he three young members that formed Taki's Team Twelve were currently walking down the streets. "So, what did Sai want to talk to you about?" Fū asked looking at the blonde beside her.

"Sai? Wasn't that the name of one of the guys from Konoha?" Shiro asked looking at Naruto.

"Yeah, he wanted to invite me to this years Chūnin Exams. Apparently this year, it's being held in Konoha and he wanted me to come," Naruto said looking at the white haired male in front of him.

"Really? Well, that's nice of him I guess," Fū said looking at the blonde beside her.

"Yeah, but to be honest, I'm not sure if we should go or not. What do you think?" Naruto asked looking at the two beside him. Fū looked at Naruto she could tell that he was uncomfortable with the idea of returning to Konoha and didn't want him to return unless he wanted to. Fū was about to speak, however to her surprise, Shiro was the first to speak.

"I don't think this is the time to be thinking about that. We have training right now, so I think we should wait until after training to decide," Shiro said looking at the two in front of him.

"I guess Shiro's right. After all, Sensei said he had something important to show us today," Fū said looking at the two males in front of her.

"Yeah, so we'll talk about this after we get done training," The blonde said with a smile on his face.

The three then walked to the place where Gorou had first tested them. They saw the male standing against a tree with a sake bottle in his hand. However, to their surprise, the bottle hadn't been opened and by looking at the male, it looked like he hadn't been drinking. When the three reached the male he looked at them and sighed.

"Glad to see that the three of you are here early like I asked," Gorou said looking at them he then placed his hand on the tree and then looked at them. "Today, I'm going to show you a few chakra control exercises. I planned on showing the three of you this yesterday, but as I found out yesterday it's difficult to control your chakra when you've been drinking," the male said looking at them.

"Okay, so what are you going to show us?" Naruto asked looking at the older male in front of him. When Gorou heard this, he smiled and looked to the tree beside him. He then placed his hands together and then separated them. Gorou then placed his foot on the tree and to the three's surprise, he started to walk up the tree.

"How are you doing that?" Shiro asked looking at the older man in front of him. When he asked this Gorou walked down the tree and looked at them.

"It's a simple chakra control exercise. Move chakra to the bottom of your feet and use the chakra to stick to the tree. When you have mastered this exercise I'll move you up to the next level of this exercise then after that the final level of this exercise," Gorou said looking at the three in front of him. Naruto was the first to try.

He concentrated some chakra to the soles of his shoes and started to slowly walk up the tree. Naruto smiled when he was halfway up the tree however his smile soon faded when he heard a loud crack and was forced off the tree.

Gorou chuckled slightly seeing this and looked at the male. 'He was doing good at first but at the end used to much chakra and was launched off the tree,' Gorou thought looking at Naruto.

Gorou then turned his attention to his nephew and saw him walking up the tree like Naruto had done. However, unlike Naruto, he watched as Shiro instead of being launched off the tree instead slipped and fell down. 'Again, he had it at first, but in the end let it slip to just under enough to stick to the tree,' Gorou thought as he turned his attention to Fū.

He then watched as she walked up the tree and like Naruto, used too much chakra and was pushed off the tree. 'Seems like she's having the same problem as Naruto. Well at least none of them are naturals at this, however, I do have one concern,' Gorou thought as he once again turned his attention back to his nephew.

'Shiro's not a jinchuuriki like Naruto and Fu are. So his chakra reserves will be drained a lot quicker than theirs will. He'll be drained while they could keep going for possibly hours. Not only that but he'll have to have good chakra control for our bloodline. If he's not in control when he uses it then there's a good chance that he could destroy his entire body or maybe...' Gorou thought as he looked at the white haired male in front of him.

Gorou then sighed and looked up at the sky. 'I forgot how easy it is to relax when I haven't been drinking,' Gorou thought to himself as he slowly closed his eyes. However, he was forced to open his eyes once again when he heard someone calling his name. He opened his eyes to see that both Naruto and Fū were looking at him.

"Have you mastered the first exercise?" Gorou asked looking at the two in front of him.

"Yes sensei," Fū said looking at the older male in front of her.

"Then follow me and we'll move onto the next exercise," Gorou said looking at the young couple in front of him.

"Actually, we were hoping that we could leave early," Naruto said looking at the male in front of him.

"What?" Gorou asked a little confused. He then looked at the two with a curious expression and Naruto started to explain.

"Well, today I planned on taking Fū out somewhere. I've been wanting to take her out for a while now and I-" The blonde began only to get cut off by Gorou.

"That's enough I get the picture. Yes the two of you can leave. We'll just start on the next exercise tomorrow," The gray haired male said looking at the two in front of him. When he did, the two smiled and started to run towards the village.

