*A/N: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters mentioned, they belong to Kishimoto. :(

Fire Country Capital: Hinata's POV

Well, we made it. The Capital is not all that different from Konoha, just without the Hokage tower and the monument. The usually bustling streets with horse-drawn carts and merchants ready to make a sale. Several stalls of people laughing and conversing while dining outside. Nothing too different. Kiba's walking to my right as Shino is on my left, Kurenai sensei is in the lead as our charges are behind us, looking around the area in curiosity, forgetting about what transpired not too long ago some distance back. However, they may have forgotten or at least moved on from it, but I for some reason still haven't. From the moment my palm laced with chakra landed on that man, I have not been able to comprehend everything around me. So much has happened, everything is moving so fast to me. The people around me seem to be moving at double the speed as I seem to be standing still. Surely I prepared to kill before while training and hunting bunnies, but this…This is something different. I feel so numb to it, to my actions, but I shouldn't feel this way, I should be balling my eyes out or something. I don't like that I had to end his life, but, I just…couldn't stop myself. At that moment I hated that man, but what if he had a family? What if he was at some time in the past a great person who happened to go down a dark path? Did I play Kami in that situation? Did I have the right to make that judgment on his life? Over and over again these thoughts rushed around my head like a raging river as my team and I made our way to the Daimyo's palace which ended up being like the Hokage's tower in size but slightly different in design. Either way, I am not necessarily in the mood to judge architecture.

I look up to the back of my sensei as she is trying to spark up a conversation with Shino, which is going decently well, I guess. I mean, Shino used to be pretty much completely silent back at the academy, only saying anything when I greeted him. Now, well…he is still somewhat silent, but in a more, umm, introverted way. He now occasionally opens up dialog and can keep a conversation going for a bit longer than one word, but he's still…Shino. Surely, Kurenai sensei had to kill someone before. She wouldn't be a jonin in any other way. What did she do though? How did she deal with it? Uh, I don't even know, I just want to get back to my room in the compound, I need to write about this to get this out of my mind, maybe I should make a song or something about this, is not like I have been paying too much attention to writing these days. As my team and charges finally reach the front gate to the palace, guarded by a couple of guards with a stern face, looking at us with a questioning gaze. "Are you the team sent by Konoha for asset collection?" Asked the brown-haired one to the right after stepping to stand in front of Kurenai with a bow. "We are, however, we ran into a bit of…trouble along the way, we eliminated the threat to the lives of these people here, and they said that they were originally coming here," Kurenai stated to the man as he widened his eyes slightly. "Are there any injuries?" He asked. Kurenai shook her head, "None, we are all fine, it wasn't much to handle."

As Kurenai sensei reported to the guard our situation, the other guard, a somewhat short man with short, black hair walked up to our charges, "Are you all fine? He asked. I glanced backward at the woman and child that I had helped save earlier, earning a small smile from both of them. "We're fine, the young woman here helped save us, back there." I nodded with my face feeling slightly hot for whatever reason, "I took care of one of the targets, he seemed to be nothing more than a common bandit." The man sighed, "I see, I commend you for your service young one, I shall take it from here while you and your sensei focus on your mission." He said with a bow, which was slightly weird due to him being a few inches shorter than me. I bowed in response out of respect as he then moved to escort the family elsewhere. I watched as the young boy turned back to wave back at me, I waved back slowly with a small smile as they walked off. With an internal sigh, I turned back to our sensei as she ushered us to follow her to what I assume is the office of the Daimyo. As we walked to the Daimyo's office I couldn't help but think about Naruto and how he must be doing on his mission unless the lucky ramen addict is already back in the village, I had some serious catching up to do. Actually, I got some catching up to do with my clan, now that I have graduated and the chunin exams are coming up, I need to start studying our clan's politics, finances, and other clan head bullshit. Uh, this is gonna be tough.

