AN: Well, more chapters exist for this thing. Odd.
"That probably could've gone better." Sai shook his head. He was leading his team away from the Mission Assignment Desk after their report on the mission to Kannabi Bridge, his smile just a little bit strained. The mission had been simple on paper but, once Sakura had somehow convinced them to deliver their prisoners to the Hidden Stone, it had spiraled.
He was still confused at exactly how they had ended up on that beach.
"I think it went pretty alright." Sasuke gave a shrug of his shoulders, hands in the pocket of his white and blue jacket. The uchiwa of the Uchiha Clan was, like usual, nowhere to be found on his outfit. "We survived, didn't we?"
"And we made so many new friends!" Sakura was being carried on Naruto's back, a wide smile on her face as she leaned over his shoulder. "And you all finally got to meet my pen pal! Wasn't Han-kun so cool!"
No one on Team Sai chose to comment.
Thinking of one of Sakura's many "pen pals" would only lead to more headaches for any member of the squad.
Like how she even have them in the first place.
"Wait!" Naruto suddenly stopped in the middle of the hall. "Why am I carrying you?"
Sakura shrugged her shoulders, a smile on her face.
Naruto grumbled but kept walking.
Even if he didn't know how this happened, quitting wasn't the way of a disciple of Might Guy's Strong Fist!
"Well, with our report out of the way, I believe the three of you have the rest of the day free." Sai was rather glad for that. He wasn't quite sure if he could handle his team and their…uniqueness for the rest of the day after their rather chaotic mission.
Recon assignments shouldn't spill over into a full-fledged battle against a rogue Iwa Kunoichi and her gang of supporters mixed with a mini-vacation into the Hidden Stone at Sakura's urging.
"Then I got to get going!" Naruto, somehow, handed over Sakura to Sasuke, took off in a sprint down the hall. "I've gotta go see Hinata before she leaves!"
"Bye Naruto!" Sakura waved after him as he left.
Sasuke stared at the girl now on his back.
"Why do I have to carry you?"
Sai had, rather wisely, made his escape before Sasuke could turn to him.
"Giddy up Sasuke-kun!" Sakura dug her thighs into his side, Sasuke finding he was already walking forward before he could stop himself.
"…I guess this is my life now." He sighed as a currently delighted Sakura planted her hands on his shoulders, steered him down the halls.
"Don't worry! This is going to be fun!"
'I doubt that.'
With Naruto Uzumaki, he was currently racing over rooftops.
He was putting his all into getting to the gates of the village before Hinata left.
"Hey! Hinata!" Naruto waved as he called out her name, managed to meet her before she headed out the gates. She noticed where he was standing on the rooftops, smiled up at him as she returned his wave.
He was down on the street and in front of her in a blink of an eye, his tireless years of training in Guy-sensei's Strong Fist paying off in terms of his speed.
"Hello Naruto." Hinata still got red around him sometimes but it didn't happen as often or as bad as it used to.
"You're still sick? How bad is this cold you've got!" He frowned, doing what was basically routine for the two of them when he checked her forehead. He looked at her in concern. "You going to be okay out on this mission?"
"I'll be fine." Hinata smiled even if her face became slightly more red. "Did you have fun on your mission?"
"It was…" Naruto paused, seemed to think over his words as he looked up towards the blue sky. "Super weird." He gave Hinata a bright smile. "So it was awesome!" He reached into his jacket, pulled out the souvenir he had gotten from the Hidden Stone. "I even got your something!"
Hinata accepted the box with a smile and only a slight shake in her hands, her pale eyes wide as she checked what was inside it.
"T-This is really for me?" Hinata couldn't hide the disbelief in her voice as she looked up from the box to the smiling Naruto.
"You bet!" Naruto linked his hands behind his head. "You helped me a ton ever since we met and I want to give you something to say thanks a lot!" Naruto's grin was back. "So take it!"
"I will." Hinata nodded, more to herself than Naruto. "And I'll have something for you when I come back too." It was a promise she would uphold. "It'll be just as good as this, I promise!"
"Don't worry about it." Naruto's grin never fell away. "Anything I get from my friends is awesome."
Hinata clearly took such words as a challenge from the fire in her eyes, Naruto oblivious to it as he glanced around at the group at the gates to the village.
"Hey Kiba!" He waved at the Inuzuka.
"S'up." He earned a nod from the Genin and a bark from Akamaru.
"Hey Choji! Shikamaru!" He earned a wave from both.
"So, where are all of you going?" Naruto hadn't noticed it until now, more focused on finding Hinata so he could give her his gift, but it looked like Team Asuma and Team Kurenai were heading off on the same mission.
"Nothing to worry about. One of the older squads ran into trouble, we're coming in as support." Asuma nodded towards the gates. "We should get going. We're burning daylight."
"We'll be back in a few weeks." Kurenai offered a smile to Naruto, the boy a positive influence on Hinata and alright in her books because of it. "I'm sure Hinata will be happy to train with you some more then."
"Then I'm going to have something awesome to show her." Naruto nodded, flashed one last smile to his friend/teacher over the past near four years. "See you when you get back Hinata!"
Hinata could only blush at the smile on his face, could only offer a wave before she turned to the gates and headed out.
Naruto watched her and the rest of the two teams go for a moment.
"I wonder where they're going…" He turned and headed back into the village proper. He had a lot of training to do before he was really done for the day. "What was the last count between me and Lee? Was I up or was he? What was our last contest even about?" He had to think about their latest wager, Lee heading off on a mission while Team Sai was out so they couldn't exactly make a new one.
"Something about…pushups?"
He would think about it on his way to his and Lee's familiar training grounds.
