Hinata Hyuga
Time: Before Sunrise
Location: Hyuga Compound
Hinata woke before the sun. She lay there for a moment, listening to the quiet of the compound, realizing this would be the last morning she spent in her own bed for a long while.
Honestly, her life up until now hadn't been completely different from her past one. She still had access to modern comforts, a warm bed, and good food. But today she was stepping outside the village walls into a world that didn't care about comfort at all.
She rolled out of bed and did some light stretching, watching the horizon through her window. The sky was completely clear, the fading stars slowly swallowed by a stark, bleeding red as the sun crept upward.
Packing took forever. She stuffed her bag with enough kunai to bury a man, smoke bombs to last her weeks, and layers of dry rations. At the last second, she shoved in a few packets of instant ramen, mostly just to keep Naruto from whining on the road. She added a couple of medical kits and some heavy painkillers. If things went wrong, she needed to be ready.
She still hadn't figured out how to heal with her chakra. She knew her Light Natured Chakra had a natural capacity to heal because of the Yang energy woven into it, but turning that theory into an actual jutsu was a nightmare.
She had asked one of her older aunts who worked at the Konoha Hospital for help, but the explanation had only made her head hurt. Medical ninjutsu wasn't just glowing hands. It required a deep, almost surgical knowledge of the human body. You had to physically guide the chakra to knit flesh and bone together, which demanded ridiculous control.
The Mystic Palm Jutsu only needed two hand seals. That was incredibly rare for an A-rank jutsu. But when she tried practicing it on a fish, just like her aunt suggested, it had been a disaster. The poor fish either burned up from too much Yang chakra or just exploded in her face. It wasn't that her chakra control was bad. She just had a glaring lack of biological knowledge.
The medical books at the hospital weren't much more advanced than a high school biology class, and she struggled to connect the textbook drawings to real, flowing chakra networks. She had tried using her Byakugan on a few clan volunteers to study their cellular structures, but her progress was agonizingly slow.
It was going to take time. For now, she just focused on pushing her chakra control to its absolute limit. The perk she had received specifically mentioned that a medical jutsu based on her unique chakra could repair damaged coils, so she spent hours every day trying to coax out that innate healing power.
By the time she finally zipped her bag shut, the sun was up. The distant sounds of the village waking drifted through her window.
She needed to dress the part today. Her old jacket was incredibly comfortable, but it didn't make her feel like a real ninja. She wanted to feel ready.
She pulled on an oversized black sweatshirt with wide kimono-like sleeves that stopped at her elbows, liking the high, mock-neck collar. Over that went a heavy black tactical vest, the nylon straps pulled tight and the pockets loaded with gear. She swapped her usual pants for olive-green tactical joggers. The heavy cotton felt good against the crisp morning air. She laced up her black combat boots, slid on a pair of fingerless gloves, and tucked a subtle gold chain around her neck. Finally, she slung a purple purse over her shoulder to hold her storage scrolls.
Looking in the mirror, she nodded. She looked stealthy. She looked capable.
She was just stepping out into the hallway when her attendant called out.
"My lady, Lord Hyuga is waiting for you in the courtyard. I believe he wants to speak with you before you leave."
Hinata groaned and let her head fall back. "Do I really need to talk to the old geezer? Kumiko, please just make up a lie for me."
Kumiko just smiled a soft, knowing smile and shook her head. "I don't think lying about your departure will help anyone. Besides, I think Lord Hyuga simply wants to send you off properly."
Hinata sighed. She had gotten pretty good at the Body Flicker technique lately, so instead of walking, she shunshin'd her way straight to the clan head's private courtyard. The leaves settled around her to reveal Hiashi sitting quietly on a wooden bench, a cup of steaming green tea in his hands.
"What did you want to talk about?" she asked. She didn't bother hiding the impatience in her voice.
"Is that how you speak to your elders? I thought I taught you better than that," Hiashi replied calmly, waving a hand toward the empty spot beside him. "Come. Sit. Let me pour you some tea."
Hinata wanted to argue, but she also wanted to leave. She sat down rigidly, crossing her arms as he poured the hot tea into a small ceramic cup.
