Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor earn money from writing stories about them.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I have had to go through a lot these past few weeks. Remember that I have lost the only one who has held an impact on my life in August? Well, it hit me even harder since her birthday just passed and I had to go through ceremonies to steel myself and protect her memory. Me being Wiccan helped a little since we believe more in the belief of reincarnation and celebrating them in their time of death. But writing this has also helped me go through this too since it took my mind off of it. Anyway, I've been hoping you guys will love the chapters coming up since there shows more of what their relationship will be like and builds upon the character of the story. I want you to remember what I said previously about this story going to be a long one. There's also something that's wrong with my brain. Yeah, yeah, believe me you guys will look at me strange when I say this. Tell my brain to shut up because every time I watch T.V. or the people around me the ideas for new stories won't stop! I have SEVEN new story ideas for Naruto and TWO for Faye. I mean come on! My brain won't shut up on inventing new stories! But I will stick with the new rule for myself. I will only write three stories at a time so that I won't disappoint my readers when it takes sooooo long to put out a chapter. So you guys don't have to worry about that. Also, the other two stories will not be as long as this one since they just have the one plot line not the continuous changing plot this one has since it is based on the manga.

Thanks to:

The Writing Jester: I thought about that as well. I haven't really seen too many and this is my second hermaphrodite one so enjoy it. Thanks for the helpful criticism btw. You are one of the only ones who don't use negative attitude and are just trying to be helpful when you say there's grammatical errors in my story. I will try to correct my way on this story and will hope to hear from you again.

Guest: I always seem to see guests reading these and enjoy your reviews.

PrincessAnima08: Glad you like it. Noticed you reviewed on both chapters and I enjoy that.

Locaporelanime: Here is another one enjoy~

Clio1111: Yup, that's kinda my intentions. I know people love long romance and a good portion have avoided one shots because they sometimes are just straight up with the moves instead of the emotions.

Darkbloodz: Here you go Dark.

Jayjay jin: You wanna know something? I now kinda feel bad that I'm punishing Naruto like this…But I got addicted to being cruel to Sakura since she's just a delusional person.

Dattebayo Luna and Ginny: Oh, you don't want me to use my imagination too much on this. There is always a method to my madness so we don't want to go overboard or my brain would invent some wild and wacky crap. Just glad people love it and there will always have twists in my stories. I just want this to stick with the manga storyline except for the added hidden story that makes it different.

Bloodred 321: Here's your update.

Janiyah: Here you go. And I'm sorry when I read your review Eep from Croods popped into my head so I heard your review in my head in her voice. Yeah I'm mental.

JChan2845: Thanks, your making me blush…

Ignacia Kitty Dolohov-Potter: Wow, I tried saying your name out loud. Got to love those, they put a lasting impression on the writers. Well onto the new chapter everyone~

CHAPTER THREE

"You're Kakashi sensei, aren't you?! You used Henge no Jutsu to transform!" Naruto shouts as he points at his clone. They all start fighting and blaming each other. One clone stops fighting. "Hey, you know…Why don't you release the jutsu? Then you'll know because there will only be two." The clone pants out with his face swollen and bruised. "Oh! You should have noticed earlier, idiot!" He pants out as he glares at his clone. "I'm you, moron!" He released the jutsu and everyone disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared he was alone by himself. "…"

'That was Kawarimi no Jutsu, idiot.' Sasuke thought out. His eyes showed concern since Naruto's face held some pain on it. 'What time did he last take his painkillers? Oh, yeah he can't unless he eats.'

'Naruto…Uncool…Why does he look like he's in more pain than he should be? Owell, his own fault.' She thought as she says uncaringly.

"Pft." Sasuke puffs out a breath. 'Maybe I can find him a handful of berries so that he can take his medicine.' Something caught his attention. Naruto saw the bell at the same time Sasuke did.

"!" Naruto grins like mad. "A bell!" He runs happily over to where said bell lay too conveniently on the dirt. "Nihihi…He must have been desperate to escape. He dropped a bell, hehe." He kneels down to pick it up. Right before he could touch it his feet were yanked out from underneath him. 'Huh?!' He bounced around like a ball from the end of the rope. "What the hell is this?!"

'A trap…Obviously…But that Jounin, even when playing with Naruto, has no openings.' Sasuke thought as he watched Kakashi walk over to the blond boy. He kneels down to pick up the bell.

