So... surprise! Hinata's Hero is back! It's also my 19th birthday today (Or at least, it will be when this chapter is uploaded (25/05/2020) - I'm adding the finishing touches three days before, but figured it'd be nice to wait a while and post on such a milestone.)

In regards to the hiatus itself, I can only offer my most sincere apologies for that decision. Since then I have only actually written about a hundred words or so of KtM before being more or less unable to do anything else. Instead of putting my creativity into where I wanted to (HH) Or where I felt I should have put it (KtM), I ended up creating and posting a couple of new fics. It was a huge mistake in all, but at the same time, leaving it for a while has helped me to mature as a person, and as such I hope to say that the content I output from now on is of a higher quality than it used to be.

Don't get your hopes up too far though - While it's true I'll be actively writing chapters for this fic once more, I still can't and won't promise any kind of consistency with my uploads. I've come to the decision to stop pushing myself to release chapters for others' sake, and instead working on when I feel that they're ready. Selfish I know, but I'm an adult now and I have adulting to do.

On that note, I have some news. I am in the process of starting up a digital art business! Since finally taking the plunge and buying a graphics tablet just before christmas, I have unlocked huge potential in my abilities and am now actively taking commissions where I can. Because of this change I'll be updating some of the old fan art, and in fact I've already done so with the drawing of Kurama. I'll upload that drawing on the cover on FF and within the reading space on AO3, when I upload this chapter - and if I forget to do so, shout at me ;-;

Anyway, enough with this super long author's note, it's time to get on with the chapter. It's been quite a while now, so I'm sorry if you're going to have to go back and read through a little bit. I'm hoping that the first few paragraphs ought to help jog your memory, though!

Shoot: 2

'Naruto isn't here.'

Ino tried her best to glance around the room without attracting anyone's attention, but to no avail she couldn't see the familiar mop of blond hair.

Despite his many attempts to escape the classroom, Ino couldn't think of a single day where Naruto simply hadn't shown up to class. He'd always been there, with the exception of that one afternoon where Iruka allowed him to leave.

The point was, this was the first time Naruto had been entirely absent, and Ino wasn't sure why but it worried her slightly.

'Damnit dad, why did you have to make me so good at reading someone's psychology!?"

Her eyes slid to where Iruka was calling out the register, seemingly unperturbed by his missing student. That fact alone served to calm her nerves a little; he'd been pretty close to Naruto for a while now, so if there'd been anything wrong, surely he'd have been the first to know.

Come to think of it, sensei seemed to be a lot happier today. Excitable, even.

"Ino Yamanaka."

"Here, sir!"

Ino realised with a start that Iruka had glossed over Naruto's name on the register, as if it wasn't even there anymore. What the hell was going on?

Before she could dare to ask about it, Iruka finished the register and began to speak.

"As I'm sure you'll know, we've been looking for a new teaching assistant since the incident that occurred last week." He stated. "Well I am pleased to tell you that we have finally found someone to replace him! He's going to be a little late today as he sorts out some paperwork, but I'm sure he'll be here soon enough."

The teacher glanced around the room, casting a mischievous eye towards his students before continuing.

"Now, I believe the name 'Kitsune-kun' should ring a bell for many of you, am I right?"

A series of mutters broke out around the room, and Iruka was forced to wait for a moment until the class quietened down once more.

"When this incident happened, we believed it to be in our best interest to keep the identity of this person a secret, and so we claimed not to know who it was that had fought so fearlessly against Mizuki. The event, however, allowed this person to be given a promotion, and so we – and by that I mean the hokage and his counsel – decided that it was only fair that the so-called Kitsune-kun was given the recognition he deserved." He continued. His voice was strong and stern, capturing the attention of everyone in the room as he spoke. "The truth is, if Kitsune-kun had not been in the right place at the right time, the sandaime's grandson would have been gravely injured or even killed, and Mizuki would have escaped from Konoha with very valuable intelligence.

"This afternoon, he will be recognised as an official hero of the village. But you kids get to hear about this early, because Kitsune-kun is our new teaching assistant! Ah, speaking of which, here he comes now."

The majority of the class turned their attention to the classroom door, where the faint sound of footsteps could be heard approaching. Their movements ceased directly in front of the door as they knocked; two sharp raps that echoed around the unusually silent classroom.

