EPISODE SIX: Scheming! Seduction!

Before she became a ninja, Sakura had spent hours every week mentally preparing herself for many hardships she expected to face. She went to the hospitals to desensitize herself to blood. She trained often to prepare herself for physical hardship. She visited the morgue so she could learn to deal with death. She even went so far as to intentionally cut herself a few times to make sure she could withstand pain. For good reason, Sakura thought she'd covered every difficulty she might encounter as a ninja.

Sakura, however, had found herself completely unprepared to deal with boredom. The mind-numbing tedium of the D-class missions back in Konoha had been terrible for an active mind like hers, and now that she and her team had finally gotten out of town on a C-class mission, they'd found it was actually worse. Now they were bored and far away from home, stuck with nobody to talk to except each other. Given Kakashi's personal reticence, Naruto's annoying personality, and the fact that she couldn't say anything she really wanted to say to Sasuke while the others were around, Sakura was rapidly coming to feel that the situation was unacceptable.

At least Naruto was silent, racing glumly along through the unchanging landscape. He'd been less obnoxious since the failure of the team-swapping idea, but Sakura had the itching feeling that the (relatively) quiet and polite behavior was a bad sign. Certainly he'd been boisterous enough a few days ago when she'd spotted him playing around with some of the younger kids from the village... and a bit of his natural exuberance tended to come back at the end of the day, when the mission or training were nearly over. All this made Sakura wonder if Naruto's 'good' behavior was just another, more subtle, sign of his dislike and distrust of his teammates.

Shaking her head to dispel the pointless worries, Sakura almost missed seeing Kakashi raise his hand to signal a stop. Fortunately, she was going the slowest of the four, so she was able to arrest her motion without attracting much notice. "I think we should pause for lunch," the jounin said, taking a seat on a thick limb and unslinging his pack, "We're not in too much of a hurry, after all, and we've made good time this morning."

"All right!" Naruto shouted, already digging through his backpack. Sakura rolled her eyes, but privately felt relieved that they were getting a break. Kakashi had been setting a pace that pushed the limits of her endurance without actually surpassing them. By the end of the day, she knew she would be exhausted, but Kakashi and Sasuke didn't even seem to have broken a sweat yet. Naruto, too, didn't seem to be having any problem, though the ravenous way he was devouring his field rations made it seem like he hadn't eaten in days.

"Sensei," Sakura asked, biting into a rather tasteless strip of jerky, "who's our client for this mission?"

"There isn't one," Kakashi replied, having inhaled a handful of dried fruit and replaced his mask before anyone noticed. "This mission is for village business."

"We're messengers, then?"

"Exactly," Kakashi said, nodding. "Most messages between villages go through by animal couriers. Sometimes, however, security or tradition require a personal delivery."

"So which is it now?" Naruto asked. "Are we carrying... a secret message?!"

"If we were, it'd hardly be a secret any longer, the way you shout," Sasuke muttered just quietly enough that Naruto couldn't hear him. Sakura muffled her giggle behind her hand.

Kakashi, though he gave a hard look in Sasuke's direction, ignored the comment and said, "No, the Shinobi Master of Hidden Grass village already knows most of what we're going to tell him. Our visit is just a formality, to show respect."

"Kakashi-sensei, I thought the leaders of ninja villages were called Kages," Sakura commented. The subject hadn't really been covered at the Academy—the martial curriculum left little time for civics lessons.

The silver-haired jounin shook his head. "No," he explained, "that title is reserved for the leaders of the hidden villages in the Fire, Mist, Lightning, Earth, and Wind Countries. That's because the hidden villages in those countries are exceptionally powerful. Smaller villages, such as the one in the Plains Country, generally call their leaders a 'master'. That's the way it has been for hundreds of years."

"Hundreds?" Sasuke asked, "but there have been only four Hokages..."

"Well, Konoha is a relatively modern village," Kakashi said. "Until a few generations ago, the Fire Country did not have a hidden village. Instead, the land was protected by many different ninja clans, all with their own small estates. These families carried out missions on their own, and answered to the Archduke."

