Chapter 6
Naruto growled. This was not what he'd signed up for when he decided to be a shinobi! He was currently hiding in a bush, his back and sides being poked by the branches, and waiting for a signal from Kakashi to let him and his team know it was time to strike. Naruto sighed, resigned, as he thought back to how this mission had come to be the first one his team would take on.
Flashback
Team Seven and Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage's desk, waiting for the old man to tell them what their mission would be.
"We've got several D-rank missions you can take on," Sarutobi commented. "Gardening, painting fences, babysitting-"
The old man was interrupted at that moment by a hysterical woman running into the office. "Hiruzen!" she yelled. "My poor kitty, Tora, is missing again! You have to send someone to find her, right away!"
Sarutobi sighed deeply. "It just had to be Tora today, didn't it?" the old man thought to himself. To the heavy-set woman, he said, "You couldn't have come at a better time. We just so happen to have a team in want of a mission right here." He pointed at Team Seven as he said this.
The woman looked at them and noticed Akamaru. "Your dog wouldn't hurt my poor Tora, would he?" she asked, suspiciously.
Kiba chuckled. "Of course not, ma'am," he answered. "Akamaru here would never hurt anyone who was innocent."
Sarutobi almost choked. "That's not exactly comforting, Kiba," he thought to himself.
The woman, however, seemed satisfied with this. "They'll do, just get Tora back quickly!" she said.
Flashback End
Naruto chuckled. "And to think, if we'd been just a little earlier or just a little later, we could have avoided all of this," he thought to himself. "Oh, well, at least we're not out painting or babysitting right now."
As Naruto was thinking this, Team Seven heard a voice over their earpieces. "NOW!"
At that signal, Kiba and Akamaru dove for the target, namely, the cat, Tora. She had been sitting near a bush, washing herself, when the team found her. At Kiba's bark, the cat fled, naturally. It fled, however, straight toward where Hinata was waiting for it. Hinata held out her arms, and, surprising Kakashi but no one else, the cat leapt straight into her arms. Once there, the cat seemed perfectly content to allow itself to be petted and fussed over by the young Hyuga.
Naruto approached the girl and gently petted the cat as well. "You like cats, Hinata?" he asked her. Hinata nodded. "Maybe we can get one someday." Hinata just smiled at the boy. She rather liked that idea.
Kakashi's voice came over the radios again. "Can you confirm the capture of the target?" he asked.
Hinata giggled a little. "Ribbon on right ear," she said. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei, we have a positive ID."
Kakashi chuckled. "Good. Lost pet Tora captured. Mission complete," he said. "Team, regroup at Hokage Tower."
It took a few minutes for everyone to arrive, but soon enough the four ninja, one dog, and one cat were at the door of Hokage Tower. The four ninja nodded to one another then entered the building and made their way to the Hokage's office.
Hinata handed the cat off to its owner, who promptly squeezed the poor creature and smashed it into her considerable bosom, crooning over her "poor kitty" as she did so. Hinata, Naruto, and even Kiba winced in sympathy for the poor thing.
Hinata approached the woman. "Ma'am, if I may," she spoke. The woman looked down at her in confusion. She held out her arms, and, shocking the woman, the cat leapt eagerly into Hinata's hands. "You see how I hold her, gently, carefully, not squishing her and not hurting her?" Hinata asked. The woman nodded. "Hold out your hands like this." The woman, shocking everyone, the Hokage in particular, did as Hinata said. Hinata set the cat gently in her hands, then petted the cat gently, demonstrating how to not hurt the small animal. The heavy-set woman followed the small girl's example, much to the cat's obvious relief. "See, be gentle with her, and I doubt she'll run away again," Hinata said simply.
The woman turned to Sarutobi and handed over a rather large stack of bills. "Here," she said. "My fee for a successful D-rank, and a bonus for the team. Thank you all, and I must say," here she turned to Kakashi, "I've never seen a more well-behaved team than this one. You are to be commended, sir."
Kakashi eye-smiled at the praise, and the large woman left. At this point, Hinata turned to the Hokage's desk, only to find Sarutobi and Iruka both staring at her like she was insane or something. "What?" she asked. Iruka opened and closed his mouth several times before finally giving up and falling silent.
