Note: I've gone through and edited the whole thing, although no changes to plot. You can find me on tumblr at chortling-dingo.

edited 06/06/2017


Chapter 9

It didn't take long for Naruto to pack. She didn't have a lot of possessions, and thanks to a few sealing scroll, her bag was nice and light. Naruto seemed to have inherited the famous Uzumaki affinity for fuinjustu and she had abused her shadow clone jutsu to spend countless hours poring over every sealing book and scroll she could get her hands on. The hokage had given her special permission to borrow books on fuinjutsu from the shinobi library and she had a few that had belonged to her mother. She was particularly good at modifying existing seal patterns to invent new uses.

Naruto packed a couple spare sets of clothing in one scroll, carefully labelling the outside so she would know the contents without having to unseal everything. She filled a second with spare weapons, a third with medical supplies, and the fourth with rations. All of her gear could have fit in a single scroll, but Naruto thought it was easier to separate them out so she could find what she needed more quickly. After a moment's hesitation, Naruto filled one more scroll with some of her research material, just in case she had enough downtime to read.

She layered the scrolls at the bottom of her pack and placed an extra bandolier of kunai, a field first aid kit, and a few ration bars on top for easy access. Naruto sealed her tent and sleeping bag in her last scroll and tucked it into the front pouch of her pack. She finished everything off with a handful of empty sealing scrolls stored in a side pocket. It always seemed that she needed one when she didn't have any to spare.

After propping her bag against the wall by the door, Naruto glanced at her clock and let out a sigh. It had only been an hour since she left the rest of her team and there were still two and a half before she needed to be at the East gate.

"It wouldn't hurt to have an early lunch," she muttered to herself. "And I need to find someone to take care of my plants too."

She picked up her pack and slipped her arms through the straps, making sure to grab her spare key from a drawer in the kitchen. She hoped that she would find someone who could watch her apartment and water her plants while she was out and she didn't want to have to come back for the key.

Naruto locked up and headed toward Ichiraku's for a bowl of ramen. It wouldn't be a bad idea to let Teuchi and Ayame know where she was going anyway. They tended to worry if she let too much time pass before stopping by.

The ramen stand was nearly empty when she arrived, given the early hour. A familiar girl was sitting at the bar, nursing a pot of tea.

"Hi, Hinata," she greeted, taking the stool next to the Hyuuga heir.

"Oh… hello, Naruto-kun," Hinata replied with a small smile. Her teacup shook alarmingly and she hastily set it down. There was a nasty bruise encircling one eye.

"Ouch," Naruto winced in sympathy, suddenly glad that her own bruises never hurt for very long. "What happened to your eye?"

Hinata raised a slender hand and lightly touched the yellowed edges of the bruise. "I w-was attempting to learn a n-new clan taijutsu. I have not yet m-mastered it."

"I'm sure you'll get it in no time," Naruto said encouragingly. "You were always brilliant in taijutsu at school."

Hinata looked at her in surprise, meeting her eyes for the first time since Naruto greeted her. Hinata reddened and dropped her gaze, pressing her fingers together nervously.

"You are too k-kind, Naruto-kun. I am n-not brilliant in anything," she said softly.

Naruto frowned at the side of the other girl's head. Hinata's shoulders were hunched and she had leaned forward enough for the curtain of her chin length hair to shield her face from view. Naruto hadn't remembered her being so self-deprecating. But then, Hinata had always been too shy to say much of anything during the Academy. She wasn't sure how to cheer the other girl up. Hinata obviously had some talent, otherwise she wouldn't have passed the secondary genin exam.

"You know," she said, attempting nonchalance, "Sensei told us that only one third of the graduating genin teams actually get to become genin."

"Y-yes," Hinata replied, peering up through her dark hair. "Kurenai-sensei told us m-much the same. I am very f-fortunate to on a t-team with Shino-kun and Kiba-kun. They are very t-talented."

Naruto tilted her head to the side curiously. "Didn't your sensei talk about teamwork? The answer was the same for everyone right? If your team passed, it was because you helped. There's no way a genin team would have made it if all three members weren't working together."

She softly nudged Hinata with her elbow. "You've got those amazing eyes, too. Don't tell Sasuke," she added conspiratorially, "but I would trade him for you any day."

Hinata's head whipped up and she stared wide-eyed at Naruto, her cheeks reddening. Before she could say anything in response, Teuchi returned from the back of the restaurant and Naruto turned to greet him.

"Hi oji-san," she said with a smile, leaning forward on her elbows.

"Naruto! It's been a while since you stopped by. What have you been up to?" the ramen chef asked, already preparing Naruto's usual order.

"Kakashi-sensei keeps us really busy," she explained, shrugging off her pack and setting it on the floor between her feet and the bar. "We got our first C-rank mission today and I'm going to be out of town for a couple weeks. Can you ask Ayame to make sure my plants don't die?"

Teuchi set a bowl of ramen in front of her and scratched his chin. "Eh, I don't know if you want to trust her with something like that, Naruto-chan. She's responsible for the deaths of a lot of houseplants. I've got no green thumb either."

Naruto sighed morosely and broke apart a pair of chopsticks.

"Um, Naruto-kun… I c-could look after your p-plants, if you like," Hinata offered shyly, straightening to look at her without dark hair shielding her face.

