Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (either manga or anime!); the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto-sensei owns all rights. However, the plot and Namiko Uzumaki are mine!

Chapter 4: First Missions

After several weeks of doing the usual genin D-rank missions of yard work, finding lost pets, and babysitting, Team 8 got some welcome news during their daily training practice from Kurenai, "I spoke to Hokage-sama and he has a C-rank mission for us that we should be perfect for. We're supposed to be at the Hokage's office in twenty minutes, so we should head there now." The young trio followed the jounin with varying looks etched on their faces: Kiba was brimming with excitement and energy with an overly jumpy Akamaru following him, Hinata was filled to the brim with anxiety, and Namiko was equal parts anxious and curious.

Fifteen minutes later, Team 8 strolled into the Hokage's office. Hiruzen looked up from the paperwork on his desk, "Ah, right on time. Let me get right to the reason I called you here, I have a C-rank mission for you. One of the daimyo's daughters had a priceless kimono stolen by a servant. Your mission is to track down the kimono and bring back the servant who stole it. This would normally be a B-rank mission or higher, but since there is no chance of combat, it's a C-rank and perfect for a tracking-specialty team. It's a good chance for you to get a 'real' mission under your belt."

"Thank you, Sandaime," Kurenai said accepting the mission scroll and a few other items from the old man. Team 8 walked out of the office and gathered outside the building. "So, I want you three to go pack to travel and we'll meet at the A-Un gates in one hour," Kurenai said, slipping the scroll in her hip pouch. The trio nodded and headed off in their respective directions.

Namiko walked into the small, two-bedroom apartment she shared with her brother. She quickly shed her blue ninja boots at the entryway and placed them on the shelf, noticing Naruto's own boots thrown haphazardly against the wall. She shook her head, 'No matter how many times I tell him to put them up, he never does,' she rolled her eyes as she placed them on the shelf next to hers.

"Nii-chan? Why do you never put your shoes away?" she called out, walking into the main room, which served the triple purpose of kitchen, dining area, and living area.

Naruto came bounding out of his room, grinning from ear to ear, "Sorry Namiko, I was too excited to put them up! Team 7 is getting a C-rank mission!"

"Really? We are too," Namiko said, grinning back at him as she reached for her backpack, "When do you leave? I'm supposed to meet with Kurenai-sensei and Team 8 in under an hour. I'm not sure how long we'll be gone since it's a tracking mission."

"Eh, we leave in a couple hours. It's an escort mission to Land of Waves, so we may be gone for a week or so? I'm kinda hoping for some danger and adventure though!" he said still grinning, rubbing the back of his head.

"Of course you would!" chuckled Namiko, rolling her eyes. "Just promise me you'll come back home in one piece, okay?"

"You got it, dattebayo!" he said with a thumbs up.

Namiko went into her room and quickly finished packing her things. "Okay, I'm off. Since I'm not sure how long this will take, I guess I'll see you when I see you." Her smile faltered as she placed her hand on the door. "I'm going to miss you, nii-chan."

Naruto laid his hand on her shoulder. "I'll miss you too. Just trust your teammates and be careful…I love you, imouto."

Namiko turned towards him to see a soft smile on his face. "I love you too, nii-chan…" she said in a whisper as she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him with all her strength.

Naruto let out a small yelp. "Hey, don't choke me!"

She let go with a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry! Okay, I really got to go. See you soon!" With that, she quickly closed the door behind her.

Naruto's face fell. "Please be careful. I can't lose you too…" he whispered at the closed door.

At the A-Un gate, Namiko was actually last to arrive. "Sorry everyone! Naruto kind of kept me longer than I thought he would. Turns out Team 7 has a C-rank mission too."

Hinata looked concerned. "Wh-what kind of mission?"

"Naruto said it was a simple escort mission, so I'm sure he'll be fine." Namiko smiled softly at the lavender-eyed girl, attempting to provide comfort. Namiko strongly suspected Hinata had a full-blown crush on her big brother, and she actually quite liked the Hyuuga, so she decided to try to subtly help the shy girl.

Hinata breathed a small sigh of relief. "Good."

