Part 7 – Deployment

Being as Naruto and Hinata decided to get married right away, the two of them didn't have time to plan out a big, extravagant honeymoon. But with a little help from their friends, and nice city-view hotel with a California King sized bed.

Needless to say, there are many ways that elves are better than humans, one being stamina. Being half-elf, Naruto had plenty of stamina to keep up with Hinata throughout the night.

There were a few things they would have to clean up before they left to arrive at the base. The bed was a complete mess, sheets and pillows thrown everywhere, clothes thrown all over the floor, and the two of them were so tangled in the sheets like a knot. After the night they had, you'd think they'd want to sleep in, but the alarm that Naruto set up wok him from his sleep.

"Morning," Hinata said as she smiled at her newly-wed husband, "Mr. Uzumaki."

"Good morning to you," Naruto said, "Mrs. Uzumaki. How was our little impromptu first honeymoon?"

"It was wonderful," Hinata said, "Right about now, we have a serious decision to make about what to do when it comes to our second honeymoon."

"When we get back from deployment, I promise I'll throw you the best after-wedding ceremony anyone's ever had," Naruto said, "And we'll have the best honeymoon ever."

"That can wait until you get back," Hinata said, "In the meantime, do you want to get ready, together?"

"You know nothing will make me happier," Naruto said as he picked up his wife, and carried her toward the shower.

*I will get into some detail later, SOME. It's December, a hallowed month, and I have rules. No scenes that could possibly get me in trouble with upper management. I made that mistake once, and I won't do it again. But NEVER during December or April.

Shino…

Hine walked into the kitchen to see her father fixing their breakfast with her mother, "Good morning baby," Tenten said as she looked up at her daughter.

"Good morning mommy," Hine said as she took her seat at the table.

Shino walked over to her, and placed the breakfast he made in front of each of them: two eggs cooked sunny-side-up, two slices of thick-cut bacon, bread, and a slice of Swiss cheese.

"This is an inevitability isn't it," Hine asked, "You going away more frequently after the bad men attacked New Orleans?"

"No," Shino said as he grabbed Hine's hand, "This will probably never happen again. I promise you right now, when I come back, I won't go away for a long time for an even longer time."

"You swear," Hine asked.

"On my honor," Shino said as he raised his hand, "Right now, we have to eat because we have to meet your uncles at the airport in an hour."

"Ok," Hine said as she picked up her knife and fork, and began eating.

Rock…

Arund and Zorand walked into the living room to see their uncle was sitting on the couch waiting for the two of them.

"Uncle Rock," Arund asked as he walked up to him.

"It's good to see you two," Rock said as he looked over to see him, and patted the side of the couch to signal them to join him, "Take a seat, there's something I have to tell you."

Arund and Zorand sat next to their uncle, "What's wrong," Arund asked.

"You know that I have to go away for a while," Rock asked.

"You have to go fight bad guys, right," Arund asked.

"Yes," Rock said, "Right now, many other soldiers have to leave their families as well. You know that me and your mother are trying to make sure Barben gets plenty of sleep?"

"Yes," Arund and Zorand said.

"While I'm gone, it's going to be up to you two to help your mom," Rock said, "Since I'm not going to be here, you two are going to be the only support system that your mother has. I'm counting on your two to be there when your mother needs you. Can you do that?"

"We can do that," Arund said.

"Good," Rock said, "Cause I'll be video-calling back every week. And I better hear that you two are not acting up."

"Why not," Arund asked.

"Because then you'll have to face the tickle monster," Rock said as he pounced on his nephew, and began attacking his ribs with his hands.

"NO, NO," Arund exclaimed, "Stop!"

It was then that Zorand jumped on Rock, and the three of them started rolling on the floor as Zunagu came into the living room holding Barben, and smiled as she saw her brother and children having the last bit of fun they could have before Rock went off to another country.

Sai…

Sai woke to the smell of breakfast being cooked, as he swung his feet off the side of the bed, and walked over to the entrance to the other room, he heard the sizzle of breakfast sausage in a pan.

As he entered into the other room, Ino was in there cooking breakfast for the two of them.

Ino turned around to see her boyfriend, and smiled when she said, "Good morning."

"Morning to you as well," Sai said as he walked up to her, and kissed her on the top of her head, "You're looking nice today."

"And so are you," Ino said as she leaned back into Sai's chest, "I wish you didn't have to go. I was planning on us enjoying a few days alone together."

"I was looking forward to those days," Sai said, "This whole situation going on in New Orleans is crazy. Right now, this war is going to be vicious. We have so many soldiers around the world heading to Africa. But to think we have to leave you guys so early is what hurts me. I want to be here with you."

"You'll be with me in a few months," Ino said, "Don't think about that right now. We're together, we're happy, and we're about to have ourselves an amazing breakfast. Perk up."

Sai chuckled before kissing Ino once more as she scooped the food she was making onto the plates she had placed just off to the side of the stove.

The two of them walked over to the couch to enjoy their breakfast, and watch a little TV before Sai had to head off to get dressed.

Sasuke…

Sasuke was cooking breakfast for himself and Sakura when Sakura looked up from her newspaper to say, "You boys did a good job last night with Naruto and Hinata's wedding."

"Naruto is my brother," Sasuke said, "And Hinata is your sister. It was the least we could do for them."

"It's weird," Sakura said, "Back when I first met Hinata, I thought she was a scared little girl. Now she's like my sister, and I couldn't be happier to call her my best friend."

"I thought the same about Naruto," Sasuke said, "I honestly thought he was the biggest goofball ever. Now he's one of the few friends I can actually rely on."

