At six in the morning, I was wide awake. I was dressed in my mission attire as I packed my bag with essentials for the trip that had yet to come. This was routine for me for six years whenever I had a mission assigned to me, so picking out the things that I needed and did not need for a mission is common sense to me. On days that I had to embark on a mission, I would often find myself reluctant to go as I packed items for a questionable amount of days away from home. Today, I found myself eager, yet sad.

I was sad because I did not want my career to end as I have mentioned before, and I was feeling eager because after this mission, my father will hold a ceremony officially announcing me as the Hyuga clan leader and I will be able to lead my clan down a path against what my ancestors had originally forced my clan to follow.

Hundreds of years ago, the Hyuga clan had been divided into two houses – the main branch and the side branch. The main branch was filled with people who were strong, intelligent, and had a talent for the Gentle Fist, the style of fighting that only a Hyuga can use, while the side branch was housed with the "lesser" Hyuga clan members. To keep the side branch from rebelling or usurping, the first leader of the Hyuga clan created a curse mark that he placed on their foreheads to control the side branch. With a hand sign, the leader can cause pain so excruciating that death could follow. Not only that, when a member bearing the curse mark dies, the Byakugan, a kekkei genkai trait passed down only through the bloodline of a Hyuga, dies with them. Since then, the generation of leaders continued to follow in their ancestors' footsteps, creating animosity between houses. As leader, I want to change that and rejoin our houses after over a hundred years. Many members in the main branch will not be happy once I announce the abolishment of segregation, however, I prepared myself for their criticism.

A knock at my door snapped me out of my thoughts. I answered the door and the clansman on the other side bowed to me when she met my gaze. "Lady Hinata," she said, "your teammates are waiting for you at the gate."

My heart dropped to my stomach. This moment could not come any sooner.

"Thank you," I told her, gestured for her to leave. As soon as she was gone, I double checked the items that I packed and then headed out the door.

My teammates' backs were facing me when I got outside, but as soon as I left the porch to the estate, Kiba and Akamaru turned to face me. Kiba smiled largely at the sight of me while Akamaru barked in excitement as his tail wagged side to side. Getting the idea that I was approaching, Shino also turned around to see me.

I opened the gate to reach my expecting teammates. I said to Kiba as I pet Akamaru "I think your nose rivals Akamaru's now."

"Oh, I don't know 'bout that," he said as he more than happily took in the flattery. "It definitely makes me feel good that you noticed my amazing ability."

Kiba is from the Inuzuka clan, a clan filled with people that have a unique connection to canines. Each member of the Inuzuka clan has a sensitive sense of smell very similar to that of a dog's when they concentrate chakra to their noses. They all have sharp nails and fangs and they choose to wear their clan's insignia on their cheeks. At the age of eight, an Inuzuka receives a dog to train in the art of tracking and hunting prey. The goal is to not only enhance the ability of their canine partner, but their own natural abilities as well by learning how to work together. If the child does not pass the test in the leader's standard, then they cannot join the family pack.

"'Amazing'?" said Shino. "I wouldn't go as far as calling it amazing. After all, smelling and peeing on things is the only thing you're good for."

"Do you really want to do this now, Shino?" challenged Kiba. "At least my nose is more useful than your bugs! I can sniff someone out from more than a mile away while the only way you'll be useful to us is if you manage to land a bug someone without them knowing and that doesn't happen often, does it?"

Shino sucked on his teeth and then began to sulk like he usually does.

"Hey, please do not do this," I said. "This is supposed to be fun! If you are going to fight, do it after the mission."

"Oh, we'll have fun alright, once this guy stops sulking!" Kiba was speaking to me but he was looking at Shino.

"Stop, stop," I said to Kiba. I moved away from Akamaru to face my teammates. "Have you forgotten that this is our last mission together as team eight? We cannot start the day off mad at each other. That is not how I want to leave you, and whether you see it now or not, I know that this is not how you want to leave things either." They were listening to me, but Shino and Kiba were too stubborn to work things out on their own so I took them both by the hand and said "Come on guys! On three, let's give team eight one last shout to remember this day by. One, two, three!"