Kurenai cleared her throat. "Let's get started. So, on this map, we're going to travel to where the kimono was stolen from the daimyo. There I want Kiba and Akamaru to gather the scent of the thief or the kimono itself. Then Hinata and Namiko, you two will track either visually or through chakra sensing. Got it?" The trio nodded. "Let's go then!"

With that, Team 8 took off for their first C-rank mission.

Once they arrived at the daimyo's mansion, they were greeted by with a gentle smile by a young woman around sixteen or so in a brown yukata. "Hello, my name is Futaba. I'm one of Tanaka-sama's servants here. Come inside and I'll explain a little bit about what happened."

Team 8 followed Futaba into the large mansion and into a sitting room with tatami mats and sliding doors. Kurenai spoke as they sat down. "I apologize for jumping straight to business, but we need to gain as much information as quickly as possible. Do you know who took the kimono and how long ago they left?"

Futaba dropped her head, her light brown hair covering her eyes. "My younger brother, Kou."

"Why would a boy steal a kimono?" Questioned Kiba as he not so subtly scooted closer to the older girl.

"Honestly," sighed Futaba. "I'm not sure. He's only eight, so I'm not sure why he'd do such a thing. He just left this note." Futaba passed the note to the closest person, which happened to be Namiko.

Namiko read aloud, "I've gone to fix things. I'll be safe. Love, Kou." She handed the letter to Kiba. "You probably will be able to pick up his scent from the letter and we can track him this way."

Kiba nodded in agreement, taking a smell of the letter and then the air around them. "I've got his scent, but it's fading. We're probably half a day behind him, but I guarantee we'll catch up quickly."

"Futaba," Namiko said turning to the older girl, "we'll find your brother and get him and the kimono back safely, don't worry!"

"Thank you so much, be careful!" said Futaba as Team 8 started to leave, with Kiba in the lead.

As they broke out into a run, Kurenai addressed the rest of the team, "Now that we know it's a child that took it, we need to worry more about getting him home safely than recovering the kimono. A child running through the wilderness by himself is extremely dangerous, so he has to be our top priority."

Namiko stared blankly ahead as she began to calculate aloud, "The average running speed of a civilian adult is about nine kilometers an hour, so Kou's would probably be less since he's just a civilian kid, maybe seven kilometers or so. He'd probably get tired and switch to walking fairly quickly after starting, which would be about five kilometers per hour. If he's been missing for half a day, so ten or twelve hours, then Kou could be…anywhere from fifty to seventy kilometers away by now." Namiko heard silence from her teammates. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"…how…" started Kiba with a dumbfounded look on his face, "can you figure that out?"

Namiko shrugged as she refocused her gaze in front of her. "While Naruto was always causing trouble, I'd always spend my time in the library when he got punished by Iruka-sensei. I have a lot of useless information up here," she said, tapping the side of her head.

Hinata piped up quietly, "I wouldn't call that useless, Namiko-chan."

Kurenai nodded. "I agree, that kind of information might seem to be useless on its own, but putting it to work for us is extremely helpful."

Namiko smiled softly, she wasn't used to getting any attention, especially good attention. "Kiba-kun, can you smell far away do you think Kou is?" asked Namiko. "Right now, he's obviously too far for me to track his chakra, but then I'm still only good for maybe half a kilometer away."

Kiba took a deep breath again. "His scent is getting stronger but still pretty weak. Maybe forty kilometers away by this point? His scent is getting stronger, so we're definitely going in the right direction. If we keep this pace up, I'd say we'll find him in an hour or two. Hinata, what's your range on your Byakugan again?"

Hinata quietly answered, "About five kilometers."

Namiko's eyes widened. 'She can see that far? I've seen her use her Byakugan up close when we spar, but I didn't realize she could see that far ahead with it.' "Hinata-chan, that's amazing!"

Hinata blushed at the compliment. "Th-thank you."

Kurenai focused on pressing ahead and going over the plan. "Kiba, once we get within Hinata's range, slow down a bit so she can focus her Byakugan on finding the boy. Once we have him in our sights, we make sure he's okay first, then worry about the kimono."

"You keep saying, 'And then worry about the kimono.' Do you expect him to not have it when he was the one who took it?" asked Namiko.

"Call it intuition," replied Kurenai. "A young boy with a very expensive object, running through a heavily wooded area is a major target for rogue ninja and bandits alike."

