Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its affiliates, I only own this plot and my own original characters.

Chapter 4: Search for Teammates!

Naruto's eyes opened widely when he saw Ichiraku Ramen. "I haven't been here in a long time! Old man, I'm here! Naruto ran into the shop and jumped on a chair at the bar. He was ready to eat as much ramen as he could hold, and that was a lot in Naruto's case.

"Well would you look at that. It's my number one customer! What would you like today my friend?" The old man was obviously glad to see Naruto back. That kid always seemed to remind him of his youth, a time that had long but left him.

"Pork please! And could you make it two to start with?"

"I would be glad too Naruto. We've missed you here. Business has been rather slow lately. Where have you been?"

"Naruto! It's been a while! Where have you been?" The waitress Ayame walked into Naruto's view, her smile larger than ever. The way these two looked at Naruto, it was obvious that they appreciated the child a lot.

Naruto chuckled out loud. "Wait until they hear this story, they'll never believe it!" Naruto's face had a huge smile, which was a sign that he was about to boast on his accomplishments. "Well, first I was training for days trying to perfect a new move, and then I defeated an extremely powerful opponent with it!" Naruto was so excited that he couldn't even remember the entire story.

The old man brought Naruto's first bowl of ramen and placed it in front of him. "Well take care of yourself out there. We can't afford to lose our number one customer!" The old man's smile never left his face while he said that to Naruto.

"You can bet I'll be fine old man!" Naruto gave him a thumbs up to solidify his promise. "There's no way Naruto Uzumaki will die yet!" Naruto immediately began to indulge into his ramen. He savored it's sweet taste, a taste he nearly forgot.

"Naruto! I knew I could find you here."

Naruto turned around with about five inches of ramen hanging from his mouth to find Shikamaru standing in the shop. "Do you mind if I ate with you?"

Naruto finished the ramen he was working on before smiling at him. "Sure thing Shikamaru! I'll pay!"

"No I can handle myself. It's troublesome, but it's the least I can do," Shikamaru said. He proceeded to sit next to Naruto. "I'll have some Chicken ramen please."

"One chicken coming right up!" said the old man.

Naruto finished his ramen and looked at Shikamaru. "So how have you been? Finally out of the hospital I take it."

Shikamaru sighed softly, then nodded at Naruto. "I was let go by Tsunade earlier today. It's so troublesome I tell you. Ino is still in the hospital, and Chouji was let go yesterday. If you and Sakura hadn't shown up, we'd probably all be dead."

Naruto's face tensed up at Shikamaru. "Don't say that you baka! We don't know what would have happened over there."

Shikamaru put his hand up letting Naruto know he was wrong. "We were clearly outclassed. I made a mistake by not knowing all of that Kazuku's abilities, and we were at a mismatch from the start. That's one reason why I wanted to find you Naruto."

"What do you mean Shikamaru?" Naruto was slow on a lot of things, but this time he had no idea what Shikamaru was getting at.

"I wanted to thank you for saving me back there. It's troublesome, but I had to do it. If you weren't there I'd certainly be dead now." Shikamaru looked at Naruto with a smirk appearing across his face. "I guess you could say I owe you one."

Naruto stood there in shock at what Shikamaru said. He then chuckled to himself and gave a thumbs up to Shikamaru. "Yeah I guess I was pretty cool out there."

Shikamaru smirked. "That Naruto. Now he is going to be bragging about this all week." He then nodded at Naruto, knowing the trouble he might have caused.

Naruto and Shikamaru were interrupted by a large ruckus outside. It appeared to involve a man and a woman. "Oh come on ladies! I didn't mean it that way!"

Naruto's eyes lit open upon hearing that. "That Ero-Sennin!" he yelled. "He's always getting into trouble. Take your 'research' elsewhere Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya looked into the shop, glad to see Naruto. "Well that just made my search easier. I've got business to talk Naruto."

Naruto sighed at this thought. "Man, I am not helping in his research again!"

"Jiraiya-san. You're one of the legendary sannin right?" said Shikamaru.

"You're a bright one boy. Are you a friend of Naruto? I'm sure he has told you some weird things about me but I can assure you that none of them are true!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

Shikamaru sighed at that comment. "Actually he hasn't told me a thing about you."

Jiraiya jumped in shock at this comment! "What! This is the respect he shows me after all the training I gave him?" Jiraiya walked to Naruto and put his arm around his shoulder. "Naruto, I'm crushed."

