Chapter 14: Deal With I

9 am, Konoha, Fire Country …

Tsunade was sitting in her office, doing more tedious clerical work. She was reading mission requests from various countries; as she sipped on the cup of tea she had beside her, she came across a mission that was perfect for Senzairu. She also had Hanabi in mind, as well as a few others.

She heard a knock at the door, "Come in."

Shizune opened the door, "Tsunade-sama, Senzairu is here to see you for his mission assignment."

"Okay, send him in." Tsunade gestured for the girl to allow him into the office.

Shizune opened up the door wide enough for him to enter. Senzairu glanced at Shizune, "You know, you don't have to be so formal when it's just me, Shizu-chan."

She gave him a warning glare, "Don't call me that again."

Before she left the office, she heard his voice, "Okay, I'll stop calling you that, Shizu-chan."

Shizune was cursing him as she left the office. He turned his attention to the Hokage. "I'm reporting for my mission assignment, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade looked up from the mission assignment she was reading, "Your mission will be a C-rank. Your mission is to patrol the southern region of Fire Country and its borders. I have assigned Hyuuga Hanabi to your squad, along with Kamizuki Izumo, a medic-nin by the name of Kusushi, and Yuuhi Kurenai."

When he heard the last name, he was surprised. He told his mother about Kurenai and his situation, yet she still put them on a mission together. He opened his mouth to speak, "Requesting that Yuuhi Kurenai be dropped from this mission, Hokage-sama."

Hokage knew his reasons, but she had to do this, "Request denied."

"But Kaasan…" He was interrupted by Tsunade.

"Whatever is going on in your personal lives should have no effect on your mission." She put her hand on her forehead and gave him a sympathetic look, "Senzairu, you two have to learn how to put your differences aside. I put Kurenai on this squad for a reason."

He nodded, understanding that what she said was true.

The two turned around when they heard the door open up slightly. Shizune was holding the door open for the four nins, so they could enter the room.

Kurenai was the first to walk in and she noticed Senzairu immediately. She took her eyes off of him and looked at the Hokage. Hanabi walked in next, followed by Kamizuki Izumo, and Kusushi.

Tsunade looked at the nins that entered, "Great, you're all here. Now I can tell you what I told Senzairu. All of you will be patrolling the southern region of Fire Country and its borders. Your mission will be one week long, so you guys should head home and pack your things. You are to report to the South Gate in an hour."

Everyone turned around to hear Shizune fussing with someone behind the door. Suddenly, the door burst open. Tsunade knew this was coming, she just wondered why it took as long as it did. Konohamaru came through the door with Moegi and Udon, who were pleading with him to reconsider what he was about to do.

"Hey, old women, why haven't you given me a decent mission since I came back from my last mission? I can't take anymore of these escort missions that Genin could do." Konohamaru complained.

Moegi and Udon saw the vein on her forehead bulging. They had the unfortunate pleasure of being in the room the last time he called her an old women. The two Chuunins feared for their friend.

"Konohamaru-kun, don't demand missions from the Hokage, remember what happened last time." Moegi reminded him of his last encounter.

"Please, Konohamaru stop this. She had us scrubbing toilets and chasing the Daimyo's wife's god-awful cat for two months." Udon pleaded with his friend.

"I don't give a shit. I'm a Chuunin who wants to do real missions."

Tsunade was about to get up and pound the boy for calling her old. However, she thought of the perfect plan to get him out of her hair and make both of them happy, well at least until he figured out the mission.

She gave the boy a forced smile, "Your rudeness is not becoming of a Shinobi, but I will forgive you this time. It turns out that I have the perfect mission for you. In fact this mission will be a week long and there is a possibility of running into enemy nins and bandits. It's a C-rank mission. Do you accept?"

Konohamaru was jumping up and down at the news, "Of course I accept. What is this awesome mission?"

"You, Moegi, and Udon will join Senzairu and his squad. Your job is to go to the southern region of Fire Country and look for anything suspicious."

Konohamaru was pumping his fist in victory, "Yes, this is the perfect mission to test my abilities. I must say that you have come through again old women."

Tsunade gave herself a pat on the back, "Sucker."

"He really doesn't know what this mission entails?" Kurenai thought.

"The way Kaa-san worded it… it would be hard for someone excited about a tough mission to read between the lines."

Hanabi rolled her eyes, "And he calls himself the grandson of the Sandaime?"

Moegi and Udon slumped their shoulders and hung their heads in defeat.

"How could you fall for that, Konohamaru-kun?"

"You just got us patrol duty for who knows how long."

Konohamaru stopped his celebrating and looked at his friends. "Come on guys this is great mission to test our ability. Come on, let's prepare for our mission."

He grabbed both of them by the hand and dragged them out of the office. Senzairu decided to head back home to prepare for the trip. Everyone else followed him out, except Kurenai.

When everyone was gone Kurenai spoke, "Hokage I re…"

Tsunade knew what she was going to say and cut her off before she could finish, "Request denied. You two have to put whatever is going on between you aside. I'm going to need a hundred percent from my shinobi when this war starts, not fifty percent. Putting you two together will help you deal with each other while you're on duty. My decision is final. You are to report to the South gate in an hour."

Kurenai turned around and left. She knew it would be pointless to argue with the Hokage. It would do her best to prepare.

Sea Country, below the Minashu Compound…

Ryuho was on the balcony by himself. Everyone that was there left last night when it started to get late. His eyes never left Naruto. The boy was standing, unconscious, while gripping the sword. He wondered how Naruto was doing.

Naruto was looking at more memories of his past. He was looking at a memory from when he was ten years-old. It was a painful memory, because it was his birthday and the tenth anniversary of the Kyuubi's defeat.

