This challenge was called by notgonnasay09

-Chapter 4-

Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha looking for Ichiraku's Ramen Bar to get some food. It's now bee nearly twenty four hours without eating. He was on the brink of falling over from hunger. Luckily he had made it to the bar and placed his order as he sat down.

"Right when I thought Kakashi couldn't get any weirder" he sighed as he waited for his first bowl.

His comment was referenced to the Sennen Goroshi that Kakashi used on him when he first tried to get a bell. Never again will he just rush at Kakashi without keeping himself aware of his surroundings. Not only was it painful, but embarrassing as all hell. He just considered himself lucky that Hinata and Tenten weren't around to see it happen.

"N-N-Naruto-kun" he heard behind him.

He recognized the stutter; it was Hinata. The one that was always watching him. Yeah it was kind of weird, but he liked the fact that she sees him for who he is; and not for someone that is labeled as 'forbidden' by several of the older villagers. Deep down he knew that his 'tattoos' were the reason for such a label. Hinata didn't care though, she looked pass the 'tattoos' and labels that others saw him as and saw him.

"Hey Hinata" he replied with a smile as he looked back at her "what's up?"

Hinata felt her heart begin to race immediately. She never really talked with Naruto one-on-one before; mainly because there were always fan girls around.

"Well… I-I w-wanted to… um" as she dug through her equipment pouch and pulled out Shendu "r-return him to y-you. H-he was in p-pretty b-bad shape last night and I… well" turning crimson red "f-fixed him up for y-you…" as she put Shendu in Naruto's hand.

"Hey Hatchling" Shendu said as he yawned.

"Wow," Naruto said with a larger smile as he examined Shendu closely "I haven't seen him in this good of condition in a while" as he hoped off the stool he was sitting on and hugged Hinata tightly "thanks."

Hinata immediately turned an even deeper shade of red, which was a surprise to Teuchi and Ayame. Teuchi chuckled and muttered something about crushes; Ayame smiled and went back to cooking.

"I-I sh-should g-get going" she managed to stutter as Naruto released her from his hug.

"Wait" he said before she could even turn around to walk off "would you like to have lunch with me?"

Naruto had been looking for a reason to ask Hinata out for a while now; and now he had the perfect reason to. If her father would say anything about him being near her he could say he was thanking her for something. Rather than simply asking her out on a date; which would result in several issues. Hiashi would downright refuse to let her go on a date with Naruto, Kyuubi would only encourage it, Anko would pick and tease him about it, and Itachi would try to convince Hiashi to let them go out. All said and done, too much of a headache to ask for an actual date; so friends having lunch together wouldn't cause issues.

Hinata froze up; Naruto might've said 'have lunch with me', but what she heard was 'go on a date'. There were several advantages to having lunch with him right now; the main one being, no fan girls around. There was a down side though, if her father found out. That's would cause issues between him and Naruto. The blond boy that was open about nearly everything, the one she had deep feelings for. That's when it suddenly hit her; he said lunch, not date. If it was only lunch together, then her father couldn't get upset about her being near him.

"S-sure, N-Naruto-kun" as she fought her blush down and sat on the stool next to Naruto.

She had placed her order and waited patiently for it to be ready. She wanted to ask Naruto if he knew about Kyu's drinking or the mistake Kyu had referred to last night. The thing that was stopping her was the fact that he couldn't know and that could cause him to freak out and worry. Or worse, go look for the guy Kyuubi had 'fought' last night.

"Hey, Hinata" she heard Naruto say to her "you ok; you zoned out there for a sec."

She looked down and saw he was right, her ramen had been placed in front of her and she didn't even realize it.

"Hai" as she broke her chopsticks apart "um… N-Naruto-kun…" Naruto stopped eating his noodles and looked at Hinata "did… did you know that Kyu-san drinks?"

"I know she drinks when she's out with Itachi-Nii-san, Anko-chan, Kakashi and Rin-chan" not getting why she was asking the question "but she only has, like, one drink."

"I-I mean she… she drinks alone" she struggled to say "l-last n-night, she…" recalling the one hit knock out Kyuubi had done "she was drunk and… she got in a fight…"

"WHAT?" Naruto snapped "WITH WHO?" as he snapped his chopsticks in his hand from his grip.

His blood was practically boiling in rage and it showed in his eyes. Kyuubi was probably the one person he cared the absolute most for and would kill to protect her. She is the one that is raising him and caring for him. No one would harm her and get away with it; no one.

"She's fine" Hinata said quickly to try to calm him down "I helped her home, wrapped up her knuckles and helped her get into bed."

"Relax Hatchling" Shendu said "she knows how to handle herself" as he smacked Naruto upside the head "so there's no need to get so worked up. Now let the female finish asking you her question" as he glared at Naruto with his solid bead red eyes.

"Alright" he growled barely keeping control of his anger.

"Please continue" Shendu told Hinata.

"While I-I-I was wrapping her knuckles" looking into her noodles "she said something about a mistake she made. She said that she trusted someone who she thought cared for her. Do you know anything about that?"

Naruto was confused; Kyuubi rarely talked about her past, so he didn't know about the mistake. He was originally going to tell her about Kakashi's test and how his team passed; now he going to ask her about this 'mistake' when he got home.

"No I didn't" as he broke apart a new pair of chopsticks.

The two spent the rest of the time quiet and eating their meal. Hinata, while glad she was having lunch with Naruto by herself, could help but to feel like she just did something wrong by telling Naruto about the conversation she and Kyuubi had last night. She wanted to say something but would freeze up before even looking at him. Naruto tried to keep a blank mind; he knew that if he thought about Ki-chan being in a fight he'd go berserk.

