3 Weeks Later

"The mission is simple, we get in there, retrieve the folder and get away as fast as possible. Leave no evidence behind."

A soft powerful feminine voice rang through the forest clearing. Bouncing off the decaying oak trees letting it linger in the Summer air. The tone of voice was dark, the holder being horribly serious as her feminin hand rested on one of the trees. Her fingernails tried to pierce the dying bark as her blue eyes wandered around the forest. The voice belonged to the one and only Narumi Namikaze. Her father, the Hokage put her in charge of a simple retrieval mission just outside the border of Konoha. While this isn't her first retrieval mission, it didn't stop her from being overly serious. She quickly scanned over the area, her eyes coming to rest on an old looking cabin that was just outside of Tizuna Town. Letting the soft breeze flow over her body, allowing the air to slightly calm her. "Three guards on each side of the building." she whispered to herself as her eyes shifted to a cluster of trees just past the cabin. "Hiding in the trees are another set of three, their chakra signatures are much larger, high chunin if I had to estimate." Her bangs fell forward slightly, obscuring her vision and shadowing her eyes.

"Mission Start."

Konoha

"Sai I'll fucking kill you!"

Shizuka yelled and as what seemed like the hundredth kunai left her palms as it soared through the air, all aimed over to the black haired teammate of Team 11. Sai wasn't a prideful man, hell he didn't have that many emotions since he was taken into the anbu at such a young age. And he knows that for as long as he lives, he will never admit that he was scared at this very moment.

Really fucking scared.

Shizuka tossed another kunai, this one barely nicking Sai across the check. Naruto watched from the sidelines in pity. While he did find the 'affectionate' nickname Tits for Shizuka to be quite funny, he knew it was gonna bite the boy in the ass someday. He didn't expect it to be barely three weeks after becoming an official team. So here he was now witnessing a murder attempt while he periodically had to sidestep from a kunai that Shizuka missed Sai with.

Their team training with Anko had ended a while ago, she quickly left the training ground and all three genin decided to stay to get a little extra training in. The only rule she gave was to make sure they were well rested for tomorrow, apparently they were getting a new mission.

And just two hours went by before all hell broke loose between team 11.

"Shizuka knock it off. At least give him some breathing room."

The raven headed genin snapped her head over to Naruto and gave one of her meanest glares. Her grip tightening around her kunai as her emerald eyes locked within Naruto's own sapphire. Shizuka scoffed as she put her kunai away letting Sai walk off free. Her eyes never leaving Naruto's. After seeing Sai walk off he let a small smile grace his lips, Sai was very, very sweaty but other than a few cuts here and there he looked perfectly fine. He turned to Sai.

"You okay?"

Sai gave a hesitant nod of gratitude to the blonde as he smiled. "Yes, it was a good workout."

"Please all you did was run around for an hour!"

"Cardio is important."

Naruto sighed as he watched the two start to bicker once again, well more like Sai just led Shizuka on until she got fed up and brought her weapons out. His eyes going back and forth between the two. Even though he was starting to get fed up with the constant bickering, it did bring a smile to his face. Feeling like he was a part of a group, as he would be the one to step in. And sometimes be on the receiving end with Shizuka. Naruto thought about that, sure they were a team, but they didn't really do anything as a team outside of this training ground and missions.

Naruto got both their attention before speaking "Why don't we all go get something to eat? You know, as a team?"

Both Sai and Shizuka looked at Naruto in sudden surprise. Naruto sweatdropped, he didn't think it was such a strange thing to ask. They were a team after all. Naruto chuckled nervously at their blank expressions "We could go to that ramen shop Ichiruka, It's pretty good." After a few more moments of tense silence Shizuka nodded.

"Yeah sure. Lead the way."

"Three miso ramen for me please!"

"One seafood ramen please."

"I'll have what tit-uhh the lady is having."

Naruto snickered as Sai quickly shut his insult down by the dark glare Shizuka sent his way. After giving the chef their orders an awkward silence fell over them. Neither really knowing what to say or even how to talk to each other. "So" Naruto started effectively grabbing the attention of the two genin "Why don't we finally get to know one another? Like what we like and dislike?" He finished with a smile. He noticed their hesitant looks and gave an awkward laugh "Okay, uhhh how about I go first then. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, my likes are training, being with my friends, turtles and Shisui-niisan. I dislike people who abandon anyone, rapists, the usual. And my dream, my dream is to...prove everyone wrong about me, and make my sensei proud." He said, his voice turning deathly serious surprising his two teammates. In the last few weeks they haven't seen Naruto seriously at any moment. Sure they have only done training exercises and a LOT of D rank missions. But this was something entirely different. It seemed like he was much older, way too old for a 13 year old. Sai was the first to recover but he felt something trigger within him, his eyes flashed with an foreign emotion that he hasn't felt in years.

