A/N: Eh… Sorry it's been a while. Heh heh… I've been really busy. But, I'm happy! I got two reviews! It was the second one that motivated me to write more! Please review! I do so love to hear that people like what I write. Oh… And by the way, I have an account at deviantart (my name is kirokikumo there as well) where I have a picture of "Ghost." I'm very proud of it, so I'd be very happy if you'd go and see it. Sometimes I'm a lot better with pictures than with words. Though a small note…. It's a simple pic, but it may be a bit of a spoiler. No mask (!shock!) and I just have a doodle in the corner that may reveal a little something…. So, if you don't like hints, there's your warning.

Oh…. And I don't own Naruto or anything that belongs to Kishimoto-san. (Bows to Kishimoto-san)

"..." speech

(italics) thought

boom - sound effects

Chapter Two: The Mission

The skies were an amazing blue with only the smallest traces of white wisps in the sky. A light breeze passed through the busy streets of Konoha, past all the small vendors and merchants in the village's center. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining and it was a perfectly fine day as team 7, the blond, the raven, and the cherry blossom, strolled through the streets of Konoha.

Naruto agitatedly put his hands behind his head and gazed off into the blue. While strolling along, he mumbled to himself, "Stupid old man Kakashi-sensei... Now we're back to doing D-rank missions... Stupid dog walking..."

Sakura turned to him, finger raised in explanation, "Now, Naruto, you know the laws of the village. We're still Genins, so we do C or D missions. There's no changing that." That may have been what Sakura said, but her face surely didn't show it. Following her speech to Naruto, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes as her eyebrow twitched. (Inner Sakura: "Smelly dogs... - grumble grumble -")

Naruto quickly changed the subject, taking on that look of anxious excitement as he looks toward the future. He practically hopped as he spoke. "I can't wait for the next Chuunin exam! I'll blow everyone else out of the water with my Rasengan!" (Naruto made a motion with his fist on that final word.) "I might even get to fight you this time Sasuke!" He glanced over to his dark friend with a large grin on his face.

Sasuke only returned a chilling look, though one could almost see his lips curl around the edges. Almost. His expression remained dominantly cold. If it weren't for all the people around, Sasuke had half a mind to wipe that smile off his friend's face.

A little ways ahead, Naruto's usual stop, the Ramen shop, appeared behind a sea of people going about their shopping. Naruto didn't manage to catch much of Sasuke's look before it caught his attention. His face lit up automatically. "There's the Ramen shop!" Naruto bound off towards the shop, straight through all the people. He barely noticed the path he made through them as they all turned to look. He even knocked over a shopper with a pile of packages that now covered the street. Sakura and Sasuke just stood there for a moment, staring after him. ("Same old Naruto……")

"I'll have two extra-large bowls of your best Shrimp Ramen!" The shopkeeper just about jumped out of his skin as Naruto jumped up to the counter, yelling his order.

"Uh… Com… Comin' right up. (Same old Naruto…)" The shop keeper smiled to himself. "Heh heh."

Sakura stepped in, like a normal person, and took her seat on the left of Naruto. Sasuke, to her delight, quietly took the seat on her other side. She blushed lightly before looking back to Naruto. She looked over at all his food, almost disgusted, wrinkling her brow. "You better not eat so much, Naruto. You might end up like Chouji."

XXXXX

a little later….

XXXXX

SLURP - "Ahhh!" Naruto leaned back groggily, massaging his full stomach. His eyes gazed upward as he thought for a minute while the other two ate.

Naruto broke the silence between the three. He spoke in a strangely serious tone as he sat back up, placing his chin on his arms, resting on the counter. "Kakashi-sensei really was unfair today." His brow wrinkled agitatedly.

Surprisingly, Sasuke set his Ramen bowl down with a small - pa-tnk - and he looked down at his remaining noodles ponderously. He, seeming to speak to himself, said only, "That girl."

Sakura looked over at him from behind her Ramen bowl, surprised to hear the dark boy break his silence.

Naruto didn't look over to Sasuke though and continues the conversation, his voice mildly muffled on his arms. "Yeah. Ghost... san? That's a weird thing to call someone. He has to know her..."

Sakura placed her bowl down as well, apparently aghast that these two could actually be having a serious conversation that didn't involve a mission or technique.

Sasuke pulled his hands up and placed them under his chin thoughtfully. "Her name wasn't what struck me. 'Kakashi-sensei.'?"

Naruto screwed up his face in an attempt to remember. "Ehhh... Did she say that?"

Sakura broke in, strongly at first, but then her voice spiraled downward into almost a whisper as she looked down at her hands on the counter. "What I noticed... were… her scars... She can't be too much older than us... Maybe sixteen... or eighteen even... But all those scars? She's been fighting far longer than we have. And that mask..." Sakura's eyes darkened and her eyebrows pulled together in a pitiful expression.

They all took in what Sakura said and paused... The noises of the restaurant were playing in the background. They hadn't thought of the other people at the counter as they talked, but as they each spoke in hushed tones, it was doubtful anyone would have overheard anyway.

Naruto leaned back in his chair, placing one elbow over the backrest to better situate his body to look right over to his dark-haired friend. His eyes, icy blue, were resolute and serious. "I say we find out who she is." He grinned.

Sakura looked back at those eyes, almost in shock at how truly serious Naruto could be. Sasuke's eyes shifted over to his blond companion for the first time since they had reached the shop. He couldn't hide a small look of interest.

Naruto lifted the hand that remained free, motioning as he spoke. "We're bored with these stupid missions, right? Then why don't we set our own? Hee hee." Naruto's smile widened mischievously. "This one should at least be a B rank." Once again, his eyes told them he was dead serious.

Sasuke's eyes drifted away. He paused for a moment, closing his eyes and, behind his hands, you could just see a small smile. (I can't believe I'm agreeing to this...) "Alright."

Sakura's head flipped back and forth between the two, eyes in a most surprised expression, she could hardly believe that they both had agreed on something. She blushed mildly, and said, with rising enthusiasm, "O… Okay. It's a mission!"

She smiled at the boys. Sasuke just closed his eyes again and the lips behind his hands pulled into a wide smile. Naruto just looked back at the both of them, eyes sparkling, his smile growing wider, showing all of his while teeth before he practically jumped out of his seat, pumping his fist into the air and yelling, "Alright!"