Hinata looked down at the bag of clothes she had in her hand.

She really didn't want to, but Ino and Sakura insisted that they go shopping with her to get a new set of clothes. Although the latter didn't say anything, the Yamanaka had said something along the lines of 'you'll be sweating like a bitch if you wear that baggy jacket to the desert, we need to get you a chance of clothes'.

She frowned at the memory. While she did have more confidence overall in both her tone of speaking and in her role as a Shinobi, she still suffered greatly when it came to social skills. So, to be frank, talking with Ino and Sakura in a normal setting was pretty weird.

Did she hate it? Absolutely not. If anything, Hinata liked it a lot. It was an experience she never had before in the slightest. When she was younger, she never really got to socialize with others that often due to her shy personality and the constant protection given to her because of her former status as heiress.

Perhaps Ino and Sakura noticed her lack of a social life and just wanted to help her loosen up a little bit. She never really interacted with them, so she was really surprised when they suddenly approached her all friendly, especially considering that she kind of stole their spot on Team 7 to potentially be with Sasuke.

Maybe they just wanted to be friends with her.

It probably wasn't the case, but Hinata kind of felt a little grateful…

Not for the clothes, though. Regardless, she didn't want to betray the feelings of her friends, so she would wear it on the day of the mission anyway. Plus, this getup seemed to be better for her in the long run. As much as she hated to admit it, the baggy jacket she wore sometimes got in the way.

Plus, though her hair wasn't long and therefore not something to be grabbed easily in a fight, the hood on her jacket could still be taken advantage of. For example, Orochimaru could have killed her had he wanted to in the Forest of Death just because she had her restrained by grabbing her hood.

Orochimaru…

Hinata didn't how it would work...the joint mission with Suna. Thanks to them, the relationship between Konoha and Suna had been severely damaged. Working together with them would be quite awkward and it could lead to some conflict later down the road.

Plus, Orochimaru was just so strong…

Sure, Kakashi and the other sensei would be there but…

Would it really be enough?

Hinata shivered, running a hand down her cheek, where the rogue ninja had licked her previously with his long tongue.

Hinata hadn't been one to usually care if she was humiliated or not. She knew that she was a laughing stock, but whether or not she was humiliated didn't matter in the end as long as she got the job done. She'd been humiliated so many times already that it just didn't matter.

But recently, it had started to really bother her again, being rendered helpless by Orochimaru within the span of ten seconds of battling him one on one. Sure, she landed a blow on him but it didn't amount to anything and the man could have easily killed her before then.

And then there was the beating she received from the Sound ninja, which easily beat out the beatings Neji would give her in training sessions.

She didn't know how it happened, but Hinata had gotten so lost in thought that she had almost walked right into the door of the Hyuga compound.

The sight of the Hyuga compound reminded her of Neji. After the meeting, he had insisted on walking her back home, but obviously Sakura and Ino came along.

Neji wanted to come along (probably because he wanted to make up for almost killing her by giving her protection at all costs) but in the end Hinata declined and said she didn't want to waste his time.

She could faintly remember the look he had on his face. It was so...shocked. Not shocked in a bad way. Looking back it was a very humorous face that made Hinata giggle as she looked back on the memory.

She entered the large compound, immediately making a walk for her room. It was still daytime. The shopping trip with Ino and Sakura had only lasted for one to two hours.

Walking through the corridor toward her usual training spot which was near her room, Hinata could hear traces of grunting followed by the sounds of hands clapping against each other.

"Again!" Came the authoritative voice of Hinata's father. The man may have started to show compassion for his nephew and his daughters, but it didn't mean that he stopped being strict.

In fact, recently he's been more strict than usual.

As Hinata walked across the rectangular training ground, she stopped to see Hiashi trading blows with a heavily focused and fatigued Neji.

After a few more moments of Neji dishing out blows as fast as he could with Hiashi easily blocking them, the leader of the Hyuga finally spoke up.

"That is enough for now, Neji. Go ahead and get some rest."

"Yes. Thank you." Neji bowed respectfully as he walked towards Hinata. As he walked past her, he made sure to give her a respectful smile as he went to go get a drink of water and some much needed rest.

