It is really weird going back to these chapters and editing them. I keep thinking "I didn't write this!" But oh well.

Thar be more story! Oh, and since it's been awhile, I don't own Naruto! (Shame, too. First ordinance: NO MORE NON-CANON FILLER CRAP!)

ahem.

Chapter 36: A New Mission

"Sounds like filler to me," Naruto huffed grumpily. Hinata giggled.

"Sounds like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Sakura said mischievously.

"I think you mean, sounded, Sakura-chan. And literally," Haku corrected, also grinning.

Naruto glared at them. The previous evening had passed without incident, with the shinobi and kunoichi dividing up the ample living space in Naruto's home at his insistence. They all went to bed in their rooms and didn't get up until the next morning when…

"Yaaaaaawwwwwn," Sakura said sleepily. "What a good night's rest!" she said aloud, getting out of bed and preparing for her morning shower.

Then:WUMP-WOOMF!

And: "AAAAUGH! I can't take this anymore!"

Sakura couldn't help herself. Running out of her room, fighting back a laugh, she ran down the hall in the direction of the noise. Throwing open the door to a room, she stepped inside, vaguely aware that Hinata and Sasuke were right behind her.

Naruto's room had a peculiar arrangement. The bed was set against the wall in one corner, but so that there existed a small space between the long part of the low-lying bed and the wall. Naruto had managed to roll out of bed and into that space, trapping himself.

"Neh, neh, who is that? Can you help me out of here? Please?" a pathetic Naruto begged to his unseen guest.

Sakura's pent-up laughter exploded, drawing the rest of her new living companions into the room, and before long, Naruto found himself wishing for the first time to be anywhere else but in Hinata's presence…

Naruto returned his gaze to Tsunade, still glaring. "Why do the escorts need escorts, anyways? Isn't protecting the Grass citizens their responsibility?"

Again, Sasuke and Sakura were appalled at Naruto's lack of respect for authority, though in Sakura's mind she figured she should've been used to it by now. Tsunade, however, was more than adequate for the challenge.

"All the high-ranking missions have been assigned to the rest of the jounin and ANBU; unless you want a, Kami-sama forbid, a C-class mission?" When Naruto huffed and looked away, she continued, pressing her advantage. "I want some extra protection, that's all. Besides, its not for the Grass ninja," Tsunade added. Naruto looked up, confused. Tsunade sighed.

"Look Naruto, you and your team are the most powerful force in the world right now, if I'm not mistaken. Well, you're mission is not just to keep an eye out on the Grass, it's to protect the Konoha ninja I'm sending. Understand?" Tsunade said sternly. "Our ninja are going to be escorting a bunch of ninja with whom we have never had very good relations with. I'm trying to change that, since their Kage was recently killed and their government and village is completely wrecked. Our ninja will help them out with their reconstruction, and they'll be grateful. Their military is completely demolished as well, so this is a perfect opportunity to turn over a new leaf."

"Pun intended," Haku snorted, before he could stop himself. Tsunade glared at him, but he only whistled. Sighing, she continued.

"Naruto, please just take it. I'm at my wits end getting this village back up and running, and I-" she started again, but stopped when she saw Naruto was smiling.

"Of course I'll take it, baa-chan. I was just messing around like we usually do. And we'll do our best; that's a promise!" he said confidently. Tsunade smiled.

"That's good to hear, Naruto. Now, any minute the ninja that will be accompanying Grass directly will be here…" she began, then stopped when a knock came from the door. "Come it!" she barked, and the door swung open.

Across the threshold stepped very welcoming faces.

"Shikamaru! And Chouji and Ino, and Lee! Damn, where've you guys been!" Naruto yelled loudly. Shikamaru sighed while his teammates chuckled and Lee mumbled something about youth.

"Working, just like you and the rest of Konoha," Shikamaru grumbled, then he smiled. "It's good to see that we'll have some more friends on this trip."

Sakura nodded. "It'll be good to catch up again after all this time. What with the war and everything we really haven't had much time to do so since Naruto came back!" she exclaimed.