When they were done eating, they paid for their food and walked towards the intersection of two streets; one way leads to Naruto's home, the other leads to where Hinata is meeting up with Kurenai and her team. Hinata had wished that they could've had a conversation while they ate, but she ruined that with her asking him if he knew. She felt pretty stupid.

"I'm sorry that we didn't have a conversation" Naruto said as they approached the intersection "maybe we can have lunch again when we have something to talk about" with a large smile.

"O-Of course, N-Naruto-kun" she stuttered back as she blushed.

Naruto quickly kissed her on the cheek and walked towards his house. If he wouldn't have been worrying about Ki-chan he would be walking with a large, victorious smile on his face. He had wanted to do that for a while now, but never really got a chance or had something to say it was a thank you kiss. Anko had taught him the finer points of how to get away with something; mainly so she could tease him about it when she caught him. She was funny like that; truly the sister figure of the household he lived in.

Hinata turned a deeper shade of red as Naruto walked off. How she managed to stay on her feet was well beyond her knowledge. Mentally she had shutdown, but physically, she was buzzing with energy now. Naruto not only wanted to eat lunch with her, but he wanted to do it again; and she got a kiss on the cheek. Her day was now better than the previous one. She unconsciously walked to where she was heading to begin with; the side track was well worth it though.

Little did either know that a certain Sage was watching them the whole time and thought the scene was rather touching. If he had known that it would've turned into that he would've taken notes on it for a future book. Luckily though he had an amazing memory, so he could easily recall the innocent lunch; he could also talk to Naruto about it. The white haired Mega-Prev made a mental note to never underestimate his nephew ever again and to watch his extracurricular activities more often; especially if things like that happened often.

"He'll make me rich…" Jiraiya said with a smile "er!" as he walked off toward Naruto's house.

-Uzumaki house-

Kyuubi had just finished taking a shower; this time there wouldn't be any issues like there were yesterday. Shendu was taken by Naruto's crush and most likely wouldn't be back until later. Naruto was still with Kakashi as far as she was aware. Anko wasn't getting back till late and even then, she'd probably clean up and go out to dinner with Itachi. The only one she'd have to slightly worry about was Jiraiya walking in; even though she'd bashed him into the ground for peeping on her in the hot springs he still tried to do 'research' as he called it.

She quickly got dressed in a golden red shirt, and jeans. Just in time too; she heard the front door open and Naruto call her name.

"Not exactly subtle Hatchling" Shendu said.

"Not going for subtle" Naruto said as he kicked his shoes off and hung his jacket on the post near the door.

He was now a shinobi and wanted to tell Ki-chan, but he also wanted to know about the thing that Hinata mentioned to him. Approaching this subtly wouldn't work; he knew it and so did Shendu. She could easily say that she has no idea what he's asking about. Straight forward was the only real way to do this. Which was something he was good at.

"Naru-kun" Kyuubi said with a smile as she saw he still had his headband "I guess this means you passed?"

Kakashi had told her about his little test. It was meant to weed out those that didn't know what being a team meant. She had confidence that at least Naruto and Sasuke would be able to work together; the Sakura girl she knew wouldn't be too much of a problem for them. Naruto and Sasuke would occasionally practice throwing kunai and shuriken together; with Itachi's help of course. From what she understood though, Sakura was a first generation kunoichi in her family so she didn't have anyone to help her; it was a surprise that she didn't try to get the Kit to help her.

"Yup" with a large smile "afterwards I went to Ichiraku's and ate lunch. That's when Hinata found me and gave Shendu back to me; I had no idea she could sew. I asked her if she'd like to eat with me."

"So you got a date with her" with a teasing smile "that's cute. I just hope Hiashi doesn't find out."

She was teasing but being serious at the same time. Hiashi was just one problem after another with her; even when she was sealed in Naruto's mother. The closest-prev would use his Byakugan to peep on her deceased vessel. Of course Kushina would find out and pound the daylights out of him, but she never actually told anyone, other than Minato, because he was from a respected family and didn't want to cause issues for her teammate.

"It wasn't a date" he protested as he turned red "it was lunch. I had to thank her somehow for repairing Shendu."

"Then why'd you kiss her?" Shendu teased.

"I'm going to bed" Naruto said as his blush turned an even deeper shade and stormed off to his room.

Kyuubi couldn't help but to giggle; she was starting to see why Anko was always picking at him. His reactions were not just cute, but funny. While Naruto did remind her of her deceased brother, he was different in how he reacted to being teased. Dio would shrug his shoulders and often tease back at her; Naruto would turn red and run after a while.

As the door to Naruto's room swung close Shendu looked at the former Queen of Demons; his former playmate. He still had feelings for her, but he had to burry those feelings and accept them as feelings of friendship rather than what they used to be to him. He knew what she was thinking; it was hard not to, especially if you knew her brother. The Hatchling was even starting to resemble the deceased fox; more so with the whiskers. The only way it would be a complete match would be if his hair was longer and red.

"You know you need to tell him" Shendu said to the fox.

Kyuubi just looked at the ground with sad eyes. She has kept it hidden from the Kit too long, she'd admit that, but she didn't want him to look at her as Madara did when he found out. She was a demon by blood, not by action; something Madara couldn't understand. Just because she was born a demon didn't mean she acted as one. If she would, there would be no Konoha or any other Shinobi villages.

"I can't" as she sat at the table "I gave Uzumaki-sama my word I would protect him. And if that means keeping my linage from him, then so be it."

She couldn't go through what Madara had put her through again. The man claimed to have loved her, but as soon as he found out her linage he betrayed her and her brother. She didn't want Naruto to hate her for something she had no control over.

"I think it would be better if he heard it from you rather than an enemy" the former fire sorcerer said "especially if said enemy happens to be That Uchiha" with venom in his voice "or the Sorry Excuse for a Reptile."