Hiashi wiped a small drop of sweat that formed on his brow as he breathed out, making a steady pace towards his eldest daughter.

"I have heard from Neji that you two along with some others will be going to Kaze no Kuni to take on Orochimaru with Sunagakure." He said with an even tone.

The sudden statement startled Hinata. "Y-Yes. T-That would be correct. The mission starts in two days. We will be gone for a while."

For the next minute, Hiashi's eyes held absolutely no emotion whatsoever. A void of silence filled the gap between the father and daughter. It was so quiet that Hinata was beginning to feel her face heating up from how awkward it was.

Soon, however, her straight face turned into one of slight shock as Hiashi's lips curled into a small yet genuine smile.

"Very well, then. Do your best, and make our clan proud."

For some reason, it took Hinata a little bit to actually comprehend what had just happened. She was fully expecting something like 'don't be a burden to your peers' or something like that from her father. After all, he was never one for light encouragement.

Apparently she wasn't used to praise from her father just yet. Their relationship was still heavily strained. It would always be strained, no matter what happened. There would be a small bit of animosity and insecurity between Hinata and her father for as long as they lived. The scars of their damaged relationship would be engraved in the clocks of time for eternity. And everyone knew scars couldn't be completely healed.

However, while scars couldn't be healed, they could still be treated and mended somewhat.

The same goes for scarred relationships, such as ones with Hiashi Hyuga in the mix.

Hinata returned Hiashi's smile with a wide, happy one of her own. "Thank you! I won't disappoint you, Father!"

Hiashi closed his eyes, the smile not fading from his face at all. "I know you won't…"

The Next Day-At Konoha's Gates

Naruto's eyes widened upon setting his eyes on the long white-haired main standing at the gates along with the other teams.

Ok, this was weird.

"What are you doin' here, Ero-sennin?"

"It's Gama-sennin, brat!" Jiraiya corrected with an irritated frown. One would think that Naruto would show the member of the Sannin some more respect. One, because of his title. And two, he would have been dead without Jiraiya being there to teach him the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu).

And yet here he was…

Before Naruto could reply, something that would lead into more banter between the two, Kakashi stepped in, explaining the reason for Jiraiya's presence for Naruto.

"Jiraiya-sama is coming with us to take down Orochimaru. As a member of the Legendary Sannin himself, he will be our best bet against him."

Jiraiya triumphantly smiled, closing his eyes and standing to full height as a way to show his superior strength and dominance over everyone in the area. And it worked too, as Jiraiya's tall and strong stature made him very intimidating if he chose to make himself look in such a way.

The Toad Sage then put a serious expression on his face. "Well? Is this everyone?" He gestured to the surrounding people.

"No." Kakashi shook his head. "We are still waiting on Sakura, Hinata, and Sasuke." In an act of perfect timing, said ninja arrived at that moment.

"Sorry I'm late." A polite, soft voice said. Sakura said the same yet with a stronger tone while Sasuke merely grunted.

Naruto turned to the last three arrivals, examining his teammates and the pink-haired kunoichi. All of them have seemed to have changed clothes, with Hinata and Sakura standing out in particular.

Sasuke's outfit wasn't anything Naruto hadn't seen before. In fact, Naruto was more used to seeing the Uchiha dressed like this in his blue shirt with white shorts, which was the exact same outfit he wore in Nami no Kuni and in the first parts of the Chunin Exams.

Sakura wasn't too drastic either. There were notable differences. The colors of her outfit were exactly the same as her old qipao. Her green biker shorts were replaced by black ones and the qipao that she usually wore was replaced by what basically her qipao except that it cut off to reveal her midriff (think her design in the Crescent Moon movie) and the bottom part served as a skirt of some sort.

Hinata's outfit was a drastic change compared to how it originally was. The cream-colored baggy jacket was replaced with a jacket of the same color with shorts sleeves. Her jacket, like Sakura, cut off to reveal her midriff. However, underneath her short-sleeved jacket, she wore a mesh armor shirt while on her lower body she wore dark blue shorts that were similar in appearance to Neji's own brown shorts.

