Mieko had spent the rest of the day at Naruto's apartment to celebrate their promotion to Genin, when dinner came around she decided to cook him ramen instead of going to Ichiraku's ramen which he greatly enjoyed. "I really enjoyed today Mieko," Naruto said happily as he traipsed beside her to his door.

"Me too, I still can't believe we're actually ninja," she said as she leaned against the front door once it was opened.

"Yeah but we have a long way to go yet, it's only the beginning."

She sighed happily "Yep and one day you'll be Hokage."

Naruto smiled "Yea and you'll be my right-hand lady!" he said as he stuck his thumb out "I mean ninja, yeah…ninja."

"Well technically when we are older I will be a lady so it makes sense I suppose" she shrugged and pushed herself to stand "Anyway I should head home, I promised Sasuke I would spend some time with him tonight, he'll get annoyed if I'm late" Naruto frowned.

"Why do you let him push you around?" he asked her softly.

"It makes him happy so I allow it, he isn't harmful or mean about it" she sighed "He's protective which I can understand…after everything that's happened to us I understand his reason for his behavior."

"I guess" Naruto looked away but an idea suddenly came to him "Well I should let you get home to mister stick up the ass" she giggled "But you gotta give me a hug first" she smiled but did as he asked.

"Make sure you get lots of rest for our mission tomorrow" he nodded against her neck, when she went to pull away he leaned in a kissed the corner of her mouth, not a proper kiss but a show of affection none the less. She blinked in surprise and looked at his embarrassed face.

"Have a goodnight Mieko!" he said as he quickly turned away and ran inside so he could hide his blush.

"Y-yeah…goodnight" she brought a hand up and gently touch the side of her lips, it wasn't a proper kiss but she hadn't been kissed in a long time, her first time was a boy she had a crush on when she was younger. His name was Asako, he used to be part of the Ninja academy but dropped out when it became too much for him. They used to be in a relationship but broke up when he left, they had a goodbye date at the park and shared their first kiss. The moment wasn't great as straight after they pulled apart and saw Kakashi standing above them menacingly, then the next day Sasuke punched him in the face. Her second kiss and last was with Sasuke "…goodnight…Naruto" she smiled to herself and headed to the Hatake household.

"Where have you been?" Sasuke asked as soon as she arrived at her door, he was sitting on the floor with a bored and irritated expression on his face. She guessed that Kakashi wasn't home.

"I celebrated with Naruto by cooking him ramen" he huffed and got up from the floor "You really shouldn't get angry all the time, I'm not going to stop being friends with Naruto just because you don't like him" she placed her hands on her hips and looked at him with a disapproving frown.

"I don't expect you to but like you I'm not going to start being with him just because you like him" he took a few steps towards the female so they were closer "You are going to come to my house and sleep with me tonight" he stated as if he knew she would do as he said.

"I did last night and the night before" she smirked "Is Sasuke getting nightmares" she teased, earning a scoff from the Uchiha.

"I should be asking you that same question" He shot back.

Mieko frowned "I didn't think you were going to bring that up" she mumbled and looked away.

"Whatever just get some clothes so we can head to my house" she sighed but nodded, she grabbed clothes to sleep in and for the next day. She wrote a quick note to Kakashi so he knew where she was and followed Sasuke to his house. They walked upstairs so they could dress. Once she was in simple shorts and singlet she headed into Sasuke room and looked at the boy in question, he was waiting on the bed wearing just shorts and nothing else, his stare fixated on her, he had never gone to bed with her without a shirt, the sight of his bare chest caused her to immediately blush at how well built he was for a 13-year-old, years of training had done him well "Are you going to stand there all night or are you coming to bed?" he teased, an irritating smirk on his usually stoic face.

"Whatever" she mocked his overused reply but did as was told, she didn't know how she felt when her body was pressed up against his bare chest "Why did you choose today to not wear a shirt to bed?"

"I normally don't wear a shirt, only when I go to sleep with you" he pulled her closer and nuzzled her head.

"And why have you decided suddenly not wear one?" she asked, trying her hardest not to blush like Sakura normally did, though that girl blushed when Sasuke stood next to her.