Fire Capital Daimyo's Palace: Hinata's POV

Finally walking through the door to the office of the Daimyo, I immediately turned to glare at the "demon cat", that my team had to catch multiple times. The damned feline stares back at me for a moment and then has the nerve to start licking its furry butthole, dismissing my presence as if I am nothing. With an internal groan, I turned back to bow in front of the Daimyo with my team, showing at least some respect the this demon whorshipper. "Ah, you must be the team sent here to collect the budget documents, correct?" The short man with a long beard asked, blowing out smoke from a pipe. Kurenai sensei stepped forward, "Yes sir, we did run into slight trouble along the way here, but my team dealt with it without much issue, we collected hostages as well, but they have been escorted by your guards." The man nodded, "I see, I appreciate the work of your team, heres the documents, they are sealed in this scroll, I'm sure you all want to get back as soon as possible for the chunin exams, eh?" He asked with a slight smile as he handed over the scroll. We all nodded with a bark from Akamaru, "Yes sir." We said in unison, "Ah, I see, very interesting, one from the fabled Inuzuka clan, another from the noble Abarame clan, and one from the famous Hyuuga clan, all clan heirs." We all nodded slightly awkwardly, not used to compliments. Well, almost all of us, as Kiba gets into a cocky pose, chest poked out until Kurenai pokes him in the side, deflating his pride, "Indeed, but we must get back so they can train and eventually reach their true potential." She said with a smirk and an evil look towards Kiba, causing him to shiver in fear of the hardest training we would be doing. We all bowed the made our way out of the tower. With a yawn, I stretched my arms out slightly, enjoying the setting sunlight. "Alright, we need to make it back in a few days, let's get an inn here to rest, we move out tomorrow morning." Said Kurenai. We nodded as we started our way towards the nearest inn.

Fire Capital Inn: Hinata's POV

Finding an inn, we split into two rooms, Kurenai sensei seeming to want a bit of private time with her insisting on being with me, probably about what happened earlier with my behavior. After checking into our room and setting down our packs and weapons, I immediately sat down on the bed that I chose with a sigh, absolutely tired from the work of the day. I closed my eyes imagining myself sitting near a fire with some tea and cinnamon buns in my presence, filling my nose with the smell of true heaven, the only real heaven, not one filled with mediocre salty noodles of the disbelievers. "Hinata, I know you are still affected by what happened, it would be good if you could explain to me a bit more, you have been spacing out and we cannot have that while on any mission." Said a deep, velvety voice as I felt the bed shift as Kurenai sensei sat down beside me. I opened my eyes in slight annoyance as my inner prayers to the Gods of delicacy were interrupted, turning to face Kurenai's daring red eyes. "I know, I've tried to forget about it but…" I said with a sigh. Kurenai nodded, "You will never forget your first kill, unfortunately. Trust me, it doesn't get any easier." She stated sagely.

I sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating what she said and what that meant for my future in this profession. As Kurenai was about to get up I stopped her with a question, "How…how did you do it?" I asked. Kurenai looked back at me questioningly, "Do what exactly?" She asked. "How did you do on your first kill? How did you handle your…feelings with it?" I continued. Kurenai sat facing me with an unreadable expression, seemingly remembering her experience. With a sigh, she said, "It was just after the last shinobi war, I was just getting out of the academy with loads of optimism. My father told me many times about some of the great things he was able to do, creating illusions out of nothing, making his enemy so confused that he practically won before any fight. My father inspired me to get into genjutsu since he was once one of the top ninjas in Konoha for genjutsu." I sat enamored with her story, "Who was your father's inspiration, we all have people we look up to, right?" I asked. She nodded and continued, 'Indeed, we all should have someone who can motivate us to be better, my father once said someone named Toka Senju was his main inspiration, she wrote a book some time ago about the art of genjutsu."

