The group had been walking for half a day and soon enough, night time had taken over. Two tents were set up, with the boys being in one and the girls being in the other. Naruto was laying in the tent by himself as Bruce had opted to go train instead. Naruto, rousing from his sleep, turned to his side to see Bruce still wasn't there. Yawning, Naruto got up and went to a tree to take a piss. From the bushes, he saw Asami exit her tent and walk through the forest.

"Huh? Where is she going..." He followed her, keeping his distance as she moved through the foliage. She eventually came upon a small lake that was shimmering in the moonlight. Walking up to it, she sat down and began humming a tune. Naruto stood in the bushes, watching her from behind a tree. Her voice was angelic, her melody very clear. A rabbit began hopping along towards her and in a kind motion, she softly petted it. Naruto stepped forward slightly but his foot snapped a twig and alerted Asami.

"Who's there?"

Naruto came out with his hands up, a cheesy smile on his face. "Sorry, sorry... I didn't mean to scare you."

Asami blushed a deep red. "Um... Naruto-san?"

"Hm?"

"Y-your... your pants are unzipped."

"Aw crap!" He exclaimed, spinning around with his cheeks crimson. "My bad, my bad!" He quickly tucked away Naruto Jr. before turning back around, his whiskered cheeks graced with a light pink. Asami giggled, covering her hand with her mouth. Naruto grinned, scratching the back of his head before finally laughing as well. Naruto walked up and sat down beside her.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Naruto asked.

Asami looked back out at the lake, smiling softly to herself. "Whenever I come near this lake, I feel the need to come out and stare at the water. The way the wind blows, the reflection of the moon... the serenity of nature calms me and I just... I just feel at peace." Her hair began picking up in the wind.

Naruto gave a toothy grin. "I don't really understand but... heh, you're pretty cool!"

Asami blushed before smiling to herself. "Thank you, Naruto-san."

In the opposite direction, in the deep forest, Bruce stood holding his swords. They were covered in their black chakra. He was panting, his legs felt weak and his arms were tired. Around him however, were dozens of cut trees. Bruce ran forward and cut down another, the tree falling down with a loud thud. Bruce felt dizzy and his head was ready to explode. He brushed off his fatigue and channeled his chakra again.

"I'm still not strong enough..." Bruce ran forward, spinning on his heel and cutting down two more trees. He panted, sweat dripping from his brow. He swiped his sword in the air, focusing his chakra even more intensely. "Not yet! I'm not finished yet!"

"You want to know about me?" Naruto asked Asami.

She nodded eagerly, smiling. "Yes, if you don't mind."

"Hmm..." Naruto scratched his chin. "I wasn't... Eh... well... My childhood... wasn't all that great. I... I didn't have any parents and... the fellow villagers resented me. Or rather, they resented what they thought I was. I was never able to make any friends and I really struggled in school. Everyday, I came home to an empty apartment... It was such a lonely existence..." Naruto's eyes gained a faraway look as he eyes fell on the water. "But... Iruka-sensei helped me when I was in trouble. He was like my dad. And then, I passed the test to becoming a ninja and gained more friends. Sakura-chan, Lee, Hinata, Neji, Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Tenten... Sasuke... Because of them, I got stronger and now... and now... I can get stronger still. I can obtain my dream of becoming the greatest Hokage of them all!" Naruto pounded his fist with a hearty grin. "I got where I am now because of my friends!"

"I see..." Asami had tears in her eyes but she was smiling warmly. She softly placed her hands on his, catching his attention. His eyes widened in surprise.

"A-are you... crying for me?"

"I wish... I wish I were born in your village. Then, you wouldn't have been so lonely. I think I would've liked being your friend."

Naruto smiled widely. "It's never too late to be friends. My name's Naruto Uzumaki! The man who'll someday become Hokage!"

Asami wiped the tears out of her eyes, a happy glow in them now. "Hehehe... My name is Asami Kurokawa. It's nice to make your acquaintance, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto chuckled happily until Asami leaned in and kissed him on his cheek, leaving him surprised and flustered. Before he could say anything, she softly placed her finger on his lips. "Rule number one: When a girl kisses you, it's best not to question it too much."

