Naruto waited with Sasuke at the gates of Konoha for Kiba. He was late and it was making Naruto impatient. She looked over to Sasuke, "Do you know what's taking him so long?"
Sasuke shrugged. He wished that he had an answer for her but he didn't. Being in her presence sometimes made him incapable of thinking clearly. Sasuke looked at her profile, wondering how he could get such a beautiful girl to like him. His thoughts were cut short when Kiba and Akamaru bounded up to them. "Let's go guys!" Kiba said, taking the lead. Naruto just rolled her eyes and followed him, letting Kiba have his fun. Sasuke followed Naruto and off they went.
Naruto went over what they had to do on this mission in her head as they made their way to the Sand Village to bring over a new Chunin. Her father said that the boy no longer wanted to be in the Sand Village so he asked permission from the Kazekage and the Kazekage asked if the Hokage would have the boy in his village. Minato, having the kind heart that he had, said yes, and so Naruto and her team were his escorts.
Naruto realised that the sun had been down for a while now and they were already passed the border. She was pleased with their progress and decided to set up camp. She built a small fire in a suitable place and then had Kiba, Akamaru and Sasuke sleep first while she took first watch. Sasuke had told her that he would take first watch but she told him to shut it and get some rest. He obeyed and was now sleeping soundly a safe distance from the fire. When Naruto started getting too tired to be able to be attentive during her watching duties, she woke Sasuke and he took her job while she slept in the warm area that Sasuke had just vacated. Sasuke watched as Naruto slept. He thought that she was beautiful when she was asleep. He started thinking of ways that he could ask her out. He was so engrossed in his thinking that h hadn't noticed that Kiba was sitting beside him on the tree branch he had chosen to sit on.
"Thinking pretty deep, I see." Kiba said. "Would I be wrong in guessing that the topic of your deep thought is Naruto?"
Sasuke sighed but did not answer. His silence was answer enough for Kiba. Kiba nodded. "So are you gonna make a move? 'Cause if you don't, I just might." Kiba said.
"I don't know how to approach her with the topic." Sasuke said solemnly. As it turned out, Kiba didn't know anything about getting girls as Kiba admitted it himself. Kiba offered to take Sasuke's watch and after an argument that they had to tone down so that they would not wake their blonde haired companion, Sasuke let him. He hopped down from the tree and began to sleep.
Kiba had to keep from laughing as the two Chunin below him on the ground unconsciously moved toward each other as they slept. It was quite amusing. In an hour they had moved from a respectable distance to having one of Sasuke's hands tangled in Naruto's yellow hair and Naruto's hand resting low on Sasuke's waist. He knew that the sun would rise soon so he didn't have to see these two move in closer together. Kiba could hardly contain his laugh when they woke up at almost the exact same time when the sun hit their faces and they jumped apart with strangled screams. Kiba could not contain it any longer and he fell out of the tree laughing. The two Chunin both frowned at him and Naruto threatened to castrate him which had Kiba kinda scared. Without any further conversation, the team packed up their belongings and were on their way.
Naruto took the lead. She was a bit embarrassed about how she woke up this morning but she pushed it out of her mind and off a mental cliff. She was quite angry at Kiba though and she made sure that he knew by giving him the silent treatment.
By the end of the second day, Naruto and her team had reached the Village Hidden in the Sand. They slept in an inn for a night and in the morning they spoke with the Kazekage who delivered them their charge. He had spiky black hair in a style much like the one Naruto's father has and he was about the same height and build of Sasuke. They introduced themselves to the boy who introduced himself as Itami. And they were on their way. They boy Itami asked Naruto questions about the Leaf Village.
Sasuke found himself getting slightly angry every time that Itami's hand would 'accidentally' brush hers as they ran. Sasuke could see that Itami was crushing on Naruto and he didn't like it. Sasuke wondered if he was just as transparent as this Itami boy. He fell back and matched Kiba's speed. "Kiba, am I as transparent as this guy?" Sasuke asked, not taking his eyes of the boy in front of them.
"To everyone in the village except Naruto." Kiba answered truthfully.
Sasuke was horrified. "Even the Hokage?" Sasuke asked. Kiba nodded. Talk about embarrassment. Sasuke decided that he would try to appear less infatuated with the girl of his dreams.
Naruto and the group stopped early this time. She wanted to see how well this boy was in battle. Kiba and Akamaru took Itami on first and put up quite a fight but in the end Itami won. Sasuke took Itami on next, dealing the boy quite a lot of damage but just like Kiba, Sasuke was defeated. During the two battles, Naruto was able to figure out his techniques. When Naruto took her starting stance, the boy was way too cocky and stayed standing straight with a wide grin plastered on his face. He blew her a kiss which angered both Naruto and Sasuke. Their reactions humoured Kiba. Naruto stared at the boy and then created a shadow clone who she threw at her opponent. He dodged but wasn't prepared for the wave of shuriken that came next and narrowly missed getting cut. They engaged in taijutsu until the boy was knocked back several the boy recovered from the fall, Naruto took the opportunity to attack. She kicked him in the gut and he toppled over she landed on top of him, straddling his hips. She held a Kunai to his throat and smiled. She was very shocked when Itami lifted his head and kissed her. This time, Itami took the opportunity and flipped so that he was on top of her. He held the kunai he had stolen from Naruto to her throat and laughed. He was getting cocky again. But Naruto had more tricks than what he had seen so far. Using her newly perfected Hiraishin, she teleported to the mark that she had placed on his back while they fought with taijutsu. So now she was back on top of him but he was stomach down in the dirt. The kunai was now in her hand and she had it pressed against the boy's neck. "Don't get cocky in battle. Your opponent may not be giving it their all."