"It seems like that would cause problems," Sasuke noted.

"Indeed," Kakashi agreed, "it did. The clans spent almost as much time fighting each other as they did fighting for the Fire Country. The nation survived, because the shinobi of the clans were all very highly skilled. However, everyone knew that the system would fail eventually. So the man who became the First Hokage built Konoha and enticed several of the most powerful clans to relocate there and become allies. Once that happened, the smaller clans also joined."

"How'd he pull that off?" Naruto asked.

"Well, the first Hokage was very powerful, and that in itself was quite persuasive. But he helped his cause by giving some of the more reticent families powerful gifts—some material, some in the form of jutsus they could hand down in the future. The combination of threat and reward proved most useful."

"So who decided he could call himself the 'Hokage'?" Sakura asked.

"He didn't ask anyone. It's just that both he and the village were so powerful that nobody contested his taking the title of Kage. By contrast, back when the Hidden Reeds village leader declared himself the Kawakage, things turned out quite differently."

"Where's Hidden Reeds village?"

"It doesn't exist anymore. The Mizukage at that time took offense, so he went to settle matters personally."

"He knocked out a whole ninja village on his own? Cool!"

"That's the power of a true Kage," Kakashi said, "They are the strongest warriors from the strongest villages." He slid his pack on and stood, adding, "Well, that's enough chatter. Stretch a little and we'll be on our way. At this pace, we should reach the border of Plains Country sometime tomorrow."

Inwardly, Sakura groaned, but she smiled and hefted her sack along with the rest of them. Physical exertion was something she'd prepared herself for, after all.


Kakashi stifled a groan of annoyance as Sasuke and Sakura strode into the clearing ten minutes later than they should have. Doubtless the brats thought that they were disguising what they'd been up to when they were supposed to be gathering firewood, but nobody under twenty could possibly have been fooled. Their flushed skin and slightly disheveled clothing alone were enough evidence of amorous activity; Sakura's barely-suppressed grin and Sasuke's smirk were merely bonuses.

Thank God Naruto's oblivious, Kakashi thought as the two lovebirds dumped their firewood near the center of camp. To tell the truth, the jounin wasn't quite certain whether the blonde had any interest in Sakura these days or not. Either way, the idea of Sasuke fooling around with her would probably send the boy into a towering rage, regardless of his feelings for her. And Kakashi had put too much effort into the fragile peace governing his team to have that sort of thing happen now.

I'll have to have a little talk with Sasuke, I guess, Kakashi decided, He's probably the one pushing things. The only problem would be how to get enough private time with the Uchiha to make his point. Naruto had been eagerly—though not always successfully—tackling every task Kakashi set to him in the campsite. Without the distraction of kissing a girl, he could probably gather firewood for an evening in five minutes... which might not be enough time to cover the necessary ground with Sasuke.

Kakashi resigned himself to having no real opportunity for an honest talk with the dark-haired boy until they reached Hidden Grass village. Custom would dictate that the Master receive them as guests for several days, during which time Kakashi could probably wrangle an hour or so to make it clear to Sasuke that he was getting almost obvious enough for Naruto to figure out what was up.

Of course, if that didn't work, Kakashi would have to call in the big guns. He didn't know Itachi very well—he generally avoided Uchiha clan members—but he did know that Sasuke worshipped his older brother. And if his reputation was deserved, Itachi was at least intelligent enough to figure out how dangerous the relationship with Sakura could be, if not handled delicately. Should Sasuke prove resistant to common sense, hopefully a few well-placed words from the elder Uchiha would prove efficacious in controlling his hormones.

And if not, Kakashi thought, smiling grimly, a kick in the balls ought to cool things down nicely, if only for a while.


Gaara squirmed slightly in the cramped space of the little nook, working himself into a more comfortable position against Hikaru's body. The tiny recess barely had enough room for one of them, let alone both, so Gaara ended up ensconced in the man's lap, legs draped around his waist. Gaara's arms were wrapped loosely around the visitor's chest, and he rested his head against Hikaru's shoulder. One of the man's hands gently stroked Gaara's back, but it was clear that the foreign ninja's attention was on the room beyond.