"My name is Sai. I like to paint, I dislike the same things you do. My dream...my dream. I guess I don't have one."

"WHAT?! You don't have a dream?" All seriousness that Naruto previously evaporated in seconds. His hands slammed on the table making his ramen broth leak out of his bowl as he caught the attention of other occupants within the stand. Naruto didn't waver "Is there nothing you ever wanted to do? Or to be?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Sai once again felt the unfamiliar, (familiar) feeling trigger inside him once again. He sat there in stunned silence. Anything he thought he should say died in his throat, his mind going too fast to comprehend an appropriate response. So he said the first thing that meant something to him, "My dream is to finish my brother's book." Naruto smiled wide. His eyes turned into upside down U's. He praised Sai for having a meaningful dream, then looked over at Shizuka.

The transfer shinobi gave a deep sigh, not really liking the idea of sharing her personal interests. She never did something like this in her home village, "My name is Shizuka. I like training, animals and making dolls." She blushed bright red as she noticed both her teammates raise their eyebrows in shock and confusion(mainly Naruto). "I dislike the same things you guys do. Plus some. And my dream is to become the world's strongest kunoichi."

Naruto smiled wide over at Shizuka. "That's great! See I told you guys this was gonna be fun!" He said with a grin, finally feeling comfortable after a solid conversation. Shizuka crossed her arms around her chest. Her ears turned a tad pink as she told her teammates her secrets. She couldn't deny that it was quite interesting to hear what her teammates actually thought and felt. She looked over at Sai to see his face was more blank than usual. His ramen bowl untouched. After a few moments he looked her way, his face morphing into a large smile doing so. The look is completely gone. She broke out of her musing once Naruto began speaking again.

"Actually Shizuka, I've been wanting to ask you. What is Nadeshiko like?" Naruto asked, bringing up his chopstick to his chin in thought. "I've never heard of the village before, how was it over there?" Shizuka turned her attention to Naruto, tilting her head at the question. She hummed in thought for a moment before answering him. "It wasn't very good in Nadeshiko when I was there. There's this stupid rule where once we graduate the academy, we have to leave the village and search for a strong male shinobi. And if we lose in battle they must come to our village and we get married off to them." she finished with a scowl. Naruto looked at her shocked. "W-what! That's ridiculous!"

Shizuka nodded her head in agreement. "I agree. We are just used to creating stronger heirs for our village, basically livestock. Once we get married off we are forced to retire as shinobi and become full time wifes."

Naruro clenched his fists at her explanation. Shaking his head "That's so ridiculous! That village is forcing you guy's into a life no one wants!" he said and Shizuka nodded sadly, "Yes, but that is why I came to Konoha." she said looking down a frown on her face. "My...my parents died when I was very young but they were both originally born in Konoha. While Nadeshiko is technically closer to Kiri, I could have gone there. I wanted to experience the village my parents were raised in." she said. Naruto gave her a sympathetic look. Surprisingly, Sai spoke up trying his best to give the girl a reassuring pat on the shoulder. It was awkward and strained but she appreciated it nonetheless.

"I know what you mean Shizuka-san. I never knew who my real parents were. I was born in a random little village a few miles from Konoha. But I always heard that they were from the big village that was Konoha, I guess you could say my first real dream is seeing the place they grew up in." he said, allowing them to see just a fraction of his emotions. Naruto nodded as they continued to eat their food in a comfortable silence.

After they finished their meal they walked outside back into the streets of Konoha, Naruto breathed in the fresh air as he stretched his body. Shizuki came next to him "Thanks for inviting us out to eat with you Naruto. I actually had a good time." she smiled and Sai nodded next to her. "Indeed. Maybe, maybe we could do that again sometime." Naruto's eyes lit up in glee as he nodded happily.

"Of course I would be happy to! We are a team after all-"

"Well well well, if it isn't my little Otōto."

