Team Seven arrived at the location for the team photos bright and early, each one of them wearing a mask folded over and hidden beneath the collars of their shirts. Kakashi quickly gathered them together and ushered them towards the impatiently waiting photographer.

"Okay," the photographer said, once they had taken their places, the genin in the front and Kakashi in the back. "On the count of three, say 'shinobi.' One, two, three!"

The three of them quickly pulled up their masks over their faces. "Shinobi!"

The camera flashed. They pulled down the masks before Kakashi could see. The photographer waved them away, and they hurried away to the training ground, exchanging private grins all the while. On the way, they passed Sasuke and his team, escorted by Obito.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, who else passed?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, Kogane and Asuma both passed their teams. So, Teams Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten," Kakashi said. "But I wouldn't worry too much about them. You're going to have your hands full with your own training."

"What are we doing?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, a little bit of everything," Kakashi said vaguely.

From then on, Kakashi put them through their paces, drilling them on everything from taijutsu to genjutsu to survival tactics. Every day they did some kind of teamwork exercise, usually against Obito's team. They played a lot of capture the flag, although Kakashi and Obito always changed the rules each time they played so they never really knew what to expect.

For the first week, all they did was train, making sure everyone knew the basic chakra control exercise and a few techniques that weren't taught in the Academy but that Kakashi and Obito swore were useful in the field. And then, finally, after lunch one day, Kakashi announced that they were ready for their first mission.

Naruto grinned all the way to the Hokage's office. "I can't wait! What's it gonna be, what's it gonna be? Something cool, right?"

Heiwa opened her mouth as if to say something, only to close it again.

"It'll be super cool!" Obito laughed.

Naruto and Minori both cheered.

Naruto's team was shown through first when they arrived at the Hokage's office. Sakumo looked up with a smile as they entered. A young man who looked like an Uchiha grinned and gave them a little wave.

"Team Seven, your first mission," Sakumo said, and held out a scroll.

Naruto eagerly grabbed it. His eyes quickly skimmed over the paper, absorbing all of the information in it, and his smile was replaced by a frown. "This is a joke, right?"

Minori leaned in and peered at the scroll. "Painting a fence?"

Sakura frowned. "This sounds more like a chore my parents would give me."

They looked up at Kakashi, who smiled down at them. "Welcome to the world of D-ranks! Your first mission is painting a fence. Be grateful you didn't get Tora."

"Who's Tora?" Naruto wondered.

By the end of the third week of D-ranks, he wished he had never heard the name Tora. He'd hoped that the first mission was a prank, and that they'd move onto more interesting things, but no. After painting a fence, they had to go grocery shopping for some old lady. After that, they had to help a shopkeeper unpack several loads of goods. Then, they had to help clean up several different training grounds, and then weed a garden, and then babysit. The mundane tasks continued for days, until Naruto was sure he'd go crazy.

The worst mission, however, was Tora.

Tora was the daimyo's wife's cat. On the surface, it didn't sound like such a bad mission. It sounded like it could be interesting, even. They had to track down the cat and return it to the daimyo's wife. Naruto didn't count on the stupid cat being possessed .

By the time the cat was finally back in the clutches of the daimyo's wife, Naruto was covered with scratches all the way up his arms. Sakura and Minori had fared slightly better, as they hadn't been tasked with carrying the cat, but even they looked rather horrified by the experience.

"Oooh, Hokage-sama, thank you," the woman gushed. "These cute little genin saved my Tora!"

"Any time," Sakumo said. The woman continued to coo over her cat, and Sakumo turned his attention on Kakashi. "Another mission?"

At Kakashi's nod, the young Uchiha working in the Hokage's office, who Naruto had learned was named Shisui, began to dig through a pile of scrolls. "I think someone just submitted a request for some genin!"

"Can we have another mission? Like, a C-rank?" Naruto blurted.

Sakumo stroked his chin. "A C-rank, hm? What do you think, Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded once. "They're ready."

"Oh, I have just the thing!" the Daimyo's wife exclaimed. "I'm traveling back to the Capital at the end of the week. I was going to request an escort, but my sweet little Tora going missing completely distracted me! Your cute little genin rescued him so promptly, I would love to have them for the job! And your own relatives on the team, too. Why, it's just perfect!"

"Of course, Madam Shijimi," Sakumo said. "I'll have a mission scroll written up immediately. When did you plan on leaving? And will it be just yourself, or your family?"

