Wow, another chapter already. I surprise myself sometimes.

Hope you guys enjoy. As always, unbeta'd, and probably missing half the formatting cause I stil can't figure out why it undoes stuff


'What I wouldn't give for a bottle of sake right now. I think I'd even give up gambling for a week'
If her assistant Shizune could hear what Tsunade was thinking, she would have called for the ANBU to take the impostor to Interrogation. Luckily for the Hokage, no one could hear what was going through her mind, doubly so since there was only one other person in the room, and Hyuuga Hiashi had been droning on for the last 20 minutes about the rules and regulations that he felt dictated the response to the situation.

"ENOUGH!" Tsunade jumped to her feet and slammed her fist down on her table, accidentally breaking it, again. "Hyuuga-san, I respect your clan for their fighting ability, I enjoy the No theater that you host for the festival, and I am grateful that you have allowed several of the younger members to begin training at the hospital. But I will NOT allow you to tell me what to do. She is one of my ninja and therefore my responsibility. We will recover your daughter, and I will go to war if that is the only way!"

Throughout the entire rant, Hiashi's face never changed. One would think that he had been replaced by a flesh colored statue. "Of course Hokage-sama, your word is law. My response was inappropriate and I was acting above my station. I will return to the compound and instruct my clan to await your orders. If there nothing else, I bid you good day." Bowing deeply from the waist, the leader of the Hyuuga calmly walked out of the office as though strolling through the park.

Knocking on the frame of the door, Shizune poked her head in to see if her master was still in a good mood. "Hokage-sama, Kiba-kun and Shino-kun are here. Shall I send them in?"

"Please do Shizune-chan. And can you also get me a bottle of sake?"

Narrowing her eyes at the Hokage, she relented after seeing the tension in her body. "Very well Hokage-sama, but only one. You two may enter now."

The two boys entered the office slowly, still recovering from their injuries. Aburame Shino entered first, primarily because he was being pushed in a wheelchair. Due to his bloodline, Shino had always lagged behind his two teammates in taijutsu and overall physical strength, a weakness that the enemy has exploited flawlessly. He was currently recuperating from a concussion, internal bleeding, a ruptured kidney, and several broken bones, including his left collarbone, three ribs, right leg and pelvis. Even with the doctors accelerating his healing with jutsu, the bones wouldn't be healed for 3 weeks, and there would be significant rehabilitation beyond that. His teammate, Inuzuka Kiba, had less extensive injuries, though they had been equally debilitating. No one would claim that Kiba was a genius, he was never known for his thinking, but everyone would admit that he had developed very advanced battle instincts. His taijutsu was near jounin level, and even higher when fighting with his partner Akamaru. Unfortunately, because the two fought with their instincts and not with their heads, they were apt to be drawn into traps and tricked into making bad decisions. This was the reason for the injuries sustained. In his rage, the enemy was able to separate he and Akamaru, reducing their fighting ability and forcing them into a defense fight. Akamaru was still at his sister's clinic recovering from the poisons and chakra exhaustion. Kiba was recovering from the same ailments, as well as a dislocated shoulder and the loss of his left pinkie. He would recover much quicker than Shino, but was beginning to doubt his actions and his abilities.

Stopping in front of the Hokage's desk, he set the brakes on Shino's wheelchair and stood to his left, unconsciously leaving enough empty space for thier missing teammate. Tsunade saw the condition of her ninja and the empty space between them and let ought a deep sign.

"Team 8 reporting on termination of mission Hokage-sama," Shino began in his quite voice. "Mission began 83 hours ago, objectives were to investigate a series of missing persons near the border of Kaminari no Kuni. Team 8 arrived in the area approximately 17 hours after leaving Konohagakure. Preliminary scouting revealed several unusual symbols carved into three trees 2.4 kilometers due east of the coal mine. Detailed sketches are included in the written report."

"That night, we set up camp between the mine and where the trees were. Me an' Akamaru set up a series of traps and warning points, Shino told his bugs to spread out, and Hinata-chan did her thing and said it was all clear. Me an' Akamaru took first watch, we woke up Shino, and he woke up Hinata for her turn. The next day, we talked to the guy who ran the mine. He said that everyone that disappeared had been traveling east but were not carrying anything valuable. So we went back to the place with the carving and looked around for more clues. We searched all the way to the border to the north and the ravine to the east. We couldn't find anything else out of the ordinary and returned to camp again."

"Kiba roused me when his watch was over with no incidents to report. Approximately one hour later, three of the traps on the east side of our encampment were triggered. My kikai informed me that there were at least three chakra sources approaching at high speed. I was unable to determine exactly how many were in the group, several times my allies were unable to detect any chakra, which would then reappear in new locations. I immediately woke my comrades and we readied ourselves for battle. Two minutes later, a small child ran into the clearing, he appeared to be scared and wounded. Upon noticing us, the child stopped and began to scream. At this point, Hinata-san approached the child and was able to calm him down. When asked why he was injured, the child began speaking swiftly and crying, we were only able to understand that he had been playing in the forest near his parents farm when a large beast began to chase him. During the chase, he became lost and did not know how to return home. Kiba informed Hinata-san and I that he would scout out in the direction the child came from, to try and find tracks for this beast. Hinata-san took the child to her tent and began tending his wounds. I patrolled the encampment and reset the three traps that the child apparently set off. I apologize and wish there to be a reprimand added to my file for my negligence in dismissing the inconsistent chakra sources that were originally reported."

