Chapter 1

Mission Time!

Naruto gazed up at the morning sky as he waited for the rest of his team. It was so blue…almost as blue as his eyes. Yawning, he looked around. The Village hidden in the Leaves was unusually still and peaceful. Naruto looked at his watch and let out an exasperated sigh. It was only 4:38am!

Trying to remember why he was there, Naruto leaned against the railing of the bridge that his comrades usually met at.

Oh yeah…he thought glumly as he remembered why he was there. A messenger had been sent to the apartment Naruto was staying at sometime around dawn—the Hokage had a mission for Naruto and company that involved the Village hidden in the Mist. Naruto was dreading this particular mission.

Ya see, the Village hidden in the Mist and the Village hidden in the Leaves had been at war for quite sometime.

The only time they've ever united was when the Nine Tails Fox had wrecked havoc upon the Lands of Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water. During the battle to stop the fox, it was the Village hidden in the Mist in the Land of Water that had taken most of the damage.

For some reason, they had blamed the Village hidden in the Leaves—probably since the seal to lock the fox-demon away was based upon a child from the Village hidden in the Leaves.

The very child would be cursed by the possession of the Nine Tails Fox for the rest of his life. Because of that soul reason, he'd be hated by everyone—shunned to the very end. No one had ever loved him.

This child had been through so much hurt and torment in his life that he wasted a lot of his childhood crying, and if he was ever caught crying, he'd be called weak. Eventually, the child made a mask—a mental mask. He'd become tired of crying, and he had no more tears to shed. Whenever he felt sad or lonely, he'd put on his mask and smile through his hurt. Never would he be called weak again.

And that child was now a 14 year old chunin waiting for his late friends and sensei. The blonde's head drooped as he started to doze off.

"Hey, dobe!" yelled a familiar voice.

Naruto woke with a start and spun around making sure his 'mask' was in place. Standing in front of him were the very people he had been waiting for. The one who had woken him up was his arrogant rival/friend/comrade. It took Naruto only a second to snap out of his daze at the sight of the raven-haired Uchiha.

"Sasuke! Teme!" Naruto yelled as he punched out at Sasuke, which Sasuke dodged with ease.

"Naruto! Stop it!" yelled the only female of the team, Sakura.

"Sasuke started it, Sakura-chan! He woke me up!"

"That doesn't mean you have to try to hit him!"

Their sensei, Kakashi, sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Why must you all yell so early in the morning?"

Both of the arguing chunin stopped and faced their sensei. "Sorry Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura and Naruto mumbled in unison.

"Whatever." Kakashi smiled under that thing covering half of his face. "I suppose we should head over to see the Hokage now. We said we'd be there at 5:00am sharp, and it's now…" he checked his watch. "5:21."

"What!" the chunins yelled.

"Hey, I said stop yelling!" Kakashi said as he covered his ears.

"You're late! All of you!" yelled Tsunade.

"We know! We know! Stuff it already!" Naruto waved hands in the air. Tsunade growled.

"If you were anyone else, Naruto-kun, I'd have you thrown out of this village!" she said menacingly.

Naruto shrugged. "But I'm not anyone else! I'm Naruto Uzamaki, and I'm going to take your place as the fourth Hokage and then everyone will look up to me and respect—"

"We get it, Naruto." Sasuke said, cutting off Naruto's 'I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage and then you're gonna have to kiss my ass, blah blah blah…' speech. He'd heard it over a thousand times since he'd been with Naruto. Hell, Sasuke could even recite it himself.

"Teme…" Naruto said as he glared at Sasuke.

"Dobe…" Sasuke replied, glaring back at the blond.

"That's enough, you two. Now let's get on with things!" Tsunade interrupted the two boys lost in glaring at each other. "Okay, I'm sure my messengers told you that you'd be traveling to the Village hidden in the Mist, right? If not, then they'll have to be punished, but that can wait for now."

"Okay," she continued, "anyway, so our village and the Village hidden in the Mist and are starting to get along now that Gatta is dead and gone. And…lemme see…They wanna meet up with a representative from our village and decide a treaty. We agreed and planned on having someone travel to the Village of the Mist, but he got drunk last night and is now suffering from a hangover, so he can't exactly go."

Kakashi had an idea of what she'd say next. She didn't… no…she wouldn't have…

"So, just for a little fun, I added all of the jonin ID No. into a raffle and…I randomly pulled yours out, Kakashi! Yay, luck you!" Tsunade finished and clapped her hands together.

