The Mission...

Uso ran ahead, glancing back at Gai who was clearly distracted. She sighed, sniffing softly then looking around carefully. She quickly located a well-protected cave and ran for it. She gave Gai the halt signal and disappeared into the tunnel, continuing through to the very back. It was a deep cave, full of twisting corridors, leftovers from ancient lava flows according to Kakashi. They were all throughout this region.

She turned her back to the wall behind her, giving her a clear view of the main cavern. It also kept all the off-shoot tunnels in sight. She leaned back against it for a moment, listening carefully for any sign of another person, but as expected the area was clear. These were dangerous caves, prone to collapsing in on themselves. She'd seen a few more recent cave-ins a few miles back, but this one seemed relatively-stable.

As she and Gai caught their breaths, the echoes in the large area reminded her of the cave where she'd tried to revive Tadao, but that had been different. Lava caves were all dark rock and jagged edges. That had been completely on the other side of the continent in a cave near the sea, its interior made smooth by the erosion caused by the waves, light stone, the smell of salt. Still, it hurt. She wasn't yet recovered from that mission, but it was more mental than physical. It was likely, she would never fully recover from that one.

"Uso," Gai said softly, probably curious as to why they had stopped. She stared at the small bit of light at the end of the tunnel, so far down the winding trail of jagged, unforgiving rock that it was only a ghostly whisper upon the dark and unforgiving walls.

"Your distraction has not gone unnoticed," she breathed out. His intake of breath was the only response she caught. He didn't answer for a long while. She could feel him beside her though, breathing the same cool air she breathed, his shoulder pressed tightly to hers, the innocent and usual touch distracted her in a way it never had before. She'd clearly made a poor decision stopping her. The resurgence of these feelings was best dealt with in the village not out here in the field. They had a mission. Uso wouldn't have stopped like this. Uso would have pushed on.

"I am sorry," he replied drawing her from her increasingly self-depricating train of thought. "I am worried for a friend. It is just something Kakashi said..."

"Kakashi?" she frowned, thinking the worst immediately. She swallowed hard, but Kakashi had been her friend for longer than he'd been a friend to Maito Gai

"It's not him, it's what he said to Yoshiko," Gai said. She blinked, her confidence in Kakashi's loyalty wavering. "Do you know Yoshiko-chan?" he asked. He'd noticed her stiffen. She relaxed herself marginally before nodding her head, swallowing thickly. There were so many things Kakashi could tell Gai at this point that would destroy her from her identity to their past, to her recklessness in the field bordering on suicidal. Gai would kill her if he found out about the last.

"You are an ANBU Medical Coordinator, are you not?" he asked. She frowned. The conversation wasn't heading where she thought it might be and that was a relief. She shook her head to the negative in response to his question. She'd refused an ANBU Medical Coordinator position three times much to Shizune's chagrin. As much as she wanted to help the overworked hokage assistant, that was a position one performed as a village shinobi which meant she would need to work as Yoshiko. "It's just… I think she was recruited." Uso relaxed. Kakashi hadn't said anything to him directly then. He might have heard what Kakashi said about the ANBU mission. Half the bar had heard that baka. It hadn't been a simple warning. It had been a hint, the first of what would inevitably lead to Gai's discovery of her identity. He was forcing her hand.

"Are you worried her abilities are not adequate?" she asked.

"That is not the case, Uso-san," Gai said sharply and a bit too loudly. She turned to face the ghostly light again as she waited for the echo to taper. She then turned her whole body to face Gai, immediately missing the warmth of his arm against hers, but knowing that it was best they weren't touching.

"Yoshiko is a very cowardly shinobi Gai," she said softly, holding up her hand delicately to stifle his protest. "She is cowardly in all the ways that do not limit her as a medical ninja. She will be perfectly fine."

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Because she is with the best ANBU Captain in the village, and he will not let any harm come to her," Uso said. He lowered his head and she winced, realizing what she'd just said to him. He was so competitive. Little did he know, it was Maito Gai she was referring to. It was a bit difficult to compete with oneself, but if anyone could manage it, it would be Gai. That caused a warmth to grow in her chest, fondness of this strange, overwhelming man whose will of fire outshone every other person in this village.

"Who?" he demanded and she swallowed a smile at his tone.

"She's safe, isn't that enough?" Uso asked. She froze when she felt Gai's hand wrap around hers, her whole body slowing to a stop including her breathing.

"You trust him more than me?" Gai asked. His hand tightened and she feel as if it were tightening around her heart. She forced herself to breathe. He had never touched her as Uso, nothing more than a supportive hand on her shoulder or to move her back to safety as the mission required it.

"Gai we have a mission," she said, realizing her mistake in calling him Gai. It was the first time she'd done that as Uso… Today was full of firsts. His hand didn't release her though. He moved swiftly so he was standing before her and took her other hand instead. Her stomach swirled and she swallowed hard, evening out her breathing because she was all-too aware what a good sensory ninja Gai was. He'd notice any changes immediately.

"Who is it you trust more than me?" he demanded, his voice severe. His eyes were visible behind his mask and she couldn't remember when she'd last seen that much fire in them. He'd even ignored her reminder about the mission which was completely unlike him. Gai may not be the best ANBU in the village, but he was a professional deep down.