I threw our hands up in the air. Mine stay up there, but Kiba and Shino let their hands fall to their sides. They continued to stand there – frowning.

"Kiba, Shino, please," I said. "I do not want to beg."

My teammates looked at each other, deciding to give up for my sake. They placed their hands on top of each other and I followed in suit. Smiling at them, I thanked them prior to adding "On three. One, two, three…"

Together, we tossed our hands in the air and shouted "Team eight, fall out!"

When our hands dropped to our sides, Kiba grinned at me saying "When did you become so corny?"

"'C-Corny'?" I repeated. "I am not corny!"

"Uh-huh, sure," said Kiba.

"Don't you think that we've spent enough time dawdling?" said an impatient Shino. "The Hokage is expecting us. We shouldn't keep him waiting any longer than he has."

Looking at Kiba's face alone, I knew that he planned to reply to Shino with a snarky remark. As he drew a breath to unleash his words, he caught sight of me shaking my head and closed his mouth. Instead, though it pained him, he said "Yeah, you're right Shino. We should go."

"Of course I'm right," replied Shino. He began to walk down the road to the Hokage mansion. "Now, let's go. We're late enough as it is."

As Shino walked off, Kiba made a gesture as if he was going to choke Shino. All I could do in response was laugh silently at his frustration. Kiba and Shino were opposites what with Kiba being carefree and laidback while Shino was uptight and responsible, causing them to clash often. Without me there to create a balance between them, or to stop their fights, I worried what would become of their relationship once I left.

Soon, the four of us reached the Hokage mansion. The two guards out front noticed who we were immediately, granting us access inside of the building. When we reached the Hokage's room, Lord Kakashi was gazing out of the large window beside of his desk littered in piles of paperwork. Upon our arrival, he turned to face us. He wore a mask that covered his nose and mouth to conceal his identity, so the only way I knew he smiled at us when he saw us was by his dark eyes lighting up.

"You're here early. I didn't expect you here for another thirty minutes," said Lord Kakashi.

"Early?" repeated Kiba in shock as he shot the back of Shino a deadly glare.

Shino chose to ignore Kiba by getting straight to business. He said to Lord Kakashi "You told us that we are supposed to locate a missing person. Who is this person and where was he last seen?"

"Yeah, that's right," said Kiba with a hand on his hip. He was irritated. "Isn't finding a missing person a job for a Genin? This sounds like a C-rank mission. Jounin shouldn't be wasting time on missions like this."

"Kiba!" I scolded.

He shrugged. "It's true. What gives, Kakashi sensei?"

Lord Kakashi abandoned the window to sit at his desk. "You aren't wrong, Kiba, however, this missing person is no ordinary individual and he didn't go missing under ordinary circumstances."

Kiba crossed his arms as he pouted.

"What do you mean, Lord Hokage?" I asked.

"The man that you are searching for is a member of the Anbu Black Ops so you have to swear to me that you will keep this mission as discreet as possible as well as the identity of this person should you see his face." Once we nodded in agreement to his terms, Lord Kakashi proceeded onward in briefing us on the situation. "The man you're looking for is named Kei Sairenji, and the mask that he wears is a bear. The task I gave him was to spy on a man rumored to be affiliated with Yuji Fuma, an S-rank criminal that led an attack on a small village not too far from the Leaf. Normally, I would have had Kei simply assassinate Yuji Fuma, but after Yuji led the attack on the village, he vanished, which is why I sent Kei to track down and spy on the person that is possibly affiliated with Yuji to learn where Yuji is hiding."

"Where did you send Kei to spy on the rumored man?" asked Shino.

"I sent him to the Village Hidden Among Dreams, a small village on the border of the Land of Fire. That is the last place that the man suspected of having a relation to Yuji was located."

"Does the man working with Yuji have a name?" asked Kiba.

Lord Kakashi groaned. "He's Arata Sakuraba – the new feudal lord of the Land of Fire."

