As fate would have it the team had decided to sign up for a C-rank immediately upon finishing their month of rest. The Hokage had decided to give them something simple. A bandit extermination in northern Fire Country. Of course the Hokage gave them this mission specifically to see if the team, and the Hyuuga heiress, is still fit for active duty.
The group had prepared and set out immediately. Kurenai had made sure after Wave the genin would always have scrolls packed with mission provisions. It was standard for most ranked tokubetsu jonin and above to do so and she wanted her team to function just as well as high ranking teams.
It only took them a day of traveling to arrive at the bandit camp. Kurenai disguised the group under a Genjutsu and ordered her genin to observe the camp. She made sure Hinata had her Byakugan active while they observed. As far as bandits went these guys were nothing out of the ordinary. They were spread around the camp drinking, singing generally making merriment. Of course they were also fighting each other and molesting captured women. The genin felt a little sick, but Kurenai knew better, this was all fairly normal for bandits. It didn't make it right, but for as long as they would be exterminating bandits they would be seeing scenes similar to this one. Honestly as far as bandit camps went this one seemed pretty tame. She had seen worse, and unfortunately one day her genin will see worse as well.
The group sat there for what felt like an eternity, at least to the genin, watching as the bandits continued to amble about the camp. Finally Kurenai made a single hand signal and the group descended on the camp. Their retribution was swift and ruthless. Naruko had quickly been passing by bandits, barely visible to the untrained eye, tagging them with explosive tags before moving on. She was charged with taking the north-west portion of the camp. Hinata had swiftly been executing bandits as she went, her new taijutsu style landing kicks to each and every bandits temple, the force rattling their brain and the chakra disconnecting it from the rest of the body, she had the north-east portion of the camp. Sasuke had the last third of the camp, and had taken to disabling the bandits on mass with Genjutsu. That and using the Chakra Scalpel, he had learned during the month, to disable their tendons.
Kurenai was charged with silently getting any captives out of the camp. The group met a mile outside the camp not even ten minutes later. Kurenai gives the redhead a look and she nods. "Go." Naruko puts her fingers together and channels chakra to the tags. They all detonate at once. The resulting explosions are enough to temporarily light up the night sky. "Now we move onto the second part of bandit exterminations. We have several captives with us that need to be relocated to the nearest village so they can move on with their lives." Of course not every ninja village bothers to help the captives return to normal life, but Konoha wants the world to think they're the good guys, and aiding the civilians was part of that.
Unsurprisingly the longest part of the mission turned out to be just that. The group had to travel at a civilian pace, and given that some of the women had broken pelvises and/or legs it was especially slow. Sasuke would have healed them but the few that were awake would have panic attacks if he got too close, so he had to keep his distance.
Naruko realized this was likely another use of the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique). It would make it easier to keep the civilians comfortable in a situation like this. She also thought Sasuke's permanently harsh expression also probably didn't help him. He had loosened up around her a lot this past month but even then he still seemed to be scowling. But she had realized that's just how he is. Kind of like how he says she always seems to be either bored or clueless. She didn't get how she seemed clueless but when she asked he just snorted and said "That's part of the reason." She had shrugged and dropped the issue.
Now that she thinks about it she's been spending a lot of time with Sasuke this past month. Maybe that's why Hina-chan's upset with her. She hadn't really thought about how Hina-chan might feel about her spending time with other people. She used to pretty much only spend time with Hina-chan. She'd have to talk about it with the other girl later. Right now they're still on a mission.
Of course it took a day to reach the nearest village and Kurenai had supplied the group of beleaguered women with funds to restart their lives. After making sure they had settled, the group from Konoha left.
By the time Team 7 had arrived back in the village Naruko was fairly sure it was somehow her fault that Hina-chan was mad, probably because of Sasuke, and she'd have to do something to make up for it. They hadn't been on a date in a while, maybe she could do something nice for the other girl. Reporting to the Hokage was even simpler this time, probably because it was only a C-rank and went pretty much exactly as expected. The group received their payment from the mission desk and went their separate ways. Well Naruko went with Hina-chan.
"Hey Hina-chan, let's go on a date this Sunday."
"Sorry Naru-chan, but I've gotta keep training, maybe hang out with Sasuke." So Hina-chan really was jealous then.
Of course Hinata wasn't having thoughts along those lines. She wouldn't have time to go on dates with her girlfriend until she had completed the deal with her father. It was all so she could secure Naru-chan and her futures together.
"Oh, um, okay. Maybe next Sunday then?" Hinata sighs. Why was Naruko being so needy? They still spent plenty of time together. They trained together everyday.
"I'm sorry Naru-chan, maybe some other time." Despite having the all seeing Byakugan she missed the brief flash of disappointment and slight hurt that crossed her girlfriends face.
The redhead's voice is quiet as she responds. "Okay… Sorry for bothering you." Naruko released her resistance seals and disappeared from sight. She returned to her apartment and quickly flopped onto her bed. She had to admit, being dismissed like that hurt surprisingly bad. Did Hina-chan not care like she used to? Naruko would drop everything if it meant spending time with Hina-chan, and the white eyed girl would have done the same for her not too long ago. Obviously she won't anymore. Maybe Hina-chan's opinion changed because she lost a hand over her. Or maybe she decided Naruko is a monster and she doesn't care anymore. That thought actually stung a lot. She couldn't bear the thought of the white eyed girl hating her now.