"Get that arm off me Ero-Sennin! Why did you want to talk to me anyway!" Shikamaru could tell that Naruto was a little uncomfortable at Jiraiya's actions.

Jiraiya's face quickly turned serious. "I have news on Sasuke."

This quickly got the attention of both Naruto and Shikamaru. "Sasuke?" Shikamaru thought. "That's right. Orochimaru's body transfer should be ready any time now." Shikamaru thought back nearly three years ago when he led a team in the vain attempt to rescue Sasuke. He grimaced at that thought. It was the first mission he led as a Chuunin, and almost all of his teammate's lives at one point or another were fatally in danger. That mission almost caused him to quit being a ninja, but he gave up that idea after numerous lectures from his father Shikaku and Temari.

Naruto was in complete shock at Jiraiya's remark. "What do you know about Sasuke?"

"It's been almost three years Naruto. It's nearly time for Orochimaru to transfer bodies with Sasuke." Jiraiya decided to leave it at that and let Naruto do the rest of the talking.

"He's almost ready? What are we waiting for Ero-Sennin! We have to go rescue him! If we don't then everything I have trained for these past few years would have gone to waste." Naruto began to jump around his seat. "I have to grab my stuff. We have to go now!"

"Naruto, settle down. Oh man this is so troublesome. Look Naruto. We still have time. It's not much, but we have time. There's no need to rush things. That will only lead to failure." Shikamaru knew that Naruto would not buy this, but it was the truth.

"The boy is correct Naruto. Orochimaru won't be able to do it for another couple weeks. But you are still right. We cannot, and will not, waste any time. Be ready by tomorrow morning. Sakura will accompany us, as well as anyone else you wish to bring along. But do note that this will be an extremely dangerous mission, and anyone who might not be up to the task should be left behind."

Naruto nodded at Jiraiya. "There is one person I need to ask, and I will head there right now." Naruto could feel himself tensing up. "This is what I have been training for. I can't fail!"

Shikamaru began to analyze the situation. "I gave Naruto my word a while back that I would help him save Sasuke, but would I actually help the team or would I hinder them. Damn this is troublesome, I am going to regret this."

"Hey, Jiraiya-san. I would like to join your team."

Naruto gasped at Shikamaru's statement. "Shikamaru?" His puzzled face quickly turned into a happy one. "Of course Shikamaru! There is no brighter ninja than you! And your shadow abilities will help us out greatly!"

Jiraiya nodded. "He's a member of the Nara clan. They use their shadows to paralyze their opponent. That might indeed be helpful. Plus, he was the first of their class to make Chuunin, and I also personally believe he should be a Jounin now." Jiraiya smiled at Shikamaru. "Welcome aboard. You too must be ready early tomorrow then." Jiraiya returned his stare at Naruto. "Well then I'm off. I have the rest of the night to finish my 'research', so I'll see you two tomorrow morning them! Well until then!" With that, Jiraiya vanished from sight.

An eerie node of silence was present between Naruto and Shikamaru. Both of them knew damn well how important this was. Naruto was training just for this moment, and Shikamaru needed to redeem himself from his past failure.

Shikamaru decided to break the awkward silence. "I'm going to head out Naruto. We should make sure we are completely prepared for the mission. I guess that means I'll see you tomorrow Naruto. You should go and rest."

Naruto shook his head in disapproval at Shikamaru. "There is one person I would like to have on my team. I must go and ask him. That is, if I can get inside to ask him." Naruto appeared to be unsure if he would be able too.

Shikamaru immediately guessed who Naruto was talking about. Neji Hyuuga. "I'd help you out Naruto, but it sounds very troublesome. I'll wish you the best of luck and see you tomorrow." With that, Shikamaru headed out.

"Damn that man is lazy. But he is reliable. I'm glad he'll be on our team." Naruto proceeded to head to the Hyuuga estate, hoping to convince Neji to join the team.

Naruto arrived at the gates of the Hyuuga estate. "So this is where Neji and Hinata live then? Wow this is a big place."

"State your business here boy!" said one of the guards. He obviously did not appear friendly.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I need to speak with Neji Hyuuga. I demand to be let in!" Although he did not expect to be let in, he was not going to be nice with these guards. He had expectations on how they would treat him.

The other guard laughed out loud. "The demon fox child? We're sorry, but our lord Hiashi would not think highly of your presence on our grounds. Please leave."