Everyone was celebrating, Naruto on the other hand, was trying to hide in the shadows and stay out of people's way. For some reason unknown to him, people were extra mean to him on his birthday. Naruto decided to walk down a street that was deserted to avoid people. Little did he know that he was being followed by a couple of Chuunin, who had seen him looking at the celebration from an alleyway.

Naruto cut through the alley he was in and was walking down the deserted street. He decided to go home and just wait to this day was over. The Hokage always visited him after the ceremony on his birthday. He thought it would be best to just go and wait until the old man came.

Naruto was walking, when a couple nins dropped in front of him. Naruto saw the look in their eyes. He immediately knew that he was in danger.

The first nin spoke, "Where do you think you're going?"

Naruto answered, trying not to show his fear, "Home."

The nin beside the nin that spoke whispered in his friend's ear. The first nin seemed to nod, "Don't worry, we're just going to rough him up a little bit."

The nin kicked Naruto into the wall of the building to their right. The other nins were kicking him as well. The leader of the group picked Naruto up by his collar, then threw him hard to the pavement. He pulled out a kunai. His friends were getting nervous, "Hey man, we said we were going to rough him up, that's all."

The nin, who was standing over Naruto with the kunai turned and screamed at his friends, "I don't care about that. He will die for what he did."

He turned back to Naruto with a smirk filled with malice. "Your time has come monster, you will die now."

Naruto was scared for his life. The knife was getting closer to his heart. He knew this was it; he closed his eyes and prepared for the worse. Naruto had his eyes close for couple of seconds. He wondered why it was taking so long for the kunai to stab him.

He opened his eyes; to see that he was in the arms of an ANBU member with white hair and a dog mask.

The present-day Naruto looked at the masked man closely. Although he couldn't see his face behind the mask, he was certain who it was, "That's Kakashi."

He was a good foot away from the nins that were attacking him. They were surrounded by ANBU members. Kakahi, unknown to the ten year old, had placed Naruto on the ground. He looked at the boy, "Are you alright?"

Naruto nodded, confirming that he was okay. Kakashi turned to the purple-haired female of his group of five, who was standing on the shop behind the nins. The four others were spread out over the area. One was on the little shop behind Naruto, the other two were on the ground, a few feet away, on opposite sides of the nins. The ANBU wearing the dog mask, who Naruto had concluded to be Kakashi, signaled for the purple-hair nin to stand next to him.

She appeared next to him almost instantly. "Take Naruto home and watch over him until the Hokage or I relieve you of your command."

She nodded, "Understood, sempai." She grabbed Naruto and blurred out of sight.

She was leaping from roof-top to roof-top with Naruto in her arms. She spoke to the boy in a soft voice, "Don't worry, I'm not going to harm you, Naruto-kun. You also don't have to worry about those shinobi or any others from this village attacking you again. My captain will make sure that he sends a message to those and who ever think about harming a fellow citizen of Konoha."

Naruto felt safe in her arms, "Thank you nii-chan." He fell asleep in the girl's arms.

That memory wasn't as bad as the others. In fact, he didn't expect Kakashi to save him. "Must have been Hokage's orders" Naruto said sadly.

The voice echoed throughout the room, "You are absolutely right. Why would he care about you? He didn't when you were on his genin team, did he?"

Naurto simply said, "No."

"Because he praised the Uchiha, just like everyone else at the academy did." His doppelganger appeared in front of him with an evil expression on his face.

The doppelganger faded again, Naruto knew that another memory was coming and that it would only fuel the anger and hatred that he was feeling towards the Leaf.

Ryuho was studying Naruto for the last half-hour. Shinji, Hayami, and his wife Kaori were walking up the stairs to join him on top of the balcony. He turned to see his family; he then turned his gaze back onto Naruto. Shinji walked up and stood on his right while his wife and his daughter were on his left.

Kaori and Hayami just looked on without saying a word. Shinji, on the other hand had something to say, "How has he been fairing uncle?"

"It seems like he's in between. I really don't know to tell you the truth." Ryuho said. The exhaustion in his voice was evident.

Shinji looked at his uncle; and could tell that the man was tired, "Uncle, why don't you go sit against the wall and get some sleep. I will wake you if anything happens."

Ryuho decided to listen to his nephew's advice. He sat up against the wall and closed his eyes; His last thoughts were of Naruto.

Konoha half and hour later…

It was now ten o'clock in Konoha. Everyone was at the South Gate, ready to leave. Everyone was in their Chuunin uniforms. Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, Izumo, and Kusushi was wearing the standardized green vest with a blue long sleeve tunic, blue sweat pants, and blue sandals. Kurenai and Senzairu outfits were completely different from the rest. Senzairu had on the vest that Asuma had made for him, along with a black long-sleeve tunic, sweats, and sandals. Kurenai was wearing the standard green Jounin vest, but she had on a sleeveless crimson colored tunic and pants to match and black sandals.

Senzairu addressed the group, "Okay everyone. This is my first mission in a long time. Although it isn't the mission that any of us could possibly want, we will have to manage."

Konohamaru gave him a curious look, "What do you mean? This is so going to be a cool mission. We might run into enemy nins, while searching for anything suspicious."

Hanabi shook her head, "You do know the purpose of this mission right?"

"Yes Hanabi-chan. The old women explained it to us. We're to go and look for anything suspicious in the southern region of Fire Country."

Moegi tapped him. He turned to face the teen with long flowing orange hair, "Konohamaru-kun, that's not the purpose of the mission."

"You guys have a mission, how troublesome."

Everyone turned to see Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro, and the Kazekage.

"We don't have just any mission, Shikamaru, we have a great mission. We have to check for anything suspicious in the southern region of Fire Country." Konohamaru said with excitement.

