Invasion

After they got out of dodge, some hidden sand and hidden sound ninja appeared. They were looking for any of the genin to use as bargaining chips. Einjeru looked from around a corner thinking "The third rounds have been cancelled. All of the foreign shinobi should have returned to their respective countries." Naruto was looking and the sand and sound shinobi turned around. "Run!" Einjeru yelled.

Before Einjeru had the chance to move, She was grabbed by her chunin vest. Naruto noticed and tried to go back for her. She yelled at him to get moving. The ninja start dragging her off. Naruto bites his mouth thinking "You better survive." Einjeru was thinking the same thing.

Kakashi was battling some hidden sand ninja. They started to laugh. Kakashi looks at them saying "What's so funny?" The hidden sand ninja said "We have your brat." His eye widened at that. He then slashed at them thinking "Einjeru, you better not be reckless." The hidden sand shinobi barely lasted thirty seconds.

Meanwhile, Einjeru was pulled out of the village. She closed her eyes and thought "Sorry dad." The hidden sand and sound shinobi then said "This particular brat was to be brought to Lord Orochimaru." Einjeru tried to summon the strength she had to break the ropes. She gritted her teeth and pulled as hard as she could. Gaara appeared and Einjeru thought "Just my luck."

Kakashi was rushing through the village tracking Einjeru's chakra and taking down any sand and sound shinobi that stood in his way. He got to the village gate and noticed the vest by the firelight. He went quiet and knocked out all of the shinobi. Einjeru who still had her eyes shut and her hands bound prayed for this to be over quickly. Gaara had disappeared.

Kakashi grabbed her and said "Open your eyes Einjeru." She opens them to see Kakashi's sharingan eye open. They landed on top of the stone faces and he says to her "How could you allow yourself to be caught? I taught you better than that." Einjeru blew up at that and said "And allow my comrades to be caught instead? No thanks! I'd rather die before that happens."

Einjeru faced the village hidden in the leaves and said "I don't care if I'm the youngest in my generation. I refuse to let my classmates to be captured." Her hands become claws and she says "I will fight until my last breath to keep my friends and mate safe." Kakashi looked at her and said "You still have yet to give him the mark." Einjeru said "I don't want him to think I'm weird." Kakashi laughed and said "If you want I'll explain it to him." She looked down and said "Fine."

Some hidden sound ninja appeared behind them. One of them mockingly said "Aw someone has a boyfriend." They turned around and Einjeru's claws were ready to sink in to some enemy flesh. Kakashi pulled out some kunai. The hidden sound ninja charged and were killed just as fast. Einjeru said "Those guys were not experienced." Kakashi says "Neither are you."

They went to the main part of the village, and saw the genin being rounded up. Einjeru charged in using the wolf style in her human form. She knocked out all of them and sliced the ropes that the genin were tied in. The look in her eyes were vindictive and cold. "Those sand and sound ninja are going to pay!" Einjeru disappeared and left the genin confused.

Naruto then said "Her switch flipped." The other genin besides Sakura were wondering what that meant. Sakura looked at her teammate. She then said "Naruto, do you know where Sasuke is?" Naruto said "Einjeru took him to the stone faces." Sakura got a relieved look on her face. The genin got ready to fight.

Meanwhile Kakashi and the other jonin were assisting the ANBU in hunting down Kabuto and Orochimaru. Kakashi kept tabs on Einjeru because he knew Orochimaru was after her. Tenzo followed suit. "Senpai, do you really think he'll try to grab her amidst all this chaos?" Kakashi hearing that replied "I have no doubts. He went after Sasuke while our guards were down. Even though the guards are up now, with all the confusion, he can try and trap her or have someone kidnap her. I had to go after her earlier." Tenzo said "Sorry senpai." Kakashi said "She's the one who defied orders, but she did it to save her classmates, so I couldn't help but to be proud."

Einjeru was running through the village making sure it was clear. After she finished, she went to join the other genin. Naruto upon seeing her was jumping up and down. Sakura smiled and the other genin were relieved. Einjeru was panting after running. "We have to get to the stone faces." They ran for it. The look in her eyes calmed and Naruto said "Better?" Einjeru said "I'll be better when we get to the stone faces."

They get to the faces and Iruka was awaiting them. They went inside and saw all of the villagers that were noncombatant or out of commission. Sakura and Naruto saw Sasuke, and went over to him. Before doing so, Einjeru whispered in their ears "I gave Sasuke amnesia, dad managed to give him most of the memories about the squad back, but it would be best not to mention the more recent stuff." They nod.

Orochimaru made it out of the village and Kabuto was right behind him. They ended up surrounded by ANBU. Kakashi and Tenzo made it in time to take them into custody. They made sure that put chakra suppression cuffs on them. Lord Third was overseeing the chunin and low jonin. He made sure that the fires were put out.

