Today was the day he would finally do it, Naruto had worked so hard on getting his first seal right. He'd done it over and over and over again, going through a countless number of practice scrolls. Once he was convinced, he let Anko compare it to the original design. After multiple scans of both papers, the Jonin finally gave him her approval.

"Okay Naruto, let's give it a try." Anko nodded. After three months of training and D-ranked Missions, her team was finally adjusting to their training regiment. Their days started at 9 a.m. every day, with 2 hours of brutal Taijutsu training. At 11, they would begin working their individual training regiments, with firm guidance from Anko, for another two hours. At 2 P.M. they took a short rest, before having her students conclude the day with Chakra control training from 2:30- 5. It was 11:30, and today she watched as Naruto carefully placed a Shuriken onto his sealing scroll.

Delicately, Naruto set the shuriken down, not letting his excitement get the better of him. Once the weapon was set down, he stood slowly and looked at Anko, who nodded to him encouragingly. Naruto put his hands together, concentrating his chakra from his body into the scroll. "Okay… here we go! Sealing Art! Enclosing Jutsu!" With a puff of smoke, the Shuriken disappeared.

Anko smiled, surprised and very pleased. "Excellent work Naruto!" She said, giving her pupil a smack on her back. "Okay, now bring it back out."

Naruto, now filled with pride, smiled back at Anko and nodded. Over their time together, Anko and Naruto had made a deal, for every Jutsu Naruto mastered, he and Anko would talk more about the Uzumaki Clan, and more importantly, Naruto's Mother. Focusing his chakra again, Naruto took a deep breath, before slapping his hands together in a handsign, "Release!"

To Anko's surprise… nothing happened. The Shuriken did not return from within the scroll. "Uh, give it another go Naruto."

Naruto, a little disappointed, tried again. "Release!" And once again, nothing happened. "W-Whats going on Anko Sensei? What am I doing wrong?"

Anko walked around the scroll, looking at it, then back to Naruto. "Once more, Naruto…" She crouched down, touching the edge of the scroll.

Groaning, Naruto slapped his hands together, once again focusing his Chakra, "Release!" he said, much more annoyed with himself.

Anko could feel the problem almost immediately, While sealing an item into a scroll required a substantial amount of Chakra, releasing a seal, did not, in fact, it required such a minimal amount of Chakra, once could set a scroll to go off on a timer, or under certain conditions. The Problem was that Naruto was dumping too much Chakra into the seal, enough so that the Seal was just absorbing it. "You're using too much Chakra, tone it down… by a lot." Anko suggested.

Naruto gave her a frustrated glare. "What do you mean tone it down, I'm barely using any Chakra!"

Anko glared back, but figured that it was to be expected. Even with Months of Anko's Chakra Control regiment, Naruto could only use so little Chakra. "Then we'll have to double down on your Chakra Control… get over to the trees Naruto, you know the drill."

Crossing his arms and frowning, Naruto began grumbling to himself while walking off.

"Naruto," Anko called after him, the boy turning around with a grumpy expression. "You did good, we'll talk later."

Naruto's expression softened as he began running over to the treeline.

Once far enough a way, Anko looked down at the scroll, "Relea-" before she could even finish her command, the shuriken Shot out of the Scroll at such a high velocity, Anko could not see how far up it went. "He almost overloaded his own seal… just like that?" Surprised, Anko hoped the Shuriken would not land anywhere… inconvenient. She looked over the rest of the training grounds, to her other pupils. Hinata was now able to run normally with the amount of weight they had started her out with. She decided that Shikamaru needed her guidance first.

The Genin was once again pouring over his Genjutsu basics scroll when Anko walked up to him.

"Are you actually going to try one of those techniques today?" The Jonin asked sourly. Shikamaru had assured her he would work at Genjutsu, but Anko had only ever seen him reading during his supposed 'practicing'. What made matters worse is that Shikamaru was now ignoring her. "Hey, Shikamaru…"

No reaction came from the Nara Genin.

"Shikamaru!" Anko screamed at him. "I'm your sensei, now answer me!" She was getting frustrated at his inability to listen, so much so that when Hinata tugged on her jacket, Anko Snapped at the girl, "What?!"

