Author's Notes: Now, remember a long, long, long time ago I said that there was actually a collection of one-shots that happens before Troublesome? Well, here it is. They will be somewhat in order, unlike Children are Troublesome, and will feature the pairings of the Troublesome stories. As always, enjoy these first two chapters! Ciao!

Disclaimer: Is this really needed now? I mean, really, if I owned Naruto, do you think I'd be here? Well.. Alright... I don't own Naruto.

Puzzle Pieces

Promises

The sunset blanketed the sky with an orange glow that sent a warm feeling through everyone that saw it. The cool breeze that accompanied the warmth made it that much relaxing. And two teens took advantage of this is any empty field, staring at the sunset-sky. One was a blond in his favorite orange jumpsuit and the other, a redhead in a dull gray shirt and baggy beige pants.

Brown eyes scanned the sky, attempting to find the first star of the evening. This was their thing, her and her blond companion. They had been doing this for the past two weeks now and each day seemed better and better.

"Found it." A growl escaped her as she hated losing. "You need your eyes check Tayuya-chan."

"How many times do I have to say to stop calling me that Shithead?" Tayuya retorted. One Uzumaki Naruto laughed quietly. "And you got lucky."

A silence fell over the duo, Tayuya looking to see Naruto's normally happy expression gone for the moment.

Snorting, she attempted to find out what was wrong through a jab.

"Didn't know you could think Shithead." Her comment seemed to work as he looked at her. She could see his mind processing her statement, attempting to put her statement into what she wanted to say.

"I'm leaving on a training trip with Ero-sennin tomorrow." Naruto spoke.

"What?!" Tayuya exploded, sitting up as well. "When did you decide that?! And why the fuck wasn't I told?! And for how long?!"

Naruto felt guilty about not telling Tayuya about the trip. He was the only person in the Hidden Leaf to give her a chance. When she was being interrogated by Anko and Ibiki, they had used other, more forceful tactics to get answers from her. It was just sheer luck that he had barged into Tsunade's office demanding a mission and the blond Hokage figured she could kill two birds with one stone. She gave Naruto the mission in questioning Tayuya without killing her, something Ibiki and Anko were pretty close at doing for different reasons. At the time, it was to give Naruto the experience in questioning the enemy. But as more time went by, Naruto and Tayuya's relationship had went from enemies arguing every second to friends. And in return, Naruto had gained twice the information anyone else has by having small conversations about her. Tayuya would never purposely reveal Orochimaru's plans to someone she did not trust. However, she would talk about previous missions casually with Naruto and after some piecing together, the Hidden Leaf was pretty sure they could figure out Orochimaru's next move.

"Oi, Shithead! I'm talking to you!" Tayuya shouted.

Sighing, Naruto sat up. "He and Baa-chan decided that I needed to be prepared for Akatsuki." Naruto saw Tayuya's lips thin. "I'll be gone for about three years…"

"THREE FUCKING YEARS?!" Naruto flinched before bobbing his head up and down to agree.

Tayuya took in a deep breath to calm herself down. The last thing she wanted was ANBU patrolling the area to think that she was going to attack the Hokage's favored genin. But she couldn't help but to be angry. Her legs had just gotten the feeling back in them. She had just been giving the authority to leave her cell once a week. And it was all thanks to the blond idiot to her left. When they had met, he was nothing but an annoying, whining little bitch in her eyes. And then he did something no one else had done for her. He promised her something… Well something positive. Many people had promised to kill her. First, he promised her a piece of chocolate, which had to be her favorite of all his promises kept. She loved chocolate. Second, he promised her to have her surgery and she got it. Third was his promise to visit more frequently outside of their normal interrogation sessions, and he had. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, he promised that he would let her see outside her prison cell, unchained and unsupervised.

And here they were now.

"Three years?" she asked again in a quieter tone.

"Well, two and a half, but Ero-sennin might make a few stops for 'research' so…" Naruto's voice trailed off as he saw the down expression behind the angry mask she wore on her face. "I'm sorry Tayuya-chan. I should've told you that earlier but I was busy."