"What the hell is so exciting about patrol duty?" Shikamaru asked.

"Patrol duty? No Shikamaru, we have to go…." A light bulb went of in Konohamaru's head when he read between the lines of Tsunade's words.

He put his hand on his head and shouted, "Oh no, not patrol duty!"

Konohamaru hung his head. He was duped by the Hokage. Kurenai spoke to Gaara, "Kazekage-sama, I thought you left the day before yesterday."

"I had business to talk over with your Hokage and I decided to stay in the village for an extra day." Gaara answered.

"We're heading back to the Sand now. We have to make preparations as well." Kankuro added.

Senzairu spoke, "Well, I wish you a safe trip back to Suna." He looked at the members of his squad, "Let's head out." Everyone nodded; Konohamaru on the other hand was still hanging his head. When Senzairu blurred out of sight, everyone else followed.

Gaara and Kankuro walked through the gate and continued on. Temari was at the gate with Shikamaru, "Well, I don't know when I'm going to be back here. I might not see you for six months."

Shikamaru understood that it was a possibility; they had a war to prepare for and like her, he was going to be busy during these next six months as well. "I know. We both have a lot of troublesome things to do."

"I suppose." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Shikamaru placed a hand under her chin and kissed her. When he broke the kiss he smiled at her, "Don't worry about it. We will have our time. Your brothers are waiting; you should catch up, you troublesome woman."

She kissed him on the cheek, "Don't want me to see you shed tears over me, you crybaby?"

Shikamaru just smiled as she turned away. She caught up to Gaara and Kankuro, who were walking slowly so she could catch up. Once she caught up, they blurred out of his vision. Shikamaru turned around and walked away from the gate. He was right, they would have their time, but right now they both had jobs and obligations.

In the Woods of Fire Country…

The squad led by Senzairu was moving through the trees at top speed with him in the lead, followed by Izumo, Hanabi, Kurenai, Kusushi, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon.

Izumo looked at their squad leader, "Senzairu-san, don't you think we should have a special formation."

"You don't have to be so formal, just call me Senzairu."

Hanabi was curious about how Senzairu didn't form a pattern. Every mission she been on outside of Konoha, the squad leader had formed travel patterns to counter attacks and go on the offensive. She had to wonder if he was captain material or if Tsunade had just put him in charge because it was her son.

She caught up with him, "Senzairu, was it, our travel pattern is all wrong. What I mean is, we have no particular pattern, how are we supposed to counter and form attacks?"

Senzairu sighed. "Hanabi, was it? We're only patrolling. Attacks are almost non-existant on patrol duty. However, if you are so concerned about traveling in a pattern that would protect us then you don't have to worry. The medic-nin isn't in the front so it doesn't really matter. Besides Kurenai specializes in genjutsu, which means she could create an illusion for everyone behind her. You have the Byakugan, which means you can see a great distance and see traps and attacks before we even come to them. As for Izumo, he's a Jounin and he has me in front of him. I might not look it, but I'm pretty strong Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi scowled at him for calling her chan. However, she did have to admit that he was right. The medic-nin was behind Kurenai, who was the best Genjutsu user in the Leaf. He was also right about her Byakugan. The only thing she wasn't too sure about was his confidence in his strength. "But why is he so confident? Kurenai, who was a Jounin for a longer stint isn't complaining? She must feel he is capable. Whatever, I will keep look out."

Kurenai heard what Senzairu said and he was right about her covering the last four members of the squad. But there were too many variables in his theory and the Hyuuga girl was right, they needed to have a formal formation. "Senzairu, I think we should stop."

Senzairu looked at Kurenai knowingly what she was already going to say. He dropped to the ground with the rest of the group following suit. Everyone was standing in a circle.

Senzairu addressed Kurenai, "Why did you wish to stop Kurenai?"

"Hanabi is right. You were right about me being able to cover the medic, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. However, what about yourself and Izumo? Yes Hanabi has her eyes so she should be fine, but you and Izumo don't have a specialty like the Byakugan and your skill might not be as what you claim it to be. So, what formation are you going to form?" Kurenai looked at him, almost demanding he design a formation.

He decided to stand his ground, "The formation will remain as it is."

Kurenai was getting frustrated that he was still going to stick to his plan, "So, you don't care if your squad dies? You have to think of your squad's safety, you know that?"

"I understand, but formations can be easily read by enemy if they are alerted by scouts ahead. Moving in random patterns is much harder to counter. Besides, it is the leader's decision on the squad's formation and I've decided that we don't need one." He said hoping she would drop it.

Kurenai was giving him a glare, "What the hell are you trying to prove? Are trying to show how much better you got during your absence?"

He took insult to that comment. Did she really think he was trying to show off? His anger was rising, "Do you think I've become a person who shows off? Your acting like this is my first time as a squad leader. I know what I'm doing and this is the best course of action."

She let out a shriek in frustration, "How can you be so unreasonable? Your whole squad feels that you should form a pattern and you aren't listening. What type of leader does that?"

He turned and walked away from here. After a few steps he stopped turned his head around slightly, "A leader does what is right, not what everyone wants. A leader also protects the people under his command even if it means he has to give his life to do so. Also, a leader uses the best course of action to make sure no one is harmed under his command. I know what I'm doing Kurenai, and my decision is final." He then blurred out of sight.

Everyone else took to the trees. Kurenai just shook her head. She then took to the trees after her team.

Midday in Konoha…

Neji and his team were walking through the North Gate. He had expected something to go wrong during that mission but to his surprise nothing did. The Waterfall nins actually led them to Shibuki. Neji and his group delivered the message and immediately left, even though he had offered that they could stay and join him for lunch. The group would arrive at the Hokage Tower in a matter of minutes.