Ino grinned. "There was time, you were just too busy swooning over the new-and-improved Naruto to care, Forehead-Girl," she teased mercilessly. Naruto blushed, but Sakura flew into a rage and began to trade insults with Ino.

Naruto was thinking how to ease the tension when Sasuke nudged him in the side. "Yeah?" Naruto asked.

"How serious was Sakura about you?" he asked bluntly and quietly. Naruto looked puzzled.

"I thought you told me you guys talked about that?" he asked, surprised. Sasuke looked uncomfortable.

"More like Sakura mentioned it in passing. I never really thought it was a big deal; am I right?" he asked again. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. I set her straight about how I felt about her. I'm not sure why she decided to try for me, I never really asked. I guess I just assumed one of a few possible reasons was the one, but I never bothered to find out," Naruto said thoughtfully as he watched Lee attempt to pull apart the two furious kunoichi. Then he grinned. "Y'know, you don't have to worry about any competition; you never did. Just go for it, ni-san!" he said, elbowing Sasuke in the ribs. He glared at Naruto, but didn't deny anything Naruto had said.

Naruto grinned and noticed that they had some new arrivals. "Hey, Shino. You get settled back into your compound?" he asked by way of greeting. Shino simply nodded.

"Yes, the Aburame is settled. However, it was a little strained working right next to the Inuzuka, as you can imagine," Shino said sadly. Naruto nodded, not wanting to remember Kiba's corpse from that fateful attack not too long ago.

"So if we could get down to business," she reminded them, trying to steer them away from any emotional obstacles, and they all came to attention while she briefed them on the route and other specifics.

"Shikamaru will be this mission's leader. Naruto, I would like you and your team to follow his orders, is that clear?" she asked. Naruto nodded.

"Fine then. Dismissed!" she ordered. They turned to leave en masse, but before they could Tsunade remembered something.

"Kira, if you could wait a moment?" she asked. Kira turned around and nodded, motioning for her teammates to go on. She shut the door behind them and turned to face the Hokage.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" she asked hesitantly. Tsunade smiled.

"Don't be so nervous; after wall, we're to be working together for most of your stay here. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Your team's part in the mission should only take a week, but that's still a week where you won't be available for consultation on this," she explained, pulling out a folder marked "Konohagakure-Iwagakure". Realization dawned on Kira's face.

"Oh, right!" she exclaimed, having forgotten about her underlying mission while in Konoha and the excitement. "Do you want to get started now, while we still have time?" she asked. Tsunade nodded.

"Your mission begins tomorrow, so we don't have much of that. There are a few questions I want to ask. For starters, why don't you tell me about the current Tsuchikage? I don't know much about him," she added. Kira smiled and began to talk.

"Man, I'm hungry!" Naruto said. Hinata sighed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: my boyfriend and his bottomless pit-for-a-stomach," she said dryly, grinning when the group exploded into laughter at the dumbfounded look on the Hokage-to-be's face. He recovered magnificently and whistled.

"Damn Hinata-chan, that was harsh," he said approvingly. She smiled sweetly and pecked him on the cheek.

"You know I don't completely mean that," she said coyly. He groaned and pushed her away.

"Whatever; whaddya say we all hit Ichiraku's before we get ready for the mission?" he tossed out to the group. They all nodded.

"Sounds good to me," Chouji replied, trying and failing to keep the excitement out of his voice at the prospect of the delicious ramen. Ino groaned.

"Chouji, you can't get sick before a mission," she said sternly as they turned down the street towards the ramen stand. Chouji mock-groaned, and they shared another laugh.

Soon they had arrived at the ramen stand.

"Hey ji-san, gimme thirty bowls of miso STAT!" Naruto commanded imperiously.

"May the Shinigami take me now," the old man lamented as he began to cook the noodles. He turned to Naruto with a grin, taking in the crowd. "Just like you to be drawn here like a kunai to a target, gaki." He spotted Chouji and sighed. "It's gonna be a busy day. I haven't had a day where an Akimichi and an Uzumaki ate here in the same day for years," he said over his shoulder as he cooked.

"Naruto-kun! It's good to see you again!" Ayame said happily. The pretty daughter of the ramen chef examined the crowd. "And what will your orders be?" she asked kindly.