"D-do you think we'll have to fight?" asked Hinata with a worried look on her face.

"Hopefully not, but it's always a possibility with a C-Rank mission. But don't you all worry, that's why genin teams always have a jounin leader. I'll protect you if we get caught in a fight." Kurenai smiled at the young Hyuuga girl.

Kiba scoffed. "I don't need protection! Akamaru and I will be just fine on our own!"

"But you're not on your own," started Namiko. "You have teammates for a reason, Kiba."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just saying you guys don't have to worry about me. I'm strong enough as is. I'm gonna be Hokage one day!" Kiba triumphantly announced.

Kurenai chuckled under her breath. Namiko rolled her eyes as she thought, 'He's just like Naruto in that aspect. Though I think Naruto would probably have the determination to get there in the end.'

They traveled in mostly silence for the next hour until Kiba's expression became grim. "Guys, I smell blood. It's the kid's blood too."

"Let's pick up the pace. Hinata, see if you can locate Kou yet." Kurenai kept her voice calm and even, but her eyes showed her worry.

"Byakugan!" cried Hinata, her veins bulging on her face as her doujutsu activated. "He's about four kilometers from here, north-east. He's hiding just inside a cave. He doesn't look extremely hurt, maybe just some cuts. He looks tired and scared."

"I can't say I blame him. He's a civilian, not a ninja. If I were him, I'd be terrified." Namiko furrowed her brow as they pressed onward at full speed.

Coming up on a rocky area, the cave came into view and they slowed to a walk.

"Hello? Kid? You need help?" yelled Kiba, his hands around his mouth amplifying his already loud voice.

"Idiot," Namiko whispered under her breath as she slapped his upper arm. "You're going to scare Kou."

"Kou," called out Kurenai (in a much calmer manner than Kiba) as she walked towards the opening of the cave. "We're Konoha shinobi. We've come to take you back home to your sister Futaba."

A small voice piped up from the cave, "In here. I hurt my ankle and it hurts to walk."

They entered the cave to find a small boy with messy black hair and light brown eyes staring at them. He wore brown pants and a light blue t-shirt. His clothes were ripped in several places and some blood had stained them slightly.

Namiko knelt down next to the boy. "Hi, I'm Namiko, and this is Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata. The pretty woman back there is our sensei, Kurenai." She gestured to each person as she spoke. "Your sister Futaba is pretty worried about you, so we're going to get you patched up and back home in no time." She looked the boy over scanning him for any life-threatening injuries. "So, just that left ankle is hurting, right? What about all these cuts? Where did those come from?"

Hinata knelt next to him as well, taking bandages and healing ointment from her bag. The young boy watched as she removed his shoe and started to apply the ointment and bandage to his bruised and swollen ankle. "It's not broken," said Hinata, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kou looked down at his lap, embarrassed. "I was so tired from running and I let my guard down. Suddenly, these two big men popped out of nowhere and pushed me down a ravine."

"Uh, where is the kimono? I don't see it with you," asked Kiba as he leaned over Namiko's head with Akamaru sniffing around the boy.

The boy's head snapped up, his eyes wide. "You know about the kimono?!" His voice panicked.

Kurenai stepped towards the boy. "That was initially why we were called. It wasn't until we got to the daimyo's mansion that we found out that you had taken it and had run away. Then our mission became to retrieve you."

"I'm gonna be in so much trouble!" the boy wailed, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. "Those guys took it when they shoved me into the ravine."

Namiko laid a gentle hand on Kou's shoulder. "It's okay, it's not like you intended to get it stolen. Why did you take it anyway?"

Kou's tears started to dry. "Futaba and I work for the daimyo, but not really by choice. Our parents died in a fire a couple years ago and we lost everything. Not only that, but our dad had a lot of debt that we didn't really know about until they passed, and debt collectors kept showing up at our doorstep. Futaba got a job at the daimyo's and when I was old enough, I started to help out too, but the daimyo's son is really shady. He is constantly hitting on Futaba and making her uncomfortable, so I figured that if I made enough money to pay off our dad's debt, then we didn't have to work there anymore. So, I stole the kimono to sell in another village, but then all this happened. I'm so stupid…"

Namiko smiled softly at Kou. "No, you did what any loving sibling would do. I know my own brother would probably do something probably even crazier than that if I was in Futaba's position. You're a good little brother." Kou smiled back, gaining confidence.

