Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Naruto Dragon Champion ❯ Festival Spirit Part 1 ( Chapter 43 )

Naruto - The Twin Swords

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Naruto so let's leave it at that all right?

Chapter 31

Part 1

Festival Spirit

( ): Thoughts

((“ ”)): Holy Talon's voice

--------

In Naruto's house....

Naruto was happy as he counted down all his current earnings from all the sales that he had been able to make with the new gear for Suna as well as that of Konoha's own ANBU forces and it was very high. Coupled with the funds that he had earned in his work as a Chuunin, he was more than able to live comfortably and could even consider retiring as a ninja, but he was not the kind of person to think such things for the time being as he counted all the money he had.

Back then in his younger days and when Sarutobi was still the Hokage, he would receive money every now and then to handle his living expenses, but he always made sure to store some away and keep it safe, now however, he had far more money than he could ever hope to earn, and it made him feel happy, though he kept in mind that his money had to be either kept safe or put to good use, and he already had some plans, he had saved up a tidy sum in the bank with the aid of Iruka who was more than willing to help him make his own bank account to store his sum away to let it grow and become larger.

The other portion was for his own needs in the house as well as making sure that he was able to buy food, clothing, equipment and the like in order to make his living a lot more comfortable while here in Konoha, and he also focused the other portions for other things. He however was saving up a good sum of his money to help make life easier for the Hokage. He knew of Tsunade's mountain of debt and he hoped to at least alleviate some of it so that the Hokage wouldn't have to worry about her debts all the time, she already had her hands full in taking care of Konoha and it's people so he needed to do something to lessen the burden on his Tsunade-chan.

He knew Tsunade was proud and would not ask for help unless she needed it, but he was still a very kind hearted guy and wanted to do what he could help make sure that the lives of his loved ones were safer. As soon as he was done counting his money, he smiled, he was nowhere near as rich as his perverted Sensei was, but he was more than able to take care of most if not all of his daily needs while in the village.

He then heard knocking on the door and headed over to see who would be paying him a visit in his home at this time of the day.

“Coming.”

As soon as he opened the door, he heard a certain puppy bark in greeting while riding on the head of a certain Inuzuka youth, Kiba grinned and spoke to Naruto as he and Shino were there in front of the blonde.

“Yo, Naruto, you all right?”

Naruto smiled at the arrival of both his close comrades and friends as he replied.

“Yeah, I'm all right, you want to come in?”

Both Genin nodded and Naruto let them into his home and directed them to the living room while he got some fruit and light snacks that he had with him in the refrigerator, as soon as he set them down and they began to chat, the Inuzuka youth spoke to Naruto.

“Nice to see you having much better life though I can bet it ain't easy to say the very least.”

Naruto grinned at that and replied.

“You're not kidding, but it's a ninja's life, so what brings you and Shino here to my home, no missions today?”

Kiba smiled a bit as he ate the roast beef sandwich and spoke after eating it.

“No missions, but we are planning to take part in the soon to come Land of Fire Festival, figured it would be a good thing to relax to after that whole episode with Mizuki, plus it will be nice to finally get to have some time to catch up on a few things.”

Shino then spoke as well as he drank the fruit juice.

“I agree with Kiba on that one, the last battle we fought in was unlike what I'm normally used to, so a bit of a break is in order, by the way, there is something I have been meaning to ask, have you any plans for the festival Naruto?”

The blonde Chuunin thought about that and shook his head.

“Not at the moment, but when it comes then I'll think of something to do, so what do you guys plan to do today?”

Kiba was naturally the first to speak and replied.

“I figured I can go to the clinic to give Akamaru his annual check up, with my sister Hana handling things there in the clinic, it shouldn't take too long to do, plus I'm going to drop by the greenhouse grab some of those herbs that Liara makes and ask if she has more of the bread that she commonly makes.”

Naruto smiled a bit at that as he had a feeling that Kiba had another reason to go and seek out Liara but he decided that it was not really his business to enter into, besides, Kiba was a man and he deserved to do what he needed to do when the time came for him to do it as well, besides, he and Liara were all right in some ways, nod doubt due to Liara's abilities and her standing with the Inuzuka family since Tsume and Hana approve of her after all.

Shino then spoke.

“I have to oversee some important matters with my family for the time being so I would have to hold on attending the opening parts of the festival, afterwards I might decide to visit the greenhouse and speak to Tellis about some other matters that I think need her attention, considering her skill in talking to insects the way my clan does.”

That made Naruto smile even more to himself and decided that he should keep out of things as he had a feeling that Shino deserved to be the one to make the moves himself and therefore he would only help his friend if he asked for it, though he had had his doubts about that as Shino was always the more intellectual one of the group and asking for help was not in his forte so to speak.

“Sounds like you guys have everything settled already, so what do you guys think of the people from Dagern?”

Kiba and Shino smiled a bit or rather Kiba did as Naruto had no idea what was Shino's thoughts on the matter and they talked about much of a help they were in the village and that was something that Naruto was very happy to hear as he hoped that the women were given a good deal of support from his fellow villagers and hearing good things about them was more than enough to make him feel a lot more assured that they were doing a good enough job of being able to integrate with the people of his village.

