Author's Notes: Some SasuFemNaru scenes are coming up in the Wave Country. Actually, it's the starting place where Naruto starts to remember her promise… ;)

Summary: She looks up to gaze at his coal obsidian eyes as he gazes downward at her enchanting sky blue eyes. They both thought, "Is this love?" Who says opposites can't attract? SasuFemNaru… MORE PAIRINGS INSIDE

Pairings: SasuFemNaru, ItaFemKyuu, LeeSaku, NejiTen, ShikaTema, KibaHina, ChouIno

Warnings: OOC-ness, language

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Kesshite Wasuremasu
by Aesura

Journey to the Wave Country

"This is Sasuke, arrived at point B."

"This is Sakura, arrived at point C."

"This is Naruto, arrived at point A."

"Okay. Get ready." Kakashi said into the communicator. Up on a high branch, the jounin was well hidden behind the thick blanket of leaves, watching the enemy from the safety of his vantage point. He could clearly see the target moving his head from side to side making sure that no one was around before he continued to run deeper into the forest. "The target has moved. After him!"

Team 7 proceeded to follow the escapee stealthily, keeping in mind to put adequate distance between them and the target as to avoid detection. Soon enough, the target halted his advance to take a much needed break. A safe distance away, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke hid themselves behind the trunk of three large trees. "Okay, he's here." The blonde reported into the communicator. Her team stayed still, keeping a sharp eye on the target while waiting for further instructions.

"What's the distance to the target?" their sensei's voice asked over the headset.

"Twelve meters." Naruto replied. "I'm ready to go."

"I am too." Sasuke responded back, waiting for orders on what to do next.

"Me too." Sakura's voice was heard right after.

"Okay." Kakashi eyed the target for a few moments. He watched the enemy look around for any signs of prowlers, then lowered his guard. The time was now. "Go!"

Upon command, Naruto slipped out of her hiding place first and went to engage the target. She was moving so fast that the enemy didn't find enough time to react before Naruto caught up with him. "Got'cha!" Naruto said as she looked down at the cat in her arms.

"Does it have a ribbon on its right ear? Is it our target, Tora?" Sasuke heard Kakashi speak to all of them once again.

"It's the target for sure." Sasuke confirmed into the headset.

Kakashi, a few yards from his team, concluded the mission report. "Okay. Operation 'Capture Tora the Lost Pet' is complete." He was about to click off his communicator, until…

"ISN'T THERE A MORE EXCITING MISSION WE CAN WORK ON?" Naruto shouted angrily through the earpiece, her patience finally reaching its breaking point after weeks of doing these tedious missions.

Kakashi briefly wondered when the ringing in his left ear will stop.

Team Seven reported to the Administration Building after their mission was completed. Wasting no time, Kakashi led his students straight to the reception room for clients which also happened to be same place where missions are assigned to the various ninja teams of the village. The room was spacious and was almost pretty much empty except for the long tables situated on the far end of the room behind which the Hokage and his administrative-nins sat. Another thing that decorated the place was the large banner hanging on the ceiling with the words "Everyone, do your best!" across. That's when Lady Shijimi, the Feudal Lord's wife, had rushed into the room unannounced. Looking around the room, the woman squealed with delight once she saw Naruto holding her cat and the next thing Team 7 knew was that the Lady held the cat in her arms, squeezing the feline to death.

"Ohh, my cute Tora-chan. I was so worried about you!" Lady Shijimi cooed whilst smothering the poor little cat. Team 7 just watched as the cat owner was torturing it after being just 'saved' by them. The cat had to be really scared or really smart to run away from such a rotund member of the female species. Naruto wouldn't blame the cat either. "I actually feel sorry for the furball..."

Sakura stared at the scene. "No wonder he ran away..."

The Yondaime picked up a piece of paper that had a list of missions available and read it. "Now then, Kakashi's Team 7's next mission is..." Their attention turned towards the active Hokage. "... Babysitting Yojyu-sama's boy, grocery shopping at the neighboring town, and digging up potatoes at—"

"NO!" Naruto screamed aloud stomping her foot on the wooden floor to show her objection. "No thank you to all of those! Give us a higher ranked mission! Choose something else!"

"There's some truth to that," thought Sasuke.

Sakura looked interested from the declared statement. "Naruto does have a point.. These missions are getting annoying…"

Kakashi inwardly sighed at his sensei's daughter's bold proclamation. "I knew she was going to do this soon. She never did had respect to her elders when it came to the things she want, now did she?" He shifted his eyes down and bonked his rebellious student on the head. "Naruto. Behave yourself in front of Hokage-sama."

