Capítulo 2: Chapter 2: Kirigakure, Time to Meet the Mizukage!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!

"speaking"

'thinking'

"Jutsu"

"Tailed Beast Speak"

NaruxMei

BLOODLINE WARNING: Naruto uses Lava and Boil Release in this story. He has three elements in total because of his bloodlimit, Fire, Water, and Earth.

Mei is very flirty and playful, so try and take her more..perverted actions as her usual personality. She isn't into Naruto..yet!

Kirigakure Mountain Path

"Okay I get the whole 'Hidden Mist' thing, BUT WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO FOGGY!" Naruto screamed into the surrounding forest, scaring some birds into flying away and they left a fuming Naruto behind.

He had been traveling for the past hour to try and reach the hidden village and all he had seen so far was mist, mist, oh and more mist! He couldn't even tell if he was walking in the right direction anymore, hell he could barely see the road. He checked the 'Traveler's Guide' he picked up in the harbor and reread it one more time about the natural phenomena of Water country.

'True to it's name, the central island, especially areas near Kirigakure are known to have year long fogs and mist with no sign dissipation. Some relate it to the island and how wet the area is constantly, some radical believers think to believe Kiri ninja purposely create the fog as a 'natural' defense mechanism. Needless to say, the fog is often loathed among tourists and water transportation must always be monitored to keep ships from running aground or hitting one another.'

Naruto looked up and frowned, resigning himself to fate of walking in the forest for eternity. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Naruto, he found himself at a stake in the ground with writing on it. Naruto read it aloud.

"Welcome to Kirigakure!"

Naruto's frown turned to a vibrant smile and he noticed that the mist had finally dissipated, as if his words were magic. The village was slowly revealed to him and Naruto finally realized that he was on a hill, or a tall mountain path since the village was much lower than the ground he was on. He used his eyes to map the path and figured it would take him fifteen minutes to reach the gate at a sedate pace, but he stayed at the stake for a few moments to look at the city.

It held a unique architecture compared to Konoha, most of it's buildings were cylindrical in shape and he thought he could spy what he figured to be the Mizukage's office. It was just a hunch though, Naruto really had no prior knowledge to the village itself, apart from rumors and things. Apparently, Kirigakure just finished up a civil war between bloodlines and normal citizens, but Naruto didn't know who won. He gulped out of hesitation and slight fear.

'I hope the bloodlines won, or else this trip will be for nothing.'

Naruto began to walk down the path to the village, fidgeting with the scroll's sash held over his chest. He had been quite confident getting off the boat, but now that he was staring down a potentially enemy village, he was having second thoughts. He steeled himself, knowing in his mind that what he was doing was right, his clan was counting on him.

He soon reached the village and found the gate to be guarded with a lot more security than the usually lax Konoha front gate. There were at least five Kiri ninja standing at solid attention at the gate and he saw a figure in front of their single file line.

As he walked closer, he noticed the curves of the body, a perfect hourglass shape. It had to have been a woman, yet she appeared to stand resolute and with authority if the sweating Kiri nin were any proof. She stood waiting for him to arrive and she looked quite bored, arms crossed and an impatient look displayed upon her perfect features.

Naruto could now observe her clearly and his jaw dropped at her looks, the utter beauty of the woman in front of him. He stood before her now, and the woman watched as the boy looked her up and down with a knowing smirk.

'I swear, men are all the same, no matter the age.'

The Mizukage had been alerted to a lone traveler's presence by Kiri patrols and by the unnatural mist detection jutsu generated by Kiri itself. She knew it was odd for a lone traveler to come to Kiri on business, and what worried her was that the person had been walking slowly right down the main path.

Any typical spy would have gone off the main road and tried to infiltrate over the wall or something, not try and walk right through the front gate! Because of this, she elected to lead a squad herself in meeting with the individual and ask of his business in the hidden village, yet she found it odd when she finally noticed him to be young. He could be no more of fifteen years of age yet he held a certain air of authority and competence, it appeared as though he had an objective in coming to Kiri, but what?

