In the weeks following their first dinner, Team Seven fell into an easy routine of training and D-ranked missions. Tamashī enjoyed the menial tasks, especially the ones involving dogs or old people or dog people or even old dogs. Naruto liked the in-village courier missions, because he got to run around while not dealing with too many people. Sasuke though, was kind of hard to read recently. Tamashī thought he was acting strange but she couldn't put a finger on why. If she ever asked him what his favourite missions were, he would just stare and grunt and it was getting to the point that Tamashī was becoming slightly unnerved.

Asking him questions in regards to training were slightly better, though only slightly. Since he was more involved with physical activity she could even get words out of him if she asked a yes or no question.

Naruto was enthusiastic about literally everything, though his demeanor did calm down a tiny bit after she had remembered to give him that potion, and he could read seals now so that was a plus. The chakra that was released from his body was painfully familiar, though she couldn't put her finger on where she'd felt it. It wasn't in the village though, she could tell that much. The whole thing was very anti-climatic honestly, since she had been expecting something to happen.

Tamashī was just waiting for the moment when the fox woke up and realized he wasn't full of rage anymore; because she could feel that while it wasn't all gone, the unconscious malice that leaked out of Naruto was a lot less potent than it had been. Tamashī was actually of the opinion that that was the cause of most of the civilians unreasonable fear and hatred, just like the Dursleys and the Horcrux in Harry's head.

Tamashī wondered if Kurama would know it was her who tampered with him, and if he wanted a conversation at some point. Legilimens would help to get her in Narutos head, but she had the tendency to show up naked and she honestly didn't want that image in Narutos mind. Kurama seeing her naked wasn't much of a problem, considering he's chakra with a conscious and only slightly younger than her. Tamashī calling someone 'slightly younger' though is quite misleading, considering a small amount of time for Tamashī could be anywhere from a year to a few hundred years.

Tamashī gave herself a mental shake, refocusing on her task. Listening to Mrs. Hasegawa as she gave the elderly woman a sponge bath.

"–As the asshole went in to kiss me, I head butted him straight in the mouth! Like I'd let that bastard kiss me when he insulted my family, arranged marriage or not! That's how I got this scar on my forehead! See!" She gestured wildly to her face, causing Tamashī to duck lest she get hit with her flailing arms. Tamashī looked at her forehead, not being able to pick out a scar from the crags of the woman's wrinkles. She agreed all the same though.

"What happened then?" Tamashī asked in amusement, lifting one of Mrs. Hasegawas' arms to run the sponge down its length.

"Well, then I kissed him! You have to seal your wedding vows at the alter after all!" Tamashī laughed along to her cackling as she helped her out of the large wooden tub, quickly producing a towel to protect Mrs. Hasegawas' modesty.

"How is your husband these days?" Tamashī asked, bringing her to a stool so she could do the physically older woman's hair.

"Still missing his front teeth!" Tamashī laughed helplessly in surprised mirth, taking a moment to still her hands of their shaking so she wouldn't mess up the do she was creating.

There was a knock on the door to Mrs. Hasegawas room a few minutes later, opening without permission, to reveal a nurse with a harried expression on her face. "Ms Shiro, your team is waiting for you at the front desk." Even her voice sounded exhausted.

Tamashī nodded towards the nurse and slid a crystal flower pin into Mrs Hasegawas hair, standing back to admire her work. "I might be back next week, Mrs Hasegawa. Probably solo."

"I'll look forward to it, dear." She raised a shaky hand to grasp one of Tamashīs', placing a few small things into it before gently coaxing her to the door. She let herself be lead out, waving a cheerful goodbye to everyone in the dayroom and receiving pleased farewells from the ladies whose hair she had done. They all looked fabulous.

"How's it going, fam?" Tamashī asked as she strolled up to them, taking in the disgusted looks on Naruto and Sasukes faces and the faintly amused one of Kakashi-sensei.

"Never again." Naruto announced vehemently with a shudder of horror. Sasuke nodded curtly in agreement.