Naruto turned to face the other girl, swallowing a mouthful of ramen and smiling happily. "Would you really? They aren't hard to take care of… I don't have anything exotic right now, but they do need to be watered twice a week or so."

Hinata nodded, pressing her fingers together again nervously. "It's no p-problem… really," she asserted.

"Thank you so much," Naruto said. "If it's you, I know there isn't anything to worry about."

The dark haired girl reddened again and busied herself with pouring a fresh cup of tea. Time passed quickly as Naruto and Hinata chatted between bouts of comfortable silence. In the Academy, Hinata had acted as if she wanted to spend more time with Naruto, but was forced home right after class by her strict father, and Naruto was always glad to find people who were interested in becoming friends with her.

When they parted ways, with the promise of meeting more often, Naruto left her spare key with Hinata with a few last minute reminders about how to care for her plants.

She still had some time to spare, so Naruto took her time getting to the East gate. She made a game of it, trying to see how many rooftops she could clear with a single jump. It was a delicate balance of pushing herself and not overreaching and falling to the ground. By the time she was forced back to ground level as she approached the gate, Naruto had managed to clear four buildings with a running start. She could just barely clear one without boosting her leg muscles with chakra.

"Were you having fun?"
Naruto whipped her head around in surprise, adrenaline coursing through her veins, and then slumped with relief as she spotted Sasuke leaning against a tree, amusement glinting in his dark eyes.

"Just how long have you been there?" she asked, scratching her reddening cheek.

"Long enough," the Uchiha replied with a slight smirk.

"I like being able to use the roofs to get a round," Naruto admitted. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, constant excess energy not allowing her to stay still for long.

"Hn. It is nice to be away from most of the prying eyes." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

Naruto felt a little surprised at this insight. After the Uchiha Massacre, the village had treated Sasuke like the prodigal son, always offering sympathy and extra help. She had never considered that it may have been just as suffocating as the hate. Even still, Naruto would trade the negative attention for positive any day. Privately, she thought that Sasuke's attitude contributed to the smothering affection of the villagers. If he acknowledged them, they probably wouldn't work so hard to gain his attention.

As if he had read Naruto's mind, Sasuke glanced back at her and clarified. "It isn't the villagers' pity so much as the hordes of fangirls."

Naruto let out an undignified snort which dissolved into laughter, causing faint color to appear on Sasuke's pale skin. "Is it really that bad?"

"It's terrifying," Sasuke admitted with an exaggerated shudder. "I am so glad that you are not like them… and that Sakura has calmed down."

"She has definitely cooled her head," Naruto agreed. She scuffed the toe of her sandal in the dirt, suddenly bashful. "Um, thank you, by the way."

Sasuke lifted a single brow curiously. "For what?"

"Not mistaking me for a boy," she replied. Somehow, her gratitude had gone unspoken in the weeks since the revelation of her gender had temporarily upset the team's balance. "Most people only saw my short hair and masculine clothing without bothering to look any closer. Well, not that anyone really wanted to get close to me anyway," she added with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Hn. They can't help being stupid," Sasuke scoffed. "It isn't that big of a deal, but you're welcome."

Naruto smiled to herself, warmed by Sasuke's assurances. They fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for the rest of team seven and their client, Tazuna. Surprisingly, Kakashi arrived before Sakura, but the pink haired girl wasn't far behind. She panted and rested her hands on her knees to recover.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked in concern as Sasuke offered a bottle of water to the pink haired girl.

"Yeah," Sakura replied between gasping breaths, accepting the water with a grateful smile. "You'd think I would have no trouble running across town with all the laps we do. I guess I need to start adding fifty pounds on my back," she said wryly. She straightened and adjusted the straps on her pack, which was bulging ominously.

"I seem to recall telling you to pack only the necessities," Kakashi said, blinking at the large backpack.

"I know… believe me, I tried," Sakura explained. "My mom kept stuffing more and more in every time I turned my back. It was a nightmare to get away."

"Want a couple sealing scrolls for the extra stuff? I brought a few empties, just in case," Naruto offered, already unbuckling the straps keeping her pack secured to her back.

"That would be amazing, thank you. I don't even know what she put in here."

Sakura let her pack fall to the ground with a heavy thud. She stretched her shoulders and back and let out a relieved sigh.

By the time their client arrived, Naruto and Sakura had managed to seal away all kinds of superfluous supplies, including make-up, hair products, and clothing unsuitable for mission work, reducing Sakura's pack to a much more reasonable weight.

"This is the team that's supposed to protect me?" Tazuna said scornfully. He was a large man who smelled strongly of alcohol. "I feel like I should get my money back if I'm going to be stuck with a bunch of brats."

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed minutely, but his students knew him well enough by now to notice the sign of irritation. "Rest assured, my team is well equipped to handle a C-rank mission. And if anything unexpected were to occur, I am a jounin."

"Bah, if you say so," the bridge builder said with a shrug. "But remember, I'm super important to Wave Country, so you kids better be prepared to protect me."

Naruto instantly disliked the man and judging from Sakura's distasteful expression and Sasuke's sneer, her teammates didn't think too highly of him either. Still, he was the client and right about needing to be protected. Naruto just hoped that he wouldn't be too obnoxious on the trip.