Back in the faces, Einjeru overlooked her teammates and smiled hoping that Sasuke wouldn't relapse into seeking revenge. With the memory recovery that Kakashi gave him, there's a lot of "I must become stronger" in the memories. He'll be having a lot of questions and blanks. Einjeru felt sleepy all of a sudden. Iruka comes over to her concerned. She smiles saying "I'm fine Iruka sensei. Just a little tired."

Einjeru curled up and fell asleep. Kakashi and Tenzo were looking thinking "Iruka will keep an eye on her." They disappeared and went to put out the fires in the village. Naruto noticed Einjeru curled up and went over to her. She smells him near and clings to him. Naruto looks at the pair of arms that grabbed him in surprise. He gives a cheesy grin and says "What do you know?" Iruka chuckles and says "Well it looks like you're starting to attract the ladies Naruto."

Naruto smiles and says "I guess so Iruka sensei." Einjeru's grip increased and Naruto squeaked. Einjeru smiled and nuzzled against him. Sakura still tried to win over Sasuke to no avail. A couple of hours went by and Einjeru woke up to a sea of Orange. She sat up abruptly and was blushing furiously. Naruto laughed and said "No need to be embarrassed. I didn't mind you hugging me." Einjeru said "Sorry, I'm used to a plush of you. I normally sleep with it near by. That's why I'm embarrassed." Naruto blushed hearing that.

The fires were put out in the village, and all casualties were accounted for from all villages. Lord Third says "I'm getting too old for this. I need to pick a new successor." Jiriaya appears behind him and says "So how's it hanging old man." Lord Third turns and says "We've got him." Jiriaya gets wide-eyed and said "You've got him?" Lord Third nods and says "We need someone to seal both his and his assistants chakra. The suppression cuffs only do so much." Jiriaya nods.

They disappear and the genin were spread out amongst the village to clean up. Einjeru had clones relaying instructions. Naruto had clones to reduce the workload for the most part. She looks through the scroll from Lord Third and relays the remaining jobs through her clones. She sighs.

Kakashi appeared behind Einjeru saying "Aren't you supposed to be working?" She replies "I am. I'm supervising the genin through shadow clones, as well as helping them." Kakashi rubs her head and says "Nothing's changed, has it?" Einjeru frowned. "I found myself hugging Naruto while we were still in the stone faces." Kakashi pats her head and says "You need to leave your mark on him still." Some words were forming, but they weren't coming out of her mouth.

The genin had finished their assignments for the day and Naruto caught up to Einjeru. She wanted to tell him about the mating mark, but wasn't sure how. Kakashi was watching them, and thinking "I should probably help her." Einjeru finally said "Naruto, I have something to tell you." Naruto looked at her attentively.

Einjeru started off saying "As you know I'm part wolf, and part of the gene devotes to my loyalty. When I said that I love you, it means that I'm with you for life." Naruto smiled and said "Is that all? I stick to you like glue no matter what." She smiled and continued saying "The Hatake leave a mating mark on the one they love. I'm still learning obviously." Kakashi appears in front of them and gives a smile. Einjeru rolls her eyes. Naruto thinks "What a creepy sensei." Einjeru hearing that giggled.

Naruto then says "So what you're saying is that you want to leave a mark on me?" Einjeru nods and says "I want to do that in private when the time is right." Naruto turns red and Kakashi gives a weird look. Einjeru huffed and said "That's not what I meant! I'm just saying I don't want the village seeing me do that. Gah! Why are all men such perverts?!" She stormed off leaving Kakashi and Naruto confused.

Einjeru stood on the stone faces letting the wind fly through her hair. She heard something and prepared to defend herself. Tenzo smiles and says "You're pretty good." Einjeru sighed and said "I could've hurt you." He grabs her shoulder and said "Not where you're at right now. When you're trained enough you will, but not at this stage. However, Lord Third requests to see you." She nods and flips off the faces.

Einjeru heads towards the Hokage office and knocks. Lord Third tells her to come in. She comes in and gives a small bow. Lord Third smiles at her and says "I knew I did the right thing in making you a chunin. You managed to get the genin to work properly and helped them all without doing a thing." She sighs and says "I didn't do much sir." Kakashi came in and said "Reporting in sir. Most of the residential areas have been rebuilt." Lord Third nods and says "That's good. I have a mission for the two of you. The person requested chunin rank or higher."

Einjeru looked confused and said "I just became a chunin. Shouldn't someone with more experience go?" Lord Third chuckled and said "That's why I'm sending Kakashi with you. This will give you more experience as well." Einjeru then said "What about Naruto and Sakura?" Lord Third said "They can do the D-Ranks without supervision." Einjeru sighed and said "Mission accepted."

Lord Third explained the mission and said that it needed to be done immediately and with the utmost care. Kakashi and Einjeru left immediately without a word to anyone or a trace. They sped through the forest with the utmost care. Kakashi said to her "Don't worry. The village will be there when we come back." Einjeru said "I'm confused as to why he chose me. I'm still a rookie in that regard." Kakashi smiled and said "It's because you need the experience. Technically you're the captain on this mission." Einjeru had an unsure look on her face.

