In the village of the hidden leaf where ninja resided there was a young boy named Konohamaru Sarutobi. He was an energetic, clever boy who wanted nothing more than to be the best ninja his village had ever seen and follow in the footsteps of those he idolized. A tall order indeed for such a young man, for all the shinobi that inspired him were great men indeed. His grandfather had been the leader of their village and carried the title "Fire Shadow" or Hokage. His Uncle Asuma Sarutobi had been a Jonin Ninja, one of the highest ranks a shinobi could attain and was well respected by many of the villagers. Most of all his inspiration to better himself, a young man by the name of Naruto Uzumaki was clearly a tall order to surpass. In Naruto's young age he'd already mastered several of the amazing skills and techniques a ninja could learn and a power that could rival even a great ninja like his Grandfather or his Uncle. Despite all this for some reason that escaped Konohamaru his idol Naruto shared the same rank of Genin Ninja, that of just a graduate from their academy for shinobi. But it didn't seem to matter, least of all to Naruto himself. Which taught Konohamaru something important in that rank did not mean as much as personal accomplishment. He had also learned from his personal teacher or sensei Ebisu that all tasks big and small helped an individual climb that ladder of accomplishments to his primary goal. Still why did he have to take such baby steps towards that route?
"So I take it the mission to clean the crop fields was successful?" The question wasn't posed to Konohamaru directly but rather to his sensei and squad leader Ebisu from the current Hokage of their village. She was considered one of three legendary great ninja from nearly thirty years ago, which by the list of the accomplishments of those three at their prime and Konohamaru's current age put her at somewhere over fifty years old. Still the Hokage Tsunade looked like she was in her mid-twenties at the oldest and a very beautiful woman at that. He'd heard from Naruto that she used some sort of ninja-technique to keep herself young. When Konohamaru asked how she did it Naruto had said she sucked the youth out of kids like him and drained it into her own body, leaving them petrified mummies! He didn't believe it of course, crazy ghost stories. Still when her eyes fell on him he straightened up quickly and stood with the rest of his squad at attention.
"Everything went perfectly Lord Hokage." Ebisu adjusted his trademark sunglasses he always wore along with his bandanna around his head. For a guy that was so straight-laced and well educated Konohamaru always wondered why he dressed like some kind of hoodlum. "We cleaned the farm fields an hour earlier than expected and the farmers have been notified they can begin sowing their harvest whenever they are ready."
"Good, very good. Excellent work again Team Ebisu." Pulling out her big red rubber stamp Lady Tsunade marked the requested task as completed and passed it off to be filed. Konohamaru had witnessed this act countless times by his grandfather and wondered how much of the job of Hokage involved paper work and less exciting things like fighting evil villains. Although he was already painfully aware of how terrible such battles were, having lost both his grandfather and his Uncle Asuma to said other enemy ninja in battles. Konohamaru didn't want to relive any pain like that ever again, and it was a driving force behind his desire to become stronger as a ninja. Becoming a little lost in thought with his family he was nudged by one of his team mates when they were all called up to the counter. The other shinobi next to the Hokage were filing away their paperwork and distributing their payment for the accomplished mission. "I'll be sure to have another assignment set up for you tomorrow, your all dismissed."
"Yes, Lord Hokage." They all bowed in respect and Konohamaru noticed Ebisu taking a peek down the front of Lady Tsunade's shirt. She didn't seem to notice or if she did she didn't care. It was her own fault really, she had to be leaving it open like that on purpose and to be fair his closet pervert of a teacher wasn't the only man Konohamaru had seen checking out the Hokage before. He couldn't deny himself that she was pretty and rather sexy, but she was over fifty! Konohamaru was thirteen years old and at that age where he was really starting to notice the pretty girls apart from just the regular ones. But I mean... eternal youth technique or not that age difference makes it a little weird.
