They weren't even a mile into the journey when Naruto first noticed them; a squad shinobi were trailing them. He had sensed two at first, but then a third appeared. The third disappeared within seconds. Whoever they were, they were keeping their distance. The chakra signatures were strong and deadly, giving Naruto the notion that this was an assassination squad. Naruto looked at the shinobi in front of him. Minato was leading the way, followed by Kakashi; Keiji was behind Kakashi and Obito behind Keiji. Naruto was in the rear.

Did any of them notice the enemy squad? His own tracking abilities were enhanced by the Kyuubi, giving his tracking a wider range than the average shinobi, though it wasn't on par with those with a kekkei genkei. Naruto studied Minato, the one most likely to have superior tracking skills. His body was as relaxed as was possible considering they were on a mission. The few moments were Minato turned to look behind him his face had looked serious, but there were no signs of worry. If he sensed anything, he certainly hid it well.

If Minato didn't know, that left Naruto with a dilemma. What should he do about it? He had been able to pull off being a genin so far, but if he reported the squad to Minato that would be over. But wasn't the safety of a client and the completion of a mission more important than his own secrets? The squad was still several miles away. Minato would definitely notice them before they become dangerous.

What if they're merely making sure you stay on track? What if there is a trap ahead? Naruto growled quietly. This whole 'being from the future' thing was starting to get difficult. Naruto sensed an abrupt stop in front of him. Pushing his chakra into his right foot, Naruto used the extra force to spin around his roadblock. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto saw Obito seemingly frozen. Up ahead their teammates continued on, oblivious to Obito's sudden halt. Naruto looked back at Obito. He seemed to be focusing on something, his features serious for once.

"Wait!" Obito's loud voice was the last thing Naruto expected to hear. Obito's serious expression was gone, his normal happy-go-lucky expression in place. "If we continue on this path something bad will happen." Naruto looked at Obito curiously. Had he really sensed the assassins?

"Why do you think that, Obito?" Rin looked doubtful.

Obito was quiet for a second, his expression mock seriousness. "I saw it in a dream last night." Kakashi scoffed. "I really did, if we keep going this way a huge animal is going to attack us."

Naruto was speechless. That was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"Obito, you may have had a bad dream last night, but it has nothing to do with this mission. And I believe that if I huge animal were to attack we are more than capable of handling it." Minato sounded exasperated. Maybe Obito made claims like this regularly.

"We're losing time listening to this brat." Keiji grumbled. Minato nodded. Motioning for the rest to follow him, the group was moving once again.

Obito didn't seem to be bothered by his team's assessment of his warning, so it must be a regular thing, like his lateness. But wasn't there a reason to his lateness? From Obito's reaction after arriving first at the Hokage's Manor Naruto had started to become suspicious of his lateness. There seemed to be a reason, a reason Obito wanted to keep hidden. Was this the same? Had Obito actually been aware of the squad and been trying to divert their path away from a possible trap? Naruto had fought him only a few days ago and he was sure Obito had been going full strength. Observation skills were usually best among those who had themselves been overlooked. And usually that person kept his observation skill to himself. Naruto knew because he himself was like that. Maybe Obito was too.

The shinobi were still on the outskirts of Naruto's senses, but they didn't make any attempt to close in. The further Team Minato went without trouble, the more convinced Naruto became that a trap lay ahead. He had decided against alerting the others after Obito's interesting statements. Right now it didn't appear that they were in any danger, and Naruto was sure he could defend them if he had need to. No need to give everything away now.

It was shortly before dark that Minato stopped them and gave the order to set up camp. As Obito and Rin set up the tents and Kakashi guarded Keiji, Minato and Naruto headed into the woods to gather firewood.

They walked in silence for several minutes. Naruto snuck glances over at Minato every few seconds. He had no idea how to start a conversation with his father. It was Minato who broke the silence. "You've been awful quiet since we left. I was expecting you to be more excited about getting a C-rank mission."

"I am happy." Naruto started. How could he explain that he had been contemplating whether or not to tell Minato about their followers? "I don't know. I think it's because I'm leaving the village for the first time as a Konoha shinobi." That seemed like a good excuse.

Not really.

I didn't ask for your opinion, Kyuubi.

If I waited for you to ask, I would never be able to tell.

Naruto growled at Kyuubi. Stupid fox.

Minato nodded, seeming to understand his reasoning behind being quiet. "Naruto, even though you're on my team, I know nothing about you. What are your favorite and least favorite things? What are your hobbies and what is your dream? It's important that teammates know each other well."

Should he answer the same way he had when Kakashi asked him (and had Kakashi stolen that line of questioning from Minato? If so then it's no wonder he's called the Copy Shinobi) or should he come up with new answers. He couldn't claim to want to be Hokage after only spending a few days in Konoha, so he might as well come up with a new answer. At least to some of the questions. "My favorite thing world is ramen!" He spoke enthusiastically. "My least favorite thing is when my old sensei used to keep me waiting." Minato chuckled, probably thinking of Obito. "I only have one hobby and its training! I love learning new jutsu's." Somewhere in his reply he had dropped his pile of wood in order to use his hands to show his enthusiasm.