Naruto felt himself tense up, Shizuka and Sai both noticed Naruto's body tense up. They turned their heads over to the front of the stand to see the fabled Natsu Namikaze leaning just outside of the stand. A smirk plastered on his face, his chunin vest glowing as he had an open red coat over it. His village headband wrapped around his neck hanging loosely as he crossed his arms around his chest. He held his head up high. His smirk if possible seemed to stretch further across his face. His eyes switched over to the rest of the team slowly. "You both will have to excuse my little brother here. He gets a bit overzealous most of the time."

Naruto clenched his fists as he looked at his brother. His whole family always finds a way to ruin a good day. When he's with friends, his team, or alone time. They always find a way to make his life more and more miserable. He had no words for his brother, wanting his very presence gone from the shop.

Shizuka on the other hand was showing signs of pure bewilderment. She snapped her head over to Naruto "Wait b-brother?"

Natsu chuckled as he reached over and threw his arm around Shizuka. The black haired girl blushed from the sudden PDA but couldn't look away from his hypnotizing amethyst eyes staring back at her, mere inches away from her face. "Oh he didn't tell you? I knew it was always hard to be kept under our shadows after all. So I can't blame him."

"What are you doing here Natsu." Naruto growled between his teeth, the mere presence of his brother bothering him. Natsu is the one family member he saw the least, he was usually always on missions or training with their mother or father. Natsu grunted as he removed himself from the black headed girl and grabbed a bag of ramen that was sitting on the counter.

"Tou-san asked me to pick up some ramen for the trip."

This time Naruto looked back to see his brother. His eyes frowning in confusion. Natsu smirked again, "Oh yes did I forget to mention? Tou-San and ka-san are taking me to mount myoboku to practice my sage training a year early."

Naruto felt his blood run cold, his eyes went wide as Natsu held his head up. Satisfied with the reaction he got from Naruto he turned to leave the stand. "It was great seeing you and your team Otōto." With one last glance back his purple eyes darkened considerably. "Try to keep up."

A tense silence shifted through the air as soon as Natsu left. Naruto's eyes were downcast, his hair falling past his forehead as his team mates stood there awkwardly. Shizuka reacted first as she patted Naruto on the shoulder "Hey I don't really know what just happened but-"

"It's fine Shizuka." Naruto said, interrupting her as he patted her own hand down with his before sliding hers off. "I'm used to it." He said, forcing a smile. Unluckily for him Shizuka shook her head adamantly at him "No can do baka. We shared about our family now it's your turn. So spill." Naruto frowned, sending a slightly pleading look towards the emerald eyed girl. "Can I tell you another time? It's a very long story." before Shizuka could respond, Sai interjected himself. "Yes. Maybe next time we go out for lunch." he said. He could tell the blonde wasn't in a good enough mood to talk. Naruto gave Sai an appreciative nod before averting his eyes back to Shizuka. She looked like she was about to protest but ultimately she gave in. Letting out an irritated sigh she pointed at the blonde

"Fine. But you will tell us."

"I promise I will." he said before excusing himself and walking away from the ramen stand leaving his two teammates behind.

Shizuka scowled as she turned over to Sai in confusion.

"Why did you let it go so easily? It seemed to really bother him. And that was Natsu, Natsu Namikaze."

Sai shook his head at her. Watching his blonde teammate walk off. "Yes it was. But whatever happened here it seemed to have affected blondie-kun deeply. He was in no mood to communicate his feelings, I'm sure you could tell." Shizuka frowned at his answer, turning her head as she followed the back of the blonde. She gave a hesitant nod "Yeah I could tell, I wonder what happened between them." Sai shrugged

"In my time training with the anbu I knew that Naruto was related to the Namikazes. But I didn't know they held so much disdain for one another. But the feeling I got from Natsu-san. It wasn't pleasant." Shizuka nodded agreeing with him.

"Let's leave blondie-kun alone for now Tits-chan. He'll tell us when he's ready."

Shizuka couldn't even find it in herself to yell at Sai this time.

"Can you at least give me a better nickname?"

"I will dwell on the possibility."

"Okay spill it missy. How did it go?" Anko pestered at Kurenai as they walked through the streets of Konoha. Kurenai sighed, rubbing her temples in irritation. "I already told you. He just took me to a coffee shop. We talked for about two hours and then we parted ways." she said with Anko frowning at her. Jumping in front of Kurenai and walking backwards with her hands behind her head. Ignoring the passersby who looked at her in annoyance. "Did you guys kiss at all? Maybe even second base?" The purple haired kunoichi said wiggled her eyebrows at Kurenai.

