Noboru looked at the woman, "Can I ask you something?" She looked at him and said, "Tomorrow, for now, get some rest." She walked out of the room. Noboru frowned and looked at the two beds in the room. Sleep In here? In the same room as a Hyuuga? He made a disgusted face. He kicked off his shoes and jumped on one of the beds. Well, it can't be that bad I guess. He yawned and, forgetting that he was supposed to go back to the hospital, slowly drifted to sleep.

"Mother!" Noboru yelled in a choked voice. He looked down at her. Who knew a trip to Suna could be this…terrifying. She looked up at him. A tear ran down her face as she looked into her son's pale eyes. "Don't be sad, Noboru. This is how it ends for a ninja. To die in battle or a mission." She tried to sound calm, but she sounded frightened and choked. She didn't want to be separated from her son. "Don't worry about me, Noboru." He looked at her. Was she crazy? "Mother, at least tell me one thing." She looked at him. "Who was my father?" Tears streamed down her face. "Ne" The extreme blood loss had caused her to faint.

Noboru had tears pouring out of his eyes. ANBU members dragged him away from her, despite his struggling. One picked him up and ran off. He heard explosive tags going off and an occasional scream. What had been a peaceful trip to Sunagakure had turned into a nightmarish battle. He looked over the ANBU's shoulder, but he couldn't spot his mom. He felt a tear hit his skin. He looked at the ANBU. An ANBU? Crying? He slowly moved his hand up to take off the ANBU's mask off…

"Noboru! Wake up!" a voice called. Noboru opened his eyes. Pale bluish eyes stared down at him. An idiotic grin spread over his face. "Morning Sleeping Beauty." Noboru threw a pillow at him, but he caught it. "Naoto!" Naoto chuckled. "What's wrong, dreaming 'bout Anri?" Noboru's face turned red. "NAOTO!" He threw a kunai that scratched Naoto's face. Naoto chuckled. Come on! We have to go to the hospital to get Anri!" Noboru's angry expression turned into pure shock. "She's ok?" Naoto nodded. "Just don't get near her father. He was really mad. Oh, yeah, I forgot your birthday present a few days ago, so…" Noboru made a disgusted face. Please don't let be like last year's! he continually chanted in his head. "Here!" Noboru dared to look. His eyes widen. It was his mom's old ANBU mask. "Where did you get that?" he snapped.

Naoto grinned. "My dad was going to get rid of it, so I told him that I wanted it and" Noboru looked at him. "Where did he find this?" Naoto shrugged and threw it to him. "He never tells me anything. He always says 'All secrets are revealed in time.' Doesn't he know that I can't stand waiting?" Noboru looked at the mask. A tear ran down his face. He quickly brushed it away, but Naoto saw it and frowned. "Sorry, I didn't know it'd upset you." Noboru shook his head. "No, thanks. I really appreciate it. It's just…so many people have died in the war. Kaasan, Tsunade-sama, Shizune, Inuzuka Azami, and so many others." Naoto frowned. "Grandfather."

Noboru looked at him. "Hyuuga head?" Naoto nodded. "Let's just go get Anri." They left the Hyuuga Mansion and walked towards the Konoha Hospital. When they got there, Neji was standing at the door with Anri. She was staring at the ground. She coughed every now and then, but when she did, blood dripped out of her mouth. They walked to the training area and met Lee there. "Lee-sensei, what do you want us to do?" Anri said. She avoided eye contact with everyone. Lee looked at the genin and grinned. "Let's run 200 laps around Konoha!" The three Genin shrugged. "On our hands!" Everyone sweat-dropped. "Lee, that's not a good idea. Just go to the tower for their first mission. I'm meeting someone here."

Lee nodded and started walking off, followed by the three Genin. Later, everyone stood up on a watchtower, Lee babbling on about youth. Noboru was staring at the mask. Naoto shouted insults at Lee, telling him to stop talking. Anri still didn't look at anyone. "This is a guard mission, guarding Konoha is a mystery in ranking. Shouldn't a Jounin be assigned to this?" Noboru asked. Lee shook his head. "In times like these, ninjas of all ranks play their part, no matter the cost." Noboru sighed. "Noboru." Noboru turned his head towards the voice. For the first time that day, Anri had spoken to him. She looked at him. "Don't take this to your head. Naoto begged me to give you a birthday present. This was his idea ok?" Damn Naoto and his blackmail! she thought. "Close your eyes." He did as he was told. He opened his eyes after a few seconds to see Anri gently place a kiss on his lips. He blushed like he had seen Naoto's mom do all the time. Lee looked at them. "Youthful love! You know when" Someone hit him on the head. Anri moved away from Noboru to stare at the person.