Naruto nodded rapidly, a blush still adorning his cheeks. Asami smiled, sticking her tongue out at him playfully.

The next day, the group had walked into the Village of the Moon. It was rather peaceful looking village, much smaller in size than Konoha. It was located in a large grassy plains, with walls surrounding it. Anko walked up to the guards, giving them their permits before they allowed the group through. Anko led the group forward until they made it to a large house in the center of the village. The group were stopped by the guards at the door.

"Halt. State your business."

"I am Anko Mitarashi of Konohagakure no Sato. I have business with your leader."

The guard shook his head. "Yagura-sama isn't here. He is currently dealing with urgent matters but will return tomorrow. Please wait until then."

Anko sighed, nodding. Turning back to the group, she put her hands on her hips. "Right then, I guess we'll have to do more waiting. Hopefully, no tubby bastards decide to show up and ruin our stay. For now, we'll all rest up at the inn."

Walking into the inn, Naruto's eyes were greeted to familiar faces. "Kurenai-sensei! Sakura-chan! Neji! Tenten!"

The four mentioned turned around. Neji walked up to them, bowing slightly. "Good to see you again, Naruto."

"Heh, heh. I guess we're teamed up for another mission, eh?"

"Seems that way. I heard you ran into some trouble."

"Yeah." Naruto scratched his ear. "Some fat dude who hates ramen. Guy pissed me off so much! If I see him again, I'll pummel him for sure, ya know!"

Neji gave a small smirk. "Heh. I'd expect no less. I can't have the man who defeated me in the Chunin Exams three years ago losing to some mediocre no-name ninja."

While the young ones talked amongst themselves, Bruce left the inn to train and Kurenai and Anko talked away from them.

"I'm surprised Tsunade-sama sent you, Kurenai. I thought you were away on another mission."

"I was. No rest for the wicked, as they say. Tsunade-sama also said that she would have some of Danzo's men look into the men who attacked you."

"Root, huh? Those emotionless robots who wouldn't know a good orgasm from a fake one."

Kurenai shook her head. "Same old Anko..."

"I do feel sorry for you though..." She suddenly said, casually placing her hands behind her head.

"What?"

"I mean, you just got back from a mission and couldn't even get some good lovin' from ol' mountain-beard Asuma."

"Anko!"

"Well, am I right or am I really right?"

Kurenai looked down somewhat sadly, grabbing her arm. "Actually, in truth, we haven't been... getting along lately... for some reason."

"Really? He's been cheating?"

"What? No! Nothing like that... I don't really know why. Things just seem... different. I can't... really explain it."

"Oh well... on the more bright side of things, I think I'm getting close to cracking the Ice King."

"You mean Komori-kun?"

"Yep! I gave him a good view of the old twins when we were in the bath, if you know what I mean." She grabbed her chest. "My boobs are what I mean."

"I know what you mean!" Kurenai replied, flustered. "That's... uh, good for you. I actually had a scroll for him. It contains a few notes for his genjutsu training."

"He's probably training outside of the village or something. Guy's obsessed. Not turn-you-on obsessed but needs-serious-help type obsessed with his training. Not even sure giving him a scroll that will have more things to train in will help that. But remember something very important Kurenai..."

"What's that?"

She pointed at the red-haired beauty accusingly. "I'm not sharing him! So, if you two go at it roughly in the forest, I'll never forgive you! I mean it, our friendship will be done!"

Kurenai choked on her own words, the sounds coming out of her throat being stutters and stammers. She shook her head and turned around, deciding that she was worn down and left the inn. Anko sighed to herself.

"Now... where to find some dango?"

Back with Naruto and his friends, Naruto was introducing Asami to them. "This is Asami Kurokawa. We're protecting her until she can meet with the village leader."

"Nice to meet you all." She bowed politely.

