A/N: Well, I am back. The surgery went well, and I am slowly getting back to normal. Hopefully the doctor will let me resume normal activity in a few more weeks. I want to say thank you to everyone who sent well wishes on my surgery and recovery.

This chapter is the beginning of the new, and possibly the final arc, of Snow Angels. So, as with all my chapters that start an arc, this one is all about laying the groundwork for what is to come.

Knock, Knock, Knock

"No, don't."

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

"Run, just run away. Save yourself, please."

BAM, BAM, BAM

"Oh Kami no, Hinata talk to me, please. HINATA!" Naruto falls out of his bed as his nightmare comes to its usual bloody conclusion. He slumps his head to calm his breathing while his fingernails claw furrows into the wooden floor of his apartment.

BAM, BAM, BAM

Naruto looks up in confusion as he finally notices the sound of someone pounding on his front door. He looks over at the clock and shakes his head in frustration. "Who would be coming over this early? I got to get ready to go meet Hinata soon, we are both supposed to be free this morning and are going to meet for breakfast."

Ever since Hinata got her promotion she has been spending most of her days in the diplomatic division's office training for her new job. They have only been able to see each other over the occasional lunch, and even having dinner together has become difficult for him and Hinata lately because of the Hokage. After he had told the Hokage about the three girls he had encountered on his last mission she has been keeping him very busy with assignments in the village and in his small office.

During these unfortunately rare meals Hinata has been telling him some of the stuff she has been learning in her training. She suggested that he might find some of the stuff she has been learning about negotiations to be useful when he becomes Hokage one day. He shakes his head as he thinks about some of the proper protocols and etiquette she has been politely mentioning. 'Man, all that be polite and talk to people without accidently telling them too much, or giving into the desire to punch them right in the face is such a drag.'

Naruto lets out a dry chuckle and shakes his head. "Wow, now I am starting to sound like Shikamaru, maybe I need to take a vacation." As he stands up and stretches a better thought crosses his mind. 'A vacation for two actually sounds better, maybe someplace warm and peaceful.'

He stumbles his way through his apartment, while putting on a pair of pants, and is about to fling the door wide open and yell at the offending knocker when the question of who might be on the other side of the door crosses his mind. Naruto calms himself and draws in enough natural energy to enter Sage Mode to see if he can recognize the chakra of the person on the other side of the door. He does recognize the person's chakra as one of the assistants who works at the Hokage Tower, and drops out of Sage Made before opening the door. If she has sent somebody to wake him up, then he knows that he is not going to like what the guy is going to say.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Naruto is still too upset from his reoccurring nightmare to be very polite to the nervous looking man who is holding out a piece of paper towards him with shaking hands.

"T-T-The Hokage requested that you come and see her immediately, Uzumaki-sama." He bows deeply a couple of times before he continues speaking. "I apologize for waking you, but the Hokage told me to keep knocking till you answered the door, and to beat the door if that is what it took to wake you up. So please do not be upset, I…"

Naruto waves a hand back-and-forth dismissively a few times. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You were only doing what the Hokage told you to do. I'll talk to her later about letting a guy get some sleep. I was up really late last night getting through all that paperwork she ordered me to take care of, or else. Or else what, I don't know and I would rather not find out." He nods to the young man and shuts the door before looking at the note.

Naruto looks down at the note and the few sentences it contains. Each word makes his level of irritation increase one more step closer to his boiling point.

Uzumaki Naruto,

I have another important task for you to complete. You are to come to my office immediately, and I do mean immediately.

The Fifth Hokage, Lady Senju Tsunade

After reading the note and seeing that it doesn't contain much more information than what the guy had said, Naruto crumples up the paper and throws it on the table. He doesn't understand why she can't just wait to talk to him this afternoon when he comes in to work on the next wave of files Shizune will have waiting for him to read over? If the Hokage talks too long he is going to be late for his breakfast date with Hinata, their first chance in days to see each other for breakfast. "I have some plans for us this morning after breakfast, and I'll be pissed off if everything gets messed up."

A little while later, as he walks down the street towards the Hokage Tower, Naruto tries to figure out why Tsunade would want to talk with him so early in the morning. Maybe it is a real mission and not another punishment assignment. Though that means leaving the village, which is a more aggravating thought than another crappy assignment.