Naruto turned from the new arrivals to the others who were already here.

The other two members of Team 8 didn't seem to have changed that much. The only difference with them was that Kiba wasn't having his hood over his head like he usually did, showing off his unkempt brown hair.

Team Guy didn't look different whatsoever, aside from the fact that Tenten had more scrolls on her now.

On Team 10, all Ino did was remove the arm warmers she usually wore. Choji remained the same, while Shikamaru was now wearing the Chunin vest he had received due to his promotion.

"Well then!" Guy called out with excitement. "Now that we all have youth pumping through our veins, let us head out to Sunagakure!" He turned to to the open gates, digging a foot into the ground as he looked towards Kakashi with an expectant look on his face.

"G-Guy-sensei…" Tenten mumbled, putting her face into her hands. He might be an exceptional Shinobi, but Guy was just so embarrassing to be around...All. The. Time.

"Come on, Kakashi! It is time for another one of our youthful matches!"

"I don't want to…" Kakashi sweatdropped, purposefully not keeping his eyes in Guy.

The lack of attention given to the taijutsu specialist annoyed him greatly.

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Just one match!"

"Sunagakure is 3 days away!"

"It will be much quicker if we go at top speed!"

"Guy! Now is not the time to be messing around!" Kurenai chided with a strict tone, having enough of Guy's antics like everyone else.

Let it be said that Guy wore the most depressed face in the entire village at that moment.

After a few moments of Guy's reluctant silence, albeit there was the anxious fidgeting of him wanting to make a loud outburst, Jiraiya spoke up, he was looking directly at the blond-haired Uzumaki of the group.

"Naruto. After this mission, I want you to come with me."

"Come with you? Where?" Naruto asked with a curious expression before his eyes lit up like a baby finding his favorite toy. "Wait! Please tell me you're gonna teach me some secret awesome Jutsu! The Kuchiyose no Jutsu is so cool! I want to learn more!"

"Ehh...something like that. You'll find out more when the time comes." Jiraiya scratched the back of his head with a grin on his face.

"Come on! Not fair!" Naruto pouted. He turned away and closed his eyes. "Well, I guess if you still train me, then it will all be alright…"

Jiraiya chuckled, placing a hand on the Uzumaki's head, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Hey! Come on, Ero-sennin!" Naruto whined, forcing himself away from the old man's hand, his cheeks red from embarrassment. They were being watched by fourteen other people after all.

Jiraya listened and accepted Naruto's wishes. He didn't try to rub his hair again. His face turned serious as he turned to the gate. While he did want to teach Naruto something new after the mission, there was another reason why Jiraiya wanted him to come along.

The reason was that he had a hunch that an old friend and teammate of his was laying low in Tanzaku Quarters. The town attracts many people due to gambling opportunities and...women. While Tsunade was not a womanizer like Jiraiya himself, she loved gambling (even though she sucks at it), even before the deaths of her loved ones, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Tsunade was needed because she was a candidate for the next Hokage. The council had decided on Jiraiya himself to be the Hokage. However, once again, the Toad Sage turned down the hat. After his many failures, it was best that he was not left with the responsibilities of a Hokage.

So, the compromise was that Jiraiya find and persuade Tsunade to come back. If she took the hat, Jiraiya was off the hook. If she refused or if she didn't even return to the village, then Jiraiya would gladly say he'd be fucked.

That's why Naruto was coming along.

Tsunade had long since abandoned her belief in Konoha and the Will of Fire. Ever since she cut ties with the village, she has barely been heard from since. And judging by how long it's been, she didn't have any intention of coming back.

However, with Naruto, there is a chance that the boy's knuckle headedness and dream of becoming Hokage will reignite something inside of a Tsunade.

A fire…

"I still can't believe you're a Chunin, Shikamaru." Jiraiya tuned back in to see that the boy's attention was no longer on him. It was on the son of Shikaku Nara.

"As I said, it's a drag. Out of everyone in that tournament, I probably was the only one who didn't even want to be there." The lazy Nara replied calmly.