Sarutobi took a deep breath. "Hinata, do you have any idea who that woman was?" he asked. Hinata shook her head, her pale eyes curious. "That was the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's wife!" Hinata thought about that. It slowly dawned on her that she had not only given pet care tips, but pretty much orders, to the wife of the ruler of her country! Hinata's eyes rolled up in her head and she fainted. Luckily for her, Naruto was on hand to catch her and save her from falling to the hard wood floor of the Hokage's office.
Iruka chuckled. "Guess she hasn't gotten over fainting completely yet, huh?" he said ruefully.
"Clearly not," Naruto said back, grinning at his pseudo-brother. Everyone laughed at that.
Kakashi turned to his team. "All right, team, no more missions today, meet at the training ground after dinner, we're going on an excursion this evening," he said. "And bring your camping gear." Naruto and Kiba nodded, and, moments later, only Kakashi, the Hokage, and Iruka were left in the office.
"He's more like his father every day," Kakashi said, referring to Naruto. The Hokage and Iruka both nodded. "So you knew, too, eh, Iruka?" Iruka flushed slightly, then nodded. "All right, well, I'll see you both in a few days, and be warned, they'll probably all know by then." The other two people in the room looked concerned. "Don't worry, they're ready, and I'll make sure they know not to tell anyone who shouldn't know." The other two still looked concerned, but both nodded, trusting in Kakashi's judgment of the situation.
xxxxxx
Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba were on their way out of the Hokage tower when they were approached by a tall serious looking man wearing a dark blue bandanna over his hair and almost opaque sunglasses. "Oh, hello, Naruto," the man greeted. Naruto turned a grin on the man. "How has your training with Kakashi been going?"
Naruto chuckled. "We really surprised him the first day. How's Konohamaru doing, Ebisu-sensei?" he replied, his grin never wavering for a moment.
"He's doing great, he's even stopped trying to attack his grandfather, thanks to you," was the answer. The now-named Ebisu had a warm smile on his face as he contemplated the blond knucklehead.
As the man was speaking, three Genin, maybe a year older than Naruto and his team, approached him. "Come on, Ebisu-sensei, we need to get a mission!" one of them, a dark-haired boy with green eyes, said.
Ebisu shook his head good-naturedly. "Well, better be off, seems my team is demanding a mission," he said and followed his team into the Hokage tower.
Hinata turned to Naruto once the older man had left. "Who was that, Naruto?" she asked. She thought she knew Naruto better than anyone, yet she had never even heard of this guy, yet Naruto clearly knew him.
"Oh, that was Ebisu, he's been giving Old Man Hokage's grandson special training since his clan doesn't really have time," Naruto explained to his teammates. "I ran into them some time back; I guess Ebisu took a team last year...I didn't know that, I haven't seen him or Konohamaru in a long time."
Hinata pondered the man as he walked off. She'd have to get to know this Konohamaru, she supposed. Kiba, being the more adaptable of the two, shrugged off the whole event and said, "You guys want to get some dinner together and head to meet Kakashi-sensei?"
Naruto grinned and took Hinata by the hand. "I'm in, what about you, Hinata?" he said. Hinata blushed; she wasn't as shy around Naruto as she used to be, but him touching her and such still elicited a blush from her at times. She thought about it a moment, then nodded; after all, she didn't really want to go home just yet.
Kiba whooped, Akamaru barked, Naruto grinned, and the team was off. It took them a few minutes of discussion, but soon enough they found themselves at the barbecue restaurant Choji frequented.
As they entered, Kiba was minimally surprised when he got glomped out of nowhere by Ino. Looking around, the team located Shikamaru and Choji in a booth near the back. "Hey, you guys!" Ino said, arms still around Kiba. "We were just hanging out after training, you want to join us?"
Kiba turned a pleading look on Naruto and Hinata, who looked at one another a moment before nodding. Kiba grinned, and Team Seven and Ino joined Shikamaru and Choji. Upon sitting down, Ino leaned her head on Kiba's shoulder. Shikamaru turned a baleful look on Choji, as if to say, "And you wanted to date her, why exactly?" Choji just shrugged.
Naruto chuckled at the silent exchange. "So, what's new with you guys? We haven't seen you in a while," he commented to Team Ten.
"You're telling me," Shikamaru answered. "It's been such a drag, Asuma-sensei has had us training till we drop almost every day for weeks now! And we've only done what feels like a hundred D-ranks now."