A terrifying thought crosses his mind as he looks around and sees that people are already putting up decorations for the upcoming festival. The festival that he has made sure over the last few years to be somewhere else when it was supposed to happen. It didn't matter where, just someplace where cherry trees do not grow. He really did not want to see the blossoms blooming on the trees, or have to hear people wish him a happy festival.

He stops dead in his tracks as he watches a shopkeeper and his wife hanging a garland of bright pick cherry blossoms over the threshold of the shop. 'Crap, what if the Hokage is going to ask me to oversee this festival like she did the New Year's Festival, and the other stuff she has made me do recently.'

After explaining to the Hokage about his encounter with the three young women and how they accused him of taking liberties with them while they were drunk, and how they had actually spend time with his special shadow clones, the Hokage had instituted a rather ironic punishment. Well, after she had yelled at him loud enough that he was sure he was going to lose his ability to hear, the Hokage had issued her punishment. In her decree she had told him that he was lucky that the only things those young girls suffered from his little trick was a hangover and some disappointment, and that if he had harmed those girls she would have had no choice but to imprison him for his crimes.

She decided that since he had gotten tired of being hounded by enthusiastic fans that he needed to confront this issue directly. He had left out any mention of his pink-haired former teammate's involvement in his opinion of those pestering fans, because he didn't feel like having Lady Tsunade interrogate him over that particular subject again. His emotions had been too raw from all that had happened between him and Hinata from the day before, and he knew that if that particular landmine had been tripped he might have said, or even done something that he would have regretted later if the issue had been pushed.

As his punishment assignment, he has been making surprise appearances all over the village lately, like photo ops at the grand opening of new businesses, and even a few birthday parties for affluent families of the Leaf Village. The special appearances at not only the ninja academy, but the public school as well, where he would be surrounded by adoring fans was especially unnerving at times when he would get swarmed by people wanting his autograph and sometimes more. The Hokage had called it aversion therapy, but he just thought that she was being especially cruel. More likely, she was using this as an excuse to dump more stuff off on him that she either, didn't have the time to do, or it was just so lame she didn't want to be bothered with finding a polite way to say no.

To be honest, it really had not been as terrible as he initially thought it was going to be around some of those girls that used to hound him every time he would walk around the village. That is probably due to the fact that most people in the village know that he and Hinata are now dating, and they are being respectful to the fact that he is off the market, so to speak.

He spends the rest of the walk up to Tsunade's office imaging the fight they are going to have when he tells her where she can stick that festival job. 'She probably plans on making me wear something with pink flowers while I preside over the miss… festival pageant, or something even worse.' His body shudders as he tries to not imagine what could possibly be worse. 'Man, that old lady can be a real pain sometimes.'

Knock… knock… knock.

Naruto raps on the door with very little enthusiasm before walking into the office with a heavy sigh. "You wanted to see me, Fifth Hokage?"

Lady Tsunade is still not used to hearing Naruto talk to her using proper titles, and probably will never be able to stop herself from flinching a little in shock every time he says her title so… un-Naruto like. 'The events of his last mission really forced him to take a harsh look at himself. It is like somebody else came back instead of that loudmouth kid I have known for so many years.' She smiles a little as she thinks about what sort of changes she might see in the little knucklehead when he is done with his next assignment.

Naruto crosses his arms and glares with the most stubborn look he can conjure. "So are you going to tell me why you made me come here so early, or not? I do have plans for this morning, and I am not going to let anyone or anything mess those plans up, okay." Naruto, a little of his old arrogance showing through, as he waits unhappily for Tsunade to tell him the bad news about his participation in the upcoming festival.

Tsunade just smirks at the outburst. "So, you HAD plans to go to the Hyuga compound this morning and see Hinata? Well tough, we have a lot to discuss this morning, so you might as well put your love life on hold for a few hours. If you are not careful I can arrange for a nice long mission for one of you to go on." She smiles as she watches Naruto's face turn pink with barely suppressed anger. She places her palms flat on her desk and just waits for Naruto's famous temper to reach its boiling point.

Naruto, deciding that it would be best to just be blunt and tell the Hokage his feelings about the festival, rolls up the sleeve of his right arm and shakes his fist at the Hokage. "Listen, if you think that I am going to oversee that stupid blossom festival next week, then you had better think again. I don't care what other crappy assignment you give me, but I am going to draw the line at having anything to do with that festival." To accentuate his point Naruto drags his foot across the floor to draw an imaginary line between himself and the Hokage.

