As Naruto and Sakura made their way to Kakashi, Naruto was slowly growing larger, unbeknownst to either of the two Genin. It didn't take long to meet Kakashi at the gates to the village where not only Sasuke and Kakashi were waiting, but a beautiful girl in a blue kimono. Her hair was tied back in a bun and her face was covered by a veil. It was slightly transparent, and you could see the beautiful visage that lay behind it, tantalizing and distant. Naruto eagerly ran up to Kakashi and said, "We're here Kakashi-sensei! Let's go, let's go, let's go! What's our mission?"

Kakashi sweatdropped at Naruto's boundless enthusiasm, then spotted something strange. Naruto's clothes looked a little small on him. With every arm thrust into the air, his shirt would ride up revealing more of Naruto's skin then was normal. Looking down he saw the pants looked a little tight as well. Even his toes were pressing a little further out of his sandals than usual. Kakashi just brushed this aside. It was normal for boys Naruto's age to get growth spurts, and was nothing to get worked up over. So he simply said, "Naruto, shut up."

Naruto stopped jumping around and merely settled for quivering in anticipation. Sasuke sighed with a mutter that sounded suspiciously like, "Idiot." while Sakura hauled off and smacked him in the head. The girl raised a hand to her face in shock and Kakashi said, "Don't worry about them. They're always like that."

"Hey, hey, Kakashi-sensei, who's the chick?" Naruto asked, pointing at the girl.

"This is our A-ranked mission. She is the daughter of a powerful lord that lives quite a ways away from the village. His family has been in conflict with another branch of the family and as such she's been the target of many assassinations and kidnappings hoping to use her as leverage to gain ground for their own family, none of which have been succesful. However, the lord informed the village that these would be assassins and kidnappers have finally turned to ninja for help. It will be our mission to escort her safely to her father's house where she will be held safe until this family fued is over. It shouldn't take more than a few days to get there, if we move fast. So let's get moving!"

With that, the group left the village and headed for the lord's mansion. No one noticed Naruto quietly growing larger with each passing second.