Author's note: I'm back from the dead! You lost all hope already, didn't you? Sorry this chapter took over a year to write. I've been really, really stuck and my interest in Naruto fandom waned. But I've rediscovered some of it recently and used it to finish this chapter. I hope the next one won't take another year to complete. I've already began working on it.

I also posted a picture of some of the OCs appearing in this story on my DeviantArt profile. The link is on my author's profile page.

On another note: Since the posting of the last chapter, Kishimoto showed a new map of the shinobi world and now parts of this story are against canon. I should probably do a small rewrite and change the names of some countries, but I don't really feel like it.

Enough rambling, now on to the long-awaited story. (If you didn't give up waiting months ago.)

A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors. And the names of countries in this story were changed to fit with the new canon map.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I'd have to complete a new chapter every week and couldn't get away with beina an year too late.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The journey back seemed endless. Considering they had to carry three wounded, they couldn't go as fast as they wanted to. At least Naruto woke up at noon the next day and while he wasn't completely rested, he could at least move under his own power. But after three days of travel, they finally walked through the gates of Konoha. They rushed to the hospital, leaving the wounded in the care of the medics. They were at first worried about Lee, but then they called Tsunade for assistance and she assured them she was able to fix the boy. It was going to take weeks before he would be able to return to active duty, but he was going to be alright.

Then came the time to report the whole mess to the Hokage. The old man listened solemnly to their words. Then he asked some questions like 'where did the four-tails jinchuuriki ran off?' 'Can you confirm the guy is dead?' 'Did you meet the trader before this mission?' They answered to their best abilities.

"I should have expected something like that to happen," the Sandaime concluded. "We're going to do everything to root out the traitors, but it will take some time. In the meantime, be very careful, all of you, but especially you, Naruto. And you can all take a week off before taking missions again. That's all I wanted to say, so you can go now. I hope the next time we'll meet under better circumstances."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," they answered before leaving the office. Once they were out of the Tower, they bid goodbyes to each other. Everybody wondered when, how and whether they would meet again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hyuuga compound~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hinata sat quietly in the corner, listening to Neji giving report of his latest mission to her father. It was all she could do not to gasp in terror at some of the moments. It was so dangerous! She wondered how her cousin had survived it. Having four enemy ninja, including some jounin after him? That sounded almost like certain death to Hinata's ears. She couldn't imagine herself lasting longer than half an hour in such a situation. And she was supposed to graduate the Academy soon. It was still a couple of months away, but it could as well be tomorrow in Hinata's mind. She couldn't imagine getting good enough in such a short time. Her cousin Neji was a genius, everybody could see that. Even her little sister Hanabi was talented. Hinata glanced to where the younger girl was sitting at their father's side. Aged just five, Hanabi was more of a proper daughter of the Hyuuga Main House than Hinata could ever hope to be. She sat perfectly straight, her face not showing any emotion of Neji's tale. And her training was progressing much faster than Hinata's. Soon, she would surpass Hinata's ability in Juuken.

Hinata had to suppress a sigh as she looked down. Once again she wished she hadn't been born as the oldest child of the clan head. There were so many expectations placed on her position and she could never fulfill them adequately. She could see it in everybody's eyes, especially her father's. It would have been much better if Hanabi had been born first. Hiashi liked Hanabi. She could live up to his expectation. It would have been even better if Neji could have been the heir. Neji was always able to surpass all expectations. But Neji was just a Branch House member, so that was never going to be.

This time she didn't manage to suppress her sigh in time, which earned her a disapproving glance from her father. Hinata looked down. She forced herself to listen more closely to what Neji was saying. It was an almost unbelievable tale, but she didn't doubt her cousin's veracity. So there was a ninja in Konoha who was just as young as her and was already able to go toe-to-toe with jounin. Hinata admired such strength and wished she could sometimes be like him. But she knew that was unrealistic. Neji might become so strong, Hanabi might come close, but she? She would consider a success if she could be mediocre.