Hinata's eyes grew wide, and she was too nervous to speak with Anko's bad temper being directed at her. Hinata merely pointed to the tall, dead tree in the center of the training grounds. On one of the higher branches, Shikamaru was taking a nap.

Anko turned and looked, then back to the Shikamaru who was reading on the ground, ignoring her. Blinking, Anko put her fingers together. "Release!" She commanded.

Shikamaru, the one who was reading… had been a rock. A rather small boulder, actually.

As the illusion faded, Anko was sufficiently impressed. But still jumped over to the tree, walking up it to the branch Shikamaru slept. Forcefully, she slammed her fist into the sleeping Genin's head, "How long have you been pulling this little stunt?! Get back to work dumbass!"

Shikamaru immediately lost his balance from atop the tree, and started plunging to the ground below, landing on his back with an audible thud. "Owww…" He started rubbing the top of his head, but the impact from landing on his belly was equally painful "What a drag…" He groaned, but his attention was immediately focused on Anko as she landed in front of him.

"How long have you been keeping up this little charade, Shikamaru?" Anko asked again, with a menacing intent in her voice.

"J-Just today." Shikamaru groaned, "You said you'd be evaluating our progress today… I thought I'd take advantage…"

"Oh, trust me, you won't be taking advantage of our training anymore." She turned her head to face Hinata. "In fact, you're going to be Hinata's sparring partner for her evaluation." She chortled to herself.

"Um… okay Sensei…" Shikamaru said, standing and patting dirt off of himself.

"Hinata!" Anko called out cheerily. "Come on over here!"

Hinata ran over, panting slightly. "Y-yes Anko Sensei?"

"Lose the weights." Anko smiled at her, "We're going to see how effective your training has been, and Shikamaru volunteered to help!"

Hinal gave a sigh of relief and went to unclasp the ankle weights. "Really? Thank you Shikamaru."

Shikamaru knew how this would end, and grimaced as Hinata thanked him, "Sure… anytime…"

Hinata did not wear her ankle weights all day every day, in fact Anko Sensei had suggested hiding them before she got home to her Family's compound to avoid suspicion. At home, she hadn't noticed much of a difference, but she had little reason to be practicing taijutsu or ninjutsu at home since her training with Anko had begun… in fact she purposefully avoided or started to 'forget' when her sparring sessions with Neji were supposed to be. As she dropped the weights near the base of the dead tree, she nodded to Anko and Shikamaru.

"Okay, take your starting positions in the field." Anko ordered. "Don't hold back you two, remember, I'm measuring your progress."

Hinata and Shikamaru both walked out to the field, about twenty paces from each other. Both Genin nodded in acknowledgement and began their match.

Shikamaru watched as Hinata ran at him with a force he had never seen before. He quickly moved his hands together, "Shadow Possession Jutsu-" His Shadow didn't have to go far to reach Hinata, and that was the problem.

Hinata had closed the distance with such a speed, that her forward momentum was too much for Shadow Possession to immediately stop, and she tripped forward. The force of her strike, as a result, was less intense, but instead of connecting with Shikamaru's left shoulder, Hinata index and middle finger speared into Shikamaru's central chakra cluster.

To Shikamaru's surprise, the pain wasn't the worst thing, it was tingling in his stomach that seemed to pulse through his whole body. Like metal scraping against teeth, the feeling made him nauseous, and he landed on his back with a hard thud for the second time today.

Hinata hit the ground too, but knew the immediate damage she had done. "Sh-Shikamaru… I'm so sorry."

Anko grinned with malevolence as her little disciplinary action worked out even better than she expected. "Don't be sorry Hinata! That was great!" From what Anko saw, after three months, Hinata was roughly twenty percent faster than she had been at the start of their training. She looked down at Shikamaru, "Well, I think even you learned something today Shikamaru."

Anko looked at the two genin, one passed out, the other now embarrassed at her own ability. 'We still need to rough out the edges… but I think they're ready.' She looked over to Naruto, who was attempting to climb a tree with only his chakra. "Hinata, I think we'll cut things short today… Can you help Shikamaru get home alright?"

Hinata nodded before grabbing Shikamaru's arm and helping him to his feet.

"...drag…" Shikamaru muttered weakly, leaning on Hinata.

