Teehee. Next Chapter!! Lol, I am so on a roll, I might actually get quite a few of these chapters typed up. Random topic: that show, 48 hour mysteries, it is crazy! :O I have been sitting here just like, watching all of these episodes in some sort of marathon. Some results seem so obvious while others do not. I don't know, but it somewhat makes me doubt the legal system of the US, but its television, so oh well. :P No legal discussions here!! XD

My friend, Yori, she normally helps me out with proof reading. Well, sometimes, whenever I can get chapters to her. ANYWAY, she is off touring France with her family. La~da~da~! She won't be back for about another week. Anyway, please forgive the many mistakes you may or may not find. ;] lol

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto series, though this fiction is mine :] no matter how crazy the story is, it is mine. Whether you hate it or enjoy it is up to you :]

Regular speaking: "…."

Thoughts and/or emphasis: "…."

Kyuubi: "…."


"Hmm, this seems to be the place." Naruko mumbled to no one. She had waited till dusk to set out, and now found herself in front of a closed shop. "I don't think monks are wine sellers, but…" she sighed and walked to the front door of the shop to knock. As she stood waiting, she once again looked around the area of the shop. It was in a semi-desolate part of the shopping district and with it being later in the day there was no one around.

"Hello? Yo dudes, anyone home?" She had been standing outside for almost five minutes and was starting to get a little impatient. She wanted to get started, now where were these guys? "Ugh, maybe Tsunade and Shizune were wrong. There's like no one here."

That was when she heard the several dead bolts behind the door sliding from behind the front door of the shop. "There they are."

"Um, hello?"

"You say lady Tsunade sent you?" A bald head appeared in the once empty doorway. His slightly chiseled features and dark brown eyes gave him a firm yet gentle look. He wore simple brown shirt, work pants, and sandals. He wore a dirtied white apron around his waist, no doubt by his working with wines.

"Yes, it is about the delivery-"

"Yes, Yes, come in, but quickly now. Now, it is in here." He ushered her inside very quickly, and once they were out of the doorway the monk replaced the bolts were they once were.

The room was that of the typical drink shop: shelves with bottles of different brands and ages lined the walls. A few tables stood beside the far wall with chairs accompany them, and a counter with the register. Bags and other commodities stood near the other wall. A door, leading to wherever it did was behind the counter.

"This way, miss…" he did not have her name yet.

"Oh, it's Naruko, Naruko Uzumaki." She told him, holding her hand out in a friendly gesture. The man took her hand and returned the hand shake.

"Ms. Uzumaki, my name is Kaito, a monk at the temple. We are very grateful with your help in this matter."

"It is fine, there's no problem." She was eying his outfit; not very monkish. He noticed her curious gaze.

"Oh this?" He gestured to his wine sellers look. "This is just a simple "disguise" or so you say. Your Hokage suggested we lay low for a while as they searched for a suitable nin, so we've been living like this for the last couple of weeks."

"Us?" So there are more of you? How many?" Naruko asked Kaito as he motioned her to follow him to the door behind the counter. He opened the door, revealing it to be a doorway to the basement of the shop, and led them both down.

"Yes, including me there is only three of us remaining."

"Remaining?" This didn't sound to promising. "You mean one of you has been…" She stopped her question, knowing the harsh memories it might bring. Kaito simply nodded sadly and continued.

"Yes, our friend Hibari; the first time we tried transporting it, we were ambushed by some unmarked men, and in the chaos that followed out escape, Hibari used himself to allow us time to escape, but only at the cost of his life."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, I shouldn't have brought it up. Though if I may say, he sounds like he was a truly brave man." They approached the end of the narrow staircase and Kaito once again gave her a small smile.

"Thank you Miss Uzumaki."

"Oh no! Call me Naruko please, Mr. Kaito." She returned his smile with a much warmer one. The atmosphere lightened considerably as Kaito reached out his hand to the door leading to their destination: the basement. Considering the fact that Naruko and Kaito were both standing at the door meant that it was probably locked from the inside. Kaito knocked twice on the door, and quickly afterwards a small panel on the door slid back revealing a pair of hazel eyes.