Tsunade was sitting in her office, doing her regular routine of looking at mission requests. She heard a knock at the door and judging by the sound of the knock, she knew it was Shizune, "Come in."

Shizune opened the door to reveal Neji and his squad walking through. Neji was the first to approach the desk, "The mission to Waterfall was a success, Hokage-sama. Here is a written letter from Shibuki-sama." Neji handed her the letter.

Tsunade took the letter and put it in her desk draw so she could read it later. The Godaime turned to see her apprentice who began to speak, "Shibuki-san said whatever you need, just let him know. Other than that, he said everything that you would need to know is in the letter."

"Okay. Is there anything else that any of you would like to ask before I dismiss you?" Tsunade glanced at everyone to see if they had any questions for her.

Her eyes fell on Kiba who raised his hand, "Yes, Kiba what is your question?"

"Tsunade-sama, how long will it be until we can visit Hinata? It's been a week since she has been out. Is she ok?" Kiba said showing his concern for his teammate and close friend.

Tsunade sat back in her chair and brought her folded hands close to her mouth. All who were in her office knew that Hinata's seal was removed. She had forbidden everyone there to talk about that and she had closed off the girl from everyone so she could talk to the girl and figure out what she was going to do to keep it a secret from her family. However, Hinata had a plan and Tsunade had no idea where she was but she figured Naruto did.

She sat back up now, prepared to tell them about Hinata, "What I'm about to say is to not leave this room, is that understood?"

They all nodded. She turn to Kiba, "You don't have to worry, Hinata is fine, well according to this anyway."

Tsunade decided to show them the letter Shizune had given her. She reached in her drawer to retrieve the letter. She pulled it out and handed it to Kiba. He passed it down the line, so everyone else could see it. Ino, being the last on to see it, returned it to Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama, do you know where she is?" Neji asked, wondering where his cousin was.

She shrugged, "I don't really know. This all happened while we were in the Mist and the letter is very vague. I guess we have to wait until Naruto gets back from Sea Country; I'm sure he has an idea where she went."

The door to the Hokage office opened causing everyone to turn around. They saw the Sannin, Jiraiya standing before them with a smile on his face, "Hey, Tsunade-hime, work getting you down?"

"What do you want Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked in an annoyed tone.

"I actually came here to share some of my sake. This stuff from Sea Country I tell you is great; it's nothing like Rice Country's; but it sure is good." Jiraiya informed his former teammate.

Tsunade knew that was Jiraiya way of saying that he was in Sea Country checking up on their favorite blond, "Why were you in Sea Country? Were you checking up on Naruto?"

"Actually, Ryuho asked me to come so I could play a role in the trials. The last time I saw him he looked like shit. Ryuho did a number on him in the first two trials from the looks of things." Jiraiya informed Tsunade.

Tsunade was curious about the role he asked Jiraiya to play, "Tell me… why did he need you there?"

"Maybe later when we're in private," by the way Jiraiya answered she knew it had something to do with Naruto and the Kyuubi. She would find out more about it later. Neji wondered when the blond would be back so he could get some answers.

He turned to the frog hermit, "Jiraiya-sama, do you have any idea when Naruto will be back from Sea Country?"

Jiraiya shook his head, "No, I don't."

"Damn, we don't know where Hinata is and the time frame for Naruto's return is undetermined." Kiba was letting his emotions get the better of him.

Jiraiya looked at the boy and smirked; he knew where the young Hyuuga was. Tsunade caught the look, "Where is she, Jiraiya?"

Everyone turned to the Jiraiya. He scratched the back of his head before responding to Tsunade, "Well, let's just say that she's probably in the safest place in the world."

Tsunade closed hers and gave a smirk that caused the younger nins to wonder, "I knew you were lying when you told me that you had no idea where Naiya was. Hinata is with her, isn't she?"

His ear to ear grin confirmed everything she needed to know.

Sakura was surprised to hear that name. She turned her gaze from her sensei back to Jiraiya, "Jiraiya-sama, why is Hinata with the seal mistress?"

Neji was smiling. Speaking to himself, he caused everyone to look at him, "So that is your plan Hinata. I must say, I never did expect this from you."

A confused Ino addressed Neji, "What are you talking about, Neji? What plan could she possibly have?"

Tsunade answered before Neji and Sakura had a chance, "She's going to try to change the Hyuuga clan."

Ino turned to Tsunade, "How, Tsunade-sama?"

Neji gave Ino a look that she never really saw on Neji's face before, it was a look between happiness and relief, "I think she's learning how to remove the seal." He turned to the Hokage, "Tsunade-sama, I have other things to tend to, is this meeting over with?"

She nodded, "Yes, this meeting is over. You all may leave."

With that said, everyone left the office, except Jiraiya. Tsunade sat back on her chair and put her feet on the desk. Jiraiya sat on the couch in her office.

She looked at her friend, "So why didn't you tell me that you knew where Naiya was located?"

He gave her a silly grin, "She asked me to promise that I would not reveal her location to anyone. Just keeping a promise to a former student is all I was doing."

Tsunade let out sigh. Naiya was a good ninja. She could find a way to put her talents to good use; that much she knew. But she didn't have time to worry about that; she had a war to prepare for. Also, she was concerned about Naruto.

"Jiraiya, what did Ryuho want to see you about?" She asked, knowing that it had to do with Naruto.

"He wanted me to seal off Kyuubi's chakra for Naruto's second trial. However, he decided that doing it would be unnecessary. He said something about Naruto, and how he was tempted to use the Kyuubi's chakra during his first trial. He wanted to make sure that Naruto had access to it for the second exam. He wanted to see if he would rely on himself or the Kyuubi for the second test, which was to test his faith in himself. I guess he passed; because before I left, he was taking the final test." Jiraiya replied.