He and Kyuubi had agreed that Madara's name was to never be spoken at all; even if the suffix teme was put at the end. Once Shendu found out about what had happened, he wished he would've focused more on finding her than building an empire. Had he done that, his former playmate would be much happier. Dio might even still be alive. The knucklehead fox always had a way of making life interesting within the group of Bijuu and sorcerers.

"I don't think he would hold your linage against you" Shendu said "it is beyond your control; just as his new abilities are beyond his control. He didn't ask for them, but yet he has them. Many look at him as something he is not, and he hates that. He doesn't like when someone labels others for something beyond their control;" as he walked towards Naruto's room "could you open the door for me? I have some interesting information I need to tell the Hatchling" with a perverse giggle.

-Time skip; three months-

Naruto sat in front of the Hokage; his face all scratched up from a cat he and his team had to recapture for some lady. He couldn't believe that they were still stuck doing D-ranked missions. Building teamwork was something they already had and he was itching to go on a 'real' mission; so was Sasuke and Kakashi for that fact, but they kept their mouths shut.

"Can we please get a real mission" Naruto complained as the cat was handed back to its owner by one of the mission proctors "let's get some action."

Sarutobi sighed; he was worse than his mother. Kushina always hated doing lower level missions as well. The only difference was that she was more open about how she felt about them. Luckily this was something that hadn't carried over to Naruto from her; he at least had a level enough head to bite his tongue when necessary, like his father.

"Now Naruto" Kakashi said in a calm voice "these missions build teamwork and help the team see who is lacking in what areas."

As he said this he couldn't help but to think about how he wasn't much different when he was a part of his team seven under Minato. Often saying that they were shinobi, not kids that do errands or chores for others. If he had the same attitude back then like he did now, things might've turned out better for Obito.

"Kakashi" the Hokage said as he took a puff from his pipe and slowly exhaled it "do you think your squad is ready for a higher ranked mission?"

This was the only way he'd even consider giving the squad a higher ranked mission; if Kakashi felt they were ready. If their sensei said that he didn't feel they were up to it, they'd be stuck with D-ranked missions till the Chunin Exams. However, if he felt they were ready; he'd probably never hear the end of it from Naruto. Either way though, he had the final say.

"Well" the scarecrow said as he looked at his squad "I'll admit that their team work is much better than it was when they were first put under me. Their chakra control has improved a great deal, especially Naruto's. I've started to push them to increase their chakra reserves; which Sakura has done the best at, but then again she really didn't have much chakra to begin with. Sasuke has shown he knows several fire style jutsu and needs to expand on those. So I was going to start training them in Affinities but I've put that off till I feel their chakra control is at a suitable level so no accidents happen. Naruto and Sasuke's teamwork is surprisingly good to the point where if Sakura could sync with them I might be tempted to use my Sharingan when sparring against them.

I'm not concerned about Naruto and Sasuke training on their own at all. Naruto trains so much that I often have to take him home in the evening from fear that he'd get sick. Sasuke trains with his brother and other clan members so his training is just fine. Sakura on the other hand…" looking at the kunoichi "I don't think she trains enough. She has good chakra control, but her stamina isn't even close to Sasuke's; I'm not going to compare her stamina to Naruto's because let's be honest, who can actually keep up with his?" Naruto was beaming with pride when he heard this.

"I think a higher ranked mission is what they need to show them they need to train together more rather than work on their individual skills" Kakashi continued "Sakura would benefit the most from something like a higher ranked mission because it would show her how much she needs to train. Naruto would benefit because it'd show him how much he needs to work on his chakra control. Sasuke because it could show him he needs to try to work with his team more rather than try to be a lone wolf."

Sarutobi looked at the squad that looked like they had just been bashed to the ultimate level. It reminded him of his squad before he became Hokage. Naruto as Jiraiya, Sakura as Tsunade, and Sasuke as Orochimaru; hopefully it wouldn't turn out the same in anyway. While Orochimaru was the orphan of the squad, he still trained much more than Jiraiya did and it showed. Tsunade had low chakra when she first graduated from the academy and couldn't even keep up with Jiraiya. And speaking of the 'Mega-Prev', he trained but he did more research than actual training and it showed in his sparring matches with Orochimaru.

"This" the old man said as he held up a scroll with a list of missions on it "is the list of C-rank missions. These are normally given to Genin that have at least a year of D-ranked missions worth of experience or have passed the Chunin Exams and can lead their squad on the mission without any problems. Seeing how your sensei believes you are ready for such a mission I will give you one of the lower level ones" as he set the list back down on his desk "it will be a simple escort mission. Please let Tazuna-san in" he ordered one of the guards.

The door slid open to reveal an average height man with grey hair, a goatee, wire frame glasses, and a bottle of sake in his hand. He was clearly drunk. Reeking of alcohol and having the alcohol induced blush across his cheeks.

"These brats are supposed to protect me?" he slurred as he looked at the group.

"Don't doubt us; you drunk" Naruto said as he crossed his arms, already disappointed in the mission.

Sakura immediately punched him on the top of his head. While he knew when to bite his tongue when talking to the Hokage, he didn't when talking to a client. This was something that Kakashi couldn't teach Naruto by talking to him, so Sakura decided it had to be pounded into him. She didn't hit him often, only when absolutely necessary; i.e. like when he disrespects a client or adult.

"Don't disrespect the client Naruto" she said as he rubbed the impact point.

She had stopped calling him kun when she realized that he wasn't interested in her. He did it gently saying that he liked her as a friend and didn't really see her as anything but that. She truly got that he wasn't interested when he talked about his lunch with Hinata a few months ago; even admitting that he had a crush on the Hyuga heiress. So she accepted it and didn't keep flirting with him after that.

"Who's the short punk with the attitude?" Tazuna asked as he took a drink of sake.

