Snippet #2490886

The Hokage's headquarters were as imposing as ever. Sayuri pushed open the doors to the tall building, enjoying the wafting smell of fresh ink and paper that wafted from the scrolls lining shelves along the walls. She had practically grown up inside this building, trailing after her father when he worked; always having it drilled into her that she was special. She was the daughter of the Hokage's top coordinating adviser, and the god-daughter of the Sand's ambassador to the Leaf. Shikamaru Nara was third in line for Hokage emergency succession, right behind Kekashi Hatake, and that made all of the Nara children important. Sayuri often thought the pressure of this was what corrupted her elder sisters in their strive for power. Ikera had even taken over the Satori clan in place of their late grandmother, though she had been raised outside the clan's complex. Hikari was Sakura Haruna's second in command in Leaf Village Hospital and had been trained under her for nearly half her life. Sayuri's only brother, Sessomaru, had been selected for Anbu service shortly after he was appointed Jounin. Even Yoshime, only three years older than Sayuri, was appointed as her father's assistant coordinator. She wasn't sure what Svaya and Tasumi did that was so important, but people always mentioned them when they talked about the Nara clan. As the youngest child of the Nara head family, Sayuri was only known for two precise things: Being the sister of her siblings and the advanced form of Lukero. Though her mother was a user of the Kekkei Genkai, Sayuri was the only one of her children to possess the Lukero. Because of the chakra reading eye, she was often used to tie the Nara clan to the Uchiha and Hyyuga clans.

Sayuri snapped herself out of her thoughts as she knocked on the door to Hokage Uzumaki's office. There was a short cough from inside before a familiar voice called out "enter". Sayuri pushed open the double doors to find her father and god-mother in a council session with a small group of ninja. Sayuri only recognized Kekashi Hatake from his silvery hair as they group turned to look at her.

"Sayuri Nara" Hokage grinned at her. "She's a bit more motivated than you, huh Shikamaru?"

"What a drag" Sayuri's father rolled his eyes at Naruto Uzumaki before turning to look at his youngest child, ignoring the look Yoshime was giving her younger sister from across the room. Ikera stood from a shrouded seat in the corner, looking over Sayuri with hard eyes. "What do you need, Sayuri?"

"I wanted to check to see if I had any missions" Sayuri said, ducking her head to hide the heat that had risen.

"Hmm...well Sakura? Did anyone specifically request someone from the Nara or Satori clan?" Naruto turned to look at his pink haired adviser.

"Let's see" Sakura sifted through a stack of folders and scrolls. "We've got Hikari filling this one, Tasumi is out on here, Sessomaru was specifically requested, Ikera was asked to take on this one, Svaya completed this...." Sakura looked up at Sayuri sadly. "Sorry, hun. We're all out of requests to send you on...maybe next time"

Sayuri sighed, hiding the look of disappointment on her face as she turned to leave.

"Wait, don't we need someone to fill in the joint team in the Sand Village since we sent Svaya out with Kiba's team?" Temari interrupted. "I think Sayuri would be able to fill in. It would be best if we didn't push that mission back."

"That's true...."Naruto mused to himself. "Gaara, you're in charge of that mission" Naruto motioned to Sakura, indicating that she pull Sayuri's file. The pink haired woman did so, handing the folder to Gaara. "Think Sayuri is efficient enough?"

Gaara scanned over the folder, glancing down at Sayuri's track record and efficiency tests. "This is impressive...why were we not informed about her earlier Naruto? I would have proposed a trade to bring her into the Sand Village"

"Shikamaru always did keep a close eye on his youngest" Temari teased, laughing at the look on Sayuri's father's face

"So you're taking her back with you, huh?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms on his desk.

"Yes" Gaara closed the folder, handing it to his own assistant. "Make a copy of that. And send word to the ninja we've issued the mission to, we need to make them aware that they are to wait until Sayuri arrives tomorrow."