"I trust no man more than you, Kuma-san," she replied, lowering her head. If she could see his eyes, he might be able to see hers. She couldn't allow it. He'd not figured it out yet, but he would know her eyes and from this close, face-to-face it was possible he would see. She tried to not pay attention to his hand clutching hers so tightly.

"Why do you do that Uso-san?"

"An ANBU's identity is secret," she said, forcing her cold, unaffected tone back into place and pulling her hands, but he didn't release them.

He leaned towards her and she stiffened, but he continued until his face was beside hers. "And yet, you just called me Gai," he whispered, the rumble of his voice echoing in her own chest. She pulled away with more force this time and was free, suddenly able to breathe again.

"Kuma-san, our mission is time-sensitive," she told him. He nodded and she knew him well. She couldn't see his face, but she could see his body and his body language just screamed disappointment and hurt. She turned to walk away and he took a step to follow but she stopped. She had to tell him… but she just couldn't. She needed to force herself to commit to it. She'd never forgive herself if Kakashi told him. Damn Kakashi!

She turned, taking a step back as she met his piercing gaze, immediately tipping her mask so he couldn't see her eyes. He sighed in frustration, but she stepped forward strongly, wrapping her arms around him. She drew a deep breath, the scent of him filling her nostrils. Gai… always the same, always the strongest, most important person in her life even if he didn't know that this was her.

"I will tell you, Gai-kun. After this one, after this mission," she promised. He wrapped his arms around her tightly but she didn't melt into him like she usually did, allowing him to overwhelm her. She lifted up slightly onto her toes so her chin came over his broad, powerful shoulder and she held onto him fiercely, something she could never remember having done. It felt good… to be strong with Gai, to have him know that she was strong and still care about her.

Finally she slid her arms back around, placing them on his chest and pushing him back carefully. He claimed her hands with his once more, but she quickly ended that. He was acting as if he… She shook her head, turning sharply and quickly clearing the cave, Gai hot on her trail. He didn't falter in his step and she didn't slow hers. His distraction was still there, but it was less obvious. She was able to focus and that she did. She identified and eliminated her target without interference. Those were the missions one asked for, cut-and-dry assassinations of people who were seriously horrible.

The crime boss was known all along the western border for being a cruel man, a murderer and a thief. He'd kill anyone, civilians, shinobi, samurai, women, children… he did not discriminate. She ended his life with a well-placed shock to the heart. It sent him into ventricular fibrillation which was a sort of spasm of the muscle fibers in the ventricles of the heart. In simple terms, she'd given him a heart attack. She waited though, watching the man's eyes shoot open from his deep sleep as it struck him. He was already very out of shape, disgustingly so, and his body just didn't have the strength to resist, not that any stood a chance when faced with the lethal Medical ANBU. Still, he died faster than most of her supposed "heart attack" victims. She didn't bother trying to leave any more clues to indicate that it was natural. That was pretty obvious in this scenario since he was at least 100 lbs overweight and being a crime boss wasn't exactly a stress-free business.

Still, death was death and while both Uso and Yoshiko were trained assassins, it sometimes felt like each death took a bit more out of her. She didn't feel like twenty-six. She felt like she was much, much older. It hurt, being a dealer in death. She'd lost count now, but she was sure that it didn't matter because she'd been broken since before she'd ever taken a life. Nothing could have put her back together fully after she lost Tadao, not even Gai as hard as he tried. Kakashi did as good a job of it as he could, but she would have to put finish the job and… well for the first time in her life, Uso felt strong. No… no not Uso. Uso had always been strong. Yoshiko was strong now. It had taken another death, another comrade's blood on her hands, two in fact as the other didn't make it out of the hospital.

She wasn't sure what had changed, maybe the realization that she had so little left. Perhaps it was the realization that she knew how to make the right decisions after all and the guilt that accompanied it because she hadn't been more forceful with Neji on that last mission, a shinobi much younger than her with a great deal less experience. Most certainly, it had something to do with Kakashi's words. "When did you decide that it was better to die than fight for Konoha?" They had echoed deep inside her soul and they were still echoing now as she stared down at the lifeless body of the slovenly man.

Uso glanced at Gai as he entered the room. She came back to herself, wondering how long she'd stood here, staring at him. She shouldn't have stayed behind. Her hesitation had put both their lives at risk, but Gai didn't scold her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, waiting. She reached forward, lowering the man's eyelids and turning towards the window. Gai followed her through the window. They headed straight through the night and the next day. She needed to get home, to get out of this uniform. She wasn't sure if she were running from the mission or from Gai. Her fear of his rejection, at the prospect of his hatred had not disappeared in a moment. She'd made a promise though so she would tell him.

Please let me know what you think.

AMBRIL!: Thanks for reviewing. I just needed to know someone was a real person out there on the other side of this internet machine. I really struggled with this issue when I wrote the first chapter. Kakashi kept trying to be "the one", but when I created the character and story in my head originally it was a Gai/OC and that's the way it had to play out. Kakashi was always meant to be a friend/fling. If you change the game half way... well I don't know what happens, but I feel like it's bad. I hope this chapter had enough chemistry for you to dig Gai/OC a bit more, but I totally know where you're coming from. Maybe a Kakashi/OC fic is in order soon. I think maybe I should try that out. I 3 him. :-)