She did!

Kakashi stared at her dumbfoundedly. "What?" he managed to say.

Tsunade sighed. "Do I really have to repeat things? Well, to put it bluntly—pack your bags, 'cuz you and your team are going to the Land of Water!" she answered cheerfully.

"When?"

"Right now! You have two days before your meeting with the Kage of the Village hidden in the Mist! That's 48 hours to get there, so you'd better get moving now!"

"B-but, Hokage…shouldn't you be the representative?" Kakashi stuttered.

"What! Me! Be the rep. of my own self? Are you sane enough to go on this mission, Kakashi?" Tsunade replied in surprise.

Kakashi sighed. "No, Hokage, you wouldn't represent yourself. You'd represent this village. And yes, I do think I'm sane enough to complete this task."

"Hmm? You're not representing me? Oh. Heh, well I still can't go."

Kakashi raised his uncovered eyebrow. "And why not?"

Tsunade crossed her arms. "Weeeelll…that's really none of your business, is it? But if you must know, I've some important things to tend to tomorrow night."

Karachi's brow rose further. "Namely?"

"Namely…poker and…gambling, heh heh…" Tsunade replied timidly.

Kakashi sighed. He had no choice to give in, seeing as how nothing could ever come between Tsunade and her gambling.

"Alright, alright…But," he looked over his shoulder at the three chunin idly twiddling their thumbs. "Do they really have to come?"

"Is there a reason they shouldn't?" Tsunade looked confused.

"Well…not so much Sakura and Sasuke, but what about Naruto?" Naruto looked up at the mention of his name.

"Huh?" Naruto probed as he tilted his head.

"Ah! That's right…I forgot…" Tsunade pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead.

"Forgot…what?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Naruto-kun…Maybe it'd be best if you stayed here…" Tsunade offered.

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled, forgetting about his 'mask'. "Why should I?" He put his hands on his hips.

"Well…certain reasons…just make me think you should wait to go on another mission…" the hokage looked at Naruto.

"Well I won't! Sasuke gets to go and so should I! I won't let him surpass me, and I'll be damned before I just sit back and watch as he goes on a mission I can't go on!" Naruto yelled indignantly.

"Naruto, it's for your own good." Kakashi chided.

"No! I'm going!"

"Naruto-kun! I said you'll wait, so you'll wait!" Tsunade said in a firm voice.

"And I say I'm going, so I'm going!" Naruto said even firmer.

"Naruto, listen for once. They said it was for your own good, so just stay here and Sasuke-kun and I'll fill you in once we get back. We'll go on other missions together. Now stay here!" Sakura scolded.

"Butt out, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. He knew he was going to regret yelling at her later, but now, whoever said he should stay was against him. And he didn't like people who were against him, even though almost everyone was against him.

"Naruto! Don't talk to a lady like that!" Sakura raised her hand, as if to slap the blond chunin, but stopped to look at Sasuke. "What do you think, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Whatever. The dobe should do what he wants, he always does."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, and then returned his attention to Tsunade. "I'm going, no matter what you say, you old hag!"

Tsunade looked taken aback, but her composure returned a moment later. "No. I'm the Hokage, and you have to do what I say. And I say you're staying."

"Why should I stay! Why is it that I'm always the one who's special! I work harder than everyone one else, but I can't even go on a simple mission! What will I ever get out of life if I stay behind!"

Why can't I just be like everyone else? Why do I have to be so different?

"Naruto-kun, if you just listen to what I have to say, then I'm sure you'd—" Tsunade was cut off by Naruto's yelling.

"No! I won't listen to you! Why should I! You're just an old hag who loves gambling more than anything or anyone else around you!" Naruto yelled.

Tsunade instantly stiffened at these words. "Fine. Do what you want, Uzumaki. Make a big mistake and go to the Village hidden in the Mist. Die for all I care, right? After all, I have a gambling game to go to." With that last statement, Tsunade rose from her throne-thing, furious.

"You all are dismissed. Leave for the Village hidden in the Mist immediately, and I don't want to see your faces again until your mission is over." The three Chunin and the jonin were shocked at their Hokage's sudden intensity, and when they didn't move, Tsunade swept her right hand through the air in clear dismissal.

"I said take your leave!"

With that said, Tsunade turned her back on them.

"C'mon…We should leave." Kakashi told his team. Together, he and his still dazed team headed for the exit.