I finally reached the Sand Village and it was blazing hot here.
I fanned myself and was greeted by one of the Sand ninjas.
"What's your business here?" He asked.
He had two red stripes on his cheek and wore a headgear that showed half of his face.
"I'm here to deliver a scroll to the Kazekage and pick up a scroll that's supposed to be given to Lord Hokage," I replied.
He nodded.
"Follow me,"
He led me to the Kazekage's building and I could see that some of the villagers here were giving me a curious look.
We stepped inside a building and walked up some stairs, then he knocked on the door.
"Lord Kazekage, there's a Leaf ninja here who has a scroll for you," He spoke.
"Come in," The Kazekage replied.
I followed the Sand ninja inside and the Kazekage looked at me.
He had red hair and a stoic expression.
I took the scroll out of my pocket and handed it to him.
He opened it without a word and then read through it. He stood up to grab a scroll from one of his shelves that was in the office and then handed a scroll back to me.
"Thank you sir," I bowed respectfully.
After that, the Sand ninja escorted me out of the village and I was relieved that the mission was finally over. I hoped I could make it back to the Leaf Village without any problems. I wasn't ready for another attack.
I put my hand to where my wound was since it started hurting again.
Damn, I really need to be more watchful of my surroundings so this doesn't happen again when I run into the other three. I had to be ready so I could catch them off guard instead.
I moved my hand after the wound stopped hurting and continued walking back home.
My mind immediately went back to changing my last name. It would only be temporary until Naruto finds out about Minato and Kushina. I couldn't have him questioning me if he knew my last name was Uzumaki.
After what felt like hours, I finally made my decision and I was now close to the Leaf Village.
I saw the gate in the distance and started walking faster so I could get back home.
I opened the gate and saw Izumo and Kotestu arguing about something. They stopped when they saw me and cleared their throats.
"Welcome back, how did the mission go?" Kotetsu asked.
"Good," I replied.
I didn't really wanna talk about what happened. I just wanted to get this wound looked at and go home right away.
I walked to the Hokage's Tower and knocked on his door.
"Come in,"
I opened the door and walked inside his office.
"So, how did the mission go?" He asks.
"Well, I delivered the scroll and I brought the scroll you needed," I said and placed it on his desk. "However, I did run into those Stone ninjas again. They gave me trouble,"
He looked concerned.
"Again? Are you hurt?"
"I do have a little wound on my back, but I was going to get it looked at before I went home. I actually learned this time that there's three more of them,"
"Do you have any more information?"
"No, that was all I could find out,"
He looked like he was thinking in his head and was looking at me with worry.
"Maybe sending you alone on missions isn't a good idea anymore," He said. "From now on, if you're to go on a mission, another jounin will be assigned with you. I can't risk you getting hurt like that again,"
I nodded.
"Now go get that wound checked. You're dismissed," He said.
"Wait a minute,"
"What is it?"
"I'm going to change my last name,"
I could tell his took him by surprise.
"May I ask why?" He asked.
"I've been thinking about this for a while now. If Naruto finds out that my last name is Uzumaki, he's going to put two and two together," I replied. "It's for the best. Plus, since those Stone ninjas are still targeting me, it's also a good idea so they won't attempt to get to him,"
"You have a point," He answers and stood up.
He walked over to the filing cabinet and pulled a file out. I assumed it was mine.
He opened it and grabbed a pen.
"What last name did you have in mind?"
"Namikaze,"
He looked up, quirking an eyebrow at me.
"Namikaze?"
"Yes, it'll only be temporary until he finds out,"
He wrote in my file.
I was now going to be known as Hana Namikaze. It'll be weird introducing myself as a Namikaze, instead of Uzumaki. I preferred that over my father's last name. It felt right since Minato and Kushina were the only parental figures I had after my parents died.
"I'll alert the others about your new last name," He said. "Now go get that wound checked.
"Yes sir," I said and left his office.
I walked to the Leaf Village's hospital and checked myself in. The nurse told me I had to do paperwork since I have a new last name now, which was pretty irritating. I hated paperwork.
Once I was done, the nurse came back to treat my wounds and told me to be careful and to leave the bandage on until the wound has closed.
I started walking home and I saw Kakashi walking up to me. He was reading the Makeout series while walking, of course. I think he likes it way more than I do.
"How was your mission?" He asked when he caught up with me.
"I jinxed myself," I started. "Those Stone ninjas showed up, but I didn't get too hurt. I already got my wound checked,"
He closed the book and I could tell he was concerned now. "Really? I had a bad feeling about you going by yourself,"
"The Hokage said he was going to start assigning other jounin on missions with me, at least until it's over," I replied.
"Well, I'm glad he's doing that. Did you find out anything more about them?"
"There's three left. That's all I could find out,"
"We need to try and find a way to figure out who they are, so we can get to them first," Kakashi said. "But the question is, how would we do that?"
"It would be nice if there was a way for us to do that. I'm tired of having to live in fear because of them," I sighed. "Besides all that, I also changed my last name,"
Kakashi rose an eyebrow.
"It's temporary. I figured it's best if Naruto doesn't know I'm an Uzumaki for now, so I had it changed to Namikaze,"
Kakashi looked surprised but didn't ask any questions about it. "So, I'm assuming you want to know how the training went?"
"Yes, tell me everything," I replied.
"Well, turns out I do need that luck. Naruto is almost exactly how you were. He even got himself tied to the training post," Kakashi chuckled.
"Oh god," I laughed. "Don't tell me he tried to confront you first thing too,"
"He did," Kakashi said. "It was like dealing with the male version of you back then,"
Kakashi walked me home and told me everything about the training exercise. He also told me how they failed at first, but came through in the end. Which was good to know. Kakashi also told me about how Naruto got himself tied to the training post.
We made it to my house and I was glad to have finally made it home after this long day.
"Goodnight Kakashi."
"Goodnight Hana."
He turned around to leave and when I got inside, I immediately face planted onto my bed.
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I've got a drawing of how Hana looks for this story coming soon. Once the person is done with it, I will post it in a chapter so you guys can see it.