Chapter 79 New Duties and responsibilities ( CHECK COMMENTS)

Tsunade sighed as she sat in the chair of her new office, she hadn't been Hokage for long and already she wasn't sure if this was a good idea or if she should try and force Jiraiya to take the job for her. She had even contemplating even offering to sleep with him if he took the job. This was just so different from her carefree lifestyle that she had been used to. She hadn't had to do this kind of work in decades and at her age she was having a tough time keeping up with all of it.

How the Old Man had managed to come out of retirement to do this again she had no idea than again he was a tough old man but there would be no coming out of retirement this time. He was no longer physical fit to be a ninja and it was now up to her to oversee the entire village. First had been the ceremony for her being officially named Hokage, that hadn't been bad but it was all so stiff. Then there were the endless reports that she had to look over.

There was all the reconstruction efforts for the village that needed her attention, mission requests, balancing it all out so that the right members were sent on the missions, reports from different divisions and on completed missions all the paper work was enough to drive her back to drinking. Although Shizune was here made it all somewhat bearable for her and Shizune also made sure that she didn't drink while she was in the office.

Sighing to herself she pulled out the next group of papers from the pile on her desk. Scanning it she was it was a list of chunin candidates. That was something she could use as she had just finished a request for a joint mission by Suna. Members of the Sound Village had been seen in their country and boarders not to mention intelligence reports were that the village might be up to something. Given that Orochimaru lead that village for Tsunade it wouldn't surprise her if he was up to something.

The request asked for a team for a joint mission to look into a possible location of the Sound Village in one of the smaller nations. This could be useful as no one seemed to know where that village was, in fact most hidden villages of the smaller nations kept hidden from the world as they weren't large enough to defend themselves. So if they could find the Sound Village and crush it, it would wipe out a possible threat. Ever since the failed invasion Sound had made enemies of both Konoha and Suna and had reformed the bonds of both villages, of course there were still some hard feelings on both sides.

Many had died for both Suna and Konoha and all that blood couldn't be totally forgotten but maybe missions like this could help rebuild those old bonds. But first she needed to pick out a team for it, thinking about it as she leaned back in her chair and idea did form in her mind. Maybe she could take out two birds with one stone. She called for Shizune and told her who to summon to her office. Honestly she had been thinking of promoting those few on the list she was currently looking at anyway but this gave her the opportunity to also give them their first mission.

"Maybe this job isn't as hard as I thought," Tsunade said proudly to herself as he set the paperwork aside for later and started to dig through the larger pile. It was going to be a long day today and she was starting to wonder if they all would be this busy or would it let up until the village was back up to full strength?

That afternoon soon found Team 7 walking together to the Hokage's office. Kakashi had tracked them all down and was currently leading them up the outside stairs to the top levels of the building. He hadn't said why they were coming here only that they were to be summoned for some reason. Even he had been left out of the loop but he was used to that kind of thing, you were only told as much as you needed to know a lot of the times after all. He took it all in stride the others were a bit more curious especially his son.

"Come on dad don't you got any ideas of what she wants us for?" Naruto begged him. "Wasn't there any kind of hint about what she wanted us for?"

Kakashi sighed tried as he had while the boy had been growing up, teaching him patience had been something that Naruto had trouble learning. "No, I'm just as in the dark as you three are."

"Maybe it's a new mission?" Sakura thought it out. "After all we haven't gotten anything other than D grade missions helping out with the village."

"Possible," Kakashi nodded.

"Or will it be just more D grade missions in the village?" Sasuke asked secretly hoping it wasn't. Although he wouldn't admit to sharing Naruto's viewpoint he really wanted to do something more important lately.

"Again possible," Kakashi said again.

"Oh come on are you saying anything is possible about why she's calling us here for?" Naruto was starting to get a little annoyed by the lack of answers.

Kakashi shrugged, "They were all possible Naruto so I don't see why not."

Naruto frowned as he thought about it and then suddenly grinned. "Then maybe she's figured out she's not cut out for the job of Hokage and is giving it to me then?"

"Now that's completely impossible."

"What!? Oh come on how come that's the one thing that isn't possible?"

"Simple," Kakashi answered him casually, "You're nowhere near ready to be Hokage yet."

"I thought it was a parent's job to encourage their kid's dreams!"

"Yes but it's also a parent's job to make them realize they have to set their sights in a more realistic fashion. I never once said you couldn't be Hokage have I?"

Naruto paused to think about that when he had first told his dad about his gaol to be Hokage his father had seemed to take it in stride. He hadn't said anything against the idea so Naruto had ran with it. "No...but you never said I could do it either."