Hinata finished wrapping his ankle. "Done. It will be sore, but the ointment should help take the pain away."

"Thank you all, I really don't deserve your kindness." Kou said, trying to stand up, but stumbling a bit.

Kurenai looked outside. "It's going to be dark soon. I would say we could camp out here in this cave, but our best bet would be to go to the village. Hinata, can you see it nearby?"

"Byakugan!" she said as she stepped outside the cave. "There's a small village about three kilometers east of here. I see a small inn."

"Good, we'll head that way. Kiba, can you carry Kou so he doesn't hurt his ankle more?" asked Kurenai.

"You got it!" exclaimed Kiba. He knelt in front of Kou. "Hop on. I'll give you a piggyback ride to the village!" Kou was hesitant, but slowly climbed on Kiba's back, with Akamaru yipping alongside of them.

Kurenai turned back to make sure everyone was ready to go. "All right, let's head out then."

As the group approached the tiny village, they saw the inn on the edge of the town. It was old fashioned with tatami mats and sliding doors, and small, with only 10 rooms. An old woman greeted them at the desk, "Good evening, what brings you to-?" the gray-haired woman gasped as she rushed around the desk. "Oh my! Shinobi? What happened to the boy? How can I help?"

Kurenai smiled gently at her. "We just need to a room to rest. We were on a rescue mission and found the boy we were looking for, but he's hurt his ankle, so we decided to rest tonight instead of pressing on."

"Oh, I can definitely help you out with that!" The woman smiled and shuffled behind the desk, grabbing a key. "Here, this is the only suite we have. It has two bedrooms that connect to a small common room. I'll have my granddaughter bring over extra futons for all of you. It may still be a snug fit though. Your room is the last door on the right. Please, let me know if you need anything else, my name is Yuko."

Kurenai took the key from the woman. "Thank you so much, Yuko-san. We appreciate your helpfulness more than you know." She turned to her charges. "Let's head to our room and get settled for the evening, then we'll find something to eat."

Yuko perked up again. "I'm happy to send dinner to your room if that's alright with you."

"That would be lovely, thank you," Kurenai replied with grace and respectfulness drenching her voice.

They walked down the hallway and opened the door to their room. The common room was a bit small with a chabudai table taking up most of the floorspace. There were two doors on the right side of the room, one leading to a bathroom and the other to a small bedroom with two futons on the floor. There was another door directly along the farthest wall leading to another slightly larger bedroom that had two futons already ready on the floor.

Kiba set down Kou near the table as the rest of the group started to unpack their things. Namiko got down on Kou's level, kneeling on one knee beside him. "How is your ankle feeling?"

Kou stretched his leg out and slowly rotated his ankle a bit. "It's a little better now, but definitely still sore."

Namiko stood back up, stretching her arms over her head. "Progress is progress. It's a good thing Hinata-chan is good with medicinal ointments and such."

Hinata blushed lightly. "Th-thank you, Namiko-chan. I'm not that good though." She stared at the ground, pushing her thumbs together nervously.

"It's helpful to Kiba-kun whenever he gets hurt because he did something stupid in training." Namiko shrugged and giggled a little while Kiba narrowed his eyes at her.

"Hey! I'm not that bad! Your brother is way worse when it comes to getting into trouble," Kiba attempted to argue back.

"I know that!" Namiko scoffed. "My brother is his own special brand of trouble. I'm honestly kind of glad I'm not the one on his team playing damage control. You're a kitten compared to him."

Kiba's eyes went wide. "WHAT?!" Akamaru growled at Namiko. "You're comparing me to a cat?!"

Namiko panicked, holding up her hands in front of her in surrender. "Wait a second! I said that wrong! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to offend you."

Kurenai broke out into laughter before a knock interrupted the hilarious scene before her. She walked over to the door and opened it. A small brunette girl, probably around twelve or thirteen years old, on the other side of the door held a futon in her arms, with a cart full of food next to her in the hall. She gave a slight bow before speaking, "I'm Mina, Yuko's granddaughter. I brought you an extra futon and some food."