"Right. You were two damn busy fucking that pink-haired whore to tell me something like this." Tayuya retorted sarcastically.

Naruto shook his head furiously. "N-no! That's not what I was doing! Honestly." Tayuya's brown eyes narrowed at him. And in his mind, Tayuya's glare hit him like a blow from Sakura. Only worse. "I had to talk to Baa-chan about something."

"Well? What the fuck was it?" questioned the redhead.

"Well… The crazy snake lady and the creepy scarred guy," Tayuya easily translated Naruto's words, knowing who he meant. "They said that you didn't give them information about Orochi-teme's hideouts. So I kinda told Baa-chan that I would get that information from you."

"Oh really?" her voice was now akin to that of a very pissed off viper.

"In return for your freedom."

The words slapped Tayuya almost as hard as the tree that fell onto her did. She had been locked away since Kakashi had retrieved her body and brought her back, the only time she had outside of that cursed cell was during her time at the hospital, interrogations, and hanging with Naruto outside.

"I don't know if they will make you a shinobi or a civilian, but that's what she said." explained the blond jinchuriki. "If you can give us this last piece of information, then she can have you released by Hokage's orders." Tayuya frowned in thought. "That way you can see the sunset even when I'm gone!"

Tayuya had no idea why he was smiling now. She figured that he must have thought that's what she wanted. And that was partially true. She liked seeing the sunset for some odd reason. But she liked doing so with him, not without.

She sighed.

He was such an idiot.

"Whatever Shithead…" Naruto's smile slowly disappeared.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to get out of that hellhole?" Naruto asked, using Tayuya's words to describe the prison.

"They'll just kill me anyway." Tayuya muttered, a frown coming onto Naruto's face. "The others? They know who I've worked for and the shit I've caused."

"That's why Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei will be watching over you." Naruto said with a grin. "And Baa-chan will have Shizune make sure that your legs get better."

Tayuya blinked. It always surprised her when Naruto actually thought something out ahead. From the times that they have spoken, she knew he was not that big of a strategist as the pineapple-haired bastard that she fought months ago. However, when Naruto did think ahead, his plans were nearly flawless… Well, not really "flawless" but they always seemed to work out in his favor.

"Fine," Tayuya's voice was quiet. "I'll tell you the rest…" The face-splitting victorious grin on Naruto's face gave her a fluttering feeling inside her gut. One that was both common and foreign at the same time. "Stop grinning Shithead! You're giving me a fucking migraine!"

"Sorry, Tayuya-chan," Naruto apologized before rising. "It's time to take you back."

Tayuya looked at the sky, noticing that the orange had changed into a bright purple and now a darker blue and there were a plethora of stars now. But that didn't matter. Her attention was changed to the boy who was going to give her another ride back to the prison. She hated having to be carried, but as her legs gingerly went around his waist and her head took a familiar spot on his shoulder, she realized that she would miss riding on his back to and from places.

Feeling Naruto crouch a bit to take off, she stopped him.

"Don't fucking run! My…" Her mind stopped for an excuse yet failed to think of one. "Just don't run Shithead. Take your damn time."

Naruto understood what she meant and began walking back towards the correction facility. Thankfully, Tayuya was not heavy despite her disregard for a diet. He liked that about her actually. Sakura and Ino were so subconscious about their looks even though Naruto could not really see anything wrong with either of them. Tayuya was not like that. She ate whatever and whenever she wanted to. She even attempted to beat Naruto in a ramen-eating contest!

"Naruto," Naruto left his thoughts to return to reality for a moment. "Promise me that… You'll come back. Alive."

"I promise, Tayuya-chan." Naruto responded.

Tayuya let out a quiet sigh. She was never one to truly believe in Kami and she never trusted Orochimaru much either. Yet, something as simple as a promise from Naruto and she was somehow assured a better tomorrow or whatever it is that he promised.