Standard Disclaimer: Everything below belongs to Masashi Kishimoto – except for the parts that don't.
Ripple Effect - A term associated with Chaos Theory which refers to the Phenomena of small or apparently irrelevant events that trigger a previously unlikely or improbable chain of events which ultimately lead to an outcome that was previously unlikely or improbable, much like a row of dominos or a rock thrown into a pond - the initial event triggers other subsequent events that would not have otherwise occurred…
Naruto sighed as he headed down the street from lunch at Ichiraku's. It had been one week since his last mission, and that meant his vacation time was almost up. Shinobi get a week off normally after either several consecutive low-level missions or one high level mission - In Naruto's case, it had been both. Despite - or perhaps because of -his last mission, he was no closer to getting Sasuke to return to the village and fulfill his promise to Sakura…
Speaking of Sakura….
"Hey Naruto!"
Naruto turned around to see the pink-hair kunoichi running to catch up with him. Naruto wasn't sure when it happened, but at some point between leaving for his two-and-a-half year training mission with Jiraiya and now, his crush on Sakura had evaporated - not that he wouldn't except an invitation for a date from her, he just wasn't - What was the term Jiraiya used? - 'actively pursuing' her.
'I really need to stop hanging around that perv' Naruto thought as he greeted his old teammate and listened to her babble. 'I think he's starting to rub off on me.'
"..So are you going?"
"Huh?" Naruto's replied to the sudden inquiry from Sakura.
"Have you even been paying attention to me?" Sakura asked irritably.
"ha-ha-ha" Naruto grinned sheepishly "No"
Sakura simply let out an exasperated sigh as she prepared to repeat her self .
"Tsunade has a mission for you. She wants you in her office now."
"You came all the way down her just tell me that?" Naruto asked with a sly grin.
"As if" Sakura replied calmly, though somewhat surprised at Naruto's reaction -or lack therefore of. "She sent me down here to pick up some things and told me to tell you to see her if I ran into you."
"Ok, Thanks Sakura!" Naruto replied as he ran in the direction of the Hokage tower, leaving Sakura to contemplate his reaction to her earlier comment.
"Hmmm... Naruto normally seems a lot more deflated after I shoot down one of his advances….."
"Tsunade baa-chan!" Naruto yelled as he burst into the Hokage's office in his characteristic loud-mouth style, missing the slight 'eep' that emanated from the chair to the Hokage's left.
The Hokage, meanwhile, simply let out a sigh "what is it Naruto?"
"Uh, Sakura told me you had mission?"
"Ah, yes" relied Tsunade, "please sit down."
As Naruto took a seat in the chair to the Hokage's right, he finally noticed who was sitting in the chair to her left.
"Oh, hey Hinata!"
"H-hello Naruto" was the only reply the dark haired Kunoichi get out as she stared intently at her feet.
Naruto found her behavior somewhat inexplicable, while the Hokage seemed to find it amusing. Naruto leaned over his chair to get a closer look at Hinata, who proceeded to turn an even deeper shade of red.
"Are you all right Hinata?" was all that Naruto asked. She seemed somewhat flushed, so he thought that she might be sick. Hinata was in fact having a reaction to something, but it was not a virus, bacterium, or any other pathogen.
It was to Naruto.
""N-no, I'm fine." Hinata replied to the blond Shinobi's inquiry as she scooted away, trying desperately to put some distance between them - her blush, meanwhile, grew even redder.
That's strange Naruto thought to himself I'm pretty sure I bathed this morning.
The worse part isn't even that Naruto thought it was BO that drove her back -it was he couldn't remember weather or not he had bathed.
Tsunade cleared her throat, quickly gaining the attention of both Shinobi.
"Now, if you two are done flirting," Hinata's blush grew, if even possible, even redder at the Hokage's comment, bring it to somewhere between bright crimson and Vermillion. The comment even incited a slight blush on Naruto's part.
"I have a mission for the both of you. It's an A level mission, but nothing you can't handle." Tsunade spoke calmly as she flipped threw a mission report, skimming over the pages.
"So…." Naruto started "what's the mission?"
"It's quite simple actually," Tsunade replied, setting down the report she had been reading "your going be my escorts."
Both Naruto and Hinata stared at her with a combination of shock, confusion, and surprise.
