Author Note: Whooo! Thank you everyone for your awesome reviews! As promised, this has been updated earlier and I apologize for any mistakes, my time is limited with school now taking over my life and whatnot. Also! This is a special chapter because originally it was supposed to be short and so was chapter four so I decided to just cram them both together and BAM! you get a super chapter! I must also note that there is an evil surprise in the next chapter! But! Enough jibber jabber! Enjoy and don't forget to review ;)

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Darkside

Bad vibes

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Warm, luminous sun rays trespassed through the windows of Naruto's home. They light the entire residence up, giving all of his newly purchased plants one of the things they required most. Everything stood at a stand still, completely silent. Well... everything had been silent until Naruto began to snore. Loudly.

Enjoying his first real sleep in a couple days, the ambitious blond continued to remain in his dozing state. Outside, the rest of Konoha continued with activities that were carried out at the same time every day, same place, same everything. It was late morning as Naruto slept on and the day shortly slipped into mid-afternoon.

Normally, Konoha was a decent place to live, with decent weather and excellent living conditions. Today tough, the weather was not decent nor excellent. It was blistering hot with absolutely no wind. Most people ignored the temperature, but it was almost too unbearable once the day grew older.

Safely sprawled out and still snoring, Naruto was unaffected by the cruel temperatures. The sun only made him become overwhelmed with more drowsiness; he was completely oblivious to the world, even the quiet footsteps that neared his door.

Naruto's snoring drowned out a rusty noise as the hinges of his door moved and two figures stepped inside. His solid wooden floor created only a few creaking noises as two pairs of feet gradually made their way towards his asleep form.

Had the blond been up any earlier, he would have immediately identified the stealthy intruders. Unfortunately, he was sound asleep, refusing to wake up; however, as the two unidentified forms neared, one of the floor boards broke through Naruto's loud snoring with a deafening creak!

Confused yet managing to bring himself awake, Naruto blinked several times as he attempted to force the intruding fog from eyes to a far away place. The two figures, now standing above him, were very unfocused with black blotches dancing around them at random.

Oh no! He thought as his mind raced. It's the enemy!

Naruto sprang upwards without warning, arms flailing everywhere. His left hand managed to smack one of the 'enemies' in the face. The now injured one had only been trying to figure out how a person could sleep through such intense weather while the second merely laughed when Naruto had made his accidental attack.

Who were these people? What did they want from him?

The blond calmed down temporarily. He noticed that somehow he had ended up sleeping on the floor. How did that happen? Next, Naruto's attention was diverted to a very angry person standing over him. And why is Sakura-chan here and looking at me with flames in her eyes?

"NARUTO!"

Sakura's fist was raised in front of her face for a few short seconds before it came crashing down on Naruto's head, nearly sending him back to sleep.

"S-Sakura-chan...?"

"Idiot! Look what you did to my face!" Sakura pointed to her swollen cheek but the only thing Naruto could stare at was the floor. Man, she was getting to be just as scary as the old hag!

"Sakura, I really think you need to enlist yourself into anger management classes," commented Ino, who stood with her arms crossed and sporting a smirk. She took her position beside Sakura and looked down at Naruto. "Come on, get up, we're going training."

"Mmmmmmrph, mmmmrph, mmmmmrph..."

The medic ninja pulled Naruto up using the collar of his shirt and dodged more flailing arms. She frowned and gave her friend a warning glare.

"Nobody is here to train with us, they're all out on missions. Get ready, we're going to start soon." Sakura paused, fixing Naruto with one of her very convincing yet very frightening glares. "Unless... you don't want to?"

The now awake blond waved his hands in front of himself in worry. "O-of course Sakura-chan! I... uhhhh... just need to eat something first..."

Ino closed her eyes and tapped her foot impatiently. "Hurry up then! You remind me of Chouji and that's not a good thing!"

Naruto quickly put on his orange and black jacket, which only made both kunoichi gawk. How could he wear that outside and train? They both had the same thoughts of 'has he gone mental?' running through their heads as Naruto gathered his belongings from around his small home.

"Come on! Let's go!"

"Where does he get that energy from?" Ino mumbled as they filed out of the crowded residence.

"That's Naruto for ya..."

The kunoichi sighed as Naruto ran ahead, sputtering out incoherent words, he was too far away from them to understand. Sakura assumed it had something to do with the lack of breakfast. The idiot had forgotten!

