IY: Yet another new story! hearts

Kit: You should be working on the ones you already have, idiot.

IY: Well, yeah... But I just couldn't resist this plot bunny! smiles

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Warning: SasuNaru slash/yaoi/shonen-ai. Mentions of SakuNaru, OCNaru, and KarinSasuke. Oh, and spoilers up to current manga 'cause I just can't help but include details.

Disclaimer: I disclaim! Absolutely no owning!

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Naruto yawned, stretching his arms above his head and blinking sleepily up at the ceiling, partially blinded by the sunlight shining directly into his eyes. He stretched out his legs, pointing his toes as far as they could go, then lowered a hand to rub at his eyes and the other to scratch at his bare stomach.

He then set his blue eyes to tracing the cracks (the large ones, mind. The small ones were innumerable) in his yellowed ceiling, trying to warm up his brain for the oncoming day. Once he lost count (was that number 23 or 24?), Naruto finally decided to get up.

Swinging a leg over the side of his small twin-sized bed, the blond pushed his covers to one side.

"Nice boxers, Naruto."

Naruto yelped, crashing to the ground and dragging his blankets with him - his left foot was still tangled up in them when he decided to greet his hardwood floor.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he yelled, jumping up and pointing an accusing finger at the silver-haired man sitting nonchalantly on his windowsill. "I've told you not to do that!"

"Ah…" Kakashi put a finger to his lips in an exaggeratedly thoughtful fashion. "It must have slipped my mind."

"Ugh!" Naruto moaned, pulling at his hair. "How does Iruka-sensei stand you?"

The silver-haired man smiled under his mask. "We have great sex."

"…Too much information." Naruto muttered, shuddering and glaring at his sensei. (He did not need that mental image, thank you very much.)

Kakashi shrugged. "You asked."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto headed to his wardrobe, picking out his usual outfit, which now consisted of black regulation pants and his Jounin vest over a black shirt. Of course, Naruto couldn't completely do away with his favorite color, so the cloth of his hitai-ate was now orange and his black shinobi sandals now sported small orange spirals.

"So… Why are you here, sensei?" Naruto asked, voice slightly muffled by the shirt he was pulling over his head. "I mean," he paused long enough to stuff his legs into his pants, "It's not like I mind, but you don't usually come over for friendly visits."

"Aa. We have a mission; it's B-class, nothing special. It's going to be the whole Team Seven, reunited."

Naruto cocked his head. "Why would we need two Jounin, an ANBU and a medic-nin for a simple B-class?"

Kakashi winked. (Or, Naruto thought he winked. With that mask you could never be sure… It could've been a slow blink. Maybe…)

"Let's leave that to Tsunade, ne, Naruto? Give her something to do."

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"Hey, old hag. What's the deal?" Naruto called, sitting down comfortably on the sill of the window he just came through.

The young-looking blonde woman jumped, startled out of her perusal of a mission report.

"Stupid gaki! Don't you know how to knock?" She eyed the window he was perched on and added, "Or walk through a door?"

Naruto grinned. "Sorry, grandma. I picked it up from Kakashi-sensei."

He nodded towards the silver-haired man who was idly flipping through Icha Icha Paradise, sitting on yet another windowsill.

Tsunade's blonde eyebrow twitched. "I see…"

Kakashi was spared from the oncoming rant by the banging of the mission room's door against the wall.

The kunoichi of Team Seven stood in the doorframe, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head - a habit she picked up from Naruto. "Eh, sorry?"

The busty blonde rolled her eyes at her pupil. "Remember your strength, Sakura."

"Yes, remember your strength and refrain from abusing helpless doors, ugly dog." 1 Sai said, stepping into the mission room and deftly avoiding Sakura's punch. "And please refrain from abusing me as well."

Sakura growled. "I would if you'd stop calling me that!"

The rest of the room's occupants watched amusedly as this daily drama played out.

Once Team Seven had settled down (Tsunade had learned early on that it was easier to let them tire themselves out than to interfere and try to bring about order), the Godaime cleared her throat.

