Naruto and Sakura turned around to see Fu standing there in a complete daze, unsure about what had just happened. At first, she was flustered and confused about Sakura's accusation, then their conversation became more and more heated.
But right when Sakura was about to make a 'request', she suddenly said their sensei were looking for them? What happened to all the previous tension? What happened to the drama!?
Not just her, even Naruto, he turned from aggrieved, to casual in less than a moment's notice! How did he change faces so fast!?
"Y-You two..." She pointed at them with a betrayed look
Naruto and Sakura couldn't help but cover their mouths as they let out a few faint puffs of laughter that was easily heard by Fu.
"Ah! And I was so worried!" She yelled as she stomped her feet
"Hahahaha" Naruto burst into laughter
Sakura, at least had some restraint, but Naruto had none of that as he laughed so much that tears ran down his face. This scene was very familiar to Fu, is this not how she laughed earlier? How the roles have reversed...
"Alright, enough teasing the poor girl" Sakura said
"Heh, quite rich coming from the one who helped me tease her" Naruto smiled
"...It's practically a force of habit to mess around like that with you guys at this point" Sakura revealed a helpless smile, though it sounds like a complaint, she enjoyed these playful moments.
Naruto laughed again, this time, a little more controlled.
"Fu, see you at the Chunin exam" He said
"You'll be there as well? Sweet!" Fu laughed
Naruto smiled faintly
'Yep, she has no idea I'll be one of the Jonins overseeing it' He wondered what face she'd make when she realised he isn't going there as a participant
Meanwhile, Sakura brought Naruto to Kakashi, who was meeting with Shikamaru and Temari at this moment.
"Perfect timing" Kakashi glanced over and said
Naruto stepped over and knew why they called him. Since he was the one overseeing the last two exams, they were going through with one last checkup of the upcoming plans. Of course, Sakura had to leave as this would be considered disclosure of the exam contents if she stayed.
"For the second exam, I've prepared a few precautions to make sure they don't die, so why are you still questioning me? Am I that untrustworthy?" Naruto asked
"Of course not, Naruto, we trust you, one hundred percent" Kakashi smiled, but for some reason, Naruto felt that he was being sarcastic...
He sighed
"I will have dozens of clones on standby, and I've started placing flying raijin marks on every examinee, if they are ever in life threatening danger, a clone will switch places with them, and they will be disqualified" Naruto said
"Now that I've heard it, I'm much more relieved" Kakashi said with a more genuine smile
"Oi, so you really were distrusting of me earlier!" Naruto exclaimed
"Nope, I had full faith in you" Kakashi's smile was unreadable, and his friendly demeanor was impossible to see through.
Naruto's lips twitched, as if he'd fall for that bullsh*t! It's pretty obvious that they didn't trust him much with the safety of the trainees.
'With Orochimaru around, I need to be extra careful as well, good thing I placed a mark on Fu already'
"Alright, the second exam is at ease, but what about the third" Shikamaru asked
This time, he had a slightly different implication. Naruto chuckled as he understood what he meant.
"No worries, the third exam is even safer actually, I have planted seals around the entirety of the stadium, inside and outside, the ones outside acts as barriers against outside attacks, and the inside seals acts as precaution, binding anyone that is too heavy handed" Of course, when he says heavy handed, he doesn't mean the examinees.
He meant those who possibly infiltrated Konoha like last time. After the previous attack, Konoha has their guard up to the extreme, and Naruto was specially warned by not just Tsunade, but also Hiruzen about this matter.
"Good, lastly, the requirement for each genin to become a chunin..." Shikamaru began going through the other details about the exam, such as methods of scoring them, and actions that would warrant special attention.
They listened intently and nodded
"Alright, that just about sums everything up" Shikamaru closed his notebook and let out a deep sigh
"Finally..." He muttered
*Bang*
Temari slapped his back
"Don't be too down, you did well" She said with a faint smile
"Thanks" Shikamaru smiled back
Kakashi and Naruto quickly left the room
"You think they're going out" He whispered to Naruto
"Definitely" Naruto nodded
The two gave each other a knowing grin before parting ways.