"I don't know, just felt like it" she felt him shrug, acting like it was no big deal "Now go to bed, I'm tired" he ordered softly, she nodded and closed her eyes. But of course, nothing was really going her way tonight, before she fell asleep she felt a pair of lips press against hers, not on the corner of her mouth like Naruto did but instead they were cover hers entirely. She stiffened but did nothing since he pulled away before she could relax or take action, instead she closed her eyes and tried to get herself to sleep, not noticing how Sasuke was smirking to himself victoriously.

"Sasuke, I'm at point B."

"Sakura, I'm at point C."

"Mieko, I'm a point D."

There was a pause "Naruto, I'm at point A believe it!"

Kakashi sighed "You're slow Naruto, ok squad seven" they all prepared themselves for orders "The target has moved, follow it!" the Genin immediately jumped into action, chasing after their target with speed and determination. This was their first mission, they had to succeed no matter the cost, even if they had to give up their very lives.

"Over there" Naruto whispered as he zeroed in on their target.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked.

"Five metres, I'm ready just give the signal" Naruto replied as he kept his eyes trained on their target.

"I'm ready too," Sasuke said calmly, ready to spring into action if Naruto failed, which was a high possibility since Naruto failed at everything.

"So am I," Sakura said shortly after, she wanted this mission to be a success so Sasuke would be happy.

"Me too" Mieko spoke lastly, her knees bending so she could pounce towards her target, she had the best advantage seeing as she had advanced senses.

"Ok…NOW!" All four Genin pounced towards their target but it was Naruto who captured it.

"MEEEOOOWWWWW!" the target screamed and flailed in the blonde's arm, scratching and biting at any part of the boy it could reach

"Can you identify the right on the left ear?" Kakashi asked as he headed over to his squad, proud that they completed the mission in record time and without any problems or setbacks.

"Affirmative, I've got a positive ID" Sasuke replied as he walked up to Naruto and their target.

"Right, lost pet Tora captured, mission accomplished" Mieko sighed and grabbed Tora from Naruto's arms, the cat in question snuggled into her arms and purred in content, Mieko felt the vibrations and purred back.

"CAN'T WE GET A BETTER MISSION THAN THIS I HATE CATS!" everyone had to pull their mics out of their ears due to the large static they got from it.

"Goddammit, Naruto don't do that!" Sakura yelled angrily whilst glaring hatefully at the blonde ninja.

"Sorry Sakura" he replied as he rubbed his head in embarrassment, he hadn't meant to be that loud. Kakashi ordered the team to head to the Hokage's office so they could return Tora to her owner, or was it a he? It was dressed in feminine clothing but could be male for all they knew.

"Oooh my poor little Tora, mummy was so worried about her little fuzzy pigs, yeah" Madame Shijimi cooed as she smothered her cat, of course, no one could do anything since she was the wife of the Land of Fire's Daimyo.

Naruto cackled madly"Stupid cat that's what you get, the kitty deserves to be squashed-OW!" Naruto yelled when Mieko slapped him on the back of the head.

"No wonder he ran away" Sakura commented softly, she looked at the cat in sadness and pity as it was tortured by kindness

"Now then" The Hokage interrupted once Madame Shijimi left the building, they would no doubt be called for again to find the runaway cat "For squad sevens next mission we have many available tasks" he read from a small list laid out on his desk "Among them is babysitting the chief councillor's three year old, helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes and-"

"NOOO!" Naruto yelled as he crossed his arms over to make an 'X' sign, he hated the stupid kid missions the Hokage sent them on, they went to the academy to learn fighting skills not how to garden. "I wanna go on a real mission, something challenging and exciting not this little kids stuff! Come on old man!" he pleaded loudly with big, innocent eyes.

'He's got a point' Sasuke thought to himself begrudgingly.

'But he's such a pain' Sakura whined as though she heard Sasuke's thoughts and continued it for him, Mieko merely sighed at his antics and Kakashi just moped since he knew this was coming and would no doubt be punished for it.

"How dare you, you're just a brand new Genin with no experience! Like everyone else you start with small missions to develop your skills for yourself" Iruka yelled back, equally annoyed as Naruto was but for a different reason, he thought that when Naruto graduated he could escape the kids whining, he liked Naruto and cared for him but he could be such a pain.