Without bothering to catch up, Ino and Sakura made their way through the maze of buildings, knowing where every street, alleyway and path went. Even at a walking pace they managed to beat Naruto to the greatly used training grounds. Where did he go now?

A couple bushes began to shake off in the distance. Naruto strolled towards Sakura and Ino, one hand scratching the back of the mop of golden hair he sported while the other held onto a rather large rice ball. He greeted them with a sheepish smile and laughed lightly with a mouth full of his quick fix know as breakfast.

"Heee. I couldn't help myself."

"Whatever, as soon as you're done we'll start," Sakura said as she slid a worn backpack off her shoulders and carefully placed it on the ground.

Untying a tightly secured flap that had protected her items for years, Sakura dug around in the leather carrier, withdrawing three dangerously glistening kunai. She place them safely away in the satchel attached to her hip and faced Naruto, who had just finished his considerably small amount of food.

"Let's start!"

"Uhhh, Sakura-chan," Naruto interjected. "What exactly are we doing this time?"

Ino went to answer but she didn't even know that herself. Sakura had made a surprise appearance at her flower shop, insisting that she come train with her. No missions had sprang up, the shop was lacking customers and she needed something to do. So what exactly was going to happen today?

"Why not improve our fighting skills? We all need more practice with combat than anything. Plus," Sakura held up her right index finger and stated in a matter-of-fact way, "Tsunade-sensei says that an important mission is going to take place soon and I want to be ready for it."

Naruto's eyes lit up. An important mission? He had to go on it! It was time to prove that council wrong, that he could do anything he put his mind to!

"Really Sakura-chan?"

"Yes. Now come on, we're wasting.."

A cloud of smoke surrounded the kunoichi as Naruto sprinted towards Tsunade's office. They hadn't even started and already Naruto was gone!

Sakura sighed heavily, hanging her head low and mumbling loud enough for Ino to comprehend what she was saying.

"Why did I even bother opening my big mouth...?"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Naruto ran quickly towards the Tower of Fire, adrenaline acting like magic to fuel his high speeds. While racing down narrow streets filled with shopping villagers and those just out for the fun of it (even on a scorching hot day), the blond received several confused stares. A fairly large cloud of dust flung up behind him, leaving everyone in his wake coughing or shielding their eyes.

Tsunade had to grant him permission for that important mission! It wasn't fair that he was the only one being cast aside by some stupid council. How could he accomplish his dream of becoming Hokage if everyone constantly prevented him fry trying to show that he could be strong enough for such a title?

Closer now, the building seemed to be. Naruto approached it with such haste that he even surprised himself. The doors came into view but the blond was already standing in front of Tsunade's office before he realized that he was inside the building.

Muffled voices came from behind the wooden door, preventing the blond from overhearing any of a serious sounding conversation. He cared not about what was being spoken, but he did care about that important mission Sakura had talked about. He could really prove himself if went along!

"That's enough!" Came Tsunade's scary lady voice. Naruto became interested with what lay beyond the door and fought the temptation to press his ear against the wooden surface and listen.

"Tsunade," a different voice rose loudly. "You clearly don't understand the situation." The blond immediately noted how old and forceful the other person was just by the their voice. What was going on in there?

The doorknob appeared to be mocking him as if it was saying "I dare you, go see what they're talking about!" Naruto shook his head, forgetting all temptations. He settled for resting comfortably against the wall opposite of Tsunade's office, his arms crossed loosely over his chest. I guess it couldn't hurt to wait...

Both voices tuned down, regaining the previous muffled seriousness. Naruto quickly found himself growing bored, the only thing keeping him there was his strong powered determination. What could be taking them so freakin' long?

"You can't be so hard on Naruto!"

Tsunade's voice was strong with an undertone of warning mingled in it. So their conversation was about him, then? Hmm... Without caring why they were arguing about him (though he could probably guess, and correctly at that), Naruto stood up and burst through the door in a manner quite comparable to Shizune.

"Old lady Tsunade!" He barged in, eyes wide as he bounded excitedly towards the Hokage, all the while noticing the strange, cold looks a wrinkled old woman was giving him. "Sakura-chan said there's an important mission coming up! I want to go!"

The former Hokage was shot a sharp glare from the woman sitting in front of her. Naruto didn't miss it as he continued to wait patiently for an answer.

