"Now, Team 7," the Hokage said after the Fire Lord's wife had left with her cat whom seemed ready to run away again as the woman continued to squeeze the life out of it. He ignored the loud displeasing meows and screeches that came from Tora, no matter how deafening and desperate they were. Sometimes, he felt really bad for that cat. Tora probably had run away for more than two hundred times already. Perhaps the village should stop taking that mission, but then again that mission was really easy money especially because it happened over and over and over again. He really was at a lost as to what to do with that cat. "Your next duties are babysitting, helping with the harvest, and shopping in the—"

"No, No, and No Thank You!" Naruto almost screamed. All those missions were boring and tedious, horribly long and horribly dreary. And after that last mission, he had had enough of these stupid "missions" of theirs. If it wasn't helping find runaway pets or doing community service then it was helping the academy watch its students. How much more boring can it get? "I refuse to do any of those! I want to do, you know, a more incredible mission! Find us a better one!" If it had not been the Hokage, Naruto might have acted a lot whinier.

And his teammates couldn't help but agree. After all, it must have been the third time this week that they had to look for the Fire Lady's cat, Tora. If they had to continue doing so, they'd probably be doing the same easy mission for more than twenty times by the end of the month! And that, they couldn't have especially since Tora seemed to like its short-lived freedom so much.

I thought it was about time… Kakashi thought, shaking his head, but he was smiling on the inside. He and his student teacher had made a small bet on when Naruto would lose his patience, and Kakashi never thought such a bother could bring him such joy. Heh, Itachi owes me…

"You idiot!" Iruka scolded his former student, standing from his seat. How could Naruto disrespect the Hokage like that? It would seem to him that the blonde had gotten even more insolent ever since he left the academy. Exactly how could Naruto even think to embarrass his teachers like this? "Everyone starts off with simple duties and work their way up!"

The Hokage could only tip his hat and sigh, watching the scene before him. In reality, he had actually taken the boy's words into consideration and was going to allow his team a different mission, but what Iruka had said was also true. Level One Hunters always started out small. He could not go easy on this team just because Naruto could not handle the boredom.

"But we end up with the crappiest of missions!" Naruto countered. This got him a reprimand from Kakashi instead who told him to just be quiet which only made Naruto even louder.

"And need I remind you that you had actually failed one of them?" Iruka retorted. And failed they had. And it was such an easy mission that even toddlers could pass!

"Hey, we did find the cat!" Sakura decided then to join in this conversation. She really didn't want to since she didn't want to stay in the room any longer, but she did not like it when someone belittled her team. Besides, they had to get the facts straight. "Didn't we, guys?" she went to Naruto and Sasuke for backup, to which they nodded.

Their former teacher just hung his head and let out an exasperated sighed. "Yes, Sakura, you guys did find Tora. But that cat hasn't been the same since you brought it back and, from what I hear, it practically has a panic attack every time it spots any one of you."

"Oh, well… We wouldn't know anything about that…" Sakura innocently said when, in fact, she was mentally high-fiving her Inner.

That cat got what it deserved…

No kidding… We did every genin a service.

"Well, if you don't want that cat dying the next time it sees one of us," Naruto tried again, "why don't you just give us a better mission?"

Iruka was ready to scream his head off. When would Naruto learn he could not always get what he wanted?

It was then that the Hokage decided that it was time for him to intervene. "Naruto, it seems I have to explain to you what your duties are. Again." he started, taking his pipe out of his mouth. He had already had a speech prepared because there was always one knucklehead in each team that would act just the way Naruto was acting. But with Naruto's team, he had to come up with different variations of his speech because he had given it to them at least five times already. "Listen, every day, the village receives numerous requests from babysitting to hunting to assassinations. Each request is written down in these scrolls"—he gestured to the documents on his desk—"and divided into an A, B, C, or D ranking, depending on difficulty. The village is also divided by skill, starting with the Hokage to the Level Three to Level Two and finally to the Level One Hunters. The missions are then handed out by us at the top to Hunters based on their abilities. And if the mission is completed successfully, we receive payment from the client. You guys recently became Hunters and thus became only Leveled One, and so D-ranked missions are perfect for you."

But apparently, as this information was being given out, Team 7 was busy making preparations for the night. And besides, it wasn't like they hadn't heard this before.

