This story takes place after episode 135 in an alternate universe where Naruto never goes with Jiraiya. Instead Tsunade sends the rookie 8 (since Sasuke's gone) and Team Gai to the wave country for some R&R. This is an action/comedy/ and maybe romance if we feel like it. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 0: A Deserved Vacation
Tsunade sat in her office, reading over the recent reports from yesterdays completed missions. She closed her eyes, sat back in her chair, and laid the current report on top of her desk. She reached forward and took her cup of warm sake from the desk. She took a long sip of the warm sake felt her body warm slightly as the drink ran down her throat. Her eyes closed, she contemplated on the report she had just finished reading.
She couldn't believe how close all those kids had come to dieing. It was hard to pull Chouji and Neji back from the brink of death. 'Thank Kami' she thought, 'I would never forgive myself if they had perished.' She read all the reports about each ninjas' fight against the Sound 5. If she had not called in the assistance of the Sand-nin, all would have been lost. 'I'll make it up to them. I'll give them a real treat. I know it is risky with the village as weak as it is right now, but I owe it to them.'
One week later…..
The Rookie 8 and Team Gai, minus Gai-sensei, sat outside the Hokage's office, each holding a letter sealed with the Hokage's personal seal. Shizune stepped out of the office and looked at the people gathered there.
"Tsunade-sama is ready to see you now," she said with a smile on her face. She held the door to the Hokage's office open and shooed the young ninja inside. Each of the kids stood next to each other and waited to hear Tsunade's announcement.
"Hey, Baa-chan, what's this all about?" called Naruto. Tsunade's eye twitched at Naruto's name for her but she shrugged it off.
"I'm glad to see you all here. I want to thank you for coming here today. I have a special assignment for all of you. Due to the recent activities of Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, and Uzumaki Naruto, I have decided to send you all on a most expenses paid trip to the Wave country." She looked towards Naruto after having said "most expenses paid", as she remembered Iruka's stories of how much ramen Naruto could put down.
"Tsunade-sama, how can you afford to do this? I thought the village was still suffering from Orochimaru's attack?" asked Neji.
"True, the village has not fully recovered from that incident and most likely will not for some time. However, due to my error in ranking your mission so low and sending only genin and one chuunin on it, I feel you all have earned this vacation. I am sending you all together to ensure you all have fun, rest up, and relax for one week in the Wave country. I do not wish to make this an order but I will if I have to."
"Tch, how troublesome." said Shikamaru.
'A whole week with Naruto-kun?' Hinata's face blushed a mild crimson at the thought of spending time with Naruto.
The group sat quietly and stared at Tsunade, then at each other. Naruto looked back at Tsunade and let a huge grin spilt across his face, his eyes shined bright.
"Thank you, Tsunade-baa-chan! This is great!" Naruto turned to look at all his teammates; his energy brought forth smiles to their faces. Even Sakura managed to bring out a smile. "Baa-chan, when can we leave?" Naruto was raring to go and revisit the Wave country. He had not seen it since Team 7 beat Zabusa and Haku, which allowed the tiny island to complete the bridge. He eagerly looked forward to seeing his old friends again.
Tsunade glared at Naruto after being called baa-chan again, barely able to let it slide this time. "Preparations have already been made. You will all leave tomorrow morning. I have sent messengers ahead to prepare your accommodations. You will find your allowances for the week waiting for you when you arrive. Enjoy your vacation. Its going to be your last for a while I am afraid." With that Shizune began to herd the ninja out of the Hokage's office and sent them moving back to their homes.
"Enjoy your trip. Oh, and bring me something back, okay?" She smiled down at Naruto.
"You got it, Shizune!" Naruto ran out the front door and caught up with his friends. He slowed down to keep pace with the gang. Everyone but Shino was engaged in discussion about what they planned on doing once they were in the Wave country. As they walked, the large group began to splinter off. Each person took a different route back to their respective houses. Before Naruto realized it, he was alone with Hinata, walking towards her home.
"Hey, Hinata, where did Neji go? He still lives with all the other Hyuugas, right?" Naruto, his arms behind his head, looked over to Hinata, barely noticed her blush and downcast gaze.
"Y-yes, Naruto-kun, however he has s-started to t-train more with Tenten after t-training with Gai-sensei and Lee-san." Hinata blushed deeper when she realized she was still stuttering. She was able to suppress it more often these days but when she was around Naruto she could no longer keep it under control.
