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Dark eyes scanned the contents of a surprisingly organized closet, a mesh tank top along with a pair of navy blue shorts were snatched out of the space by the strong hands of the Chuunin who was quickly preparing to leave on his mission. Uchiha Taro was a highly serious ninja, not willing to fool around when it came to a mission, and this no nonsense attitude began the instant a mission was assigned. He travelled with only the necessities; there was no point in carrying more than he had too.

On his bed was a pack already half filled with supplies such a food, extra kunai and shuriken and first aid materials. Taro himself had no need of medical items (or so he believed) but it was important to be prepared anyhow in case others weren’t. Turning from the closet he carefully folded the garments and placed them atop the other item materials in the bag. Satisfied that he had everything he would need, he fastened the strap that held the satchel shut, and bound his sleeping bag to the top of the pack. Slinging the straps across his shoulders, the Chuunin left his room, heading for the kitchen where he would meet his siblings.

Down the hall Akina was busy in her own room, her backpack open on the bed as she gathered her own supplies. Into the bag she placed a spare hip-pack of weapons, a spare dress and a small roll of bandages.

Unlike her older brother, she also packed a few items that weren’t strictly necessary, but which as a girl she felt the need to have. A tube of the sheer lip gloss she wore almost daily and her moisturizers were among these supplies. She was in the process of securing her sleeping bag to the satchel when she heard a commotion from the kitchen. Quickly she threw the pack over one shoulder and raced to see what was the matter.

When she got there she found her brothers, the elder holding something high in the air, a look of disgust upon his face as he stared at the younger. Yasuo was jumping up in vain as he tried to reach it. The smaller boy’s green eyes were beginning to tear up, “Give it back! Please, Nii-san!”

“No way!” Taro’s appalled expression shifted to the object in his grasp. It was a small teddy bear that he was holding aloft, just out of his sibling’s reach, “You’re a shinobi! What the hell are you doing with a sissy thing like this!?”

“But I can’t sleep without it!” the younger boy protested.

At this point the noise had attracted the attention of the trio’s parents as well. Sasuke and Sakura entered, the pink haired medical ninja baring a narrowed gaze as she made her way to a place between the two boys, “What on earth is going on!”

“Taro took Yasuo’s teddy bear.” Akina explained from the doorway where she still stood, an exasperated sigh accompanying the words.

“He was planning to take it with him!” Taro pointed out crossly, “He shouldn’t be sleeping with stuffed animals at his age anyways, let alone taking them on missions!”

Though he had remained silent to this point, Sasuke spoke in a dull tone, “He has a point. You should only take what things you need on a mission.”

The elder Uchiha son grinned wickedly at the fact that it seemed his father was planning to back him up. However the smile faded when he turned to see that Sasuke was not even looking his direction, but rather staring fixedly at the younger boy.

“And what good will he be to anyone if he can’t sleep?” Sakura retorted, hands on her hips as she stared down her husband. Sasuke opened his mouth to respond, but saw that familiar fire in his wife’s eyes, telling him that regardless of what he said, she would be the victor of the battle. The Uchiha patriarch silently closed his mouth, causing Sakura’s expression to soften as she snatched the bear away from Taro. Bending down Yasuo’s mother handed him the stuffed animal before kissing him softly on the forehead, “Here you go, sweetie. But don’t let it distract you from the mission, even if it means you have to leave it behind. You know the lives of you and your teammates are more important than a bear.”

“Of course, Okaa-san!” Yasuo smiled, hurriedly sticking the toy into his bag before anyone else could try to take it from him.

Taro was muttering under his breath about how ridiculous the notion of a boy, let alone a shinobi, carrying a stuffed animal was. Akina looked at him sadly; she pitied her brother for his narrow-mindedness, and wished that he would leave their younger sibling alone. The kunoichi tore her gaze from the Chuunin and went to the cupboards, proceeding to pack rations for the mission. Once she had done this, the three Uchiha youths made their way to the exit. Their parents accompanied them as far as the front lawn, where Sakura embraced her children one by one.

“Be careful.” She whispered, tears in her eyes, “I want you all to come home to me, safe and sound!”

“Don’t worry,” Akina replied, though she herself was beginning to feel nervous about the mission. Her younger brother wore a slightly frightened expression, and looked to his older sister for reassurance, “We’ve been training hard, and you know our sensei well enough to know that we’re in good hands!”