Kurenai smiled warmly at the girl before stepping out of the way to let the girl inside. "Thank you so much. Please let your grandmother know we appreciate it."

Mina nodded once before entering the room, setting the food on the table and the futon nearby on the floor, quickly exiting again. She turned and looked back at Kiba before blushing and rushing down the hall.

"Aww, man," said Kiba as he stared at the food on the cart. "This all looks so good and I'm starving!"

Namiko rolled her eyes, picking up the futon and walked towards the larger bedroom. "You're always hungry."

Kiba shot her a small glare, then shrugged his shoulders as he watched her disappear into the bedroom. "I'm just a growing boy, and Akamaru needs to grow more too. One day he'll be big enough for me to ride!"

"Really?" Hinata asked with wide lavender eyes. She and Kurenai placed all the food on the table.

"Ninken can be all different breeds and sizes, but Akamaru will be probably around seventy kilos or so by the time he's fully grown." Kiba took a seat again next to Kou, picking up a piece of tamagoyaki and taking a large bite.

Namiko strolled back in, rolling her eyes at Kiba. "You couldn't wait?" she said as she sat down between Hinata and Kiba.

"Shut up," replied Kiba with a full mouth of rice.

Food was passed around and then Kou spoke up quietly, "Can he really get that big? Does he actually help you fight or anything?"

Kiba quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Oh yeah! He'll be a beast when he's a little older. He already can fight with me, and we've been working on this jutsu called 'Man Beast Clone' where he transforms and looks just like me. We fight together and do everything else together too. We're never apart."

The younger boy's eyes shone with admiration. "That's so cool! I wish I had a ninken!"

"Eh, it's something pretty unique to my clan. My mom, sister, and I all raise them together. None are as special as Akamaru though." Kiba stated matter-of-factly, with Akamaru giving a happy little yip as he snuggled into Kiba's lap.

Kurenai cleared her throat before standing up. "Alright you four, we should all probably get some rest after the day we've had. We'll start back towards the daimyo's house bright and early tomorrow morning." Everyone agreed, going into their respective rooms, Kiba and Kou in the smaller and Kurenai, Namiko, and Hinata in the other room.

The following morning, just after dawn, the four shinobi and Kou gathered around the table again, going over their plans for the day.

"Namiko, I'd like for you and Kiba to take Kou and grab some extra supplies before we head out. Hinata and I will stay here and pack up everything." Kurenai said, handing Namiko a small bag to put in the supplies.

Namiko nodded, putting the bag over her shoulder and then strapping her weapons pouch to her right leg. "Okay, I'm ready when you two are. Kou-kun, how's your ankle feeling this morning?"

The young boy smiled as he stood up, sticking his foot out in front of him and rotating his ankle a couple times. "Much better. It's still a little sore, but I don't think walking on it will hurt too bad."

"Good! Come on Kiba-kun, let's go."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," said Kiba with a mouthful of toast. "You're so bossy sometimes."

Namiko lead the two boys to the main part of the tiny village. Different produce and pre-cooked food stalls lined the street, along with other shops selling textiles, jewelry, or other household goods. She turned and looked at the younger boy. "What kind of food do you like to eat? Since we can't travel as fast as normal, it'll probably take us about two or three days to get back to the daimyo. We'll need food that travels well, like fruit or onigiri."

Kou put his finger to his chin as he thought for a moment. "I like apples a lot, and I'm not picky about what filling is in onigiri."

"Okay," she said, turning to a nearby fruit vendor, "we'll grab a variety of things then." After grabbing some apples from the fruit vendor, she walked a short distance from the boys towards a stall with pre-made onigiri.

Kiba was mid-yawn when he noticed Kou had tensed. "What's wrong, Kou? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's them. It's the men who attacked me."

Kiba followed the boy's line of vision and saw two men at a neighboring stall, one with what looked to be the stolen kimono, trying to barter at the textile stall. Impulsively, Kiba left Kou and approached the men, "Heya fellas, you seem to have something that's not yours."

The taller and thinner of the two men turned to him, sizing him up before turning back away with a scoff. "What are you talking about, punk?"

Kiba narrowed his eyes. "That kimono. You stole it."

