Contrary to my beliefs, I didn't do most of the missions with Team 7. Instead, my time was evenly split between doing mission and training with either Hiashi-sama or Sarutobi-sensei. The latter seemed to run me to my limits every time he could although recently, I felt that he was running out of ways to teach me. That said, he had a few of his ANBU ta train me when he was busy and it was worth it. Due to my multi-elemental affinity, I could reproduce a lot of Kekkei Genkai and my Ranton was among the first that I had discovered. Sarutobi-sensei had advised me to generally use the Ranton with some basic Mokuton for a more of a befitting covering story for a Hyuuga ninjutsu prodigy who inherited Shodaime's Kekkei Genkai. His personal ANBU, Kinoe-san was immensely helpful with his lesson and despite the mask he wore, I had memorized his chakra signature so that if he ever showed up unmasked, I would thank him personally. Sarutobi-sensei had suggested to me that the Mokuton should be used for a dire situation only. Sensei and I had managed to test out all sorts of nature transformation which made me felt in awe of him; knowing this much jutsu to the detail. The moniker 'Professor' was truly justifiable for my sensei.

"I could only teach you that much, Hikari. Already, I am running out of things to teach. You need to learn the chakra nature transformation from the person that is familiar to a particular nature. Regrettably, we don't have much of them in our village," Sarutobi-sensei said as he smoked his pipe after one of our training sessions.

"You've already taught me so much, Sensei. For that, I am greatly indebted. Besides, all of this knowledge, it is far more valuable than gold itself," I tried to soothe him. He took another puff of his pipe and laughed lightly.

"How are things with Team 7?" Sarutobi-sensei asked. I let out a chuckle.

"Sasuke and Naruto are itching to get a better mission. Kakashi-sensei can only hold them back so much. Though, I understand that they needed to work up their way through it to earn it," I said.

"I don't know. Maybe my clone would give in to their wishes sooner or later. I'd love to see the children grew up and prosper for much longer and here they are impatient to face the cruel ninja world," he said and we both laughed.

"I concur, sensei. Youth these days, they went through their everyday life with the gusto that could be called craziness in my time," I commented.

"Well, you managed to blend in alright," my sensei suggested.

"I wouldn't say that I am alright per se, let's just that I nag like an old woman every time Naruto did something insane. Anyway, you know, I really miss my mother. I had always wished that I could go back and be with her. But now, I just take what I had and make do with it. One shouldn't dwell too much on the past, I had accepted that. Besides, the Hyuuga's hospitality was one I could never able to pay in return. Let's just say that I have a responsibility here now. There are a lot of people I need to watch over," I said as I looked into the clouds.

"Part of your 'one who wields chakra will quest for more' motto?" he ventured and I grinned.

"Not to blow your horn, old friend. Your people here are remarkable and truly formidable in the way of chakra and ninshu. I promised that I will protect them to the best of my ability. It's the least that I can do for returning your favour," I said.

"What do you expect? Should I leave a boy living alone in the forest? Or send him to the slammers?" My sensei chuckled.

"If not only for that prophecy, I would be rotting in solitary confinement right now. Which reminds me, when Jiraiya-san will come home? I've been itching to go to Myoboku-zan," I asked.

"About that, his toads just notified me that Jiraiya was in deep recon mission. I couldn't reach him with a summon. But he will turn up to report me if he can manage," Sensei answered. Then a brown dog turned up from the forest in front of us.

"Pakkun? What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" The Hokage asked.

"Hokage-sama, Hikari-kun is invited to join Team 7 on their first C-rank in two hours from now. They will be escorting the bridge builder, Tazuna-san to Nami no Kuni. The mission will take a few weeks to complete," Pakkun said and both of us smiled. I stood up and bowed at the dog.

"Thank you, Pakkun-san. I accept. I will have to go home first to fetch my thing," I said and the dog bid us goodbye before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"You will be going out of Konoha. Will you be alright?" Sarutobi-sensei inquired and I bowed and nodded.

"Well, I am curious to see the other part of this world. Ask anyone who wouldn't like going on a trip," I joked and he laughed.