From the corner of her eye, Ino noticed Shino Aburame straighten up, a confused expression on what little of his face she could see. Almost immediately afterwards Kiba Inuzuka did the same as his puppy Akamaru whimpered quietly into his ear.

Sending her chakra away from her and towards the door, the blonde focused her attention. This was perhaps the most common Yamanaka technique that existed, and yet no one seemed to really bother with it. By stretching out the consciousness in a stream of chakra, the user could focus on a person and gather faint traces of their emotions, even tracing through objects to a small degree.

There was a strong sense of combined excitement and nervousness leaking through, which she supposed was to be expected given that they were the new assistant. But as she dug deeper, a wholly recognisable sadness began to appear, tinged with an undertone of loneliness and fear.

'What? No way!'

It had faded since the last time she'd felt that mix of emotion, but it was unmistakeable.

Iruka, having apparently decided that he'd created enough suspense, cleared his throat.

"I would like to introduce you to your new assistant sensei…"

The door opened, infuriatingly slow in its path as many of her classmates craned their neck forwards, trying to catch a glimpse of the new staff member.

"Mister Naruto Umino!"

Shock raced around the students like lightning as Naruto appeared, deep orange overcoat swishing behind him as he walked over to Iruka's desk. He allowed a sheepish grin to cross his face as he raised two fingers into a lazy salute, clearing his throat to greet the class…

And then the room exploded.

Incredulous shouts and garbled mutterings of disbelief filled the air as multiple students tried to make themselves heard. From her position in the center of the class, Ino could hear several iterations of "I don't believe it!" and "he's got to be lying!" echoed around her as she observed in silence.

For a fraction of a second their eyes met across the room as Naruto cast her a smile. Not the sheepish one he'd plastered onto his face before, but more of a sincere one. A friend smile.

It was rather strange how much… wiser Naruto looked with that hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead. Though, that fact only served to make Ino feel rather jealous too – how had a knucklehead like him been able to make genin before her, heir of a prestigious clan as she was!?

"So, uh…" Naruto began, every bit as awkward as he usually was. "It's gonna be weird if you all call me sensei, isn't it? So you can still call me Naruto!"

In stark contrast to the earlier din, the room was now deathly quiet as Naruto's former classmates hung on to his every word.

"Why do you have sensei's name?" Someone asked, voicing the question on everyone's minds.

"Well, I've been living with Iruka- I mean, with sensei for four years now. I went through a time in my life where… it was hard to look after myself on my own, so sensei offered to keep an eye on me for a while. Then it just sort of became a permanent thing," Naruto replied. "I was going to take a graduation test yesterday, but after the incident with Mizuki, the old man told me I'd already proven my abilities."

The boy narrowly missed a slap to the back of the head at that, as Iruka scolded him about using such disrespectful descriptions for the hokage. As is to be expected, the event caused several people to snicker before they were hushed once more.

"Anyway, after the hokage gave me this hitai-ate, sensei suddenly asked me if I wanted to be adopted! So now, I guess I could call him my father. But I just call him Iruka, because, you know, it'd be awkward otherwise."

Someone else raised a hand, most likely looking to ask something else, but Iruka waved it off.

"Now, since Naruto's mostly going to be tasked with taking care of your more practical lessons, what say we go out into the training yard instead of a theory lesson this morning?"

The cheers of thirty-plus students drummed out a resounding yes into the teachers' ears.

/\/\/\/

The few weeks that followed were certainly a breath of fresh air for the young genin, as he soon discovered the harsh reality of life as a teaching assistant. While it was admittedly far more enjoyable than going to the academy as a student, actually being employed certainly had its drawbacks.

Like the fact that Iruka now made him get up with the rising sun, a full three hours before the wakeup routine that he'd settled into after four years of living with the teacher. Gods, how he hated the mornings.

It was true that he'd been keeping a similar schedule beforehand, when the nightmares had appeared near-enough every night; but that was because he'd had no choice. Once he'd finally been able to reach some kind of balance, where those visions had begun to wane, his sleeping pattern had eventually settled down and a routine had begun.

But not anymore. It took two weeks for Naruto to even begin to get used to the loss of sleep!