Naruto was still staring at the woman's beauty as she analyzed him as an enemy, but he analyzed her as a woman, a very hot woman! She had long russet-red hair that easily reached her ankles and fanned out behind her, some even covered her right eye. Now looking to her eye, he saw that it was an emerald green color, and he saw that she favored the color blue from her appearance.

Her lips were an ocean blue color from lipstick, and he saw that both her toenails and her fingernails were both blue in color. She wore a blue garment over what appeared to be a fishnet body suit, she also wore leg guards like that crazy snake lady from Konoha.

She stared at him with some patience he noticed, but all of a sudden her eyes widened and she was gaping at the mouth. He followed her moving eyes and noticed that they were moving from his Uzu headband to the Uzumaki swirl on his lower torso.

'She must know something about the Uzumaki..'

'Wait..that is impossible! All the Uzumaki have put away their old uniforms and dropped their ties with the clan. I watched father and mother both burn theirs, why does this boy have an Uzugakure uniform?'

"Um..hello, I'm a traveler to your village, Kirigakure. I mean no trouble, I'm just looking for someone to help me find out a few things about my clan.."

Naruto trailed off as he saw the ninja stiffen even more at the sound of 'clans' and the Mizukage schooled her features and walked up to him. She looked down at him and knelt slightly so she could be eye level with the young man, and talked with a level tone yet she kept a smile on her face.

"Hello traveler, it is nice to see someone coming to the village. We haven't gotten many visitors since the end of the..Massacres.." the woman trailed off and appeared to look sad before looking back at Naruto, again smiling. "May I inquire your name, young man?"

Naruto looked on shocked that the woman was actually speaking to him, with a smile on her face no less. He expected a lazy, or even cold welcome, yet she appeared to be genuinely happy he was here.

"Uh, my name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki. May I ask yours?"

Naruto asked the question back and watched the woman's eyes widen again at the sound of 'Uzumaki' but she straightened out quicker than last time. She smiled and placed an acknowledging hand on her chest.

"My name is Mei Terumi, and I am the Fifth Mizukage." She said resolutely but was surprised by the young Uzumaki when he knelt in front of her like most of her own ninja did, yet he wasn't even a shinobi of her village?

"I'm so sorry for my disrespect, Mizukage-sama! Had I known who you were before.." Naruto trailed off when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Mei smiling brightly at him, her visible eye closed from the size of the grin.

"Please Naruto, there is no need for formalities. I may be the Mizukage but I get enough respect from my own ninja, you may call me Mei." Naruto looked on as she opened her eyes and looked at his bewildered expression and then she faked a frown and turned away.

"Unless of course, you do not wish to call me by my name.." Naruto woke up from his stupor and realized she had been talking to him.

"No no, I didn't mean it like that Mei-cha.." Naruto slapped his hands over his mouth and begged that she hadn't noticed the slip, but she obviously had with her now shocked face.

Feeling as though their Mizukage had been insulted by the foreigner's feigned familiarity, the Kiri ninja made to attack the boy, but the Mizukage glared at them. She kept her glare until each settled into an uncomfortable squirm under her gaze, then she smirked before turning back to Naruto with a bright smile.

"Mei-chan huh?" She looked at Naruto and almost laughed as he squirmed under her inquisitive gaze but she let up and giggled.

Naruto had been waiting for an all mighty and powerful Water Jutsu to drown him to death or the other ninja to carve him up with kunai for his disrespect, but he looked to see Mei giggling from the comment.

"Okay Naruto-kun, how about we go inside the village and discuss your problem in my office. I may be able to help you with your clan problem." She said and began to walk in the direction of her office, she looked behind her to see Naruto still standing there, just watching her.

'I must really have captured the interest of this young Uzumaki..curious.'

"Are you coming Naruto-kun? My bodyguards won't bite, or else I'll melt them." She threatened her own Kiri ninjas while still smiling, and each of them were completely frightened.

They knew that Mei meant that statement very literally because of her unique bloodline, yet Naruto was completely oblivious and started to walk up to her and stood behind the woman to respect her.

The young woman frowned and looked at Naruto who was looking down at the ground, still embarrassed at his lack of respect to the Mizukage. She once again knelt down to his level and set a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her pristine features.