"I didn't want you to get a big head," Kakashi chuckled.

Naruto frowned again walking on in silence as Sakura tried to fight the urge to giggle at the antics of the two family members. Although now that she knew that they weren't blood related looking at them now you wouldn't think it. Naruto and Kakashi had always had a good relationship maybe it was because for the longest time they had only each other. Sakura smiled a little as it was good that they had such a relationship.

Kakashi looked up to see the top of the stairs but also something else caught his eye, there opening the door to the inside was Asuma with Shikamaru standing there looking bored as usual. Now Kakashi's mind was thinking all kinds of reasons for them to be here, since Ino and Choji weren't here this had to do with Shikamaru. Kakashi had a sneaking suspicion that he was getting an idea where this was headed.

"Yo," Kakashi casually greeted the two of them.

"Ah Kakashi, I take it that you're team was called here too." Asuma also was thinking that whatever the Hokage wanted with Shikamaru it might involve Kakashi's team. This certainly looked like the day was going to be interesting.

"Seems so, how's your dad doing?" Kakashi asked.

Asuma shrugged, "Alright, he's still got a ways to go in his physical therapy although what he plans to do for his retirement I have no idea. Last time I remember him being bored out of his mind, now that he'll need a cane to walk around with he'll be less active. Still it could have been much worse, already he's pushing me to find a girl and give him a few more grandkids before he dies."

Kakashi chuckled. "Well I heard that you might be in luck in that regard."

Asuma blushed a bit caught off guard as he suddenly thought about Kurenai. They had only been on a couple of dates in fact he hadn't told anyone that he had done that yet. Truth was he wanted to see where things would go before making it officially known. So far things were going well and honestly he really did like her and getting to know her better only seemed to make those feelings grow.

"How did...Anko it's the only way," Asuma sighed as he should have known that woman would tell Kakashi anything that was juicy.

"Welcome to the non-single life style," Kakashi eye smiled at the man.

"Hold up," Sakura interjected. "Since when was Asuma-sensei seeing someone?"

Now Asuma looked to see he had four pairs of genins looking at him with interests, even Shikamaru was looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. He contemplated going to a cigarette to give himself some time to think of a way out of this. He really didn't want his team finding out and Sakura was best friends with Ino not to mention one of them was standing right next to him. Then again maybe he could bribe his silence somehow at least until he felt comfortable with Kurenai before it got out around the village. He never was one to have his personal life out in public anyway.

"He was on a date with Kurenai," Kakashi spoke up ignoring the glare Asuma sent his way. "Now we better hurry up and not keep the Hokage waiting."

"Oh man Ino is going to freak when I tell her this," Sakura whispered to her friends who nodded.

"I owe you for this," Asuma told Kakashi letting the hidden meaning of the threat there between the lines. Kakashi just waved at him with a lazy hand as he walked past. "I swear it's like Anko is slightly influencing him lately."

-Hokage's Office-

So there they all stood, the genins out front in a line while the two sensei jonins stood behind them all. Tsunade was sitting behind her desk looking at all three of them while Shizune was there looking pleased for some reason the genins couldn't understand at the moment. The pig Tonton for some reason was sitting on the desk looking like she was part of the whole thing as well.

"Well I have to say that today the official results are in," Tsunade started to speak up. "Shikamaru, you showed great patience and strategy in the chunin exams at least that's the reports on you said. Looking them over and at the official endorsements of the previous Hokage and from your mission results I felt that you deserve this honor."

Shikamaru fought back a groan, he knew why they were here now and it was all so troubling for him. How on earth had this happened? He wasn't even trying to get promoted he was just doing what he normally did. He thought about refusing it but Ino would be like a harpy on the whole thing and his mother when she found out would be even worse. Maybe it was just easier to take the damn thing and be done with it.

Tsunade looked to the three other members of Team 7 and smiled at them slightly. "You three also showed promise in the exams both on and off the field. Naruto although your improvised way of saving the Hokage had worked you might want to learn some restraint. We're still rebuilding part of the stadium."

"Well it was for a good cause," Naruto muttered only to get an elbow by Sakura telling him to keep quiet.

"Also you three I saw in action personally," Tsunade had to admit that they had some skills, oh they still had a long way to go and it would be years before they were really impressive but she could see the talent in this team. With the right push and teaching they could in fact go far, maybe even becoming the next sannin team of this generation.

