First Love

Shoto, Shikamaru, Sai, and Kakashi left the Hokage mansion not too long after the new boyfriends had finished their hug. Shikamaru had almost pushed the silver haired boy out the door before he could kiss the naive black haired male. It was then that they had set out on their separate ways to gather things that they would need for their mission. Shoto went back to his small apartment to grab his things.

As he looked around for his silver colored duffel bag, he was giddy and happy. Sai was his first official boyfriend, taking away the delusions of being with Genma like he had done not that long before. He wondered what he should do first. Kiss the boy? Make out? He blushed as those thoughts and images came into his mind. His delusions were the only thing he knew about a relationship and they weren't exactly the most reliable of things. Being fourteen didn't help him that much either.

He found his kunai pouch before he found his bag and started to frown. How else was he supposed to pack his bandages, clothes and food? He couldn't count on the others to bring food and bandages. Clothing wasn't too much of a necessity, but he enjoyed having a variety. The duffel bag was found in the closet already packed to the brim with things he needed. On top of it was a note from Shino. The bug user had packed his bag and wanted him to take care while on his mission. It was a nice gesture and Shoto couldn't find it in him to be upset over it.

He met the other members of his one mission squad in front of the Konoha gate. They each had a bag most likely filled with things that they needed as well. They nodded at each other before going off into the forest. They had one important mission to get done and there was no need to stand there wasting time.

It was during the first hour of the walk that Shikamaru found himself being uncomfortable. Shoto was holding onto Sai's hand and placing his head on the boy's shoulder. It felt like the boy was trying to upset him on purpose and well it was working. He was trying real hard to keep the groan he wanted to let out inside. So he tried to focus on the clouds in hopes that his ignoring the blatant show of affection would stop.

Sai was also feeling a bit uncomfortable. He winced internally as he felt Shoto move closer to him. He was up against his side, head falling on his shoulder. He never had that kind of experience before. This guy didn't even know him and yet he was so close. He allowed himself to take in the small amount of comfort that it was bringing. However all the while it was comforting, he felt something real strange as the hand that was once in closed in his was taken away and placed on his stomach. These feelings were strange and new to him. This was nothing like how he and Shin would interact when they were younger.

Kakashi kept his eye on the road ahead of them. The younger three were a bit too preoccupied with whatever it was that they were doing, so he had to keep them protected for the moment. Even though he knew he really didn't have to for Sai as he was an ANBU and Shikamaru was more observant than most thought. Most of this concern went towards the silver haired Genin. He still felt like this was a mission not suited for him, but he couldn't go against Lady Tsunade's wishes. He just had to put more effort into making sure that they didn't get ambushed by any shinobi that could be lurking around.

"All right, is this really appropriate?" Shikamaru yelled after looking over at the couple.

"Oh you're just mad because you don't have anybody!" Shoto yelled back at him.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Shikamaru looked blankly at the younger male.

"So you don't have anyone?" Shoto smirked.

"I have a girlfriend not that it's any of your business."

"Oh yeah? Who is she then?"
Shikamaru's face turned red as he looked away, "She's um...uh...she's..."

"She's who?"

"Te...Temari," Shikamaru finally blurted out.

Shoto gasped in shock at the name. Temari was the oldest of the Sand Siblings and someone who talked to him on occasion. In the occasions that she did talk to him there was never any mentions of Shikamaru except how much she wanted a rematch from their Chunnin exams. Though by the way the older male was blushing it could be safe to assume that they were either dating or he liked her a lot. He would have gave him a congratulations but he kept being rude about the relationship he had with Sai. Though he could calm down some of the affections that he was showing.

"Fine, Shika, I will tone it down some," Shoto sighed.

"Whatever," Shikamaru stated as he didn't believe him.

"I am doing you a favor and you just go whatever? I swear you are so ungrateful! I will keep going and even more at tha…"Shoto went on a rant.

"Shoto, stop it now!" Kakashi yelled.

Shoto stopped his rant and stared at Kakashi. It wasn't often that the man just called him by his given name so he was either pissed off or annoyed. He wasn't too sure if he liked either version of his favorite teacher. So in response, he moved closer to Sai which resulted in a small noise coming from the older teen's mouth. He turned to look at Sai in confusion for the small noise before turning his attention back to Kakashi.

