This is the first chapter of a fully written 5-chapter short-story. There will be ends left untied on the logistical side, but it's being posted as a little Gai/OC romance so if you don't like that, don't read it please (PS: there is a lot of Kakashi). Do review though if you enjoy it. It helps my self-esteem by leaps and bounds. If you don't enjoy it, please let me know why and how I can do better. These are pretty raw chapters. They aren't overly edited but when you're taking four upper-division classes and trying to write in the side to relieve stress, you tell me how in-depth your editing is haha. ;)

Disclaimer: The only thing that is mine is Yoshiko/Uso.

Behind the mask, it was easy to hide. It was easy to lose yourself in the missions: the fighting, the bleeding, the hurting. It wasn't so easy to hide from your teammates, but when one received teammates so randomly as she, it was not impossible. She was Uso, meaning Otter. Her alias was not a grand one, nor was she a particularly grand shinobi. She did her job, she returned. She rarely entered the Hokage's office, preferring to report to Shizune-san, who was her direct supervisor as a member of the ANBU medical team.

Uso came highly requested by the jounin ANBU captains, even Root requesting her assistance more than once. As ROOT tended to keep to themselves, she didn't mind such missions, though she had come to acknowledge that ROOT members were extremely ruthless more so than any others she had worked with. They weren't the type she enjoyed working with, but their missions tended to be important and they didn't have many good medical ninja. This was reason enough to assist.

Uso kept her head down however, not wanting to attract negative attention especially from them. She had filled out an obviously-anonymous report to the hokage very discreetly indicating that ROOT members were often unnecessarily crass and brutal and left it at that. She had done her duty to the village in her eyes. It wasn't for her to try and change their training techniques. They were crafted to be as they were and their new leader was much more important than her in the grand scheme of things. Danzou might have become Hokage if Lady Tsunade had not agreed.

By far, her preferred missions were those that went smoothly. The less healing she had to do the better and that only happened when she was under the best Captains: Raidou, Genma, Kakashi, Kumade, or Gai. She made it her business to know the person behind the mask, though technically she should never have dug for that information. It took little digging as long as one simply was patient and kept ones ears open. She was nothing if not patient. She kept to herself still and was quite confident that no one even thought of her past their missions.

She was nothing, a nobody. She blended easily in with the other shinobi of the village. Only one of her comrades knew her as Uso and as the shinobi she'd been before and he had been sworn to secrecy by the third hokage. Ambitious was not something she had ever claimed to be. She had never even considered requesting removal from ANBU despite how horrible and dark it could be, because she knew once her full records were released, she'd be made jounin and probably be forced to lead genin. She shuddered at the idea. She could not handle the responsibility of the next generation. She had no faith in her so-called will of fire. She saw herself as a failure as a normal shinobi. No, it was better to remain invisible, to remain nothing. It hurt less for sure.

Uso's grey eyes lowered tiredly as she turned from Shizune, limping slightly as she headed towards the stairs from hokage tower, intent on returning home, healing her leg, and getting some sleep before heading out once more to train, somewhere no one would encounter her, somewhere she could be alone. She had killed nearly ten enemy shinobi, ten people intent on doing the same to her, but ten people nonetheless and that weighed on a person whether they had not even killed once before or had taken a thousand lives. No mission where a medic had to kill was a good mission. Medics were meant to be on the reserve, just in case. They were never used on a mission if it went smoothly.

This was a mission that had not gone well. It was unsurprising considering that a new ANBU had been thrown in as Captain: a new and arrogant captain. She didn't mind being passed over for the position. Leading meant acknowledgement, meant others seeing her which was contrary to her self-imposed vows to herself. She was the model shinobi: silent, unsuspecting, and absolutely lethal. She'd led before, but she only led when ordered or asked and then she finished things in as low-key a manner as possible, never enough to be noticed.

The new ANBU shinobi had been intelligent, but his plan had been flawed. She had nearly pointed this out in front of the others, but had kept it to herself until she could speak with him one-on-one, but he had been unyielding, stubborn and intent on proving himself on the mission. This was dangerous. She'd seen it destroy more than one mission. She had just nodded and told him softly that he was making a mistake before following obediently.

One casualty and the other in critical condition, currently under the healing hands of one Yamanaka Ino, a kunoichi Uso saw great potential in for the future, perhaps as a pink-stamp kunoichi. She was beautiful, deadly, and a healer, the perfect shinobi for such missions. Uso had never been very good at it, tended to kill her targets too soon. She had of course done that on purpose more than once. She didn't like being seen and Pink Stamp missions were about drawing as much attention as possible, not her style at all.

