Chapter 4: The Future of Team Ro
Kakashi groaned as he lifted himself off his sofa.
Overusing his chakra always made his muscles moan in pain and his joints creak stinging his body. It was rare for the squad captain of Team Ro to take a few days off, usually he would be off with missions day and night. His apartment had become dusty and the one pot of plant he had wilted sadly in the corner of his room.
But he could really use the rest, at least he got some reading done and finished the first volume of Icha Icha Paradise.
Routinely he made his way to the flower shop and with a few small bouquets in his arms he made his way to training ground 3 where the memorial stone stood tall and polished under the rays of sun.
He placed the flowers down and sat in front of it, staring at the names of his former teammates Nohara Rin and Uchiha Obito. Despite all the years that had passed he still missed them. He missed Rin's small lectures but kind words, he missed Obito's cheerfulness and bluntness and he missed his teacher, the man who helped him be the person he was today. Kakashi missed the happier times when they were a 4-man team running around the village doing missions of least importance.
"Hey… it's been a while… sorry, I've just been busy with missions… Even though the war ended there is still so much going on…" He started to mutter. For some reason he felt at ease speaking to the stone, as if the spirits of his former teammates were listening to him.
The white haired man's mind wandered to the first time he met his teammates. First impressions to him for the most important and back then they were all that mattered. He judged people at first sight, he chuckled. His first impressions of his teammates wasn't very good.
Rin, he found to be slightly annoying. He was kind and a bit passive aggressive towards her but she was popular with the other girls. He noticed the way she looked at him but ignored it and even when she bravely tried to make a first move he acted like he didn't know what she was doing, leaving the girl flustered and embarrassed.
Obito on the other hand had the worse impression on Kakashi. Kakashi was with his father when he met Obito who rushed out of the academy late and bumped into his father, spilling his favourite strawberry milk all over the renowned shinobi. He had expected his father to scold the boy but he just laughed and brushed it off. Kakashi on the other hand wasn't so kind, he pushed Obito and yelled at him for dirtying his father's clothes and Obito yelled back, saying it was an accident. They had never gotten along after that incident.
Isamu's first impression was… insignificant to a younger Kakashi. He remembered she walked into the class looking like a frail mouse, jumping at the sight of so many people while her skinny limbs was engulfed in oversized clothes. Everyone whispered behind her back and laughed when she stumbled on her words but he knew no one wanted to be her friend because of who her parents were.
The infamous traitors of Konoha, Takanashi Ayumi and Jun. They were hunted down and branded as traitors, criminals and scum. Their offspring, Kakashi was sure, would be branded the same. They teased her for her oversized clothes, her choppy hair, her skinny frame and her red eyes.
But in came Obito like a knight in shining armour and he took her under his wing and soon, no one bothered the girl with Obito constantly by her side.
It was until that day when Minato threw the kunai at her, Kakashi had realised his first impressions of many people were invalid. Isamu, who he had branded as weak and insignificant was now this mysterious enigma that he knew nothing about.
How could such a weak girl catch such a fast kunai?
He was proven wrong when they did Minato's bell test. Her skills were far beyond a normal genins and that day, Isamu was not the same frail little girl who cowered in the presence of people. She was a strong shinobi he had to watch out for. To him, and to the people who knew her, she was a prodigy who went unnoticed because of him. She was a force to be reckoned with. She was no longer the frail little mouse who hid behind Obito. She had turned into someone who walked beside him.
"Genma asked her out again the other day. Everyone went out for dinner, it's been a while since we all met up. He took Isamu's hand and hugged her, proclaiming his undying love for her and asked her out. He did have a bit to drink but I guess he would do that if he wasn't drunk… It was quite funny actually, Isamu threw him out of the window and rejected him. She had to pay for the window of course but Gai, Kurenai, Asuma and Anko couldn't stop laughing." Kakashi rambled, chuckling at the memory of drunk Genma laying on the street with glass shards all around him mumbling something about Isamu being his wife.
There was no response but Kakashi already knew that. He was talking to names engraved in stone but he didn't care. He needed to let out his worries, he needed to tell his teammates what was going on in his life.