"Are you serious? Babysitting is not a mission it's just a stupid-YAAAAH!" he landed on a floor with a bang when Kakashi hit him on the back of the head.

"Will you put a lid on it" Kakashi ordered sternly, when would Naruto learn to shut his mouth and respect his elders? Probably never.

"Naruto!" The Hokage yelled angrily "it seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given" Naruto stopped yelling to look at the Hokage "Listen, we are given many different kinds of request that come into our village every day, from babysitting to assassinations, these requests are carefully recorded, analysed then categorised from A.B.C.D, depending on their difficulty, we Ninja are also ranked by abilities, Hokage at the top, Jounin, Chunin and Genin at the bottom. From the highest level, we select the missions and assign them to ninja who have the appropriate skills and experience, and when they succeed we get a fee that supports our village and our work, since you are untried Genin just starting down the Shinobi path you are given D level assignments of course-Hmm?" the Hokage stopped when he noticed no one was paying attention to him, they were listening to Naruto as he talked about his favourite food.

"So I had this Ramen yesterday and I was thinking Miso Ramen today-"

"SILENCE!" the Hokage bellowed to team seven who jumped in surprise at the loud tone.

"Ah, you always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something but I'm not that little brat who used to pull pranks all the time, I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission" Naruto turned around and pouted to prove his point, though it rather did the opposite and made him look childish…well, more soon.

"Oh man, Naruto you really shouldn't be doing this" Mieko mumbled, seeing the angry glare from the Hokage.

Instead of being scolded, the Hokage chuckled deeply "Naruto wants to prove to us that he's not a brat but a former brat that wants to do a mission, so be it" Naruto stopped sulking to look at the Hokage in confusion "Since you are so determined, I'm going to give you a C ranked mission" the Hokage brought his hands up to his chin "You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

"Really!? Who, who are we guarding?" Naruto asked eagerly, a huge grin on his face "a princess or a big-wigged councillor!" The Hokage smirked in amusement.

"Don't be so impatient, I will bring him in now" he looked to the door and ordered loudly "Send in our visitor" The door was opened and an old man came in.

"What the – a group of little not nosed kids?" the man scoffed and skulled the rest of his drink "And you, the little one with the idiotic look on your face, you really expect me to believe you're really a ninja?" Mieko snorted and Naruto began laughing loudly.

"Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his face huh" Naruto stopped noticing that he was the smallest person, even Mieko was slightly taller which sucked since she was two months older than them all, the curse of shortness. When Naruto realised who the shortest was his face turned into one of rage "I'M GONNA DESTROY YOU!" he ran to attack the drunken man but was stopped by Kakashi.

"You can't attack the client Naruto it doesn't work that way" he scolded the Genin.

The man snorted, not intimidated by the little boy in the least "And what's with the cat girl, she likes cat a little too much" Mieko growled angrily and let her tail twitch wildly, the man blink in surprise but chose to remain silent "I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder and I must return to my country, I'm building a bridge there that will change our world and I'm expecting you to protect me, even if it costs you your lives" he said strongly, he acted like he was the Fire Daimyo himself.

"Well, let's get packed and head out I guess" Mieko shrugged and walked out of the room, not even sparring the man she was to protect a glance, he seemed like an arrogant bastard so she didn't have time for him, she already had to deal with Sasuke and Naruto's constant fighting, she didn't need an old man bringing her down.

The next day, Sasuke, Sakura, Mieko and Naruto were waiting for their Sensei Kakashi to arrive with Tazuna so they could begin their first real mission "Oh my god he is so late again!" Naruto screamed angrily as he plopped on the floor.

"Just be patient Naruto" Mieko said with her nose once again in another book "This will be a regular occurrence so you will have to be used to it, I've had to deal with it my entire life" she knew the real reason why he was late so it was no bother to her.

"I don't think I will ever be used to it" Sakura mumbled as she stood next to Sasuke where she thought she belonged.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late" Kakashi waved as he walked alongside Tazuna.

"So can we go now?" Sakura whined loudly, the sun was beating down on her and she longed for the shade of trees.

"Yes except for Mieko" he pulled out a scroll with the Hokage symbol on it "Mieko has a mission of her own" the other three stared at their partner in shock.

