Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Sorry this is way late, but I got lazy and wasn't really motivated to write. But anyways, next chapter! (Quite frankly, school gets on my nerves so much that it motivates me to write to calm down.) Anyways, let chapter 3 begin!

Chapter 3: Our First Mission is… What?

Yukino, Tetsuo, Mamoru, and Himawari were standing in the Hokage's Office, waiting to be briefed on what was to be their first mission together. Himawari stood still, perfectly calm, while waiting. The same could not be said about Mamoru, who was fidgeting wildly, causing his red-orange hair to seemingly bounce up and down, and failing at his attempts to hide his excited smile. Tetsuo had adopted the expressionless face that the Hyuga's almost constantly wore. Yukino, although not as visibly excited as Mamoru, still had a small smile on her face.

Himawari had picked the mission out, so she knew what it was. And she knew it was probably not going to be well received by the Genin, who were excited for the more action and adventure prospect of being a Shinobi. Just then, Naruto interrupted his daughter's thoughts.

"Team 3. Congratulations on passing your final Genin exam. Your mission is pretty simple and straight-forward. You will be helping Ino Yamanaka re-supply her flower shop. She will explain the rest once you reach her shop. That is all," finished up Naruto, knowing what was coming next.

"What do you mean our first mission is to pick flowers!" exclaimed Mamoru, reminding Naruto of himself.

"Calm down, Mamoru. Besides, it makes sense that this is our first mission," said Yukino, an accepting look on her face.

"Really? In what way does this make sense, Yuki?!" Mamoru said, calling her by her new nickname, causing her to flinch. It went unnoticed by Mamoru, but Tetsuo, Himawari, and Naruto saw it. Tetsuo put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and decided to talk for her.

"It makes sense, Mamoru, because we are a newly instated Genin team, so of course we would be getting easier jobs at first," finished Tetsuo, glaring daggers at him the whole time he was talking. He felt Yukino's hand on his, and understood she was telling him she was fine. He took his hand off her shoulder, and felt glad she was feeling better.

"Alright everyone, let's meet at Mrs. Yamanaka's shop in an hour. Ok?" Himawari phrased it like a question, but everyone knew it was an order.

"Yes, Himawari-sensei," responded the three Genin in unison. Once they all left, Himawari started talking to her father.

"Why did Yukino tense up when Mamoru called her Yuki? She did that yesterday too, when Mamoru started calling her that," she asked, concern in her voice.

"It was probably a nickname her parents gave her. It reminded her of them," he replied, knowing how much his daughter cared about her new team.

"Oh. That explains it." She knew Yukino's parents had died years ago. She just didn't know how much it affected her. "I guess it takes a long time for some wounds to heal."

"Yeah," he responded. You have no idea. "She'll really need your support. I know you'll take care of her."

"Thank you, dad. I needed that." With that, Himawari left the office, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts. They'll be okay. With that, he returned to his mountain of paperwork.

Tetsuo was the first to arrive at the shop, unluckily for him. He tried to walk in without being noticed, but he forgot about the bell on the door. The minute it rang, he began frantically looking for a hiding place, and failed. Then he heard a voice come from the counter.

"Welcome. How may I- You!" Hitoshi spat out the last word, like it was poison. He immediately recognized the boy who walked into the shop. Being the overprotective big brother he was, he started imagining the worst possible scenario(to him). What's that boy, Tetsuo, doing here!? Is he buying flowers for Yukino? Are they going on a date? This can't be happening! She's too young! He's not good enough for her! Hitoshi then made the only decision he could. He assaulted Tetsuo.

Hitoshi flew over the counter, and launched a ceramic vase at Tetsuo. Tetsuo managed to dodge, but in the process, Hitoshi tackled him to the ground, and tried to strangle him to the point of unconsciousness. That's when the worst thing that could have possibly happened happened.

Yukino was walking to the flower shop for their mission, and was almost there. She heard what sounded like something shattering, and sprinted to the shop. Kicking open the door, she entered into a fighting stance, prepared for almost anything. Almost.

The scene she walked in on was confusing, amusing, and concerning all at once. Ino and her husband, Sai, were standing by the door, clutching their stomachs as they laughed. All the while, there were ceramic shards scattered around a Tetsuo who was trying to pry Hitoshi's hands off his throat. Yukino froze where she was standing, taking in everything around her. Soon after, Himawari came bursting in.

