Sakura turned her head to the side and placed her hand on her hip. Mayumi giggled as Naruto rummaged through his little frog-like money holder (A/N: I'm not to sure what he calls it...). The poor blonde wanted to take the pink-haired female out for Ramen seeing as their Sensei decided that he didn't want to treat them to some.
"Shikamaru! Temari-san! Hey! Who do you think it is?" Sakura shouted happily as she spotted the two ninja and pointed towards Naruto.
Both stopped dead in their tracks and studied him.
"Hey! If it isn't Naruto!"
"Onii-chan!" Mayumi smiled happily and hugged Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted, slightly shocked.
Temari gave an odd look at Naruto. She would have sent the same face towards the blue-haired girl had it not been for the fact that Mayumi explained herself the first time she did it...which was the first time the two met.
"Did you just come home then?" Shikamaru questioned.
"No I came back a few days ago."
"Hehe... So has any of your idiocy left you? And have you changed? Well?"
"No. He hasn't changed at all," Sakura said waving her hand in front of herself looking slightly irritated.
"Soft...fluffy..." Mayumi muttered as she played with Shikamaru's ponytail.
"Ah... Really?" Shikamaru asked as he pushed Mayumi's hand away.
"Sakura-chaaaan!" Naruto whined.
Quickly changing the subject he moved closer to the dark haired male and put his hand by his mouth as if trying to hide what he was saying, "So, are you on a date too?"
"That's not it."
"You joking," Temari exclaimed putting her hands on her hips. "Why would I go out with such a... There's a Chuunin Exam soon. I'm just going back and forth between the Sand and the Leaf for meetings."
"And it's troublesome, but I've become an examiner, so... I was told to go and see off the messengers from the sand," Shikamaru added.
"A Chuunin Exam..." Naruto smiled softly. "That brings back memories..."
Mayumi made a face, "Not for me."
"Yeah!" Shikamaru laughed slighted. "...And Naruto, what are you planning?"
"What do you mean?"
"What you say... It's a Chuunin Exam. The only one from our class who hasn't become a Chuunin, is you."
Naruto's mouth dropped, "Ehhhhhhh? Then! Then! You're both Chuunin too Sakura-chan? Mayumi-chan?"
Sakura gave him a peace sign and grinned, "Yep!"
Mayumi pulled away from Shikamaru and smiled softly, "It wasn't easy..."
"...Plus, Neji from the class above us, Kankurou of the Sand, and Temari here are already Jounin," Shikamaru added.
"Huhhhhhh? Hey! Then, Gaara! What about Gaara?" Naruto questioned.
*Later on*
"You're late!" Naruto, Sakura, and Mayumi shouted at Kakashi.
"Well, this time I was delayed by filling out the paperwork for the new team..." The Hatake explained.
"Today we start our first mission as a new team!" Naruto told him, annoyed with the man. "Be enthusiastic! Kakashi-sensei! You've been like that for ages!"
"Oh let it go!" Sakura shouted at him. "There's nothing he can do about the fact that he has a face devoid of any enthusiasm!"
"You know that is kinda true..." Mayumi agreed earning a nod from Sakura.
Kakashi glared at them, 'I'm... Losing my dignity, aren't I?'
*Another Later*
Naruto, Kakashi, Mayumi, and Sakura stood in front of Tsunade and some other not to important people.
"Ehhh! That mission... No thanks!" Naruto shouted making a face.
Tsunade sighed and glared at him, "What kind of response is that? Well?"
Kakashi sweat dropped and gave a worried look at Naruto, 'Please don't talk so selfishly... She'll get angry at me...'
Mayumi stepped away from him, 'When she throws her punch I am not going to be anywhere near him...'
"Gah..." Iruka sighed. "Naruto... you haven't mentally matured at all, have you?"
Sakura grabbed Naruto and hit is had lightly, "Sor... Sorry, Sensei! I'll sort him out!" She shouted to Tsunade.
"The third was more...sensible..." Naruto muttered.
"What did you say?" Tsunade snapped, handing Kakashi their mission information.
Sakura basically started to strangle Naruto, "Hey! Calm down!"
"Fifth!"
The door flew open and a woman stepped in, "What is it? You are so loud..." Tsunade spoke.
"The Sand's Kazekage has been taken by an organization called Akatsuki! We just received the message!"
Everyone stared wide eyed at the woman; knowing it was Gaara who they spoke of. Tsunade whipped her hand back away from Kakashi; taking the paper with it.
"Right, Team Kakashi, I will tell you your new mission. You are to go immediately to the sand, find out the situation, and relay it to Konoha... After that, follow the orders of the Sand and back them up."
*...Later...*
"Well... Off we go!" Naruto exclaimed, messing with his sleeves.
Sakura gave Tsunade a salute, "Okay, Tsunade-shishou off we go."
Mayumi grinned at her uncle, "Hope you die- I mean don't die while I'm gone."
Tsunade nodded at Sakura with a small smile.
"Do your best!" Iruka told Naruto.
"Yeah!" The blonde nodded.
The team began to walk forward when Jiraiya suddenly appeared in front of them.
Mayumi hid behind Kakashi, "No! Not him again!"
Jiraiya ignored her and smiled towards Naruto, "Yo! Going on a mission eh Naruto?"
"Ossu!" Naruto confirmed, giving his teacher a salute.
"Um, more importantly," the man looked towards the Hokage. "Tsunade, something terrible has happened. The Sand's Kazekage..."
"I know..." Tsunade confirmed. "I'm about to send," she pointed towards Team Kakashi, "these guys off to there now."