"I heard from our scouts that you are leaving on a C-rank mission today. It didn't feel good to learn about it from someone other than my own daughter."
"Yeah? Well, I just didn't feel like talking to you."
"Hinata, I understand you are angry with me," Hiashi said, his voice unusually quiet. "But to leave the village without telling your family? That is a level of childishness I don't expect from someone as smart as you."
"Why does it even matter?" she snapped, her frustration boiling over. "If I die on this mission, I don't think you'd shed a single tear."
Hiashi closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh that made him look very old. "If not for me, then what about your sister? Doesn't Hanabi deserve to know?"
"Don't use her as an excuse!" Hinata's hands curled into tight fists. "Don't act like you care now. Not after you forced us to fight in front of the entire clan without even telling her what losing would mean!"
"What I did, I did for the good of this clan," Hiashi said. His tone shifted back to the stern Clan Head she knew too well. "Before I am a father, I am the leader of this family. If I ignore my duties out of sentimentality, it will destroy us. That is a lesson you need to learn."
"It's funny you say that," Hinata muttered bitterly, "since your decisions always seem to hurt everyone else more than they hurt you."
Hiashi didn't snap back. He just looked at his hands. "I did not ask you here to fight today. It is your first time leaving the village, and I have a very old promise I need to keep."
He reached down and picked up a polished wooden box from the bench. He opened the latch slowly, revealing a Konoha headband resting on a bed of dark velvet.
"You know your mother died a few months after Hanabi was born," Hiashi said. A rare, sad smile touched the corners of his mouth. "When you were just a baby, Akari and I used to sit here and watch you crawl. We would make these wild boasts about how strong you were going to be. We based it on absolute nonsense, like how fast you learned to walk. We would argue over who got to spoil you more."
He ran a finger gently over the edge of the box. "She called 'dibs' on giving you her headband when you finally became a genin. It took me a long time to figure out where she hid it, but I finally found it."
He lifted the metal plate and held it out. "Come here. Let me put it on you exactly the way Akari used to wear it."
Hinata's breath caught in her throat. Her anger suddenly felt very far away. She stood up and stepped closer, looking down at the scratched metal and the familiar leaf symbol.
"Mother," she whispered, her fingers grazing the cool steel.
"She always wore it loosely on her left arm."
Hinata held out her arm, her hand trembling just a little, and Hiashi carefully tied the fabric in place.
She blinked hard. She definitely wasn't crying. It was just dusty in the courtyard.
"There. Tied loosely." Hiashi took a shuddering breath and stepped back. "You look so much like her. If she were still here, I know she would be incredibly proud of the person you have become."
Hinata just nodded. She couldn't trust herself to speak.
"Make sure you come back safe," Hiashi told her, his voice thick with emotion. "How are you going to pass this down to your sister for her first C-rank mission if you don't bring it back?"
"Okay," Hinata whispered, holding her arm close to her chest.
Kakashi Hatake
Time: Same Day
Location: Front Gate of Konohagakure
Kakashi leaned casually against the massive wooden gates of the village, a worn orange book open in his hand.
Teaching these kids was exhausting. But if he was completely honest with himself, he was enjoying it. He had forgotten what it felt like to go on normal, relatively carefree missions. His time in the Anbu Black Ops had given him purpose, but it was a dark, suffocating kind of purpose. Every day had been a blur of exhaustion and adrenaline, a convenient way to ignore the mess his life had become.
He used to think he would inevitably die on a mission. He fully expected to catch a kunai to the throat and finally be done with it. But for some reason, he kept surviving. The peaceful release of death never came, leaving him behind with a hollow chest and a ledger full of blood.
Maybe Sensei had been right. Maybe fighting for a peaceful world was the only noble thing left to do. But Kakashi rarely felt he had the right to ask for peace, not when a shinobi's entire existence was built on violence and deceit.
He turned a page and sighed. It didn't really matter what he believed. He was a tool of the Leaf Village, and he had made his peace with that a long time ago.
A familiar rush of wind and chakra pulled him from his thoughts. Hinata appeared on the dirt path a few feet away, her boots kicking up a small cloud of dust.
"Yo," Kakashi said, raising a lazy hand.
