Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

And thank you Iroka for beta duties ^^

Chapter 2- Teammates

It was about quarter after noon and still the village streets were alive with activity. The smell of food wafted around the area where most food stalls could be found; the aroma of beef, chicken, freshly made broth and bread along with the salty-sweet whiff of dango sauce combined together harmoniously.

"Heehee…" Sasuke grinned, chomping off a piece of dango off his stick. "Thanks for the dango, Tobirama!"

"No problem," Tobirama grinned, biting one of the sweet, sticky rice balls off of the skewer.

"I'll think of this as our little way of celebrating your win over that arrogant chick!" The Sarutobi declared, raising his skewered treat into the air in a celebratory fashion. He looked at his friend who gave a modest smile before lowering the dango, his face forming into a thoughtful pout, "sheesh, I wonder what makes her so arrogant anyway!"

"Well… She is the heiress to her clan I believe," Tobirama shrugged, the end of his dango stick sticking out of his mouth like a toothpick, "who knows maybe they treat her like she's the god of her clan or something and all the attention got to her head."

"Hmm, true." Sasuke shrugged, finishing off the last of the sweet treat. He tossed the stick into a nearby trashcan, shoving his hands down into his pockets, "so are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Hmm…" Tobirama gave a thoughtful look, thinking if he had something to do the next day, "I have a mission tomorrow. I'm supposed to hunt down a group of rogue ninjas stirring trouble up in the nearby towns…" the red-eyed Senju said, chomping off the last of the dango and tossed his stick into a nearby trash bin.

"Ahh…" Sasuke nodded.

"Why?"

"I was about to ask you if you could come back to the bath house with me," the brown haired ninja said, a perverted smirk on his face, "I mean… the person there said it would probably open tomorrow, no? So… I wanted to check it out!"

Tobirama sighed, shaking his head, "You are honestly the BIGGEST perv I've ever seen!"

Sasuke made a face, "I told you I am not a pervert!" he huffed.

"You're so lucky Mayu understands you and your little… 'hobbies'."

"Both you and her know that I mean no harm," Sasuke gave a shrug, looking around the market, his eyes following a bunch of young boys running across the street, "and plus, in our time you know that men usually have hobbies like mine so it's not like I'm the only one who's doing it."

"Whatever you say…"

"Anyway… Your mission is a hunting mission, huh? Do you think I can com-, " He stopped, trying to process what could've made the Senju's expression a mix of surprise and disbelief, "what?"

"You really would abandon your little trip to the hot springs to come with me?" Tobirama asked in mock disbelief. The Sarutobi frowned and punched his friend on the shoulder half-heartedly.

"Duh," he smirked as Tobirama pouted at him, rubbing the spot he had punched a little bit too hard, "plus it's been a while since we went on a mission together, all we've been doing lately is flying solo!"

"I guess you're right," the Water master smiled, looking up to the bright blue sky, little with small puffs of clouds drifting by, "so you wanna come with me to Nii-san's office and tell him you're tagging along with me?"

"Sure!" Sasuke grinned, before the friendly smile turned into a mischievous grin, "want to race?"

Tobirama blinked before smirking, "You're on."

"First one to the Administration building buys dinner after the mission, ok?" Sasuke said, taking his stance, ready to run. From the corner of his eyes, he could see his friend slide into the same stance.

"Got'cha."

"Ok, when I say go," the Sarutobi flicked his brown eyes upwards towards the rooftops, "on your mark… get set…" suddenly, he felt a rush of wind beside him only to find that Tobirama was already taking off on the rooftops. He growled happily, chasing after his friend.

"I didn't say GO yet, Tobirama!" He called as he caught up with him.

"So?" Tobirama called back, hopping to a higher building, doubling his speed.

"Heh," Sasuke scoffed, doubling his own speed in order to catch up with Tobirama. The two shinobi continued their race to the Hokage's building with bright smiles on their faces, laughter ringing all around, acting like little children, living out the childhood that was cut dreadfully short during their time.

"I won; you're buying dinner after the mission."

"You got a head start!"

"So? You said nothing about not having head starts, so I assumed the only condition was to buy dinner after someone lost!"

Hashirama smiled, shaking his head. He could recognize those voices from a mile away. Just as he had expected, a knock on his door sounded but was still followed by bouts of argument. "Enter…" he said, a chuckle in his tone. The door creaked open, revealing a pleased looking Tobirama and a very displeased Sasuke. "I assume Sasuke lost the race this time?"

