"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Yelled Naruto throwing a powerful wave of chakra infused wind towards a boulder and watching it explode to pieces. He looked at it in awe for a few seconds before jumping up in excitement. "Yeah! I did it! I did it! Did you see that Pervy Sage?!"
"Yes! Stop yelling!" The Sage smiled.
Naruto sighed and put his hands on his knees. "I'm exhausted." His stomach growled. "And hungry too. You up for ramen?"
He looked towards Hinata who was sitting on a rock with Marshie in her lap. "Sure, that was amazing!"
Meow!
He scratched the back of his neck with a chuckle.
A day after they got back from the mission, Naruto was already back to training for hours, but not without making the time to take Hinata out on a date or two. It was customary for ninjas to take a few days off after a difficult mission, especially if they are injured. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured on their last mission so most of them chose to spend their days off resting. Not Naruto, however. The hyperactive ninja can never just sit around doing nothing. All his life he spend most of his free time training… the rest of his free time was reserved for pulling pranks, but now that he didn't do those anymore, Hinata became his new occupation. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to be with a girl who wanted to spend the whole day with him. He does not annoy her one bit, it gave him such a warm feeling in his chest to know that she very much enjoyed being around him all day.
After finishing their ramen they went up on the Fourth Hokage's stone head and rested among his spiked hair while watching the sunset.
"Ahhh, sunsets are so beautiful aren't they?" Naruto mused.
"Yes, they remind me of you." Hinata replied with Marshie still curled up in her lap.
"They do?" Naruto asked. "How so?"
"Well, they are bright, and strong, and beautiful, and warm… like you." She blushed and smiled at him. She had always wanted to say that to him.
He grinned widely. "Awww… that's so sweet, ya know?"
She blushed even more and fidgeted with her fingers.
"Is tomorrow really our last day off?" Naruto asked staring at the sunset.
"Yeah…" She replied. "I cannot believe it has been three days already."
"Yeah, it feels like yesterday that we came back from our mission. I guess we are never bored so time flies, huh?" Naruto remarked.
"I agree." She nodded.
"So what do we do tomorrow?"
"Could you help me with my ninjutsu some more?" She asked.
"Of course! You don't even need to ask." He replied.
She smiled before glancing at the sky which was progressively getting darker. "Maybe we should get going before it gets too dark." She suggested. "My father has been a bit more overprotective towards me ever since the explosion."
Naruto chuckled. "Well, let's go then."
Meeeoowww…
"You don't want to go kitty, I know. Hehehehe."
The next morning Sakura yawned as she rolled over in her bed. She woke up as usual, however, something seemed different. She looked at her balcony. Why is it so bright this early? She glanced at her vanity and blinked in shock when her alarm clock came into view. She jumped out of bed, thinking that she was imagining the numbers on the alarm clock. After confirming that they are indeed real, she ran to get dressed.
"Oh God, I'm so late!"
She rushed downstairs and saw her mother drinking tea at the table. "Mom, why didn't you wake me up? I'm late for training!"
"I was the one who shut off your alarm, dear."
"What, why?"
"Your sensei came over this morning and told me to let you sleep and to just go meet her at her house when you wake up. She did not tell me why, though."
"Kurenai sensei? Ok, I'll have some breakfast and I'll be on my way then."
Not long after Kurenai heard a knock on her door, she opened it and smiled seeing her pink haired student there. "Ah, Sakura. Good morning."
"Good morning, sensei. My mom told me you came over this morning."
"Yes, I wanted you to get some more sleep because I would like to do some one-on-one kunoichi training with you today."
"What about Kiba and Shino?"
"They were the reason for it. They won't be able to join us today. Shino has a new species of insects in their final breeding stages and he needs to monitor them, as for Kiba, his mother notified me that he needs to take a day to participate in some special clan training, so it is just you and me today."
"Oh, ok. When will we get started then?"
"Right away. But before we do, I heard that Lady Tsunade has a new mission for Kakashi's squad and since Kiba and Shino won't be available for the next few days, I'd like you to go with them."
"Alright. When will they be heading out?" Sakura asked.
"Tomorrow, since it's not urgent and today is still your last day off." Kurenai answered.
Sakura nodded and they started walking towards the training grounds.
"Oh, and do you mind joining me in some shopping later? I'm torn between these two dresses and I'd like a second opinion." Kurenai smiled at her student.
Sakura blinked before giggling. "Sure!"
Naruto and Hinata collapsed into the grass next to each other after hours of training.
"Man, you kicked my ass, Hinata!"
"Don't say that! I'm just as tired as you are!"
"But you were still amazing! You're improving!"
"You are too." She replied.
A third figure landed into the field. "Finally, there you two are."