Tsunade waved towards the cold woman with her right hand. "You're dismissed." She received a glare full of warning and frigid coldness before the oldest out of everyone present left. The room became quiet, but not for long. Not with Naruto in it.

"I'll do my best and.."

"Naruto, I can't allow you to go on that mission." She watched the ambitious blond's hope plummet. "However..."

"You'll let me go, old lady Tsunade?"

The woman who possessed incredible strength felt her eye twitch. A wicked plan took form in her mind as a few seconds of silence passed between the two ninja. She smirked in a way that caused Naruto to take several steps backwards, away from her paper cluttered desk.

"You can go but... on one condition."

Naruto was too afraid of what it might be to answer.

"You have to promise to never, ever call me 'old' or anything like that again. Have I made myself clear enough for you to understand?"

Frowning at such a proposal but too happy to care, Naruto agreed. He went to leave except Tsunade stopped him, scolding the blond for not even caring about what the mission was.

"Well, what is it then?"

Tsunade sighed, turning in her chair to stare out the big windows that displayed Konoha beautifully. "You, along with two others, are to guard a very important figure that is allied with Konohagakure. This may seem like an easy mission, but don't be deceived. There is a very high threat of your team being attacked by dangerous ninja while making your way to the desired destination." Her facial expression hardened. "Go fully prepared. Also, I'm assigning Shikamaru and Sakura to this mission. It'll take place after tomorrow. Good luck."

Naruto smiled brightly in a way like no other. This was going to be awesome! With a very short 'thank you', though it was half assed, and promising he would "never call old lady Tsunade old again," Naruto bounded off to tell Sakura the news.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Everything was completely silent from within an occupied apartment flat. The temperature was perfect, though unbalanced at times when the crisp night air flowed through the building via an opened window.

Curtains, each stationed on either side of the crystalline glass and dyed yellow, billowed every time a gust of wind passed by. The quiet sound of moving fabric mingled with the chorus of crickets outside created a dream-like atmosphere. Moonlight pooled through the window and illuminated everything inside the apartment with a heavenly glow.

Wooden floor boards creaked softly under the luminous moonlight. As if the light was tainted with poison, a shadow wandered carefully across it and immediately went for the darkness lingering near a well used fridge.

Yellow light spilled over a figure leaning forwards in a zombie-like manner. Naruto rubbed his eyes, not quite managing to drive away the fog that prevented him from seeing clearly. Reaching into his fridge, the tired blond grabbed for one of his many milk cartons and drank straight from it before placing it back, letting out a loud yawn.

He couldn't sleep, it was impossible. Nothing was capable of forcing his eyes to close, though he managed to stumble into a light nap, only to be wide awake once more. He was clueless regarding what time of the night now floated around him but the sky outside was beginning to lighten.

It was already almost morning! No way!

Groaning loudly, Naruto hauled himself towards his open window and was assaulted with the crisp night breeze. It caused his golden hair to sway almost hypnotically back and forth as his skin savored the cool feeling the breeze brought.

Naruto's hands found themselves on the windowsill, gripping it strongly. With one quick jump the blond pulled himself out the window, flipping into the air gracefully, then landed on the apartment roof (Naruto realized that it should probably be repaired sometime soon) and succeeding in waking up no one.

From up above, Naruto could smell the moisture that hung in the air and could feel small droplets of dew sliding underneath his bare feet. The moisture clung to him like glue, making him feel damp but Naruto didn't mind at all. He sat down slowly, taking in all of a slumbering Konoha with his brilliant blue eyes.

The village really looked different at night...

"What!" Naruto let his eyes flutter shut, Sakura's voice from earlier echoing through his mind. "We're both going?"

"How come I'm not going?" Ino had said, crossing her arms as anger took over her expression. "I always get left behind! And what do you mean by 'Shikamaru is coming along? He isn't even here..."

Naruto smiled to himself, pulling his knees towards his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs. The crisp breeze ruffled his shining mop of golden hair and in no time he found himself wavering close to sleep, not taking into account that he was falling asleep on a roof off all places.

Opening his eyes once more, enjoying the feel of moonlight on his face, Naruto absorbed the beauty of Konoha at peace. After finally deciding that he should go back inside, the now sleepy blond headed back into his home, going straight for his bed.

The mattress was comforting, persuading Naruto to fall asleep faster. No objections arose and soon the blond collapsed into a peaceful dark place, still trying to contain his happiness of going on that mission.

Yet he couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen...

Continued in chapter four!