With that the children departed. Sakura watched them walking down the street, the faces that danced in her mind were those of the Uchiha children in their youth. She remembered clearly the day each had first begun at the academy, the excited smiles that had greeted her at the end of the day when they told of the lessons they had learned.

Sasuke placed an arm around his wife’s shoulders, squeezing her gently to put her mind at ease, “We were going on missions at their age, remember?”

“Yes,” Sakura nodded, leaning into his embrace, “And I also remember all the times we were nearly killed! It was hard enough worrying that something might happen to you and Naruto back then…”

“So we worry, that’s natural…but we have to let them grow up.” He kissed her forehead, and made his way back into the home.


----

In the Inuzuka house the goings on were much the same. With Kiba and Hinata beings sensei, however, there was little time to be distracted by worry for their children. The pale eyed matron of the family was folding an extra set of clothes for both she and her husband, who had gone to retrieve a first aid kit for each of their packs.

Kiba returned, tossing a box of medical supplies into each of the bags before flopping onto the bed with a frustrated sigh, “Gah! I wish Naruto wasn’t being so secretive about what’s going on! That idiot should just tell us! We’d probably be able to get the mission done better if he did!”

“Kiba…” Hinata placed their extra garments in the pack and sat by her husband’s side, “If Naruto-kun thinks it’s best we not know…there must be a good reason…he’s not as stupid as you think…”

“Feh,” It was risky for the couple to discuss Naruto, for though long ago Hinata had given up on ever receiving the kind of love she used to hope for from the blonde, Kiba still retained some jealousy for the fact that the Rokudaime had been his wife’s first love, “You’ve always given him too much credit…”

“Kiba!” The former Hyuuga protested, her tone full of disappointment, “Y-you know that he’s matured a lot since we were kids!”

“Yeah, yeah…” The male Jounin sighed, closing his eyes, “I’m sorry…but you were always so hung up on him, I hate when you talk like that!”

“But I married you…” Hinata replied, resting her head upon his chest, “I respect Naruto-kun…as a friend, and as the Hokage…but I love you.”

“Heh,” Kiba grinned as he sat up, the movement causing her to abandon her spot on his chest. Leaning in he kissed her softly, “Yeah, I know. Now, let’s go see how the kids are doing.”

The two rose from their spots on the bed, grabbed their sleeping bags and their packs, and headed off to find the children. Neither of the Inuzuka siblings was in their rooms, so their parents proceeded to the kitchen, where they found Takara and Kiyoshi raiding the food supply.

“You two all packed up except for food?” their father asked as he reached into the cupboard for some rations of his own, as well as a supply for Hinata.

“Yup” Takara replied with a nod, “We’re all ready to go. Oh, hey Otou-san?”

“Yeah?” Kiba turned to face his daughter, who was now fastening her sleeping bag to her pack.

“What did Hokage-sama want to talk to the sensei about?” His daughter inquired.

“Just to tell us not to let you guys open the scrolls.” The family was packed now and ready to go. They’re goodbyes could wait until they reached the gates of Kanoha and had to depart with their teams.

---

His eyes concealed by dark glasses, a father watched from the doorway as his daughter packed to leave. In the bug-ninja’s hands was clasped a small metal box. He would never admit to her that he was worried. She was his only child, and he would be devastated if anything should happen to her. To say such things, however, was not Aburame Shino’s way. Rather, the Jounin stood so silently that his daughter nearly forgot he was there.

The girl, whose bangs fell into her face to cover her eyes, was packing the same necessities any ninja would, and doing so as silently as her father. To anyone else the silence would have seemed piercingly awkward, but to the Aburames, it spoke in volumes. Shino and his child were used to one another’s silence. The man had always had something of a stoic nature, and his daughter was so very shy. So they had learned to communicate with no words.

As the Genin folded her extra clothes to put them in her satchel, Shino stepped through the doorway. He laid the box he carried into the pack, “First aid…just in case.”

“Right.” The girl peered at him from behind her bangs a moment before placing the garments on top of the medical supplies. Now finished with packing, she hoisted the bag onto her shoulders.

“Shizu,” Her father spoke her name softly, and seriously, “You don’t have much experience…be careful.”