Tsunade throws her head back and laughs at Naruto derisively as Shizune comes nervously into the room carrying a small stack of files. "So that's what you think this meeting is about?" The Hokage steeples her fingers and lays her chin on top. "Oh, I have something more important for you do next week than the… blossom festival, something that you seem to have forgotten about, Naruto." Tsunade watches his reaction as she dances around the word Sakura, and is a little hurt to see him winch a little when she almost says the word. "Though, I might just change my mind and make you do that first, just to remind you that I am the Hokage, and what I say is final."

He squints his eyes trying to remember what is so important about next week, but all he can think about is that stupid festival and… "Well, Hanabi's birthday is next week, but why would you think that is a big deal?" Naruto forces his mind not to dwell on the other birthday that is next week as well, the birthday that always seems to coincide with the festival that shares her name.

Shizune and Tsunade look at each other and share a smirk before Tsunade turns her attention back to Naruto. "Technically I don't, but the fact that you remember your girlfriend's little sister's birthday is kind of cute." Tsunade's smirk takes on an almost mocking twist to try and make Naruto feel a little self-conscious.

Naruto's head goes from side-to-side as he lets out a fake laugh. "Ha…Ha… I am so glad that I could bring a little amusement into your morning." He places his hands on his hips defiantly and lets out an exasperated sigh. "So now that you have had a good laugh, why don't you just get to the point of why I am here so early in the day? If you are having trouble remembering, I can go get some breakfast and come back in a little while when you are not feeling so senile anymore." Mentally, Naruto is beating himself up for letting his temper get the better of him and yelling at the Hokage. 'Damn, it's like she is trying to start a fight with me for some reason.'

Shizune's eyes go wide in fear that Lady Tsunade might just grab something off her desk and throw it through something like a wall, or a certain blonde ninja standing in the center of the room. She calms down when she sees that Tsunade actually seems to be enjoying her little verbal match with Naruto. 'I honestly think she misses their little arguments, and is actually trying to provoke Naruto into a verbal fight.' Shizune makes a mental note to try and arrange Lady Tsunade's schedule for the next few days, so that she might get some needed downtime at the hot springs if she is needing a fight with naruto to break her tension.

Tsunade 's mocking smile broadens a little as she watches Naruto devolve back into the short-tempered loudmouth she has known for so many years. 'I really hate to admit it, but I have actually started to miss arguing with the knucklehead over every little detail. Polite Naruto is just too creepy of a thing to witness sober.' Tsunade leans back into her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. "So, did you read the scroll I gave you last week? You know, the one I said that you need to read immediately."

"Scroll?" Naruto begins to pat his jacket and finally reaches into his inner pocket to retrieve a small green and red scroll. "Oh yeah, this scroll." He gives Tsunade a sheepish grin while scratching the back of his head. "I have been meaning to read this, honestly. I even put it in my jacket pocket so that I wouldn't lose it somewhere." Naruto can feel beads of cold sweat running down and around the nervous smiles on his face. He had been caught up so much lately with doing all those assignments and spending time with Hinata whenever their schedules allowed he had completely forgotten about the little scroll.

Tsunade is actually relieved to see that at least some things have not changed with Naruto. She puts her right hand on her chin, with one finger over her lips to partially conceal her smile. "So, it got lost in your jacket? Is that what you are trying to say?"

Naruto swallows hard and steels himself for the inevitable angry barrage from Tsunade, but the calm look in her eyes is just too unnerving, and he breaks. So instead of glaring back at the Hokage he looks down at the scroll, breaks the seal, and glances down at its contents.

Shizune, seeing that Naruto hadn't even broken the seal before now, backs away a little to make sure that she will not get caught between the Hokage and Naruto when she finally snaps. Shizune nearly stumbles out the window in fright when Naruto's loud voice breaks the silence.

"WOW! Has it been a year already?" Naruto lets go of the scroll and it unrolls halfway to the Hokage's desk. "I guess it has, but it feels longer since I can barely remember the last one."

"I think there is another reason that you don't remember much about last year's embarrassment, other than the duration of time." Tsunade's lips curl up in a dangerous smile as she pushes four letters towards the front of her desk. "Each one of these is a letter from one of the Kages from the other four allied villages. It basically expresses their concern, over not just your mental wellbeing, but your physical health from the amount of alcohol you seem to have been consuming at last year's gathering."

