"Sasuke-sensei... what do you think of him?" Maisou quietly asked Shirou as she watched the older male begin cooking a meal for themselves that night. The crimson haired girl just didn't know what to make of the massacre survivor... one moment he seemed to not care at all and the next he was dead serious. She hadn't had to deal with someone like that in a long while... not since Akihiro...

"You and I both know his history is shrouded in darkness... that much is evident, but I really don't think there's any reason to be suspicious of him... after all in that scroll Kaa-chan left us she said that she trusted him with her life." Here Shirou continued before Maisou could get out any words. "Maisou I'm not saying I completely trust the guy... not when he hasn't done anything to quite earn it yet, but I'm saying you have to open up your eyes and realize this guy is only here to help you, Jiraiya, and me grow our skills as shinobi of the Leaf. Just trust that he's going to protect us, you can do that much right?"

Maisou remained silent as the only sound that enveloped the kitchen became the crackles from the pan Shirou was cooking in. As the smell of cooked salmon filled the room with a hint of lemon, Shirou smiled as he heard the answer he was looking for whispered silently, "Yes..."

"Here, eat up and then get to bed... we got a long day ahead of us." The older red head said gently as he placed down a plate of food in front of his sister and sat with his own plate across from her at the table. The two ate with small talk passed between them before they headed to their respective rooms within the small apartment to get the rest they would need for the events to come...

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"Maisou-chan and Shirou aren't here yet, Sensei?!" Jiraiya asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe he was actually there before the other two considering his mother had nearly beaten him out of bed that morning... he shivered at the memory of his normally gentle mother's wrath. She certainly knew how to scare a person when she wanted to...

"No... and by the look on your face Hinata was angry this morning?" Sasuke replied with an amused smirk as he recalled the dark haired Hyuuga's explosive rage... it appeared that living with Naruto for fourteen years taught the woman how to deal with knuckle heads when they wouldn't wake up in the morning.

"You know Kaa-san?! T-Then you know Tou-san too?! So they were really laughing at me...?" Jiraiya shouted as he held his head in his hands with a defeated expression. So his parents really were laughing at him last night after all...

"It's not hard to laugh at you, Jiraiya." A smooth voice came as a sigh from a deeper voice was heard.

"Maisou-chan why do you have to be so mean?!"

"I'm not being mean Jiraiya, I'm being honest."

"So mean..."

"I told you I'm just honest."

Two slaps on the back of the head followed this argument as Shirou calmly said to both of the younger Genin, "Both of you just shut up. We're about to go on a mission, it's not gonna help if you two lovebirds are arguing the whole time."

Jiraiya began swooning at the thought as Maisou simply sighed and looked at Sasuke as he began to speak up, "Come on. It's time to get your first mission." Immediately he gathered all of his students' attention as he began to lead the way to the Hokage's office his oldest student walking next to him with a shine in his green eyes... a shine that brought back memories of Itachi.

"You would have loved him Itachi..." Sasuke thought as Shirou began to quietly converse with him while Jiraiya seemed to be having a one-sided conversation with Maisou. Sasuke would soon discover that he became extremely attached to the three Genin more than he intended to... none of them realized their team would be split up earlier than they could ever anticipate.

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Weeks of D ranked missions flashed by Team 3 and the younger members of the team were beginning to become restless, though the first to show this was Jiraiya. "Tsunade-sama... may I ask of you something?" Shirou had asked quietly as Maisou attempted to keep the loudest member under check.

"What do you want, brat?" Tsunade asked as she watched the boy like a hawk... she had realized, while Shirou was the most polite of that damn Uchiha's students, he knew exactly how to manipulate someone into agreeing with what he wants through that same politeness. She didn't exactly what the brat wanted, but she did know that one way or another this kid would be able to get it whether she liked it or not...

"How many D ranks was it before Sasuke-sensei's team was sent on a C rank mission?" Sasuke perked up once he heard that and chuckled slightly from his position against the back wall next to his other two students.

"Forget it, brat. I'm not about to send a team like you four out on a C rank mission yet." Tsunade spat as she mustered up as much authority as she could while glaring at the Akuma... he didn't even flinch.

"However, Tsunade-sama, for the past three weeks we've gone on nothing but D ranked missions... I do believe that we are ready for a simple escort, though, if you disagree please do tell us what it is we are lacking, after all we have gained a fair amount of experience." Damn it that brat was good...

"Fine. If it's an escort mission you want, it's an escort mission you'll get. If you would please come in." Tsunade announced as a sly smirk spread it's way across her face. She'd be sending that Uchiha and his brats out on a very familiar situation to his own first C ranked mission... though it wouldn't have any of the rogue shinobi that he had had to deal with in his own Genin days.

Soon enough a young man walked into the room, one that was a very familiar sight for Sasuke. The boy had grown from the eight year old when he had last seen him... His hair now reached his shoulders in messy onyx locks without the hat that used to cover his head, his dark eyes still held their childlike innocence that brought a small smile to Sasuke's face. The boy wasn't quite as tall as the Uchiha, but he was near his his own height.

Upon seeing his sensei's reaction to the man Jiraiya loudly proclaimed, "Just who the hell are you and how the hell did you make Sasuke-sensei smile?! I-I've been trying to do that since, well, it seems like forever!" Maisou sighed hearing him yell and looked at Sasuke, also curious about the answer.

"I'm Inari! Sasuke helped my grandfather build the Great Naruto Bridge when we were a lot younger. I haven't seen him since I was 8." Inari replied as he grinned upon seeing the familiar face, though he internally winced at how similar this was playing out to how his grandfather's encounter with Team 7 had gone... he mentally shook his head as he scolded himself within his thoughts. "No... no one's after me so we'll all be safe. Everything's fine. I'll be home and with my family in no time and Sasuke's team will all be alright..."

"Team 3! You are to escort Inari back to the Land of Waves. He was doing a bit of repairs on the gates here and has finished recently." Tsunade announced before they all were dismissed and began to head towards the gates of Konoha...

While no one was sent after Inari... the oldest Genin and the female Genin of Team 3 held a different story, knowing full well that any mission they received outside of Konoha would bring about a chaotic mess that they didn't quite fully understand...

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A/N: So... There's that chapter! Hope you guys liked it, I know I liked bringing Inari into the story, gotta love that kid/man/whatever he will be referred to in this story! :D And yea... a little cliffy and foreshadowing at the there, hope you guys don't hate me for that Hehe :D