Though he had to admit, working as a teaching assistant payed a decent salary – more or less double what he'd been earning when he worked in both T&I and Niju Buki, to be exact. For the most part there wasn't really anything he could spend that money on, and Iruka was still refusing any kind of payment for bills, so Naruto continued to add to the growing frog-shaped money bank he'd been keeping since first moving into Iruka's place. He'd actually had to buy a second, much larger bank around two years ago after he found his old one getting too full for him to even stuff notes into, but he kept them both safe all the same.

At first he'd spent most of his extra money on frequent ramen trips, inviting Hinata with him every now and then as he did. But after a while the novelty of having so much money to spend wore off, and he started conserving his cash a little more.

His technique, if it could be called that, was to only spend money on what he had to buy, and then when the next payday rolled around he'd stow away all the money he hadn't spent the month before, and the cycle would continue.

Naruto's 'official' schedule now consisted of his work at the academy on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and a day of work in T&I on Thursdays. Besides that, though, the boy would take the occasional d-ranked mission when he had some free time, diligently stowing away the funds from said D-ranks almost as soon as he was paid.

D-ranks were a wonderful source of income, given that the minimum price for a single mission is at least five thousand. This payment was usually meant to be split between three people, but since Naruto just used his clones to finish them in barely any time at all, it allowed him to make in excess of 25k per day, depending on how many missions the old man let him take.

He had been forced to slow down when the list of D-ranks was actually beginning to run out, and other genin who relied on the work for their living costs were having to miss out. Oops!

Besides grinding missions for money, Naruto also stayed true to his promise with Tenten, visiting Niju Buki every Saturday to spar. On some occasions he'd bring Hinata with him, training with her as best he could and teaching her some of his own tricks.

They'd gotten pretty close over the years. Hinata's constant training with Naruto had certainly done her good, and the Hyuuga had gained a whole lot of confidence in her abilities. Her knowledge with plants herbs was impressive, and with her new friend's help she had amassed a rather extensive collection of healing salves, potions and poisons, some of which she used in conjunction with her senbon.

That was something else, too. Once Hinata had come to understand how elemental chakra worked, she had been able to implement it into her senbon practice, using her byakugan to target an opponent's tenketsu and using a sharp burst of lighting release to paralyze them.

In all, Hinata had improved almost as much as Naruto these past four years, and it really showed. The blond was immensely proud of the talented girl that his friend had become.

/\/\/\/

"Another teammate?" Naruto asked, his interest immediately piqued. Iruka had mentioned eventually turning their little duo into a functional three-man team, but the boy had figured this would happen once his classmates had graduated.

"That's what I said." The teacher replied. "I've been watching the steady progress of Hinata Hyuuga, you know, and when I saw how well you two work together I spoke to the hokage about having her graduate early."

"Hinata as a teammate? That's awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. "So what did he say?"

"Well, since she hasn't really shown her true abilities, it'd be hard for him to agree to give Hinata a field promotion until she's proven her worth."

The blond nodded. The incident with Mizuki had been more than enough evidence that he was deserving of his promotion, but his training with Hinata had mostly been kept under wraps – even from her family. She'd told him that she wanted their meetings to stay secret, at least as far as her progress went, because she knew that the clan definitely wouldn't approve of her using techniques that didn't abide by the 'Hyuuga traditions'.

"So, is she going to have a test like I was meant to?"

"Unfortunately no. She hasn't expressed an interest in joining the ANBU so we can hardly send her to an assessment for that, and strictly speaking there aren't any tests that could be used for such a purpose. Sure, someone could create one, but as it happens there's another option." Iruka told him. "A C-ranked mission has recently opened up, but there are currently no teams that are available to take it. The sandaime plans to send Hinata on this mission alongside two chuunin, Izumo and Kotetsu, who'll assess her actions as they go. The chance of encountering trouble on this mission is very low, so at the very least they'll be able to spar with her afterwards and work out her abilities from there."

Naruto saw no issue with that, and stated as much to his adoptive father. He was definitely excited for the opportunity to spend more time with Hinata in any case, and that was certainly going to happen if they began taking missions together, that was for sure.

"When does she go on this mission then?"

"Well, just as soon as the hokage gets permission from her father. I think he's going to ask tonight, actually, so if all goes to plan she'll have set off tomorrow morning."

/\/\/\/

Hinata Hyuuga sat beside her father, a neutral expression plastered onto her face. For whatever reason the hokage had decided to visit the clan compound around lunchtime, specifically requesting to speak with the two of them.