Uso had said nothing to the young Hyuuga shinobi as she realized he was following her from the tower, but he persisted. She sighed, knowing he would wish to speak with her. The very idea was entirely distasteful to her. She turned once outside in the fresh air and jumped up onto a rooftop, followed by the Hyuuga who apparently fancied himself stealthy, but she'd spent nearly a decade on ANBU so his attempt was almost laughable.

Lucky for him, she wasn't in a laughing mood. In fact if she were to show her emotions, all he would see would be her agonizing pain. Leaders felt one kind of pain when they lost a shinobi, but medics felt things on a different level, not a more serious level, but definitely different. Besides, her time on ANBU ensured that even without speaking with that shinobi, she knew him better than anyone knew her.

The rooftop was empty and the area was quiet. Only once she was sure they were alone did she speak. "Taicho," she said coolly, irritated that he didn't reveal himself immediately. He stepped out from behind an empty lookout tier and stepped towards her, but stopped, seeming to think better of it.

"You were right," he said, darkly. His fists were clenched at his sides a stiffness to his shoulders that indicated his anger, his pain, his confusion, and his regret. She inclined her head slightly. She didn't believe in coddling people. If the mistake had been hers she would expect people to make her accountable. In a way it was and she held herself accountable, but if anyone were to place blame her, this would not be the shinobi. She would not allow him to pass off his failure onto her shoulders. He deserved whatever pain he was feeling. Silence reigned between the two of them for a long moment.

"That's it?" he demanded after a moment. She sighed, realizing this was going to be an emotional reaction... anger perhaps? "You have nothing to say?"

"No taicho. I do not," she said simply, waiting for the outburst. His emotions were clouding his judgement. She knew many young shinobi with this problem and often the youngest ones believed that they had control until their first casualty, their first failed mission. That was when one really found out who they were. He cared. That was good. She approved of that. The greatest ninja hit this point sometime. She remembered it from a few of her usual captains.

Still he was young, trying to place the fault anywhere but upon himself, because it hurt. Uso knew that pain. She understood it, but she could not ease it for him. It would be the same no matter what she said. He looked at her like she was crazy, his lavender eyes narrowing at her from behind his mask. Apparently he expected her ire, her retaliation perhaps… but she would not give it. That would be too easy. She'd made a similar mistake once, one that had cost her her most important comrade. People had coddled her, but she had not deserved it and neither did he.

"Why weren't you made captain? You've been ANBU for how long?" he demanded, switching tacts seamlessly as he tried to handle the enormity of his failure. The mission should have been simple… should have run cleanly. Any regular jounin team could have accomplished it without real difficulty but they'd had an untasked group of ANBU and they'd used them despite their lack of training together, their lack of cohesion.

"It is not my place to question the orders of the hokage, nor is it yours to question me now that we are no longer on mission. I do what is expected of me and I leave," she said. "I suggest you do the same, taicho."

"Stop calling me that," he growled.

"I apologize for offending you," she said, calmly.

"You must have something to say! You told me we were going in wrong beforehand. You knew-"

"I apologize for interrupting, but I did not know anything. I assumed that the platoon would react a certain way and I happened to be correct. It could very well have ended up how you hypothesized," she said, trying to keep her words objective and her voice steady, but the pain in her leg and the guilt she felt at not being able to save their teammate was weighing her down heavily. He saw her as emotionless, unfeeling, but as the medic she bore more of the brunt of the failure than he could ever understand. Few shinobi could understand what it felt to lose someone from the healer's perspective. It was under her hands that that shinobi had died. Her face was the last thing he had seen and he hadn't even gotten that. All he'd seen was a mask, her mask.

She was determined to maintain her ANBU front. She could not allow even a modicum of her personality to show, because she had made a vow. She was invisible. She was nothing. She was no one. She didn't care that she had once been very close with Taka, the shinobi that had died this mission, whose blood she was still drenched with. She didn't care that he had been her friend back in their genin days. She didn't care that he had saved her life more than once over the years in ANBU. She didn't care that his blood still clung to her skin. She couldn't because she wasn't that person anymore. She was ANBU… she was Uso. Only her weak half could feel that pain. Still, it did not stop the small tremor in her right hand, her only tell.

