A/N: I have not written for Naruto before and lack the extensive background some of you may possess. So try not to go too hard on me.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise or any affiliations thereof and write this purely for enjoyment. No money was made for this writing, and no one was harmed in the process of writing this fan fiction.
Black and White
Prologue: Mission Accepted
Naruto opened his eyes drowsily to stare at his bedroom ceiling. He slowly sat up and scratched his head through his nightcap. He got up out of his bed and wandered over to the billboard he had on his wall.
Naruto had been following the news more in his recent maturity, and placed the newspaper clippings onto the billboard in a sort of timeline of events. His most recent news of interest had to deal with the Hyuuga clan.
Naruto frowned at the board in front of him and then got dressed. He walked out of his apartment and stretched before running off to Ichiraku's for some breakfast. On the way there however, he ran into Hinata Hyuuga, literally.
Naruto got up and dusted himself off before reaching out to Hinata saying, "Sorry about that Hinata-chan, should've been watching where I was going."
"N-No, I sh-should have been w-watching more closely Na-Naruto-kun." Hinata replied as she took his hand and was helped up, all the while a large blush was upon her cheeks.
"I tell you what Hinata-chan, why don't I buy you a bowl of ramen as an apology okay?" Naruto asked with his usual goofy grin. Hinata blushed even more and just nodded her head in ascension. 'She's kind of cute when she blushes. Wait a second, now where did that come from, I must be hungrier then I thought.' Naruto thought to himself.
The two walked to Ichiraku's Ramen Shop slowly, all the while, Naruto was trying to get Hinata to talk to him. On the way however, the two of them were interrupted by Neji Hyuuga.
"I have finally found you Hinata-sama," Neji said in his usual monotone. "Hiashi-sama sent me to find you, it appears there has been another clansmen found. He is waiting with Tsunade-sama at the Hokage's tower."
Hinata waved goodbye to Naruto and stood by Neji silently. Naruto frowned a little at this most current piece of news. "You think Hiashi-sama would mind if I tagged along? I've been keeping up with the current situation with your clan and I would love to get to hear the next bit personally."
Neji was about to say something when he heard Hinata say, "S-Sure you can c-come Naruto-kun." Neji looked at her and she was looking at the ground, poking her fingers together like she always does. Neji frowned and then nodded slightly in understanding. Naruto just grinned foolishly and followed along behind them.
The three arrived at the Hokage's tower shortly and were standing outside of office door waiting to be invited in. The door was opened by Shizune and she ushered them in quickly, stopping for a moment upon seeing Naruto.
Inside of the office, Tsunade sat behind her desk, and across from her was Hiashi. "Naruto, what are you doing here? I don't remember sending you for him, Neji?"
"Naruto-san was with Hinata-sama when I found her, He asked to come along and Hinata-sama agreed to let him." Neji replied. Hiashi frowned and looked at Tsunade for a moment and then turned and stared at the three children.
Tsunade sat there for a few moments thinking before she spoke. "How much do you know of the Hyuuga clan's current situation, Naruto?"
"Just what is in the newspapers, I've been trying to keep up with the news. I believe you were the one that told me to start paying attention to what was happening in my village." Naruto said with a grin.
"Good, if you've kept abreast of the situation then I won't have to repeat anything to you." Tsunade said before turning to Hinata. "Hinata, as you know, your family has been under attack for the past month or so. I have accepted Hiashi-sama's request to have you and Hanabi sent out of the country, with a proper escort of course. I will set up the usual four man team to go with the two of you on this trip. I don't want your safety to be an issue. I'll send the best of what we have not currently on assignment. You will be sent beyond the land of waves to the country that resides there. It has no ninja's but it is highly civilized, most of the time. You three are dismissed, that is all."
The three nodded mutely and marched out, grave looks upon their faces. Naruto looked over and saw Hinata was taking this news rather badly. "Don't worry Hinata-chan. If I remember correctly, Neji-san and I are the best the village has on hand at the moment. I promise that if I'm assigned to protect either you or your sister that I will not let anything happen."