"Why is she getting a different mission!?" Naruto yelled feeling slightly jealous, why couldn't he get a solo mission.

"Well, give it here" Kakashi nodded and threw the scroll to the Hatake female who immediately unravelled it and began to read through it with the trio reading over her shoulder. It seems a tiger summon had broken the contract it made with a Konoha ninja by killing him then fleeing, it was wreaking havoc on anyone or thing it saw and no ninja was able to get close to it, it would run away before they could capture or kill it. The Hokage believed that her feline DNA would be able to help coerce the tiger to return to its home. The reason it was rated A was that it had crossed into Suna territory, she had to be careful on how to approach the mission lest she destroys the fragile treaty Konoha had with Suna.

"W-Wait her mission is an A rank mission!" Sakura screamed in shock, was a Genin even able to do such a high ranking mission.

"Is she even allowed go on this?" Sasuke asked feeling worried for his friend, he knew that her feline qualities could help her with the mission but if it did not work then she had to go against a ferocious tiger.

"Yes, her unique skills will help her to succeed better than a Chunin" Kakashi looked over to his daughter, he was incredibly worried about her going on this mission alone but was confident in her abilities, she would see it done and return to him in no time. "If you head off now then you can meet up with us at our destination" Mieko nodded before placing her suitcase into a sealing scroll "Be safe Mieko."

"I will sensei" she bowed to him.

"Say goodbye" she nodded and turned to her team members.

"I truly am sorry for not being able to travel with you."

"Nah its ok Mieko, it's an order by the Hokage so I'm ok with it" he wasn't about to tell her he was worried, he wanted to go with her! He could protect her!

"Thank you Naruto" she gave him a small smile in gratitude.

"I'm going to head over to Sensei" Sakura stated as she walked off, although on the inside she was raging 'Now I'm never going to get Sasuke's love!' She yelled to herself as she dragged Naruto away with her.

Once they left it was just Sasuke and Mieko "Sasuke I-" she didn't know how to tell the Uchiha boy that she would be fine "it's going to be an easy mission I see-" she was cut off when Sasuke grabbed her body and pulled her to his chest "S-Sasuke" she was shocked, he hated displaying affection in public.

"I don't care about how easy the mission will be, all I care about is that you come back to me alive and not in a body bag" Mieko smiled, knowing that was Sasuke's way of saying be safe.

"I will Sasuke" she stepped back and turned to leave but a pair of lips pressed against her, Sasuke's lips. They were as soft as she remembered, then again the last time she had felt them was years ago back when…well back when things were much simpler. She wasn't cognizant when he kissed her the night she slept beside him. Before she could respond his lips were gone from her own, she almost whined from the loss of contact. "Now you better hurry and get this done so you can come back" without another word he left with his team who began to leave the village. Mieko stood still, her hand came up to touch her lips where Sasuke and pressed his.

"Just great…that boy is so confusing!" she shook her head to clear her thoughts and ran off to where the scroll had said the beast was last seen, all thoughts of Sasuke had left her mind as it became completely focused on the task that was assigned to her. She jumped from tree to tree in search of the tiger, her ears twitched as she heard the loud pounded of pawed feet slamming against the sandy ground

"Well, well, well, they sent a little girl to kill me eh?" her eyes narrowed as she looked at the tiger, yes this matched the description of the beast she was to kill "I smell you, my dear, you look human yet you smell like one of my kind…how strange."

"Toraken, I have been asked to stop your rampage" she flicked her tail from behind her to show him her feline attributes.

The tiger's eyes widened slightly in surprise "a humanoid cat, or is it a feline-human I wonder. Tell me, do you honestly believe that just because you are part of the same species as me that I would listen to a freak like you? I am finally free from the slavery my kind has been forced into and I intend to do whatever I please."

Mieko sighed deeply, disappointed in the tiger's decision "then I am sorry but I must eliminate you, you are the summons of a Konoha ninja that has crossed into Suna lands. If Suna ninja realise who you had once belonged to then it could start a war, I must stop that immediately."