"Toka Senju?" I asked in confusion. Kurenai nodded again, "Yeah, she's not very known due to living at the same time when both our first Hokage, Hashirama sama, and the second Hokage, Tobirama sama were alive, but was a bit in their shadow in terms of popularity, but she was perhaps one of the best genjutsu masters in history." Kurenai finished. "Wow. That's cool." I chirped out. Kurenai laughed sightly, "We are getting slightly off-topic, aren't we? I'm more concerned about you, Hinata. As your sensei, I have to make sure you are fully engaged in our missions or it can be a hazard for you and your teammates." At those words, I looked down nodding in understanding, and sat in silence, continuing to listen to her. "My first time wasn't too different to you, it was just after the great war so most nations were busy trying to rebuild and weren't trying too much to test one another. It was a border reconnaissance mission near an outpost North of Konoha, had to take care of a few bandits collecting stolen goods from a nearby town, they decided to get violent, and we had to respond. Our sensei gave us the freedom to strategize and act while he waited just in case." She said as I looked back up at her. She sighed, "Unfortunately I had no choice but to plant a kunai into the back of his neck since one of my teammates was cornered by him and was frozen. After that, I had to move away to puke my guts out in the nearest bush, I was completely shocked by everything and just…reacted." She finished with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "Oh…I see. But why did you react that way?" I asked. She smiled slightly, "I guess, we all react differently, but like I said, as long as you do not feel good to do it, you are likely still sane and it's normal." She continued.

"Hinata, I'm curious…" She stated. I looked on questioning, "About what?" She continued to smile, "I'm curious about who inspires you the most, it may help you in the future, this job doesn't get easier after all. It's always good to have someone who can motivate you." I sat frozen for a second staring into the distance, trying to come up with someone. Hanabi really helped me in my darker times but she is still young and has time to grow stronger. Naruto is pretty cool with his optimism. But I can think of many current shinobi who inspire me…well…except…"Kurenai sensei, I…I had a tough life growing up. My father would often beat me without remorse as the rest of my clan looked at me with pity as if I was nothing." I said looking down as Kurenai looked at me with a slightly stunned face. "I tried everything, I tried to please my father so much that I completely lost myself in insecurity, I was never good enough for him no matter what I did." I took a deep breath and sighed, then continued, "It was until I finally defeated him in a sparring match to decide my future as clan head, that my sister, Hanabi was a great motivator, but also the fact that half of my family are still considered slaves. When I become clan head in a few years, I will end that accursed tradition of the branch family and the caged bird seal. They are my family, and we will one day be united under the same name, with no exceptions." I started with a determined look on my face.

If Kurenai's face couldn't get more surprised, it would be a record. Her face quickly went from shock to disgust and to pride at my words as she smiled brightly, "Woah, I…I didn't know you went through so much, I guess that means you're pretty strong, aren't you?" I blushed slightly looking at her bright smile and compliments, "I…I guess so." I said looking off to the side at the window of our room. She continued, "So it was your sister and family situation that kept you going, is that still the case?" I sat quietly for a moment and nodded hesitantly, "Yeah, but I still feel as if I'm missing something like I need someone who is already a powerful ninja so I can measure my strength against, well…" I said as I turned back to Kurenai, "You're…um…you're strong, and I can't think of many other strong kunoichi in Konoha…" I studdered out with my cheeks turning red hot. Kurenai blushed slightly, "Aw, thanks, but I am your sensei, I guess I'm supposed to be a bit of a role model to my students, right?" She said with a smirk and continued, "Unfortunately, it is true that there aren't as many great women as there are men, our society and line of work is still pretty segregated. But we shall see, I believe that the future will get better for everyone, that's why we fight as ninjas, so future generations don't have to waste their time fighting these wars and can focus more on progress as people." She finished as I nodded in agreement. Kurenai turned to the clock, "Wow, we do need to get ready to head out tomorrow, let's get ready for rest, I'm gonna take a quick bath, and Hnata…please try to remember that it is not your fault, this is just the reality of our job, it isn't really that pretty, but we have to keep going." She said as she got up to take a bath. I couldn't help but watch her get up as I checked out her long, unruly hair flowing down to her lower back and saw her tight, firm muscles in her strange-looking dress that seemed to fit her perfectly. As she walked away slightly swaying her hips in a confident manner towards the bathroom, I turned away with a boiling face, I seriously need to get away from Kiba, that damned pervert is corrupting me.

