Hanabi and Hinata walked silently for approximately an hour. Hanabi looked at Hinata. Her sister was looking ahead with a dazed look. Hanabi looked back at her map. They should be near a shop where they can take a break. So far, they passed by only grassy fields where cattle were grazing.

Hanabi sighed. The two were forced to go on a one week vacation. Hiashi had made it clear that they must go. Hanabi had wanted to go on her first mission with her group. But then again, the genin usually just get missions that involve finding lost pets or doing little chores.

Hanabi was in a group with Minori, Satoshi and Sensei. Minori was really talkative ,but quite remarkable in genjutsu. She had long, mahogany colored hair, that she tied up in pig tails. She had green forest green eyes and a large grin was always on her face.

Satoshi was 'cool and collected on the outside ,but was a jerk on the inside' as Minori described it. He had snow white hair that caught a lot of attention and had these soft grey eyes. Satoshi was one of those people who were born with a natural talent to be a ninja. Though he wasn't born from a clan that had a very special ability, he still managed to reach the top with his abilities. However, he was 2nd to Hanabi who was 1st.

Sensei was just Sensei. Ever since the first day the group gathered, it was just… Sensei.

Sensei: "Nice to meet you all! I am-"

Minori: "Hey Sensei, when are we going to start our mission?"

Satoshi: -sigh-

Hanabi: "Minori, let Sensei speak,"

Minori: "I will, but I want him to answer my question first. So, when?"

Sensei: "Well, we may start on our mission once we finish our introductions and after I evaluate all of you-"

Minori: "Sensei, just so you know, I am Okinawa Minori,"

Sensei: "Isn't 'Okinawa' the name of that famous beach or something?"

Minori: "Yep!"

Satoshi: "I'm Tamazaki Satoshi,"

Hanabi: "My name is Hyuga Hanabi,"

Sensei: "Nice to meet you all. I am-"

Minori: "Well, let's cut to the chase. Come on sensei, just evaluate us already!"

And that was how we all just ended up calling him Sensei without knowing his name.

When Hanabi told her group about the trip, the outcome wasn't pleasant.

"Why did he make you go now? Do you know how excited I was to get to do our FIRST mission? I was planning to be able to finish it as an entire group. Now when you get back, I will have to fill you in on every little detail. So, where are you two going? You said you were going for a week right? Well, I know about a festival that's taking place nearby, you can go there. My cousin's house is there so you can spend the night there…" Minori droned on.

"Minori, listen. It isn't my choice of whether I want to go or not. You, Satoshi and Sensei can manage the missions on your own. It's only for a week so stop pouting," Hanabi said with a hint of annoyance.

"Why do you sound so annoyed? I was only thinking of us working as a team. Okay, I know I talk a lot, but I am only worried. I thought you knew me well enough to know that," Minori replied, followed by her sticking out her tongue.

"Forget it. Anyways, you were mentioning a festival, right? Tell me about it," Hanabi asked thoughtfully.

Afterwards, Minori had explained how to get there and all the things that would take place at the festival, though it did take a while since Minori did get sidetracked once in a while.

"Hanabi, look, there's a shop over there. Why don't we rest for a bit?" Hinata said while poking Hanabi.

Hanabi shook her head out of her daze and looked around. Then she looked back at her map. They were at the shop she was looking at before from the map.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry, but I want to rinse my face for a minute," Hanabi said heading for the little stream nearby.

Hanabi walked over to the stream and rinsed her face. The cool water felt wonderful since they walked out in the sun. She stared at her reflection as the water became still again. Her Konoha headband was tied around her head. Hanabi smiled at the thought of being a genin. She stared for a little while longer and started heading back to where Hinata was.

When Hanabi reached Hinata, Hinata had two popsicles sticks, one on each hand.

"I bought you a Popsicle stick because I thought you may have wanted one. Hurry and eat it, it's going to melt," Hinata said hurriedly.

"Thanks," Hanabi took the popsicle and started licking it.

"Hanabi…it will be dark in a few hours. We should head to an inn that's along the way to the town," Hinata said looking up at the sky.

"Well, if we leave right now, we can reach the nearest inn in another 30 minutes. That way, we can also browse around the stores in the area," Hanabi replied, checking over her map.

Hanabi looked up to see Hinata's surprised expression, but Hinata quickly hid it with a smile.

"Alright then. Are you ready to go?" Hinata said cheerfully.

