The full moon illuminated the cloudless darkened sky, three shinobi swiftly jumped from tree to tree with great stealth. In moments they arrived to a cocoon like tunnel, the walls, the floor were covered in slime and goo. Their coordinates had lead them here where they were suppose to scout the area, they never imagine to find the monster's place heavily decorated in there filth. The team leader held his hand motioning his team to hold position. They were not alone. A shadow quickly breezed by them before another shadow quickly pulled a shinobi into the darkness.

The ninja gave a blood curling scream, the remaining two rushed to the source of his voice before they stopped when they heard a nasty bone crunching noise. One of the creatures snarled behind the bushes. And now it was just two nins and whatever was prowling in the dark. The Jounin leader was sweating bullets, he feared for his life and his other teammate, panicking he took out a kunai with exploding paper and threw it at the direction of the sound of the creature it had made.

"Die!" He yelled with eyes widen in fear, the explosion calmed his fears for a bit but he knew it couldn't of died that easily.

For a moment there was silence, the team leader exhaled with his lips curled into a insane smile. Putting his terror aside he turned to his teammate, he was about to call out to him but then he heard the creature snarling again before he could react two shadows flew towards his way. His eyes widen when they dug their large fangs into his body, one on his chest and the other into his lower back. The Jounin screamed in pain as he spat out blood before they ripped him into two pieces; ending the man's life.

The last nin, the team leader's second man heard the blood curling scream from his comrade as the unidentified creature killed his last teammate. He quickly turned back ran back where they had came from, he panicked which made him trip on his own feet falling to ground. He stood back up while crying out for mercy, this threat seemed to be way out of his hands now and he needed to get back home. Before he could make it home free, he stopped in place, he slowly gazed down and saw a big horn sticking out of his chest and covered in his blood. His eyes widen, the creaturehad manage to pierce his chest, he then fell to his knees. His eyes lost light just as another Metroid flew to his head. His blood splattered all over his headband, staining the Konoha symbol.

The next morning, Samus woke up extra early because Naruto and her had a mission to get to and wasting time wasn't something she wanted right now. The blonde girl had been giving a room to sleep for the night, it wasn't big but it was good enough. The fact that it was close to Naruto's home was perfect for her to find him with ease. Closing the door behind her, Samus exited the small room and made her way towards Naruto's home to get started on this mission. Firmly knocking on his door she waited for him to answer. A few seconds went by and she got no response, she tried once more and knocked again but still no answer. Samus sighed, "Maybe he wandered off somewhere else." she suspected that he might be back at that ramen stand seeing how that's all he ate.

With no other choice, Samus made her way towards the small ramen stand. On her way there, she noticed the looks the villagers gave her. She could hear whispers of how weird she looked and trying to guess what village she is from. It was strange, the feeling of being looked at because you were different was unpleasant but it was something she had to deal with as she always went to different planets. Samus decided not to think about it anymore.

When she arrived at the ramen stand she did not find the whiskered blond she was looking for. She decided to ask the girl behind the counter, Samus went up to the brunette haired girl, who looked like she wasn't in a pleasant mood and asked, "Excuse me but you wouldn't happen to know if Naruto Uzumaki has been here by any chance?"

"Oh Naruto? He usually doesn't wake up this early, he might still be in bed"

It seemed that the brunette haired girl's bad mood had magically vanished into thin air once Samus brought up that she was looking for the blond. Ayame still couldn't stop smiling every time she thought back about yesterday and how she had caught Samus feeding him. Just thinking about it made her all giddy. Samus sighed at the blond sleeping in when they had an important mission, she had already been to his house and he wasn't there or at least he failed to answer.

"Did ya knock real loud? From what I've heard from Sakura-san is that Naruto can be a heavy sleeper and sleep through anything."

Samus had a blank expression, they both had an important task and Naruto was no where near ready. She guessed that in his current condition he would need the extra rest. Samus was about to turn her heel and leave when the ramen girl called out to her.

"Before you go why don't you eat a bowl? That way you can start your day good with something your stomach, plus you can give Naruto a little bit of time to wake up."

"I am sorry but I have no way in repaying you" Samus said.

"That's okay, this one is on the house!"

Ayame casually waved off her money less problem and smiled, this was her chance to get some quality girl talk in the morning and get to know Naruto's new friend a bit more. Samus nodded and took her seat as the girl smiled at her before she went to the back to prepare her a special breakfast meal. Once Ayame disappeared into the kitchen, Samus couldn't help the brief sad smile on her lips. This village was so friendly and welcoming, she felt a bit bad when she finished her job here and leave.

Meanwhile back with Naruto...