Jiraiya moved over to her and whispered in her ear, "You do... know about the thing between the Akatsuki and Naruto right?"
With that said he moved away from her and motioned towards Naruto, "Naruto, come here for a sec."
The blonde ran over to his teacher, "Hm?"
Mayumi looked up at Kakashi, "What are they talking about?"
"Something important I'm sure."
She bit her lip and nodded. Oh how she wished that she knew what they were talking about. It would be nice to know what was going on in their heads. But whatever, she wasn't going to rant about it.
"I wanna know what they're talking about..."
Kakashi rolled his eyes at her but remained silent.
Suddenly Jiraiya walked away from Naruto and towards Kakashi and Mayumi, "Kakashi... Make sure Naruto doesn't do anything stupid. He's all yours."
The Hatake grinned, "Yeah..."
Mayumi glared at them both, "Did you just call Naruto-kun stupid?"
"Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, Mayumi-chan let's get a move on!" Naruto shouted as he stared to walk away.
"Wai-Wait a minute Naruto!" Sakura shouted towards him.
Mayumi quickly placed herself in front of Sakura, "Race ya!"
Kakashi sweat dropped and waved towards the four behind him, "See ya."
"Geez..." Jiraiya muttered.
"Worried?" Tsunade questioned Iruka as the squad took off.
"Nah he is..." Iruka smiled. "He isn't the kind of weak shinobi that I would worry about. Sakura and Mayumi too."
"I would be..." Katsuro muttered. "Bunch of stupid Konoha shinobi who know nothing..."
They ignored him, Iruka continued to smile, "Maturity... is a weird thing..."
*...Later, again...*
The squad moved the trees quickly. Naruto was leading them while Sakura and Mayumi joked around occasionally, Kakashi following them easily. Suddenly Sakura became serious and stared down.
Her eyes widened, "Temari-san!"
A blonde woman dressed in black looked up at them, her forehead protector telling her to be from the Sand.
"What? Gaara!" Temari shouted in shock once she was told about her brother's capture. "I had a bad feeling..."
"It'll take three days to reach the Sand from here... Let's hurry," Kakashi informed her.
"...Okay."
With that the five ninja took off yet again. Mayumi watched Naruto curiously as he started to glare ahead of himself. She wanted to pull him close like she used to and ask what was wrong but she thought better of it. Mostly because he was now picking up his speed.
"Naruto..." Kakashi spoke. "Just because I said to hurry, you shouldn't split up the team. Don't get so heated... Didn't Jiraiya-sama just tell you that?"
Mayumi glared at the man, "You traitor! You said you didn't know what they were talking about!"
"I can't sand it!" Naruto hissed between his teeth.
Sakura, Mayumi and Temari stared at him wide eyed.
"Even I know why they're after me and Gaara! You still don't know, do you Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her. "Inside me... Is sealed the Demon Fox Kyuubi..." He answered himself.
Sakura looked down towards the ground and didn't speak.
"Me and Gaara... Because we have monsters contained in our bodies... That's what they're after! That's what I can't stand! Just seeing us as monsters, I can't stand them looking at us whatever way they feel like! He and I are... The exact same... And he was... Fighting, he was more lonelier than I was! He was targeted by Akatsuki... Just like I was before! Even so! Why is it always him alone that has to have such a hard role? Always him alone? That's why! That's why I won't just sit around asking 'why'! This time, for definite, I want to save him!"
Temari's eyes widened as she stared at Naruto, closing her eyes to stop the tears she mentally thanked Naruto.
Mayumi stared at her friend. She wasn't to sure what to make of all he had said. Well she understood what he was talking about but there was nothing she could say to help him. The only thing she could do was offer her hand to help protect Gaara, who she'd only met twice and seen four times.
"Naruto..."
The Uzumaki boy looked behind himself and towards the Haruno girl who spoke.
"You've gone through a lot, haven't you...?" Sakura asked. "Uchiha Itachi... And you're his target."
Mayumi's eyes widened as did Naruto's, both of them looked back at Sakura.
"I wasn't just training these two and a half years. I was looking through Tsunade's notes, and researched outside as much as a could," Sakura told them. "The enemy Sasuke-kun wants to kill... It's really his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, isn't it? A member of Akatsuki..."
Mayumi growled quietly, not liking the conversation and fell back by Kakashi.
"Because of that, Sasuke-kun is now with Orochimaru, to gain power... But Orochimaru just wants Sasuke's body, doesn't he? And all we have left is half of a year... And Orochimaru was originally a member of Akatsuki... In other words what I'm trying to say is this."
Naruto stared at her, wishing she'd hurry up and finish explain her meaning.
"As we get close to Akatsuki, we get closer to information about Orochimaru. And therefore, we get closer to Sasuke-kun. And out time our time limit to rescue Sasuke-kun is about half a year..."
"Yeah!" Naruto agreed with her.
Mayumi looked down, a slight frown upon her lips. Sure she understood Sakura but now her head was pounding from all the information and confused thoughts. She still didn't fully understand what took place during her absence but then again, how could she?
Alright then that was chapter 19. I hope it was alright but that's up to you to decide. Anyways you guys are getting close on the poll... Sasuke and Itachi only need one more vote each for me to type up a that chapter. So I hope you guys stop making them tie so that I don't have to type two chapters. I am very thankful to those of you that have taken your time to vote and who ever was the funny person and voted for Sakura... Lets just say when I seen that I almost got kicked out of the Library... But thank you to you wonderful people who voted/reviewed for the last chapter! Please review and vote (if you haven't already)! And please! Stop making Sasuke and Itachi tie! But if they do I have ideas I guess... Anyways... Bye for now!