Shisui pulled out a scroll and began to write.

"Oh, just me, my husband, and my two daughters," she said. "And Tora, of course. I wanted to leave early this Friday."

"How about ten in the morning?" Sakumo suggested.

She giggled. "Why, that's far too early! Noon would be much better."

"Noon it is," Sakumo said amiably. "Do you anticipate any trouble? For instance, have your or any members of your family received any threats?"

Naruto perked up at the suggestion; maybe they would get to do some actual fighting on this trip.

His hopes were quickly dashed.

"No, not at all!" she laughed. "And we aren't traveling with any valuables. Why, we will be perfectly incognito!"

Shisui approached with the scroll. "Does this look to be in order, Madam Shijimi?"

Madam Shijimi glanced down at the scroll. "Why, that looks perfect! Our carriages will be waiting at the gates."

Sakumo dipped his head to her. "We appreciate your business, Madam Shijimi."

Still stroking her cat, Madam Shijimi left the room. Naruto made a face at her back as the door shut behind her. "Do we have to take a C-rank with her?"

"She specifically requested your team," Sakumo said, as he signed and stamped the scroll and handed it to Kakashi. "There you have it, your first C-rank!"

It was with Madam Shijimi and her dumb cat, but at least it wasn't another D-rank. Naruto grinned at Sakura and Minori as they left the room. As they passed the mission assignment desk, Naruto caught sight of Sasuke's team waiting in line to turn in their mission.

Obito waved at them cheerfully. "Hey! What were you up to?"

"Tora," Kakashi said. Obito shuddered.

Sasuke's eyes were glued to the scroll in Kakashi's hand. "You got a C-rank?"

"Yeah, but it's just escorting Madam Shijimi and her husband and her dumb cat to the Capital," Naruto said. "I hope we get attacked by bandits!"

"You do realize that Madam Shijimi's husband is the daimyo of our country," Heiwa said. "Do you even understand the networking opportunity you've been handed?"

"Networking? Like, making a net? For fishing?"

Heiwa rolled her eyes and turned away. Naruto gave up with a shrug; Heiwa was pretty weird sometimes.

Sasuke turned to glare at Obito. "We're getting a C-rank."

"What?" Obito scratched at the back of his head. "Sure, if you want. Hinata, Heiwa, are you two down for a C-rank?"

Heiwa nodded firmly, and after a moment, Hinata nodded as well. "Okay!" Obito declared. "Team Eight gets its first C-rank! Let's go!"

"Ah, Obito-sensei . . ." Hinata trailed off.

"We have to turn in the old mission first," Sasuke said bluntly. Judging by the paint on their hands and clothes, Naruto had an idea of what they'd had to do.

Kakashi's hand landed on his shoulder, nudging him along. "We're taking up space. We aren't getting a mission, so we should get out of the way. Now, I want all of you to go home and prepare for a C-rank. Tomorrow, show me what you packed, and I'll let you know if you should add or leave anything. We will then have a briefing on what to do on a bodyguard mission such as this. Friday, we'll meet at the gates an hour before the appointed time."

Sakura went off towards her own house, while Minori and Naruto walked together, discussing what they thought they should bring. Naruto, personally, was of the opinion that they should bring cup ramen. He'd tried one of Narumi's ration bars once, and it was so disgusting he'd spat it out immediately. Minori, who didn't actually like cup ramen, was wondering how many candy bars he could hide in his pack without Kakashi finding them.

"You can't survive on candy bars," Naruto said.

"Can too," was Minori's eloquent retort.

They continued the debate until they parted ways to go to their own houses. Narumi was sitting on the veranda, squinting at a shogi board with Sakumo across from him.

Naruto wandered up and leaned against the veranda. "Hey, jiji, weren't you just in your office?"

"I'm a shadow clone," said the Sakumo at the board. "Ahah! Take that, Narumi."

Narumi sighed and leaned back. "You're too good at this game."

"You're just bad," Sakumo said. "Shikaku beats me every time."

"That's Shikaku. Everyone's bad compared to him," Narumi said. He turned to Naruto with a smile as Sakumo reset the board. "How was your day? You're back earlier than normal."

"Yeah, we didn't do a second D-rank today," Naruto said. "We had Tora."

Narumi winced. "Ah."