Naruto groaned, he disliked getting up early in the morning. He always loved to get his full eight hour sleep plus an extra two hours but that never really happened anymore. Some how after all the times Sakura had woken him up and threaten to cobbler him if he fell asleep, Naruto couldn't help but to wake up early even if he didn't want to. It was like a reflex now, once the sun hit his face instead of turning the other way and going back to sleep, he woke up with a childish pout or a frown. He stood up from his bed and stretched his body, trying to wake his muscles up. Suddenly he remembered he had an important mission today with a pretty blonde girl.

"That's right" the blond thought as he pulled his black shirt over his head "I wonder if she's awake?" Naruto said aloud, he decided to find out for himself as he grabbed his jacket and went out the door. Naruto's eyes took a while to adjust at the sun's bright light. He made his way towards her temporary room, which was just a short walk away from his. Unaware of his surroundings, two shadows watched the blond exit his home from the corner of another building.

Once Naruto had arrived at the girl's room and knocked only to get no answer, he decided to look for her around the village. After a few minutes, Naruto saw a familiar blue in the ramen shack, he smiled and made his way towards the small restaurant. Naruto stopped when he heard giggling, he lifted an eye brow and then heard Ayame talk as she tried to contain her giggles.

"I'm telling you, Naruto was a real trouble maker when he was little. I remember when he tagged the Hokage momument all by himself! I couldn't believe it, he had the whole village going crazy."

"It seems he has grown since then"

Naruto heard the ramen girl agree, he thought to himself if he actually grown and that through out all his battles and struggles he believed he had grown a stronger person even if by just a little. Shaking his thoughts away he entered the ramen stand. Ayame noticed the orange pants just outside.

"Oh Naruto! Your friend here has been eagerly waiting for you"

The brunette haired girl grinned at the blonde girl's expression, for a moment Samus eyes widen a bit before they returned to her calm expression. She cleared her throat and turned to Naruto.

"Good morning, I take it you just woke up?"

"Good morning, I-I must of overslept"

Naruto blushed and sweat droppped as he took his seat. Samus shook her head and told him it was fine, he was injured so he need the extra rest. Naruto motioned Ayame for one ramen bowl and the girl happily nodded and went to make his order. He then turned his attention towards the girl next to him.

"So what were you two talking about?"

"Ayame was just telling me about your life when you were young and I gotta say..." At this point Naruto was nervous that Ayame had spilled the beans about his past. "You really were quite the troublemaker back then"

Naruto sighed in relief, he was a handful not an orphan everybody avoided, just a handful. He smiled at Samus. "I wasn't that bad"

"Are you kidding me? Having Jounin chase after you for every prank you'd pull made you more troublesome"

Ayame said as she placed Naruto's ramen in front of him. "Hehehe I was just that good, no one could catch me!" Both Naruto and Ayame shared a laugh, it was then the ramen girl noticed something. Turning her gaze towards the calm blonde girl.

"Samus-san, we've been talking so much about Naruto, I haven't heard much about you"

"There is not much about me"

Samus stated, she actually didn't really know what to say not many people came up to her and asked about her and her life. "And I don't mind talking more about Naruto" her gaze shifted towards the blond as he grinned "He is very amusing and very interesting"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ayame waved off the blond as he frowned at her. "So where are you from?" she propped her elbows on top of the counter and rested her head on the palm of her hands as she listened intently.

"Uhh I'm from a very far place, a very unheard of nation" Samus smiled faintly hoping the girl would take her answer and move on.

"Look at the time! Samus we better get going if we want to start our mission"

Naruto came up with an excuse to bail the girl, it sure didn't hurt to tell the girl that the Samus wasn't from this planet but Naruto didn't want to take any chances, he would let Ayame know when she was ready. Samus nodded towards Naruto before thanking Ayame and getting up from her seat. It was about time they got to work.

"Aww no fair, you guys are leaving already?"

"Don't worry, we'll come back!"

Naruto waved back as the girl pouted her cheeks out like a puff fish. Ayame was actually hoping to see Samus feed Naruto again, it was so cute.

Once both blonds exited the stand, they stood in the middle of the street.

"I'm sorry if Ayame was being nosy"

"No, it's fine. I enjoyed myself, it's been a while since I've had time for... Girl talk"

Samus blushed lightly at her last words, it seemed she wasn't use to saying such things that it was a bit hard to say out loud. Naruto chuckled, it seemed that the blonde girl who was all about doing her job was starting to open up a bit which made him glad.

"Shall we go then?"

Naruto nodded, they were both about to head towards the gate when they were stopped by a young girl around his age and an old man.