“I will, Otou-san,” the Aburame youth flung her arms around the patriarch’s neck, hugging him tightly before she hurried out of the room to meet with her teammates.

---

On the grounds of the Hyuuga compound the scene was again repeating itself as it had in every other house which contained a Genin. Kagami and Sumi, who shared a room with one another, were putting the finishing touches on their packing, each making sure that the other had everything they would need.

Sumi, the younger twin by mere moments, was shifting through the contents of her bag as she tried to recall everything she would need, and reminded her sister of what was needed as well, “You have a –”

“Change of clothes? Yup!” the elder twin replied, scanning the contents of her own bag with her Byakugan, “And I’ve got the –”

“Hairbrush, good,” Sumi gave a nod of approval, “Okay, we know we’ve got enough –”

“Rations,” Again her sister completed her thought, “Oh, do you have the –”

“Kunai Okaa-san got me for my birthday?” Sumi watched as Kagami nodded, then she replied, “Of course! No way could I forget those! I think that’s everything then! I’m so nervous!”

“Not me!” The elder twin exclaimed with a grin, “This is gonna be great! I mean, it’s a pretty straightforward mission, so it shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

“But you heard what Hokage-sama said! Things are dangerous out there right now, aren’t you even the least bit scared about what might happen?” Sumi sat on her bed, pulling a knee up as she hugged it to her chest.

“Nah! Hokage wouldn’t send us if he didn’t think we were ready! Besides,” a distant, dreamy look came over Kagami's features as she spoke, “Lee-sensei will be there with us! Nothing bad can happen while he’s there! He’s absolutely amazing!”

The younger of the two rolled her eyes as her sister began to swoon over their sensei. It was common knowledge in the household (though their parents chose to live in denial) that Kagami had something of a crush on Lee, “Well, I’m glad you can be so confident. Ah! Okaa-san!”

Kagami’s star filled eyed dimmed as she was snapped back to reality, her mismatched eyes darting to the doorway where her mother now stood. TenTen showed no sign as to whether she had over heard her older daughter’s gushing comments about her old teammate.

TenTen made her way to the bed on which Sumi was sitting, and rested beside her. Her hair was now worn in a long braid rather than the two buns she had sported in her youth. She wrapped a comforting arm around her youngest child’s shoulders, “You’re worried, sweetheart?”

Sumi gave a short nod, her eyes locked onto her mother’s tender gaze, “Yeah. I mean, what if I’m not ready? What if I do something stupid and let everyone down! What if the whole mission turns out to be a disaster! Okaa-san, I’m not sure I can do this!”

“You can. You’ve got a real talent for weapons, and so long as you and Kagami work together, you’ve got your father’s Byakugan to help you out! Besides, I know Lee…and I trust him to take care of you,” The woman tried to ignore the infatuated sigh from her older daughter, “I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”

“Thank you, Okaa-san.” Sumi wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist in a grateful embrace before turning her attention to her sister, “Come on, Kagami! Let’s get going!”

Meanwhile, in another part of the house, Utoi was also packing his belongings. As he finished his father entered the room to talk to him, though their conversation would not be as heartfelt as that which had occurred amid the other half of the family.

Neji’s pale eyes watched his son placing the last of his provisions. The Hyuuga patriarch, who had (thanks to Hinata’s intervention) become the head of the family, stood in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest, and an ever serious look on his face, “You have everything you need?”

“If you doubt me, go ahead and look.” Utoi’s bitter response came as he fastened his bag.

“You remember what we’ve talked about? With no Byakugan, you –” He was cut off by another harsh reply from his son.

“I have to rely more heavily on my other senses. You’ve spent so much time trying to heighten them I couldn’t possibly forget.” He heaved the pack onto his back, and stood, waiting for his father move. When Neji made no effort to vacate the doorway, Utoi continued his bitter rant, “Besides, I have Kiyoshi’s eyes, and his sense of smell. They don’t need me to have any special Kekki Genkai, right?”

“Stop that!” Neji snapped, turning to leave, his sons words having struck a chord within him, reminding him of the bitterness he had felt towards his own cousin in their youth, “Pitying yourself over something that cannot be helped is no way to live your life!”

“Yes, Otou-san.” The reply was hollow, and Utoi quickly left the room, meeting with his sisters as they set off for the gates of Kanoha.