"It's just me, Tatsumi. I have brought our deliverer."

Tatsumi eyed Kaito before turning his gaze to Naruko who stood quietly beside him; they soon closed, followed by the panel, and the door opened to reveal a small man in stature compared to Kaito. His face was smooth and he too wore similar clothes to Kaito. He still stared warily at Naruko as she stepped into the room, which appeared to be typical of any other wine cellar. She noticed a table sat in the middle of the room; the only source of light being from the many candles scattered around on the shelves and table, giving the room an almost spiritual vibe if you cared to believe in that sort of feeling. What drew in Naruko's gaze to the table was that on side, leaned back rather casual in his chair, was the third monk. Compared to Kaito and Tatsumi, this man was plainly taller by a noticeable few inches. His 'disguise' was a black work shirt and pants, socks with his sandals, and he wore no apron unlike his two friends.

"Naruko, this is Tatsumi," the man by the door gave her a polite nod. "The man at the table is Rivalz." Rivalz also gave her a polite nod at his introduction.

"Tatsumi, Rivalz, this is Naruko Uzumaki and she will be the one to deliver it. A simple guess that it was referring to the artifact in question. She Politely nodded in return from earlier.

"How do you do." she greeted.

"Such a delightful girl." Rivalz said quietly. Naruko couldn't help but giggle at the comment.

Then Kaito cleared his throat, drawing attention back to the main focus of them being there.

"Now, I must warn you, there is danger involved upon accepting this mission: a lot of people would love to get their greedy hands on this."

"I know, but I'm going to do my best and you can be guaranteed that this will be delivered. Danger or no danger, Naruko Uzumaki will get this done!" She went into a form of salute.

Kaito and Tatsumi laughed at the younger ones antics.

That's great, but there is something else," Tatsumi spoke to her. "It is true there are dangers, but we are hoping to avoid trouble at any cost."

Naruko tilted her head to the side. "How?"

"While you are carrying the artifact, you will be under the 'guise of actually running a simple wine delivery." This time it was Rivalz who spoke up, though he did not move from his position at the table.

"Wine delivery?"

"This is a wine shop after all, is it not? It is not rare for them to make deliveries to various towns, villages, or in this case, temples." He smiled. "See?"

"Oh, that's smart!" Naruko complimented.

The three monks nodded in thanks before Kaito moved over to a corner of the room, a corner, which the blonde noted, had uneven floor boards. He expectantly pulled one up from the floor and lifted out a small cloth covered box.

"Is that…" Naruko watched as he walked over to her.

"Yes, this is the artifact, now here; let me see your hands."

As he asked, Naruko offered her hands up and received the artifact. He slowly unwound the fabric around the box, and she couldn't help but let out a small gasp. In her hands was one of the most beautiful jeweled, ornamented box that she had ever seen.

"Oh wow."

"Wait until you see what is inside." Tatsumi laughed at her amazed, childlike expression.

"Hmm," She took this as a sign for her to open the box, so she carefully place it in the center of her left palm so she would not drop it while her right hand was brought up to undo the clasp and toss the lid back. She opened the box and if it was possible, her blue eyes grew even bigger. "It is so pretty!" Lying in the clothed interior of the box was what seemed to be a simple amulet: nicely rounded with six perfectly aligned sapphire stones around its being. In between the sapphires, there were six smaller shaped opal stones all leading towards the center of the amulet. The center itself held a dark, almost black stone that balanced out all the rest, leaving it with a remarkable beautiful look as the different stones seemed to dimly glow by the rooms many candles.

"I can see what people would want to take it so bad." She observed.

"I'm afraid it is not looks alone that draw people to it," Kaito explained gently as he reached in the box to carefully take the 'artifact' in his hands. "People are drawn to it by stories of untold power that it holds within itself." He handed the amulet to Naruko who carefully took it by the right hand.

"Are you sure it's this thing?" Naruko tried not to sound rude. "It looks like some fancy necklace to me."

"Only it's not, remember, like many things in this world, you shouldn't judge ones worth by looks alone." The monk explained.

"Wow, these guys are really great people." She couldn't help but to think as she moved to place the amulet back into its jeweled container. Rivalz stopped her.