Tsunade smiled upon hearing the information. She knew that Naruto could do it; he had a heart and will of fire like no one else. Deep down, she was proud of him and couldn't wait until he was back. "So, it only took him two days. I don't know why, but I thought a test for something so legendary would take at least weeks. I guess he will be back in Konoha with the sword in two days."

Jiraiya noticed her overconfidence in the only other person in the world that she saw as family, besides Shizune, himself, and Senzairu.

He shook his head, "Normally; I would agree with you, but knowing the details of this trial, it's safe to say that he won't be back in two days. For anyone else, this trial might not be too difficult; however, Naruto is a different case for a reason."

She didn't know what he was getting at, "What do you mean by that?"

Jiraiya looked at her with an unreadable expression, "It's simple. This trial is a test, where Naruto will have to face his heart and all of the negativity in it. Think about it, Tsunade. Regardless of how caring a person is and upbeat about life they are, tell me, what would living in a village that shunned and mistreated you during your childhood do to your heart?"

Tsunade understood what he was getting at. Even though she would never peg Naruto as a person that could ever be evil or do evil things, she knew that the village's mistreatment caused hatred deep in his heart that he had hidden. If Jiraiya was right; which she knew he was, then this test would be tougher on Naruto then anyone else. She hoped that the boy she saw as her second son would be okay. She smiled, because she knew he would be fine.

Jiraiya gave her an odd look, "Why are you smiling?"

She looked at him, still smiling, "Let's make a bet. I bet you that Naruto will pass this trial."

Jiraiya put his hand to his chin. If Tsunade was willing to bet on Naruto, then chances are his student wasn't going to pass. Damn her for jinxing his student, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity for free money. "Sure, I will take that bet. Good luck."

"I don't need good luck, it's a sure thing" She replied in a cocky tone.

"Really, according to Naruto, he said I should save the good luck that I had wished for him for you. He said you would need it more."

Jiraiya was amused by the contortion of her facial features. To him, she looked like a bulldog, but for some reason, no one but Tsunade could make that look good.

Tsunade shook her fist; while mumbling something about idiot a whisker-faced blond and one thousand years of pain, which caused Jiraiya to wince.

Uchiha Compound…

Sasuke was training in the backyard of his compound, which he turned into a training ground. Right now, he was working on taijutsu. The Naruto's speed was amazing, and without his Sharingan eyes, Sasuke would never have a chance at catching Naruto. Sasuke continued to kick and punch the post before him. The beads of sweat on his forehead were clear indicators of how hard he was training his body.

Sasuke stopped when he felt a familiar presence behind him, "What do you want, Sakura?"

She just looked at Sasuke, who had his back to her, "I just got back and I wanted to see you."

He gave a sideways glance, "I don't need to be checked up on like I'm some child. What do you really want?"

He could read her like a book. She did want to see him, but that wasn't her real reason for coming here. She knew why Sasuke opted out the mission. It was to train, so he wouldn't lose to Naruto again.

She needed to know, "Why?"

He didn't know where she was going with this, "Why, what?"

"Why…why, must you always try to be better than Naruto? I don't understand, Sasuke-kun. You completed one of your life goals, and yet you still have an inferiority complex. I could see if you were training for the upcoming war, but we both know that the only reason your training is to fight Naruto again. Why?" Sakura gave him a pleading look , so he would tell her.

He turned away from her and continued to punch the log, "You wouldn't understand."

"Don't give me that Sasuke-kun, tell me why!" She asked again, slightly raising her voice.

He didn't answer. Sakura shook her head and turned around to walk away. Sasuke was stubborn and she knew that she wasn't going to get an answer.

"I don't understand it." Sakura turned around to see Sasuke talking to her with his back still turned to her.

"Understand, what?" She asked.

Sasuke clenched his fist, "How he seemed to always surpass me. Not only that; when I think about how he saved us on missions, defeated enemies that you and I could not, it makes me wonder how he always seemed to be ahead, when he was such a dobe."

"Sasuke-kun..."

He continued, "It's just that no matter how hard I tried, Naruto was always in front of me. He was the one that freed us when we fought Haku; he was also the one that saved you from Gaara, when I couldn't do anything but watch. Even when we fought at the Valley of the End, he held back attacks that would have gained him victory. In all of those fights, he was exhausted, but he never gave in, not even once. Since my clan's death, I searched for the power that he possessed. I wondered… what made him so strong? Even now, I stand in his shadow, always chasing him. Our last fight proved that. I don't want to chase him anymore. I want to find the strength that he has, I want to discover what makes him so strong."

It was very seldom that Sakura got to see this side of Sasuke. Even though they were intimate, Sasuke rarely opened up. She hated that he always kept things bottled inside. She was finally getting to see a side of him that she never saw.

Sasuke turned to Sakura, and said in a calm and soft voice, "You should get going. I have things I need to do."

Sakura nodded. She knew that he wanted to be alone, so she did Shunshin no Jutsu leaving him alone. She appeared on a street a block away from his compound. She continued to walk. She had nothing really to do, since she wasn't due back in the hospital until tomorrow. Sakura understood Sasuke. In fact she couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that Uchiha Sasuke was actually jealous of Naruto. Naruto wasn't liked or praised for his ability like Sasuke.

Any other person wouldn't be jealous, but all of those things are things that Sasuke didn't care about. She now knew that ever since he met Naruto, he has been searching for that thing that made Naruto so strong. Not even she knew what made her former teammate so strong. Maybe it was his hatred for the village, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, or even herself. Who knows? She was, however, curious as to what made her former teammate strong. Perhaps it was a question that she would never get an answer to. She decided to head for the hot springs. She had a free day and she was going to relax, if it was the last thing she did.

