Hey guys! I'm glad to see so many people have liked this story so far. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm trying to pretty much go by the plot line in the actual Naruto. I'm just making changes here and there :) I hope you all like this chapter; there is a very little bit of KakaSaku; but I've warned you... their relationship will slowly progress over time... slowly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

The Mission

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said with another bow. "I think I'll go talk to Sakura now."

"Good day Kakashi," Sarutobi said as Kakashi left through the door.

Sakura sighed once she got to her apartment. Opening the door quietly, she entered her apartment door, and then shut it with a fluid motion. Flipping on the lights, Sakura walked toward the kitchen.

"Miso soup it is," Sakura said after looking through her closet. She grabbed the container and placed it on the stove to cook. A light rapping could be heard on Sakura's door, she immediately tensed. Not many people knew where she lived; Sakura made sure of that.

Grabbing a kunai in her hand, Sakura made it to her front door in a matter of seconds. Quickly unlocking it, she threw her kunai out the door once she opened it.

"That really could have hurt a civilian," Kakashi said from his ducked position on her floor. Sakura sighed.

"Good evening Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said with light regret in her voice. "Would you like to come in?"

"Thanks, Sakura," Kakashi said as he entered her small apartment. The walls were a bland white, and she had a meager amount of furniture. There was a small red love seat and a lazy boy in the living room. "Don't entertain much then, huh?"

"You are the first to be in here," Sakura said as she walked back to the kitchen. "Would you like some miso soup, Kakashi-sensei?"

"No thanks Sakura," Kakashi said taking a seat in her love seat. "I just came here, because I needed to talk to you about something."

"What is is Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as she came into the living room with a bowl of steaming soup.

"...I read your file, Sakura," Kakashi said looking directly into Sakura's eyes. "I need to know more about you... I need to know where you learned your insane power from... and I need to know everything you can remember about the night you were found near Konoha."

Sakura's miso soup hit the floor; her eyes were wide, and Kakashi was immediately by her side. "I don't mean to offend you Sakura," Kakashi said quickly while placing a hand to her shoulder. "I just need to know... I want to know."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said hesitantly. "I really don't want to talk about this right now... I will tell you... I promise, I just can't now."

"Just know, I'm only concerned for you, Sakura," Kakashi said while bring up a hand to play subconsciously with her pink locks.

"I know," Sakura said as she leaned slightly into his touch. Once the two figured out what they were doing, they separated quickly. "I think you should get going... we have a mission tomorrow."

"You're right, Sakura," Kakashi said while standing. "Sleep well," he called as he closed her apartment door. Leaning his head back against the door, he muttered, "Fuck."

---

Sakura sighed lightly and grabbed a paint brush. Her team's mission was to paint a fence. She knew Naruto wasn't going to last much longer.

"-sigh-," Naruto sighed as he glared at the fence. "Why hasn't the old man given us anything hard! And where the hell is Kakashi-sensei!?"

"Dobe," Sasuke replied as he finished work on his part of the fence. "We are genin, and this is a d-rank mission. This is what we're going to have to deal with for a while."

"No!" Naruto yelled as he flung his paint brush to the ground. "Like hell I'm going to sit here and do these 'missions.' They're not even hard enough to be real missions! Civilians could do this stuff."

"We should finish up here," Sakura said quietly as she started to paint Naruto's part of the fence. "Then we can discuss this with Hokage-sama if you want."

"Fine, Sakura-Chan," Naruto frowned as he grabbed his paint brush. "Why do we have to finish painting though?"

"The village earns money for each mission we do," Kakashi said appearing out of no where. "No matter how trivial."

"Gah!" Naruto yelled throwing his paint brush in the air. "You scared me Kakashi-sensei!"

The paint brush flew towards Sakura, and was about to hit her hair, when Sakura brought up her hand effortlessly and caught it. She didn't even have to look up.

"Naruto," Sakura said handing Naruto his brush; she completely ignored Kakashi's presence. "Hurry up so we can get done here."

"Hai, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said with a smile.

---

Team seven appeared at the Hokage Tower in under a half an hour. They walked to a room, and knocked on the door. "Come in," someone called.