"!" Naruto noticed his sensei. "Ah!" His face turns red. He brought his arms up to grab his cramping stomach while Sasuke goes to a berry bush.

"Think before using a jutsu. Or it will get used against you." He picks up the bell then straightens up his body. He noticed where Naruto's arms are. "And also…" He tosses the bell in his hand. "Don't fall for obvious traps, idiot."

"God Dammit!" He shouts through clenched teeth. 'I'm not thinking clearly from all this pain…' The sight of Sasuke moving a bush aside to show him a paper with a small pile of berries on it with a bamboo canteen besides it. Naruto nods slightly with a confused look on his face. 'How does he know that's what I need?'

"A ninja must be able to read what's underneath the underneath." He draws the boys' attention back to his partially covered face.

"I know that stuff!" He shouts out as he waves his arms around.

"Umm…I'm telling you because you don't." As Kakashi's attention was on the blond boy Sasuke decided to give Naruto a chance to free himself. He jumps out of the bushes and threw five Kunai and Shuriken at the silver haired Jounin.

'He finally showed an opening.' The projectiles flew quickly towards the man.

"Geeze, you are…" He got cut short as the Kunai and Shuriken hit him on his right side, from his head to his shoulder.

"Aww! No way! Sasuke, you bastard! You went too far!" He shouts out as he watches Kakashi fall, then a puff of smoke reveals a log with all of the Kunai and Shuriken riddled into them. The log falls down with a thump. "!" Naruto and Sasuke's expression turned to shock. Naruto noticed that Sasuke disappeared. He takes a Kunai and cuts the rope holding his ankles up in the air. "'Underneath the underneath'?! What a moron!" He says as he fell. He flips upright. "Damn it! I'm not going to fall for his stupid traps again!" He lands cleanly. A rope trap is triggered and yanks him up again. "NOOO! Damn it! The exact trap right underneath!" He shouts as he waves his arm and leg around. Naruto spins around as he is hanging from the rope. His arms are crossed as he thought about his predicament. "…!" He saw what appears to be a stone behind the three logs. "What's that? A stone? So there's stuff behind those stumps." He tries to focus his eyes more on the stone. When he saw two containers with chopsticks laying on top his eyes widen. "Oh! There's lunch on top of the stone!" He crosses his arms again. "A ninja must read underneath the underneath…Eh? Nihihihihi." He grins widely. He cuts himself down to run to the spot where Sasuke left the berries. "Just in case there is a trap around the stone. I should use this to take my medicine." He gobbles the berries then took out the bottle from the pouch. He shook out two tablets and used the water to swallow them with. He noticed some writing on the paper.

Dobe,

I hope you use this to take your meds. Also, be more careful with your body. Taking care of it is the best thing.

Sasuke

"He knows?" Naruto's eyes widen. "But how?" His brow furrows as he shakes his head. "That doesn't matter now." He starts walking to the stone. He sits in front of it. "Hehehe. Instead of wasting time trying to get the bell…I can just hide and eat the lunches now. Hehehe." He put his hands together as if praying.

"Hey, buddy." Kakashi says behind the blond. Naruto's face breaks out in a sweat.

"…That's a joke…" He mutters out.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Ten minutes later…

All three were at the stumps. Naruto's tied to one of them while Sasuke and Sakura were sitting on each side. "Oh…You guys look really hungry. By the way, something about the training…" Kakashi says as he stands there with his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, there's no need for you guys to go back to the academy."

"!" They all look at him intently.

"Hey." Naruto says with a grin.

'Huh? All I did was pass out…That was enough?' Sakura wonders as inner Sakura shouts out. 'Love wins! Hell yeah!'

"Bah." Sasuke says as he looks at his leg.

"Then! Then! All three of us…!" Naruto shouts out as he kicks his legs which were the only things not tied to the stump. Kakashi's eye showed he was smiling.

"Yup, all three of you…" He pauses dramatically. "…Should quit as ninjas!"

"!?"

"Quit as ninjas?! What does that mean?!" Naruto shouts out. "Ok! Ok! We couldn't get the bells but…Why do we have to quit?!"

"Because all of you…Are just punks who don't deserve to be ninjas." Kakashi says boldly.

"Tsk." Sasuke glares then gets up to rush at Kakashi.

"Ah!" Naruto says as he watches Sasuke with a worried expression on his face.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouts out. Kakashi disappears as Sasuke reaches him. He slams the brunette into the floor, pinning him.

