Naruto cautiously walked into the lab that was the domain of his adopted sister. Although the lab's his mother ruled over where hardly explosion prone, startling somebody working on seals could have explosive results. 'And startling an Uzumaki woman working on a seal is a one-way ticket to a becoming a punching bag.' He mused with amusement.

Instead of Karin labouring over a seal he saw Honoka and Karin staring at the design board. He could partially understand the central part involving a control seal of sorts, but the scientific notations that surrounded it mostly escaped him, only recognizing the odd biological component from his own medical studies.

He calmly joined them staring at the board, allowing them to notice him on their own without disrupting their thoughts. After a few moment Karin did. "Hello Naruto?" she asked puzzled. "What brings you here?" "Just wanted to see how you were doing." Naruto replied, only after his return home he had shortly seen her, but otherwise he was busy distracting himself.

"I am fine, how are you?" she asked in return, her worried expression told Naruto she knew somehow despite seemingly living in the lab. "I have been better." He replied softly, not wishing to talk about it. He was grateful Karin picked that up and merely gave him a sad smile. "I am here if you need to talk about."

"Thanks Karin." He replied softly. "What are you two working on?" he asked as he redirected the conversation. Honoka made a sound he found hard to place, but he suspected it was something relating to 'You wouldn't understand'.

He hadn't much time to connect with her, but from what he understood Tayuya, who had much more time, hadn't made any progress at all despite the woman's quick warming up to Karin. Kushina was greeted with mixed feelings, making Naruto and Tayuya to suspect she somehow looked down on shinobi that fought on the front.

Naruto had to restrain his foul-mouthed sister from harming Honoka after they figured that out.

Honoka already went back to ignoring him, focusing on a specific set of formula's on the board. 'I wonder why she dislikes warriors so much.' Naruto wondered, Karin's voice dragged him out of his thoughts before he could ponder it too deeply.

"We are looking at ways we could control the artificial summons Honoka's old research compound created." She answered his earlier question. Naruto double checked the board if he didn't see the hideous beast he had fought drawn somewhere. "Are you going to recreate that thing…?" he asked levelly.

"The summon beast you threw into the volcano?" Karin asked. At Naruto's nod she elaborated. "No, it's adaptive abilities would destroy the creature in short term." At Naruto's confused look she could guess his thoughts. "It makes a being strong yes, but it takes a lot of energy to rapidly adept a body. It would have devoured itself if you continued to attack it."

"That makes sense." Naruto replied after a moment of thought, his own studies confirming the logic behind it. Honoka snorted at his exclamation but kept silent. Naruto reigned in his temper at the perceived insult. Karin shot Honoka a reproving glare that seemed to bounce off the woman.

"Sadly the way the creatures are made makes placing long-term seals rather unreliably. That is why they were all so hostile since most seals had expired." Naruto gave the seal another glance before shrugging helplessly. "I am afraid I can't help. And I doubt throwing more chakra into the seal won't work."

Honoka wasted no time dismissing his theory "Of course not." She said sharply. Karin gave the idea a bit more thought before shaking her head. "No, more chakra would most likely increase the speed the bonding area's fall apart. Well.. maybe if… no that wouldn't work." Naruto just smiled. "Well if you think it might work with a different seal, you know where to find me." "I will. Thanks Naruto."

Naruto merely waved and let her go back to her research. He barely made it out of the lab before a call of "Hey shithead." Told him who needed his attention and her general mood. "Yes Tayuya?" he asked as he turned towards her.

"Kushina-sama calls for you." Naruto merely nodded at set off for his mother's office.

Kushina shuffled through her plans making sure she hadn't overseen anything. During her absence the interrogators had broken the stubborn Taki elder her forces managed to capture during the chaotic aftermath of her son's improvised seal.

With the chakra-saturated water her son had obtained with Fu she had enough raw material make a couple of doses of the 'Hero' s water'. However she had diluted the mixture further so it could be used for a longer periods of time.

Together with the scraps of Sanbi's chakra she managed to capture she could carefully feed the two bodies she had stashed away in her hidden lab more chakra. 'I had hoped to capture the beast, but this is a workable alternative. As long the Sanbi is reforming it cannot be captured. Akatsuki cannot make a move on Naruto as they need the Kyuubi for last.'

Her office door opened and Naruto entered. 'Good, he doesn't seem to hurt by the breakup.' "Hello Naruto, how are you doing?" "I am fine mom." The boy replied neutrally. Kushina took a look at his body language that told her otherwise but decided she wouldn't pry just yet.

"I have a mission for you. There was an actress stuck in the Land of Hot Water with her movie crew. She was on her way to the Land of Fire when the Konoha assault happened. Denied entry her 'genius' director decided they could perhaps enter the Land of Fire through the Land of Sound. She took in Naruto's goggled look as the boy took in the directors insanity and smiled in amusement.

"Now the man has thrown out a job offer for an escort back to the Land of Snow. You will be on a team with Fu, Kidomaru and Anko. During this mission you will be the team leader, although Anko will intervene if it somehow spirals out of your control."