And mediocre wasn't enough for the future head of the Hyuuga clan. The Hyuuga Clan Head had to be strong, shining above other ninja and other clan heads. Nothing less was enough for the most noble clan in Konoha. Hinata knew that she was never going to reach such heights. And in a few short months, she was going to graduate the Academy, be placed on a genin team and start doing missions and most likely failing them horribly. If she ever ended up on a mission as dangerous as Neji's was, she was going to end up dead. And then Hanabi could be the heiress and everything would work out alright. Maybe it would be better if she just died.

Would anybody miss her? Certainly not Neji. There was never anything but contempt in his eyes when he looked at her. She knew he was blaming her for his father's death. She did everything in her power to make it up, but it was never enough. It could be never enough.

Would her father miss her? It was obvious that Hiashi preferred Hanabi, but sometimes she thought that her father cared a bit, that there was hope in his eyes that Hinata would suddenly become strong, but Hinata never did and that hope disappeared quickly. Its appearances were also becoming rarer. So her father would get over her death easily too.

And Hanabi? Hanabi once used to be such a sweet little child, always smiling when Hinata played with her, but that had changed not too long after Hanabi had begun her training in the Hyuuga's clan arts. After months of hearing how she was doing well and how Hinata had never been any good at it, Hanabi started sneering at her elder sister. She now thought that she was so much better than Hinata and that associating with such a failure as Hinata would only hinder her progress. And so the two sisters became estranged. So Hanabi wasn't going to miss her too. She'd probably only sneer at her grave and say that she always knew that Hinata wouldn't last.

Hinata hoped that at least her mother would have missed her. Her mother had been always so sweet, loving and caring. But her mother had died shortly after Hanabi had been born. Hinata still missed her dearly.

So who else could miss her? The clan elders? Certainly not. To them, she was the shame of the Hyuuga clan. Some Branch House members? Maybe. Hinata had always been kind to them, more than other Main House members, but she was never sure what it meant to them. So they might miss her some, but they weren't any close. And her classmates? She didn't have any real friends among them. Sometimes, she doubted whether some of them even knew she existed. So they wouldn't miss her too.

It was really very depressing to think about it like that. Hinata tried to find something positive about her life, but she couldn't remember anything. She just watched as Neji concluded his report and Hiashi dismissed him. Then she slipped out of the room too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hokage's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarutobi looked at the reports on his desk ruefully. All the leads got them nowhere. Though Ibiki had managed to pry the name of his contact from Mizuki, the ANBU couldn't find said contact, so it got them nowhere. And Mizuki knew very little else.

It wasn't a good situation. They knew they had traitors inside Konoha, but they couldn't discern who they were. They knew only that whoever was selling them out was too smart to get caught in the traps the counterintelligence set for them.

The Hokage contemplated whether he should call Jiraiya back. The self-proclaimed super-pervert was good at finding out information that eluded everyone else. But Jiraiya's skill was needed elsewhere. There was no-one else who could find out what their enemies were up to. Just last month he had saved a whole battalion of Konoha forces when he had warned them about a Kumo offensive that would have otherwise caught them unprepared. So no, the Third really couldn't afford to lose this source of information.

But that left him with very little options. He could only continue in what they were doing, give more orders to the intelligence department and the ANBU and hope that the traitor would eventually slip. It wasn't very optimistic. But in a war, few things were.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Streets of Konoha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not long after leaving the Hokage Tower they met Hotaru. The girl was limping, but she looked happy.

"Naruto!" she called when she saw them. "What have you been up to? I've heard you've been fighting some jounin!"

"Huh, rumors really travel fast," Hana muttered.

"That's true," Naruto answered Hotaru's question.

"Why would you do it? It's dangerous," the purple-haired kunoichi said.

"Believe me, I'd rather not do it, but it wasn't like I had a choice," the boy replied.

"Why so serious?" Hotaru raised an eyebrow. "I was joking."

"I'm in no mood for jokes."

"Hm? That's a new one," Hotaru said.

"If you saw the state we found them in you wouldn't feel like laughing too," Hana interjected.

"That bad?"

"Yes." "Worse." Hana and Naruto said simultaneously.

"That sounds like I missed some big action," Hotaru sighed. "Getting wounded really sucks."