"That's why you're a punk." Kakashi says as he brought his foot down more onto the back of his head.

"! NO! Don't step on Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouts at the man. Sasuke's teeth grits.

"Are you guys underestimating ninjas? Huh?" His eye holds seriousness. "Why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training?"

"Huh?" Sakura looks confused. "What does that mean?"

"!" Naruto squints his eyes.

"Basically…" He pushes Sasuke's face more into the dirt. "You guys do not understand the answer to this test."

"Answer?" Naruto asks.

"Yes. The answer that helps you pass this test." He answers looking at the boy from the corner of his eye.

"So…" Sakura hedges. "When are you going to tell us?"

"…" He sits down more on Sasuke's back. "Geeze…"

"Ahh! Damn it! What's the answer already!" Naruto shouts out. Impatience and worry for Sasuke showing on his face.

"It's…" He pauses dramatically. "…Teamwork."

"!" Their eyes widen.

"The three of you working together may have gotten the bells." He strengthens his hold as their eyes went to the bells in question.

"!" '…Hey, wait a second!' Sakura jolts. "What do you mean by teamwork? There are only two bells!" She stands up. "Even if we work together and get the bells one of us would still fail. What teamwork? That just makes us fight each other." Kakashi looks at each of his students.

"Of course! This test is purposely set up to make you fight amongst yourselves."

"!" Sakura glares.

"Huh?!" Naruto shakes.

"The purpose is to see whether you can forget about your own interests…" Naruto grits his teeth as he listens. "…And successfully work together…" Kakashi looks directly down at Sasuke. "…Under these designed circumstances." He looks at Sakura. "Yet…You guys…" Sakura jolts. "Sakura, instead of Naruto, who was right next to you…You were only thinking about Sasuke, who was far away. Naruto! You were just running around by yourself." Naruto starts sweating. "Sasuke! You just assumed the others would get in your way and tried to do…" Sasuke grits his teeth as he looks at Naruto. "…Everything yourself."

'Good…He didn't notice me helping Naruto.' His muscles start hurting because of Kakashi holding his body immobile for so long. 'Maybe this can be used later…'

'Get off of him, Perv…' Naruto thinks. 'He is the only one who really knows and isn't showing me disgust because of it.'

"The duties are done by the team. Of course superior individual ability is important to a ninja. But what's even more important is "Teamwork". Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger." He digs in his pouch again.

"?" Sakura shifts back a little.

"And even you get killed. For example…Sakura! Kill Naruto!" Kakashi hurriedly takes out a Kunai only to put it to Sasuke's throat. "Or Sasuke dies!"

"!" Sakura gasps.

"What?!" Naruto quickly looks from each of their faces. 'He can't do this!'

"You see? If a hostage is taken, you will have tough choices and then die." He gets up off of Sasuke.

'Oh, you surprised me.' Sakura relaxes.

'Phew.' Naruto thought as the Kunai was removed from Sasuke's throat.

"You will be risking your lives in these duties." Kakashi says as he walks away from Sasuke.

"…" Sasuke rubs the back of his neck trying to relieve some of his tense muscles.

"Look at this. The numerous names carved on this stone." Kakashi places a hand on the stone. "These are ninjas who are recognized as heroes of the village." As he said this Naruto's ears perk up.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Naruto grins widely. "I've decided to get my name carved on that stone too! Hero! Hero! That's what I'll become!"

"!" Sakura's face blooms full of annoyance.

"Bah." Sasuke says at Naruto. He stands really close to the blond so he could smell the fruit scent of his. 'God, his smell is addicting.' He almost moans.

"But…They aren't just normal heroes…" The man says with his back to them.

"Oh yeah?! Then what kind are they?!" He asks with a grin still covering his face.

"..." Kakashi looks off into the distance. 'How is he so dense but still innocent?'

"What?! What?!" Impatience is showing on his face now.

"They are all heroes who died on duty." Naruto's face holds shock then morphs to sadness as he looks at Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes gentle as a sheen of tears build up. Sakura's face held sadness and Sasuke had to fight with himself not to hug the blond. "This is a memorial. My best friend's name is also carved here…" They all looked at him with pain in their eyes until Naruto had to close his so that the tears wouldn't escape. Sasuke fought more but inched closer to Naruto. The feel of Sasuke's warmth made him feel better. "You guys…I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge can get lunch. But don't give any to Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto looks at Kakashi.

