"Whoa! Tenten! There's actually cottage cheese in the cottage cheese container!" the blonde boy called excitedly, stopping his raiding of her fridge just to share his unique findings with her. The young woman in question appeared out of an adjoining room and shot him a disparaging look. He offered no apology for raiding through her things, but he did scratch the back of his head in a somewhat sheepish manner.

"And what's supposed to be in the cottage cheese container?" she asked him, rolling her eyes as she parted her wet brown hair and wound it into twin buns. "Actually, no, I have a better question. Why are you in my refrigerator in the first place, Naruto?" she interrogated him, raising a thin eyebrow. Some days, she swore that the whole word would be better off if someone kept that boy on a leash.

"Ten, you always keep all sorts of things in different containers in your fridge! One time I thought I was opening up the container for ice cream, and there were vegetables in there!" he said enthusiastically, waving his hands about and upsetting the glass of water that was on her counter. She jumped forward and saved it just before it made impact with the floor. "And I'm hungry, Ten!" he whined. "The rations aren't enough for me. I'm still growing, after all! Since you always seem to have food, I figured you wouldn't mind..." he trailed off, grinning.

She rolled her eyes for the second time in a half of a minute. "Naruto, you don't act anything like your age," she sighed, placing the glass back on the counter and using a rag to wipe the water off of the floor. "You're almost twenty, right?" she sighed and ruffled his hair, which was already mussed. "Go ahead, eat something. Just don't clean out my entire fridge, all right? I'm not exempt from the rations, I just know how to eat vegetables. Hey, but why did you come here anyway? Usually you just bother Hinata if you're hungry."

"Is this where the party's at? Oh, dang, guys. Naruto's already here. We're definitely late if that loser's here before us," drawled a voice from near Tenten's front door. A young man with tattoos on his cheeks kicked off his shoes and offered a broad grin to the two assembled people. Behind him came a sandy-haired boy who was tall but also slightly heavy, especially in the views of war-rationed America. Picking up the rear, a small teenager with blue-black hair and startling almost white eyes carefully stepped into the room, closed the door, and offered a kind smile.

"Oh, shut it, Kiba!" Naruto shouted at the first boy they launched themselves at each other. They thudded onto Tenten's carpet and wrestled there, rolling over and occasionally punching or kicking. Everyone knew it was all in fun, but the white-eyed Hinata, stood by them fretfully and frowned, trying to calm the two of them.

"Got anything to eat, Tenten?" asked the largest man. "These rations are killing me."

"I'll make you regret that, dead-last!" shouted Kiba.

"Boys, please," Hinata began, but they either ignored her or didn't hear her.

"What're you gonna do, puppy?" taunted Naruto.

"Anything in the fridge?"

"You're going down, Naruto!"

"Please!"

"Quiet!" Tenten yelled, stomping her foot. Chouji, who had begun toward the fridge, froze, Kiba and Naruto stopped, and Hinata jumped backward with a squeak of surprise. Once she had the attention of everyone present, Tenten sighed. "Naruto, why in the world is everyone here? I told you before, if we're gonna have a meeting, you have to tell me about it! And what in the world is so important? We met yesterday, for heaven's sake!"

Naruto stood up and smiled apologetically at Tenten. "Sorry, Ten, forgot to give you a holler. It's big news. Maybe . . . um, do you guys wanna sit down, maybe? It's big, I promise. Really big," he said excitedly.

Hinata and Tenten squished themselves companionably in one armchair, Chouji sat on the rocking chair, Kiba sprawled himself on the floor, and Naruto stood in the midst of them all. "I have a letter here," Naruto began.

"I didn't know you could read!" Kiba interrupted, his voice toned into mock surprise. Tenten growled and threw a small pillow at his head. As was expected, she didn't miss her mark. The pillow hit his face with a soft whoff sound and fell harmlessly to the floor. Kiba made a move to throw it back, but Tenten's eyes promised danger. He merely placed it on the floor and laid his head down on it.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Kiba, cleared his throat, and continued on. "I have a letter here, but it's no ordinary letter. The return address on it freaked me out, actually. Because this isn't a letter from just anyone. It's from El Presidente, whose aid apparently came to see us at our last performance," he said, grinning as everyone gathered gasped. They all clamored for him to read it, so he pulled the letter out of the envelope with a flourish and cleared his throat.

"'Dear Naruto Uzumaki, Chouji Akimichi, Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Tenten,'" Naruto began. "Wow, next is a whole bunch of flowery bullshit. I'll just cut to the chase! Umm... here!" he announced, pointing to a paragraph further down in the letter. "'In order to boost the morale of those stationed in Europe, the presence of your circus troupe has been requested in northern Egypt. We will fly you from Chicago to Cairo on July 3, 1942,'" he read proudly.

"The th-third of August? Naruto, that's t-two days from today!" Hinata called out, placing a hand to her cheek. Her normally melodic voice stuttered, an old bad habit that resurfaced only when she was startled, intimidated, or nervous.

"How the hell do you expect us to get everything together in a whole two days? Naruto, that's crazy!" Kiba argued, his hands curled into fists. "Why the hell didn't you tell us about this earlier? And what does he mean, 'boost morale?' Does he think his soldiers are supposed to watch us and be happy and forget there's a war going on?"

"It makes sense, Kiba," Hinata told him, reaching to put a calming hand on his leg and trying to get him to quiet down. "I'm sure the troops down there are probably exhausted and frightened. And they have been fighting so long and so hard that I'm sure any sort of distraction would be welcome."

"I'm not done, Hinata!" Kiba yelled, his eyes flashing as he pulled away from the startled woman, who almost fell over. "Naruto, what the hell are you thinking? Those things are the least of our worries. Here's the real problem, you idiot: they'll figure us out," Kiba said, his voice dropping to a dangerously low octave.