"But it didn't end up-"

"Is there a problem here?" a nonchalant quickly. Uso turned her head, her eyes meeting a familiar sight.

"Kakashi-taicho!" Uso murmured, turning and bowing her head in respect. The new captain stared at her in shock as she so quickly jumped to attention at the sight of the copy nin.

"Uso, aren't you off-duty?," Kakashi said, his eyes not leaving that trashy book he was reading.

"Hai Kakashi-taicho," Uso said.

"Why are you out here then?" he asked, sounding bored.

"I will return home directly," she said, raising her eyes to look for a moment at the man who had saved her life too many times to count, the man that had inducted her into ANBU… her friend and her comrade, the man she'd parted with last on none-too-friendly terms not that it seemed to matter much in the wake of such a dreadful mission.

"Eternal Rival, I have found you at last!" a voice cried. Uso turned her head as Gai appeared, bowing her head to him as well and holding it, but he had eyes only for Kakashi for a few moments.

"Uso-san, back from a mission? With a new recruit it appears!" Gai said, finally looking at her. "How youthful! A success? Of course it was with you on the squad. I don't believe that you could have ever failed a mission!" Gai shouted. Uso looked around. She didn't know how to get out of this situation gracefully. She considered teleporting, but knew she didn't have the chakra for that. She was so tired… on the edge of passing out, but doing so before Gai-taicho would be beyond mortifying.

"You're lucky, new recruit! Uso has only lost three shinobi her entire time serving ANBU! Eight years if I am correct!" Gai shouted, clapping her on the shoulder.

"Four, taicho. I have now lost four as of yesterday and I'm not sure… I do not believe our wounded man will survive the night," she said, in an unaffected voice. Gai's face fell instantly, sorrow entering his eyes as he took her in. His hand on her shoulder softened, supportive and gentle, his eyes lowering to her trembling hands. He knew her tell. Of course he knew, because he was her captain. Only three shinobi could read her like that and two of them were standing on the roof with her right now. His sympathy turned quickly to anger, to frustration.

"Who was your captain!? He must have put your squad in serious-"

"That is not information I am cleared to release to you senpai, as you are well-aware. You are of course also aware that every captain makes mistakes in their careers and you were no exception," Uso cut him off sharply. "Please excuse me," she said, trying valiantly to walk from them without a limp, but Gai was persistent.

"You are yourself injured, Uso!" Gai cried, rushing to her and grabbing her arm. She pushed him away and jumped from the building, landing on the ground below a bit ungracefully and heading through the alleyways for home.

"Kakashi, did you know of this mission?" Gai demanded, turning to him, but Kakashi shrugged, continuing to read his book. The other ANBU had disappeared, apparently not interested in lingering with the two jounin. "I- rival... I must admit I have wondered for a long time, but any attempts I have made to follow Uso have failed. Do you… know who she is?"

Kakashi looked up at him with his single dark eye, barely concealing his surprise. Gai asking him for help in discovering who an ANBU member was? Not only was that information highly-restricted, but simply the fact Gai was asking raised his intrigue. Gai didn't expect him to tell him... did he? Gai shouldn't need his help finding out if he didn't know anyhow.

Kakashi shrugged. "Classified," he muttered. "Later," he added, poofing out, ignoring Gai's shout of protest.

It wasn't hard to find the ANBU. She was leaving an obvious trail of blood now. Apparently her jump had opened a partially closed wound. She limped heavily along. Her long brown hair was tied securely in a braid that hung down to her mid-back which would obviously not be much help if Gai were to try to seek answers, though usually it was the most identifiable factor when attempting to connect an ANBU to a fellow jounin. Gai wouldn't put it past any ANBU to henge themselves before donning their ANBU gear, Uso especially. Questioning whispers revolving around her were never long silenced. Even the infamously-disconnected ROOT ANBU had cast her questioning looks as she disappeared without a word following a rough mission.

Kakashi considered for a moment. Honestly, if he didn't already know who Uso really was, he might have been curious enough to ask another jounin even as forbidden as it was. It would probably have been Gai. Uso was extremely secretive, to the point of paranoia. There were no clues to gather from her clothes, standard issue black ANBU gear. Fishnet covering her arms, black sleeveless top covered with a grey armored vest, nondescript swords strapped across her back, black pants, grey medic bag and weapons holster in place, black sandals. All items were well-worn in from years of hard missions.