"Me? I'm doing fine… I guess but I'm just tired of fighting… and of all the wars," Kakashi continued to speak as his head was buried deeper in his hands. "Obito… Isamu is fine, I've kept the promise you made but… I fear she's tired too. The nightmares she has been having hasn't gone away but I feel like she's slowly getting better…"
Kakashi let out a small chuckle, "I guess being around her has made me… get better as well."
He remembered when he was an ANBU, fresh out of a promotion. He was ruthless and militant. But when he had found out that Isamu was an ANBU as well, due to that mission he felt something change. He had a promise to keep and that was to protect Isamu, as soon as he was promoted to squad leader he requested her in his team so he could watch over her.
"I should go ask Hokage-sama about my missions… I'll come talk later. Thanks for listening to me."
He got up and made his way slowly to the Hokage's office. Today was his second day off, he had one more day left before he could be dispatched. As he walked up the stairs with his muscles throbbing slightly he paused outside with his hands just centimetres from the door as he heard voice inside.
"We're going to transfer her to the snake division. That's final."
"We can find another way, she's useful as she is now. Let her stay in Team Ro for now, we can discuss this later."
Her? Team Ro? There was only one girl in Kakashi's team… they were talking about Isamu! Kakashi's mind raced, they couldn't move her! She was a valuable asset to Konoha! The snake division was made for long term infiltration missions, some missions could take years and years, if she was put in that division she would leave the village… she could be made to do god knows what.
"No, it's final. We need her to infiltrate that village and see what they know. We already lost one, we have no other option."
"Yes, I understand that but-"
"The decision has been made. She will be moved in a month's time. When she comes back from this mission she get time to study the materials we have collected so far. Good day Sandaime-sama."
Kakashi jumped, sprinting down the hallway and hiding in one of the closets until he heard footsteps walk past him.
Isamu was leaving him. He didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do. He was supposed to watch over her, there was no way. His usually calm demeanour contorted into a flash of anger. He could feel his hands shaking, clenching his fist he walked out of the closet and into the Hokage's office where he saw the man with his hands in his hands.
He had expected to see the old man sitting in his chair sipping tea but it seemed the old man was just as upset as he was. His hands unravelled from his fist as he old man looked up at him, his customary warmth was gone and what was left was eyes of a man who had lost a battle.
"I'm sorry Kakashi… I tried…"
"Hokage-sama… Isamu… w-what do the elders have in mind?"
"They want her to infiltrate Hyogo's village, the defect shinobi from the Hyuuga family."
"Hyogo? I have heard of him, he has taken control of a village and built himself a strong military full of people who defected from their own village. He gathered people from the Hyuuga who were born without the Byakugan and led them with him… but why? Why Isamu?"
"I shouldn't be telling you this Kakashi but I know how much you care for her. Minato asked me to look after the two of you but it seems like-"
"Hokage-sama… why Isamu?"
The hokage groaned and pulled out a piece of paper from the pile on his desk, "Isamu has a very high record of success, one of the top 3 in the ANBU."
Kakashi knew this, no one told them who the other two were but Kakashi knew it was himself and Itachi.
"Hyogo Daisuke has formed himself an incredibly strong village and we have been observing them from a far but there has been recent development. We found out he escaped with information and he might plan to sell them."
"But shouldn't the Hyuuga family deal with this?"
"If they do, what do you think will happen? There would be a massacre on both ends. We want to keep casualties on our end to be minimal. The elders chose Isamu because of her high success rate and also because of her ability to change at command. We need her to get close to Hyogo Daisuke, the head of the village and extract all the information she knows."
Kakashi stood silently. He didn't want the information to sink in, he didn't want it to be true but the more the Hokage spoke to him and he knew they already had everything planned. He couldn't change their mind.
"Get close… what do you mean by that?"
He knew the answer but for some reason he asked the question. The hokage looked away uncomfortably and the tension between the two grew.
"We need her to get close to him by any means. I dislike this idea as much as you do Kakashi but we have no choice."
"When will you tell her? When were you going to tell me Hokage-sama? I am the squad captain of Team Ro and she is a member of my team!" Kakashi questioned, he had never gotten this angry at the Hokage before but he couldn't help it. He didn't want her to go. Kakashi didn't want Isamu to leave him.