"Umm, N-Naruto-kun, I-I was w-wondering if you had any plans f-for when you go to the W-Wave Country?" Hinata's blush covered her entire face in the darkest shade of red a human body can become. 'How could I ask him something like that? Of course he has plans. He wouldn't have time to hang out with me. He thinks that I am too weird and shy. Oh, Kami, what have I done?'
Naruto looked back towards Hinata and saw her looking down at her feet, fingers pressed against each other. 'She sure is weird. Why does she always look at the ground, and do that thing with her fingers? Whatever.' "Not really. I was just going to visit a few old friends I know there and hang out at the beach and eat ramen."
"Old f-friends?"
"Yeah, I met them on my mission to the Wave country long ago. It will be great to see them again." Naruto stretched his arms above his head and let them fall back to his sides. He remembered escorting Tazuna back to Wave country and how the mission became much more difficult than had originally been thought. He recalled the first time they had fought Zabuza and then the chakra control training when they climbed the trees. Finally, the memory of the final fight on the bridge between Haku and Zabuza and how they had finally met their end.
"I-I never knew you went t-to the Wave Country, Naruto-kun." Hinata continued to stare at the ground. She put all her effort into controlling her fingers and forced her hands down to her sides out of touching range. They were almost to the Hyuuga compound now and Hinata knew her time with Naruto was drawing short.
"Yeah, it was our first mission ranked above a D. It was first classed as a C but it increased to a B after we learned the man we were hired to protect was in more danger than he let on. Then when Zabuza got involved it jumped all the way to an A rank. I'll have to tell you about it some time. I know! When we head out tomorrow, I can tell you all about it and Sakura-chan can help fill in the details of my awesomeness." Naruto grinned and laughed.
"I w-would like that, Naruto-kun." They had finally reached the main gate that lead to the Hyuuga compound. Naruto escorted Hinata to the gate and watched as the guards opened the gate for her.
"See you tomorrow Hinata. Take care." With that silly grin on his face he offered his parting words to Hinata before he leapt into a tree and off towards his house. Hinata walked past the gates into the Hyuuga compound and the guards locked the gates back up, preventing access to outsiders.
Naruto made his way home as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop with practiced ease. He added chakra for one last leap and released it, which caused him to fly through the air. He landed on all fours in his room as he leapt through his open window. He quickly brushed any dirt off of himself, and walked straight to the kitchen. He pulled out the heater and set a pot of water to boil.
He took off his shirt and threw it in the pile of laundry lying in the center of the room. Once the water heated, he poured it into an open container of Cup-O-Ramen. Whilst he waited for those three minutes time it took to cook said ramen, Naruto went to his room and grabbed his traveling bag.
'An expenses paid trip! I can't believe Baa-chan would spring for this. I'll have to bring her back a present too.' He pulled a few spare outfits from his closet, threw them in the bag, and pounded them down until they barely fit.Naruto's nose detected the sweet scent of finished ramen and bolted back to his table to eat his dinner. He had waited for this for many days since the people at the hospital would not allow him to eat ramen.
Just as Naruto was about to take that first delectable bite of ramen a knock was heard from his door. Unbelievably, curiosity got the better of Naruto's ramen craving. He placed the chopsticks back in the cup and walked back to his door. He slowly opened the door and was surprised to find Sakura there.
"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home getting packed?" Naruto couldn't believe that the girl he has had a crush on for so many years was standing just outside his apartment door.
"I already finished my packing. I came over to make sure you were all set. I know you can over do it a bit if left by yourself." She smiled at him as she said this which made him a little self conscious. "So, can I come in?"
Naruto's eyes widened and he looked back into his apartment. He realized just how messy it was. "Uh, sure, give me one moment." Naruto slammed the door, quickly performed the Shadow Clone Technique, and made ten clones of himself. Each broke off to do a certain task; one picked up laundry, several cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen, and living room, washed the dishes, and made a second cup of ramen. After two minutes of quick work the place was clean enough to make the apartment look livable.
Naruto slipped on an old black t-shirt with a red spiral in the middle of it before he walked back to the door. He opened the door and put on a big goofy grin. "Come on in, Sakura-chan."
Sakura walked in and took in Naruto's apartment. She was amazed by how Spartan it was. There was color to the walls but there was a definite lack of furniture and pictures. She felt a small pang of guilt as she thought of how lonely this place feels. She looked back to Naruto who had moved to the kitchen to check on his meal.
"So, Naruto, what all have you packed?" called Sakura from the living room.
Naruto stepped out of the kitchen, his ramen in one hand, chopsticks in the other, and ramen noodles hanging from his mouth. He quickly slurped them up before he answered Sakura. "I just put a few changes of clothes in my bag. That is all I had time for before my ramen was done." He sent his chopsticks back on their mission, and with their successful completion, pulled a large amount of noodles from the steaming broth which he quickly ate up. With one gulp he devoured the noodles and brought the ramen cup to his lips to finish his meal.