It was then that he got a knock on the door and excused himself to see who was knocking on his door, and as soon as he opened the door, he was surprised to see none other than the ANBU Captain who was still wearing his mask and next to him were both Yamato and Uzuki and before he could figure out what they were doing here in his home of all places, Uzuki was the first to speak.

“Good morning to you Naruto-kun, we have news for you about the equipment you have made for us. We've began to put them to training use and many of the ANBU are impressed with the work that you put into them, even if there aren't that many of them for the time being, these will be very helpful indeed in a situation where we cannot have you with us.”

The ANBU Captain then spoke to the blonde Chuunin.

“We have managed to gather a large donation of ryo from all the members of the ANBU and also we have decided to give you a special offer if you wish. We got approval of this from none other than Kakashi -sensei himself, if you want we can have you serve as a teacher among the ANBU as well.”

Naruto was quite surprised by that and decided to think it over for the time being while Kiba and Shino were very much impressed by the news that Naruto was being considered as a new teacher for the ANBU, but considering the creatures that he had already fought with before, then he was a very good teacher. Naruto smiled and bowed down to the ANBU Captain and spoke.

“I'll think it over, but I am honoured that you are asking me to be a teacher to the ANBU.”

The ANBU nodded and they were soon able to leave as they had other important matters to handle on their own terms as well, it was also when another person arrived, but in this case, it was a ninja mailman who quickly handed the blonde Chuunin a letter and spoke to him in a very respectful manner.

“Greetings to you Naruto-san, I have a shipment from you from Koyuki Kazahana of Spring/Snow Country.”

Naruto wondered what this was about and signed the papers, as soon as the man left, he looked at the letter to see just what was it that Koyuki-hime had sent him.

`Dear Naruto-kun....

I am happy to say that the film we made together has proven to be a box office hit all over the world and it has truly been raking in the payoffs, which I have used to help further the research on the perfection of the Generator here in my country, but I couldn't have done it all without you Naruto-kun, you made a wonderful actor, and more besides. The crew and cast of the film think so as well and for that, they have given you a large percentage of the film's sales. As of right now, there is at least a full six million ryo here in this check to thank you. No amount of money can repay you for all you have done for me as a princess, a leader, an actress....and most important of all....as a woman. And for that reason I hope that you enjoy this gift and make good use of it all.

Koyuki Kazahana.'

Naruto smiled and planned to thank Koyuki for this gift as this would help him make part of his plans come true and that was naturally concerning a certain blonde Sannin.

--------

Later...

Tsunade sighed as she took a good long drink of the cold fruit tea, the Hokage would have preferred sake, but drinking sake on the job was asking for trouble and the juice was nice so there was no reason for her to complain all that much for this part of the day. She was busy overseeing the soon to come festival that was going to be lasting a week at best, it was something that she was very much looking forward to as she needed something in order to get her spirits up, the past few weeks had been really difficult and she was eager for a break. However she was not happy with the fact that she still had to deal with the debt that was there in the back of her mind, she hoped that sooner or later, she would finally have to make the money needed to pay off the debt, she however decided to place those thoughts aside and focus on making the festival better for all of Konoha, it had been some time since this particular festival in her mind and a chance to have some peace was welcomed indeed.

As she drank her drink it was then that Naruto arrived and smiled at her while carrying a large bag, this was enough to make Tsunade all the more curious as to what he was smiling about as she placed down the glass.

“What is it Naruto-kun?”

The blonde placed the bag down and replied.

“It's a special gift, I managed to get a good deal of ryo together and had it all piled neatly for you to use to pay off your debts, or at least part of it.”

That got the Sannin's attention as she looked in the bag and her eyes widened, the money was a lot and would help pay a good portion of her gambling debt, it was quite a present from her loved one and she looked at Naruto with a very warm smile on her face as she looked at him. She knew that he was not the kind to waste money unless it was for a good cause, and truth be told, she decided to put this money into paying a good portion of her gambling debts as this would make her life a whole lot easier.

She stood up and hugged Naruto deeply while speaking to him in the ear.

“Thank you Naruto-kun, this is a nice gift from.”

“Not a problem Tsunade-chan, I wanted to make you smile since you've been very busy here.”

The Sannin laughed a bit as she parted and kissed Naruto on the cheek and spoke.

“You're such a nice man, anyway, I think that since the festival is coming, you can finally take a much needed break from all the things that you have been doing for the past few weeks, the ANBU told me that your equipment is really working out well for them and that is a good thing in my book. At any rate, since there's no missions for today, I think some simple socializing is in order for you.”

Naruto grinned at that and then thought about something.

“Say, isn't Sakura-chan supposed to be training with you today Tsunade-chan?”

The blonde Hokage nodded and replied.

“She's currently working in the Konoha hospital and also studying in the Konoha Medical Archives to sharpen her medical skills....oh yes, speaking of which, I have some scrolls for her to read, could you bring those over to her?”

“Sure thing!”

--------

In the Konoha Medical Archives...

Sakura moved her neck a bit to lessen the stiffness as she was currently reading on some documents relating to the various kinds of poison making components and how to counter them or even to make them more potent than before. Ever since she had taken up her training with Tsunade as her apprentice, she had been doing all that she could in order to make herself a worthy successor to the Hokage's reputation and make her own in the process. She felt very much elated with the fact that she had indeed gotten better each day and her strength had grown a good deal so she could be a worthy ally to her team.