"I can't deny," the Kazekage—Gaara rarely thought of him as 'father'—was saying, "that the current Archduke's policy has seriously reduced our strength and cash flow... and the Konoha ninjas have been the primary beneficiaries of his stupidity. Still, an attack such as you describe carries a great deal of risk. If defeated, we could be in a very bad position."

"Ah," the Kazekage's visitor said, "but even if we could not destroy Konoha entirely, their weakened state would mean that your Archduke would have to rely on his own village once more, and your funding would certainly increase. Even in defeat, you would be victorious, at least in an economic sense." The man's voice was a rich baritone, and he spoke smoothly and elegantly. It was the kind of voice that could convince a person by its sound alone—not unlike Hikaru's.

The Kazekage was not immune to the influence. "An interesting way of putting it," he admitted.

The other man sensed the opening and pressed his case immediately. "Besides," he said, "I understand that you have a... special young ninja who might assure us a victory."

Gaara shuddered with anticipation at these words, knowing exactly who the foreign man meant. Shukaku stirred within him at the thought of more blood, and Gaara himself longed for an opportunity to be useful to the Kazekage. Would father love me if I helped him become victorious? Gaara wondered. Would he love me like Hikaru does?

As if sensing Gaara's thoughts, the aforementioned man wrapped both arms around the boy and hugged him tightly, filling Gaara's mind with a haze of pleasure. He barely had the wherewithal to refocus his concentration on the two men conversing out in the Kazekage's audience chamber.

"Relying on that one is a risky proposition," the Kazekage said calmly after a few moments, and Gaara's heart fell at the reminder that his father neither loved nor trusted him. "He is difficult to control under the best of circumstances. If he were to draw out his full power, he might do as much damage to our forces as to those of Konoha."

"Still," the other man replied, "in a limited way, he might prove very useful." There was a pause, and then the speaker continued, "Just consider it... You don't need to make a decision today."

"I will confer with my advisors," the Kazekage said, "and send a messenger with my answer in two week's time, Orochimaru-san."

"As always, I am your servant," the visitor said, and retreated from the hall. The Kazekage left only a moment later, his audiences done for the day.

"Did I do well?" Gaara asked, as soon as the coast was clear. The two of them could not have been seen, of course—he'd constructed a curtain of sand in front of the nook that made it look like just another part of the wall. Although it effectively blocked sight, the curtain conducted sound very well, making it an excellent tool for spying, so long as Gaara remained silent. Gaara used the technique often, usually hiding himself somewhere in a playground. Listening to the other children's conversations taking place only inches away, he often pretended he was there in a circle of other boys, talking with his friends.

In his heart, though, Gaara knew exactly what would happen if he didn't have the sand shielding him from their view.

"You did very well," Hikaru confirmed, gently kissing Gaara's forehead, right next to the symbol of love. "You have been an admirable host."

Gaara smiled, and practically trembled with happiness. Though he could not understand precisely why, Gaara knew he would do anything to please this man, anything at all. He would not have had the strength to refuse any request, and had even tried to predict the man's wishes and fulfill them in advance. Just the previous evening, remembering something he'd overheard from one of those schoolyard conversations, Gaara had stripped naked and slipped into Hikaru's bed, offering his body for the man's pleasure.

Hikaru had calmly refused, helping Gaara back into his clothes while gently reassuring him that he'd caused no offense. This demonstration that Hikaru's affection was genuine and not the product of a deeper perversion had made Gaara's devotion even stronger, and he'd spent the night curled blissfully in the man's arms, basking in his love.

Hikaru kissed Gaara again, on the cheek this time, and the redhead sighed in happiness. The pleasure of being touched in this way, something he'd never felt before the strange ninja arrived, was clouding his senses and his reason. His awareness of the world around him was fading, hazed out by the pleasures of a gentle embrace and soft kisses. His desires, too, were fading; he wanted neither food nor drink nor blood... He longed only to stay here, feeling this warmth, until Hikaru needed him for something else. Gaara felt the wall of sand collapsing and reforming into the usual shape of the gourd, but could not bring himself to care that he might be seen now, not when there were hands stroking his back and lips brushing his cheek.