After Naruto left, he went to find Fu, in case Orochimaru decided to act before the exam begins, as it is well within the realms of possibility for him to pull a fast one on him.
He quickly found her through the flying raijin mark, and saw her chatting with Sakura. The two of them seems to hit it off quite well, as he saw them laugh.
As he got closer, he soon heard what it was about, and his good mood sunk considerably.
"Yep, and then he got chased across town by Ino's dad, you should have seen how scared he was, he looked as if he would die if he even looked back" Sakura said with a grin
"Hahaha, I never saw Naruto as the type to run" Fu laughed
"What happened next?" She asked eagerly, wanting to hear more gossip
Sakura smiled sneakily
"Well, he-"
*Ahem*
"..." They saw Naruto standing behind them, with a somewhat friendly smile on his face...
"Anyway, he shouted Ino's name as he ran, hoping she'd hear him and save his sorry a*s" Sakura ignored Naruto completely and finished what she was saying
Naruto's lips twitched, no respect at all, huh? Fu, on the other hand, gave him a funny look as she covered her mouth with her hands. At the very least, she was holding it in, unlike someone, who was already laughing at him.
"No hesitation, huh?"
"Nah, with someone like you, I think I'll treat you according to how you act, you petty sh*t" Sakura said with a gentle smile on her face
"Wow, are you still holding a grudge about the last spar we had? Look, seals are a part of my ability, so why can't I use them?" Naruto shrugged at her and grinned
"Bleh, your seals are a complete cheat in itself, a year and a half ago, you could even temporarily bind one of the three Sanins, what about now?" Sakura rolled her eyes at him and replied
Naruto chuckled, his proficiency in seals has only improved since then, so it's no wonder Sakura finds it to be too much. But honestly, Sakura's raw strength simply left him helpless, so he had no choice but to rely on seals to exhaust her.
"Wow, from what I can hear, Naruto is very strong?" Fu asked
"Yep, best of the best" Naruto patted his chest and said proudly
"No humbleness eh?" Sakura said
"I'm as humble as I am sane" Naruto responded
"Checks out" Sakura sighed
She then whispered to Fu
"The scary part is...he really does think he's humble" She said quietly
"Oi, I can hear you" Naruto interjected
"Aw, you can? What are you going to do?" Sakura stuck her tongue out and said playfully
Naruto grumbled, he couldn't do anything to her either, or she'd just go running to Ino...
Sakura laughed triumphantly
"You two are so fun" Fu laughed with them
"Does this mean we're friends?" She suddenly asked Sakura
Sakura was a little surprised, but then nodded
"Of course" She said
"Yay, my third friend" Fu clapped her hands and grinned
Sakura lifted a brow, from what she can see, Fu is a very bright and easygoing person, but she only has three friends in total? She couldn't understand how such a bright person have so little friends that she got happy to have a third friend.
Naruto gave her a quick nudge, and signaled her not to ask about it at the moment, in which she nodded in response.
"Since we're friends, my treat today" Naruto said as he pointed to Ichiraku ramen.
"Gasp, you're treating? What day is it? Did the sun rise from the west? Who are you, what did you do to Naruto?" Sakura exclaimed in shock
Naruto's expression suddenly became mocking as he laughed
"Fuahahaha, so you saw through my ruse, tis an unexpected accident, but I must now silence you" He said with a dark smile
"Huh? What?" Fu looked at them in stupor, what's going on, why did the mood change again!?
Sakura and Naruto stared at each other for some time before laughing together
"Alright, jokes aside, let's go eat" Naruto said with a grin
"What was that?" Fu asked
"Nothing much, we just fool around a little from time to time, it relieves some stress, especially now that the Chunin exam is happening" Naruto replied, lying through his teeth without even batting an eye.
"Oh" Fu nodded, seemingly understanding what he meant
The Chunin exam is approaching, so it's no wonder some people are getting nervous and stressed.
Sakura didn't bother denying him, as it did help with some of the stress.
When they arrived at Ichiraku ramens, Naruto noticed Ino was eating there already with Choji.
He gestured for the other two to stop for a moment. He then transformed into Sakura, which left them speechless. What is he going to do!?