She sighed a bit and felt a slight rumble in her stomach and she felt a bit embarrassed, in all her studies, she had forgotten to bring some food and decided to take a break for a bit. But she was then greeted by the arrival of a certain blonde Chuunin who came through the door just as she was about to leave .

“Naruto-kun?”

The blonde Chuunin grinned and walked over to Sakura, this time he had the scrolls in one hand and a large bento box in the other.

“Hi there Sakura-chan, Tsunade-sama asked me to drop these scrolls to you for reading, and I figured that since you've been studying for a while, you might get hungry so I dropped by your home and asked your mom if she had some food for you to have.”

Sakura smiled warmly and took the bento box and placed it on the table, afterwards she took the scrolls and spoke to him.

“Thank you so much Naruto-kun, you've made my day.”

The blonde smiled and as she sat down, he sat next to her and despite not being a medical expert, he had to admit that all the knowledge that Sakura was getting into her mind was very impressive to say the very least and he had noted that her strength had grown a good deal since they had last worked together, he then noted the stiffness in her body and he decided to be nice to her even more as he then stood up and began to massage her shoulders and neck.

This action made Sakura moan out in pleasure and relaxation as the pink haired Kunoichi felt a good deal of the tension in her body begin to fade away, something that she had been hoping to tend to when she was done with her current studies, it made her all the more pleased that Naruto was the one helping her. She had begun to love him more as time passed and while she still cared for Sasuke, her romantic feelings were on the blonde Chuunin.

“Mmmm....that feels nice...right there....”

Naruto couldn't help but tease her a bit.

“If I didn't know any better Sakura-chan, I'd think you were purring like a kitten.”

Sakura smiled at that and laughed a bit.

“And what if I am?”

Naruto smiled and carried on with his actions, making Sakura moan in pleasure as she felt her stiffness disappear. This carried for a few more minutes until Sakura felt very relaxed and made that obvious to the blonde Chuunin who stopped and allowed her to stretch out a bit to get rid of the remaining stiffness in her body. As he bid her goodbye to let her study, she smiled and gently kissed Naruto on the cheek and got back to her work, however before he could leave she spoke to him once more.

“Hey Naruto-kun, care to spar with me later today?”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it'll be a good way for me to see how far I've come and how far you've come.”

Naruto thought it over and nodded.

“Sure thing, I'll be in the training field later today.”

--------

Later...

As the day hit mid morning, Naruto, wearing only his regular clothes, was currently training in the field with Holy Talon in several sword wielding techniques while sparring with a pair of his Kage Bushin in order to get into shape while also finding loop holes in his own defences. Having learned the advantage of the Kage Bushin as a training tool, Naruto took it further by using the Kage Bushin to use battle techniques that he normally used in order to test himself as well as find weak points that he could fix in order to avoid being caught off guard.

One Kage Bushin was armed with two katanas and the other one carried a sword and shield, so far, the blonde was getting into the swing of things as the Kage Bushin were really going all out on him and he was with them, the three were busy fighting long and hard with one another so the blonde would have all the time to train himself properly in battle with anyone, as soon as he was able to defeat his Kage Bushin and they disappeared, the knowledge and experience they had gained would be his, allowing him to know how to best attack and defend himself.

He took it further when he moved and summoned another set of Kage Bushin and these were armed with a set of different weapons, one was armed with the Wing Spear, another was armed with a two handed sword and the last was armed with the longbow. The one with the long bow provided long range support for the others as they began to test Naruto hard as they attacked in random intervals as well as in pairs, this was serious training that was recommended by Holy Talon as it had determined that Naruto could learn more effectively if being attacked in random patterns to learn on the fly.

He was already covered in sweat as he moved quickly through the battle, dodging attacks and blocking them as well to get his plans in order. He needed to be at the top of his game in order to be ready for the fight.

((“You seem to be doing very well at the moment Master Naruto.”))

(Yeah, this training regime is really something.)

((“You will need all the training you can get at this point and time Master, I have been able to gather my powers slowly and soon will be back to full power in another amount of time.”))

(That's good to hear.)

As the time wore in, it was when Sakura arrived on the scene that the Kage Bushin finally poofed away as Naruto sighed a bit and sat down on the trunk of the cut down tree, she had seen a good portion of the fight while she was there and she couldn't help but feel pride in Naruto as she had seen how dedicated he was in this manner of training.

(If he was only like this back in our Academy, he would not have been so alone.)

The pink haired Kunoichi was a bit sad at that train of thought as she recalled that back then she and the other girls with the exception of Hinata had never taken Naruto seriously, but now that she had seen how truly dedicated he was to being a great ninja, she felt a great desire to prove herself to not just to her own mind and those who knew her, but to Naruto as well, she had been training herself well and Tsunade's serious training methods had proven to be highly effective in making her a better ninja, and now was the right time for her to put her training to the test as she walked over to Naruto and called out to him to inform him that she was there to be with him today for some needed training.

“Naruto-kun!”

The blonde smiled and greeted her as she came closer to him.

“Nice to see that you made it Sakura-chan!!!”