She hated the formality of it all, she truly did. The sandaime had immediately stated that he didn't mind speaking in a less formal manner, but of course her father had not taken any notice and ordered the branch members to prepare their tearoom in advance.

Don't speak unless spoken to. Keep your back straight. Do not fidget. Do not break eye contact with your conversation partner.

She'd never really realised that such a routine for something as simple as talking with a comrade was out of the ordinary until she'd begun learning in the academy, where lunchtimes consisted of sitting wherever you liked and eating in whichever manner suited you best.

Suffice to say, Hinata hadn't made any friends when she sat elegantly in a corner, eating her bento with dignified grace. No, her classmates just waved her off as a stuck-up nutcase after that one.

"Hiruzen, I trust that you understand the gravity of what you're proposing?" Her father asked. His face remained still as stone, but her well-trained senses easily picked up on the incredulity in his voice. "After all, my daughter has failed in every single aptitude test we've given to her – do you truly believe that she is capable of graduating before her peers, when she is little more than a disgrace to the title she is meant to hold?"

Forgetting herself for just a moment, Hinata let out a derisive snort. It was hastily stifled, but the damage was done; she now had the attention of both men as she felt her cheeks grow warm.

"Is there something you'd like to say, Hinata?" Hiashi asked, levelling her with an icy stare. It felt as though he was challenging her, daring her to speak out of turn – and that served only to light a fire of annoyance within her.

"With all due respect, father," she began, matching his gaze with the ghost of a heated glare. "I would hardly call it an aptitude test when you expect me to raise a hand to my own sister."

The girl knew that she'd overstepped the mark, but it was worth it to see the amused crinkling in the corners of the sandaime's eyes. She turned back to look at the old man as her father spluttered, clearly outraged that his own daughter would talk back to him – and in front of the hokage no less!

"I feel that I am more than ready to embark on a mission, hokage-sama," she stated plainly. "I will visit the missions office tomorrow morning to discuss it further, if that is okay with you."

Receiving a simple nod, Hinata sighed lightly and stood up. This, she knew, was breaking one of the rules her father seemed to think was of the highest importance; to never vacate your seat unless given permission by the clan head, but she was more interested in how tired she was feeling right now. It had been a long day, after all.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight father, hokage-sama." Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

"Well!" Hiruzen remarked lightly. "It looks like your daughter has finally found her confidence."

"It looks more like insolence to me."

"Don't punish her too harshly for it though, okay? She'll need to be in good shape for tomorrow's mission after all!"

"Hm. Actually, I don't intend to punish her at all. While I don't agree with her acting so… brashly, I would much rather see her act like that than turn into a stuttering mess as she used to. Loathe as I am to admit it, spending time with that boy seems to have really helped her to improve on herself."

"Then why do you still call her a failure?"

The Hyuuga rested his chin on his hand, cupping his mouth in rather an odd fashion. Hiding a smirk, perhaps.

"My duty lies first in my position as clan head, at least in the eyes of the elders. I have been made aware that Hinata has been training in techniques that go against the general mindset of the clan, and knowledge of this would serve only to tarnish her reputation further," he explained, shocking Hiruzen with the amount of thought he'd put into it. "I can see that she intends to withhold her abilities, at least until she is strong enough to prove that she is a worthy heir. So for now I play the part of the strict father, until she decides that the time is right."

"An interesting standpoint. It may backfire though."

"Indeed, it might. But the alternative may well be to disown her from the clan entirely. The elders would no doubt have several things to say if they discover that the heir to the clan is breaking tradition, to the point that they may attempt to force my hand. By remaining an ignorant party I am simply biding my time, until Hinata chooses to act on her plans. Her increase in strength will outweigh any problem the elders may have with this arrangement, creating a preferable outcome in comparison to others."

/\/\/\/

The mission seemed simple enough, really. They were to escort a bridge builder back to his home over in the Land of Waves and oversee his protection while he and his workers built a bridge. Being called a "timid little weird girl" by their client certainly hadn't been the best start, but it had gotten Izumo and Kotetsu to share a laugh at least. In any case, Hinata was determined to do her job and get onto Naruto's team – even if it did mean putting up with the attitude of this man named Tazuna.

During the journey to Wave the Hyuuga had mostly taken position at the rear of their little group, primarily tasked with watching Tazuna's back and keeping an eye out for any approaching attackers. Despite the progress she'd made over the past few years, Hinata knew that it would still be risky to keep her doujutsu activated the whole time, so she only used it every now and then to scan their surroundings every hundred meters or so.

