A/N: Part two is here!! I was so lazy on the last chapter, I decided to take my time on this one!! WHOO!!! THIS IS LONG!!

Disclaimer: I seriously do not own Naruto Uzumaki, Neji Hyuga, Hinata Hyuga, Tsunade, Inari, or anyone else!

A Mission of Pain (Pt.2)

Inari sat at his desk, studying his scrolls. He was only twelve years old and he decided to become a ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village. He quickly glanced over at a cracked photo frame. It showed his father, mother, him, and a little photo of Team 7. "Father, I promised to protect our family...and now I am."--He looked at the picture of Naruto--"Thanks to my old friend. Thanks Naruto." Inari set the photo frame next to him and he continued reading his scrolls. Then muddy footsteps approached.

"Hey Inari, long time, no see.", came a familiar voice. Inari jumped up from his chair and wheeled around to find the two ANBUs. "Naruto!!", he hugged the fox-masked one because hints of yellow hair peeped from behind the mask. "AHH!!!", came the yell from the fox-masked ANBU. "Inari! Its nice to see you, too...Um, you can let go now, you little squirt." Inari let go of Naruto quickly. Neji said to Naruto sternly, "Naruto, this isn't the time for games. Ask Inari where we can find the Mizukage." (A/N: Mizukage: Kage of the Water Village) Inari had a blank expression on his face. "Naruto, who's the other ANBU?" Naruto took off his own mask and grinned, "Oh! Where are my manners? Inari, this is Neji. He's my old friend and my fellow black op. Neji, this is Inari. I met him on my first Genin mission." Neji took off his hawk-mask and held out one hand, "Nice to meet you, Inari." A woman steps into the room and immediately drops a basket full of fruits from a market.

"Naruto! Welcome back!! Are you in good health? How is Konoha? My, my, look how much you've grown! Do you have a fiance yet? It's very--" Inari quickly pushes his mother out of the room, "Mother! Don't ask too many questions! Besides, we have a new friend." Inari glances towards Neji.

Inari's mother examines the tall, strong, pale, and serious young man. "Oh, my. He's a bit pale. Naruto, is he sick from running in the rain?" Inari yelled excitedly, "Is he blind?!" Naruto chuckled, "No that's how his clan is like." Both Inari and his mother stare at Neji, "What clan?" "The Hyuga Clan. It is the oldest and most powerful clan in all of Konoha. They have two establishments, In the Land of Fire and in the Land of Earth. I don't know why, but it's been like that for centuries." Neji said, haughtily. Naruto gave Neji a little nudge, "Tell them about the bloodline also, Neji." Neji hesitated for a while, then: "The Byakugan. It enables all of the clan members to locate chakra points and block them. The Hyuga way of fighting, it's very painful. Together, the Hyuga style of fighting with the Byakugan, the Hyuga are the most feared and most respected people of all. But we are not all that mean and hard. We are just misunderstood."

There was a long period of silence. Neji looked away from the staring mother and child and sighed, "I'm sorry for being in a bad mood, its just--I mean, whenever I talk about the Hyuga and my family, it just reminds me of my cousin." Inari spoke up, "Your cousin?" Neji looked out the window and stared at the rain, "She's the heiress to my clan, and my uncle made a planned marriage for the two of us when we were very young and over the years, we've developed a crush on each other and when I decided I'd become an ANBU along with Naruto, it just hurts whenever I think of her or the clan." Neji choked while trying to hold back his tears, "I think this will be a Mission of Pain."

Inari's mother stepped up and held one of Neji's hands, "There, there, Neji. I'm sure that your captain will let you off for a bit to visit them and your cousin." Neji looked the other way, "Our captain, Shikamaru Nara, is, um...dead." Inari's mother's smile turned to a frown. "Oh, my." Naruto put his hands behind his head, "Eh, well. That's what being a ninja is all about; We get born, we get trained, we serve our Hokage/Mizukage/Kazekage/Raikage/Tsuchikage, and then, we die with honor." Inari's lower lip trembled a bit, "Die?" Neji looked at Naruto sternly, "Naruto you baka, he's only 12-years-old! And he's a ninja-in-training!" Naruto replied indifferently, "Well, its not my fault. When I was 12-years-old, I wanted to risk my life for anything! But in Inari's case, he just made the decision, like, I don't know, a year ago?" Naruto glanced at Inari to see if his guess was correct, but Inari laughed and said, "No, Naruto you baka, I made the decision nine months ago, but close though. I'll give you a seven for guessing and a nine for coming that close." Naruto stuck out his tongue at Neji and in response, Neji gave an exasperated sigh while rolling his eyes. Naruto turned around and said in a very deep voice, 'Now, where is your Mizukage?"