The two hugged one another and as soon as Sakura saw the sweat there, she sighed and couldn't help but smile a bit as she spoke.

“You've been working hard Naruto-kun, you sure you want to spar with me?”

The blonde grinned and replied.

“You bet I am, I am more than ready to see how much you've trained under Tsunade-chan, I saw your strength before Sakura-chan so this will be a very interesting situation for both of us.”

The pink haired Kunoichi nodded at the truth in that particular statement as she got herself ready as they faced one another while Naruto decided to place Holy Talon aside for the moment and he then faced Sakura and the two of them bowed towards one another and as soon as they were done bowing before one another, they got into fighting position and it was a waiting game for them make the first move.

Sakura was the first and quickly moved in, showing that she had increased her speed and strength, Naruto briefly spotted her feet being covered in her chakra and he was quickly able to realize that she was using her chakra to increase her movement speed in conjunction with her already present speed and he was barely able to dodge several powerful punches that were soon followed by a powerful spinning kick that he had to flip over, Sakura quickly recovered however and reached upward to grab his clothing and toss him to the side.

Naruto was able to land on a tree but quickly moved away as Sakura attacked with a powerful charging elbow that quickly smashed into the tree and the tree was cut violently in half as the pink haired Kunoichi focused her chakra control into her attacks. Naruto landed and whistled at the sight.

“Wow! That was impressive Sakura-chan, though why are you going all out on me?”

Sakura looked at Naruto as she relaxed herself and spoke back with a serious but non evil smile.

“I have to show how serious I want to be as a ninja so I have to go all out, just because I happen to be falling for you and care for you Naruto-kun doesn't mean that I can't be serious about sparring with you.....besides, I won't be able to see how far I have come if I don't face someone with full power. So please....don't hold back on me either Naruto-kun.”

Naruto thought about that and knew that this was important to Sakura as he could see in her eyes that she was serious and wanted to be taken seriously by him as well. He had a fairly accurate idea on why as she wanted to be a great ninja and prove that she could be a good support for the team, he would have wanted to assure her that she was already good, but his time in learning everything he could and his experiences taught him that sometimes the best way to show your full strength is through action, not only words. Sakura wanted to pit herself against someone who could bring out her full power and it seemed that she wanted him to be the one to test her to the limits, she had already proven herself in battle in his eyes when they worked together, but this spar might be something that she needed.

He didn't know if what he was thinking as all right, but if Sakura-chan wanted to go at full power, then he should show his full power as well as doing anything less would be making her seem weak.

With that in mind, he nodded as he focused himself and took his fighting position and replied.

“All right, I won't hold back Sakura-chan....I might not completely like this but I'll do it anyway.”

Sakura nodded and got herself ready as Naruto attacked, she began to fight back, keeping in mind that Naruto had received a great deal of training from many sources so she would need to go full power, she however wanted to make sure that they didn't suddenly kill each other in some fashion as they began to trade punches and kicks with one another. The result of this was obvious as the field became a battle ground of considerable force as the two went at one another.

Naruto blocked and dodged some of Sakura's fierce attacks as they began to fight in close combat with Naruto using his training in both the Hyuuga Gentle Fist with Lee and Gai's Strong Fist as well as his very own style of Taijutsu as well as the techniques he had been able to pick up in his own training with the spirits of the other Dragon Champions as well as his present mastery of the Boundless State of combat. Sakura herself was able to block and dodge the attacks well using her own experiences as well as the training she had gotten from Tsunade while using her strength training to push herself to fight evenly as she could sense that Naruto was dead serious about going all out with his own abilities.

This proved to be quite an over the top battle as the place was covered with clouds of dust as well as some shattered trees and boulders nearby as they moved from one part of the field to the next. If one who was unable to be there before to hear the discussion between the two, that person would have thought that both Naruto and Sakura were trying to kill one another, but they were not as they were able to go at it without resorting to fatal force as of yet.

Sakura was proving to be a real challenge for Naruto as she had begun to use her chakra control to her advantage in Ninjutsu as she used some more advanced moves with Bushin to keep him guessing, and when she did hit him, it really hurt but he forced down the pain of the attacks and gave as good as he got. Sakura winced in pain but ignored it as she felt happy that she was able to hold her own before Naruto. The two continued to fight with one another with Holy Talon watching over the fight between the two of them, the sword observed them well and didn't stop as this was between the two of them and it could sense that they were not having full killer intent on one another.

The two also felt something connecting them in this fight as they were able to see one another in full power, seeing Sakura fight with full power behind her was something that amazed Naruto and he liked what he was seeing from Sakura, somehow when she was going all out before him and in such a fashion, she seemed to be more attractive to him, it was as if seeing her like this was an arousing sight and for a brief moment, Naruto wondered if he had lost his mind. The same could be said in Sakura's case as she sparred with her team mate and loved one as she was able to see up close how intense he looked in this fight, he was not holding anything back and showing his full power and that seemed to make him look all the more attractive to her.

The fight lasted for another half hour, one of the longest and the most explosive fights anyone would see from such young people, so it was natural that some people would be able to see it and soon enough a small crowd was there. This crowd kept a fair distance from the sight and the people there were none other than Kakashi, Kaelyn, Iruka, Tsunade, and even Ebisu. The Jonin sensei of the two fighting there whistled and spoke.

