Chapter 29

Last Time:

'Customizable notification tone… voice recorder…interesting…' Samui thought as she left.

Now:

Naruto quickly got into his bunker and went towards his armory, running his hand on the keyboard to notify the Avengers that he was back. Tony quickly appeared on the monitor in the armory as Naruto prepared his things for tomorrow evening. "Whoa, where's the fire?" Tony asked as Naruto took a pair of night vision goggles from the shelf. "Have a big mission tomorrow, hands down a decided suicide one." Naruto said as he ripped the Kumo insignia from his beret.

"Why you, why now?" Cap asked as he appeared on an opposite screen. "Not sure, maybe they want to see the true extent of my abilities." Naruto replied as he sealed some kunai and shuriken into a scroll. He quickly grabbed another Kevlar vest and laid it out for the next day. "Well, are they sending you alone or with a team?" Natalya asked. "Team, Yugito and Samui, two unknown." Naruto replied as he sealed two clips into his armory scroll.

He quickly checked the clips in his guns and after making sure they were well loaded, began to get an outfit ready. "Suna is mainly hot weather, so a few cooling seals will do wonderfully in the clothing." Naruto said as he pulled out a pair of tan cargo pants and a tan t-shirt from the armory closet. "Why the tan?" Hawkeye asked as Naruto took the Kevlar vest and a can of brown spray paint. "Suna's environment is very dessert like, so this will be more easy to blend in with." Naruto replied.

He quickly spray painted the vest and took out a tan beret from his closet. After he made sure everything was ready, he unsealed his standard sword and cleaned it. "You don't have to do this, you know." Natalya said in a worried tone as Naruto began to clean his bow. "Of course I do.." Naruto replied, making the woman fume. "No you don't! You don't owe this village anything!" Natalya shot back. "This village, no. But those girls…I just can't bear the thought of any of them being hurt and me not doing anything about it." Naruto replied.

He unsealed his explosive arrows and checked them, only to turn and see Natalya fuming. "I know they can take care of themselves, they're grown Kunoichi. But I can't help but feeling if one of them died, a part of me would die. And if they both died, I just…don't know." Naruto said as he sealed his arrows again and retrieved a pair of tan boots, a tan facemask, and moved all of the contents from his regular Kevlar vest to the newly painted tan one.

"So, little Naruto is in love.." Natalya said in a teasing tone. "Which of the two girls is the lucky one?" She asked, but Naruto wouldn't answer. "You don't mean.." Natalya began, only to be cut off by Naruto. "I don't know. They both care for me so much, and they both hold a place in my heart. But I can't choose.." Naruto said, making Natalya frown. "How can you be sure you want either of them if you don't know what you want?" She asked.

"I know what I want." Naruto replied. "I want them safe and happy, and to live long and happy lives. If that means I'm not part of them, then so be it." Naruto replied as he finished getting everything ready and looked at the clock. 'Midnight.. I better get some sleep.' Naruto mused as he headed to his bed. "Your notion of honor is admirable, but it's obsolete in this time and age." Jarvis said, making Naruto and Cap frown. "Well, no one is perfect." Naruto replied as he turned over to get some sleep.

"You know, he's not going to be happy if he continues like that.." Natalya said in the next room as she spoke with Cap. "Naruto is a one in a million guy. He doesn't care for his own sake, only for the sake of those who he cares about. Sometimes, seeing someone happy is more fulfilling than anything in the world.." Cap muttered as he left. Natalya sighed as she signed off for the evening.

~ The Next Evening – 11:45 PM – Village Gates ~

A, Mabui, Cat, Dog, Yugito, and Samui stood at the village gates waiting for Naruto. "Where is he?" Dog demanded in an annoyed tone. "He'll be here soon. It's not midnight yet." A replied, a bit annoyed at the boys absence. "Sir, this kind of behavior is completely unprofessional and I believe that it may jeopardize the…" Cat began, only to be cut off by Samui. "You don't know anything about Naruto-kun's skill set or mines or Yugito's for that matter, so you have no right to judge!"

"That's another thing, Raikage-sama. Yugito-san and Samui-san seem to be awfully attached to.." Dog began, only to be cut off by the Raikage. "Silence!" He yelled, making them all shut up. "Dog and Cat, I would not put my Shinobi on a mission of this caliber if I didn't know for sure they were ready! So please put aside your opinions and trust the shinobi's I have assigned. As for Naruto's so-called "Unprofessional" attitude, he is not late yet, as it is barely 11:55" A said, shutting up the Anbu.