"What's going on?" she asked in a sense of urgency, but then saw Hitoshi and Tetsuo, and burst into a fit of laughter with Ino and Sai. Right behind her was Mamoru, who fell on the floor with laughter. It was then that Hitoshi and Tetsuo noticed that there were other people there, and both instantly became mortified. They immediately moved away from each other, with Hitoshi moving toward Ino and Sai, and Tetsuo moving towards the only person who wasn't laughing, Yukino.

Once they split apart, Yukino regained her senses. "What were you guys doing, Tetsuo?" she asked, mostly out of concern.

"It's not important," he said, knowing she would understand he was really saying "I'll tell you later."

"Okay then. How'd you get this scratch on your cheek, Tetsuo?" Before giving him a chance to answer, she moved uncomfortably close to his face, and put her hand on the scratch. He blushed, but she didn't notice. Yukino concentrated chakra into her hand, and managed to use a minor healing jutsu on the scratch. It closed up almost immediately, and she stepped away. She looked at everyone in the room, only to see that they all had somewhat creepy grins on their faces, except for Hitoshi, who was still in a mortified state of shock. "Why is everyone grinning like that?"

"Oh, no reason," Ino replied as inconspicuously as she could. She found that she enjoyed playing matchmaker around the village when she was a teenager, and was still getting people together. "Anyways, all of Team 3 appears to be here, so let's get this mission started."

Mamoru was upset, confused, and happy at the same time. The upset and confused parts came from the fact that this was their first mission. He understood that it was their first mission, so it should be simple, but it was incredibly boring. He complained about it once to Ino, and she threw him into a tree. Just from that throw, he could tell that she was fairly strong and could probably do this by herself. He was wondering if it was safe to ask why she needed them.

But at the same time he was strangely happy. Now he had something to tease his teammates about. Yukino hadn't caught on to why everyone was grinning at first, but when she did, her face became the color of a tomato, and she sprinted out the front door before anyone could point anything out. He also noticed that Tetsuo's face had an unusually pink tint to it as well. He was going have a field day teasing them.

Mamoru then returned to the task he was presented with. To get the flowers, which Ino insisted that they picked themselves, he had gotten lost in the forest on the way to the flower field. He had been following the group, but they suddenly disappeared. He took off, asking himself, "Where could they be?"

"Hey, Tetsuo?" she asked him, while picking a sapphire Aster that matched her eyes. They had reached the flower field, and Ino had split them into pairs to pick the flowers. Yukino had helped her before, on the occasions that Ino decided to go pick the flowers herself, so she knew what to look for in the flowers they picked. Tetsuo and Himawari, however, were beginners, so Ino, being the maniacal matchmaker she was, split them up, leaving Tetsuo and Yukino alone in the near endless flower field.

"Hn?" he replied. Although he was more open than the other Hyuga's, he still sometimes became as stoic as Hiashi.

"Do you think it was okay to just leave Mamoru there, under that genjutsu?" she asked, having second doubts about their plan. To get back at Mamoru for his merciless teasing, they had lagged behind their sensei and Ino to trap Mamoru in a genjutsu that would convince him he was lost, while in reality, he was just laying down in a tree.

"It's fine. He specializes in genjutsu, so he should realize what's happening sooner or later.

"Ok. But can you check on him with your Byakugan? Just in case?"

"Fine," he conceded to appease her nerves. He activated his Byakugan, veins appearing around his lavender eyes. He made his eyes shift to the location of where they left Mamoru when something caught his eye. There was another person, quickly moving towards Mamoru's location, who didn't appear to be from Konoha. A panicked look appeared on his face, and he grabbed Yukino's wrist as he stood up, indicating she should follow. "We have to go. Now."

Yukino didn't ask questions, just yelled to get Himawari's attention so she could follow them, and took off after Tetsuo. While they were running, Yukino decided to speak to him. "What's going on, Tetsuo?"

"There's another person approaching Mamoru. He's not from Konoha, and seems to move at the speed of Shinobi," he concluded, knowing that was more than enough information for Yukino. She quickly made hand signs, and he could barely hear the words she said as they ran.

"Water Clone jutsu!" immediately after she said that, a perfect clone appeared, and took off towards their sensei. "Let's go," she finished, the normal playful note in her voice gone.

"Hai."

Mamoru was still lost and unsure of what to do. He had passed this tree three times, and still couldn't figure out where he was. Maybe I'll figure out where to go if I just lay down, and take a nap… A NAP! That's right. Tetsuo and Yukino did this. They trapped me in a genjutsu. "Release!" he said, returning to reality. He was surprised at what he saw in front of him.

