Discovering his Heritage

Returning to Duty

"This will be your room while you are assigned to me." Naruto informed his newest companion while he was busy putting the finishing touches on the room that Naruto decided was going to be Maris's while they were working together.

Once Naruto finished with the last of the touches that the room needed, he turned towards the Ninja that he was just speaking to. As he did so, Naruto could see that the eyes of the other Ninja had started to well up with tears. Seeing the other male look so vulnerable, caused Naruto's heart to ache in pain. Since Naruto didn't know the other male that well, he decided that he would keep his words to himself though he did start walking towards Maris and as he walked past him, Naruto placed his hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.

Naruto didn't keep his hand on Maris's shoulder all that long and as he was walking away, he heard Maris start to speak though the other male's voice was so soft that Naruto almost missed what he was saying. "Thank you."

Before Naruto was able to respond to Maris's words, a knock sounded on his door which distracted him from doing so. With the knock still echoing around his apartment, Naruto quickly made his way towards his door where he opened it without a second thought. Upon opening the door, Naruto saw that the three members of his team were standing on the threshold of his apartment.

Naruto was quite shocked at seeing his comrades outside of his apartment since they had never felt the urge to visit him there before. "What brings you three here?" Naruto questioned as he gazed at them with suspicion growing in his eyes.

With the question, Naruto could see anger flash in Sakura's eyes though before she could berate Naruto for speaking to them in the way that he was, Kakashi intervened. "We stopped by the hospital first but when we got there, we were informed that you have already been discharged so we came here to retrieve you..." Kakashi responded to the question that Naruto had asked of them though he suddenly stopped speaking which caused Naruto to look at his comrades more closely.

As Naruto examined his team, he saw that they began moving their hands towards the pouches that contained their weapons and when he saw this, Naruto turned towards the direction that their eyes were facing. Doing so, Naruto was able to see that Maris had made his way out in the open and since he was an unknown Ninja to his team, they must have thought that he was a threat.

"Calm down, you three. This is Maris. Tsunade assigned him to keep an eye on me since I refused to stay in the hospital." Naruto explained to his comrades in hopes that they wouldn't try attacking a Ninja that they don't know the skills of.

Thankfully, a few seconds after his words reached their ears; Naruto saw their hands move away from their weapons which caused Naruto to relax. "Now what did you come here to retrieve me for?" Naruto inquired once he was sure that a fight wouldn't break out between his Anbu guard and his comrades in arms.

"...Tsunade had just assigned our team a new mission and since you are no longer in the hospital then you are required to go on this mission with us." Kakashi finished once he was no longer worried about a threat against one of his students.

Hearing about the new mission that his team was assigned, gave Naruto some hope that things will soon be returning to normal in his life. Naruto wanted to ask his Sensei what the mission was, but he knew that Kakashi wouldn't tell them until they were ready to leave the village. "Alright Sensei, I will meet you at the village gate once Maris and I get packed." Naruto spoke out as he turned to do just that.

Though before he could, Kakashi's voice rang out once more. "There is no point in packing Naruto, the mission is just outside the village. We have been assigned to disrupt a portion of the Grass Ninja that have been harassing the merchants who have tried coming to our Village." Kakashi explained to his overeager student.