Disclaimer: Don't own any characters from Naruto, I only own the characters I create. Like Inari, Miyuki, the bad guys, etc. Oh, and the plot, that's all me.

Note: The timeline of this story changes from around the start of the Chuunin Exams in the manga. I'll explain what parts changed in their due time. For now, Naruto is 14 and has just started on his long journey with Jiraiya.


EDIT! 8-12-14

DAMN! I was about to upload chapter 5 when i realized I never published chapter 4.

I swear i uploaded it, just must have forgotten to add it to the story.

So sorry for not realizing sooner.

I feel so bad. Uploading them both right away!


Originally typed 07-12-14

Sorry guys, I had an unexpected job pop up last minute so I ran out of time.

Next one will be my most difficult yet.

I'm debating a lot about it since I think it's a bit OOC. I mean, considering who he is, I'm just not sure he'd do something like that. Then again everyone's personalities are different in my story, given all the changes I've made so far.

Well, enjoy and I'll see you in a month with the next chapter.


Chapter 4

Taking a second look

After a well deserved rest the Inuzuka male awoke early in the morning feeling very refreshed. He was anxious to complete his mission and wave 'bye bye' to the uppity boy they were sent to protect.

He looked around, noticing his teammate Shino, was no longer occupying the bed next to him. With a stretch he stood up and grabbed his things. There was a knock at the door, followed by the voice of his team leader, Kurenai. Shino appeared from the bathroom and in minutes the two were out of the room.

Hinata and Kurenai patiently waited at the front door of the inn they were staying at. Miyuki sat at Hinata's side, taking in all the new sights and sounds. The pup had managed to trudge the long journey, only having to be carried for an hour while she rested her weary paws.

They all ate a quick breakfast before heading towards a well sized home on the rich side of the city. Kiba frowned, prompting Kurenai to remind him to be on his best behavior.

"Ah, how nice of you to show up early today," a young voice said in a calm, yet slightly critical tone. Shino placed a hand on his angered teammate's shoulder in an effort to keep the boy from doing something reckless.

Kurenai saw this and spoke first, "Shino, Kiba, you two take care of the surrounding perimeters. Hinata and I will be the bodyguards for today."

Kiba nodded with a grunt and left with Shino, signaling to Akamaru and Miyuki. It was time to see how much Miyuki had learned in their training sessions. The snobby lad beside them took on a displeased look, "So then, I'll be protected by two mere women today?"

The red eyed woman smiled, biting back the anger she was feeling. Maybe next time he pissed off Kiba she would wait a few seconds before intervening.

Hinata fidgeted nervously, she knew she was far weaker than her two teammates. But she was working hard every day, and training very seriously with her team and family. "U-um," she whispered, unable to find the courage to defend herself.

The young boy looked at the Hyuuga heiress with disinterest. Since the arrival of the Konoha ninjas he had been in a rather unpleasant mood. With them hovering around him it was impossible for him to do his usual activities. Which mostly consisted of picking up girls. He considered himself quite smooth with the ladies and went out with as many as he could every week.

But then it was all ruined when some brutes showed up and tried to hold him for ransom.

His father had been outraged and sent word to Konoha so they could take care of it.

And yes, the four had managed to capture one group, but who knew how many were still around. What the boy wanted was for the ninja to capture all the men in one day so he could get back to the lovely females waiting for him. I mean, who'd want to be with dumb ninjas when you could be with a pretty girl.

The young man tiredly glanced at the girl next to him; her voice was too soft to make out. It didn't help that she was looking down at the ground. He frowned; he couldn't believe his life was in the hands of someone so meek.

"Well let's go, I don't want to spend all day in my own home." he waved his hand, signaling for them to follow.


"Hey pervy sage where are we going?" Naruto looked around in confusion. The two had made it out of the forest a while ago and were now walking what he felt was a familiar path.

"Stop calling me that," Jiraiya sighed when he saw the glare he gave the boy had no effect. "We took a right to get here and now we're heading back the way we came and taking a left instead. An informant of mine said there was a city down that path that I would be interested in investigating."

Naruto gave the white haired man a look, "this isn't more of your stupid 'research' is it?"