They met up with the client who nit-picked about Einjeru's size. Kakashi pats Einjeru's head to make sure she didn't blow up in the clients face. She was wearing her mask so no one could see her gritting her teeth. She put her hands in her pockets and remained quiet. The client said "Not really the talkative one is she?" Kakashi smiled and said "Not when she's angry." Einjeru stuck true to that for a while.

Back in the village, most of the genin were just hanging out. Naruto was off training and Sasuke sat around the village. The ANBU were doing their job of watching Sasuke. For the first time in a long time he had a calm expression on his face. He sat down enjoying a cup of tea. He thought about the time the squad attempted to reveal Kakashi's face. He smiled and decided to call it a day.

After the traveling that Einjeru and Kakashi have been doing with the client, they decided to set up camp. Einjeru ended up taking second watch as Kakashi headed out to make his rounds. The client watched Einjeru carefully. Einjeru was nuzzled in her sleeping bag awaiting Kakashi's return. Kakashi had met up with the ANBU trailing them for a report.

Four hours later, Kakashi woke Einjeru for her guard shift. She made eight clones to go surround the area. She stuck near the camping area knowing that if one her clones popped to move. Everything seemed okay until the client pulled a kunai out of their bag. Einjeru kept a close eye on the client to make sure she didn't do anything funny. All of her clones popped simultaneously.

Einjeru appeared before them saying "We've got to move. All of my clones popped simultaneously." She shook Kakashi to no avail and finally said "I'll remove your mask if you don't get up." Kakashi shot up and said "Those are fighting words. You better watch it." Einjeru glared at him and said "We have to move." Kakashi took note of the tone that was used. He got up and killed the fire. Einjeru prepared to defend herself and the client said "Lord Third had to send the Hatake duo on this mission."

Einjeru's eye widened at the clients reaction. Einjeru then said "I knew there was something I didn't like about you. I'm glad I kept my mouth shut all day." Kakashi readied a kunai knife saying "Who are you?" The client said "It doesn't matter. All I know is that the Hidden Leaf is going to be without two of its shinobi." Einjeru replied "Fat chance of that happening!"

The client charged at them and Einjeru flipped over her saying "Come on. That speed was something I had before my academy days. You'll never catch me like that." Einjeru then kicked her thinking "This mission may have been a trap that Lord Third wanted to set off using dad and I as the bait." Kakashi then noticed that the client was knocked out.

Einjeru sighed. She came over to Kakashi and said "How weird. I wonder why the client lashed out like that." Kakashi looked at Einjeru and said "No idea. All I do know is that someone is trying to put us out of the picture." The client was out cold and Einjeru summoned Raito to run a message to the village. Kakashi tied up the client and took a close look at Einjeru.

She looked through the clients stuff and found a bingo book. Einjeru flipped through the book and her eyes widened. "How the... This shouldn't be possible. I haven't been on that many missions." Kakashi took the book from her and his eye widened. He chuckled saying "They still have you down as a genin." Einjeru couldn't care less about that. She was more concerned that she was in the bingo book.

Kakashi then said "When Raito comes back with a reply, be ready to move." Einjeru nods and says "This was one screwed up mission, and this one was my first official one as a chunin." Kakashi said "No worries. There will always be missions like this." Einjeru sighed and said "Sorry for sounding like a brat." Kakashi laughed and said "You didn't sound like a brat. If anything, you sounded unsure."

Raito returned with a message from Lord Third. They read it and Kakashi said "We have to return to the village with the client. The mission was a bust." Einjeru replied "What about her belongings?" Kakashi replied "Bring them along. It's evidence." Einjeru summoned clones and they grabbed everything. They head back to the village as fast as they can, and reported straight to the intelligence division.

At the village, the genin were sitting around talking. Naruto said "We need to train harder, so what happened never happens again." Sakura replies "How do you intend to accomplish that?" Naruto fell silent and Einjeru popped up behind him saying "He is right you know. We need to be learning new jutsu, honing the jutsu we already have, honing our strengths, and working together. The library surprisingly was untouched." The genin all looked at each other and rushed over to the library.

Einjeru went to the stone faces since the apartment building that she and Naruto stayed in was still being rebuilt. Tenzo appeared behind her saying "Shouldn't you be training?" She shot back a remark saying "Shouldn't you be helping to re-build houses?" Tenzo chuckled and sat next to her. She looked at him and said "You're not on duty right now are you, sir?" Tenzo said "You know you can call me Tenzo. I wouldn't have told my name if I didn't want you to use it." Einjeru shrugged and replied "Sorry, it's just my nature. You do outrank me."

Tenzo said "So what? I outrank Kakashi and yet I still call him senpai. Just call me Tenzo." Einjeru concedes and says "Is there a reason you're following me Tenzo? I know you were supposed to be watching me, but this is a little weird." Tenzo replied "I have been watching you, that's true, but I was also trying to figure out how to best train you through your actions."

