Change of Scenery

Chapter One - Mission Commence

There are many different ways to describe the life of a young shinobi. Ask the exuberant, boastful future ninja that attend the academy's classes almost religiously everyday and they will tell you that the shinobi way is the coolest, utmost superb way of life. They will tell you that they look forward to their graduation more than anything; they desire to be like the ones they look up to, the great Kages, or their parents, perhaps... They long for the excitement.

Ask the more seasoned, hardened, more experienced shinobi in the world and they will smile in a way that is pitiful more than anything; pity for those that might walk in their footsteps in the future. They are the real shinobi, the ones who know they are only tools in a majestic battle for peace and power and the same time. These shinobi will tell you that ninja life brings many hardships, many losses to weigh down your heart.

However, if you'd ask one Uzumaki Naruto at the moment, he'd reply with nothing but a low grunt and the almost inaudible whisper that he was simply too tired to answer. Just back from the latest mission, the blonde loudmouth found himself reporting for duty in the Hokage's office while forcing back the sleep, the only thing keeping his eyelids open and brain working his sheer willpower.

Shinobi life was exhausting. It was tiring, backbreaking and strenuous, and he sure was not ready for the call of duty yet. Naruto was ready to hit the sack with all his might and all of Konoha be damned, he would make up for the lack of sleep from the last couple of weeks whether there were dozens of missions piled up on the Hokage's desk or not.

The platinum-haired kunoichi next to him could only fully agree, reminding herself not to slouch. Whereas Naruto had just returned from Hoshi, Ino had been preoccupied with internal affairs - aiding Shizune, as the Hokage's assistant whilst Sakura had gone to Cloud to proctor at the oncoming Chuunin exams. The Legendary Sucker was a lot to handle, Ino had found out over the last couple of days, and knew how to get under your skin. The job was quite exhausting. Ino couldn't see how her roseate-haired friend put up with the old lady.

Tsunade eyed the drained pair of shinobi in front of her, attempting to hide their fatigue and stood from her chair, turning to face the window. Currently, more than half of the village's forces were beyond Fire country's borders, dealing with other countries' problems. It pained her to send them out after just returning home, but there really wasn't a choice. Hokage or not, the mission was urgent and even she didn't have a say in the matter. Either Konoha take the request, or some other village would. There was still something called dignity and if it were upto Tsunade, if anything was to break down her village's dignity, it certainly would not be lack of sleep.

"This will be a relatively easy mission. Light B-rank. This scroll has to be delivered to the Cloud immediately. It contains sensitive information on a need-to-know basis." She picked up one of the countless parchment scrolls on the wooden surface of her desk, grimacing and throwing it to Naruto, who caught it with one hand while slapping himself across the cheek to stay awake with the other. The blonde quickly pocketed the item into the safety of his Chuunin vest.

"Our spies across the country have been hearing rumours about a riot in Kumogakure, a group of hostile missing nin attempting to cause mayhem. There is a good chance they mean to interfere with the exams." What Tsunade did not mention was that when the two Chuunin got back, there would probably be another delivery mission waiting. The overworked duo before her did not need any more pressure now. "You leave first thing in the morning. Dismissed."

The authoritarian tone of voice she used made it clear to both Naruto and Ino that they were not in position to argue, and so, the two shinobi left the Hokage's office without a word.

Naruto slid a hand through his hair while Ino arched her tired back, falling in step with him. First thing in the morning was shinobi slang for four am and it was already well over midnight. In this case, it was simply a matter of gathering their needed weapons and travelling packs, getting all the sleep they could get, and then meeting up at the gates. They walked on in fitting silence until reaching the point where their roads home split up. Ino mouthed a weary goodbye and Naruto lifted a hand in what she would call a very lousy greeting and a display of lack of manners, if she had not been so very spent.

Ino relied on instinct alone as she let her feet carry her home, counting on the fact that there would be no one out and about so late at night - the risk of bumping into anyone if she let her eyes droop was very low. She was hardly aware her eyes closed. She didn't notice when her knees buckled, or when her body hit the pavement. The bliss of rest enveloped her softly like a warm, feathery blanket and as she gave into what her body had been craving for about a week, it gave her the most comfort she'd felt in a long time.