Naruto turned his head away from his friend with a blank expression on his face. Yep...I really don't understand how he made Chunin…

While that was going on, Hinata found herself making her way over to Tenten and Neji, who were standing next to each other noticeably somewhat far from Guy.

"Hinata-sama." Neji acknowledged, looking her straight into her eyes with a mostly emotionless look. Fortunately, while his eyes held no emotion, that also meant they held no anger as well.

"Umm...I've been wondering...how is Lee-kun?" The former heiress asked with a hint of concern in her voice. She hadn't seen or heard from him since the invasion and she was starting to get worried about him. After all, his dreams were completely wrecked and thrown away like trash by Gaara.

"I don't know…" Tenten said honestly with a sad look in her eyes, thinking about the crippled boy. "He's taking his injuries pretty hard. I mean...anyone would if it meant their dreams being crushed…"

"He will have to figure something else to aspire for then." Neji spoke up with a wide frown on his face. It was clear that he was feeling bad for his teammate's condition, unlike his former self who wouldn't have seemed bothered at all. "As much as he may hate to admit, his career as a Shinobi is over. With the injuries he has sustained, there is no way of completely healing."

"Oh? I see…" Hinata looked down at the ground, feeling more sorry for Lee with each passing second.

"Alright! Now that we're all here I say we head out right now!" The gruff yet enthusiastic voice of Jiraiya played through the ears of everyone waiting.

"If that is your desire, then we shall do so, Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi said with the small respectful bow of his head.

After a minute or two more of making sure everything was prepared, the group of eleven Genin, four Jonin, and one Sannin walked out of the village.

As the group made the long trek to Suna, Jiraiya and the other Jonin decided to lay out the plan of attack to the Genin and the now Chunin Shikamaru.

"We will be splitting up into groups." Asuma started. "This is so we can throw off the enemy by cutting ourselves into smaller numbers, attacking from multiple different points."

"I will be on my own." Jiraiya quickly added, staring back at Naruto sharply. This went without saying. Jiraiya was the strongest person in the group. He was far stronger than the others, with only the Jonin being somewhat of a challenge.

He took notice of the pout from Naruto that followed this statement. Obviously, this was to be expected as well. Surprisingly, the blond made no objection despite the obvious displeasure on his face.

"We will have three Shinobi from Sunagakure joining us when we get there, with more reinforcements following later." Kakashi stated. He watched as Naruto's head perked up. It was obvious who he was thinking about.

"Is it them?" The boy asked Kakashi with an expectant look on his face.

A few moments of silence went by. The only sound was everyone's feet hitting the ground as they ran. They all knew who Naruto was referring to. Neji, Tenten, and Guy all noticeably stiffened, with a painful reminder of the fate of their treasured teammate.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto pressed on with a blank tone, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. It is Gaara and his siblings." The copy ninja finally responded.

Naruto looked down at the ground. He had hoped Gaara had changed for the better in some way. After their battle back at Konoha, the Uzumaki could see that his words to the Sand Jinchuuriki had changed something about him, even in the brief final seconds he had seen him before he was taken away by Temari and Kankuro.

Again, hopefully that change was for the better. It was honestly very hard to tell with Gaara. The only emotions you could ever read on his face were bloodlust and disinterest.

"So how will the groups be split up?" Sakura cleared her throat, trying to get back to the topic at hand in an attempt to ease the discomfort that everyone in the group shared.

"We already have the teams. We'll run through them right now." Kurenai stated as she began to list down the members of each team. "Team 1 will consist of Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Tenten, myself, and a girl from Suna named Temari."

Shikamaru could be heard muttering 'how troublesome' under his breath moments after.

"Team 2 will hold two Jonin sensei. As a result, there may be a chance we will split up at some point." Kakashi said. "With Guy and I on Team 2 is Neji, Shino, Kiba, and finally the man from Suna named Kankuro."

Guy grinned, letting out a manly roar before muttering random things about youth and getting energized, much to the group's annoyance.

"Finally, Team 3." Asuma said. It was pretty clear who was on the team, but just to be sure he read down the members anyway. "Under my leadership will be Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata and Sunagakure's Gaara."

