34 Meeting Gaara

Four people could be seen on a narrow road, either side lined by fences. The sun was up in full might, making their shadows quite short.

"I have good news," Kakashi said, giving a thumbs up. "You all are selected for this year's chunin exam."

Aside from Naruto, who expected this, the other two were surprised.

"Is that true?" Sakura asked, still disbelieving.

She knew that they were still rookies. She wasn't even sure they were ready to face such a big exam.

"Yup," Kakashi nodded. "I believe you guys have a good shot at it."

Sasuke was ecstatic hearing this, as he would finally get the chance to test himself against the genin of other villages. He had a light smirk.

"Alright then, I'll leave you to it," Kakashi said, walking away with a book opened up in his left hand.

Wanting to train, Sasuke also nodded to Naruto and walked away, leaving Naruto and Sakura behind.

"Wait for me, Sasuke!" Sakura shouted as she ran after Sasuke.

Although Sakura was not as clingy as before, this didn't reduce Sasuke's irritation.

"Why don't you train and always flirt?" He reprimanded Sakura, "I don't have to tell you who is the weakest, right? ── Try becoming stronger rather than going around flirting all the time."

Sakura cast a downward gaze. She clutched either side of her dress. The worst thing was that she knew he was right. She kept looking at the back of Sasuke, who was leaving.

Looking at her drooping shoulders, Naruto knew it must have hit her hard.

"Sakura," Naruto said. "SAKURA!"

Hearing Naruto's shout, she looked at him.

"What? Are you going to blame me too?"

"Nothing of the sort," he continued. "I just wanted to let you know that you can't win his heart like that. ── He is working towards revenge; he can't have any distractions. ── Become strong, strong enough to be a support to him. Only then can you have your wish."

Sakura had her fists clenched upon hearing the first part. However, she soon unclenched her hands after the last part and began pondering Naruto's words for a few moments.

"Thank you, Naruto," she said with a determined expression. Her smile couldn't be hidden.

"No problem... Hope you get him." Naruto said, giving her a thumbs up in the same style as Kakashi, which made Sakura laugh.

"Since when did you become a matchmaker?" Sakura asked jokingly.

"Haha, is it ──"

Naruto couldn't complete his sentence as he was disturbed by a yell. Both he and Sakura ran toward the direction of the sound.

Coming to the scene, they saw a child being held by his collar by an unknown ninja, who seemed to be someone from another village.

He wore a black, baggy full-body suit along with a black hood with cat-like ears. His forehead protector was carved with the symbol of 'village hidden by sand.'

Seeing the unique costume, it didn't take Naruto much time to recognize who it was.

It was none other than Kankurō. And the one who was held by him was Konohamaru, grandson of Hiruzen.

"Would you mind putting him down?" Naruto asked Kankuro, walking towards the scene.

"Who might you be?" Kankuro gave an irritating look toward Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he replied, "how about letting him go now?"

Seeing he had no intention of listening, Naruto directed some of his nine-tail chakra onto him.

In the next second, Kankuro let Konohamaru go; his legs were shaking, and his hands were trembling. A thin layer of sweat appeared around his tattooed face.

While this was happening, everyone looked at Kankuro, confused. Even Temari, who was beside him, couldn't feel anything.

"Stand down"

Gaara appeared in front of them with a commanding tone.

"Interesting ability," Naruto said, looking at Gaara, who manipulated the sand flawlessly.

Meanwhile, Gaara was observing Naruto from head to toe. Despite others not feeling anything, he felt a strange resonance with Naruto.

"What happened, Gaara?" Temari asked with a baffled expression.

"You don't need to know." He replied coldly, looking at Temari. "Let's leave."

Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara left without much talk.

Naruto went toward Konohamaru and helped him get up. His crying face was nowhere to be seen.

"Boss, how did you do that? ── Can you teach me that, too?" he asked with a beaming face.

"Shhhh," Naruto put one of his fingers over his mouth. "That's a secret."

"Oooooh," Konohamaru exclaimed, making an 'O' shape with his mouth.

"Well ── see you later."

"Okay, boss"

Saying that he left along with Sakura, who still couldn't make heads or tails about the situation. But she didn't bother to ask him. By now, Sakura felt like all the absurd things were normal around him.

──𖥔⋅⋅──❀──⋅⋅𖥔──

[[[ Training place – River shore ]]]

*Clang*

*Clang*

Kunais clashed with each other, making metallic sounds. Along the river, Tenten and Hinata could be seen sparring. Naruto was also on a boulder near them, supervising the match.

He paid particular attention to the match as they tended to deviate from sparring to fighting occasionally.

Hinata had her Bakugan activated and was trying to get closer to Tenten. But how couldn't Tenten understand her thoughts? She knew all too well, fighting with Neji. So Tenten kept throwing many projectiles, aiming to take her out from afar.

The whole shore was imprinted with their footsteps from running around, and everything looked like a mess. Water waves rippled continuously due to Hinata's Hyuga techniques.

'It seems like this will be a draw,' Naruto thought, looking at their battle.

No one was getting the upper hand. Thus, Naruto decided to make the battle come to an end for now.

"Alright, girls... That's enough for today."

Hearing Naruto's voice, they stopped their fight and slumped on the ground from exhaustion. In truth, both of them were tired beyond belief. However, neither of them were willing to back down. Hence the current situation.

'I guess they are in need of my therapy.' Naruto thought as he walked towards Tenten and Hinata and picked them up, placing his hands around their waists. One on either hand. Tenten and Hinata looked at each other briefly before looking away with a "hmph."

Not minding their infighting, he carried them to a nearby bolder and sat down along them, facing his back towards the rock surface.

"Get ready for today's massage, girls," Naruto said, moving his finger up along both their bodies ever so slowly. Tenten and Hinata, who knew what was coming, had red faces.

Naruto started gently caressing their bodies all over, injecting his six paths chakra into them. It did wonders, as it not only healed their injuries but also improved their overall physical condition and chakra reserves.

He could do it by touching any part of the body. But where is the fun in that? So Naruto didn't forget to caress every inch of their bodies while he was at it. Nothing beats hearing the moans of his lovely girls.

"Ahn~" Hinata let out a small moan.

"Naruto-kun, ── Not there!" She said, holding Naruto's hand, circling around her nipple.

However, she was not alone in this. Tenten was also trying hard to contain her moans as Naruto's hands brushed against her nipples, now perking up through her clothes.

"Don't be naughty, Hinata," Naruto said, removing her hold on his hand. "Let me complete the treatment... Okay?"

He had an honest look on his face. Hinata could only nod meekly, letting him do whatever he wanted. Tenten also swallowed her 'not-so-complaints,' giving complete control to Naruto.

Despite the complaining, both liked his touch, which was strangely pleasurable and fulfilling. They didn't know how to explain it.

Following that, many suppressed and not-so-suppressed moans sounded from their mouths. It only stopped when Naruto sealed their mouths after his 'treatment' was finally over, leaving Hinata and Tenten out of breath from intense kissing.

When they finally parted, the smiles on Hinata and Tenten couldn't be more obvious. However, they still didn't talk much with each other, obviously not comfortable with sharing one man.

'This is progress, I say.' Naruto thought, looking at them, walking without trying to pounce on each other.