Chapter 9

Ok, I'm soooo sorry! I know I know, 2 weeks is insane to make you wait when I told you I'd have a chapter up each week. But this chapter for some reason was terrible for me, I kept getting writer's block, and then when I did write the chapter, it turned out awful, so I had to hold it off till I was happy. Last chapter left me a little dissatisfied, so I wanted to make sure this chapter was able to make up for it. Yet there is no lemon, but the story gets juicy. Anyway...

So, last chapter I felt was a little fast. Not sure if I should edit it and maybe add 1 more chapter in between before things start heating up, because I actually didn't plan for them to almost get together so soon. Oh well, I'll go with it for now. If I don't like it, I will change it though. I don't like the idea of them getting together so quickly, it doesn't seem right somehow, even though I like how the story turned out.

Another thing I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a couple of chapters, even though this chapter marks the end of the TK arc and the beginning of the Pain arc.

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: forgot to put it in the last chapter, but as always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga. I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

Chapter 9

The next day, Lina awoke to a curt knocking on the front door. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she opened the door, waving a lazy good morning to Kurenai, who had also emerged from her room, tired. A muscular ANBU shinobi stood at her front door.

"Sasaki Lina, you have been summoned by the Godaime Hokage. You have 10 minutes to get ready."

Lina's eyes widened, her mind waking up and digesting the information. She twirled around and ran to her bedroom, hastily calling out, "Come in. Close the door, Kurenai, could you take care of him?" Lina rushed to brush her teeth, splashing water on her face quickly before rubbing it raw with a nubby towel. She pulled her hair into a low side bun and pulled on her usual dress. She nearly tripped over her feet as she ran towards the door, smashing her feet into her shoes as she watched the ANBU walk towards the door without looking back. She ran towards him, turning back when she heard Kurenai.

"Keys! Catch!" Lina flung her hand out without looking and grabbed the keys and ran out the door.

They jumped from the rooftop, her 3 escorts following them in plain view. To anyone who looked up, they would have seen an odd sight, 4 ANBU shinobi accompanying a lone girl. As they neared the Hokage office building, Lina briefly remembered her day yesterday, meeting Kakashi at the office, and then accidentally catching him in such an intimate position. Remembering last night, she blushed hotly, trying to clear her head.

The ANBU descended upon the front door, ignoring Kakashi and slowing to a walk. Lina walked behind them, trying not to catch his attention. Of course, that failed miserably.

"Yo." Kakashi's voice sounded lazy, hiding all traces of his 'little problem' from last night. He watched Lina turn towards him and then look away, her forehead scrunched up into a troubled look. "Good morning." Lina murmured. Mistakenly, he thought it had to do with the 4 ANBU escorting her, so he soothingly said, "We've both been summoned by the Hokage. I'm guessing she wants to know how your test went. Don't worry, after I tell her you've passed, she'll take away your guards."

Lina looked up at him and gave a tentative smile. "Thanks." They walked into the building, knocked on the Hokage's door, and walked in. Both bowed down to the Godaime, and Lina sent a smile towards Shizune, who for some reason was holding a pearl wearing pig.

"Well?" The Godaime looked at the pair. Kakashi raised his head and gave an eye crinkle. "She passed." An audible sigh was heard from Shizune.

"Oh? And you didn't go easy on her?" Lina stiffened, affronted that she was being underestimated once again. Kakashi shook his head and said, "No. She's actually quite good. I didn't even get around to showing her my ninjutsu." Lina blushed under the praise, it had been some time since she'd been told she was good at anything without the person wanting something out of her.

"Very well. Sasaki Lina." The Godaime commanded, making Lina stand up straight. "You are hereby relieved of your guards. You are now a reinstated Konoha chuunin, although I'm guessing that you'll make Jonin in 6 months, when the next round of testing starts. But just because you're back to chuunin status does not mean you are allowed to do whatever you please. You must remain within the village at all times unless you have a mission. Do you accept?"

"Yes." Lina suddenly felt a rush of relief as the Hokage dismissed her ANBU guards. They hadn't been that bad, acting pretty much like shadows that popped out every once in a while. She'd expected horrible treatment, considering she'd ditched her own ANBU escorts 13 years ago when she was placed on leave. She felt like jumping for joy, shouting to the world, "I'M FREEEE!"

"Ahem." Lina's face must have shown her enthusiasm at being reinstated, because the Hokage was now looking at her very sternly. Schooling her face back into a calm expression, Lina waited. Now that she was a chuunin again, she had to be placed on a team. She knew Kakashi already had a team of his own, so she couldn't possibly be a part of it. Kurenai was pregnant, so she was out. Who else was there?

"I will be placing you on Team Kurenai, as a temporary replacement for Kurenai. They are: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, his dog Akamaru, and Aburame Shino. You are to meet with them in training field 2 in an hour. Don't be late."

Lina nodded.

"Dismissed. Kaka-"

"Tsunade obaa-chan! We're BACK!" A boy's holler echoed into the room from down the hall.

"NARUTO! SHUT UP!" A loud whack was heard outside the door.

"Maa, maa, Sakura, Naruto, please calm down."

"Sakura-chan, you're so mean…."

"I can't believe you get beat up by a girl, dickless." Lina blushed at this, hiding her grin behind a hand covering her face.

The door swung open to revealed a pink haired kunoichi grabbing a blonde haired whisker faced shinobi by the neck in a headlock as a pale shinobi with his neck exposed looked on with a mildly interested expression and another brown-haired shinobi with a head protector and almond eyes tried to separate the 2 arguing ninja.

They tumbled into the room, where the girl promptly let go of the boy and smiled and said, "Hello, Shishou. We've finished our mission." Her smile faltered as she noticed Lina, who was still trying to control her giggles.

"Hey, baa-chan. We're back! Do you have any more missions for us?"