"Anko!"

Kurenai quietly yelled at her friend, a small blush forming on her cheeks. Anko snickered at her friend before turning back around. "I know I know i'm just teasing you." she said before finally coming into view of her favorite dango shop. Her mouth started to water as her eyes started to glisten. She quickly pulled Kurenai inside, grabbing a table by the open window. Kurenai glared at her "Couldn't you have just asked me to hurry it up and not drag me?" Anko nodded her head.

"I could. But why would I?"

Kurenai sighed in irritation before breaking out into a small smile. Clearly amused by her friend's antics. It was one of the reasons why she loved spending time with Anko. She was always honest, maybe a little too honest. But it added to her charm in Kurenai's opinion. After pushing past her rough exterior you were met with one of the most selfless human beings you would ever meet. Kurenai knew how high Anko valued her friendships, they were the most important thing to her. And she would always have your back no matter what. Something Kurenai loved her for. As they ordered their food Kurenai straightened her posture, letting the comforting breeze calm her down. She was silently happy that Anko had picked out a table next to the window.

"So nothing happened with Asuma huh?"

Kurenai sighed as she shrugged her shoulders at her friend. Closing her eyes letting them have a short lived rest. "No, just a regular trip to the coffee shop." she said irritably. Her and Asuma have been flirting back and forth for several months and the man refused to officially ask her out. She was beginning to think he wasn't interested in her anymore. Anko threw her arm over the chair next to her, using a senbon needle to pick at her teeth.

"Well can't say i'm surprised. He may act tough but he's a total pussy." she said, spitting out the piece of food she finally removed from her gums. "Do you still even like him at this point?" Kurenai had to take a moment to think about it. He was a very sweet man, but he never acted on any of his decisions. So yeah she liked him, he was one of the only men in Konoha who she would consider 'boyfriend material'. But over the past few months she didn't know if she just liked him as a friend. So Kurenai hesitantly shook her head.

"I...I don't know. He's very sweet and treats me like an equal. But he's been more off putting lately than usual. He doesn't really talk either, and that damned smoking." Anko nodded at her in understanding

"Just another bust in Konoha no Sato. If you want to, I can set up a blind date for you."

Kureani felt all the blood drain away from her face. The last time Anko set up a date for here...Lets just say it ended with a lot of screaming, a lot of vomit and a passed out sushi chef. Coughing into her fist she quickly changed subjects "A-anyway how's your genin team?" Kurenai asked regaining her composure. Anko grinned her way, Kurenai was shocked to see a look of pride gleam over her eyes. Kurenai has been curious about team 11 since the meeting they all had in the Hokage's office three weeks ago. Mainly because she was curious about how Naruto was doing. A sullen look glazed her eyes as she recalled how fidgety the Yondaime was at the mention of Naruto during the meeting.

"I guess things are still dicey with them. I hope he's doing okay."

"Honestly I really didn't want to take a genin squad at all. But I'm glad I did Ku-chan! Those kids are pretty good for being just genin. Their teamwork is still a little rough around the edges, but other than that I have no complaints." she said grinning. Kurenai nodded.

"How is Naruto?"

Anko raised an eyebrow in confusion at the odd question. Turning her attention to Kurenai tilting her head. Kurenai schooled her emotions as she felt a bead of sweat form on her brow, only Anko could ever make her uncomfortable by just a simple stare. Anko was about to answer the odd question before her eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar mop of blonde hair walking past the stand. Her face broke out into a devious smirk

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Standing up abruptly she pushed past Kurenai leaning her head out the window.

"Anko what are you-"

"HEY NARUTO-KUUUUUUUN! OVER HERE!"

Naruto jumped in surprise in the street as he snapped his head around, looking for where the scream came from. The blonde looked to his left to see his sensei practically falling out of a window waving her hands in his direction. Looking past her he was able to catch a glimpse of very familiar crimson red eyes that left such a powerful impression on him years ago. He felt his cheeks start to heat up as he looked at the lady next to his sensei. She was wearing a tight bandage looking battle dress with bandages wrapped around her arms stopping just before her forearm.

"K-kurenai-san?" he thought as his mind started to go blank the longer he stared in her direction, his sensei completely forgotten. She was breathtaking, he had never seen someone so beautiful before. While he knew she was beautiful when he saw her five years ago, but he didn't really think much of it back then. After all, he was only a child.