"So you four should be proud to know that you have all been promoted to chunin," Tsunade nodded as Shizune went to a trunk that had been put into the room earlier. She opened it up as she took out the green vests that Konoha was known for only to be worn by ninja that were chunin or above. She handed out each vest to all four of them. Asuma and Kakashi looked on proudly at their new chunins, Kakashi enjoyed seeing the reactions on the faces of them all.

Sasuke was calm about it but he could tell from a glint in his eyes that he eagerly accepted it, to him it proved that he had grown as a ninja. He was a step closer to accomplishing his goals as he put on the jacket. It felt a bit heavier than he expected as the new leather smell was all over it but it felt good to him.

Sakura couldn't believe it even when she had the jacket in her hands she hadn't really thought about becoming a chunin all that much. Sure she had thought about it during the exam but it had slipped her mind after it since all kinds of things had happened since then. It almost seems more like a lifetime ago then only a few months since the exam. She gingerly put on the vest testing it out, she was going to have to get used to it but already her mind was thinking of all the things she could put in the pockets.

She couldn't wait to show her parents, Ino and even Anko, she couldn't have gotten this far without the woman's help during that training month.

Naruto of course well everyone expected his reactions.

"Awesome!" He shouted out at the top of his lungs holding the vest up like it was a prize of some kind. He was so energetic about it all he nearly was bouncing off the walls. Naruto's large blue eyes seemed to shine as he held the combat jacket in his hands. To him it was the first major step in accomplishing his dream of being Hokage. He grinned as he looked right at Tsunade.

"Don't get too comfortable in that chair I'm going to be sitting there soon enough!" He boasted proudly.

Tsunade let out a small grunt, "Don't get too cocky brat you're a hundred years too young to be sitting in this chair." She wanted to add in 'yet' at the end but didn't want to give the kid an ego. Looking at all the energy he was giving off she couldn't help but smile a bit. He had this way about him that was full of hope and determination, she hoped that life wouldn't crush that out of him as it had for her for so long.

But then again he had been the one to bring that back into her life so maybe she would place her hope into the boy.

Kakashi smiled happily as he suddenly remembered something looking to Asuma, "So about the pool..."

Asuma's good mood shifted as he remembered that, Kakashi had just cleaned house with his bet that all his gennin would be promoted. He had managed to win a little by betting at least one of his students would win but the broadness of that wasn't much of a payoff.

"Damn I forgot about that one." Asuma sighed.

Kakashi grinned happily knowing the payday he was in store for. Yeah it had been very long odd, given that it was rare for an entire team to make it to the finals let alone all be promoted but he stood by his team. Of course he had been a bit worried he was biting off more than he could chew, in the end he had beaten the odds.

"You bet on us?" Sasuke asked their sensei.

Kakashi shrugged, "It's kind of a tradition, especially for those with students in the exams. I bet that all three of you would be promoted and I won."

"Damn I wish I had gotten in on that action," Tsunade muttered to herself.

"That wouldn't exactly be fair Tsunade-sama," Shizune whispered to her hearing it. "You do make the selections after all."

Tsunade sweat dropped as she coughed into her hand ignoring the comment.

"So does that mean your treating us then?" Naruto grinned up at his dad. "We did all the hard work after all."

"It's only fair," Sasuke told him as Sakura looked up at him to see his reaction.

"Yeah-yeah," He waved them off, "Don't worry I will you all deserve it anyway."

"Great, man I can't wait to show Hinata-chan," Naruto looked at his vest again he knew she would be proud of him plus he wanted to show it off to her as well. He couldn't wait to see the reaction on her face maybe they could celebrate together? Ever since their last big date he had been looking for something to do next. Although he would have to avoid Neji, when the clones were discovered by him Naruto had the memories of that encounter transferred.

He really hoped that Neji wasn't holding a grudge against him, but to be on the safe side maybe he would try and avoid him for a little bit longer.

Tsunade's smile left her as she knew it was time to get down to business as she leaned forward. "Well whatever plans you all want I suggest you make it quick. Team 7 you have a special mission that I'll need to send you both on."

"A mission already?" Sakura asked surprised.

Tsunade nodded as she took a folder and looked at Asuma and Shikamaru and dismissed them for the day she didn't have anything for them just yet and they didn't need to know about the mission. When they left she opened the folder and turned it around so the entire team could look at it.

"We have been asked to do a joint mission with Suna," Tsunade explained the mission. "Since we are technically still 'at war' with the Sound village for what they did we have been trying to find the location of their village. Given that Orochimaru also runs this village apparently we can't let him just go unpunished for everything he's done in the past and hold a whole village worth of ninja under his command."

