bulged again as she clenched her right hand into a fist so hard her knuckles turned white and fingernails dug into her palm.

Shizune and Tonton both sighed in unison at the exchange. To the lay-man it may appear as though they were fighting, but these types of arguments were just how they showed their affection. The two truly did care about each other, although their stubborn pride would prevent either of them from ever admitting to it. Sometimes Shizune just wished they'd shut up and hug each other like any normal adoptive grandmother/foster grandson pair would.

Tsunade was about to tear into Naruto, when the door burst open and a small bundle of hyperactivity barrelled into the room and attached itself to Naruto's left leg. The younger of the two blonds in the room forgot his ire instantly and grinned when he heard a small, familiar voice call out to him.

"Tōchan! Tōchan!"

Naruto looked down to scoop up Bī and brought the child up into the air before settling her in a seated position on his shoulders. Naruto grimaced as Bī opted to use a tuft of blond as a hand hold when she nearly lost her balance in a fit of excitement.

Tsunade and Shizune blinked several times to make sure they weren't experiencing auditory or visual hallucinations, then settled for staring at them incredulously. Shizune wasn't as surprised to see Bī and Naruto so playful with each other as Tsunade was, but she was quite surprised all the same when Biwako Yūhi had addressed the teen as 'daddy'.

"Biwako, what have I told you about-" Kurenai began scolding her daughter but stopped short when she saw Naruto, whom she hadn't seen in a few days, with the child seated on his shoulders. Apparently Naruto wasn't just giving a flimsy excuse when he said he wasn't feeling well after sitting down to have tea, as he fell ill later that night and has been laid up in bed until the morning of the previous day.

"Kāchan! Look look, I found Daddy!" Bī chirped, causing Naruto to reach up and tickle her sides, eliciting a fit of giggles.

Kurenai couldn't help but sigh and smile fondly at how well her daughter and lover got along, as though Naruto really were the girl's biological father. It had initially startled both Naruto and Kurenai the first time Bī addressed the former as 'dad' but Naruto didn't seem to mind much, and Bī had never even seen Asuma before his death so Naruto was really the only male figure in her life that came close to a father. There was Shikamaru but he was more her guardian, or an uncle, than a father figure.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. Feeling better?"

Naruto smiled and nodded in the affirmative.

Tsunade cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, and then Naruto and Kurenai suddenly realized their situation and flushed slightly. Tsunade shot them a look that said she was awaiting an explanation for what she'd just witnessed.

Naruto swallowed hard, and began nervously scratching a whisker mark again, "Me and Kurenai-chan are... Uhh we're..."

"Naruto-kun and I are dating." Kurenai interjected, stepping to her lover's side and slipping her hand into his and intertwining their fingers.

"How troublesome..."

Naruto and Kurenai turned to find none other than Shikamaru Nara leaning against the door frame lazily with a stack of papers under one arm.

"H-hey, Shikamaru." Naruto greeted his former classmate, punctuating with a nervous chuckle.

Shikamaru waved a hand dismissively, "Relax, Naruto. Asuma-sensei only made me promise to look after Bī-chan."

The lazy shinobi looked Naruto over once and hardened his expression.

"Just don't do anything to hurt either one of them, Naruto Uzumaki." He amended with a threatening glare. Leaving the 'or else' unspoken, although it was quite clearly there.

Naruto nodded seriously, but Shikamaru seemed to have lost interest almost immediately after issuing his warning and walked over to lay the stack of papers on Tsunade's desk and left the room, lazily raising a hand over his shoulder in farewell. Kurenai and Naruto also said their farewells and left, Kurenai forgetting why she even came in the first place.

Several minutes later the couple was walking down the street, this time with Bī in between them, her left hand holding Kurenai's right, and her right hand holding Naruto's left, laughing and joking and just generally enjoying each others' company, completely ignoring the stares and whispers all around them directed at the Hero of the Hidden Leaf and his girlfriend. Unfortunately the mood was quickly spoiled when a certain pink-haired kunoichi stalked up to the couple.

"I see you found someone else to throw yourself at, Naruto." Sakura practically spat his name as though it left a foul taste on her tongue.

Naruto scowled, leave it to Sakura Haruno to ruin his day, "At least I know how to move on, Sakura. You're still too obsessed with the traitor for your own good."

"I bet she just feels sorry for you, nobody would actually want to be with the Kyūbi." She sneered.

Naruto could feel Kurama growl in the back of his mind in addition to his own blood starting to boil. If Sakura didn't shut up soon he would lose his cool in the middle of Konoha, and it wouldn't be pretty. Naruto was about to retort when someone unexpected came to his defence.

"You leave my tōchan alone, you big meanie!" Bī declared sternly, with an adorable scowl of her own.

"'Tōchan'?" Sakura scoffed, "Why would you defend someone like Naruto? He's nothing compared to Sas-"

Sakura's insult was cut short mid-syllable by the sharp crack of flesh colliding with flesh as Kurenai slapped Sakura across the face.