It had been quiet. Almost tranquil, in fact, were it not for Tazuna's insistence on always drinking that cheap alcohol he seemed to favour. It certainly didn't create a pleasant smell, especially when combined with the man's less-than-pleasant body odour, but Hinata honestly couldn't blame the man – neither for the drinking nor the poor hygiene – when he began tell his story.

As they walked, Tazuna told them of his life in the Land of Waves. He spoke of the slum-like conditions they had been reduced to since the arrival of a wealthy businessman, whose dealings drove away all forms of trade that the village had bolstered. Eventually he had shut down the borders altogether, only allowing ships of his own enterprise to enter or exit the island on which they resided, while the inhabitants were forced to grow and fish for what little resources they could.

The businessman, who she later discovered was named Gato, had hired mercenaries to patrol the streets too. They were meant to serve as his entourage for the most part, but according to Tazuna they had been terrorising the locals, relieving them of what little money they had left after paying overpriced taxes and excessive food prices.

The bridge, the one that they had been hired to protect, was their only hope. It would connect their island to the mainland and create a way for merchants and villagers to resume trading, serving to break Gato's monopoly. But it wasn't quite as simple as just building said bridge.

The businessman was a ruthless ruler, and didn't take kindly to the "blatant disrespect of his power". He vowed to kill every one of the men who worked on this bridge, and so Tazuna had fled the village with all of the money they'd been able to scrape together and headed to Konoha.

"It was very kind of the sandaime to grant me this mission, so I guess I shouldn't complain about having a bunch of kids." Tazuna grumbled as they approached a seaside town. "He allowed me to put down the money I had as a deposit, in return for our little island becoming trading partners with Konoha in the future."

"You seem pretty sure that the bridge will work." Hinata remarked, placing a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. Catching eyes with Kotetsu, she did her best to relay a message.

I'll keep an eye on him. She wanted to say. You two can go ahead.

"Well that's because I am sure!" The man continued, seemingly unaware of the silent exchange that had just taken place. "Before Gato arrived, we were very prosperous. Even though we were entirely isolated by the sea around us, our ships, fisheries and unique goods brought many a merchant to our docks, and with them came a thriving economy. But now Gato's ships patrol our waters, driving away potential buyers through less-than-legal means."

"But if they're doing the work of pirates, why does the daimyo not intervene?"

Tazuna let out a snort. "The daimyo? Pfft. Gato has the man wrapped around his thumb. He's the richest man in the country, and I have no doubt that the daimyo has been offered a hefty sum of money to keep his nose out of our business here. Far more than what he can garner from taxing our village – in the state it is now, in any case."

He kicked at a stone, watching as it tumbled over the edge of the dock they were standing on and plopped into the water.

"No, we're alone in this fight. It's down to us to bring hope back to this village."

"You know, it seems like this Gato guy is pretty clever. If he decides to hire shinobi to oppose you, this mission would be totally out of our paygrade."

The old man seemed rather startled by Hinata's remark, but any answer he may have given was cut off by the return of Izumo and Kotetsu, the former of whom was shaking his head gravely.

"There's no easy way to access the island," He muttered. "No one is willing to hire out their powerboats because they know Gato's ships will hear them and attack."

"Not to mention we've gotten this mission at a pretty bad time," Kotetsu continued for him. "According to the fishermen, at this time of year the ocean's currents all point out into open water, or otherwise back towards this bay. No one but the most experienced of sailors could ever navigate over there without mechanical aid."

Three pairs of eyes turned to Tazuna, who seemed to understand their meaning.

"I got away from the island by paying a friend to row me here. He was intending to escape to the bay to spend time with his family anyway, so he didn't mind too much. But I'm a bridge builder, see, not a sailor. I had no idea that the currents would be… well, like that."

"What do we do now?"

It was Izumo that spoke, one hand rising to cup his chin as he slipped into deep thought. Hinata too was musing over their little predicament, but she soon broke the silence as an idea came to mind.

"I'm assuming you both know how to walk on water, right?" She asked, receiving two deadpan glares in return. "Right, of course you do. The island is only… what, a kilometre away? We should be able to make it that far on foot."

"But what about Tazuna here?" Kotetsu replied. "No offense old man, but I really don't see you as a chakra-wielding sort of person."