"It was horrible!" Naruto declared. "But I guess that lady really liked us, because she asked us to escort her and her family back to the Capital for our first C-rank."

"Really? Escorting the daimyo's family?" Narumi frowned thoughtfully. "Huh."

"What's the matter? This isn't a famously horrible C-rank, is it?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. I've never done a mission like this." Narumi looked at Sakumo.

"It's an odd assignment," Sakumo said. "The daimyo usually has civilian guards traveling with him, and that tends to ward off any bandits, and two to four of the Twelve Guardians usually come with him to ward off any shinobi. Really, it's unusual that they would even request a genin team—ah, but of course."

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

Sakumo thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to tell you. The ranks of the Twelve Guardians were decimated recently. Ten of them were killed. One of the survivors is now the head monk of the Fire Temple, and the other returned to Konoha. You might know him as the sensei of some of your classmates, Asuma Sarutobi. The daimyo must not have hired their replacements yet."

Naruto grinned. "So we're like, the temporary replacements for the Twelve Guardians? Awesome! This C-rank is way cooler than I thought! Hey, hey, is the daimyo gonna be attacked on the road?"

"It has happened before, but it isn't a frequent occurrence," Sakumo said. "I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"Still, the Twelve Guardians! Hehe, Sasuke's gonna be so jealous when I tell him. I bet he's got a super lame mission!"

Sasuke was never going to tell Naruto what his team's first C-rank was. Part of him wanted to go to Shisui and demand some favoritism just so they could get out of it. This was bound to be to the worst, most boring C-rank ever.

The drunk old man took a swig of his alcohol and burped. He shot them a disdainful look. "These brats are the ones protecting me?"

"I have the utmost confidence in my brats!" Obito declared cheerfully.

They were protecting a bridge-builder. Even worse, a drunk, ornery bridge-builder. Meanwhile, Naruto and his team got to cozy up to the daimyo.

The old man took a swig of his drink again.

Sasuke could tell already: this was one of those legendary horrible missions all his older relatives liked to talk about. Everyone had at least one, and this was looking to be his. Judging by Heiwa's purposefully blank expression, she felt the same. Hinata, on the other hand, just looked nervous. Not that she ever looked anything but nervous.

In Sasuke's opinion, he had one-half of a good team. Heiwa was smart, strong, and capable, Obito was an idiot and a loudmouth, and Hinata was nervous and hesitant. She also refused to fight him properly. Everytime Obito paired them up for a spar, Hinata would stammer and make some half-hearted attempt at fighting him before letting him win. It infuriated him like nothing else. Just because she was the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, she thought that she could look down on him, that she didn't need to bother really fighting him.

"Alright, let's get a move on!" Obito said. "We're burning daylight."

If they were burning daylight, it was Obito's fault; they had planned to meet up at noon, but the old man had been late by an hour, and Obito by two hours.

Obito, as one of the two people in their group who actually knew how to get to Nami, led the way out of the village. Hinata and Heiwa took up positions on either side of the old man, and Sasuke followed behind, in the position where people would be least likely to try to talk to him. Obito was the only one to talk anyways, cheerfully questioning the old man all about his life and getting little more than irritated grunts in response. Sasuke did his best to tune them out.

As soon as possible, he was going to take the chuunin exam and get off this team.

"Okay, kids!" Obito said cheerfully. "Pop quiz! What's the weather been for the past few days?"

"Sunny and warm," Heiwa said promptly.

"Ding ding! So, question two! If it's been sunny, why did we just pass a puddle?"

They all stiffened. A blur of motion out of the corner of his eye sent Sasuke spinning around, just in time to see two shinobi leap out of the puddle, one of them jumping over their heads. A chain stretched out between them, wrapping around Obito.

Obito's eyes flashed red, a strange pattern showing in his eyes. Sasuke nearly dropped his kunai in surprise. He'd never seen Obito use the Sharingan before. He hadn't thought that Obito even had the Sharingan. The clan elders had shaken their heads when they heard who his sensei was, lamenting that he had a teacher who hadn't even managed to awaken his Sharingan.

The chain pulled tight.

Obito vanished.

Sasuke blinked, and Obito stood behind another enemy shinobi, tanto gleaming with chakra. He thrust the blade through the enemy shinobi's chest before the man could even turn around. "Protect Tazuna!" he yelled, before launching himself towards the other shinobi.