"My research isn't stupid and anyways we're going to that city to investigate some suspicious behavior." Jiraiya's face suddenly took a perverted look, "Although since I'll be there anyways, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity and check out the newly opening hot springs."

"Aw geez," Naruto groaned, at the pace they were going with his training, it didn't look like he was going to be getting stronger any time soon.

"Trust me Naruto; you're going to love it. Who knows, you might even get to play the role of a hero."

The blond perked up at this, "Really? Why? Is the place we're going to dangerous? Will there be bad guys I can beat up?" he grew more excited with every question. Soon he was bouncing up and down like a kid who was going to get some candy.

In truth there were only reports of small crime around the area. Nothing more than your common bandit. It was nothing compared to what the Toad Sage was really sent to investigate. But Jiraiya figured with this he could get the kid off his back while we did some 'surveillance' around the city. At least for a few hours anyway.

The white haired man managed to calm the boy down after a few minutes and the rest of the trip was fairly quiet. There were a few questions here and there but nothing quite as annoying as before.

It took about five hours to get to the city. As quickly as he could, Jiraiya found a place for them to stay and left to do some 'investigation'.

Naruto sat down and took a look around the plain looking room. After about five minutes he decided to head out and see if he could find a place that sold ramen.


A giant smirk was plastered on the brown haired teen, his faithful companion shared in his delight.

Their jerk of a client had been so close to getting impaled in the chest. But that wasn't what he was happy about. Above all he was determined to succeed in his mission and protect the guy. Besides, with them around he hadn't been in any real danger. Hinata had seen the kunai being thrown and acted quickly.

The young man had been so distracted, rambling on about who knows what. He barely heard the word of warning before he was sent crashing to the ground. At first he was pissed, no one pushes him around and gets away with it.

He rose to yell at the assailant when he felt a swift rush of air sail right above him. With a turn of his head he sees a sharp object impale itself on a post behind him. With wide eyes he stares at the kunai embedded on the wooden post, gulping as he realizes it was meant for him.

Four Konoha ninja surround him, asking if he is okay. The boy is still in shock when he feels a weight on his body lighten.

His brown eyes lock with pale eyes. His throat suddenly feels dry as he looks at the girl in front of him. Her soft voice is what first alerts him to who she is.

"Um, I-I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

She held a concerned look in her eyes as he slowly got up to his feet. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. When he first met the girl he had been curious to see her face. He figured she was always looking down because she was plain looking. But now that he was able to get a good look at her he realized how wrong he was. She was actually quite cute, and he was a sucker for cute girls. Especially shy ones, they were a challenge and he loved challenges.

Kiba's smirk was replaced with a frown as he noticed the look their client was giving his teammate. The satisfaction of seeing the snobby guy quake with fear was replaced by a feeling of impending doom.

"Thanks for saving me," the boy gave a warm smile, "I'm sorry for ever doubting your abilities."

Hinata smiled as well, happy to know she had proven herself.

"Shino, were you able to pinpoint where the attacker was?"

"Yes, I can lead us to him."

"Good, Shino and I will chase after him. Kiba and Hinata, I want you two to take our client back to his home." the red eyed woman commanded, leaving with Shino after the two others nodded.

"What, I have to go home already?" their client whined, he had been hoping to invite his cute bodyguard to some delicious pastries. Girls were suckers for pastries.

"Well if you want to stay and be target practice that's fine by me," the Inuzuka smiled, seeing the boy's face turn pale.

"Eh, on second thought, maybe I should go home. Our chef makes some very delicious sweets. I'll have him whip some up for us." he flashed a coy smile at Hinata.

"No thanks, we should probably go make sure the rest of our team isn't being led into a trap." Kiba frowned, receiving a sneer from the slightly older teen.

"Well then you should go and she can stay with me," the boy placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Eh, yeah right, Hinata's coming with me."

'Ah, so her name is Hinata,' he thought to himself. He hadn't paid much attention when they introduced themselves so he didn't remember any of their names.

"Besides, our job is just to protect you while you're out of your home. Your father's guards can protect you just fine while you're in your home." Kiba smirked, "Don't tell me you're still scared?"

The older teen clenched his teeth, in truth he was still a bit shaken by what had happened, but there was no way he was going to let it show.