The next morning when Hinata awoke, the rain stopped. Her pillow was wet. Thinking it was the rain, she rubbed her eyes and felt that they were wet, also. I've dreamt about Neji-kun again, she thought. Getting up, she opened the drawer that contained the kunai and saw that it wasn't there. Frantically searching all of her drawers to find the only gift she loved from Neji, and not finding it, she let out a loud scream.

Hanabi, who has her room right next to Hinata's, ran in and saw her older sister throwing (literally) her stuff all over her room. "Hinata-neechan!! What in the world are you doing?!' Hanabi yelled over her sister's frenzied screams. Hinata stopped her tantrum and kneeled to the floor, crying. Hanabi's stern face turned into a mask of pity, "What's wrong?" Her sister's face turned to face hers, "I've lost my kunai!" Hanabi just wanted to strangle her at that very moment. That's it?! Hanabi thought, I mean, all that fussing, screaming, and having a tantrum over one damn kunai?! "Hinata," Hanabi said in a fake, calming, and soothing voice, "you have dozens of kunais. I mean, what so special about one kunai when you have dozens?" Hinata wiped her tears, "It's no regular kunai Hanabi-kohai, it's the kunai Neji-kun gave me for my 9th birthday. And I've lost it!!" (Cue the waterfall of tears flooding the room) Hanabi kneeled by her wailing sister, giving her pats on the back when suddenly she saw something gleam. Oh please be the kunai... Hanabi pleaded. She crawled over to the gleaming object and begged in her head. When she reached the object, she was relieved. It was the deformed kunai.

"Hinata-neechan!! I found it!!", Hanabi held the kunai up in the air. Hinata suddenly jerked up and quickly grabbed the kunai and hugged it. "Oh!! Hanabi-kohai!! Thank you!", Hinata hugged her sister. Hanabi, knowing that she was a tomboy, didn't like hugs in particular, 'Hinata-neechan!! Stop hugging me!! Ahh!!" Hinata dropped Hanabi suddenly, "I'm sorry, Hanabi-kohai. I forgot." Then she continued hugging the kunai. Hanabi twitched an eyebrow and walked out of the room. Wow, Neji really had an impact on Hinata-neechan's life. Hanabi thought, Hope he comes back real soon. I can't deal with my sisters wistful tantrums much longer!

"So let's see, Inari told us to go to the Gated Temple of the Mizukage. I wonder where's that, Neji"

"Naruto, you are the biggest baka in all of the world!"

"And why's that?'

"Because we're at least two miles from the temple and it's in sight!"

"Geez, cool off."

"Gah, no time for that; we need recruits for the war!"

"Right!"

The two ANBUs ran to the temple and saw that it was heavily guarded. "Aww man!", Naruto whined. Neji crossed his arms, thinking, then he said, "I'll talk to them." Naruto put on a dumbfounded face, "Talk to them?! Neji are you out of your mind?! They won't let us in even if we had a gift for the Mizukage!" Neji started walking towards the main gate and said, "Calm down, dobe. Besides, even if they sense something suspicious, I'll have you as my back-up." Naruto nodded.

"Halt! No one is allowed to see the Mizukage!", a guard yelled at Neji. "I'm sorry my fine sir, but it seems that you've made a mistake. You see, I am from the Hidden Leaf Village as you can see"--Neji points to the ANBU mark on his left bicep-- "and my orders from the Fifth Hokage were clear, 'Find more recruits from the Land of Water and discuss this over with the Mizukage.' So sir, I must see the Mizukage right now." The guard studied the ANBU carefully. "Very well then. Go ahead, as long as its for the war against the Land of Wind.", the guard muttered under his breath. Neji bowed to the guard, "Thank you.", and he proceeded inside the temple.

"Hey! Neji! Wait up!"--Naruto ran from his hiding place and was immediately stopped by a cross of spears-- "Ack! Hey! You guys can't do this to me! I'm with him!", Naruto pointed at Neji. "Yeah right, dobe. If you were with him he'd mention you." Neji heard all the commotion and turned around and said, "He's with me." The guards looked at Neji with a confused look and let Naruto pass. "Thanks buddy.", Naruto thanked Neji. "No problem baka.", Neji said with a definite smile. Grr...Naruto thought. And the two ANBUs proceeded to the Mizukage.

A/N: Dang! Took me two hours to write this one! I was thinking, changing some paragraphs, deleting some words/sentences. What a nightmare. Oh well, hope you enjoyed! (Reviews would be very much appreciated)
--Mar(Takaro)