"We could hire out a raft, the smallest we can find, and sit him in there. I'll stay at the front, pulling the boat using some rope and primarily using my byakugan to navigate, and you two can provide an even force from behind to power us forward. The 'engine', so to speak."

It was a pretty risky plan, since the four of them would be pretty exposed in the open water. But the heavy veil of mist that stretched in every direction would be more than adequate for them to slip by any ships they come across, and a small raft would serve to make them a much more difficult target.

After some deliberation as to the specifics for this idea, the group set off in search of a tiny raft. It had been a difficult process to begin with because no one wanted to part with their property, but eventually their efforts paid off when they spoke to a retired captain of an old fishing company.

Though he did not want to sell his own boat, the man was more than willing to show the three shinobi how to build a makeshift raft out of little more than a few logs and a single coil of rope. It took several hours for them to create something that the old captain was happy with, but in the end it was well worth the time as the four now had a way to travel.

What made this raft even better was the fact that it could easily be dismantled, meaning that they would be able to hide any evidence that they had journeyed across the water in the first place. Since the bridge would be completed by the end of the mission there would be no need to use the raft to return to the island afterwards – and if the mission were to fail, there would not be a civilian to transport this time around so the shinobi would be able to simply run across the water anyway.

Giving their thanks to the captain; and in Hinata's case leaving him with a few medicinal herbs as a gift, the group set off across the water in tense silence. As planned, Hinata walked ahead of the raft, using the rope she held to steer it towards where they needed to go. They were fortunate enough that the journey went uninterrupted, and eventually they landed on a beach not too far from the nearest docks.

Just as Tazuna had explained, the village looked to be in a severe state of disrepair. The signs of a once lively marketplace still remained, but all around there seemed to be a deep sorrow etched into every face that peered towards them.

Footsteps quietened all around as curious eyes turned their way; a bustling street reduced to silence. Hinata found her eyes drawn to one young boy crouched in an alley, dull grey eyes staring hungrily back at her from underneath matted hair. A tattered shirt was draped over his body, so dirty that she could no longer work out what colour it had been to begin with.

She didn't need to use her doujutsu to see the bloody cloth he'd tied haphazardly around his arm, covering what was obviously a fresh wound.

The Hyuuga crouched down, gesturing to him with as kind a smile as she could muster. The boy hesitated, clearly anxious about approaching, but soon enough curiosity got the better of him and he crept forward.

"Hello there," she murmured. "Would it be okay if I took a look at your arm?"

A silent nod. A miniscule flinch as she moved to untie the cloth. He shivered and cast his eyes to the ground as she pulled the bloodstained fabric away.

True to her suspicions, an angry red slash was etched into the boy, starting just below his shoulder and curving around towards his back. The shape of this cut suggested that it had been inflicted during a chase; the assailant lashing out in a last-ditch attempt to catch him.

"How did it happen?" Hinata asked gently. She busied herself with gingerly removing her backpack as she spoke, doing her best not to make any sudden movements lest she scare the poor kid any further.

"Merc caught me stealin' his scratch," the boy answered. As he shifted his weight, the muted sound of clinking coins was all Hinata needed to understand his meaning. "I got away pretty quick, but he got a slash at me 'fore I could. Fell flat on his face right after though!"

The Hyuuga allowed a small chuckle at his antics, pulling out a senbon and a jar of salve as she did. A clean cloth followed suit, along with a bottle of liquid and a bandage.

"So, my name's Hinata."

"Akuto."

"Pleased to meet you." She greeted simply. "Now Akuto, I'm going to need you to be really brave for me, okay? This is going to hurt a little bit."

The boy gave her a terse nod, watching with interest at the strong-smelling liquid that she was dousing the cloth with. He resisted the urge to yell in pain when she pressed the cloth to his arm, bringing forth a searing pain the likes of which he'd never experienced before.

Hinata worked quickly and efficiently, cleaning the wound with ease and preparing her senbon.

"Just a small scratch now," she continued. "This needle has medicine inside; it's going to stop your arm from getting infected. And this salve here, I want you to spread it all over the cut every night until it runs out."

It took little more than a minute for Hinata to take the bandage and tie it comfortably around Akuto's arm. She could sense Izumo and Kotetsu getting a little impatient behind her, so she wanted to wrap things up as fast as she could.