She saw Naruto surprise at the increased responsibilities but he didn't get a word edgewise as she marched on. "This is your chance to prove you are chunin material. I do not expect Akatsuki to make a move now that the Sanbi is dispersed, but stay on your guard." She smiled again. "Make me proud Naruto."

Naruto recovered his wits rapidly and returned the smile. "I will mom. Where can I find my team?" he asked as he stepped forward and took the mission scroll on Kushina's desk. "They will be gathering at the north gate in two hours. Now off you go." She shooed him out of her office with a gently smile.

Naruto didn't waste any time gathering his equipment and taking the book Shizune told him to study. The mission scroll informed him he would find the actress in a village near the port city they would travel to take the boat to the Land of Snow. 'Another long boring boat ride.' Naruto thought before shaking his head. 'No, I need to think as a team leader now, I can't let mom down.'

He nearly went to the exit when he remembered team leader had several administrative responsibilities before they could leave. So he quickly changed course to take care of the more onerous parts of being a ninja. Barely making it on time to meet his team at the designated spot.

He saw Kidomaru and Fu already waiting silently on them. "Hey Fu, Kidomaru!" he greeted them. Kidomaru gave him a lazy way. "Yo Naruto, how does it feel to be the main character?" Naruto blinked as he mentally translated Kidomaru's speech. "Nothing special, I just hope I won't let you all down." He responded honestly.

"Good" a voice replied behind him. Naruto whirled around in surprise to get an eye-full of Anko's cleavage who leant forward to give him an extra good view. He refused to be distracted and established eye contact with the woman. "So leader-brat, remembered to do the paperwork?" she asked as she saw him look into her eyes instead of gazing downward. "I did." The woman pouted. "And here I was hoping you made your first mistake." She mumbled. "Well then, 'main character' lead the way."

Naruto ignored the taunt and started on the mission briefing. As he informed his team of what he knew he took in their reactions. Anko seemed bored, Fu seemed interested in the actress and he wasn't sure how to translate Kidomaru's body language.

After the briefing he led them through the northern exit tunnels, guided by a man responsibly of guiding outbound and inbound teams through the maze and outside. Once outside they made good time to the village the client was waiting.

If Naruto wasn't on a ship he was reasonable sure he would have punched the ground or a tree in frustration. Dealing with the arrogant actress was one thing, dealing with her constant attempts at running away was easily solved by Kidomaru's webbing.

Dealing with the 'why' she trying to run away was much harder. Once underway he approached the director with Anko behind him. He gave the woman a simple order 'Look scary'. Judging at how quickly the man folded and told him the truth meant his plan had worked.

But now he had to decide whether to continue the mission or not. 'It is just like the mission in wave.' Naruto thought with a wry smile. Suddenly he could understand why Kakashi had made it a vote and decided he would do the same.

Anko shrugged, not caring either way making Naruto worried he might had made a mistake by putting it up to a vote with her reaction. Fu and Kidomaru where all for it however. Although he wasn't sure what Kidomaru meant with 'The princess won't be in another castle!' as the man fist pumped the air, he decided to take it as an affirmative

While the director was happy beyond words, the actress now revealed princess did not care at all. And had absolutely no confidence that the Oto shinobi could protect her and was convinced they were all doomed to die.

Hence his frustration.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down and regain his focus. "There is an iceberg ahead, that would an excellent place to for the next scene!" he heard the director shout excitedly. Naruto sighed and trudged to the aft of the ship. 'Time to lead the team.'

Doto toppled backwards into the ground. A deep and enthusiastically bleeding wound above his right lung announced the cause of death to the world. Naruto closed his eyes and forced away the red chakra that shrouded his form with a mental 'Thank you' towards the beast that lend him its power.

He was not sure what to make of the foxes sudden generosity. But it most certainly helped against his armoured overconfident opponent. Beside him Fu had already shed her chakra cloak, her more amiable relationship with the seven tailed beetle made thing easier for her.

"You… killed him…" Koyuki stuttered out as she looked flabbergasted at Doto's dead form. Naruto walked to the corpse and took off the crystal attached to the necklace and tossed it towards Koyuki. She fumbled to catch it and nearly dropped it. With an uncertain look she walked towards the control panel and inserted the crystal. Turning it like a key.

Machinery all around them started to hum with energy and one of the screens above the control panel turned on. It showed a video of Koyuki as a child. A man's voice off screen asking about her dreams. Naruto didn't really listen, favouring to inspect the machinery should it be by some off chance be the weapon of mass destruction Doto claimed.

'Odd, there is no chakra involved.' He thought with a frown. He wasn't an expert in machinery at all, but he did know a thing or two about seals. He carefully placed his hand on one of the machines and extended his senses into the metal mystery.

'Did humans even make this?' he puzzled, not feeling a shred of chakra.

Judging he was not making any progress with the machines, he turned his attention to the cooling corpse on the ground, or more specifically the armour it still wore. As he knelt beside the corpse and played his hand of the armour he could feel it was a well-crafted piece of equipment. He pushed a bit of chakra into it and saw the seals spring to live, absorbing his chakra.