After collecting their payment and walking out of the briefing room Konohamaru pocketed his money and was lost in thought again. Just like before he was nudged by his team mate who looked a little concerned at him. "You okay Konohamaru? It's not like you to be so quiet." His friend Moegi smiled trying to perk up his attitude. She was one of his closest friends along with their glasses wearing (and undeniably nerdy) buddy Udon. The trio had been together for years now and they felt it was quite lucky that they all managed to get put on the same team when they graduated the academy. Moegi was a cheerful girl that always wore her hair in two pig tails that tied at the ends, making them rise in the air with the way her headband pushed them up. Her face was always rosy pink with the abundance of blush she wore on her cheeks. His buddy Udon was almost the opposite, looking mopey and tired all the time and his bowl cut hair was parted down the middle. Konohamaru flared the team up a bit in his own opinion, what with his spiky brown hair similar to his uncle and undeniably cool green scarf! (Which was way longer than any scarf should be, trailing a good four feet behind him.)
"Yeah I'm okay it's just... " Konohamaru thought his words out carefully. "I wish we could go on a more important mission you know. I mean doing these chores and little missions I know is important for the village, but it gets to be a drag." The boy stated not really able to hide his disappointment. Udon didn't seem to share the sentiment.
"It's better than a dangerous mission isn't it? I don't think I'm ready for anything that's going to put us outside the village." Udon complained aloud which earned him disapproving looks from both his team mates. Konohamaru was about to talk some courage into his friend but Moegi beat him to it.
"Oh we're tougher than that! Konohamaru is right, I think we should get some better missions. Hey Ebisu-sensei, why don't we request something a little tougher next time? I bet we can handle it." Their squad leader who had been leading the pack up until this point stopped and took an unnecessary pose in the hallway, which got the team some glances from passer-bys that they didn't want to receive.
"Heh, I knew it was only a matter of time before this came up again." He spoke confidently and turned to his subordinates. "So you all feel your ready to face the dangers of the outside world and risk your lives for this village and it's people?" Konohamaru and Moegi nodded together in unison, while Udon managed to keep the beat with them and shook his head. "Why is it your asking this now, hm? Are you kids after fame? Recognition? Do you want to get yourselves some extra money from the harder missions?" Moegi stopped, honestly she'd just been going along with Konohamaru's momentum and didn't consider as to why they'd want something harder than the day to day. Udon clearly didn't but the two both looked to their friend for inspiration as to what to answer. Konohamaru was as confident as his teacher in his response.
"For ourselves." He smiled confidently. "Ebisu-sensei, how are we ever going to get any self improvement if we get stuck in a rut. I'm ready for the next step, I'm ready to push my limits! I've always gone along with the hard work and dedication and all that stuff but I need a challenge! Like.. I dunno! An escort mission, or to take out some bad guys, or stealing top secret plans from an enemy base or something!" As his imagination was running with the possibilities Moegi was getting more thrilled by the idea and Udon was visibly becoming worried with the chance that their teacher would go along with these suggestions. "Or heck I'll do a solo! I could run an infiltration mission and invade an enemy base or spy on someone or... stuff!" It was the best he could come up with. "I can do stuff!" Ebisu watched his little student go on his rant for a while and thought it over.
"Well... I suppose before you'll be ready for something like the Chunin exam for your promotions you'll need more experience. I'd rather supervise you three in a real dangerous mission before sending you into something on your own." The three looked excited for their own personal reasons as their teacher considered their future. Letting out a sigh he finally nodded. "I'll consider it." Konohamaru literally jumped for joy hearing those words, more than happy at the possibility of some real excitement. Ebisu wasn't going to let them go overboard though. "I said I'd consider it! I'll review the missions myself and see what the Hokage is willing to allow us to take. Will that be satisfactory?" Konohamaru nodded eagerly while Udon looked like he was going to pass out from the idea of a dangerous mission. "Okay you three are dismissed. I'll call you all when I have something ready for us." The three students thanked their teacher and headed out of the main building for the city to the bustling streets of their village.
"So where you planning on headed next?" Udon asked his friends when they hit the road. Konohamaru wasn't really sure where he wanted to go from here. They'd just got done with work but he was excited at the idea they may get something a bit thrilling on their next mission out. He was about to suggest maybe they should get something to eat with their new paychecks when the team was suddenly approached by a person they'd all only seen in passing before.
