Something 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.

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

Disclaimer: 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!

RECAP: Team Lina (Consisting of Kakashi, Genma, Raidou, and Lina) were assigned a mission in Water Country. Lina was named leader of said mission/team, and they set off. Meanwhile, several faceless shinobi were tailing the group, with 2 shinobi going ahead on a Danzou-ordered mission to await further orders. Now, onto the story!

PS: Regarding last chapter, I was re-reading it, and I noticed that I mentioned the water ball prison jutsu was a Sasaki clan jutsu. Just to clarify, this jutsu is different from the Water prison jutsu that Kisame uses in Naruto/Shippuuden. I haven't figured out how, but it is.

Chapter 10

Team Lina sped towards the edge of Fire country, making their way towards their destination.

"Man, my bag is so HEAVY." Kakashi complained for the umpteenth time. Lina just rolled her eyes. Without turning back, she said, "It's your own fault for being late. Stop complaining."

"But Lina-saaaann…" "Stop it! You're such a child! And that's coming from someone younger than you!"

"And someone who looks like one herself." Lina turned her head to glare in Genma's direction, who pretended not to notice.

They'd been travelling for most of the afternoon, and the sun was slowly setting. Knowing this, Lina called out to her teammates. "Start looking for a place we can set up camp. It's getting late and we've made good time despite SOMEONE'S tardiness."

A half hour later, the 4 shinobi/kunoichi dropped down into a clearing. "Finally." Kakashi groaned, rubbing his shoulders. Lina gave him a look and half smiled, knowing he was making a show more than he was actually complaining. "Oh, buck up. Start setting up traps, I'll get dinner started." Dropping their packs in a heap in the center of the site, they set to work, laying traps to ward off and/or trap potential enemies. Kakashi used his Sharingan create a barrier/genjutsu that would make the campsite invisible to enemies, while Genma and Raidou lay wire traps and explosive tags strategically. Lina found some firewood, and got Kakashi to make fire before he completed his traps. From there, she took out some kunai and went hunting. It didn't take long for her to find several small birds, and she was able to find several herbs which would go nicely with the meat. By the time she came back the traps had been laid. Taking out a summoning scroll, she summoned a small cooking pot and put it over the fire, using her water jutsu to transport water from a nearby creek and into the pot.

"Raidou-san, you're done with the explosive tags right? Could you help me pluck the birds while the water boils?"

"Sure." They set to work. Using kunai to chop up the meat, Lina took out the herbs she'd collected and began making a thick stew. Building a separate fire, Lina used another pot to make rice from the grains she'd brought in a small container. She'd often made meals like this while she was living off the land, since she'd had always found a way to make money to buy rice, which was the cheapest of commodities. It was simple, but filling. As Kakashi and Genma finished with the final parts of the traps, they turned their heads towards the delicious smell of dinner. They came towards the fire site and sat down, fidgeting.

"Is it ready yet?" Kakashi asked. Lina laughed. "You're such a kid. Patience is a virtue." "Yeah, well you try carrying that gigantic pack all afternoon." "It's YOUR FAULT you had to do that! If you hadn't been late then I could have put your clothes in the scrolls like I did for Genma and Raidou!" "But it's HEAVY! -" "ENOUGH! You two are like squabbling siblings. Lina-san, is the food ready or not? I'm starving too." Genma said, annoyed and hungry.

Raidou looked around nervously. "You guys, we're being too loud." Of course, no one paid any attention to him.

Lina looked at the food and said, "Give it 5 more minutes or so. Rice needs to be cooked properly. Nothing's worse than having a stomach ache from uncooked rice. Stew's ready though."

"Can't we eat the stew first?" Kakashi whined, and secretly, Genma agreed. Lina shook her head. "No!" "Why not?!" "Cuz I cooked the food and I said so! Besides, I'm team captain, so you do what I say." She grinned, loving the new power, forgetting that Genma had the 'veto' option available to him.

And then Lina remembered something. "Crap. Ok, I made a slight mistake. Kakashi, Genma, since both of you obviously need to keep your hands busy, and since Raidou already helped me skin the meat, I need you two to make 4 bowls for us, or plates or something. Go find something to make the bowls while we wait."

"You forgot bowls?! Nice…Well, Genma, we don't actually need to go anywhere. We can make bowls from combining earth, water, and fire jutsu."

"Huh? How? " Lina looked confused. Kakashi explained. "I can combine earth and water jutsu to make wet clay, form it into a bowl shape, and burn it hard using a fire jutsu. It'll be basically ceramic baking, except we won't do it in an oven."

"You can do that?! Ok then, go ahead. Food's almost ready to eat." Kakashi brought both his hands together, concentrating water nature in one hand and earth in the other, and formed a ball of earthy clay. Forming it into 4 bowls, set it down on the ground and baked it, using a fire ball jutsu. Then, using water again, he drowned the bowls in the water to cool them down. Voila! Lina looked from the bowls to the food, and smiled. Right on time.

"Ok, it's ready. Go ahead and take the food." She watched the three men clamor for rice and meat, not bothering to move just yet. "How's the food?" She'd only ever cooked for herself and Kurenai, so she wasn't sure how the fare was. They each took a bite before their faces changed. Genma nearly spit out his food, complaining "NO SALT! NO SEASONING!"