"Uh…I thought that was ANBU's job?"
"Normally you would be right," Tsunade replied to Naruto "But ANBU is spread thin at this point - and like I said, it's nothing you can't handle."
This time it was Hinata's turn to inquire. "Why us?"
"Simple as well." Tsunade replied as she leaned back in her chair. "You can see anything that might be coming thanks to the Byakugan, and Naruto can eliminate any threat short of Akutski."
"Ok ..." Naruto replied "Where the heck are we going!"
"Hmm….good Question." Tsunade replied as she started digging through her files 'It should be around here somewhere…here we go!" Tsunade pulled out a large map showing the Land of Fire and the surrounding regions. "Ah… here it is - right here." Naruto and Hinata leaned over the table to see where she was pointing. The location, marked by a red sticker, was about halfway between the land of fire and the land of wind. Naruto didn't recognize the region.
"Uh… where exactly are we going?"
"A castle" Tsunade replied, waving her hand in a vague gesture as she put away the map "The place is being used as a neutral territory for a Political summit…."
"…Which is why you have to go." finished Hinata
"Exactly". Naruto and Hinata looked at her for a moment, until Hinata realized the proximity of her face to that of her long-time crush. She immediately back away with a characteristic 'eep' and a blush.
Naruto just stared at Hinata as he took his seat, unable to understand her behavior. "When do we leave?"
"Sunrise tomorrow. They'll be a transport waiting for us in a nearby" Tsunade explained. "You have until tomorrow to prepare. Meet at the main gates at sunrise. Dismissed."
Naruto bid farewell to a still somewhat flushed Hinata and started his way down the hall when he ran into no other then the slacker of the century coming out of his office….
Shikamaru has an office?
"Hey Shikamaru!"
"Hey Naruto" Shikamaru replied in his usual lethargic tone. It was then that Naruto noticed something strange in Shikamaru's office. Normally Naruto might not notice if something was amiss, but it's pretty difficult to miss a massive 6 foot-something tall fan.
"What's that doing in your office?" Naruto asked as he pointed out the anomaly.
"Oh, the fan." Shikamaru replied "its Temari's"
"I know that!" Naruto replied hotly "What's it doing in your Office!"
"Oh… I'm stuck escorting the Sand Village liaison around, so she thought is was all right to ditch the thing in my office." Shikamaru lied convincingly.
"Why don't you just tell her to move it?" Naruto proposed.
"You've never fought her, have you?"
Naruto was about to reply when somebody else interrupted.
"He, Shikamaru, I thought you were going to take me to …" Temari Stopped mid-sentence as soon as she saw the blond haired Shinobi. "Hey Naruto."
"Hey Temari" Naruto turned back to Shikamaru "Where are you taking her to?"
Shikamaru didn't like the look on Naruto's face -it reminded him of a fox that had cornered a rabbit.
"I have to show her where she'll be staying during her time here. The sand and Leaf village's have decided that diplomacy would be easier if we each had a liaison in the others village for extended periods of time." Shikamaru wasn't exactly lying -everything he said was true. He highly doubted, however, that the second half of Temari's statement would have had anything to do with housing arrangements.
Naruto, however, believed the cover story and his expression revealed his disappointment.
'There's more to this -just like when I ran into them my day back' Naruto looked at both of them suspiciously - then Naruto remembered he had a mission to prepare for.
"My Mission! I gotta go, See ya' later Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled as he ran down the hall. As soon as he was out of range, both Shikamaru and Temari let out a held breath.
"That was to close"
"This is so troublesome…"
"Where is he?" Hinata said to herself as she stood at the village's main gate waiting for Naruto to show up.
"I'm sure he's fine" Replied Tsunade, who was leaning against the massive arch. "Considering he was Kakashi's pupil, I'm surprised he's not chronically late."
"But what if something happened to him?" Hinata scanned the road leading up to the gate, but except for a few people setting up shop, she didn't see a single sign of Naruto.
"Maybe I just can't see him - Byakugan!" Hinata scanned a 50-meter, 360 degree swath around her for anything, but no Naruto - the closest she saw to a sign of him were a couple of foxes a few meters off to he left.
"Hinata, what could have possibly have happened to him inside-" Tsunade stopped mid sentence.