"Hey, Sensei. The guys aren't here yet?"
"Nope. Just us."
Hinata pressed two fingers together, the veins around her eyes bulging as she activated her Byakugan. She scanned the horizon. "Looks like Sasuke is walking this way. Naruto is down the street yelling at a kid. I think it's Konohamaru. Where is our client, anyway?"
"Mr. Tazuna is waiting right outside the gates with a bottle of sake. He's quite the character." Kakashi said, giving her a cheerful eye-smile.
Hinata wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ugh. I hate the smell of alcohol. It makes people act stupid, and their chakra always feels gross and jittery."
"True, but he is paying us. We need to treat him with respect, so let's keep the complaints to ourselves, alright?"
"Fine, fine. I'll just hide his stash when he isn't looking. Problem solved." Hinata grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. "Oh, here they come."
Kakashi watched her for a moment. Hinata had grown so much since they first met. She had this fierce, undeniable drive to get stronger. It was the kind of focus Naruto had completely lacked at the beginning. And Sasuke was exactly the arrogant, talented kid his academy files painted him to be.
But somehow, Hinata balanced them out. Ever since she beat Sasuke in that sparring match, the Uchiha boy had been obsessed with improving his ninjutsu. And Naruto had actually started paying attention to his studies just because Hinata offered him a little positive reinforcement.
Honestly, Naruto's chakra control had gotten so much better that Kakashi knew he could probably teach him the Rasengan. But he was holding off. Naruto had a good heart, but he was reckless. In the field, a reckless mistake with a jutsu that powerful could kill a teammate. Until Kakashi knew Naruto truly understood the weight of taking a life, the Rasengan was staying a secret.
He hadn't left the kid with nothing, though. He had walked Naruto through the basics of the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. It was a loud, overwhelming jutsu that perfectly suited a kid with seemingly endless chakra.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was starving for power. That wasn't unusual for a shinobi, but Sasuke's hunger came from a very dark, very deep place. Kakashi knew that until Sasuke confronted his brother, the boy would never truly put the village first.
Kakashi couldn't really judge him for that. All he could do was try to guide him. He wanted to show Sasuke that true strength didn't have to come from hatred. But getting a traumatized kid to unlearn years of anger was an uphill battle.
He had already confronted Sasuke about his newly awakened Sharingan. The boy had been shocked that Kakashi knew, but it had pushed him to train even harder. Kakashi hadn't taught him any new flashy moves yet. Sasuke needed to learn how to manage his chakra pool first, since he tended to burn through it way too fast.
More than anything, Kakashi just wanted them to work as a team. On their own, they were scary kids. Together, they could probably hold their own against a real jonin. Naruto always complained about weeding gardens and catching cats, but those boring chores had taught them how to communicate without speaking.
"Hey, Hinata! Sensei! How are you guys doing?!" Naruto yelled, jogging up the street with a massive grin on his face.
"I'm fine! Did you pack your bag exactly the way I showed you?" Hinata called back, instantly dropping into big-sister mode.
Naruto stopped and proudly yanked his backpack open. "Yup! Got the bandages, the wire, everything!"
"Good. That is exactly how your bag needs to look every single time we leave the walls," Hinata told him seriously. "Don't get lazy with the checklist, Naruto. It might save your life one day."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Naruto mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, but he looked pleased.
Sasuke walked up a moment later, giving a quiet nod to the group. With all three of them ready, Kakashi pushed off the gate, and they walked out of the village.
"Yes! Finally! My first real mission outside the walls! I'm a traveller now!" Naruto cheered, spinning around in the dirt road.
From the shade of a nearby tree, a rough voice scoffed. "Are you seriously telling me this loudmouthed runt is supposed to keep me alive?"
Kakashi looked over at Tazuna, who was clutching a bottle and glaring at Naruto.
"I am a jonin, and these are my subordinates. You don't need to worry, Mr. Tazuna. I will personally guarantee your safety," Kakashi said smoothly.
"A runt?!" Naruto yelled, his face turning red. "Hey! Don't insult me, old man! I'm going to be the Hokage one day, and you'll have to beg for my autograph! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Don't forget it!"