Across town...

Yumi sat at the ramen shop with a sad expression. Her thoughts kept going back to Naruto. She couldn't explain this feeling, but she knew he was in pain. He didn't return with the others when they came back from Water Country, but the Hokage informed her that he was in Sea Country. She figured it had something to do with the Minashu clan. Yumi just sat there twirling the soup around with her spoon. She didn't even notice Ino, Chouji, and Kiba walk into the restaurant.

Ino and Kiba were having a heated debate over what was the better weapon, a kunai or a shuriken. Ino stopped in the middle of her explanation as to why kunais were better, when she noticed Yumi sitting at the stool with a sad look on her face.

She walked up and tapped the girl, "Hey Yumi, how's it going?"

She looked up, and gave Ino a fake smile that was obvious to everyone, "Hello Ino, how's everything?"

Ino and the others heard what happened to the girl. Word around Konoha tends to get around quick. She was hoping that she wasn't depressed over that situation, because it could have been a lot worse.

Ino pointed to Kiba, "Yumi, this is my friend Kiba, and you already met Chouji."

Kiba stepped up and offered his hand, "Hello there, I'm Kiba and the dog on my side is my best friend, Akamaru."

Akamaru barked his form of a greeting. Ino took a seat next to Yumi. Kiba sat down next to Ino, and Choji sat down next to him. Ino, Kiba, and Chouji ordered their food. Ino took three bites; then looked at Yumi, who was still playing with her soup.

"Hey Yumi, what's the matter?" Ino asked out of concern.

Yumi continued playing with her soup, "Well… Since last night, I have this feeling that Naruto-kun isn't ok. I can't explain it, but…but I just know that he is hurt. I don't know; maybe I'm just worrying too much, I guess."

Ino nodded, "Yeah, you're probably right, I think you are worrying too much. I'm sure Naruto will be back here soon. Besides, we just saw Jiraiya-sama, who informed us that Naruto was doing some type of trial thing in Sea Country. I'm sure he's fine."

Yumi felt relief, but she still could feel in heart that Naruto was in some type of turmoil. She decided to leave it alone. She decided to change the subject. "So, Ino, do you guys have a mission or something?"

"Well no, we just came back from a mission. I decided to treat these two…"

Akamaru barked at Ino. Ino looked at the dog, then back to Yumi, "Sorry about that; I meant three, to a meal at Ichiraku. After this I'll probably go to the hot springs to relax. You want to come with me?"

"That's okay, I think I'll pass, Ino. You'll probably run into Kaa-san there." Yumi told Ino.

"Really, Mai-san was fun to talk to when we first went to the springs."

"Mother can be fun at times, but I'm glad she's taking it easy. She worked hard on our little farm for years, it's nice to see her relax." She leaned in and whispered in Ino's ear, "But, if you ask me, she's relaxing too much."

The both shared a laugh. Kiba who finished his meal spoke, "So, you're a farmer. That's cool."

Yumi shook her head, "No, it isn't cool. To put it plainly, it sucks. I like gardening; though, and literature. I try to get Naruto to read, but he doesn't like too unless it has something to do with jutsus."

Ino was beaming with joy after hearing what Yumi said, "You like gardening, really. My family owns the best flower shop here in Konoha. I knew I liked you for a reason. We fellow gardeners are just drawn together like magnets."

Yumi smiled at the girl, "I guess so. That's just one of my hobbies, but I really hope to be an established writer someday."

Chouji, after eating his tenth bowl looked at Yumi, "So, if you were to write a book someday, what would it be about?

Kiba spoke before Yumi had a chance, "If it's anything like Icha Icha Paradise, then I would read it for sure. Did you read the last edition, Chouji?"

Chouji nodded in excitement, "Yes, it was fantastic. Wie totally deserves to get bitch-slapped by Yuki. I just hope Yuki finds happiness."

"Yeah, it's sad, but that scene between Wie and Rokoa, tell me that wasn't the hottest scene ever." Kiba said showing his excitement.

A vein appeared on Ino's forehead. She then hit both of them over the head. "You god-damn perverts. I can't believe you're talking about that filth, and in front of girls, no less!"

Yumi held back a snicker. She knew about the scene they were talking about, and she had to admit it was quite intriguing. However, the type of writing she wanted to do was nothing like Jiraiya's. His writing was mostly about romance and sexual fantasies. Even though his book was one of her guilty pleasures; one that she would never admit, she just didn't want to write a book like it. She looked at this village and Naruto's treatment here, and an idea came to her head, which caused her to smile.

Fire Country 5 hours later…

Senzairu and his squad were traveling at top speed towards their intended destination. He estimated that they would be there in about an hour. It was perfect; they would have enough time to set up camp and assign patrol teams. He could sense the group wasn't to keen on what he decided. He just wished they saw his logic, but they probably didn't.

Hanabi saw wires coming at Senzairu from all directions. Her instinct caused her to scream, "Watch out!"

He didn't have time to react, before he knew it wires wrapped around him and ripped him to shreds. Izumo and Hanabi jumped back; to get into battle formation. Kurenai did her part and caste a genjutsu to cover up the tracks of the three behind her.

Izumo and Hanabi were back-to-back. Both were looking around frantically for their enemies. Hanabi and Izumo were surrounded by about eight shinobi from Iwa. The man on the top of the branch in front of them, who they confirmed to be the leader, was giving them a sadistic smile. The smile looked even more evil, because of his red eyes and snow white hair.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. A pathetic Leaf-nin and a Hyuuga. Her eyes are worth a lot on the black market. Jizu, Ranko, kill him and collect her. You five, go and look for the other five that disappeared." The two appeared in front of Hanabi and Izumo.