"Well, none if you don't count us old uns," my sensei barked out a laughed. I said goodbye to him before retreating to the Hyuuga compound. When I reached there, I immediately went in to meet Hiashi-sama. I found him training Hanabi-chan in our dojo. Hanabi-chan was recently named the heiress to the clan instead of Hinata. Hinata, however, had no hard feelings regarding it--instead, she was proud of Hanabi-chan. But she did feel an urge to prove herself to her father. I had no objection to that, of course. I entered the dojo and sat down to bow at them.

"Hiashi-sama, I will be going on a mission outside of the village for a couple of weeks," I said and they stopped training before they sat next to me. Hanabi-chan, of course, went immediately onto my lap and made it her seat. I rustled her hair.

"Safe travels then. Honestly, why do you feel the need to tell me everything? You're free to come and go as you please," Hiashi said curtly.

"Well, it wouldn't be polite if I leave without saying a word. I was raised to know better. Also, I hope that you would ease up a bit on Hinata," I looked at him in the eyes and he let a small smile on his lips.

"Parents have always set a certain expectation for their children. She must fight her way through her weakness to redeem herself," he explains in a cryptic manner and a muted 'oh' escaped my lips. He was trying to help with her shyness.

"Oni-chan, have a safe journey," Hanabi-chan said and I grinned at her.

"I hoped that our Juken will protect you all the way," Hiashi said and I bowed to him.

"I wouldn't want to make my senseis disappointed or else I might get one hell of a time if I didn't live up to expectation," we both chuckled after I said it. I was lucky to be taught some simple Fuinjutsu, so I took no time at all to pack as I stored most of it in a scroll. I decided to take a bath to refresh myself first before heading out there.

"Off on a mission?" someone said when I tied my sandals. I turned around and saw Neji was coming at me bringing his sandals.

"Yes, we're going to Nami no Kuni. Sorry, I can't talk long. I am running late," I hurriedly stand and held out a hand to him. Neji just chuckled and grabbed my forearm.

"Good luck, Hikari-kun," he said as I ran towards the gate and I yelled goodbye in return. I used my abnormal speed to reach the gate and I was relieved to see that they were just going to move out. I immediately stopped behind them and the gust of wind that followed me blew past them. Sakura coughed due to the dust.

"Hikari-kun, glad you could make it! I've packed some extra instant ramen for us!" Naruto said and we both high fived. He was rather elated with the prospect that he was going out of the village for the first time in his life.

"Hikari-kun, can't you make your entrance a little less fancy," Sakura complained and I grinned at her.

"Sorry, Sakura. I was late and I freaked out so I ran here the fast I could," I said as Kakashi-sensei clunked me in the head, "Ow!"

"A ninja must be punctual, idiot!" he said and we all shouted back in return.

"Speak for yourself, sensei!" Naruto, Sakura and I screamed and Kakashi-sensei just laughed at us. Then, we officially resumed our journey.

We were a few hours in our journey when Sakura began to engage in a conversation with Tazuna-san--a drunk old man with sass. I had felt some sort of uneasiness for the past ten minutes but I kept my mouth shut about it.

"No, not in the wave country, but in most other countries, the culture and customs may be different but hidden village exist and so do ninjas," Kakashi-sensei was answering Sakura's questions that I didn't hear. My uneasiness still grew and failed to recede as I subtly glance around to survey our surroundings, forgotten for a moment, the fact that I have Byakugan.

"But, don't worry. There won't be any ninja combat in a C-rank mission," Kakashi-sensei patted her head.

"Then, we won't come in contact with foreign ninjas?" Sakura excitedly said and the sensei smiled widely.

"Of course not!! Hahahaha!!" he said. I saw Tazuna-san involuntary winced at the words but my eyes turned to a puddle on the road.

"A puddle in the middle of the day? Strange," I said to myself.

I looked up and saw Kakashi-sensei gave me a look than a hand signal.

"Keep quiet and follow my lead," it said. I am glad that Sarutobi-sensei had taught me that, the Konoha ANBU's hand signal. He had always maintained that it was important for a ninja to know such things as it helped facilitate the success of a mission if stealthiness is the key to the success of the mission. So, I kept my mouth shut and continued our journey.

Suddenly, chains were wrapped around Kakashi-sensei. All of us were surprised by the two newcomers that appeared before us.

"One down," the first one said and on cue, they pulled the chains--Kakashi-sensei was torn to pieces. Sakura immediately screamed and Naruto froze in his place.