"Oi, Naruto! We just came back! Just because you have the recovery power of the Kyuubi doesn't mean we all do. SOME of us need a break, you baka!"

Lina's eyes widened at this. 'Kyuubi?' She remembered vaguely the Kyuubi's attack 17 years ago. She'd been a genin back then, fresh out of the Academy, so she'd been stuck in the evacuation area. She remembered hearing the horror stories, and seeing her fellow graduates crying when they heard their family members were dead. Her own family member had luckily been spared, her sister just entering the pre-academy at 5 years old, her brother not even born yet. She remembered the stories of the Yondaime Hokage defeating the Kyuubi, and something about a container, but she'd never realized the container was an actual person. For some reason, when she'd thought of it, she'd thought the container was some type of barrel or something. But here he was, the blonde boy, who was apparently the Kyuubi's container. She knew he must have immense strength to be able to stay alive with such a destructive force inside him. She felt slightly scared of him, considering how strong he had to be to keep it under control, but seeing him mess around and talk normally with his teammates soothed her heart, if only slightly. She was still slightly scared of him. Just a bit.

"Naruto! What did I say about calling me baa-chan! I'm not OLD DAMMIT!" The Godaime slammed her fist against the wall behind her, leaving a deep impression as the room stilled. Well, not quite. After a wince, the blonde named Naruto just grabbed the mission report from the brunette's hand and slammed it down on the desk.

"Ne, ne, Tsunade obaa-chan, look at the report!"

"Naruto, you know that goes to Iruka-sensei." Tsunade said sternly, rubbing her temples.

"But, but, I did so well! Look, I had the most important...YAMATO TAICHOU! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY HOW WELL I DID?!" Naruto whirled around, glaring and pointing at the brunette.

"But, Naruto, you know that the mission report is supposed to tell the truth. I wrote how well you did, but I also wrote what Sakura and Sai did too."

"But I was the best! I helped Hotaru convince Utakata-sama, and -"

"Stop bragging, dickless." Lina snorted into her hand, not that anyone else noticed with the yell that followed.

"Temeeee!"

"Enough! Team Kakashi, go take a break. You've earned it. Kakashi, that includes you. Lina, go meet with your new team."

"Ehhhhh? Tsunade obaa-chan, who's this little girl?" Naruto pointed at Lina.

"It's rude to point, Naruto." Kakashi said quietly, not sure if he should elaborate on the 'little girl' jab.

Lina smiled and said, "Hi. I'm Sasaki Lina, I'm….well I guess you could say I'm a returning shinobi." She walked up to Naruto, took hold of his finger that was still pointed at her, and twisted it before saying darkly, "And I'm not a little girl. Call me that again, and your finger gets it." Finally letting him go, she returned her smile to her face and said, "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I hope we can work well together in the future, ne?"

With Tsunade's jab at Kakashi going easy on her, and all the looks she'd been getting, from Kurenai, in the bookstore, around town, Lina was getting quite sick of people mistaking her for a child. In her travels, she'd always henged into different forms of adult women, so she hadn't been called a child in a very long time. She'd beat The Copy Ninja, Sharingan no Kakashi, damn it! She deserved SOME respect. (Although, of course, the team had no idea she'd done that, but Lina was too riled up to care.)

With that, Lina bowed once more to the Hokage and walked out the door. Now that she was free, she could actually feel the invisible weight that had been on her shoulders for the last few days disappear. She stretched her arms and walked out of the building, nodding to two chuunin shinobi who seemed to be bringing a large stack of files up the steps.

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Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato watched the new girl leave, each thinking, "What the hell?"

Naruto turned back and asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Ne, baa-chan, who's that girl? She's kinda weird."

Tsunade rubbed her head some more, thinking about the stalling they were doing, and knowing that Shizune was bound to pounce on her with a stack of paperwork when they left. She needed sake. Sighing, she said, "She's a chuunin who was on leave for a little while. And she's 29, so mind your manners… not that you'll listen even if I tell you to. Aside from that, you don't need to know any more."

"But-"

"Naruto!" Sakura chided him sternly. Everyone had a story. Even if she was the Hokage, Sakura knew her shishou would not say anything. If they wanted to know more, they'd just have to get to know her. Saying their goodbyes, Team Kakashi left the office, including Kakashi.

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Lina went to meet her new team, wondering how they would react to the news. She knew Hinata would be happy, but she was anxious to get to know the others. If she remembered correctly, the boy with the dog had been friendly enough, but she wasn't sure about Shino, who she guessed was the boy in the trench coat. 'Oh well, I'll just have to try and get along, now won't I?'

She reached the training field, and found her 'team' waiting for her. Hinata's face lit up as she ran over and grabbed Lina's hand.

"Nee-chan! We just heard, I'm so glad we get to work together!" Lina smiled, loving the beautiful smile Hinata was showing her, her whole face lighting up. "Ne, Hina-chan, I'm glad to work with you too! You guys too." Lina said towards the 3 males in front of her, including Akamaru. Kiba's face lit up in a feral smile, and they both sniffed her, remembering her scent. If she was to be a part of their team, it wouldn't do to accidentally attack her as an enemy . Lina in turn started sniffing the two of them, much to their confusion.

"Why are you smelling us?" Kiba asked.

"Well, I have a pretty good nose myself, so I need to be able to tell you guys apart, just as much as you need to do the same for me."

"Eh? But you're not an Inuzuka, so why is your nose so good?"

"I have a summons, a ninken. We've trained since I was a genin, so my nose developed quite well. Of course, it's nothing compared to you or Kakashi-san's, but it's still good enough that I can tell apart most things. I already know Hinata's scent, she's never changed. So I just need to remember yours, Akamaru's, and Shino-kun's." Lina explained.

Shino stood back, watching the group. He noticed that Lina was also eyeing him. She approached him, and hesitantly asked, "May I? I know, it's weird." He nodded. Lina sniffed the air around him, not getting too close. She smiled and said, "Ok, got it. So, now what?"