Einjeru looks at him funny and says "Train me? You want to train me?" Tenzo nods and says "You're a quick learner from what I gathered and also a natural leader." Einjeru listens attentively and says "Why do you want to train a rookie chunin?" Tenzo replies "To be honest, this is the first and probably the only time I would do this. Probably because you are like your father is part of why I'm doing this." Einjeru nods and says "Do I call you sensei then?" Tenzo chuckles and says "Just call me Tenzo. Unless I'm undercover, just call me Tenzo. Understand?" Einjeru nods.

Tenzo stands up and says "I should get back to re-building houses and you should read up on some village history." Einjeru nods and Tenzo flashes away. Kakashi appears and says "Chit-chat with ANBU?" Einjeru says "Eh, more or less." Kakashi pats her on the back and says "No worries. I just want you to be careful walking through the village." Einjeru nods and says "If I'm not at the library, here or at the 7th training ground then there's something to worry about." Kakashi nods and says "Our apartment building is being rebuilt as we speak. You'll be able to sleep in your own bed soon."

Einjeru smiles and says "I'm not really concerned about having a bed to sleep in or a roof over my head. I'm just glad the village still stands." Kakashi smiles and says "Spoken like a true leaf shinobi. Also you know all the positives of the village history, but he wants you to read up on some of the villages top secrets so you can learn more about him. You need to see Lord Third." Einjeru looked at him and said "You were eaves-dropping weren't you?" Kakashi puts his hands up in a placating manner saying "Yes, I was, but if I didn't tell you what I did, you'd be frustrated. A ninja must see..." "Underneath the underneath, I know I know." Einjeru said.

Kakashi smiles at her saying "Don't worry, Lord Third probably already knows." Einjeru sighs and says "You're a pain at times." They both chuckle and part ways. Einjeru heads to the hokage's office and Lord Third sees her. Lord Third starts off saying "You were an excellent student when it came to the history of the village in the academy weren't you?" Einjeru smiles and says "Yes, I was."

Lord Third smiles and says "What do you know about the wood style ninjutsu?" Einjeru knew she had to tread carefully and said "I knew that it was a bloodline trait from the first hokage and that it had the power to suppress a tailed beasts chakra. I also know that one of the ANBU assigned to guard me has the trait considering that it was only the first hokage that was known to have it." Lord Third nods and says "This is very important so listen carefully." Einjeru nods.

Lord Third says "Back when you and the other genin were just mere infants or still being thought of and Kakashi was still in the ANBU Black Ops. a horrendous crime was discovered. Orochimaru who was still part of the village at the time was kidnapping infants from the village to experiment on them with the first hokage's cells. Out of sixty, one survived. However I didn't know about it until Kakashi had said something about the root division of the Black Ops. having said person. I was infuriated because that person could have stopped the rampage and Naruto could have been spared. Are you keeping up with me so far?"

Einjeru nodded and said "If that was the case, then why is Danzo still walking?" Lord Third says "You have a inquisitive mind, but one topic at a time. Now as I was saying, Even though I was infuriated, I kept to diplomacy and sent Kakashi to retrieve the person in question. It almost backfired until I intervened. He switched over to the ANBU under my direct command and has been faithful ever since. As far as I know, he didn't know what his name was and Kakashi just called him Tenzo." Einjeru then said "Why does he want to train me? There has to be more than just me being Kakashi's daughter."

Lord Third chuckled and said "Popular to contrary belief, he's grown rather fond of you. In ANBU, your emotions are to remain put away, but there are times when they show. You have a tendency to leave an imprint on people. It makes the most cold-blooded killer become warm and fuzzy. However, it doesn't work on some people. I'm going warn you. Be cautious walking around the village." Einjeru nods and says "Thanks for the history lesson Lord Third. I'll be heading out now."

In the village, Einjeru walked around cautious of her surroundings. "Someone's following me, I know that much." Einjeru thought. She heads to the library and does some reading. After she finished a history book, a person appeared from the shadows and says "You're quite the curious one Ms. Hatake." Einjeru backed off saying "Who are you?" The person says "I'm one of the elders of the village. I'm sure you at least heard my name." Einjeru fumbled around for a kunai and the person said "I'm Danzo Shimura."

Einjeru thought "I'm supposed to stay away from him." She then says "It was nice to meet you, but I need to get going." She ran out of the library as fast as she could and ran into Naruto. Naruto smiles and says "Kakashi sensei is looking for you." Einjeru nods and says "Thanks Naruto." She goes to find Kakashi. Meanwhile Naruto and Sakura meet up and she says "Can we talk?"

Naruto says "Sure, why not?" They walk around and Sakura says "Are you aware about the squad being split?" Naruto shook his head and said "No I wasn't. Also, I didn't mean to offend you in any way on our last mission. I was just trying to say that Einjeru can care less about your squabbles. She's more concerned about working as a team." Sakura nods and says "I've been doing some research." Naruto nods and says "About?"

