A single ninja was on guard at the entrance of one of the great shinobi villages and Naruto's home: The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Finally achieving the rank of chūnin after overcoming the deadly trials of the last Chūnin Exams, the young man couldn't be any more disappointed over being assigned to watch for any suspicious individuals that would enter the village.

"This sucks…" he sighed.

He wanted action that suited a role he worked hard to get. Instead he was stuck in a single station waiting for his superior to show up. The young man knew that it was going to be a boring day.

"Excuse me," the chūnin looked up to find a woman leaning over his desk. She brushed her dull green hair away from red eyes and smiled. "Do you think you could give me directions?"

"Ah…" the man felt his heart violently pound against his chest as her face grew closer to his. Her natural beauty, snakelike sultry voice and revealing attire caused him to feel a feeling he was trained to suppress.

"Hm…" a smirk of superiority formed on her lips as she leaned back. It was as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "Guess I'll find where I need to go myself. I doubt you would know anyway."

The woman soon turned and began to walk further into the village. His heart still enraptured, the guard couldn't help but glance over his post to catch one last look at her. Despite his lust, the chūnin could not understand how she could be so cavalier while wearing such revealing clothing. Even her undergarments she did wear did nothing to cover her lower posterior.

After that observation, he could feel his eyes drawn to the jiggling of such an uncovered feature. But before his mind was completely lost, the woman's slim green underwear looked back at him and hissed, causing his heart to drop. "W-What was that?"

"You pervert!" a fist slammed into the top of the young man's head. Reeling back from the pain, he was able to catch a glimpse of his superior officer. "What are you thinking ogling visitors? Think of what kind of reputation that gives the Leaf!"

"Sorry!" the chūnin cried. It was truly just not his day.

Hiruzen Sarutobi blew a puff of smoke out of his office widow. It was a rare moment of levity during his usual schedule. Being the leader of an entire village was no small feat, let alone one of the top ninja villages in the world. Between balancing the constant flow of missions and general village issues, there was never really a moment he could rest.

But the elderly man was used to it. He always had a source of inspiration that gave him the strength to continue forward. All he had to do was look out of his window and watched the citizens go about his daily lives. To protect such peace, that was all it took to for him to continue on. But lately, such a sight has done nothing but fill him with sorrow.

The moment of levity was abruptly interrupted by three knocks on his door.

"Come in," Hiruzen said.

The door opened and a man slowly walked in. His cane leading the way, the man continued to approach Hiruzen. "Danzō, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Danzō stopped in front of his desk. As usual, he couldn't read his guest nor guess his intentions from a first glance.

"Sarutobi, have you made any progress on tracking down the Nine-Tails?" he finally asked."

"I don't have much time, Sarutobi, so I would like to get straight to the point," Danzō finally asked.

"I see… So, what do you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to know what the progress is on tracking down the Nine-Tails." Danzō finally asked.

Such a question forced Hiruzen to once again think about the source of his current sorrow: Naruto's sudden departure.

"Are you referring to Naruto? We don't really have any leads on him."

"And you are saying that with after using all the village's resources to find him?"

The elderly leader took another puff from his pipe."…There are much more important things than focusing on tracking down Naruto."

"That line isn't you, Sarutobi." Danzō rebuked.

"Had to give it a try once." He chuckled.

"I don't see how you could laugh over such a topic. Do I need to remind you the dangers of leaving such a threat to its own devices? Or have you forgotten the state he left the village in before he ran away?"

"I haven't forgotten," how could he forget the tragedy that happened not too long ago. Despite everyone's best efforts, they still suffered heavy losses. But it wasn't just the memories that he just recalled, but also a promise he made. "But I also haven't forgotten the wishes of his parents either. I intend to respect the desires of the heroes that gave their lives to protect the village."

A tense silence inserted itself in their conversation. Suddenly, Danzō turned towards the door, surprising Hiruzen. He had truly expected another retort or two from his old comrade.

"You're softness is going to bring ruin to the village, Sarutobi. As Hokage, you know what you need to do about this," those were his final words before walking out of the office.