"Was it really that bad?" Tamashī asked in amusement, looking down at her hand to see she had been given four individually wrapped pieces of bubble gum.

"It was terrible, Tamashī! Never let me get that old!" Naruto was joking of course, but Tamashī took it seriously. Not in the way that she would murder him if he got a wrinkle, but in the way of anti-aging potions.

"I promise." She promised solemnly, face as serious as anyone had ever seen her.

"Alright!" Kakashi exclaimed as he clapped his hands to clear the weird air that settled over them, "Next mission is capture and retrieval. Madam Shijimi has lost her cat once again, and we need to catch him."

Naruto groaned, having heard what the mission was like from both Teams Eight and Ten, so the reaction was understandable. Sasuke took cues from Tamashī and seeing she was enthusiastic about it allowed himself to show partial interest.

"Let me go to one of the sushi restaurants first. The cat might come with us with minimal fuss if we give him an incentive." Tamashī mused as she handed the other three one of the candies from her hand before leaving the civilian nursing home.

The last time she had done this mission, Tora had turned out to be a neko-matta and Tamashī knew just how to catch those. She would need lamp oil made of animal fats and a plate of salmon sashimi. Neko-matta hated deception, so it would be best to just openly approach the magical cat and disable the glamour on her face where the rest of her team wouldn't see her. She'll tell them eventually who her father was, though she was pretty sure Kakashi already knew.

When they met up at the missions office half an hour later, Tamashī had a styrofoam tray of thinly sliced fish and a sealed bottle of lamp oil under her arm. She just shrugged when that gained her a few weird looks from her team. "I think we should split up. We'll cover more ground that way." Tamashī proposed when she reached them.

"Alright, but don't stray too far from each other. The headsets only work within two hundred feet." Kakashi agreed, handing out the bulky wired boxes so they could attach them to the waist bands of their pants. He then placed his own over his ear before taking out his book and ambling away.

"Useless sensei." Naruto grumbled mutinously under his breath.

"I heard that!" Kakashi announced cheerfully from a good fifty feet away, raising his hand in a backwards wave when they looked at him and popping away with a body flicker.

"Huh. Well anyway, I'm gonna head towards the RD to look over there. Naruto, you take the shopping district, and Sasuke." She looked at him and was mildly stumped at his muted expression of eagerness. "Uh. Training grounds. Yeah, you look around the training grounds. Did anyone get a description of the target?" Tamashī asked while dishing out a few slices of fish in ziplock bags for the two boys to take.

"Rusty fur. Red bow on its neck." Sasuke answered, using his words for once.

"Great, here you guys take one of these." She offered a bag to them both, Naruto taking it with his usual enthusiasm; though maybe a bit more, Tamashī was essentially making the mission easier for them. Sasuke just looked bored, but his hand did brush against her own to grasp the bag. The calluses on his fingers rubbed against her own like fine sandpaper, dry and scrapey. Tamashī suppressed an instinctual, uncomfortable shiver at the sensation.

After Naruto and Tamashi gave each other salutes, they were off over the rooftop highway, scanning diligently for a glimpse of rusty fur through the crowds of people. Tora had been spotted in the last few weeks around one of the teahouses in the Red light district hanging around the gentle geisha for adoring pats and scritches; so Tamashī would head there first, if not for the cat, then for a lead at least.

Tamashī strolled up to one of the high-end teahouses with the confidence of a person living in the area for fifty plus years, waving cheerful hellos to the people she recognized. Before she reached the teahouse proper, Tamashī took her shoes off and replaced them with a pair of personalized slippers from the low cabinate so she wouldn't dirty the tatami flooring.

"How can I help you today, Shiro-sama?" A soft voice from the centre podium called out, causing Tamashī to look towards the speaker. It was a young woman dressed as a traditional geisha, but Tamashī thought she must be new as she didn't recognize her.

"I would like to inquire as to whether Kokoro Chikara and associates are in attendance at the moment?" Tamashī asked, unintentionally slipping into a more formal style of language. It happened whenever someone called her 'Shiro-sama' and she didn't think it would be a dropped habit anytime soon.