Hinata looked between her 4 teammates and said, "How about a light spar?" Lina nodded, "Sure, but who against who? Unless you three want to me to go against all of you?!"

Kiba laughed. "I'm sure it would be no problem, considering you defeated Kakashi-sensei. How about it? We can test your skills to the full capacity, and you can see some of ours too." Lina thought for a moment "Fine." She dropped down to a fighting stance. Her 4 new companions followed suite.

They sparred, the 4 originals against Lina, working her to the max as they weaved in and out seamlessly. It was natural for them to work together, and Lina was soon understanding the patterns that made them flow so well. Kiba and Akamaru's Gatsuga kept her busy while Shino's kikaichu swarmed behind her, ready to pounce. Then, when Lina let loose a mix of wind and water styles, washing away the bugs and Kiba/Akamaru, she turned and found herself almost being pummelled by Hinata's Palm Rotation. Creating a water bubble, Lina enclosed Hinata in it and screamed into it, increasing her voice to near sonic levels, but making sure to just make her dizzy. She didn't want to actually hurt the girl. At this, the training stopped, despite the 4 originals not being tired yet.

"Where did you learn that last jutsu? It used sound waves." Shino asked, suddenly very suspicious of his new teammate. The last time they'd seen a Sound attack, it had been when Orochimaru had attacked Konoha. He hadn't had a chance to fight during the Sasuke retrieval missions, but he'd fought with Zaku during the Chuunin exams. He remembered how badly Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, and Kiba/Akamaru had been hurt, and his regret that he hadn't been able to fight along side them. How did this girl learn a sound jutsu if she wasn't from the Sound village? Could she be trusted?

Lina looked embarrassed and said, "Oh. Well, it must have been 7 or so years back. I was travelling around near Fire country when I heard rumors of people who specialized in sound jutsu forming a hidden village. I tried to get in myself, just to see what it was like, but it was pretty hard. The shinobi in there were all pretty rough looking, so I couldn't get in. I was about to give up when I met this traveller who was sort of a messenger between the village leader and their daimyo, and he helped me get in. I saw lots of stuff there. There was this guy, I remember, who was all bandaged up and hunched over. He had the ability to push sound waves through anything, and break objects just through sound. I also met this one girl who used senbon, not sure how her sound jutsu worked, but she was really creepy. Actually, most of the people I met there were, which was why I left after a few months. But since I'd heard so much about this thing called sound jutsu, and obviously there wasn't a hidden village anywhere else, I wanted to learn some stuff. So I tried to kind of learn some stuff. It's really very unique. There are so many different types of sound jutsus, but explaining them all will take too much time. Basically, what I use is one of 2 types of sound jutsu that kunoichi use: sonic waves. I amplify my voice to levels that can burst your eardrums. Of course, I wouldn't do that in training, but that's what I can do. I'm not very good yet, cuz I haven't had much practice."

"Wait, you learned this 7 years ago and you haven't had much practice? Why not? Whenever I learn a new jutsu I always log in hours of practice to make sure I have it down." Kiba scoffed.

"Yes well, when you learn a new jutsu, you don't immediately leave the village and travel to another town, where revealing said jutsu could put you in danger, now do you?" Lina shot back. She was still slightly riled at the comments from earlier that day, so she took some of it out on Kiba.

"Anyway, the technique takes quite a bit of chakra and control, which is not my forte considering I'm a weapons user. Even the Sasaki clan jutsus don't require that much chakra control, it's all just nature manipulation, so learning sound jutsu is a little difficult for me. But, now that I'm in the village, I'm gonna try and get as much practice as I can. But…."

"But what, nee-chan?"

"Well, it's just that, because it's a sound jutsu, anyone within range will be affected. I can lower the magnitude, but that won't help me learn to control it in the full magnitude I'd have to use in battle. Also, I'd like to be able to adjust the technique so that I can use it without harming you guys too. Right now, the only way I've been able to do it is by using the Sasaki clan's water prison ball technique and scream through the water, but that gives me a very small attacking range, not to mention it leaves me vulnerable from behind and around me. If I can find a way to adjust it so that I can hurt only those I want to hurt, and not the ones I don't, that would be great. But then there's the issue of practicing. How on earth do I practice when I could harm anyone in hearing distance? Does Konoha have like a giant sound-proof dojo or something?"

"No. Why? The answer is because we don't have any shinobi who use sound jutsu. Why? The answer is because we are Konoha, not the Hidden Sound." Shino spoke in his quiet methodical voice.

"Well, then, any sound proof rooms? Even if it isn't a dojo, if it's abandoned, I can move in and fix it into somewhere I can train."

"The only place I can think of that's sound proof is the Hokage's office. There's that big dojo that Lee built that one time a few years back." Kiba pondered.

"Lee-san built a dojo? Why?"

"Oh, he was going through a phase where he wanted better sparring partners or something, so he built a dojo. Didn't last very long, but I think it's still standing. If you want, you can ask him to use it." (see reference 1 at the bottom if you don't know what I'm talking about here)

"That's right, nee-chan! And if you want to practice the sound jutsus maybe you can ask Hokage-sama to get materials for sound-proofing."

"And we can all help. Why? The answer is because it would build bonds between us, which is necessary for teamwork." Shino put in.

"Great!" *grooooooooooowwwwwllllll* Lina's stomach complained loudly at the lack of food it had received since last night (since Lina hadn't eaten breakfast before meeting the Hokage). Akamaru yipped, causing Kiba to laugh.

"Well, it looks like I'm hungry. How about some food?"

"Sound's good. Hinata, did you bring our bentos?" Kiba looked at Hinata hopefully. She nodded and proceeded to take out 5 bentos. "Yes, Kiba-kun. Here you go. Lina nee-chan, there's one for you too. I wasn't sure what you liked, so I just put in my favorite stuff."