Once again alone, Hiruzen returned to the view beyond of his office window and blew another puff of smoke.

"Don't you think having an organization called 'Root' be underground in forested area is a little too on the nose?" those were the first words Danzō heard as he entered a small room that was built covertly under the village.

The floor was littered with the bodies of several cloaked men in masks and in the middle of them was a woman who had just arrived in the village not too long ago.

"I see you live up to your reputation: Echidna, the Veteran Mercenary," he noted.

Echidna smirked as she approached Danzō. "You're men have horrible manners when it comes to greeting guests."

She glanced down at the unconscious men, her smirk of superiority replaced with an innocent look of curiosity.

"I really hope those weren't the Anbu I heard about. If so, then this village has terrible standards when it comes to top black op specialists." Echidna said.

"I assure you those men were not even close to being the best this village has to offer," Danzō assured her as he walked towards a nearby desk.

"No comments about how I found your little base?" she asked, with a hint of smugness on her face.

Remaining silent, Danzō threw a single photograph at her with such speed that it was comparable of a bullet that had just been shot from a gun. Echidna casually caught the speedy photograph and silently analyzed its contents. It was a picture of a boy with blonde hair and distinctive whisker markings on his face.

"Cute kid," she commented.

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki. I want you to hunt him down," Danzō briefed.

"So, let me get this straight…" the mercenary let out a slight chuckle as she sat down on one of the bodies around them. She then slowly crossed her legs together as she looked up at her client. Her casual demeanor and treatment of one of his men made it clear that she was showing off. "You want to me track down this kid and bring him to the village?"

"I want you to track him down and bring him to me," Danzō corrected.

"Hm…" an interested look floated above the mercenary's face. "What's the kid to you?"

He simply stared at the woman in front of him.

"Hmph…" Echidna slowly stood on her feet and walked towards the exit. "Well, it's no matter for me if you tell me now. I'm sure I'll find the answer when I find him, right?"

Naruto's, along with his companions', eyes were drawn to a nearby lake. They waited and waited until Fū rose out of the lake riding a giant blue fish. Its sharp teeth flashed from its open and closing mouth, desperate to consume the girl riding it.

"So… Why are you after this girl again?" Naruto asked.

"It's a job we got from the leader of the Village Hidden in the Waterfall," Yahiko explained. Annoyance suddenly expressed itself on his face. "We actually just finished a job for him when…"

The young man soon averted his gaze as if he was embarrassed.

"What happened?" Gohan asked.

"Let's just say that Yahiko set off a chain of events that led to a current mission," Nagato answered.

"Nope," Naruto denied. "What happened?"

"Yahiko bothered a beast that Fū had befriended which resulted in taking off with her on it," Konan explained.

"How was I supposed to know that grapes would freak it out?!" Yahiko exclaimed.

"Huh..." Naruto glanced at Gohan and grinned. "Alright, Gohan, let's get to her!"

"Huh?!" complete shock circulated through the young monkey-tailed boy. "What can I do?"

"You can jump us over there."

"I can't do that."

"Yes, you can."

"No. I can't do stuff like that."

"Then how do you explain us getting on top of that dinosaur from yesterday?"

"Didn't you do that?"

"No, that was you."

Gohan paused for thought after hearing that. He struggled to believe such he could have done such a thing. "Me?"

"Yeah. So, let's go!"

"O-Okay…" Gohan nervously approached Naruto and the two linked arms. "Here goes."

Gohan jumped up… and immediately led the both of them to the ground.

"Uh… Gohan…" Naruto had no idea what to say.

"I can't do it…" Gohan lamented.

Naruto remained silent as he jumped back on his feet.

"Maybe whatever his thing is is luck," he thought.

The child crossed his arms, trying to think of another solution.

"I got it!" another grin crossed Naruto's face as he quickly looked up at Nagato. "Hey throw me at that thing like you did those monsters attacking the town."

"Are you sure, Naruto?" the pale young man questioned. "We could just go there ourselves."