All that mattered was Hikaru.


Sakura fidgeted nervously as a tall Grass-nin led the way through the halls of the Green Labyrinth. The capital building of Hidden Grass village was a confusing tangle of twisting passages that seemed to appear, disappear, and completely rearrange themselves as the thickly-growing bamboo comprising the walls swayed in an unfelt breeze. Only moments after plunging into the maze, Sakura had already lost all sense of her location with respect to the entrance. "Sensei," she asked quietly, wishing she had Sasuke there to reassure her, "are you sure we should have left Sasuke and Naruto behind?"

"Don't worry," Kakashi replied quietly, "they're not in any danger... except from each other. Our kind hosts in this village won't harm them."

It's not them I'm worried about, Sakura retorted mentally, but merely smiled and nodded.

"Besides," the jounin added after a few moments, "you're the one I wanted to show off... the brightest young ninja in Konoha! That, and you're prettier than either of them."

Sakura giggled at that, feeling some of her nervousness evaporate. A few moments later, it reappeared in a completely different form. Kakashi-sensei better not be having any perverted thoughts about me, Sakura thought darkly, maintaining her smile. She began to wish she'd never asked Naruto just how depraved their sensei's book actually was.

Sakura was jolted out of her thoughts as their guide held up a hand to stop their progress, then pulled apart one of the bamboo walls and stepped through it. The live stalks sprang back together behind him, completely obscuring the opening he'd gone through—if one had ever been there at all. Immediately, Sakura began to wonder whether he'd come back, or if they'd be left behind in this labyrinth to die.

"Don't let the situation disconcert you," Kakashi murmured as Sakura stared at the featureless expanse of bamboo. "This place was built to inspire terror and paranoia. If you control your fear, you'll find that the trick to it is really quite simple."

"What do you mean?" Sakura whispered back.

"Stop looking at the walls," Kakashi replied.

Sakura instinctively glanced down, but saw only flagstones making a narrow path through the grasses. A look upward turned out to be even less instructive—the vast arc of the roof had lanterns hanging at even intervals, and no other discernible features. Curious, she turned her eyes back towards the floor, this time scanning the dirt near the walls... and realized the answer.

"Three tiny white stones," she whispered, "right beneath the spot where he walked through."

"Excellent Sakura-chan," Kakashi murmured, his visible eye closing in a squinty smile, "I knew you could do it."

At that moment, the grasses parted again, and their guide stepped into the hall. "The Master awaits," he said, stretching out his hand to keep the bamboo bent aside. Kakashi nodded and stepped through the gap, and Sakura followed, trying not to shudder under the cold gaze of the Grass ninja.

Like the rest of the Labyrinth, the Master's hall had bamboo walls and a floor loosely paved with flagstones. The Master himself—a tall, lean man with a bored expression—sat languidly on a small boulder placed in the center of shallow pond.

"The Hokage of Konoha sends his respects to the Master of Hidden Grass village," Kakashi intoned, bowing deeply.

Sakura followed suit, noting as she did so the numerous ninjas stationed in the room. Did their allies really distrust them so much?

"We are honored to receive the famous Hatake Kakashi-san," the Master replied, nodding sharply in response to the bows. "Konoha sends its finest."

Kakashi-sensei is known here? Sakura wondered, Is he really that amazing?

"I bring instructions concerning the upcoming examination for chuunin rank," Kakashi said, slowly drawing a scroll from an interior pocket of his vest. A Grass ninja quickly stepped forward to accept it, retreating to the side of the room where he was instantly surrounded by his comrades. Almost a minute passed as the ninjas conferred, but ultimately the ninja carried the scroll to the Master.

The tall man casually unfurled the scroll and glanced over it. "Everything appears to be as expected," he said, "this shall pose a great challenge for our genin."

"Konoha prides itself on its rigorous testing," Kakashi said, bowing again. "We hope the design meets with your approval."

"It does indeed," the Master answered, "I only hope that we can arrange an equal trial when our turn comes."