Sakura goes into detail about the water style and how it can be used collaboratively. Naruto then says "That's good and this is what we need as a squad. I wonder if there's an open training field around so we can test it." They go to look for an open field and Einjeru was watching. She giggled and said "Finally. Now to find dad." She disappears and finds him at the apartment.

Kakashi said "I was starting to wonder where you were at." Einjeru shrugged and said "No matter. What'd you need?" Kakashi pointed at the window and said "Would you mind?" Einjeru looked trying to understand and it snapped in her brain. She then said "How did that happen?" Kakashi shrugged and said "I've been trying to figure it out myself. Either way, we need another window." Einjeru sighed and said "Oh dad."

Back at the training field, Naruto and Sakura were testing some theories. Some of them failed and they were logical while others passed that were illogical. They found themselves low on chakra and Naruto says "Well, we flooded the training ground." Sakura said "How do you figure?" Naruto replies "I may need to have things dumbed down for me, but I do understand an increase in power with a collaborative attack." Sakura then says "Okay, but how did we flood the field?" Naruto says "You do see all the water around us, right?" Sakura nods and says "Oh! Now I get it. The ground had absorbed all the water it could." They stand up and leave the field.

Naruto decided to walk Sakura to her apartment so they can talk about the past animosity. Sakura says "Those years in the academy and the real life situation were completely different." Naruto says "You have no idea. My life is the same day in and day out no matter if I was in the academy or now. The same villagers look at me with the same disdain they always had. I was happy when I paired up with Einjeru under Kakashi sensei. However, your jealousy puts everyone at risk. That's what everyone gets upset at you for. Everyone is willing to help, but you have to accept it before it can be given." Sakura said "I guess you're right Naruto. I apologize for my rotten behavior towards you." Naruto nods and says "No problem. You want to see if Sasuke's around before we part ways?" Sakura gave a small smile.

They head over to Sasuke's place and find him sleeping peacefully. Naruto decided that it would be best not to bother him. Sakura fawned over him silently and thanked Naruto for the opportunity. Naruto smiled and said "Come on it's getting late. I don't need my landlord scolding me for missing curfew." They head over to Sakura's place and Naruto says "Want to meet at the library tomorrow?" Sakura nods and heads in.

Meanwhile Einjeru is taking a garbage bag of glass out of the apartment building. "I can't believe that a window that was just put in was broken that fast. Oh well." Naruto walks by and says "Hey Einjeru! What are you doing?" Einjeru says "Taking out the trash from today's cleanup. You?" Naruto says "Extending help to my teammates. I was talking to Sakura and helping her a little bit. We also decided to go see what Sasuke was up to but he was sleep. I didn't want to bother him like I would have in the academy days." Einjeru smiles and says "I'm shocked that you didn't bother him, but I'm glad that Sakura is getting better."

Kakashi comes up to the two of them saying "What's taking so long?" Einjeru chuckles and says "Sorry, I was doing my job and then Naruto showed and we were talking about the squad." Naruto nods and says "Sakura is getting better. I was just getting here when I saw Einjeru taking out the trash." He then moves to assist her. Einjeru sighed and said "I'm beat." They head to their respective apartments and fall into a well deserved sleep.

The next day, Naruto and Einjeru head to the library and wait for Sakura. During the wait, Einjeru pulled out a history scroll and talked to Naruto about it. Sakura came in with a smile on her face. Einjeru looked and said "Where have you been? We've been waiting forever." Sakura apologized and said she went to check on Sasuke, but he wasn't at home. Einjeru then said "He's probably at the hospital for his check up. Let's go see."

They head to the hospital to see Sasuke walking out. Naruto grins and Sakura breathes a sigh of relief. Sasuke walks up to them giving a smile and saying "I was going to look for you guys." Naruto wanted to say something smart but heeded Einjeru's warning from a few days ago behind the stone faces. He then said "Are you recovering well Sasuke?" Sasuke pretends to be a bad boy saying "Whatever... idiot." Einjeru saw behind the facade and laughed. Naruto however was enraged and said "Is that how you treat a teammate that asks about your wellbeing?!" Sakura and Sasuke started to laugh and Einjeru said to Naruto "He did that to get a rise out of you. He was kidding." Naruto face-palmed and started to laugh as well.

All of sudden, Kakashi appears and says "It seems you guys are getting along after all this time." He looks at Sasuke and thinks "Sasuke seems fine. No signs of relapse." Einjeru then said to Sasuke "How are you feeling?" Sasuke says "I still have to wear this annoying neck-brace for a couple of weeks, but overall I'm fine." Sakura then says "Well that's good that you're healing. If you're up for it maybe you want to see us training or maybe get something to eat with us?"

They all looked at Sasuke for an answer. Sasuke replied "Maybe I'll go for something to eat, but seeing you guys training reminds me that I can't. I'm still trying to remember how I ended up like this." Einjeru then said "That's okay. Just don't push yourself too hard or you may make things worse." Naruto then said "Who's up for some Ichiraku ramen?" Einjeru then said "We may have invited Sasuke, but we should let him choose where we eat." Sakura then says "It doesn't matter, but I'm tired of ramen." Naruto then says "Fine." They forgot Kakashi was there amongst them while they're trying to figure out a place to eat.