"Kakashi sensei!" he managed to scream.

"Guys, formation!" I yelled as I immediately stood in front of Tazuna-san. But we didn't have time to respond as they appeared behind Naruto. I could see that they were very relentless in their attacks, they wanted to finish their mission no matter what. This was beyond my teammate's ability.

"Naruto! Move your ass!" I yelled but he was still frozen in his spot.

"Two down," the attacker taunted and they made move on Naruto. I couldn't react in time for that as I couldn't leave Tazuna-san with Sakura alone.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit," I cursed in my mind, bracing for the immediate threat on Naruto.

Sasuke suddenly threw a kunai at Naruto aiming at the chains. The kunai managed to lodge the chains on the trees. Our attacker was surprised but Sasuke wasn't stopping there. He had gripped their metal gloves and used it as a leverage to kick their faces. Unfazed, the men released the chains from their knuckles and changed their direction--one of them rushed towards me and Sakura while the other one towards Naruto.

"Naruto! Move, damn it!" I yelled as Sakura moved to block the man's charge towards Tazuna-san.

"Sir, get back," she yelled and I immediately stepped forward and shoving them behind me. Sasuke appeared next to me. The man was instantly caught in someone's death grip. It was Kakashi-sensei. Tazuna-san appeared to let out a huff of relief.

"Naruto, sorry for not helping you right away. I got you injured. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move. Anyway, nice job Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei said.

"Sorry for not helping you right away," I mocked as I relaxed my stance, "you hid while your students were facing them alone."

Kakashi-sensei let out a nervous laugh.

"I have to know which of us they were aiming. Which brings us to, Tazuna-san? You and I need to talk," he reasoned.

"You all right, Mr Scaredy cat?" Sasuke smugly asked. Naruto was pissed but Kakashi-sensei was quick to dispel the tension that was building between the two.

"Naruto, save it for later. Their claws are soaked in poison. We have to remove it quickly," he said. I immediately reach into my bags.

"Come here," I said to Naruto and he complied solemnly.

"You need to open up the wound and release the poisoned blood from your body. Don't move much or the poison will spread through your body," sensei instructed as I go through my bag in search of my first aid kit.

"These guys are Chuunin-class ninja from Kiri. They are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter what," Kakashi-sensei turned to the tied up ninja on the ground.

"...how did you read our movements?" one man asked and I just had snorted.

"A puddle in a humid day like this? You guys must be idiots, " I said.

"Yeah, and it hasn't been raining in days too," Kakashi-sensei concurred.

"Why did you let the brats fight when you knew that?" Tazuna-san asked.

"As I said, I needed to find out who the target that these two were after. We haven't heard that there are ninjas after you. Our mission was to simply protect you from thieves or gangs. This has now become at least a B-rank mission. This was supposed to be simple protection until you completed the bridge. If it was known that ninjas were after you, this mission would have been an expensive B-rank. I'm sure you have a reason, but it causes problems when you lie about the mission details. We are now operating outside our duties," Kakashi said and Tazuna-san was silent throughout.

"We aren't ready for this mission. Let's quit! We will need medicine for Naruto's wound. We should go back to the village and take him to the doctor," Sakura nervously said. It was clear that she was shaken from this. Our sensei hummed as he considered.

"This might be too much. I guess we should return to the village to treat Naruto," Kakashi-sensei said. I didn't notice Naruto's expression but he immediately withdrew a kunai and stabbed his wound. All of us were taken aback by it.

"Naruto, what are you doing!?" Sakura yelled.

"With this kunai..." Naruto gritted, "I'll protect the old man. We're continuing the mission."

"Naruto, it's good that you are releasing the poison, but any more and you'll die from lack of blood very quickly," our sensei said as his eyes creased from his wide smile under the mask. Naruto seemed to get the picture and he started to get panicked and I stood up to reach for him.

"No! That's bad! I can't die from something like that!" he yelled in panic and I gave him I good clunk on the head.

"Sit your ass down. Let me fixed you up," I said. I took a gauze cloth, soaked it in Hinata's ointment that was supplied to me just for Naruto and wiped out the blood of his wound.