"I am certain you will not disappoint."

"I hope we fulfill your expectations," the Master said. He handed the scroll to one of the ninjas and added, "Please stay a few days as guests in our village. I feel it is wise to foster close ties with our allies whenever possible."

"We graciously accept your hospitality," Kakashi replied, bowing yet again. Sakura followed her instructor's lead.

"My ninjas will show you to your rooms," the Master said, his expression still carefully neutral.

The audience at an end, one of the Grass ninjas stepped forward and signaled for Sakura and Kakashi to follow him into the hallway. Once they had joined him, he started walking briskly in the direction opposite from their approach. Sakura noted that he skipped several possible turns and then chose one where there were two small white stones almost hidden by the bamboo on one side and three white stones on the other.

"Warn the your teammates," Kakashi whispered as they made their way out of the maze, "the Grass ninjas might try to seduce you into betraying Konoha while you are here."

Sakura nodded, but inwardly she shrugged. Sasuke would never turn his back on their home town, and Naruto didn't know any secrets worth learning. Besides, they couldn't win Sasuke's heart, or hers; not with their growing devotion for each other. And as far as Sakura was concerned, nobody—not even someone faking interest—would be able to bring themselves to seduce Naruto.


The peephole darkened momentarily, and then the door opened a sliver to reveal Sakura wearing pink button-up pajamas. Sasuke briefly wondered whether he should have changed, but it was too late to do anything about the situation now.

"May I come in?" he asked quietly, and Sakura nodded, opening the door wide enough for Sasuke to step through.

The moment he did, Sakura shut and locked the door, then stepped forward and hugged him. "I'm so glad you came," she whispered, "was it hard to sneak out?"

"Hmph," Sasuke snorted, returning the embrace, "Not for me." Not that he'd actually needed any skill to leave his room without alerting Naruto... the blonde went out like a light the moment his head hit the pillow. If Naruto didn't take forever to get ready for bed—showering and changing, reading a scroll, then pulling on that stupid nightcap and carefully arranging all the pillows on his little mattress—Sasuke would have been here an hour earlier.

By the time Sasuke had finished processing this thought, Sakura had already pulled away from him and seized his hand. With a sharp tug, she started leading him towards the large bed in the center of her hotel room. Sasuke followed, his heart pounding as he wondered what Sakura had in store for him. He'd never been interested enough in girls to talk with Itachi about them, but after everything that Sakura had shown him on this trip, Sasuke knew he needed to have a good, long conversation with his brother.

The possibility of asking his father had briefly entered Sasuke's mind, but after a few moments of imagining what might follow, Sasuke had given up on that idea.

Moments later, Sasuke found himself sitting on the bed, with Sakura in his lap. She weighed more than he expected, and Sasuke realized she'd put on some muscle on this trip, probably thanks to Kakashi-sensei's pace. Then his thought processes came to an abrupt halt as Sakura kissed him.

Sasuke wouldn't need to ask his brother about this, that was for sure; he'd gotten plenty of practice over the past few weeks. He cradled the back of Sakura's head in one hand and slid the other around her waist as he pressed himself against her soft, warm lips. He felt fingers on his back and knew that Sakura had slid her hands up under his shirt... something she'd only started doing two days ago.

Then Sakura pulled away, and before Sasuke could ask what she was doing, she had pulled his shirt halfway up. Being a smart boy, he realized her intentions and raised his arms so she could pull it the rest of the way off. He opened his mouth to ask why she'd done it, and she lunged forward, and then they were kissing again, only their mouths were open, and her tongue... her tongue was inside his mouth, and it made him feel hot and dizzy and very aware that there was only a thin layer of cloth separating his chest from hers.

And then, there was nothing. Sakura pulled back and shrugged her shoulders, and the pink fabric fell away as Sasuke realized she'd been unbuttoning her pajama top while they kissed. The pale skin of her torso came into view, along with the curve of her breasts, the pink peaks of her nipples, the taut line of her belly...