"You bet," Hashirama's little brother grinned.

"He got a head start…" Sasuke muttered in mock hate. The Hokage chuckled again before going back to skimming the document he had in hand.

"So… What can I help you with?"

"Sasuke wants to join me in my mission tomorrow," Tobirama relayed, sounding a tad bit more serious than before. "Is that ok?"

"Of course it is!" Hashirama exclaimed, "But… would you two mind if I added a third member to your team?"

"A… third… member?" The two blinked simultaneously, "why?"

"Well…" The Senju clan leader set the document down for a moment, folding his hands in front of his face, "until now, we've only been sending out two-man teams and solo missions. While the success rate is relatively ok… It's not at its best. So I've been thinking, what if we sent out three man teams?"

"With three ninja…" Sasuke voiced out, already forming a scenario in his head, "it would depend on the power being balanced throughout the team… But of course, it would most likely up the success rate of the mission."

"But then again…" Tobirama interjected, making a two pairs brown eyes fixate on him, "the success will also depend on how well the members cooperate with each other. But some clans aren't quite settled with each other just yet, given what they went through in the past, so they're obviously not going to work together as smoothly as Sasuke and I do,"

"True… True…" Hashirama nodded, considering what the two had to say, "so I was thinking about putting a third member to your team that's from another clan. A clan that you two are not familiar with and a member that you probably don't know that well yet and we'll see how well you pull together,"

Sasuke and Tobirama nodded together, "Right."

"I'll get to work on finding someone who would complement your skills, but for now…" The Hokage pulled out a scroll and laid it out on the desk, "let me tell you the details of the mission again so that Sasuke knows what he's getting in to…" He unravelled the scroll, containing all the details of the request.

"So," he began, "the mission was requested by Takahashi Setsuo of the town of Tanazuka Gai. He says that some rogue ninja, about chunin to jonin rank lead by one who seems to be a jonin, have been rustling up some trouble in the town. I.e. Stealing, terrorizing people and a suspected account of murder has also been recently reported."

"Why are they doing this though?" Sasuke asked,

"Well… That's what they want to you to find out," Hashirama said, "the request is for you to find out their motives and ultimately drive them out of town or eliminate them completely. They prefer the latter, actually,"

"Hm…" Tobirama nodded. "They're probably some rogues who're just looking to start up a fuss. I doubt it's anything really serious. Anyway, when will we know of our other teammate?"

"Tomorrow, I'll tell him/her to meet you by the gates." Hashirama smiled. Sasuke and Tobirama looked at each other and nodded, smiling before turning to Hashirama and bidding him goodbye. After they had left, Hashirama sat back on his desk, taking out a small book containing information on every single active shinobi in the village.

"Now… who's the deal partner for them both?" He asked himself, scanning the book. He put it down and grabbed another one, though it only had the names of the new clans that came in and were registered as citizens of Konoha. He stopped flicking the pages, "Hmm…"

"You did what? With who?"

Sayuri sighed, hissing slightly when her mother wrapped a bandage around a scratch on her arm. How did her dad even know she was lying about having a spar with Kyou and just accidentally fell in the lake? "I picked a fight… With Senju Tobirama."

"But why? Don't you know what position he holds in this village? He's a founder! On top of that he's also the Hokage's brother and the co-leader of the Senju clan!" Kaito ranted on, looking like he was going to explode out of sheer anger, "how could you show such disrespect?"

"She… It wasn't out of disrespect, dad!" Kyou interrupted, earning his father's glare. He gulped, tying to muster up the voice to keep on going, "she challenged him to a spar… and he agreed." He didn't even bother to tell their father about the taunts his sister used on the Konoha founder, because if he did, he feared his father just might pass out; out of frustration.

Kaito stopped for a while, looking at his daughter, then to his son, then back to his daughter. "Is this true?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," Sayuri nodded, trying to pass it off as nonchalant, "I challenged him, he took it on, couldn't back out of it then,"

The Inazuma clan leader sighed, sitting across the room from his family, "Regardless, you should be more careful about who you challenge. Stop being so rash about these decisions, Sayuri." He stopped, adopting a more serious expression, "remember that you are also the clan's heiress. One day you'll be in charge of this clan and reckless decision making is not a trait any clan leader should have. One wrong decision and everything could come apart."

Sayuri bit her lip and nodded slowly. Inwardly though, she hated to have this kind of responsibility. It was too much to worry about, too much to care about. Having a lot of people depending on her made her feel uncomfortable, intimidated even.