There were Tetsuo and Yukino, standing weary and bruised with their backs to him. He also noticed that there was a cloaked figure in front of them, staring at Mamoru as he woke. Who is this guy? And what did he do to my teammates?

"Hmm. He is unobtainable once again. I will come back for Red. You two however, should pass this message along to your Hokage: You won't defeat us again." After saying that, the man left, leaving nothing. Once they were sure he was gone, Yukino collapsed, and Tetsuo barely managed to catch her before he fell to the ground in exhaustion, unconscious. Mamoru immediately jumped down to his teammates, right as Ino and Himawari arrived.

When the two women saw what state the children were in, they immediately picked them up and sprinted to the hospital, Mamoru in their wake. They remained in silence until they reached their destination. Ino quite literally kicked opened the doors, startling everyone as she burst in with Himawari. Sakura, and her daughter, Sarada, who were luckily in the lobby, immediately rushed towards the panicked kunoichi. Seeing the situation, Sarada took Yukino, and Sakura took Tetsuo to different nearby rooms, yelling at other medics to help them. Once they were sure the two pre-teens were going to be taken care of, they decided to find out how this happened.

"What happened to them Mamoru?" asked Ino worryingly. Although she didn't know Tetsuo very well, she cared a lot about Yukino. She had become very close to the girl over the years, acting as a surrogate mother. She didn't want anything to happen to Yukino.

"I'm not very sure," he started. "I was trapped in a genjutsu, and when I came out of it, Yukino and Tetsuo were barely able to stand, but they were trying to defend me against some guy. He was wearing a long cloak, and he told them to tell the Hokage this: You won't defeat us again. Then he left, and Yukino and Tetsuo collapsed. That's all I remember happened. But I'm sure they'll be fine," he finished, seeing the worrying face on his sensei.

"Tetsuo's right, Hima. They'll be fine. For now though, I better call Hitoshi," Ino said, taking off to call Yukino's brother.

"You guys are right. I won't lose faith. But I should call Hanabi," Himawari concluded, less distressed than before. They've got to be okay.

Tetsuo woke up in a white room, confused. He then took notice of multiple different monitors and a saline bag near him. He also saw that his mother, father, brother,and younger sister were in the room, asleep. What am I doing in the hospital? As he tried to sit up, he cringed as his sides hurt. Oh right, the fight. Where's Yukino? Somehow, his family heard him, and they all woke up at once.

"Tetsuo!" his mother yelled, jumping towards him to give him a crushing hug, crying.

"Do you know how worried you made your mother?" scolded Konohamaru as he moved towards his son and joined in the hug.

Somehow, he managed to pick his brother's voice out from the chaos in the small room, but he only heard one word, dragging his groggy brain back to what he had intended to do before he woke up everyone. He slowly stood up, breaking out of his parents embrace. "I'm sorry I made you all worry. But I'm going to check on Yukino now."

"You can't leave your bed nii-san. Miss Sarada said so," said his little sister, Seiko. "She said that if you did, you wouldn't get better." Although his little sister didn't catch the veiled threat, he certainly did. But he disregarded it, deciding to leave anyways.

"Don't worry, Seiko. I'll be fine." His parents didn't stop him, knowing that he would only rest after assuring his best friend was safe.

"She's in the room next door," said Yasushi, his older brother, for once without teasing him. Tetsuo paused at the door, then left the room.

Yukino woke up with a strange sensation. For some reason, her stomach felt heavier than before. When she opened her eyes, she saw Tetsuo asleep, his head in her lap. At first she blushed, but it soon faded as she saw how tired he was. He must have been here for a while. I'm glad we're both okay though. On that thought, she fell back asleep, too exhausted to do anything else.

"So that's what happened on your mission, Hima?" said Naruto, concerned as he listened to her mission report.

"Yes. In the end, our mission was a failure. But that's okay, because everyone is safe now." stated Himawari, as she finished.

"You're right Hima. Thanks for taking care of those kids. You are dismissed." she left immediately, leaving Naruto and Shikamaru alone. "So, do you think it's them, Shikamaru?"

"It seems like it, but it should be impossible that the group still remains after we eliminated them. Either way, we need to be more careful from now on," he finished.

"Humm. Seems like the times of peace that we created are ending. I just hate that these kids will have to deal with it."

"It's too troublesome for people so young. If only we knew how to stop it."

"If only."

A/N: So yeah… this chapter was sort of horrible. But I tried, right? Anyways, next time, A Diplomat's Request! Please review so I can improve, and I'll try to update faster.

See Ya!

XOXO, Zera