"It's punishment for trying to eat by yourself. If anyone gives him any food they will fail immediately. I am the rules here! Got it?" The man said with his face dead serious. Kakashi disappears.

"…" Sakura looks at her team members.

"Heh! I don't need any food. I'm fine!" Naruto shouts then his stomach growls. Ten minutes later, Naruto's stomach gets louder. "…" Sasuke licks his chopsticks as he looks at Naruto. He offers Naruto some of his obento.

"Here." He hides his face a little so the blond couldn't see him blushing.

"!" Naruto gasps out. 'He cares about me?'

"!" Sakura shows shock on her face as she almost chokes on her food. "Hey Sasuke-kun. Sensei just said…" She says with food still in her mouth.

"Don't worry; I don't sense him near here. After lunch we'll work together and get the bells." Naruto's cheeks blush at Sasuke's thoughtfulness. "Without food, he'll just be in the way and that will only hurt us." Naruto's cheeks now looked as red as can be and his eyes were shimmering with tears.

"…" Sakura looked shocked. 'Sasuke-kun.' She looked down at her obento. "…" She came to a conclusion and quickly moved her obento closer to Naruto.

"!" Naruto looked shocked at Sakura. 'Sakura-chan…Maybe she isn't so bad.' He laughs. Kakashi listens to them behind a nearby tree. "Hehehe thanks." As they fed him Naruto lingers more on Sasuke's chopsticks and barely touched Sakura's. His cheeks pinken as both him and Sasuke thinks a similar thought. 'An indirect kiss.' Naruto squeals in his thoughts. A puff of smoke engulfs the area in front of him.

"What's this?!" Sakura shouts out.

"You guys…!" Kakashi yells angrily.

"!" Sasuke tries to move in front of Naruto.

"AWWW!" Naruto shouts out and Sakura ducks away from the flying debris.

"Pass3" Kakashi says with a smile showing in his eye.

"Huh?..." Sakura looks confused.

"Uh?" Naruto narrows his eyes while looking at Kakashi.

"…" Sasuke shows an angry glare.

"Pass?" Sakura's shocked face showed off her humongous forehead. "But why?"

"You guys are the first." Kakashi says.

"Huh?" Sakura falls to the ground in relief.

"?" Naruto wonders.

"Everyone else would just do whatever I told them. They were all just morons…A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash…" He paused and looked at them. "…Are lower than trash."

"Hah." Sakura laughs.

"…" Naruto is speechless.

"Bah." Sasuke says.

'He's so cool…' Naruto giggled a little causing Sasuke to smile.

"That ends the training. All of you pass!" Kakashi says holding a thumb up. "Ok! Starting tomorrow team seven will begin its duties!"

"Yay! I did it! I did it!" Tears come to Naruto's eyes. "Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!" The others turn away from him.

"Let's go." Kakashi says.

"Hell yeah." Sakura shouts out.

"God damn it! I knew this would happen! Untie me!" Naruto shouts out at them.

"I almost forgot." Sasuke runs back and unties Naruto. "Sorry, Naruto. Are you okay?" He catches the blond.

"My chest hurts a little from the ropes but otherwise I'm fine." He complains as he rubs his chest.

"How about we go and celebrate at the onsen?" Sasuke asks.

"Onsen?" Naruto looks at him. 'He knows so it shouldn't hurt.'

They arrive at an onsen in the upper class section. Naruto's never been there. 'I'm so nervous. How can Sasuke know, though? I never told him.' Sasuke's eyes caress the boy. He undresses while his eyes never leaving the shaking blond.

"Are you going to come?" Sasuke asked as he lifts up the hem of his shirt. Naruto jumps and removes his jacket. He folded it neatly and places it inside of a basket. As he pulls his shirt up it rubs against his nipples and he winces from the sensitivity. Sasuke saw this and walked in front of Naruto who now held his shirt in front of his chest. "What's wrong?" Naruto's eyes flew to Sasuke's black depths and he blushes.

"My chest is a little tender." He says in a low tone. Sasuke grabs Naruto's hands gently.

"Let me see." Naruto only put up a little resistance as Sasuke pulls his arms down along with the shirt. Naruto's chest was red and it looked swollen. "This isn't from the ropes, is it Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he ran a hand over Naruto's chest. The blond gasps.

"No…Sasuke, you know?" He then asks.

