Naruto stood calmly, his face expressionless, as usual. He waited for his next mission, already knowing what was coming next. They finished up a bunch of low classed missions. Naruto knew for a fact that the Hokage was just pulling his leg. Letting me participate in these missions just to annoy me. Well played. Well played, indeed. Though, he cannot keep that up. He knows for a fact that he should give a higher ranking mission.

Sarutobi was wise and knew when or when not to do things. That being said, Naruto knew the Hokage should at least give him a more difficult mission. Danzō often asked him to do missions, so Naruto adapted to difficult missions and such quickly. Of course, he was just given Chūnin leveled requests and below. Surely Danzō wouldn't be idiotic as to give him Elite leveled missions. Besides, even if Danzō gave him a Jōnin ranked mission, Sarutobi had his sources to determine if Danzō indeed disobeyed his orders. His orders being that Naruto should be completely cut off from any A-Ranked requests.

Sarutobi laughed at the boy's expression when he arrived with a cat. Soon enough the fee for the mission they had finished was paid. Naruto had a poker face on. A poker face on the blonde haired face either meant he was upset, annoyed and the rare occasions when he wanted to smile, yet not doing it. A poker face was the closest thing someone would get to a smile from him. There was a moment where he laughed, but that was a one-time thing. A rare thing at that.

Naruto was simply joyous, because of Shikamaru's odd tactic to scare the two boys. It felt a bit exhilarating, odd enough. He felt as if there was something beyond the tactic. It wasn't really the fact that he scared the boys. It was somewhere along the lines of actually pulling off the stunt. Not only that, but he felt at ease. He actually had fun resulting in him being open just that once.

There was something else though, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He left it at that.

"Good job, Team Seven. Now, we have seven other missions available. Including, babysitting..." Naruto's eye twitched, which was a rare happening.

He continued reading the list until finally, Naruto spoke up, "I would very much appreciate it if we were sent to a C-Ranked mission. Surely that is a reasonable request, considering a few things." Naruto crossed his arms. He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly when saying the specific word, things.

The Third Hokage obviously understood what he meant by things, thus he stopped teasing the boy. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto's emphasis on the word but said nothing. Though, he agreed with Naruto that he didn't quite like the idea of doing such missions, again. For him to improve he needed to do something more challenging.

Sakura would say she also agreed, but she was a bit uneasy to see Naruto talk so casually with the Hokage. His body language didn't show any signs of tension or formality. She might have been with the Naruto with an attitude only for a while, but she knew for a fact that this Naruto thinks highly of respect.

He refers to all the females by Miss and their last name. If that wasn't enough, he speaks and behaves in such a respectful manner in front of adults. Even when some of them gave him dirty looks he would always speak with respect and hold back his smart remarks and such.

It's only been a while, but she knew that much about him to notice when he acts differently with people. For Kakashi, he would talk casually, but at the same time formally. Kakashi would always tell him to stop being formal, but Naruto hasn't changed his ways.

They seemed to be teasing each other too, so they seemed close in Sasuke and Sakura's eyes.

It was different for the Hokage, though. He still had that formal way of speaking and she was guessing that was just the way he spoke. Nonetheless, he didn't have that way of speaking in his tone of voice. That way of speaking that made it clear he respects and tries his best to be polite. It just wasn't present when he spoke to the Hokage.

He seemed close to Hinata and Shikamaru. He interacted with Kakashi Sensei as if they knew each other for a long time and tease each other as friends do. Now, he speaks to the Hokage like it's nothing.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged it off. "We'll give you something more challenging, then. Here, a C-Ranked request," Sarutobi said.

"What are we doing exactly?" Sasuke asked in a monotone voice. He seemed to show as much interest as his stoic self could present. Of course, he was somewhat shocked at the Hokage's amenable personality to Naruto. It wasn't shown though, but Sakura wasn't good at hiding her astonishment.

"You'll be accompanying a man back to his village," he replied and decided to continue after seeing Naruto raise an eyebrow. "He should be outside, waiting for you. I've already informed him that you were accompanying him, so there should be no postponing the matter."

The elder Hokage opened his eyes, which were closed for quite a while now. "So, no complaining, especially from you, Naruto." He gave the blonde pre-teen a glance before scanning the expressions of the other members of Team Seven. "He's outside if you would like a head start. Other than preparing for your departure, there's nothing else left to do."

With that, they were dismissed to meet the said man.

Sakura was in deep thought as she watched Naruto walk in front of her. He effortlessly walked almost simultaneously to Hatake. As she was in deep thought she stared intensely towards his back.

"Is there perhaps something you would like to ask, Miss Haruno?" Naruto's words brought her back to reality. She flinched at his voice, it seemed to deeper and held an emotion hidden inside his tone. It sounded like something similar to...

"Oh!" She exclaimed in realization. How long was I staring? She stayed silent for a bit, contemplating if she should say something or not. He looked over his shoulder, in a way to urge her to speak. She gulped, giving a quick glance before deciding to speak.

"Why is it?" Sakura started a bit hesitant but whipped her head upwards. "Why is it that the Hokage is so indulgent? I mean..." she paused as Naruto raised an eyebrow. She deeply inhaled and then exhaled. Sakura was a bit hesitant on talking to him ever since his personality change. Something about him just made her hesitant and reserved around him. The opposite of how she would act in front of Sasuke. The green-eyed pre-teen couldn't explain what it was that she felt. It definitely wasn't fear. "You seem so nonchalant in front of the Hokage. I mean, you act very openly with him."

Naruto stared at her confused expression blankly before looking away. He didn't seem fazed at her comment nor did it seem he was going to answer. She didn't expect an answer either.

Yet, he did. "It's really none of your business," he said in an undemonstrative voice. Sakura pouted in disappointment, but it soon left when he continued, "If you really want to know, I like to pretend that he's my grandfather." He mumbled absentmindedly, putting his hands into his black pants that are similar to his orange pants. He tilted his head downwards and slowly walked down the stairs.

"Like to pretend?" Sakura repeated in a confused tone before it clicked. She gasped loudly.

"From what I've been observing, it seems that when he's upset, his facial expression turns into that of a poker face," she heard Sasuke point out calmly.

She frowned. "I didn't mean to."

"I know," Sasuke replies.

She looked down, somewhat upset herself. She felt guilty for reminding him he didn't have any relatives or parents. She really didn't mean it. She diverted her gaze from the floor to the tallest pre-teen in Team Seven. Her eyebrows knotted and her frown remained.

"Do you think he got hurt and blames me?" Sakura asked slowly, afraid of the answer. She waited for a response only to receive a nonchalant shrug from the boy. That helps. She sighed.

•ᵂⁱᵗʰ ᴺᵃʳᵘᵗᵒ•

Naruto stopped in his tracks. His body tensed, seeing the man casually walking pass him. He didn't seem fazed at the blonde who just froze, wide-eyed.

As he passed he finally spoke, so very quietly that only Naruto could hear, "Don't think that you can relax now that you have an easy mission."

He automatically replied, his eyes dulling, "Yes, Sir Danzō."