Naruto grinned behind his mask at his progress this past week. He had just finished another rigorous training session this week and found himself relatively tired.

He had been able to come up with ways to implement Nuibari in rapid paced taijutsu battles. He had realized during his battle with Jiraiya that he needed to learn how to utilize Nuibari while on the defensive against faster opponents. He practiced against his clones, as they launched punches at him as fast as possible, while he only attempted to block with his blade. It was tricky and painful training, as placing the skinny blade in front of punches was difficult and required precision. Naruto got many welts from his clones punches but eventually began improving with the training.

The key was utilizing Nuibari's length which made it somewhat easier to move the blade to counter attacks. By the end of the week Naruto was easily able to fend off many his clone's punches at once. Granted one of his clones wasn't even close to the same level as Jiraiya but at least he had addressed that fault in his combat skills.

The other training Naruto went through the past week regarded his new summon, the giant clam. Training with clam was….. interesting to say the least. Naruto felt extremely awkward training with a creature that couldn't even speak or move. Naruto had sat there on the first day for around four hours thinking of any way he could think of to communicate with the giant thing. As Naruto sat there an idea hit him, maybe he could communicate through chakra! Naruto emitted a pulse of chakra, attempting to gain some reaction from the clam.

A few seconds after this the clam opened its shell and the mist began to emit from its siphons. As the week continued Naruto was able to understand how to utilize the clam. He trained against clones as he subjected them to the clam's mist. The clones were unable to locate him or the clam, thus allowing him to move around without direction and silently kill his opponents while they're distracted by the mirage.

Naruto also learned that the mirage of himself could use ninjutsu. He figured that this happened because the mirage was constructed of chakra infused mist. If he channeled enough chakra into the mirage he could make the mirage of himslef activate ninjutsu.

Overall Naruto accomplished a great deal the past week. Granted he still probably wasn't ready to use his new summon in combat but he would be soon. He still needed more combat or training experience with it.

Naruto leaned on his sword as he felt a foreign chakra signature enter the training ground. He turned around to see a cat faced ANBU member.

"Hokage-sama asks for your presence."

Said the ANBU that appeared before disappearing.

Naruto nodded but inwardly groaned. He had enjoyed a week without seeing anyone. It was true that he had been somewhat lonely in Kushimaru's cave but he had become accustomed to it. Now that he was being integrated back into society, he kind of wished that he could just go back to his cave by himself.

He spent nearly all his time at the training ground or in his apartment, only seeing people when walking through streets. He sighed, knowing that he now had duties to the village.

Naruto began making his way to the Hokage's office, as his thoughts began to wonder about what Tsunade could want. He really hoped it wasn't an interrogation about where he'd been. Hopefully he got a mission, he still hadn't had much real battle experience. Naruto continued walking through the center of the village, ignoring the whispers and gasps he got when passing, he really didn't care. He soon got to the Hokage tower and entered.

"Tsunade is waiting for you."

Said a familiar face to Naruto. Shizune was standing outside Tsunade's door. She had a neutral expression on her face causing Naruto to believe she still didn't know who he was. Naruto remembered some of his happier times with Shizune and smiled sadly under his mask. He couldn't tell Shizune, no one else could know right now. He proceeded to walk to Tsunade's door. Naruto knocked on the door and entered the room to find Tsunade sitting at her desk with a bottle of saké doing paper work.

"Do you have a mission for me?"

Asked Naruto calmly as Tsunade stared up at the man in front of her.

"Yes I do, its extremely important so pay attention. There have been strange disturbances going on in a village on the Fire Country border. There have been multiple deaths of civilians and two chunin have been killed. We're sending Ino Yamanaka and Shino Aburame alongside you. Shino, being a jonin will be in command. Keep in mind that your still a genin so you have to follow both Ino and Shino's orders, got it?"