Naruto rubs his temples as fuzzy memories slowly make their way from the depths of his mind. "Oh yeah, the Raikage hosted last year's gathering and…" His eyes look directly into Tsunade's for a moment before drifting back down to the folder where she had pulled out the letters and he finally notices several little colored flags sticking out from the folder and the letters, most likely marking certain key information. "The bar?"

Tsunade's eyes narrow dangerously, and the mirthless smile on her face lowers the temperature in the entire room. So much so that Shizune cannot help but hug herself to try and conserve her body heat. "The bar, yes let's talk about… the bar." She grabs a pink flag and slowly opens the folder to the marked page. "It seems as though you and Killer B took the term 'rap battle' to the extreme of its definition. I heard about the display of your dance prowess at the New Year's Festival, so along with your singing skills it seems that you are a truly multi-talented shinobi." She says in a mocking tone as she places a finger on the paper and traces along the writing. "Let's see, what was the name of that song you were trying to sing against Killer B? It is written here somewhere… something that rhymes with stink I believe."

"Hahaha, it doesn't really matter." Naruto's laughter comes out sounding very strained through his gritted teeth. "I can barely recall what started the rap battle that night, so I don't think that I could ever remember all the words to that song." He rubs his head as if a sharp pain is suddenly going through his temples. "I do recall waking up the morning of the gathering, leaning up against the bar with a half-empty sake keg sitting between me and Killer B." He shakes his head sadly in disbelief as the images of the nearly leveled bar, from where they had been using chakra to enhance their performance had went a little overboard. "Man that place was a wreck." Naruto's earlier irritation with the Hokage is forgotten when he notices that Tsunade has begun to tap the folder with a look of annoyance clearly visible on her face.

As it turned out this was not the first time that one of Killer B's performances had gotten out of hand, so the Raikage had vented most of his frustration out on him instead of Naruto. Killer B had promised to give all proceeds from his next record sales to the owner, and had even offered to do a charity concert, which had been quickly denied.

Deciding that it might be best to drop any further talk about the bar, Naruto glances down at the open scroll. "Hey, Gaara has volunteered to host this year's gathering, that's great. I have been hoping to get back to the Sand Village and have a talk with Gaara, I mean the Kazekage, for a while now about some stuff. You know, the kind of stuff that should be discussed man-to-man and not written down in a letter." By the way he glances down at his feet it is not hard to discern exactly what Naruto hopes to discuss with Gaara.

Tsunade, deciding that her point has been made about her disapproval of his performance last year, closes the folder and leans back into her chair. "Good, I expect you to completely familiarize yourself with the contents of that scroll by tomorrow. You will need to fully brief your new team on the details of your part of the agreement signed between the five allied nations, basically the part regarding the tailed beasts. The true reason for these meetings is a closely guarded secret between the Kages and their most trusted advisors, so only those with the highest levels of clearance know about your crucial part in this part of the alliance agreement." This yearly meeting is to alleviate any concerns the daimyos of each nation might have about what our allies may, or may not be doing with the tailed-beasts that are residing within their borders is important to maintain good relations between all five nations.

Naruto looks up from the scroll and stares at the Hokage for a moment while he makes sure he heard the Hokage correctly. "New… team?" Naruto suddenly feels a nagging itch at the base of his skull as he slowly rolls up the scroll. 'Dang, I should have known there was going to be a catch, because this was going way to easy. I wonder who?' His first fear is that it might be Sai, who can be so blunt and annoying that it would make the whole trip agonizing.

He hopes that it might be Kakashi-sensei, because it would be nice to have a chance to talk with his old sensei and personally congratulate him on getting engaged to Shizune. He knows it won't be Sasuke, because they probably still don't trust him to be anywhere near multiple tailed beasts, or their jinchūriki, are gathered.' It could be Tenten's team again, since they have been working together lately and he could treat Hanabi to a birthday dinner while they are away on the mission.

Tsunade looks over at the clock on the wall, pleased that this didn't take anywhere near as long as she expected. "The people I have selected to go with you on this mission should be with us shortly." She gestures to a nearby seat and nods to Shizune, who quickly leaves the room. "Why don't you have a seat over there, and if possible sit quietly and read while we wait for the others to arrive."

Naruto quietly takes his seat and starts reading the scroll while Tsunade resumes the reading and signing of her own pile of paperwork.

After a few minutes of quiet, Tsunade cannot stop herself from glancing over to see if Naruto is slacking off, or has fallen asleep while reading over the scroll. She actually feels a little irritated when she sees him quietly reading. 'Dammit, now I know he has been replaced with somebody else. There is just no way that the Naruto I know, could sit quietly for more than 30 seconds without making some sort of commotion.'