Aina finished treating her daughter's wounds and sat back, "There, you're all fixed," she smiled at her. Sayuri looked up and smiled back, muttering her thanks meant for only her mother to hear. "Oh and… Kaito," she turned to look at her husband who looked at her questioningly, "Don't you have something to give them?"

"Oh yeah…" Kaito said, forgetting about his anger for a moment, remembering what his wife meant. He went upstairs for a moment before returning back down, two pieces of black cloth which looked like headbands, in his hands. "Here you go," he said, handing his two children the strange items.

Kyou blinked at the mysterious object before flipping it over, gazing at the metal plate engraved with the Konoha symbol on it. "What… What is this?"

"They're forehead protectors, but you can technically wear them any way you want," Kaito said, bringing out his own and tying it onto his left arm for emphasis. "It symbolizes that you're a ninja, not a civilian. They were given to us by Hokage-sama, to help identify shinobi from non-shinobi. With that on, it technically qualifies you to go on missions and serve the village and the like…"

"Sweet!" Sayuri smirked, deciding to wear her forehead protector around her neck, "maybe I'll get 'round to doing a mission today!"

"Now now…" Aina chided, putting a gentle yet firm hand on her daughter's shoulder, "remember what your father said about rash decision making, Sayuri. You're not yet even healed from your spar with Tobirama-sama."

The black haired kunoichi frowned and sighed, slumping slightly. Suddenly, a knock came from the front door. "I'll get it!" Kyou volunteered, bolting for the door and opened it, revealing Toka standing by their doorstep. His black eyes zoned in on the Senju crest on her armour collar. "Oh crap…" he gulped, "What if this was about the fight earlier!"

"Umm… Can I help you with something, Senju-sama?" he finally recovered his tongue.

"Yes, I would just like to know if this was where Inazuma Sayuri lives."

"Y-Yes…" He said, sending a nervous glance his sister's way. "I'm her younger brother, Inazuma Kyou."

"Ahh…" Toka gifted the young man a warm smile. "May you please tell your sister that the Hokage asks for her to come to his office as soon as possible?"

Kyou gulped inwardly, dreading that his suspicions might be true. Then again, she was smiling so warmly that it couldn't be anything serious, "Yes, Senju-sama."

"That is all," Toka said before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He closed the door and began to walk back towards the living room where his family was located at.

"What was that all about?" Kaito asked his son.

"Hokage-sama requests to see Nee-chan in his office as soon as possible," Kyou said, trying to keep his dread out of his tone. Kaito and Aina looked at each other before slowly turning to look at their only daughter.

"What could he want with me?" Sayuri asked, puzzled herself, "did… whoever that came tell you anything else? Like why does he want me there or anything?"

"No," the younger brother shook his head.

"Huh," Sayuri said, standing up from her spot, "well I guess I have no choice but to go see him then," she looked at her father who was nodding.

"Yes, you go do that…" Kaito nodded.

And with that, Sayuri left her new home. She held her forehead protector in her hand, looking at the shining metal plate with the symbol of her village engraved on it, "I wonder what he wants with me…"

Sayuri walked down the hallways in the Administration building, looking around rather curiously since it was her first time to set foot in said building. Ninjas came walking to and fro, carrying scrolls containing requests, missions, reports and the like. The Inazuma heiress shuddered at the thought of having to make a report.

She stopped, looking at the sign hanging out a door that had the word 'Hokage' written on it. "Guess this is the place," she told herself, raising a hand to knock on the door. A deep voice told her to proceed to enter and she placed a hand on the doorknob, pushing it open.

"Umm… You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?"

"Ah, Sayuri-san," Hashirama gave her a very welcoming smile, motioning for her to sit down on one of the chairs in front of his desk. He eyed the young kunoichi, blinking when he noticed all the bandages and Band-Aids stuck to her, "umm… Are you ok, Sayuri-san?"

Sayuri looked bewildered for a moment, wondering why he would ask such a question when she remembered that she was all bandaged up from the little 'spar' she had earlier. "Umm, yeah, I'm fine… sir. Just had a little spar and got a little more banged up than I hoped to be,"

"Oh," Hashirama nodded understandingly, "just moved into the village and already went for a spar, huh? Nice way to keep your skills sharp,"

"Yeah,"

"So anyway, I was going to ask you if you would like to take on a mission…"

"M-Mission?" Sayuri's eyes widened considerably, as her superior nodded in agreement, "S-Sure! I'll take it on, no problem!"