'I don't recognize most of those symbols.' He thought with a frown. Before he could investigate further Koyuki called out his name. He rose and turned towards her to see her fidget for a more under his attention. She suddenly gave a short bow. "I apologize for what I said during the journey, and I thank you for saving me."

Naruto smiled "That was what we were hired to do." Before he could elaborate further Anko with Kidomaru in tow entered the control room. 'Or they were already here.' Naruto thought "Did you defeat the others?" "Sure did party leader!" Kidomaru replied happily "Easy peasy grind, those mobs bit the dust in no time."

Before the multi-armed man could rant further Naruto interrupted him "Good job, let us escort Koyuki home then." With his hands he signalled something very differently however, but the soon to be re-instated daimyo did not see that. "Kidomaru, scout ahead." "Got it boss-man." The man replied all business-like.

Koyuki followed Anko, and once he was out of her line of sight Naruto formed a clone and handed it a few scrolls and an ink bottle. He then jogged to catch up. Once outside of the underground bunker, they felt the heat emanating from somewhere, most of the snow closest to the bunker had already melted. But instead of the muddy ground saturated by melt water it was already showing the beginnings of growing grass.

"How the…" Naruto breathed. Beside him Anko gave him a dumb nod, even the seemingly unflappable woman was given pause. "Incredible." Fu agreed silently "Did you know this Koyuki?"

The woman shook her head, as surprised as the rest of the group until she suddenly started. She whispered just loud enough. "So this is what father meant." The ninja exchanged glances but decided to let it rest. "Kidomaru hasn't shown up, so it is safe to go. Arrow feather formation, Anko take lead."

Reacting to Naruto's orders Anko placed herself to the front while Naruto and Fu flanked Koyuki. With a gentle push from Naruto the flabbergasted started walking. Anko flawlessly took the lead as they navigated their way back to the rest of the movie crew.

Back in the bunker the Naruto clone finished up writing the first of the four seals he intended to make. With a final bust of chakra the array settled firmly on the scroll. "Could you drag Doto's body on the scroll Kidomaru."

He stopped poking the metal frame of the humming machinery and took the corpses leg and dragged it uncaringly over the scroll, leaving a trail of blood. He uncaringly dropped the legs of the dead man once the body was over the centre of the scroll.

"Fuin!" the clone exclaimed, and the corpse disappeared in a puff of smoke. The clone warily glanced at the scroll before cheekily saying "Well, at least it didn't explode in a cascading dimensional failure."

Kidomaru blinked at the clone before taking a few big steps away from the scroll. "You are kidding, right boss, just a joke." he asked pleadingly. "Nope" was the cheery reply. "Chakra absorbing armour into a pocket dimension ought to make pretty explosions." Kidomaru paled and the clone burst into the laughing.

"Childish clones." Kidomaru complained half-heartedly "So you want to hand those game-breakers to the boss-lady-in-chief?" Naruto's clone nodded. "Yea, I am sure mom is interested in those seals, I don't recognize them at all." The clone looked at the machinery. "I think she'll be fascinated in this stuff to."

"Yea" Kidomaru agreed. "You want to loot the corpses of his henchman too?" "Yup, I am probably going to last long enough to make the seals, you will need to actually seal them up. Preferably before the actress realizes you are gone."

"Geez, tall orders in your quest requests." Kidomaru grumbled "KO a thousand samurai next so I can be a true shinobi of the elemental nations?" The clone ignored him as it focused on the seal it was writing.

After it finished its work it disappeared in a puff of smoke, and with a sealing scroll in each hand Kidomaru dashed off to the place he and Anko defeated Doto's henchmen.

The journey homeward was quick, if slightly awkward for Naruto. For some bizarre reason Koyuki decided to give Naruto a kiss on the cheek instead of a small bow and a few words of thanks like she gave the others.

To add to the bizarreness Anko somehow had a camera in hand to immortalize the moment while Fu was quite displeased at the spectacle, refusing to say a single word during the journey homeward.

'Well, the debriefing with mom should be easy compared to the journey home.'

AN: Yay, 50 chapters.

karthik9, Guest, , Guest(2), LordHatredX. Thanks

Shin: Ergo, that is why Naruto tried to let her down gently, and failed miserably.

NarutoKushina: Don't worry, Hinata will not disappear into the background. I have plans.

JPElles: Aye, still want to write a Naruto/Mei story myself, I have some ideas bouncing around. But alas, this one won't be it.

Guest(3): Overbearing parent deciding a child's relationships? Oh boy, you haven't read some of the classics.

Guest(4): Odd saying, I don't fully agree but I see your point.

Shane: Great to hear you believe I handled it correctly.

Kenka: Frankly, what parent regardless of age believe their children always make the right decisions?

246vili: Although I don't know what the romance will end with. I had planned the breakup from the start just to write a story where Naruto doesn't stick with the first girl he feels something for, like real world relationships tend to be.

Information about the wide world might take a couple of chapters.