"Thanks, Hina. I can't believe you made all this for us!" Lina opened her bento and gaped.

"Hinata is an excellent cook." Shino opened his bento and ate quietly. In the bentos were different things depending on the person. Even Akamaru got his own bento, which was stuffed with wet dog food and a few dog treats for later. Lina's bento contained the same dishes as Hinata; lots of stir fried veggies, rice, teriyaki chicken, and a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie. As she dug in, Lina savored the taste of the food, each morsel delicious and rich with that home-cooked meal taste that only a mother (or Hinata) could pull off. Groaning in satisfaction, Lina gobbled up her food, barely making conversation, deciding to let her mouth have an orgasmic experience with food instead. (2) She watched Kiba and Akamaru wolf down their bentos, sloppily leaving traces of rice and meat on their faces, while Shino and Hinata ate politely and with impeccable manners.

"Kiba, you should chew your food. Why? Because it's bad for digestion not to." Lina smiled, Shino was just like her grandfather in some ways. He had been the strong silent type too, rarely showing a smile, but always showing kindness and affection in other ways.

"Ehhh, well I'm hungry!"

"Still. Savoring your food is part of the process of eating. Are you trying to disrespect Hinata?"

"Ano, Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, it's really alright. I don't mind."

"See? Hinata doesn't mind. You really need to loosen up, Shino." "Woof!"

"But-"

"Maa, maa! Teammates shouldn't argue, ne? Besides, with all this talking, you're taking away from the experience of enjoying the food Hina-chan has made for us! Eat up." Lina got up and stretched, having finished her food. Hinata also got up and began packing up the empty bentos. After everyone had finished eating, the new Team Kurenai walked slowly back into town.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Kiba asked.

"Sorry guys, but I can't stay. I need to go find Hokage-sama or Lee-kun to see if I can use that dojo you were telling me about, or find some other place to train."

"Good luck!" Hinata, Kiba, and Shino waved her goodbye as they parted ways with her. Lina walked towards the village, thinking up schematics for a new place to train, at the same time scanning her surroundings for anyone in a green jumpsuit. A short while later, she found Lee, walking up some steps on his hands.

"Lee-kun!"

"Sasaki-san! Good afternoon, how are you doing, this fine day? Please don't mind me, I'm just implementing my personal rule."

"Please, it's Lina. And what do you mean, your personal rule?"

"I lost in training with Neji, so I need to walk through Konoha 1000 times, going through all side streets at least once and main streets at least 5 times." Lina's eyes widened.

"That's a little much….don't push yourself, ok?"

"Ahh, but I must! I want to get much, much stronger! I want to become a taijutsu master, and to do that I must push myself to the limit, and even further than that!" Lee proclaimed, still walking on his hands.

"Well...if you're sure you're ok…. Say! I heard you built a dojo a few years back. I was wondering, are you still using it?"

"Dojo..? Oh, you must be referring to the Youthful dojo I made 4 years ago! Ahh, such youthful memories, that brings back. Well, I'm not using it anymore, no, why?"

"Oh. Well, see, I'm looking for a place I can use to train. I'd work in the training fields, but the jutsus I'm working on are kind of unstable, and I don't want to hurt anyone while I'm practicing. So, do you think you could let me use your dojo, at least until I get a better handle on my techniques?"

"But of course! But there is one condition." Lee flipped off his hands and gave Lina his 'nice guy' pose.

"Oh? Ok, what's that?"

"I challenge you to a match! I heard you beat Kakashi-sensei! Only my own magnificent has ever beaten the Copy-Nin! If you can beat me, then I will allow you to have the dojo for free! If not, then you must train with me until you have completed your other training! Do we have a deal?"

'Ehhh...this guy. He's just like Guy was, back then. Scratch that, he's just like Guy IS! Well, I suppose his determination is what drives him to get better, so what's the harm?' "You've got yourself a deal. But, I just trained with Hina-chan's team, and ate after, so how about we stay this match until tomorrow?"

"Right! Meet you at dawn, in the dojo! Good bye, oh beautiful flower of Konoha!" Lee got back on his hands and proceeded to walk away.

"Wait! You haven't told me where the dojo is!"

"Ahh, right. It's in the Konoha forest, about 5 miles north-east of the main gates."

Lina walked towards home, looking at the various stores. She popped into a couple of shops, buying some new clothes. She'd worn out most of her dresses, having not bought any in a while, and since she was here to stay, she felt she might as well look good. (Of course, that didn't make any sense, but Lina's mind worked in mysterious ways. Point is, she wanted new clothes.) She found a shop that catered to shinobi, and when she showed them her forehead protector they gave her a hefty discount, not that she complained at all.

After buying 2 everyday dresses for training, and 3 sets of 'mission' clothing, Lina headed home. She greeted Kurenai, who was watering her plants.

"Hi. How'd it go?"

"I'm officially chuunin again, and I've been assigned to your old team as a temporary member. We trained for a bit, and I got a feel for some of their strengths. Oh, and I met the Kyuubi container, Naruto? He's….interesting."

"Ahh, so you're on my team huh? Well, it makes sense, considering the Sasaki clan's style is so similar to the Hyuuga style, plus you've got a ninken right? Good for tracking. And yeah, Naruto's definitely different."

After making small talk, they both retired to their rooms, Lina picking up her Icha Icha, before remembered once AGAIN what had happened last night. She thought about her meeting with Kakashi this morning, and how normal he had seemed. Well, if he wasn't going to bring it up she sure as hell wasn't either.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. In the afternoon, Lina went down to the training areas and practiced some taijutsu. Because of her prolonged absence from the village, she hadn't gotten the usual amount of training as one would while in the village. She'd hadn't been able to practice properly for hours at a time while travelling, only able to spare at most 1 hour, and even then she'd always been on the alert for any outsiders watching. So, after training for 4 hours straight, Lina was feeling the strain in her muscles when she stopped. Looking at her dummy target she'd practiced on, she found her strength was lacking in some areas, and noted that she needed to work on those areas before she went on any extreme missions. Of course, she doubted the Hokage would put her in such a mission right away, so she knew she had time, but she hoped it would be sooner than later.

