A few days later, Hanara woke up, sore everywhere. Before trying to open her eyes, she took a moment to orientate herself. Flashes of memories flooded her brain: giant snakes, Orochimaru, Tsunade's hemophobia, Kabuto, her newly perfected jutsu, and then finally, her passing out with chakra exhaustion.
'So I must be in a hospital.' Hanara thought, finally opening her eyes, preparing herself to be attacked by white everywhere. Slowly, she stretched her arms and groaned when her elbows popped.
"She's awake!" a voice that sounded like Choji exclaimed, "Someone should go and get Lady Fifth!"
'People are here?'
Hanara quickly scanned the room as a flash of blond attacked her in the form of a hug, finding all her teammates in there, along with Neji and Hinata, the former who was leaving the room.
"I will," Neji said.
"God, H-Hanara! Don't do t-that to us again, got it?" Ino sobbed.
"W-We w-were all w-worried, S-Sister," Hinata said softly.
"It was just chakra exhaustion, wasn't it?" Hanara asked.
"What a drag..." Shikamaru sighed, "Chakra exhaustion is one of the most common reasons for a shinobi's death. Your chakra levels were extremely low when you got here."
"I-It was only at a sixteenth of what it usually is at," Choji mumbled, "Lady Tsunade said that they were at a thirty-sixth of what they used to be when you-"
Lady Tsunade interrupted, "Okay! All visitors please get out, we need to perform a check-up here!"
"B-But she just w-woke up!" Ino exclaimed, still sniffling.
"And I need to check on her so it stays that way," Lady Tsunade responded, "Now, OUT!"
Everyone but Lady Tsunade hurriedly left the room.
Lady Tsunade turned to her, "If that last jutsu you used was so chakra intensive, you should have left Kabuto to me."
Hanara averted her eyes to the bed, "I just- he made me so mad and I- I know I shouldn't have done it but I wasn't sure if you would be okay and I'm just a random Branch Hyuga member. You're probably the last Senju, the best medical ninja to ever exist, and the only candidate for the Fifth Hokage. Compared to you and Naruto, I'm replaceable. You're not. Besides, it did its job, didn't it? You're not crying your eyes out so Naruto must be alive."
Tsunade sighed, "Yes, Kabuto is dead and it did its job, but one life isn't worth more than another! Look at how many people were upset by the fact that you could die! Yes, I'm the last Senju by name, but we're going to die out anyway. The Leaf has tons of adequate medical ninja and Shizune could pass my teachings on to someone else! And there are other candidates for Hokage! Your life has meaning, too! I'm touched that you would die for me, but you don't have to do that. All those titles were well-earned."
"I'm sorry- Wait, Kabuto is dead? Is Naruto upset?" Hanara asked, panicked.
"Yeah, that jutsu of yours is something else. Naruto was upset for a while, but eventually, he understood. Now, let me do what I came here for."
Tsunade performed a diagnostic jutsu on her and smiled, "Rest was all you needed. Your chakra is at normal levels now, and you're free to be released, but nothing strenuous for a week."
"Yes ma'am," Hanara nodded.
"Oh, and you've made Chunin," Tsunade informed her.
"I made Chunin?" Hanara asked in disbelief.
"You and your Nara teammate were the only people that all judges agreed on. I wasn't going to pass anyone, seeing as the tournament was interrupted, but in his notes, you and the Nara were mentioned with astounding approval." Lady Tsunade said.
"O-Oh..."
"You missed the ceremony, so here's your vest," Lady Tsunade handed over the Leaf's standard Chunin vest.
"Thank you," Hanara smiled.
"Now shoo! I've got work to get to!" Tsunade demanded.
A week passed by and Hanara spent it mainly with Squad 10 sans Asuma (who was on a mission), but two days before she was free for duty, they were called on a mission, too. It was simple for a B-rank, just escorting a distant relative of the Daimyo, but Hanara was going to miss them.
Two days later, Hanara was called in for a mission.