A vein on Naruto's forehead pulsed; he knew he wasn't tall; he was shorter than Sakura after all. He just hated when someone called him short. Before he could try to move, Kakashi had a hold of the back of his jacket and was holding him in place. Naruto was flailing his arms trying to get free to hit the drunk that called him short.

"Now Naruto" Kakashi said with a sigh "you can't attack a client because they call you short. Besides, I'm sure you'll get taller when you start puberty."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest again.

"Why don't you three go home and rest up;" Kakashi said "we'll meet at training ground seven at three so I can fill you in on the details of the mission."

No one argued; just chasing that stupid cat took more out of them than they thought it would. The damn thing led them over almost all of Konoha's forested area. There was more to Konoha than the squad originally thought; testing fields, over forty training grounds, numerous lakes and rivers, several hiking trails, and a gated training area that was fenced off and had a bunch of keep out signs posted on the fence.

Naruto glared at Tazuna as he walked out; he didn't trust him. If the mission was a simple escort, why did he look and smell like he'd been drinking for the past several days? He was sure that Kakashi and Sasuke picked up on that too; they were probably thinking the same thing.

"I'm gonna go get some sleep" Naruto said to Sasuke and Sakura as he headed to his house "see ya at the training ground."

Naruto walked down the street trying not to think of having to guard a drunk for a mission. He'd rather guard someone important; like the Hokage, or a princess. That's a real mission. He let out a sigh as he thought of the odds of that actually happening; not very good. If he were to get strong enough to be a body guard of the Hokage he should be given the title. He already knew what he wanted to do with his career as a shinobi; become greater than any Kage that ever existed.

No he wasn't limiting himself to Konoha; he wanted to be the strongest Kage ever. He wanted to be stronger than the Yondaime; who was said to be the strongest Kage to date. The man was so feared that Iwa had put a bounty on him; the Tsuchikage was so happy about his death eleven years ago that he used the money that he would've paid to the one that killed the Yondaime to throw a party.

"Hey Naruto-kun" he heard from ahead.

He looked up to see Tenten sitting in front of a shop drinking tea with her team. Lee looked up and smiled at the younger boy; he has always been curious about how strong Naruto was. He made it his personal goal to fight against him and find out. Gai was sitting next to his counterpart drinking tea also; he often wondered how well his eternal rival had been training the blond and encouraged a sparring match between Lee and Naruto. Neji… was Neji. Seemed to always have something stuck up his ass, as Naruto put it.

"Hey Ten-chan" Naruto said as he stopped in front of her "how've ya been?"

She just looked at Neji and Lee; who looked like they had just got done fighting each other, again. The two were always butting heads with each other. Lee refused to listen to Neji's 'Fate' crap; Naruto gave it that title. When Neji would try to talk down to Lee, he would just take it as a challenge to prove him wrong. Naruto really wasn't any different; he hated when someone said he couldn't do something.

"Alright" she sighed "what happened to your face?" seeing the scratch marks.

"I'm guessing that Tamichi-san's cat got out again" Gai laughed remembering how Lee looked after they had to recapture that feline.

The feline had slipped by Neji, a member of a clan that is renowned for tracking down enemies with Byakugan. It gave Lee a good chase through the village's streets and alley ways. Not even Tenten could corner it with her weapons. If there was ever a mission to put a squad's teamwork to the test it would be retrieving that cat. He even wondered if that cat was let loose on purpose for just that reason.

"That's the simple version" Naruto said as he felt a vein pulse "Horse" as he put his hands in the matching hand seal.

His facial wounds slowly healed as he felt stinging. The best way he could describe how it felt would be all the pain that the injuries would give you being given all at once as it healed. Sure he could let it heal naturally, but he was going to swing by Hinata's team's training ground and say hey before he had to leave the village. And the last thing he wanted was to show he had been injured by a cat; Kiba would never let him live that one down.

Healing himself wasn't a problem to him in public; it was using the other talismans that was the problem. Changing into an animal, levitating, lifting up something that weighs more than he does, and animating something drew too much attention to himself. Yeah he would turn invisible, but only to escape from fan girls or to keep from getting caught after one of his pranks.

"Well" Naruto said as he gave Tenten a quick hug "I'm getting a C-rank mission later and Kakashi's gonna fill us in at three. I'm gonna go say hey to Hinata and get some sleep. I'll see ya around" as he walked off.

He quickly made the rabbit hand seal and vanished; he wanted to get as much sleep as he could before having to leave the village. Plus it was a good way to mess with Gai; who claimed to be the fastest person in Konoha. Now he definitely wanted Lee and Naruto to spar.

-Hinata-

She had just finished training with Kiba and Shino. Out of breath and tired; Kiba and Shino were fine.

"Hey Hinata" Kiba asked her "you need help gettin' home?"

Kiba has been trying to ask Hinata out for some time now, but never could because something or someone would interrupt them. The first time he tried, Neji appeared and said something about sex driven mutts. That resulted in a fight, which he lost; royally. Every time after that it was completely random things; one time Naruto's plushy even interrupted him. How that found them was a complete mystery.

"I'll be fine Kiba-kun" she replied.

She didn't like how Kiba was always trying to ask her out. She only saw him as a friend; much like Naruto looks at Sakura now. She didn't want to just tell him off because they were teammates and friends.

"You mustn't push yourself Hinata-san" Shino said in his usual tone "you'll end up hurting yourself."

"Yeah Hinata-chan" she heard behind her "I don't want you to hurt yourself either."

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Naruto's voice. She did, however, turn red when she turned to see him right behind her. Naruto just smiled at her as he helped her up.

"N-N-N-N-N-Naruto-kun" she managed to stutter "w-what are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask the same thing" Kiba growled as Akamaru barked.