Anko walked the two of them over to the path back toward the Nara Estate, Hinata and Shikamaru calling out a farewell to Naruto.

Anko walked over to the blonde gennin. "Alright Naruto, we're wrapping things up early today."

Naruto didn't turn to speak as he attempted to climb the tree again. "Okay Anko Sensei, see ya later- ow!" He gasped as he fell back onto the ground… he had made it higher than yesterday at least. "I'm going to keep working on this."

Anko crossed her arms, "Naruto, starting tomorrow things might be changing, I need the whole team well rested."

Naruto turned to look at his sensei, "Whatta ya mean?"

Anko smiled, "After today, I think you three are ready for a C-Rank Mission." She looked at him expectantly, "Now, C'mon. I'll treat you to some dinner, and we can talk about… you know."

Naruto nodded, and stood silently. His heart ached for a moment, but he smiled. "Okay, Anko Sensei."

"Rice bowls are your favourite right?" Anko teased him, giving his shoulder a light punch.

"Haha Anko Sensei, very funny." Naruto rolled his eyes, "But… is ramen alright?"

"It's less expensive than Asuma's students apparently" Anko said under her breath, "Sure kid, let's get going."

"You're home early today…" Hiashi Hyuga said as he watched his daughter walk almost daintily into the Hyuga Estate's courtyard. He walked over to her, he rarely had a chance to even see her these days apart from their meals together.

Hinata suppressed a sigh as her father approached her, "A-Anko Sensei evaluated our p-progress today… and gave us the rest of the day off…"

Hiashi nodded, "How did your Sensei rate you? Amongst your team, are you the strongest?" He was eager to hear of his daughter's performance and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Hinata looked away for a moment, "W-we're all improving t-tremendously…" more than anything, she wanted to tell her father that her strength wasn't important to her. "N-Naruto has l-learned a Chunin level technique. A-and Shikamaru even t-tricked Anko Sensei with a Genjutsu…"

Hiashi rubbed his smooth chin, "I see…" He was eager to see Hinata's 'tremendous' improvement with his own eyes. "Well… Neji is free this afternoon… a demonstration of what you've learned…"

Hinata grimaced. She hated fighting her cousin, hated how brutal he was each time they sparred. It wasn't like with Anko Sensei, or Shikamaru and Naruto, when she sparred with them they wanted her to be better and she wanted to help them improve too. Neji didn't talk to her after sparring, or tell her she'd done well, he just stared at her with a seething in his eyes. "Fine." She shocked herself with her defiance in the word, as if her voice wasn't her own, in fact, the tone of her voice reminded her of Naruto. "Fine, Father." There was irritation in her voice, a lack of timidity.

Hiashi's eyes widened as Hinata… barked at him in agreement. He was speechless, and… he heard pain in her voice. Perhaps Hinata was simply tired… She had not had a day's rest in 3 months. "P-Perhaps another time?"

'I agree to what he wants, and then I don't have to do it?' Hinata shook her head, looking at her father with a smile that was painfully forced, "No Father, I'll fight Neji for you today, its fine, truly." Part of her felt bad for being so bitter, but her anger was beginning to boil. She thought of how proud Naruto would be if he could feel her anger.

"I-I see… I'll have Neji brought to the training room." He cleared his throat before moving away.

Hinata moved very quickly to her room, and began dressing in the traditional Hyuga Gi. Her Ankle weights were in a locked box hidden just outside the Estate's main gate, and without her jacket and ninja weaponry, she was even lighter on her feet than before.

Neji sat on his knees, his Byakugan already active, it took him so little effort, and he wanted to see what sort of 'improvement' Hinata had made in her time as a Genin. It made little difference, a weakling was a weakling, and this line of Neji's thinking was confirmed as he saw Hinata enter the training room. Her Chakra had more control, but the amount of chakra had barely improved, if at all. He stood to face her, not speaking.

Hinata bowed to her father before turning to face Neji, eager to begin.

Hiashi frowned to himself as he looked at the two genin, the two children. There was a fierceness between them that he had not seen before. Hiashi activated his Byakugan and was very surprised to see Hinata's Chakra relatively unaltered over her months of training, and began to doubt Anko Mitarashi's qualifications. "Begin!"

