Konohagakure

One hour earlier

"Naruto! Wake up!"

Naruto woke up in a puddle of funk. Giving a strangled cry, he rolled off his moth-eaten couch and slammed into the floor hard. He scrambled to his feet still half asleep and found Sakuro and Sasuke standing in his living room, staring at him like he had two heads

"What the hell are you two doing in my house?" Naruto demanded. He would have sounded much more threatening if he hadn't yawned immediately after saying this.

"Get dressed, Naruto we've got to go!" Sasuke said sharply, "We've been calling you for at least an hour."

"What's going on?" Naruto rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

"That escort job Kakashi mentioned a few days ago?" Sakura started playing with her hair, her gaze flitting from Naruto to Sasuke, "Well apparently the night cell got in a day earlier than what we thought and they're headed to meet with the Hokage. We've got to meet them at the Acadamy."

"What are they doing with the Hokage?" Naruto asked curiously.

"We don't know, that's not part of the mission." Sasuke said shortly, although he was wondering the same thing as well, "Get ready. Sakura and I will be waiting outside in five minutes."

Naruto scowled, "If you get outta my house then I can get ready."

"You call this a house?" Sakura said distastefully, wrinkling her nose, "Smells like spoiled milk—do you ever clean this place up?"

"Out! Both of you!" Naruto hollered, resisting the urge to start kicking shins.

"We were just leaving." Sasuke curled his lip, "Four minutes or we're heading out without you."

8

Needless to say, Naruto was not a happy camper as he and his fellow cell members headed downtown Konoha. The city was as bright and as bustling as ever, but right at that moment the only noise and commotion Naruto cared about was in his empty stomach.

"You didn't even give me time for breakfast!" He grumbled as they passed a ramen stall, "Don't you think we could stop for two seconds and…"

"Easy boy." Sakura grabbed Naruto by the back of his neck and threw him to the ground, "We've got a mission to do and I know its hard but you might have to keep your mind off of food for at least two seconds."

"Man she got you good, boss!" A young voice sniggered.

The three turned on their heels, and were not surprised to see Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi tailing them. The kids were looked wide-eyed and happy.

"Yeah, well, you've gotta let them have a hit every now and then to, ya know, make them feel better about themselves." Naruto said quickly, trying to save whatever shred was left of his dignity. As he tried to get up on shaky legs, Sakuro kicked him in the center of the back and he went down again.

"Don't piss me off!" She warned, shaking her fist at Konohamaru and Udon, who backed away slowly.

"Can we please get going?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes. The last thing he wanted was for the squirts to be following them all around the city while he was trying to keep an eye on the night cell.

Naruto got to his feet and scrambled out of reach of Sakura.

"Hey boss, what are you doing today?" Konohamaru flew like a cannonball out of nowhere, onto Naruto's back. Naruto staggered back and forth for a few seconds, but managed to balance himself with Konohamaru on his back.

"We're going on a super secret mission!" Naruto laughed, "We're escorting the dangerous night cell around the city."

"I heard my grandfather talking about them!" Konohamaru twisted around and looked for his two other companions, "Moegi, tell Naruto what I told you about those kids from Yorugakure!"

"He said that the Hokage said that the Yorukage said that the night cell was very dangerous and that we should watch out for them!" Moegi declared, smiling at Sakura, "You won't let them kill you, will you Sakura?"

"C-course not!" Sakura smiled and scratched the back of her head, her mind wandering back to the moment when she had first met Sato Tasogare. It hadn't been the best first impression, but the Tasogare didn't seem as foreboding as everyone had said. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Seriously, we have to keep moving." Sasuke urged them, giving Udon a look that plainly said, 'come over here looking for a piggy-back ride and I'll kick you so hard you'll wind up in kirigakure', "Let's move you guys!"

"Sasuke's right!" Sakura agreed swiftly, turning a little pink, "Udon, Konohamaru, Moegi, I'm sorry but you can't come with us—"

"Oh, come on why can't we?" Konohamary whined from his position on Naruto's back, looking as though everyone in the village would kill to have his place.

"Yeah, Sakura, why cant they?" Naruto chimed in.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and answered for his cellmate, "Because we don't want a dead kid on our hands if the night cell goes nuts. Whatever, you guys can mess around with the little kids if you want but I'm getting out of here."

With that Sasuke turned again and started heading down the street. They were awfully close to the academy, its tall towers were visible from where they were.

"Sasuke, wait!" Sakura called brightly, running after the Uchiha. Moegi followed Sakura, Udon followed Moegi, and Konohamaru and Naruto followed Udon.

"Hey guys!" Naruto panted. "Wait up! I cant run as fast as you with this lump on my back…"