This time the stockier man who was holding the kimono laughed. "Ridiculous! This was my late wife's…"

"Bullshit," snapped Kiba as Akamaru growled from behind him. "You stole that from a boy yesterday and left him injured! He could've been hurt or even died if we hadn't found him!"

Namiko heard the commotion and walked back over to Kou to investigate, whispering to him. "What is going on?"

Kou's eyes were wide with fear. "Those are the men that attacked me yesterday. I told Kiba and he decided to take things into his own hands."

Namiko handed Kou the bag with the supplies in it. "Go back to Kurenai-sensei and tell her what's going on. I'm going to stay here and make sure no one does anything stupid…" She glanced up right as she saw Kiba's fist connect with stocky man's face. "…like that. Hurry and get her, Kou!" Namiko pushed the boy lightly in the direction of the inn, and groaned as she started jogging over to Kiba and the men.

"You piece of shit. What're you attacking us for?" said the stocky man, holding his jaw where Kiba hit him.

"I told you! You attacked a kid yesterday and stole that kimono from him!" Anger practically rolled off Kiba and Akamaru in waves. "Give it back, and maybe I'll go easy on you two."

The taller man spoke, "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba, a Konoha shinobi. You need to give that back right now!"

The men both laughed heartily and the stocky one spoke again, "Yuji, this kid isn't worth our time. He's probably not even out of the academy."

"Seriously? Do you not see the actual ninja headband?" Kiba said incredulously, pointing towards his hitai-ate.

The taller man, Yuji, scoffed and shoved past Kiba aggressively. "Yuta, let's just go. We can sell it at a bigger town for a higher profit." Yuta decided to follow Yuji and pushed Kiba as well as he walked by him.

Akamaru growled and Kiba saw red. He lunged towards the men and tackled both to the ground. Before either man could react, Kiba held a kunai to the back of Yuji's neck while Akamaru jumped on top of Yuta's head. Yuta recovered first, attempting to stand, but Akamaru scratched and bit his head, keeping him in a kneeling position.

Yuta grabbed a small dagger from his pocket and swung at Akamaru, knocking him off, finally allowing him to stand. "You're making this whole thing more troublesome than it's worth. Maybe we should just eliminate you…"

Namiko stood several meters away, frozen. 'What am I supposed to do? These men are so much larger than me. This mission wasn't supposed to have combat! Kiba-kun, why do you have to be so impulsive? Ugh, I need to do something…'

She decided to channel her 'inner' Naruto and Kiba, and act a little impulsive herself. Namiko ran as fast as she could and knocked the dagger out of his hand, landing in a fighting stance. "You're really going to kill a couple 'kids' over a stupid kimono? I would say I'm surprised but then seeing how you hurt an eight year old to get the kimono in the first place, I'm not really surprised."

"What are you going to do about it, pipsqueak? You couldn't be more than ten!" laughed Yuta heartily.

"I'm twelve! I may be short for my age, but I'm still a Konoha kunoichi!" Namiko glared at the man before her.

"It doesn't matter anyways, you two are nothing to us." Yuta reached towards Kiba to pull him off Yuji.

Before he could make contact, Kiba quickly swept his leg and knocked Yuta back off his feet. "Akamaru! Man Beast Clone!" Yuta didn't even have time to turn his head before he was pinned to the ground by a feral 'Kiba'. The real Kiba, who was still pinning Yuji to the ground at kunai-point, smirked and cockily said, "I told you we were real ninja."

Namiko walked over to the scene, shaking her head. "Was it really worth all this? These 'kids' just kicked your butt." She leaned over to pick the fallen kimono package off the ground near Yuji and Kiba. Yuji swiftly reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade, and stabbed Namiko in her right arm. Namiko let out a small yelp and promptly pulled the blade from her arm, tossing it away from the men. She clamped her left hand over the wound, trying fervently to stop the bleeding.

Just then, Kurenai showed up with Hinata and Kou not far behind. Kou froze and hid slightly behind Hinata, fear etched all over his face. That was all the confirmation Kurenai needed, the two men before her were the ones who injured the young boy. "I see you two have found our thieves." Noticing the blood coming from Namiko's arm, she glanced at her pupil before turning her attention back to the men pinned by Kiba. "I see you two men have no problem drawing blood over something so trivial. Namiko, are you okay?"

