Ch 4

"Man, I'd better fill up. Who knows when I'll get my next chance to eat here?" Naruto asked the two accompanying him. After shopping that morning, he had managed to convince Sakura to eat with him at Ichiraku's. Amazingly enough, their other companion was none other than Gaara who looked a little out of place at the small ramen stand. Then again, Gaara tended to look out of place wherever he went. They had found him wandering through an antique shop as they passed by and invited him along. Imagine their surprise when he accepted.

Sakura rolled here eyes for the umpteenth time that day. Gone was the serious man from last night, replaced by his usual, immature, boyish self. During their shopping trip, he'd done nothing but complain of hunger and exhaustion the entire time. The only time he showed interest in shopping was when he had seen a horrendously overpriced set of kunai in a supply shop. He had immediately attached himself to them like a weasel with something shiny, refusing to leave until she had threatened him with bodily harm. Although his antics annoyed her, she was happy to see him back to normal. She just couldn't handle a depressed Naruto.

One thing she had noticed when they were out was the stares Naruto got. She didn't know how she could have been so blind to them before. People stared at him with open disdain and hatred. The few that caught her eyes received a death glare of their own from the pink-haired girl and immediately shrank away. The whole scene reminded her of how a herd of gazelle would look at a lion that had already had its fill; contempt without fear of reprisal. Through all of it, Naruto was his normal, happy self. How he did it, she would never understand, but she was glad he could because his good mood was often infectious. Now, as they sat at Ichiraku, she was surprised at the contentment she felt around her friend. Even with Gaara nearby, she felt no apprehension just because Naruto was with her.

Finally, their orders came and each of them feasted eagerly with an "Itadakimasu!" Naruto ate with all the manners of an untamed wildebeest while Sakura ate with propriety befitting a lady. Both, however, nearly dropped their chopsticks when Gaara was the first finished and holding up his bowl for a second helping. Feeling their stares, he turned to look at them curiously, "What? It's good."

Naruto bid the shopkeeper goodbye as well as half of the contents of his wallet. In order for them to get Gaara there, he'd had to offer to pay for him as well as Sakura. He had almost shed a tear when he realized Gama-chan needed a meal soon. At least this mission they were on would pay well. The advance Tsunade had given them was no small amount and that was only a fraction of the pay. If he was right, the amount they would receive for this mission would keep him in Ramen for years to come.

With thoughts of the mission, they bid each other goodnight and made their way to their respective homes. They had decided on a dawn departure so an early night was imperative if they wanted to get going early enough. They would reach Mist village within a couple days and find their first set of companions. Now that Sakura knew Naruto's secret, she fully grasped the importance of their mission and was just as eager to be a part of the mission as Naruto himself. This was likely to be one of those great missions that became shinobi legend in the future. If they were successful, she would always be remembered as part of the great mission. She would just have to make sure history didn't overlook her in favor of the demons and their vessels.

For his part, Naruto was as excited as he had ever been. Not only was this an S-rank mission, it could very well gain them extremely powerful allies. As he opened the door to his empty apartment, he wondered what the others were like. Would they be nice? Would they be like him? As he lay down, he stared at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. At the very least, this mission would be entertaining.

Dawn seemed to come all too soon for the three shinobi as all three stood at the gates looking thoroughly exhausted. It was obvious that none of them had slept too well, though Gaara had a legitimate excuse with Shukaku bothering him every night when he slept. Naruto and Sakura had simply been too excited to sleep very well.

Naruto glanced at Sakura and smiled to himself. She knew and she was still there by his side. Of course, now that she knew, the rest of the mission's parameters became clear to her as well. Soon, they would be in the company of three more vessels and none of them had any idea what to expect. All they were supplied with was a list of names and the villages they resided in. It would have been nice of the Kage's to include something about their personalities on that list. Sure, Gaara had changed since his fight with Naruto, but that didn't mean there wasn't another demon like Shukaku lurking about, destroying another child's mind. Naruto sorely hoped that they wouldn't be recruiting a homicidal maniac.

"Naruto," asked Gaara, "despite the fact that you are the lowest ranking member of the team, I believe that you should lead."

Naruto ground his teeth at Garra's reminder of his rank but nodded anyway, "Yeah. Your sand defense is best in the rear and Sakura should be in the middle since she has better observational skills." At their nods, Naruto smiled, "This shouldn't take long. If we run hard, we'll make it in a day and a half. We'll rest just outside of the Wave Country's border and head on to mist after a few hours. Agreed?"

Again, his companions nodded and Naruto positively beamed. So what if he was only a genin. His team trusted him and that was all that mattered. Throwing his hand into the air, Naruto gave a shout, "Let's go!"

Green blurred past their vision quickly as the leapt from tree to tree in the same steady pace they'd set that morning. Despite Naruto's calculations, it was obvious that it would take longer than a day and a half to reach their destination. He must have been counting on his unbelievable level of stamina when he made that assumption, because by dusk, they were only half way there. He hardly seemed winded at all, but his pink-haired companion was slowly falling behind, closer to Gaara until he had to slow to match her pace.

For her part, Sakura wouldn't admit defeat. She had to show Naruto how much she'd improved so he wouldn't feel that he had to protect her as much. Granted, he knew how hard she could hit now, but that didn't mean he wouldn't treat her like the weak little girl he used to know. Thankfully, Gaara had seemed to notice all of this and called ahead to Naruto.

"Oi. Let's stop for tonight. There's no real hurry."

Pausing on a large branch, Naruto looked back over his shoulder, curiously, "Why? It's barely getting dark and we haven't even made it across the border."