"So," Sakura said to her teammates, Kakashi included. Apparently, whatever she had to say was much more important than what the Hokage was preaching. "Mikoto-san wants to have a dinner with all of us tonight and—"

"Hey!" Old Man Hokage yelled. How dare they disregard his words! He was Hokage, dammit! And he refused to be ignored. "Listen up!"

The team returned to their original places, Sakura hanging her head in apology. The only person to bicker was Naruto. "Geez! All you do is give lectures like that!" he complained, still sitting on the ground. "But you know what?" He stood then and yelled, "I'm not the same trouble-making brat you still think I am!" And then he plopped himself back down, his back to the Hokage and his arms crossed. "I want a better mission!"

The betrothed couple could only think the same thing. How childish…

"Ok." The Hokage's answer surprised everyone in the room. Some of the instructors there thought the old man might have senile! Did they hear correctly? Did the Hokage actually give in? "If you want it that much, I'll give you a C-ranked mission." He smiled to himself, glad that Naruto had finally stopped using pranks as a way to express himself. The boy would never cease to surprise him. "It's a protection mission of a certain individual."

And soon, that "certain individual" came into the room, his face gruff and red from drinking. He was an elderly man, but his body was sturdy and built. He couldn't have been more than fifty years of age. "What's this?" the man asked, taking another swig of his bottle. He didn't seemed impress with his guards. "They're all just a bunch of super brats especially the short one with the stupid face."

Naruto, not knowing any better, only laughed at the man's accusation. "Haha! Who's the short one with the stupid face?" He looked from his teammates, trying to see which of them the shortest one was. He was only to be met with disappointment, Sakura giggling and Sasuke smirking at his ignorance. The blonde was ready to maul their client. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He almost looked as mad as his pink-haired teammate did whenever her temper went off. Of course, he almost looked that mad because if he really did look that mad then their client would have been sent to the hospital with about all his ribs broken.

Sakura and Sasuke held their teammate back while Kakashi questioned him, "Now what's the point in killing the person who we're supposed to protect? Do you want to fail?"

"I am the super bridge builder, Tazuna," their client introduced himself for once not chugging down his alcohol. "I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

✿｡.:**:.｡✿

"So how have things been faring?" Mikoto asked the minute she sat down in her seat. She sincerely hoped her dinner was enough for all of them. She wouldn't know what she'd do if there wasn't enough for her little Sasu-chan's team. Perhaps she could order some ramen…

"Wonderful, Mikoto-san!" Naruto said, actually taking a pause from eating. But in the next second, he was back to stuffing his mouth again. "Hm-mh! Your cooking is as great as always! I could eat your cooking all my life and still love it so much!"

The Uchiha matriarch smiled at the compliment and told Naruto to eat more if he loves the food so much. She also added in that he should stop by more often to which the knucklehead scratched the back of his head and agreed once Mikoto bribed him with the offer of more delicious foods during each visit.

"We actually got assigned a C-ranked mission," Sakura said once she realized Sasuke's parents were waiting to hear more about how their team was progressing.

"A C-ranked?" Fugaku asked, an eyebrow rose. "So early?"

"All thanks to our whining blonde," Kakashi explained. And that was all he needed to say to answer the question, for the head of the Uchiha clan knew how persuading Naruto could be.

"And so?" Mikoto continued to pry deeper into the subject. "Where will you be heading to?" It was the same question she always asked her sons and Sakura. Her motherly instinct always took over whenever she heard the children had a mission. No one could blame her. She was just worried, and she just wanted to know exactly where they'll be to lessen her worry if only by a little.

"The Land of Waves." It was Sasuke who answered because Sakura didn't want to be the one to break the news to the lady.

Mikoto's hand went limp then, her chopsticks dropping onto the table. "So far?" Her voice was flooded with concern. Just the thought of her youngest son for the first time leaving Konoha and being so many miles away… And the thought of Sakura going out into the world for the first time as well… The emotions were overflowing.

"Daijōbu, Mikoto-san!" Sakura quickly added in, not wanting the Uchiha matriarch to faint. "Itachi-kun will also be joining us after his mission, so…" Her voice trailed off as she tried to figure something else to say to relieve Mikoto's fret. She couldn't come up if anything, and so she was grateful when Naruto chose to butt in.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry, Mikoto-san!" he seconded Sakura's statement, though he was oblivious to the woman's worry. "If your sons are in trouble, I'll swoop in and save the day! Believe it!"