"Chicken ramen for me please," Sakura said.

"The same," Ino added.

"We'll have beef," Sasuke, Lee, Shikamaru, and Chouji said. Ayame took it all down and began to cook as well.

"So, Naruto," Shikamaru said once they had all settled onto their stools. "I believe you have some news you'd like to share with us?" he asked pointedly. Naruto grinned.

"What, you mean about me being named the Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha? What's so great about that?" he asked nonchalantly, but he failed miserably in keeping a large smile from breaking out over his whiskered visage.

"Oh Kami-sama, that's wonderful Naruto!" Ino said happily. Chouji nodded.

"Congratulations, you definitely deserve it!" the large ninja added with a thumbs-up and a grin.

"Yosh! And Naruto has proven once again that the fires of youth will prevail!" Lee shouted predictably.

"So when will you be installed?" Shino asked suddenly. Naruto looked up thoughtfully as the grizzled ramen chef served their steaming bowls of noodles.

"They say there's going to be an official announcement about the decision a couple weeks from now. That's when the Godaime will spill all those details," he interjected as he served the kunoichi their chicken ramen.

Naruto looked at him with something akin to incredulity. "Ji-san, how the hell did you find that out?" he asked with disbelief. The old man winked at him and simply turned back to his noodles. Naruto grumbled, but couldn't keep a grin off his face as he broke apart some chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu!" he offered as he began to eat, nay, shovel the noodles into his mouth. Before two minutes had passed the bowl was devoid of food and another was being placed in front of him. Chouji wasn't far behind.

"I just can't believe you're going to be Hokage, Naruto! I mean, I'm not saying I didn't think you could do it, I'm just finding it so weird that it's actually happening right now!" Ino exclaimed as she played with her bowl. Naruto nodded.

"I know what you're saying. All my life I've wanted to be acknowledged by this village. At first it was great to meet you guys and earn your friendship and trust, and I practically lived off of that for years. Now this…" he said, trailing off.

Hinata leaned her head on his shoulder, seated next to him at the bar. "It's not like you haven't worked hard for it or aren't qualified," she said comfortingly. Naruto smiled at her cute expression, but then stared at his ramen.

"Yeah, but there's so much more to being Hokage than being the strongest ninja in the village; Ero-sennin told me a lot about being Hokage. He said there's more to it than assigning missions and doing paperwork. You have to make decisions that affect the whole village, like food, resources, politics, and all sorts of stuff. To tell you guys the truth, I'm a little nervous about the whole thing now that it's finally in front of me," he confessed. "It's a lot responsibility."

"But I can't think of anyone I'd rather have protecting me than you, Naruto," a voice said proudly. A hand pulled back the curtain in front of the ramen stand. "I was going to treat you to ramen, but it seems you've gone and started without me!" Iruka said with a grin as he stepped into the crowded bar.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said happily, standing up from his ramen. He clasped arms with the older ninja, noticing that something was different about him. "Neh, is that a jounin vest Iruka-sensei? Congratulations!" he said happily as he sat back at the bar.

"Thanks; I couldn't let you get too far ahead of me after all," he said grumpily as Ayame took his order. He turned to his former students. "So you're all heading out on a mission soon, I hear."

"Tomorrow," Sakura clarified with a swallow of noodlely goodness. "For a week."

"Well good luck! Classes are resuming in the Academy buildings again, so I'll be busy with them at least," Iruka added as he broke some chopsticks.

The jounin at the ramen counter shared a collective moment of nostalgia as they remembered their Academy days, though Naruto's was less than positive. Without further ado, and some small talk, the meal was done and Naruto's team waved goodbye to their friends. Returning to Naruto's spacious abode, they found Kira waiting for them at the front door, a sheepish expression on her face.

"Hey guys; what's up?" she asked innocently. Naruto groaned for what seemed to be the millionth time that day.

"Oh jeez; how long have you been waiting here, Kira-chan?" he asked worriedly. Kira shook her head.

"Almost three hours," she said sadly. But when Naruto looked like he'd just been told someone died, she brightened. "Actually, I just got here!" she said brightly, and Naruto wondered why no one would give him a break.