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A shadow soundlessly made its way through trees as it watched a lone girl training taijutsu in a training field. The owner of said shadow had been ordered by none other than Shimura Danzou, leader of the ANBU Root division, to keep an eye on the new chuunin. The shinobi watched her, noting her techniques and tendencies, making sure to see everything lest Danzou should ask for details. The Root shinobi stayed with her, even when she left, making sure to hide all trace of him, until she met a certain silver-haired masked shinobi, supposedly by accident. Knowing he couldn't hide from Kakashi, he disappeared, reappearing in front of Danzou-sama.

"Danzou-sama." The expressionless shinobi knelt in front of his master.

"Well?"

"She practiced taijutsu, and then met with Hatake Kakashi."

"Did she see you?"

"No, Danzou-sama."

"Good. Keep tailing her." Danzou turned and hobbled away.

"Danzou-sama, may I ask you a question?"

"What is it." He stopped, not bothering to turn back.

"Why are we bothering with a girl like her? From what I can see, she's nothing special." If it had been anyone else, Danzou would have activated their curse mark on their tongue and tortured them to no end. But, this particular shinobi was one of the best, and of course, it was a valid question.

"I have my reasons. And you'd do well to not let your eyes fool you. Remember, she beat Hatake."

"Yes, Danzou-sama." The shinobi bowed his head before disappearing.

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"Yo." Lina turned her head away from the store front she'd been looking at to see Kakashi giving her an eye crinkled smile.

"Kakashi-san. Good evening, how are you?"

"Good, good, and you? What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm good. I just finished training, so I'm about to eat my dinner. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure. Ichiraku Ramen?"

"Yum!" They proceeded to walk into the restaurant, which happened to just be a few store fronts away. Inside, they met Team Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?! Come eat with us? Wait, why are you with that weird girl?" Naruto exclaimed as the rest of the team turned around. Lina smiled and waved. "Hey, everyone."

"Naruto, I'm eating dinner with Lina-san, what does it look like?"

"Is this what they call a date, Kakashi-san?" Sai pondered.

"Ehhhhhh!? Kakashi-sensei, are you on a date with that girl?!" Naruto got his head whacked by Sakura. "Oi, Naruto! Stop calling her 'that girl'! Honestly, you really have no manners do you! Sorry about that, Sasaki-san. This boy here just says whatever he wants." Lina shook her head.

"Oh no, that's fine. And it's Lina. You're Sakura, right?"

"Right, and this is Sai, and our captain, Yamato-taichou."

"Hello." Yamato waved pleasantly.

"Hi...Shorty." Sai immediately said the first 'nickname' that came to mind. After a moment of stunned silence, Lina walked up to him, still smiling. In one swift motion, she grabbed his neck and started wringing it, still wearing that sickeningly sweet smile on her face.

"Never call me that again. Got it?" Sai nodded, turning blue from the lack of oxygen as Sakura and Yamato tried to pry him out of her hands, Naruto just sitting back and laughing at the poor bastard. Letting him go, Lina (and Kakashi, who was hiding his grin behind his ever-present mask) sat down beside the group and began eating their dinner.

"So, Lina-san. I heard you beat Kakashi-sensei. That's amazing! How'd you do it?" Naruto said while slurping away at his food. Lina felt slightly self conscious talking about the battle, considering her opponent was sitting right beside her, and she didn't want to seem like she was gloating. But on the other hand, she'd beat Kakashi! That was something worth gloating about, if there was ever anything.

"Oh, well you know...he was going easy on me, I'm sure." At this, Kakashi looked up from his ever-present Icha Icha

"What? No I wasn't." The rest of the group looked at the pair like they were watching a tennis match.

"Really. So I truly beat the famous Copy-Ninja at his full strength, not even allowing him to show any ninjutsu? That's crazy."

"Well, it's true. You should give yourself more credit." Kakashi continued eating. He really hadn't been going easy on her, she was just really good.

"Fine. Well then, Naruto-kun, to answer your question, I whupped this guy's ass! He never saw it coming." Lina winked and stuck out her tongue, showing that she was being playful, and totally didn't mean it. Everybody laughed and continued eating. After some small talk, they all headed their separate ways.

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The next few weeks went by relatively uneventfully. Lina's lifestyle slowly fell into a regular pattern. She was assigned many C and D level missions since she was still a relatively 'new' chuunin. During these missions, which basically involved shopping for elderly civilians, or chasing after cats, or gardening, she was watched by the rest of her team as they 'supervised' her work. Of course, Kiba always found some way to poke fun her way. Hinata, being Hinata, tried to help Lina out, pointing out where she could improve, but after some time Lina began getting frustrated. She was so much better than this! Why couldn't she go on real missions?! She once snapped at Hinata when she mentioned that Lina had missed a weed, but immediately apologized. Hinata didn't seem to mind, understanding immediately and just kept quiet. Of course, Shino was silent as always, only ever speaking up when Kiba got too rowdy. Throughout the entire time, none of Team Kurenai had any inkling that they were being watched by that same faceless ROOT shinobi.

When she wasn't on missions, she trained. Lina had beat Lee in the 'battle of youth' as he deemed it, and he had willingly surrendered his dojo. However, Lina had not yet had the opportunity to discuss soundproofing it with the Hokage, who seemed to be under quite a bit of stress, so she was just strengthening her taijutsu with dummies and water clones. Whenever Lina went to hand in her mission report, she would catch strains of the conversation between Tsunade and Shizune, something about Akatsuki moving closer and closer towards Konoha. Lina had heard of this mysterious group of missing-nin whose leader supposedly wanted 'peace', but she didn't know anything about them. She tried to ask her teammates, but they seemed tight-lipped on the subject. More than once, Hinata had opened her mouth, obviously wanting to say something, but Kiba and Shino would shush her quiet. Lina was getting frustrated, she was officially a chuunin, and part of Team Kurenai, yet it seemed that the Hokage was still keeping her in the dark about important matters pertaining to the village.