Tazuna laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "Aren't Hokage supposed to be smart? You look like an idiot. The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout wings and fly."
"Shut up! I will be Hokage, and everyone is going to respect me!"
Before Naruto could yell anything else, a blur of motion cut through the air. A kunai slammed into the dirt, burying itself to the hilt barely an inch from Tazuna's toes.
Tazuna yelped and dropped his bottle. It shattered against the rocks. "What the hell is wrong with you, brat?!"
Sasuke lowered his arm, his dark eyes locked on the bridge builder. "Whether Naruto becomes Hokage or not, he is still a ninja. We are taught to kill from the time we can walk. It's a bad idea to insult us to our faces. You never know when one of us might decide we've had enough."
The color drained from Tazuna's face. He swallowed hard and took a step back. "Alright, alright. I just want to go home. Let's just start walking."
Kakashi knew he should probably scold Sasuke for threatening a client. But honestly, the old man had crossed a line, and it warmed Kakashi's heart just a little to see Sasuke stand up for his teammate.
He adjusted his backpack, gestured for the kids to take their formation, and led them into the dense trees of the Land of Fire.
Hinata Hyuga
Time: Same Day
Location: Southbound, Land of Fire
They had been walking for hours. The dirt road was endless, and the thick green canopy above them all started to look exactly the same. Hinata's feet were aching, but she kept her focus sharp.
Every ten minutes, she pushed chakra into her eyes, activating her Byakugan to sweep the forest. The strain was giving her a mild headache, but she refused to stop. She knew the Demon Brothers were out here somewhere.
By mid-afternoon, she finally saw it.
Two distinct, bright pools of chakra were huddled together inside a shallow puddle of water on the side of the road.
Hinata slowed her walking pace, letting herself drift back until she was walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Kakashi. "Sensei," she whispered softly. "About a kilometer ahead. Two enemy ninja are hiding inside a puddle of water. It's an ambush."
Kakashi didn't even look up from his book, but she saw the slight shift in his posture. "Is that so? This is supposed to be a simple C-rank escort. Can you read their chakra levels?"
"They feel like chunin. And they're carrying heavy metal chains."
Kakashi casually turned a page. "Alright. Here is what we are going to do. If they are only chunin, I want the three of you to handle it. It will be good practice for a real combat scenario. I will hang back and make sure the client doesn't get a scratch."
Hinata stared at him. "Are you absolutely sure you don't just want an excuse to read your book?"
"It is very rude to question your teacher, Hinata," Kakashi said, smiling brightly with his visible eye.
"Right. Okay. We can do this," she muttered, her heart starting to beat a little faster.
She moved forward, catching Sasuke's eye and giving a sharp nod. He immediately fell back, pulling Naruto with him so the three of them were huddled close.
"Guys," she whispered, keeping her eyes fixed on the road ahead. "One kilometer. Two enemy ninja in a puddle on the left. They use chains. Sensei wants us to take them down."
Sasuke didn't panic. His eyes just went cold and calculating. "You and Naruto take the front. I will stay back and strip them of their weapons. Naruto, hit them hard and force them apart. Hinata, you take the one on the left. I'll cover you both."
Hinata nodded, feeling the adrenaline flood her veins. "Good plan."
Naruto cracked his knuckles, a wild grin spreading across his face. "They picked the wrong team to mess with."
Tazuna
Time: Same Day
Location: Near the Ambush
Tazuna unscrewed his backup flask and took a long, burning swallow. If you had asked him a few years ago, he would have sworn he wasn't a drunk. But a lot had changed. Watching his friends starve and seeing his town crushed under Gato's boots had broken something inside him. The alcohol was the only thing that kept his hands from shaking.
He was terrified. At any second, these Leaf ninja could realize he had lied about the mission rank. They could abandon him here, or worse, hand him over to Gato's thugs themselves. But he didn't have a choice. His town was dying, and this lie was the only chance they had left.
Konoha was supposed to be the nicest of the ninja villages, but Tazuna wasn't stupid. They were still mercenaries who killed for money.
When that dark-haired kid had thrown a knife at his feet, Tazuna realized just how dangerous these children were. He watched them walking ahead of him now, whispering quietly among themselves.