Kakashi then said "Maybe Sasuke wants to rest." All of them including Sasuke looked at him like he was crazy. Sasuke then says "Maybe, but I've spent the past few days doing nothing but sleeping. The pain medicine that the doctors put me on make me drowsy. I feel like I haven't eaten in so long even though I have." Kakashi apologized and said "I just didn't want to see you guys arguing." Einjeru then said "It's up to you Sasuke."

Sasuke said to them "You wouldn't mind going to the hot springs of the village, do you?" Everyone looked at him surprised and he continued saying "I was remembering a visit to the hot springs as a squad and trying to get sensei's mask off." Everyone but Kakashi was laughing remembering that time. Einjeru says "I second the notion to go to the hot springs." Sakura then thirds it. Naruto then said "Why not? We've been working our butts off anyway, and it gives us some bonding time." Kakashi smiles knowing that they getting along.

They head to the hot springs and find it empty of tourists. They separate into the gender baths and Sakura says to Einjeru "I apologize for my rotten behavior." Einjeru smiles and says "That's okay. For the most part nowadays I've been ignoring it. Haven't you noticed that Sasuke is more mellow and talkative than before?" Sakura smiles and says "Yes I have. He also has a jokester side that was revealed when he pulled that joke on Naruto." Einjeru nods and giggles saying "He won't be on the level that Naruto is though." Sakura says "That's okay. I think on our last mission together, Naruto was mad at me." Einjeru relaxes and listens to her.

Sakura then says "I've learned more about Naruto yesterday than I have during the academy days. I always thought he was a joke pulling loser." Einjeru then said to her "That's what he wanted you to think. On the outside he's energetic and happy. On the inside, he's hurting and sad. That's the part of him that I grew up knowing. I'm the one friend that's there for him thick and thin. Not to mention I live a few doors down from him." Sakura smiled and said "So do you know what Kakashi sensei's face looks like?"

Einjeru grinned and said "I do, but I can't tell you. If I did then I'd have to kill you." Sakura then said "You're kidding right?" Einjeru then said "About the killing you, but not about the being able to tell you. My dad nearly took my hand when I tried to remove his mask." Sakura flinched at that. Einjeru chuckled and said "During the academy days I thought I was going to die with all the training I was doing. Between learning the clan techniques with dad and working on taijutsu with Guy, I was conked out before homework, yet I still managed to get it done and all correct if I do say so myself."

Sakura said "I thought I had it rough. By the way, how is it that your hair is so soft?" Einjeru shrugged and said "Never really gave any thought or paid attention to it like that. I just brush it and put into a pony-tail." Sakura nods and says "Does Kakashi sensei sleepwalk or anything like that?" Einjeru shakes her head and says "But he does have great reflexes. I told you that he nearly took my hand. He was sleeping when I tried to do that." Sakura nods and they both giggle. All the giggles were heard on the other side by the boys.

On the boys side, Sasuke was settling in the water and Naruto heard the giggles. "I wonder what they're talking about over there." Sasuke grunts and Naruto says "Do you only do this with me?!" Sasuke smirks and says "It's fun to mess with you Naruto." Kakashi comes in with a mask on his face still. Naruto and Sasuke react the same as before. Einjeru overhears the commotion and says "Those two." Sakura then says "Maybe you should tell them."

Einjeru chuckled and said "Maybe I'll let them suffer." Sakura laughs and says "I'm starting to boil. You?" Einjeru shrugged and said "I guess. I am getting a little hungry. Let's go." Naruto comes out of the water saying "Why do you torture us sensei?" Kakashi said "If you really want to know, ask Einjeru." Naruto and Sasuke flip out of the water so fast they splashed Kakashi. Kakashi chuckled knowing that Einjeru wouldn't give the secret up so easily.

Sakura and Einjeru finished getting dressed and go to wait on the boys. Naruto and Sasuke run out of the boys side almost tackling Einjeru. Einjeru looks at them in surprise saying "Hey guys. What can I do for you?" Sasuke and Naruto re-compose themselves saying "Kakashi sensei says you know what's under his mask. Tell us." Einjeru laughs at them saying "No. Not in this lifetime or the next."

Naruto falls over and Sasuke says "What is it? Some sort of big secret?" Einjeru said "That's for me to know and for you guys to never find out unless dad says it to you directly." Naruto then says "That's just cold Einjeru." She smiles and says "We have a choice of three places here at the hot springs. Where do we go?" Sasuke says "I'm not a big fan of sweets. What about sushi?" Einjeru replies "You guys can go ahead if that's the case. I'm sensitive to sushi." Sasuke then says "Then there's only one place we can go." The four of them agree and Kakashi comes out saying "Have we decided?" They all nod and head over to the curry shop.