Sasuke could barely breathe as Sakura took hold of his hand, guiding it up from her hip so that it could cup her right breast. It felt like some kind of dream as Sasuke brushed his fingers across the smooth, creamy skin. Sakura shivered as his thumb stroked the rougher surface of her nipple, and Sasuke thought he'd done something wrong until she mirrored the action with her hand on his chest and a spike of pleasure shot through him.

"Oh god... Sakura..." he whispered, but Sakura interrupted him with a kiss.

"Shhh," she quietly cooed, "don't talk."

Then her mouth slid over his once more, her hands kneading his back as he continued to rub her breasts, and Sasuke could not have spoken even if he wanted to.


"Will you require any other assistance, Uchiha-san?" the young medic asked, tying down the ends of the bandage around Itachi's forearm.

"No, thank you, Kabuto-kun," Itachi replied, still cursing his carelessness. He'd expected that Hidden Mist hunter-nin to help them, not shower him with needles. He'd been fooled by a trick worse than the simplest genjutsu... fallen into the same stupid trap that made illusions so powerful. It had just seemed so logical, so obvious that a hunter should be chasing Zabuza that Itachi hadn't questioned it until too late. I've grown too dependent on my eyes, the ANBU commander thought, I've forgotten that not all deception is genjutsu.

"Are you sure, Uchiha-san?" the gray-haired teen pressed, drawing Itachi out of his reverie, "the cut on your face might scar..."

"I'm quite all right, thank you," Itachi retorted, though it might have been nice to get some salve on the razor-thin wound. Something about Kabuto, however, gave him the shivers... he'd never liked the guy.

Apparently sensing the finality in the words, Kabuto nodded and gathered his kit. Moments later he was headed back to the temporary base of operations set up at the edge of the clearing that had once held the 'Hidden in the Waves' village. Only smoldering embers remained of that short-lived town's buildings, and cold corpses had replaced the missing-nins who made up the vast majority of its population. Nonetheless, the mission had fallen short of its objective, partially due to Itachi's carelessness.

A faint squelching of mud alerted Itachi to Hiroshi's arrival, and he asked, "What's the damage?"

"Three injured... Kojiro got stabbed in the gut with some kind of poisoned blade. Chikako seems to have him fairly well stabilized, though, so he can stay in a nearby town to recuperate. No need to risk moving him."

"Who escaped?"

"The two wackos with the chain... they got past Kojiro after he was stabbed. Plus Zabuza and that chick in the mask."

"It was a boy," Itachi corrected, "and quite competent with needles. Remind me who we have on patrol in the nearest sector."

"Maito Gai and his genin team are patrolling the Eastern Sector right now," Hiroshi replied. "They've got a Hyuuga, as I recall."

"Good," Itachi said, "Warn them that Zabuza's headed their way. Most likely he'll head straight up the coast and try to reach Lightning Country, but he might try to sneak westward and sell himself to Hidden Rain. Waterfall probably wouldn't take him."

"On it right away," Hiroshi said.

"Tell them not to engage the enemy," Itachi added before his friend could leave. "I hear Maito's team is pretty strong, but Zabuza and that fake hunter-nin are too powerful for genin to face. Given some time, Gai could beat Zabuza, but that would leave the boy free to attack the kids—they'd be dead in minutes."

"What about the chain gang?"

"Those guys got lucky to escape. Gai could probably take them out single-handed, so they're fair game for his genin."

"Okay. And when are we moving out?"

"Soon as the smoke clears," Itachi replied, and Hiroshi vanished. I'm going to kill you, kid, Itachi promised, glancing down at his injured arm, and your mentor Zabuza, too. I'm not the sort you can fool twice.


"So," Kakashi asked, appearing on the bench at Sasuke's side, "How are things going with Sakura?"

The young Uchiha glanced over at his mentor, and calmly replied, "We are getting along quite well, thank you."

"I know you are, but that's not what I mean."

"I am not certain I understand..."

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed, and he said, "Don't play me for a fool, Sasuke. You've been in her hotel room every night we've stayed here, and you're not so slow that it takes the two of you twenty minutes to gather one evening's firewood. You can, of course, continue pretending you don't know what I'm talking about, but don't imagine for a moment that it's going to deceive me."