"Your Konohamaru Sarutobi, correct?" The question was as directly startling as the girl who was asking it. When he looked forward the first thing he noticed was the pure white eyes that were making contact with his own. The girl before him was Hanabi Hyuuga of the wealthy Hyuuga clan of the Leaf Village. Konohamaru and company had only seen her a few times as she was considered part of a high society crowd. This was the first time she'd spoken to any of them. She was dressed in all black, a plain training uniform and probably had come from doing just that. She was considered a prodigy amongst her family who were known for their fight style Gentle Fist, and their amazing powers to see through objects and long distances with those pale white eyes of theirs. At the moment it felt like she was looking right through him as they spoke. "Correct?"
"Oh um.. yeah yeah that's me!" He said a bit startled again. Hanabi brushed some of her long black hair aside from her face and looked him over, then at his team who seemed more than a little confused as to why she was even speaking with them. "Is there uh, something I can help you with?"
"Yes, I need you to come with me. Alone. It's important." Konohamaru blinked and looked back at his team mates who both shrugged, not really knowing what to make of all of this. She was so direct and impersonal it was hard to get an idea of what her intentions were. Still it was a request for help of some kind and Konohamaru was not the kind to deny someone in need. It was all kinds of shifty.
"Well I guess if it's important, okay I'll help you." Konohamaru smiled confidently as she nodded in agreement and lead him away from his companions. Moegi and Udon looked on as their friend was lead away by the pale eyed girl with the dark hair and Moegi wasn't pleased at all with this. She nudged Udon similar to how she did Konohamaru earlier to get his attention.
"So what do you think those two are talking about?" Udon blinked as he thought it over, not really sure what it could be but tried to hazard a guess.
"Ninjutsu techniques?" He shrugged as Moegi still seemed suspicious of the girl and her motives. "I mean what else would they talk about? They never spoke before right?"
"As far as I know." She said watching them as they walked off away from the crowd.
The next day proved to be similar to the last. Konohamaru and company got another basic, D-rank mission much to their disappointment. Ebisu had explained that the mission had already been assigned to them so there wasn't any way of avoiding it but he hadn't forgotten their request. He'd still find them a suitable mission for the three of them to attend. Till then they were stuck cleaning out trash from the river nearby the village. As the three of them waded through the water Konohamaru had felt this uneasy tension about himself and the source wasn't hard to spot. Moegi had been giving him a look ever since yesterday when Hanabi had pulled him aside. He wasn't really sure why but it was gnawing at him that she seemed so concerned about it. It wasn't until Ebisu had excused himself from the team to get a trash can for them to dispose of the waste in that she finally spoke up to him. "So... what exactly did Hanabi want with you yesterday?"
"Oh... you know. Just normal stuff." He tried to shrug it off and avoided making eye contact with her, but it didn't seem to dissuade her from the conversation.
"What's normal stuff exactly? You two talk like that often?" Udon had stopped what he was doing to listen in on his friends now, getting a bit worried as he could see there was a bit of Moegi's temper showing in her questions.
"No, we don't talk often. She just wanted me to help her out with something in private and I agreed." Moegi was still giving him a glare as she didn't fully believe him. Udon wanted to flag his friend down to warn him of the impending storm of angry girl heading his way but couldn't manage to get his attention without outing himself to their team mate. "No big deal."
"Hmmm. So what did she need? Was it a date?" She said it in a bit of a teasing manner and shockingly to both Moegi and Udon he didn't get riled up at all at the question. In fact Konohamaru responded very calmly and clearly with a bit of a smirk in his tone.
"Not exactly, she just needed me is all. Hurrrk!" Konohamaru gasped a bit for air as Moegi pulled on his scarf to get him to finally look up from the water they were all standing in.
"So she needed you huh! What for exactly then, if it's not a date exactly?" Both Udon and Konohamaru were looking startled at her hostile reaction now. Udon tried to get between them to calm his friends down.
"Moegi, what's gotten into you anyway?"
"Nothing! Nothing's wrong, everything's fine! Lets just get back to work!" She huffed and dropped his stupidly long scarf into the water, trudging away from the two boys to collect trash as far away from them as possible. The two boys gulped a bit in unison seeing how angry their female team mate could get and both silently agreed that girls can be very scary. When he was sure she was out of ear shot Udon whispered over to his friend.