Naruto opened the door and bounded through it with a smile. "Mission complete!" Naruto said. "In your face you stupid fence!"

The Sarutobi smiled. "Its great you have already finished you mission," he said. "Lets get you started on another one then... hm... babysitting.... shopping.... or maybe corn picking."

"NO!" Naruto said fiercely. "No, no no no! I don't want anymore lame missions! I want a super cool one!"

"Naruto," Sarutobi sighed. "You have to work your way up to earn harder missions. You are all just genin now..."

"I don't care!" Naruto said. "We deserve a harder mission!"

"Fine," Sarutobi said with a small smile. "If you want a harder mission... so be it. Team 7, you will be put on a C-rank escort mission to the Wave country."

"YES!" Naruto said throwing a fist in the air.

Sasuke smirked. "Finally," he said under his breath.

"I'll let you meet your client right now, Tazuna-san," Sarutobi called to the next room over. The door opened, and a large man wearing a pointed wooden hat stepped through.

"What's going on?" Tazuna asked with a bottle of liquor in his hands. He glanced over to Team seven, and frowned. "You're not letting a bunch of brats protect me are you now, Hokage-sama?

"I am an important bridge builder back in Wave," Tazuna said taking a drink of his alcohol. "I need to get back home to finish one."

"Have no worries, Tazuna-san," Sarutobi said with a smile. "You're in safe hands with Team seven."

"These brats," Tazuna said while waving his hand at them. "They all look annoying... especially that stupid blonde one."

"HEY YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Naruto yelled as he tried to escape Sakura and Sasuke's grasp. Both teammates were holding Naruto's shoulders. "I'M A NINJA, DAMN IT! TAKE THAT BACK!"

Tazuna snorted. "Mise well get going," he said while finishing off the rest of his bottle. "I don't even know if I'll be safe, but lets go."

"I am a jonin..." Kakashi said from behind him as the group of five exited the Hokage tower.

"Yeah, whatever," Tazuna said.

"We'll meet at the gates in an hour," Kakashi said to his team. "Pack only what you need. Don't be late."

Sakura nodded, and then turned toward the village with Naruto. "It's pretty cool that we live next to each other, huh, Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked as he fell in step next to Sakura.

Sakura nodded, and the two continued their walk until they hit an apartment building. "I'll be down in fifteen minutes," Sakura said lightly as she began to climb the staircase. "Please be ready."

"Hai, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said as he waved to his fellow teammate. Once she was out of view, Naruto went inside his own apartment.

Sakura entered her apartment door with a small sigh. She glanced over to the now stained carpet of her living room; miso stained.

Walking past it, Sakura found her way into her small bedroom; her sanctuary.

Grabbing her already packed bag, Sakura silently left her apartment. "I will not fail this mission," she said with quiet determination as she headed towards Team seven's meeting grounds.

Tazuna was already there with his pack, as well as a broody looking Sasuke.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Sakura asked while walking up to her teammate. Sasuke turned away from her, and Sakura just sighed. Turning to Tazuna, she started to ask him about the mission. "Where is your village located, Tazuna-san?"

Tazuna snorted; he had another bottle of alcohol in his hand. "Around some water," he said dryly. Sakura decided to ignore his commented, and leaned against a tree.

"I CAN'T WAIT TO LEAVE!" A loud voice spoke behind Sakura. "I'VE NEVER BEEN OUT OF KONOHA BEFORE!"

"Calm down, dobe," Sasuke said as he glared toward Naruto.

"Stop fighting," the stern voice of Kakashi spoke. He had appeared on the branch just above Sakura's head a few moments earlier; only Naruto and Tazuna flinched at seeing him there. "We're leaving."

"YES!" Naruto let out a loud yell. "KONOHA'S NUMBER ONE SUPER ELITE NINJA NARUTO UZUMAKI! I'LL BECOME HOKAGE ONE DAY. BELIEVE IT!"

"You're starting to give me a headache, dobe," Sasuke spoke out of irritation.

"He's starting to give us all headaches," Kakashi said as he leaped from the tree branch.