Kakashi had started to sniff the air once again as there was a peculiar scent. It seemed like clay and well clay wasn't that common near Konoha, especially since they were surrounded by a forest. It seemed to be following the northwestern wind and it seemed to be coming closer to where they were. If it was some type of jutsu or a ninja that specialized in clay then he had to be more alert in order to protect Shoto. He had promised Matthew that he would protect him with his life before leaving for the mission.

"Kaka-sensei? What is it?" Shoto asked.

"Shoto, my name is Kakashi. I appreciate if you call me that," Kakashi said sternly.

"Alright, why are you sniffing the air, Kakashi?" Shikamaru looked at the appointed leader.

Kakashi looked them over as he carefully tried to word his answer. He couldn't just say that he had suspicions that there were enemy shinobi around when all he did was smell clay. Though he couldn't hide away that he did smell something weird coming from the northwest. They were all capable ninja, though Shoto was still pretty young and inexperienced. So he gave Shikamaru a small hint that he felt something was up and he didn't want to alert Shoto of it.

"Just getting a nice whiff of the forest. It's been awhile since I've last just came out here," Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"Oh. Well I wanna' do that too!" Shoto exclaimed.

Sai had let go of his boyfriend's hand as the younger teen walked over to a nearby tree. The silver haired boy climbed to the nearest branch, not wanting to go too far. He lifted his head and started to sniff the air. His nose was nothing like Kakashi and was barely anything like Kiba's. However, he was just enjoying the smell of the forest itself. It was hard to do so in Konoha as the population of humans gave off several different scents like food, laundry, and other things that people did throughout the day. So this was quite different.

Shikamaru gave a sigh, watching Shoto climb the tree just to sniff. It was weird and was holding them back from their mission. Though he had to admit that Kakashi's small hint of something being wrong was a bit worrisome. He didn't think that he could handle something else being ready to infiltrate Konoha. It seemed to be happening a lot since he became a Genin and well it was a troublesome thought that they would continue. He just had to wonder what it was. Could it be something to do with Orochimaru or the terrorist group the Akatsuki? Either or could make him send the Genin back to warn the Hokage about.

Kakashi wanted to facepalm himself so bad but he didn't have the energy to do so. He hadn't expected the youngest shinobi to actually try to sniff the air. He had to be a bit more careful with his influence over the boy. Hopefully, he couldn't smell the scent of clay in the air. It wasn't strong but with the northwestern wind blowing he couldn't be too careful over it. He really hoped that Kiba's dog like senses didn't get passed onto him or that he hadn't learned to use tracking bugs like Shino.

"Hey, Sensei?" Shoto called.

"Yes. What is it?" Kakashi watched the boy climb down.

"There's this weird scent in the air, but only when the wind blows. I'm not sure but it reminds me more of clay or the gourd that Gaara carries around," the frown on his face showed Shoto's concern.

"Are you sure it's similar to Gaara's gourd?" Shikamaru asked.

"Are you doubting me again? Are you fucking serious? I know what I fucking smell and it smells like clay and I'm pretty damn sure that the gourd is clay!" Shoto yelled.

"He has quite the anger problem," Sai muttered.

"Yes and it only gets worse if he's in battle," Kakashi told the ANBU member.

Shoto was too busy yelling and ranting at Shikamaru to care whatever it was that Sai and Kakashi were talking about. He knew what he was smelling. Clay wasn't something that came around Konoha a lot so if he did smell it, then he was smelling it. It wouldn't be coming from northwest but southwest. He wanted to know who and why were they coming in their direction.

The clay smell that Kakashi and Shoto were smelling came from deep within the forest. A blond male was carrying around a bag of clay like most shinobi did kunai or shuriken. His blue eyes scanned the forest to make sure that the target wasn't just hiding around somewhere. His V-neck sleeveless midriff shirt and navy blue pants with matching shinobi sandals didn't do much to camouflage him from being in the forest. Though he was supposed to be in a serious mood, he was pretty happy. Well at least until he looked over at the quiet black haired male next to him.