“Wow....this is the first time I've seen those two go all out at one another like this....for a brief moment there I thought both had lost their minds or something....but they seem to be....enjoying themselves.”

Kaelyn nodded and replied.

“They are....if I didn't know any better, I would think that Naruto was using the courtship duel of the Fire Dancers with his team mate there.”

Iruka was also impressed at this, he had never seen Sakura use her training from Tsunade before and seeing this was an impressive feat to say the least. Ebisu himself was enjoying the sight as he saw shades of the same Taijutsu training he had given Naruto on his off hours.

Tsunade herself was looking at the fight with an interested eye as both Naruto and Sakura were fighting one another, she had been on another run when she sensed the fight going on and headed in that direction, when she saw that Naruto and Sakura were fighting she had thought of stopping it but seeing that they were sparring as well as enjoying themselves she stopped herself and merely observed the whole thing. She also had no doubt that Holy Talon would soon tell it's master of their arrival soon enough.

The fighting finally ended with the two of them stopping and panting before one another, the audience looked at them as the landscape was turned into a proverbial war zone with shattered trees, holes in the ground, broken boulders, and more. The two faced one another and then....began to laugh in a very amused fashion, surprising the observers and Naruto spoke to Sakura.

“That was one heck of a fight, you've really improved Sakura-chan!”

“I'd say the same for you as well Naruto-kun. You hurt anywhere?”

Naruto nodded and Sakura went to work and began to heal Naruto in the areas where her attacks had connected and that was enough to make Naruto sigh in relief as the pain began to fade away and when she was done treating him, she did the same thing to herself as well. As soon as they were done with their injuries from their sparring, it was then that their audience arrived, much to their surprise as they had been so focused on their sparring match that they were not able to sense them at all.

The others commented on the battle and it was a very interesting discussion for most and when it was over, Naruto and Sakura were soon back in Konoha and were in the mood to take a much needed rest from their sparring and they spent it in the Ichiraku Ramen bar and both Teuchi and Ayame were more than willing to play hosts, it was then that Naruto asked where Sasuke was.

“I haven't seen Sasuke-kun in a while actually, but I heard he was busy training somewhere in his family's old compound.”

Naruto hoped that whatever his team mate was doing at this moment in his family's old home, it was not going to take all of his time as he wanted to make sure that Sasuke didn't become a full scale recluse in his own village, though he was still somewhat wary of Sasuke's changes as of late. Naruto knew that watching over his team mate was going to be a serious priority soon enough so he had to be ready for anything.

“You think he'll be all right Sakura-chan?'

Sakura nodded and replied.

“I certainly hope so....though I am rather worried about him....he's becoming more reckless and reclusive, not to mention he seems to be training himself to near exhaustion at times and also he seems to have some sort of....issue with you Naruto-kun, I'm really worried about all that, for both you and Sasuke-kun.”

“I understand.”

The two ate their food well and as soon as they were done, Naruto decided to escort Sakura back to her family's home and bid both her and her parents good bye as he had things to take care of back in his home, one of which was the making of some new gifts that would be of good use for some people who he needed to give these gifts too.

--------

The first day of the festival...

“Man....this is so cool!”

Naruto spoke out as he saw the festival begin all over the village, it would be seriously nice to finally get a break from all the things he had been dealing with for some time. The areas of the festival that got his attention were the games area, on his back was Holy Talon and the sword spoke to it's master.

((“You seem very pleased Master Naruto.”))

(Yeah, usually when I was in a festival in my younger years, I was usually unable to have full fun since I had to be cautious with my money, now however, I can really cut loose and have some fun for a change. Anyway, anything here that you can sense is a threat?)

((“Not at the moment Master Naruto, feel free to have some fun, and speaking of which, there's someone you need to be with.”))

(Oh, who's that?)

((“Look over there.”))

Naruto did as Holy Talon suggested and there was Ino who was currently chatting with Shikamaru, Chouji and their own companions Meer, and Shandra as the two women were currently wearing civilian garb and were not armed, he saw that Shikamaru and Meer were not trying to hurt one another and that was a good thing in his mind as he recalled just how the two had met according to Asuma, while Chouji and Shandra seemed to be getting along all right for now. He moved over towards them and called out to the group.

“Hey there!”

Ino and the others turned and the blonde Genin smiled warmly at the sight of Naruto while Chouji grinned and Shikamaru merely smirked and when the blonde was with them, Chouji showed to him a large sandwich of roasted beef with all the trimmings.

“Hey Naruto, you have got to try these sandwiches they are really good!”

Naruto shook his head at that with a grin on his face, just like Chouji to always have food in his hand and he replied.

“Maybe later Chouji, I'll got try some of that when I get the chance, where are you guys going?”

Shikamaru replied.

“We were supposed to meet up with Asuma-sensei and Vlana-san since she's planning to be watching the festival as well as grab some food, I got dragged into this since my old man and mom wanted me to get out of the house every now and then. Personally I don't like this sort of thing....it's...”

“Such a drag...stop being such a lazy stick in the mud and enjoy life for once.”