Neji smirked, "So, anything new? Anything at all?"

Hinata clenched her teeth. "Byakugan!" And ran at her cousin as fast as she could.

"Wha-" Neji began to question, but Hinata began an assault that immediately put him on the defensive. He recognized the basic forms of the Hyuga taijutsu, but the speed with which they came at started to wear on his ability to process her movement, even with the Byakugan.

Hinata felt a burning in her stomach as Neji blocked her quick jabs. Even now she wanted to push harder to surpass her cousin, to prove him wrong, to see him look at her with something over than content. She would go through the basic form once more, but this time, she would show Neji something 'new'.

Neji saw the rest of Hinata's form, and knew that this would be his chance. Hinata was still a weakling, and he would always triumph over, this time he would end it with one counter attack, maybe then she would give up and learn her place. The opening came, and Neji took it, "Rotat-"

Hinata performed an agile forward flip, the back of her foot colliding with the top of Neji's head, slamming his head down against the floor. 'Uzumaki Barrage!' She thought, thinking of all the times Naruto had performed the heavy kick in their training. The Hyuga Taijustu focused on pinpoint strikes, and Hinata knew that Neji never expected her to break tradition. She panted, looking down at her cousin who groaned, his Byakugan receding.

Hiashi was… speechless. Not once had Hinata ever triumphed over Neji, not once. And here she stood overlooking a defeated opponent before his very eyes! Hinata had been light on her feet, powerful, aggressive… but she never sacrificed her control over the situation. If anyone else had delivered a move like that in front of him, Hiashi would've called it clumsy, slow, a waste of energy. However, Hinata's speed had not only turned it into a thing of grace, it had been an effective strategy. "Hinata that was…" He began, but the girl just walked away from him, exiting the training room, and leaving him alone with Neji.

"H-how…?" Neji groaned to himself as he lifted his body.

Hiashi went over to Neji, helping him up. He cared for his nephew as his own son, but as Hiashi was beginning to realize perhaps he did not show his parental affection as well as he had believed. Hinata had won… but she had sounded so frustrated earlier, his daughter's time with her new sensei was changing his timid daughter into something else. "I-I believe there will be no further cause for training with Hinata, Neji…" He said with a tone of disappointment, not with either child, but with himself, 'I pushed them both too hard…'

Neji grimaced. His head and face hurt from the humiliating blow, but he wouldn't back down so easily… this must've been a fluke, he was tired, let his guard down, how could Hinata defeat him like that? "No! Uncle please!" He begged Hiashi, "I must personally see to Hinata's Mastery of our Hyuga taijutsu, you said so yourself!"

Hiashi shook his head, "I believe Hinata has just taken the first steps of her own path…" The patron of the Hyuga clan felt sadness in his heart, mixed with the occasional string of pride that was struck in his heart. Perhaps if Hiashi had taken his own path… He looked down at Neji, "Come, let's make you sure you're unharmed."

Clenching his teeth, Neji pushed himself off the ground, letting Hiashi's hand fall from his shoulder. "I'll be fine, Uncle. Do not concern yourself with Branch family matters…" Neji made his way out of the training room, his head beginning to throb with pain.

As Hiashi sat alone in the training room, the sun began to set. The Hyuga patron felt as though he were isolated from his own family. He thought of his brother, about what he would do. 'Hizashi… what should I do… our children hate each other, and I believe that I am the cause…' The memory of his brother's smiling face brought him some comfort, and the Hyuga patron stood. "Then I'll… be better, a better Father…" He quietly pledged, not only to himself but to the memory of his brother as well. If only it was as easily done as it was said.

After a filling bowl of Char-shu miso ramen, Naruto walked beside his Sensei with a smile on his face. They were approaching his home, and knew that soon they would separate for the evening, but Anko still had not told him any new information about his mother, and with each step closer to his home, his smile shrank a bit. "Um… Anko sensei?"

Anko had let a couple of her shadow clones trail them from the rooftops, to make sure no one of consequence would be around to hear her and Naruto talk. She looked down at him, smirking and in a hush said. "She had bright red hair, and you have her eyes." It wasn't very much information, but there agreement had been that for every technique Naruto Mastered, she would reveal to him a new detail about his mother, but he hadn't quite mastered the basic seal just yet.

