Okay. I know it has been a long time. I have been working on this. But, I have a good reason. I'm sure a lot of you have been following the manga as well. I just can't seem to reconcile this story with what I've been seeing. The characterizations, the new developments...psychotic inner Itachi and living eye factory of Sasuke has just been... it's screwing up any ideas I had. What I had planned I just can't seem to write. But, I figured that I've been putting everything off for far too long now so I decided to just post what I've managed to type up for this chapter. I would really like to hear what direction my readers think this story should go. Any ideas at all would be appreciated.

Many thanks to :

woohoo, UchihaHinata2210, Boshoku, whitefang, cfox, Planet No Martian, Wassermagierin, and Yoruichi 'Ino'.

In particular I would like to thank cfox, and Tuli-Susi, who have been supporting me since this story began.

I really don't want to give up on this story, so if I can get enough ideas to jumpstart it then it should be back and regular. Thank you for your time

oh, and if you like Ino and Shikamaru check out Esoteric Memories, there is also a story called HinaSasuIno where those three ended up being on a team instead of canon and is pretty funny.

A princess of shinobi is much different from a princess of civilians. For one, the former could get away with non-restricting attire and knowing more about killing than her bodyguards. For another, the former could have hair as short as rain is wet and not be seen as The Disgrace of the whole damned nation. While the second issue may seem like a given, one does not know unless they have felt that unwavering, not to mention palpable, sense of being watched and being the cause of many many many mental shakes of disappointed heads.

Ino knows this because she has been unlucky enough to feel it. Every freaking time she visited her cousin. Dear ole' Tamaki, heir of some obscure Grass aristocracy and future Lord of the Grass Country. Just her luck.

There was a groan. Just her luck...

A particularly vicious smile flitted across the blond's pretty face as she watched her companion awaken after his...unscheduled nap after seeing her dear cousin. Having convinced Tamaki to regale her with just what had occurred between the two, Ino did not blame Naruto for his aversion. Really, only that old pervert could think up something as vile as having Naruto use his sexy no jutsu to seduce the local prince just to avoid paying tabs. But, if nothing else, Tamaki was Ino's cousin and the two shared the same fondness for theatrics.

It is one thing to have a healthy appreciation for beauty, but quite another to be enamored to the point of being gracelessly obsessed. Of course, being of ninja stock there is a certain amusement in making people believe that lack of elegance is true.

"Mornin' Naruto," she greeted lazily. Her grin was...Naruto was rather disturbed to find that it appealed to that damned Kyuubi...damn him and his fondness for vicious blood thirsty little things.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing." a glint of white...glistening white that gleamed with each syllable. "Just wondering when we became family."

There was a brief moment when her lips curled rather...mock demurely. "Cousin Tamaki was rather...vague concerning your wedding night."

Naruto twitched. Oddly enough, this motion was a long and drawn out one - completely contradicting its very meaning, kind of like a slow blink or a servile smirk.

"Shut. Up."

"Oh calm down. Every good shinobi has done at least one thing degrading to his or her very sense of being at one point or another in his or her career."

"Pfft. You have no idea." a growl.

In response there was a laugh - it was the twinkling of bells, possibly those rang at a funeral. "Careful, you're starting to sound like Sasuke."

Two pairs of blue eyes met, both suddenly very cold. "I've been meaning to ask. What's the deal with you and the bastard?"

"You don't find it weird at all, do you?"

"Why the hell do you think I'm asking?"

"I meant how ridiculously ignorant some of us seemed and still seem."

"You've never been one to beat around the bush before, just spit it out already."

Ino leaned back in her chair, an expensive monstrosity of the rarest timber and silk. As she crossed her legs, Naruto noted that she had fallen into some sort of civilian mode. "You don't know me well enough to make that statement."

"Get to the fucking point."

She watched him for a moment. "If you really wanted to be Hokage, you would have figure it out by now." Silence. "Shinobi and death go hand in hand, so why is it that so many of our brats are so stupid?"

Even more silence. Blue eyes narrowed at a head of shaggy blond.

"I swear. If Iruka-sensei didn't like you so much...Listen up. What Itachi did was systematic butchery of a large and important clan in a very short amount of time. He took out the Leaf's police force, his own family. But, while it is seen as a tragedy, it isn't exactly...considered that big a deal. Impressive feat no doubt, but little more."

"What? You think it's no big deal?"

"I think that worse things happen often enough to too many people in the shinobi world."

There was nothing in her gaze to indicate that she was not serious. Naruto frowned.

"How can you say that?"