Sasuke looked around to find that Heiwa had taken up a defensive position in front of Tazuna. Even Hinata had stepped forward to guard him. Neither of them so much as glanced at him as he joined them.

From his position, Sasuke couldn't see what was going on with Obito. He heard the clash of metal of metal, occasional grunts or curses, and nothing else.

A shout of pain lanced through the air, and Sasuke couldn't help but turn around. Obito was gripping his arm, blood flowing from between his fingers. Sasuke stepped forward—he could take out the shinobi with a shuriken, he knew he could—only for Hinata's hands to slam against his arm, pushing him to the ground. A split second later, a sword whizzed through the air, right where Sasuke had been only a moment before.

A man stepped out from the trees. Bandages covered his face all the way up to his nose. He wore a headband, but it was turned to the side, so Sasuke couldn't see what village he was from. His aura was so menacing Sasuke couldn't help but lean back, and Hinata sank to her knees. Tazuna fell backwards completely, mouth agape. Even Heiwa's legs were trembling, although she had locked her knees so she wouldn't collapse.

His menacing gaze landed on Sasuke. "Look alive, brat. Not paying attention is a good way to get yourself killed."

The man's gaze moved past Sasuke. Sasuke followed his line of sight, and his eyes landed on the sword, speared through two more Kiri shinobi.

The man stepped forward. Sasuke tried to stand, or even just scoot backwards, but his body refused to move. Hinata, shakily, raised her kunai. The man stepped past them carelessly and pulled the sword free.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps, and saw that Obito had killed the remaining shinobi. His hand was still clamped over his bleeding arm, but he was standing.

"Zabuza Momochi," Obito said. "The Demon of the Mist."

Zabuza slung his sword over his shoulder. "You know me. I don't know you."

Sasuke couldn't help but stare as Obito let go of his arm and held out his hand to Zabuza. "Obito Uchiha, from Konoha." He glanced down at his hand, covered in blood, and let it drop to his side. "Thanks for taking care of my genin."

"They shouldn't be here," Zabuza said.

Obito grimaced. "Yeah, I know that now. Intel said this was only a C-rank. I didn't expect Kiri to send shinobi after us."

"They're invested in making sure that bridge never gets built," Zabuza said. "Mei Terumi is invested in making sure it does."

"Thought so. You're with the coup, aren't you? I heard Uzushio was helping you guys out," Obito said. "Well, the friend of my friend is my friend. Thanks for your help. We kind of got dropped in the deep end there."

"You should take your genin back to Konoha," Zabuza said. "Stick to the kiddie pool."

"We're not going back!" Sasuke snapped.

Obito looked at them, surprised. "Uh, this is like, A-rank level stuff we're dealing with. I have to take you back to Konoha."

"We're not going," Sasuke said. "I am not failing my first C-rank."

"You wouldn't be failing it," Obito said. "It's more like it wouldn't count. This is an A-rank mission, and trust me, you guys are not ready for an A-rank. We were lucky Zabuza was around to help us."

Sasuke scowled and looked towards his teammates; surely one of them would have some idea of how to get Obito to agree to let them continue the mission.

Heiwa met his eyes and nodded once before speaking up. "Sensei, we want to help Tazuna. We shouldn't abandon our comrades, right? Even if it is against the rules?"

Obito ran a hand through his hair. "Aw, man. I'm gonna catch so much hell for this. Fine, we'll do the mission. But I'm sending a message to Konoha the moment we arrive to let them know what's up."

"Wouldn't it be better to send a message now?" Heiwa asked.

"Yeah, maybe. But, uh, we kind of have a more urgent issue to deal with. Anyone here know how to treat poison?"

Obito wobbled, his eyes slipping closed, and fell without another word. Sasuke and Heiwa both started forwards, but Sasuke knew they wouldn't catch him in time.

A blur shot down from the trees, and in a heartbeat a figure stood between them and Obito, supporting Obito purely with his own strength. Slowly, the stranger lowered Obito to the ground. Sasuke couldn't see his face due to the mask, but Zabuza didn't seem alarmed and Sasuke couldn't sense anything dangerous from the stranger.

The figure examined Obito for a moment, then looked up. "I have the antidote, but he needs to be taken somewhere safe to recover."

"M-my house," Tazuna said, speaking up for the first time since the fight. "You can stay at my house, all of you."