Minato rubbed his temples at his daughter's attitude, feeling a migraine coming on. He had to fight back a yawn threatening to escape his mouth. The sleep deprived Yondaime looked as if he was about to fall over from exhaustion, but somehow managed to stay up right. No one could blame the man seeing that he had just spent last night and a good portion of the morning making sure that everything was set and in order for the upcoming Chunnin Exams that as of yet, only chunnin and higher shinobi knew about. What he was doing there instead of going straight to bed, was beyond him, but next time, he'll need to remind himself to ask that old man to fill in for him.

"Hmm… It seems like I have to explain to you what missions are again," the Yondaime began. The older blonde seemed to have success in catching Naruto's elusive attention. "Listen, a lot of clients comes to this village everyday. They request things from babysitting to assassination. Each request is written down on these lists and is divided into ranks A, B, C and D according to the level of difficulty." The hokage explained, referring to the various scrolls spread out before him. "The shinobis of the village is also divided according to skill. Missions are then assigned to shinobis with the appropriate abilities. And if we successfully complete the mission we receive payment from the client."

He continued. "You three are still rookie genin, so D-ranked missions are perfect for you." The Yondaime finished, only finding out that the said team had been totally inattentive the whole time and was talking aloud about something irrelevant to his explanation at hand. "Hey! Listen!" the young Kage shouted angrily.

Naruto turned her attention towards her father with a bored look on her face. "Geez! That's what, the fifth time I've heard you talked about that boring mission speech! You always lecture me about stuff like this and stuff like that!" Naruto retorted, shifting her attention back to her father. "But you know, I'm not the same little kid who used to cry anymore! Hmph!" Naruto pouted, crossing her arms and turning away from the man.

Minato's expression softened after hearing those words. "She's really growing up, huh…?" Chuckling inwardly, the Hokage conceded grabbing the C-ranked mission list from the table. "I understand." Sasuke and Sakura looked at the Yondaime. "If you insist, I'll give you a C-ranked mission. It's to escort a certain person," Arashi announced and saw the happy looks on all of Team 7's faces, even Sasuke was slightly smiling.

"When will we meet our client?" Sasuke asked in a dignified matter, all earlier traces of his smile gone.

"You can meet him now," the Yondaime spoke, motioning with his hands towards another door. "Please send him in."

The group turned towards the door and saw it slid open to let a middle age, border-lining old, man into the room. Gray hair with a matching gray facial hair and beady eyes made the man look older than he actually was. He had what looked to be a rope tied around his forehead and small-wired rim glass had slid down his nose. His clothes were different from what they had around Konoha, but the half-drunk sake bottle was one from the stores somewhere in Konoha.

"What? They're all kids!" exclaimed the old man, taking a long swig of the liquor he was drinking before resting up against the doorway. "Are these snot nose brats really the ones who are supposed to escort me back home?" The three genin shot him death glares, but the drunken man waved off the fierce looks as if they were nothing.

"I'm the expert bridge builder Tazuna," the old man introduced himself. "Once I have returned to my country, I will have all of you protect my life with your while I complete the bridge."

Kakashi nodded to Tazuna before turning to his team. "Go home, pack a bare minimum of essentials, your tools and weapons, along with your basic survival equipment. You all have half-an-hour. We'll meet at the Western Gate of Konoha at twelve o' clock sharp."

The three of them nodded, the raven and pink haired girl taking off first with Kakashi and Tazuna lingering at their tails. Naruto was tagging behind, about to exit out before a voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Good luck, Naruto."

The blonde froze. ..Her father never called her without that familiar suffix at the end of her name before… A small forced smile tugged on her lips, wavering a bit. Strange. She didn't know whether to feel happy that her father was treating her like a full-fledged ninja, or sad that the memorable '–chan' didn't escaped her otou-san's lips when he said her name.

"…Hai."

Thirty minutes later, Team Seven and their client were exiting the Konoha's Western Gate. The team looked prepared for the long travel to the Wave Country. They all wore backpacks, including Kakashi. Naruto seemed to be extra excited about this trip.

"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto exclaimed aloud, raising one arm vigorously into the air, as the group of five took their first steps out of Konoha's massive gates.

"What are you all so excited for?" asked Sakura.

"Because it's feels so good to be outside the village again!" Naruto explained wholeheartedly. As a gentle breeze passes by, her features softened, her smile diminishing down in size, but now holding a source of remembrance she longed for. "It's like.. coming back home. ..I'd forgotten how much I missed being out here like this…"

Naruto examined her surroundings. It felt like it had been awhile since she had been outside of Konoha, traveling around from country to country with Ero-sennin. She missed being out the road with that pervert she considered as a grandfather. She liked meeting the new people and making friends with them. Seeing the countries and learning about their culture was also fun for her too. The whole experience was something that she enjoyed and missed dearly.