The Hyuuga had just opened her mouth to speak when several shouts diverted her attention. Three men were running up the street, shoving past civilians as they made their way towards them. Their rugged appearance and the swords strapped to their backs made it pretty clear that these were the mercenaries that Akuto had been talking about.

More on instinct out of anything, Hinata straightened up and ushered the boy to stand behind her. From where she was standing she noticed Kotetsu's hand drifting towards his kunai pouch, but he made no move to attack.

One of the mercenaries, presumably the leader, strode right over to her with a vicious snarl, sliding a long, curved sword from the sheath mounted at his hip. As sunlight danced across the blade, Hinata noted the consistency it held with Akuto's wounds.

"Hand the kid over, little girl." He growled menacingly. "I won't hurt you if you comply… much."

The Hyuuga settled into a loose stance, taking care not to let on how much she knew. To the untrained eye it looked as though she was simply a commoner girl preparing to defend herself against the bad man who was threatening her.

"What has he done to deserve such a terrible glare?" She murmured, using the time she'd bought to take note of the man's armour.

'Poor craftsmanship, lots of weak spots.'

"That little asshole stole my coin pouch!" He replied. "And I'm going to make sure he pays-"

"Eh!? What did I tell you about stealing from people, otouto!" Hinata cut over him, turning to the rather startled boy behind her. "You know father will tan our hides if he found out about this. Give me the pouch!"

Catching sight of his quivering lip, the girl cast him a sly wink. Akuto seemed to understand, as he quickly pulled out the hefty container and held it up to her. She snatched it out of his hand with a shake of the head, bouncing it up and down in a palm as she looked back towards the mercenaries.

"I'm so sorry about him, guard-san. I tried to tell him that it's dangerous to keep doing that, but you know what kids are like." She continued lightly. "He'll get his punishment when he gets home, I promise you that. Father definitely isn't someone to be messed with."

They weren't happy with that excuse, it seemed.

"Anyway, we really must get going. I… I don't want to get home late." Hinata finished, then moved to toss the coin pouch towards the mercenary. It sailed high into the air, far higher than it should have gone considering their close distance.

Three pairs of eyes followed its ascent. No one caught it.

By the time it had come into range, Hinata had activated her byakugan and utilised the lack of attention to disable all three of her opponents with a practiced ease. Perhaps with a normal genin, they might have been able to react in time to stop her. But when you spend several hours a day trying to evade impossibly fast palm strikes laced with debilitating bursts of chakra- well, suffice to say, Hinata was no genin. Not yet, anyway.

The men were sprawled out on the ground, not unconscious but unable to move regardless. The Hyuuga had shut down several tenketsu points in several important areas, effectively rendering them paralyzed for at least an hour – not to mention the intense pain that they would be hit with when their tenketsu finally decided to open back up.

Yeah, that'll keep them down for a while.

Akuto darted forward once he was sure that they couldn't move, quickly patting down each man in turn. He lifted everything he could find from them, from lighters to knives, only hesitating for long enough to grin gleefully at the number of coins the trio possessed. Hinata watched on with quiet amusement as he went about his work, taking care to deliver a particularly savage kick to the genital area of the leader as he passed.

When he was done, Akuto turned to run back into the alleyway he'd been crouching in… then paused.

"Um, Hinata… thank yer," he muttered, reaching into one of the coin pouches and offering her a fistful of coins. "It's not much, but it's all I can give yer."

She hesitated, momentarily taken aback by the kindness, but she soon regained her composure.

"Oh, that's okay," Hinata beamed. "Just promise me you'll use that money for good, alright?"

"O' course!" Akuto exclaimed happily, before disappearing into the shadows once more.

"You made quite a show there," Izumo remarked quietly once they'd continued on their walk. "I'm sure the whole village will know we're here now."

The girl ducked her head, feeling her cheeks grow warm. "Ah, s-sorry, I didn't think…"

"No no, it's okay," he replied. "You did a good thing in helping that kid out. Our mission isn't particularly centred around staying covert, so strictly speaking you've done nothing wrong."

"Oh, that's good. I'm glad I helped though."

"Speaking of which…" Kotetsu interjected from behind her. "We'd better get going, unless you want to be the one to explain to these morons that you helped a kid rob them blind."

