Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
April, x787.
While Alfonzo, Guy, Kakashi, Rock Lee, Neji, and Tenten were on their way to Alfonzo's temporary residence, a group of four academy students were discussing Naruto's improvements since the school year started.
"*Scratch!*
"Seriously, Naruto, just tell us what's going on." A boy with messy, dark brown hair, sharp, black eyes, vertically slitted pupils, red fang marks on his cheeks said as he scratched his abnormally sharp nail against a tree.
"*Bark*" A small white puppy added from atop the boy's head.
"Kiba's right, Naruto." Added a boy with eyes that showed boredom and black hair pulled back into a ponytail that resembled a pineapple in shape. "It's clear that you've gotten better with your Taijutsu. You've even gotten better marks on the tests, too."
"It's really not that big a deal." Naruto replied. "But since you guys have been nagging me so much, I already asked if I could bring you guys to visit. So, after classes end, you should rush home and ask your parents. And if they agree, we'll meet up outside Ramen Ichiraku before heading over there for dinner, and maybe a little training, too."
Hearing the last sentence, the three boys opened their eyes wide. None of them had ever seen Naruto pass up a meal at Ramen Ichiraku if he was nearby. Despite that, they all nodded their heads.
"Well, I wouldn't mind dinner." The last of the boys, a young man with a rotund build and short, spiky, light brown hair said as he finished off the last of his boxed lunch. "I mean, if Naruto would skip Ichiraku for it, It's gotta be good, right?"
Once again, the other two boys nodded in agreement. Then, they put their lunches away and headed back into the ninja academy.
At the same time, there were two others watching Naruto and his three companions. One was a young man with black hair and black eyes who did all he could to isolate himself from the other students. And the second was a young girl with long black hair with a purple tint and featureless white eyes.
'Naruto has changed so much in the last few months.' The girl with the featureless eyes said to herself while watching Naruto and the others head inside. 'I hope he's not doing anything dangerous.'
'Hmph! That loser is getting stronger quickly.' The black-haired boy said with a snort. 'I need to figure out what he's been doing. Then, if I can incorporate it into my training, getting my revenge will be easier.'
As those thoughts ran through the black-haired boy's head, he decided that he would follow the others to meet up with Naruto. Then, he would steal whatever technique Naruto was using to get stronger so quickly.
A few hours later, after the classes at the ninja academy finally let out, Naruto was waiting outside Ramen Ichiraku for the other three boys in his class to arrive.
"Hey, Naruto, you not coming in for a bite?" Teuchi asked from inside the ramen shop. "Alfonzo already left some money for you, ya know."
"Not this time, Boss Teuchi." Naruto replied energetically. "There are some guys in class that don't believe someone has been helping me out for the last few months. So, I'm gonna show them."
"Did you already get permission to bring them over?" Teuchi asked in a concerned tone.
"Don't worry, Boss Teuchi." Naruto replied casually. "Big Bro Alfonzo and Big Sis Elicia have done too much for me to be so disrespectful."
"Ha! Good." Teuchi replied with a smile. "I always knew there was more to you than those rumors."
Hearing that, Naruto could not help but smile. For as long as he could remember, almost everyone called him a demon. Even his teachers at school treated him badly because of the rumors. Yet, Teuchi was never one of them. Instead, he treated Naruto as a mischievous child, which he was.
"Anyway, I'll hold on to this money until the next time you come here to eat, okay?" Teuchi said.
"Sure, thanks, Boss Teuchi." Naruto replied with a smile. "Besides, it's time for me to go. There all here."
"Alright, see you next time." Teuchi replied.
And just as Naruto said, the three boys he spoke to during lunch arrived outside Ramen Ichiraku. Then, he led the three towards the temporary Marcus residence. Unbeknownst to the four boys, however, there were four people following them stealthily.
"Ino-Pig, are you sure this is a good idea?" A pink-haired girl with green eyes asked as she and her blonde companion followed the girl that had been paying attention to Naruto during lunch.
"Of course it is, Billboard Brow." Ino, a girl with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes said while poking her head around a corner. "She's been following Sasuke ever since we left the academy. And I refuse to let another girl get close to him without my knowledge."
Hearing that, the pink-haired girl could not help but grit her teeth and clench her fists in response.
"And to think, I always thought she had a thing for Naruto." The pink-haired girl hissed out. "Hinata really hid her feelings quite deep. She's even more dangerous than I expected."
"Quit muttering to yourself, Sakura." Ino said sharply. "She's moving.""
"Oh, right." Sakura replied as she followed behind Ino.
Not long later, Naruto and his friends arrived at the residence Alfonzo and the others were borrowing. And when they did, they found Elicia, with her belly protruding because of her pregnancy, sitting on the veranda enjoying the sun.
"Hey, Big Sis Elicia, I brought them.!" Naruto shouted while waving at Elicia.
"I see." Elicia replied with a smile. "It seems a few more people followed you, too."
Hearing that, Naruto and his friends were confused and surprised. The whole way, they never noticed anyone else following them.
"Anyway, let's see who our uninvited guests are." Elicia added with a smile.
Despite saying that, Elicia did not move from where she was sitting. Even so, the four boys heard four surprised exclamations a short distance away. Then, only a few moments later, four familiar faces were dragged into the yard while bundled in threads.
"Huh?" the boy with the pineapple shaped ponytail exclaimed in confusion. "Ino, Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata, why are you here?"