Sasuke gulped, his mouth suddenly feeling rather dry. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"I'm not asking for any details," Kakashi said, "and I'm not trying to be preachy either. I lost my own virginity at 11, so it's not my place to tell you guys to slow down because of your age. Still, for the sake of the team, I need to know what the situation is with the two of you. Have you gone beyond kissing?"

Sasuke smirked. "Yeah."

"Have you had anal or vaginal intercourse?"

What is he talking about? Sasuke wondered.

"Judging from the confused look, I'd say 'no', but just to be clear... have you ever stuck your penis inside her body?"

Sasuke's eyes widened at the thought of doing that, and he dazedly shook his head. Where would I put it, he wondered, and how would it fit? He had a sudden vision of Sakura with his cock in her mouth, and barely suppressed a grin. That would certainly keep her from talking.

"Well, that's less than I expected," Kakashi commented, "but then I'm not sure how girls your age think."

"Huh? I thought you said..."

"I never said I lost my virginity to a girl," Kakashi said, his visible eye curving up in a smile. "Though my situation is similar in that he was my teammate."

"You can do... that stuff... with a boy?" Sasuke asked.

"You really don't know much about all this, do you?"

Sasuke suddenly felt very stupid, and more than a little embarrassed. "Well, I didn't learn about it at the Academy," he explained, "and Itachi and I just never talked about... things you do with girls... or boys."

"And your father?"

Sasuke scowled, and snapped, "We don't talk."

"Sorry," Kakashi said, evidently sensing that he'd stumbled on a sore point. "Well, I'm no good at lecturing about this sort of thing," he continued, "so perhaps you should have a long talk with your brother when you get back. I'm sure he'll be happy to explain things."

Sasuke nodded, perfectly content with this suggestion since he'd already had the same idea.

"In the meantime," Kakashi added, "I want you to restrain yourself at least a little."

"I thought you said..."

"I said I wouldn't try to stop you because of your age. I have other considerations, though—namely, your teammate. If you spend all your time on your budding romance with Sakura, you won't develop any kind of relationship with Naruto. Given that he's already pretty disenchanted with both you and Sakura, that would only cause problems for the team."

Sasuke stared at the gray-haired jounin for a minute, and Kakashi sighed. "Good grief," he growled, "I'm not asking you to break things off with Sakura. I just need you take some of that time you've been using to suck on Sakura's face and spend it with Naruto. You don't have to share your deepest, darkest secrets with him, but you do need to make him feel like he's part of this team. Otherwise, I get the feeling that the situation will go back to where it was when he kept trying to switch teams or quit."

That got Sasuke's attention. "All right," he sighed, "If it will keep him from making trouble..."

"I knew I could count on you," Kakashi said, "You are Itachi's brother, after all."

Then Kakashi was gone, and Sasuke realized he was smiling. I'll make you proud, Itachi, he thought. I'll be the best teammate I can be.


"Hey! You're one of those Leaf nins, aren't you?"

Naruto paused in his exploration of the narrow alley and turned around to see a tan boy with close-cropped brown hair, wearing a loose-fitting outfit covered with slightly curved vertical black and white stripes. His headband identified him as one of the native Hidden Grass ninjas, and was tied around his thigh.

"That's right!" Naruto replied enthusiastically, "I'm a Konoha Ninja!"

The boy smiled, and said, "Cool! Everyone's talking about you guys... I really wanted to meet one of you. What's your name?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said, "Future Hokage of Konoha!"

"I'm Battabu Kenji," the boy said, stepping forward and holding out his hand. "I'm not interested in being Master of Hidden Grass, but I will be a jounin someday."

Naruto happily clasped the taller boy's hand and pumped it in a vigorous shake. "Your clothes look really cool," Naruto noted, peering at the strange striped pattern.

"They're for hiding," Kenji said, "c'mon, I'll show you."

Naruto nodded, then followed the boy out of the alley and through the streets of the small town until they came to an area filled with tall grass. Kenji led Naruto to the center, then said, "Just stand here for a minute and see if you can figure out where I'm going to come from."