Gai was correct in his assumption. She had been in ANBU for over eight years, nearly ten to be more accurate, and she had admitted herself that she had only ever lost a handful of shinobi on mission in all that time... an impressive feat for any village medic. Even he'd lost more as captain, though he did have more S-class and A-ranked missions, he was fairly certain. He hadn't seen her stats in a while though. She may well be catching up.

He kept his chakra well-masked. Uso was a brilliant tracker and she wasn't going to miss him being there if he just trudged after her recklessly. Tracking was in her blood. It was her first specialty after all. He tucked his book away, wondering how furious she was going to be when he revealed himself. He smiled slightly at the strange shifting of her chakra. Suddenly she disappeared, leaving a genjutsu form of her behind. He followed the real her easily and knew her movements had been not due to her knowledge of his presence, but a simple precaution. She never did the same thing twice, but she always was certain to employ some genjutsu.

They were in a rather uninteresting part of the village, near the village's famous ramen-stand. He watched her climb the stairs, entering a room in the middle of the complex. The door was completely blank and unordinary, though any shinobi who might get this far wouldn't have to work hard to figure out who exactly "Uso" was because all chuunin and lower had their names written upon their door making it easier for messenger nins to locate them. "Inuzuka Yoshiko."

He headed slowly up the stairs, walking slowly, deliberately. He hesitated before placing his hand on the door handle. "Screw off Kakashi. I'm too tired for your games," a voice said within. Kakashi opened it to see the brunette woman glaring at him from across the single-room apartment. He held back a smirk. Her response to him as an ANBU was so different than her response as a person. He knew it had more to do with her anger at having been followed, but it was still a striking difference. Her mask was stashed away already and her swords were gone as well. He stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind himself without a word.

"What Kakashi?" she muttered and her tone of voice told him that she was not in good shape. She was greatly distressed. "Here to see me break down, fall apart? I didn't last time and I certainly won't now," she spat at him, removing her other sandal with a wince. Kakashi knew she didn't break down. He hadn't seen it since she'd been simply Yoshiko, since her first loss and even then it had seemed an intimate moment he was intruding on because it wasn't his arms she'd fallen apart in. It had been Gai's.

He watched her shoulders stiffen for a moment then she settled, letting out a breath. "The idea that I would come to mock you in your grief is quite distasteful," he said, darkly.

"Well, the idea that you would come here at all is ridiculous, considering the manner in which you left last time," she grumbled.

"What's another broken bone," he shrugged. She chuckled, but there was a deadened look in her eyes and there was no warmth to the laugh. She removed her shirt and her fishnet quickly followed. She placed a chakra-lit hand to her leg, which was no longer bleeding, but definitely still injured.

"No experienced captain would let a shinobi lay a hand on you. How'd it happen?" Kakashi asked.

She grimaced slightly, looking down at the wound. Pain was plainly visible on her red-marked face. Not all Inuzukas bore these marks, but she was very close to the highest family in the clan, a cousin of the heir: Inuzuka Hana. She not only had the customary triangles on her tanned cheeks, but around her eyes was a red tattooed line. When he'd first met her, he remembered thinking how ridiculous she'd looked, but then Gai had showed up and all his thoughts about her being ridiculous fell away. Kakashi leaned against the wall by the door, taking her in. She reached down with a wince and slid off her pants, not even caring about the shinobi watching her closely. She returned to healing her leg with a hiss of pain.

"It would be easier to have someone else do that," Kakashi told her.

She let out a bark-like laugh which was so characteristic of her, looking up at him as she drew away her hand from her leg. "Like you?" she inquired.

"Hn," Kakashi said, striding forward. He knelt in front of her, revealing his sharingan. She watched him with a small frown on her features, one that Kakashi pretended not to see. She grimaced and allowed him to take over healing the wound on her leg. He concentrated on the injury, his sharingan allowing him the jutsu he needed a jutsu he'd seen her perform many times, the most precise and efficient medical ninjutsu user he knew.

"I thought you said you were going to tell Gai," Kakashi said.

"Things got complicated," she muttered, wincing as he pushed too much chakra in. He was looking up at her and she knew he'd done it on purpose. "I don't need him to know. You know. Isn't that enough, Kakashi-kun?" she breathed, and sighed, ending the jutsu on her thigh and staring at the thin line left in its place while Kakashi still focused lower down on her other wounds. She held her breath, waiting for his response.

"He was your friend," Kakashi said.

"He still is, but…. he doesn't even know me anymore, not really," she said. She stood, removing the black pants and sitting once more, reaching to heal her leg, but Kakashi took hold of her wrist. "I'm easily forgotten."