Thankfully, she found some solace in a silver-haired masked ninja who had wormed his way into her life. After missions, it became a habit for Kakashi to somehow find Lina and take her out to eat. Of course, this version of 'taking someone out' was extremely loose, as she normally ended up paying her share. Despite Kakashi's reputation for skipping out on bills, he somehow always managed to keep his wallet handy whenever Lina was around. At first this had raised quite few eyebrows and elicited some under-the-breath jokes, but after a few times it became a normal oddity. Lina eventually forgot about that one night when she'd witnessed Kakashi dreaming about her, and they grew into an easy friendship. Even though they often ate at secluded booths where they wouldn't be disturbed (for Kakashi's sake, so there was less of a chance of someone peeking under his mask), Kakashi still ate at an impossibly fast rate while Lina kept her head down and spoke to her plate.

At first, Lina had tried to ask Kakashi about the whole Akatsuki business, but aside from telling her that they were missing-nin (which she knew) who were looking for 'peace' (which she knew again), he didn't say much. Being a master manipulator, Kakashi always controlled the conversation and steered it towards something much safer. Several times, he brought up the topic of training with her, but she always refused. While she appreciated the thought, she felt that she still wasn't strong enough to train with him, still thinking that her beating him during 'the test' was a fluke.

Aside from training, missions, and eating with Kakashi, the rest of Lina's days were spent with Kurenai, who's pregnancy was developing nicely. She had gained a larger stomach and was now several months along. Shikamaru came by the apartment several times a week, often helping out with the groceries or other household activities. Lina learned that Asuma, Kurenai's boyfriend and her baby's father, had been Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji's sensei, and he had died in battle with Akatsuki, adding to the small list of things she now knew about the mysterious group. Shikamaru had mentioned that he would be teaching the child when it grew up and became a Konoha shinobi. Lina could feel the love this child was receiving, and she excitedly waited for the child to be born.

Every now and then, Lina would go to a bar, now in her real form rather than a henge'd form. At first, she'd nearly been thrown out, but after showing her 'ID' (her forehead protector), she was allowed to drink as much as she liked. It wasn't like the bartender really cared, all he was looking for was her money. Several times, she noticed Raidou and Genma around, but they never talked to her and she never bothered to go talk to them. To them, she was an unfamiliar face, and apparently not one worth conversing with, if she wasn't busty and wearing skimpy clothing. Of course, that was fine with her. She never really felt like introducing herself to people she already knew, it just complicated things. So she just watched them from above the rim of her drinks.

While she was watching them, it seemed she was being watched. Danzou was slowly infiltrating her life, stationing several ANBU ROOT shinobi around her at all times, each henge'd into a face that blended right in, but always watching her and keeping tabs on her. Why Danzou was so interested in this girl, no one but him knew, but because it was him, no one dared to question. The last person who had done that had suffered horribly, the curse mark on their tongue releasing a wave of pain so torturous they had been hospitalized in the special Root division of the hospital for almost 2 months.

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2 months after Lina's initial reinstatement into chuunin status, she was called into the Hokage's office.

Inside, she saw that Kakashi, Genma, and Raidou were waiting for her, along with of course Tsunade and Shizune, who was holding her pig that Lina now knew was named Tonton. She walked forwards, until she was standing directly in front of the Hokage, her back facing the 3 male shinobi.

"Ah, Lina, you're here. Good. I have a mission for you. This is a B-to-A rank mission, depending on what you find. I would ask a jonin, but right now all of them are in preparation for the Akatsu-…well you don't need to know what for. The point is, I have to give the chuunins the higher rank missions now, but this mission requires someone with a little more world experience. Of course, you, being a chuunin for 12 years and having travelled extensively outside of the village, are perfect. But, I can't leave you alone just yet, considering this is your first big mission, so I'm having these three join you. Besides, this mission could get nasty, so having 3 special jonin with you will be perfect. You know Kakashi, this is Genma and Raidou."

Lina looked at the 3 and nodded towards each of them, Kakashi giving her an eye crinkled smile while Genma dismissed her with a single look, and Raidou smiled slightly at her. Neither of them had spoken to her since that one time they'd happened to meet outside the Hokage's office, so there wasn't much to say. But there was still something that bugged Lina, something the Hokage had said. Lina turned her attention back to the Godaime.

"Hokage-sama. I understand your unwillingness to let a perceived outsider in on village secrets, but you yourself have reinstated my chuunin status. I have had no problems with missions until now. If this misson is as big of a deal as you make it sound, don't you think it's time you told me who the hell the Akatsuki are, and why they have everyone up in a panic?" Lina spoke much more casually than she would normally to someone so much higher in status to her, but she'd had enough of being kept in the dark. If she was to put her life in danger for the village, she felt she deserved to know why.

The Hokage's eyes flashed, but her face remained emotionless. "Oh? You think you deserve to know? Sasaki Lina, you are wrong. Knowledge for shinobi is not a right, it is a privilege. You serve Konoha, and as the leader of Konoha it is my decision what I do or do not tell my shinobi. A true shinobi does not question his or her orders. Do so again, and I will have you sent back to the Academy to re-learn the shinobi rules. Do you understand me?" The room stilled as Lina slowly came out of shock. She bowed her head and said, "Yes, Hokage-sama." with as much bitterness in her voice as she thought she could afford. The Hokage ignored the jab.

