Another month passes by. Minato was out in the Hokage Tower, Kushina was at home, and I was currently in my room getting ready to head out to the park. The summertime had passed, and now it was fall.

Kushina knocked on my bedroom door and poked her head in. "Hana?"

"Yes?"

"I have something to tell you and Minato, so he's going to be home in a bit. I will let you know when he's here," She said.

"Okay," I nodded.

I was curious as to what she was going to tell us.

I decided to get out of bed since I've been lying here all day. I put on a black tank top and some leggings and brushed my hair. I remember Obito told me that he liked the way my hair looked when it was down, so I usually kept it like that.

A few minutes later, I went to go brush my teeth and Kushina told me that Minato was home now.

I walked out of the bathroom, seeing that he looked exhausted, but he smiled at her and kissed her cheek.

"So, what's the thing you wanted to talk about?" I asked, sitting down at the couch next to her.

Minato sat on the recliner chair and rose his eyebrow curiously.

Kushina looked a little nervous, but she was happy at the same time. "I...noticed that I've been feeling sick in the morning,"

Minato and I exchanged glances, as if we both had an idea why.

"So I talked to Mikoto because she's pregnant right now, and she thought that I was pregnant," Kushina continued. "And I took the test,"

"And what were the results?" I ask.

Minato was silent.

"It was positive," She smiled. "I-I'm going to be a mother,"

I widened my eyes in shock and Minato's eyes widened as well. We were both silent and suddenly, a smile spread onto his face.

"And I'm...I'm going to be a father," He said.

Kushina grinned. "I'm going to be a mother, ya know!" 

She glanced over at me. "Well, I kind of am know, but still!"

I just chuckled when I realized she felt bad.

They both hugged each other and I was now excited. I knew that this little cousin was going to be like the sibling I've never had and I already made a vow that I would protect him/her.

I wished that we already knew the gender, but that was going to take a few months.

Most teens in my situation would react negatively because they'd feel jealous, but not me. I was happy to have more family after the "incident" back in my home village and I always wanted a younger brother or sister when I was growing up.

After the whole excitement, Minato turned to me.

"Oh, Hana, I forgot to tell you that I'm going to be assigning you on a mission with three other ninjas and they need a fourth person to be safe," Minato said.

"I'll go get ready then," I said.

"After you get prepared, come to the tower and I'll explain the details once you get there," He said.

I quickly changed into my ninja attire and Kushina told me to be safe as I walked out. 

When I got to the tower, I saw Itachi Uchiha, Ebisu, and Naomi in front of Minato's desk. Minato's speed still took me by surprise because we were at the house not too long ago.

Naomi and I were both surprised to see each other. Our relationship actually improved after a while, but she still gets competitive with me.

"So now that you're all here I will explain the mission," Minato said. "There's been some reports of a rogue ninja lurking around the border where the Land of Fire,"

"So how far do we have to go?" Naomi asked.

"After the border, it's the Land of Water. Don't stray too far into their area unless you absolutely have to. Just check around our area and report back to me," Minato replied. "And I know Itachi is kind of young, but he's pretty skilled for his age,"

I glanced over at Itachi. Just how skilled is he?

"You may go now, but please work together. Don't argue with each other or go off on your own." 

I knew why he warned us about that. I sulked a little when I thought of Obito.

We left the village and Naomi stopped walking as soon as we exited the gate. 

"So here's the plan," She said. "I'm going to stay in the back with Itachi since I have my byakugan,"

"And what about Ebisu and I?" I ask.

"You two will stay in the front since you will need to be ready to attack," Naomi replied.

We all agreed with this thankfully and got into formation. 

"Will there really be any enemies this close to the village? I thought there were reports of them at the border," Ebisu asked.

"It's unlikely, but we don't know what they were doing by the border. They're either trying to get to the Land of Water or Land of Fire, so it's just safer if we stay on guard," I answered.

The walk to the border was actually pretty safe and no one attacked us, but I still had a feeling deep down that someone was watching. That feeling was confirmed when Naomi suddenly told us to stop.

I turned to her and she was staring at a tree, byakugan activated.

"You can come out now," Naomi said. "I know you're there. I'm not stupid,"

We looked at the tree, expecting someone to come out.

Naomi was surprised and turned her head. "I see that you can hide your chakra and move quickly,"

I threw a kunai at the tree she was looking at and there was a chuckle.

"If you don't know who your enemy is, you shouldn't just attack like that. That can get you killed easily," A deep voice spoke.

All of us got ready to attack, but the voice continued to talk and no one came out.

"My business here is done. I won't be seeing any of you until the time is right."

Now it felt like that presence was gone. 

"Wait!" Naomi shouted.

She suddenly looked around in alarm. "They're gone...it's like they just disappeared or something!"

Ebisu looked at her skeptically. 

"That's impossible Naomi. They can't just vanish like that. You're probably not looking properly," He said to her.

She deactivated her byakugan and glared at him. "Are you really going to question me here?" 

"Oh boy...here we go..." I muttered.

"I'm from the Hyuga. We don't make mistakes because our byakugan can see chakra flows. If I say it's gone, it's gone," She ranted.

Ebisu didn't react to her snarky tone. "All I'm saying is that something is wrong if you can't see. Maybe he's in a blind spot since it's not possible for someone to just vanish like that,"

Itachi and I just listened quietly. He had an eyebrow raised, as if he knew something and I couldn't get over how unsettling the person's threat was about seeing us when "the time is right."

"Ebisu, unless you can magically get the byakugan, I suggest you shut up," Naomi hissed. She was obviously taking his words as an insult to her skills and he wasn't believing her when she said the person was gone.

I let out an exaggerated groan, making everyone look at me. "Guys, why don't we settle this by taking a look around. We can just report this to Lord Hokage and he can figure out what to do about it,"

Naomi was about to speak, but I cut her off.

"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere. An enemy might take advantage of us arguing, so we need to just investigate. Trust me, I would know," 

Ebisu nodded. "Okay, then what do you suggest we do?"

"We can split up and meet back here. I want you and Naomi to team up since this will settle your argument and I will team up with Itachi. Just don't argue and go off on your own," I said.

They nodded and Naomi gave me a look, telling me that she wasn't happy that I had her teamed up with Ebisu. While searching, I managed to accidentally get myself separated from Itachi because I wasn't paying close attention. 

"Itachi?"

Damnit, now what am I going to do?