Assured that she had a captive audience, she said, "Team Seven, you have a new mission. It's a relatively easy B-class, and yes, I know that you're overkill for a B-class, but our client demanded it this way, and had no qualms about paying the heavy fee for our best people."

Tsunade turned her amber gaze to Naruto. "She requested you specifically, gaki."

The blond gaped. "What! Why me? Who is she?"

The Godaime smirked. "Why don't I let her introduce herself?"

She turned towards the door and called out, "Shizune! Bring her in!"

The brunette assistant opened the door and allowed another woman to pass through first.

The newcomer moved regally and had shoulder-length navy-blue hair, which framed an oval, pale face. Her eyes were wide-set and sky blue in color, and her nose was pointed delicately upwards. She was wearing a fine traveling kimono, of a sort that was not usually seen around Konoha, as the majority of the population were ninjas whom needed freedom of movement.

"Hello," she bowed, "I am Mizuhara Machiko. It is a pleasure to meet you." She pinned Naruto under her blue gaze. "Especially you, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."

The blond blinked. "Eh, it's nice to meet you too, Mizuhara-san."

The blue-haired woman laughed airily. "Oh, please, call me Machiko."

Naruto smiled. (She's not so bad…) "Okay, but only if you call me Naruto, then."

Machiko grinned back, fluttering her eyelashes. "It's a deal, Naruto-kun."

"Ahem." Sakura, who'd had enough of this, cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner and stepped in front of Naruto (effectively blocking him from view).

"Hello," she said, smiling widely (and falsely, but the new girl didn't need to know that…) at Machiko, "I'm Haruno Sakura. It's nice to meet you."

Machiko spared her a smile and a shallow bow.

"And these are my other teammates," Sakura said, pointing to each as she named them, "Hatake Kakashi-sensei, and Sai."

Machiko bowed. "I have heard of you before, Hatake-san. It is an honor to meet you."

Kakashi returned the bow (surprising the heck out of his students), saying, "And it's great to be able to meet as great an actress as yourself, Mizuhara-san."

Sakura looked shocked. "You're an actress, Mizuhara-san?"

Machiko nodded, "I recently co-starred in Icha Icha Paradise: The Movie along with Kazahana Koyuki. I believe you know her as Fujikaze Yukie?" 2 she asked, tilting her head.

"Ah, you know Yukie-hime?" Naruto asked, excited.

"Oh, yes! We were acquainted before, but we really bonded on the set of Icha Icha. In fact, that's how I learned all about you, Naruto-kun!" Machiko said, beaming.

"Yes, yes, that's all very nice, but we really need to get this briefing over with," Tsunade interrupted. She'd let this go on long enough as it was.

"Team Seven, you will be escorting Mizuhara-san to Grass Country where she will be attending a few autograph-signing sessions and a charity fundraiser. You will be her bodyguards throughout these events. This mission should last a total of three weeks."

"Hai, Godaime-sama!" Team Seven replied in chorus, snapping a smart salute to their leader.

Tsunade nodded approvingly. "Dismissed!"

Everyone started to walk out, but they stilled when the blonde woman called out, "Except you, Naruto."

The rest of Team Seven, plus one, looked between the two fair-haired people quizzically.

"Eh, we'll wait for you outside, Naruto!" Sakura finally said, herding the others out.

When the door snicked closed, Naruto approached the desk. "What's up, grandma?"

"I want you to be careful with this one, Naruto."

The blond laughed. "I'm always careful, old hag! You know that!"

Tsunade shook her head. "I'm not talking about the mission, gaki. I doubt you'll encounter anything more than a few bandits along the road…"

She sighed, looking him over. "I'm talking about her, Naruto. She's older than you, and she knows the ways of the world. You… don't. Look, just promise you'll be careful, all right? You better not come back married or something."

Naruto gaped. "Married!"

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1 Ugly dog: Sai called Sakura that in a manga chapter where he was trying out nicknames.

2 Kazahana Koyuki/Fujikaze Yukie: actress that came out in Naruto The Movie: The Mission to Save the Snow Princess (I believe it's called Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow in the English version that's coming out on Toonami.)

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Okay, first chapter: complete!

Review now, yes?