Sakura regarded her somewhat indifferently, crossing her arms. "Hmph... Look at Naruto! That idiot's staring at her all starry eyed like some lovesick puppy... It's disgusting!"

"Sakura-chan?"

"Hm?" Her chain of thought broken, she looked up in attention.

"Are you okay? You've been staring at Asami kinda weird-like for awhile."

"Uh, no, no, I'm fine. Pleased to meet you Asami-san." She bowed politely. "I'm going to go for a walk for a bit. I'll be back later, alright, Naruto?"

"Huh? Okay..." He replied, confused.

She rushed out the door, leaving the inn behind. Asami bowed once again to the group. "If you'll excuse me, I feel the need for a walk as well."

"I'll come with you! If you, ya know, you don't mind and all..." Naruto scratched his pink cheek.

Asami giggled. "Sure. Please, come."

Asami and Naruto walked out the door, leaving Neji and Tenten to glance at each other knowingly. Walking outside the village, Asami and Naruto stopped on a hill. They laid back, watching the clouds pass by. A light flutter of wind blew, sending some grass floating in the air.

"Hey... Asami?"

"Hm?"

"What's... what's your story?"

"My story? You want to know about me?"

"It's okay if you don't wanna tell me..."

Asami closed her eyes and smiled. "I don't really remember too much about my childhood. My father died when I was very little... We lived in a small village but he was drafted to fight in a war. My mother died when I was six. Since then, I've been living in this village and I've made acquaintances with the leader. Still, even so, I hadfriends and I was treated like a stranger... I suppose the villagers don't take kindly to outsiders living amongst them. So, I guess you could say I know a little about loneliness too."

Naruto looked at her, his eyes slightly widened. "This girl... she's like me. She doesn't have a family either... She was alone too..."

Asami turned to him with a wide grin. "Even though it's been so hard... I'm happy to be alive!"

Naruto grinned back at her, nodding happily in agreement.

Kurenai found Bruce training outside the village, training in the plains. He was shirtless, swinging his swords with finesse. He had a black chakra aura around his swords as he spun around and cut the grass, the wind blowing it in the air. Bruce was sweating but had a focused look about him as he practiced slash after slash, swing after swing. He stopped upon noticing Kurenai looking at him.

"What are you doing out here?"

She reached into her pouch, handing him a scroll. "Here. These are some notes on genjutsu, to further your training."

He took it, nodding at her. "Alright. I'll get to this later." He unrolled the scroll, glancing over the notes before closing it. Kurenai observed the blades on Bruce's hip.

"You seem to be improving at a steady rate."

"Not steady enough."

Kurenai reached into her pouch and pulled out a kunai. "How about a spar then? Take our mind off things..."

Bruce raised his brow in interest. He put his scroll on the ground and pulled out a sword, channeling it with chakra.

Kurenai and Bruce took a stance before charging forward and clashing blades.

On top of a hill overlooking the village, a man stood on it. A woman walked up beside him, looking down at the village as well.

"The leader will return tomorrow." She said.

"Right on schedule then."

"Yes."

"The boy is here too."

"The nine tailes jinchuriki?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"The son of the Fourth Hokage."

"Yes. He is of precious lineage. He'll be in the intended line of fire as well."

"There is one new shinobi on the scene... Ryu Komori. A transfer from Sunagakure. He may prove troublesome in the future but for now, he is weak. Ken was nearly able to dispose of him until I stopped him."

"Uzumaki, according to Hokam, was not too powerful even with Nine-tails chakra flowing through his veins. He is of no consequence as of now. He will not get in the way of our justice."

"The Akatsuki don't know about his presence here so we can be confident enough to take care of things without too much interference. Although, the Leaf has called in for back-up."

"Who?"

"Two jonin and two chunin. They'll be no difficulty in dealing with."

"I see." He turned to her. "You seem tense, Q."

She shook her head. "No, I just wonder how the next few pages of our little story will play out. It fills my stomach with butterflies."

"I can predict the next few pages. They contain death, misery, betrayal... and justice."