---

The pounding of running feet echoed in the corridor outside of the room where Nara Shikaji sat on his bed. Soon, as he’d expected, his younger sister poked her head in, her eyes darting about as she searched for something, “Have you seen my hairbrush?”

“Why would I have?” Shikaji sighed as he tossed a handful of extra hair-ties into the bag that sat beside him, “I have my own; I don’t need to borrow yours.”

“Yeah, yeah. I just thought I might have left it in here,” the younger Genin explained as she turned to leave.

“Why were you in my room?” Her older brother quirked a brow as he posed the question. There was no reason he could think of that she should have been.

“I had to wake you up so that you would get ready, remember, you lazy a**?” Mine responded, hands on her hips, “I can’t believe you slept in on the day of a mission! And not just a mission, but our first real mission!”

“Well,” Shikaji replied with a yawn as he lay back on his bed, “What good am I if I’m too tired to think, huh?”

“Oh, I swear!” The brunette grabbed up a pair of pants that had been laid out on the bed ready to be packed, balled them up, and threw them at her brother, “You are even lazier than Otou-san! How do you even function? You need to get packed!”

“I’m packing…” The blonde replied, gathering the pants off his head and dropping them into the bag before sitting up once more. He reached around the bag, picked up his extra shirt, and added it to the supplies, “See?”

“You’re such a pain,” Mine replied with an eye roll and a soft laugh, “I’d better go finish getting ready myself!”

As the pig-tailed girl turned and walked towards her own room, she had to pass by her parents’ room. She could hear her mother talking in cheerful tones, but did not take the time to stop and listen, rather hurrying back to her packing.

Shikamaru was making sure he had extra kunai, clothing, and medical supplies packed. He’d already placed rations and other supplies in the bag.

“So, Mine get’s to travel to Suna, huh?” Temari was sitting on the bed, a bright smile spread over her features, “I haven’t been to Suna in, what’s it been? Two years? And I haven’t seen Gaara and Kankuro either! I wish I could go too.”

The dark haired man looked at his spouse, smiling slightly himself, “We aren’t going for a vacation…this is a serious mission.”

“I know that!” the blond sighed, “But it would still be nice to see Gaara and Kankuro again! Besides…if I think of it as a mission…then I think of you and the children being in danger…”

“Hey,” Shikamaru reassured her, a hand upon her shoulder, “Mine has that troublesome spunk of yours…and if I know Shikaji, he’ll pull through in a fight, no matter how lazy he seems.”

“Yeah well,” Temari grinned at her husband, “You should know, he’s just like you, after all!”

It was not too much longer before the Nara trio had finished preparing and was ready to set off. As they left their home for the village gates, Shikamaru paused to kiss his wife.

---

In the kitchen of the Akimichi clan, a rather large girl –though no taller in stature than any other- with red hair, and a purple sun upon each chubby cheek stood upon a chair. Her hands were groping blindly at the back of a cupboard as she searched for more rations to fill her already bulging bag with. She knew her father kept some bags of potato chips on this shelf somewhere! Finally her plump fingers closed upon something foil that crinkled in her grasp, “Aha! Found it!”

As she pulled her arm back, a bag of barbeque chips in hand, a voice sounded behind her, “Good, your packing lots of food. You’re taking my chips, though…”

“Sorry, Otou-san!” The large girl hopped off of the chair, her ample bosom and extra curves jiggling with the motion, and went to hand the bag to her father.

“Take them, it’s fine, Chou. I can get more. You need them to keep your energy up ,” The man, even larger than his daughter, smiled softly, and added with a wink, “But don’t let anyone know I let you get away with taking my food!”

A soft laugh came from the girl’s lips as she smiled at the patriarch. Her green eyes, small in comparison to the rest of her, shifted from the bag in her hand to the piles of food in her pack. Chouji’s face fell into a frown, he knew the doubts his daughter was having, “Chou…no matter what Inoko says…you know you’re beautiful, right?”

“You have to say that,” She replied softly, walking to her supplies and adding the chips to the stockpile, “You’re my Otou-san. I don’t think anyone else thinks so though…”

“It doesn’t matter what they think,” Her father wrapped into a soft but firm hug, “Anyone who can’t see that you’re the prettiest girl in the village needs their eyes checked.”