A laugh. It was uncertain whether the amusement was true or false. "To each individual, they were murdered. Their friends and family were killed around them. That is not a rare thing. To Itachi, he systematically eliminated a large group of skilled and not so skilled people as efficiently as it was possible. He's a ninja, that's part of what he was raised to do. To Sasuke, well...he's hardly the only person to have lost his family to someone that he had loved and trusted. Again, we are shinobi, we are warriors from the shadows - we are hardly honest and benign. When the civilians are making macaroni pictures we are taught how to slit a throat while smiling like good little boys and girls. You only care because it affects someone you personally care greatly for, had it happened to say Hinata it wouldn't be as big a deal to you."

"I can't believe you actually think like that." Naruto smirked. "But I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're so weak. After all, you did grow out your hair and started acting all girly girly just for Sasuke."

Ino tilted her head coolly. "You've never met my dad, have you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"He's one of the Leaf's top Intelligence specialists."

"What the fuck does that have to do with anything?"

"I grew up looking up to him." A grin. "I even copied his hairstyle. As for me acting all 'girly girly'...I'm a kunoichi, it's part of the job description that I'm a good actress."

"Yeah, right."

"Is it my fault you're too pathetic to tell when someone's lying?"

"Don't you fucking look down on me." Naruto growled.

"Idiot." For the first time in their conversation, her eyes softened. "Do you think I would be wasting my time if I didn't think you had a chance?"

"Ohoho. Let me guess, I was trained by one of the Sanin and the Copy-nin, am favoured by the Hokage-hey!" Naruto's bitter tirade was cut short by a bop on his head.

"No, you idiot. It's called charisma...even though in your case it's slow acting and very twisted..." She trailed off with a smirk. "Like a virus."

Naruto looked nauseous. "You...you are the unholy spawn of the Devil and Him."

"I would appreciate it if you do not slander me by implying more than comradeship between Tamaki and myself."

So cold... so dark... Kabuto had nothing on this guy. Considering Kyuubi was very appreciative of this guy's menacing aura...he must be quite an evil being indeed. Naruto watched this man with the gaze of a doomed knight watching the approaching dragon.

"Boufuu-hime." A polite nod as an aristocratic gesture passed an elegant but functional backpack to her. "Your cousin was most adamant that you receive this."

A slight bow. "Thank you. Oh, by the way, I do not want to hear that you allowed something like that to happen again. Even if in the long run you are able to blackmail a member of the Leaf in the future, the cost would be much too high."

"Oh?" Creeping tendrils of shadow claws seemed to reach from the spectacled man's shadow.

The gleam of white teeth and shimmer of well bred hair. "You are one hell of a guy if you are willing to deal with Eikaniki's crying."

"I deal with his crying on a daily basis."

A nod. "Yeah, and I'm not saying I'm not impressed. But, then I'm guessing you've got a canal route figured out?"

"And beautifully carved little boats." Polite and lilting.

A harmless laugh could be heard. "It was nice to meet you, anyways. C'mon Naruto, we need to get going."

The other blond was out of the castle and out the city's main gates before Ino had even made it out the room's door.

KYOYAKYOYAKYOYA

"I should have known."
"What was that, Naruto?"

"You're evil. Pure evil. It makes perfect sense that you're His relative."

"Borderline."

"Wha?"

"I'm borderline evil."

"I'm pretty sure that you're completely evil."

"You really should know by now that all kunoichi are borderline."

"Riiiiiiiiiight."

A grin. One that Naruto had noticed on the prince he so wished to forget. It bode nothing but ill. "Would you say Sakura is sweet."

"Hell yes."
"Ah, but not sweet enough. Because she's too ill tempered to be sweet."

"...I guess."

"She's pretty, but not really beautiful. And you'd be crazy to say she's plain."

Naruto harumphed. "And Hinata? How is she borderline?"

"She's weak." Ino ignored the impassioned glare and glower she received. "But she's far too determined to be that. She's gorgeous, but too elegant to be viewed in such a common term. She's feminine, but not effeminate. She's intelligent, but that's hardly the term you would associate her with. Of all of our class, she should be the most pronounced, but even the person sitting beside her probably never noticed her. She's shy to the point where she doesn't seem to have any deep friendships, but probably also has the most people who are willing to do things for her even without her asking - and that has nothing to do with her being the Hyuuga heiress."

Wide eyes. "You said more about Hinata than you did about Sakura!"

"Don't get me wrong Naruto, Sakura is my friend. And goddess only knows how big a role she's played in my life. But, she betrayed me - broke our friendship for a boy that she had heard I liked. Sakura is my friend, and I love her like a sister. But, she is not my best, nor my only friend. And if I ever had to choose which one gets to live..." her smile was a bittersweet one.

"You're a bitch." Naruto wondered why the venom in his words failed to burn off his tongue.

"And you are a fool. Sasuke betrayed you for power, but you understand...You know that the vengeance he sought was not a small thing. The death of one he loved so dearly...the deaths of those who died all in one night. His whole fucking world taken away. You understood why it was such a big deal - hell, you would have helped him if he had let you. But, he did not break off your friendship for a girl. You would never cast him aside for such a thing, not even if it was for Sakura."