Naruto chuckled. "Only you would complain about getting paid that much, Shikamaru," he said wryly. Shikamaru turned a small smile onto his friend. "Anyway, our sensei is taking us on some kind of excursion after dinner tonight, so we probably won't see you guys for a while."
Shikamaru looked at Kiba and Ino, who were wrapped up in one another, both figuratively and literally. He sighed. "So I'll get to deal with Ino complaining about missing Kiba until you guys get back. What a drag," he said. Naruto and Hinata laughed quietly, and Choji guffawed loudly.
Choji rested a large hand on Shikamaru's arm. "It'll be all right, Shikamaru," he said. "It's not like you really have much else to do." Saying this, he winked at everyone, causing Naruto and Hinata to laugh again, and even Shikamaru had to smile.
Naruto turned to Hinata suddenly. "At least we won't be apart, eh, Hinata?" he said.
Hinata blushed deeply and threw herself at Naruto. The two ended up much like Kiba and Ino. Choji and Shikamaru looked at one another. "Guess we're on our own, eh, old friend?" the lazy genius commented.
Choji gave a wry chuckle and nodded. "Forget them, let's eat," he said.
Half an hour passed in silence as Shikamaru and Choji ate and the other four people at the table partook of a slightly different kind of nourishment. Just as Choji was reaching for the last two pieces of meat, Naruto and Kiba simultaneously reached out and grabbed one piece each. Choji's face began to turn red and he was about to start yelling.
Naruto didn't give him the chance. "Choji, don't try it, only someone in love can truly savor the final bite of any food, any meal, so the four of us must do so together, now just chill. Don't worry, we'll give it the respect it deserves," he said. Choji, shocked that the four were even aware of him, sat down and slumped slightly, his rage gone.
Shikamaru watched in fascination as Naruto and Kiba, as one, tore their pieces of meat in half and slowly fed one half to their respective girlfriends, then slowly ate the final pieces, savoring them, chewing slowly, seemingly luxuriating in the taste and the togetherness they were experiencing at that moment. Even Choji had to smile at the moment.
xxxxxx
Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba entered the training ground, Kiba looking a bit downhearted, Naruto and Hinata perfectly satisfied. They were surprised when, moments after they arrived, Kakashi did as well.
Naruto looked up at the silver-haired man in surprise. "You're on time, Kakashi-sensei," he said. Kakashi nodded. "What's up with that? You're never on time!"
Kakashi eye-smiled. "I'm always on time, it's not my fault you three are always early," he said blithely. Naruto and Hinata sweat-dropped, while Kiba just growled. "But seriously, I'm on time because this particular expedition is very important to me. And to you, too, Naruto," he added, giving the blond an eye-smile.
Naruto looked confused. "Important to me, Kakashi-sensei?" he asked. Kakashi just nodded, declining to say any more at that moment. "All right, then let's get going!" Everyone smiled at Naruto's enthusiasm, which had become somewhat more apparent over the years. The four made their way out of the training ground and headed for the main gate.
"Oh, Kakashi, Naruto, hey!" a voice called as Team Seven approached the main gate. Everyone turned and found Ebisu and his team approaching them.
Kakashi eye-smiled. "Hello, Ebisu," he said. "How's the reading going?"
Ebisu chuckled. "I'm almost done with volume 2, yourself?"
"Oh, I finished it last night. That ending was awesome!"
"Don't spoil it, I'll read it after this mission," Ebisu told the silver-haired man. Then he turned and called to an older man with a wide-brimmed hat on. "Tazuna! Come on!" The man made his way over and he and Ebisu's team departed from the village.
"See you when you get back, Ebisu," Kakashi said. "Have a good mission!" Ebisu and his team waved to Kakashi and Team Seven.
Naruto had a sudden chill. "I get the feeling something bad is going to happen to them," he said. Then he shook it off. "Oh, what am I saying? I sound like Neji with all this fatalism. I'm sure they'll be fine. So, Kakashi-sensei, shall we get going?"
Kakashi eye-smiled. "Indeed, Naruto. Come on, team, let's get moving." That said, the four ninja made their way out of the village on their first excursion out of the village as a team. Looking over his team, Kakashi saw the shadows of their parents, Hiashi, Minato, and Tsume. Kakashi took a deep breath. "I will make you into a team your parents would be proud of," he silently promised his team. He just hoped he was up to the challenge.