Thanks for waiting so long.

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Chapter 7 - Blue

1

"Hey Naruto, do you think I could confuse Jiraiya with one of my techniques?" Isis asked Naruto, grinning at him through the blazing campfire.

Naruto snorted. "Isis, all you need to do is put on a bikini and let Jiraiya think his lame pick-up-lines are actually working."

Laughter rippled through their group spread around the campfire. Everyone knew about Jiriaya's weakness for women; he had been the one who had told them in the first place. Stories of his and Jiraiya's travels were often humorous. Of course, he never told them about the ones that were not.

"And how would you know that that would work?" Isis shot back. "It is not as if you've ever seen me in a bikini. Maybe I would look like a pig in one."

Naruto cracked a grin, thinking over the next set of words to come out of his mouth carefully. "True, but I sure would love to see you in one. And you wouldn't look like a pig, that's for sure."

Laughter rippled through their party again. Joke or no joke, he still would have liked to see Isis in a bikini. She was not stunningly beautiful like Bea, but she was just as pretty-if not prettier-than Caroline, who was more than just your average woman. Isis, however, had a sexual innocence about her that never ceased to amaze him. It was as if she didn't know what love making was and how babies were made. Bea and Caroline were both aware that they were pretty and attractive, and sometimes they used that to their advantage. Sometimes he thought Jiraiya had rubbed off on him with the woman thing.

"Why the hell are we camping out here instead of spending the night in a comfortable bed?" Suan asked slightly angrily; he was not a fan camping out.

"Because these tree girls wanted to sleep under the stars," Naruto pointed out, gesturing to the Isis, Caroline, and Bea. Both he and Suan knew that the girls controlled their little group; partly by democracy, partly by numbers, and partly the girls-have-to-stick-together bond that every woman has. That, and the fact that Caroline was team leader left, he and Suan were outnumbered two to three. It was not often they got to decide anything. Things were usually decided by votes-thing that could be decided by votes were-and the girls usually stuck together. "One day we'll get back at them, Suan." He added jokingly.

That day, however, was far away and Naruto knew it. Unless Caroline stepped down as team leader or died, the only one with the power change things around in the team was the Hokage and a few high ranking ninjas. Besides, he didn't want Caroline to die or anything like it, but sometimes the iron fist control the girls had became frustrating. There were precious few people he could honestly say he cared about, but this group absolutely fell into that small coveted category. Jiraiya had a place there as well, earned by training and taking care of him all those years. Ino had also claimed a spot despite his short stay in the Village. He didn't even know how it had happened, it just had. Every time he thought about her it felt as he was strolling down guilt lane. When they eventually returned to the Village he knew he was going to get quite a talking too; not just from Ino, but from Sasuke and all the others as well. Why did the goddamn prick have to go and tell everyone!

For the past three months they had been patrolling the Leaf borders, making a circuit around the entire territory. Before, during the Third's reign, this would have been a relatively boring task, but not anymore. When Orochimaru and the Sand launched their attack on the Leaf the dams broke throughout the world. No one declared outright war against anyone else, but the time of skirmishes and run-ins with ninjas of other villages was back. Ninjas such as Kakashi, who had been peacekeepers before, now became renowned ninjas once again. It was survival of the fittest.

Despite only having to stay out on patrol for a couple of weeks at a time their team had been out for three months. When they first set out everyone except Naruto had expressed their desire not to go and how they looked forward to coming home. Somehow they had created a bond-Naruto was still unsure how it had happened, it just had-and they found that just the five of them together was one of the most enjoyable things around. Despite being very different people they all got along perfectly, complementing each others weakness and faults. Naruto and Suan were both quiet people, but Isis managed to get them both talking. Isis was the main reason he had shared so many stories with them. Suan was a great comedian once he got talking, something no one would believe unless they saw it for themselves. Both Bea and Isis were outspoken and fun to be around, and together they managed to lift the entire team's mood and spirit, even Caroline's, who was usually pretty gloomy. Together they had had some great times, and best of all, there was no one here to interfere with them.

Three months ago Naruto could never have seen himself as a part of this team. He would have thought it foolish and ridiculous. Jiraiya had taught him to depend only on himself and no one else could he help it, that way he would never be surprised. And he had stuck to that doctrine. He had felt slightly exposed when he had been together with Ino, knowing that she had been a link that people could chain him through. He knew the Akatsuki were still after him, but for a while, with this team, he felt as if he was out of their reach.