Naruto walked up to Ino
"Bestie!" Naruto said with a wide grin
Ino turned around and her eyes lit up
"Ah, bestie, come give me a hug" Ino opened her arms up and hugged 'Sakura', while the real Sakura was speechless as she watched from afar.
"Let me tell you, last night in the dream space, I threw Sasuke-kun to the ground, ripped off his shirt and-"
"STOP!" Realising what Naruto was doing Sakura ran over as fast as she could and covered Naruto's mouth.
"E-Eh? Sakura? Two of you? Then...." She eyed Naruto
"Na-kun, could that be you?" She asked
Naruto laughed as he transformed back
"I can't believe you would expose me like that, Sakura"
"If I didn't, my reputation would have been ruined!" Sakura exclaimed
"Reputation? What reputation?" Naruto asked cluelessly
"Not everyone is like you, shameless to the bone" Sakura responded
The two glared at each other, leaving Ino helpless as she gestured for them to stop arguing.
"Alright, alright, you came to eat, right? Let's not argue"
The two glanced at each other, then giggled
"Sorry bestie, we were just messing around" She clasped her hands together and said
"Ah?"
Seeing that things were resolved, Fu ran over
"Hi, I'm Fu, Naruto's best friend" Fu said with a wide grin as she faced Ino, who was taken aback by her sudden appearance
"H-Hi, I'm Ino, you...wait, Naruto's best friend?" Ino shot Naruto a glare, wondering where he picked this girl up from.
Naruto's lips twitched, did she immediately assume he was showing interest in another girl?
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask" Fu suddenly asked
"Yeah?" Ino responded
"You and Naruto are dating, right?"
"Mn, yeah, what about it?" Her tone was a little less friendly than before
"Then..."
Fu suddenly gestured with two hands, one circle formed with two fingers, with a finger going through it
"Does that mean you two did this and that?" She asked with an eager look
"...." Ino was stunned, so were everyone else
But that shock soon became embarrassment as her face turned completely red.
"Th-That, o-of co-course not!" She stuttered constantly
Choji looked back, and hearing the content, he promptly turned back towards the bowl of ramen and continued to eat.
Naruto lifted a brow
"I'm not looking to die yet, why would I?" He replied
"HAH!?" Fu's question was shocking enough, but Naruto's reply to it, what is that even about!?
Naruto crossed his arms
"Inoichi-san has gotten insanely strong ever the past year, just a month ago, Ino and I ended up falling asleep after training, because the position was a little ambiguous, I ended up getting chased by him across the whole village, I swear, I saw the visage of a tailed beast slowly form behind him" Naruto sighed as his eyes revealed a lingering trace of fear.
"That strong?" Fu, not understanding the overall situation, gasped in shock
"Ino, your dad is awesome" She said
Ino laughed wryly, indeed, her dad is strong....but that strength seems to only activate when Naruto is involved!
"So yeah, unless I'm craving to have a funeral for myself, I won't openly seek death" Naruto replied calmly
"Pfft, so you're scared of your father-in-law" Fu pointed at him and laughed
"Say what you want, if you can find someone scarier than him, I'll worship you" Naruto crossed his arms and said proudly
"Wow, that scary?"
"Only to me" Naruto replied
Ino listened to their back and forth
"Wait, Na-kun, so who is Fu? And how do you know her? I don't think I've seen her in the village before" She asked
"A genin from Takigakure, she came here for the Chunin exam" Naruto replied
"Oh, I see" She eyed Fu, whose eyes were bright and innocent
Her demeanor slowly relaxed, Fu looked like the type to be oblivious about relationships, so she gradually lowered her guard around her.
"On that note, any inside information?" Ino asked Naruto
"Nope~" Naruto smiled
"What inside information" Fu asked
"Oh, Naruto is-"
"I once snuck into the Hokage's office and stole information on the first exam, so she's asking if I did it again" Naruto stopped Ino from talking and said
"Ah!? You can do that? Then...any inside information?" Fu asked eagerly
Naruto, like before, shook his head
"Nope~" He replied in the same way
"You must have, right? Judging from the methods you told me the other day, you must have more tricks" Fu urged, no hesitation about cheating if there was a way to.