For Naruto, it seemed like enough. He stopped in his tracks and looked up at the twilight sky, trying to picture what she must've looked like. Naruto's heart longed to know exactly what his mother looked like, "W-was she pretty?"

Anko blinked, and realized the folly of her agreement with Naruto; it was difficult to deny a request from the kid, especially regarding Kushina. "... She was beautiful, Naruto." Anko pictured how her and Lord 4th had looked together on the wedding day, after all, the whole village had been invited.

Naruto's smile returned, and he ran past his sensei. "I'm going to go do some studying! Thank you Big Sis Anko!" He flashed a smile and a thumbs up at her, then ran off.

Anko nodded, waving to the Genin as he sped off. At least Naruto was motivated to study… nothing else really mattered at this point. Anko was about to make her own way home, when she felt a presence come up to her from behind.

"So… you've broken the rules and told Naruto about his heritage?" The voice was cold as ice, but familiar.

Anko's blood froze for a moment. How could she had gotten so distracted? Quickly, she spun to see who had been watching her. "K-Kakashi?!"

The masked Jonin nodded, and gave a friendly half salute. "Yup. I guess your first Genin team has really softened you up if I can sneak up on you, Anko."

Anko stared him down, meeting Kakashi's gaze. "So… what happens now…?" Anko asked, "Are you going to rat me out for honoring Kushina's memory?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment, between the two the tension was practically visible. "No… I'm not…" Kakashi moved closer to Anko, "I only ask that when the time comes… you let someone else tell him about his father."

Anko was surprised. "What you mean you want to-"

Kakashi shook his head, "I'm… not good with things like that." He admitted, "But Master Jiraiya, no one knew Minato Sensei better. I'm sure he would teach Naruto quite a bit too."

Anko didn't like the idea of involving any of the Sanin in her student's training, unless it was with the intent of killing her former Master, "You think that old pervert would take the kid in? And what happens to my team while Naruto is gone?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I'm just asking you to think about it… Naruto wouldn't even be ready for that kind of training right now anyway… just remember, when the time is right." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Anko sighed, her secret was out, but at least Kakashi wouldn't rat her out. "...I can never get a read on that guy…" She said, turning to walk toward her apartment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked the old man over, then down at his Escort Request Application, everything seemed to be in order, and the Hokage took a drag from his long pipe. As the sun's crest arced behind the village wall, the Hokage spoke. "A Ninja escort as you travel back to the Land of Waves, that's a bit overcautious, don't you think?"

Tazuna grimaced, "I'm sure as a fellow senior, you can understand one's need for protection." The old bridge builder had done his best, but he was worried that this… Hokage would see through him.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, "Well, it seems like a simple C-rank mission… a perfect opportunity…" He mumbled the last part as he looked at a report from Anko, confirming that her students were ready for a Mission that meant traveling outside the village. "I'll arrange everything this evening… be ready to leave by Noon tomorrow."

Tazuna nodded, that would give him time for a few drinks before the journey began. He was glad the older man didn't push him for more information. "That's fine by me. I'll be back here before then." He stood and left the Hokage's office.

Sasuke Uchiha was unsure of what brought him here. He had received his pay for this week's mission, and should have been on his way home… but he found himself standing outside of Naruto Uzumaki's residence. Kiba had mentioned how no one had seen Naruto or anyone on his team for a few months now, and Sakura said that even Ino hadn't seenShikamaru since their graduation from the academy. Sasuke shook his head, he was here now, but there was no point in worrying over someone who wasn't even his teammate. He turned to leave, but then he saw the genin in question.

"Oh, hey Sasuke." Naruto said, usually the prodigy's presence would bother Naruto, but his mind was preoccupied after his talk with Anko. He started to walk past Sasuke, and pull out the keys from his pocket.

"Naruto..." Sasuke said his name in disbelief. Naruto looked much stronger than he had when they had left the academy, even without his Sharingan he could feel a difference in Naruto's potential.

"Uh, yeah?" Naruto asked as he started unlocking his door.

"How's your training been going?" Sasuke crossed his arms, "Sakura thought you died, you haven't asked her out in three months."