She gave him another one of her famous smiles that had made the young genin feel butterflies in his stomach and made him feel at peace. He listened to her melodic voice as she spoke to him softly.

"Please Naruto-kun, I won't hurt you for calling me 'Mei-chan'. I actually think it's cute, now please walk with me, not behind me. You have shown nothing but kindness and respect to my village so far, I have no reason to feel any animosity towards you."

She continued to smile until Naruto gave her a nervous smile and nodded in agreement, and she noticed when he frowned a bit when she took her hand back from his cheek and got up. She frowned at the thought of making him sad, but she didn't want to believe the young newcomer had developed a crush on her so soon.

'He is very interesting, and cute with those whisker marks.'

She began walking towards the largest cylindrical building of the city, the kanji sign for 'Water' in the same spot as Konoha's 'Fire' on their Hokage building. Naruto walked alongside the taller woman with her bodyguards obediently following behind them, keeping an eye on the young boy. They were itching for an excuse just to kill him, but the Mizukage had shown favor towards the boy and it would obviously end badly if they were to try something.

"This is Kirigakure Naruto-kun, I recently became the Godaime Mizukage after my predecessor, Yagura, died of unknown causes. I have been working to stop the Bloodline Massacres that started during his reign for some time now..the fruits of our labor are as you can see now." She motioned with her hands towards the village residential sector they were walking through.

Naruto saw the many children playing outside in playgrounds with their parents mingling with each other from the benches. Shop vendors, both inside stores or outside at stalls, were actively trading and selling their many wares with both civilian and shinobi. The houses were all well built and even though some were obviously only recently constructed, the village had an immaculate, pristine look.

'If these Massacres are as bad she made them sound..she did very well in taking over.'

"I see it Mei-chan." A low growl could be heard from the bodyguards. "This village must be prospering under your rule, to have fixed so much in so little of time." Naruto looked up into her proud eyes as she looked down to him. "You are obviously a great leader, Mei-chan."

The young woman blushed a bit at his compliment and smiled, she already liked the Uzumaki, this Naruto. Many had at first disagreed with her appointment to Mizukage, some asking for her to resign due to being a woman, and others calling for her head because of her bloodline.

'Bloodline..I wonder, if this boy is a trueblood like I am. Could his clan problem be that he is starting to activate the bloodline?'

"T..Thank you Naruto-kun, I'm glad you think so. Many have often disagreed with my appointment to the Kage position here in Kirigakure. To hear it from a newcomer so soon..it is disconcerting to think that you would have more confidence in me than my own people." Naruto frowned at that, how could her people not see the prosperity she has brought?

"Here we are, the Mizukage Office Building." She walked to the center of the welcoming lobby and turned to Naruto, holding out her slender hand. "I always hated stairs, hold onto me Naruto-kun. I'll get us there quicker." Naruto hesitantly took her hand and she grew a playful smirk.

The woman purposely pulled him too hard and he slammed into her chest, luckily he had two nice cushions to prevent any harm. The guards again growled but Mei just giggled at what she had done, it was fun messing with Naruto. She smiled as she put her arms around his neck as if to hug him until they were enveloped in a swirl of water, causing both to disappear to the Mizukage Suite.

Mizukage Office

The two ninja appeared in the woman's office, and Naruto noted how it was similar to the Hokage office, except there was a lot of..blue. The office held a simple desk and a blue leather couch in front of the it, obviously for comfort rather than business; the room held a full window wall behind the office desk, giving a clear view of the village for the Mizukage. It also seemed the room was not in a shape like the Hokage office, it seemed to be a small trapezoid shape, the window wall being the lengthy base and the door being the starting point for the angled sides.

Naruto looked towards the actual entrance to the office and found a set of regal wooden double doors, and there was a blue carpet that led from the entrance to the front of the office desk. From the door, three blue marble columns flanked the carpet on either side, and Naruto observed they were more for show and not for actual structural integrity. All in all, it beat the Hokage office in luxury easily.

Mei walked away from Naruto and sat on the couch instead of her usual seat at the desk and patted a seat on the couch right next to her. Naruto took the hint and gulped, hesitantly walking over to sit next the beautiful woman. She laced an arm above Naruto's head, resting it on the couch and leaning in close with an inviting smile and began to talk to the embarrassed genin.