Naruto nodded, somewhat surprised by the fact that he actually had a mission, but gritted his teeth. He was still a genin! That was ridiculous, he shouldn't be taking orders from Shino, and especially not Ino. He was grateful to Ino, he was glad she hadn't blabbered around about who he really was but last he remembered she was one of the weakest in the class.

"Very well, also I need to remind you of one thing which is why I called you in early. The Akatsuki are still out there and are looking for Jinchuriki such as yourself. We know they already have a few…. so be careful."

Memories of Itacthi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki flooded Naruto's mind. He had read a bit about Kisame in Kushimaru's scrolls. He betrayed the Mist and killed the previous wielder of Samehada to obtain the legendary blade. He was extremely powerful and hailed as the 'Tailless Bijuu'. He knew of Itatchi's history as well. If these two were part of this organization he could only imagine what other powerful ninja were apart of it.

Tsunade knew the risks of sending Naruto into the field. It had been years since he had been on a mission. Hell, he hadn't cooperated or interacted with anyone in years. She was against sending him into the field so soon but Jiraiya had convinced her to give him a shot.

She needed to test him to see if he could even be implemented back into the shinobi force, he had been labeled a missing nin for the past couple of years. She needed to know if he would be able to take orders or work with others. However, from what she'd heard about Kakashi and Jiraiya's fights with him, she didn't know if he could. His fighting style involving the mist couldn't be utilized with others, granted he might not need others in the mist but he would eventually against Akatsuki. She feared for Naruto's safety regarding the Akatsuki but she couldn't just keep him locked up in the village, he obviously could defend himself relatively well. Tsunade's thoughts were interrupted by her door opening due to both Ino and Shino entering.

Ino entered the Hokage's office quietly behind Shino. Normally she would be talking, being the social butterfly that she was but it's not like she could really hold a conversation with the bug user she was paired with for her mission.

He was always silent and kept to himself, plus he loved…..bugs, which kind of creeped her out. She was normally paired on missions with her typical team, which included Shikamaru and Choji but she didn't necessarily mind working with others. It was just that she worked almost flawlessly alongside her usual team and she wasn't as confident working alongside others. Shino and her were told to see the Hokage to meet the third member of their team for the upcoming mission. Her thoughts were completely destroyed when her gaze fell upon the sunshine blond hair that belonged to her one time cheerful classmate, Naruto Uzumaki.

Ino had thought about Naruto for a while after he had departed from the hospital room. She had seen two sides of the boy who she had grown up with. She had seen a timid and awkward side of him in which he was having trouble even communicating with her. But then there was the side of him that made her scared to death. She had seen him tear Sakura apart and it was not a pretty sight. To be honest she didn't know what to think of Naruto. One thing was for sure though, she definitely didn't feel comfortable around him and certainly wouldn't prefer to have him as a teammate on a mission.

Naruto turned around to see Ino frozen in the doorway, a fearful expression on her face. Naruto's attention turned to the boy with spiky black hair and large jacket. After a couple of second of looking at the boy he recognized him as Shino. Shino was the kid in his class who preferred using bugs, he remembered Shino being pretty strong. His thoughts refocused on Ino who remained frozen in place. Naruto sighed, he was hoping that maybe Ino wouldn't be terrified of him like most but that obviously wasn't the case. Naruto turned back around to face Tsunade who had a neutral expression on her face. Before Naruto could say anything Ino spoke up.

"So we're…. going on a mission with him?"

Said Ino doing her best to act normal despite all the thoughts running through her mind. She didn't know what to do. She assumed that Tsunade knew who he was but Shino definitely didn't.

"Yes, he will be accompanying Shino and you for this mission. As you already know this mission could possibly be extremely dangerous and you will need another powerful ninja to serve alongside you two."

Tsunade tried her best to respond normally to Ino's question. She had seen both a confused and disturbed appearance on Ino's face which concerned her. Either Ino knew something about Naruto or she was just scared by him. She thought it was probably the latter due to her knowledge of how secretive he was being. She knew how difficult it would be for Ino and Shino to work with him but she HAD to see how Naruto worked in the field. Shino then spoke up.