/\/\/

Tazuna's house, much unlike the conditions of the marketplace, was considerably clean and well-kept. The two-storey building stood on the outskirts of the village, nestled in a peaceful forest and only a two-minute walk away from the bridge.

When the group arrived, they were immediately met by Tazuna's daughter, young woman who wasted no time in greeting them happily. Herding them into a small kitchen she began to make her introductions, all the while stirring a pot of broth on the stove.

"My name is Tsunami. It's wonderful to meet you!" She exclaimed happily. "This broth will be done in twenty minutes or so; in the meantime I'll have Inari show you to the spare rooms. Unfortunately there are only two, so you're going to have to share them between yourselves."

A young boy was setting the table as she spoke, and Hinata assumed that this was Inari. She offered him a smile, but he only scowled back at her as he led them towards the stairs.

"These are the two rooms you're staying in, and this is the bathroom," he muttered, gesturing to each door in turn. "If you need anything just ask my mom or something."

Hinata thanked him kindly, attempting once more to be friendly, but Inari simply laughed disdainfully.

"Whatever." He scowled in response. "It's not like you'll be here for long anyway – he'll kill you just like he killed everyone else."

Before she could come up with a response, Inari had walked away from her and disappeared down the stairs.

/\/\/\/

Mission Report 001

Naruto's first mission

Naruto couldn't help the grin that crossed his face as he approached the mission desk. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Iruka to catch up, eager to get started with whatever mission he'd be given.

Would he be defeating a group of bandits? Saving a princess? Maybe he would have to defeat a group of bandits and save a princess!

Hiruzen smiled warmly as the duo approached, picking up a small scroll wrapped in a fabric tube. A large "D" was emblazoned on the front, its white stitching creating a sharp contrast with the scarlet cotton as the hokage ran his fingers over the seam.

"You're here for a mission, I take it?" Hiruzen asked, receiving a nod from Iruka and an excitable yell from his student.

Pulling the scroll from its tube, his smile began to turn mischievous from behind his ever-present pipe.

"Let's see... aah, this should be the perfect one to begin with!" He exclaimed. "This mission requires you to track down and capture your target, and bring him back to the client... hmm, this seems like quite a big mission. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Of course!" Naruto replied.

The sandaime threw a scroll towards him without warning, and it was only his well-trained senses that allowed him to snatch it from the air before it could bounce off his head. Opening it up with barely-restrained curiosity, the blond read through the contents, mumbling to himself as he did.

Mission type: Search and capture

Rank: D

Client: Madam Shijimi

Your mission is to locate and capture the target without allowing any harm to come to it. You should exercise caution, as the target is known to flee from pursuers and will react violently when cornered.

The boy stared excitably at the scroll, completely unaware of the two adults' smiles growing wider and wider. When he reached the bottom of the mission brief, which contained information about the target he was pursuing, Naruto's muttering grew quiet.

He reread the information several times before turning to glare at the old man.

"You want me to capture a cat!?"

/\/\/\/

Akuto's speech pattern was entirely fabricated. If it seems like a derogatory parody of another accent or anything like that, it definitely isn't. I just looked up a word for "money" and edited a couple other words. Call me paranoid for feeling like I have to explain this, but believe me I've seen people get picked apart over these kinds of things.

The chapter-end stories from now on are going to be various mission reports or little omakes. Any ideas for such stories would be appreciated!

I promise you I'm not lying when I say that this chapter has taken in excess of 16 hours to write – and that's not counting the several hours I put into listening to the entirety of my fic as an audiobook while going about my daily business. Despite being extremely clear on how this chapter is going to go, having planned it out to even the simplest details, it still seemed to take an etremely long time to get it all down. Maybe it's because my writing style has changed in the time since the last chapter was uploaded; maybe it's because of the way I was almost intimidated by how invested I was getting into the storyline while listening to this fic, despite being the author. Whatever the cause, it's taken a long time but here it finally is.

I won't promise frequent updates. In fact, I won't even promise consistent updates; the chances are you'll probably see three chapters released in the space of a week, then have to wait for a month for the next one to be released. It's just how these things go. I definitely have a lot of plans for the next few chapters, including retcons from the original baseline, sensible implementation of info and even some additions. But I can promise you this: These next few chapters are going to be one hell of a rollercoaster, so strap yourself in and make sure you're ready for some angst, fluff and everything in between.

Thank you for coming back, reader. I've missed writing this fic, but what I've missed even more is your support 3