"Suna felt the same so a joint mission had been discussed, we recently found information from one of our sources that a possible location of the village would be in the Land of Rice Fields. At least there are some signs that the Sound ninja have been operating in that area. You're job will be to help capture any ninja for interrogation and find the location of the village. You are not to enter the village if you find it, this is a search mission and if Orochimaru finds out that we know where he's located he might pull up and run."

Tsunade remembered in the wars that when the smaller villages got caught in the crossfire or where discovered by the larger villages they would usually bug out of the place. The smaller ninja villages were able to do that with their lower population as they hardly had civilians in their villages. They couldn't have major trade like say Konoha that could defend the village from large attacks making merchants feel safe to put up shops. It was one of the reasons why the larger villages could afford so much as the merchant trade helped with the economy of running the village.

They wouldn't have that kind of luck with the Sound village, they couldn't just follow merchants right to the village as the smaller more hidden ones were smart enough not to take supplies directly to the village for just that reason.

"So who is this source exactly?" Kakashi asked looking more closely at the file.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade told them.

"Ero-sennin is out there?" Naruto asked surprised he had been wondering where the old hermit had disappeared to lately.

Tsunade tried not to smirk at the nickname no matter how appropriate she thought it was for him. "He's already in the area but he moves around quickly, I want you to try and find him and see what's he learned. If possible to also find the Sound village or at least if they aren't based in those lands what they are doing there. We can't let them roam around the lands doing as they please."

"Do we know what the Suna team will be like?" Sakura asked her.

Tsunade shook her head, "The reports didn't specify only that it's a three man team that you'll be meeting up with in a village listed in the report. From there you'll go to where Jiraiya was last reported that he was on the trail, try to pick up his trail and find him. I know it won't be easy as he is Konoha's spy master at the moment."

"Why don't we just look in every red light district or in the bushes of every hot spring?" Naruto said crossing his arms. "We'll most likely find him in either place."

Everyone sweat dropped as Naruto's comment might have been a bit too accurate, Tsunade felt a headache coming on as she might put good money on that was how they found him. Honestly why couldn't that man just act his age for once? Sure when he was younger it made a kind of sense but it was like he never grew out of that phase.

Kakashi coughed into his hand to get attention onto him and off Naruto's comment. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow if possible," Tsunade told them. "Anymore questions?"

There were none so everyone was dismissed for the day, Team 7 left the same way they came in now going down the stairs.

"I better tell my parents I'll be going for a bit," Sakura sighed she wanted to enjoy her promotion a bit more but it looked like they were already set out on their first missions as chunins. She knew her parents would be proud of her but they always did worry when she left on long term missions.

Sasuke was already making mental plans on what he might need for this mission, he didn't have anyone to say goodbye to so it left him more free time to plan things out.

Naruto was already trying on the vest but stopped when he felt it get in the way of the sword he liked to carry on his back. "Ah man the sword's in the way." Naruto liked carrying it on his back as it was the same sword that his adopted grandfather used.

"I can fix that up before we leave to modify it with a sheath," Kakashi told him taking the jacket and looking it over. "Some ninja like to modify these with little touches as they don't come with everything. I can show the rest of you on the mission as well if you find something you'd like to do."

"Is yours modified Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked looked at his own vest.

"Only a little," Kakashi told her honestly. "I switched out the heavier plating in the back with a more lighter metal as I didn't like to be slowed down as much. Plus a little here and there so it fit me better, mainly it's just the little things for myself. The pockets are unique to every ninja anyway so think carefully of what you'd want in them."

The three newly appointed chunin nodded their heads as Naruto took off his vest with the sword and handed it to his dad.

"Can you take these home for me, I really want to put on the vest and show it off to Hinata-chan before we leave." He asked his father.

Kakashi chuckled and nodded as he took the items and gave back Naruto his new vest. The boy quickly put it on and tried out the feel of it. It felt nice on himself he figured, he might need to adjust it a bit for his body size but not too much. Naruto rushed off to the Hyuga compound hoping that Hinata would be home as the others watched him run off.

For Naruto it was easy getting to the front doors of the walls that surrounded the compound. Decided to not try and sneak in he went to the guards and asked if Hinata was in. They would know if any of the main branch were still in or not. They hold him she was still inside as she asked permission to enter they let him in as they normally did as he was a usual sight around the place over the years. The guards all knew him and that he was a close friend of Hinata's. Although as he walked into the massive place he started to wonder if his relationship with Hinata had gotten around. Most likely as he looked to see various glances his way.