"I have some more ramen if you want some Sakura-chan." Naruto's smile filled the room as the delicious meal filled his belly.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun, but I already had dinner. I appreciate the offer. Let's go see about finishing up your packing before it becomes too late, okay?"
"Sure, this way." Naruto lead Sakura to his room where he had left his travel bag. What he didn't know was that that was where all his clones had retreated to after they finished cleaning. When Naruto opened the door he found his clones sitting around going through his stuff as they tried to pack the bag themselves. The clones had tried, in vain, to place more clothes and a few kunai in the bag. He quickly dismissed them before they could cause anymore problems.
Sakura giggled as Naruto looked back, embarrassed. She walked to the overstuffed bag and began to pull everything out. Naruto took the items she pulled out and laid them out on the floor into piles for shirts, pants, and other. Once the bag was empty Sakura dictated what Naruto should pack. As she said her checklist Naruto would grab the item, fold it and place it in the bag. After ten minutes he had a fully packed bag with enough clothes for a week, extra food just in case, and a few extra ninja accoutrements. Sakura did a quick inspection to make sure the bag was packed properly before she smiled her confirmation of a job well done.
"Thank you Sakura-chan. I've never been too good at packing. I never had much practice before I became a ninja." He had that smile on his face but she could see the look of sadness in his eyes. She thought of how he never had a family to go on trips with.
"It is no problem, Naruto-kun. I think we need to help each other out right now, more than ever." She sat next to Naruto and laid her head on his shoulders, her hand came to rest on top of his. "You're the only one I can depend on to help me bring Sasuke back. I know that you are the only one who can bring him back home where he belongs."
Naruto smelled the scent of her shampoo from her hair and his hand tingled from the soft skin of Sakura's hand. He took a deep breathe to calm himself down. 'She's in love with Sasuke, damn it! You need to let go, she only has eyes for him.'
"Don't worry Sakura-chan. I promised I would bring him back. One day, after I have trained, I will bring him back, and we can be a family again." He flashed Sakura his grin and gave her a thumbs up. Sakura smiled back and nodded her head.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun." She looked past the boy to his clock and a small eep escaped her lips. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I have to go. My mom will be wondering where I am." She stood up, brushed her clothes, and started to walk to the front door. Naruto leapt up and followed her.
"Hey, Sakura-chan, it is pretty dark out. Would it be okay if I walked you home?"
"Thanks, Naruto, but I'm fine. Konoha is still a safe and peaceful town. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Naruto-kun."
"Goodnight Sakura-chan." Naruto watched Sakura walk down the street until she turned a corner and left his sight. He closed his door and walked back to the kitchen to eat the second cup of ramen he had waiting there. Once the meal was complete he went off to his room and passed out on the bed with thoughts of all the fun and ramen he would have this week.
The Next Day…..
The group of ninja met the next morning in front of the city gates just as the sun was crawled up past the trees. Light rained down on the gates of Konoha that showed the gates in all their mighty glory. Each of the young ninja had a light backpack strapped to their back, or hung easily on a shoulder. The gate guards waved at the youngsters as they left Konaha's walls. The teenagers waved at the guards as they passed through the gates and began their journey.
"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto shouted as he took a small lead before he pointed his finger down the road. A smile covered his face, with his eyes closed, that gave him a mischievous fox grin.
"And just who made you the leader, eh?" demanded Kiba, Akamaru barked his support of his master. Naruto turned around and set off the first of several arguments for the trip.
"So troublesome they are." Shikamaru walked past the two morons and let his eyes gaze up at the early morning clouds. Chouji moved to keep pace with Shikamaru as he opened a new bag of BBQ Potato Chips. They were followed by Shino, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, and Ino, who moved to join their advancing comrades. Hinata hesitated and watched the unpredictable ninja and dog user exchange words before she decided it would be best to move on. She caught up to the main group and she worked her way next to the girls. She listened to Sakura's and Ino's conversation.
Kiba and Naruto began to square off for a small tussle until Kiba looked behind Naruto to see the backs of their friends as they moved off into the distance. He quickly leapt over Naruto, and raced to catch up to his friends. Naruto turned around and ran after Kiba jumped into the air with a shout of glee.
End of Chapter 0
Hey, it's the end of my first fic and first chapter. Please leave a review, helps me know what you think I can improve on, or need to fix. Enjoy the next chapter: