In Which:

Naruto and Hiro arrive in Sound- Naruto learns a lesson –Team Seven start the Konoha Mission.

Naruto grinned to himself, darting quickly through the air. He was four feet off the ground, and Hiro's delighted laughter drove the blond to higher speeds. The other jinchurikki was riding on his back, exuberantly urging Naruto faster and faster.

They were now in sight of the main gates, and Naruto could see the jonins grinning as they approached. Naruto landed easily a little ways from the gate. Sliding Hiro from his back, he called up to the jonins on guard, "Hey, guys! I found Orochimaru's hidden lovechild!"

And with that unbelievable declaration, Naruto scooped Hiro up and turned him to face the poor jonins. They looked at his burden, and did a double-take.

Long black hair.

High cheekbones.

Pale skin.

Frightening smirk.

The jonins stared. "Holy shit…", whispered one. "They're identical!"

Naruto laughed, and Hiro stared at the jonins in confusion. Why were they so shocked? It couldn't be the way he looked. Naruto had made the boy take a very through bath on their way to Sound, and the blond had also bought him some real cloths. And Naruto had said that they wouldn't care that he was a demon container. What could it be…?

Naruto noticed his small charge's sudden apprehension, and spun the surprised boy to face him. "-No worried, little Hiro snake! You look like leader-snake of village, so they shocked. Now, we go home! -"

He turned back to the jonins. "Yeah, scary huh? He's a jinchurikki like me, and considering the fact that he's got scales, I think it's safe to assume that he contains the seven-headed snake. Think Orochimaru will let me keep him?"

One of the jonins snorted. "You're kidding, right? The kid's a jinchurikki, young enough for him to mould, and contains the snake. He's going to keep the boy no matter what."

Naruto nodded. Yeah, that sounded like Orochimaru. "Well, I'm going in. Gotta take Hiro to meet his new leader!" The blond abruptly deflated. "And write my mission report… "

The jonins snickered, and Naruto made his way back into the village of Sound.

Naruto stood in front of Orochimaru's desk, fidgeting nervously. He had briefed the Otokage and Kabuto, and was now waiting for their reaction to the child standing just in front of him.

Orochimaru broke the silence. "He's…the jinchurikki for the seven-headed snake, hm? And he's, what, eight years old? How…fortuitous."

Naruto shifted from one foot to the other a few times, then blurted out, "Can I keep him? I mean, can he stay in Sound? Please? Look at that face! Isn't he cute? And I bet he'll be a really strong ninja! And-"

"Yes."

"-I'll make sure he doesn't-wait…yes? He can stay? Sweet!" The hyperactive blond turned to the smaller jinchurikki. "-You can stay! Leader-snake says yes!-"

Orochimaru watched the two ninja chatter happily at eachouther for a moment. "Kabuto. Put the boy in the Delta wing of the academy dorms, would you? And make sure his teachers know what he is."

The silver-haired ninja bowed. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama. " He turned to the little boy. "-Come with me, Hiro. We'll get you settled into your new home, and then we'll get something to eat, ok?-"

Hiro smiled up at Kabuto, and the two left Naruto and Orochimaru alone.

Naruto frowned, uncomfortable. He hadn't been dismissed, and the snake summoner was looking at him with narrowed eyes. Finally, Orochimaru spoke.

"Naruto-kun, as much as I appreciate the fact that you gained such a useful ninja for Sound, I would appreciate some forwarning in the future, understand?"

Naruto scowled. "What? But how would I do that? C'mon, I wasn't about to abandon Hiro! "

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed further, and even with his hugely improved speed, Naruto couldn't react in time to deflect the blow that knocked him into the wall. He stared wide-eyed at the Otokage.

"Understand this, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru purred, "I am not Tsunade or Sarutobi. If you do not have my express permission, you do not go outside mission parameters. Your mission was to free one jinchurikki, no bring him back to Sound."

He crouched down, looking Naruto in the eye. "I admit that I have been slightly lax, as I have not given you a communications necklace to contact me, but I tolerate neither rudeness nor disobedience. Remember, you are a Soundnin now. You are under my command, Naruto-kun, and I have never claimed to be a good or gentle person."

Then the Otokage was back in his seat, looking through his papers as though nothing had happened. "Now, I have looked through your plan for Konoha, and It is acceptable. You will begin the groundwork thursday at noon, and the actual mission will commence in two weeks. You are in charge of the team, as it is your plan. You have the next two weeks to train Sasuke, Sakura, Himoto, and Ikko in the necessary skills. Dismissed."

Naruto hauled himself upright, bowed, and left the room silently.

Naruto leaned against the wall outside Orochimaru's office, cradling his bruised cheek in the palm of his hand.

He had forgotten.

Forgotten that this was the man who had killed Hokage-jiji, the man who had been so ruthless in the Forest of Death, the man who had performed experiments on living humans.

Oh, in the back of his mind he had been aware of it, but the Otokage had been indulgent and…and almost kind to him. Naruto sighed, and opened his eyes. Was he so used to looking for the best in people that he forgot about the worst? Well, it didn't matter. He had been reminded now, and he still had no regrets.

He was here for Sasuke. Everything else was obsolete. His team, the people he could and had given up everything for, was more important than the enigma that was the Otokage. Naruto couldn't help but grin ruefully. Besides, some of the people he respected and admired most were mass murderers.

Between Zazuba, Itachi, Kisame, and Orochimaru, all of whom he respected for their strength, Orochimaru was far from the worst.

And besides, Sound made over seventy different types of Ramen!

Sasuke stared at the mission notes that the jonin Shishu Ikko had handed to him. The white-haired man flopped down beside him in the grassy clearing where he had been training. The black-haired boy hid his surprise at that, the jonin was famously antisocial.

Ikko must have noticed, however, as he flapped a hand in Sasuke's direction. "Go on, read it. Looks like we're going to be spending some time together, so I might as well get the stupid intro stuff over with. "

Sasuke blinked, and opened the file.

Mission for: Shishu Ikko, Yatsutori Himoto, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura

Captain: Uzumaki Naruto

Assistant:Shishu Ikko

Objective: Neutralize hostilities from Konoha

Secondary Objective: Retreive Konoha documentation on the recent Chunin Exam

Plan: Konoha has the support of many major villages against Oto. This is based on the unlawful entry of Oto and Suna nins. To neutralize or destroy this support, Oto must have entered Konoha lawfully. To make this happen, retrive all documentation pertaining to the invasion, and bring to mission base. There Uzumaki Naruto and Shishu Ikko will rewrite the documents to show a lawful entry based on Konoha's laws:

I) A missing-nin of Konoha has the right to retrive all belongings without persicusion.

II)If a missing-nin of Konoha is taken in by another village, all charges are dropped until such a time as aforementioned missing-nin becomes a missing-nin once again

Uchiha Sasuke and Yatsutori Himoto will be retriving the documents. Haruno Sakura is the team's medic-nin and is in charge of communications. Shishu Ikko is the team's hardhitter and backup. Uzumaki Naruto is team captain.

Note: Uzumaki Naruto will be teaching his team several skills before mission commencement. Mission will commence when Uzumaki Naruto reports his team fit for duty.

Note: Uzumaki Naruto has been authorized to make changes to any part of the above plan of action as long as the objectives are fulfilled. Uzumaki Naruto is also permitted to make contact under neutral terms with the following people: Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Aburane Shino. Approved by the Otokage.

Sasuke blinked again. "We're…stopping the war. Naruto figured out a was to make what Sound did legal so Konoha won't have a leg to stand on with the other Great Villages, and there's no way Konoha would win without some major support." The sharigan weilder shook his head. "And people still think he's a dead-last?"

Ikko looked up. "Eh? A dead-last? You're kidding." Sasuke shook his head. "Kid, I'm the stealth expert of the Elite ANBU teams, and your blond friend snuck up on me. Himoto's a man-hater, and she's mother-henning the boy like crazy. Hell, the kid's actually made Kabuto laugh a few times. How the heck did you Konoha nins miss him?"

Sasuke winced, and told the other quietly, "Naruto was shunned for what he contains. He…acted out constantly to get attention, and he was terrible in school. He still can't make a passable bushin."

Ikko frowned. "I heard that one of the kid's specialties was kage bushin, though."

"It is. Well, was. He can make thousands of kage bushin without being winded, but the normal bushins escape him completely. They always end up looking …well, dead."

Ikko frowned. "Huh. That's interesting…"

And with that, the two sank into silence.

"Excuse me, Haruno-sensei?"

