Mission: Delivery!

"So — I have to what exactly...?" Naruto muttered, scratching his head absentmindedly. He hadn't absorbed a single word of the explanation that the Hokage had given him.

Tsunade sighed impatiently and rubbed her temples irritably. "Idiot..." She murmured under her breath, "Your mission is a simple C rank in which you have to deliver a cart of goods to the Shadow Village–"

"Why?" Naruto's interjection didn't seem to be taken well.

Tsunade glared at him as she spoke, "It's a part of our Village's alliance and relationship. You will need no other explanation... Besides, you are the one who has been whining about your lack of missions lately, and no one else I can trust this to is free."

A smirk spread across the blonde boys face as he turned her words over in his head. She trusted him. He would have that ammo to throw back at her if she ever decided to scold him for something. "Awesome! When do I start?"

"You don't even have a team of three," Her eyebrow raised incredulously at the look on his face, "Surely you didn't think you were going that distance alone?"

"Bu — fine, why don't I just go with my team then?" He crossed his arms stubbornly, irritated by his lack of triumph.

"As I said before, many of those I trust are busy. Sakura just so happens to be one of those, but Sasuke on the other hand, I was already going to send him with you." She cut Naruto off as he opened his mouth to argue, "Don't bother protesting, the two of you need to learn to work together. He should be here shortly, I've already sent someone to get him."

"Well–" Naruto looked for a reason to break her streak, "Can I — Can I at least pick the other one?" There was an edge of pout and pleading in his voice.

"Why not." She accepted, exasperation layering her tone. "I will warn you, there aren't very many other genin or chunin open, so your choices are very limited–" There was a brief knock on the door. "Come in."

A raven haired boy pushed the door open and stepped in, "You wanted me?" He asked cooly after closing the door.

"You and Naruto are being assigned to a simple C rank mission to ferry a cart of goods to the hidden Shadow Village." Sasuke's nose seemed to wrinkle when his eyes brushed over Naruto. Naruto felt a surge of hatred flow through him as he glared back. "Now Naruto, you only have three to choose from who are free. Choose wisely... Ino Yamanaka–"

"What! Not gunna happen!" He spat, the corners of his mouth turning down as he motioned a thumbs-down with his hand.

"Choji Akimichi–"

"Eh — He's better, but not by much... He might eat it all." Naruto shrugged, chuckling at his personal joke.

"And Riyame Uchiha." She finished as though Naruto never interjected his two-cents.

A sudden smile flashed across Naruto's face. "Riyame? Huh—" If there were gears within Naruto's head, they surely would have be turning. He began to contemplate choosing Riyame.

Hmm, He thought. Riyame might be the perfect choice. She had always been keen on trying to stand up for others, so that might keep Sasuke off his back — No. He would not choose her for such selfish reasons, not after... He shook off the thoughts of week prior. That brought him to his senses. What if she got hurt? It certainly wouldn't be the first time... That thought seemed to cross Sasuke's mind because he spoke.

"No. Absolutely not..." He was glaring out the window.

"Not your decision..." Naruto grumbled irritably.

Sasuke's glare turned deadly as his gaze settled on Naruto. Naruto didn't waver under his piercing gaze and just glared back. "Fine then, hurry up and make a decision." He growled braking the eye contact.

"Riyame." He stated proudly, slightly puffing his chest out as though he were gloating. He ignored the glower that Sasuke sent his way.

"Fine, fine... I will have Shizune collect her." Tsunade stood and walked around the desk, "Momentarily, I will be right back."

There were a few moments of awkward silence following the closing of the door. Neither of them wanted to be the one to break the silence, nor did they want to look at each other. There was something gnawing Sasuke inside. He didn't know what it was, but a slight protective lurch made him want to back hand Naruto. He would have rather dealt with the annoying blonde or the gluttonous fat boy. There was something about Riyame's joining of the team that irritated him. Not that he would ever admit it...

In the end, it was Sasuke that broke the silence. His eyes bored into the side of Naruto's head, trying to understand his reasoning behind his choice. She wasn't exactly strong or fast. He didn't know what jutsu she could use, and there wasn't much that she could do to benefit the team. The only thing she'd seemed to have proven that she was any good at was hiding and getting hurt. She might be more tolerable than the other two, but she was just more dead weight that Sasuke would have to carry were something to go wrong. Which, since it seemed as though Riyame invited injury, there was sure to be some. Sasuke unfortunately could not shake the thoughts so a question slipped between his lips before he could stop it.

"What were you thinking?" He sneered. It wasn't meant to be said aloud, but it had already escaped.

"Sorry, what was that?" Naruto grumbled. He acted as though he hadn't heard him, which he knew had to have irritated the boy with raven hair.