"HUH?" Naruto exclaimed, "SHE'S OUR SQUAD LEADER?"
"I'm their what?" Hanara asked.
Tsunade slammed a fist on her desk, "Naruto! Let me explain! Hanara, as our resources are stretched thin and you have just recovered, you will be leading Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura on a B-rank escort mission to the Land of Tea. You'll be escorting someone important."
"Someone important? Really?" Sakura asked, intrigued.
Ignoring her, Tsunade continued, "Of course, it could develop into an A-rank, which is why you're here, Hanara."
"Yes! This'll be awesome!" Naruto cheered.
"So, who are we escorting?" Sasuke asked.
'At least someone is going to get to the point.'
"I don't know," Tsunade responded.
'Wait the Land of Tea has a race every four years at the Todoroki Shrine to select which family will be in charge. I'm guessing we're going to be escorting one of the runners.'
"Hold on! How can you not know?" Naruto exclaimed.
"Are we escorting one of the runners for the race at the Great Todoroki Shrine?" Hanara asked, voicing her thoughts, "But don't they tell you who?"
"Yes," Tsunade nodded, "You will be escorting one of the runners. Every four years, we of the Leaf are asked to escort one of the runners, but this year the messengers that tell us who were attacked. Once you meet Boss Jirocho, everything will be clear."
"Do you know who attacked them or anything about how the attackers fight?" Hanara asked.
"We found their bodies and it seemed that they were attacked by poisoned senbon," Tsunade informed them.
"Got it." Hanara nodded, "Any questions, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto?"
They all shook their heads.
"That's all I know. Now, hurry up, they're expecting you at sundown," Tsunade yelled.
"They are? Okay." Hanara said, tying her hair into a ponytail, "Squad 7, we're flying."
"Flying?" Sakura asked.
'Oh right, she hasn't met Pho. Sasuke and Sakura can go on her, Naruto can go on a fan with me.'
"I've got phoenix summons. Once we're out, I'll get her." Hanara told them, "Let's go."
A few hours later, Hanara heard Naruto's stomach rumble.
'He's hungry, huh? Well, I guess we can stop for a lunch break. Pho must be getting tired and I can't keep this up all day.'
"Okay guys, let's stop for lunch, I see a tea house. We'll be running after that," she said, "Pho, land in the trees, we don't want to freak out civilians."
"Yes, m'lady."
The four shinobi walked into the tea house and a lady quickly ushered them to their seats.
"What will you be having?" the waitress asked.
Hanara quickly scanned the menu, "Some sweet bean soup, please."
"Just rice," Sasuke muttered.
"I'll have some dumplings if you don't mind," Sakura said.
"Sweet bean soup for me, too!" Naruto exclaimed.
The waitress smiled, "Thank you, I will be back in a moment."
'Sasuke doesn't eat very nutritious food...'
"I hope we get some fighting in!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Well I don't," Hanara snorted, "I don't fancy having to go back to the hospital right after I was cleared for duty."
"Don't you dare go making trouble, Naruto. Not this time." Sakura glared.
"I won't," Naruto grumbled.
The waitress came back and gave everyone their food, "Enjoy!"
"Thank you for the food!" everyone chorused before digging in.
"Just sitting around in the shade sucking some sweet bean soup. The ninja life's pretty cushy, huh?" a built (for a civilian) boy said.
'I've seen that face before...'
Naruto rose to the bait, "What'd you say?"
Hanara glared, "Shut up, Naruto."
Smirking, the boy continued, "I'm guessing you don't get much action in the Leaf Village, based on how out of shape you look."
Hanara snorted, 'He's calling the people that faced a Sannin and survived out of shape. That's priceless. And, the Leaf literally just went through an invasion.'
"Okay, that's it!" Naruto exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table.
The boy ignored Naruto and turned to Sakura, "Hey sweetie, where'd you come from? I didn't see you sitting here. Those insults weren't for you, of course."
"Uh, thank you," Sakura responded, looking a bit confused.
