Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Sorry the last chapter took so long to come out. I've tried to get this chapter done faster to try to make up for that. I'm not going to ramble on or anything, so let the chapter begin!

Chapter 4: A Diplomat's Request!

It had been a few months since the incident with the flowers, and in that time, Team 3 had become infamous throughout the village. Everyone heard how they had they failed their first mission, making them a subject of ridicule, and it was starting to get on their nerves. Mamoru had been the first to crack under the taunting, only one week after the mission. Himawari had managed to brush it off, knowing it was not important. But after 6 months of teasing and insulting, Yukino and Tetsuo were starting to lose it.

They had just gotten a few days off, after their 4th mission in 4 days. They had been working incredibly hard to make up for the failure of their first mission, having completed 35 D-rank missions. Yet nobody seemed to care about that, only the fact they failed their first mission. Tetsuo and Yukino were going to escape the taunting by going to the forest for a few hours of peace, but were convinced by Team 1, Inojin's team, to hang out. Team 1, all a year older than Team 3, were the only people other than the Konoha 11 and the relatives of Team 3 who didn't mock them. They ended up going to get ice cream together.

"Where's Mamoru at?" asked Aimi Kimura, the only female member of Team 1. She had deep violet eyes and waist-length white hair that normally was kept up, but put down for her day off. Her bangs framed her face, and ended at the bottom of her neck. She was always concerned about other people's well being.

"Yeah, where is he?" said Keiji Moto, the more social male of Team 1. He had light brown eyes and pink-orange hair. He had messy bangs that stopped just above his eyes, and his hair stopped at the top of his neck. He always was sneaking off with Mamoru to prank people.

"I'm sure he's fine. Right Yukino?" answered Isao Okada, the most timid member of Team 1. He had gold eyes and blond hair, a bit paler than Boruto's, but otherwise his hair was identical. Keiji was always trying to get him out of his shell.

"On our mission yesterday, he got into a fight with a wild bear. Don't ask why. He came out of the fight pretty beaten up, and the bear just lumbered off into the forest, leaving us to complete the mission one man short. We would have stopped him, but he's the one who picked the fight, and he needs to learn the consequences to his actions," responded Yukino, slightly peeved at her idiot teammate. "And that's why today Mamoru is at home recuperating, opposed to out here."

"We should go vis-"

Aimi was interrupted by some slightly older shinobi. "Well look who it is. The team of losers, and the people stupid enough to be friends with them." Tetsuo and Yukino had started to get used to this teasing, but they didn't like that the teenage shinobi were bringing the only people their age who didn't tease them into it.

"Our friends aren't stupid. Just leave us alone," said Tetsuo, who had started to stand up, along with Yukino.

"What are you going to do about it. You're just a couple of failures."

That comment drove the two genin over the edge. "That's it!" yelled Yukino, making hand signs faster than anyone's eyes could follow. "Water Dragon Jutsu!" A giant water dragon formed in mid-air, and assaulted the shinobi faster than they could take a breath. Tetsuo followed after the dragon, performing his gentle fist technique on them, causing their tormentors to pass out.

Once they snapped out of their rage, they noticed that everyone was staring at them with fear, even a few children on the street were crying. Tetsuo noticed that the people's fear had started to turn into anger. "Yukino! Let's go, now!" He said as he grabbed her wrist, to pull her out of the area where they were to potentially face the villagers' wrath. But before they could go anywhere, a man with black hair stopped them.

"Not so fast," he said, standing in front of them. Then, pointing to Aimi, he said, "You. Have your friends get these shinobi to the hospital." Looking back towards Yukino and Tetsuo, he finished. "You two are coming with me. Don't try anything." He then took off, with Tetsuo and Yukino in his wake.

The black haired man knocked on the door to the Hokage's office, with the two Genin directly behind him. "Come in." Came the muffled response. Pushing open the door, the man entered along with Yukino and Tetsuo.