The four looked at her, not expecting that kind of answer coming from the hyperactive blonde. Sasuke, in particular, stared the longest, chiefly at her smile. The soft, yet happy smile. Just like the smile when he gave her…—

Breaking the distilled silence, the bridge builder cleared his throat and asked the jounin, "Hey. Are you sure that kid can protect me? She's still pretty young." He pointed at Naruto.

"I, a Jounin, will be accompanying you. There's no need to worry." Kakashi replied lightheartedly. His words, however, didn't come as much of an assurance for the skeptical man.

"Grrr…" Naruto crossed his arms, her eyes twitching in anger, their client's words still ringing in her head. "This geezer is the worst client ever." She raised her arm and pointed furiously back at the insolent man. "Hey old man! Don't go underestimating me!"

Tazuna took a swig of his bottle, looking at her over his spectacles. "And tell me, pip-squeak. Why should I even care of what I think of you?" the man shot back, not liking how the kid was disrespecting him openly and in front of others as well.

"Because I'm going to be the Hokage of my village someday, and you better show some respect to me, or I'll be going over to the Wave Country personally to kick your ass!"

Tazuna didn't appear to be moved at all. "Hokage is the village's number one ninja, right?" He cast an incredulous look at Naruto, staring at her from head to foot. "I don't think a brat like you will ever become one."

"SHUT UP! You'll be begging at my feet for me to forgive you once I become Hokage!"

"No I won't, brat. That is, even if you become Hokage."

Naruto gritted her teeth as she felt her temper reach new heights. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" The raging blonde rushed forward ready to go out on a rampage. Kakashi quickly grabbed onto Naruto's collar as soon as she took her first step forward, thus stopping a full scale riot from erupting. "Let go, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto screamed, futilely fighting against her teacher's hold.

"No. Cut it out, Naruto."

"Can't I just maim him?"

"No!"

"Just let me at least hit him once really hard!" she tried.

The silver haired jounin rubbed his forehead with his free hand. "I said no, and that is final, Naruto." He looked at Tazuna. "She may be young, Tazuna-san, but Naruto is a gifted shinobi in the village with talented abilities. I'm sure she's willing to give up her life to protect you."

Naruto stopped her attempts after Tazuna began to stroll away indifferently with an 'hmph'. She crossed her arms, cooling herself down so that she doesn't "accidentally" kill their client. "Stupid drunken old man… He got off lucky this time…"

Unknown to any of them, two shadows have been lurking about. Hiding within the thick foliage of the forest along the roadside, the hunters watched the group intently, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike just like the predators that are going after their prey.

The first half an hour of the trip was a silent one. Naruto took point, leading the group with Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura on either side of him for protection, following behind her. Bringing up the rear was Kakashi, reading his newest Icha Icha Paradise. All this done to make sure Tazuna had maximum security from bandits and other low-level thugs that would try to kill the bridge builder.

However, after the first half an hour of silence, Sakura decided it was too quiet and wanted to make conversation. At first, she tried talking to Sasuke, but all her efforts failed, horrible. Naruto seemed more excited about the scenery than anything else. Therefore, she tried making conversation with their client. That was only because she knew she couldn't talk to Kakashi, since he was currently reading his new book.

"Hey, Tazuna-san…"

"What is it?"

Sakura looked curious. "You're from the Wave Country, right?" she asked.

"What about it?" he retorted.

Sakura looked at the jounin. "Kakashi-sensei, are there also ninja in that country?"

Kakahsi met her gaze impassively, putting his book away. "No, there are no ninja in the Wave Country. But while the culture and customs of other countries may be different, hidden villages and ninjas do exist. To many countries that do exist in this land, the existence of ninja villages is the equivalent of the country's military powers. In other words, that is how they are able to maintain the relationship with neighboring countries. But the villages aren't under control of that country. They are supposedly equal in position. On a small island like the Wave Country, where it is difficult to be influenced by other countries, there is no need for a ninja village. Among the countries that have a ninja village, since the five countries of Hi, Mizu, Kaminari, Kaze, and Tsuchi occupy a large mass of land and their powers are immense, they are known as the Five Great Ninja Powers: Hi no Kuni's Konohagakure no Sato, Mizu no Kuni's Kirigakure no Sato, Kaminari no Kuni's Kumogakure no Sato, Kaze no Kuni's Sunagakure no Sato, and Tsuchi no Kuni's Iwagakure no Sato. Only the leader of each hidden village is allowed to carry the name of 'Kage'. Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage, otherwise known as the 'Five Kages', are the ninjas that reign over the tens of thousands of ninjas that exist in the countries throughout the world."