He realized Isis was looking at him strangely; the group had fallen silent, and he had not noticed while in his thoughts. Bea and Caroline had cuddled up together in a sleeping bag to stay warm, and Suan was lying on his back a few feet away, staring at the stars peeking out from behind the clouds and the canopy of trees. "What?" He whispered to her.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked shyly. Isis had never gotten used to sleeping together for warmth, despite it being taught at the academy. She was cold as ice in battle, likeable as one could get off the battle field, but when it came to physical contact with someone else she was clueless.

"Sure. Come here." It wasn't the first time Isis had asked, but after three months she was still as shy the first time she asked him. It was amusing and so offset of her character that some would say she had issues, but he knew otherwise.

"Tell me something." Isis said as they crawled into the sleeping bag, having slight difficulties due to the fact that it was made for one person. Naruto tried not to think about how close he was to her.

"What?"

"Like a story. How about...why did you join our team anyway? You've never really said why, and you weren't assigned here."

For a while Naruto didn't know how to reply. It never crossed his mind to tell her the truth, but he didn't want to lie to her either. Unfortunately, some things were more important than others. "I decided to run away from something instead of dealing with it." He said somberly.

"Oh." For a minute she looked at him, expect more, but when he said nothing she turned around. "Goodnight."

It hadn't been that easy of course. He knew promising Sasuke and the others to tell them about his special?condition. The next morning he had already begun to regret it big time, and before Sasuke had even come he had promised himself he wouldn't tell them. Sasuke hadn't been too pleased about that. He hadn't been too pleased with the argument which followed either. Sasuke vowed he would find out his secret and tell the others. Never in a blue moon had he expected Sasuke to do it, but yet that pompous prick had done it anyway. He had never been closer to killing Sasuke. There was nothing like a group of old, supposed, friends showing up at your door on some idle Tuesday, in the middle of lunch, and telling you that they knew your deepest, most hidden secret. In retrospect he realized that he had come within a hairs breadth of losing it right then, and if he had, the Leaf would have been a few young ninjas shorter. Maybe.

He was mostly pissed at Sasuke, but he couldn't help feeling anger and resentment towards the others as well. They were his childhood friends, but now they felt like they were something else, like they had stepped across a river and burned the bridge, and he had no way to reach them. But it wasn't his fault. But then again it was. If he had told them then they might have understood, or at least accepted it easier. They probably thought that they had the right to know, that he should have told them years ago.

But I have new friends now, he thought. He had known the people of this team-Caroline, Isis, Bea, and Suan-for three months. Three months was not a long time, yet he still felt he knew them as well he knew Sasuke and the others. Of course, he hardly knew them anymore either. His only friend for the past five years had been Jiraiya, after all. It was almost amazing that he wasn't a lecherous pervert as well.

It had turned ugly, and quick, with them pressing him, asking him, wanting to talk. He had just wanted to get away. Of course, they had chased him. Despite his superior abilities getting away from that many people with determination wasn't easy. But of course he got away in the end; he was who he was after all. And that was when he had been stumbled upon by this team. They had been talking about getting another team member to make their tactics more successful, and he had seen that as his golden opportunity to get away. They had been skeptical at first, but once he said Jiraiya had trained him-and Tsunade backed up his story-they were eager to have him. And they got what they wanted; they all did. And that was how he had ended up here, traveling around, doing border patrols, taking out suspicious ninjas and agents. Best of all, the only thing he had had to worry about these past three months was staying alive, and he liked that much more than worrying about what people would think about him. Well, that was over with now. Hopefully they would find something to occupy them for another three months, or more.

Sighing he turned on his side and closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Isis."

2

"What do you think?"

For a while Naruto didn't respond. He didn't want to. He didn't want to deal with the guys they were watching, and he certainly didn't want to fight them, if it came to that. What he wanted to do was eat. His stomach was practically beginning for food. On the bright side, he wasn't burned out. His muscles weren't crying out for energy. Physically he was fine and capable, but his stomach wanted some content. It was a hard choice. Go in there blazing, or to go eat. The later had the benefit of satisfying his hunger, the former letting him spend energy, which gave him an excuse to eat even more. It was a damn hard choice. "Alright, how about we watch them for a little longer; if they don't do anything else suspicious, we go eat."