It was a woman with the Inuzuka Clan marks on her face, next to her, was Akito. "Your test was too easy! You let these three pass?" Noboru looked at her. What test? He thought. Lee grinned, "They have true talent! Years have gone by, so only four teams can don't have to go back to the academy. They are the best!" The woman sweat-dropped. "I may not know a lot about you, but my brother sure did. He was right, you are weird." Anri looked at her. "Hana, what are you doing here?" Hana smiled, "Akito is helping you with your guard job. I'll be leaving now." She walked away. Akito glared at Noboru and sat between Noboru and Anri. "Anri, you shouldn't go anywhere without Akana." Anri frowned. "She's so small. What if she got hurt?" Akito sighed. "Your dad told you before. Akamaru used to be that small. He could still fight." Anri sighed. "Ok, I'll take her next time."

"Your dad worries too much. Ever since" Anri glared at him and he instantly shut up. "Leave me alone," she said. Akito shifted his gaze from Anri to Noboru, and glared. "Staring Contest! Can I join?" Naoto said. Noboru and Akito glared at him. Naoto stepped back and resumed his job of shutting Lee up. Noboru stopped glaring at Akito to look over the tower. He was on guard duty after all. Anri spoke up, "This is boring, no one will get near Konoha. The ANBU will make sure of that." She sighed and yawned. She became drowsy and soon enough, fell asleep.

Anri cried out in pain. "You bastard! What did you do to her!" a woman yelled. A man with black hair, pale skin, and yellow eyes smirked. "First you attack Konoha, and now you place the cursed seal on your own granddaughter?" She tackled him against a tree and took both his hands to form a seal. "Sojasosai no Jutsu!" she yelled. "Mom! Wait!" Anri yelled, clutching her neck in pain. Two snakes slithered out of the woman's sleeves and bit her and Orochimaru's wrists. "I'll see you in the next world, father." The woman said, smirking. "I'm afraid not, Azami." Azami turned around to look at Orochimaru. She became dizzy as the poison came into affect. "Damn you!" Anri watched Orochimaru's substitution melt into mud. Anri felt a throbbing pain in her neck and started to feel dizzy-

"Anri! If we have to stay up, so do you!" Naoto's voice rang in her ears. "What? Leave me alone. I'm tired." She said drowsily. She looked over at Lee, who was doing push-ups…with his thumbs. "1,203; 1,204; 1,205." Anri sweat-dropped. Where does he get all his energy? She thought to herself. She closed her eyes and Naoto hit her on her head. "What was that for?" she screamed. "I told you to stay awake!" Anri glared at him. "So, Anri." She turned to see Akito, still in the same place as when she had fallen asleep. "Your father told me that you were in the hospital last night. What was wrong?" She replied, "I passed out while we were training." Noboru looked at her. "What are you" Anri looked at him and winked. Noboru mouthed 'Oh'. "That's right, she was training a little too hard." Akito looked at both of them. "Don't try so hard next time. Anri nodded. "Wakata (I understand)."

Suddenly both Anri and Akito paused and sniffed the air. Anri ran over to the edge of the watchtower she growled angrily and Noboru walked towards her. "What's wrong?" She made a few seals and yelled, "Shikyaku no Jutsu!" She jumped off the tower, onto a tree, and then tackled a man that was walking towards Konoha. Noboru looked shocked as soon as he saw the Sound forehead protector. Everyone ran down the steps to where Anri was. She had a bloody gash on her shoulder. She had been able to at least knock the man out. She had also accidentally ripped the man's jacket. Under the jacket, the man had explosive tags covering his back. In his hand was a message from Otokage (Orochimaru). It was supposedly a message of surrender. They opened up the note and their eyes widened. The paper was blank.

A/N-For people who didn't get that last part, the answer will be revealed in Chapter 5. Also, I know that I'm adding random characters, but be patient. Their backgrounds will be revealed in time.