A female with her red-hair tied in a ponytail and dressed in unofficial ninja attire was making her way towards the Hokage office. Namikaze Miyuki was not happy with how her sleep had been disturbed by a ninja who came to relay the message that she had been summoned for an urgent mission in the early hours of 4 in the morning. Was it really that urgent?

A yawn escaped her as she stretched her joints. The shopkeepers were starting to open up their shops and stalls without much thought of the sting  of the cold  air in the January morning. 

"Miyuki, would you like to come in for tea?" She heard someone calling for her as she passed by a teashop. "Ah-- Grandma Ayano. I am sorry I won't be able to...Hokage orders." she politely declined. 

"Oh- then take this for the road, alright?" she handed her a stuffed plastic bag. 

"The manjus are still fresh. So remember to eat it while it's still warm."

"There was no need for this, Grandma. But.. thank you." Miyuki bowed as she made her way out of the shop with the warm snack in her care. 

"No need!" she waved it off. "Your father did so much for us, this is the least I can do to repay him."

As the only known child of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato who saved the village from the nine-tails, her life consisted of living as.. the village's own daughter. She would get free and generous offers from shops and what she considered,  bowing as a sign of respect that she was no where near worthy of. The younger generation called her 'sister' while the older called her 'daughter.' 

But it never felt good enough, no matter how many achievements she had, no care if she was heavily prized in the Bingo Book and had her name widely known. The villagers would never see her as more than the daughter of their beloved Hokage. 

"Guess I'll have to add another destination to my route" she thought as she turned around corner, jumping on top of roofs and made her way inside a trashed room through the window. 

She got what she did because of her parents. So, the people who gave them to her wouldn't mind if she gave it to her brother, right?      After all, they did share the same parents.

However when she went to the apartment, she was greeted with complete silence stopping her on her tracks as she remembered how excited he had been for the training with Jiraiya-sama. How could she have forgotten that? It had turned into a habit for her after doing it all these years that she now did it without a second thought. Guess she really did miss him ..huh...

Uzumaki Naruto had not known how food seemed to magically appear on his table and how his room seemed to have kept getting cleaned up by itself. The Hokage would choose to ignore his question whenever he brought it up. And Miyuki never revealed herself.

This particular morning, she had been informed that the Hokage had a mission for her. It was a two-person mission she would be doing with Hatake Kakashi. She did not know much about the mission.. only that it was an A-rank but she doubted that. 

Would an A-rank mission need both her and Kakashi? It was doubtful, 'maybe there was something more to it?' she concluded.

Reaching the Hokage Office, she was surprised to see the place so... well, so disorganized. The Hokage's table was filled with papers to the brim. There was even more piles of bundles stacked on top of eacvh other down on the floor next to the table. The Hokage's expression was not one that was inviting at all..  it was the face of irritation and annoyance. 

If the paperwork was human, she feared for it's life.

The Hokage looked up from her table and breathed a sigh of relief, "Miyuki" she said with an unnaturally sweet voice. 

"Come help me out." "No-" "Brat!" the woman nearly whined to the young adult. "It never ends. It's always there! I had it all completed but then the next morning, it was like I didn't even do anything." Tsunade complained with a haunted look on her face.

"I'm sorry about that but I am here for the mission." she stated matter-of-factly. "Your partner's not here yet." "Do you want me to drag him in?" she offered.

"Let's just wait. During that, you can complete this pile of paperworks while I go take some rest" she cheerfully stood up from her chair.

'She just wanted someone to do her work.' Miyuki glared at the Hokage as she made  her way to the table to distribute the D-rank and C-rank missions. But not before making suer that the Hokage didn't leave her sight.

Knowing Kakashi, he won't be here soon. So, she decided to fill the silence with some chit-chat. "Where's Shizune?" she asked the older woman. "The debt collectors." Tsunade's answer was short and straight to the point. "I can't believe you sent her to do your bidding." she said in a reprimanding tone. She could just imagine Shizune with TonTon in her hand talking to a group of buff guys, Shizune was probably used to this though and her loyalty to Tsunade had never failed to amaze her. She would have probably left the gambler long ago.

"How's his training going?" she asked Tsunade as she went through a C rank mission report from a group of newly graduated genins. "Jiraiya's reports are in that file." Tsunade replied while pointing. "You can go through it if you want to check his progress." She wasted no time in going over and opening it.

 While she was still reading the reports, a man with silver hair entered the room. "The man, the myth, the legend." she started right when he started speaking, "I came across a little girl who had a balloon stuck in the tree, and then there was also this grandma that needed help carrying her stuff-" he was cut off.  

"Tsunade-sama, the mission?"

The both of them turned to Tsunade who now had now put on her 'Hokage-look', "A team of jonins were sent to hunt down a person and capture him but they reported him disappearing when he went inside the forest. When they followed him, they saw a bright light which blocked their view only to see that he was no more. Your mission is to go check the place and continue the mission. The jonins have not reported of any injuries nor discomfort which makes the whole situation even more unexplainable to people who don't know.  If you can, follow the man to wherever he went and do not let this mission be a failure." she paused for a second before taking something out and handing it to the both of them, "Here's what we know about the man."

The both of them went through the paper of information, 

'Name: Banri  

Appearance: Short brown hair with a scar on his left cheek.'