Anko watched as he froze in the street.

"You gonna stand there all damn day? Hurry in here!"

She yelled, breaking Naruto out of his trance as he rushed into the dango shop, looking at Anko "S-sorry Anko-sensei." he said, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head. Kurenai looked at the boy as he and Anko started to talk. She looked him up and down "Wow, he really grew up. He almost looks like a completely different person." she thought as she smiled at seeing him scratch his head. A habit he seemed to have kept all these years. Moving her eyes up his body she couldn't help but notice the large scar over his left eye. She swallowed back a gasp as she traced it with her eyes. Something sparked within her, she wanted to reach out and wipe away the imaginary tears on his face. Like she had done all those years ago.

"Anyway gaki Ku-chan here was actually just asking about you." Anko said, drawing her attention, making Naruto blush a bit. Naruto turned towards Kurenai as she nodded. "Yes. I wanted to see how you were doing, it's been a long time after all." she said, offering a smile making him return it with ease.

Anko tilted her head, more confused now than she was before. She didn't know that Kurenai knew Naruto. Deciding to be a good friend for once she stood up from her seat. "Well it seems you two kids have some catching up to do. So I'll leave you to it." she said as Kurenai looked at Anko sadly. She did feel bad, she and Anko hadn't hung out in a long time and she knew her purple headed friend was looking forward to it. Anko swatted her hand, as Anko gave her a grin

"Don't worry about lil ol' me Ku-chan! We can meet up later. I'm gonna go piss off Kakashi." she said before winking and leaving the stand. Kurenai sighed as she watched her friend walk out. Promising to make it up to her. Naruto laughed awkwardly, standing near the table

"Sorry about that Kurenai-san. I didn't mean to interrupt anything." she offered a small smile before motinoing the blonde to sit across from her

"Don't apologize. We are the ones who called you over after all."

Naruto nodded before taking his seat at the table. They began to catch up on what's new with them in the past five years. From Naruto becoming a genin and Kurenai passing her jounin exams. Minutes soon turned to hours as they stayed in the food stand enjoying the pleasant company. They got on the topic of genjutsu and she was excited to hear that he kept up his rigorous training and was slowly getting better and better each day. She told him how Anko bragged about him in the meeting with the Hokage that he managed to catch her in hand seal-less genjutsu. Naruto blushed at the praise, making Kurenai giggle slightly, finding his blush to be incredibly cute.

Getting lost in mindless chatter they were soon kicked out of the stand, staying well past closing time. Naruto offered to walk her home and she agreed, touched by his kind gesture. On the way to her apartment she couldn't help but sneak a peek back at the boy. She was pleasantly surprised by how much she enjoyed her night tonight. While she only thought they were going to just talk for almost an hour, they ended up spending more than half of the evening at the shop. So long in fact that they decided to even have dinner there. He was all in all, a perfect gentleman. Even though this wasn't a date, she had wished that the last date she had went as good as this. Asuma had never walked her home before. But her mind quickly switched topics.

"Say Naruto-kun, can I ask you something?"

Naruto nodded his head at her. Kurenai went silent for a moment, trying her best to figure out what words she wanted to say exactly. "How is everything going, you know, with your family?" she said softly making Naruto look down to the floor. Kurenai after a moment turned her head to see that Naruto had stopped walking and was frozen in place. Kureani was about to apologize, but Naruto spoke up before she could. Clenching his fists tightly he looked at the ground, biting his lip "Everything is alright Kurenai-san. Same old same old." Kurenai felt her eyes soften before grabbing his arm. Naruto looked up at her in confusion as she guided him to a small bench.

"Take a seat Naruto-kun." she said, making Naruto glance in confusion "But I was just supposed to walk you home." Kurenai nodded before pointing to her right

"My apartment is right around the corner. But now I just wanna talk." He nodded his head and took the seat directly next to her. Putting his hands together as he sat awkwardly next to Kurenai. It was tense on the bench, neither knowing really how to spark up such a serious topic. It was dark outside, their only source of light was the streetlamp that resided next to the bench. Kurenai took several deep breaths before shifting her body to the blonde boy.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Naruto stayed silent as he tightened his hands together. He didn't wanna burden Kurenai with his life, he felt bad already delaying their trip because of his problems. But he knew the longer he let this sit and marinate in his mind it would soon exploud on him. Shutting his eyes, his scar pulsing with phantom pain as his stomach sent flips internally within him. "It's just." he started out, Kurenai giving him her full attention. "Once Shisui-nissan...died I was really hoping things would get better. I was praying, I really needed someone there for me. I made friends at the academy. But no one could ever replace Shisui-niisan." he said. His voice cracking several times during his speech. His body hunching over as he let out a quiet sob