Only the girl looked like a proper killer, with her combat boots and tactical gear. The brooding boy was wearing a casual t-shirt, and the loud blonde kid in orange looked like he belonged on a playground, not a battlefield.
Tazuna squinted at the road ahead. Up ahead, sitting right in the middle of the dusty, sunbaked path, was a puddle of water.
Even through the fog of the alcohol, Tazuna frowned. It hadn't rained in a week. Why was there a puddle?
Hinata Hyuga
"Now!" Hinata yelled.
Before the puddle could even ripple, she threw herself forward. She slammed both hands into the dirt, pushing a massive wave of chakra down into the earth. "Blind!"
The ground bucked. The water exploded upward, forcing the two hidden assassins out of their transformation. Before they could find their footing, a blinding, incandescent white light erupted from Hinata's hands. It washed over the road like a flashbang, completely searing the shadows away.
The Demon Brothers screamed, squeezing their eyes shut against the agonizing glare. Blinded and panicking, they lashed out, throwing their heavy, poisoned chains wildly toward the kids.
Sasuke's eyes snapped open, bleeding into a brilliant crimson. A single black comma spun wildly in his iris. "Naruto, go! They're trying to catch us in the middle!"
Naruto took a massive gulp of air. His chest puffed out as he molded his chakra. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A roaring gale of wind blasted from his mouth. It hit the two grown men like a solid wall of force, catching the swinging chains and throwing the assassins backward through the air.
While they were tumbling helplessly, Sasuke moved. He didn't rush in with a kunai. Instead, he pulled a spool of wire from his pouch. His Sharingan tracked every chaotic, spinning link of the heavy chains.
His hands moved in a blur. He threw the wire perfectly, threading it straight through the metal loops of their weapons in midair. He landed hard, dug his heels into the dirt, and yanked the wire back with all his strength.
The sheer force of their own momentum worked against them. The wire snapped tight, violently ripping the metal gauntlets right off their arms and pinning the deadly chains to the trunk of a massive cedar tree.
The brothers crashed hard into the dirt, totally disarmed.
Hinata was already standing over them. She slipped through the fading white light of her jutsu, her face completely calm. Her fingers jabbed forward in a rapid, fluid rhythm, striking their shoulder and chest tenketsu. She shut down their chakra networks before they could even attempt to fight back.
Sasuke stepped up behind her, quickly wrapping them in layers of steel wire until they couldn't move an inch.
Naruto threw his arms up and cheered. "Ha! Take that, you losers!"
"Well done. It looks like you handled that perfectly without me," Kakashi said lazily. He stepped out from the trees, his hand suddenly shooting out to grip the back of Tazuna's shirt. "Now, the only question is why two missing-nin from the Mist are trying to kill a simple bridge builder. Isn't that right, Mr. Tazuna?"
Tazuna flinched, his shoulders hiking up to his ears. "I... well, you see..."
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed into a cold, dangerous glare. "When you hired us, you conveniently forgot to mention that professional killers were hunting you. It sounds to me like you have a confession to make. Am I wrong?"
Tazuna's knees gave out. He collapsed into the dirt and started talking fast, his voice trembling as he spilled the whole truth. He talked about Gato, the shipping magnate who had taken over the Land of Waves. He talked about the starvation, the violence, and the desperate hope that completing the bridge could save his home.
"I know lying was a terrible thing to do, but I had no choice!" Tazuna begged, pressing his forehead to the ground. "We don't have the money for a B-rank mission. Every single coin we have went into buying lumber and steel. Please, you have to help us. If you leave me here, my town will die."
Kakashi looked down at the crying old man for a long time. Then he turned to his students. "What do you think? Should we keep going?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. "Man, you really messed things up, old man. But... I think we have to help him. His family is going to get hurt if we don't. And isn't helping people what ninja are supposed to do?"
"I agree," Hinata said, crossing her arms firmly. "It's the right thing to do. But Sensei, shouldn't we send a bird back to the village for backup?"
"I think we can handle this," Kakashi decided, his voice softening just a fraction. "You three proved today that you can hold your own in a fight. Plus, Gato is a businessman, not a ninja. He is probably just hiring cheap thugs and missing-nin. They aren't usually a threat to a jonin."