Sakura looked up from the surgery report she was writing, into the face of a nervous-looking chunin. "Yes, what do you need?"

The boy blushed slightly. "Uhm, Yatsutori Himoto says that you need to meet her outside so you can discuss your newest mission."

Sakura sighed, but rose from behind her desk. "Well, alright. I can finish the report later. New mission, you say? Do you no any thing about it?

The boy's blush grew darker as Sakura smiled at him. "Ah, n-no, Haruno-sensei. She just told me to go get you."

"Ah well. So, you're Seta-san from class D, right? How's your training going?"

The medic-in-training gulped and stammered. "A-ah, I-that is-It's going well. Um…you're really cool, Haruto-sensei! I-I mean, I got to observe one of your surgeries last week, a-and, um, you're …"

Sakura smiled again, basking in the boy's praise. "Thank you very much, Seta-san. I'm flattered you think that."

Sakura giggled as the boy flushed an even deeper shade and went silent. She still wasn't used to having such admiration directed at her, when in Konoha she has simply been Sakura, weakest of Team Seven, even once she began training seriously.

"Ah, hello Sakura-chan!"

And then, of course, there was Kabuto. Turning, she greeted the silver-haired man. " Hello, Kabuto-kun. How are you? Is Mari's physical therapy going well?"

Kabuto laughed, and sidled in between her and the blushing Seta. "Always so work-oriented, Sakura-chan! I am fine, as is Mari. However, I did want to talk to you about the notes you gave me yeasterday, on the chakra string variations. "

"Oh, yes! I'd forgotten. So, what do you think? Is it feasible?"

"Yes, with some minor alterations…"

Within a second, Kabuto and Sakura were deep in conversation, leaving Seta to glare at Kabuto's back.

A few minutes later, Sakura and her silver haired escort were at the doors of the hospital. Bidding the other medic goodbye, she walked quickly down the steps to meet Himoto.

The other woman winked slyly at her. "So, Kabuto, huh? You sure move quick, girl. You haven't even been here a week!"

Sakura turned red. "It's not like that! I've just been running some of my newer medical jutsus by him before I start experimenting. You know, to cut down on mistakes and stuff?"

Himoto laughed, and patted her head. "Don't worry, Sakura-san, I'm just teasing. Men are trash, anyways."

Still crimson, Sakura quickly changed the subject. "The chunin who you sent to get me mentioned a mission?"

Himoto nodded, and handed the girl a file identical to the one Ikko had given Sasuke, except that Sakura's held the medical histories and conditions of everyone on the team. The two sat down on a bench in front of a flower shop. Sakura was completely engrossed in reading the file. Himoto, having already read it, waited impatiently.

Sakura finished it, and looked at the other. "So…I guess we're working together for the next little while."

"Yes. But don't worry, I'm not hard to get along with, and Ikko is practically asexual, so he's less trash than the rest of the opposite gender."

Sakura giggled. "Sasuke's pretty much asexual too. I mean, he had this huge fanclub back in Konoha, and he hated us. Any other guy would be rejoicing!"

"Hated 'us'? You were a part of it? I take it that you've changed your mind since."

"Well…mostly I was a part of it because my best and only friend was. The fact that Sasuke was handsome helped, though. But…he's only human. And he really, really hurt Naruto-kun. I get that he wants revenge, and I'll support him, but not at that kind of cost, you know? I care about him, but I can't love someone who would try to kill his precious person for power. "

Himoto blinked, not expecting such a serious answer. "You've got heart, girl, and guts, not to mention a whole lot of talent. Don't worry about the Uchiha. Guys are crap anyways, so if you're going to moon over one, at least find one that's halfway decent."

Sakura grinned at the other woman. "Don't worry. I will, eventually. In the mean time, lets go shopping! I need new kuani, and some of that pre-sterilized bandage to experoment on."

"Experiment on?"

"Yeah! I Talked to Kabuto, and he says it's possible. What I want to do is weave chakra strings into the fabric and anchor some minor healing and anti-infection jutsus to it."

"Sounds interesting! C'mon, lets go, you can tell me more while we walk."

Finally, chapter ten. I haven't updated in a long while, for which I apologize. (Live has been beyond hectic lately…) I think this chapter fixed Orochimaru's character, as I was kind of lax about keeping him IC. So, what do you think?

Also, should Kabuto and Sakura get together? I can't quite decide where I want that to go… -Heliotropic