Naruto is doing his best to keep his eyes and brain focused, but the more he stares, the more the words seem to blur together and dance around the surface of the scroll. 'Dammit focus, you promised that you were going to take these things more seriously. You messed up last year showing up late and still drunk from the night before, and dragging along the poor passed out body of the ANBU guy they sent to keep me company. Man, that guy really couldn't hold his sake.' He is determined that is not going to happen this time. He is going to do everything the way people would expect the next Hokage to act. He blinks a few times to clear his vision. 'Man, why can't they just get to the point in these things, and I am probably going to have to look up some of these words when I get back to my office.' Naruto tries to stifle a yawn, but fails miserably and even feels his jaw pop a little as his mouth gapes wide open. 'So… boring…'

Tsunade is not doing too much better as she reads the mission report in her hands. 'This report from Ebisu, highlighting all of his team's accomplishments down to the minute detail of what they ate for each meal to show how they are taking everything, even their dietary health seriously, is so boring. Why can't he just get to the point of how their mission went?' Tsunade smiles as she looks over and catches Naruto in mid-yawn. 'Ha, I yawn got him. Dammit, now yawn he has got me doing it too.' She reaches into her drawer for something to throw at him for making her yawn when the sound of someone knocking softly catches her attention.

Tsunade looks at the clock with a smile as she notices that her next appointment has arrived exactly on time. "Come in."

Naruto, happy to have something new to focus on before his brain completely shuts down, watches with growing curiosity as someone he recognizes enters the room. He turns his head to look over at Lady Tsunade in hopes that his assumption will turn out to be true. The smirk on the Hokage's face is all the confirmation he needs, and he quickly stands up to walk over and join his new teammate.

Hinata enters into the Hokage's office and quietly walks to the center of the room before bowing. As her head is descending she notices that the Hokage's attention is not focused on her but on another part of the room with a smirk on her face. Her greeting to Lady Tsunade catches in her throat as she looks out of the corner of her eyes and sees Naruto raising out of a chair and walking over. "N-N-Naruto-kun?" Remembering where she is, Hinata focuses back on the Hokage and bows even deeper. "My apologies Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me this morning?" Hinata can feel herself blush a little when Naruto's fingers lightly brushes against her own as he comes to stand beside her in front of the Hokage.

Tsunade steeples her fingers and rests her chin on top as she looks deeply into the happily blushing face of the Hyuga heiress. "Why yes, Uzumaki Naruto will be attending a meeting of great importance to the alliance we share with the other four shinobi villages. I am assigning a team to go along with him, not only as additional protection, but also to assist him with any negotiations that may occur during the course of this conference. As a member of the diplomatic division I am assigning you to be part of the team that will be travelling with him to Sunagakure."

As the meaning of the Hokage's words become clear, Hinata's heart begins thumping wildly and she has to keep her body from suddenly dancing about the room like some hyperactive child. 'We are going on a mission together, that means…' She looks over at Naruto and she can see by the crooked smile on his face that he too is thinking the same thing. 'We can actually spend some time together without fear of being watched by someone in my clan, or other people coming up and interrupting a private moment.' As he slides his hand into her own she grabs ahold tightly, hoping that there was not going to be some catch that will dash her hopes.

Hinata's attention refocuses on Lady Tsunade, and the knowing smile on the Hokage's face makes it clear that she can read the obvious romantic thoughts going through their young faces. This realization causes her face to blush brightly, so to give herself a moment to recover she bows deeply to Lady Tsunade. "Thank you Hokage-sama, I promise that I will do my best to protect Uzumaki-san and the interests of the Leaf Village."

Naruto feels the now familiar spasm of Hinata's grip tightening, and knows that something has made her feel self-conscious. He stares at the Hokage for a moment before the meaning of the woman's smirk becomes clear. As she focuses her gaze upon him and raises an eyebrow, he cannot help but feel a little embarrassed himself. 'Damn, are we that obvious?' He rubs the back of his head and gives Lady Tsunade a big nervous smile.

Thankfully they are saved by the sudden entrance of two more shinobi. "Hey, sorry we are late but breakfast took longer than we expected. How was I supposed to know they were having a special today?'

Everyone's attention focuses on the two young men entering the room. Nara Shikamaru is standing there with his usual bored expression, as if having to be on time was too much trouble. Beside Shikamaru is his best friend and former teammate, Akimichi Choji, who is patting his stomach happily. "Sorry, it was all my fault really, the grilled pork special was just too good to pass up."