Zabuza nodded and stepped forward. The stranger poured something over Obito's wounds and bandaged them, then stepped back, allowing Zabuza to hoist Obito up and over his shoulder.

"Keep up," he said, not even looking back at them. "I'm not here to babysit."

Sasuke scowled at the man's back, almost missing Hinata stepping up to his side.

"U-um, sorry I pushed you, Sasuke-kun . . . are you okay?"

Sasuke glared at her and followed after Zabuza without a word. He didn't need Hinata's pity. They would complete this mission, and then she'd know better than to look down on him.

On Friday morning, Naruto met with his team at eleven in the morning. Minori and Kakashi were already there, as was Sakura. The daimyo's family was nowhere to be seen.

Noon came and went. Still, there was no sign of them.

Two carriages finally rolled up to the gate when it was nearly one in the afternoon, not long after the genin had given up on standing and had started up a round of 'The Daimyo is Late Because' while they waited.

They jumped up as the carriages approached, along with a small complement of guards, and an older man stepped out of the carriage. He didn't look very impressive in Naruto's opinion; he'd thought that the daimyo would look super rich and awesome, but this dude just had a kind of lame mustache. He and Kakashi exchanged some pleasantries that Naruto quickly tuned out, and then the daimyo got back into the carriage.

Kakashi went to the front of the line, while the three genin went towards the back. Minori and Sakura took the sides, while Naruto took the very back. Between Kakashi and the genin, three guards went along each side of the line, with another guard riding on top of each carriage.

Within three hours of their walk, Naruto was bored beyond belief.

"Hey, Sakura," he said, loud enough that she could hear but hopefully quietly enough that no one would overhear. "How long to the Capital?"

"At this speed? About a day," she said. "I don't know if we'll stop along the way, though."

Naruto groaned. "Really? Are we just going to keep walking like this all day? It's so . . . boring."

"It is a little," Sakura admitted.

"We could keep playing a game," Minori said.

"I think Kakashi-sensei might get mad at us for that," Sakura said.

"At least we wouldn't be bored," Naruto said.

"Okay, I've got one! I spy, with my Sharingan eye, something . . . green!"

Worst. Mission. Ever.

"I spy something . . . blue."

"Ugh, blue again? The sky," Naruto said.

"Naruto's shirt," Minori suggested.

Sakura sighed. "It was Naruto's shirt."

"We've already done my shirt, like, five times," Naruto said.

"Well, there isn't exactly a lot to choose from," Sakura said.

"I'm so bored," Naruto groaned.

Minori stared at the wagons. "Is it just me, or are we slowing down?"

Sakura blinked. "You're right, I think we are!"

In a swirl of leaves, Kakashi appeared in front of them. "We're taking a break, my cute little genin."

With groans of relief, all three of them sank to the ground. "Sensei, this mission is horrible," Naruto said. "I thought bodyguard jobs were supposed to be interesting!"

"They are when you actually get attacked," Kakashi said. "Half the time, it's just a lot of walking and watching. Don't forget to stay alert, even if you're bored. Letting your guard down is like welcoming an ambush."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," they chorused.

Kakashi dropped ration bars into their laps. "Eat up, we've got a long walk ahead of us."

Sakura took a bite and promptly spat it out. Minori grimaced, pinched his nose, and wolfed it down. Naruto squinted at it.

"D'you think if I put a heating seal on my cup ramen and pour my canteen into it, it'll boil the water?" he asked Sakura.

Minori laughed. "Try it, try it!"

"It sounds like a worthy experiment," Sakura said. "I'll take one too."

Naruto unsealed two cup ramen from his back, and he and Sakura poured their canteens into it. He didn't have a heating seal ready, so they had to wait for him to draw two of them on spare sealing tags.

He'd just finished the first one when a man with a sword launched himself at them from the trees, heading straight for Naruto. On reflex, Naruto smacked the seal against the man's armor and activated it. The man shrieked, clawing at the metal. "Hot! Hot!"

The civilian guards ran around the corner of the carriage, weapons drawn. They hesitated as they took in the sight of the man now desperately scrabbling at his armor, trying to remove it. Whatever they had intended to do, none of them had a chance to do it, as more bandits flooded out of the trees, engaging the guards. Several of them were quickly wrapped up with branches and yanked back into the forest, courtesy of Kakashi's mokuton.