He really didn't like how the blond would show up and ruin his chances of asking the heiress out. It annoyed him beyond reason.

"Well…" with a large fox grin "I have a C-rank mission and I know I'm gonna be leaving the village; probably tomorrow. So I figured I'd say bye to Hinata-chan. I was thinking lunch, but I'm good with whatever you wanna do" looking at the lavender eyed girl; who was now beat red.

"Why don't you go flirt with that Tenten girl you hang out with?" Kiba snarled.

Hinata wasn't hurt when Kiba said this; she had known about Naruto's friendship with the weapons mistress. Tenten had even joined her and Naruto for lunch one day; she was nice. It didn't surprise her when Tenten told stories about arguments between Lee and her cousin.

"First off" Naruto said "she's just a friend… well actually… she did help me learn how to throw kunai and shuriken so I guess she's more of a mentor" as he shrugged his shoulders "eh. And second; I'm not flirting."

This was the truth; if he was flirting he'd use lines his Uncle uses when he's in bars. Kyuubi was not happy when she found out the Sage took Naruto to a bar to help pick up chicks; it only made it worse when he said it was for research. Just one more lesson that she had to pound into him. Yes he was technically an adult now, but he was still eleven. She didn't want him drinking until he was at least fifteen; which he understood.

"Be careful Uzumaki-san" Shino warned him "there are things about the animal kingdom that you don't understand yet."

Shino was trying to keep Hinata from being held as a prize for them to fight over; much like in a dog pack where the Alpha gets the females of his choosing. He was also trying to keep a full blown clan issue from happening; on the Inuzuka clan's side. Kiba is after all the Alpha's pup.

"Have fun you two" Kurenai said to Naruto and Hinata with a smile as she grabbed Kiba by his jacket.

Naruto and Hinata quickly walked off to get lunch while the illusions master kept the dog at bay. Naruto was pretty surprised when Kurenai first did this; he thought that only Ki-chan would do something like that. Hinata was truly thankful for that; she had told the mother figure in her life that she has a crush on the blond boy and yet Kiba kept trying to ask her out.

The two heard Kiba beg Kurenai to let go of him so he could solve the problem the way his clan solves most problems; with a fight. This only got him a very stern lecture from the woman; as well as having Shino tell him he should accept Hinata's friendship and not push his luck.

"So what you wanna do?" Naruto asked Hinata as they got out of sight from her teammates.

While she was hungry, she really just wanted to spend time with the whisker faced boy. Right now, just going for a walk sounded good; but she knew that Naruto had to be somewhere in a while. Another problem was if her father saw her with Naruto she'd get in trouble; in reality she didn't care about that because all Naruto would have to do is tell Anko, Itachi, or Kyu and things would be fine, she hoped. The thing she was more concerned about was what her father would do to Naruto if he saw them.

"L-l-lunch is fine with me N-N-Naruto-kun" as they got to a street and looked for a restaurant.

While Naruto was craving some ramen, he held off. He wanted to go somewhere nice for Hinata; after all, he wasn't sure how long he'd be out of the village with this mission. The last thing he wanted to do was take someone he cared for out for ramen when he was about to leave for who knows how long. They found one of Choji's family restaurants and went in; surprisingly said boy was busing tables today.

"Hey Naruto," Choji said as he finished clearing a table "hey Hinata. I'll get mom to be right over to get your order" as he picked up the tub of dishes and walked pass Naruto "careful. Your sis is here" he warned Naruto as he headed to the back.

Naruto would've blanched if he didn't already know that if she was here so was Itachi. If she tried to tease him, he could tease right back. He pulled out a chair for Hinata and pushed it in for her. Itachi had warned him about how much of a tight ass Hiashi could be and to be proper when in public with Hinata to keep any issues from arising.

"So" he heard a familiar female voice in the booth behind him "Itachi-kun; what should we do after we get done here?"

Naruto blanched; it wouldn't have been a problem if Anko was on the other side of the restaurant, but no, she was in the booth behind him. Of all the things that could've made lunch weird, his sister was right behind him.

"Are you ok Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked him seeing something was wrong.

"Yeah…" with a shaky voice "I'm fine…" 'As long as Anko-chan doesn't realize I'm here; and with Hinata-hime.'

He suddenly felt eyes fall on him, but not from behind him; from a distance. Eyes that could only be the Byakugan, and belong to someone that would have a reason to use them to watch. The eyes belonged to none other than the head of the Hyuga clan; Hiashi.

'HE'S HERE TOO!' Naruto mentally shouted in disbelief.

Life was by no means fair, but it was ironic. Anko behind him, Hiashi watching from a distance. Anko had plenty of reasons to tease him; a mistake on his part from the years of picking at her. Hiashi doesn't like him for some reason; it didn't help that he fell asleep on Hinata during class while in the Academy. If Anko found out he was here and tried to tease/embarrass him Hiashi would kill him for making a scene with the heiress to his clan being with him.

Naruto and Hinata placed their orders and talked quietly as they waited for their lunch to come to them. He had subtly told Hinata that Anko was in the booth behind them and she already knew her father was here. She didn't like this any more than he did.

"Why'd you get a C-rank mission so soon?" Hinata asked remembering that he had mentioned it earlier.

"Kakashi said something about we need it to show us that we need to work on teamwork, chakra control, and training on our own" as he took a drink of water "but hey, a C-rank mission is a C-rank mission. Only problem is we're gonna be guarding a drunk" he sighed.

"Now Naru-kun" he heard Anko's voice say "it's not right to talk bad about a client."

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Anko looking down at the two; her arms crossed on the back of the seat, and a sadistic smile across her face. Things were bound to go downhill from here.

"Hello Anko-san" Hinata said.