"Yes," Hanabi answered.

Hinata doesn't have to hide the fact that she finds it surprising that I know all this. How many times has she done this already? I think this is the 10th time since I became a genin. Seriously, she doesn't have to force herself to do things that she doesn't want to do.

"So…tell me about your team," Hinata said trying to start a conversation.

"Well, I am in a group with Minori, Satoshi, and… I was never told what my Sensei's name is," Hanabi said thoughtfully.

Hinata smiled warmly and looked ahead.

"Well, make sure you find out when you get back. So, are you happy with your team?"
"Minori is too talkative to actually have a conversation where she won't really get carried away, Satoshi just isn't that social, but is somehow popular with a bunch of the girls in my class and Sensei… just doesn't give us the feeling that he has more authority over us. Something just tells me that our teamwork won't be that well," Hanabi said with a sigh.

Hinata arched her eyebrow.

"Well, you know the shinobi in my group. Don't worry Hanabi. At first, it may seem as though you would much rather work with other people, but over time, you get to know more about the others and ever so gradually, you will value them. Trust me, I felt that way too," Hinata said gently.

"You may say it like that, but I don't think it would be that simple for my group," Hanabi said pouting.

The rest of the trip to the inn was a mild conversation.

"Hanabi," Hinata said once they were in their room, "I want to go outside for a while. I will be back soon,"

Hinata left the room, leaving Hanabi alone.

Hanabi rechecked her map to make sure her of her schedule. So far, everything was going the way it was supposed to.

Hanabi grabbed her backpack and made sure she didn't lose anything. Then, she looked at Hinata's bag. It had fallen over and some items fell out. Hanabi went over to the bag and started putting everything back in the bag. When finally there was only a silk bag left, Hanabi picked it up.

The silk had a ribbon tied around it so that something could be kept inside. The silk felt light. Hanabi had a huge urge to open it up and see what was inside.

"Hanabi, what are you doing?" Hinata asked as she came back inside.

"Your backpack fell over so I was putting your things back inside,"Hanabi answered.

"Thanks Hanabi," Hinata said as she took the silk bag away from Hanabi.

Hanabi watched as Hinata delicately put the silk bag into her backpack. There was a hint of a gentle smile. Now Hanabi wanted to know what was inside even more.

"Well Hanabi, we will have dinner soon. Sorry but I want to head out again. I came back to get my scarf from my backpack. It's chilly outside," Hinata said as she put on her scarf and wrapped it around her neck.

As Hinata left the second time, Hanabi went right back to Hinata's backpack.

The bag was still sitting inside the backpack. As she reached for the bag, there was a crash. Hanabi turned to see two masked people who broke in from the window. Glass was splintered everywhere.

"We finally found you. Alright, Jiro grab her and go. Boss will be happy," One of them said.

Jiro just nodded and lunged for Hanabi. Hanabi dodged and tried to punch him, but Jiro evaded and counterattacked. Hanabi was sent flying and hit the wall.

"Give up and we won't hurt you any further," The other man said.

Hanabi got back on her feet and stood in the gentle fist stance. Jiro and the other man smiled wickedly.

"So that's the gentle fist? Great, I heard of it, but never saw it with my own eyes!" The man whose name was unknown said.

"Byakugan!" Hanabi said.

Hanabi lunged and attacked Jiro with the gentle fist.

Jiro fell back and and got back on his feet.

"Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!" Hanabi attacked before Jiro could attack or dodge. Jiro laid on the ground unable to move.

The other man glared at Hanabi.

"Hmph, so maybe we underestimated you. Oh well, unlike Jiro, I won't lose to a small brat like you!"

Hanabi got back in her gentle fist stance. The man took a step and suddenly disappeared. Hanabi looked around trying to find the man. When the man attacked from the back, Hanabi was able to counter it and attack.

"Not bad, I will retreat for now, but don't think that this is over." The man said has he carried Jiro on his back and leaped out the window.

Hanabi stared after the man in relief that he was gone. But now there was another problem.

Hanabi winced at the pain she felt and fell on the floor. Her head was dizzy and feeling heavy. This was the first time she had fought someone other than Neji and Hiashi that strong. Also, the two men weren't holding back. Hanabi turned over and felt another pain.

Argh! Come on Hanabi! You can handle a little pain!

Hanabi fought to keep her eyes open. Slowly, everything went black.