"Not that I'm going against your orders Hokage-sama but are you sure this is a smart idea? Ino and I don't work together very often so our teamwork skills already aren't perfect, but throwing …..him into the mix will destroy any strands of it."

"I understand you concern Shino but this is something that needs to be done. You two need another member for your squad and I need to see how... he'll operate in the field."

Shino nodded his head slightly, signifying that he understood but he still wasn't fully on board. Ino then spoke up again to voice her concerns.

"But Hokage-sama, we haven't even seen him perform in combat. We don't know his strengths, or weaknesses. He could even put us at a disadvantage out there because of our lack of chemistry! Hell, we don't even know his name!"

Protested Ino, she knew who he really was, but she had no idea what to call him with others there. She decided that she could at least keep her secret but that still didn't change her opinion on not wanting to go on a mission with him.

"You all do realize I'm right here, correct? Its kinda rude to be so openly opposed to going on a mission with me. I assure you that I won't be a disadvantage to either of you in the field so I say you quit your complaining so we can get a move on. The enemies won't exterminate themselves, hehe. As for your statement about my name, you can call me…. Nuu."

Tsunade frowned at Naruto's harsh response but couldn't add much else, he was right with regards to how they needed to get a move on.

"Nuu… is right, you all do need to get a move on, the more time you waste, the more the enemies influence spreads so get going, I don't want to hear any more complaints."

"Hai Hokage-sama!"

Said Ino and Shino in unison as Naruto exited the room. Ino stared at him walk out the room, in complete shock at the disrespect shown to their Hokage but as looked back at Tsunade she could tell the Sanin wasn't in the mood to make a fuss about it.

0o0

Naruto made his way to the gate after packing up his supplies in his apartment. He had simply packed a sleeping bag some food and quite a few senbon needles, which were his new preferences rather then kunai. He arrived at the gate to see both Shino and Ino waiting for him. Naruto remembered that Shino never talked so he wouldn't have to worry about awkward conversations with him. But on the other hand, there did lie the issue of dealing with Ino, who he remembered being a complete chatterbox. She did act relatively calm when he had talked to her in the hospital, granted she was severely injured not to mention probably scared out of her mind, but she still handled it….ok. Well at least she didn't scream or freak out so that was a positive!

Ino saw "Nuu" approaching and gulped. This was going to be one hell of a mission. She was paired with Shino, the completely silent bug user, and Naruto, the now homicidal needle-blade wielder. She wasn't positive but she was pretty sure that she was one of a select few who knew who the masked blade wielder was and who had even had a normal conversation with him. That one conversation they had was…interesting and relatively awkward.

However that awkward feeling had quickly turned to intimidating when Sakura entered the room as Naruto completely changed from an awkward and shy boy to a vicious and cruel man. It appeared as if for the upcoming mission there wouldn't be much conversing.

"Lets go."

Said Shino in his typical monotone voice, gaining a nod from Naruto and delayed nod from Ino as she was awoke from her thoughts. The three man cell walked outside the gates of Konoha before picking up the pace and darting through the trees. The journey was anticipated to take around one day until they reached their destination on the border of the land of fire close to Kumo. The threesome moved silently as they darted through the trees.

They encountered no problems as they traveled through the land of fire. This didn't come as too much of a surprise. Most of the Land of Fire was well protected and stayed in line. Issues were mostly found on the edges of the territory. The farther away from the village, the harder it was to patrol, which led to more instability and enemies.

Ino was screaming inwardly at the awkwardness as they traveled through the forest, jumping from branch to branch. They had traveled for nearly 10 hours and neither Shino or Naruto had said a word. Typically she would be the one to start a conversation but what would she talk about? Shino never talked and she didn't even know if she should talk to Naruto.

Shino was at the head of the three man cell while Naruto and her trailed behind. She thought about starting up a conversation multiple times but feared him loosing it like he did with Sakura. So she had decided she'd travel on in silence until Shino stopped the two.