Hinata turned around to see what was wrong. Tsunade had an expression on that was a cross between surprise, shock, and somebody holding back a laugh. "What is it?"
Hinata might have been able to see what was wrong if it was not for the Byakugan's little blind spot behind the first thoracic vertebra, right behind the neck - which was where Naruto was currently hanging, suspended by a thin wire rigged to the top of the gateway's arch.
Tsunade's expression had turned into a grin as she watched Naruto make face's at the back of Hinata's oblivious head.
'He not only managed to catch us unaware, but he figured out where the Byakugan's blind spot is - where did he learn that one from?'
Hinata noticed not only the change in the Hokage's expression, but the fact she was starring in her direction.
"What are you staring at?" Hinata inquired as she deactivated her Byakugan.
"Probably me."
Hinata Jumped a good 3 feet upon Naruto's comment - and gave a cry that managed to cause Naruto to fall off his own support line and land unceremoniously on his behind. "Ow"
It was at this point the Hokage burst out laughing.
"I'm not sure what's better - Hinata's expression or Naruto falling on his rear! " Tsunade stated between laughs "where'd you learn about the blind spot anyway?"
"Neji" Naruto replied as he got up and dusted himself off. "He told me about it during the mission to retrieve sas … him" Naruto paused for a moment before he continued, his voice somewhat less then it usual up-beat tone "I hadn't gotten to use it since."
"So you thought now, right before a mission was a good time to?" Tsunade.
"Uh…yeah."
Naruto's response was replied to with a groan.
"Do you even think? We're already late as it is thanks to you, we don't need you scaring your teammates!"
"Well you seemed to find it pretty funny!" Naruto retorted
"That's not the point!"
"Then what is the point?"
"The point is…"
"STOP!"
Both Naruto as Tsunade stopped dead as they turned to stare at Hinata after the uncharacteristic outburst
"Uh…" Hinata reverted back to her usual quite demeanor and engaged in her usual habit of poking her fingers together.
"We've wasted enough time" Tsunade stated as she adjusted her pack. "Let's get going."
"All right!" Naruto shouted as followed the Hokage out the gates, Hinata following behind him quietly.
After a few miles, a rest top, and 3 'delays' courtesy a few gambling halls, Naruto decided to try to start a conversation.
"Hey, Hinata"
"Y-Yes, Naruto?"
"Uh…never mind!" Naruto replied with a semi-frantic wave. What's with her? Every time I try to talk to her, she starts acting funny… at this point, Naruto's brain noticed something it decided was more interesting then Hinata's strange behavior and directed its full attention at it.
"Hey, Granny, why aren't you wearing your robes?"
"It's 'Hokage' not 'Granny' first of all!" Tsunade replied hotly "And second, how much sense does it make for me to walk around wear something the screams 'I'm a high value target - kill me!'?"
"…oh" Naruto replied, His brain mulling over the tidbit of information until it was rudely interrupted by a trio of would-be thief's decided to drop in - literally.
"Well, well, look what we have here" said the front man coldly has he brandished a Kunai, attempting to look as menacing as possible "A Hokage and a couple of Shinobi."
"Yeah boss -can you believe our luck?"
"Stupidity is more like it." The three just stared at Naruto, who started twirling a couple of kunai with his right hand.
"First of all, you dropped down in front of us, instead of behind us where you would have had an advantage. Second, you failed to attack immediately, giving us a chance to prepare for any attack. Third, you decide to attack a group that includes a Kage, which is always a bad idea. Finally, you decide to attack a group that both obviously out-classes you, because based on the way you brandish that Kunai you haven't had a day of combat training in you life-"
Tsunade just stared at Naruto as he pointed out the opponent's flaws. Sure there obvious, but since when has he tried to identify anything about the enemy except where to hit 'em and how?"
Naruto, meanwhile continued his monologue "- and equals you man power."
"But there's only two of you" was all the 'Boss' could get out before collapsing into a heap along with his cohorts.
"..Huh?" Naruto just stared at the three whom had seeming collapsed on there own accord before he noticed Hinata standing behind the three thieves with an active Byakugan.
"Uh….good job Hinata." Naruto stated somewhat dumbstruck before going over to poke the three unconscious bodies.
Hinata simply stood there, staring at her feet and blush profusely. When Tsunade noticed the behavior, only one thought crossed her mind…
"Oh, crap"