Chapter 1

"What do you mean, de-stress?" Sasuke quizzically eyed his Gum-haired companion as they stood in front of their sensei's apartment. Kakashi had invited his students over to his place earlier in the week, but as Sasuke had been listening to Linken Park, he only heard half of the offer.

"That's what he said." Sakura bobbed her head. "After the zombie attack, torture, and Isvalian Genocide we went thru the last few missions, he was afraid of possible trauma so he's… trying to get our minds off things."

"That's how most M-rated fics on this site start. Can't we just see some therapist?"

"Sasuke, this is Japanese fiction. There are no therapists."

"Fine." Sasuke grumbled. Raising his hand, he rapped thrice on the door before them.

"It's open." A muffled voice spoke from behind the door.

"Well, would you look at that," Sakura mocked, "he's early for once." The emo at her side almost laughed as he pushed the door open.

What they saw once inside was a strange and confusing sight. Their Join-sensei sat at the front of a large table, a trifold sheet in front of them. Scattered with calculated madness on the wood platform were papers, tokens and pencils, with a large map at the center of it all.

"….K-Kakashi sensei… what is this… thing?" Sakura stared in feminine confusion. Sasuke blinked rapidly in male confusion. "Are you… making us do your taxes again?"

"What? No, No!" Kakashi held up a box for them to see. "It's Grand Line, a role-playing game I used to play when I was younger. I thought it would be a good way for you kids to blow off some steam by massacring fictional people, animals, and treasure chests."

"As opposed to real people?" Sasuke scoffed. "What is this? 'High seas pirate action for 3-6 players?' You're expecting ninjas to pretend to be pirates pretending to kill people?"

"No. I am expecting children to pretend to be pirates pretending to kill people. Our line of work is bloody, stressful, and often traumatizing. Sometimes… sometimes we need to turn our brains off. I think that time is now." Kakashi looked gently at his students' faces. He knew all too well how easily innocence could be lost for genin. If nothing else, he could give his three charges some measure of escape and…

"Hold on. Where's Naruto?" Sakura and Sasuke looked around the apartment. "We assumed he was with you. Where is he?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I assumed he was with you guys. May be he's at that ramen place or…."
"SORRY I'M LATE!" From the front door, a 30-year old smoker's voice erupted from a 12-year old's vocal chords. The orange-suited ninja dashed into the entry, followed by a shy, stuttering cinnamon roll.

"THERE you are Naruto! We were just- Hinata? What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Um…Hi e-everyone… N-Naruto invited m-me here and...ah…" the Hyuuga Heiress devolved into adorable blushing and stammering.

"Kakashi-sensei said that this….whatever this was…. Is supposed to help with stress, right?" Naruto impishly scratched the back of his head. "Well, I met Hinata coming here, and I remember her looking stressed all the time at the academy, so…" a loud squeak erupted from Hinata's lips. "W-what? You N-N-Notice me?"

Naruto turned spun around towards the stammering tomato. "Yeah, all the time. Why?"

Time seemed to slow down for Hinata. He mind struggled to process the glorious words she had heard. Naruto…. Noticed her? He….cared about her? Her face deepened into shades of red previously unknown by man. Hinata's dopamine levels shot thru the roof, and she was suddenly intimately aware of a tingling sensation down there. There was only one thing to do in the face of all this stimulus: faint dead away like a ton of bricks. So she did.

"Oh boy…" Kakashi shook his head, amused at the sight before him. "It was very thoughtful to bring her along Naruto. Now, if you could get the smelling salts out of the cabinet, I can start explaining the rules…. "