"I'm fairly sure there was something I'm supposed to be doing," Naruko said, "but I can't remember what it is," she said, shrugging. "So sure, I guess I can play with you guys for a while."
"Awesome!" the children cheered.
"Ne, ne, Onee-chan, we need a princess!" one of the boys said.
"Yep! We're playing the bad guys," another one said, gesturing to a group with three boys and two girls beside him.
"And we're the good guys!" said the first one, gesturing to his own group, composed of pretty much the same numbers, but in reverse gender proportions.
"Heheh, I guess I can do that," Naruko said, grinning. "Hey, you know what, gimme a moment," she said, before putting her hands together. "Henge no Jutsu!" she shouted, and then she exploded into smoke. With a gust of wind, it was pushed off her figure, and it revealed her in a rather puffed out pink dress. "Here, how's this? Now I actually look like a princess, don't I?" she asked.
"That's so cool, Onee-sama!" one of the girls said. "Can you teach us?"
"Maybe later," she said, waving her hand. "For now, don't you guys have an evil fortress to defend? The heroes are gonna save me if you lose time!"
And so the game was on…
***
"This is stupid," Kiba moaned. "Akamaru is not a cat!"
"I say you shouldn't complain," Shino interrupted. Kiba turned to look at him. "Why? Because it is good training for Akamaru. Similarly, it is good training for my kikaichu to deal with the other pests that infest this home. Why? Because hunting this kind of creature requires that we utilize our tracking abilities in different and unexpected ways and—"
"Shino, you're my teammate. I respect you because you're a smart guy and you can kick my ass if we just fight hand to hand without any jutsu involved, but seriously bug man, you need to learn to keep it simple," Kiba said.
Hinata nodded. "Shino-kun speaks too much sometimes," she said. "Also, there are four holes in this floor, there," she said, gesturing at each and calling each of them. Kiba went and marked each of them. These would be the areas they'd have to repair as soon as they got done murdering all the rats that inhabited each of those holes.
"How can a guy with this much money have this many things plaguing his home?" he asked.
"Well, clearly, he has enough money that he doesn't need to inhabit this townhouse," Kurenai said as she walked in. "Look at the bright side, at least there's nobody else bothering us right now," Kurenai said.
Hinata nodded. Really, it was a lot easier to fantasize about spending some time in a dank and dark subterranean place with Naruko without some dumbass thinking she was blushing because of his 'compliments' towards her. Hm… Naruko in chains was an image that Hinata found both terrifying and yet strangely alluring at once. To see her lifting her head, clearly exhausted, but defiant. Strong, yet… oh so deliciously vulnerable. To hear her say with a cracking voice how none could break her will and to see that flame of hers burn brightly, shining in such a dark spot-
"She's off in la-la land," Kiba mused, before shaking his head. Then he turned to Akamaru, who seemed to be on deadly alert. "You ready, pal? It's clobberin' time!"
"…No, I don't think that quite works," Kurenai said. "Keep trying, though. You'll eventually find a nice warcry."
Kiba nodded.
"Man, given how often Hinata fantasizes about her, I wonder if Naruko's just having a sneezing fit? You know, it's like that gag in crappy comedies, where someone mentions a character and then you get a cutaway gag to them sneezing over it or something…"
"I wouldn't think so," Shino said. "Either way, my Kikaichu are herding the rats out of their hiding places. You and Akamaru should get ready."
"Right," Kiba said, falling onto all fours. "Here we go!"
And then it was chaos.
***
Naruko sighed as she sat down. "You guys need to practice your throwing more!" she said, crossing her arms and pouting.
Four kids had remained, as the rest had been picked up by their parents a short time ago. She smiled widely at them, even though she was nursing her temple. Luckily, it had only been a small stone that hit her, but still…
"How can someone fail so hard at skipping stones?" one of the kids asked, turning to the culprit.
"'s not my fault," the boy said, clearly feeling guilty about it.
"You suck, Konohamaru," the sole remaining girl said.
"Yosuke! Yosuke!" someone shouted.
"Crap, guys, I gotta go! Mom's gonna get really annoying unless I'm home by yesterday!" one of the three remaining boys, the aforementioned 'Yosuke', said. "Coming, I'm coming! Keep your pants on, dad!"
"G'bye!" Naruko said, waving her hand as the boy ran.
"It was totally Udon's fault, he challenged me to see how hard I could throw it!" Konohamaru countered.
"Well Moegi told me to say that!" the other boy, who snorted in a snot bubble, countered.
"Did not," the sole remaining girl shouted.
"Guys, guys, it's okay!" Naruko said. "I'm super awesome and made of sterner stuff than rocks anyway!"
"You got really angry though, Nee-chan," Udon said.
"Well, it nearly hit my eye! I don't care if I'm awesome, those still hurt!" she said, frowning at them. "Anyway, come on, I'm sure your parents must be worried about you too, so let's get you guys ho—"
"We're going to the Hokage tower," Konohamaru interrupted. "Gramps is expecting us."
"…Oh, right, you're that guy's grandson, right?" Naruko asked, nodding a little. "Say, you oughta know this. Everyone else looks at me weird when I ask, but seriously, what IS the old guy's name? I can't remember, and I can't really write him a birthday card and address him as 'Old Man', now can I?"
"…Wow that's silly," Moegi said. "Your coolness just dropped several levels, Nee-chan."
Naruko stuck out her tongue. "I'm a ninja pirate, I'm the coolest by default," Naruko said, grinning at her.
"She's got a point," Udon said.
"That's true," Konohamaru agreed. "Anyway, gramps' name is… his name is… Crap, what IS Gramps' name!? It just hit me, I don't know either!" Konohamaru said, his eyes widening. "He's always been Gramps or Old Man Hokage to just about everyone who even knows him," he said. "Man, that's gotta suck. Not even your grandson knows your name."
"We're terrible," Naruko said, nodding.
"Terribly stupid," Moegi said.
"Cut it with the snark," Naruko warned, "because I've been trained by the best at it, and you won't like me when I'm snarky!"
Moegi shrugged.
"Let's… let's just go. I'm sure Grampa Homura knows," Udon said.
"Grandma Koharu would know, too," Moegi said. "Let's go ask them!"
"Awesome!" Naruko cheered. "Let's go bother the other super old guys!"
As her cheer was infectious, the three academy students also cheered and they all departed.