"I-it's okay to be scared." Hinata spoke in a reassuring tone. She too had been frightened for weeks after the kidnapping incident when she was three.

Their client laughed nervously, "I'm not scared at all. I just wanted to thank you for saving me back there." he shyly rubbed the back of his head, "Maybe we could get to know each other over some sweets? But I guess maybe you wouldn't find me very good company."

Hinata quickly spoke up, "Oh no, I-it's not that at all," the boy smiled, "I-it's just that we have to check on our team." his smile fell, how could his plan have failed? He had played his part perfectly. No girl should have been able to resist!

Kiba shot the boy a triumphant look, "Alright, let's get you home."

"Alright," he conceded, 'I'll have another shot tomorrow.' he thought to himself, 'With any luck it'll take them a couple more days to catch them all. That should give me a chance to win Hinata over.' the boy smirked, 'Guess this whole incident will have something good come out of it after all.'


It was getting darker by the minute as Inari and the old lady she was staying with, finally made it back to the cottage.

The two had spent the day helping out a neighboring farmer harvest his crops. To thank them for their help, he had handed each of them a basket of said crops. This made the kind old woman happy as it was hard to get such fresh crops with their low income. Their sweet granddaughter did what she could to take care of them, but she didn't want to use all her hard earned money.

Inari was happy as well, bit by bit she was getting used to living with the elderly couple. Robin had left earlier that day to treat a far off town. It did worry her though, that the strange boy might return and would not know where to find them.

The more she tried to remember the more it hurt her head. She was sure she had seen him in that photo with Naruto and his friend Sakura. Trouble was, she just couldn't remember his name. Had Naruto even told her? Robin would probably know his name but the four-year old had forgotten to ask her before she left.

Inari sighed; she was staring to get homesick. Funny, thinking of Konoha as her home. What used to be her home was now a place full of bad memories. Maybe one day, she could return there and find it thriving once more.

"Missing your friends dear?" the kind woman asked.

Not trusting her voice, the small child simply nods.

"Well don't fret; you're getting stronger every day and Robin's working extra hard to round up the money."

"No, you don't have to do that. Once I can use my abilities again then I can-"

"Nonsense sweetie, that's too dangerous." The kind lady placed a hand on the small child's shoulder, "Please, let us help you get home safely. It's not much money anyway."

The night before, Robin had devised a plan to safely get Inari back to Konoha. There was a caravan headed there in a month and Robin had asked them if she and Inari could tag along. Said caravan had made sure to request help in advance. Konoha ninja would be there when it was time to go and would escort them there safely. However, hiring help wasn't cheap and with two more people the price would rise. So it was agreed than Inari and Robin could only go if they chipped in the cost for the hired help.

It wasn't much but at the moment the young medic didn't have money to spare. Inari was an extra mouth to feed and thus an unexpected cost that Robin's regular duties could not pay for.

"Besides, my husband is right, Robin enjoys her work and takes any opportunity to travel from town to town."

Inari smiled, it was true, each time Robin left she had a big smile on her face. It seemed the young woman truly enjoyed her work, and even if she was a bit strict, she was good at what she did.

"Ok, but at least let me help out any way I can. My mother used to say that we should all help each other out, so I want to do my part too."

"Alright sweetie, then how about you help me make dinner tonight?"

Brown eyes widened, twinkling with excitement, "Really? Yes please, your cooking is so delicious!"

A warm and gentle smile lit up the older woman's face as the two discussed their plans for dinner.


Team 8 was able to regroup about an hour after the attack. Kurenai and Shino had followed the attacker to two others who were ready to ambush them. However, despite their advantage in numbers, they were vastly outmatched in strength. After taking them down and tying them up they headed back into the city. Their client's guards were sent to retrieve the three men while Kurenai and Shino headed back to their inn.

"Kurenai sensei, isn't there a way for us to know how many more men are still after that snob?"

The red eyed woman disregarded the teens choice of words, "Yes, I believe Shino has a plan." She nodded to the Aburame who went over his idea in great detail.


Despite the lack of time I think this is a good place to stop anyway.

I'm still tinkering with how I want to write the next chapter but hopefully this time around I'll have enough time to work on it.

Questions and reviews are always welcomed.

As always thanks for your support.