"Yes, we can talk when we get to the Uchiha baths. That way there will be no one to hear, since I bet you don't want others to know." Naruto looked at him with a grateful look.

"Thanks, Sasuke." They both finished and put towels around their waists. They then walked down the hall to the Uchiha baths. Sasuke opened the door that held the Uchiha fan. He ushers Naruto inside.

"You are the first person to enter besides me in many years." Sasuke says as they enter the room. "I'm glad it's you, though." They both eased into the steaming water.

"How do you know, Sasuke?" Naruto asks shyly.

"Before I answer that I wanted to tell you something for years." Sasuke closed his eyes then stepped in front of Naruto to take a gentle hold of his arms. He opens his eyes to look in the beautiful blue depths. "Naruto, I…I like you. I have since the first time I met you. I know you aren't showing your true self but I see it every time I look in your eyes." He smiles. "At first, the start of those years I was confused so I took it out on you when I shouldn't." He bows his head and takes a deep breath. "I just wanted you to know I liked you before I found out your secret." He looks into Naruto's eyes again. "I was worried about you for the past few days. You kept on getting pale and looked like you were going to pass out. And when you finally did I hid when Kakashi took you to the hospital. Then I heard everything." He smiles at him. "It was the shock of a lifetime, but not a bad shock. It made me happy that if our relationship develops that far that we can have kids."

"Sasuke…" Naruto shakes his head to clear his thoughts. "You've just made me really happy. I have liked you, too. I have been through a lot since I found out Uzumaki's are like this. Also, I never heard you say so much." He smiles and rubs his sore chest. "I guess this is the start of breasts though. I guess I should remove the Genjutsu since you know." Sasuke's eyes widen. Naruto puts his hands together and his face shows the soft pink that all girls envy. His skin is still tan but his shoulders become slender, and his breasts show even more. The towel falls off and floats on top of the water since his hips are wider. "I had to learn to hide myself so that others wouldn't know. After I found out I started growing my hair."

"Why do you hide yourself? You are so beautiful." Sasuke's eyes shimmer from wonder. He cups his hands over his left cheeks. "I have to admit I never liked women or girls. But you are as much a boy with a bunch of girl on the side. You even put Sakura to shame with these." He places a hand underneath the small swell of her B-cup sized breasts. Naruto moans as Sasuke touches them.

"Because they already think of me as a freak. I don't want them to hate me even more." He looks at Sasuke. "You don't think I'm a freak, do you? I would hate it if yo-" Sasuke kissed him to shut him up.

"Never think that, Naruto. You don't have to hide behind Genjutsu if it's just us. I want to see all of you." Naruto blushes.

"C-can you k-kiss me again?" Naruto stutters out.

"It would be my pleasure." Sasuke says as he places his moist lips on the blonds.

Four months later…

Team seven is reporting the results of their last mission to the Hokage. The Hokage turns his weathered face towards them. "Now…Kakashi's team seven, your next duty is…" He looks at the paper that held their next assignment. "Hmmm...Babysitting an elders grandson, shopping in the neighboring village, and help with the potato digging."

"No! No! No! No, thank you!" Naruto crosses his arms in front of him like an X. "I want to do, you know, a more incredible mission! Find us a better one!"

'I agree…' Sasuke thinks.

'Geeze…How annoying…' Sakura thought as it showed on her face.

'Sigh…I thought it was about time…' Kakashi's face showed exasperation.

"You idiot! You are just a rookie! Everyone starts off with the simple duties and work their way up!" Iruka shouts at Naruto while the Hokage sighs.

"But! But! We keep getting the crappiest possible duties!" Naruto complains.

"Be quiet you!" Kakashi says as he hits the boy aside his head.

"Naruto! It seems I have to explain to you what these duties are all about." The Hokage says. "Listen, every day the village receives numerous requests, from babysitting…To assassination. Each request is written down on these lists…And divided into an A, B, C, D ranking based on difficulty. The village is also divided based on skill. Starting with me to the Jou, Chuu, and Gens." As the Hokage explains the hierarchy of Ninjas and missions Naruto thought to his and Sasuke's recent make out session. His cheeks hold a tinge of pink and Sasuke smirks. His thoughts change to take his mind off of it.

"Last night I had pork ramen, so miso sounds good for…" He mutters plans for dinner.

"…" Kakashi looks at his student.

"Hey! Listen!" The Hokage yells.

"I…I apologize." Kakashi says, rubbing the back of his head.