Tsunade waves her hand back and forth dismissively. "Never mind, I will make this quick since the details of your assignment are in the scrolls that Shizune will hand you on your way out. Naruto will be leaving for Sunagakure in a few days for a conference of sorts, and I am assigning the two of you, along with Hinata here, to go along. He will be my replacement as the Leaf Village's representative to the Hidden Sand Village's Foundation Day celebration.

"That is actually his cover for the real reason he is going. While he is there, Naruto will be attending a secret gathering that only the Kages and their most trusted advisors are aware of it occurring." Tsunade looks directly at Hinata and nods. "I have not informed the Diplomatic Division yet about my change of plans, so will you be a dear and let them know that Naruto will be going in my place?"

Tsunade's face cracks into a slight, smug looking smile. "I will be announcing tomorrow that I have decided to send Uzumaki Naruto in my place, but I am sure the Diplomatic Division would appreciate being kept abreast of the changes by one of their own."

She gives a little shrug as Hinata begins to nervously touch her fingers together. "The head of the Diplomatic Division is aware, and has already approved of your assignment to be part of the group going to the Sand Village celebration, but is unaware of the gathering. The other Kages and I felt that it would be best that the fewer people who know till just before it is time, the better. We can never be too careful where the tailed beasts are involved."

Tsunade turns away from the blushing kunoichi and focuses her gaze on the bored looking shinobi standing beside Hinata. "Shikamaru, as the Jōnin Captain you will be there to assist in any discussions of a tactical nature that may arise, or if there is any sort of attack on the gathering. To be honest, I pray that this part of your assignment will be not be needed, but having so many high profile targets in such a location might be too tempting a target. While you are there, I want you to use the time to finalize plans for the upcoming chūnin exams with the Kazekage's sister, Temari, and the other Allied Village's representatives."

Tsunade pauses and stares at the silent young man as he barely flinches from the sudden snickering coming from Choji at the mention of Temari. It had been an easy thing to assign Shikamaru for this mission. Not only is he the best choice for the assignment, but to allow him a chance to see his girlfriend during an important festival is her way of rewarding Shikamaru for all the hard work he has been doing for the village ever since his father passed away during the war. The bored, lazy young man she had met when she first became Hokage has grown up to be a man that would have made his father proud.

Her gaze finally falls onto the smirking looking young man standing beside his best friend waiting on whatever orders that Shikamaru, or the Hokage may ask him to perform. "That is why I am assigning you to the team Choji, your previous team experience with Shikamaru will be an asset if an emergency does occur." Tsunade smiles as the satisfied smile quickly fades from Choji's face, and becomes intensely serious as she discusses his assignment on this mission. She can't help but think about how much both young men resemble their fathers, not only in looks but mannerisms as well. "Since you will be part of the security detail for the upcoming chunin exams I want you to go with Shikamaru to that meeting as well."

Tsunade shifts her gaze, and has to clear her throat to get the attention of Naruto and Hinata, who seem to have lost focus of everyone else in the room except each other. After the second time of clearing her throat the pair, who have bent their head close to the other and are whispering to each other, look up apologetically. "Hinata, while Shikamaru and Choji are busy with the chūnin exam discussions you will have to shoulder the responsibility of keeping Naruto out of trouble by yourself." Tsunade can't help but notice that Shikamaru rolls his eyes at the impossible task of keeping Naruto out of trouble. Choji just looks away and coughs, chuckles really, into his clenched fist.

Hinata, even with Naruto rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, gives Tsunade a serious look before bowing. "I promise that I will do my best, Hokage-sama." When she raises back up her face is a mask of cold determination that hides any hint of the gentle soul that dwells inside the Hyuga heiress.

Tsunade nods to Hinata and then gestures to the door. "I have to get back to this pile of paperwork before I am buried by it all. Check with Shizune on your way out, and I expect that you will be ready to leave in two days. That should give you sufficient time to get prepared for this mission." Without waiting for them to reply she grabs a file from the top of her stack and begins reading its contents.

Once the newly formed team shuts the door, Tsunade reaches over and picks up the file with its protruding flags. She can't help but let out a relieved sigh at how well things have changed from just a year ago. Deciding that the contents of the folder are now no longer relevant, she marks it to be sealed away and eventually forgotten like a bad dream.