"Hn," the Uchiha scoffed. "The only one who will be needing saving is you, Dobe."

"WHAT WAS THAT, TEME? YOU THINK I CAN'T BEAT YOU, HUH?" Naruto rolled up his sleeve. He would have looked intimidating if he didn't have a little shrimp hanging out of his mouth. "COME ON, THEN! WE'LL SEE WHO'S TOUGHER RIGHT NOW!"

"NOT AT THE DINNER TABLE!" Sakura yelled at Naruto while pulling her fiancé back into his seat. "OR I'LL BEAT YOU BOTH UP!"

The two immediately shut up. They may have been hothead rivals but, when it came to their female teammate, they rather not take their chances especially since she carried out her threats.

In the end, they only succeeded in making the Uchiha matriarch laugh.

✿｡.:**:.｡✿

Uchiha Fugaku wasn't one to go to sleep early or late, but he was one to check all the doors, all the windows, all the little cracks, and every other opening at night to make sure there were no strangers or creeps hanging around. He had a wife and children to protect. He would be damned if he let some thief come and do as he liked. In fact, he had a few plans of how to dispose of any crook if he were to find one. And his plans involved boiling, stabbing, kicking, punching, throwing, burning, etc… Just the usual stuff.

Once he was done with his nightly stroll around the house and was sure that there was no threat, he made his way to his room. He wasn't tired but, when he saw that his wife was there, he sighed. It wasn't as if he was irritated by the fact. It was just that he knew his wife all too well. And so, he made a little bet with himself. If Mikoto was in Itachi's room then he'll check the house once again. It she was in Sasuke's room then he'd stay up all night, if he had to, to calm his fretting wife. But if she was in Sakura's room then he'd stay up all night, cook breakfast the next day, and spend the next two days at home. It was a good bet…

And so when he walked through the halls, he found that he would get two days off of work this week. He had been right. Mikoto was in Sakura's room, sitting on the girl's bed and stroking the girl's hand and combing through her pink hair.

"Mikoto…"

"Look at her, Fugaku…" His wife's voice was in a whisper, but he had a feeling that it wasn't that way just because she didn't want to disturb their son's sleeping fiancée. "She's almost grown up now… She'll probably start her period soon, and we'll probably have to stop by some stores to buy her some new bras… She's still growing in that area, too—"

The Uchiha patriarch felt the tip of his ears turn red. He didn't need to hear that! He remembered specifically that they had agreed that he would handle the boys' stuff and Mikoto—and just Mikoto and without any stories or rants unless in a dire situation—would take care of the girl's things.

"—And I wonder… Am I doing a good job?"

"Mikoto…" Fugaku could hear the coming sob. It was just one of those moments of his wife's self-doubt.

"Am I raising her the way that Yuri would want her to be raised? Am I raising her correctly? Did I make a mistake when signing Sakura up to be a Hunter?" Mikoto asked, but the questions didn't seem to be pointed at anyone.

"Mikoto, you've done well," Fugaku assured her. He was never good at comforting people—he sincerely hoped that his sons wouldn't pick up this trait from him. "I'm sure Yuri and Kaien are happy with the way Sakura turned out. She's never gone against us or any of her superiors. She never causes any trouble, and she acts like the perfect daughter."

"Yes, but"—the ebony-haired woman buried her head in her hands—"It's her first time away from home, Fugaku! We don't know if there are any of her parents' enemies still lurking around that know she's their daughter! What if he knows? She'll be in so much danger, if that were the case! And then there are the Royal Children and the Senate… What if they find out about Sakura? What if they realize who she is? In her state, in this human state, she can't protect herself! And when she finds out about everything, she'll be so hurt… She'll be so confused… If anything were to happen to her on this mission then I don't know what I'd do!" She was trying so hard to keep her cries from getting too loud.

Fugaku, not knowing what to do, only placed a hand on her shoulder and allowed her to cry into his chest.