Naruto and Sasuke blinked out of surprise. A feeling of interest and anticipation filled their insides as they wondered what Gaara would be like now. Meanwhile, on the other hand, both Hinata and Sakura began to visibly shiver.

Neji glanced back at his younger cousin out of immediate concern. He already saw Lee's dreams get crushed; he did not want under any circumstances to fail his duty and see Hinata end up in the same way. He turned to the four Jonin sensei leading the group as they ran. He opened his mouth to speak, but it eventually closed again when he didn't make a single sound.

Regardless of how they felt however, that was their teams. And everyone got the sign that nothing would be changed no matter what. Arguing against would just make the situation even worse.

At the very least Hinata was in safe hands with Naruto. Neji knew all too well that Naruto was a complete idiot. However, when push comes to shove, he held some respect for the boy and knew that he was strong enough to do the job in his absence

Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand)...is it wise to let a person like him roam freely? His mind immediately filled his head with doubts and fear.

"Do not worry, you four. I'll be there to make sure he doesn't hurt you, but I doubt he'll try anything." Asuma spoke up with a dull yet in an odd way an assuring tone. "If Sunagakure is telling the truth, then Gaara seems to have mellowed down since his fight with our very own Naruto Uzumaki."

Neji scowled. Ok, that still didn't help much when it came to easing his thoughts. He said if Suna was telling the truth. He never said it was a 100% confirmation. So that means that there is still a chance for something bad to happen.

Already, Neji Hyuga's outlook on this mission was not good…

2 Days Later-At Night

After days of running, the group decided to take a break and get some rest.

They had no breaks whatsoever during their traveling, and most if not all of the Genin were feeling pretty tired now. So, they were now setting up camp. Nearly everyone was helping out with some exceptions.

Hinata was one of them. And to be frank, she was glad she wasn't chosen for one of the jobs. As soon as her butt hit the ground, she did not want to get up. Her feet were very sore from all the running, as she had expected it to be for the other Genin.

Luckily, there was a pool of water about a two minute walk from the campsite that she walked over to in order to relax.

The feeling of her feet being moistened as she dipped them into the water was very soothing. It wasn't like the baths she would take at home or in the public springs, but it was still comfortable nonetheless.

"Hinata!" A feminine voice suddenly called.

Hinata turned to the source to see Sakura walking towards her with a frown adorning her features.

"S-Sakura-san…" Hinata mumbled the name of her fellow Genin, confused and worried by the girl's troubled look. "What's wrong?" She asked out of concern with a soft tone.

The pinkette moved to sit down next to her, removing her sandals from her feet beforehand so she could also dip her toes into the water. Once she did, she let out a long sigh of relief with the exclamation of how nice the water was. In a few moments however, the same troubled expression returned to her face.

She turned to face the Hyuga, opening her mouth to say something, but she couldn't just get the words out. She still felt awkward with Hinata, despite the fact that the girl did not actually do anything at all. It was more of what Sakura herself did.

While she did shop with the girl, that was more of Ino's idea because she said that the girl 'needed to get out of her shell' or something like that. Even then, she could easily read the discomfort that Hinata had at the time. Perhaps it was due to buying more revealing clothes to what she was used to or it was just that the girl was just socially awkward.

Sakura didn't think much of Hinata in the Academy, but after shopping with her she realized that she was quite a strange person. Perhaps that was just her way of being different, but even still she was very strange.

Which was one of the reasons why she found it weird interacting with Hinata. The other being her mistake of blindly and immaturely assuming that Hinata had the hots for Sasuke and that she used her status in the Hyuga clan to switch up the teams.

Regardless of what she thought of her before however, Sakura for some reason wanted to befriend Hinata. After all, outside of her teammates and Ino, she really didn't have many friends...or at least friends that she could somewhat relate to.

Hinata was maybe that person. Like Hinata, Sakura herself had major self-esteem issues due to the bullying inflicted upon her caused by her large forehead. And, from what she's seen, they both hated being a burden to others.