Shikamaru looked in annoyance at Meer while the Steel Lancer merely smirked right back at him, making him sigh and that made the others smirk at the way Shikamaru was being kept in some control by the woman though it seemed that there was no malice involved in her words towards him, besides, even if he didn't show it, he did find the woman to be all right in most respects. It was then that Ino spoke to the others as she had thought that this was a good a time as any to have some alone time with Naruto as she had yet to ask the blonde Chuunin and Dragon Champion out on a date with her.

As she got that down she spoke to her team mates.

“Hey guys, I need to chat with Naruto-kun here for a minute about some other matters, do you mind?”

Shikamaru raised an eye brow at that and decided to nod as he and Chouji decided to go ahead, he had no idea what was going on but he had faith in both Ino and Naruto and after seeing Naruto in action already he was more than willing to trust Naruto with Ino's safety. As soon as they were all away, the blonde Genin then spoke to the blonde Chuunin with a very happy tone that was fairly obvious to anyone within earshot.

“It's a great festival here today, I haven't seen this in a while now.”

Naruto nodded in agreement to that and it was then that Ino spoke to him.

“Say Naruto-kun, do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“You have anything to do today?”

Naruto, having been through this before already had a fairly accurate idea on what was the reason as to why Ino would ask him that and he smiled warmly at that and spoke back.

“Nothing at the moment, but I can bet you want to change that right Ino-chan?”

The blonde Kunoichi grinned at that and replied.

“Of course I do so where to Naruto-kun?”

The two looked about and began to be on their date, Ino wished that she had gotten the chance to get herself dressed up properly but Naruto then told her that she looked fine in whatever she was wearing, making the blonde Genin smile a bit at what he had said to her. They spent the morning enjoying the sights and sounds of the festival as they moved about. Naruto also took the time to be as good a date as possible with Ino and it seemed that his efforts were doing well enough since she was enjoying herself well enough.

They spent a good deal of time trying out the various stands that were there and when it was lunch time, Naruto was quick to order some food that Ino liked and they headed to his home and when they got there, Naruto played host and got some extra food for the day and they ate their food well, all the while, Ino and Naruto were able to relax and as soon as the dishes were done, Naruto helped clean the dishes and as soon as that was done, they moved from the dining area to the living room to rest a bit after all the walking while he placed Holy Talon aside for the time being, it was here that the blonde Chuunin and Dragon Champion decided to surprise Ino with her gift.

“By the way Ino-chan, I have something for you.”

“Oh? What would that be Naruto-kun?”

The blonde grinned and then left to get the item while Ino waited to see just what was it that Naruto had for her, she didn't have to wait long and Naruto revealed it to be a specially made belt made from strong yet soft and supple leather, it had a length of braided metal there that was silver and gold as well as having gemstones there as well, there were also clasps there that would hold the belt together when it was worn.

Ino was impressed by that and couldn't help but be awed at the way it was made and accepted the gift with open arms and spoke to Naruto.

“Thank you....it's beautiful Naruto-kun.”

“Yeah, but it's not for mere looks Ino-chan, it's got the ability to create a powerful invisible barrier around your body when you use your family's Jutsu to keep you safe and it can create a powerful healing shroud around you to make sure that you will be healed at all times. I saw how you used your Jutsu before so I thought that I could make you something that can be of great help to you.”

Ino blushed deeply at the gift, she knew that it must have taken a great deal of time and effort for Naruto to make something like this and it was both a beautiful gift and a useful one as well that would prove useful in battle, she took it into her hands and then gently kissed Naruto on the cheek in thanks, but she naturally had other plans in mind as she was quick to make the kiss a lot deeper and more personal the very second that she sensed that she had an opening with the blonde Chuunin.

Naruto was quick to pick up on the sudden change in the way that Ino was kissing him and he didn't resist in the slightest as he began to kiss Ino right back with equal passion between them, as soon as they parted, the blonde Kunoichi was quick to blush and whisper into Naruto's ear.

“Are you ready for me to thank you for the gift Naruto-kun?”

The blonde grinned and replied by showing a more bold aspect of his personality when he gently reached down to caress Ino's posterior gently, making the blonde Kunoichi moan and blush even more while Naruto watched in a very seductive fashion as he replied.

“Oh yes I am.”

--------

Later in the afternoon...

Naruto woke up and stretched himself somewhat as he looked about and spotted Ino sleeping there with a contented smile on her face, he grinned at that and decided to check the time and see what time it was, his clock showed that it was already three o'clock in the afternoon and he could still hear that the festival was underway, he noted that maybe it would be best that he got Ino awake and helped her get home since there was a chance that she was being looked for by the others.

He gently touched Ino's shoulder and whispered into her ear gently.

“Ino-chan, time to wake up.”

The woman moaned and opened her eyes and then smiled at him as she reached out and caressed his face as she spoke to Naruto.

“Thanks Naruto-kun, I really should head on home, thanks for the gift by the way, I'll be able to put it to good use soon enough.”

“Not a problem Ino-chan.”

The two got up and quickly got dressed and Ino was quick to wear the belt and as soon as they grabbed a quick drink and a meal, they headed out and were soon in the village and met up with Ino's team who were eager to go through the rest of the festival's surprises and stands, Ino waved to them and once more thanked Naruto for the gift and she left with her group. Naruto bid them farewell and was enjoying the memories of that after lunch romp as he looked at Ino. It was then however he was suddenly greeted the voice of yet another person.