Behind and to his left he could hear Bea and Isis breaking out in giggles. They always found his appetite for food funny. He almost felt like saying he'd eat them, but that wouldn't be right. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the three guys they were watching did do something suspicious, in the form of dynamite sticks and where they intended to use them. Luckily for them, they weren't ninjas. Although it might have been more interesting if they had.

He was just about to ask who should have the honors when Bea chimed in. "Hmm, Caroline, who do you think should take them out?"

Damn it! It always came to this in these kinds of situations. The girls would always start picking who should do the honors reasonably and logically, and it always ended up being him-every time, without exception. This time he wouldn't let them make him to the work. "I'm not doing it, and if you don't like it you can just go ahead and try to make me do it."

That caught their attention, as he knew it would. Defiance and a small insult in one. They were used to him and Suan being defiant every now and then, but never when it came to serious business; then they always worked as a team. And ninjas being ninjas, there is always that competitive edge, wanting to be better and better, preferably better than your opponent. Naruto was the best. They respected that, but he knew that if they had the chance to prove he wasn't, they would. It didn't have to be about anything ninja related at all, but just general things. Who could make a rock skip the most times across water? Who would lift the heaviest stone? Who had the bigger muscles? Who had the most endurance? Who won the most at casinos? Things like that.

"Fine," Caroline said at last, and Naruto could tell she was angry. He knew he'd get an earful later, but right now he felt he had won a major victory. Suan gave him a low five that went unnoticed. "Isis, take them out."

It was always interesting watching Isis do her stuff. In battle one rarely got the chance to witness it in an enjoyable manner, but this time they had the chance. Isis had a peculiar habit; she always kissed her palms before performing any hand seals. It was, of course, no more than a good luck charm, but each person had their ways. Isis closed her eyes and began performing seals slowly, taking her time. When she finished nothing happened for a short while, then it happened.

To any person not trained as a ninja it would have seemed like something out of a horror movie, but for them it was easy to tell what was happening was not real. Spiders popped out of nowhere. Not the small spiders you occasionally find in the shower or lurking around your bathroom in the morning, but huge, colossal spiders. One fell down from tree branch, one dug itself out from the ground, one swung from a branch on spider web, on came hulking along on it's left from the left. And they kept coming, pouring in around the three guys from nowhere, but of course they didn't realize that. Not surprisingly, their first instinct was to run, but they soon found they had nowhere to run. Their second instinct was to pray and beg for their mothers. The last, of course, was to soil them selves.

"Now what," Isis asked Caroline once the guys were secure. Her eyes were still closed, and Naruto could see why. Isis was adding on the special effects; the spiders were shifting, their teeth moving, slobbering, and making horrible sounds-psychological fighting at its best.

"Kill them." Caroline responded. She was ruthless when it came to things like this. Cool as an icicle, and strong as steel.

The guys never stood a chance. One second they were weeping and squirming in their own shit, the next a dagger protruded from each of their heads. Isis was good at throwing daggers. Any of them could have taken the guys out faster than this, and with less work, but it was pleasurable. The Leaf had suffered much the last years, and it was a pleasure to get back at people like this, who obviously had planned a terrorist attack of some sort. So many years after the attack on the Village during the Chunin Exam, Orochimaru was still proving to be a major thorn to the Leaf.

They had all taken turns telling him what had happened in his absence. Despite the loss of his arms Orochimaru had not given up. Even with no allies he was still a threat. No one would ally him and risk the, now, fiery wrath of the Leaf, but neither would anyone ally the Leaf and get involved with Orochimaru. Sometimes he wondered if Orochimaru had ever been able to get his arms cured. It would mean lots of trouble if he had.

"So, breakfast anyone?" He said cheerfully, looking forward to a good meal. He was hungry as hell.

Their breakfast came at the expense of a deer that had happened to cross their path; unfortunate for the deer, fortunate for them. Deer tastes pretty good when it is grilled. Bea fetched some greens, something the girls said was essential to a healthy diet, and that it tasted good. It failed to catch his and Suan's interest, however. Meat was a most wonderful thing. He recalled how hard it had been to eat in the beginning, when Jiraiya had begun teaching him to kill. It had started small, with squirrels, raccoons, and such, but eventually it went as high as it could go; to humans. When he had been killing the smaller animals he would always see the hanging guts, smashed skulls, or whatever it was, of the animal he killed when he tried to eat. It had taken some time getting over, but Jiraiya had said it was normal. Now he had no problems eating after killing.