"Geeze! All you do is give lectures like that." Naruto says as he spun around still sitting on the floor. "But you know what?! I'm not…The troublemaking brat you still think I am!"

"…" Iruka looks at the boy speechless.

'Sigh…I'm going to get yelled at later for this…' Kakashi thought.

"…" Iruka smiles right along with the Hokage.

"Ok." He replies to the boy.

"Huh?" Naruto looks at the old man.

"If you want it that much…" Sasuke takes his eyes off of Naruto to look at the Hokage.

"!" Sakura gasps and Kakashi looks shocked.

"I'll give you a C-rank mission." He says while he smiles at him. 'Hehe, he used to only be able to express himself through pranks.' He folded his hands together. "It's a protection mission of a certain individual."

"Yay!" Naruto says as he grins. "Who?! Who?! A feudal lord?! A princess?!"

"Calm down, I'm about to introduce him. Hey, will you come in here?" The door swings open. An old man enters carrying a bottle of booze.

"What's this? They're all a bunch of super brats." The old man says then gulps down some of the booze. "Especially…" He pauses as he rests an arm on the door jam. "The shortest one with the super stupid-looking face. Are you really a ninja? He?!"

"Haha! Who's the shortest one with the stupid face…?" Naruto laughs until he realized he was the shortest one in the team. "!" His face turns to fury. "I'll kill you!" Kakashi grabs his collar.

"What's the point of killing the person we're supposed to protect? Idiot!" He tells the boy.

"I'm the super expert bridge builder Tazuna. I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

The team met Tazuna at the gates. Naruto walks off wondering if he packed enough tampons to last him for the trip. He grins and spun around. "Let's go!" "What are you so excited about?" Sakura mutters to the blond. Annoyed as usual about his upbeat attitude.

"Cause…I've never left the village before." He said as he took his first good look at the wilderness outside of the gate.

"…Hey! Am I really going to be safe with this brat?" Tazuna complains to Kakashi.

"Hehe…Well, I am a Jounin, don't worry." Kakashi laughs.

'Damn it! This geezer is the worst possible client. I should give him a shot to the face!' Naruto fumed. "Hey, old man! Don't mess with ninjas! I'm incredible! One day I will take on the super elite ninja title Hokage!" He points at the old man. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I remember it!"

"Hokage is the village's top ninja, right?" He sips from his bottle. "I doubt someone like you could become it…"

"Shut up! I am prepared to do anything to become Hokage! Once I become Hokage you will acknowledge me!" Naruto shouts out and Tazuna looks at the boy.

"No I won't, you brat…" Naruto looks at him with a shocked face. "Even if you did become Hokage."

"…I'll kill you!" Naruto shouts as he is about to attack the old man when Kakashi grabs him by his jacket again.

"I said stop, moron." They continue travelling.

"Umm…Tazuna-san." Sakura gets his attention.

"What?" He answers.

"You're from the wave country, right?" She asks.

"What about it?" He asks.

"Umm…Kakashi sensei? Do they have ninjas in that country too?" She asks the young Jounin.

"No, not in the wave country. But…In most other countries…The culture and customs may be different, but hidden villages exist, and so do ninjas. The Hokage is always the strongest in the village." Kakashi explains.

'That lame geezer is that incredible? Sounds fishy…' Inner Sakura says. "Wow! Hokage-sama is the best!"

"You guys just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you? But don't worry; there won't be any ninja combat in a C-rank mission." He explains as he ruffles Sakura's hair.

"Then, we won't come in contact with foreign ninjas?" She asked as Tazuna's face held shock.

"Of course not! Hahahaha!" Kakashi says while laughing.

"…!" Tazuna's face held worry.

"…" Sasuke looks at the old man's face. They continue walking and walked past a few puddles. Kakashi looks at the puddles of water. A head pops out of the water when no one was looking at it. The ninjas whole body forms out of the water, he yanks his arms up showing another ninja attached to a chain on his arm. The other ninja flies up at the group. The chains spun around a shocked Kakashi binding his arms and legs.

"Huh?!" Sakura looks shocked.

"What's this?!" Naruto shouts out. Tazuna looks at the young Jounin with a panicking face. The ninjas tighten the chains on Kakashi.

"One down." One says as they pull it tighter. Kakashi was ripped to shreds. Everyone started to panic as they watched the young Jounin's body is obliterated.

"Kyaa!" Sakura screams.