"Sup, Sasuke?" Naruto greeted his teammate.
"Kakashi's got a new mission for us. We need to go to the Hokage's office now." Sasuke replied.
"A mission? Alright! Let's go then!" Naruto jumped on his feet in excitement pulling the surprised Hinata with him.
After some time they finally got in front of the office where Kakashi and Sakura were waiting.
"Hey, Sakura. What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
"Her teammates are busy so she will be joining you on your mission tomorrow." Kakashi answered while the pinkette gently waved at Sasuke.
"Tomorrow?" Naruto raised a brow.
"Yeah, since it's still our day off we'll be going tomorrow." Sakura replied.
"Oh." Naruto said a bit disappointed.
Sasuke looked at Kakashi."So… 'our' mission? You won't be going then?"
"Nope, you guys can handle this on your own." Kakashi confirmed. "Sasuke, you are the team leader."
"Oh, come on! Why does he always get to be team leader! I brought grandma back to the village, ya know!" Naruto protested.
"Don't argue with me." Kakashi replied calmly.
Hinata giggled at her boyfriend. "You're so silly."
"Ey! What's so funny?" The blonde nudged Hinata who just laughed more.
Sakura shook her head. "Maybe he hasn't changed that much."
Entering the Hokage's office, they four genin and the jonin lined up in front of her desk and listened to Tsunade's instructions.
"So, the four of you will be sent out on an escort mission tomorrow. You will be escorting the Nagai family who were staying here to the Land of Candy. They came here to request my medical help for their son Amai who was very ill but the shinobi who escorted them here are not available so I'm sending you to escort them back home."
"Is Amai ok now?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, but he is still a bit weak, so I will need you to watch over him."
"Absolutely!" Naruto assured her.
"How many members does this family have?" Sasuke asked.
"Four." Tsunade replied. "You will meet them all tomorrow."
"Why do they need escorts? Are they afraid of going back alone or are they threatened by someone?" Sakura asked.
"Well, they are somewhat of a rich family, so there is always a threat of thieves or bandits jumping them." Tsunade replied.
"So this is a C-rank mission?" The pinkette concluded.
"Correct." The Hokage confirmed.
"Um… How long will it takes us to get there?" Hinata asked.
"Three days at most." Tsunade answered. "Let's just hope you don't run into any trouble this time. But considering that you always jinx it…" She looked at Naruto. "I'm not sure about that."
Naruto looked at her puzzled.
"Just be careful and don't do anything stupid."
"Fine, fine. I get it!" Naruto huffed.
"That will be all then. Meet me here at 9 AM tomorrow." Tsunade dismissed them.
Walking out of the office Naruto spun towards the rest of them. "Hey, you guys want to join Hinata and me for some ramen? I think it's time you treated us sensei?" Suddenly he realized the gray haired jonin was nowhere to be seen. "Huh? Where'd sensei go?"
Sasuke hid his surprise under his usual emotionless mask of coolness. "I didn't even notice he left."
"Ramen again? How about we go for dumplings for once? What do you say Sasuke?" Sakura turned to her crush with a tinge of red on her cheeks.
Sasuke glanced towards her and then looked at Naruto. "You two are going too, right?"
"Yeah, sure." Naruto grinned oblivious of the fact that Sasuke asked to make sure he wouldn't be left alone with Sakura, however Hinata did see the slight 'help me' spark in Sasuke's gaze and she tried her hardest not to laugh at her passive teammate's uncharacteristical silent cry for help .
Sakura's smile dropped a bit. "Cha! Why can't we ever be alone?!" Inner Sakura cried.
On their way to a dumpling shop a few minutes later, Hinata and Naruto led the way holding hands and talking while Sakura and Sasuke quietly tagged along.
"Hey, Sasuke?" Sakura broke the silence.
"Hn?"
"Since when are these two together?" She asked looking straight ahead at the couple in front of them.
"Since before she even left the hospital after the preliminaries." He answered lamely.
"Wow. I didn't even realize she liked him."
Sasuke glanced at her. "It was always so obvious. I thought you'd be more observant than that."
The kunoichi paled. "I-I… well, I just wasn't paying attention to her, that's all!"
"Hn."
Inner Sakura collapsed under the rock she was holding during the entire time Sasuke was talking.
Finally arriving at the shop they sat down and ordered. After the food arrived they began digging in. Sasuke ate quietly as always, but Sakura just took a few bites and then poked at her food with her chopsticks. "Their teamwork seems to have improved a lot. So has mine but… with my team. I don't belong here… I feel like an outcast. I don't know how tomorrows' mission will go…"
"Hey, Sakura?" Naruto's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hm?"