"Good. Now, before I tell you your mission, I need to know: are you a virgin?" Lina gaped at the woman. "Excuse me?" She heard titters coming from behind her, probably coming from Genma. "Are you a virgin? It's not that hard to understand. Yes or no." Lina blinked and shook her head erratically. "You're not? Good. Then, here's your mission."

"You're going to need to infiltrate an inn in Water Country. It seems that there is something fishy going on in the inn, where an exchange of information is happening. I need you 4 to go in, and see if there is anything they know about Akatsuki, and also if they know any potentially harmful information about Konoha. You will kill everyone who knows anything about either topic. Lina, you are in charge of the mission." Lina gasped, and she heard a sharp intake of breath, again, probably from Genma.

"Why me?" After her previous outburst, she was surprised to be given such a high position in the team.

"I'm getting to that. The infiltration will require you to become a sex slave. Obviously, not literally, I don't want you actually selling yourself. But I need you to pretend. And for that reason, I'm putting you in charge. I trust that with you in charge you will take all precautions to ensure your own safety. But, because I know that putting you in charge could be harmful for the mission, I want you to pick a second-in-command. That person will be able to veto any decisions you make which may harm the mission or yourself. Now, back to your mission, you will be pretending to be a sex-slave, and 2 of these guys will be your 'handlers'. You need to play these roles because several of the people living longterm in the inn are known criminals who deal in the sex slavery business, and you will need to infiltrate their group. The last one of you will be a scout and stay in the background, should anything happen. I will let you, Lina choose your handlers and your second-in-command, but I want you to choose now." The entire room became silent as the Hokage finished her speech. Lina was shocked. Her first mission, and she was to be a sex slave, what was the Hokage thinking? Surely, for a first mission, this was too extreme! But as the silence grew, Lina realized she needed to pick her people.

She turned around and stared at her three new teammates. Kakashi would be the obvious choice for a second in command, being her friend, but she knew that as her friend he may not be able to think clearly or make difficult decisions should the need arise. Raidou, she knew was very very soft. Of course, that didn't make him a bad shinobi, but he would not be able to say no to her if she pushed, especially if she decided to tell him who she really was to him (the girl from the bar). And she knew, if push came to shove, her personality would definitely rear its head and she would spill her secret. So the only one left was Genma. In all honesty, he was the ideal choice. He wasn't her friend, so he wouldn't spare her feelings. He would be thinking about the mission, so if she made a decision that would harm it, he could veto it without hesitation. The only problem she had was that if she decided on an 'easy' way out, he might veto it and put her in danger, thinking she could handle it since she 'wasn't a virgin'. But he was still the best choice, and in the end, the mission always came first.

"Ok, for my second in command, I choose Genma-san. I trust you to have my back when I need it, but I also trust you to veto any decision I may make that could harm the mission. For my 'handlers', I want Genma-san and Raidou-san to do it. Kakashi-san, you are best in tracking, with your ninken. Also, with your impeccable sense of smell, being a scout, you'll be able to sense danger the fastest. Ok?" The three men looked at her. Well, this definitely was surprising. She'd placed her closest friend among the three the furthest away from her, and the person who liked her least the closest to her. They all nodded. Lina turned back towards the Hokage, who was watching them, amused.

"Hokage?"

"Right. Well then, Team Lina, you are to arrive at Water country in 4 days. Here are the coordinates of the inn you are to infiltrate. Remember, this is recon, but kill everyone you get information from. Leave no one alive, I don't want this getting back to Konoha, or there'll be hell to pay. You will stay until you have found sufficient evidence that there is or isn't any information going around about either Akatsuki or Konoha. I'd say at least a month. Understood?"

"Yes!" Lina picked up the scroll Tsunade had on her desk. The 4 teammates bowed and walked out of the office. Lina's heart was pounding. Her first real mission, and she was the leader. 3 people's lives were in her hands, 4 including her own. Exiting the office, Lina turned towards her team and said, "I want everyone packed and ready to go in 3 hours. No excuses, don't be late or I will find you and drag your ass out. Meet up at the main gates. Pack light, but bring several changes of clothing."

"Won't that be too heavy?" Raidou spoke up. Lina shook her head. "I'm going to put all the clothes in weapon scrolls so that we can summon them and reverse summon them when we want. It's like summoning weapons, I just need to alter the writing on the scrolls before we do it."

"Won't that take time? We need to be in Water country in 4 days." Genma stretched lazily. Again, Lina shook her head. "It's fine, I write fast. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, which we can definitely spare if everyone is on time." At this, she noticed Genma and Raidou look at Kakashi.

"She's talking about you, Hatake."

"Yes, yes." Kakashi sighed.

"What? I wasn't, actually. I was saying it as a general statement. I honestly don't understand why everyone thinks Kakashi-san's always late, he's mostly always on time whenever WE meet up." At this Raidou's eyes widened and Genma's eyebrows raised. 'Oh really?' They thought before turning their attention to Kakashi. He completely ignored the previous comment and said, "Well, I guess I'm off. See you in 3 hours." and poofed away. The other three members of the team looked at each other before disappearing as well.

Lina went home and packed up all her belongings, which took all of 15 minutes. Allotting 20 minutes to get to the main gates at a leisurely pace, she spent the rest of the time writing clothes-summoning scrolls, leaving blank the actual articles of clothing for when they all met up. Nothing was worse that writing up a scroll all nice and neat, only to find that she had to rewrite it because the articles of clothing were wrong. After finishing writing 4 different scrolls, one for each team member, she found she still had some time, and decided to pack a light snack for the trip. As a ninja, she knew how to live off the land, but there was no harm in packing some light non-perishable foods to make the trip easier. After packing all the necessities, Lina wrote a note to Kurenai, who was at the hospital doing a check up, saying she was on a mission. And with that, Lina set off.

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Several pairs of eyes watched the small girl as she made her way towards the main gates. One signalled the rest, indicating his departure to warn their leader as the other continued to keep an eye on the girl. The one that left transported himself to Danzou, bowing.