"Uhh...Sakura-san," Hinata spoke up, snapping Sakura out of her daze. She looked at her with a concerned look. For the past 30 seconds she had been just staring at her and it was starting to get very uncomfortable for her. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh, yes!" Sakura immediately turned her head to look down at the water, a small blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. "I was just wanting to ask you...how do you feel about being on the same team as that Gaara guy?" She directed her gaze back to the indigo-haired kunoichi and locked eyes with her before the former heiress looked away, deep in thought.

"I…" She started before pausing, unsure of what to say next.

"It's okay." Sakura said after a few moments. "You don't have to tell me." She already knew somewhat of how the girl felt. She just wanted to hear for herself so she could know that she was not alone.

"No, it's fine." Hinata said with an insistent nod. Perhaps letting out her fears to a fellow comrade would make her feel better. "To be honest...I am quite scared. Given the circumstances, I don't really trust the people from Sunagakure."

Sakura made a sound that voiced her agreement. "I think all of us feel that way." She looked down at her lap, straightening out the wrinkles on her lap lightly. An uncomfortable silence filled the air, something that greatly irritated Sakura. She stopped caressing her lap to glance at the lavender-eyed kunoichi before grinning mischievously. "Sooooo, Hinata, are you excited to be on Naruto-kun's team?"

Hinata's response was to immediately blush out of embarrassment. "S-Sakura-san!"

Sakura couldn't help herself. She broke out into a laughing fit. "I'm...hahaha...sorry! I have no right to make fun of you like that anyway..." She trailed off, leaving Hinata to immediately fill in the blanks. Sakura was obviously referring to her own love for Sasuke which has been left unreciprocated.

At that moment, it shocked Hinata just how many things she had in common with Sakura. They both aspired to become stronger for the sake of supporting their team and they were also crushing on a boy who was either unaware of their feelings or not wanting any part of it.

"I think you have a good chance of getting with Sasuke-kun." Hinata suddenly found herself saying.

"What?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, surprised that the words were coming out of Hinata's mouth.

"Out of everyone who had a crush on him back at the Academy, he seemed to tolerate you the most." Hinata elaborated, giving Sakura a confident smile. "Not to mention, he also took notice of the fact that you cut your hair; he seemed to pay no attention at all when Ino-san did it during the Chunin Exams. Sakura-san, if I were to be truly honest with myself, then...I'd say you have the best chance of getting with Sasuke-kun out of everyone I know. I'd say...that as long as you stayed focused on the mission, he would have no qualms with working on the same team as you."

"...Wow. That's a lot to take in. I never really thought of it like that." Sakura said with genuine amazement. She really didn't notice that Sasuke treated her better than the other girls. Sure, she was still a waste of time in his eyes but...wow. Sakura smiled at her companion. "You have a really good eye for details like these, Hinata."

"T-Thank you..." Hinata blushed from the praise, embarrassed that she had put herself on the spot like that, so much so that the stutter that she had thought she'd gotten ridden of returned.

"Y'know, Hinata." Sakura said out loud, brushing a hand through her pink hair. "I believe that you have a good chance of getting with Naruto."

The small blush on Hinata's face that had begun to disappear immediately brightened. Hinata mentally chastised herself for getting embarrassed so easily. She had managed to stand up to her own cousin Neji Hyuga and took part in the Chunin Exams and a C-ranked mission to Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) her she still somehow managed to almost always froze up whenever Naruto was involved.

You are so hopeless, Hinata...The female Hyuga thought to herself.

Suddenly, Hinata found her ears picking up the sound of a yawn which came from Sakura. This seemed to be the case as when Hinata turned to her fellow kunoichi she was stretching her arms out with her mouth wide open.

Sakura rubbed her eyes, rising to her feet as she did so. "I'm so tired! I'm gonna go back to camp." She turned around and began to walk the short distance back to camp. "Bye, Hinata!"

"Hmm? Oh, yes! Good night to you, Sakura-san." Hinata replied politely as she saw the girl walk away. As soon as she was gone, the smile on her face turned into a frown as she looked down at the water near her feet.

Eventually, after sitting in that one place for five minutes, Hinata rose to her feet. She turned in the direction of the camp and began walking with only one thought running through her mind. As she walked back, she couldn't get the feeling that something was going to happen out of her head.