"Tell me about it," the Inuzuka said.

"Just get well soon and you can get into some action again," Naruto tried to cheer her up.

"That's easier said than done," Hotaru sighed. "Not everybody heals as fast as you."

"Whatever," Naruto rolled his eyes. "Just heal fast, so we can take missions as a team again, will you? Going alone sucks."

The kunoichi smiled. "Deal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life became a routine again. Tenzo returned from the frontlines and they began taking missions together again. It was mostly routine ninja work. They knew they would have to return to the frontlines eventually, but unless the war took a sudden turn for worse (which thankfully didn't happen yet), they had several months of relatively light duty to look forward to. They didn't grumble when they had to guard caravans going at a snail's pace along dusty roads, or spoiled noblemen who complained about their presence as much as they required it. It was also then when they received their first assassination mission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hot Springs Country~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The landscape was beautiful. The southern regions of the Land of the Hot Springs were one of the must-see places of the shinobi world. Lush green forests covered sides of numerous cone-shaped mountains. The mountain range reached as far as they could see, disappearing in blue hue on the horizon. Steam from the numerous hot springs that gave this country its name rose to the clear blue sky. Down in the valleys bright green rice grew on fertile fields. It was a paradise to behold.

But beautiful scenery and lush fields weren't everything Hot Springs Country could boast. It had also a good strategic location. Bordering on the Fire Country and having many ports from which ships could sail to Water Country, Lightning Country, Whirlpool Country or anywhere further than that, the country was a trade center for the eastern regions of the Elemental Continent.

This was where Fujita Ukito had his base. Fujita Ukito was a trader like many in this area. He bought whatever was cheap and sold it wherever people were willing to pay the most for it, not caring whether it was legal or not. He had a good idea of what, where and when was going to be in demand so his business was prospering more than most of his competitors. Recently, he had started supplying the Kumo army with Kiri medical herbs and ores for chakra-conducting metal from the Fire Country. Konoha didn't like this one bit and decided to do something about him and simultaneously send a message to all of his colleagues.

And this is where Team Tenzo came in. They got the intel that Fujita was going to be in the village of Toyoake, negotiating a deal on cheap timber and enjoying the local hot springs resort in the meantime.

Toyoake wasn't a big settlement. It wasn't exactly tiny, but there lived just enough people to know each other by sight. And because some of the neighboring villages had better hot springs and/or better view of the mountains, it wasn't a tourist center either. Strangers would be spotted quickly. That made Team Tenzo's job harder. They needed to gather more information on their target in order to formulate a plan of action and they couldn't use the customary method of sending a horde of disguised Naruto clones in. But they didn't mind too much. It added to the challenge. Missions had been boring lately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Toyoake square~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Near the center of the village square, a young girl was juggling with brightly colored balls. Close to her feet, a boy of perhaps three years was toddling around, holding a wooden bowl and lifting it to the onlookers. Inside lay a handful of coins collected from the spectators. The girl was called Yoriko and she was a travelling performer, showing off her skills with juggling to support her baby brother Haruki after their parents had died and they had to sell their farm to pay for their father's debts in the local sake house. Yoriko looked like she was going to be very sexy one day and Haruki was cuteness personified. They were also both Naruto's clones. When you can't prevent standing out, then stand out in a spectacular way and make everybody notice you as something you are not, that was the tactic Team Tenzo decided to implement. So the two clones now stood at the one location of the village everybody had to pass through sooner or later and looked for any sign of their target.

They didn't have to wait long. There was no sign of Fujita, but two ninja appeared among the audience. Their young age and lack of flak jackets marked them as genin. Their hitai-ate marked them as being from Kumo. And they looked vaguely familiar. Naruto would bet his pay for this mission that they were Fujita's guards. The girl-clone continued juggling as if nothing happened. The toddler-clone weaved between the legs of the crowd to get closer to the two genin, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I don't see why you are so interested, Ai," the boy just said. "I can juggle better." The kunoichi rolled her eyes.

"That's just like you, Nukui," she sighed. "Always seeing only the superficial. Try thinking for a change."

"Hey!" Nukui scowled. "What do you mean?"