Deciding to meet up at the gates, Kakashi left in a poof of smoke. As she was about to leave as well, she felt a hand on her shoulder, "Miyuki, prepare yourself physically and mentally, okay? There are going to be stuff happening in this mission that you might have never imagined. I trust in you. I believe you can do what most can't, do not let me down alright?" Tsunade had said these words like there was more to it than she could understand, it was as if Tsunade knew something she didn't. "I will, take care." she bade the woman goodbye.

But before she could excuse herself, she heard the woman speak, "So, how's life been as a couple?" Her cheeks turned a shade of red, rivalling her hair. Pretending that she was unfazed by the teasing comment, she laughed and emphasized, "HAHA- well you know... uh... young people problems, am I right..." It was more of a statement than it was a question.

Finding joy in the young Namikaze's misery, she commented, "Hopefully, the both of you have enough self-restraint to not turn my hairs grey too early." 

Having enough of her fill, she interrupted Miyuki's incoherent stuttering, "Don't worry, I won't say anything bad, he is a good man. But if he gives you a hard time,  show him why Uzumakis aren't to be messed with, alright? And if you want... I mean.. I could just give him mission after mission and make his life hell.?"

Laughter filled the place as she replied, "You don't have to do that, plus what would people say― but... thank you..... Your yes means a lot to me."

As the girl left the place, Tsunade looked on with pride swelling in her chest and a soft smile on her face, like a mother to her child. 

She then turned around and caught sight of the paperwork on her table and groaned in pain as if a sword had just been punctured into her gut.

Miyuki made her way to the gates munching on the manju before slipping it insde her bag after catching sight of Izumo and Kotetsu along with Kurenai and Asuma by the village gates.

"You two" she wiggled her eyebrows slightly suggestively.  A slap to her arm by the blushing Kurenai made her wince in pain as Asuma silently coughed into his hands to hide his blush.

"But Miyuki, why are you out here this early?"

"I have got a mission actually." 

"Oh! Is this for that pest Banri?" Kurenai questioned.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I heard about it. It's big news." "Do you live under a  rock?"

"All the ninjas sent after him have all said the same thing, they followed Banri- bright light- disappeared." 

"He's the greatest mystery and the most interesting mission in the roster currently."

As she tried to figure out a mission plan in her mind. She saw Kakashi coming into view and waved him over. "So, where are you two planning on going on a date again?" Kotetsu asked the red eyed woman who narrowed her eyes threateningly at him as her cheeks were

 dusted pink. When the both of them saw Kakashi, they continued, "Kakashi and Miyuki could use some ideas." Miyuki's head snapped back to the two of them and she gave them a deathly glare. "Give us what?" the man asked as he came over.

 "Nothing. We have to hurry." she said as she dragged the man and took off quickly, not letting more of their teasing continue.

"They really remind me of the Fourth Hokage and his wife." Kurenai commented and the other spectators agreed with her.

The journey was about 40 minutes from Konoha without rest. It was a place both of them were familiar with, a place with a few houses and shops. The Konoha ninjas rested here when coming back from missions that took place outside of Konoha so it was quite known among them. The forest as a shopkeeper had suggested was at the right of it, a path was there. Leading them from the crowded place towards the woods. They followed the path and ended up in the middle of the woods. They looked around, they were surrounded by tall trees, the path had ended there.

"I'll go right." "Then I'll go left." the both of them scattered. Miyuki sat on a tree branch, she looked around and after confirming that there was nothing on the aerial space she decided to move on to the ground. She had covered the place, atleast twice but she still could not find anything and so she decided to regroup with Kakashi. When she went back to the place, she found Kakashi looking at the ground deep in thought. "Anything?" she asked as she also directed her eyes at the place where Kakashi's eyes were. "Nothing. But take a look at the ground." She narrowed her eyes at the red spots on the ground. He bent down and smelled it, "It's blood." "Banri must have been hurt when he escaped. I don't think he noticed the..... trail." They followed the trail proceeding cautiously. Miyuki had her hands on her pouch ready for attacks. 

The both of them followed the trail and were surprised to see it disappeared completely in the middle of nowhere. She slowly checked the ground, there must be an opening and her guess was proven right when she found a scroll hidden under makeshift leaves camouflaging as nothing unusual. 

"Kakashi!" she called him over. As he took a few steps, she saw him narrow his eyes at the road, "What's wrong?" 

"The ground... let me check." She stood up and was about to make her way near him only to be stopped, "Stop! Don't come near.' he ordered. She was about to question why when he bent down and cleared out the leaves on the ground.

They were greeted with a hole. A dark hole that seemed to be bottomless.

She unraveled the scroll and was greeted with a torn page. Half of the contents in the scroll must be under the care of Banri, she concluded.

She saw the diagram of a hole in the picture but before she could read more, she was interrupted by Kakashi.

"Let's go in." "It looks deep." She passed him the scroll and to his questioning look she responded, "It's the same. It must have been his." 

The scroll had a picture of the hole along with some words written in a language she didn't know. "Jump in?" she asked the man who was still trying to decipher the contents of the scroll. "Jump in." he affirmed and cleared her path.

As she came closer to the hall, she started to fear a little. 

Am I gonna die today? What if this is not related to space-time ninjutsu at all and is just a trap. She then remembered Tsunade's words, 'I trust in you and I believe in you.'

 Sensing her fear and seeing her hesitance, Kakashi offered, "Do you want me to go in first?" "No, I can do it but thank you regardless. " He put a comforting hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, I won't leave." and at once, pushed her down without her permission.

"AAAAAHHHHH" her scream echoed.