Einjeru tries to think "Have I had curry before?" Naruto puts up a pout about ramen and Sakura says "Come on Naruto we discussed this earlier. I think Sasuke compromised a little on his part because of Einjeru's sensitivity." Einjeru waved her hands placatingly saying "I would have just waited until I got home to eat. The point of us eating together was to bond. If you want we can go eat sushi." Sasuke shakes his head saying "How are we to bond if we don't share in the food together?"

Naruto then says "What have you done with Sasuke from the academy days?" Einjeru and Sakura elbow him in the sides saying "What's the matter with you? Aren't you in the least bit happy that Sasuke is bothering to bond?" Naruto replies "I admit, I miss the cool Sasuke." Sakura says "I miss it too, but it's better than him ignoring us." Einjeru then says "You guys forget, Sasuke is right in front of us." Naruto and Sakura pale and Einjeru says "Is everything alright Sasuke?"

Sasuke nods saying "I don't remember my academy days." Einjeru thought to herself "Crap! Dad didn't put too much of the academy days back in his memory. Maybe I can fill in some of those blanks." She smiles saying "Well in the academy days, you were fawned over by most of the girls in our class. Naruto hated your guts because you would get all the attention. Not to mention, Sakura fawned over you the most. You also tied for top rookie of the year." Sasuke nods and says "I see Sakura fawning over me, but what about you?" Einjeru said "In all honesty, I couldn't stand you during the time at the academy. I hope I'm not being too harsh about it."

Sasuke nods and says "Who did I tie with for top rookie of the year?" Einjeru said "It was me. I have to ask, do you remember anything from before the academy?" Sasuke shakes his head. Einjeru put on a smile saying "It's okay." Naruto then says "He doesn't remember anything from the academy days? Oh man! It means we can tell him anything and he'd believe it!" Einjeru glares at him saying "You'd tell him a lie to make yourself feel better?! I thought you'd have grown up more than that Uzumaki!"

Sakura then says "Even though we could tell him anything, we need to tell him the truth." Naruto said "Oh come on!" Einjeru then said "I lost my appetite." Sasuke then said "I'm sorry." Einjeru felt bad and said "It's not your fault. I'll stay around, but I'm not going to eat." Kakashi sighed saying "And here I thought the squad grew closer." Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke head along to the shop. Einjeru feels bad about Sasuke and pities Naruto for the actions he was considering. Einjeru smiles thinking that she got closer to Sakura. "Maybe it's time you extended a hand to your other classmates and branched out your inner circle a little." Kakashi said to Einjeru.

Einjeru nods and follows them into the curry shop. They were sitting in a booth talking about the academy days. Sakura then said "I remember the day that we were fighting over who was sitting next to Sasuke." Einjeru said "It was undisputed because of the fact that in the academy days Naruto and I were inseparable." Naruto then says "It isn't that way now?" Einjeru blushes and says "It's a little different now."

Sasuke uses this moment to joke by saying "I always knew Einjeru liked Naruto." Sakura interrupted him with a chuckle and Sasuke starting singing "Einjeru and Naruto sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g." Einjeru giggled and said "Fine. Laugh. I don't care." Naruto said "Damn you Sasuke! Why do you have to go saying embarrassing things like that?!" They all laughed and Kakashi says "What'd I miss?"

They all look at him and continue laughing. Kakashi shrugged and said "It's getting late guys. You need to get home." Sakura then said "We were having such a good time we forgot to train." Naruto nods and Einjeru says "Sometimes training means to enjoy yourself." They all smiled and parted ways from the hot springs. At the apartments, Naruto smiled knowing that the day was good and no squabbles came to be. Kakashi was glad that the squad was finally able to bond.

The next day at the library, Einjeru was looking through the jutsu scrolls. She smiled when she found a simple lightning style jutsu. She decided it would be a good opportunity to improve her jutsu arsenal. Naruto met up with her and said "Sakura's waiting." Einjeru jumped looking at the time and apologized profusely. She took the scroll and checked it out of the library.

At the seventh training ground, Sakura and Naruto show Einjeru what they were working on a couple days before. Einjeru's mind was in overdrive thinking of ways to help them with a collaborative technique. The first thing that came to mind was chakra control. They came up to her noticing she was in deep thought. Sakura then said "Anything wrong?"

Einjeru then said "I was thinking hard about your combination jutsu. The main problem is matching the strength of the jutsu. Naruto, your chakra is through the roof while Sakura, your reserves are average. The problem for Naruto is to be able to tone the power of the jutsu down to Sakura." Sakura then said "How do you know about Naruto's chakra reserve?" Einjeru said "It's like saying how do I know so much about village history. I just do."

Kakashi appeared and said "Playing sensei for a day Einjeru?" Einjeru smiled saying "Imparting words of wisdom. Their collaborative jutsu is coming along nicely." Kakashi nods and asks if he can see. They show it to him and he says "Just as Einjeru said. Naruto, you need to tone back the power." Einjeru started looking at the scroll again and looked through the hand signs. Naruto noticed it and said "What's Einjeru doing?" They look at her and she says "Hi there. I'm learning another jutsu." Sakura comes over and says "So that's why you were late." Einjeru smiled and turned red saying "Yes, and I apologize for that."