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The next thing Ino knew was annoyance. Annoyance at the ray of sunlight hitting her eye so that she couldn't help but squint, the sunlight developing her entire body as she sat up, slowly coming to an understanding that it was morning already. The next thing she became aware of was a dreadful feeling of having left something very important slip to the back of her mind when it deserved full attention, followed by the image of Naruto crouching in front of her.

"Aren't we supposed to be delivering a scroll just about now?" The blonde chimed, grinning in a way that shouldn't be possible after just waking up. Silent comprehension dawned on her as she realized he had probably been up for a while already - were they not supposed to leave at dawn? Naruto, unaware of her mind's numbness in the mornings, clarified cheerfully.

"You didn't show up, so I decided to go look around the village to find you... I don't really know where you live, so it was hard finding you! I thought of asking Sakura-chan and I was just about to go see her, but then I found you in the middle of the street."

"I don't think Sakura would have appreciated you waking her so early for such a thing," Ino mumbled, standing up and brushing the dirt from her clothes.

"Ah, but she'd be delighted to see me, of course!" her companion grinned. She couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh at his ignorance.

"Shut up, dork... Come on, I need to go grab my stuff before we leave," the kunoichi replied, successfully putting an end to his smug attitude whilst giving him a push in the direction of her house. "Let's go!"

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She didn't take long to collect her weapons . Ino slipped two sets of recently sharpened kunai into her many hidden pouches, accompanied by a few trustworthy shuriken. As her father had taught her long ago when she first decided to pursue a shinobi carreer, she always had a travelling pack ready for use. Ino crouched to peer underneath her bed, grabbing the dark purple rucksack she used on missions, and stood straight, strapping the pack onto her back.

The blonde-haired girl turned towards Naruto. He sat waiting in her windowsill, enjoying the early morning sunlight with closed eyes. Surely, if she let him rest any longer, he would fall asleep again. Ino reminded herself of how much Naruto resembled her procrastinating teammate. She heaved a grand sigh, quickly infused chakra into her feet and grabbed him by the collar of his jumpsuit, dragging the both of them out of the window and to the ground below with dazzling speed.

They landed safely in Ino's mother's flower bed. Her mom would have an outrage when she found out, but Ino could not care less at the moment. Another mission was waiting, another job do be done. Another duty to fullfil at the speed of light, if possible. They were already late.

"Come on, lazy ass! No slacking! You've been hanging with Shikamaru way too much lately, I can tell," She muttered darkly, glaring at the poor boy with flaming intensity. Naruto could almost feel his skin burning from her gaze, and he let out a violent shudder.

"Right behind you, Ino-chan!" Naruto nodded, jumping up and taking off after his companion over the rooftops.

This was one of his favorite activities, soaring over the rooftops with the morning sun brightly on his face. On moments like this, he felt lucky for being a ninja, for having the ability to pound chakra into the soles of his feet, for coming so close to actual flying. A feeling of complete euphoria overtook him as their feet hit the top of the village's gates, only to move on without staggering. The shinobi had long since learned never to look back. The words of Iruka-sensei during one of their ramen trips resounded in his ears, shutting out the sounds of windy gales whipping about his hair.

Only look into the future.

A/N: This is the first multi-chaptered piece I am publishing on and I'm actually quite nervous. It's different from my other pieces as I am actually taking an effort to write well and grammatically correct. Normally, I hardly mind such things and just write what comes up in my head, but a multi-chapter deserves some more attention and lovin', if you ask me. Obviously, this is a NaruIno story. I am tring really hard to keep Naruto in character - He is my fave Naruto character, but I find him laboriously hard to write. It's odd. tell me how I'm doing, will you please. There will probably be about ten chapters, I will update tomorrow.

Reviews are love and will be replied to no matter what.

-xx- Nika-chan