Naruto nodded and went into a ready crouch, his senses on the alert as Kenji disappeared into the surrounding grass. For a moment, the blonde heard rustling out in the green, but then there was nothing. Naruto peered into the plants hoping to catch a glimpse of the other boy, but he couldn't see anything except the occasional flash of light in the waving grass.

Just when he was starting to worry that Kenji had played him for a fool and run off, Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the boy say, "Gotcha!"

After jumping about three feet in the air, Naruto whirled around and said, "Awesome! How'd you do that?"

"These clothes mimic the way light looks in the tall grass," Kenji explained. "If you wear these and move carefully, you can run full speed through the grass without anyone seeing you. It's a special technique of this village, but it takes some practice. You have to know how the grass moves, or you'll get caught."

"Neat," Naruto said. "So... how do we get outta these plants? I can't see shit!"

"Just walk that way," Kenji said, pointing off to his left. Naruto immediately started jogging in that direction, not really listening as Kenji added, "But be..."

The ground seemed to give way beneath Naruto's feet and suddenly he was sliding through the grass, green stalks whipping by him on either side as something slick beneath him eased his way down a narrow ravine and into a giant puddle of mud.

"...careful," he heard Kenji conclude, faintly.

Then there was a gigantic 'splort' sound, a shower of mud, and Kenji was standing next to Naruto, ankle-deep in the puddle.

"How'd you do that?"

"It's my family's special skill," Kenji explained, helping the mud-covered Naruto to his feet. "From birth, we're trained to leap long distances. Right now, I can only jump 300 yards, but when I get older, I might be able to jump up to a mile!"

"Cool! Can I learn that?"

"Probably not," Kenji replied, "Like I said, I've been training since I was a little baby and even though I'm 14 now, I can only jump a few hundred yards."

"Well, I'll try anyway when I get back to Konoha," Naruto said, then shook his head violently when a lump of mud dripped into his eye. "You know a place I can wash off?" he asked.

"There's a pool over there," Kenji said, pointing to a large, flat rock. Beneath it, a stream ran into a wide, circular depression, creating a pond with just enough current that it stayed clear. "We can dry off on that rock afterwards," Kenji suggested, trying to brush some mud off his own clothes.

Naruto immediately agreed, plunging into the cool water as soon as his legs could carry him to it. He pulled off his jacket and pants, rubbing them vigorously to get the mud off, then spread them on the large rock. Immediately he went back in the water, rinsing the last of the mud out of his hair and off his body.

As he came up from under the surface, Naruto had only a moment to breathe before he was hit with a foamy wave of water. Snorting some of the liquid out of his mouth and nose, Naruto looked over to see Kenji laughing loudly at the effect his splashing had produced. Naruto smirked and brought his hands together, producing a big spray of his own that went right up Kenji's nose. The taller boy stopped laughing for a moment, and then both boys starting splashing water at each other, laughing raucously.

What seemed like hours later, Naruto pulled himself up on the rock again to see Kenji already reclining, wearing nothing but his underwear. The black-and-white suit was spread next to Naruto's stuff, leaving only a little space for Naruto himself, clad only in his boxers, to stretch out next to the Grass ninja. He accidentally bumped into Kenji as he was lying down, and the older boy's eyes opened immediately.

"Hey," Kenji said, rolling over onto his side so as to face Naruto, "You look pretty strong."

"Yes! Yes!" Naruto replied, "I am strong! That's why I'm gonna be Hokage!"

Kenji smiled and rolled over some more, resting his head on Naruto's chest and draping one arm across the blonde's torso. He said nothing, merely sighing and closing his bright brown eyes. He was heavy, but the warmth of his body was pleasant after the chill of the water, and besides, Kakashi-sensei had told Team 7 to be as friendly as possible with their hosts. So Naruto just closed his eyes and soaked in the heat of the sun and Kenji's body.

As he was drifting in the semi-consciousness that comes just before a really good nap, Naruto thought he heard Kenji say, "You're really nice, Naruto. I like you."

And he thought he heard himself say, "I like you, too."