Fumiko woke up to find a series of bandages wrapped around her leg. As she opened her eyes, she found Kozakura sitting beside her. She had shoulder-length black hair, with bangs swept to the side. She had brown eyes, which complimented her face quite well. This was the first time Fumiko had seen her since the academy days, yet her appearance hadn't changed a bit. The only small change was the Konoha forehead protector she now wore; a symbol of her becoming a full-fledged genin.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Fumiko nodded her head. "Thank you for saving me, but, how did you find me?"

"It's a long story..." she said, nervously. "But anyways, I was heading off to Sunagakure myself."

"Do you have a mission there as well?"

She shook her head. "No. In fact, I shouldn't even be here. I snuck over here on my own accord, because I'm looking for some answers."

She hesitated for a second. "I never really got to know my mother well, because she died when I was young. But I knew she was from the Hidden Sand, and she had run away to Konoha many years ago to marry my father. She had become ill when I was only 5 years old, and she died shortly after. But there's something that doesn't add up; she was perfectly healthy, so how could she have gotten so sick all of a sudden. Furthermore, this was shortly after she went to visit her brother in Sunagakure. They had gotten into a huge fight, so my mother returned upset."

Her face had become solemn. "And lastly, her symptoms matched those of the effects of poison."

Fumiko was shocked by this. "That's horrible..."

"So, that's why I came over here. I need to find out what really caused my mother's death."

They both remained silent for a few seconds.

Then, Kozakura said, "If it's alright with you, I will be taking you back to your team now."

So Fumiko left with Kozakura to reunite with her team. She used her Byakugan to locate them.

As Fumiko reunited with her team, she got yelled at by Kushina (as expected), but overall, her team was happy that she had returned safe. They had been looking for her everywhere. After Kozakura reunited Fumiko with her team, she left to continue her own journey. As they kept travelling, it was now nighttime, and they had taken another break to rest.

Fumiko, however, couldn't sleep. She just stared at the night sky in the comfort of her sleeping bag, while everyone else slumbered. But she wasn't the only one awake. She noticed Akemi a short distance from her, with tears trickling down his face as he stared mournfully at a small picture in his hand. She went up to him to ask him what was wrong.

He continued to stare regretfully at the picture for a few seconds. Then, he finally spoke in a somber voice, "I feel like I wasn't able to keep my promise."

He showed her the picture, which was a portrait of him and his parents. It was his family. "Growing up, we never had much money, but we were happy. We were a simple family, and I never asked for much. But one day, I decided that I wanted to be a shinobi. It became my dream. My parents did everything they could to make my dream come true, but they became ill and died. As they were laying on their deathbeds, I promised them that I would become a great shinobi for them. But all I've done is cause trouble, and you were almost killed because of me. I'm sorry." Fumiko realized that the picture he was holding, must have been the thing that Akemi had tried to retrieve back then. It must have held so much importance to him. He paused for a second. "I used to be so jealous of you, because you had everything that I didn't. You had parents, you never had to worry about money, you came from one of the two strongest clans in the Leaf, and you were a talented ninja, unlike me. I tried and tried to catch up to you, because I wanted to become a good ninja just like you were. But I never could, and I got jealous of you because of that. I'm sorry, for everything."

"You know, my life isn't as perfect as it seems," she said. She took of her forehead protector, and set it carefully to the ground. She slowly took off the bandages on her forehead to reveal the cursed seal that had been branded on her.

Akemi gasped.

"In the Hyuga clan, it is tradition to brand members of the Branch Family with a special cursed seal. I've had this since I was 4. I was so young and innocent at the time; no one had told me anything of this dark tradition. No one was allowed to. But since then, I've been controlled by this curse mark and bound to an inescapable fate; to protect and serve the Main Family, even if it means death."

Akemi looked horrified at this. "But why? How could someone do this?"

Fumiko looked almost sorrowful for a second. "Being from an important clan doesn't mean everything; almost all of the great clans have had to suffer, one way or another. I guess you could say that power comes at a cost."

Both of them had remained silent for a few seconds. Then, Fumiko added on, "Akemi, I'm sorry about what happened with your parents. I think you're a great shinobi."

At this moment, both of them felt like they could understand each other better. They no longer resented each other, and instead, their feelings of resentment were replaced with solicitude. They could feel sympathy for each other.

Kozakura had arrived in the Hidden Sand. She rushed to a small building; a long-deserted house. It was the house her mother had lived in with her brother. She scuffled through every one of her belongings, and while doing this, she accidentally knocked down a portrait. She picked it up with great care, and cleared the dust off the glass of the picture flame. She carefully examined the picture. If that's mother, than the person next to her must be her brother. But, why does he look so familliar? As she realized who he was, she gasped and dropped the picture, shocked. The glass shattered onto the ground. But that can't be—

The man in the picture bore a near perfect resemblance of the man who had been assisting the ambassador. She then forcefully opened a small drawer, where she found a small crumbled-up note. The note was not written in her mother's handwriting, so it much have been her uncle's. It had everything; all the answers she had desperately yearned for. But most shockingly, it had specifically detailed plans her uncle had made; plans to eliminate Sunagakure's ambassador.