Naruto didn't have time to observe for long, as he was quickly engaged by yet another bandit, this one with dual blades. Sakura, at his back, was fighting a woman with a sword, while Minori was dealing with a young man with a dagger gleaming with poison.

"Naruto! Duck!"

Naruto dropped to the ground, kicking out at the bandit's legs as he did, and a kunai with a seal attached sailed overhead. The bandit went down, and as he did, Naruto took the opportunity to grab a sleep seal from his pouch.

"Minori!"

Naruto glanced back briefly to see another seal sailed through the air. The swords swept towards him, and he jumped back. He needed to get in close to apply the sleep seal, but the bandit was determined to keep him away. A bandit, however, was no ninja.

A surge of chakra was all it took to propel Naruto forward, seal at the ready. The bandit didn't even have time to react before Naruto slammed the seal against his forehead and activated it. "Fuinjutsu!" the man gasped, before falling to the ground.

"We have a fuinjutsu user!" a bandit yelled, running forwards to come to the defense of his friend. Naruto ducked under his blow and smacked a palm against his back, sending him stumbling forwards into the bandit Sakura had been fighting. The brief moment of confusion gave Sakura enough time to throw another seal behind her, dash to the center of the three seals she had thrown, and press her hands against the ground. In a flash of light, a barrier shaped like a three-sided pyramid rose around them. The bandits who had been running towards them, summoned by the yell of their companion, smacked against the wall and screamed in pain before falling to the ground, unconscious.

Sakura winced. "It wasn't supposed to do that."

"Great job, Sacchan!" Minori cheered as he exchanged blows with his bandit.

"Yeah, but we're kind of trapped inside now!" Naruto pointed out.

"So?" Minori said.

"So what if Kakashi-sensei needs our help?" Naruto said.

"I think he's got it," Sakura said, motioning outside the barrier. Branches and roots whipped through the air, sending bandits flying. Naruto had to admit that Kakashi seemed to be in his element out there.

The two bandits Naruto had pushed into each other finally righted themselves and stood back to back, facing off with Naruto and Sakura. Naruto was quickly swept into the fight, exchanging blows with the bandit.

He reached into his bag for another seal and slapped it against the bandit he was fighting. Instead of putting the bandit to sleep, however, it exploded, tearing up the ground and blasting the bandit against the barrier. He dropped to the ground, unconscious, and Naruto flung himself forward to tackle the bandit Sakura had been attempting to take out. Sakura quickly followed up, slapping a seal against his forehead and knocking him out.

A quiet gasp drew their attention to the fight, and Naruto turned around just in time to see Minori trip over a root, exposed by the explosion that had torn up the ground, and fall back. He kicked up at the bandit, face twisted in a wince as his foot connected with the bandit's groin.

The bandit howled and sank to his knees. Naruto was pretty sure he was going to be pissed off as soon as he recovered, so he quickly ran over to knock the guy out.

"You okay, Minori?" he asked, turning around.

Minori rubbed his ankle. "Ah, yeah, I'm okay. I think I hurt my ankle."

Naruto scratched his head. "Uh, what are we supposed to do for that again?"

Sakura frowned at him. "You'd know if you paid attention in the first aid classes."

Naruto grinned, unrepentant. "But that's what I have you two for!"

Sakura sighed and shook her head as she knelt down next to Minori. "Here, I'll wrap it for you, since Naruto over here is useless at first aid. It isn't broken, is it?"

"Just a sprain, I think!" Minori declared cheerfully. "It doesn't even hurt that much."

They all looked up as Kakashi approached the barrier, an amused look in his eye. "Next time, I recommend putting the barrier around the clients, instead of yourselves."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, that would've been a better idea."

Sakura blushed. "Sorry. I acted in the heat of the moment."

"You'll get better with practice," Kakashi said. "Now take this down. The daimyo is anxious to move on. Minori, can you walk?"

As Sakura broke the barrier, Minori stood, still smiling cheerfully. "Yep!"

Kakashi eyed him critically. "You're not walking."

Without another word, he hoisted Minori up, opened the door of the carriage closest to them, and tossed Minori inside. "Sakura, Naruto, watch the back. And don't let him escape," Kakashi instructed before returning to the head of the line.

Naruto sighed as they once again began to trudge along behind the carriages. "Now it's going to be even more boring. Why couldn't I have sprained an ankle? At least I wouldn't have to walk."