"Because that's his ninja way, believe it." Neji said seriously, which caused Hinata and Naruto to stare at him. "What? Was that not what you were going to say?"
"I think you are making fun of me, and that is completely uncalled for." Naruto said with mock indignance, causing Hinata to smile slightly.
"I would never dream to make fun of you or your ninja way." Neji replied with no emotion. Naruto was just about to continue his banter with Neji when he heard a soft giggle and froze. He turned to Hinata slowly, and looked at her as she blushed profusely.
"I'm s-sorry Na-Naruto-kun, I shouldn't laugh." Hinata said with her usual stutter as she stared at the ground and poked her index fingers together.
"No Hinata-chan, the point was to get you to cheer up. If you thought it was funny then it worked." Naruto said with a soft smile, "Now, how about I treat you to a bowl of ramen."
Neji stood in silence, staring at the two of them thoughtfully. 'Of course Hinata-sama has a crush on Naruto-san, but I wonder how Naruto-san feels about Hinata-sama.' He went with the two to Ichiraku's Ramen and sat with them, purely to watch after his charge Hinata.
After Naruto had eaten his fill, much later then Hinata had, he paid for the ramen and they went there separate ways for the day. Naruto went and trained in the woods by himself, all the while wondering what was going to happen to Hinata.
Naruto arrived at the Hokage's tower the next day late, he was sure that Tsunade would berate him for being late, but that wasn't important, at least he had shown up. Naruto opened the door and stepped inside, sliding the door shut behind him.
Naruto first noticed Hinata, flanked closely by Neji, and smiled at her, which she blushed upon receiving. Naruto then noticed Shikamaru and Ino standing nearby. Shikamaru was slouched over and gave a bored wave to Naruto, Ino glared at Naruto and started to berate him for showing up late.
Tsunade stepped in immediately. "There will be time for that later Ms. Yamanaka." This statement caused the four to look at Tsunade. "You four are being assigned to protect Hinata Hyuuga. You will escort her to the country past the land of waves. Once there you will hide amongst the local populace, and begin what they would perceive as a normal life. You will be left to your own devices as far as disguises are concerned. I trust you can study up on the local customs. The land you are going to relies heavily upon technology and ingenuity, as such they have little need for the skills you four possess. However, the government will see you as a threat if you identities are revealed. Your names may not rouse suspicion, but I would recommend you do not do anything flashy, that goes especially for you Naruto."
At that statement everyone looked back at Naruto, who just stared at them blankly. "What? What is it? Do I have something on my face?" Naruto asked before wiping around his mouth self-consciously.
"Are you even listening?" Ino asked with a heavy sigh. "I swear, I don't know how you get along in the world."
"To continue," Tsunade said. "A forewarning is in order. If you accept the mission, you will remain in the Land of Technology indefinitely. We do not know who long it will take to discover the cause of the Hyuuga's disappearances. Also, this is an A ranked mission as there is a high possibility of hostile interference from opposing Ninja. Now do you all understand and accept this mission?"
She watched closely as Naruto's eyes narrowed and he nodded curtly. Ino nodded with a shortly and elbowed Shikamaru beside her, who looked at her for a second before nodding as well. Neji looked straight ahead and gave the slightest of inclinations of the head in affirmation. 'Apparently Naruto is going to take this seriously, good. I can't say that the same is going for Shikamaru however.'
"Before you prepare for the mission, you might not want to use any more honorifics while you are there. It might just give you away. Instead to show respect, you will say Mister for a man, Miss for an unmarried woman, or Misses for a married woman before their surname. For less respect just their surname, and for familiarity, the given name. Try to remember it. You have you orders, you're dismissed."
A/N: I think this is a decent start. Please review even flames are okay, the count may make me feel inspired. Now, for a preview of the next installment of Black and White:
Chapter 1: Naruto in the World of Tomorrow.
"Listen up fledglings, its time for you to earn your wings. I really hope none of you get air sick." She said with a smirk.
"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked squinting at her.
"You'll see, you'll see."