"What exactly made you choose her?" It was more of a demand than a question but Naruto knew what he meant.

"Because it was my choice. It's only a C rank, why are you worried?" The blonde haired boy's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"No reason." Sasuke grumbled.

"Yeah." Naruto muttered curtly. Awkward silence consumed the room again as they waited for Tsunade to return.

Riyame's POV

Light conversation bounced around me as Kakashi-sensei and I ordered lunch. We were sitting at Ichiraku's Ramen shop. I wouldn't have normally been here if Kakashi hadn't offered to take me to lunch.

"You should've heard Naruto come through here braging this morning. Talking about how he was finally getting some action. Says Tsunade's finally going to send him on some important mission." Mr. Ichiraku laughed. I could feel the soft smile graze my lips as I pictured Naruto saying this. It was so much like that knuckle head...

Kakashi chuckled lightly, "That sounds like Naruto alright. Leave it to him to beef it up. It's probably only a simple C rank."

"Probably," Mr. Ichiraku agreed.

I sighed softly, Mr. Ichiraku didn't seem to notice, but I caught Kakashi's eye dart to my face. I didn't notice it that much any more. Or well, it had stopped bothering me at least... It happened every time I was near any of Team 7, with the exception of Sasuke, Kagame or even Lady Tsunade. I knew what it was. After what happened last week, I'm sure they wanted to make sure that I wasn't losing my mind. Or at least that I wasn't slipping back into another depression... I thought this overly cautious and somewhat annoying, but I tolerated it because it was nice having someone there to care about me after so long of being alone.

I gave Kakashi-sensei a reassuring smile before turning away from him. Behind me, I sensed a familiar presence advancing our way. My eyes unconciously flickered backward to see the thin, dark haired assistant of Lady Tsunade's, Lady Shizune, rounding the corner. Kakashi copied me, just in time to see her walking our way. His dark eye turned on me, a slightly curious glaze over them.

I wonder if what I did seemed strange to him. I was so used to that extra sense, that my mind never registered whether or not others would find my actions odd. His eyes, though his gaze was curious, bore into the side of my head and forced my cheeks to heat lightly. My stomach flipped as Lady Shizune stopped in front of me as I turned around in my seat.

"Riyame." Her sweet voice voice wrapped around my name as she smiled at me. "Lady Tsunade would like to see you." Even I felt my eyebrows raise in confusion and disbelief. Why...? Was she that worried that I wasn't mentally stable? Had she been told about the occasionally reoccuring nightmares?

"Alright..." I muttered. "May I ask why?"

She smiled softly, "She didn't release much information to me. I was just told to retrieve you." Her hands were folded in front of her as she stood patiently.

I glanced at Kakashi-sensei, slightly abashed. He'd offered to take me out, and then someone came to take me away. He motioned for me to go on, a softness on his features. My teeth knawed on my bottom lip as I gave him an apologetic look.

Miss Shizune steered me to the hokage's building—a large, orange-brown building that stood tall in the head of the village. She led me through the front doors to see Lady Tsunade, intimidating and strong, herself. Her face was stern, her eyes faintly irritated. It must've been Naruto. He is the only one that I've ever met that can leave this sort of lasting effect on her.

"Ah, Riyame..." She greeted smoothly, "Thank you, Shizune." Miss Shizune nodded happily and walked away, almost bouncily...what? Then, Tsunade turned to me. She explained to me briefly why I was here, apologizing for pulling me out of any prior plans.

My jaw dropped slightly. They had chosen me as the third person in a three man squad!? A three man squad with Naruto and my...brother...

"Th-they chose—" I swallowed the slight lump forming in my throat, "me?"

Lady Tsunade nodded quickly, "That's right. Do you want to decline the mission? There are others availiable."

I froze, glued to my spot. I didn't know how to answer that... Part of me wanted to go to prove that I could. Another part of me wanted to decline and live to see another day—though, not that I'd exactly die of anything but embarassment. But, was I strong enough? Maybe Kakashi-sensei was right. Maybe it was just a simple C ranked mission. But what if it wasn't...something in this mission intimidated me. Maybe it was the fact that I was going to have to go with Naruto and my older brother. The same older brother that I had only been around for the week prior to this. It was also much different when I had Sakura or Kakashi-sensei there to help cover for me, but I didn't. It would just be me, Naruto and Sasuke.

"I—" I bit down on my lip for a moment before answering, "I don't know..."

Lady Tsunade sighed, "Riyame, you are an excellent shinobi." I looked up at her, "Stop downing yourself. You're only going to hold yourself back. I see great potential in you; don't let anyone tell you any differently. Not your teammates, not your brothers, not anyone... Understood?"