"There's nothing to stop you from tripping over a root," Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah, but if Kakashi knew I did it on purpose, he wouldn't stick me in a carriage with Minori. He'd stick me with the daimyo and his wife," Naruto said.

Sakura shivered. "I think I'd rather keep walking."

"Yeah, so let's not sprain our ankles," Naruto said. "I'd rather not have to put up with Tora the cat in a confined space. But jeez, Minori is lucky. He doesn't have to walk, and he gets to spend time with some princesses."

"Some people have all the luck." Sakura sighed, and Naruto sighed along with her.

Minori grinned at the girl across from him. "Hi! I'm Minori!"

She sniffed delicately and pointedly looked away from him. Minori looked at the girl next to him, only for her to lower her eyes and stare at her lap.

Minori resigned himself to a boring carriage ride without his friends.

He made a few more attempts at conversation, but all of them were ignored until the girl across from him fell asleep.

"My name is . . . Yuzuki."

Minori looked at the girl next to him, surprised. "Oh! I didn't think you were going to talk to me."

"It isn't proper for a princess to speak to a commoner," Yuzuki said. "Onee-sama hardly even leaves the palace. However, as you are the grandchild of the Hokage, we are nearly peers. As such, you may address me as Yuzuki-sama, instead of hime-sama."

"Okay, Yuzuchii!"

Minori laughed at the shocked expression on her face. This carriage ride was looking up. Although he still would have preferred to be with his friends.

Yuzuki coughed delicately. "I must admit, Minori-san, that I do not know much about the shinobi world. I know that the Uchiha and the Senju founded the village, and that the current leader of the village is Sakumo Hatake, but I do not know much else. Are the Hatake a very large clan?"

"Not at all," Minori laughed, waving a hand. "It's just me, my parents, and my grandfather. And you don't have to speak so formally! We're probably around the same age."

"I am thirteen years old," Yuzuki said.

"And I'm twelve! See, practically the same age," Minori said. "You can just call me Minori."

"Very well . . . Minori." Yuzuki blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Is it interesting, being a shinobi? I assume you must have all sorts of stories."

"This is actually my first real mission," Minori admitted. "Before we were doing D-ranks. Things like painting fences, finding lost pets, shopping for groceries, pulling weeds, that sort of thing."

Yuzuki's eyes widened. "They make the grandchild of the Hokage do manual labor like a servant?"

"Well, shinobi do serve the village! We do whatever's necessary," Minori said. "And no one treats me special just because I'm related to the Hokage."

"Really?"

"Really really!"

Yuzuki looked down at her lap. "That must be nice."

"I guess." Minori hummed thoughtfully. "Hey, I don't have a lot of stories of my own, but I have a bunch that my family told me, if you want to hear them."

"Do you . . . perhaps . . ." Yuzuki blushed again. "Do you have any about . . . handsome shinobi?"

Minori grinned. "I'll see what I can do."

For the rest of the ride, Minori filled her head with stories of the Yondaime, who Minori was pretty sure was the most handsome shinobi to ever exist. He only stopped when the carriage finally rattled to a halt.

The door opened, and Naruto's grinning face appeared. Minori grinned back automatically. "Hey, Nakkun!"

"Yo! We brought food," Naruto said, holding up a basket. He leaned in to whisper loudly to Minori. "Did you know they get real food? Totally not fair!"

Minori grabbed the basket and opened it up, revealing an elegantly packed bento. It looked even better than the bento Obito made him, and that was saying something. "Thanks, Nakkun. How are things out there?"

Naruto made a face. "Boring. And my feet hurt. Sakura and I are gonna try using a seal to make ramen again."

Minori waved him off. "Bye! I'll let you know how good the bento is!"

"Yeah, and I'm gonna kick your ass when we spar again!" Naruto retorted. Yuzuki gasped quietly.

Minori stuck out his tongue and shut the door. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei says that Nakkun 'lacks any sense of tact.' Here's your food. Should we wake up your sister?"

"Best not," Yuzuki said. "She always gets sick on carriage rides, so I believe we are better off letting her sleep. You can share with me instead."

"Thanks," Minori said, reaching over to help himself to a piece of sushi. The fish practically melted in his mouth. "Mm! Do you eat like this every day?"

"Not usually," Yuzuki said. "The cook at home is much better than the one in Konoha."