"Hello Hinata" the snake-charmer replied "I hope my little brother here is behaving properly" as she pinched his cheek "I'd hate to have to teach him manners like I taught him to not talk in his sleep."

Naruto immediately turned red from embarrassment. She was going to play that one already; she had to know that Hiashi was here otherwise she would've waited till he brought Hinata back to the house for dinner. It was not a fun lesson to learn from her; then again, no lesson was fun with how she approached training others. It was no wonder why she hadn't been assigned a team yet.

"Anko-chan" he said as he tried to get her to stop pinching his cheek "can you stop. We're trying to have lunch."

"But that's what makes this so much fun" as she gave him a hug from over the seat and continued to tease him "I was wondering when you would ask her out. Especially with how often you talk about her" with a smile.

"Please Anko-chan" he begged "Hinata's father is watching."

"Oh," with another sadistic smile "well then… I guess this is going to be more fun than I thought it would be" her eyes shifted from Naruto to Hinata "did you know that when he was seven, after the whole falling asleep on you in class thing," her eye moved back to Naruto "which I still think is something you did just so you could touch her," as she pinched his cheek again "he thought he turned me into a snake. It was sooo cute; he even got a nice terrarium to keep me in till he could figure out how to turn me back. He no more got back and the transformation jutsu I used had worn off" she laughed as she finished "he was so upset at me for pulling that prank on him that he didn't talk to me for a week."

-Hiashi-

He was watching as Anko was talking about something that clearly embarrassed the blond. He was two seconds away from getting up and telling his daughter it was time for her to leave when he heard a voice.

"Hiashi-sama" he heard.

He had to deactivate his Byakugan to see who it was, and to be polite. Having his Byakugan active when he spoke to someone often made them uneasy. He was surprise to see it was Itachi.

"Itachi-dono" Hiashi replied "how can I help you?"

It was no secret that the Hyuga and Uchiha had issues with each other. After all, it is said that Sharingan came from a mutated Byakugan. And that was the tip of the iceberg. Both clans were so tightly knit that even trying to talk to the other often caused slight problems. Itachi had been trying to think of a way to fix this.

"First I wish to say I mean no disrespect by saying this" as he bowed "but the issues between our clans has reflected on every member. I noticed Neji-san having a disagreement with Sasuke the other day and wish to resolve the problem before it gets out of hand."

This really didn't come as too much of a surprise to Hiashi. Ever since his father died the boy had become very distant.

"What are you proposing?" Hiashi asked with curiosity.

"May I take a seat?" the Uchiha asked before Hiashi gestured for him to take the seat "I was thinking that perhaps the Hyuga and Uchiha could run the Konoha Police Force together. My clan suffered many losses five years ago and it will take time to recover fully; but even then, we lost some of the best Uchiha so the Force won't be back at its previous strength."

To say Hiashi was curious would be like saying Jiraiya was a pervert. It was that obvious.

"I wish to offer members of your clan the opportunity to join the Konoha Police Force. With both Sharingan users and Byakugan users on the Force, I believe that Konoha would benefit more than just having Sharingan users. Of course the final decision is up to you" as he stood up and gave a bow "but I wish to end any feuds before they actually start."

"I will speak with the clan elders and see what they think on the matter" the Hyuga replied.

"One more thing Hiashi-sama" Itachi said seeing that his attention was being redirected back to Naruto's table "Anko-chan is only teasing Naruto because the boy is like a little brother to her. Besides," taking a quick glance at the table where Naruto was red with embarrassment and trying to get Anko to leave him alone without making a scene "it is not your clan that is being embarrassed by Naruto and Anko-chan. They are only acting as siblings would. I'm sure you understand."

Hiashi looked at the table where Naruto was trying to keep the snake-charmer from pinching his cheek again. He did know what that was like; when he was a Genin he and his brother would tease each other in front of the girls they liked just to mess with each other. Hizashi would more than often pick on him in front of Kushina while they were in the Academy. What only made it worse was the fact that he really couldn't snap back at him because at the time he was the heir to the clan and was not to embarrass the clan in such a manner. However, he and his brother did act as siblings rather than main and branch house members.

"Very well" he said as he paid his bill and got up "just know that this is the only time I will look the other way on a matter such as that" as he glanced back at Naruto's table; said boy was picking back at Anko and she seemed to be turning a shade of red.

-Training Ground Seven-

Naruto was still a little upset that Anko had nearly caused a scene at the restaurant while he was trying to have lunch with Hinata. If it wasn't bad enough that she mentioned the time he thought he had turned her into a snake, she also brought up the fact that he talked about Hinata in his sleep. Normally he only teased her in private, but when she brought up that time when he thought he turned her into a snake; it was fair game to him. That's when he started picking back at her; using her sadistic tendencies against her.

"At least I had lunch with Hinata-hime" he sighed as he remembered Itachi dragging Anko out of the restaurant "and that her father didn't try to kill me."

He didn't know how or why, but he was glad Hiashi didn't. That would've caused some serious issues between him and Kyuubi; who already were exactly friends. Naruto blamed Hiashi and the fact that he was so uptight about everything. The guy had no idea how to loosen up and have fun; even if he was the head of a clan, being serious all the time couldn't be healthy. Itachi understood this fact, that's why he often goes over to the Uzumaki residence and relaxes.

"So I take it you had lunch with your crush?" he heard behind him.

Naruto jumped out of his skin and landed on his ass when he heard Jiraiya's voice. While the Sage wore old fashion wooden saddles, he didn't make any noise when he was being sneaky. How, was the question of the century for Naruto.

"Don't do that Uncle Ero-Sannin" Naruto fused at him "I deal with that enough from Anko-chan at home."

The Mega-Perv just laughed. It was true on many levels that Anko would often mess with Naruto by appearing behind him and scarring the daylights out of him. It annoyed the blond more so when he was trying to focus on training, or working on his chakra control.

