Chapter 1 - Missions

As the late morning sun shone on a field of flowers, a little blond haired, blue eyed boy of about five came running over the hill.

"Wait up, Oushi!" A brunette girl of twelve called after him.

"Oh, let him be Usagi," a thirteen-year-old boy, his long dark hair tied back.

"Alright Tora," Usagi sighed.

"There you are Kiki, Mino," an older man with an eye patch said, catching up to the older children, "Where's Naruto?"

"Oushi just went over the hill, Father Jofure," Usagi told him.

"Thank you, Kiki," Father Jofure never used their nicknames.

Once the other three caught up to the hipper five-year-old, Father Jofure spread out a picnic blanket and the four of them ate lunch.

"So, Naruto, you're going to start the academy tomorrow, right?" Father Jofure asked as they ate. Kiki and Mino were already Genin.

"Yeah!" Naruto said. "I can't wait! 'Coz after that, I'm gonna become Hokage!"

"Let's just hope the senseis have an easier time keeping up with you Oushi," Usagi giggled.

As the four of them laughed and enjoyed the rest of their picnic, they didn't notice the two shadowy figures approaching them.

Father Jofure finally noticed them as they were about a few yards from their picnic blanket. "Can I help you?" He politely asked the newcomers.

One of them pointed at Naruto and said, "surrender the boy and no one gets hurt!"

Suddenly everything went red around Naruto and he found himself sitting bolt upright in a bed.

Breathing heavily, Naruto looked around his bedroom. Just a dream, he thought, calming down his breathing. He hadn't had that recurring nightmare since about halfway through his training with Jiraiya. The last time before that had been before joining Iruka-sensei's class.

Naruto shook the thought from his head. He ate his breakfast of cup ramen and milk, then got dressed letting the nightmare once again slip away from his mind.

It had been over a month since Jiraiya had died, and he still felt bitter towards the Akatsuki because of it, but no one had heard from those punks for about the same amount of time. This made the blond haired, blue eyed shinobi worry.

At the moment, however, all he felt was excitement as he locked his front door. They were going to the Land of Lightning, apparently to aid the Raikage himself! The only other Kage Naruto had ever met was the current Kazekage, who happened to be his friend, Gaara of the Desert.

Naruto smiled as he ran to the rendezvous point, remembering the mission his team had gone on to rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki. Naruto then slowed down to a walk.

Thinking about the Akatsuki brought back the worry. He shook it off, he had a mission to focus on. But he couldn't think of anything else now but the Akatsuki.

It was no secret that the Akatsuki had been hunting him, for the same reason that he had to rescue Gaara from them. They wanted the Biju sealed within him, the Kyuubi.

The more he thought about the Akatsuki and what they were after, the slower Naruto walked, then he suddenly stopped. It hadn't been because of his thoughts, but because he had heard a familiar gasp. Naruto looked up, but the young kunoichi that the gasp belonged to was already out of sight.

She's really good at hiding, Naruto thought with a smile, grateful to the young Hyuuga heiress for breaking him out of his thoughts. "Hey, Hinata, what's up?" Naruto asked with a smile, but without bothering to look for her.

"Oh, N-Naruto-kun, uh, um," The dark haired, lavender eyed kunoichi shuddered as she peaked from around a fence corner. Her face, Naruto noticed, was very red.

Why is she so shy around me? Naruto wondered. He knew that Hyuuga Hinata was a shy girl, but he also knew that she was more so when he was around. This made it difficult for him to talk to her, since it would take five minutes for her to say a complete sentence to him. He had made it his secret mission to get her to come out of her shell, but it was difficult. However, Naruto liked a challenge. The reason for this was because ever since he'd learned that she'd always been watching him, he'd get this weird feeling in his chest when ever he saw her. A feeling that he'd figure out someday, so he didn't let it bother him.

"Hey, Naruto!" Another familiar female voice called out.

Naruto turned to see the pink haired, green eyed medic of his team. "Oh, hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as she came closer. "I'm not late, am I?"

Sakura sighed, as she usually did when he asked a stupid question. "No, you're not," she said grumpily. Then she spotted the shy kunoichi. "Oh, hey there Hinata!" She called out to their former classmate.

"H-hello, Sakura-san," Hinata said in her usual timid voice.

Naruto looked at the half hidden young woman quizzically, until Sakura turned to him and said "let's get going or we will be late!"

"Oh, right!" Naruto said turning to follow his teammate. He turned his head to look back at the shy kunoichi. "See you later, Hinata," he called over his shoulder.

Sakura didn't have to worry, they had waited an hour before their sensei-turned team captain Hatake Kakashi showed up. Their newest team member, Sai, had arrived about five minutes after they did.

"You're late, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura shouted together when the cool, though oafish, Jonin showed up.

"Sorry, you see there was an old woman who needed help carrying her luggage and..."

"You're nose is growing, sensei!" the two yelled in unison.

Kakashi sighed, "alright, lets get started with the mission briefing."

"All right!" Naruto cried, the excitement returning to him.

"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi chided him. "I'm sure you want to hear what the mission is." Naruto grinned devilishly. "Our mission is simple, yet dangerous. We are to secure the body of the Raikage's brother who had been captured and had the Hachibi removed by the Akatsuki." the cool elite ninja explained in a stern voice.

At the mention of the criminal organization, a burning sensation filled his gut. They've got another one?

"It's been about a month since they've last been seen..." Sai said thoughtfully.

"Indeed," Kakashi said, "and now they've got another Biju."

"How many are left then, sensei?" Naruto asked through clenched teeth, "Biju I mean." Everyone looked at Naruto, surprised that he wasn't throwing a fit about not leaving right then.

"As of now... Just one," Kakashi said in a sympathetic, yet serious, voice.

Naruto's body shook, his hands clenched. "All they need now is me, then?" He asked, his soft voice didn't hide the anger he felt.

Sakura put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry," the medic told him kindly, "we won't let them win!"

"Of course," Sai said, grinning, "you're our teammate." Everyone couldn't help but smile at the dark haired boy. He's improving, was all they could think.

Looking at his team, Naruto's memory of the nightmare flashed back to him for a moment, then it slipped away again.