"You mean it's better than this? Yuzuchii, remind me to visit you someday!"

The door opened again. "Nakkun, I'm not giving you any of this bento," Minori said, as he plucked a piece of fatty tuna out of the box.

A hand grabbed his collar, snatching him out of the carriage. A second hand moved past him, grabbing Yuzuki and pulling her out as well. A hand pressed over his mouth, preventing him from calling out as he was tucked under someone's arm and carried off into the forest. He could see the civilian guards eating their lunch, and Kakashi was speaking to someone in the daimyo's carriage, but he couldn't see Sakura or Naruto anywhere.

His heart hammered in his chest—he had to do something. One of his arms was free, the other pressed firmly between his body and the body of the man carrying him. He reached up just enough to remove his headband, letting it fall to the ground.

Hopefully, that would be enough.

"Naruto! Naruto, what are you doing?"

Naruto stopped as a hand on elbow pulled him back. "Huh? Sakura? I thought—"

He stopped; he'd had a reason for leaving the carriages and going deeper into the forest, but now he couldn't have said what it was. He shook his head, trying to ignore the foreboding feeling inside him. "Nevermind. Let's go back."

Sakura sighed, clearly exasperated. "You're the one who suddenly went running off for no reason."

"Hehe, sorry," Naruto said sheepishly. "C'mon, before Kakashi-sensei finds out and gets mad at us."

They hadn't gone far from the carriages, at least. They only had to walk a few minutes before they could see them, and a few minutes more before they were next to the carriages again.

Their two cups of ramen had been left on the ground next to the carriage, but one of them had been knocked over. Naruto knelt next to the one still standing and sulked as he poked at it with his chopsticks. "This sucks. It's cold."

"Hey, Naruto? Could you take a look at this?"

Naruto slurped up his mouthful of noodles. "Yeah?"

Sakura was crouched next to the door to the carriage. "Here."

Naruto walked over and looked over her shoulder. There was a shoe imprint in the dirt. "So?"

"These are shinobi sandal tracks, but they aren't from any of us," Sakura said. "They're too big to be any of us, even Kakashi-sensei."

"Well, there's probably lots of ninja who use this road," Naruto said. He knocked a hand against the door. "Hey, Minori, did you see anyone come by?"

There was no response. Frowning, Sakura stood and opened the door. Naruto glanced over her shoulder.

The carriage was empty but for the older princess. Minori and the second princess were both gone.

Naruto gulped, his mouth dry. "I think we'd better get Kakashi-sensei."

"What happened?"

Without giving them a chance to answer, Kakashi peered into the carriage. "Is she unconscious, or just asleep?"

"Asleep, I think," Naruto said. "She was asleep when I brought in the lunch earlier."

Kakashi picked up a piece of sushi. "They were interrupted in the middle of eating. Did either of you see anyone?"

Sakura glanced at Naruto. Naruto gulped around the guilty lump in his throat. "It's my fault. I wandered away from the carriage and Sakura went after me."

Kakashi's eye landed on him. "Why?"

"Why?" Again, Naruto tried to remember why, but it was a blur. "I . . . I dunno."

Kakashi nodded. "Genjutsu. Sakura, Naruto, stay here. One of you guard each carriage. I'll be right back."

With that, Kakashi summoned a snake and walked into the forest, following the footprints leading from the carriage. Naruto sighed and leaned against the carriage door as Sakura scurried over to stand by the daimyo's carriage.

Kakashi was only gone for ten or fifteen minutes before he returned, holding a headband that could only be Minori's. Naruto remembered him replacing the standard dark blue band with a purple one.

"I have to make sure the daimyo gets to the Capital," Kakashi said. "You two, go with Sage and look for Minori. I'll join you soon. Don't do anything until I get there unless Minori and the princess are in imminent danger, understand?"

They both nodded. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei!"

The snake twined around Naruto's legs before slithering into this forest. "I ssssmell him . . . thisssss way . . ."

As the carriages rattled off towards the capital, Naruto and Sakura raced through the forest after the snake. They didn't encounter anyone, but they also didn't see any more signs of Minori. They were completely reliant on the snake.

Eventually, the snake led them to one of the many caves dotting the landscape, ones that Iwa ninja had used as hideouts during the war, Sakura told him as they lay on the ground in the shrubbery, watching the entrance to the cave. A single shinobi guarded the entrance.

"And now we wait for Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.