“Stop that!” The girl protested with a laugh, “Anyway, I’m fine. The Akimichi…there’s just more of us to love!”

Her words held more confidence than she felt, but she did not want her father to worry over her. She fastened the latch on her satchel and heaved it over her shoulders. Her bulk wasn’t entirely fat, just mostly. A part of it, however, was made up of well trained muscle, and for a girl of her age she was quite strong. Leaning up to kiss Chouji on the cheek, the young Akimichi then made her way out the door and started toward the gates of Kanoha.

---

In the Yamanaka household events were occurring similarly, though not without a fair share of complaints being lodged, “Ugh! Why can’t I just tend the flower shop or something?”

“You’re a kunoichi of Kanoha! That’s why!” An exasperated voice replied, the blonde who spoke was pulling together a supply of kunai and rations for her daughter to pack, “Besides, you’re not all that good at flower arranging, and you refuse to get your hands dirty tending the plants! I don’t know how you expect life to work, but it’s not like you can just sail through and do nothing the whole time!”

“I plan to find a man who wants to spoil me,” The Genin gazed dreamily into the distance through her bedroom window.

“That’s not likely to happen…” It was the girl’s father who spoke now, his dark eyes peering through the window as though searching for whatever it was his child was staring at,.

“Otou-san!!” Inoko whined in response, a look of horror on her face, “Who on earth could over look me! Besides… I’ve got Shikaji!”

“He’s pretty lazy…I don’t think he can give you what you’re expecting.” Sai mentioned thoughtfully.

“Sai…” Ino sighed, placing a hand on her forehead, “How many times do I have to ask you not to be so blunt with her? It’s cute sometimes, but you just upset Inoko…”

The man blinked in confusion at his spouse, then smiled. Over time he had learned to be more tactful, but it seemed that once again his old habits had resurfaced. It wasn’t considered polite to tell people exactly what you thought of them, even your own children, “Right…I’m sorry…”

“Ugh.” Inoko flopped onto her bed, her brow creased in disgust at her father’s antics. She’d heard stories…something about him being trained to have no emotions, and having trouble adjusting back to normal life.
She wasn’t entirely sure; hadn’t exactly been paying attention.

With a sigh her mother took a seat beside her, smiling as gently as she could muster despite the frustration she was feeling, “You come from a ninja family, live in a ninja village, have ninja friends…it’s just the way things go. I know you say you don’t want to be a kunoichi right now, but your friends need you. And, right now, your Hokage needs you. You’ll be fine.”

“Oh, stop it with the mushy stuff! I’ll go already! Like I really have a choice anyway…” With that the Genin rose and set about packing. As well as those items Ino had gathered for her, the girl also filled her bag with three extra outfits that duplicated the one she currently wore, makeup and hairspray. Once she had packed, she quickly kissed each of her parents on the cheek and hurried out of the door.

---

Footsteps echoed through the hall of the home belonging to the newest residents of Kanoha. Years earlier a family of skilled metal workers had moved to the village, and had learned to manufacture weapons as well as the farming equipment they already made. This family was known as the Aiyoku clan, and they quickly obtained a reputation as the best weapon makers in the region. It was from this family that many of the genin and their families had purchased their kunai, from this family that Naruto had purchased the gift he’d given to Yuudai.

It was also this family to which Miki and Ima belonged, the first in their clan to become shinobi. Of these two it was the elder, Miki, whose steps were heard as he made his way to his sister’s room, “Oi, Ima-chan! Okaa-san told me to give you this.”

The girl caught the bundle that was thrown her way, casting a stern look to her brother as she did, “Careful you idiot! These needles have poisons on them!”

“They’re also all wrapped up. No way you’re gonna stab yourself,” The boy reasoned, “You almost ready to go?”

“Yeah, yeah. I just have to pack up these things,” Ima raised the hand holding her precious needles to indicate it was those of which she spoke, “So, you nervous about being set up with Kiba-sensei’s team? He looked about ready to kill you this morning.”

“Uh…you noticed that to, huh?” Miki laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What did you expect to happen hitting on Takara-chan while he was standing right there! You need to learn some tack, Miki-nii,” the younger chuunin explained as she placed the needles into her bag and fastened it shut, binding a sleeping bag to the top, “Who knows, girls might actually like you then.”

Their conversation ended, and their supplies packed, the pair headed off toward the gate of the village.