"Uhhm... Can I help yo-"

"Naruto-san! May we please have a moment of your time?"

The young girl burst out interrupting the blond as she avoided eye contact she stared at her feet. Samus examined the girl, her clothing suggest that she was part of the village, a common folk. She had long, light brown hair and dark brown eyes, she appeared to be young about Naruto's age. Naruto looked at Samus before looking back at the two and slowly nodding.

"Th-Thank you, Naruto-san. My-My name is Akiko Tanaka" the girl bowed in a polite manner as she introduced herself, she then made eye contact with blue eyes but quickly looked away. Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly and placed his hand on his chin, he tried to remember where he had heard the girl's name. The brunette haired girl glanced at the blond enough to noticed his confuse look.

"We've met before" Naruto raised a brow "When we were little kids, we once played on the playground" Samus looked at the blond to get an understanding, had he forgotten about a childhood friend; Ayame never mentioned anything about this. Naruto was still a bit confused, he indeed remembered the girl she was very friendly and one of the few kids who played with him but was still wondering what she could possibly want. The girl finally made eye contact with him, she pulled something behind her back.

"I-I, I mean we wanted to give you this"

Naruto's eyes slowly but surely widen, he stared at the stuff animal. It was a bunny, it had one buttoned eye as the other must of fallen off and it was brown due to being worn out. The stuffed bunny brought memories of his past, a particular one.

Flashback

"Hey you!"

"Who, me?"

"I don't see anyone else here"

A young girl with short brown hair grinned at the blond boy that sat at top of the playground slide. He had been there for over an hour now since all the kids had left with their parents. "Are you gonna go down or what?" the blonde stared blankly at her before he noticed what she meant. Sliding down, the girl came up to him and smiled.

"Name's Akiko Tanaka!"

"Naruto Uzumaki"

He responded, he was still confused it seemed it was already sun down and every kid had gone home now. Most parents told their kids to stay away from him but here was this girl actually talking to him. The girl smiled then looked around the empty playground before sighing.

"Looks like everyone's gone home" she then looked towards the blond who was staring at her, she frowned. "You know it's rude to stare" Naruto scratched his head and chuckled. "Sorry, its just that most kids are home by now. So its strange to see someone out at this time"

"Well my father works late so I sneak out sometimes" she winked as she placed her index finger on her lips in a shushing manner. The boy laughed at her gesture and nodded. "What about you? Aren't your parents worried your out late?" Naruto frowned, before replying. "I don't have any parents, so I can stay up late as long as I want" He chuckled at the bright side of not having any parents, though he knew it was not something to be happy about.

"Oh I'm sorry. I kinda know how its like to not have a parent"

Naruto saw the girl give a brief sad smile before shaking her head. "Well let's play!" the blond nodded and the two began to play around the play ground.

Over the next few hours Naruto and Akiko played together, after sundown at the same time. They would just play on the swings, go down on the slides, climb the monkey bars or just chase each other around. Naruto had a great time, it made him forget about being alone but even he knew things had to come to an end.

"Here"

Naruto stared at the stuffed bunny before looking up at the girl. "What's this for?" he asked.

"Just take it" she shoved the toy into his hands and smiled. "My father bought me this but I don't like stuff animals so I thought I should give this to you"

Naruto stared at the doll, it seemed brand new so her father must of bought it recently. "Thanks!" Naruto said with a smile, no one had ever been so generous as to give him a present.

"Akiko!"

The loud voice boomed as it startled the little girl and the small blond. She turned to see her father was in his work clothes. "Father?" she stuttered, she was caught sneaking out late and now she was gonna get it. "I was just hanging out with a friend" she smiled nervously as her father frowned. "I don't care it's late and-"

He suddenly stopped talking when he noticed the blond boy next to her. His eyes widen in recognition, he knew who he was. The girl saw her father staring at Naruto, he seemed bothered by him. "Father? Is something wr-"

The big man grabbed his daughter's arm and began pulling her away ignoring the pain he caused to her arm. "Ow! Father! That hurts!" she cried out.

"I don't want you hanging around that boy! Stay away from him!"

The man turned to see Naruto holding the stuffed bunny he had recently bought his daughter as gift. The man gave Naruto a threatening glare before swiping the toy from the boy's hands, then dragging the girl back to their home. Naruto never saw her or her father after that day. He always did wonder why they treated him like that.

Flashback end

Naruto's eyes soften, he stared at the stuffed animal as the memories replayed in his head. He gave a small smile to the girl, he politely pushed his hands in front of him and refused her gift. Samus saw the brief look of sadness in his eyes, it was strange that it pained her to see the blond who always had a cheerful smile and now have sorrow in those blue eyes instead. For some reason it made her sad as well.