Before he could go on, Naruto appeared wearing his standard cargo pants, boots, t-shirt, Kevlar vest, facemask, and beret in tan. "Is everyone ready?" He asked, getting a nod from Yugito and Samui and a hesitant one from the Anbu. "Good, now Samui-chan and Yugito-chan, please message me on your devices so I can make sure you are competent with the technology." Naruto asked. Yugito and Samui conceded and sent him a quick message,

After he made sure he received it and there was no problem, Naruto turned to A and spoke. "Old man, I would like to take charge of this mission." A nodded and Naruto turned to his team. "Like I said yesterday, Yugito will be paired with Cat and Samui with Dog. I will be going will remain in communication via the messengers." Naruto said as he motioned at the small device in his hand. "By morning, we should be arriving at the beginning of Suna's dessert." Naruto said as he inspected his team.

"When we arrive, we will make camp and rest, with one member awake at all times on watch. Sundown is at 6:30, which is when we move out. It's approximately two and a half hours to Suna at top speed, which means it will be around 9:30 or ten by the time we arrive." Naruto said as he set up the times. "We will be sneaking in as some lost travelers looking for a place for the night. From there, we check into a hotel and wait an hour." Naruto said as he looked to make sure everyone was still with him.

"After the hour is past, Samui and Dog will go to the records office and see what kind of supplies they have been moving. Yugito and Cat will be heading to the Armory yard to see what kind of weapons they plan on mobilizing, and I will head into the barracks to get a rough estimate on their forces." Naruto said, getting surprised looks from the Raikage. "That's a suicide mission in a suicide mission, Naruto-san." A commented. "I know, but out of all of us I have the best stealth training.." Naruto replied.

"How do you figure?" A asked curiously. "Well, I am the only one who thought to wear tan to blend in with the thousands of miles of sand instead of black to stick out like a sore thumb." He said as he motioned to the Anbu. They both fumed, but conceded his point. "After we have the information we need, we go back to the hotel and have a nice time. By the next day, we leave via the opposite gate and continue traveling, getting off scot-free." Naruto finished.

"Any comments or questions?" Naruto asked, only for Dog to step up. "Yea, why not do this in one go and get it done in one night instead of dragging it out to three days?" Dog asked. "You're not thinking. We can't go in half-cocked and half assed. That's what gets you killed." Naruto said as he motioned to the team. "Their lives are on my shoulders, and I plan on all of us making it back in one piece." Naruto said to Dog. Dog fumed, but nodded and stepped down.

"By your leave, Raikage-sama?" Naruto asked, only for Mabui to step up. "For village safety, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask that you give up your forehead protectors signifying that you have ties to Kumo." She said in a monotone voice. Everyone nodded and handed their protectors to her, but Naruto threw his patch to A's feet. "Move out!" He yelled and the whole team scattered. Mabui sighed and was about to pick up the patch, only to see it in A's hands.

"Why is he being so hostile?" Mabui asked as she looked at A. "Can't really say I blame the brat. He's risking his hide for the village and he's being met with so much opposition? I'd be pissed too." A said as he looked at the patch. "We can only hope they make it back in one piece…" A said as he headed to his office. Mabui sent a quick look at the village gate and followed after A.

~ Time Skip – Next Day – Outskirts of Suna Desert ~

Naruto looked at his panting team as he landed on a tree branch. The forest line was visible from their spot, so they decided to set camp here. Naruto turned to his half dead team and motioned for them to set up camp as he took out a small scroll from one of the pockets of his Kevlar vest and tossed it on the ground. It unraveled to show a small seal with the kanji for "Tent" on it. With a small poof, a tent appeared set up and ready for everything.

Naruto took off his vest and threw it into his tent, then motioned for the others to gather around. "I'll be taking first watch, all of you try to catch some sleep. We will rotate every hour so everyone sleeps equally." Naruto said. His team nodded and headed to their sleeping tents. Naruto hopped up into a tree and took watch.

~ With Samui ~

Samui quietly unzipped her tent and looked around and to the treetops for any sign of Naruto. ' He's not here..good.' She thought as she headed to his tent. She quietly unzipped it and reached in for his Kevlar vest. As soon as she got her hands on it, she searched the pockets until she found his messenger. "Perfect.." She muttered as she zipped his tent and headed back to her own with a sly smile on her face.

~ Time Skip – 15 Minutes Later ~

Samui exited her tent with a large blush on her face, but her mission was done. She had made a mess on her sleeping bag and a few loud noises, but she had accomplished what she set out to do. She looked down at Naruto's communicator with a smile, but shook her head. She quietly and quickly put the device back into the vest and went back to her tent. She had to get at the very least some notion of sleep if this mission was going to go well

~ Time Skip – 45 Minutes Later ~

Naruto groaned as he finally went into his tent. His stamina might have been high, but even he got tired. He quickly took off his boots and wrapped his arms around his pillow, blissfully unaware of what was to come.

A/N: Yes, now the big mission begins!