Hanabi activated her Byakugan and got into her fighting stance. Izumo also got into his fighting stance. He didn't like what was happening. He and Hanabi were out numbered and he recognized this guy. He was Moretsu Kihouin, an A-class missing-nin from Iwagakure.

Kihouin spoke again, "You guys are outnumbered and outclassed. The fact of the matter is my group would have passed you; but we saw the Hyuuga, and we couldn't resist. You guys had a weak leader, and your other members are hiding. You have no chance."

Kurenai, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, and Kusushi where hiding not too far under a genjustu. Kurenai couldn't think about Senzairu, her first priority was to come up with a plan.

She looked at the group and spoke a low voice, "Okay, this guy isn't some chump. He is a missing-nin from Iwa, and he is as bad as they come. The sad truth is I don't think I can even beat him. Moegi and Udon, look after Kusushi. Konohamaru, I need you to try and draw the five that are looking for us to a different location."

Konohamaru nodded, "You can count on me." The two moved out.

Kurenai was looking at the fight between Hanabi and the nin from Iwa. Hanabi used her Jyuuken to kill the nin in front of her as quickly as possible. Izumo had taken his fight with the other nin elsewhere. Kihouin shook his head as Jizu hit the ground. She was one of his best soldiers. He had enough; he decided to subdue the Hyuuga.

He appeared in front of Hanabi, and said with a sick smile still plastered on his face, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way your choice."

Hanabi slipped back into her fighting stance with a smirk, "Don't underestimate the Hyuuga clan."

Kurenai knew that this was suicide. Hanabi was good, but she had no chance. Her plan was to get Hanabi out of harms way so they could retreat back to Konoha. An ANBU squad was more than enough to deal with this renegade group. Her squad consisted of mostly Chuunin's who didn't have the experience or the power to fight someone of this caliber. Kurenai did a couple of hand signs and cast a genjutsu. The surrounding area, according to Kihouin started to get cloudy. He knew immediately that it was a genjutsu. But when he cancelled it, Hanabi was gone.

Kurenai had gotten Hanabi out of harms way, much to the girls protest, and brought her back to the area that Moegi and the medic were at.

Hanabi narrowed her eyes at Kurenai, "Why did you take me away, I could have taken that guy."

Kurenai looked at the girl and simply said, "No, you could not have taken him. He is an A-Class nin from Iwagakure, and in one-on-one combat, only a few of our nins can take him on, and you are not one of them. We will wait here, until Konohamaru shakes them."

Hanabi snorted, "That fool will only get himself killed."

Moegi clenched her fist, "What is your problem? He led those nins away, so we would be safe. He did an admirable thing, don't look down your nose at him for that."

Hanabi looked at the girl as if she were a nobody, "I don't remember saying anything to you. Your idiot friend is going to get himself killed trying to play hero."

Kurenai decided to nip it in the bud before things started to escalate. "That's enough. We have to make up a plan. We will have to…."

Kurenai eyes widened we she saw that Kihouin was only a ten feet away. His evil smirk never left his face as he looked at them. Kurenai knew that this was going to be troublesome.

Konohamaru had led them away but the squad had him surrounded. "These guys are good. I couldn't evade them. Oh well, I'm always complaining about having no good fight, guess I'll definitely get that and more."

One of the nin spoke, "You will die here, little boy. Sad really, but that is fate and yours…is death." The nin and his fellow comrades charged at Konohamaru. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to survive, but he knew he was taking someone with him.

Before the nins got within a foot of Konohamaru, wires attached to kunais started wrapping around them and various trees. Before they knew it they were pinned to nearby trees. As soon as they were pinned, kunais and shurikens hit them in various critical spots. Konohamaru traced the wire on his right that led to a high tree branch. On top of it Senzairu was looking down at him with a smile. Konohamaru was relieved to see that he was still alive.

Senzairu let go of the wire and spoke, "Go after Izumo, he's about 2 mins west of here. I'll go and take care of their leader." With that Senzairu disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Konohamaru did as he was told, and headed west.

Kihouin was studying everyone. All of them took fighting stances, but judging by the stances, he was certain that the stance the one on his far right took proved he was a medic. Perfect, he would go after the medic, who would be saved by the pretty red-eyed Jounin, who he determined was the leader. He then would pick the rest apart by himself. This was going to be fun.

Kurenai saw that look in his eyes. She moved quickly in front of Kusushi. When he blinked, he saw Kurenai in front of him taking an upward slash from a kunai. She fell to her knees before him. "Damn, he did that on purpose. If I had enough time to counter attack, I could have avoided getting hurt. The things we do as ninja..."

Kurenai was holding her chest as Kihouin towered over her. Hanabi saw her chance and went to strike when she thought his guard was down. Her hand thrust forward aiming for his head, but she missed. He sidestepped her attack and did a reverse roundhouse kick, sending her to a nearby tree, the impact caused her to lose conscious. "I will deal with you shortly, Hyuuga." Moegi and Kusushi went to tend to Hanabi.

"Now for you, beautiful, it's sad that I don't have the time to show you a great time, but that girl's eyes are worth a lot of money and you are in my way." Udon threw a Kunai but Kiohouin avoided it. He turned to see Udon. He did a bind jutsu. Udon was stuck in place, unable to move. He knew that if he didn't get loose, Kurenai-san would be dead.

He turned back to Kurenai, "Sorry for the…" He looked to see that she was no longer in her spot. He looked around until he saw her in the arms of the man he thought his squad had killed.

Senzairu was holding her bridal-style. Kurenai looked up to see him looking at her. He saw the pain in her face, so he gently put her down then looked at Kusushi, "Heal her wounds. Moegi, watch over them. Udon will be with you in a second."