"I found these two causing trouble in the street. Sent two Chunnin and a Jounin to the hospital."

Naruto looked up from his paperwork and took note of the people in front of him for the first time. A look of shock appeared on his face after seeing the two so called "troublemakers".

"Why would they do that, Sasuke?" Although he had heard how they had been teased, he didn't think much of it.

"I figured I'd have them explain that once they got here," replied Sasuke, who noticed that both of the Genin had worried expressions on their faces.

Naruto sighed. "Well, you heard the man. Start explaining you two."

Seeing how nervousness Yukino was, Tetsuo started the explanation. "For the last 6 months, we've been insulted and teased since we failed our first mission, and nobody knows what really happened. It didn't bother us that much, since they only insulted us."

Yukino, finally gathering enough courage to speak, finished up. "But this time, they insulted our friends, who were just sitting with us. I guess that was our breaking point. I attacked them first with my Water Dragon Jutsu, then Tetsuo used his Gentle Fist on them, and that's what happened."

"Hmm," was all the Hokage uttered, his hand on his chin.

"We're sorry for hurting them. We just wanted to prove that we aren't the loser team everyone thinks we are," said Tetsuo, his head down.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, and Naruto nodded before he spoke. "Well then, I guess will have to change the way they look at you. How would you like to take on a C-rank mission?"

The two Genin looked up, shock evident on their faces. Then Yukino remembered how to speak. "That would be wonderful, but shouldn't we be getting punished instead of rewarded?" Tetsuo nodded his head in agreement.

"As far as I'm concerned, they got what they deserved," replied Naruto.

"And you recognized your mistake in hurting them, so all should be well if you remember to apologize to them," finished Sasuke.

"You'll get assigned your mission in 2 days, so enjoy your free time. Until then, you're dismissed," said Naruto, waving to the two as they left. Sasuke moved towards the desk casually, stopping a foot away from it.

"Were those two rookie of the year in their class?"

"No. They were hiding their true strength to appear average to the teachers. Of course, all their classmates knew they were the best."

"Why?"

"They didn't want anymore attention, probably. Tetsuo has hordes of fangirls, and Yukino was always made fun of. Because of that, they probably thought attention was a bad thing."

"I see."

"Is that it, Sasuke?"

"Yeah. So unless you have something to say, I'm going to visit Sakura and Sarada."

"Just one thing: You may want to pay attention to those two; Something tells me that they'll have an interesting future."

The following two days were rather uneventful. Yukino and Tetsuo spent their time training, one day joined by Team 1. They tried to avoid the people in the village, because after the incident, no one called them losers, but they began avoiding them and calling them monsters. Once the shinobi who insulted them regained consciousness, they apologized for hurting them. Mamoru stayed in his bed for the remaining two days, complaining about not being allowed to leave. Finally, the day arrived where they were to be briefed on their mission.

"Ok Team 3, this is your first C-rank mission, so I want you to be careful. Is that clear?" said Naruto, recalling what happened the first time his team took on a C-rank mission.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," came the excited reply from the three Genin in the room.

"Good." Naruto stood up and moved to his left gesturing to the young woman beside him. "This is Mirai Sarutobi. She is a capable kunoichi, who is currently serving as a diplomat between us and Suna. Your mission is to escort her to Suna, and escort her back once her business is finished. It will likely take about 2 weeks, so remember to pack. Understood?"

"Yes," replied Himawari.

"Alright then. You're all dismissed," finished Naruto, returning to his giant stack of paperwork on his desk as they left.

Himawari decided to finish up the briefing while they were walking down the hallway with Mirai. "Alright, everyone has an hour to pack and meet up at the front gate of the village. See you then." With that, the ninja split up to get ready.

Everyone met at the gate on time, even Mamoru surprisingly. For a second, everyone just stood staring at the gate, before Himawari broke the silence.

"It will take 3 days to reach Suna running, so let's get going," she said, taking off at a dash with Mirai, leaving the Genin in her wake.