"Yes, Chikara-sama is in the Tsubaki room. Would you like an escort?" Tamashī debated for a moment before dipping her head in assent, allowing another girl she didn't recognize to lead her further into the building.

The girl announced her at the sliding door of the Tsubaki room before bowing out, retreating to wherever she had been stationed. Tamashī looked after her for moment before striding into the room and sitting cross legged on the cushion across from her mob boss neighbour, Kokoro Chikara.

"So I see the Lady got some new girls in, where are they from?" Tamashī asked with indifference colouring her tone as she pulled the headset off and muted the microphone before placing it on the table. She murmured a quiet 'thank you' to the subordinate who poured her a glass of sake, knocking it back quickly and sipping the subsequent glasses after.

"Upper civilian district." Kokoro answered amusedly, sipping his own sake.

"The UCD, eh? Probably think they'll get lynched as soon as they step outside. I trust the Lady has made them sign the non-disclosure agreements I cooked up for her." Tamashī voiced idly. The words sounded like a question, but they were anything but.

"Yes, and I have a man walking them home at night after their shift ends. The ones that clean up well, you understand." The Boss and the unofficial shadow leader stared at each other solemnly for but a moment, before grins stole across both of their faces, causing the others stationed around the room to relax.

"So I'm on mission right now, as you can tell from my clunky headset." Tamashī waved a hand to said clunky headset negligently, taking another sip of her drink. "Nothing like the ones our people created in the last year, these only work within two hundred feet and they're so noticeable! Terrible for any mission higher than a D." She grumbled distractedly before belatedly getting to the point of her visit, "Anyway, that cat the Lady has made friends with. You seen it around? It belongs to Madam Shijimi and I—well my team and I—need to capture it."

"I have seen it. It's with the Lady right now, if I'm not mistaken." He raised his hand as signal for someone to collect it, causing the man nearest to the door to leave promptly.

"Hm. So what is it you want?" Tamashī asked dryly, running the tip of her index finger along the edge of her sake dish. "You have never done anything without gaining something in return; even if it is just sending a man to collect a cat." She looked across the table with shrewd eyes, taking in Kokoros' body language silently.

"I have a mission for you." He began conversationally, body relaxed but fingers tight around his cup. "I need a man dead."

"And you think I'll kill a man for you because you got a cat for me?" Tamashī asked in blatant disbelief as she placed her cup down on the low table in front of them.

"No. The cat is for the steady supply of wine." He flashed her an attractive grin, only to falter when she gave him no reaction. "Think of this mission as another favour for favour situation." He placed a black scroll on the table between them, both of them knowing the mission would be accepted as soon as she picked it up. Tamashī narrowed her eyes at it in contemplation.

At that moment, the door opened to reveal the man from earlier looking worse for wear with scratches all over his face and a yowling cat in his arms.

Tamashī hummed and picked up her headset, placing it back around her ear and unmuting the microphone. "This is Soul calling in. Target spotted. Permission to engage?" Tamashī spoke in a monotone, cutting off Narutos annoyed wailing.

"Permission granted. Proceed with caution." Kakashis voice crackled over the line before it went dead again with a rasp.

Tamashī muted the set again but left it on, standing from her seat to approach the cat. It swiped at her with impressive claws for a pet, but she just raised her hand slowly to its face so it could sniff her, bloody scratches and all. Tora calmed down when it was apparent Tamashī wouldn't be getting aggressive with him, even leaping out of his captors arms to land on her shoulders, settling down and curling his tail(s) around her neck. Tamashī returned to her seat without knocking Tora off of her, removing her silver ring when the cat hissed at her deception, causing the glamour on her face to disappear.

"Ah, is it one of those neko-matta you told the children about?" Kokoro asked curiously, leaning forward to peer at Tora closely.

