"Kami, no," Ino answers with such ire, it mildly annoys Kurenai. "You''re not going to tell my parents are you?"


    "I''m not certain," Kurenai answers honestly. "How difficult is it to tend to this orchid?"


    "Very," Ino simply puts.


    "Which means it would likely die under my care," Kurenai reasons. "I need a specialist to avoid killing it. Would you prefer I deal with another florist? As a shinobi, I don''t feel your parents would appreciate my taking such a rare prize to their civilianpetitor."


    "You can sell it," Ino suggests.


    "Again, I would need a florist for their connections," Kurenai responds. "Unless you''d like me to stand in the market ce trying to convince someone to spend seven-hundred and fifty thousand ryo on an orchid. Do you know what you can buy with that amount?"


    "Then" Ino grasps for ideas a couple of seconds before suggesting, "then give it to me and I''ll sell it for you. Just please don''t tell my parents about that baka."


    Again, Kurenai is irked by the casual way Naruto is disregarded, and so assuages the blond. "I will not tell your parents, however, I will not lie to them either."


    "Thank you Kurenai-sensei," Ino states with clear relief.


    "I also have two conditions you must adhere to," Kurenai adds surprising the girl. With her silent nod, Kurenai deres, "one, you will take and tend to the orchid until I decide whether to sell it or not.


    I will, of course, pay you for the work." Though it was a gift from him, Kurenai should talk to Naruto about it. It''s a very expensive gift after all and he might have different ideas for it if he knew the price. "For my second condition, you will join me for a little reconnaissance work."


    She hesitates to ask, "uh, what kind of reconnaissance?"


    "Intelligence gathering," Kurenai answers. "On one, Uzumaki Naruto."


    "What?" she gasps. "Why?"


    "I have questions that need answering," Kurenai simply states, taking a sip of her tea.


    "About that idiot?" Ino asks. "What''s there to know that you haven''t already heard? There are all sorts of rumors about him, like, stealing, rape, and murder, but, I''m not so stupid to believe that kind of fear mongering.


    I only believe what I see, which is the stupid pranks he does, he''s talentless, which is only worse because he''s so loud and annoying about bing Hokage."


    Having heard all of that and more, Kurenai expresses her dissatisfaction. "Well, I wonder about all of that."


    "Why?" Ino can''t help but ask the beautiful kunoichi. "How do you even know Naruto, if you don''t mind my asking? You''re Team 8''s sensei, so why would you care about that idiot more than Kakashi-sensei?"


    "You shouldn''t specte on Kakashi-sensei''s diligence toward his students," Kurenai quickly asserts before adding, "Uzumaki-kun has been assisting me for several weeks now. Interacting with him has led me to wonder about a number of things I would like rification on."


    "Like what?" Ino follows up, not at all expecting the idiot to be helpful to such a beautiful woman, but then wondering about what Sakura said of him. Ino''s mind is curious and her body is pushing to delve deeper into his world.


    "Like everything," Kurenai answers easily.


    As Ino mentally repeats, ''it has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the deal,'' Ino states in a huff, "okay."


    NARUTO


    ''Ah, the Escort Mission to Wave,'' Naru-nii recalls with mncholy.


    ''I''m just happy it''s not another stinkin'' D-Rank mission,'' Naruto thinks as he walks with his team in formation around Tazuna-jiji. ''Besides, I have way too much energy,'' Naruto adds.


    ''Yeesh, maybe it was a good thing I never had sex,'' Naru-niiments more to himself before really thinking about it.


    The way Naru-nii trails off, Naruto adds, ''how amped up I''m feeling, I''d say you were right, if you weren''t so wrong Nii-san.''


    Naru-niiughs before offering, ''rx. You''ve got clones training right now. Dispel them when you want to feel tired.''


    ''That helps, but it''s more physical energy than chakra energy. Nai-chan wouldn''t even budge the night before I left. Like, that''s so mean! And now we''re walking suuuper slow when I feel like I can run all day!''


    ''Well, putting the smoking hot sex aside, I get having too much energy. Which is good because you''re going to need it for this mission. Actually, there was something that I wanted to talk to you about.''


    ''What''s up?''


    ''You remember how I said we have to be careful with some stuff? Like, if we change too much, I won''t know how things y out before they happen to you?''


    ''Yeah''


    ''This is one mission I want to change no matter what.''


    ''What about the future?'' Naruto''s concern asks, trying to calm down his energetic muscles.''You said it could be dangerous to change stuff.''


    ''I can still help in other ways; like with training and info on shinobi to watch out for,'' Naru-nii assures him. ''Besides, I think we can both agree you''re already doing stuff I''ve never done.''


    ''Okay,'' Naruto agrees with a shrug. ''So what do you want to change?''


    ''There''s a person I want you to try and save,'' Naru-nii expresses. ''His name is Haku. You''ll know it''s him because he looks like a girl and he''s got long dark hair. He also pretends to be a hunter-nin.''


    ''Why''s Haku so important?''


    ''Haku is one of those shinobi who''s had it as bad or worse than us. He lost his parents too and he was alone until he met Zabuza.''


    ''Zabuza?''


    ''Kiri Jnin. Crazy strong. You''ll have to be extra careful around him. He thinks he''s a monster, and to some extent he is.


    He knows a lot about the dark side of the shinobi world but he''s wrong about the things that matter.''


    ''What''s that?''


    ''Friends aren''t tools. Ninja''s have feelings. And we''re not just fighting machines for the highest bidder.''


    .


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