The tiger growled hatefully "I belong to no one!" the beast roared and charged forward, fully intending on turning the young girl to shreds. She was unfazed by this, however, a beast could never compare to the skill and power of a Kunoichi. She blocked or dodged almost every attack the tiger threw at her. A few managed to cut her deep and tear her shirt to shreds. Ignoring the pain and bleeding she jumped over the beast and used her kunai to lodge into his neck, he roared in pain and tried with all his might to throw the girl off but the knife was too deep "I…must…Live!" he let out a final roar before slumping to the ground.

Mieko stepped away from the beast, panting from exhaustion and pain. She didn't want to kill the tiger, she felt that she had a connection to the beast and was saddened by his loss but knew it was her responsibility. Though she felt upset on the inside she refused to show any emotion on the outside, a ninja must never allow their emotions to control them.

"Well, I see you have grown up to be a dangerous weapon" Mieko froze when she heard a voice that she hadn't heard in a long time, her pupils slitted angrily and a hiss escaped her "And you have grown up to be a fine young woman…Mieko."

"Itachi" she whispered harshly as she slowly turned around "It seems that its fate that we met here" her voice was devoid of all emotion.

"Yes, so it seems" Itachi hadn't seen the sweet girl so close for quite some time, he always watched her and Sasuke from afar. She was different now though that was certainly his fault, he felt guilty but knew it was for the best. It was better to be strong through tragedy than being completely oblivious to how dark the world could be.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded the older man, she wanted to see him again ever since that night, she wanted to know why he did what he did, how he could do that do the one person who he cared for more than anything in the world. Now that she was standing in front of him those question refused to leave her mouth.

"I happened to be passing by when I saw you fighting that tiger and thought that this was the perfect time to talk to you."

"And you honestly expect me to be happy to see you after what you had done" she growled when she saw him smirk.

"I know for a fact that you are, I also know for a fact that you do not hate me" as he spoke he slowly walked towards her until they were face to face

"How could you possibly know if I hate you or not?" she hissed angrily.

"Because if you hated me you wouldn't let me do this" without warning Itachi's arms wrapped around her. He hugged her for a few seconds before pulling away "See?" the 18-year-old looked at the 12-year-old with a pleased smile, that wasn't what he intended when he walked up to her but his instincts took over. She had become a beautiful young woman that any man would be proud of. He knew it was wrong as she was 6 years younger than him but he just couldn't control himself, he would not let that happen ever again. He could not let his emotions control him, he had a mission to complete.

"Ah…wha…you?" she could not form any words "Why in the world would you do that?"

"To prove a point."

"Bastard" she mumbled childishly whilst pouting.

"But it worked didn't it" she smiled slightly, even after everything she was not able to stay mad at him.

The two sat down and began a small conversation, Itachi had told her about what as much as he could about what he had done since he left Konoha though he left much out, like the terrorist organisation he joined and Mieko told him about her life since he left "I just recently graduated and papa was chosen to be my sensei."

"That's very lucky though you must be incredibly happy about that."

"Yes, he and I would be going out quite a lot and I would hate being separated from him for so long, at least now I don't have to worry."

"You have had an interesting life but tell me, when you killed that tiger…what went through your head?" he was worried about her, he watched the entire thing and not once did he see a hint of hesitation in her eyes or fear.

Mieko looked at him, devoid of all emotions "I felt nothing, I had a job to do and I did it the only way I could" she hissed when she felt a sting of the deep scratch she received across her chest "I forgot about my wounds" Itachi sighed and moved so he was in front of her "well aren't I a forgetful person but honestly I blame you."

"How is this my fault" Itachi tilted his head as he began healing her, he knew basic healing Ninjustu but not enough to completely heal the scratches, he could close them and stop the bleeding but it would take time to completely be healed.

"You distracted me" Mieko replied simply.

"Oh my apologies then" he teased "There it's done but it will still need time to heal"

"Eh I don't care, it will be one of many injuries I will have" she stood up but hissed when she felt pain.

"It will hurt for a while" he took off his undershirt and dumped it on her head "Your shirt is ripped so wear mine."

"Oh yeah thanks" she muttered when she realised that her shirt was barely covering her chest "I should head off now otherwise my team will get worried."

"Be safe" she smiled when he patted her head "We will see each other again although it will not be as friendly as it was this time."

"Yes, I suppose so" without another word she jumped into a tree and sped off towards the land of waves.

"You are absolutely perfect Mieko."