"So what's up for today?" He asked Caroline when he finished eating, wiping his mouth with a dry leaf.

"Nothing" Caroline replied, biting into a piece of meat herself. Naruto was always the one who finished the first and ate the most.

"What do you mean nothing?"

"Nothing, as in no-damn-thing." Caroline said again, and he knew Caroline was pissed of. "We've gone all the way around, so we don't have anywhere to go except home."

"Home," He said, his good mood fading rapidly. "Yeah I heard you." He added when Caroline opened her mouth again. "Well fuck that. I don't want to go home."

"Well what if we do Naruto?" She put in.

"Hell, I'm not stopping you," He replied sourly. "But there so much more we could do."

"Such as?"

"Such as?" His mind drew blank, and he scrambled for something. "Such as?raiding the Sound!"

He could tell he had hit the spot. To any Konoha villager, the question wasn't: Do you hate the Sound? The question was: How much do hate the Sound? These guys would love to get back at the Sound. Personally, he had nothing against the Sound, even if they had attacked his home. They were considering it, and he could tell, weighing the risks against their personal vendettas against the Sound. Now that he thought about it, it might not have been such a good idea after all. They would be going into enemy territory, out numbered, out gunned, and they only had one trump card. The Sound had ninjas, and a conventional army, as well as Orochimaru and his personal cronies. And once Orochimaru knew that he was a part of this team?hell would break loose. It would also be a beacon for the Akatsuki. Raiding the sound for some action would be acceptable, but raiding the Sound and having the wrath and focus of the two most powerful ninjas on you was not. That little fact made the matter pretty straightforward in his head, but the others didn't know about that little fact.

"Do you have a plan?" Caroline asked him at last. He could tell she-and the rest-were on edge, as if they were gripping the edge of their seats while watching something exciting.

"No." Caroline shot him a furious look, as if he should have had all the details planned out to the smallest millimeter. "It was just a suggestion, for crying out loud!"

"Then I think we should go back to the Village. It will be nice coming for a little while; you know, showers, beds, family, friends, and don't forget, the pay for all of this."

"Or, we could go kick some Sound ass." He interjected. He could feel small veins of panic begin to grow inside him; he didn't want to go back to the Village. It would be too much trouble to deal with Sasuke and the others.

"We don't even have a plan Naruto, it's ridiculous." Suan pointed out. Naruto barely kept himself from gaping: Suan, siding with the girls, on this? Suan almost always sided with him, regardless of how stupid or foolhardy it was. "We could make a plan though, but for that we need maps, and the maps we need are back at headquarters. Just let it go, for once, Naruto."

"Fuck that, I'm not going back there to those lunatics." He replied firmly. "You four go ahead and do your stuff there, but sure as hell won't. If you guys still want to go raiding the Sound after you're done with whatever you're going to do in the Village I'll be waiting at the inn in the second village south of the Village."

That village-the name of it had long been lost in his head-had been their starting point. They traveled with him there for a total of four days, then they angled north and followed the main road to the south entrance to the Village. That was the last time he saw them for a while.

3

He wasn't quite sure what he had expected of them. He had not really thought about the possibility of them not showing up. In his mind, it was a foregone conclusion that they would show up, and then proceed to raid Sound targets. He had not expected them to show up the first week afterwards; he knew they were no more than average ninjas with perhaps a little more than normal potential, and that like all people, they wanted their luxuries after such a long mission period; completely understandable. The second week he had become doubtful, and the third he was exasperated. Now it was the fourth week after their split, and he was pissed. More than likely he would have to go back to the Village if they didn't show up soon. He was running out of money, but even worse, he was running out of patience. When he ran out of patience he became grumpy, when he became grumpy he became easy to piss off, and when he was easily pissed off, people got hurt. So far no one had pissed him off, which was good for the town, but not good for him. He had anger and frustration he wanted to let out, and one of the best ways to do that was to let it out on someone else. Unfortunately for him, there was no one to let out his steam on. So his temper grew worse and worse; not even his favorite food-cup ramen-could soothe him. Stand owners soon learned not to bother him.

Relief came unexpectedly in the form of a gang of punks. They, he learned, were the gang of this town-among the young adults, that is. Apparently they terrorized other school children, demanding lunch money from the smaller kids, and beating up the older ones in high school. They were not anything particularly great, but a normal human, good fighter or not, could not stand up to a group numbering over fifteen. So he, being in the grumpy, semi-pissed of mood he was, picked a fight.