"So what brings an Uzumaki to my village?" Mei questioned, gauging both his reaction and his answer to her question on how to proceed. It was a delicate matter for her, since she had..'history' with the Uzumaki. Naruto gulped and did his best to explain his situation, skirting around sensitive Uzumaki business like their bloodline and such, he essentially was looking for relatives from what his half truth speech sounded like.

"There must be more of a reason for you to just up and leave your home in Konoha than to find some long lost relatives, don't lie to me Naruto." She threatened with narrowed eyes but still kept a deceivingly cheerful smile on her face, Naruto gulped.

'Guess it's now or never.'

"Well you see..I am at the age where the Uzumaki bloodline activates, and I need to find someone to train me to harness it. One day I hope to rebuild Uzugakure and the Uzumaki clan, but I can't do that if I can't use my kekkei genkai can I?" Mei acquired a surprised face, she had already guessed his bloodline would be the real reason he was in Kiri but she hadn't thought that he would actually have such a dream.

She had not expected him to have such ambition, to bring glory back to the old Whirlpool country? Impossible! It was now owned by Kirigakure, as were most of the islands surrounding the central Isle. But she had to give it to the young boy, he definitely had determination to see it through.

"I see.." Mei suddenly got up and walked towards the wall-spanning window and looked out across the village. Having a silent battle within herself on how to proceed, since she had to be careful, 'pureblood' Uzumaki were hard to find anywhere now, and to lose one now would be a great loss to Kiri.

Naruto fiddled with his scroll that he had set on the ground, nervous on the Mizukage's decision. He wanted to stay here and find other Uzumaki, but he could regretfully understand any reason the Mizukage might have of denying him and sending him back. He watched her turn towards him, a straight face that made it impossible to read her.

"I'm afraid the Uzumaki clan is defunct, any true Uzumaki are either dead or..in hiding." Naruto frowned at her explanation but had feared such an answer. Mei hated to disappoint him, but she knew that there was no true Uzumaki clan left, just a few branch families.

"I see..Well I suppose I'll go then. Thank you for your time Mizukage-sama." Mei held a shocked and hurt look on her face as she watched the downtrodden boy pick up his scroll and leave. Mei held out her hand as if to grab him and yelled to him.

"Stop!" Naruto froze and slowly turned back to her, wondering what other bad news she could bring next. Mei was frowning, she hated to see the young man look so down about his situation, she had to find something to keep him there!

"Where will you go Naruto-kun? There is no other place that would have any chance of holding Uzumaki clansmen, and I'm sure there is a search party waiting to find you in Fire territory." Naruto looked at her and began to contemplate where he would go, he just wanted to leave this place, it hurt too much to stay.

"I suppose I could go to Wave, I have made many friends there, and it is possible because of their proximity that an Uzumaki could be located in the town."

The Mizukage frowned, his explanation was sound and she couldn't dissuade him; she watched him turn and continue walking towards the door. She disappeared in a vortex of water and appeared directly in front of him, surprising him and made his face plow into her large breasts.

She giggled a bit at the scene and frowned when he backed up and started stuttering off an apology. She walked up to him and knelt a bit, placing a hand on his cheek to calm him; it did wonders, the boy shut up and looked at the emerald eyed goddess.

"There may be no active Uzumaki here, but I believe that I can train you Naruto-kun. My clan holds a kekkei genkai that is a carbon copy of your own, and I believe that our clans must have had some history for this to be, although I can't be sure." Naruto looked shocked at the innocent woman, she had his kekkei genkai?

"Wait..you can use Lava and Boil release?!" Mei smirked and nodded her head, Naruto's eyes widened even more. "You mean that you know the three elements of the bloodline, Earth, Fire, and Water!?" Mei held her smirk and nodded again, and Naruto settled down and decided to sum up his thoughts. "Whoa.." Mei began to smile at that, it appeared as though he would stay!

"So does this mean you will stay in Kiri Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked into her eyes and hesitantly took her hand that was on his cheek and held it with his own, causing her to gape in surprise. He smiled at the young woman, and gave her a thumbs up.

