Summary:

Hinata has changed over the past years; she is now 17 and no longer her old self. It seems everyone has changed, even Sasuke. They haven't spoken in a long time, what will happen when they both leave for a mission in the Hidden Sand Village?

-Any comments and "burns" are accepted I take them all as critique and as ways to improve my writing. I do not own naruto-

-Hinata's PoV-

I'm headed to the Hokage's office. Earlier today I received a scroll that requested my appearance at her office at 9:45 a.m. It was now 9:43 a.m. and I was waiting outside her office. I wondered if I should come in or wait 2 minutes. I decided to ask Shizune, her assistant," Shizune-San should I go inside?"

"Not yet Hinata-San, you have to wait for Sasuke-San", Shizune responded in a calm matter. Sasuke? I wonder why he was called at the same time as me, it could have been that Tsunade just forgot or something I started to wonder. I was headed to my seat to sit and wait when Sasuke came strolling in with that swagger he has. I had to admit he was quite handsome; you had to be blind if you didn't admit to that. He greeted Shizune and then stared at me. He's probably wondering why I'm here I thought.

At that moment Tsunade came outside and asked us to sit. She started to explain, her words slurring as she spoke, "I have called you both here to inform you two that you will head to the Hidden Sand Village for a mission. Your mission is to protect the Hokage there. His name is Sabaku no Gaara, I'm sure you have met him before. Both of you will stay at his estate meanwhile and follow him wherever he goes." I nodded to these instructions they had given us. Tsunade continued explaining, "You will be leaving at 12 p.m. I suggest you pack your bags and meet at 12 at the entrance of the village. Oh and by the way you will work as a team and you will be staying there for 5 months." I noticed as she particularly intoned the words "team and will".

I left the room and started to walk towards my house. I began to pack my clothing and all the things I would need there. I was done at 11 so I went downstairs to grab a bite to eat. In the kitchen were Hanabi and Neji enjoying a bowl of cereal with milk. I got a plate and took some cereal from the box that was on the counter. "Neji-San could you pass me the milk?", I asked.

"Here you go" Neji said as he passed me the milk carton. I informed them that I was leaving for a mission and the purpose of it. Neji's face frowned as I told him my partner was Uchiha Sasuke. "Hinata-Chan I don't trust Uchiha-San please be careful around him", Neji warned. Hanabi laughed at this and so did I, Neji was always so protective with us.

I took a look at the clock and noticed it was 11:55 a.m. I didn't want to run and get there first so
I decided to walk to the entrance. When I got there I saw Sasuke sporting an annoyed face. "Your late", he said sharply.

"I was eating. I guess I didn't notice the time, sorry" I lied. He replied with his infamous "Hn" and started to head outside of the village. Guess he hasn't changed at all, if he has he still acts superior like before I thought. The road to the Sand Village wasn't very dangerous, ever since the two villages had united there were guards patrolling the area. Sasuke had already started heading there; I began to run at all my speed to catch up, when I got there I slowed my pace down to a sprint and ran next to him. "How long will it take us to get there Sasuke-San" I asked curiously.

"If we don't stop and rest we could get there in two hours", he replied. The two hours seemed dreadfully long. After my question and his answer almost no talking happened. When he got to the entrance of the other village the guards saluted us and gave us the direction for the house of the Hokage. We started to pace towards the house. We passed various shops and restaurants as well as a big park. I thought the park was kind of ironic, here we were in a desert and there was a park with luscious green trees and Sakura trees as well as a small pond. The house wasn't too far away from the park.

As we got there a blond girl with four pigtails came out and introduced herself."You must be my brother's bodyguards, hi I'm Sabaku no Temari", she told us to come in. "You will be sleeping in different rooms, Hinata your room is to the left and Sasuke's is to the right. The room at the end is my brother's." She gave us a tour of the house and told us she had to go do some errands. Before she left she asked a man to guide us to the Hokage's tower. The man introduced himself as Sabaku no Kankuro, the Hokage's brother.