"Sugoi..., I knew that otou-san was always a great man!" Naruto thought gleefully to herself, smiling fulsomely at the recognition her father is getting.

"So we won't come in contact with any foreign shinobi?" the slightly scared pink haired girl asked.

He patted the girl's head. "Don't worry. We won't have any ninja battles in a C-ranked mission," the Kakashi reassured the girl. Sakura look relieved.

The grimace coming from their client did not go unnoticed by the man. Seeing this, Kakashi took it upon himself to keep a closer eye on their client and their surroundings, seeing how something was definitely wrong with the man. "You're hiding something…"

Aside from the previous explanation, the long walk had been all in all uneventful. The scenery also didn't come as any help at all, just a simple dirt road cutting across the dull view of green from the trees and shrubs of the growing along the roadside. In fact, the only thing that broke the monotony of the surroundings was a small puddle on the barren ground. Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What the hell? It hasn't rained in weeks…" This caused her to be instantly in on guard.

After the group had passed seemingly harmless puddle, a shinobi draped in a black cloak with a gas mask-like device covering the lower areas of his face emerged from the shallow pool of water. A second shinobi leapt quickly from behind the first one, launching himself into the air and after performing some split second maneuver wrapped the thick metal chain linking their heavy gauntlets around the unsuspecting Kakashi.

"What?" Kakashi exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh?" Sakura whirled around and saw Kakashi bound by some sort of chain.

"What the–?" sounded Naruto.

"One down." Both shinobis declared, activating the driving mechanisms in their arms. The chain tightened its grip over Kakashi until it became too much and his body ripped into pieces. What followed was the sickening sound of flesh and blood falling unto the ground.

"KYYAA!" Sakura screamed in horror after witnessing the gruesome sight.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out. But then her eyes suddenly narrowed, her initial worry for her sensei disappearing. "Kakashi-sensei wouldn't let himself be killed by these rouge ninjas that easily. They look to be at high chuunin level, at most. He's up to something…"

Unfortunately, her scream caught the attention of the two shinobis. Bad move. The assassins quickly glanced at the one who spoke, their eyes immediately landing on Naruto. Their eyes glinted in recognition as they grinned like madmen underneath their gas masks. "Tazuna is their prime target, but compare to having the head of the Yondaime's daughter, the old man's death meant second to none," they both thought.

The blonde saw their looks when they eyed her, her blood turning cold for a split second. They knew who she was. But a split second was all that they needed. They appeared behind Naruto, the unlucky one who caught their attention and whom they've picked for their next target. Naruto still stood rooted in place when she felt their presence hovering dangerously over her back. She could almost feel the grins that curled over the two shinobis' faces. "Naruto! What are you doing just standing there? Get out of there NOW!" Sakura shouted, not wanting to see another one of her teammates die. Too late.

"Two down."

They drove their claws into her back till it came out through the other side. Then slowly, agonizingly, the assassins drew their claws across her stomach in either direction from the inside-out. Naruto's eyes dilated from their sockets as the contents of her stomach spilled onto the ground beneath her. Everyone's eyes were widened in shock as Sakura screamed in terror. But before the body fell to the ground, it poofed into smoke.

"Nani?" Both assassins' eyes widened in disbelief.

That was when Sasuke made his move. Leaping into the air, he pulled out a single shuriken and kunai and timed his attack. When he found his opportunity, the shuriken flew though the air and snagged the bladed chain, forcing it into place against a tree. Then the kunai followed, nailing down the chain once it pierced through the center of the shuriken. His jump took him to the two ninja and he landed with his feet on each of their extended arms connected to the chain. He then planted his hands on their arms and delivered a pair of mule kicks to their faces, rocking their heads back from the force.

In perfect sequence, Naruto came out of hiding, wiping out several shurikens tied with specialized durable wires. She throws it at the two shinobis, it swerving around their arm armor. Pumping chakra into the strings, she tightened her hold and pulled on them, slicing the iron metal through like water. Now the strings wounded their hold around the Demon Brothers' arms, slicing into their flesh in a rapid pace. Seeing that they had to act quickly before their arms become severed, one went after Tazuna while the other one went after Naruto.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed mentally when they separated and suddenly dashed to attack the others. He saw a very faint movement of silver towards Naruto and made his move. When Sakura positioned herself in front of their client for protection, he moved in front of her to ward off the attacking shinobi. He narrowed his eyes at the enemy.