"Thanks Sensei!" the two said in unison as they continued to run.

Gorou sighed seeing the two of them and then looked towards the trees to see that Shiro was laying on the ground out of breath and exhausted.

'It's just like I thought. The two of them didn't seem exhausted in the slightest but Shiro seems to have reached his limit,' Gorou thought looking at the male. He then watched as the male got up and looked at the tree. 'But it seems like he's determined to not fall behind them. I don't think he'll notice if I disappear for a little bit,' Gorou thought as he Shunshined away.

Shiro however panted and looked at the tree. He then slowly got to his knees and looked at the tree and then without warning ran towards the tree. He attempted to run up the tree however his chakra was so low that his feet didn't even stick to the truck. Shiro fell down and slowly sat up. He looked at the tree and then sighed.

'I have to get this before the day is over,' Shiro thought to himself as he ran towards the tree. However unknown to him his chakra was very low. So low in fact that when he tried to run up the tree he didn't have enough chakra to stick to the tree. The male then fell down and slowly sat up. He looked at the tree and sighed. "Just one more try," Shiro said as he tried to force himself onto his feet.

When he did, the male's chakra once again started to deplete itself eventually the white-haired males chakra became so low that his body stopped moving. Shiro looked at his hand and tried to move but nothing happened. Shiro then relaxed and smiled. 'Maybe I should relax just a bit,' Shiro thought as he closed his eyes.

With Naruto and Fū

The two were walking down the streets of Taki with their hands locked together. Fū then looked at Naruto with a curious expression on her face. "So where are we going?" Fū asked looking at Naruto.

"I'm taking you to the place that we first met," Naruto said with a smile on his face. When he said this Fū smiled and the two began to walk towards the Takigakure Park. When they got there they started to walk towards the lake. They then started to walk alongside the lake until they reached the dock where they had first met. The two then walked to the edge of the dock and Naruto looked at Fū.

"So Naruto why did you bring me here?" Fū asked looking at the blonde in front of her.

"Well," Naruto began looking at her. "I originally wanted to take you to a restaurant where we could get something nice to eat, but no one would serve us. So I started to think about different things that we could do together. However, no matter what came to mind for one reason or another I couldn't do it. Then a thought came to mind and that lead me here with you," The blonde said looking at her.

"What thought was that?" Fū asked looking at the blonde male in front of her. When Fū asked this, Naruto took both of her hands in his and looked at the female in front of him.

Naruto's face then turned a little red and he looked at her. "How important you are to me," Naruto said looking at her.

When he said this Fū's face turned as red as his and Naruto began to look at the ground.

"I don't think about it that often, but Fū you're really important to me. Believe it or not, I have loved you for a long time. I didn't realize it back then but now I know that even back then when we were young kids that I was in love with you," Naruto said as he raised his head to look at her.

"I've loved you for a long time. I'm truly glad that I met you because if I had done one thing different that day, I never would have met you. You were the first person that treated me like I was a normal person. You were the first person to ever show me so much kindness in such a short amount of time. You when no one else would choose to treat me like I was a normal person. Even when you knew I was going to cause problems for you, you stayed with me anyway," Naruto said looking at her.

Naruto then started to look at the ground trying to hide his embarrassed face. "There have been a few times when I try to picture what my life would be like without you and you'll never guess what comes to mind when I do," Naruto said looking at Fū. It was quite for a few seconds before Naruto started to speak again.

"Fū, every time I try to think about what my life would be like without you, nothing ever comes to mind," Naruto said as he once again looked up at Fū. When he did he saw that a few tears were building up in her eyes. When he saw this, he reached up and began to gently wipe them away.

"Fū, I know I won't be able to do the most amazing things for you and I know I won't be able to give you the greatest life, but I love you. I have loved you for a long time and I want you to know that no matter what happens, my heart will always belong to you," Naruto said looking at Fū. When he said this Fu smiled and hugged him.

Naruto was taken back a bit but smiled and wrapped his arms around Fū. "I love you too Naruto, and I feel the exact same way about you," Fū said quietly into his ear. Naruto smiled hearing this and pulled her a little closer to him. Fū then pulled away slightly and looked at Naruto before connecting their lips together. Naruto slowly closed his eyes and the two were connected for a while before they separated.

Naruto then sat at the edge of the dock with his legs hanging off the dock slightly. Fū then smiled and sat in front of Naruto. When she did, Naruto smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist and let her lean against him. Naruto then placed his head on her shoulder and the two looked at the lake just enjoying each other's company.

