Naruto's always looked up to me; otherwise he wouldn't always be competing against me. Even if we met under different circumstances, we probably wouldn't be friends. It was because of the stupid squad assignments that we know each other in the first place. I don't know where I am going with this, but I've never liked Naruto and I never will.

Naruto's the biggest idiot that I know. After he gathered us all outside the village, he admitted to us that he was not yet assigned this mission. Amazing what that baka will do to get attention. He said that Godaime warned him about the mission. "I want you to gather seven of the best shinobis that you know." He quoted. "This will be a tough one so I want you to choose carefully before I give you the mission. I will give you three hours to gather up your nins."

Shikamaru looked in thought. "Hmm... why didn't Godaime just give you the mission before finding the nins? Wouldn't that make it easier for you to pick your team based on ability?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, well, I asked her that and she didn't want me to think too hard about it. She needed the shinobis as quickly as possible, so I figured three sharigan eyes are better than one!"

~Awkward silence~ That idiot Naruto needs to go back to the academy. How did he earn the title of chuunin?! ~Awkward silence end.~

A sweat drop rolled down Kakashi-sensei's face. "So you're saying I'm not good enough?"

That idiotic Naruto-smile got bigger. "No, I'm saying we need all the help that we can get."

Kiba glared at Naruto, shook his head and looked at the ground. "Then let's go get our Mission. We have all the people we need here right?"

Choji immediately raised his hand, "Wrong... you're going to have to count me out."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Kakashi spoke first. "You're going to have to find a replacement for me too. I can't say why I can't help, but you're going to have to go on without me." Naruto opened his mouth to speak again, but Kakashi already disappeared leaving behind a spiral of leaves.

Choji headed back to the village... Back to his ramen I'll bet. Neji jumped in front of him trying to stop him from going into the village. "Where are you going?"

"Hmph, you guys will be better off without me," Choji grunted. "You should find some other nins because I don't feel like doing this mission."

Shikamaru nodded. "I don't feel like doing this mission either, but from what Naruto makes of it, it sounds important"

Choji's face bloated up like a balloon. "But Naruto doesn't even know what the mission is. How would he know the importance of the mission?"

Neji stepped aside, nodding at Choji. "Find then. We will find someone to replace you." His glace shifted towards Naruto. "How much time do we have left to look for replacements?"

Naruto gazed into the sky and yawned lazily. "Oh... about two hours."

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, well, what else did the Godaime tell you?"

Naruto blinked twice. "Tsunade said that we were going to the Hidden Mist Village to do our mission. So I'm guessing we need to find someone with some knowledge of the village..."

The bastard was on a first-name basis with the Hokage?! He really is the most arrogant brat I know.

"I know of someone," Shikamaru spoke up; all eyes turned to him. "I know someone with much knowledge of the Hidden Mist. Her name is Kina. In fact, she just came back to the village."

Naruto looked up. "Is she pretty?" I swear, Naruto spends too much time with that Jiraiya guy.

Shikamaru raises an eyebrow and glared at Naruto. "I... wouldn't know. I've only heard of her."

Naruto's head drooped. "Well... we should still look for other nins. We might not find her."

Being the intelligent guy he is, Shikamaru suggested that we pair up and split up. Akamaru and Kiba, Neji and Naruto, and Shikamaru and I were paired up and then we split up. Shikamaru... that lazy bastard didn't want to do anything. I barely knew any one in the village personally except for one person. Tyde. He was born of the Hidden Mist, but some kind of conflict brought him here. He is one of the luckier shinobi's. Both his parents are still alive, and taught him many water justsus.

I walked to Tyde's house and knocked on his door. No one answered. Suddenly a voice calls out. "Hey Tyde! Wake up!" Shikamaru yelled at the door."

"You know Tyde?" I raised an eyebrow and looked at Shikamaru, a bit surprised at his actions.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Who doesn't?" He sat down at the steps of the hut. "Just sit for 5 minutes. He'll be out."

Surely enough, five minutes later, the door opens and a bout about 17 years of age greeted us. "Hello there." He nodded as he acknowledged the both of us. "Shikamaru, Sasuke... What brings you here today?"

"Tyde," Shikamaru said with his bored voice. "We need another shinobi on our next mission. I know it's a bit sudden, but the next mission is at the Hidden Mist and we need your knowledge."

Tyde looked up, still smiling. "Hidden mist eh? Well... this might be interesting." That smile never left his face. He's so friendly... it's creepy.

The walk to Tyde's house alone took an hour, so we left for the mission's office immediately. We ran into Naruto on the way to he mission's office. He hadn't yet found another person. Everything depended on Kiba and Akamaru for our seventh member.

When we arrived at the Mission's Office, Kiba and Akamaru were already there. It didn't seem like they found the last nin. The nins these days have been slacking off because of our village's current state. Our village was too powerful that no one wanted to battle our village... alone. We still have that dumb alliance with the Hidden sand so that makes us more fearful.

Each nin looked at each other idiotically as if they were waiting for an answer.

-bing- Our time was up. We had to head in.

Upon our entrance, I saw an attractive girl about 16 years of age waiting in the Office. The godaime spoke up as she walked in from another room with a scroll in her arms.

The girl turned to look at the Godaime with confused eyes. She pointed at us as if awaiting an answer from Godaime. The godaime nodded at the girl. The girls looked so innocent. She grasped my hand and shook it. Smiling, she opened her mouth to speak. I heard no words come out of her mouth. I was too distracted by something; I did no know what. I looked around at the others just in time to see Naruto's jaw drop. What did she say to me?

"Huh?"

The hokage's voice spoke this time. "Please meet Kina. The seventh member for your mission, as well as the person you will be assisting to finish her A-ranked mission she was assigned two years ago."