Naruto's head lifted, and he turned to face Sasuke. "It's been that long since we graduated?" The blonde scratched his head, now that he thought about it he wasn't even sure what day of the week was… 'I guess it doesn't matter when you never get a day off…' His training with his new squad felt like a blur when he tried to recall the individual days. "Huh, guess time really flies! My training's been going pretty well, I guess, I've only really learned one new thing so far… but its pretty powerful, you know! A Chunin level Jutsu!" Naruto bragged, he wasn't really supposed to talk about his training with others, per Anko Sensei's orders, but he couldn't resist gloating to the former class prodigy.

Sasuke frowned, "A Chunin level Jutsu? What is it?" Sasuke couldn't believe his ears… Naruto had never even performed a clone jutsu correctly before… in fact, Naruto had initially failed the Final Exam for the Ninja academy… what had changed?

Naruto thought about the various punishments Anko Sensei had promised if he revealed the details of his training to anyone, even other Genin, and he shook his head, smiling nervously. "S-sorry, I'm not supposed to talk about it… A Ninja shouldn't disclose their secrets, you know?" That's what Anko had told him before, seems it stuck in after all.

Sasuke nodded, it seems Naruto had gotten a little smarter since they'd last seen each other. "Well listen… I could use a sparring partner tomorrow, if you're free. Kiba has a family meeting." That wasn't true, but Sasuke couldn't stand Kiba's attitude, Akamaru was alright though...

Naruto thought for a second, "What about Sakura?"

Sasuke shook his head, and shoved his hands into his pockets, "Sakura couldn't handle it…" Now that was true. "Aren't Shikamaru and Hinata on your team? I'm sure you can relate."

That struck a nerve with Naruto, the three of them had been working so hard, not just him… "Actually, we all spar with each other everyday, Shikamaru and Hinata are both way tougher than they were back at the academy."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, same old Naruto: so easy to get riled up. "Fine, fine… but still, I think we should test each other's skills." Is that why he came here? Maybe not intentionally, but after seeing the difference in Naruto's demeanor, something in Sasuke wanted to feel challenged. "Well… what days are you free? We could still train together on our off days."

Naruto cocked his head, "Anko Sensei has us training everyday… don't you train everyday?" Weren't all the Genin expected to meet every single day? Was Anko Sensei really putting in extra work, just to train them? Naruto smirked, feeling lucky that his Sensei cared for their team so much

Sasuke's raised an eyebrow, "You've just been training… everyday? For three months?" No wonder no one had seen any of Naruto's team, the rumors of the Interrogation Corps second in command must all be true. "So, no missions yet?" He smirked, "nah, your sensei is probably too scared to let chase cats and pick weeds." At least he could get a little entertainment from his academy rival.

Whatever sasuke wanted, he was acting weird, Naruto just looked at him and said, "We do D-Rank missions everyday too… isn't that normal?" He rubbed the back of his head, "Sasuke, I'm pretty beat, you know? This is the first time I've gotten an afternoon off in a while… so I think I'm going to get some R&R, I'll see you later." He walked into his apartment, 'I can never get a read on that guy…' Naruto shut the door behind him.

Sasuke stared at the door for a moment. 'Maybe Naruto really has changed…' He started walking down the apartment's stairway down to the street level. 'Kakashi hardly ever even has time to train us… Sakura is falling behind because of it…' The Genin grimaced as he started his trek home, 'and we've only been doing one mission every week…' How could he have let Naruto slip past him like that? A Chunin level Jutsu? Surely it would never compare to the Sharingan… 'Right?'

'One day soon… I'm going to need to take matters into my own hands…'

When Shikamaru finally woke up, he was home in his bed. The clock on his nightstand read 6 A.M., meaning he had been blacked out since yesterday afternoon. 'At least I'm not late for training…' He thought, rising to sit cross legged on his bed. He stared out the window, watching the sun silhouette the Village's tall walls.

Shikamaru prefered slow, early mornings, they gave him a chance to watch the sunrise and mentally prepare for the day. He stood up and walked out into his family's kitchen, where both of his parents were already awake. "Morning," He said as he stretched his arms toward the ceiling.

"Good Morning!" His Mother said with an enthusiasm that was just too much for Shikamaru first thing in the morning. It looked as though she were making a rather large breakfast. "Your sensei stopped by this morning!"