Some seems curious, a few seemed to almost be judging him like his worth might not be up to par with their own. A few got a few smiles, mainly from branch family members, they were usually the ones that were a bit more loose maybe because they didn't have as much weighing them down at the main branch who had to run everything. Over the years he had learned a lot about the differences in both casts, personally he didn't see why there was a need for two sides of the family, Sasuke said that the Uchiha had never done anything like it. Actually Sasuke had a lot to say about the differences in Uchiha and Hyuga surprisingly. It was one of the few subjects he actually seemed to like talking about.

Looking around he didn't see Hinata in any of the training areas so he went up to the main household on his way to her room he found her in the hallways. "Hey Hinata-chan!"

Hinata turned around and was surprised to see Naruto but noticing the green vest he was wearing her eyes went a bit larger.

Naruto chuckled, "Guess who made chunin today?"

"N-Naruto-kun that's wonderful," She was honestly very happy for him. She always believed that he could do it and seeing him now in his vest made her smile. She could see just how happy he looked, most might not because of the mask he wore these days but she could just tell by looking at him. She knew him better than anyone and the slight way he carried himself spoke volumes to her.

"Thanks I wanted you to be the first person I told after all."

"M-Me?" She felt her cheeks blush slightly.

"Of course you're my girlfriend after all so why wouldn't I?"

She smiled back at him, "You're right, I'm very proud of you."

With that he couldn't stand it anymore, he quickly took a step forward and hugged her. He hugged her close to him tightly as was enjoying the feel of his girlfriend against him. She really smelled nice he suddenly noticed, he kept wondering if that was a soap or shampoo she used that he was currently smelling. He made a mental note to find out one day maybe if she liked that stuff he could buy it for her as a present or something. Damn he really was going to have to talk with other girls and find out what they liked more often. He didn't want to really screw things up by getting her something she might not like. Her birthday was coming up in a few months too, he would have to get her something special for it.

Hinata blushed of course when he suddenly hugged her but she was slowly getting used to physical contact with Naruto, she was still a bit shy but she was slowly working her way past that. Plus the things he had done on their date made this seem so much more innocent in retrospect. She blushed harder at those memories, she hoped her father never found out about it. Oh...speaking of which as she saw the figure behind Naruto.

"Ahem," A deep cough brought Naruto out of his happy moment and looked behind him slightly annoyed. Then he did a double take and quickly let her go and got next to her showing his hands.

"See my hands were in a respectable place the entire time!" He suddenly said to the loaming form of Hinata's father who was giving him his best neutral stare. Naruto really hoped that he didn't think that he was doing anything perverted with Hinata. The last time he thought that they had ended up on a chase into the night on the rooftops of the village.

Hiashi just continued to stare down the boy without any kind of expression, Naruto hated it when he did this. It was unsettling and the way his pale eyes just bore into you Naruto felt like the man was somehow using the Byakugan to look right into his soul. He continued to look at Naruto for a long silent moment as the awkward moment. When he felt the boy had had enough he looked closely at the vet he was wearing.

"You've been promoted I see," Hiashi spoke finally.

"Uh...yeah," Naruto was a little unbalanced not expecting that. "I was just showing Hinata-chan as I got a mission tomorrow."

"Oh you do?" Hinata was a little disappointed hearing that.

"Yeah sorry I was going to tell you that next," Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Apparently it's kind of important and we need to head out tomorrow so I wanted to see you before I left. Not sure how long the mission will take."

"Oh," Although she would miss him she was thankful that he took the time to see her and let her know.

"Well thank you for letting my daughter know," Hiashi spoke up. "But I was taking Hinata to be trained with Hanabi now."

"Oh okay then," Naruto could hear the words that they were busy and he should go now in his tone. "Well do your best Hinata-chan I know you can do it."

"Thank you," She felt better hearing his encouragement.

Naruto waved to her goodbye as he left the house he turned a corner to head to the main gate when he nearly bumped into someone. He stopped dead seeing Neji in front of him, the older boy had his arms crossed and looked to have been waiting for him to get out of the house as Naruto had taken the most direct path to the front gate.

"Uh...hey Neji what's up? You do something different with your hair?" Nothing, not even a twitch from that and that worried Naruto. "Uh...so...how have ya been?"

Still silence and Naruto was quickly trying to remember the quickest way out of here the bad news was that Neji most likely knew of all those places too.

"Hatake," Neji finally spoke up. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Naruto knew but he could always hope it might be about the weather.

"About you and Hinata-sama and what happened when you two were alone for a few hours." Neji clarified.

Naruto groaned this had been turning out to be such a good day today too.

( IMPORTANT CHECK COMMENTS NOW OR YOU WILL MISS SOMETHING VERY Good)

Next up Chapter 17: We Three from Suna