Disclaimer: due to bureaucratic federal laws I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

Protect My Friend

A dark cloaked figure was standing on the edge of a cliff a couple of miles from Konoha in the dead of night. It held a headband and seemed to be looking sadly at it. In a distorted voice it began to whisper to itself. "Why?" it mourned. "Why did you have to get murdered?" the gloved hand clutched the headband and brought it to what would be its heart. "Before I die, I swear will avenge you...Sasori-sama." Then it jumped off and floated slowly down to the ground below. The shadow stuffed the headband in a pouch under its cloak. "I shall find your murderer and kill him." Slowly it walked to Konoha. This was just a self-imposed reconnaissance mission, to scout out its security.

About three-fourths of a mile away from the village, the cloak made a string of complicated hand seals and turned invisible. When it reached the village it circled the walls, careful not to make a noise. No need to let the Leaf's shinobi be aware of its presence, not yet anyway. After making detailed mental notes, it performed more hand seals and teleported itself away.

The next morning in the Village Hidden in the Sand, the kazekage summoned a certain kunoichi. Gaara sighed. After the deal with him and the Akatsuki he became worried for Naruto's safety. The ninja he summoned was to protect Naruto and put himself in a state of peace of mind. She was one of the best graduates of the ninja school he and his siblings started about three years ago. Her specialties were water-, fire-, earth-, and wind-style jutsus and she's becoming a real prodigy with puppetry.

His thoughts were interrupted when his secretary Matsuri came in. "Masago is here, Gaara-sama."

"Send her in," the red-head replied.

A fifteen-year-old young kunoichi entered his office. She had short black hair, a black shirt, shorts, and gloves. The Sand headband was proudly displayed on her forehead. She bowed respectfully and said, "You summoned me, Kazekage-sama?"

"Yes," he said, rolling up a letter. "Take this scroll to the Hokage in Konoha. You are to protect a certain shinobi by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. Protect him with your life." Gaara handed Masago the scroll. "Details are in there. Feel free to read it. You have until sunrise tomorrow to prepare for the mission."

Masago accepted the scroll and looked at his desk. There were piles of papers and documents that needed signing or reviewing over and a hardly touched cup of tea. She adopted a slightly pissed off expression. "When was the last time you ate?" Gaara continued to sign papers. "If you continue to deny yourself like this you won't be able to protect this village." She turned to Matsuri, who was waiting near the door, and complained, "Why aren't you feeding your man, Matsuri?"

A now startled secretary blushed and barely said, "He's not my man..."

Gaara rolled his eyes. Masago always liked to rough Matsuri this way. Sometimes it made him wish to tell Masago to ease it up a bit.

Masago went behind Gaara's chair and threw her arms around his neck. "If you don't eat more often I'll give you a big, slobbery kiss," she threatened, jokingly making kissing noises. Matsuri almost died.

"Later," Gaara said, still signing and being completely oblivious to her remark. Come to think of it, she always liked to pick on EVERYONE like this, he thought.

"Well, that sounds like a definite promise," Masago said, releasing her grip and headed out the door. "See to it he sleeps more often, Matsuri."

"Wh-what's that supposed top mean?" Matsuri stuttered.

"You know," the comedian said, ruffling up her hair. "See you later, Rumpelstiltskin." Then she finally and miraculously left the office.

Still not breaking the gaze he had on his precious paperwork Gaara said, "Take a fifteen minute break. You don't look too well."

Matsuri started to object, but she just sighed and hung her head. "Yes, Gaara-sama."

The next morning Masago left the village for Konoha with only a backpack with a few scrolls, some money, clothes, and packaged snacks. She looked at her map and noted, "Only a few days to Konoha..." With that aside, she started moving toward the Leaf.

A few days later in Konoha...

Uzumaki Naruto sleepily crawled out of his bed and made himself breakfast. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Naruto walked over to the door and opened it. Sakura and Hinata were at the door. "Oh, hey, Sakura-chan . Hey, Hinata," he groggily greeted.

"Naruto, we need to go on the way to the Sand Village and meet up with a kunoichi and bring her to Tsunade-sama," Sakura said slowly, making sure he understood every word.

"Why would a kunoichi be walking by herself?" Naruto mumbled, still not grasping reality.

"Just get dressed and meet us outside, awake and conscious." Naruto just closed the door. Sakura sighed and asked Hinata, "What do you see in him?"

Hinata just blushed. She was still having a hard time grasping the fact that Naruto came back to the village. They just walked outside and waited.

Naruto eventually came down. Sakura huffed and they walked toward the Sand Village.

Masago was walking when she sensed something coming. She hid herself in nearby bushes and waited. A party of three appeared, one with pink hair, one with yellow hair, and the last one with blue hair. Who are they? She wondered. Before she could find out, she mad some hand seals and four massive walls of mud surrounded them.

"What the--" Naruto exclaimed, as mud walls surrounded him, Sakura, and Hinata. The walls stopped forming, nearly forty feet in the air. Sakura prepared to smash through the walls until a voice stopped her.

"Who are you?"

They looked up to see a kunoichi with black hair and clothes standing on top of the wall. Sakura noticed the Sand headband on her forehead. "Are you from the Sand village?" Sakura asked.

"Who wants to know?" the assailant squinted.

"We're from Konoha," Sakura answered. "We're supposed to meet with you."

"Identify yourselves," she commanded.

"I'm Sakura," Sakura said, pointing to herself. "She's Hinata, and the dimwit's Naruto."

"Hey!" Naruto objected.

The assailant6 performed hand sealed and the walls slowly sunk back into the ground. She walked over to them. When she got close enough Naruto noticed that she and Hinata had the same eyes. He leaned over and whispered to Hinata, "Are you two related?"

Hinata slightly blushed and whispered back, "I-I don't think so."

Then the assailant shocked them all. "My name is Hyuga Masago."

She looked at their shocked expressions. "What's wrong? Aren't you supposed to take me to your Hokage or something?"

Naruto broke the silence. "Guess you are related."

Sakura regained her composure. "We're not far off. Shall we go?"

"Let's," Masago agreed. "carry my bag, dimwit." She threw her backpack to him. Naruto got annoyed. She didn't know him for ten minutes yet and she's already starting to insult him!

With that they made their way to Konoha.

A knock came at Tsunade's office door. "Yes?" she asked.

Shizune popped her head in. "They're back with the Sand-nin."

"Send them in," she beckoned. Masago, Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura came in. Masago handed Tsunade the letter. She read it and handed it back. Tsunade looked at Naruto and said, "It said that Gaara's worried about you so he sent Masago to be your bodyguard. She is to room with you in your apartment."

"What?!" Naruto was shocked and appalled by this. Sakura and Hinata were not as shocked as he was.

"It's already been decided," the Hokage said firmly. "Go and set up her things."

Naruto huffed and left with Masago. Tsunade asked Hinata, "Any relations?"

"No," Hinata admitted.

"I'll ask for more information on her," Tsunade said. "In the mean time, you and Sakura make sure Naruto actually set her up with some sort of living quarters."