He accidentally walked in on them beating up a young sixteen-year-old kid in a dark alley. The kid was down, and the leader-at least he thought it was the leader-was kicking him in the stomach.

"No, no, no," He said as he walked up. "You're doing it wrong. You have to do it like this." The leader was confused, and Naruto took the opportunity, smashing the side of his fist into the leader's cheek.

"What the fuck!" The guy cried as he stumbled backwards. He stood recovered himself, rubbed his cheek, spat out some blood, and gave Naruto a menacing look. "You're going to pay for that you little shit."

Naruto knew he wouldn't have to pay dogshit, but he also knew they would have pay royally. Not surprisingly, the leader charged at him, throwing a punch that was easily dogged by a lean back. The next one was no better, and by the time the guy had thrown a few more, he doubted he would get any enjoyment out of this at all. Then the leader did exactly what Naruto hoped he would do.

"Get him!"

And get him they did. They all charged at him, and finally Naruto got to blow of some steam. For a while he toyed with them, dogging all their attacks, but letting them almost hit to give them the false belief that they were getting closer and closer. Then he beat the shit out of them. It was short and sweet, and brutal. They never knew what hit them; one minute they were throwing punches, swinging crowbars, and kicking wildly, the next they were either getting pummeled by a fist or buried by a foot. At that particular point he didn't care that it was tasteless, cruel, and un-ninja like; he had blown of some very bothersome feelings.

And it was just about to get better.

When he returned to the inn he felt so much better he thought he'd take a trip to the store and buy some ramen to watch a movie. Once he got to his in, however, the best cure for him was waiting.

When he opened the door to his room he found Isis waiting, sitting on his bed. She hadn't heard him enter, which was odd. But he was too relieved to really care. He wouldn't have to sit here in this boring town anymore.

"Hey!" He said cheerfully, and Isis leapt of off the bed like an ice cube had slid down her back. "What's up?"

Isis blushed and looked at him nervously, shifting from foot to foot. She kept her hands behind her back. She definitely looked worried, and?he'd have to say she looked like someone caught in the act, but it was beyond him what that might be. Then she looked down at something, and then he saw what it was she was looking at. His insides froze right then, wondering if she knew what the contents of the envelope she had opened meant.

The envelope had "Seal" written across it in big, bold, black ink, and it contained pictures of his seal. Jiraiya had suggested they take periodic pictures of his seal to see if there was any change in it. Basically so they could catch break in the seal early. Catastrophe prevention Jiraiya had called it. Fortunately for them, nothing had changed. Unfortunately, it left them with lots of photos of potential evidence of what was inside him to any ninja who was smart. And he knew Isis was smart, but he didn't know if she was smart enough.

A long silence stretched between them, and his nerves couldn't take it. His hands clenched and unclenched, and sweat popped out of every pore of his body. Sasuke and the others finding out was a milestone on his back, Isis and this team finding out would break it. Their reactions were very different. He was nervous and angry, she seemed just as nervous as before, if not more, but a sad look had also spread across her face.

"What?what?" The words wouldn't' come, they couldn't come. His throat wasn't working; from anger or panicky desperation he didn't know.

"There's something sealed inside you." Isis said, her voice a whisper. With her down curved mouth and glazed eyes she looked so sad. "And since you were born right before the Ninetails attacked the Village, you?it must have been sealed within you. I'm sorry."

Perhaps it was Isis' attitude, her apology, or her sadness, but something made his anger disappear. Instead hopelessness and despair filled him. He sat down on the bed and sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair. "I don't want anyone to know about it," He told her. "It was why my childhood was living hell. It still is sometimes."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Isis said again, her voice barely above a whisper. She took a seat next to him and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder. That simple gesture calmed him surprisingly much. "I didn't mean to be nosy, but I saw the envelope sticking out of your backpack, and since we've known each other for a while now, and?and?I'm so sorry Naruto."

"You remember I told you why I joined your team?" When she nodded he went on. "What I ran away from were all my old class mates and team mates from the time I was a genin. They found out about the Ninetails, you see. They took it pretty bad, and, oh man?this fucking sucks. Damn you demon, stop ruining my life!" He roared, anger flaring up inside him again, but not at Isis: at the Ninetails. It was the cause of his shitty childhood, the cause of everyone's hatred, the cause for the Akatsuki chasing him, the cause for almost every horrible thing that had happened to him.