"I was going to tell you soon, I was going to give Isamu a few days off when she came back and tell her. Kakashi, I-"
"Oh Kakashi, you're here, that's good."
The Hokage and Kakashi looked at the man who walked in through the door.
Danzo.
He gave Kakashi a small smile, "Hokage-sama, did you give Kakashi his next mission?"
The hokage opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it. He didn't want to say much in front of Danzo who smiled as if he could not sense there was tension in the air. Kakashi walked up to the desk and waited for the file which the Hokage reluctantly handed to him.
"Kakashi, we can speak about the matter later."
"Sandaime-sama, I'm afraid there is nothing to speak about. The matter has already been decided hasn't it?"
With a slam of the door the Hokage was left alone in his office. He slammed his firsts into his desk angrily, knocking over his hot cup of tea over a few files. He patted the liquid dry with a nearby cloth but paused when he saw whose file was the wettest.
Takanashi Isamu.
He flipped the front page gingerly, being careful not to tear the already weak file.
There were several photos, one of her parents' head shot for their Konoha ID card. Ayumi was a pretty woman with chestnut brown hair and bright red eyes while Jun, Isamu's father, had pitch black hair and blue eyes. Isamu looked like the combination of them. He saw a photograph of Isamu when she first arrived in Konoha and he turned that over quickly.
He didn't want to be reminded of the state she was in when she arrived. Her body bruised and wounded, her hair so coarsely chopped and her back full of scars. She was so frail and skinny he was afraid to even touch her, fearing that he would break her bones. But what scared him the most was the look in her eyes, they were almost soulless. No child should look that that. No one should look like that all together.
The series of photos had shown a strange cycle. She had been so badly damaged when she arrived in Konoha but a few months had made her happy again, she actually looked like a child in the pictures with Team Minato. Then, she was promoted quickly to Chunin against Minato and his will but the elders and Danzo saw strength in the girl. The happiness in her smile slowly disintegrated, the more she was promoted the less she smiled. She was put through more mission than an average Jounin, on her promotion date she was immediately assigned a mission.
The hokage flipped to another photo in her file, it was after Obito's death and Rin's death and there was no longer a smile on her face. Minato had given him this photo, he was trying to trick himself into thinking she was better but she wasn't. He remembered Minato dragged him to have dinner at his house but the entire time, the hokage recalled the story, Isamu played with her food and left early.
But slowly, very slowly she was getting better with the help of Minato. Minato, as a hokage put her on less missions, he had even tried to demote her to Jounin level but she refused. Kakashi and Isamu had reunited and slowly, light was forming in her eyes again. But the cycle continued and Minato's death took a toll on the girl and Kakashi as well.
But now she was getting better again, being with Kakashi and her new formed friend Itachi helped her with the death of her loved ones. She was slowly starting to be happy, it was an extremely slow progress but the Hokage was glad. Minato would be happy to see Isamu as the woman she was now.
The hokage sighed. He didn't want to move Isamu or assign her to a mission to infiltrate the village. He knew being away from Kakashi would make her worse.
"Hokage-sama? The elders have come again for another meeting."
He nodded as the elders walked in for the second time today. He was starting to get sick of them.
"We're here about Uchiha Itachi."
"What about him?"
"I'm sure we have many things to discuss about the future?"
"Of course, have a seat."
The hokage clenched his fists under the desk, trying to control his anger. It was one bad news after the other today.
"Ah, Danzo, come in."
The hokage looked at Danzo who smiled, "Hello again Hokage-sama."
"Danzo will be helping us formulate the plan."
"Of course." The hokage forced himself to say as he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Perhaps it would be wise for Isamu to leave the village, something bad was going to happen to Uchiha Itachi and he wasn't sure if he wanted the young girl to witness it.
A/N: New Chapter! I need to write more! I will usually post when I have written a few chapters in advance but now I've reached the end! Don't worry, I'll write more :) Thank you for reading and please leave a review! They literally make me sooo happy and they make me smile a lot :)
Reviews:
YellowMittens: I just want to thank you for your lovely review! I'm really grateful you like the story, I'll keep updating :)