When dusk was just beginning to set in, Fū sighed and stood up. She then looked at the blonde that was still sitting down and offered him a hand.

"We promised Shiro that we'd meet him at his house remember," Fū said looking at Naruto. The blonde, like his counterpart sighed hearing this and accepted her hand standing up.

"Well, let's hurry up. Wouldn't want to keep him waiting," Naruto said looking at Fū. The green haired female nodded slightly hearing this and the two started to walk towards the house that they had learned Shiro lived in.

When they got there, Naruto knocked on the door a few times and the door opened. Shiro looked at them and sighed.

"Please come in. I'd like to talk to the two of you about something," Shiro said looking at them. When he said this the two walked into the house. When they did, the two took a seat next to each other and Shiro sat down and looked at them.

"So what do you want to talk about Shiro?" Naruto asked looking at the white haired male in front of him.

"It's about what you said this morning. About whether or not we should go to the Chunin exams," Shiro said looking at the two in front of him. When he said this, Naruto almost immediately tensed up and looked at him. Fū could tell how nervous Naruto was and looked at Shiro. She saw that he was looking down and that she couldn't see how uncomfortable Naruto was.

"So what do you think?" Naruto asked looking at the white haired male in front of him. Fū was a little surprised to hear Naruto ask this since she knew how much he didn't want to return to Konoha. 'We can't go there. Shinobi from Konoha have come here to try and kidnap him before. If we go there it'd just make him a huge target. I have to talk Shiro out of going,' Fū thought as she looked at the blonde beside her.

Fū then turned her attention to Shiro. "Shiro please listen. About the Chūnin Exams, I honestly think that-" Fu began only to get cut off by Shiro.

"I don't think we should go," Shiro said looking at the two. Both Fū and Naruto were relieved to hear this, however, the green haired female was curious as to why he didn't want to go.

"Mind if I ask why?" Fū asked looking at the white haired male beside her.

"It's from what I heard Naruto say. Something just seems off. According to Naruto, Sai said he wanted to see "Naruto" there, he said he'd be happy if "Naruto" went to Konoha. Why would he just want Naruto there? Something about that just seems off to me," Shiro said looking at the two. The blonde he was with hadn't thought about it until now, but he realized that Shiro was right.

The way Sai worded what he said made him realize that he didn't want to the rest of the team there. Sai didn't care if they went to Konoha or not he just wanted him there.

Shiro then once again spoke bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "I think it's obvious that I'd just be a liability to the two of you. From what I've seen, the two of you are at the moment far above my level so I'd rather have more time before trying to pass the Chunin Exams," Shiro said looking at the two beside him.

"You're not a liability to us, you're our friend," Naruto said looking at Shiro.

"Shiro if we went, you wouldn't weigh us down. After all, you're part of the team too and we'd never leave you behind. Right Fū?" Naruto asked looking at the green haired female beside him.

"Yeah Shiro, you shouldn't put yourself down like that," Fū said looking at the white haired male in front of her.

"I'm not trying to put myself down, it's just facts. Think about it. Both of you were able to move on to the second stage of the chakra control exercise before the day was over and I'm still stuck on the first stage. Then a few weeks ago, when we were sent to protect the heroes water, Fū was strong enough to go head-to-head with a Jōnin level Nuke-nin that had drunk the heroes water and Naruto was strong enough to beat him," Shiro said looking at them. The two became quiet hearing this and looked at the male in front of them.

Shiro then sighed and looked at the two of them. "Like I said, I'm not trying to put myself down, but at the moment if we went to the Chūnin Exams, I'd just slow the two of you down. So I just want another year to train is all. By then, I should have my bloodline under control and I might be at your level. Until then, I'd just like some more time to catch up to the two of you," Shiro said looking at the two of them.

The two were quiet until Naruto smiled hearing this and looked at him. "If that's what you want then I don't have a problem with it. You can take as long as you need and then when you think you're ready, we'll take the Chūnin Exams and all pass together," Naruto said looking at the male in front of him.

"Yeah! No way are we letting anyone break up Taki's Team Twelve," Fū agreed with a smile on her face. When Shiro heard this, he smiled and looked at them.

"Thanks guys. It really means a lot to me," Shiro said looking at them. When he said this Naruto and Fū stood up with a smile.

"Well not to be rude, but we better get going. It's getting pretty late," Naruto said looking at Shiro.

"Yeah. See ya tomorrow Shiro," Fu said as the two walked out of the house and started to walk down the street. Shiro looked at them for a moment and then smiled.

'For the two of you. I have to get stronger. I promise that Team Twelve will not break up anytime soon,' Shiro thought to himself as he shut his door.