"E-everything just got worse. Natsu and Narumi managed to graduate early leaving me behind. My parents pulled even further away if that was even possible, and I lost support from the only person who was there for me. No one wants me, everyone always leaves me, I guess...I'm just not special enough. " he said as more and more sobs escaped his throat. Kurenai looked at Naruto with a heavy heart. Her own heart breaking at the very site of him. She watched as the dam holding back his true feelings started to crack, letting his emotions leak out. Kurenai softly removed his hands from their grip and intertwined their hands together.

"Naruto-kun, look at me."

Naruto remained still as he tried to calm down his erratic breathing. He didn't want to look at her, he already felt bad enough putting her through this. She probably hated him for it, she probably wanted to chastise him for being such a baby, for crying about all the bad things going on in his life.

"Please?"

Her voice was soft, it felt like silk as it left her soft lips and floated themselves over Naruto's skin. Naruto felt his pulse quicken as he slowly lifted his eyes expecting to see disappointment and anger. It surprised him greatly when her crimson eyes held nothing but warmth, it was almost intoxicating to look at. He felt his cheeks start to heat up from her stare, his eyes couldn't help but drift down to her soft red laced lips. She released one of her hands, bringing it up to Naruto's left eye. Slowly wiping away his remaining tears as she looked at his beautiful blue eyes. Her thumb slowly caressing the bottom of his scar tenderly.

"Don't say things like that Naruto-kun. Your family is just full of idiots. You are one of the most special, strongest people I have ever met. And you could use this time to be you, the you that you wanna be." she said offering the boy a smile, a smile filled with so much warmth. "Hell if I had to go through what you did I wouldn't have even made it a day." she chuckled to herself. Naruto sat there quietly letting her words echo through his mind. His stomach started to calm down a bit as he leaned slightly into her touch,

"And just remember Naruto-kun, you have a duty to prove them wrong right?"

Naruto widened his eyes a bit as he turned his gaze back onto Kurenai. The corner of his lips started to lift upwards as he nodded to Kurenai. His eyes shining with newfound determination.

"Yeah...that's right."

"Okay my cute genin! This mission is very easy so I better not hear any complaining! We are to deliver this letter." The purple headed jounin of team 11 raises her arm to show the neatly packaged letter in her hand "to the Mayor of Tizuna town, her name is Mai Kisu and the town is only about a few hours away. And this is our first C tank mission!" Anko explained loudly throwing her arms up in the air in emphasis, hoping to see her slaves- uhh genin yell in excitement with her. She pouted when she saw that all three were wearing the exact same look of melancholic/thoughtful expressions on their faces. Shizuka was the only one who showed any real excitement about the mission as she broke out into a small grin. Coughing into her fist she frowned.

"You guys are boring." she said with a pout making all three genin sweatdrop.

Without waiting for a response Anko took the lead in front, Sai and Shizuka flaking her sides with Naruto watching the back. A comfortable silence fell over the team as Naruto was lost in his own thoughts. His mind wandered back to last night's events talking with Kurenai, He couldn't help but smile as he recalled her words. She was right, he needed to push past this and show them exactly what there were missing. He was thankful he talked with her, she even agreed to train him in genjutsu once he returned from his mission. He was ecstatic to hear that and was already looking forward to coming back. He took this time to look around the forest as him and his team ventured further in. It was his first time out of the village, it felt kinda surreal to finally escape the walls of Konoha. It was almost freeing in a way.

Anko's voice broke him out of his trance.

"Okay team we are about four hours away from Tizuna town. We're gonna make a small campfire and get there first thing tomorrow morning."

Anko explained, then went ahead and gave everyone little duties in order to set up camp. Sai was in charge of getting firewood, Shizuka was to put together the tents, and Naruto to distribute the food. Naruto finished his task fairly quickly and sat on one of the wooden tree stumps, idly waiting for his team to finish their respective tasks. His eyes scanning over his team, he would make sure to apologize to them later on for rudely brushing them off yesterday.