"Think. I think even you can figure it out," Ai suggested.

"You like that cute kid?" the boy tried.

"Of course not," the kunoichi scoffed. "I'm checking out suspicious people."

"What suspicious people?"

"Them," she said, shaking her head in disbelief at her teammate's stupidity.

"Them?" Nukui looked at 'Yoriko.' "They're just kids."

"So are we," Ai pointed out.

"We are ninja!" Nukui protested.

"I know," the girl sighed. "And how do you know she isn't?"

"She's just some street performer."

"She could be undercover," Ai pointed out.

"Nah," Nukui shook his head. "A real ninja could juggle better." Which was exactly the reason why 'Yoriko' didn't juggle better.

"You're probably right, but I had to make sure," Ai sighed. "Let's go back to the Pine Tree." They both turned and left. 'Haruki' couldn't follow them on his short feet without being too obvious about it, but he didn't have to. He now knew which one of the three inns in Toyoake did Fujita lodge in. He reached into his pocket, where a clone of Naruto disguised as a mouse was and dispelled it, informing the original of what he learned. Then he returned back to his 'sister.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pine Tree Inn~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Pine Tree was the biggest of the three inns in Toyoake. It stood close to the village square. It wasn't a new building, but it was in good repair, with fresh paint still shining. It was also clean, with little garbage littering the streets around it. Yet a stray dog was sniffing around it, looking for something to eat anyway. It looked too healthy and well-fed to be living on the streets for too long, so it must have escaped its owner only recently. A guest walking into the inn looked scared of the big animal. The proprietor of the Pine Tree chased it away with a broomstick, but soon after he returned inside, the dog came back as well. He waited.

Two young people arrived at the inn. They were different from the regular visitors. It wasn't just because they were younger, the dog could smell the power on them. Both the boy and the girl. It served as a confirmation that he was waiting at the right place. He waited longer for when the target would appear. It took over an hour before three people finally arrived. Two of them were ninja: one of them obviously very strong. The third wasn't. That was the person he had been waiting for. He sniffed the air, memorizing his scent. He'd need it to determine which room did he lodge in. He would have followed them inside, but the proprietor would just chase him away again and that would draw unwanted attention to him.

He gave the trio a while to reach their chambers. Then he started moving around the building, sniffing the air carefully. There. The scent of the target was strong. So they dwelled on the ground floor, close to the back of the building. That was all he needed to know. With that, one of the Haimaru siblings ran to report to his mistress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Near Toyoake~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Team Tenzo discussed their plan. The three chuunin had to be careful if they wanted to get at a target protected by a jounin without attracting his attention. Though their sensei could have carried the mission on his own, as a former ANBU he was good at such things, he decided to let his students do it on their own to gather experience. He remained on standby, intending to intervene only if something went wrong.

The three chuunin quickly decided that the best way to get around the Kumo jounin was to wait until the target was guarded only by the genin. They spent a whole day following them around, mostly using Naruto's clones disguised as wildlife, only to realize that Fujita was never alone with only the Kumo genin. That was an unpleasant surprise. It was made even more unpleasant by the fact that the trader had concluded his business dealings and planned to leave Toyoake the next day. That put them on a tight schedule. If Fujita's group left, they would have to ambush them on the road and that would mean an all-out battle. That carried a great risk of injuries or even defeat, so the team wanted to avoid it. They had to strike and disappear before the Kumo ninja realized what happened.

They discussed it long and hard and couldn't find any way to eliminate the target without alerting his guards. That meant they needed a good diversion. Fortunately during their stay in Toyoake they spotted something that would do just fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pine Tree Inn~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nukui was cursing his luck for getting the late night shift. He really wasn't a morning person. And now he had to wake up long before the sky began to lighten and stay awake for the whole day. But he was a proud ninja of Kumogakure and he could deal with such hardships. He could deal with worse. But,he thought as he yawned, it would have been much easier to deal with them if he wasn't so sleepy. He shook his head to clear it. It helped for a bit, but soon his eyes were drooping again. 'I can't fall asleep here,' he thought. He shuddered when he imagined what Kei-sensei would do if he caught him dozing off when he was supposed to be on guard. He could just hear the stern lecture that would precede the real punishment. Can you imagine what would happen if enemy ninja attacked? Nukui almost chuckled. What would enemy ninja do here? This place was in the middle of nowhere, very far from where all the action was. And they were just on a C-rank mission anyway. There was no chance of running into opposition with ninja skills. Though there had been that one time... he shuddered when he remembered how they failed their first C-rank mission of protecting the wares of a pottery merchant. But that had been a fluke. There was no way there would be a chase going through their room here.