"You've been really quiet, is something wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about the mission, that's all."
"Don't worry, we've got this in the bag! Right Sasuke?"
"Hn."
"So how've you been since the chunin exams? How are Shino and Kiba doing?" Naruto asked her hoping to lighten the mood.
Sakura began answering all his questions about her team in hopes of distracting herself from the mission. She was surprised as it seemed that he actually cared about how they are doing.
"So Shino's family breeds their own bugs? I thought they just catch them and tame them or something." Naruto said shoving another dumpling in his mouth.
"How do you tame a bug, idiot?" Sasuke shook his head.
"I don't freakin' know!" Naruto swallowed his bite. "Like those guys that make snakes dance with a flute?"
Sasuke looked at him in disbelief while Sakura and Hinata laughed.
After they were done eating, Sasuke seemed to just disappear leaving the three of them alone. Sakura sighed in disappointment and put on a fake smile when she faced the two. "Well, I guess I'll be off then."
"You sure you don't want us to keep you company?" Naruto asked.
"No, no. That's ok. You just walk Hinata home and I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"He's always like that, ya know."
Sakura looked at Naruto confused. "What?"
"Sasuke… he doesn't hate you or anything, he's just like that."
Sakura blinked not knowing how to respond.
"There's no use in fake smiling to me. I can see through it. It doesn't reach your eyes. It's the eyes that tell you if the smile is real or not."
Her smile dropped. "Oh."
"Don't worry." He gave her a true grin. "Everything will be fine! We're all comrades. No need to be all nervous around each other."
She smiled again, but this time for real. "You're right."
"Are you sure you don't want us to walk you home?" Hinata asked.
"No, I need to clear my head. You go, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Ok then, see ya, Sakura!" Naruto waved goodbye.
Sakura waved back and they parted ways.
The next day Sakura arrived in front of the Hokage's office but there was nobody there yet. She was anxious to go so she came early as she tried to relax before the others arrived by double checking what she packed in her backpack in her head. Unbeknownst to her, team 7 was just at the bottom of the stairs of the building. Sasuke was there waiting for his teammates who were just arriving. As soon as they got close to the stairs he motioned for them to follow and started walking up the stairs.
"Sasuke." He was stopped by Naruto's voice. He turned to him. "What?"
"Listen…" Naruto began with a serious tone. "Sakura is your comrade, she's not below you just because she's one of your fangirls. She's gotten stronger and grandma Tsunade has been teaching her medical ninjutsu. Just treat her like you treat Hinata or any other girl. Ok?"
"Whatever." Sasuke continued climbing.
Naruto sighed and turned to Hinata. "Well, I tried."
She nodded. "Let's go up."
Once they got in front of the office they saw Sakura there.
"Aren't you early?" Naruto smiled.
"Yeah." She blushed. "Uhh… Good Morning, Sasuke."
"Mornin'." Sasuke replied quickly surprising the pink haired girl.
Naruto's eyes widened and his mouth closed tightly as he slowly turned his head towards Hinata who hid her smile behind her hand.
Their moment was interrupted by Shizune who opened the door and invited them in. Once inside, they saw a man and a woman with a girl who seemed to be their age and a boy who looked a bit younger. They were all standing besides the table but the boy was sitting in a chair. "Look, daddy! They're ninja too!" The boy exclaimed excitedly.
His father chuckled. "Yes, they are."
Naruto smiled at him."Hi there! You must be Amai. I'm Naruto, nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too!" The boy smiled back.
"I'm Korashi Nagai. This is my wife Umi and my daughter Yuna. I'm guessing that you will be guarding us until we reach our home?"
"Yes sir! You can count on us!" Naruto confirmed.
"Yuna looked at shizune. "Are you sure they are real ninja? They don't look like it."
Shizune froze.
"Yuna! Don't be rude!" Her mother scolded her.
"The last ninja who guarded us were way bigger." The girl added crossing her arms.
"I assure you, they are more than qualified to escort you back." Tsunade replied softly before sternly staring at the genin. "They will make sure no harm comes to any of you, right?" She spoke through her gritted teeth.
Hinata and Sakura gulped while Naruto paled.
"We'll keep you safe, don't worry." Sasuke answered.
"Alright, shall we get going then?" Korashi asked.
Yuna huffed and walked out of the office.
"Don't mind her, she's just upset that we decided to walk this time instead of taking our carriage." Korashi defended his daughter's behavior before picking up his son and following her outside along with his wife.
Sakura sourly looked at the others and waved her hand under her chin. "Something tells me this will be a looooooooooong mission…"
Sasuke's brow twitched at the realization that, to Yuna, even he didn't look like a ninja. "For once… I agree."