Said male had the most blank expression on his face. His red eyes called the Magenkyou Sharigan looked as though they were three spiralling curves around his pupils. He was bored and was not willing to be walking through this forest again. Konoha wasn't exactly somewhere he wanted to be, especially with the blond.

"Why did I get stuck with you again, Deidara?" the blackette asked in a bored tone.

"Because Sasori no danna decided today would be the day that he would try to make me into a puppet, un. Like hell was I gonna' be stuck as a puppet," Deidara reminded him.

"It would probably be more beneficial to the whole group if he did," he muttered.

"That's only what you think, Itachi," the blond fought hard not to pout.

Itachi paid him no mind and found a tree stump to sit down on. Deidara, the nineteen year old clay bomb using ninja from Iwagakure. He somehow got stuck with him going on this stupid mission instead of being with Kisame. Well the mission itself wasn't stupid, he just didn't want to do it. Konoha brought back emotions that he wasn't willing to show. Konoha had memories that he hated to think on. Konoha was his old home. There were people there that he was sure hated everything about him.

"Hey Itachi, I got a question," Deidara walked to him.

"What is it this time?" Itachi sighed not willing to keep dealing with his antics.

"What does Sasuke look like?" a clay bird landed onto the blond's arm.

"Why do you care what my little brother looks like? He has nothing to do with our mission or your life in general," Itachi gave a glare.

"Sasuke is Kakashi's student, right? Well my little bird here has seen Kakashi with three younger ninja."

"Instead of looking for our target, who is also a student of Kakashi, you worry about my little brother?"

"Meh," Deidara had nothing else to say on the subject.

This did give Itachi a thought. If Kakashi was in the forest then so was his team which meant the loud blond Jinchuriki had to be near too. And that was their target. This mission could be simple and then they could go back to the hideout without any worries. At least that was what he wanted. He wasn't working with Kisame who could understand what he wanted, it was Deidara. Deidara just did whatever he wanted and that was where a lot of the arguments with Sasori came from. Honestly, he didn't want to deal with all that.

Though, this was part of their objective of the week. Collect the blond Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tail Fox. The blond was going to have to deal with having to listen to orders. The scope wouldn't protect him from everything that he had in his arsenal.

"Deidara, let's go. If Kakashi is there, we have a chance that the Jinchuriki is there," Itachi stood up.

"So I get to see Sasuke?" Deidara grinned.

"Touch Sasuke and I will personally make sure your ring goes to another ninja," Itachi threatened the younger blond.

Deidara grabbed Itachi's hand so that they could run in the direction of the people that his clay bird had saw. He wanted to see the baby brother of his best friend\rival to see if he was worthy enough to be his younger brother. Well if he wasn't hot enough or strong enough then he would be blown up.

Itachi allowed himself to be pulled by his one-sided friend. He wasn't going to whine like Deidara would have, he was just going to take it like a man. He sighed a little as he thought about his little brother. It had been about two or three years since he last saw him. It seemed like forever since he last hugged him. Yet he didn't have the choice to be around his little brother in a happier light. He accepted that quite well.

Back with the Konoha shinobi, Shoto was sitting in the lap of Sai. Kakashi was making lunch for them, several sandwiches and rice balls. Shikamaru laid in the grass watching the clouds go by. Sai, well Sai was just sitting there unsure of what he should be doing.

Shoto was only sitting in the lap of his boyfriend because he knew it annoyed Shikamaru. Anything that annoyed him was pretty fun in his book. Well he was just glad that he got to be this close to the black haired teen without any interruptions.

He climbed off Sai's lap and sat in front of him with a smile on his face showing how young he was. He ran his hand through the short black hair before cupping his slender, pale face. A blush formed on his cheeks and he was unsure of what to do next. Maybe he should kiss him or maybe he should leave it alone. This wasn't something that he knew. First relationship, first time being close to anyone like this.

"Shoto-kun," Sai bit down on his bottom lip.

"Hmm what is it?" Shoto tilted his head.

"Maybe you...you shouldn't do this," a tinge of pink came to Sai's cheeks.