"And me," Sakura said, "Am I one of those friends?"

"You're at the top of that list," Sasuke said.

"Thanks, babe," Sakura said, "So tell me. What do you think you're going to be doing over in Africa?"

"Mostly decapitation strikes," Sasuke said, "No doubt we'll be put on reserve in case they need anything minor done in preparation of some kind of invasion. I seriously doubt we'll be doing much of anything except sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing."

"I'm sorry it's like that for you boys," Sakura said.

"It's like that for us because of our races," Sasuke said as he walked over to the table with the scrambled eggs he made for the two of them, and placed some on her plate, before placing some on his own, "The military isn't an instrument for social change, but then again, what is?"

As Sasuke walked back to the stove and placed the pan in the sink Sakura spoke up, "Do you think there could be a possibility that you could get someone sympathetic to the Knights?"

"Nope," Sasuke said, "Major Hatake sent over the roster on whose flying out last night. They have Lieutenant Colonel Ebisu Starr leading the Special Forces units into Kandra. He's beyond by-the-books, and he prefers to send in either human or elvish units rather than other units."

"That sucks," Sakura said as Sasuke joined her at the table.

"Yea," Sasuke said as they began eating, "It does."

One hour later…

As Naruto was pulling up to the base, he could see that Sasuke, Shino, Rock, and Sai were already there with their families.

Sasuke removed his bag from the trunk of his car and looked over at Sakura who hugged him as tight as she could. Sasuke hugged her back and held her as long as he could before pulling apart and kissing her.

"Try not to miss me too much," Sasuke asked.

"You're not even gone, and I already miss you," Sakura said.

"Please promise me you won't do anything reckless while I'm gone," Sasuke asked.

"You know I won't," Sakura said, "Take good care of yourself over there."

"I promise," Sasuke said.

Shino reached down to lift Hine onto his arm, so she could hug him around the neck, "You going to be a good girl for mommy while I'm gone," he asked.

"No," Hine said.

"Good, that's what I expect," Shino said as he hugged his daughter with a chuckle, and she hugged him back, laughing.

As they pulled apart, Shino looked down at his wife and leaned down to give Tenten a loving kiss.

"Promise me you'll take good care of yourself over there," Tenten asked.

"I promise," Shino said, "You take good care of yourself and Hine while I'm gone."

"We can take care of ourselves very well," Tenten said, "We'll wait for you."

"I won't be long," Shino said as he hugged Tenten, "I promise I won't keep you waiting."

As Naruto was getting his bag off his bike, Hinata hugged him like she was afraid he was going to fly away if she let go.

"We just got married, and now you have to go," Hinata said, "It's not fair."

"I know it's not," Naruto said as he hugged his newly-wed wife back as tight as he could, "I want to stay with you, and enjoy all the time we have together. Right now, I don't want you to think about that. I want you to think about what's going to happen when I get home."

"I can't wait," Hinata said as she kissed Naruto.

As Sai placed his bag next to him, he turned toward Ino who held out her hands which Sai took, "When you get back, we're going to have a lot of making up to do," she said.

"I know," Sai said as he put his forehead against Ino's, "I promise to make a call home every week. I'll miss you like crazy."

"I'll miss you even more," Ino said.

"No, I'll miss you even more," Sai said.

"I hope so," Ino said as she kissed him.

Rock knelt down to his niece and nephew, and hugged the two of them, "You guys be good for your mom while I'm gone," he said, "She'll need your help in keeping the house and your brother in order."

"We'll be good while you're gone," Arund said.

"I hope so," Rock said as he looked over at his nephew, "You guys know how much I love you. I'll miss you every day, and I promise I'll call as often as I can."

"We'll wait for those calls," Zorand said.

"I hope so," Rock said, "I know the one thing you'll miss above all else is my cooking."

"You know that," Arund said.

"Ok," Rock said as he kissed his niece and nephew on the top of their heads before turning to his sister, "You'll take good care of them, right?"

"Of course I will," Zunagu said, "Will you take good care of yourself?"

"Yes," Rock said, "I love you."

"I love you too," Zunagu said as she hugged her brother.

As they pulled apart, Rock turned toward Arund who laughed when his uncle reached down to grab his little hand.

"You be good for mom too," Rock said, Arund giggled as Rock leaned in to kiss him on the forehead, "I love you, little man."

The team picked up their bags and walked toward their cages. Getting onto a military aircraft in civilian clothing is not exactly regulation so they had to get changed, as well as everyone else who was getting on the plane with them.

The plane was a Lockheed C-130 Hercules that would have two refueling missions in order to get to their destination.

As they were boarding the plane, Sasuke fully expected to see Ebisu standing on the ramp of the plane, but who he saw came as a big surprise for not only him, but everyone else.

It was Brigadier General Jiraiya White, one of the few human generals who were sympathetic to the Knights, and actually mentored all five members of the team when they first joined.

"Morning, Lieutenant," Jiraiya said.

"General," Sasuke said as he saluted him, "Where's Lieutenant Colonel Starr?"

"Reports are he got a little toasted last night, and took a swim in the river," Jiraiya said, "Poor guy's resting in Chicago Central with pneumonia. Since he couldn't make it, I came in his place."

"At least that's something," Naruto said, "Someone who cares about his men."

"Don't talk about Starr that way," Jiraiya said, "At least not while we're on base."

Sasuke, Naruto, and Jiraiya laughed as the climbed into the plane, and took their seats for takeoff.

Off to Africa…