"Yes, it is. This one is not old enough to talk, but it has two tails so it's over eleven years old. I think Tora here might actually be a cat summons, I had heard that some of them went missing from the waypoint between realms about thirty years ago from my own summons." Tamashī explained as she poured some of the lamp oil into a quickly conjured dish, placing it and the sashimi on the table so Tora could eat in peace.

"What age are they when they gain the ability for human speech?" Kokoro questioned, rampant curiosity apparent.

"Between forty and fifty years of age. They are marvellous singers when they do gain a voice, not at all like the yowling tones of mundane cats." Tamashī answered as she watched Tora cautiously lean his front paws on the table to sniff the dishes. She narrowed her eyes at the action. Any type of cat would be cautious about food by a stranger, but not this much. It was like he was expecting to be harassed at any moment. Tamashī resolutely turned her eyes away, prompting everyone else in the room to do the same and picked up her glass again. "So, tell me more about this mission before I pick it up."

"Well, there is a man in Wave country-" he started before Tamashī cut him off by picking the scroll up. "Do you not want to hear the rest?"

"No need. I know exactly what this is about." Tamashī answered and a slow, vicious grin spread over her face as she read the details of the mission. "My team and I will be heading to Wave in the next few days. I'll send a message when the objective is complete." She stood smoothly and drained the last of her drink, picking up Tora and settling him over her shoulders. "My payment will be thirty percent of the profits and a large favour, non-negotiable." With that, Tamashī nodded around the room before striding out, making plans that would hopefully be implemented within the next few days.

Tamashī placed her ring back on before leaving the private hallway, soothing the cat when he started to hiss as she contemplated this mission. Kokoro wanted Gato dead, an easy enough undertaking as he was only a civilian. Any difficulties would stem from the people he hired, Zabuza and his apprentice being the exception as the missing-nin was only in it so he could gain the funds for the uprising in Mist. The whole mission nicely tied into her own goals of using the Gato corporation as a front for her as yet to be established spy network, as well. And the fact that it would coincide with Team Sevens first C-rank to liberate a country was just excellent.

Tamashī let a small, devious grin steal across her face for a moment as she unmuted her mic again, "Target acquired. Returning to home base." She really gained too much amusement from acting like she was in a spy movie when talking over the radios.

"Where's home base?" Naruto asked in confusion, his tinny voice ruining the atmosphere Tamashī made herself.

"The mission office." Tamashī sighed in exasperation, taking to the roof tops and dashing speedily towards her destination. When she met up with her team, Tamashī let herself drift away mentally, her eyes tilted up at the sky and following Narutos orange jacket in her peripherals. She didn't have anything on her mind per se; but from the relative safety of being surrounded by her team, she could let her thoughts drift freely and sort themselves as they wished.

It was in one such drift that she had figured out the mechanics for the jutsu she had been creating. Instead if it being overly complicated with various transmutations happening simultaneously, it became a variation of the shadow clone technique. The jutsu took the same amount of chakra as a clone, but rather than creating a butterfly her own size, it made millions of brightly coloured, razor sharp and poisonous butterflies that connected to the original caster and made them the 'queen' of a hive mind. Not to dissimilar to the Aburame clan, except the butterflies wouldn't be burrowed into the castors skin. Tamashī was thinking of sharing the jutsu with the Aburame clan for those who marry into it, because there have been a few people in the past that felt a certain amount of distance from their spouses simply because the non-Aburame clan members didn't understand the feeling of unity with having your own hive. Which was understandable, Tamashī hadn't understood until she created the jutsu and that feeling was only artificial.

Tamashī was snapped out of her drifting when large hands gently grasped her upper arms and turned her around. She had apparently walked right past the mission office and Kakashi had to come out and retrieve her before she got too far away with the Daimyos wife's cat. Tamashī sheepishly scratched her cheek with her pointer finger as she chuckled awkwardly at the irritated look on Iruka-senseis face. Everyone else just looked amused, including Madam Shijimi.