"So what was it that Hanabi really wanted anyway?" Konohamaru looked bothered by the subject entirely but was able to only give a little bit of a clue.
"It was a special request, she asked me not to talk about it." Udon was confused by his friends remark but respected his decision to not share the information. After that point the day proceeded rather normally other than the mood that seemed to linger about Moegi due to Konohamaru's refusal to give up any more details. The trio broke apart after their report and payment like always but Konohamaru headed a different direction than normal. When questioned on it he confessed he had to see Naruto about something important as well. While this still got on Moegi's nerves it was more normal behavior than previously with Hanabi and she let it go without much fuss much to Konohamaru's relief.
When he was finally alone he made a bee-line straight for the ramen restaurant Ichiraku. It was already close to dinner and Konohamaru knew his target well enough to know where he'd be. Sure enough in a ten minute walk he'd spotted the blond haired boy in the orange jacket. Naruto was happily slurping down ramen from a bowl with little regard for the world around him. His face was smirking with the little whisker lines that faintly appeared on his cheeks and gave him a fox like smile when he closed his eyes. If there was one thing you could count on was that this guy would be seen eating ramen at every meal he got the chance to. Even though Naruto was only about three years older than himself Konohamaru looked up to him just as much as any of the adults and knew he could talk to him when he had problems. Walking into the restaurant he took a seat next to Naruto and waved. "Yo."
"Oh, hey Konohamaru!" Naruto smiled and clapped his little friend on the back. "What brings you here? Looking to get some dinner too? Great place for it."
"Well actually I had a question and um... I was hoping you could help me." Naruto blinked into a more serious expression and then turned to his little friend confidently.
"Heh, not a problem buddy. After all I always said I was here to help! So what is it? Got a technique you need me to assist you with or something?" Naruto was overly energetic like always and Konohamaru felt a little embarrassed all of a sudden now that the attention was drawn to him.
"Well uh.. it's not like that. It's more like..." He wasn't really sure what to say and Naruto tried to wait patiently. "Naruto, have you ever been on a date?" Naruto looked startled at the question and it seemed to actually take him a moment to think of the answer.
"Well uh... sure! I mean I've spent time with girls before and all." Naruto gave an encouraging laugh but Konohamaru wasn't so sure. "So you got a date Konohamaru?"
"Yeah actually... it's with Hanabi Hyuuga." The name caught Naruto's attention and it shouldn't have been any surprise. Hanabi was the younger sister of Hinata Hyuuga, who for years now everyone was aware had feelings for Naruto. Everyone except Naruto himself that is. He was a great guy but subtle things like that were never his strong suit. As of recently though Hinata had confessed her feelings for him during a life and death battle that very nearly resulted in her own demise. She had thankfully been saved in the end but as far as he was aware the two hadn't pursued their relationship further. Naruto was actively focused on personal goals involving a lot of missions for the village and Hinata was still too shy to pursue her goals. "We're supposed to go out but I've never done anything like a date before. I was hoping you could give me some advice." Naruto seemed to ponder the issue seriously for a moment.
"What's the best advice to give for a situation like this?"
"A situation like what?" Konohamaru and Naruto both shot a glance upward when the new voice kicked in. Naruto's team mate Sai had somehow snuck onto one of the bar stools of the ramen stand and was smiling at them in that weird, plastered on grin he always wore. Sai always gave Konohamaru an uneasy feeling but Naruto vouched for him as being a good guy so he trusted him. Although Sai always acted like he was practically new to life. Naruto once explained that Sai went through a very difficult training as a child and never made any friends so you had to treat him with understanding. Regardless Konohamaru still found him kind of uncomfortable.
"Oh hey Sai." Naruto greeted him with a nod. "Konohamaru here got himself a date with a lady, so I was giving him some pointers on how to handle himself." Naruto was speaking pretty confidently in front of Sai despite the fact he hadn't actually taught him anything yet. "Got any advice for him?" Sai seemed to ponder this question very seriously as if it were a very important matter. When he was satisfied with his thoughts he looked down at Konohamaru with that same plastered smile.
