Naruto's Kit

Chapter 12

Team Eight entered Hokage Tower and went right to Tsunade's room. Instead of Tsunade, they saw Shizune, since Tsunade was 'attending some personal business' at the moment as Shizune explained. So while they waited for her to finish, they relaxed and took a breather. Shizune immediately noticed how worn out they looked, as if they hadn't stopped moving swiftly in hours.

Tsunade came in, noticed the three shinobi with an arched eyebrow, and sat down at her desk. "So what happened while you were out?"

Shino had become their unofficial representative when informing the hokage over the years so he was the one to answer. "It turned out that the threat was a false alarm. Just speculation and paranoia. However, we did see two men with the sharingan hide outside the city limits. Hinata's byakugan and my insects confirmed this. Both sported the sharingan. And one was in fact Sasuke Uchiha. The other wore an orange spiral mask with only the right eye visible."

If Tsunade had been drunk, this surely would have sobered her up. "You didn't engage either in combat, did you?"

"Of course not. Only Naruto would be that stupid. We figured the best thing to do was tell you." Kiba answered, ignoring the brief glare Hinata sent him.

"Crap." Tsunade mumbled as she rested her chin on her clasped hands. Tonton made a nervous oink in Shizune's arms, who kept a concerned eye on her mentor. "Good job Team Eight. Go rest up and don't return here any earlier than tomorrow morning if you can help it. Dismissed."

"Oh, and Hinata?" Shizune added before the Hyuuga heiress could leave the room. "Naruto's out of the village for a few days. Akane-chan's been with Iruka Umino since then if you wanted to know."

"Thank you." Hinata politely said before leaving.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Tsunade asked her student.

"On which topic? The Uchiha's or Hinata?" Shizune asked. Before the hokage could replied, she shrugged. "Ah hell, the answer's the same for both: Yes."

"Now let's just hope Naruto's willing to do his part and do it the right way." Tsunade commented.

"Regarding?" Shizune asked.

"Both." Tsunade stated.

Akane was seated at Ichiraku's but she wasn't eating. Teuchi and Ayame asked if she was hungry, but the young girl said she shouldn't eat before the girl she invited showed up. Just a little show of courtesy that Ino taught her the other day. So she passed the time chatting with the ramen vendors, mostly talking about Naruto when he was younger.

"Really? Otou-san didn't always use water in water balloons? What did he use then?" Akane asked.

"Paint, white-out, tomato juice, old milk, and I think he tried urine once on a really nasty carpenter that threw a hammer at him when he was seven." Teuchi casually replied with a small grin on his lips.

"It's amazing he never used ramen broth. After all, he had more of that than water." Ayame commented.

"Yeah, but that would have been a waste of his favorite food." Teuchi added.

"So what else did he do that he didn't tell me?" Akane eagerly asked. Her tails would have been wagging if she had them out.

"Looking for ideas?" Ayame playfully asked.