"On my honor as an Uzumaki, I promise to be your best student Mei-chan! Of course I'll stay here, I really like your village, I just have to find somewhere to live." Naruto went into a thinking pose and wracked his brain for a living arrangement, Mei laughed at him. "Do you have any suggestions Mei-chan?" She smiled and set a hand on his shoulder, standing up to her full height.

"I'm glad you asked Naruto-kun, if you will be okay with it, I'll have you stay in my families estate. It'll be easier to train you then, and we can keep each other company! ANBU and Swordsman aren't a lot of fun to talk to, it's all business to them when they are guarding me!" Mei pouted and it was Naruto's turn to giggle at her antics, she was definitely an interesting Kage.

"If you're sure you want me to live with you..then I agree!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air in victory, and Mei smiled again. She walked over to her desk and pulled out three headbands from her desk drawer, each having a different color fabric. She laid them out on the table and motioned for Naruto to pick one.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but many people here won't recognize your Uzu headband, and it might be dangerous for you to wear. If you would like, I can temporarily induct you into the Kirigakure Ninja Corp., all you have to do is sign a few documents and pick out a headband!" Mei smiled and watched him look at all three Kiri headbands.

Naruto looked at each headband on the desk, all of them had the four waves for the Kirigakure village symbol. The first was a very common color that Naruto didn't really enjoy that much on headbands, blue. He shook his head and looked at the next one, it was a bright red like his own and Sakura's, but it didn't fit well with Kiri's personal style. Naruto smiled and picked up the final choice, a dark black headband and slipped it onto his forehead.

Mei smiled at his choice, albeit a little disappointed he didn't pick blue. She flared her chakra and out of a cloud of mist came three ninja, all three had ANBU masks on but only two wore a full uniform.

The one that appeared to be the leader wore a striped blue shirt with a Kiri headband buckled to the front of it. On his back, there appeared to be an oddly shaped sword with dual hilts, and Naruto wondered if he was a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He had his ears covered and had blond hair, similar in color to the Yamanaka. His pants were a camouflage not unlike Zabuza's and his ninja sandals were black. The other two wore standard ANBU uniform and had their masks adorned with blue designs, to signify their Kiri allegiance.

"Chōjūrō, take off your mask please." Naruto looked at the Mizukage and back at the man that had now been identified, the man bowed low and took off his mask. He wore orange-lenses in his black-trimmed glasses that connected to the headphones over his ears, and he wore a shy smile that was made up of sharpened teeth.

'Exactly like Zabuza's teeth, he must be one of them.'

"How may we..um help, Mizukage-sama?" The boy asked, and Naruto could barely hear him.

'This guy would be perfect for Hinata.'

"I would like you to escort Naruto and myself to the Shinobi District, we will be getting him a new set of clothes. He is a genin so don't treat him like a civilian, understood?" Chōjūrō and the other two ANBU nodded and took in the appearance of Naruto, and noticed that he wore a Kiri headband but had a strange sense of fashion.

"Yes ma'am!" And they all disappeared in a thick mist, leaving the office behind for an adventure through Naruto's new hometown.

"Hey um..Chōjūrō-san?" Naruto had been pondering a question to ask the Swordsman since they had departed from the Mizukage's office but he had been afraid to ask.

The three ANBU had walked directly behind the two VIPs and had been quiet for the most part, Mei had engaged Naruto in small talk but it was only to pass the time. Chōjūrō looked at the boy and gave Naruto a smile, he trusted the Mizukage's judgment in friends enough.

"Yes..what do you need Naruto-san?" Naruto scratched the back of his head and hesitantly asked his question.

"I was wondering..are you a member of the Seven Swordsmen?" All the present Kiri shinobi turned to Naruto and failed to hide their surprise, how did Naruto know about that organization? Chōjūrō looked unsure and asked a silent question with his eyes to the Mizukage, and she just smirked and nodded, giving him permission.

"Yes I am Naruto-san, how did you know?" Naruto smiled and jabbed a finger into his chest.

"It's because you look like some of the other Swordsmen from that organization that I've met!" Everyone was shocked at this, where could he have met them?