"We'll rest here for the night."

The statement didn't receive any objections from either Ino or Naruto. They had left the village in the afternoon so it was getting late. Shino had decided it would be best to rest and regain energy for the next day in case they encountered any enemies. Shino was confident in his own abilities but wasn't so sure of his two teammates.

He had worked with Ino a couple years ago and new of the Yamanaka clan's abilities but didn't know her proficiency with them. He figured she must be pretty skilled at them to be able to complete missions her team had done. However he did know that her team, alongside Shikamaru and Choji depended a lot on teamwork so he was skeptical of her skills individually.

The masked swordsman was another issue. He had no doubt that he must be relatively strong to be able to wield one of the Seven Legendary Swords of the Mist, but there was so much mystery surrounding him and almost no one new of his skills and abilities. The only information he'd heard was that he was able to single-handedly blow up an entire training ground with one jutsu, so at least he wouldn't have to worry about him being a hinderance.

Naruto leapt off the branch he had been standing on in order to begin setting up camp. Camp for him involved simply a sleeping bag, contrary to the tents that both Ino and Shino had brought. He had become accustomed to sleeping on the ground with just a sleeping bag due to his years in Kushimaru's cave.

He proceeded to make a camp fire while Ino and Shino set up their tents. There were two stumps surrounding the camp fire and Naruto took a seat on one of them. He wasn't really that tired so he figured he'd volunteer for first watch. He took out Nuibari and began twirling it his right hand, which had become his new favorite activity to do in order to pass the time.

"I'll take first watch."

Said Naruto, gaining a nod from Shino who returned back to work on setting up his tent. Ino also nodded as well and walked over to the fire having completed setting up her's.

"You only brought a sleeping bag?"

Questioned Ino as she looked over to Naruto who was sitting on a tree stump next to his sleeping bag. He was currently twirling Nuibari in his hand.

"Yeah, I'm use to sleeping on the ground."

Responded Naruto, gaining a questioning look from Ino but she knew she probably wouldn't get anything else from him. Shino finished setting up his tent and walked over to the campfire.

"I'm going to sleep, wake me for my watch."

Shino watched 'Nuu' nod and walked back to his tent and fell asleep.

Ino watched Shino enter his tent and then sat down on the stump across from the one Naruto was sitting at. She stared at him as he twirled the long needle blade so easily. She thought back to the young hyper-active ninja who was the dead last of the academy.

She had witnessed his growth as a genin which had surprised everyone in his class from the academy. None of them had expected him to be successful at all. They all thought he'd lose to Kiba and then Neji. Then rumors of him defeating Gaara of Suna and even fighting Orochimaru surfaced. He even fought Sasuke, the best in the class to the point of complete exhaustion. But even after all that, she doubted any of them could have expected him to go down the path he did. To go from the cheerful and hyper weakling to the powerful, wicked and sometimes awkward man he had become.

"I..I see you've become pretty good with that sword.."

Said Ino causing Naruto to lift his head to face the platinum blonde sitting across from him. He wasn't expecting her to strike up a conversation, not after failing to do so the previous ten hours of their journey. He figured he might as well try talking with her, after all he'd need to improve at it eventually.

"Yeah...I guess so"

"Where did you learn how to use it?"

Questioned Ino. Despite the fact that she was still intimidated by him, that didn't destroy her curiosity. She really wanted to know what had happened to the blonde haired boy from her genin days. She remembered how Sasuke was always considered mysterious back in the academy days, back when she was a fan-girl. The mystery surrounding Naruto currently had her complete attention. She needed to know more about what had caused such a drastic change in him.

Naruto on the other hand inwardly groaned, he knew exactly what she was doing now. Forget the whole 'normal conversation' thing, she was going to try and get information out of him. Information he wasn't so sure he wanted to reveal.

"I taught myself."

"You taught yourself?"

"Yup."

Ino groaned this wasn't going anywhere. He wasn't going to tell her anything.