"I'm sorry but this is yours, it always has been"

"Please!"

The old man that stood quietly in the back came in front of Naruto and begged. Naruto's eyes widen in recognition, the old man was the girl's father from back then. He grabbed the toy from the girl's hands and pushed it towards Naruto. Both Samus and Naruto were stunned by the man's actions, the brunette girl looked away unable to face Naruto.

"Please I beg you, take it!"

The old man cried out and then knelt before Naruto bowing down to him like some kind of peasant, his head and hands were completely on the floor. Tears ran down the man's cheeks as he continuously shouted apologizes to the male blond. Naruto was stunned by the man's actions, the old man was crying out his apology and he didn't know how to react. He was lost and overwhelmed. Samus was also surprised by this, the old man bowed to Naruto as if he had done something wrong.

"Please... I beg you. It is the least I can do... after you saved my daughter..." He trailed off and his tears dropped one by one they fell on the ground. "I-I always blamed you for my wife's death... I knew you weren't the one to blame but I was a fool back then... And then the village was attacked I had lost my only daughter but-but you Naruto Uzumaki, brought her back to me..."

Naruto listened to the old man's story, the man had blamed him like most villagers did. He was one of those who gave him that look, a look Naruto hated to see. However, he had understood why most villagers looked at him like that as he learned about his secret. He did always wish for the villagers to see him in a different way but he didn't know it would be this way. Naruto looked at the worn out bunny in his hands, his spiky bangs covered his eyes. He took one step and then knelt in front of the crying man and placed one hand on his shoulder. The old man bowing down raised his head, he saw the blond giving him a warm smile.

"I forgive you"

Those three words, Naruto never believed that one day he'd actually say those words to one of his people. The villagers who never gave him a chance, the same ones who always gave him those scornful looks. He had finally forgiving them.

Moments Later...

Samus walked quietly along side Naruto as they both headed towards the gates of Konoha. The dramatic scene was still stuck in her head as she was sure it was on Naruto's mind as well, she was shocked how a man broke down and cried for Naruto's forgiveness. She began to wonder what exactly happened, what did they do to Naruto to cry hysterically for forgiveness? Samus saw Naruto's face the moment they left the two villagers, she saw that he was conflicted with mixed emotions. She saw part of him smile like he had just accomplished something but she also saw a part of him wanting to cry his heart out. Samus wanted to comfort him but she couldn't, she hesitated to, she wanted to embrace him and let him cry in her arms if he needed to. She cursed herself for not having the strength to do so. To deep in thought she barely caught Naruto speaking to her.

"I'm sorry Naruto, ca-can you repeat that?" she cursed herself for stuttering, she did not want to feel weak, not now.

"I'm sorry you had to see that back there. It was actually pretty unexpected"

Samus rapidly shook her head. "You don't have to apologize. I understand." She paused for second, her eyes then rolled to look at him. "Are you okay?" Not seeing him with a real smile bothered her, she just had to find out.

"Yeah... It's just that..." The blond pulled one arm back and scratched the back of his head as he gave her a smile. "I feel different some how. Like I've grown even if by just a little" Samus gave him a small smile, she was relieved he was fine. She was about to tell him how glad she was when someone stood in front of them. The same person from yesterday, the purple haired masked woman.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are to report to Hokage-sama's office immediately"

The blond frowned at this, they were about to leave the village and the old woman choose now to summon him. The Anbu ninja poof'ed out of existance as Naruto sighed.

"I guess we go to Baa-chan's" Samus nodded, she hoped they weren't suspecting her again.

Once they arrived to the woman's office, they saw Tsunade was extremely busy, paper work seemed to fill the small room. She looked away from her paper and saw them standing, she rubbed her temples before taking a much needed break. Tsunade pulled her bottom drawer and rummaged through it.

"Alright you two, I'm very busy right now so I'm gonna make this quick" Samus was surprised as the woman took out a bottle of alcohol at this time of day. "We've lost contact with our recon team" The serious look on her face told them there was definitely something going on. "Your mission still stands but now if you find any sign of them you are to investigate and aid them" Naruto and Samus simultaneously nodded, the Godaime waved them off telling them they were dismissed.

Once they were outside, Samus began to wonder if there really were more baby Metroids out there. She hoped they weren't any more but when was she ever that lucky? There are also the possibilities that they have evolved into something far more threatening than what they faced before. Oh boy were they both in for a treat.

AN: Ok next is really going to be 'Is it Blackmail?' that gets an update. Next up is Naruto & Samus Vs. teh Metroids!