"What do you mean Naruto-kun? We currently have four Swordsmen, and they have been in the capital for the past three years." Mei asked, curious of the story behind his answer.

"Well I've met Zabuza, Raiga, and um..I think his name was Kisame or something. I've fought all three actually!" The group stopped walking and looked at Naruto with wide eyes, when did this happen?!

"Wait, you fought Kisame-senpai and Zabuza-senpai!?" Chōjūrō practically blurted out his question to the confused blond who nodded dumbly. "How did you survive!?" Naruto just shrugged, not seeing the big deal.

"Naruto-kun." The Mizukage got his attention and she explained their startled reaction. "The Seven Swordsmen are some the most powerful ninja our village have produced, to fight them..would be a challenge even for me!" Naruto's eyes widened and he understood their implication.

"Oh well..I don't know how exactly to explain. I guess I always had help when I fought them, but I never really lost when I fought any of them except for Kisame." Chōjūrō nodded his head in assent, his sensei had told him many horror stories involving that shark, he was the most feared of all the Swordsman for the sheer strength of both himself and his sword, Samehada.

"That is amazing Naruto-kun, your clan would be very proud to see you stand against such opponents!" Mei praised the blushing boy and the bodyguards nodded in respect.

'He really is a powerful Uzumaki, to have defeated such opponents without the bloodline to help him.'

"Ah here we are Naruto-kun! You will come to find that similar to the old Uzugakure, Kiri has some trends that will never die when it comes to our clothing. I think you might enjoy the style compared to Konoha's." Naruto nodded and walked inside the clothing store, followed closely by the others.

Naruto noticed the 'trend' immediately and his face was marked with surprise, he was in total shock. Mei smirked knowingly and the ANBU snickered at his reaction to the clothing selection. All the clothing choices either had blue, black, or a white/black camo scheme to them, and Naruto felt overwhelmed. Mei gave him a little push and sent him on a quest to find his perfect outfit while she conversed with the shopkeeper.

Naruto walked through the many isles and found himself getting excited at all the different combination's of clothing he could choose from. He picked up a long sleeve, black shirt that looked like it's sleeves had been sewn on. The sleeves were in the urban camo scheme that were often seen on pants or undershirts and Naruto decided to choose it for his top. He also chose a camo undershirt to wear underneath it.

Next up were pants, and Naruto already knew his choice so he picked up a pair of pants identical to Chōjūrō's pair of camo pants that reached his feet. Between the end of the pant leg and his new black sandals were a pair of black, leather leggings that strapped tightly to his lower legs, covering up any skin that might have been shown.

Naruto walked back up to the counter and handed his clothing choice to the shop owner, who looked to the Mizukage. She smiled and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, signifying that he was taken care of as far as permission or prices go.

"We'll take a half a dozen of these exact outfits, please have them sent to the Terumi estate as soon as possible. Ready Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked up at her and nodded, and all five shinobi walked out in the direction of the Terumi compound.

"Naruto-san..I was..um wondering..what is in that large scroll?" Chōjūrō asked the question that had been on many of the shinobi's minds and Naruto looked at the Swordsman and smiled.

"It holds all my worldly possessions, and important clan things that I plan on sharing with Mei-chan at her house!" Mei looked at Naruto with a surprised look, she had not expected him to trust her so readily and she felt happy at the compliment.

'He is very kind, I would do well not to break his trust.'

"Ah I see." They continued their walk for sometime until they reached the Terumi compound, a large, walled-off area with artistic designs painted onto the barriers.

"Well, I suppose this is where we part ways Chōjūrō, ANBU. Chōjūrō please remain on call for the coming weeks, I believe I will need your help in training Naruto-kun." Chōjūrō looked at her and gave her a small smile, and saluted along with the other ANBU before placing his mask back on.

"Yes ma'am!" Mei looked to Naruto as soon as the three bodyguards disappeared and smiled, one of which he returned with his own grin.

"Ready to see my house Naruto-kun? I'm sure you'll enjoy it here!"

"I think so too Mei-chan! And I just want to say thank you...for everything you have done for me so far, I know you are taking a big risk in allowing me to stay, but I promise that I won't be a bother to you or Kirigakure!" Naruto announced, bowing low to the Mizukage but looked at her face when he felt her place a hand on his cheek.