Namiko nodded before answering, "I'm fine. He missed anything major."

Kurenai knelt in front of the men, smiling sweetly. "Excuse me, gentlemen," called out Kurenai in a saccharine-sweet tone of voice, "I believe you have something belonging to the Fire Daimyo."

Yuji's eyes widened and visibly paled. "The- the daimyo?"

Yuta sighed, "What do you want from us?"

Kurenai's smile faded. "Just the kimono. I won't bring you in, but I will definitely be committing your faces to memory and mentioning your involvement to the daimyo and the Hokage. Especially since you hurt an innocent child and one of my students." Her eyes held a coldness that Team 8 hadn't seen before.

Yuji shouted, "Take it! Just let us go!"

Kurenai picked up the package and stood next to Namiko. "Kiba, Akamaru, let them go."

Kiba's eyes held a questioning look as he slowly got off of Yuji and Akamaru transformed back into his usual appearance, jumping off of Yuta. The two men hastily fled the marketplace and the village as well. Kiba let out a low growl, "We're just letting them leave? What about what they did to Kou?"

Kurenai gave a sad smile. "Unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do to punish civilians for things like this. Our job as shinobi is to protect civilians, not be their police force. Konoha actually had a police force a few years back, but it was ended after the attack on the Uchiha."

Namiko tilted her head to the side curiously. "Why is that?"

"The Uchiha were the ones in charge of the Konoha Police Force, so when the attack happened on their clan, the police force died out too," Kurenai stated simply.

Hinata walked over to Namiko, Kou not far behind her. "Namiko-chan, we should probably wrap your arm."

Namiko glanced down at her wound, noticing it seemed shallower than she thought. "No, I think I'm okay. It already stopped bleeding. It must have been not as deep as it looked."

'Or the kyuubi helps her heal, which is far more likely.' Kurenai took a breath in and continued, "Anyways, we should start heading back to the daimyo. Everyone ready?"

The group all nodded and off they went.

They arrived at the daimyo's mansion a day later thanks to Kiba deciding to carry Kou part of the way to make things easier on the younger boy. Futaba rushed out once she saw the group returning. "Kou!" she cried as she hugged her little brother as tight as she could. "Don't ever leave me again! I was so worried about you."

Kou hung his head, brunette locks hiding his eyes from his sister. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to get some money so we didn't have to stay here. I took the kimono to sell." He gently handed the packaged kimono to her.

She took the wrapped package and set it on the engawa behind her. Futaba's eyes softened as she knelt down to look him in the eyes. "Kou, it's okay. We'll figure something out. Now to figure out how to explain it to Tanaka-sama…"

"Oh, don't worry about explaining it to me…" a regal-sounding voice came from behind the siblings. "Effective immediately, you two are no longer working here. Pack your things immediately and leave."

Futaba stood and bowed deeply. "Yes sir. I apologize for my brother's behavior and I pray you take no further action."

The daimyo waved his hand dismissively. "No, just leave and don't come back." He picked up the package, turned and walked back into his home.

Hinata was surprisingly the one to break the silence. "I'm so sorry…"

Futaba shrugged and sighed heavily. "Honestly, I'm not. I'm thankful to be free of him. Maybe I should see what Konoha has to offer?"

Namiko grinned brightly. "There's lots! Are you planning on coming with us?"

"Not yet, it'll take me a bit to pack our things and prepare to leave. We'll look for you when we come to Konoha though. Thank you so much for getting Kou back safely, I can never repay you for that." Futaba looked relieved.

"All in a day's work," said Kiba, winking at the older girl.

Futaba rolled her eyes at Kiba's comment and waved as Team 8 started back towards Konoha. "I'm sure we'll see them again. Right, Kou?"

The young boy grinned at her. "Right!"

A/N: Okay, this ended up being a beefy chapter! I was not expecting to write almost 6,000 words in this chapter. It makes me realize that probably I'm going to have several chapters like this that I didn't expect. Let me know in a review if you want those chapters to be bigger like this one or to maybe cut them in half to make them easier to read. Also, can anyone figure out where I got Kou and Futaba's names? Thanks for reading and please review! -Eriisu