Almost as soon as he thought it, he noticed a strange noise coming from the door. 'Don't tell me...' His sleepiness suddenly gone, he grabbed a kunai in his fist and jumped to his feet. He strained his ears. There was it again! Metal scratching against metal. What was it? Was somebody trying to pick the lock? Probably. Was it an enemy ninja? Nukui's heart beat faster. If there really were ninja here... But no. No ninja would ever make that much noise while trying to get into somebody's room. Even Academy trainees would do better. So it meant that it was just a random burglar. He didn't have to wake up his team, he could deal with it on his own. And in the morning Kei-sensei would praise him for a job well done.

With the thought of future glory firmly in mind, the Kumo genin smiled and walked silently towards the door. There was a faint click indicating that the lock was slowly giving way. Nukui's lips twisted in a cruel smirk. Then he flung the door open.

"Kyaaaaah!" Nukui flinched as the person on the other side of the door screamed at the top of his lungs. After that brief moment of hesitation he wasted no more time and brought his kunai down. It hit the kneeling intruder in the shoulder. He screamed again.

Then suddenly Kei-sensei stood beside him and grabbed the burglar by the throat, finally silencing him. But it was already too late. The racket had roused the whole inn already.

"What's wrong?" Yuu asked, quickly getting out of bed.

"Where's the fire?" Ai inquired.

"Help! I'm going to be murdered!" Fujita-san panicked.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you," the kunoichi assured him, but it didn't have much effect. Their client was still trembling like a leaf.

By that time the doors of other rooms were opening and sleepy lodgers were trying to find out what was going on. Kei told them that nothing, but it didn't sound very convincing considering he was holding a bloody body.

"I'm going to die," Fujita whined. "My heart can't take the shock." He was clutching his chest desperately. Ai thought that he was just being theatrical.

"I'm a doctor," one of the other guests said. "Let me see him." She didn't wait for an answer and pushed by Nukui, Kei and his captive.

"Hey!" Yuu shouted. "We can't let strange people near our client!"

"I'm going to die!" the client whimpered pathetically and gasped for air. At that moment Ai realized that he might be actually having trouble.

"We can't let him die of heart attack either," she pointed out. At that moment it seemed like an entirely real possibility to her.

Kei looked like he wanted to say something to it, but at that moment the burglar began struggling in his grip and one of the onlookers shrieked in terror and another walked up to him and demanded answers (not specifying to what), which distracted him long enough. The medic meanwhile walked over to Fujita and began checking his vitals.

"It's going to be good," she said after a while. "You had a nasty shock, but you are in no danger."

"I still feel bad," the merchant said, but he didn't sound so desperate anymore.

"I can give you something to help you sleep," she offered. Fujita looked grateful.

"Wait," Kei's voice stopped them in their tracks. The jounin had finally convinced the denizens of the Pine Tree Inn that they shouldn't poke their noses in Kumo ninja's business and was free to deal with the client again. "I can't allow you to give our client some unknown substance."

"It's just sedatives," the medic pointed out.

"That's what you say," Kei countered. "Many assassinations were done by false doctors."

"What?" the woman blinked in shock, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"And you," the jounin turned to his students. "Why did you let her near him?"

"He was sick," Ai pointed out. "He needed a doctor."

"And how did you know she's really a doctor?" Kei questioned. "Did it occur to you that she might be an enemy?" Ai looked ashamed. Fujita looked scared and clutched his chest again.

"Such rudeness," the doctor spat. "I'm only trying to help here and this is how you repay me?"