At the sight of the Daimyos wife, Tamashī had a potentially moronic idea spring to mind. It was a gamble and could possibly make the influential woman angry with her, but she had to try, for Toras' continued well being. "Madam Shijimi?" Tamashī started as she sidled up beside the richly dressed woman, "Could I speak to you for a moment please?"

Madam Shijimi furrowed her eyebrows at the girl and the way her beloved cat dug his claws into her shoulders when she reached up to grab him, but nodded her agreement nonetheless. "Yes, where would you like to speak?" The girl looked towards her Hokage and canted her head to the side, indicating something and getting a silent nod in return.

"If you would follow me? Hokage-sama has given me permission to use a conference room."

When they had settled at the medium sized western table in one of the conference rooms, with the door open halfway so they could be given the illusion of privacy from the Madams guards, Tamashī gently extracted Tora from her shoulders and placed him on the table, where he immediately curled into a defensive ball.

She sucked in a large breath and let it out slowly, forming the image of a girl grasping for courage as she turned to the powerful civilian in front of her. "When I captured Tora, he had several badly healed fractured ribs caused by excessive force." Tamashī paused when Madam Shijimi let out a gasp of outrage, but the physically younger girls pained face made her hold in her swift judgement for the moment. "I know you love Tora like your own child, but cats are more fragile than humans." She choked on her words slightly, frustratedly rubbing at her eyes. Tamashī hated animal abusers—accidental or not—the thoughts of someone harming animals always made her cry, no matter what age she was. "He… he doesn't understand affection through hugs. They just hurt him, so he thinks it's an attack. And I can tell by his mannerisms that you don't let him out when he needs it, so to Tora, he sees you as a mean jailer. Cats need freedom, they are independant creatures and their affection is subtle." Tamashī let a silent stream of tears escape her tightly clenched eyes, instead of the quiet sobs that clogged up her throat. While she wanted to just cry loudly, she couldn't. Because she was a ninja–and ninja don't cry; but Tamashī appeared to be young so she could get away with her silent tears. "Just–" she paused again to clear her throat, forcing the forming lump down so she could speak clearly, "Just, please. Take care of him." Tamashī stood from her seat and bowed deeply, half in apology for her impertinence and half out of respect for the woman's station.

Hidden by her bangs, Tamashīs mouth was set in a stoic line. Emotional manipulation of this sort didn't work all that often, but if it went the way she thought it would, Tamashī will have gained something important for the future. The ear of the Daimyos wife was a grand thing indeed, especially when the Daimyo himself was flighty and indecisive.

"Stand up, child." Madam Shijimis voice was low, but there was a thoughtful note to it. Tamashī stood properly and quickly wiped her eyes with her forearm, using just enough pressure for her sclera to redden slightly. "I will take your words into consideration. Return to your team."

Tamashī nodded swiftly and turned to the door but paused in indecision, then she pulled out a small but thick hardback book from her hip pouch and placed it on the table before leaving properly. Madam Shijimi looked at the title in confusion, letting her painted lips quirk slightly after reading it.

'Neko-matta and You: for when you've accidentally adopted a magical cat as your pet. Tips for proper care and grooming. Vol. 1'

To keep up her act, when Tamashī returned to her team in the office she hid behind Kakashi and buried her face in the back of his jonin vest while grasping a portion of it in her hand. It really spoke of their progress as a team that he didn't dislodge her, but didn't offer comfort either.

Madam Shijimi returned to pay for the successful mission, Tora held carefully in her arms and not being crushed around the ribs. The cat looked nervous and twitchy, but stayed in place. Many of the ninja in the room looked at this development with well hidden astonishment. It was well known at this point that the Daimyos wife didn't take care of her pets as well as she should.

Things went smoothly from then on, until Naruto predictably exploded about the 'baby missions' and got them a C-rank. Tazuna was brought in promptly, and Tamashī jumped in before he and Naruto could start insulting each other.