Tetsuo snapped out of the shock that their sensei left them their first. "Let's go! Or they're going to leave us here!" He said, dragging Yukino and Mamoru for a step before they started running on their own.

"I can't believe that Himawari-sensei took off without us!" Yelled Mamoru as he, Yukino, and Tetsuo raced to catch up with their client and teacher.

"I can. We stared at gate like gaping idiots," replied Yukino.

"Let's just catch up with them," finished Tetsuo, as the three of them increased their speed in comfortable silence.

It started to get dark by the time they reached where Mirai and Himawari had set up camp. The two already had made food, to which the tired Genin happily accepted. They decided everyone would take a watch, mostly because Mirai insisted that she did. Yukino pulled first watch, Tetsuo pulled second, Himawari pulled third, Mamoru pulled fourth, and Mirai pulled last.

"I guess I'm up first. Get some sleep everyone, I've got this," said Yukino, moving up to a low branch on a high tree for a good spot to see everything.

She heard a chorus of goodnight Yukino's, and one goodnight Yuki. In the 6 months since Mamoru started calling her that, she grew accustomed to it, and no longer felt grief when called Yuki. From her spot on the branch, Yukino had a clear view all around the camp. Everything looked clear.

She sat up there for about a half hour, until she saw Tetsuo come up there and sit with her.

"What are you doing awake, Tetsuo? You should get some sleep before your watch," she whispered, not wanting to wake anyone up.

"I couldn't sleep. Plus, you've seemed… off, since what happened with those shinobi 3 days ago," he whispered back, also not wanting to wake anyone. "What's wrong?"

"... Do you think it's worse to be called a loser or a monster?" It had been bothering her that the village that at least talked to her to tease her suddenly shied away in fear. "At least when we were losers, people didn't run away because they were afraid of never seeing their loved ones again."

Tetsuo responded immediately. "It doesn't matter."

"Oh? And tell me, Oh Wise One, why it doesn't matter. I'm begging you for your sage advice," she added with a sarcastic edge, mostly depressed and slightly frustrated.

Tetsuo ignored her tone, knowing her anger wasn't directed at him. "It doesn't matter because that's not what the people who matter to you call you. To them, you are strong, brave, dependable, and an infinite number of adjectives I could use. Do you see why it doesn't matter now?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Tetsuo. I needed that," she responded, her heart lighter than it had been for a while. She felt a blanket land on her, thrown at her by Tetsuo.

"Get some rest. I'll watch for you."

"But your watch doesn't start for another hour. You need just as much sleep as the rest of us."

"I'll be fine. Now get some rest," said Tetsuo, closing Yukino's eyelids, as she slowly drifted off. He activated his byakugan and looked around the area, which he found all clear. He didn't happen to notice the small smile on his sensei's face as he finished talking with Yukino.

The next day on their journey to Suna was uneventful, but the same could not be said for the last day. They were traveling through the desert, about an hour away from Suna at the speed they were traveling, when trouble struck. A kunai blade came at Mirai out of nowhere, but was blocked by Tetsuo, who had seen it coming.

"Who's there?" Yelled Himawari, as she and her team took defensive positions around Mirai.

"Well, aren't all of you well trained?" Said a womanly voice coming from in front of Himawari. The source of the voice stepped forward, into the view of the ninja. She had shoulder-length, straight, dark purple hair, and brown eyes. The thing that shocked all of them though, was the fact that she was wearing a black cloak that covered her mouth, and had a red cloud design around the base.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" Asked Himawari again, more on guard then before.

The smirking woman confidently stepped forward, her hand on her hip. "Who am I? I am Kana Ito, and I'm here to revive the Akatsuki."

A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry about the cliffhanger(Not really). Anyways, I'll try to get the next chapter out in a week, but don't get your hopes up. Umm, yeah. Next time, Divided Forces! Please review so I can improve, and sorry it's a bit short.

See Ya!

XOXO, Zera