"And your dreams for the future?" Minato knelt down and started picking up the fallen wood. Naruto bent down to help.

What were his dreams for the future? In the past-or future-his dream had always been to be Hokage. He was Hokage now, so what was his new dream? Did he even have one? "I don't know." The answer was more honest than he had been intending.

Minato seemed to contemplate his answer. "It's dangerous to go through life without a dream. If we don't have a purpose of goal we could end up losing ourselves along our path."

Naruto thought of Sasuke. "Sometimes having a dream can be dangerous too." Minato looked surprised at his reply. Shrugging it off, Naruto stood and started back toward the camp. "We need to get the wood back to camp soon. Dinner's waiting on us." Naruto hurried off before Minato could stop him. Why had he said that? Why was he so comfortable around Minato that he easily let things slip out? Sure Minato was his father, but he didn't actually know the guy.

oOoOo

Minato stared at Naruto's retreating form. What had he meant when he said that dreams could be dangerous? It seemed so out of character for Naruto to be serious like he had been a second ago. Only a few seconds prior to that statement he had been as happy and loud as ever. Now he was walking away solemnly.

Minato wanted to catch up to Naruto and ask him straight out what he meant. It wasn't out of curiosity; he only wanted to know what Naruto had been through. He wanted to know more about Naruto himself. It was a strange desire, being so drawn to a stranger, but there was just something familiar about Naruto. Something that made Minato care about the boy.

Naruto and Rin had already started the fire when Minato entered the camp. Kakashi had taken over Rin's spot and now he and Obito were wrestling with the tent poles. If it wasn't for the coming rain, Minato would've told them to forget it. Keiji was sitting a little way behind the fire. Minato walked around the pit and sat next to him. Not wanted the others to hear, Minato whispered, "I don't know why you hired us, but I know this is more than just a normal C-rank mission. Something else is going on here."

Keiji didn't even flinch at his accusations. "I hired your team to escort me through the woods. Once we reach my village your mission will be complete. That's all a shinobi needs to know to fulfill his mission." Keiji stood and walked over to the tree line. Leaning against the tree, Keiji closed his eyes. "Tell me when dinner is ready."

oOoOo

The first thing Naruto noticed the following morning was the absence of the trailing shinobi. Had they given up, increased their distance, or already sprung their trap? Their absence only served to add more discomfort to Naruto. At least the previous day he had known where they were, now he was as in the dark as everyone else appeared to be.

"What do you think of this mission?" Obito slowed down a bit so he was next to Naruto. He still looked too happy, but Naruto thought he could see some cracks in Obito's mask. The smile just didn't seem right.

"I think he's lying to us." Obito seemed to share the same thoughts. Nodding his head, Obito focused ahead of him. "This mission doesn't make much sense if he's not. Why would a fit village leader be too afraid to travel home?"

"Maybe he's really a smuggler and he's using us to get illegal items into the village." Naruto threw out the suggestion.

"Or he could be on a super-secret mission and he can't even tell his backup the truth." Naruto was impressed that Obito could come up with an idea more ridiculous than his own.

"Or he's using a henge and isn't really the village leader at all." Naruto tried to top Obito's thought.

"Or he's being threatened and low ranking shinobi are the best a poor village's leader could afford." Obito was good at this game. The idea seemed to stick out to Naruto. It was possible, right? More than possible. That had been the circumstances surrounding Naruto's first C-rank mission. The journey to the Land of Waves had started as a simple escort mission and had escalated to protecting a village from a S-classified shinobi, Zabuza.

Naruto studied Keiji's profile. He had a confident air around him. Definitely not the type of man who scared easily. What kind of threat would have to be made to get Keiji to pay for protection, even if only a misfit team of one jonin, one chuunin, and three genin. Keiji must've been truly desperate to hire them. And why would anyone threaten him? What was this man involved in that caused someone to order an assassin team after him?

Keiji looked over his shoulder, his eyes locking with Naruto's. His face was blank, but his eyes were not. His eyes showed his determination to fight whatever was against them. It was strange how much this man reminded him of Tazuna. In the beginning, Tazuna had seemed like a grouchy old man, but after the Demon Brothers attacked and Tazuna told them the truth, the old man had become friendlier.

As similar as the missions seemed, at least this time the Kyuubi wouldn't come out.

What? Are you ashamed of me or something?

Get over yourself, Kyuubi.

A/N: There was supposed to be more action in this chapter, but I wanted to take another chapter to explore the characters a bit sense everything's still getting started. I will probably start updating only once a week. For the first couple of chapter I was really into the story, which lead to me writing the next chapter faster. I still am enjoying writing this, I just am now watching other TV shows and reading books instead of only focusing on Naruto. I would like to say thank you to everyone who's reviewed for this story. I can't believe how well it is doing.

This story is changing so much from my original idea. The main focus was supposed to be Naruto and Minato, but after writing one scene from Obito's point of view the focus changed. I loved Obito so much I decided to give him a bigger part of the story. Now I'm thinking of changing the B character from Minato to Obito. The story is going to focus more on Obito and Naruto now.

Thank you for reading and please review.