In response, the black-haired boy, Sasuke snorted while turning his head away. Meanwhile, the girl with purple tinted hair tuned beat read as soon as she made eye contact with Naruto. As a result, she was unable to answer the question due to embarrassment.
"Hey, let me go!" Ino shouted in a fluster while trying to struggle out of Elicia's threads.
"We weren't here to cause trouble, you know." Sakura said. "We just wanted to know where Sasuke was going."
Hearing that, Naruto's shoulder slumped slightly. However, by now, he knew that Sakura, the object of his affection, had no feelings for him. So, he was not all that affected.
"When I saw Sasuke, I expected to hear that from Ino and Sakura." Naruto said while shaking his head. "But the real surprise is seeing Sasuke and Hinata."
"I-I-I-I…" Hinata stuttered after hearing Naruto use her name.
"Hmph! I wanna see how you could be getting so strong." Sasuke replied.
"Geez, Sasuke." Naruto said in an annoyed tone. "If you wanted to know, you should have just asked instead of following me around like a creep."
"Hey, don't talk bad about Sasuke!" Ino and Sakura shouted in banshee-like voices.
Those statements lead to the group starting to bicker. Meanwhile, Elicia smiled at the children as she released those she had captured from her bindings.. Then, she simply mused to herself while watching them.
"Right now, I have almost all of the Konoha 12 at our house." Elicia thought to herself. 'If Shino wasn't so anti-social, we'd have all of them here.'
While Elicia simply watched the ongoing bickering, Ikaruga eventually brought Elicia a cup of tea.
"Thanks, Ikaruga." Elicia said with a smile.
"May I ask, Madam Elicia." Ikaruga replied. "Who are our guests?"
"Oh, they're just Naruto's friends." Elicia replied with a smile. "Even though we picked up some more ingredients for tonight, there are a few more here than we expected. Could you run to the market and pick up some more?"
"Of course." Ikaruga replied with a bow.
At that moment, Ikaruga vanished from where she stood. At the same time, Elicia could feel part of the surveillance detail following Ikaruga to the shops she would be buying ingredients from.
A few moments later, Alfonzo, Kakashi, Guy, and Guy's Genin team made their way to the front yard. And when they did, they saw the eight academy students either arguing, making themselves as small as possible, eating a multitude of snacks, or looking at the whole situation in exasperation. And when they did, he could not help but smile.
"Yo, Naruto!" Alfonzo shouted over all the noise, drawing attention onto himself. "I know I said you could bring your friends over today, but this is more than expected."
In response, Naruto smiled brightly. However, before he could reply, someone else replied first.
"Yeah, right." Sakura said disdainfully. "Like Naruto has any friends."
Immediately, the whole yard fell into silence. Naruto even lowered his head and clenched his fists. However, before the awkward mood could last too long, Elicia broke it.
"*Sigh* I've noticed how badly a lot of people treat Naruto over the months we've been here, and I don't get it." Elicia said. "So many people call him a demon and avoid him. But why?"
Once again, the yard fell into silence.
"But all that negativity only comes from the civilians in the village. However, those who grew up in shinobi families don't act like that." Elicia continued. "Either way, since you clearly don't see Naruto as a friend, you can leave. The rest of you are welcome to join us for dinner after our maid gets back."
"Hey, Big Sis Elicia…" Naruto said weakly.
"No, Naruto." Elicia said sternly. "This is the girl you said you had a crush on, right?"
With out Naruto having to answer the question, it was obvious.
"Since you're unwilling to put your foot down, I'll do it for you." Elicia continued. "Just from the way she spoke to you, she clearly doesn't deserve your care or affection. Trust me, just let it go."
Hearing that, Naruto could only lower his head. He knew what Elicia said was true. But his feelings for Sakura made it hard to accect. Meanwhile, Sakura was looking at Elicia with her eyes and mouth hanging open. Never did she expect that she would be sent away for bad mouthing Naruto. More than that, no one defended her, at all.
Eventually, when Sakura snapped back to her senses, she left the residence. At about the same time, Ikaruga returned. And as she did, she watched Sakura leave with a confused expression on her face. However, she did not dwell on it for long.
"Master Alfonzo, I've returned with more ingredients." Ikaruga said respectfully. "Would you like my assistance in the kitchen?"
"No, that won't be necessary." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head. "Instead, can you get those who wanna get a little training in before dinner started? By the time you're done, I'll have finished cooking."
"Yes, Master Alfonzo." Ikaruga replied with a bow. Then, she turned to all the kids who might want to train. "Those who wish to start training, please follow me to the backyard."
Naruto was the first to start moving towards Ikaruga. After him, the three he brought with him followed along. That was one of the reasons why they showed up, after all. Following them was Sasuke, Rock Lee, and Neji, who were also interested in getting stronger. The last few, namely Tenten, Ino, and Hinata decided to sit with Elicia until dinner was ready.
Though, that was more because they recognized Elicia and wanted to talk to her about fashion and how they could attract the boys in which they were interested.
"*Sigh* As shinobi, the first thing you should concern yourselves with is getting stronger." Elicia said sternly. "I don't think anyone wants a trophy wife like the men in the outside world do. Instead, they want to be able to leave a strong, long-lasting legacy behind."
Like that, the three girls continued to ask Elicia questions about how they could get their love interests to notice them. However, before she could give too much information, Alfonzo's voice rang out over the residence, letting everyone know it was time to eat.