Autumn Stroll Recollections [NaruHina One-Shots]

A God-knows-what-happened C-Rank Mission (Part 1)

The setting sun continued blazing its vibrant orange upon them, creating the illusion of a soft glow emanating from their skin. This tone was intensified as sunlight reflected off of surrounding plant life coloured likewise; tones ranging from a dazzling crimson to a mellow beige that carry the essence of the fall season.

Naruto was now in the mood of continuing their discussion about awkward past experiences - partly for the nostalgia and partly so that he could continue commenting on young Hinata's tragic case of stuttering, intensive blushing and occasional loss of consciousness, completely overlooking the fact that his own dense attitude was at fault. Seriously... it could have had a detrimental impact on her cardiac health, so it can be said that Naruto believing she was ill wasn't exactly a false concern either. Just, the more he expressed his concern by placing his hand on her forehead to check her temperature and coming extremely close, the worse the 'illness' became, and this happened very often.

So, after realising his reminiscent mood, Naruto quickly rummaged through his memory database to retrieve some interesting scenarios from their past. A certain curious case stood out to him immediately; one that incited intrigue because he had never been able to figure out what exactly came about during the time.

His wife was waking beside him, wearing the slightest hint of a pouting expression from when he teased her. "Ah, Hinata, remember that strange mission we went on? Ya know, just a few weeks after graduating from the academy, when team seven and eight tried to uncover a weird curse at a mansion?"

"A...ahuh. I think so." Yep, she seemed to remember something troublesome. Naruto's intrigue surged, as he continued with a slight smirk, one eyebrow rising higher and higher.

"Yeah, so? What was up with that? I never quite understood that final battle. Hmm?" He had never truly expressed such as sly attitude, and his teases would also be very straightforward. But his expressions just now were just that. Extremely out of character.

Hinata noticed this, flashing him an awkward, confused look, then moved her eyes away. She mentally recited that tragic experience before frantically thinking of how to answer Naruto's query. After realising that there's no point in trying to evade the situation, she faintly coughed before speaking, "Um... about that..."

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"Wah! Kakashi-Sensei, are we really going on another C-Rank mission?" It was early in the morning, and Kakashi had finally arrived at their meeting place. This time, he was able to show his divine presence only 10 minutes late! Truly incredible. Today, his reasoning stated that he was assisting a hard-working individual who had dropped and was in the midst of agonisingly reassembling a stack of paperwork. At that, his three pupils didn't hold back their anime sweat-dropping expression.

Team eight was accompanying them as well, though none of them showed any particular reaction. Kurenai-Sensei had another matter to tend to, so Tsunade-sama suggested for the team to undertake a collaborative mission with team seven, which would also improve their ability to work with people with whom they wouldn't normally.

Kakashi replied to Naruto, eyes glued to a book with questionable content, "Yes yes. Indeed, this will be your second C-Ranking mission. As you know, team eight will be joining us. We'll be investigating strange activity in a mansion along Konoha's outskirts and will probably be staying there overnight. Ah... Naruto,  you don't fear the idea of paranormal activity do you? You know, ghosts and such."

Naruto gulped, a cold sweat braking out from his forehead. How does Kakashi-Sensei even know this? Well, in reality, his pained expression whenever such phenomena have been mentioned is always quite noticeable. "Ahehe... no no. Of course not! Ghosts? Hah... of course they don't exist! Totally! Not! I don't believe in them so who here's afraid? Oh, I bet Sasuke is!"