Mei's face was now only a few inches from his and he felt himself unwillingly being brought closer to her, like a magnet to metal. He closed his eyes and waited for contact but soon felt a warm, wet sensation on his right cheek and he opened his eyes to see Mei pulling back from kissing him. He now had a faint blue imprint of her supple lips on his cheek, and he absently felt it in a lovestruck daze.

Mei giggled at how much he was blushing and felt herself getting a little warm too. She didn't know why she kissed him, but felt happy when she did it anyway.

"Naruto-kun, you don't have to thank me, I'm happy to help you. Your goal to revive your clan is an ambitious and difficult one, and I would love to help you in any way I can. I think you and I can get along very well." She purred the last part before ushering a red Naruto into her estate, the recent turn of events were very interesting, Mei could honestly say that she was glad Naruto had come to Kiri.

"Wow!" Naruto stood in the main lobby to the large Terumi family mansion and noticed how big the sheer size of it was. The greeting room held the same blue marble columns of Mei's office yet blended them with many of the Terumi family heirlooms and designs that gave the room a very homey feel.

"This is it Naruto, my home. I often feel very lonely here, it will be nice to have someone else to live with." Naruto looked at her and she appeared to be a bit sad at the thought of living alone for so long, so he grabbed her hand squeezed it; the level of affection caused the surprised Kage to blush.

"I have lived alone my entire life, so I also share the yearning for company. I think that it will be a lot of fun living here with you Mei-chan, I hope you'll enjoy me being here!"

Naruto released her hand and gave her a foxy grin with a confident thumbs up, and it made her giggle. That sound sent Naruto's feelings haywire and caused him to just stare at the older woman's sheer level of beauty and grace. There was a sound that alerted them that someone was at the gate, and Mei quickly created a water clone to see who it was while she led Naruto to his bedroom on the second floor.

"This is your bedroom Naruto-kun, my own living area is right across the hall here. If you ever need anything, I'm just a few steps away." Naruto nodded and entered his new room.

It was sparsely furnished, obvious from the little activity in the Terumi estate but it held a bed and a study area with a few books to read. The walls were a dark blue and there was a single, large window on the opposite wall from the door, perfect for early morning sunrise. He saw a closet and stashed his scroll inside, too tired from carrying it everywhere with him. Naruto turned back to Mei who was now behind him, placing the clothes she received from her clone inside his closet.

"It's perfect Mei-chan, better than anywhere I've ever lived before!" Mei smiled and handed him a full outfit to change into, the shipment from the clothing store arrived earlier than she expected, meaning they might start training before tomorrow.

"I'm glad you think so Naruto-kun, please put on your new outfit. You'll need to wear it for our training tonight and I'm curious to see how you look in a uniform." She whispered the last part seductively into his ear and began to laugh as he blushed and ran straight to the bathroom, almost fast enough to be a Shunshin.

Two minutes later, Naruto walked out of the bathroom looking a bit hesitant to come out with his new outfit but he was given an order by his Mizukage and came out fully. She gasped in astonishment at how well it fit him, the clothing were a perfect size and Naruto truly looked good in the Kiri style.

"You look great Naruto! I don't know why your so hesitant to show it off, you look like you've been a Kiri shinobi for a long time. Now gather up all your clan scrolls and come out when you're done, I'll be waiting." Naruto nodded and went straight to his scroll, opening it up and pulled out his five clan scrolls.

He looked at them for a second, suddenly having suspicious thoughts on the Mizukage and her 'clan'.

'What if she wants to steal these from me? No, she wouldn't do that, Mei-chan is different.'

Naruto walked out with the scrolls under his arm and nodded to Mei who was leaning against the wall next to his room. She smiled and hugged him again, enveloping the two in a water typhoon. Naruto was starting to hope that Shunshining with Mei was going to become a trend, he was really enjoying the 'hugs'.

"Alright Naruto-kun, to begin, I'm going to teach you how to manipulate the Fire element. It is because Fire is the universal element in ou..your bloodline since you use it for both elements." Mei almost couldn't catch her slip up in the explanation but luckily Naruto was too focused on the teaching part that he didn't notice.