"No, I think you should wear it." He smiled at her, but herself, along with Kaito and Tatsumi had surprised looks on.

"No, I shouldn't. This is too important and if someone saw it out in the open-"

"They would see someone with a really fancy piece of jewelry. That is smart, hiding it out in the open." Tatsumi nodded understandingly.

"But…" She really didn't understand where it was all heading.

"I think it would be lovely, and it matches your eyes splendidly." Kaito laughed cheerily.

"You would all actually trust me with this important 'artifact?'" It was somewhat astonishing how easy going they were about this matter.

"Rivalz has always been a very good, very unique judge of character when it comes to people. If he says that you should wear it, he trusts you enough to know you are a good person, and I believe in that." Tatsumi explained. "Plus you are a wonderfully polite young lady to begin with."

"Thanks." She shuffled her feet. "What I really don't get is that, well, other people will be looking for this, and while some would think it is a fancy necklace, others who know what it is would be alerted almost immediately."

"Well, no one outside of the temple really knows what this 'artifact' is in general, so they don't know what it is they are exactly looking for."

"They're searching blind?"

"Basically. You yourself also were not expecting it to be this," a gesture towards the amulet, "where you now? You thought it would be different, older, well so do they. I think the least you'll have to worry about would be bandits. Is that alright with you?"

The genin nodded eagerly. This mission was going to be easy and fun if they really had no problems besides those lame, roadside bandits.

"Now, first off," Kaito walked over, and upon taking the amulet from the blonde's hand, he then went behind to drape it over her head and tie the clasp. Naruko felt the cold, additional weight of the metal on her skin, but there was no bother. The gem hung from her neck and rested alongside the necklace she had received from Tsunade.

"Quite lovely indeed." Rivalz complimented.

"Thanks."

"Now, here is how this'll work." Kaito now walked over to one of the shelves, pulling out one of the many bottles were lined along said shelf. "Tomorrow you will leave but I would suggest wearing non-ninja identifying clothing and something more acute to a 'wine deliverer' if you get what I mean."

Naruko looked at him. "Well," he continued, "It would be bothersome if they intercept every ninja on the way to the temple, but like I said- if you were dressed as a civilian just doing a simple errand then you should be overlooked."

"I know you all want to avoid confrontation as much as possible, but really, I can take care of myself and this amulet. Any guy that comes my way wouldn't stand a chance between me and completing the mission." She said confidently.

We have no doubt of that Ms. Naruko-"

"Glad we understand."

"BUT," he continued. "We are very mild, and we would like to have your safety and the amulet's safety guaranteed, but that is impossible so this is the best way to at least put us at ease."

She saw the determined, peaceful looks on their faces and sighed, resigning herself to their plan. "Alright, we'll do it your way."

They smiled. "Splendid. I wish we could accompany you, but that is not really possible at the moment, so Lady Tsunade told us that we should leave a day or so after you." Tatsumi spoke.

"Maybe we'll meet you on the way back." Rivalz joked.

"That is a possibility." She picked up the bottle and absentmindedly fingered the newest addition around her neck. The amulet felt so smooth despite the many gems embedded in it. "I will go prepare now, and early tomorrow I'll start out." She told them as she made her way to the door. "Don't worry I'll see myself out."

"Very well, and thank you so much again for your help in this matter." Kaito and the other monks bowed respectably. She returned one politely before excusing herself for a final time and made her way up the stairs, back to the main floor, and finally out of the shop and into the night.


Okay, so chapter four typed up so fast…I was sitting here and since it was already written I thought I might as well type it up. Well, forgive the mistakes, if you find any let me know. Reviews on anything are welcomed: Comments, Critiques, Errors, and etc. :] This chapter wasn't TOO long, but it is sufficient. ;]

I guess I don't know when chapter five will be up. That much hasn't been written. I was too busy working on my other Naruto Fic Lost Soul that I never really spent too much time with the others. Lost Soul has over 30 chapters written, but none has been typed up or submitted here yet. Maybe I could post a preview and you guys could see if you found it interesting. ;] Later~~~~

~Aiko~