"Sorry," Yuu shrugged and smiled sheepishly. He too thought their sensei was being paranoid, though he understood everything Kei had said.

"Now here are the sleeping pills..." the doctor said, offering them on her open palm.

"No," Kei refused, trying to make up for his earlier lapse in diligence. The medic just shrugged.

"Well, I'll leave them here in case you change your mind," she said, laid the pills on a nightstand and left.

"Well, this was a job well done," Nukui smiled as the door closed behind her.

Inuzuka Hana had to suppress a smile as she stepped over the lifeless carcass of the street thug they had hired to be the diversion. No chance of him telling just who had given him the tip, even if he had seen through their disguise. She felt a pang of guilt for sending him to his death, but he had been an unrepentant criminal with hands stained in blood. The important thing was that their mission had been accomplished. The Kumo ninja might analyze the pills she had offered the target and would find that they were really just regular sleeping pills. The jounin had a good idea, but he had acted too late. The diversion had worked so well that by the time he had realized she might not be who she said, she had already pricked Fujita's skin with a poisoned needle. The fat merchant hadn't even noticed. Now it was just a matter of time before the substance took effect. She would have preferred to stay and make sure, but because the Kumo ninja might catch on, she and her teammates agreed that it would be much better if they were long gone by then.

With that thought she slipped out of the Pine Tree Inn quietly, heading for where her teammates were waiting, ready to back her up in case something went wrong. Soon they left Toyoake behind. They'll confirm Fujita's demise later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Next morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was already up and they were already packed and ready to set out. But their client was still asleep.

"When is he going to wake up?" Nukui whined. If he didn't get enough sleep that night, he saw no reason why anyone else should.

"He'll wake up when he'll wake up," Ai snapped. "He had a nasty shock, so let him sleep."

"But if he doesn't wake up soon, we won't make it to the next town before evening," Yuu pointed out. He'd much rather sleep in a hotel than on the ground.

"We obey the wishes of our client," Kei reminded them a bit more harshly than the situation warranted. He was getting a bit worried too. Their client was sleeping too long and too deep. In fact...

He quickly strode towards the bed and examined the person lying there. His worst fears were quickly confirmed. Fujita Ukito was dead. He said a word that would make sailors blush. His genin didn't blush only because they had no idea what did it mean, but the tone of his voice informed them that something was very wrong.

"What's wrong?" Yuu asked.

"He's dead," the jounin informed them.

"It was the doctor!" Nukui exclaimed.

"We should have given him the pills!" Ai wailed. "Now his heart gave out!"

"We failed another mission," Yuu stated flatly. That stopped his teammates dead in their tracks.

"Not again," Nukui groaned.

"We have to catch his assassin!" Ai suggested, abandoning the theory of natural causes of death.

"Maybe he really died of heart attack," Kei said. He couldn't see any signs of poison on the corpse, but that could mean only that the poison used was one only a medical specialist would recognize and Kei wasn't one of those. And at first glance, everything did seem perfectly natural. He wasn't convinced about this theory, but he knew that trying to catch a probably high-level enemy ninja while dragging three clumsy genin behind him was a lost cause. There was really nothing left to do than return to Kumo and report a mission failed. Again. He sighed. He so wasn't looking forward to this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mission room~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took several months before Team Tenzo was assigned a noteworthy mission again. At first, it didn't look as such. All four members of Team Tenzo were standing in the Mission room, waiting for the chuunin on duty to assign them one of the scrolls and whatever mission was described inside. The chuunin leafed through the mission requests idly before picking one scroll and handing it to Tenzo. Naruto noticed that it was labeled B. Tenzo unrolled it and scanned over its contents.

"So what is it?" Hotaru asked impatiently.

"We're going to search for a genin team that didn't report back from their mission," the jounin informed them. Naruto, knowing him as long as he did, noticed a slight flinch.

"What is it?" he asked. Instead of an answer, the former ANBU handed the scroll to Hana. The Inuzuka heiress read a few lines before gasping in shock.

"What's wrong?" Hotaru inquired.

"It's my brother's team."

Evil cliffhanger no jutsu.

Next time: What happened to Team 8?