Our eyes widened in astonishment. I said "The new lord? If that is true, then…"

Lord Kakashi nodded his head and his face turned grim. "Yes. If he is associated with Yuji Fuma then this could mean big trouble for the Leaf."

"Wait, wait," said Kiba. "I know that feudal lords are important and all, but what is it that they do exactly?"

Shino scoffed. "Don't you know anything? A feudal lord is responsible for all the decisions concerning the country that they serve. Their job includes counseling the Kage, allying nations and small villages, and dealing with finances by creating budgets. Every decision that the Kage has to make must go through the country's feudal lord, including enlisting missions such as this one to a group of Jounin."

"If that's true, then Arata doesn't know that you're sending us in to track him down," said Kiba after he shot Shino a glare.

"When we find him, what should we do with him?" I asked. "It isn't as though we could question him about the rumors regarding his affiliation to Yuji Fuma. If we do, and the rumors are false or we cannot find anything to link him to the rumors, then your position could be threatened."

"The safety of the Leaf Village comes before my position of Hokage. When you find Arata, question him," said Lord Kakashi. "The man is a coward. If you pin him into a corner, I'm sure he'll break."

Me and my team exchanged conflicted expressions, choosing not to share what we were thinking with Lord Kakashi.

"You said that Kei disappeared?" said Shino. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know," answered Lord Kakashi. "The only reason how I know that he's missing at all is because he was supposed to check in with me two nights ago, which he didn't, and he always checks in."

Kiba, displaying his serious face, told Lord Kakashi "Every minute we stand here is another minute wasted on finding Kei; we will leave right now."

Lord Kakashi smiled. "Good luck and be careful."

We bowed to our Hokage and then exited his office. On our way out of the building, Kiba shared what were all thinking. "As much as I want to make this mission faster, we can't just interrogate Arata without evidence."

"Yes," I agreed. "There has to be someone in the Village Hidden Among Dreams who knows where Lord Arata stayed overnight or overheard him conspiring."

"As easy as you make it sound, Hinata, it will be extremely difficult to find evidence on Arata. With each minute that passes, Arata gets closer to getting away with his conspiracy," said Shino.

"Which is why we're going to sprint nonstop to the Village Hidden Among Dreams," said Kiba as he opened the door leading outside. "When we get there, Akamaru and I will sniff out Arata's scent, Hinata will question the villagers, and Shino will stand guard by the gates to make sure that if Arata is there hiding, he won't get away."

"That sounds like a good plan," I said. "We can cover more ground if we… What?"

After blinking several times to be positive on what I was seeing, I gaped. Lord Toneri was approaching me in the distance. He looked furious.

As he grew closer I asked in disbelief "L-Lord Toneri, what are you doing here?"

"Your father met with me this morning at the hotel that I was staying at," said Toneri. "He informed me that we are no longer getting married. Is this true? Do you not wish to marry me?"

I stood there speechless for a moment as I tried to collect myself. I could hardly believe that Lord Toneri sought me out to ask me this, especially while I was currently on a mission. Though, when I found my voice, I told him "Yes, we are no longer getting married. I asked my father to cancel it."

It was clear to anyone that Lord Toneri was angry. "Why would you do that? We barely came to knowing each other!"

"I am not ready for marriage," I said. "Instead of marrying someone, I should be thinking of what my clan needs from me as their leader."

Lord Toneri paced for a moment, his face taken by a snarl. As soon as he found his words, he said "Your father wasted my time by bringing me out here just to have you reject me. Do you have any idea how much that infuriates me?" He pointed a finger at my face. "Don't you dare think for a second that annulling this will be that easy!"

Kiba stepped in front of me, pushing Lord Toneri's hand out the way as he did so. He then stared Lord Toneri down to the point where he forced my ex-fiancé to take a step back. Before my former husband-to-be retreated, he said to me "You cannot get rid of me that easily. Had you bothered to get to know me better, you would have known that. We will get married, Lady Hinata, whether you want to or not."

Lord Toneri's words left him sounding like a lunatic. Yet, even though I should have brushed off his threat, the murky feeling at the pit of my stomach returned to me. Something told me that would be wise not to take his threat lightly.