"That makes this all the better," Shoto moved closer to kiss the blushing male.

Before their lips could make contact, the sound of an explosion was heard nearby. The ninja jumped up, getting into battle position. Shoto, if anything, was quite annoyed that his kiss didn't get to happen. Kakashi grabbed a kunai out of his pouch and stood in front of the younger ones. Shikamaru made sure to get into his position in case he was needed to use a Shadow Possession jutsu. Sai had to calm himself down before he grabbed one of the scrolls off his back.

From the bushes jumped out a black haired male that looked older than Sai. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail with bangs that framed his face. He wore mesh armor with navy accents under a black T-shirt with a simple white belt around his waist and dark blue pants. There was something familiar about him. Something a bit too familiar.

"Uchiha, Itachi!" Shoto and Kakashi yelled out.

"It seems that I am known amongst your group. Where is the Jinchuriki?" Itachi looked at them.

"You're not getting your hands on Naruto," Shikamaru growled.

Itachi shrugged his shoulders before throwing several shuriken at the group. He watched as Kakashi blocked all the ones that went towards the silver haired boy. Interesting enough. If he could separate that one from the others then Deidara could interrogate him about where to find their target. The clay birds could be used as a means of communication so he would know when to go back to the blond.

"C'mon, can't you handle me?" Itachi said.

He took the time to start running back towards the deeper parts of the forest. If he was right Kakashi wouldn't allow the young one to come after him. He hoped that Deidara would understand what to do from there. Failure was not an option at this point. This was going smoothly and if the blond messed this up there would be so much hell to pay.

Shikamaru looked over at Kakashi, asking silently if they should pursue the Uchiha. When he got the nod, he went after him. It was well known that Itachi was a member of the Akatsuki and this would make their mission much easier. Kidnap the Uchiha and get some info out of him.

Shoto was getting ready to follow but was stopped by Sai restraining him. Kakashi looked into the yellow eyes with a look of stern discipline. Shoto bit down on his lip not sure what he was supposed to do. However, they were letting the enemy go free. They needed to get going.

"What are you two doing? We need to get going," Shoto held back his yell.

"Yes we do, but not you. You're going to stay here at the camp, Shoto-kun," Kakashi said simply.

"And why the hell can't I go?" the yell came out in the end.

"This is a real Akatsuki member, not Sasuke in disguise. I do trust your abilities, but you are going to have to stay here to be safe. You're better at espionage and not actual battle," Kakashi explained.

"No! This is bullshit!" Shoto shouted.

"Shoto-kun, this is for your safety. Please understand that it has nothing to do with your abilities, just that we want you safe," Sai let him go.

"Fine…but can I have a hug first, Sai-bear," Shoto pouted pitifully.

Sai nodded his head, showing a slight bit of shock from the nickname. He wrapped his arms around the younger male, feeling quite uncomfortable with it. Physical contact was still something that was new and unused to. Yet it made his silver haired friend feel comfortable. If it meant he could keep a friend then he would sacrifice his comfort for it.

Once the two finished their hug, Kakashi and Sai left the area to follow after Itachi. That left Shoto alone with the lunch that was made a few minutes earlier. He tried hard, he tried very hard not to eat anything that was made, but he couldn't help it. He ate at least four sandwiches and three rice balls. He was alone and he knew how he much he enjoyed food when he was alone, possibly surrounded by other ninja. Oh great, he just spooked himself.

So he stood up and got into his fighting position in case his fears of another ninja being around happened. It wasn't fair that he was left alone in the middle of the forest. Another sandwich was popped into his mouth as he watched his surroundings.

"Hello!" a male with a blond ponytail jumped out of a nearby tree.

In his moment of complete fear, Shoto reared back his fist and punched the male as hard as he could in his stomach. He flinched a bit in fear that he did no harm whatsoever. His confidence level had dropped quite a lot and quite frankly, he wasn't ready to deal with someone attacking him. Though now was not the time to sit around and act like he had never trained in his life. Narrowing his eyes, he got his hands ready to do a few hand seals.