Hashirama chuckled, liking Sayuri's enthusiasm, "It's a hunting mission to track down a group of rogue nins that were stirring up trouble in the nearby towns. You will be going on a team along with two other-"

"Wait…Three man team?" Sayuri interrupted, and was frankly surprised that the Hokage himself didn't even seem too offended by the fact that she cut him off mid-speech, "so this is no solo mission?"

"I'm afraid not…" the Hokage shook his head, "is there a problem with that…?"

"N-No…" Sayuri voiced out, slumping slightly, "just… who are my teammates exactly?"

"Oh, that would be Sarutobi Sasuke and my brother, Senju Tobirama-" Hashirama blinked, looking at her expression, which was a clear mix of shock and disbelief. "Umm… Is something the matter, Sayuri-san?"

Sayuri took a moment to try and collect herself before saying, "No… there… there is no problem,"

"Good." Hashirama nodded, "so do you accept the mission?"

"Yes…" She sighed, a bit reluctantly, but tried to hide it from her voice.

"Ok then, you will meet by the Konoha gates tomorrow, early morning and begin your travel to the town of Tanazuka Gai."

"Hai," Sayuri nodded curtly, standing up from the comfortable chair she was sitting on, "is that all?"

"Yes," Hashirama smiled at her, "you are free to go."

Sayuri smile back slightly, doing another curt nod before turning away, heading towards the door to leave. Once she got out of the office, she kept walking all the way down until she got out of the Administration Building, but still once question still lingered in her mind.

"Why him?"

The morning had dawned over Konoha as the sun slowly rose, painting the still indigo sky with some splashes of yellow and orange. Tobirama stared out of the forest outside the gate of Konoha, fully ignoring Sasuke who was still trying to negotiate his way out of having to buy dinner after the mission.

"Come on, at least pay half, huh?" Sasuke said, giving a big grin. Tobirama slowly shook his head, making a pout spread its way across the Sarutobi's face. "… How 'bout quarter, then?"

"No, Sasuke." Tobirama finally spoke up, looking at his friend, "a deal's a deal. Plus you were the one who suggested it,"

"If I knew you were going to leave me in the dust before I even said go, then I would've never had suggested that!" The brown haired man huffed, "fine. But I'm only paying for one meal. If you want seconds, pay for it yourself!"

"Duly noted," Tobirama grinned before looking up to the sky, which was turning into a pale blue color, "who do you think the third member is?"

"Could be anybody," Sasuke shrugged, "I mean… he or she could come from any clan."

The two continued to ramble on, completely unaware of the person watching them. Sayuri walked out of an alley way, frowning when she saw her two 'teammates' standing by, having a conversation, waiting for her to come. She briefly wondered if they even knew she was their additional teammate.

Tobirama suddenly perked up, sensing someone nearby, listening to their conversation. He spun around, only to meet eyes with a familiar looking kunoichi. Sasuke spotted her too, and recovered his voice first.

"Hey… Aren't you-"

"Yeah, it's me," Sayuri said, stepping out of her hiding place, headed towards the two shinobi. "Look, as much as we dislike each other right now, I'm your new teammate. The Hokage assigned me to be,"

Tobirama and Sasuke blinked, looking at each other then back at the young woman standing in front of them. Sayuri sighed, placing her hands on her hips,

"You two should know by now that I don't have a lot of patience on me, so let's hurry up and get this over with."

Sasuke pouted and Tobirama nodded and suddenly he realized something, "With everything that happened yesterday, we didn't even get to introduce ourselves properly,"

"Well, I already know your name," The black haired Inazuma said, pointing at Tobirama before moving her finger towards Sasuke, "and you are…?"

"Sasuke. Sarutobi Sasuke," The Sarutobi said with a frown, not liking the somewhat arrogant aura surrounding the kunoichi. "How about you?"

"Sayuri. Inazuma Sayuri." She said, "Well now that the introductions are over, can we go?"

"Hn," Tobirama scoffed, "welcome to Cell number one, Sayuri."

MEEP. BRAND NEW EDITED VERSION OF CHAPTER TWO, PEOPLE. :D Hope you all enjoyed reading that. ^^ The edited version of chapter 3 should come soon enough and after that comes the long-awaited chapter 4! ^w^

Make sure to review! Tell me what you think of the story so far! ^^