"Hello Jiraiya-sama" Sakura greeted the Sage as she walked up to the two.

"Hello" as he looked at the pink hair girl and back to his nephew "I heard from a little birdie that you've gotten a C-rank mission already" with a smile "I wanted to give you something as a congratulations, and I know how just walking for hours gets boring;" as he pulled out a scroll "so I took the liberty of getting you some reading material. Sealed inside the scroll is a copy of every book I've ever written."

Naruto giggled; he knew what his uncle writes. He even managed to swipe a copy of Kakashi's once and read a chapter before the scarecrow found him and punished him for stealing the book. While he never read the Sage's earlier works, he still wanted to; and now he could. When he read the chapter from Kakashi's book it really didn't make sense; so he figured it was one of those things that you have to read from the beginning to fully understand what's going on. Then again it was just the first chapter, which normally hardly makes any sense until you get to the second or third chapter.

He was going to have to be extremely careful about where he keeps the scroll. Kyuubi didn't agree with the Toad Sannin's writings for some reason. She even threatened to cut off an important item if she ever found out that Jiraiya would base a character off her, Anko, or Naruto. Needless to say he quickly swore it wouldn't happen; at least not without their approval. Naruto wouldn't be too hard for him to bribe, Anko might be a bit of a trick, but Kyuubi was definitely never going to agree. Two out of three isn't too bad; it's still a brother and sister for a story.

"I'll be sure to keep this safe" he giggled as he put the scroll in one of the many pockets in his jacket.

"I'll get you a copy of my newest one once I finish it and it gets published" as he ruffled Naruto's hair "I'll see you around. I'm heading out to meet someone in Rain Country; I should be back in time for the Chunin Exams" as he walked off "don't forget to keep training in that new jutsu I showed you."

Said jutsu was one that Naruto was keeping secret until he had a fight with Kiba. The way his uncle showed it to him, it looked like it could put anyone on the ground with one hit. Plus it looked really cool.

"Hey Naruto" Sakura asked "how can all of his books fit on that one scroll?"

Naruto would've had a dumbfounded look on his face at the question if he didn't know that Kakashi hadn't showed them how to seal stuff into scrolls yet. Anko was the one that first told him about the ability and how it was more practical than carrying a bag that weighed a ton around on your back; plus it was much lighter. The weight of the items sealed in the scroll didn't affect the weight of the scroll at all; which could be the difference between getting out of a sticky situation without injury and getting killed.

Itachi had shown him exactly what could be sealed into a scroll; using only one scroll he practically packed his entire room. It wasn't a small room either; no it was a very large room. Furnishings that weighed a lot more than they looked; a king sized bed frame and mattress, three dressers full of clothes, every piece of his ANBU gear, and anything else that just happened to be in the room at the time. The only problem with sealing such large items in the scroll was that you had to be careful when releasing them or else you could get caught underneath it and possibly die.

"Well…" trying to think of how to explain it so he could understand it himself "with a scroll, a seal, and a little chakra you can put just about anything in a scroll. Uncle Ero-Sannin taught me how to do it; it's really cool what you can pack up in one" as he reached into his jacket and pulled one out "in this scroll I have a few Fuma Shuriken."

"I have more in my jacket with various items in them" he smiled "you wouldn't believe the stuff Anko-chan has hidden in her jacket. Never think she doesn't have a weapon; she keeps all of her weapons in her jacket" with a worried look on his face.

He really didn't want to go into that story. The short version is, he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be with a certain Sannin and got caught. Naruto only had a few scrapes and bruises; Jiraiya wasn't so lucky. And that was before Kyuubi found out…

"Do you think you could show me how to seal items in scrolls?" Sakura asked.

"Sure;" as he put his scroll up "what kinda teammate would I be if I didn't show you how to do that?"

Naruto might not know how to seal larger items, but he knew how to seal up weapons, books, clothes, water, and other essentials. Plus he was sure that he'd need to take some more supplies for their new mission; so having a second person that can seal weapons and important equipment up would be great.

"I'll show you how to do it when Sasuke gets here" as he saw said boy walking up to them "I'm sure he'd like to know how to do it too."

Knowing how lazy Kakashi tended to get, he probably wouldn't teach it to them until after the Chunin Exams. If that were to happen and they needed a large number of weapons and they didn't have it, they could get killed. After all, Itachi did tell him and Sasuke stories about his Chunin Exam and how only half of the squads survived.

"You're sure I'd like to know how to do what?" Sasuke asked as he sat down on the ground.

"Seal stuff in scrolls" Naruto replied.

Sasuke's answer wasn't in words; he simply pulled out a scroll and opened it. There were seals written on it with Kanji for different weapons in the middle of the seals. Itachi had shown him how to seal stuff away after Naruto asked him about it; knowing that it would've been wrong to show Naruto and not his little brother. While seals weren't an Uchiha thing, he understood enough of it to at least store weapons and clothes.

Sakura hung her head low; she felt completely out of the loop. She was starting to see what Kakashi meant by needing to train more and with her team. If Naruto and Sasuke could seal things away, on top of having much more chakra than her, she was very far behind as far as practical skills went. Yes she had a lot of book smarts, but still; knowing what something is and being able to actually do it were two completely different things.

She needed to find a set of skills that would be of use to the team. But what did Naruto and Sasuke not know how to do. Naruto had an entire arsenal of skills that he had used to try to get a bell from Kakashi; and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Sasuke already had elemental Affinity jutsu that were easily C-ranked. The only thing she had was chakra control; which wasn't that hard because of her low levels of it.