"Yeah, but didn't you guys say you had trouble catching up to her? It's probably because a bunch of strangers are chasing her. But she seemed okay with me, so I could probably convince her not to run away," Naruto explained.

"I see. That's a good plan, Naruto," Konan complimented.

"Alright," Naruto planted his feet into the ground. "Let's do it!"

He felt excitement well up in him as he slowly rose off the ground.

"Almighty push!" with that single declaration Naruto was flung at the creature.

"Hey, Nagato," Yahiko casually placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I've been meaning to ask… Don't you think 'Almighty' Push is a name someone with a god complex would give that attack?"

Naruto flew through the air and crashed into the aquatic creature's face; the force of the impact throwing him behind Fū.

"Hey, you're that kid from earlier," she recalled. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm here becau-" Naruto's words was cut off by the fish raging throughout the lake.

The creature eventually threw the high into the sky and stretched its mouth open, preparing for its meal. But it never came.

To Naruto's surprise, he was floating in the air.

"He wasn't that nice either…" he glanced up to find himself in Fū's arms. His eyes soon widened with surprise and amazement the moment he noticed insect-like wings fluttering behind her back.

"You can fly?" he exclaimed.

" Yep," Fū replied, smiling.

"Wow. I guess that explains why you didn't crash into the ground after being knocked out of town."

"Actually, I did. It really hurt."

Naruto blankly stared at the girl and then looked down at where his companions were waiting. "Hey, Fū, think you fly us down to those guys down there."

"Okay. Hang on!" Fū flew towards the ground and landed as Yahiko and Nagato continued to converse.

"I'm just saying "Almighty" Push sounds like there's a bit of ego in the naming," Yahiko said.

"But it's exactly what it is," Nagato argued. "I give the recipient of the attack mighty push."

"You really shouldn't be getting on Nagato for attack names, Yahiko," Konan interjected. "Or should we remind you of the names you came up for your attacks."

"Point taken…" Yahiko sighed in defeat.

"Hey, guys!" Naruto called, drawing his companion's attention to them.

"Finally caught up to you again, Fū," Yahiko said.

"Huh? Have we met before?" the confused girl asked.

"What?!" the young man could not believe what he heard. "We've been chasing you around the world for weeks!"

"Really? I've never noticed," Fū said.

Such a reveal was almost too much for Yahiko to take. The target they thought was eluding them for so long did not even realize she was doing so. As he tried to come to terms with this, Fū turned towards Gohan and smiled.

"Hey, want to be friends?" she asked.

"Huh?" Gohan was surprised by the sudden proposition. "Um, sure."

"Wow, you really want to make friends don't you?" Naruto noted.

"Yeah, making and having friends makes life better for everyone," Fū happily answered.

Naruto crossed his arms as he pondered her words. "I guess you got a point there."

"So, you'll be my friend too?" she asked.

"Yep," Naruto nodded.

"So, Fū…" Konan approached the young girl. "You ready to head home? Shibuki must be pretty worried about you."

"Oh… I'm probably in big trouble when I get back," Fū said.

Empathy flowed through Naruto as he recalled similar feelings.

"All right, mission complete!" Naruto happily declared. "Time to head to the Forest of Spirits!"

"Forest of Spirits? Do you two have enough money for fare?" Nagato asked.

"Fare? Fare for what?" Naruto questioned.

"The boat."

"Why would need a boat?" Naruto glanced towards Gohan. "Do we need a boat?"

"Um…" Gohan pulled out the map and examined their first location. "It didn't appear so on the map."

"Can I see that?" Nagato requested.

Gohan did as he was asked and Nagato examined the map. "You're map is outdated."

"Huh?" Naruto and Gohan said, shocked.

"There's actually a sea between hear and the Forest of Spirits," Nagato explained.

Naruto's right eye twitched as he tried to process what he just heard. Filled with confusion and anger all he could do was clench his fists and yell, "SMOOOOOOOOOOOK!"

Meanwhile, in Hajimeni, Smok felt a chill crawl down her spine.

"Why does it feel like I've ticked someone off?" she wondered aloud.