"Naruto, are you a masochist? What are you thinking?!" Sakura scolds him. My attention was at his wound and it was already healing itself with a slow hiss. I frowned in puzzlement because I knew that was not normal for a human. My head turned to face Kakashi-sensei and I saw that he noticed it too.

"Uhmm, hey. Am I going to be ok?" Naruto asked nervously. Kakashi-sensei looked at him.

"You should be fine. Continue, Hikari," I nodded at his order and continued wiping out the wound before I was bandaging his hand.

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"Sensei, I have to talk to you," Tazuna-san suddenly said, "it's about this mission. You're right; this job is most likely outside of your duties. It turns out that a super dangerous man is after my life."

"Super dangerous man, who?" our sensei inquired and Tazuna-san sighed.

"You've probably at least heard of his name before. The wealthy shipping magnate, a man named Gatou," he said and Kakashi-sensei's eyebrow rose.

"Huh?! Gatou, from that Gatou Company? He's said to be the world's few extremely wealthy people," Kakashi-sensei said.

"Yes, officially he runs a large shipping company. But, secretly he sells drugs and other illegal items using ninja and gang members to take over businesses and countries. He's a very nasty man," Tazuna said and I immediately asked.

"What is a shipping company?" and they all fell at my question.

"A shipping company is an establishment that trade goods using ships; a vessel that moves on water," Kakashi-sensei said.

"It was about a year ago when he sets his eye on the Nami no Kuni. Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. Gatou now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge," Tazuna-san continued.

"I see since you're building the bridge. You're in the way," Sakura deduced.

"So, those ninjas were hired by Gatou?" Sasuke asked and despite all of Tazuna-san's words, Naruto was still clueless.

"But, what I don't understand is, if you know ninjas could be after you, why did you hide that fact when you hired us?" Kakashi-sensei asked. I knew where his answer would be. People in the quest for power often left nasty trails in their wake.

"With Gatou monopolizing the shipping routes, your economy suffered right?" I ventured.

"Yes, we don't have enough money either, not enough for the expensive B-Rank mission," Tazuna-san said. I sighed at the condition of his country. I doubt that the country was rich in the first place. Gatou being there must've had to worsen the condition.

"Well, if you quit the mission now. I will be killed. But don't worry about it!!" Tazuna-san laughed, "if I die, my cute 10 years old grandson will just cry for a few days."

"This guy is seriously going to pull the guilt card on us?" Sakura whispered at Naruto. A vein was popping on her forehead.

"Spineless, old man," I gritted. But I don't blame him. We were probably the closest and available help he could get.

"Well, I guess we have no choice. We will protect you at least until you get back to your country," Kakashi said to comfort the man.

We were on a fishing boat rowing towards the island. It had an engine but stealth was our major priority during the time.

"We'll be there soon. Tazuna, it looks like we've avoided detection so far, but just in case, we'll take the route that has vegetation. It will make the enemy harder to spot us," the fisherman said and Tazuna-san thanked him. When we reached the pier, the fisherman quickly ran away after we got ashore. I walked next to Naruto indulging in his enthusiasm. Suddenly, he threw a shuriken towards the bushes but nothing came out of it.

"Heh, just a rat," he said in the coolest way he can and Sakura immediately clunks him on the head.

"Stop trying to act cool!! There was nothing there!" she said.

"Hey... please stop using shuriken... it's seriously dangerous," Kakashi-sensei said nervously. Then I noticed a chakra signature from a spot for real. I was sure that Kakashi sensei noticed it too. Naruto threw the shuriken at the same spot we were both looking. Kakashi-sensei went there over the bushes to investigate. I went next to him.

"Can you see anyone?" he asked and on cue, veins were showing around my eyes.

"No, whoever they are. They're good," I said and then I saw something flying towards us.

"Get down!" I yelled as I took my stance and immediately spun my body to deflect the thing, "Hakke Sho Kaiten!"

With a loud bang, the thing flown and stuck onto the nearby tree, it was a large sword, easily taller than me. Then a man appeared on it; shirtless and had enormous chakra capacity.

"Well, well, if it isn't Kiri's missing-nin, Momochi Zabuza-kun," Kakashi-sensei addressed our new guest before he stopped Naruto that was going forward to attack our guest. "Everybody get back. This one is on a whole other level."

He then reached for his headband.

"It will be a little tough unless I do this," he said.