"Ka…!" Naruto stops as he tries not to cry.

"Kakashi sensei!" Sasuke shouts out. The two ninjas appeared behind Naruto.

"Two down." One said in the boys' ear. Naruto turns in shock to look at them.

'I can't let him die!' Sasuke thought as he jumped in to protect his boyfriend.

'Ninja?!' Tazuna thought. Sasuke grabbed out a Kunai and a Shuriken then threw the Shuriken. It flew and caught the chain to a tree. The two ninjas looked shocked as they were now limited in their movements. Before they could yank it out Sasuke threw the Kunai that hit right in the inner circle of the Shuriken to make sure it won't budge.

'I'm stuck!' The ninja thought. Naruto's face turns to wonder as he watches his boyfriend. Sasuke lands on their arms and grabs a hold of them. He lifts his legs up to kick them in their faces.

'Wow!' Naruto thought.

"Go…!" The ninjas grunt out from the hit. They released the chains from their hands and split up as Sasuke lands on his feet. Naruto and Tazuna both hold shock on their faces. One of them rushes at Naruto from his side.

"Uwaaa!" Naruto panics when he saw this and couldn't move fast enough. Tazuna's eyes widen.

'He's coming!' Sakura's eyes widen in fear.

'I have to do it!' The ninja thought.

"Sir, get back." Sakura says as she kn9ocks the old man back and stands at the ready in front of him. Tazuna looks at her in shock. Sasuke's eyes narrow. The old man panics as the ninja gets closer. Sasuke quickly moves in front of Sakura and the old man to intercept the attack. Both of them look at him in shock until the attack was stopped before it reaches Sasuke by Kakashi. He had both of the ninja's in strangle holds.

"Gua!" The ninja chokes out as he swings from Kakashi's arm like a pendulum. Naruto gapes at the man.

'Kakashi sensei…Alive?!' Sakura thought with a smile on her face.

'Bah…Show off…' Sasuke thought with an irked look on his face. Naruto looks in shock at his surroundings.

'Kakashi sensei…He used Kawarimi…?' He looked at the chopped wood that the man used to substitute for his red body.

'Phew, we're saved.' Tazuna thought as he exhaled a breath of air.

"Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't save you immediately. I got you injured…I didn't think you would freeze like that. Anyway, nice job Sasuke. Sakura, too." He says as he turns to look at his two students.

'I couldn't do anything…' Naruto thought as his eyes had tears in them. 'Yet he…It was his first real battle. Was he not scared at all?' He looked at his boyfriend. 'He looks as if nothing happened. And he didn't even have a speck of dust on him. He even saved me…'

"Hey!" Sasuke said to Naruto. "You alright…Scardey cat?" Sasuke asked his boyfriend with his trademark smirk on his face. Him saying this caused the tears to over flow in Naruto's eyes. Sasuke's eyes widen. He saw the other three stare at him with eyes of shame. Sasuke wiped the tears from the boys' cheeks. "You're okay now, right?"

"Naruto, save it for later. The claws are soaked in poison. We have to remove it quickly." Naruto looks at his sensei in shock. He looks down at his hand as the tears stopped. "We must open the wound and release the poisoned blood from your body." Naruto's body shook when he heard his sensei's explanation. "Don't move much, the poison will spread. Tazuna-san."

"What is it?" The old man chokes out.

"I need to talk to you." Kakashi said as he looked at the older man from the corner of his eye.

After Kakashi scolded the old man for lying about the seriousness of the mission he turned to look at the blond boy. "I guess we should return to the village to treat Naruto." When Naruto heard this his temper flared so much he took a Kunai and stabbed the cut. Everyone's faces turned to him in shock.

'Why is there so much of a difference?' He asked himself as blood dripped from the new wound. 'Why am I always…Damn it! I always burden people. I need to be strong enough to protect myself.' He thought as tears flowed quicker from shame.

"Naruto! What are you doing?!" Sakura asked as she ran to him. Sasuke's face held panic.

'I should be becoming stronger…I've completed many missions and even practice jutsu everyday by myself. I'm not going to need saving ever again…I'm not going to be afraid and try to run…I won't burden Sasuke ever again…I swear it on the pain in my left hand.' Sasuke's face tried to control his emotions but seeing the blond bleeding so much strained it making it show. "With this Kunai…" Everyone continued looking at his back. "I'll protect the old man. We're continuing the mission!" He says as his hands start shaking.

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