“You seem to be in a very good mood young Champion.”

Naruto turned as he recognized Nyra's voice, the disguised female Fire Dragon was in her usual clothes and she seemed to be in a very good mood as she was looking at the entire festival as well as the food that was there. He couldn't help but notice that despite wearing normal civilian clothes, the disguised female Dragon was attracting a very good deal of attention from the people there, namely those of the male persuasion. Not that he could blame them as Nyra was undeniably attractive though he was relieved that she was able to hide her horns as those would have caught anyone's attention and there was no telling that set of attention was good or not.

“Nice to see you as well Nyra, how do you find the festival?”

“it's nice enough, not like some of the villages I have seen so far but it certainly has it's moments when one knows where to look, anyway, you seem to be rather deep in thought.”

“I guess so....”

The disguised female dragon then grinned in a very seductive fashion and then spoke to him.

“O you were thinking of your little party with that blonde earlier?”

“How did you?”

Nyra laughed gently and replied.

“I can tell from the way she smiled and walked, you two have been busy in your home, besides, you two might have been able to clean each other up, the smells of both your activities are still there, though you might have been able to hide it, you can't hide anything like that from a Dragon like myself.”

Naruto blushed at the truth of that statement and Nyra was quick to pick up on that and smiled at the young Champion's nature and she was quick to assure him that she didn't mind and that assured Naruto, but she was able to make him blush bright red once more by whispering to his ear.

“By the way, I hope you have plenty of energy since I think now is a very good time for you to give me that chance to have a more social outing with you young Champion since I wish to know more about you.”

The blonde nodded and decided to help the disguised female dragon to get to know him more as well as the village that he considered home, Nyra was more than willing to explore the village as well as listen to what the blonde Chuunin was trying to tell her. Normally she would have preferred to be in her Dragon form but decided against it for the time being as that form would have no doubt frightened the people here in the village. The Dragon was also willing to try some of the dishes though her appetite was rather large and Naruto had to admit that having a large income for all the things he had made as well as the missions he had undertaken was very helpful as she was quite eager to try out a very large number of dishes and he was soon burning up a lot of the ryo in his wallet.

However seemed to be very much worth it as he was able to make the disguised female Dragon very happy and when they were trading stories back and forth he was able to learn more about Nyra and the beings that inhabited Dagern where she and her fellow women had come from, she told him of the customs of some of the human, elven, and dwarven lands as well as the other kinds of creatures that called Dagern as home, and she naturally told the blonde of the Dragon Flights and how she had once met none other than Faldren himself.

She also listened to his life story and she couldn't help but feel sympathy for all the things she had to live with growing up being treated the way he was, yet she also noted the strength he had when he was able to live as a ninja, and despite the lingering distrust and hate towards him, he was able to make himself a good man and he already was making good progress in his efforts to be a better ninja as well as also making sure to show to the rest of the village that he was not the Kyuubi itself but his own person, that was something that in her mind was very much respectable to say the very least.

As they finished their time together in the village, they were soon out of the village and that was when Nyra turned into her Dragon form and then the two of them took off into the sky to enjoy the rush of the wind as well as the chance to see the soon to be setting sun and it was a good sight for both of them. Naturally in order not to scare the living daylights out of the people below them, Naruto and Nyra were well above the clouds and when night was coming down, the Dragon quickly landed in the outskirts of Konoha and reverted back to her human form and then the two of them headed off to the restaurants to try and grab some food.

Naruto naturally ordered ramen, steaks, chicken and fish while Nyra also ordered some other food and they soon brought the veritable feast into Naruto's humble home for them to chow down on. Naruto was quick to be impressed with Nyra's cooking skills which were rather impressive and she explained that like Faldren when he visited human villages to join in the feasting and celebrations, she naturally did likewise and enjoyed them as well as pick up some new skills that would be very interesting to use when she was in her human form.

As they ate their food the woman was quick to relax and make her move on the blonde as they sat to look at the stars outside, she was very much eager to try another round with the blonde Chuunin and Dragon Champion as she recalled how much pleasure she had when they were together in that island. She started things off by kissing Naruto gently and then running her tongue on his cheek, extending it a bit like a snake's tongue.

However, unlike his reaction to dealing with Orochimaru, the blonde Chuunin was not the least bit disgusted and gently moaned at her actions, and when she moved her tongue closer to his mouth he then opened his mouth and gently took in her tongue, licking and sucking on it, much to the female dragon's pleasure as she moaned a bit and kissed him deeply once more and when the two of them finally parted from one another, she spoke.

“You certainly are getting to be very good Naruto-kun....now then, I think it's about time that we take this whole thing to a higher level.”

Naruto smiled at that and was more than willing to do it with her as he began to gently caress her sides and moved his hands all the way to her breasts, gently massaging them much to the disguised Dragon's delight in his actions, as soon as she groaned in pleasure she moved away and began to remove her clothing while Naruto did likewise as the house was bathed in night.

--------

The next day...