Ino had her family jutsu, the Shintenshin. Given it left her physical body in a very venerable state, but it was better than just Academy level skills like Sakura had. Hinata had a better skill set than her with her family style of Taijutsu; Gentle Fist. Kiba had his clan's jutsu and Akamaru to only make them stronger when used. Even Choji and Shikamaru had some sort of interesting jutsu; Shikamaru with his Kagemane and Choji with his Bubun Baika. She was the weak link in their graduating class.

"Good to see everyone is here" Kakashi said as he Shunshined in front of them.

Naruto just looked at him with a surprised look; Kakashi was early for once. That was one heck of a change.

'Rin-chan must've threatened him with something' he thought as no other answer came to mind.

"Our new mission will be taking us to the Land of Waves" Kakashi began the briefing "a small island that has no connection to the main-lands. Their main source of resources comes from the shipping industry. We will be escorting Tazuna there and act as body guards till he finishes a bridge that will connect the island and the mainland. The economy of this town isn't very good; from what I understand the shipping industry is being controlled by a single person and is charging very high prices.

We'll leave tomorrow morning at eight and head to the Land of Waves using one of the faster routes; it should take us about a day to get there."

"Why not the fastest route?" Sakura asked him.

Kakashi looked at the girl. It was a good question, considering her lack of experience, but he planned the route for a reason.

"Because the fastest route has many roads that intersect it and also there will be less people on the route I picked. Anymore questions?" as he looked at Naruto.

"What's this guy hiding?" Sasuke asked before Naruto could "he smells like he's been drunk for a few days and clearly wants a team that looks more skilled than us. Why?"

Kakashi nodded at the question; he had noticed too. This wasn't uncommon though; clients lying about the seriousness of a mission to avoid the price of a higher ranked mission. This would also keep attention from being drawn to them if no one found out. A bridge to the mainland would pretty much ruin a shipping industry; depending on how pissed off the owners would be would determine how they took care of the builder.

"Given the poor economy" Kakashi said to the raven haired boy "a C-rank was all he could afford; while not drawing more attention to himself. I'm not sure what lengths the owner of the shipping industry has gone through to stop him so far; but if he's asking for shinobi help it must be serious. We can't confront him about this though" glaring at his squad "if we push the matter we could ruin his town's chance of having a better economy."

Everyone nodded; not wanting to question their sensei.

"Good;" with a smile from underneath his mask "be sure to pack for at least two weeks. I'll see you tomorrow morning at the Main Gate" as he Shunshined away.

Naruto was relieved that he wasn't the only one that noticed the bridge builder's drunkenness. It really didn't matter though; Kakashi said not to push the matter, so he couldn't. Now all he could do is seal up some clothes, food, and anything else he might need and get some rest for the trip tomorrow.

Sasuke got up and started to walk back to the Uchiha compound. He was already mostly packed and only needed to pack clothes; the sooner he took care of that the more time he'd have to train. It wasn't going to be anything serious, but he was in the process of learning a new fire jutsu that he's been trying to learn for the last week; with all the missions and squad training, he really hasn't been able to progress with it at all.

"Naruto" Sakura asked quietly "could you show me how to seal stuff into a scroll?"

Naruto mentally slapped himself; he was about to walk off, completely forgetting that he said he would show his teammate how to do it.

"Yeah" as he searched his pockets "uh…" not finding what he was looking for "maybe it's…" as he searched the pockets in the sleeves "perhaps…" as he checked the pockets in the sides of the jacket "crap… left the ink and brush at home" he sighed "we can swing by my house."

Sakura sweat-dropped; he might be stronger than her, but he was a complete idiot at times. Given he wasn't planning on showing her how to seal stuff in scrolls when he left home, but she still would've thought he'd have the stuff with him.

-Morning-

Naruto had run out ahead of the rest of his squad to look for anything that might be a trap. He was so happy to be able to leave the village, but also… it felt weird. Leaving the place you call home, even for a short period of time, wasn't easy. Thoughts of Ichiraku's entered his mind; the smell of the beef, pork, and chicken that Teuchi cooks in with the noodles were the best. He knew what he was going to do with the money he got from this mission.

His thoughts quickly turned to Hinata. Only a few months ago he hardly spent any time with the shy Hyuga; now he was hanging out with her every chance he got. Yeah he had a crush on her, so he would want to spend more time with her to try to ask her out on an actual date; but it also felt right to him. It was hard for him to put into words.

Of course, he can't forget about the weapons mistress Tenten. Sure they had a rather bad start as friends; being pinned to a tree by kunai with a few that landed right next to his face was her greeting to him then. After he managed to convince her that he wanted her help rather than make fun of her for acting like a tom-boy, things got better.

He couldn't help but to feel a little intimidated by both of them. Hinata came from a noble clan, and her father really didn't like him for some odd reason. Tenten's aim was so accurate that if you pissed her off, she didn't need to be near you to make sure you knew…. It didn't help that Anko was constantly teasing him about being a 'Lady's Man', as she called him after he would get back from hanging out with both Tenten and Hinata.

Sure he had feelings for the brown haired kunoichi, but they were of friendship; right? Yeah they would talk a lot and often vent a little after long days, but he was starting to question if the feelings he had for Tenten were like the ones he had for the Hyuga heiress. His uncle had told him that being with two women at once wasn't a bad thing; then again, it was the white haired pervert talking… and he didn't want to ask Ki-chan about it because lately she'd been teasing him like Anko does. Shendu was completely out of the question since he was just a big a pervert as Jiraiya.

Shendu could see something was on the Hatchling's mind. He was so lost in his line of thought he walked past a puddle of water; it hadn't rained in two weeks…

Before Shendu could inform Naruto about his blunder; two figures came out of the puddle and went to wrap a chain around the boy…...

-Author's Note-

Man I love a good cliff hanger...

Poll time:

Should Zabuza and Haku live or die?