"Danzou-sama. The girl has received a B-ranked mission out of the village in Water country. She is to be working with Kakashi, Genma, and Raidou."

"Fine. You will go back and keep watching her. I want Number 1 and Number 4 to go on ahead of the group and station themselves in Water country. They will watch the group as they arrive, but they will not engage. They will send daily reports and receive orders through summons only. Go." The faceless shinobi bowed and transported himself back to the surveillance group, giving out Danzou's orders. The 2 who had been singled out immediately went ahead and travelled at lightning speed toward Water Country. They knew they had to reach their destination at least a day before Lina's team.

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Lina arrived at the main gates and waited. She stood around for several minutes before she saw Raidou walk up.

"Hey, Raidou-san."

"Hi, Lina-san. Am I late?"

"Oh, not at all, as you can see Kakashi-san and Genma-san haven't arrived yet." Lina waved her hands around, indicating the absences. Raidou smiled and nodded. They stood around quietly in an easy silence before a familiar senbon-sucking shinobi made his presence known.

"Hey. We all set?"

"Just waiting for Kakashi-san."

"We'll be waiting a while. Might as well get comfortable." Genma didn't think Lina would actually make good on her threat to find anyone who was late. Lina raised her eyebrows and looked at the sun, measuring the time. "Kakashi-san's late. Well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. While we wait for him, I'll get started finishing the clothes-summoning scrolls for both of you. If he doesn't show up by the time I'm done, then I'm going to go get him. Come on, show me the extra clothing you brought."

Raidou and Genma brought out their packs and took out several outfits. Lina counted out the clothes between the two and promptly took out her scrolls. She'd already stored all her own clothes, so she only took out the ones she'd labelled with each person's name. After 10 minutes Lina had finished writing all the necessary components for a summoning to work. She placed each article of clothing on the scroll in its assigned place, made a series of hand seals, the reverse order of the ones needed for summoning, and said, "Reverse summoning jutsu!" With each jutsu an article of clothing disappeared. Finally, with the last piece gone, Lina tested out the jutsus by re-summoning them. After completing this and re-doing the reverse summons, she re-rolled the scrolls.

Looking up, she found herself still flanked by her two teammates, but not by the last one. Sighing, she stood up. "Ok, he's late. Time to find him." She saw Genma smirk with a definite 'I told you so' look. Rolling her eyes, she made a series of hand seals and made 6 water clones. They nodded at each other and dispersed, each one headed in a different direction.

"What's that for?" Lina turned and faced Genma. "I'm staying here, in case he comes, but if not, then I've sent my clones to find him. His apartment, Ichiraku, the bookstore that sells Icha Icha, the 2 training field where he trains, and the Hokage's office. Those are the only places I can imagine him being. Those also happen to be in the 6 main routes in the village, so if he's anywhere along those routes, my clones will find him."

"You really know quite a bit about him, don't you?" Genma gave a half smile. Lina rolled her eyes again. "He's one of the first friends I made when I came back, so of course I'd know a bit about him. I doubt I know nearly as much about him as either of you."

"I don't knoooow...It's pretty rare for Kakashi to open up to someone so soon. WE practically had to drag his favorite training fields out of him, remember Raidou?" Raidou nodded, remembering the conversation in the Jonin lounge in the missions office.

"Oh well-oh. One of my water clones just found Kakashi. She's dragging him here now."

"Wait, how do you know that? Clones only transfer their knowledge after dissipating." Genma couldn't see how a water clone could disappear and drag someone at the same time.

"Oh, one of the other clones met up with it and undid its jutsu to let the others know, who also undid their own jutsus. Kakashi's about 2 minutes away." Sure enough, the three looked up to see a familiar silver haired head bobbing up and down in the afternoon crowd. Lina's water clone soon came into view as the crowd separated.

"Yo."

"You're late, Hatake." Genma said lazily. He'd long since gotten used to the tardiness of the otherwise elite shinobi.

"Sorry, sorry, I got-" "-lost on the path of life again?" Lina finished, smiling slightly. Kakashi laughed and raised his hands up in defeat. "Sorry, Lina-san."

"It's ok. Well, ok, no, it's not ok. You're late, which means, we don't have time for me to write your clothes-summoning scroll. You'll have to carry your stuff while we travel. And we're not slowing down for you, so you better keep up." Kakashi gave Lina a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am." In return Lina stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her face. They both laughed.

"Well, I guess we'd better talk about the plan before we head out. I say we head out normally, the way we are now, but when we reach the edge of Water country we should switch into our covers. Raidou-san, Genma-san, you two are my 'handlers', so remember to act rough with me. Push me around, don't be too nice. Kakashi-san, you are going to be the scout of the team, so I'll need you to conceal yourself as soon as we reach Water country. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how, seeing as you are who you are. As for the rest of the plans, we can discuss them in more detail when we get closer." Lina looked to each of the shinobi, and they each nodded in turn. She nodded back and picked up her pack, stuffing her scrolls into it.

"Right then. Let's go."

-end-

Author's Note: Whew! That took forever! After all the editing, revising, reformulating, and storyboarding, chapter 9 is finally done! Some notes on the stuff in the chapter:

The part where Kiba talks about Lee's dojo is a reference to episode 193 of the original Naruto anime (not shippuuden!)

LOL 'orgasmic experience'. I've always wanted to say that, and since I haven't yet in real life, here it is in writing! XD

The coordinates of the dojo are completely made up, I didn't bother looking up if there were actual directions. If you're a purist, sorry.

There you go! Chapter 10 should be up on schedule (by Sunday night), and this one will be soooo much easier to write, just cuz I've literally been having dreams about this chapter (and subsequent ones) for days. That's partially why chapter 9 was so hard to write, cuz I just wanted to plow through to the juicy stuff, but I knew it would make no sense to you guys if I did. Please review, comment, I live off of them! Thanks! -chibi hina chan XO