"To manipulate Fire, you must will your body to convert the chakra into heat by raising it's temperature. You will have to maintain that heat as you expel the Fire chakra from your body, it is integral to have strong chakra control for manipulating nature elements so you'll have to work very hard to control them, understand?" Naruto nodded his head vigorously and waited for Mei to to tell him what to do next.

Mei quickly went through a few hand signs and held up a tiger seal before expelling a large fireball across the training grounds right outside the Terumi mansion. Naruto watched her in wonder, he was going to learn how to do that?! Mei turned to face him and she gave him a smile.

"Your turn." Mei handed Naruto his family Fire scroll and allowed him to read off the basic fire jutsu and learn the hand signs. After a few minutes, Naruto stood up and took a position slightly in front of Mei and went through each hand sign with slow precision before yelling out the jutsu's name.

"Grand Fireball!"

Naruto shot a small stream of fire from his mouth and found himself slightly disappointed but he knew that it was because of his bad chakra control. He quickly went through the hand signs again and again, continuing to attempt the jutsu for the next half hour. Mei was astounded at his sheer stamina and willpower, most genin would've given up after the second try, Naruto was easily in the dozens and showed no signs of stopping.

It wasn't until the sun was setting did Naruto finally pull off a decent sized fireball before collapsing from sheer exhaustion. Mei silently gasped and moved to catch him, having his head fall into her lap as he laid there on the ground, tiredly staring into her emerald eye. She was very worried about Naruto, she thought he would have run out of chakra by now, and she was actually glad that he practically knocked himself out training before he hurt himself.

"Naruto-kun..you did wonderful! With your stamina and sheer determination to train, we'll be done in no time." Mei praised the blond and he gave her a happy yet very droopy smile and fluttered his eyes to stay awake a little longer.

"Thank you..Mei-sensei, I promise..to make you proud.." Naruto began to trail off as he started to fall asleep, her long hair had fallen over his face and tickled him back into consciousness, he absently mentioned something, feeling as though he were dreaming. "Mei-chan has such soft hair, smells like..an ocean shore."

Mei outright turned to a tomato from that, even she hadn't been expecting such a compliment from the genin. She smiled and shunshined to Naruto's room, laying him down on the bed and covering him up with the blanket. She leaned in close and hesitantly laid a kiss on his forehead, placing a hand on his chest while she whispered into his ear.

"Good night Naruto-kun, sweet dreams." And with that, she was gone, already in her own room. She stood in front of her bathroom mirror, looking at herself before preparing to go to bed. One quick shower later, she was in her see through night gown, only her undergarments kept her decent through the gown's sky blue fabric. She looked at the moon from her balcony, silently going over what has happened today, and came to the conclusion that it was definitely one of the more interesting days of her life.

She now had a friend...and a fellow Uzumaki 'pureblood' that survived the collapse of Uzugakure. She looked to her closet and saw her last gift from her mother, an Uzumaki kunoichi uniform and wondered if she would ever put it on, ever see the fabled Uzugakure ruins of her families birthplace. Maybe go there with Naruto, she mused.

"I'm sorry Tsunade, I couldn't find a trace of him. My last estimates put him headed East, across the ocean to the island nations." Jiraiya stood in the Hokage office speaking with a still depressed Tsunade. It had been some time since Jiraiya had left, and Tsunade had held out hope that he would find Naruto, yet there had been no luck.

Her tears began anew as she looked out the window over Konoha, why would Naruto leave his home?

"I will send a message to the Mizukage, surely she will help us." Jiraiya just nodded, not familiar with the new Mizukage.

'Probably some old hag..but what if she was young and gorgeous and somehow the gaki got with her and they had a bunch of ki..wait NO WAY! Even my Icha Icha series doesn't get that far-fetched, there is just no way Naruto could pull that off.'

Little did Jiraiya know that he wasn't far off, and that the copy of 'Icha Icha Uzumaki Chronicles' would have been the best selling book he would ever write..ever. Oh well, looks like G3rMan will have to pick up the slack with his fiction instead, hehe.