Naruto stood wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the scene; Sakura's head was cocked to the side and had a rapidly reddening cheek and Kurenai's tensed hand hovered in mid air for a few seconds longer before she gently brought it back down to her side.

"That's enough, Haruno. Uchiha isn't now, never was, and never will be half the man Naruto is, he's the kindest, gentlest, most loving and most loyal man I know. Any girl in Konoha would be lucky to have him. That could have been you if you'd have pulled your head out of the clouds and stopped obsessing over Sasuke for long enough to take notice of other people. Sasuke Uchiha is nothing but a lowly traitor who would willingly turn on his comrades if it's what best suited him. You should be ashamed to even call yourself a Leaf kunoichi for even defending him, let alone insulting and belittling your comrade, your own team mate that's had your back through everything even at the cost of his own happiness." She scolded, taking in a deep breath after her rant and punctuating it with a steely gaze.

Naruto smiled at the dark-haired woman before him and felt a knot forming in his throat, nobody had ever stood up for him like that before, certainly not against the almighty Uchiha.

Sakura merely gave both Kurenai and Naruto derisive looks and brushed past the raven-haired woman with her nose in the air, being sure to bump her shoulder a bit harshly. Naruto scowled at her retreating back and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

Naruto took a step forward, prepared to completely tear Sakura down for her attitude but was stopped in his tracks by a warm hand gently holding his own.

"Don't let her get to you, Naruto," Kurenai said, clearly unperturbed by the pinkette's behaviour, "Why don't we go spar for a while? We've been working on your genjutsu non-stop for weeks. We could both use a little workout on our taijutsu. And I'm sure it would help you blow off some steam."

Naruto simple answered with a concerned look.

"Don't be so full of yourself, Uzumaki. I can handle anything you can throw at me." Kurenai said with a chuckle, seemingly reading the blond's mind.

Naruto's eyes flicked to Bī then back to Kurenai.

"What about-"

"She'll be fine, maybe Bī-chan can even learn a thing or two from watching us." Kurenai interrupted with a smile.

"Does that mean you changed your mind about letting her become a shinobi?" Naruto asked, curious about the new change in attitude all of the sudden.

Kurenai nodded, "Yeah. I thought a lot about it while you were sick, Naruto. With Sarutobi blood and you as a sensei I'm sure she'll be one of the best kunoichi Konoha has ever seen."

Naruto crinkled his nose in confusion, "But I'm supposed to be the sensei for the new Team 7 that will be graduating from the academy in a few years."

"I'm sure you could get Lady Tsunade to pull a few strings," Kurenai said with a wink.

Naruto grinned widely before dropping into a squat so he was face-to-face with Biwako.

"Hey, you know where training ground three is, right?"

The little girl nodded excitedly.

"Race ya!" He said, springing back into a standing position and tossing Kurenai a quick glance, she noted the playful glint in his cerulean eyes.

All three of them took off down the street heading to the training ground, Naruto and Kurenai making sure to hold themselves back so Bī could keep up, one of them occasionally pulling ahead slightly to raise the stakes.

Kurenai was hunched over, legs bent slightly with her hands resting on her knees, breathing heavily from sparring with Naruto for the past several hours. Much to her dismay, the blond wasn't even out of breath.

"That... all you... got...?" Kurenai huffed between breaths.

Naruto chuckled good-naturedly.

"I'm just getting warmed up." He said with a cocky grin.

The dark-haired jōnin just grimaced, but it quickly morphed into a smirk as a flick of her wrist sent two shuriken hurtling towards her blond boyfriend.

Naruto's eyes widened only slightly at the surprise attack, but quickly analyzed is options. One shuriken was off course a little thanks to a small, sudden gust of wind, it would miss by a few inches. The other was headed straight for him, he could dodge it but he noted the shift in Kurenai's stance, he'd be leaving himself wide open for physical attacks. Naruto fished out a kunai from his leg holster and sent it flying to knock the shuriken out of the air. Just then a small gust of wind whipped through the field again altering the course of the projectiles slightly. The kunai only just grazed the shuriken, causing them both to thrown off only by a few centimetres, the shuriken would most likely still cause a decent sized gash on his right arm unless he sidestepped. But Naruto didn't quite care where the shuriken was headed at the moment, for the kunai was headed straight for Biwako Yūhi's back.

Kurenai looked at Naruto for a brief instant, wondering why he suddenly seemed so distracted when a rather sharp weapon was flying right at him, then her eyes widened impossibly as she tracked the path of his kunai. Kurenai went to make a move but stopped cold when a yellow blur easily breezed past her at mind-bending speeds.

Bī sat puzzled as she felt a new warmth on her back, and because the acorn she had been playing with suddenly sprouted small tendrils that took root in the soil and grew into a tiny oak sapling less than a foot tall in mere seconds.