"Is that…?" Tamashī gasped in honest delight, inching out from behind Kakashi. "It is! Iwa sake with a citrus twist! I've been waiting for my own shipment so I could deconstruct it and resell under my own brand. Tell me, how are the undertones? The smoothness? Potency?" She asked rapid fire as she pulled out a small notebook and a pencil, eagerly waiting for the bridge builder to answer.

Tazuna looked at her seriously, contemplating his answers. "The undertones are slightly floral, orange blossoms, if I'm not mistaken. Smoothness is moderate, it has a pleasant burn as it goes down. There isn't much potency, if it was too strong it would over power its almost delicate taste."

She nodded sagely as wrote down his answers. "A fellow connoisseur."

"Tamashī," the Hokages exasperated tone made her look up, "if you could please not use this as a business opportunity."

She lowered her notebook sheepishly.

"Well Team, we'll meet up at the main gates at nine tomorrow morning. Pack for three weeks. You're all dismissed." Kakashi ordered before ambling away, looking a little confused. Probably wondering about why he didn't shake off Tamashī.

"Hey Tazuna, since we're gonna be in each others company for the next three weeks at least, do you want to taste test some of my newest creations? I need an opinion other than my own because I am extremely biased." She shot the man a charming grin from where she stood at his side, having sidled over unnoticed.

"Sure girlie, lead the way."

Tamashī hid the devious slant to her grin as she spoke to the bridge builder, leading him out of the office and towards one of the bars she had a contract with.

An interesting day, she decided, as her plans started coming to light in her own mind.

Another chapter! Yay! I'm sorry for the wait too, I think up until now I've had a chapter out at least once a week but this time it might be pushing two. (I have a terrible sense of time, sorry guys lol)

Anyway! some shout outs and a few answers:

The-Funeral-Pyre: you've reviewed on every chapter(even though there's only been three up until this point) and I really appreciate it! Please continue sending me praise(I'm kidding lol(not really though)), I enjoy reading your reviews a lot

FarFromTheSun: Thank you for your review! :D

Guest reviewer_TimeDevil: Tamashī giving Naruto the potion is anti-climatic and I apologize for that. I kept hitting a brick wall with the entire situation but hopefully her conversation with the fox will be much better(I'm thinking during the Wave mission or the chunin exam arc) and I thank you for the love! :)

salsas100: I like that you see potential in my story, because currently the whole thing is being pulled directly out of my ass. And also, thank you for reading my story! I'm really happy with the reception its received so far! :)

Lady Sarahi Peverell: Thank you for your review! I'll answer the questions you posed and I'm glad you asked too; it shows me you're invested in my story enough to want to know quicker! Also, thank you for your advice. If I do get any suggestions I might make them into omakes either in a separate story file or just tacked into this fic. Also also, your english is really good. Keep practicing and you'll be better than native speakers in no time! :)

Q1:Is Jiraiya Tamashīs father? A: simple answer, yes he is.

Q2: Is Hiruzens daughter her mother? A: No

Another thing though, I've been asked in a few messages about how the Hokage is her grandfather and I've decided to answer to clear up some confusion. It started with Jiraiya and his orphan status. I've actually borrowed the idea from Vixen tail in their story Déjà vu no Jutsu(btw that's a good story you should check it out if you haven't already). There is a law that protects orphans and makes their jonin sensei their legal guardian, and by either a filing error or just forgetting about the law, Hiruzen and Jiraiya never rescinded the guardianship; making Hiruzen Tamashīs grandfather-by-technicality and subsequently that would make Minato her brother and Naruto her nephew along with Kakashi because he had been orphaned before he made jonin status. (I might have butchered the entire thing, but it makes sense to me)

And now, I have a question for my reviewers! The Red light district I've created; what are peoples thoughts on that? I like to think I did a good job with it, but other peoples opinions and criticisms go a long way in polishing a story!

People can send me messages if my storytelling(or explanations) have lead to more confusion and they don't want to write reviews out of shyness or anxiety. I have the same deal, I don't mind answering questions even if you guys think they're stupid! We'll never get answers if we don't ask the questions, after all.

Drop a favourite if you liked it and don't forget to review! lol