She didn't know when. Her gut just told her that at some point on the mission…

Something was going to go wrong.

The Next Day

This is such a drag...Shikamaru thought to himself, laying his eyes on the new arrivals. They were in a settlement near Sunagakure where they had met up with Gaara and the others. Now that everyone was face to face, there seemed to be tension between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, and Gaara. And if that wasn't enough, there was that Kankuro guy staring daggers at Shino, who returned the look with a fixed gaze.

The Nara looked at the female of the trio, meeting her gaze.

Shikamaru flexed his fingers, tightening his hands into a fist out of annoyance. Damn it! Why am I so nervous?

"Ehh? What's with the stupid look on your face, Nara?" Temari stated bluntly with a smirk on her face.

"Be quiet! I don't need to hear that coming from a troublesome woman like you." Shikamaru muttered, turning away from the girl, directing his gaze to the sky. His eyebrows furrowed out of frustration after coming to a realization.

No clouds...what a drag…

After silently expressing his distaste at the lack of clouds in the sky, Shikamaru turned his attention to something much more interesting. And that something was Temari's youngest brother, the former psychopath named Gaara.

To Shikamaru's surprise, the auburn-haired boy was looking straight at the Uzumaki, who was staring back at him with wide and concentrated eyes that held anticipation all the same.

"Naruto...Uzumaki." Gaara droned, his voice sounding no different than from the Chunin Exams. However, the tone was slightly different. It no longer had the sound of a man out for blood. It was more calm and collected. In fact, everything about Gaara seemed to be more mellowed down.

"Gaara…" The blond replied with an even tone, trying not to show any signs of nervousness out of the fear that it would be manipulated. Although this attempt was betrayed by the drop of sweat that nearly rolled into the confines of his eyes "How...How are you?"

"I...am fine." Gaara said, not blinking for the entire minute that he had been staring at Naruto. Shikamaru would have been lying if he had said that the boy's staring was very unsettling. He could tell from small body movements that Naruto was also becoming slightly uncomfortable.

Sweat? Check. Twitching? Check. Occasional glances towards Jiraiya, Kakashi, and the other three Jonin? Check.

Suddenly, Naruto's face changed. It was like any sign of discomfort that anyone saw on his face had just disappeared like it was never there in the first place.

The whiskered boy flashed Gaara a grin. "I think we'll make a great team!"

Everyone (Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke especially) looked at Naruto as if he was out of his mind. Even the Jonin were caught off guard by this somewhat casual and friendly statement. They all knew that Naruto typically didn't get along with an asshole. Gaara...was much worse than an asshole…

He was a psychotic maniac. Or at least...he used to be a psychotic maniac.

The one who was shocked most of all was Gaara, as for a brief moment he let surprise show in his eyes. He quickly washed this away as the mask of minor interest that he usually wore returned to his face.

"Ahem." Kurenai cleared her throat, gaining everybody's attention. "Now that we are all hear, I'd say it's time for us to move out."

Jiraiya gave a nod of agreement. "You all have your groups and a mission to do. How about everyone just do us a favor and try not to screw it up for the others."

"Shikamaru." Kurenai said, turning to face said boy. "This is your first mission as a Chunin. While you are expected to fulfill your responsibilities as a Chunin, I want you to take note of everything on this mission to use for your own gain. If anything were to happen to me, you'll be in charge of the group."

"What?!" Shikamaru perked up, his eyebrows raising as he gave the Genjutsu Mistress a dumbfounded look.

Seeing the urge to complain on Shikamaru's face, Kurenai closed her eyes and said, "That is the price of being a Chunin. You are given new responsibilities that exceed those of a Genin and you are expected to carry out those responsibilities obediently."

Shikamaru sighed, scratching the back of his head. There was only one thing running through his head at that moment.

What a drag…

Wow...it's been two months since I've last updated this story. Damn, does time fly!

Sorry for the lack of updates, I just had to plan out some stuff for this little arc thing I'm doing. The next chapter might be a little short, I don't know though.

Anyways, there's really not much I can say here, so...yeah.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Take care, goodbye!