"Hinata, don't act like you're not just as worried as I am, 'cause I can tell you are! Tenten, Chouji, what, are you guys okay with this? So we've established our identities as regular American people. As Hillary and Kipp and Teresa and Chris and Nathan. We're regular Americans. Sure, we're circus folks, and we're kids, and we're a little crazy, but no one even thinks for half a second that we could be god-damned oriental!"

"And if they find out," Tenten finished for him, her voice rising in worry, "we'll get sent to the interment camps. Or, worse yet, we may get pegged as spies, or they may be angry that we concealed our identities and nationalities. Once one of us is found out, they will cross-check the rest of us, and they'll find out that not a one of us is without Japanese blood."

Hinata pressed her fingers together nervously and cut in. "I have heard of people who have died in the interment camps. I have heard of families who have lost children, of those who have died in winter from lack of proper clothing. Also, with me along, our chances of being discovered are higher. Some of my mother's relatives live in Japan, and I am sure some are in the war. What happens if they see me and recognize me? I would be putting the four of you in grave danger."

"Why should we help the government, after all?" Chouji began. "Why should we help to boost morale? If we boost their morale, then what happens? Then they're just able to kill more people again. When we help them, we just end up helping them kill more people. Or they go out and get killed themselves!" he emphasized. "Either way, it ends up death for someone!"

"You guys!" Naruto screeched. "You're scared, and I sure as hell don't believe it! So we've established ourselves as Americans? So what? Are you guys okay with that, with just lying low, with never being anything more than your average circus freak, nothing more than some kids who won't ever become any greater? You're telling me that you are scared of becoming greater just because something bad will happen!"

He glared at all of them in turn. "Bad stuff happens all the time, but that shouldn't stop us! You don't think that we're invisible when we're staying here, but we're not! We could get found out tomorrow! There's just as good a chance we'll get sent to the interment camps if we're here as there is if we go to Egypt! And Chouji, we boost morale so the next person they shoot isn't themselves! We boost morale to help our side, and I really believe that maybe we're killing people, but our way is right! Is it okay for the Axis to keep doing what they're doing? To kill far more innocents than might accidentally die once in a while in interment camps? And we won't help out our side of the war because we're scared.

"Besides, you guys, do you know what? How could we just say 'no, sorry, Mr. President, we can't go. But yeah, thanks for the offer!' How well do you think that would go over? They're giving us the chance to do more than ration food and collect metal scraps and make gardens, and any other American would take it. Don't you think it looks suspicious?

"And yeah, one other thing. If we don't go, what happens then? Assuming they don't get suspicious. We could just continue giving shows, but who here has the time or the money to come anymore? You saw the drop in people last time. What happens if they draft Kiba, Chouji, and me? The next time we meet, there could be one or three or five of us missing. Dead. Anything could happen, and it's not hard for them to split us up. Would you rather die alone without your friends and teammates? We may be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, but I'll be damned if we don't do it together!"

Naruto stopped and stood, panting slightly and still glaring at each person. Flabbergasted, Tenten, Kiba, and Chouji stood with their mouths wide open. Hinata was the first person to move, stepping to her feet. She reached out for one of his hands, and after a moment of searching, she found it. "Naruto, you are a better American than anyone I know, regardless of race or culture."

She smiled sweetly in the direction of her companions. "He's right you know. You all know this story, but I think I'll remind you, for you must have forgotten. I myself had forgotten for a moment. Once I was a scared little girl, but I met Naruto and instantly I was filled with... a sense of confidence, perhaps, a sense of purpose. He told me I would make an amazing performer, and I had laughed very hard," she said, giggling.

"When I told him I was blind, he hadn't cared. 'If you do tightrope, there's no need for sight. It's all feeling the rope with your feet and sometimes your hands. If you're a flyer for the trapeze, we can use musical cues for yourself and your partner, and practice them until you got them just right,' he had said. It was against my better judgement, and I was afraid. However, I tried, and I found that I could do it. I was scared, but after a while of training I learned truly how to fly. If I had let my fear and blindness stop me, would I have done what I truly wanted? Naruto is right; we need to let go of our fears and do this together," she said, blushing. Her milky eyes swam, but she blinked and smiled again.

Naruto ruffled Hinata's hair. "So are you gonna listen to Hina? Do you guys think that maybe we could do this together? Someday we'll be the best circus ever, and no one will care what race we are. Until then, we just gotta work together! Right?"

"Well," Kiba began, rising and leaning against Naruto, "I suppose I can't leave you with Hinata, loser. You'd probably mess something up."

"And if I don't join you, then you'll scare poor Hinata to death. She needs another woman with her, right?" Tenten asked, grinning as she stood and put her arm around the aforementioned girl's thin shoulders.

"Whoever would cook for you guys if I weren't there? I know I can't leave any of you guys to do that, so I guess that I'll hang around," Chouji said as he jumped to his feet and joined his friends.

"Good. Now that we've got that settled, you guys might want to head home. It's getting darker, and I don't want you walking to your homes in the dark, okay?" Tenten asked. "Don't forget to pack all of your stuff, too. We'll meet here tomorrow night, and we'll all sleep here and then go to Chicago in the morning. Oh, yes, Hina?" she asked as she noticed the other woman still standing around.

"I was wondering, Tenten. Do you think perhaps I might stay here with you tonight?" Hinata asked quietly, a blush coloring her cheeks. "I... I'm a bit afraid, still. I bet you're not completely confident, either. Am I correct?" she prodded.

Tenten grinned ruefully as she waved the boys out of the door. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I don't feel confident yet. You and Naruto are right, though. This really is the best choice. But that doesn't stop me from feeling nervous."

"We will just have to stick together, and we can pray everything is all right."

"I already knew that."