"Well I did read a book on relationships between men and women recently. Perhaps I can impart some of this advice to you." Naruto seemed confident in this and Konohamaru's opinion was beginning to turn around. He'd never even heard Naruto mention reading a book before, this dude was gaining education on his own free time. They both turned their attention now more interested than Sai thought they would be. "Well for starters the simple rule of politeness is one to follow. Be sure to treat your date with respect and courtesy." Both boys nodded in unison with his statement. "Also try to carry out equal parts of a conversation on your date. You shouldn't talk over a lady while she's speaking and be prepared for answers and questions to keep your conversation flowing." He sounded so confident in these statements. Maybe Sai was a lot more personal than Konohamaru gave him credit for. "Finally it's best to provide a small gift to your date at the beginning. Something that she'll enjoy but not so personal or expensive that she'll feel threatened by your advances." Naruto and Konohamaru nodded in unison to his statements, seeming satisfied with the information given.
"Dang Sai, your pretty well informed on this stuff. If I hadn't spent so many years training with that perverted sage then maybe I'd have told him to turn to you for advice before me." Naruto was speaking cocky again despite the fact that Sai didn't actually tell him anything. Regardless Konohamaru politely thanked Sai for the advice he was willing to give.
"Oh and I almost forgot." Both boys looked forward as Sai was preparing to share more information. "Be sure not to attempt to touch their breasts or vagina on the first date. This is considered rather rude and can often lead to the end of a date before it begins." His words seemed to hang in the air as everyone around them was more than a little shocked at this particular gem of wisdom. Had Konohamaru looked behind him he would have seen that Naruto's jaw was hanging almost low enough to hit the floor. At the moment he was a little confused but still wanted to thank the boy for his help.
"Um... well... thank you... for everything." He stated awkwardly.
"Oh, I should go into more detail too..." Before Sai could say anymore the world went silent as Naruto's hands came closing down over top of Konohamaru's ears.
"Sai what the hell are you telling him!" Sai looked genuinely confused by Naruto's reaction.
"Well we can't just tell him what to do, that would be silly. It's important to warn him of the dangers of what not to do on a date as well." His face returned to his smile with that explanation but Naruto was far from satisfied, keeping his hold on Konohamaru's head so he couldn't hear.
"You can't just say stuff like that to a kid! I mean.. it's not like that's the kind of thing he has to worry about at his age anyway!" Sai had a confused expression again at Naruto's statement.
"You mean they allow them to do that at his age? I would have thought that would have been a bigger concern while they were younger." Naruto look exhausted with trying to explain this.
"No! What I mean is... you know! Like that's more something people our age worry about than kids his age."
"So you have a problem with touching a woman's breasts and vagina?"
"Will you stop saying that out loud! No I don't have a problem with it! I mean... it's not like I don't do it... you know... if they'd let me... but... Arggh! This is so frustrating!"
"If it's such a big deal why doesn't Naruto just come with me?" The two boys looked over as Konohamaru was currently sitting on the opposite side of Naruto, eating ramen calmly. When Naruto looked down he'd seen that Konohamaru had replaced his head in Naruto's hands with a log that had a scarf wrapped around it like his own. "I mean if he chaperons the date then there's no worry about me doing anything wrong, is there?" Naruto was looking back and forth between the boy and the piece of wood while Sai was considering this statement.
"That does sound like a good suggestion. And as you said Naruto you can let him know when it's appropriate to touch and not to, as that seems to be a concern." Naruto looked like he was going to break the log in his hands with the comments Sai kept dropping, then gave a sigh and set it on the bar stool between himself and Sai.
"I dunno, that's kind of old fashioned and lame. I mean do you really want me trailing around behind you the whole time on your date? Do you think she'd really like that?" Konohamaru considered Naruto's question for a moment then came back with another suggestion.
"Okay then, how about a double date! It would be okay if you were going on a date with a girl too along side us right?" Naruto thought this over too for a moment not seeming very convinced by the suggestion.
"I dunno... I mean, who would my date be? I don't think Sakura will go for the idea."
"Just leave that part to me, I'll be sure to get a girl to come along for you." Naruto and Sai exchanged a glance then looked back at Konohamaru with little confidence. "Trust me, I'll set you up with a hottie!"