Naruto's eyes lit up at this remark. "So just because I am the container for the Kyuubi, I am not allowed in? We'll see how long they believe that." Naruto got into a fighting stance. "If you won't let me in, then I'll force my way in!"

"What's the commotion guards?" said a voice from the interior of the estate. "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Neji! I need to talk to you about something extremely important! Can you let me pass?"

Neji looked at the two guards. "Naruto Uzumaki is a friend. Let him pass."

The two Hyuuga guards looked at Neji in shock. How could he be friends with the demon child? Lord Hiashi would not be pleased. "Alright, he can pass. But know that we did not allow it!"

The two guards opened the gates and Naruto walked into the Hyuuga estate. Just the outskirts of the place was enough to make any resident of Konoha surprised. There were two huge pools of water in front of the manor, which was not what one would call normal sized. Naruto couldn't believe how big the place was.

Neji walked with Naruto along the outskirts of the manor. "I've never seen you around the manor before Naruto-kun. What brings you here?" Neji gave Naruto a sharp stare. The two were on good terms with each other. Neji owed Naruto much for how he changed his life. "I wonder why he is here. I know Hinata-sama has a huge crush on him, but is that the reason he is here? No, it can't be. He's Naruto after all, there's no way he has caught on."

Naruto had been trying to come up with the words to say to Neji on his way to the estate. "Neji. You remember three years ago when we went to rescue Sasuke right?"

Neji could never forget that time. He was almost killed by the sound ninja he fought. It was also the fight where he learned not to give into fate and destiny. "Yes I remember. What do you mean by that though?"

"Well Orochimaru is nearly able to transfer into Sasuke's body. And tomorrow, I am going on a mission with Jiraiya, Shikamaru, and Sakura in an attempt to save him before he falls victim to Orochimaru." Naruto turned his gaze onto Neji, who had his pale eyes fixed onto him. "I guess I'll get to the point immediately. We could greatly use your Byakugan. Can you help us?"

Neji gazed into Naruto's eyes. He could tell that Naruto was desperate with this mission and needed help. Although, he knew he couldn't go. Hiashi demanded him not to go on any missions for the time being. He did not know why. "Naruto. I can tell in your eyes how desperate you want this mission to succeed. However, I cannot lend my services at this time. Please understand my reasoning. I would be going against the orders of Lord Hiashi, and that would be risky for me being a branch family member. I am sorry."

Naruto suddenly felt a feeling of depression. With Neji on their team, he would have felt extremely confident about the success of the mission. However, Neji wasn't able to go.

The thought of suggesting Naruto take Hinata along crossed Neji's mind. However, he was extremely unsure if that would be a good idea or not. Ever since Naruto left the village, Neji made a vow to protect Hinata and fulfill his role to the clan. This definitely sounded like a dangerous mission, for they would encounter Orochimaru and Sasuke, two enemies of extreme power. He knew himself how much Hinata has grown over the past few years, but he would feel guilty placing her at risk. He was also unsure of how she would act in front of Naruto, which could place the mission at jeopardy. Moreover, if the mission would fail because of it, she would never forgive herself.

"Naruto. It's not easy for me to openly admit this, but you are a friend to me."

Naruto's eyes opened widely at this comment. "A friend?" He never expected Neji to say anything related to this in the open.

"If I could help you, I certainly would. Do know that I am in your debt. I promise to help you out next time."

Naruto smiled at Neji's comment. He was surprised on how much Neji had changed during the two and a half years he was gone. He was actually a likeable person now in Naruto's eyes. "Thank you Neji. It's getting late here; I should leave before I cause problems."

"Hai. Farewell Naruto-kun. Good luck," answered Neji.

Naruto began to head to the entry gates, when a thought crossed his mind. "I haven't seen her in a while, and probably shouldn't try to find her in the estate. I'll tell Neji for me." He turned around to Neji. "Can you tell Hinata I said hello?"

Neji gasped at Naruto's statement. A smile then slowly crossed his face. "I will Naruto. She will be most happy to hear it."

"Thank you Neji! See you when we get back with Sasuke!" With that, Naruto headed out of the Hyuuga manor to get prepared for the dangerous mission on the horizon tomorrow.

Neji walked back into the manor. He replayed Naruto's last words in his mind. "Can you tell Hinata I said hello?" Neji laughed to himself. Now the only question was whether to tell her before or after Naruto left.

Translations:
Ero-Sennin - Perverted Hermit