Shikamaru grimaced, "Great… am I in trouble for getting knocked out or something?" He rubbed his stomach, a shiver running up his spine as he remembered the sickening sensation of having his chakra completely blocked.

Yoshino shook her head, a cheery smile on her face. "Shikaku, do you want to tell him?"

The Jonin smiled and took a drag from his morning cigarette, looking over his newspaper at his son, "Your team's been picked for a C-Rank mission, you're leaving the village this afternoon."

Yoshino squealed with excitement, "I'm so proud that you've finally broken those lazy habits of yours… I guess it was silly for us to worry about Anko training you."

Shikamaru sighed, "I haven't broken those habits, Anko Sensei doesn't exactly take it easy on us…" He recalled the first time Anko had put him under a Genjutsu, as a demonstration, an experience he wouldn't forget anytime soon, and he wouldn't forget when to be aware of them in the future. Shikamaru supposed that that was the whole point of Anko's training, it was probably the closest thing to actual combat training his team would get until… "Wait. Did you say a C-Rank mission?"

Shikaku nodded, "Your mother already has your bags packed, no backing out of it." He chuckled as he went back to his paper.

Yoshina presented a large array of various breakfast foods, "Remember, you're going to be representing the village, and the Nara clan out there." She hugged her lazy son, kissing his cheek. "Be safe, and stick close to your Sensei, your father and I know that you're ready."

Shikamaru rubbed his cheek, embarrassed, but a little surprised, "Isn't it a little early for sending a Genin team on a C-Rank mission?"

Shikaku flipped the page of the newspaper over, "Most Genin take about half a year before they're ready to leave the Village, but those who show the correct aptitude are often given a chance to prove themselves. Just don't mess up the mission, and don't die." He received a smack in the arm from his wife.

Yoshino frowned at her husband, then looked at her son. "You're going to be fine, you're our son after all."

Shikamaru sighed, "What a Drag…"

Hinata had been waiting by the gate for hours, but she had planned to wait for sometime and right now she was just glad that Anko sensei's note arrived as early as it did. Right now, Hinata wanted to be anywhere but at home with her Father, despite the anxiety of leaving the village for the first time, a piece of her leapt at the chance to have a little space from her home.

After her fight with Neji, Hinata had locked herself away in her room. Beating him hadn't made her feel better about herself, well standing up for herself had, but the actual act of violence had left her feeling hollow. That wasn't how she wanted to show Neji and her Father what she had learned… that wasn't her Ninja Way, or rather, not what she wanted it to be. 'Where does a Ninja find strength?' She wondered if she was truly stronger than her cousin now… or perhaps their duel had been a fluke, a dirty tactic used dishonorably. 'But… Anko Sensei told us that we have to use everything at our disposal when we fight…' Hinata would have to think more about it later, as she saw an orange spec in the distance approaching the village gate.

Naruto's excitement could not be contained. He had woken up early to a confirmation of what Anko sensei had told him the previous day. A letter from his sensei telling him to pack his bags and get ready for a long hike, this was it! This would be Team One's first C-rank mission, their first time leaving the village! He approached the eastern Gate, it was 11:30 a.m about half an hour before the team would meet, but Naruto was pleased to see Hinata already there with her dark blue backpack. "Hey! Hinata!" He waved as he approached, a wide smile on his face.

Hinata was grateful to be able to take her mind off of her family, and smiled as her teammate approached, "Good Morning Naruto!" It always surprised her how contagious Naruto's smile was, but was sure that his enthusiasm would help her mentally prepare for the mission. "Are you all ready for your mission? Did you remember everything you might need?"

Naruto nodded, "Yup, Kunai, Shuriken, scrolls, change of clothes, a few packs of instant Ramen, the basics you know? Oh and also… " He reached over his shoulder,into his own pack, and felt reassured that his little surprise was strapped in place… he wondered if he'd actually get to use the weapon he had saved up for so long for! For now, he would remember Anko's advice about not giving everything away, and shook his head, "uh, you know what, nevermind that. How about you Hinata, are you excited that we're leaving the village?"

Hinata cocked her head, she wondered what Naruto was being secretive about, but didn't hesitate to answer his question. "I am, actually. It'll be nice to get out into the world… Has Anko Sensei told you what sort of Mission this is?"

