Their Thoughts

Mission Start

Kakashi tried not to wince as he rubbed his head. The sore spot was still stinging. Mei-chan had smacked him on the head this morning and now, even ten hours later, it had to be treated with an aspirin.

That was only for last night, got it?!

Yes, I hear you, Mei-chan.

"Ugh, this headache is getting worse and worse. It's not helping-"

"WE ARE LOST!"

"Naruto, we are not-"

"SAKURA-CHAN, WE ARE LOST!!"

Meika was pissed off. The map Sakura had gotten from the inn manager (Owl-Eyed Weirdo) was only half correct. Apparently, someone didn't know their west from east.

She threw down the map and, summoning her chakra, she ripped it to shreds.

"It's no use. Kakashi, you have a really good nose. Find some people for us."

"Hurry Kakashi-sensei, I'm getting hungry!"

"You wimp, let me tell you a story about another hungry little boy…"

Ignoring his team (and headache), Kakashi gathered his chakra and concentrated on his sense of smell. He closed his eyes to the outer disturbances and focused on his inner self. He breathed in slowly and deeply. He needed to smell out a fire or simply any cooking that would indicate a dwelling. If not, than at least anything that seemed out of place in a mountainous area.

Hold on… someone's cooking…

Without opening his eyes, he muttered, "Interesting…" He heard Meika's footsteps stop next to him.

"What is it?" she murmured.

"Someone's cooking… I think it's a stew… maybe beef… about only a mile from us the most… it's pretty strong, there must be a lot of people there… from us, it's an eastward direction…"

"… and his stomach had imploded because he had eaten too much of the shellfish. It was horrible. I had to perform a surgery on him. He stayed in the hospital for a whole week and never ate shell fish again. The end" Sakura ended her story.

"Sakura, what weirdoes you and Granny Tsunade have to take care of!"

Meika called, "Naruto, I thought you were hungry. Come on you two, Kakashi found something."

o0o0o0o0o0

The four shinobi relaxed at their table. The food was good, the music was low and no one really cared that they were there. Everyone else was pretty much farmers or had other occupations with little salary.

Since he finished first, Kakashi went out to get directions to the town. Naruto kept stuffing his face while the ladies talked.

"I'm not prying, but what do you have with Kakashi-sensei?"

"We're just friends, Sakura-chan. How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"Just call me Sakura for now."

"And call me Naruto!"

"Okay guys. Hey, I'm going to show you a little secret. It's an old drawing, but you can recognize him."

Meika took out an old drawing book and, after flipping around, showed them a page. The little boy was reading a book while sitting in the branches of a tree.

Staring…Staring…

"IT"S KAKASHi-SENSEI!"

"He's a cute, chubby kid… He's so cute, I wanna pet him…!"

"He's only five years old here- Oh Kakashi, you know where to go now?"

The students froze, then tried to look normal by staring at the floor.

Kakashi was twitching at Meika.

"Mei-chan, please don't do this to me. I need to keep some respect within the team."

"But, Kashi-kun! You were SOOOO cute as a little kid. I had to show off your cuteness to them."

"Mei-chan, I will speak to you later."

I'm going to kill you for this offense, Najika Meika-chan! Just wait!

o0o0o0o0o0

The Land of Mist really did live up to its name. It was during rare times of the day that you can really see clearly. Three-fourths of the time, there was a very natural mist that covered only that part of the land.

Kakashi thanked the spirits that he had found the old woman who had given him this map. Her profession as a psychic was pretty suspicious, but she was helpful.

It was strange that there weren't any people at the gate, though.

It was more weird that the gates were wide open.

"If I remember, the old woman said that this place is a little conservative, so we might have some hostility against us. Just be careful of what you do. We don't need any more trouble guys."

"Hai!" the other three said.

"Who are you people! Show yourselves!"

Kakashi took out a kunai and spun around.

He was slammed into a wall and felt a hand choking him.

"Kakashi!"

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-san owns the manga! I own nothing!

This chapter seems to be a little shorter than the others...

Oh yes, and for your info, nothing is as it seems in this village...

See ya next time!