Deidara wasn't expecting the punch, especially one that hard to his stomach. The boy's punch was a little too good to most likely be considered the weakest member of the squad. The fire burning within the boy's yellow eyes was quite adorable. He was like a little feisty cookie that needed to be coddled by him. Well now that was something he wasn't expecting. To find the enemy attractive was not something he was used to or even knew that he could do.

"Nice punch, un," Deidara smirked.

"Leave this place or you will feel more than just my punches," Shoto growled.

"Oh calm down, I'm not the bad guy here," Deidara outstretched his arm in a welcoming gesture.

"Tch. And here I was thinking that you were a female. Oh well," Shoto muttered.

"You got a name for your sassy mouth?"

"Emerald, Shoto. The last name you're gonna' hear after I'm done kicking your ass."

"Shoto, un. That's a really unique name for such a pretty face. Too bad I can't just kidnap you and take you back with me."

"Leave me alone, you perv!"

"Are you always this loud and insulting?"

"Fuck off, bitch!"

Deidara decided not to heed the boy's words as he walked closer to him. He noticed that the fire had started to die out and the boy looked more like he was afraid to be there more than anything. Was this boy only Genin level? That was even more adorable than the fire that was in his eyes. To believe he was still in such a beginning stage in his ninja career with physical strength like that.

With the distance finally closed between them, Deidara grabbed Shoto's face. The smooth feeling of the boy's skin was quite enjoyable. Analyzing his face further, he could see a blush on the younger male's feminine features. There was no denying how much he wanted to kiss the boy at the moment. To his own surprise that was exactly what he did.

Shoto found himself wrapping his arms around the shorter male's waist unsure of why he wasn't struggling to get the guy off him. He was receiving a kiss from a complete utter stranger in the middle of the woods while Sai was off chasing Itachi Uchiha. This was wrong wasn't it? His mind couldn't function correctly as he felt the older male's tongue slide across his lips. He had read before that something like that meant he was supposed to open his mouth. How does one do that in the middle of a kiss?

Clay? He could smell clay from something or someone close by. It hit him quickly that the scent of clay had to be coming from the man kissing him and so he was pushed off immediately. As quickly as he possibly could, he took out a kunai to hold at the blond's throat. He was shocked that he couldn't smell it before but he figured that it was because the wind wasn't blowing then. He mentally cursed himself for allowing himself to get so caught up with this man.

"Is there something wrong, Emerald-kun?" Deidara asked.

"You wreak of clay, the same scent of clay that I could smell before we sat down for lunch. You're an enemy," Shoto growled.

"How can you be so sure that I'm an enemy? Because of clay? Maybe I just wish to protect the prince of the Emerald Clan?" Deidara tilted his head.

"Fuck off with that protection shit, dick wad! I can handle myself out here!" Shoto yelled.

"Is that why your squad left you here all by yourself as they went after a dangerous Akatsuki member?" Deidara smirked.

In anger, Shoto clapped his hands together as he focused his Chakra. He jumped back unsure if the ninjutsu he planned to use would backfire and hit him too. He usually never felt the need to use any type of ninjutsu outside of an actual battle, but anger did another thing to him.

"Fūton: Gale Palm!" Shoto pushed his hands out.

Between his palms his Chakra became compressed wind that transformed into a powerful gale. While it was still a relatively weak jutsu compared to most wind attacks, it did it's job. Deidara was sent flying back into a tree with cuts all over his body. He watched as the visible light blue eye narrowed as if he was being targeted for something.

"The hell do you want from me?!" Shoto shouted.

"One thing and one thing only. I want to make you mine," Deidara grinned.

With those words, the older male used the shunshin technique to leave the scene in a cloud of smoke. Shoto started to hyperventilate as he felt so confused on what had just happened. His left hand was placed over his heart and he could feel his heartbeat continuing to race. Had he just kissed an enemy? What was he supposed to tell Sai? This strange guy just showed up out of nowhere and ended up shaking his grounds.

He sat down next to the plate of food, but he found himself too panicked to try to eat. His knees were up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. Panic made way into being called fear, a fear he hadn't felt since he first came to Konoha. Slowly, he began to rock himself and hummed a little tune in an attempt to calm himself down. All he could think about was finding a way to get back to normal before the other's would return.