I nodded. Does "anyone" count as myself too? I didn't ask the question out loud. I knew what her response would be. So, she lead me to her office in silence. Up a few flights of stairs and through the doors, there stood Naruto and the raven haired boy. My could feel every muscle in my back stiffen as I stopped between them.

"Alright. I trust that all of you knows what this mission entails. The cart of goods will be waiting for you at the gate." Lady Hokage instructed, "I want you all back here in no later than three days time. Am I understood?"

"Right." All three of us said it in unison.

"Right, then. This mission could get worse. If something happens to you or the goods, I have Shikamaru placed on standby. Call for him." She ordered. Each of us nodded and left, "Good luck!" She called after us.

I walked home and packed my messenger bag with the bare necessities before walking out my door and in the direction of the north gates. I walked briskly, trying to squelch the nervousness that built in my stomach every time I was forced to face Sasuke.

I bit my lip as I arrived. Sasuke was already there. His regular cool demeanor wasn't marred by my arrival, only intensified as he brushed it off. I glanced around before deciding that near the cart was probably the safest place to stand. I didn't bother trying to make conversation either. Sasuke didn't bother even sparing a glance at me. He actually avoided looking at me completely. The atmosphere was very tense. I didn't know if it was just because we were still uncomfortable around each other or because neither of us thought I should be here, but it played with the nerves that made my stomach churn.

After a few more minutes of tense, awkward silence, I could sense Naruto's arrival. He bounced over to us, almost a little too filled with glee at the prospect of departing on a mission. He even volunteered to carry the cart. It wasn't very light, but he seemed to have a handle on it. It wasn't too much for me to carry, but when I offered, he told me that it was fine and that he had it. Who was I to argue...so, we started out.

I walked beside Naruto down the familiar road of the village. Sasuke walked a few meters in front of us. It was clear that he had taken on the role of the leader. I didn't combat this because it was for the best. Naruto wasn't exactly the leader type, nor was I for that matter. I would never be able to lead a team.

After a few moments of awkwardly silent walking, Naruto must have stopped paying attention to his feet and the ground. His foot caught a protruding rock, dropping the cart, and falling forward. I was just fast enough to grip him under his arms and prevent him from falling, but I had no such luck with the cart.

All of it happened very fast. Naruto tripped, dropped the cart, and fell forward. I was supporting most of his weight, and I was too preoccupied with the panic that began to fester as I looked up at the falling cart. In nearly a flash, Sasuke had managed to catch it. A sigh of relief radiated through me, but as I looked down at Naruto, my cheeks burned. I was still holding his weight and his face was inches from my chest. His face was a deep crimson, probably the same shade as mine.

My stomach fluttered uncomfortably. For a second, I completely contemplated dropping him, but that would have been rude. So I froze, my muscles locking in shock. I could feel a pair of familiar eyes on me, so I glanced up. Horrible idea... Sasuke's glare was aimed directly at me. I had never been so intimidated by him before. This degree of intimidation was usually reserved for my eldest brother, but Sasuke had earned it at this very moment.

Naruto seemed to flush even deeper and jumped back, "S-Sorry!"

"You idiot!" Sasuke barked, making me jump, "You almost ruined everything." Even I cringed at his words. Was this what Sasuke had truly become? How could he be so harsh and unforgiving? Did our brother's actions really change him that drastically?

Naruto returned Sasuke's glare fearlessly, "You wouldn't say that if it was Riyame or Sakura!" Naruto shouted. Those words sent a pang of guilt into my heart and stomach.

"I wouldn't have to." He barked, "At least they would have the sense to watch their feet." This made me feel even worse.

"I tripped!" Naruto snapped, "Even you, the great Sasuke, trip sometimes. It could happen to anyone!"

"Everyone else isn't completely incapable of pulling a cart of goods." Sasuke growled. Now his words were beginning to cross lines...

"Sasuke..." I tried to soothe the situation as best as I could, but his dirty look made me advert my eyes and gnaw on my lip.

Sasuke sighed, "Pull the cart and pull it right this time, dunce."

Naruto grumbled to himself and mocked him rudely as he retook the cart and Sasuke walked on. I felt sick as I replayed his cold glares in my head again. Why was it such a shock every time I realized just how much Itachi had taken his toll? I kept up their pace as I walked, allowing my mind to detach. If Sasuke even spared a look at me, I didn't know. Naruto had a few times, but who was counting...

And again, we walked in silence. The air was filled to the brim with tension and awkwardness so dense that you could carve it with a knife. That awkward silence bordered on eerie, and we walked this way for almost half-an-hour.