The blazing hot water of the shower felt good on her shoulders in the morning. She needed to wash off the guilt and shame and… sex. Hotaru massaged her stiff shoulders as the water beat down on her. A quick once over with the shampoo and soap, and she was out of the shower draped in a towel. She dressed quickly and tip toed out of the master bath.

She looked to the bed. Kakashi was fast asleep, masked face buried half way under a pillow, releasing an occasional snore or grunt. She couldn't help but to smile.

Does he wear that thing all the time?

But as much as she would love to stand here and watch him sleep like an adoring stalker, she needed to meet up with Ai to go to the Hokage's mansion.

The girls met at a tiny, six stool, restaurant nook on a side street. Ai was becoming way too familiar with the village. They took seats and that's when Ai, of course, started opening her mouth.

"Sooo…" She glanced sideways at her friend with a mischievous grin, "How was last night?"

Hotaru rolled golden eyes at the question, "You're an idiot. Miso soup, please, and some fruit," She told the young girl behind the counter.

Ai ordered the same, "Oh, please, you know as well as I do that something went down. Now, if we're going to stay here, we might as well get comfortable," And to emphasize her last statement she leaned against her elbows casually on the bar.

"We're not staying here!" Hotaru hissed, "How many times do I have to tell you? Now drop it before you cause a scene!"

Ai's facial expression hardened, "I don't get why you're choosing bullshit over a decent life,"

"Death, Ai. We're talking a brutal fucking death here, okay? Now zip it,"

The food arrived and they gobbled it down like it was their last meal then paid and departed.

The Hokage's mansion was a few blocks away and they walked in silence, angry with each other for opposite reasons. Hotaru was the same as Ai's older, protective sister and, no matter how much she wanted to resist, she obeyed orders partially of loyalty and partially of ranking.

"Okay," Hotaru whispered to Ai, "Stick with the plan. We'll get in, get out and you'll have time for one more party before we head back,"

It wasn't a question, but Ai nodded anyway.

One second, the women were standing side by side and, in the blink of an eye, Hotaru had disappeared and Ai had pulled her kunai from her sheath and stabbed herself in her right thigh. She screamed with pain.

Okay, it was only about 40% real pain and the rest was great acting, but she needed the extra oomph! To get as many people out of the mansion as possible.

It worked perfectly.

A swarm of people, all with the Leaf's symbol of hitai ate somewhere on their body came rushing out.

"What happened?"

"Oh my god!"

"Are you okay?"

Ai couldn't exactly remember what she told them. It was something about how "clumsy" she could be and how the pain was "unbearable". Was there a doctor around? Things of that nature. She was just the face of the operation so it didn't matter what the hell she said.

…

…

Gold eyes gleamed from the shadows of a room. She couldn't pin point where she was, but she knew she needed to make her way up.

The Hokage's office was her destination.

And she didn't have much time.

Throngs of people rushed past her and she could hear Ai screaming outside. Ai could be such a drama queen sometimes. Whenever a hallway would be clear, Hotaru would dart to another shadow in another corner or another room. Slowly she was making headway, but she still wasn't going fast enough. And, on top of that, Ai needed to make sure the Hokage left. It was pointless if she was still there.

"Is there a medic? No, no! This is serious!"

Bingo. Hopefully that would lead someone to grab Tsunade.

Annnd…

Blonde pigtails flew past, accompanied by a dense amount of grumbling.

Hotaru wasted no time and rushed to the door of the office. With one jiggle of the knob she could tell it was locked. But that was to be expected. She pressed her exposed right palm against the lock, forced a small but powerful amount of chakra into it and in half a second it was blown.

The door creaked open. When the people returned, they would assume the lock just malfunctioned or had gotten old. The chakra "bombs" were her specialty.

Hotaru peered around the room, trying to quickly evaluate where she should start investigating. The desk seemed like a suitable fit so she went there first.

The desk was piled high with papers. Mostly they were filled to the brim with trivial D and C rank missions for trivial up-and-coming ninjas. What she needed was good juicy info: war documents, treasury info, something stating how much man power they had or how many weapons they had in storage.

After shuffling through the majority of the desk, she decided to move on. The bookshelf caught her eye. Actually, one book in particular had her attention. It was an old, worn green book, maybe a dictionary, that protruded just an eighth of an inch from the others. If someone were detailed enough to keep all of their books lined up, why would one be sticking out. Even just a little?