Naruto shook his head, "Nope, I just got a letter from her this morning telling us to be here by noon." Naruto crossed his arms, "Now that I think about it, I'm usually the first one to arrive when we meet… why are you here so early?" Naruto would think that Hinata would want to spend some time with her folks before leaving home for the first time?

Hinata turned her head as naruto asked that, "Well, I just-"

"Hey you brats! Can't you shut up and let an old man get some shuteye?" From right beside the village Gate, an old man rose from the ground and shot daggers from eyes at the two Genin. "I'm meeting my escorts here, and I'm trying to sleep off this hangover before I have to hike all the way back to the Land of Waves!"

Naruto glared at the old man, and was surprised he hadn't smelled the booze on him from a mile away, "Ah can it you old Geezer! Go take your nap somewhere else."

"Bah," The old man scoffed, "When my team of Ninja get here, I'll have them teach you some respect for the elderly!"

Naruto blew a raspberry at the old man, "Pfft, as if any self respecting Ninja would agree to escort a crazy old drunk, your escorts are probably a bunch of pushovers compared to a great Ninja like me!" As he spoke, Naruto felt a presence behind him, and then a hand on his shoulder.

The hand belonged to none other than Anko, who spoke to Naruto with clenched teeth, "Actually, Naruto, we're going to be his escorts." She then took her first and railed it hard into the Genin's head, "So show a little respect!" She yelled.

"Owwwww!" Naruto cried,crouching down and rubbing his head "There's no way I could've known that Anko Sensei!" He moped.

The old man walked up to the beautiful Jonin, leaning beside the wall. "So… you're going to be my escort?" He smiled at Anko, "Well my dear, you may call me Tazuna, the legendary Bridgebuilder of hearts~" He leaned close to Anko, "Why not ditch these kiddies and we can run off, just the two of us, maybe grab a drink?"

Anko took a deep breath, and turned to Hinata, "This is an important lesson Hinata, pay attention…" The Jonin then delivered an Identical punch to the top of Tazuna's head as she had to Naruto's, only adding a jump to make up for their difference in height. "With a light weight like you? Not a chance!"

Hinata was surprised to see the old man in the same position as Naruto, the two crouching beside each other in solidarity. She felt bad for Naruto, less so for this Tazuna. "I think I got the lesson, Anko Sensei."

"My aching head!" The old man cried, turning to Naruto with only one eye open, "That's your teacher? You have my condolences kid…"

Anko sighed, "I'm Anko Mitarashi, I'm in charge of this mission, and that means everyone here is going to do whatever I say, whenever I say. Understood?" She wanted to make this rule very clear to not only her students but to her client as well. "I said, am I understood?!"

"Yes Ma'am!" 4 voices cried out in Unison, and the three Ninja, plus Tazuna turned to see Shikamaru approaching.

"Well… You're actually on time for once." Anko said to Shikamaru, smiling.

"Can't let the team down." Shikamaru greeted the group, and faced the gate.

"Well then, let's begin our Mission briefing, look sharp Naruto." Anko pulled out one of her map scrolls, and layed on the ground for everyone to see.

The Genin would each pay close attention to the information that Anko was giving them, she had a habit of not repeating herself as a rule.

Anko began. "We'll be escorting Tazuna here to his homeland, the Land of Waves." She pointed to the location on her Map, then back to the Hidden leaf village, "We'll be heading east through friendly territory until we reach the coast here," Her finger traced a line along the map to a small marking that read 'Land of Whirlpools', "From there, we'll be taking a Ferry to the Land of Waves, seeing Tazuna safely to his homeland." She looked at each of her Genin's faces, "This is a C-Rank Escort Mission, we aren't expecting any surprises, but that doesn't mean you can let your guard down. I expect each of you to not only protect our Client, but each other as well."

The three nodded to their Sensei in Unison.

Anko smiled, "Well Tazuna, I hope you're ready! Because my students have a fire in them!"

The old man groaned, but stood up. Looking the children over, he suddenly sobered up, and remembered the position he was truly in. He couldn't go back now, he had already paid the village for the job. "I suppose I am…"

Anko turned to face the gate. "Team One! Let's go!"