Glaring, Gaara hopped forward, landing next to Naruto and leaned forward until the blond got the full force of the evil eyes, "You have any idea how much this gourd weighs?"

Laughing nervously, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "Heh. Yeah. Stopping sounds like a good idea." He looked around the area and sighed, "No point in worrying about tents or anything. We'll rest in the trees for tonight. Sakura, take first watch."

Sakura nodded and took to the task without complaint as Naruto knew she would. He was no idiot. He knew she was more tired than any of them and that was why he gave her the easiest shift. It was far easier to stay awake than it was to be woken up. Naruto would take the worst of it with the middle shift and leave Gaara the last shift. They would only be stopped for a few hours but that would be enough to see them through the rest of their journey to Mist Village.

To Naruto's surprise, Gaara remained standing next to him even as Sakura disappeared, presumably to set traps. "It's a liability keeping regular shinobi with us," stated the sand-nin in his usual monotone. "She doesn't have a demon aiding her. She won't be able to keep up."

"You don't know Sakura at all, Gaara." Naruto stared into the trees, his eyes tracking Sakura's movement even though she remained hidden, "The only thing about her that resembles her name is her hair. Anyone who underestimates her is in for a surprise."

Gaara turned to his companion with a hint of a smile, "That's what I like about you, Uzumaki." Gaara hopped from the branch with practiced ease, landing on one just below and settling down for his nap. In his abrupt move, he left behind a very confused Naruto who just stood and stared for the longest time before he too fell asleep.

It was only the barest of movements, but it was enough to spur Naruto to action. Before his eyes even gave any indication of opening, he had a kunai at the throat of whomever it was that had touched him. By now, this reaction was a reflex as much as anything else. Ero-Sennin had beaten several lessons into Naruto's head during their years together. One of them taught at the expense of many hours of valuable rest; never let your enemy catch you asleep.

Finally, Naruto opened his eyes and, still clouded with sleep though they were, he instantly recognized the jade pools that stared back at him. "Sakura-chan?" he asked sleepily.

"Um, Naruto? Could you please take the kunai from my neck?" she asked in a frightened tone. She hadn't even seen him move. One moment, she was touching his shoulder to wake him for his turn at guard duty and the next, she had a knife pressed to her neck.

Naruto replied with his ever intelligent, "Huh?" before he finally took stock of what was going on and hurriedly replaced his kunai in its holster. "S-sorry Sakura-chan! I didn't mean to."

Sakura rubbed her neck where the blade had been a moment ago and breathed in relief, "Sheesh, Naruto. When did you get so paranoid?"

"You try having Ero-Sennin wake you up every morning with one of his new tests." Naruto shivered slightly and scratched his arms, "He even dumped ants on me one time."

She giggled behind her hand at the thought and smiled sleepily at Naruto, "Well, it's your turn. Give up your spot here so I can sleep."

"Oh. Alright." Reluctantly, Naruto complied after a good deal of stretching and yawning and leapt away to branches unknown to begin his watch. By the way he felt, he knew he'd only gotten about 2 hours of sleep but that was enough for him. The chill air of the early morning was enough to wash away any remnants of sleep from his mind, although, he couldn't help but be a little annoyed at being woken up. He'd been having the best dream and of course, he'd been woken up at the best part. In his dream, he and Sakura had been on a date. Better yet, even Sakura had called it a date. The details were hazy but they were obviously having a good time just being with each other. He remembered Sakura laughing happily as they sat in a café, and then he remembered some sort of carnival where he'd won her a giant stuffed toad. Near the end of the dream, they had been sitting in a park at dusk. Neither of them had spoken and he distinctly remembered feeling nervous as he sat next to her. She had turned to him then, looking him in the eyes with the cutest blush on her face and a smile. Slowly, he eyes drifted closed and her lips puckered as she leaned toward him and then…he'd woken up.

"Stupid guard duty."

As his shift for the night drew to a close, Naruto made his way back to the others. He wasn't really tired anymore but at least he would be able to relax some more before they had to take off when the sun rose.

When he arrived back at their little camp – if it could be called that – he wasn't surprised to find Gaara already awake and waiting for his turn. A simple nod between the two was all it took for a changing of the guard and Naruto headed back up to his resting place. The branch didn't even bend under his weight as he stood there, smiling at the girl sitting against the trunk, snoring softly.

He couldn't help himself. He just had to watch her for a few minutes and staring at her as he was, Naruto was reminded just why he'd first begun to like her in the first place. She was simply the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The way she looked while she slept, the way she looked when she laughed, even the way she looked when she was angry attracted him to her. She was his ideal woman.

When she shifted slightly in her sleep, he'd thought for sure she would wake up and let him have it but she didn't wake up. In fact, as he looked at her more closely, he noticed for the first time that she was shivering. Having been awake and moving for so long, he hadn't really noticed how cold it had gotten but now, he could understand why she was shivering. Smiling, he slipped out of his coat and inched closer to Sakura's sleeping form so as not to wake her, "Here you go Sakura-chan. Sweet dreams." Placing the jacket over her, he stood and dropped down to a branch just below hers to settle in for the rest of the night.

Ok. Not thrilled with this chap but it'll do. Filler chaps aren't all that fulfilling obviously. Next chap, I'll introduce the first OC's. I can't decide as to whether or not I want to make these two really, how shall I put this…strange. I like the thought of them being screwed up, but I don't want to lose readers because I choose a quirk for these characters that is a little risqué. I'll have to do some serious thinking on it.