With little time left, she took a chance on the moldy book and pulled it out. Only, it didn't come out. The book swung straight back, with four more attached to each side, revealing a locked cubby behind them. This was the jackpot.

Hotaru quickly blew open the lock, not damaging the outside at all and peered inside. It was a plethora of confidential documents. It contained probably about eight-hundred million dollars in information on Konoha… give or take, of course. But as she reached a gloved hand inside to retrieve what would be her next meal ticket, and most likely guarantee another five years of her life, her fingers stopped short.

She couldn't bring herself to grab them and take them from the safe. She thought, stupidly, of her family; of her past; of her present. Hotaru had done many, wicked things in her short life, but for some reason she couldn't do this one.

She slammed the safe shut, papers still trapped inside, and replaced the ratty book cover.

…

…...

The blonde Hokage stomped across the grassy area to Ai who lay helpless on the ground. She clutched her bleeding leg and continued to wail, "Ohhh! Oh, this hurts! Where's the medic?"

The Hokage loomed over her, casting a dark shadow with its shadowy hands on its shadowy hips.

"Oh… uhh…" Ai stammered at Tsunade glared at her.

"Damn wimp," Tsunade passed her hand over Ai's leg for all of three seconds and declared, "What and idiot. If someone calls me out here for something else stupid, I swear…" She announced to the crowd.

But, despite her statement, she resumed a half smile as she realized that she was temporarily free of Shizune and her paperwork. Now was her chance to escape, so she disappeared around a corner.

…

…

Hotaru stepped into the sunlight to find Ai sitting atop a stone made fence.

"How'd it go?" She asked.

Hotaru sighed, "I didn't find anything,"

"Bull," Ai shot back, "But I don't give a shit,"

Hotaru shook her head at her friend. Ai's temperament was a crazy maze sometimes, but she appreciated the "no bullshit" way she had about her. Someone had to keep her sane in her chaotic life.

They walked - Hotaru disheartened and Ai irritatingly chipper - back to Kakashi's house. She knew they would have to say goodbye soon. And what was goodbye? She'd said it to so many people so many times in her life; she felt she'd lost the meaning. After all, she and Ai had only known him and his friends for a couple of days. She didn't belong here. It was time to leave.

"Hey, there's a shortcut here," Ai motioned to an alleyway near them, "I'm feeling lazy today,"

They agreed they would cut through the alley. Hotaru just wanted to get back to Kakashi's house, smell his skin, fell his touch, and forget all about her life that was swirling down the toilet.

Just as they rounded the corner, a forceful arm shoved Hotaru into the cement wall and pinned her neck. A tall, slender woman with jet black hair stood before her, their faces almost touching. The woman's body was smoky, dark plumes escaping an unknown source in her body. Her torso was concrete, but her limbs seemed to gradually turn to nothing but black puffs of choking air. Even her dark hair seemed to start at the root and gradually disappear to the ends.

A solid arm dug at Hotaru's throat, cutting off much of her oxygen, but a smoky arm held Ai at bay.

"You're been taking quite too long," The sinister looking woman hissed, "He's getting impatient. You know how he gets," She finished with a nonchalant tone.

Hotaru wished looks could kill because if they could, she would be sprouting daggers at this very moment and stabbing them into this woman's eyeballs, "We've got it under control. Now back off," She gave the smoldering woman a shove, causing her to stumble backwards and lose her grip on both girls.

The woman looked extremely flustered and deeply offended, "Just get your goddamn act together. I'm watching you," Her focus was only on Hotaru, as if they were bitter rivals, and she disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Hotaru let out a deep breath, "Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck,"

Ai looked just as worried and started pacing as she held her head with her hands.

Hotaru took control, "Okay… shit… okay, if Yakunan's clone is here, that means she's around," She looked to Ai with dread, "We have to leave, Ai. You know that,"

Ai looked downtrodden and disappointed, but in her heart she knew Hotaru was right. If Yakunan was sent here, then they were being watched. And that was bad. Very bad.

Hotaru gained her composure, still a little rattled at the fact that evil was lurking around the corner, "We've got to find out where she's hiding, then convince them its fine and just leave. Agreed?"

Ai was looking at the ground when she nodded. Her stance reminded Hotaru of a school girl who had just been told that she couldn't have ice cream before dinner. But they had to do what was best.

They took a minute to calm themselves before emerging from the haunting alleyway towards Kakashi's apartment. They would wait until nightfall then begin their search once everyone was fast asleep. They couldn't risk the truth coming out.

It was too damn dangerous… for everyone.