"I'll work on getting some form of entry for all of you," he said tiredly as he unlocked and opened the door, letting everyone in and running through seals in his mind that could be used to seal up a building except for a few select individuals.

When they gathered in the kitchen the following morning, gear in hand and on back, they were shocked to find Naruto there and a heavenly smell wafting from the table where six places were prepared with eggs, bacon, and golden-brown toast.

"Dobe cooking?" Sasuke asked confusedly. Sakura shook her head.

"Wake up, Sleepy," she quipped. Naruto glared good-naturedly at Sasuke and jabbed his finger at the table as he walked to it, kneeling down in front of it and tucking into his breakfast.

"This looks delicious! Thanks, Naruto-kun!" Kira said pointedly as they sat down.

"I dunno; I just think that if we're all gonna sleep here and stuff we might as well eat together, y'know?" Naruto said awkwardly.

"I think that it's the little things like this that make a good Kage," Haku said suddenly. "If you think about it, if a Kage can't take care of his friends, how could be possibly take care of a village?"

Everyone stared at Haku, looks of amazement on their faces except for Kira, who glared. "Are you joking?" she accused. Haku shook his head.

"I know when to get my act together, love," he said with a wink, at which point Kira went "Ugh!" and made a deal of staring at her food as she ate it.

When they were all finished, Naruto rose to stand on his knees and grinned cockily. He made the hare, and then the dragon seal and placed his palms on the table.

"Cleaning no jutsu!" he said proudly, and with a flash the table was spotless. "Just reset the places," Naruto tossed over his shoulder as he went to where Makai was leaning on a counter and strapped it to his back, along with his backpack.

"I know we've been dealing with the new and improved Naruto for awhile now, so why is it still so unnerving?" Sakura asked Hinata in an undertone as they followed their team leader out to the town gate. Hinata shrugged, but she was smiling.

"He is Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja," she said helplessly. Sakura shook her head in wonder. But what if this keeps up? Or does it mean that something horrible is going to happen soon?

Sakura shook her head. After all, contemplating the end of the world never helped anyone.

"Ah, so everyone's here. Gather 'round, and I'll outline the formation we'll be using, and then we'll go meet up with the caravan to Grass," Shikamaru said, motioning everyone over. Ino and Chouji were already next to him, as was Shino. Lee, however, was curiously absent.

"Hey, where's Lee?" Naruto asked as he and his team walked over. Shikamaru shrugged.

"It's troublesome, but he's got to do some special training with Tsunade-sama to increase his strength, ridiculous as it is. She wants to make use of every jounin we have in solo and paired to trio missions, and she needs Lee to have more than just the gates up his green-spandex sleeves. Since he's already adept at using chakra for taijutsu, she thinks he'll take to hers and Sakura's technique well," Shikamaru explained to blank faces. He shifted uncomfortably. "What?"

"She told you all that?" Sakura asked. Shikamaru shook his head. "Nah, but it's obvious, right?" When no one nodded, he groaned and began to outline their formation around and in the caravan; Chouji swore he muttered 'troublesome'.

"And that's that; any questions?" Shikamaru said as he finished his briefing. When again he received no objections, he shrugged. "Well, let's get this over with."

But as they set out, Hinata couldn't help but feel that this mission would not end well.

Something's gonna screw this up, she thought worriedly. But as she took stock of her powerful friends and remembered what she herself could do, she shrugged. Well, let it come then.

Far away, in that thriving village that was more like a western city named Seattle, where the rain fell almost all the time and metal glistened wherever the villagers looked, a red-eyed man nodded to himself.

"And the scout reports that the team will leave for Grass soon," the aide added. The red-eyed man paused, then turned around.

"Let them know we're here. Send squads 3 and 7 out to harass the caravan. Instruct them that they are to kill at least a fifth of the Grass and as many of the Konoha ninja as they can. Tell them that they are free to retreat whenever they feel it is necessary," the red-eyed man instructed. The aide nodded and hurried out of the room. The red-eyed man resumed his perusal of the 'village' with a grin.

Soon.

And that's that! Hope you enjoyed it! Tell me whatcha think.

More chapters coming veyr soon! As in, probably later todays! Ja!