"Why'd you run away instead of talking to them?" Isis asked him once he had calmed down a little. A frightened look now dominated her features, but he could still see the sadness below it.

"They were angry at me, shocked, disappointed, outraged. They felt like I should have told them years ago. I disagreed, and well?it just got worse from there."

Isis was silent for a while, then she wrapped her other arm around him and squeezed, giving him a tight hug. "I'm not angry at you, or disappointed in you. Don't run away from me. I don't care about the Ninetails, neither will the others. We need you."

The concern in her voice was genuine combined with the words Naruto had never heard before was like giving sugar to a kid for the first time. It was completely foreign, and for a moment, incomprehensible. No one had ever told him they didn't care about the monster inside him-a potential catastrophe-and that they actually needed him. It was overwhelming, but so satisfying at the same time, that his nerves couldn't take it. For the first time he could remember, he cried. In Isis' firm embrace the firs tears to run down his cheeks were tears of joy. He tried thanking her, to let her know that he appreciated it so much, but his mouth wasn't working.

A while later, maybe half an hour or so, he got to give her the thanks he had tried giving earlier. It felt clumsy and sluggish, but it was at least something. His mind was still reeling from the shock. He thought it would be a few days before he was back to normal, but he didn't care. He felt as if a load had been lifted off his back and he could stand up straight.

"Don't tell the others though." He told her once his mouth was back to functioning close to normal.

"Ok. It's your secret?well our little secret I guess." She replied, putting the pictures back into the envelope and stuffing it down his backpack. "I won't tell a soul, living or dead."

"Thanks." An odd silence stretched between them, and it felt uncomfortably weird. "So where are the others anyway? Are they even coming?" He hadn't thought about Isis being the messenger of bad news.

"Yeah, they're coming, but not today; tomorrow or the day after that. Caroline was worried about you leaving the town, so I snuck out of the Village this morning. They wouldn't let us leave until we sorted a couple of things out." She added when she saw his confused look.

He could understand keeping people out of the Village, but not letting people leave. It didn't take four weeks to handle the bothersome administration work that had to be done after each mission. Even with three months of active duty. "Why wouldn't they let you guys leave?"

"Tsunade said that there was going to be an attack on the Village within the next couple of weeks when we got back." Isis said, sitting back down next to him. "Of course it was all bullshit. She just wanted to get you to come back to the Village. Caroline only just managed to convince Tsunade that you wouldn't come back, and so they're waiting for clearance to leave, since all the gates are closed now, in or out. I guess I made my clearance was my skills." A mischievous glint had appeared in her eyes, something Naruto had never seen before.

"So we are going to go kick some Sound ass then?"

"Yeah, we are."

"It's going to be rough. We risk having Orochimaru getting interested in us personally, because of, well you know. I've had run-ins with him before." He told her seriously. He knew that what they were about to do was as risky as it got.

"Well you're still alive aren't you?" She pointed out, and he found himself without a comeback for that. Oddly enough, after several run-ins with Orochimaru, he was still alive. I guess that qualifies me as a lucky bastard.

4

Isis was true to her word, and the next day Suan arrived around noon, surprising him and Isis by grabbing each of them by the shoulder as they stood in line to buy something to drink. It was one of the few times he had seen Suan laugh that hard. The guy was almost rolling on the ground in mirth. He and Isis didn't find it nearly as amusing. Caroline and Bea arrived the next day a couple of hours before noon, so they all got to enjoy a nice lunch together. Isis never once spoke about the Ninetails-to him or the others-over the course of those two days.

That evening they went over their plans for what Bea called "Operation SHSB", short for Sound Has Small Balls. Naruto was sure they'd find out soon enough. The plans that had been made so far were rough, meant as nothing more than a basic guideline. Circumstances would change once they actually began with the operation, so making a detailed plan was unnecessary. Circumstances always changed in the field, and things usually never went exactly the way you thought they would, and if you counted on things going exactly the way you thought they would, you were a dead man. Or woman, as they case could be.

They were to hit the Sound primarily from the south, and were to limit their attacks to hit and run on military installations and supply facilities. Someone had been kind enough to create a list of example targets. Everything from barracks's to farms had been listed. "Don't die" had been written in the margin of their map, and he recognized the handwritings as Tsunades. Don't die? Easier said than done, he thought.

The next day they headed out towards Sound territory.

- - -

Something to take note of, I do want a beta reader. So if anyone feels they are up to the task, send a mail my way.