Naruto woke up and moaned a bit as he moved his head from side to side to wake up his muscles somewhat and as soon as he was able to do so, he was able to see none other than Nyra herself who was currently sleeping peacefully and this time her horns were there on the side of her head, showing that she had lowered some of her disguise. He gently touched her horns, making the woman moan out a bit as she opened her eyes and then she smiled at Naruto .

“You seem to have found my sensitive spot Naruto-kun, nice to notice that I guess.”

The blonde grinned and gently kissed the female as she got up and kissed him back while he ran his hands on her naked back while she did the same thing to him, making him moan out in appreciation at the very same time. This cuddling carried on for a bit longer until they got dressed and had a light meal and when that meal was over, Nyra bid Naruto a farewell and left.

This allowed Naruto to relax a bit more and decided that he was soon going to need a trip to a hot spring in order to relax later on in the day, but for now he had to check his supplies and the items that he was able to make in his free time and also to see if the gifts he had with him were still there. He also decided to get some training done for the time being and as soon as he was fully assured that everything was there and fully ready for use, he began to get his training fully under way as he had no need to eat as he had a good meal already so he needed to keep himself in good shape.

He began to train long and hard with his Taijutsu and his Kenjutsu to even things up, he was enjoying himself as he was now in a more relaxed and limbered state as he had now spent at least a full hour or so in training but it was then that he noted that someone was watching him and he looked up to see that someone was indeed watching him and it was someone that he recognized and thankfully it was not an enemy of his either....but someone he happened to be very intimate with.

“Temari-chan!”

The blonde sister of Gaara and Kankurou was happy to finally arrive in time to see the festival as well as visit the blonde Chuunin who was her brother Gaara's best friend and the one she happened to be very much in love with, she had very much enjoyed the view of the blonde fighting and training and recalled all the things that they had been able to do together when they met and also the more intimate things, she mentally blushed the memories and decided to greet him as she leaped down off the walls of his home's boundary and landed before the blonde Chuunin.

“Hello Naruto-kun, nice to see that you keep yourself in very good shape.”

Naruto grinned happily at that and replied.

“Thanks for that Temari-chan, no sense me losing my edge in battle even in peace time, besides it certainly helps keep me in shape as well as helps me boost up my abilities, anyway, what brings you here to Konoha, I didn't get any messages that said that you were coming....and since when did you decide to change your clothing?”

Naruto was right in that regard, Temari had indeed changed her clothing and it was comprised of a short skirt in black cloth with her upper clothing comprising of a purple long sleeved short Kimono with some sort of thin strapped apron and a deep red sash there on her waist, and Naruto was quick to notice that there was a fish next band on her left thigh, all in all, she looked very attractive as her bust had grown a bit more.

Temari noted that examination coming from her lover and smiled warmly at him as she allowed him to see her fully by turning herself around slowly for him to see her. Once she was done with that particular course of action she asked the blonde Chuunin a question.

“You like what I am wearing Naruto-kun?”

Naruto smiled at that and nodded.

“Yeah I do, it certainly looks good on you Temari-chan.”

“Good, I had hoped that a wardrobe change was in order, at any rate I am here just to say hi and also try this festival out, Kankurou was not all that sure but he was all right with it as long as I was in good hands as he put it, Baki-sensei agreed and so did Gaara, I mentioned I would stay with you as my guide and my little brother agreed so here I am, I hope i won't be causing too much trouble for you by being here Naruto-kun.”

Naruto shook his head and replied.

“Of course not! I will be more than happy to be your guide here in the village, besides, I think this would be a good chance for use to catch up on some matters, I wanted to see just how Gaara is doing back there in the village and also...I think I should be able to ask you out.”

Temari smiled at that with a blush.

“Are you asking me out on a date Naruto-kun?”

“Of course, do you mind?”

The blonde Genin smiled and replied with a deep kiss and when they parted, she gave her answer.

“Not at all, I'll be your date for today.”

--------

To be continued...

--------

Author's Notes:

That wraps up the very first part of this new arc of fillers for Naruto Dragon Champion and it seems that Naruto has given a new gift to one the women he happens to be romantically and passionately involved with so you can bet that this arc will have lemons in it in the Lemon section soon enough, at any rate, as you have read, Ino got her chance to be with Naruto on a date and it seemed to have worked out for both parties involved, and now it's Nyra's turn as well to be intimate with the Dragon Champion and while she might not have a gift, it's not because Naruto forgot to give her one, it is because she has no need for such gifts at the moment so Naruto didn't need to make one for her.

You can say that only the women in Naruto's world will be getting gifts from him and that will help him further his situation, and keep in mind that we have another six days of celebration for this festival so expect other scenes with the other women soon in the later parts of the story, and one more thing. On the next arc....we are going to have a few more situations play out before we finally get to the part where Naruto and Sasuke fight one another in battle. Before we get to that, we will have other fillers that will actually play a part in the full formation of the story of Naruto Dragon Champion.

One such situation happens to deal with a trip to a certain land where Sound is rumoured to be, and the next has to deal with an escort mission, another is dealing with missing ships, there will be others as well, and that will be the opening runs, and will play good roles in soon to come story arcs before the fateful showdown between Naruto and Sasuke, and I will have an interesting set of twists in these stories so don't expect them to be the least bit dull!