Senzairu did a hand seal while looking at Udon. "Udon, get over here and aid Moegi."

Udon was about to say he couldn't move, but realized he could. He was about to run, but Kihouin appeared behind him with a kunai. He was about the stick it in Udon's back, but Senzairu blocked it with his kunai. This surprised Kihouin.

"This guy is fast. To be over there and move over here that quickly to protect his comrade…a worthwhile opponent." Kihouin thought.

The two nins jumped back for distance. Senzairu glanced over at Kurenai, who was being healed. He turned back to the nin, "We don't have time to waste. I will finish this fast and give you a painless death."

Kihouin smiled, "Painless? Take this."

Senzairu saw that a wall made from the ground had risen in front of the nin. The wall broke into jagged-edged rocks. The nin motioned with his hand for the rocks to go forth, all of the razor-sharp jagged pieces of rocks were aimed at the golden/brown-eyed Leaf Jounin. Senzairu just looked at the oncoming attack. The technique came down on him leaving a huge smoke pile. When the smoke cleared; he was laying on the ground, disfigured.

The arrogant Nin smirked, " That was too easy."

"Yes, yes it was." Kihouin eyes widened when he heard the voice behind him. He didn't have time to react; a kunai was lodged on the side of his throat where the jugular vein is located. He immediately fell to the ground, dead. Senzairu looked at the nin for a moment "His confidence led to his demise. Arrogance and skill tends to blind people. He forgot the life-old lesson, that you will always find someone that is your better. Unlucky for him; he had to learn it the hard way."

He stepped over the dead missing-nin and walked back over to the group. Izumo and Konohamaru landed next to him, panting. He glanced at both of them and smiled, "I'm glad you guys are okay."

"Yea, but I wouldn't have been if it wasn't for Konohamaru. He waited for the perfect time, then pinned the guy I was facing against a tree with wire. That gave me the time I needed to slit his throat." Izumo informed his leader.

Senzairu looked at Konohamaru, "Taking a page out of my book, I see."

Konohamaru gave him a huge grin. Senzairu spoke again, but this time his voice was serious, "Traveling without a formation worked for us, but now we have no choice but to use one. That nin was smart by injuring Kurenai first. We once had the element of surprise; but we don't have that, because Hanabi is out and Kurenai is injured. We will continue our trek, but Izumo you will be the lead. I will be behind you with Kurenai. Konohamaru, you will carry Hanabi. Kusushi will be behind Konohamaru, while Moegi is behind him, scouting the sides. Udon will be in the back doing the same. This is the best I can come up with while traveling with five Chuunins; one which is injured, and a Jounin who is injured as well. We will set up camp when we arrive at the border and then we will assign patrol teams. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded.

"Good." He picked up Kurenai, bridal-style. Konohamaru did the same with Hanabi. Kurenai may have been healed, but the cut could reopen and he didn't want to take the chance. The squad headed out.

The red-eyed Jounin looked at Senzairu, "Hey, I just want to say that I'm sorry for questioning your ability and skill as a leader. You were right, a proper formation would have left us vulnerable."

He continued to look ahead, "It's not a matter of who's right and who's wrong. I just believed it would be best to do it my way. Things could have turned out the same had we followed your way as well. How is your chest feeling?"

"It's okay. I'll be fine in the morning." She informed him.

He smiled. She knew that the smile on his face was a smile of happiness and relief. She couldn't help but feel safe in his arms. She snuggled up close to him. She didn't think about Asuma, her current issues with Senzairu, all that mattered was at this very moment is that she felt safe and she had to admit, it felt good.

An hour later…

The group had arrived at the southern border. They had set up camp about five miles from the border. Kurenai was sitting around the fire with everyone. Hanabi, who was in one of the five tents, came out of the tent a little groggy, "What happened?"

Senzairu, who was sitting next to Konohamaru spoke, "From what Moegi told me, you were knocked out by the missing-nin that I killed. I had Konohamaru carry you back here."

Konohamaru blushed when Hanabi looked at him. She didn't say anything; she just took a seat next to Izumo. Konohamaru got up, "I think I'll go collect some firewood."

Konohamaru got up and walked off to collect more firewood. Hanabi's eyes followed him. She was looking at his retreating back. She got up, "I'll go look after him, make sure he doesn't get hurt." Senzairu shrugged illustrating that he really didn't care.

Five minutes away from the camp Konohamaru was collecting fire wood. Hanabi stepped from behind a tree startling him.

He looked up at here while stacking a log on the top of the stacks he held, "Oh, I didn't expect you to come out here, Hanabi. Did you come to help me?"

She shook her head, "No. I just wanted to ask you something…why are you so nice to me. I mean I know you like me, that isn't hard to see, but I always insult you, so why are you always nice?"

Konohamaru put the wood down and looked Hanabi dead in the eye. She had never seen the boy look this serious, "Well, part of the reason I am nice is because I do like you. Even when I get angry at your insults, I just can't seem to stay mad at you. When I look at you, Hanabi-chan, I don't see Hyuuga Hanabi, heir to the Hyuuga clan, or the number one rookie of our graduating class. I see someone like me, who everyone likes only because of who they are related to. I know what it feels like to have people see you as what they want you to be, and not as the individual that you are. I guess that's why I like you, because we are alike, yet so different at the same time. I just thought you could use a friend."

Hanabi couldn't believe what she was hearing. Of all people, she didn't expect him to understand her. Hanabi turned away, "We're nothing alike, you and I."

He put his head down knowing that an insult was coming next. However; what came next shocked him, "But I could use a friend."

Konohamaru looked at Hanabi, who was looking at him with a rare smile on her face. He smiled back, thinking to himself that maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad mission after all.