"No. I guess not." he paused. "You're not really a missing-nin are you."

"I ask you, aside from Sasuke, who was really more stupid than anything, what former student of Iruka-sensei would have the balls to betray the Leaf?"

"Look Ino, I respect Iruka-sensei. A lot. But I think you're giving him too much credit."

"Leave it to a combat specialist to forget that the basics are most important." she grumbled.

"Know what? I'm not here to tell you everything. You figure it out yourself...even though it's pretty damn obvious."

"Bah, you're a witch."

"Really? And here I've always thought I was more of a vampire."

She laughed at the other's ashen face.

HERECOMESTHEDEVIL

"Kisame-san."

A sweet chirp reached the blue being's ears. The S-Class criminal shuddered inwardly at the sight of the black eyes that peered up at him. A soft head of lavender fir perched upon the child's own tuft of ebon.

"What is it Chibi."

"Does Aniki still do kabuki?"

"Erhm...you know what? I've never seen him do anything like dancing."

That cute little mouth...that weapon of mass oozifization of hardened criminals into spineless servile pets just to keep it from forming some expression of anything less than joyous. "No chickie dance?"

"Don't worry Suke-kun." The demon cat purred. "We'll make him dance for you. Won't we, Kisa-chan?"

"Don't..." evil...evil...evil blue eyes turning black... "What kinda dance do you want Itachi to do?"

Yet, no matter how creepy the cat's ire was, its joy was even worse.

"SQUIRRELS! WHY THE FUCK DID IT HAVE TO BE SQUIRRELS?"

Chouji popped a chip into his mouth before taking a sip of tea. Shikamaru just snicked as he watched. It really was an amusing sight, the infamous Hatake Kakashi was acting as though the devil was hunting him down - devouring him little at a time until even his marrow ceased to exist. In the form of Iruka-sensei's oh so loveable little demonic friends. Shikamaru had always thought that of all the summons he'd heard of, Iruka-sensei's was definitely one of the more useful ones to have.

Squirrels looked virtually the same no matter what region one finds them. They are also discreet, easily hiding in the shade of branches and amongst leaves. Fast too...not to mention very vicious. Sounds of a very irrate pack of nin-dogs were growling and howling at their master for sending them to war against acorn armed squirrels could be heard.

Shikamaru blinked. "Why does this seem so familiar?"

Crunch. Munch. Munch. "Remember the first time we ditched Iruka-sensei's class?"

Blink. A few moments of thought. A grimace. "I think I suppressed that memory."

"That was when he figured out that you were a genius wasn't it?"

"Not. Funny."

"It was the first time I'd ever seen you really panic."

Kakashi ran past again. Leaves followed him like shuriken and acorns pelted from all angles. Shikamaru winced when he noticed the other jounin's many furry attachments. Well, at least the man hadn't been...oh. Sap now drenched the silver haired man...and various other things that a genius like Shikamaru would do well not to ponder upon.

The famed copy-nin's faithful dogs were not to be seen. Odd, those nuisances were loyal to a fault...nothing short of death could possibly drive them away. Well, almost nothing. Orders were to be obeyed after all. A certain respect for the older man grew in Shikamaru, such sacrifice.

Urp. Shikamaru flinched at what he saw. The crunching of chips ceased beside him as the bag of junk food fell to the ground.

"Shikamaru...did..."
"NO. No way. Nope."

"Right. Gotcha. Never happened."

"Exactly."

"Anatomically impossible."

"Shut up Chouji. Please."

WHATDOESKAKASHITHINKOFALLTHIS

"Stupid nut-licking-URK!"

"We can hear you, you realize." Came the surprisingly cultured tones of the rodent atop Kakashi's head of silver.

"GET OFF!"

"Look, child, you were a veteran killer before you hit puberty, and for some odd unexplainable reasons you have managed to survive long enough for the rest of your age group to catch up and surpass you. Would it kill you to calm down and listen?" Beady eyes were clear, even as a long tirade could be heard. "I shall be blunt. Your silly and childish little rant pales in comparison to my ward."

Kakashi twitched. He hated being treated as a child. Even the third had stopped treating him as such long ago. "Get. Off. Me. All. Of. You."

"Child."

"I am not a child!"

"I was old when the White Fang was no more than a day old pup. Surely in comparison you are a child."

"You filthy rodents!"

"Will you just shut up. Yes, Iruka went overboard, but you are much more mature are you not?"

"Stop patronizing me."

"Hatake. You are a living legend. Coffee should not affect you this way. Calm down."

"Get off."

"Not until we are sure that you have calmed down. Great tree above only knows how Iruka's going to pay for the reconstruction of the art gallery."

"The pictures were ugly."

The squirrel was silent for a moment before disappearing.