Sitting back in the plush chair, Tsunade took a long sip of the sake Shizune had delivered. So far the mission was mundane, although the unknown symbols were something unexpected, something to send over to intel and see if they can find anything. Looking at the two boys, she could see that they were still upset about what happened and needlessly blaming themselves for a situation they could not control. "No Shino-kun, I don't think that you will be getting a reprimand. I believe that you have both been punished enough for such a slight lapse in judgment. Let us jump ahead a bit. Kiba, I understand that you followed the child's path for several miles and found no indication of any animal following him, correct?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Akamaru ran ahead and sensed nothing until the trail disappeared coming from a nearby river. We guessed the kid swam across. Since I didn't want to leave the camp for too long, we headed back without picking up the trail on the other side. Looking back, me and Akamaru shoulda taken a quick look just to see if whatever the animal was had decided not to cross. Anyways, when we came back, Shino was asleep and Hinata was on watch with the kids head in her lap stroking his hair. Akamaru went over to them to keep company, I went back to my tent to sleep. I next woke up when Akamaru was thrown into the side of my tent causing it to collapse on me. By the time I was able to cut my way free, Hinata was knocked out, Shino had a taken some hits and was already spitting blood. Me and Akamaru went after one of the guys fighting Shino and the bastard that was standing over Hinata-chan. I didn't notice at the time, but thinking back on it, that bastard was wearing the same outfit as the kid from before. Anyways, we were able to back them out of the clearing, but once we got into the trees they kept trying to split up. I was facing the one who used to be the kid when I was hit with something from behind dislocating my shoulder. I've had it happen before and was able to pop it back into place, but something was wrong with it and it wouldn't stay in. I got a scratch from one of his shuriken and then I couldn't focus anymore. He was able to pin me down and for some strange reason cut off my finger, but didn't try to kill me. Akamaru had apparently taken the other guy out by triggering one of the traps from earlier, but was hit with a kunai before he could get clear. I guess they had poison on the blades because both of us were barely able to move. I crawled over to Akamaru when Shino's kikai arrived and started swarming all over us. Thats the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital."

"As Kiba reported, the child which had arrived earlier was indeed an adult ninja under some type of henge. I am unable to say whether Hinata utilized her Byakugan while giving the child treatment. If so, I find it highly irregular that she would not be able to detect that he was in disguise. To my knowledge, only Naruto-san is able to adequately disguise his henged clones from Hinata-san. She is able to determine they are clones, but is unable to detect that they have been henged from their original form. When the child dispelled his henge, he was able to render Hinata-san unconscious before any of us were aware. I was awoken by my kikai and able to exit the tent, only to be assaulted by two new ninja. They did not use ninjutsu, and I was unable to detect chakra. The taller opponent was skilled in the use of a staff and able to give me several injuries. After Kiba drew away the second enemy, my opponent channeled a large amount to chakra into his staff. I am unsure of the exact nature of the changes he imparted on the weapon, but it seemed to have increased momentum and became impossible to block. Because of the lack of chakra in his fighting, I was unable to weaken him using my allies. After less than three minutes, I had been disarmed and was struck in the head. Unable to gain my bearings, my opponent was able to break my leg and hip, then began to slam the end of his staff into my abdomen. His comrades gave out a call that they had the target and they turned and fled. I sent out my kikai to locate Kiba, and was informed that both had been poisoned with something that was drawing on their chakra. I had them consume as much of their chakra as possible without putting them in danger. Just before passing out, I sent several kikai in the direction of the mining camp and two towards the nearest outpost. I too only awoke after arriving in the hospital."

"Thank you for your report. I will see that you are kept informed of any new developments. Until then, please take care of yourselves and concentrate on recovering. When Kurenai returns from her mission, I will send her... Well, never mind then." With that, the Kurenai burst through the door. Obviously frantic with worry, she had either abandoned her mission, or rushed back as fast as possible without rest.

"Hokage-sama, please, have you found her? Is she OK? She can't be be missing. Oh kami, Hinata-chan. NO!" Kurenai couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears.

Shizune entered the room, apologizing for the jounin's enterance, and gathered the woman up off the floor, guiding her over to one of the couches.

"I'm sorry Kurenai, but we haven't found her yet. I send two squad of ANBU to help search the area. Hopefully the chunin who remained when Kiba and Shino were discovered will have discovered the trail and left markers for them to follow. I hope to receive an update this evening, and can only pray that it has good news. Now, I'm sure that you could use some time to rest, so please go with your team and rest. I will send for you if anything happens." At Tsunade's obvious dismissal, Shizune helped Kurenai from the room, followed by Shino and Kiba.

Halting at the doorway, Shino looked back to the Hokage and asked, "May I ask who it was that remained behind?"

With a smirk, Tsunade gave a quite cryptic reply. "Oh, it was the same person that carried you back."

"Then I believe Hinata-chan will be adequitely looked after. Let us catch up to sensei, Kiba." Though he was still confused, Kiba just shrugged and continued pushing Shino out the door.


A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying this. It's actually been kinda fun to write (i.e. it comes out as I want, not alot of going back and redoing half of it three times)