"Your quite the social butterfly aren't you?"

Questioned Ino in a sarcastic tone. What shocked her was that he chuckled a little. That was new!

"I guess you could say that."

Ino smirked, at least she had drawn some emotion from the teenage boy. Despite the verbal display of emotion she heard, the mask he wore showed no emotion. It maintained its glare through its black eye slits regardless of what she could hear from Naruto. It prevented her from seeing how he was feeling. Was he happy, sad, annoyed? She hated it, the weirdest part was that she had no idea if he was staring at her or somewhere else.

"Do you ever plan on taking off that mask?"

"I haven't taken it off for months and I don't plan on doing so anytime soon."

Ino frowned but let out a yawn, as the strain from the ten-hour journey began to hit her mentally and physically as she began giving in to sleep. Naruto noticed the yawn and smirked under his mask, she'd be leaving soon.

"Well… Nuu, I'm going to bed, I'll…see you tomorrow."

Said Ino gaining a nod from Naruto. Ino smirked and walked over to her tent and got in. She snuggled into her sleeping bag and began drifting off to sleep, content with her conversation with her old classmate.

Naruto on the other hand continued to sit on the tree stump twirling his blade. Its not like they had a long conversation, and not a lot was said, but he enjoyed it. Maybe Ino wasn't so bad. She was entertaining, not to mention she was pretty hot. Naruto shook his head vigorously, he couldn't think like that, he was a shinobi and that was his only priority. He couldn't worry about girls, not that he had a chance with her regardless.

o0o

The rest of the night went by normally, Naruto continued to pass time twirling Nuibari until his shift was over and he woke Shino. Shino took the remaining watch till morning, choosing not to wake Ino.

Shino woke both up relatively early in order to depart for their mission. If they traveled at the same pace as yesterday they'd be there by late afternoon. The three man team continued their journey to the small village on the border of the Land of Fire. The journey was silent just as it was the day before. Ino didn't want to talk about anything that Naruto would feel fine with Shino hearing. The stuff she wanted to discuss was what he didn't want people to know. She felt that maybe she could break through to him and get her to tell him something.

Naruto was fine with the silence, he did enjoy talking to Ino a little but he still preferred to not go through the awkwardness he felt when talking to someone.

It was late afternoon when the three man team made it to the village they were assigned to go to. It was very small. Only around thirty to forty houses for civilians and a town center which didn't look very large either.

There didn't appear to be any shinobi in the village. The village was on a cleared out section of the forest where no trees stood. However it was surrounded by trees on all sides. The three shinobi made their way to the center of town, hoping to find any information on the two chunin who were killed. They made there way to a inn located near the center of the small village and entered. There sat an old man with grey hair.

"Hello, can I help you?"

Questioned the man. Ino then spoke up.

"Yes, we've been sent here from the Leaf due to two of our shinobi being killed, would you happen to know anything about this?"

All three noticed the man's body tense at mention of the incident. He gulped and then began speaking.

"Yes… I figured they'd send someone. The two ninja your talking about were staying at my inn here. Their remains were found on the outskirts of the village near Cloud territory. One seemed to have been slashed across the chest while the other had.. his head cut off… it was a terrible sight."

Shino thought for a few seconds on the information he received. None of what he said gave away who possibly did this, they'd have to go check over the battle field later, but for now he figured they might as well call it a day, it was already relatively late and they might as well conserve their energy.

"Is there any way we could reserve three rooms?"

Questioned Shino, gaining a nod from the man in the front.

"Of course, here are your room keys, the rooms are just up the stairs. Good luck with the mission and if you need anything just contact me."

Ino Smiled and thanked the man as the team began walking up the stairs.

"We'll rest for the rest of the day but tomorrow we should go to the battle field early so rest up. "

Naruto and Ino nodded as the three shinobi parted ways to their separate rooms. Shino's was across from Naruto's while Ino's was to the left of Naruto's. All three fell asleep rather early in preparation for their early wake up.