"So, where you want to go to first, Umino-san?" I rolled my eyes while adjusting my pack midjump. "To the casino resort nearby or to the hot springs."

"You're really having fun with this, aren't you?" Not even thirty minutes from Konoha's Wall and Kakashi-sempai had out a map. All while tree hopping as if he was walking through the streets.

Sure,Hatake Kakashi was known as one of the best Konoha Jonin… But did he have to mess around like this?

"Sorry. Just trying to lighten things up." Kakashi-sempai sighed while putting the map away. "Unlike my impressive skill set, this isn't exactly my cup of tea." He smiled at me with his eye.

"Well, I might be a teacher, but this isn't my forte either." I sighed out. "I mean… Going on a vacation at a time like this?"

"Yeah. Well, Konoha is kinda at peace, so sparing a top Jonin and Chunin isn't so bad… Though… How do someone take a vacation?"

"I'm starting to get some of the rumors my fellow desk-nin been murmuring now." I shot my former Jonin Commander a stink eye.

However, I did catch the slight twitch in his eye movement.

We were being followed.

"I never took a vacation before… Well, outside just lazying in my house or in the hospital due to injuries." Kakashi-sempai shrugged.

Leafs.

So the rumors were possibly true. I kept a straight face… Okay, more it was fuming. "And you wonder why your incident reports have been going up in number? Can we at least go to hot springs first on the map?"

How many? Dangerous to the mission?

"I rather go to a more mature place." My face lit up and my glare got meaner. "However, there might be some mix baths in one of the coming villages, so I'm in."

Did he have to use innuendos?

Don't know, but they are keeping quite a distance. Observers.

I hid my gulp and simply shook my head at my sempai.

Last night, we had a fight at the bar and did some damage. With the Third Hokage realizing the problem was stress related… The punishment was forced vacation leave which we had to spend together to make amends. It was quite the talk of the town this morning when we left Konoha with our travel packs.

At least, that's what's on the record.

Off record? This was an S-rank mission.

The mission? Find Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke then protect them for a week or two before returning to Konoha.

Not that anyone in Konoha should know the two are missing. The ANBU that caught sight of the duo just as the two boy's left their patrol range had two members pretend to be the two boys and made it look like they brought them back.

Hence, the only ones that should know were the Hokage, that ANBU group, the limited S-rank staff at the hospital, Kakashi-sempai, and me. The fact we got a group following us just made my stomach sink.

Naruto's sudden anxiety induced bolt caught on ANBU security cameras may have had some merit.

The Third Hokage was skeptical of Naruto's apparent suicide, so he had been investigating behind the scenes. It quickly showed sloppy investigation work and some clear issues in a lot of places.

To the point, the only way to get any answers were through Naruto and Sasuke. Both of which were now missing and on the run.

However… What was more worrisome was what was caught on the camera footage the Hokage showed Kakashi-sempai and me.

Naruto was glowing red and yellow during his bolt from Konoha with Sasuke hot on his heels.

"We don't know if Naruto has somehow come in contact with the Fox or if it's giving him some of its chakra," The Third Hokage's words echoed in my head. "I've sent out a message to Jiraiya and he will be the third member of this team. We have no idea what spooked Naruto, but his emotions do affect the seal. Hence, we need to calm him down before even thinking of bringing him back."

Was the fox trying to escape and hence turned an innocent jutsu into a seeming suicidal one? Or did someone else set it up and used Sasuke as a seeming witness to cover up a very foul plan and Naruto realized something was wrong without knowing exactly what?

Or… Or could have Naruto planned this all along and been-

"I think someone might want to find a room tonight." My face was hot while my eyes were sharp at Kakashi-sempai. "However, if you keep on worrying about your students, you won't get any relaxation."

"Do realize I got quite a few troublemakers to worry about. I just hope Mizuki can handle Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru today. They got punishment and might try to skip on it." I sighed out.

We had no idea what was going on. Heck, Naruto might have had one heck of a bad dream and it spook him into flee mode… And just ran till he got lost. With Sasuke there to hopefully keep them out of trouble till we found them.

Yet… The glowing still irked me. If it belonged to the Fox, shouldn't everyone have felt it?

Why did Naruto seemingly went under the radar through his sprint? There were even active shinobi and kunoichi he passed and none of them even looked at the glowing academy student.

They all just focused on Sasuke and confused by his running.

I just hoped both boys' were safe.

"Oh, seems like there's a small town nearby with quite an artist community. Maybe we should check it out. I'm thinking of getting some masks or something to finally decorate my apartment pass the bare basics." Kakashi-sempai hummed.

A bit of hope glimmered in my stomach.

Clone and dog tracked down the boys. Safe. Unknowns being dealt with by known Masks.

Must have been the team the Hokage told us would being following behind us to catch any sects that were possibly trying to capture Naruto or Sasuke… Either for their ranks or for… worse plans than turning them into killing machines.

"Sure. If it's the town I think I know, then it will have good cuisine and hot springs. Just make sure not to spend all your money. We got two weeks budget and that's it." I huffed out to hide my relief.

You better have someone there watching the boys or else.

Okay, a bit of an imaginative translation, but it still meant the same.

"I know. I know. I'm not one of your students, teacher." Kakashi-sempai chuckled at me. "I've budgeted to make sure I have lots of fun."

Will you stop it with the innuendos?

One of my ninja hounds is locating them now. The scent in the air is heavy, so they haven't left yet. Boys will be exactly found before we set foot there.

I only shot a look to confirm he should hope he's right.

I couldn't give a care about the Fox. This was Naruto that was in trouble.

My goofy, but hard working student who just can never get a break.

I was gonna make damn sure to be there to help him. Especially after I failed when he needed me the most three weeks ago.

Fake suicide or not.