All right; advancement time. Picture Naruto in his Shippuden outfit from here on out.

"Man, it's really dull without Sasaku here!" Naruto and Sasuke were eating lunch on the roof of the academy. Naruto was leaned over the side as he watched the people walk around below. He had on his new shirt with black sleeves and shoulders. Sasuke sat turned and staring at the Hokage faces while chewing on a rice ball. Tsunades face had just barely been finished. Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Hey," he whispered, "wanna cut class and go egg Sakura's house."

Sasuke shook his head as he took another bite. "And if you do that I'll be the one after you for it." he said. Naruto repeated him in a mocking tone, then stood up and left. He thought. 'I could always see what Konohamaru's up to...' He shook off the thought and walked down the stairs. Sasaku was his only friend that really liked to do the same stuff he did. He would always get bored out of his skull whenever Sasaku was off on a mission.

Naruto just walked around the front of the Academy until it was time for him to go back inside. Today was a lesson on honing fire style ninjutsu. He already knew how that was going to turn out for him: epic fail! No matter, he didn't have anything else to do anyways. 'Man, I need a mission or something! Sasaku's probably having a blast right now...'

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Sasaku jumped onto a boulder away from the boar chasing him. It hit the rock a few times, then gave up as it went over to sniff his motorcycle. The boar put his nose on the swords strapped to the bike and then laid down. 'Oh crap no!' Sasaku thought. But, it had to happen. The boar's deep snoring became one of the only audible things in the desert. It was high noon and there was absolutely nothing around but sand and the rock Sasaku was on. He sighed. 'I hope Naruto's having a good time in the village now...'

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Naruto hobbled out of the academy covered in burns all over his body. The lesson had actually gone better then expected; at least he could do the jutsu. He groaned and sat down on a bench. "Why do I have to pay for the damages?!?" he yelled into the air. He punched his head three times, then stood up and walked down the street. All and all, his lousy skills burned a desk, three chairs, and Shikamaru's jacket.

Naruto sat down in Ichiraku, not feeling like going back to his apartment. He ordered small ramen and downed it slowly. Once he finished he decided to go to the training field, nothing better to do anyways. He walked through town and came to the training field. It was the same one he'd became a Genin on. He smiled and looked around, full of nostalgia.

Naruto saw Hinata practicing hitting the post he'd once been tied to after the test had been finished. He walked towards her. "Hey, what's up?" he said. Instantly, Hinata hid behind the post. She peeked out from behind it so Naruto could barely see a part of her face. "H-hello," she said, "N-naruto-kun..." Naruto walked over and looked around. "You know," he said, "It's been almost a year and a half since I was here and became a genin."

"Yeah," Hinata replied, "We've all been genin for a while now." Naruto nodded and took in a deep breath through his nose. Then Naruto looked at Hinata. She blushed and looked down. Her nails began scratching at the wooden post. "Hey Hinata," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head, "me, Sasuke, and Sakura are going to dinner as a squad tonight. You wanna come with me?"

Hinata blushed even more, no matter how much she tried to hide it. "B-but it's a..." she muttered, "I-i-i wouldn't w-want to int-trude with your sq-squad..." Naruto smiled. "Don't worry about it, they wont mind." he said, "So, you comin'?" Hinata remained silent for a moment, then nodded. Naruto smiled at her. "I'll come and get you at six." he said before running off.

Hinata stepped out from behind the post. Then she ran off to her own house to get ready.

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Sasuke was standing in a clearing in the forest. There were eight targets posted on the ground, in the trees, and behind a big rock in front of him. Sasuke thought back to when he and his brother were here. The targets were in the exact same place then, and Itachi had hit each and every one of them. When Sasuke tried, he'd only twisted his ankle.

Sasuke took a deep breath, then closed his eyes. He whipped out eight kunai in his hands. He spun around and released the kunai one by one. Some of the kunais hit each other, knocking them into the targets. He stopped spinning and looked at the targets. The seven he could see all had kunais in the dead center. He walked around the rock and sighed. The last kunai was stuck in the ground just in front of the target.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled out, running from the forest. Sasuke turned to him. "Sasuke!" Naruto rambled out, "You, me! Sakura and Hinata! Double date! Please?!"

"Just slow down and tell me!" Sasuke said. Naruto sighed and took a breath. "Here's the deal," he said fairly quickly, "I told Hinata that we were having dinner together as squad seven and asked her to come. Can you and Sakura please come? Just think of it as a double. Later in the night, Hinata and me can go off and leave you two alone. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"I'll see what Sakura says." Sasuke replied. Naruto let out an exclamation of joy and punched the air. He and Sasuke jumped off in different directions to get ready.

To be continued...