Inn Bathroom: Kurenai's POV

The feeling of hot water after a few days of traveling without bathing feels about as good as you can probably imagine. Laying in the tub after my conversation with Hinata answered a few questions that I had been curious about for a while. She gained my interest on the first day that I met her. The skills and abilities that she displayed were not of normal genin. Kiba and Shino were great, but they are still genin level and have lots of growth to do. But Hinata, she's different. No genin should be able to keep up with me in a chase when I'm nearly going full speed and hiding with advanced genjutsu that even many Hyuuga may struggle to dispel. She is definitely no normal genin, and she is definitely no normal person. To be hated by most of your clan, and to be constantly berated by your own father. To deal with that for so long at such a young age, she is strong beyond imagination. She wants to unite her clan after years of slavery, to have a noble goal after years of scorn and hatred, yet she doesn't have hatred for them, hardly any anger either, if she did, I would have been able to see it in her eyes, but there was none. Just fiery determination. Indeed, she is already strong, but will probably grow into a real force in the future.

I lean my head back on the tub looking up at the ceiling with some drops of water running down my face and neck, at least, I think that may be water. Raising my hands and wiping my face, I couldn't help but slightly tase the droplets I caught, "Yep, salty, definitely not fresh water." With my curiosity calmed, I wiped away any remaining tears and worked to calm down as I finished my bath. After some time wiping off to dry, I walked back into the room to see Hinata passed out, likely tired from all of the work of today. With a slight giggle, I move to cover her with her blanket and make my way to my bed for some much-needed rest after taking off my dress.

Fire Capital Front Gates: Hinata's POV

Morning came too fast as I had to quickly wash up and join up with my team as we made our way to the front gates of the village. Well, it's time to get back home anyway, and do more work, how troublesome. After my inner complaining was over I tuned back into reality to keep focus on the mission, I cannot afford to let my team get ambushed due to my absent-mindedness. We then set off down the beaten path on our way back to the village.

Konoha, 4 Days Later: Hinata's POV

"So you see, Hinata sama, that is why it is important to not take anything at face value. In the game of politics, a smile will always come with crossed fingers behind the back, always know who you are dealing with at all times, know thy enemy well and it will be unlikely for you to lose against them." Stated Tetsuo, one of the higher-ranking Hyuuga court members pacing around the library. As expected, I got to learn more about the many ins and outs of being a clan head. From finances, resource management, conflict resolution, and of course, the courts or what I like to call, "political peacocking". The more I learn the more frustrated I become at the blatant bullshit that goes on in politics, the happiness of the many can easily get outweighed by an extra ryu. Money pretty much runs everything in this game. It's sickening. No wonder we have so many issues in the world if this little piece of paper is the motivating factor behind so much of what politics is. I sat with my legs crossed at a sit-down desk with my head resting on my right hand, paying half a mind to Tetsuo's lesson about emotional control and reading underneath the exterior. Very troublesome indeed.

In other news, Naruto seems to be pretty different after his mission. It seems he is the luckiest unlucky person on Earth, as soon as he gets his first mission, the poor boy had to face off against an A-ranked missing-nin and almost got killed himself by some ice-wielding ninja, Haku, I believe was the name. Well, at least he and his team seem to be doing fine, he just seems to be a bit more…tame…or…calm. I don't really know, but Naruto definitely seems to know the reality of being a ninja more than ever before. He's changed so much that he even thanked me for telling him to ditch the jumpsuit before the mission, realizing that it would've made him look, "Totally uncool in front of Sakura chan on their first real mission as a real ninja." Oh well, we both found out the real world I guess, but the chunin exams are coming up and I need to get through this torturous lesson.

End of Chapter