Naruto however, remained firm
"Nope, none at all" He said
"Boo" Fu and Ino both tucked their lips and protested
Naruto sighed
"If only you trained as diligently as you try to cheat" He said with a bitter smile
"Hey, I train very diligently" Ino retorted
"Yeah? Then who was the one who was found sleeping on the rooftop during physical training?" Naruto asked
Ino jolted
"I had to carry you home" Naruto sighed
"Y-You carried me? I th-though dad found me and took me home" Ino gulped
"Oh? You were sleeping that deeply?" Naruto couldn't help but chuckle
"I'm doubling your training" He smiled
"No! I'll stop asking about the exam details, okay? Just don't increase my training regiment, I'm tired as is" Ino almost cried
Naruto smiled gently
"Hahaha....nope, you're training until you drop"
Ino regretted asking about the exams. She turned to Fu, and felt a little indignant that only she got punished despite Fu also arguing for it. But since she didn't know her that well, she wasn't sure if she can make such a joke.
If it was Sakura, she'd drag her down with her immediately, but Fu, this is their first meeting.
"As for you, Fu, cheating isn't good"
"Coming from you" Fu rolled her eyes
"Hahaha, I see your point, and my response to that is this" Naruto took out a scroll
"Huh? What is this?" Fu grabbed the scroll and asked
Ino and Sakura both stepped back as they recognised this scroll very well...
*Gulp*
Fu was clueless, slowly opening the scroll, revealing a complicated seal on it that she didn't recognise. But it suddenly shone brightly, and...
*Poof*
Fu looked down, and her expression changed drastically.
She...She...She became a guy!
"A-Ah! What is this!" She exclaimed in shock
"Your punishment for trying to push answers out of me" Naruto smiled
"Th-That-, th-this, ah! I won't stay like this forever, right?" She exclaimed
"No, but as for how long...that depends on my mood" Naruto grinned
"Turn me back, turn me back, turn me back!" She grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently as she cried
"Hahaha, of course, once you apologise to me"
"I'm sorry, I won't ask you for inside information again, just turn me back" Fu sniffled
"Done" Naruto snapped his fingers, and with a puff, Fu went back to normal.
Seeing that she had returned to normal, Fu heaved a sigh of relief. But then, her expression changed once more when she looked down at the scroll. Inside the scroll, it now played a scene, the very scene of her becoming a woman, and freaking the f**k out!
Naruto took the scroll and tucked it away
"Into my collection it goes" He grinned
"Noooo! Burn it, destroy that scroll" Fu shouted
"Sorry, no can do, I collect these things, and I'm not about to let such a rare one go to waste" He replied
"You creep, perv, bad guy" Fu stomped her feet and shouted
"Bleh, blame yourself for being so easily tricked"
Fu tucked her lips and continued to protest against Naruto. But even after a long argument, she couldn't get through to him. And as a result, she simply sat down and ate in silence after Naruto ordered food for everyone.
Her lively energy seemed drained...until she began eating, in which she regained it quickly and ordered five more bowls of ramen after that.
"Damn, she'll eat a hole through my wallet at this rate" Naruto muttered
"Heh, now you know how I feel when I treated you back then" Ino huffed
"Yeah, yeah..." Naruto sighed as he continued to pay for every bowl Fu ordered.
Sakura was no slouch either. Tsunade's training is incredibly intense on her body, so she needs to supplement it with lots of food. As a result...Naruto had to pay for over twenty bowls of ramen that day between Fu and Sakura...
"Sakura, are you gaining weight?" Naruto sighed as he looked at hit empty wallet
"As if" Sakura spat
Ino glanced at the wallet
"Na-kun...you know you can just bring a bigger wallet, right? Your current one can barely hold much at all" Her lips twitched, Naruto insisted on using the same wallet no matter what.
"What? How can you say that about Gama-chan!" Naruto gasped as he tucked the frog wallet away.