Naruto let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding as his right hand firmly gripped the hilt of the kunai mere inches from Bī's spine. At that moment the young girl turned around and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she saw Naruto crouching there, clad in a yellow cloak made of pure chakra that flickered off his body, reminiscent of the small, sedate flame of a candle. Naruto dropped Tailed Beast Mode a few breaths later, thankful Kurama had been so compliant in letting him borrow some power, there's no way Naruto would have been able to move fast enough on his own to catch the weapon before any harm was done.

Kurenai ran up behind Naruto, nearly having a panic attack.

"Bī-chan! Are you okay?!" She asked frantically, scooping her daughter off the ground and into her arms in the blink of an eye.

Bī simply nodded dismissively while turning her attention to Naruto.

"That was so cool, Tōchan! How did you do that? Do it again!" She rambled as the last of the yellow chakra evaporated into the air.

Naruto shook his head with a small smile.

"I'll tell you how when you're older. For now why don't we get some lunch? My treat." He said, flashing his famous grin.

"I'm not-!"

Any protest Bī was going to give was quickly shot down by her own stomach, growling slightly in demand for some food.

Kurenai and Naruto chuckled as the headed off to Ichiraku's to get some lunch before doing something a little more fun for Bī for the rest of the afternoon.

Later that day – 8:39 PM

Naruto and Kurenai sat under a tree at the edge of the forest surrounding training ground three, Naruto had his back leant against the trunk while sitting Indian-style, Kurenai was comfortably seated in his lap, leaning back into his chest easily. They'd been sitting there for a few hours, Naruto's rear had since lost all feeling and his legs were starting to ache a bit, but he didn't much care, he was just enjoying sitting under the stars on a clear night with his girlfriend. They'd come out shortly after dinner when Yūgao had showed up to watch Bī, who barely made it through the meal before fatigue caught up with her and she fell asleep hunched over the table after clearing her plate. The purple-haired ANBU also gave Naruto the usual sly grin when she walked past him as he'd been the one to answer the door.

Kurenai was momentarily surprised as Naruto's arms wrapped around her waist from behind, almost nervously, she noted. She responded by snuggling back into Naruto's chest a bit more and moving her own hands to capture his, intertwining their fingers. As far as she was concerned today had been a perfect day. She spent the entire day with her daughter and Naruto, and all three of them had a blast, as Bī and her blond surrogate father seemed to get even closer. And to top it all off she'd just sat in peaceful silence watching the sunset first, and now watching the stars twinkle in the arms of a man she'd never thought she'd have fallen for. At that thought, Kurenai's breath hitched and her heart rate sped up several paces. There it was, she'd fallen for Naruto. A loud, hyperactive, knuckle-head. The dead-last of the academy, but one of the ten greatest shinobi The Village Hidden in the Leaves had ever produced. The jinchūriki of Kurama, the nine-tailed demon fox. Son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. Future Sixth Hokage.

"Kurenai-chan? Are you okay?" Naruto whispered, his breath tickling the back of her neck. Kurenai jumped slightly, obviously started by Naruto's voice breaking her thoughts, thoughts of him no less.

"I'm perfect, Naruto." She said, smiling and gazing into the sky right when a comet streaked by, leaving a brilliant sparkling trail in it's wake.

Several minutes of comfortable silence passed as they just continued to sit there, broken only by Kurenai, whose mouth seemed to move before she even had time to think about it.

"Hey, Naruto-kun?" She said in quiet yet relaxed voice.

"Yeah?" Naruto whispered back.

"I love you."

As soon as the words left her mouth she felt her heart rate rise, and she couldn't help but be a little nervous when Naruto tensed up, and stayed silent for several moments, which seemed like several hours, then he relaxed and broke the silence.

"I love you too, Kurenai." He whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her skin once again, punctuating his declaration by tightening the hold on his lover's waist ever so slightly, but enough that she'd notice easily while resting his chin on her right shoulder.

Kurenai turned her head to the side slightly to try and look Naruto in the eyes, but failed miserably and huffed in annoyance. Naruto chuckled slightly and slackened his hold on the crimson-eyed woman's waist to allow her to pivot towards the blond. As Kurenai positioned herself sideways on Naruto's lap and tried to look him in the eyes once more, her lips were captured by Naruto's without warning.

Kurenai grinned into Naruto's mouth as she responded to his advances by deepening the kiss and wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck, Naruto placed his right hand on Kurenai's back, allowing her to lean back into his support while his left hand rested on her hip.

After briefly separating for air, Kurenai crashed her lips back into Naruto's daring to lick his upper lip lightly, to which Naruto responded by slipping his own tongue in her mouth while laying them both back onto the soft grass, Naruto on his back with Kurenai on top of him. The kiss was clumsy on Naruto's end due to his lack of experience, but Kurenai would look forward to teaching him.