"Hey kid how was your date with Kurenai-chan last night?"

Anko said effectively getting the attention of all three genin as she looked down at Naruto, arms crossed over her chest as she grinned. Naruto blushed deeply, his face resembling that of a ripe tomato. "A d-date?" Shizuka muttered looking up at Naruto in shock, the tent falling out of her hand. Naruto waved his hands in defense, rapidly shaking his head.

"I-it w-wasn't a date! We just talked, that was all!"

Anko tried to fight back a laugh as she saw his face exploud in embarrassment. She wished she brought her camera. She shrugged her shoulders talking the seat next to him "I don't know about that Naruto-kun, you guys were out for quite a long time."

"Kurenai-san? Isn't she the sensei of team 8?" Sai said, his hand coming up to his chin in thought. Shizuka's eyes if possible grew even wider. Sai hummed as he dropped the firewood he was holding, giving a nod of approval. "I didn't think you were into older woman blondie-kun."

"I-i'm not! And it wasn't a date dammit! We just happen to know each other."

He said, trying his best to fight back his aggressive blush. Shizuka shook off her shock before continuing to set up the tent. Anko started to laugh before smacking Naruto in the back, the blonde yelped slightly at the impact. "Just messing with you kid. Slightly." She said whispering the last part before rubbing her neck.

"Actually blondie-kun, how do you know Ku-chan?" she said, her curiosity piqued as she put a hand on her knee. This seemed to grab the others attention as well as they nodded in agreement. Naruto sighed to himself as he managed to get rid of his blush. Looking up he told Shizuka and Sai to take a seat, he did promise he would tell them everything. "And we are a team after all."

And so he told them everything, from his family's treatment to his meeting with Shisui, and when he first met Kurenai all those years ago. As he finished his talk he took in a deep breath, feeling somewhat good to get it all out again. Looking up he was met with the speechless looks from his team. "A-and that's how you got that?" Shizuka said, pointing to her own left eye as Naruto nodded. A sad smile on his face.

"Yeah, jumped in front of a kunai in fear for Shisui-niisan. Whoever he was fighting wasn't fazed in the slightest and sliced at my open eye. I was lucky enough that he didn't do enough damage to blind me." He lied, not willing to share his biggest secret. He brought his hand up, rubbing it slightly. Anko spoke up this time, her usually laid back and playful attitude gone. "I can't believe it, Hokage-sama." she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"How did you deal with it, Naruto? With your family?" Sai said, cutting into the conversation. His expression unreadable. Naruto blinked in thought before staring deep into the bright orange flames of their campfire. After a while he shook his head.

"I haven't, I'm still trying too. But last night I was told something very important. That I have to focus on myself, to prove them all wrong. I know that i'll never be a part of that family, which is why I dropped the Namikaze name." he smiled a bittersweet smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Doesn't it bother you!?" Shizuka asked unexpectedly. Her voice raised quite a bit as both male teammates and Anko were taken aback at her sudden outburst. Shizuka had the audacity to look sheepish as her cheeks turned into a light shade of pink. She gave an awkward smile as she muttered a soft apology.

Naruto slowly nodded his head at her, ignoring her apology "Well of course it bothers me." He said, his teeth clenching "But I tried to get on their good side countless times, I tried to be there as much as I could. But there's only so much I can do."

"So you gave up?"

Surprisingly it was Sai that asked this question, Naruto looked shocked at his question as a loud silence fell over the genin. Sai never took his eyes off the blonde. Naruto digested what was said to him. He looked down into the burning fire, Sai's stare was starting to make him uncomfortable. "No I wouldn't say I gave up. I just… accepted it."

Sai widened his eyes as he sat there in silence. In fact no one else knew what to say as they sat listening to the crackling fire. Anko suddenly clapped her hands, her face morphing back into her usual playful attitude, throwing her arm around Naruto's shoulder. "Ah who needs them anyway? And don't act all mopey baka! Don't forget that your part of something great here. The soon to be strongest team in Konoha with the hottest sensei around." she said, nudging the blonde as she pointed a thumb over to Sai and Shizuka. Naruto looked at her shocked before looking into the equally shocked eyes of his team. They all looked at eachother, nodding to themselves. The atmosphere seemed to change as they exchanged glances. Now they felt like...like a real team.

"Yeah your right Anko-sensei!'

"So let's get this party started shall we? Who's ready for guard duty!"

All three genin groaned.