He bent down so that Sakura didn't have to look up, "Hello there, I'm Idate Morino. So, uh, what do they call you?"
Naruto started shouting again but Hanara didn't pay attention.
'That's where I've seen him! One of the first things Asuma-Sensei did before we took our first D-rank was memorize nearly all the missing ninja from the Leaf and Rock and some of the more dangerous ones from other lands too. The ones that would have the biggest grudges against us. Idate Morino was a Genin when he left the Leaf during the second round of the Chunin Exams. He's the younger brother to the Head of T&I, Ibiki Morino, our first exam proctor. Not a high-level threat, which is probably why there hasn't been ANBU against him. All four of us could beat him no problem. His highest skill is his speed.'
Hanara zoned back into the conversation.
"-there's one thing I can't stand, it's ninja." Idate snarled.
"If you can't stand us then I kindly ask you to leave," Hanara said, smiling sweetly, "Talking to Leaf ninja isn't in your best interests, you know."
Idate paled, probably understanding the implications. If a ninja ran into a rogue shinobi from their land, they were duty-bound to handing the ninja in. Idate wasn't a threat yet, so Hanara was perfectly fine with leaving him alone, but if he became one, then...
Team 7 stared at Hanara in confusion, but she didn't mind them.
Idate put on a fake smile, "Well, since a beauty like yourself asked, I suppose I have no other option but to comply."
Hanara rolled her eyes but let him go.
"Hey, Hanara, what did you mean by that?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted, showing his interest.
"Oh, well, if he continued to bother us, I wouldn't be above having a nice, friendly, spar with him," she said innocently, going back to drinking her soup.
Once everyone was done eating, their waitress handed them two bills.
"Hey, why are there two bills?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, your friend over there just left and said you'd be paying for it." the waitress answered.
Naruto growled, "I knew it! I should have flattened him while I had the chance!"
Hanara sighed, "It's okay guys, I'll cover for both of 'em."
'I'm probably the most well off financially, anyway. At least, Hiashi gives his clan's orphans a decent sum of money. Besides, the leader of a mission gets more money, too. Still, I'm going to have a word with him.'
Hanara paid for both bills and focused her chakra to her eyes, "Byakugan."
"Where is he?" Sakura asked.
Hanara let out a low whistle, "Damn, that kid's fast. I don't know what kind of training he's been getting but it works. Okay, let's go before he gets out of my sight."
Naruto opened his mouth to ask a question but Hanara answered before he could.
"We're not flying. I'm not wasting any more chakra when we still have a mission."
A few minutes later, they caught up to him.
"You got a lot of nerve." Sasuke said, glaring at Idate, "Did you think you'd get away with it?"
Idate falls to his knees dramatically and looks to the ground, "I'm sorry! I couldn't pay the bill! All my money's been stolen!"
'Breathing heavily, movement of the head, not keeping eye-contact. Three signs that he's telling a lie.'
"No way! All your money?" Sakura asked.
Hanara held a hand up to silence her.
"Haven't you heard of the Byakugan?" Hanara smirked, staring straight at Idate, "Well, it can see through things and mine is activated. I can clearly see all your money in your pocket. You have enough to pay for your bill. Besides, even if I couldn't, you suck at lying. Your breathing pattern increased, you moved your head suddenly, and you avoided eye-contact. All of those are tell-tale signs of a liar."
In one fluid movement, Idate dropped his leg weights, picked up a pocket knife, and ran.
"You can't catch me again!" he screamed.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, all moved to run after him, but Hanara stopped them.
"Come on, that's enough. We need to get to the Land of Tea by sundown."
"But- He just- We have to!" Naruto sputtered.
"You're gonna run into jerks like him everywhere. Let's just leave him alone."
"Hanara! He robbed you!" Naruto exclaimed.
"I'm your mission leader, you have to listen to me." Hanara glared, "We're just going to go to the Land of Tea. If you run into him again, you can give him a piece of your mind."
"Fine, let's go to the Land of Tea."
They all nodded and continued to their destination.