"She's Yuri and Kaien's legacy… The last one they left… But she's not just that, Fugaku! I raised her as a daughter, and she's become one! I don't know what I'd do if I were to lose her…"

"Nothing will happen to her, Mikoto…" Fugaku said this, not only to persuade the Uchiha Matriarch but also himself. There were still so many undecided factors, so many unexpected factors, in this. They and the Hokage had kept Sakura safe from the outside world, but now there was no delaying her debut anymore. If they were to safeguard her any further, they could do much more harm than intended, but they had to try. "Sasuke will protect her, and she has her parents watching over her. Nothing will happen."

They were so preoccupied by their conversation that they didn't see their youngest son outside the door of the pinkette's room. He had heard most of the discussion, and now he was suspicious—he had suspicions before, but now he had even more. He knew that Sakura's parents had passed away, but he never found out the circumstances of their deaths. And now, he hears that the vampiric world is somehow involved in this? Something was up, he knew. His fiancée wasn't normal—at least, not in the standard term of the word. And he would find out why. Besides, how would he protect his betrothed if he did not know what to protect her from?

✿｡.:*The Next Day*:.｡✿

"Naruto, calm down, would ya?" This was the fourth time Sakura had asked within the half hour. And frankly, she was getting tired of holding the blonde back every time Tazuna insulted him. She could understand why her teammate was getting so riled up, but did he really need to do so with a client who didn't seem to think of them any higher? It would only make Tazuna see even more faults with them, and that would make this mission even worse than it already was.

"You're just wasting your time," Sasuke told her.

Exactly…

Shut up, Inner! In the outside world, Sakura just grimaced at the Uchiha. "You may think so, but I don't. If any enemies were to hear him then our mission would be compromised."

"And this is why you boys should learn from your female teammate!" Kakashi indirectly praised the cherry blossom. "See how smart she is? And it's her first mission outside of the village too!" He patted the girl on the head, a true smile behind his mask which reached all the way to his eyes. Perhaps he'll find a prodigy in her. "But don't worry, Sakura-chan. It's only a C-ranked mission. We shouldn't be meeting up with any vampires or any other enemies."

Tazuna ducked his face then, wrinkles creased on his forehead and a frown etched on his face. If only they knew… He felt horribly guilty for lying, but he had to do this. For his family and for his people. The end justifies the means… he told himself over and over again.

And as the group travelled, they passed by a puddle which Kakashi found odd. It hadn't rained in the past couple of days. Why would there be a small amount of water around? Something was very weird about that. He'll have to keep his guard up.

Apparently, Sakura's Inner thought the same too but on a different scale. Hey… We should jump in that…

Why? It's only a puddle…

Trust me, it'll be worth it. Oh, and make sure you put your weight into it!

Whatever you say… Sakura did find it odd that her Inner was tempting her into going through with this, but her Inner never led her to any trouble before. Why not give it a go? Plus, the last time she had fun like that was a few months ago. It wouldn't hurt her if she decided to get her shoes wet.

She slowed down, making sure that the others didn't notice—she saw Kakashi and Sasuke look at her funny, but she only shrugged at them and ran back to the puddle and hopped in. Hard. So hard, in fact, that the ground cracked a bit. She really was strong for her age.

"Sakura!" It was then that Sasuke grabbed her and pulled her out of the way as a chain sprung out from the seemingly harmless liquid.

Now, wasn't that fun? Her Inner decided to say once they landed.

I almost got killed!

Yeah… I didn't plan on that, but you have to admit: it was fun!

"You idiot!" Sasuke scolded her. "What were you thinking?"

Again, Sakura only gave him a shrug. What was she to say? "Oh, the little being in my head told me to do that because it seemed fun!" Nope, that was out of the picture. If she had said that then she'd be totally labeled insane. Instead, she just told him, "Impulse." And when she saw the position she was in, she blushed. And who wouldn't be if their fiancé carried her bridal-style in front of their teammates, their client, and two vampires? "Anoo . . . you can put me down now. Please."

"You little witch!" yelled the vamp who was rubbing his head. "I'll get you for that!"

"Forget her! Get the Level Three Hunter!"

And then chaos broke out.

Whew! Done with that chapter! Sorry it sucks, but I couldn't really figure out how to make it better. It took me a few weeks to actually sort it out correctly. Oh, and sorry that I haven't updated in about five months. The next chapter should come out faster.