Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Intel ❯ Lunch Time ( Chapter 1 )

Lunch time in the Leaf Village. A time where ninja and ninja in training go out and enjoy a moments break from the everyday. “Hey Naruto,” spoke an elderly mans voice from behind a counter, “ my favorite customer.” Naruto walked up to the counter and took a seat in one of the stools. Ichiraku’s Ramen Shop was a favorite of Naruto’s. “What can I get for you?” the old man asked cheerfully. Naruto grinned, “Two bowls of ramen with barbequed pork.” A look of bewilderment came across the old mans face. “Two bowls??” he asked, as if two bowls were not enough. Naruto grinned and explained his situation to the man whose look went from one of bewilderment to one of understanding. “Well then,” the old man began, “two bowls it is.” Naruto sat and waited for his ramen thinking about the training he and Sakura had for the day. His train of thought was interrupted by a person who took a seat next to him. “Huh, oh, hey Hinata.” Naruto said with a pleasantness in his voice and a smile on his face. “I didn’t know you ate ramen.” Hinata was always shy around Naruto, in fact, it was because she had always had a crush on him. “Oh, well ummm, I took a liking to it.” Her voice was quiet and nervous, “Well I mean, you always eat it so, ummm, I thought maybe I would try it.” Her face turned a light red color do to her feelings for him. “Oh,” said Naruto, “that makes sense.” He gave off a little chuckle. The moment was put on hold when the old man set in front of Naruto a bowl of hot ramen. “Ah, Hinata,” he said, “will you be having the usual?” Hinata nodded her head and the old man went back to work preparing her meal. Next to her, Naruto had already begun slurping down his ramen, not paying attention to much of anything. The street outside was bustling with people going to their destinations. The sun was out and the sky was clear with a slight breeze. “Well thanks old man, catch you later.” Naruto said stepping out of Ichiraku’s into the busy street. Hinata followed him out. “Well, uh, thanks for paying for my lunch Naruto.” she said. “No problem.” he replied

He began his way to the training field where Kakashi to him and Sakura to meet for their training session. Upon his arrival he noticed two figures already there, Sakura and Kakashi. “Your late Naruto!” Sakura’s voice was loud and angry. Naruto apologized and explained the reason for his tardiness. “Ok, that’s fine,” Kakashi said in his usual calm manner, “ shall we begin?” He began to explain the mission: “Alright. Say you’re sent on a mission to retrieve intel. Now say the situation calls for you to separate and search for two different pieces of information.” Kakashi pauses, then continues: “This training exercise will force the two of you to separate from one another in order to find documents which a located in different parts of the village.” “But Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura interrupted, “I thought all intelligence gathering missions required team effort?” Sakura finished her question then looked at Kakashi intently. “Yeah!” Naruto added, looking as if he had no idea what either of them were talking about. Kakashi looked at both of them, then spoke: “That is true a lot of the time Sakura, however, there will be times where the team must go separate ways in order to find intel more efficiently.” “Like when?” Sakura asked, still unable to understand. Again Kakashi spoke: “Like when you have a specific time to complete the mission.” He pauses. “You see even though you become a one man group of sorts, it is nessacary in order to locate intel faster, especially when there is more than one document you must secure.” Kakashi paused and looked at their faces which had switched from clueless to a more confident, understanding look. “Oh, I see now,” Sakura began, “ It was obvious, I should have realized it.” “Yeah. Right!” Naruto said loudly, “Realize what again?” “ Oh Naruto, your still so cluele…” Kakashi raised his hand interrupting what Sakura was saying. “Let me put it this way, he began, “there are two documents you must secure, one for Sakura to find and one for Naruto.” He paused, then continues, “ they are being ‘guarded’, so to speak, by ninja and I have ordered them to protect the documents at all costs.” Kakashi continues, “ they will fight you to prevent you from getting it. Only when they feel you have met their expectations, will they give you the intel. Got it?” Naruto and Sakura both nodded in agreement. “One more thing before you go,” Kakashi stated, “the ninja you are looking for are carrying a bag labeled ‘confidential’, they are also,” he continued, “wearing hooded cloaks to hide who they are, so you will not know who you will be up against.” Kakashi finished. He raised his hand and gave what could only be guessed as a grin, then said, “You have till the end of the day.” Naruto’s and Sakura’s faces changed from confident to determined. The air grew still and quiet. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, “BEGIN!”