"Gama-chan? Ah, right, the wallet's name" Ino sighed
"It's great, I know" Naruto smiled
"I'm still hungry" Fu said
"...Oh, would you look at the time, I think sis is looking for me, cya, bye, I'll treat you next time, give or take another few years" Naruto coughed and teleported away
Ino was left at a loss for words
"Fu, if you're still hungry, I can treat you to other snacks on the way" Ino said
"Really?" Fu's eyes lit up
"Pfft, eat as much as you want" She replied
After spending some time with Fu, she came to realise that Fu is quite like a child. Extremely energetic and playful, as well as mischievous. But she is by no means stupid either, she may get confused at times, but when she really focuses, she is rather sharp.
"How did you and Naruto meet?" Ino asked
"Well, he came to Takigakure to invite us to the Chunin exam, then we just hit it off and became besties" Fu grinned
"Aw, that's nice" Ino smiled
"Yep, he was the first person beside Chomei to become my friend, so he is my best friend" Fu said with a wide smile as she ate the snacks Ino bought.
"First..." Ino's brows furrowed a little, but seeing Fu's bright smile, she didn't press on about the matter.
Fu ate happily, and later returned to her team, where her protectors gave her a stern warning about wandering around. Their attitude towards Fu was less than pleasing, almost as if they're more scared of her causing trouble than her actually being in danger.
That made Ino and Sakura feel that something was off about this. As a result, they went to find Naruto to ask about this matter.
Naruto returned home after lunch, so he wasn't hard to find.
"Fu? Yeah, you can say that she's no different to me in that regard" Naruto leaned back on the couch and said.
"Like you?"
"Yep, the village would actually celebrate if something were to happen to her" Naruto replied
"That bad?" Sakura exclaimed
Naruto nodded
"Yep, which is why I thought it was perfect for me to try and poach her" Naruto grinned
"P-Poach her? Na-kun, you can't be serious" Ino asked
"Hahaha, of course I'm serious, her village treats her badly, and she is a very talented shinobi, so isn't it only right to pull her to Konoha?" Naruto smiled back
Ino fell silent, while Sakura spoke up
"You must have a reason, right? I doubt you're the type to want to poach another shinobi unless they're that noteworthy" Sakura asked
"Bingo, like me, she is the jinchuriki of the seven tailed beast" Naruto responded
!!!!!
The two gasped
"S-Seven tailed beast? Wait, if that's the case, then the village will definitely not agree to this, right?" Ino questioned
"Normally, no, but Takigakure...I'm not sure why, their attitude towards Fu is not just bad, it's in the gutters completely, if she were to die, I think they'd just feel relieved" Naruto's smile faded as he replied
"Th-This, how can they be like that?" Ino asked
Naruto shook his head
"I have no idea, perhaps it's fear, perhaps it's hatred towards the beast itself, but one thing is certain, if we leave Fu to Takigakure, the Akatsuki will capture her, so even if she wasn't a friend, I would not allow the Akatsuki to get what they want" Naruto replied in a low voice
"No wonder...then we must convince Hokage-sama to bring her to our village" Sakura said valiantly
"Huh? Oh, I did that already, she's more than happy to kidnap another village's jinchuriki, so now, it's all up to Takigakure's village head and Fu, once they agree, I will have Fu settle in Konoha" Naruto said
"That's good"
"Of course, there is also a downside to this, if other villages find out about this matter, it will make Konoha a target as a village that controls two tailed beast is too great a threat" Naruto added
"Ah? Right, how will we deal with that?" Ino asked
"Simple, we go to war with them, and crush them" Naruto replied with a cheerful smile
"....any options that doesn't involve wars?"
"Of course, I can go try and assassinate their strongest shinobis, and burn down their storages so they lack the resource to go to war against us" Naruto said happily, seemingly excited about these ideas
"Why are you happy?" Sakura and Ino stared at him in confusion
"Well, I happen to have numerous types of poison made, and no one to use them on, so going to war gives me a perfect reason to test them out" Naruto clasped his hands together and said happily
"...."
Speechless, utterly speechless...
"You're insane" Sakura sighed
"Huh? I'm perfectly sane, kay? All my ideas are well thought out, so if we do go to war, I should begin with chemical warfare, it may be underhanded, but it's the winners that writes history" Naruto said with an innocent look on his face, as if what he says is completely justified
"..."