"He would know you if you would give him a chance. Besides, Gai could never forget you and you know that. You need friends… friends to keep coming back to," he said, gripping it tighter and tighter until she looked at him finally. "Because sometimes I wonder if you don't want to return. Sometimes I think you died in that cell eleven years ago in Kumogakure."

She pulled her wrist back. "You know I managed fine when you were minding your own business and I can do quite fine without you," she growled, pushing him away, but he was like a wall. "Damn you," she muttered. "Are you going to heal my leg or just stare at me?" she demanded. He shook his head, turning to her leg. Her knee was quite badly mangled.

"You know you should be at the hospital right now," Kakashi muttered.

"You're going to lecture me on going to the hospital when injured? You of all people?" she snorted, letting out a moan of pain as his chakra made contact with the damaged ligaments. "Showing up at my door at all hours of the night half dead, barely conscious, bleeding all over my floors."

"There's a lot of damage. It's going to take a while," Kakashi told her. She nodded her head, gritting her teeth together. He continued to try to repair the damage and she sat as still as possible, trying her hardest not to move her leg. Kakashi finally had to place his hand on her thigh and hold her still. She muttered an apology, but he only shook his head, brow creased in concentration. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his shoulder, trying to block the pain from her mind.

Being a shinobi was being in pain. It was a part of the shinobi life. You accepted the pain and the hurt and moved on with your life, otherwise, you went insane. Really, there were no sane shinobi. Once you hit jounin or ANBU, you'd seen too much, done too much to be truly sane. Acting the part was what they were good at though. Acting normal gave one a feeling of normalcy. This wasn't the decision all shinobi made though.

After a short Kakashi was done and she groaned at the residual aching from both injuries. "Soldier pill?" Kakashi offered.

"No" she muttered, gripping his vest tighter as she felt a wave of nausea rush through her. Kakashi stayed graciously very still. She swallowed hard, pulling back. "Thank you," she murmured after a moment, meeting his gaze

"Consider it though. If not Gai, maybe Taka-san. You two were close once, when you were on Team Gai," he said. He blinked as her breath caught and her entire body stiffened. He saw the tell-tale glittering of her eyes and the way her hands shook, the only signs she would give.

"No," he said darkly, his eyes bearing into hers. She wrapped an arm around herself and he closed his eyes slowly, lowering his head and calming himself. They'd lost more than half of their generation and whatever any shinobi said or pretended to believe, their genin generation was important to them especially whatever was left after so many years. How could Taka die? It seemed hardly possible.

After a very still moment, Kakashi lifted his hand and placed it over her trembling right hand. She looked up at him, the tears she would not allow to fall shimmering in her eyes. He simply stared at her seriously, wordlessly as she fought her grief. He wouldn't have known. He wouldn't have known if he'd not made that comment. She was so secretive with her emotions. He could never tell and that frustrated him because he had a direct line to most of his allies minds.

They both looked up when there was a knock on her door. Kakashi stood, turning swiftly and walking for the door. He glanced back at her questioningly. She was already pulling on a pair of navy pants, with minimal difficulty, then reaching for a blue shirt. He stepped aside as she pulled it on over her head, jerking the door open. There was no one standing there. She shrugged her chuunin vest onto her shoulders and looked to her door, teeth clenching down on her lower lip, but she composed herself, ripping the Konoha symbol from the door.

"A mission? Now?" Kakashi questioned calmly, pretending not to be upset though she knew he was. He was never one to show his emotions and now was no different. Didn't mean he had her fooled though.

She closed the door, taking the few paces to her kitchenette area where a table and two chairs stood. She sunk into one of the chairs and it creaked and groaned its protest. She didn't seem too concerned however as she unrolled the minuscule piece of paper. It rolled out of course, into a scroll and with a simple jutsu was magnified to a normal size.

"You're injured... I'll take it from you," Kakashi said quickly, taking the paper, but she snatched it back, with a glare.

"That's bad luck and you know it," she said sharply. She may be one of the strongest kunoichi in the village, but she was still as superstitious as the rest of her comrades.

"It's a solo mission, assassination. It's all very simple," she muttered.

"My specialty," Kakashi muttered.

"They need a kunoichi, Kakashi," she argued standing and crossing the room.

"You're injured," he gritted out, his uncovered eye blazing with just as much fire as his sharingan.