"GAH!" the enemy shinobi cried out as an arm encircled around his neck, the force of the impact at the speed he was going knocked out all the air in his lungs.

"Kakashi-sensei! He's alive!" Sakura thought in relief.

"Hn. Show-off." Sasuke grumbled mentally.

"You're late, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto grumbled, frowning at said jounin. Naruto turned her head towards the site her sensei was supposedly killed. What she saw there were clopped pieces of logs scattered along the road. "Kakashi-sensei used Kawarimi… just like before," she thought, referring back to the time he had used that technique on her during their survival test.

Pretending that he didn't heard the blonde's comment, Kakashi turned to his team. "Sasuke. Sakura. Good job." His eyes turned to Naruto. "You too, Naruto."

Within a few seconds, they were tied up and were not going anywhere. He turned to his team, then to his attention to their client. "Tazuna-san."

"What is it?"

"I need to talk to you."

"These look like Hidden Mist Chuunins," observed Kakashi, staring impassively at the tied-up shinobi. "These shinobis are known to continue fighting no matter what."

"…How did you read out movements?" one of them asked.

"On a sunny day like this when it hasn't rain in days, there's not going to be a puddle." He stated obviously, glaring down at the two shinobi.

Tazuna was confused. "If you knew that, they why did you let the kids fight?"

"If I was up to it, I could have killed these two in a blink of an eye. But…" Kakashi narrowed his eyes at their client. "I needed to know who the target of these two was."

"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked. He couldn't hide his worry.

"In other words, were you being targeted, or somebody from our ninja group? Your request was to protect you from armed groups like gangs and robbers. This is a mission that's above a B-rank. Our job was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive A-rank. It looks like you have your reasons, but it only troubles us if you lie in your request details. This wasn't part of the mission."

"This mission is out of our league. Let's quit!" Three pairs of eyes locked onto Sakura. "Besides, there's no telling what will happen to us if—"

"NO WAY!" Naruto shouted in anger. "We promised the old man that we'll protect him no matter what. What I say, is what I do, this is who I am. I'm not going back on it; that is my nindo, my ninja way. We're continuing the mission!"

A barely noticeable smile formed on the man's face. "I guess I misjudged her. She's a pretty good kid after all, even though she's still a runt." Tazuna thought, apparently impressed by Naruto's spirit.

Kakashi saw Sasuke standing next to Naruto, a similar determined look.

"I guess that decides everything." He turned his eyes to the pink haired kuonichi. "Sakura, I understand that you are shocked at experiencing your first battle, but you must understand that quitting does not solve everything. Right now we are in the middle of a mission, even though the situations have changed, our duty is still to protect our client. This happens sometimes."

Sakura paused for a short moment, realizing what she just said. Kakashi then walked over to the girl and patted the top of her hair a bit, his way of giving her reassurance before walking off. Her hands instinctly flew to the spot where her sensei's hand was at, about to smooth out the ruffled parts of her hair, but instead she touched her hiate-ate, feeling the engraved emblem of the Leaf in the middle. She laughed at herself. "I'm an idiot. Because of one battle, I wanted to quit and run, forgetting my duty to my team." She looked back up at Kakashi and nodded.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei."

An ominous lair stood in utter silence, hidden from outside world by the tall trees and dense vegetation of the forest that was its protector. Nocturnal animals crackled and whispered in the darkness, their chattering soon completely silence by a booming voice.

"YOU FAILED?"

The whole place was covered in darkness except for some spots being showered with the little light coming in from the windows along the walls. One such spot is where the ringleader of the organization stood, accompanied by a bodyguard. He pointed his finger accusingly at the one sitting on the couch. "I paid you guys a lot of money because I heard you were very strong former ninjas."

"Stop whining." A voice hidden within the darkness spoke. He gripped the hilt of his heavy blade, swinging it at the short man. His eyes flashed with terror as the razor sharp tip came but a centimeter from his throat. He shivered.

"This time, I'll go personally; and this sword will be the last thing he'll ever see."

"Are you sure?" the bodyguard challenged. "It seems the enemy has hired some skilled ninjas; and with the failure of the Demon Brothers, they'll be prepared."

"Who do you think I am…?" The owner of the second voice, a tall muscular man, scoffed. White cloth was wrapped around his head forming a face mask that covered the lower part of his face. He still hung onto his huge sword, the famed Kubikiri Honsho. "I am the Demon of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza."