Disclaimer: I have a cat that I am sadly whipped for, but nothing else. Well. I guess Nao is mine.

Warning: Fighting.

Beta: Kalafina94

Beta: silverseed

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I wasn't quite sure what to make of Hikaru. I admired his bravery regarding the storm, and I admired his kindness to us (after the storm, of course. Although, he was never mean to me before the story, like he was with Naruto and Sasuke. a gentleman, I suppose). However, when something as worrying as having your father kidnapped by hostile terrorists occurs. how do you approach someone?

Naruto was always the charismatic one, not I. Yet it was at Kakashi's insistence that I still talked to Hikaru even after Naruto had already cheered him up.

It seemed rather silly. When I protested such, Kakashi only insisted even more.

I finally relented after a while, and that's how I found myself sitting next to Hiraku, silence between us.

I cleared my throat, looking over at his bright-red face. "So. you know we're going to get your father back, right?"

"Of course I do," Hiraku declared. "Naruto promised me, and he never breaks his promises."

"That's right. Naru-kun always keeps his promises," I said, smiling fondly at my friend.

"Ah. Ah, Nao-chan." Hikaru mumbled, his face taking on a brighter hue. I felt myself frowning in concern, Is he getting a fever?

"Mn?"

"I was wondering."

Sasuke entered the small grassy clearing. "There you are. It's time to go."

"Right!"

Hikaru sighed.

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Saving the prince. by acting as the circus.

Well, we weren't acting as a circus, of course. Kakashi would lead the circus through an act to distract the majority of people while we took the secret passage into the palace.

It was relatively uneventful getting into the palace, but once we were in, of course trouble ensued.

We headed down the hallways, my communicator buzzing in as Kakashi explained the distraction was complete and that Michiru was being held on the upper terrace. I explained the information to the others and we broke into a sprint.

We paused before the door to the front corridor, one of our soldiers slipping out and surveying the area. Once he gave the all clear, I relayed the message to Kakashi. Faintly, I could hear the music in the background come to an end as Kakashi began his own show.

Only seconds after the music ended did screams break out in front of the palace.

"That's our cue," I murmured, glancing back as Naruto moved to Hikaru.

He placed a comforting hand on the quivering boy, whispering words too quiet to be overheard. Hikaru gave a smile and nodded firmly. We headed out, quickly cutting across the room and heading up the stairs. After the first flight of stairs, we ran into the largest of the shinobi.

"Hehe, so he was right. That Ishidate is a clever one," he said, grinning and stepping forward. "He guessed that all that ruckus outside was a diversion."

"I'll give you a diversion," Naruto said firmly, taking a step forward.

"No," Sasuke snapped. "He's mine. I need payback for that dirty trick he pulled. He won't get away with it a second time."

"Fine," Naruto said, giving a nod and heading away. He ducked behind the nearest hallway, the rest of us following behind and leaving Sasuke.

I wasn't concerned for Sasuke. I knew he could handle it.

Distantly, I could hear the fighting begin immediately behind us, but quickly dismissed it from my mind. It would do me no good to pay attention to those behind at this point. We ducked down another hallway and began to rapidly climb the stairs, Naruto a pace ahead of me.

As we reached the top, I caught a sickeningly familiar stench of perfume. Following my nose, my hand flew down and I pulled out a kunai. I threw the kunai in the general direction of the stench.

The lady from before slowly became visible and Naruto faltered in his steps upon seeing her.

"Aw, how did you guess?" the lady asked with a creepy smile.

"You're wearing heavy perfume, hedgehog girl," I answered. "You guys go on ahead. I have some unfinished business to attend to here."

"Hedgehog girl?!" she hissed, bundling up her muscles for an attack. Naruto and Hikaru shot me a worried look, but complied, rushing on ahead with the others right behind them.

I leapt back as she slammed her fist into the ground beneath me, leaving a small crater.

My right hand glowed a bright white as my jutsu began, a single long sword appeared, the end of it slopping pathetically.

She scowled furiously at me. "I'm not falling for that same trick again!"

"I find that you will indeed fall for that same trick again," I said, rushing forward.

She glowered at me, leaping back and dissolving into a flurry of petals. The petals circled around me, and I paused in my assault, looking around for her. Annoyance swelled inside of me as I realized she had masterfully hidden herself in the genjutsu.

Well, not masterfully.

I gave a careful sniff, but before I could pinpoint her exactly, a sharp stinging sensation came from my upper arm. I immediately canceled my jutsu, looking down at the bleeding scratch. Another cut came across my other arm, followed by another one on my leg.

I winced inwardly, but didn't pay them much attention. I had gone through worse pain.

I inhaled, enhancing my sense of smell with my chakra until I found her exact position.

I released my kekkei genkai, wincing again as my concentration threatened to break from more cuts, but Papa had put me through worse things. So long as I could hold her for a second —long enough to cancel the jutsu— I could hit her with my original jutsu and finish this.

My chakra wrapped around her and the genjutsu was canceled.

She stared, wide-eyed in shock at me, and began to struggle violently. I found, though, compared to Orochimaru and Kakashi and Zabuza, she was laughably pathetic. I held her for another heartbeat before I willed her towards me.

She moved, roughly and jerkily, towards me, falling over her own feet and landing on the floor on her face.

My jutsu was over and a slight wave of fatigue came over me, but I was already rushing to her, my sword-whip in hand. Her head jerked up from the humming sound and her eyes widened.

My jutsu sliced through her head, surprisingly neatly.

It then exploded, somehow more terrible than the other times, sending me flying back and hitting my head against the wall.

I slumped against the wall, my entire body going numb and shaking for a minute before stopping entirely. It stiffened for a heartbeat before relaxing entirely, exhaustion pressing down on it.

It exploded after having enough pressure on it to slice through bone, I thought, mulling over the new results. Interesting. That's good to know. I suppose I'll have to work on that, though.

I struggled to stand up, wincing. I've had worse, though, and I was sadly starting to get very used to the numbing sensation. Slowly, but surely, I made my way to the rooftop.

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It took me a while —longer than what I would have normally liked— to reach the top, and by the time I did reach it, the fighting was over. I watched in the shadows as the son, the prince, and my dearest friend laughed with glee and relief at the corpse of the enemy.

The feelings of numbness escaped me and I continued to watch them for a while longer. Sasuke was soon at my side, watching them in silence. I peeked a glance at Sasuke, and my eye momentarily widened when I saw his expression.

"Our knuckleheaded boy certainly seems to have grown up so fast," I whispered quietly, smiling proudly at him.

Sasuke glanced at me, frowning.

"As much as you have, Sasuke-kun," I finished, smiling brightly at my other friend.

Sasuke blinked in surprise. "What? Really?"

"Mm-hmm, you two grow in different ways, you know?" I said, motioning between the two.

Sasuke gave me a dubious look.

I smiled though. "Maybe you can't see it, but trust me. You've come so far, Sasuke-kun. I'm really proud of you."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he sharply looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Whatever."

I giggled.

That's right, Sasuke-kun. Compared to what you could have been your expression, then, watching Naruto.

I moved a step closer to Sasuke, nudging his arm and starting to head towards the group. Sasuke hesitated a moment before following behind me.

...it was the expression, no, the smile, of a proud brother.

(I'm so proud of you)

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I laughed happily along with Naruto as Sasuke scowled balefully at us. He was dripping wet from the water balloon arrow Hikaru had launched at him earlier. The four of us were currently enjoying the rest of our. 'mission' that would last for the rest of month. with pay, of course. on the beautiful beach.

Kakashi was off in the shade, reading a mature book, but seemed very much at ease. Hikaru was riding Chamū when he shot the arrow, and now the large cat was racing away from a very vengeful Uchiha.

Naruto and I shared a look before we busted out laughing again.

"I love this mission," Naruto said happily.

I gave him a large grin, my eyes switching to the ocean —lingering a moment or two longer than necessary— before I looked back around my friends.

"It's not that bad, actually."

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