"Not anymore thanks to you," Yoshiko said softly, shuffling through her top drawer.

"When's the last time you slept?" Kakashi demanded. "Yoshiko!" he exclaimed when she didn't even acknowledge him.

"You can't lecture me on things that you've never paid any mind to Kakashi," she told him, not looking up from the paper. Kakashi was caught on that one. He had been known to run five missions straight on no sleep. The only difference was that he would without qualms use soldier pills while she nearly always refused. "It's my first mission as Yoshiko in three weeks. I doubt the hokage even realizes I've just returned from a mission," Yoshiko added, bemusedly.

"How long are you going to let the Hokage believe she has two different kunoichi rather than one superior one? Chuunin… ridiculous," Kakashi growled.

"I never was one to stand out. The hokage has no need to remember me in any case. I'm just a mid-level-"

"Coward," Kakashi muttered.

"Excuse m-"

"You heard me Yoshiko," he cut her short. "There's nothing honorable in hiding behind low rank."

Yoshiko stood swiftly walking for the door, but Kakashi made it there first, slamming it the moment she had it an inch open. "You're not going," he said.

"Try to stop me," she replied, a bite to her tone.

"Don't make me," Kakashi said, lowly. She glared at him and her hand twitched towards her weapons pouch. He grabbed her wrist tightly and she spun, breaking his hold and kicking at his chest, but he moved skillfully aside. She threw a punch at him, but he side-stepped her, catching her in the side with a light punch. She doubled over in pain. Her bruised ribs. He'd obviously noticed.

"You plan to accomplish a mission like that?" he grumbled, standing straight and looking down at her. "When did it happen Yoshi? When did you decide that it would be better to die than fight for Konoha?" he asked. Yoshiko hesitated, unsure what to say or do, unable to process those words. Instead, she pushed them away. She lunged for the door, but he caught her on a pressure point before she could reach it, catching her deftly as she slumped. She was dead asleep, too tired to fight it, too tired for anything really. He doubted she'd slept more than an hour or two a night for the duration of the two-week mission on ANBU.

He picked the woman up, knowing he'd have to watch his back tomorrow. He laid her carefully on her bed, covering her with the thin sheet. It was summer, rather hot outside though in here it was a bit milder. He sighed, walking across the room and taking hold of the mission plans, walking to the door and stepping out, closing it carefully behind him. "Kakashi?" a voice questioned. Kakashi looked up to see Gai staring at him in surprise.

"Yo," Kakashi said, casually. He walked to the railing.

"What are you doing in Yoshi-chan's- you and-"

Kakashi didn't stick around to hear what Gai had to say next. He jumped to the next building then the next, leaving Gai to come to whatever conclusions he wished.

He didn't put up his usual pretenses of laziness, jumping in through the hokage's window without pause. "Inuzuka Yoshiko cannot accept the mission assigned, hokage-sama," he said, dropping the scroll on her desk and stepping back.

"K-Kakashi? What the hell do you think you're doing, barging into my office like- Inuzuka Yoshiko, the chuunin? You know her?" the hokage questioned. Kakashi didn't respond. "Well why can't she?"

"She's unconscious at the moment," Kakashi said.

"Another drunk? Just what I need. I swear half the chuunin in this village are drunks! How am I supposed to run a shinobi village without shinobi to take the missions?" the hokage grumbled. Kakashi did not however point out that the hokage herself was the biggest drunk of all.

"Something like that," Kakashi murmured, not ready to betray her quite so easily. She had to do this. She had to tell the Hokage and if she didn't do it soon, he would be forced to tell Gai and he would see the information spread to the ends of the village. Kakashi watched the hokage's irritated expression serenely.

"Something like that… Then why pray tell can she not perform her duty?" the hokage demanded, slamming a hand down on the table. "Get to the point Hatake!"

"She is gravely injured," Kakashi said.

"Injured, how?" Tsunade asked. Kakashi shrugged. "Damn jounin beating up all the chuunin in the village just when I need them for missions. You tell whoever her captain is to lay off. I need shinobi who can perform," she snapped. Kakashi nodded, not pointing out that Yoshiko didn't have a captain, that she was a solo chuunin. He left the office without a word, leaving that mission on Tsunade's desk. He had to look out for his friends and while sometimes that meant betraying them, he could give Yoshiko a short while longer at least. He couldn't betray her so soon after Taka's death. It would break her.

See it is a bit raw, but I hope you enjoyed it and please review and follow/favorite