A few weeks later.
Hinata was gathering information in a small village on the border of the Land of Water, earnestly questioning a fisherman who had just returned from fishing at sea.
"Excuse me, have you seen either of these people?"
"Let me see. Hmm? I don't remember this white-haired man. As for this one... so, so big... ah, no, what a beautiful young woman!"
The fisherman's eyes lit up as he looked at the photographs.
"Are you setting me up with her? What's her name? How old is she? Is she married?"
"Um, I only wanted to ask whether you've seen her."
"You're kidding! If I'd ever seen a beauty like that, how could I possibly forget her?"
The fisherman stroked his chin, his lips unconsciously curling upward as he studied the photograph. "Little miss, how about giving me this picture?"
"...Sorry for the trouble!"
Hinata hurriedly snatched the photograph back, politely apologized, and rushed away.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Naruto were doing much the same thing.
They had questioned several people, but hardly anyone had seen the people their mission required them to find.
Another day with nothing to show for it.
"Why does the village want us to go to all this trouble to find these two? We've been asking around forever, and it seems like nobody's ever seen them!"
Naruto complained after they regrouped.
"Naruto-kun, it was explained in the mission intelligence Kakashi-sensei gave us afterward," Hinata patiently explained.
"Given their achievements, it might be so one of them can become the next Hokage. Lord Hokage is getting old, after all. He has to consider a successor."
Sasuke calmly offered his analysis from beside them.
"The next Hokage? Isn't that supposed to be me?" Naruto chuckled, earning an eye roll from Sasuke to match Hinata's Byakugan.
"I'm