Sakura takes a look and sees that it's a lightning jutsu. She then says "How does lightning work with water?" Naruto then says "Clones?" Einjeru nods and makes one of her own. The clones go stand on the lake and Einjeru readies a chidori. Upon striking the water, the lightning surged all over popping all of the clones simultaneously. Sakura then says "The water acts like a conductor." Einjeru nods and releases the chidori saying "It increases the attack range ten-fold."

Naruto says "It's the complete opposite for wind." Einjeru nods and says "Fire attacks increase the power of a lightning attack. Earth is weak to lightning however therefore if you have earth style chakra, you're toast." Kakashi then says "Do you guys have the basic idea?" They nod and Kakashi disappears. Einjeru decides to build up chakra and test the technique for real.

A lightning bolt crashes on the lake and Einjeru's hair was flapping. Naruto and Sakura look at her saying "What jutsu is that?" Einjeru looked and said "It's called lightning style: lightning bolt." Sakura says "I should work harder." Sasuke walked by and saw the damage to the field. He walked in and said "You guys mind taking a walk?" Einjeru, Sakura and Naruto nod saying "Where do you want to go?" Sasuke says "I don't mind walking around. I just don't want to sit around anymore." They go and walk around the village.

During the walk they ran into Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. Sasuke then says "Who are they?" Einjeru explained that Ino was one of the girls that fawned over him and that three of them are from clans that use their techniques in collaboration. Ino asks what's wrong with him and Einjeru says "The last mission we were on, he took a severe blow to the head and caught amnesia." Sakura then says "Right now we're enjoying a walk around the village. Do you want to join us?"

They nod and they keep going and walk into squad 8. Hinata shyly says hello, Kiba was overly intense with his greeting, and Shino was very quiet. Sasuke then asks who they are. Einjeru went through it very quickly describing Hinata as shy, Kiba as overly confident and Shino as a highly competent bug tamer. Sasuke nods and says "I remember Naruto's fight with Kiba in the chunin exams. He got his butt handed to him." Squad 7 laughed their behinds off and Kiba was enraged. Einjeru then explained the amnesia to them and said "He's piecing things together, so don't take it personally if he doesn't remember. They then asked if squad 8 would join them on a walk around the village. Squad 8 humbly accepted wanting to help their classmate regain his memories.

The jonin sensei were watching from a distance and were happy that they were interacting with each other. The genin/chunin decided to go to the stone faces and look over the village. Sasuke was giving off a genuine smile and the genin were surprised and saying "He's more mellow than during the academy days." Einjeru nods thinking "I actually prefer this to the old Sasuke." Sasuke kept smiling. Sakura then said "Aren't we still under curfew?" Einjeru looked at the sun and said "I don't recall Lord Third lifting the curfew. I guess we should start heading home." The jonin sensei appeared saying "You guys have been bonding well."

They all nodded and said "We were all about to head home." The sensei nod and all of the squads except for 7 dispersed. Kakashi looked at them and said "Aren't you guys heading home?" Einjeru says to him "I live with you. Naruto and I are going to be walking together, but before we head in we wanted to walk Sakura and Sasuke home. We thought you wanted to say something to us." They all nodded and Kakashi said "I'll see about keeping the squad together."

All of them smiled and walked down the stairs of the stone faces. Naruto then says "All it took was the threat of us being separated to bring us together." Sakura smiles saying "I hope we can stay together." Sasuke smiles and remains silent. Einjeru chuckles and says "I think Lord Third has a soft spot for our squad." Naruto then says "Yeah right!" Einjeru smirked and said "Well then why did he give us a C-Rank only after two weeks after achieving genin rank? He did it because of your stubbornness Naruto."

Sasuke's apartment was closest and when they got there, he noticed some mail. Naruto, Sakura and Einjeru said their good byes and made their way to Sakura's place. Getting to Sakura's place, they saw her parents. They captured her in an inescapable hug and introduced themselves. Einjeru sweat-dropped and thought "I'm so glad dad isn't this overbearing." Naruto and Einjeru head to their apartment building thinking that things were starting to get to normal back in the leaf.

Einjeru gets into her apartment and Kakashi hands her a note saying "They're instructions." She growled and glared at him saying "Why do you go through my stuff dad?! If it was a note for me then leave it alone!" She reads it and says "The forest of death? I thought we weren't allowed in that training ground." Kakashi says "Special circumstances." Einjeru sighs and grabs a bite before heading to bed.

The next day before dawn she was waiting by the entrance to the 44th training ground, aka The Forest of Death. Tenzo appeared and said "I know you guys were doing things to bond as a squad and fortify your teamwork, but I figured now would be a good time to start working." Einjeru thought to herself "I'm not going to like this." Tenzo smiles and says "Follow me."