A Thousand Years

The Visit

"GRANNY TSUNADE!" Naruto burst through the door of the Hokage's office with both Sasuke and Sakura urgently trying to stop him.

"What do you want?" The blonde woman glared at the boy.

This was the third time this week.

"WHY DID YOU GIVE MY FRIENDS ANOTHER B CLASS MISSION?!" He hollered loud enough for the people outside to hear.

"BECAUSE I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!" She yelled back.

His friends sighed, knowing it was no use to try and quiet him. Ever since they had first been introduced, there had been frequent shouting matches between the two blondes to see who was louder. One of them, usually Naruto, would start an argument over something trivial and it would soon become a yelling contest, that is until Tsunade eventually scared Naruto enough to make him run.

"B-CLASS MISSIONS ARE BORING!"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ON THE MISSION."

"BUT THEY CAN TOTALLY HANDLE A-CLASS ONES!"

"GET OUT BEFORE I CHANGE IT TO C-CLASS." And that was enough to quiet him.

He gave a huff of indignation and turned around, grabbing both his friends by the arm, he pulled them out of the office and didn't stop until they wereoutside the Hokage Tower.

"Naruto, we're fine with B-class missions, you don't have to worry." Sakura chided in exasperation as they sat down on a small bench.

"You'd be a terrible teammate. I feel bad for your sensei." Sasuke commented with a glare.

"Hey! I was just trying to help you guys out! I mean, your last A-class mission went so well! Even Granny Tsunade said so!' Naruto stated defensively.

Sakura sighed loudly.

"You'll get us in trouble if you keep doing that. Can't you speak to her normally? She's the Hokage for heaven's sake." She crossed her arms.

"Whatever, let's just go do something fun before you guys leave tomorrow." Naruto stood up, as did his friends, and they started towards a street known for its entertainment and shopping.

The city was as busy as ever, with the spring festival coming up, everyone was rushing to get their kimonos fitted and their houses decorated. Reds and blues could be seen on the kimonos being sold in every tailor shop and there were hundreds of small stores selling fans and bags and everything imaginable. The dull spirits that had resulted from the controversy with the council a few months ago had long been forgotten and replaced by the joy that came with every festival and celebration.

"So where are you guys going again?" Naruto asked while looking around at the large assortment of lanterns hanging outside of a small store.

"We're heading to Suna to escort some merchants to Konoha, they're coming for the festival, actually." Sakura answered, she was admiring a shop that was filled with bright leaves and blooming flowers.

"They're taking a shortcut through a forest that's known for housing rouge ninja and bandit groups." Sasuke added. "Stupid. They should just take the longer route." He sneered.

"I think Lady Tsunade said something about them not being able to make it in time for the first day if they didn't take the shortcut." Sakura defended. "She was pretty adamant about making sure we would get them here safely, I'm sure the village really benefits from trading with traveling merchants like them." She said thoughtfully.

"How long is it gonna take?" Naruto questioned further.

"Kakashi-sensei said it'll be two days' time to get through the forest, so I'd say maybe three days total?" She looked at Sasuke who nodded in agreement. "Yup, so we'll be back with a few days to spare before the festival starts." Sakura nodded. She picked up a few daisies and brought them up to the cashier to be wrapped, handing the woman a few coins, the pinkette thanked her and headed back to her friends.