"Then we keep moving," Sasuke said.
"Alright. We will escort you the rest of the way, Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi said, giving the old man a completely fake smile. "But please, do not lie to us again. If you hide anything else, I will not be so forgiving."
Sasuke Uchiha
Time: Midnight
Location: Southbound, Land of Fire
His first real fight outside the village, and it had gone flawlessly. They hadn't stumbled over each other, they hadn't panicked. They executed a perfect takedown against two older, experienced shinobi.
It made Sasuke feel incredibly powerful.
But the feeling didn't last long. He couldn't sit here celebrating a victory over two pathetic cowards hiding in a puddle. His goal was so much bigger than this. He was standing at the very bottom of a massive mountain, and feeling proud of this tiny victory felt like an insult to his family's memory.
Still, he couldn't lie to himself. He was getting stronger. Working with a team was actually helping. Hinata was a ruthless sparring partner, forcing him to keep his guard up at all times. Naruto had a chaotic, terrifying amount of energy that made him impossible to predict. Kakashi was slowly stripping away the bad habits Sasuke had developed while training alone.
His teammates were making him sharper.
For the first time in years, Sasuke felt a tiny sliver of hope. If he kept this up, maybe he really could stand across from Itachi one day. Even if the fight killed him, taking that monster down would be worth it.
He was lying on his back, staring up through the trees at the stars. The campfire had burned down to glowing red embers. Naruto was bundled up in his sleeping bag nearby, while Hinata sat quietly by the fire, taking the first watch.
"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto whispered into the dark.
"Go to sleep, Naruto. We have to walk all day tomorrow."
"I will. I just... I wanted to ask you something."
Sasuke frowned at the sky. "What?"
"When we first met Kakashi-sensei, you said your dream was to kill a certain someone. Is that really true?"
"Yes," Sasuke said flatly. "And it's none of your business."
"I know," Naruto said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "But... do you really think you can do it? If he was standing right in front of you, could you actually take a life? I don't think I could."
Sasuke lay perfectly still. "I haven't thought about the moment itself. I just need to get strong enough to reach him. But even if I hesitate, I have to do it. No one else has the right. The people who did are all dead."
The silence stretched out for a long time. The only sound was the crackle of the dying fire.
"I'm just saying... you don't have to do it alone," Naruto whispered. "Hinata and I talked about it. We decided we are going to help you. Kakashi-sensei says teammates protect each other, right?"
Sasuke felt a sudden, hot flash of anger. He turned his head, glaring at the blonde boy in the dark. "Do you think I'm weak?! I can kill Itachi myself! I don't need your pity, and I don't need your help!"
"I didn't say you were weak!" Naruto hissed back, trying to keep his voice down so Kakashi wouldn't wake up. "We just want to help you! He's a bad guy, right? He hurt you. That makes him our enemy too."
"You don't understand!" Sasuke's voice cracked, the careful walls he built around himself shivering. He squeezed his eyes shut. "He is a monster. He is stronger than all of us put together. He wiped out an entire clan of elite police in one night and didn't even break a sweat. He doesn't care about anything except power. I don't care if he kills me. But I am not going to let him kill you two!"
Sasuke swallowed hard, his throat tight. "You want to be Hokage. You can't do that if you're dead. Hinata wants to fix her broken family. She can't do that either. Neither of you deserve to die for my revenge."
Naruto let out a quiet snort. "Yeah, well, I can't be Hokage if I let my teammate fight a maniac by himself. We are going to help you, Sasuke. That's final. You don't have to talk about it anymore, just know that we have your back."
Sasuke opened his eyes and stared at Naruto, completely stunned. He didn't know what to say to that kind of stubborn, reckless loyalty.
"Suit yourself, loser," Sasuke finally muttered, turning onto his side and pulling his blanket over his shoulder.
He closed his eyes, expecting the familiar cold anger to settle back into his chest. Instead, there was a strange, uncomfortable warmth spreading through his ribs.
He frowned in the dark. What is that? he wondered.
He decided he must have eaten something bad for dinner. It was the only logical explanation. Clinging to that thought, Sasuke buried his face in his collar and finally let himself sleep