On our way to the Land of Rice Fields, we don't really say much of anything... I guess Jiraiya doesn't wanna risk getting kicked by Sakura again.

As we're walking, Sakura does something that catches me off guard. She closes the distance between her and I, and her arm snakes its way to touch mine, and then she holds my hand, interlocking her fingers with mine.

I must be making a stupid face or something, because Sakura asks, "What's wrong? Don't you like it?".

Why would she even think that?! I love it!

I stammer, "N-no, it's not that, it's just that this is so... unfamiliar, y'know?". I look at Sakura and hope she understands.

Rather than say anything, she sighs, and uses her free hand to guide my fingers to interlock with her hand, one finger at a time.

This feels nice. It's like whenever Sakura does something like this, my love for her is sort of... physically manifested.

She looks at me as if to confirm whether or not I like this, so I flash her a smile - a genuine smile, the kind that I don't show often.

She smiles back and tells me, "You're so cute when you smile like that... The fact that you're blushing helps, too!"

She giggles and puts her hand on her cheek like she's trying to contain her laughter, as I hold her closer let out a small chuckle, admiring how cute she is.

Especially that smile.

Finally, we reach a wide wall, with a gate to enter. Unlike Konoha's wall, this one is short, no more than 15 feet tall.

Jiraiya booms, "We're here, kids! Time to start our mission!"

Sakura speaks up, "Lord Jiraiya, you never told us exactly what our mission is..."

Jiraiya slaps his face and heartily laughs. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you! Well, it's quite simple, really. We'll split up, and each make our way around the village and try to find out if anything strange has been taking place!"

Sakura and I look back at each other. That's simple?

So, it's decided that I'll go right, Sakura will go left, and Jiraiya will go through the middle.

Jiraiya stops us. "Halt, genin!", he commands, "I need some money."

We take out our wallets, and he leaves us with just a few coins. Great.

Before going to do my work, I summon some shadow clones to go in the forest and practice adding my wind nature to the rasengan.

What the Hell is wrong with this village?

I took all of two steps before I saw a brawl break out in the middle of a street, a monkey stealing someone's wallet, and a clown juggling literal children! I'm convinced that this is Hell on Earth.

I keep walking around, stopping public places, and asking people if there's anything strange going on (besides the obvious). Most of them just say, "The place is going to Hell". Okay, like I can't see that? I need some actual information, damn it!

Frustrated, I go back to the village gates, and it seems like Sakura had the same experience, since she had a scowl of her own on her face - still cute, though.

We meet up, and before I can say anything, Sakura gets a bright look on her face, leans forward, gives me another kiss on the cheek, steps back, and asks, "Any luck?"

I'm still dumbfounded from the kiss. Sure, she's been doing it often, but she only started yesterday; it still makes my heart melt and my knees buckle!

Sakura snaps her fingers in my face. "Naruto, hey! Did you find anything?"

I regain my wits, then answer, "Sorry, no. We should look for Pervy Sage now."

Sakura nods in agreement, then grabs my hand and we follow Jiraiya's path.

Not long after, we spot a massive sign in front of a small building.

It's a club for adults.

We wouldn't normally go in, but we can hear Jiraiya laughing like a maniac, so we rush in.

It is awful in here. The place reeks of alcohol, the lights are so dim that we can barely see anything, and the music is so loud it makes my ears ring!

We spot Jiraiya holding a pen and paper, looking like he's seen heaven, so we walk up to him and scold him.

"Damn it, Pervy Sage!", I exclaim, "I thought you weren't gonna waste our time with your research!"

Jiraiya quickly responds, "I said that I wouldn't waste your time, I made no such promises for my own time!"

Sakura kicks Jiraiya in the balls again and we leave the club without him.

As Sakura and I cover the ground Jiraiya failed to, she complains about him. "I can't believe that that- that pervert - would invite us on this mission and then not even take it seriously!"

She is P-I-S-S-E-D. And I don't doubt that she is justified to be so.

I say, "Hey, Sakura...". She crushes my hand, then snaps her head to me and asks, "WHAT?!". I sink a little, in fear and pain. I let go of her hand and hold mine to ease it, then suggest, "Maybe we should go and get a bite to eat? It might calm your nerves a little."

I can tell that Sakura wants to yell some more, but she slowly calms herself down. "That's not a bad idea. Let's go."

I rub the hand that she crushed. She must've fractured a bone or two! Then, Sakura notices what I'm doing. She immediately gets a guilty look on her face. "Did I hurt you?", she asks.

I try to blow it off. "No, it's fine... I heal fast, y'know!"

Sakura takes my hand in hers and tells me, "No, it's not okay! Just... let me bandage it." she takes out a roll of bandage tape and applies it on my hand. When that's done, she brings my hand up and kisses it. "I'm sorry.", she says. Man, why does she feel so guilty about this? I've been through, and probably will go through, worse... The kiss did make me feel all tingly inside, though, in a good way.

We eventually come across an ice cream parlor, but Jiraiya has most of our money, so we grab just one cone and pay for it. Sakura decided that we share the cone by alternating licks of the ice cream. I'm not gonna argue against that...

As we finish the cone and continue on our way, we come across an orange-haired woman who looks ready for a fight. Figuring that she might know something, we approach her, and I ask, "Excuse me, miss, but, other than what's obvious, would you happen to know of any strange happenings around here?"

The woman shoots me an angry look and says, "Unless you can help me find my clan's missing members, I'd suggest you go away."

That's... Interesting.

Sakura asks her, "We can help. What's your name?"

The girl hesitantly answers, "I'm Sasame, of the Fuma clan. Who are you?"

Sakura responds, "Sakura Haruno!", and I respond, "Naruto Uzumaki!"

Sasame gives me a shocked look. "You're an Uzumaki? But I thought-"

She was cut off by some kunai that were thrown in our direction.

So, Naruto and Sakura found someone interesting, but they've also got some trouble!

Thanks to everyone who's left a review! I do read them, and they really are helping me make the story better!