Hana, or Aimi as she went by here, took a long breath of fresh air just outside the kitchen. She had few moments to herself now. She was running a household of thirty maids, chefs, and gardeners and other servants. Who knew the kunoichi classes would actually come in handy? She turned to walk back inside and touched a rose and make an obnoxious hiss upon pricking herself. "Ah!" she shrieked as she walked back inside.

"Aimi!" The chef announced, heavily concerned. "You're bleeding, what did you do?"

"The roses, ah I'm sorry. Don't fuss over me," she gushed trying to shoo him away.

"Hush, I'll go grab you a towel. You're bleeding so much for a little prick!" The Sutero clan always did have terrible clotting factors.

As the chef left the room, Hana made sure to squeeze her blood into the tea pot the lord usually used for his tea time. The chef came back quickly and wrapped her finger. Eventually it stopped bleeding. "I better get the lord his tea, otherwise he's going to get agitated." And an agitated lord was not something she wished upon anyone. She'd been kicked and hit several times since her arrival and she was one of the best servants he had.

She headed out of the kitchen, presenting the tea appropriately. She then took a sip of it. It was the house managers duty to ensure the tea had not been poisoned. As she sipped she felt the slightest smirk creep onto her face. It had been six months and she finally felt as though she had played her part well ensure to keep suspicion away from herself. She nodded and placed the teacup back down.

Within ten minutes, when she hadn't begun to show any signs of poisoning, the lord began to drink his tea. She backed out of the room with a bow. Now just to wait.

The news of the lord being deathly ill shook the household. Hana wept silently along with the rest of the staff. However, it seems most of them were more concerned with their jobs than his well-being. Hana shook her head is dismay. "I cannot believe I allowed this to happen. I must excuse myself from this position." With that declaration, she gathered her belongings and set to the road with several hugs. The staff she had worked with truly was wonderful, it pained her to lie to them so much, but it was the way of life for shinobi.

Finally, far enough away from the village, Hana pushed some chakra through the soles of her feet. It felt wonderful to use her chakra again. She flickered front branch to branch so much felt a little dizzy. I never thought I'd miss running, she mused as she bounded. The past six months had been met with a lot of contemplation. She felt different. Maybe it was spending six months being forced to follow often absurd orders, but she almost appreciated the village, her clan and all its rules.

She sighed recalling her long journey here, and now her long journey home. She only had time for more contemplation and training. She was genuinely concerned her skills had diminished, she hadn't the option or time to train.

Hana strolled into the Hokage's office with a light knocked. "Come in," he said and smiled as he saw his favorite purple haired shinobi. "Sutero Hana, you're home."

She placed a scroll gently on the table. "My reports. It was successful."

Sarutobi nodded and examined the woman in front of him a little closer. "Completely successful?" Hana nodded, smiling softly. "Good. Your father was infuriated with this mission and your mother is worried sick. Also, you have a younger sister."

Hana's eyes widened. "She was born already?" She quickly did some mental math and she realized her little sister was probably three months old. "Anything else?" She asked, suddenly anxious to get home.

Sarutobi smiled and shook his head, earning him a bow and a body flicker out of the room.

Hana was home in no time and entered the compound which seemed foreign to her after being gone. As she entered her home she was thrown into a hug by her mother. "Hana, you're home," she cried, muffling herself into her daughter's shoulder. Hana hugged her back, she'd be lying is she said she hadn't missed her mother.

As they parted, she saw her father enter the room with the smallest being she'd ever seen in her arms. His face was stone cold as always and she felt a familiar lump rise in her throat. "Hitomi, please take Harumi," he stated flatly. Hitomi held her cooing daughter and her eldest stared anxiously at her father.

Before Hana could say anything, she was in her father's embrace. It was overwhelming and crushing. It was the type of hug he had giving her when he would tease her as a child. Hana couldn't help but to throw herself into it, crying softly. She really did love her father, she did. They butted heads and their values were so different it was appalling, but he had raised her and always encouraged her to be the best. He parted from her and Hana was shocked, he looked as though he was getting emotional himself. "Do not, do not ever do anything like that again."

Hana smiled, content. "Of course, father." She turned her attention to her new little sister. This baby… it was tiny, but by god for something so small it was so chubby.

"Do you want to hold her?" Hitomi asked, sensing the joy from her eldest.

Hana readily took the babe from her mother and began rocking and bouncing the child. "She's smiling at me!" Hana cheered as he bounced around the room with the child.

Hitomi placed a gentle hand on Hiroto's arm, as she admired her daughter. In a rare sign on more public affection, he draped an arm around his wife's waist. Their daughter was finally home and they couldn't be happier.

The next morning, Hana woke up before the sun rose needing no alarm. For the past six months, she'd lived off minimal sleep, without a single day off. Even as a shinobi, she had a few days here and there to sleep some extra. Or, she'd at least have the option to go to bed early. She glanced at her untouched ANBU gear, she hadn't worn it in so long that it had some dust on it.

She lightly brushed the dust off, dressing herself and braiding her hair. She found herself walking to the training ground she had used every morning for close to three years. She walked onto the grounds and there was no one to be found. She supposed she was a bit earlier than usual, but her usual had always been a tad bit late. She shrugged and made a flesh clone. She came to train not catch up on pleasantries.

As she finally beat her clone she could feel sweat pouring out from her. Yikes, she was more out of shape than she had thought. All the skill was still there but this was exhausting. She heard a clang from her left and realized there were people across the training field. She squinted and noticed a white-haired blur and a brown-haired blur. A smile grew across her face as she walked over that way. They were sparring, fast. Tenzo always did want to challenge Kakashi's speed. As she approached she stayed a safe distance away crossing her arms.

Eventually, Kakashi landed behind Tenzo pressing a kunai against his throat. Hana emitted a slow clap, catching both of their attention. "Look who's here," Tenzo grinned.

Hana stuck her hands in her pockets. "Did they replace me?" She was genuinely nervous they had. Her mission certainly was not supposed to take six months but the situation had been far worse than they had imagined.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, we've just been short-handed." His town was harsh, but there was smile under his mask.

"I finished training already this morning. My ass is kicked. Yourselves?"

Tenzo glanced over at Kakashi. "The day I beat him is the day I become a captain."

Kakashi's hands were in his pockets and he shook his head. "If we ever allowed ninjutsu you'd win everytime."

"Yeah right! You've copied hundreds, maybe thousands of jutsus!"

Hana watched affectionately as her two closest friends bantered. She shook her head and began to walk away, waving. "I'm getting some well-earned dumplings before it's already time for evening training. Join me or don't."

Kakashi flicked right up next to her. "Your pace hasn't changed. I could wait until you were almost there and still beat you."