Lina furrowed her eyebrows and took a taste. Maybe she'd been on the run for too long, but the food actually tasted pretty good, even considering she'd been eating at the village for 2 months, having regular access to seasoning. When she'd been travelling, she'd developed a palate for more natural tastes. "Hmm...it does need salt, but I didn't pack any, and it's really not THAT bad!"

"How could you do this to us?! It smelled soooo good, but without any taste, it's horrible!"

"Oh, quit complaining. This way, you can taste the original taste of the foods, without being weighed down by salt and all that other crap."

"But-"

"Genma, stop it. Thank you Lina-san, the food is really not that bad." Lina looked at Raidou and smiled. "Thanks." She glanced at Kakashi, who was staring down at his food, thinking. Taking his silence as disappointment, Lina sighed. "Is it really that bad?" Kakashi looked up and gave an eye crinkle. "Well, it does need something to make it better, but since you made do with what we already had, I'd say it's very good. Lina smiled once more, ignoring Genma's huff.

But she had something more to do before she could even think about eating. "Kakashi-san, where's your pack?" She looked in the direction that Kakashi pointed and got up. She picked up his pack and dragged it towards her own, opening her own pack for a scroll and calligraphy brush/ink.

"Aren't you going to eat?" She looked up to see her teammates staring at her. She shook her head. "I want to finish this up first before I eat."

"Aren't you hungry? You can do it after, come eat with us." Kakashi looked at her. She saw Raidou nod his agreement. Genma slightly shrugged. She shook her head again. "No, it's fine. I really want to finish this. It won't take more than 5 minutes anyway, so I might as well get it done sooner rather than later." She turned back to Kakashi's pack and unzipped it, counting out the clothes he'd brought.

"Do you need help?" Lina looked up and saw herself face to face with Kakashi, who was kneeling down beside her. She smiled and said, "Go, Kakashi-san, eat. Aren't you the one complaining the whole way about how heavy the pack was? Aren't you the one who was complaining just now about how hungry you were? Go. Eat, rest. It's really no trouble." Kakashi nodded and went back to his seat.

"You know, if you hadn't been late, she could have done this beforehand and you wouldn't need to feel so guilty." Genma drawled.

"Shut it, pincushion." Kakashi tossed a rock towards him, which Genma expertly dodged.

After several minutes, Lina got back up and rolled up the newly-finished scroll. She went back to the fire and took out her portion of the food, noting that her teammates had left her an actually decent portion, despite her size. The food was now somewhat cold, but it was still edible, so she stuffed her face. Halfway through her food, the rest of the group was finishing up. Raidou said a quiet 'thank you', and Kakashi patted her on the back before getting his sleeping bag out of his pack. Genma was the last to finish, and he simply burped. At this Lina smiled and said, "Better out than in, right?" Genma gave her a smirk and moseyed off to his own pack. She finished up her own food and decided to clean the pots.

"I'll be back, guys. Gotta do dishes."

"Next time, don't bother summoning pots. Kakashi can just make those bowls he made for the dinner and you can use those."

"Thanks, Genma. I'll do that. I had no idea Kakashi-san could do that, so I packed them just in case."

"And you forgot bowls?"

"Hey...it all worked out, right? If I hadn't forgotten bowls we'd never have known about that clay technique thing." Lina called back over her shoulder.

"Lina-san, why don't you just reverse summon the pots and summon them again when you get home? It's not like they'll get mouldy or anything right? They'll be suspended in animation until you do summon them." Raidou had a point, but Lina shook her head. "I'd prefer to do them now. Who knows what'll happen between now and the time we get home? I could forget, something could happen in the village that could call my attention, it's just a lot less hassle to do them now." And with that she was off.

When she came back, she found her teammates had made camp for themselves, each in their own sleeping bag or tent in 1 of 4 directions. Deciding she might as well take the last direction, she dragged her pack over the site and unpacked. Unfurling her sleeping bag and pillow, she took out her Icha Icha and lay down on her stomach to read.

"Icha Icha? Really?" Genma's voice sounded out in the silence. She turned her head and said, "What? What's wrong with Icha Icha?"

"Well, isn't it a little…vulgar?"

"Kakashi-san reads it." Lina pointed her book towards Kakashi, who also had an orange book in his hands. He looked up and quirked his eyebrow.

"Yeah, but he's the resident pervert of Konoha. Unless you're going to start vying for the title."

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with a person, male or female, reading a little romance novel that happens to contain a little smut."

"You call that a little?! A quarter of the book is filled with pictures of naked people, half of the book is filled with smut, which leaves only a quarter of the book to actual plot." Genma found himself knocked hard on the head by Lina's book. "OW!"

"OI! NO MOCKING ICHA ICHA! Jiraiya-sama is brilliant, show your respect!" Hearing Kakashi's giggles, Lina turned towards him. "A little help here?"

He shook his head, now laughing. "Nope, you seem to be doing fine all by yourself." Lina fumed for a moment before turning her back on Genma, going back to her reading. "I'll take first watch with Raidou-san. Genma-san, you and Kakashi-san take the second half of the night. We'll set out tomorrow at sunrise."

"No, I'll take first watch with you, Lina-san. I don't feel tired right now. Besides, Raidou and Genma make a good team."

"But both you and I are tracking types. If both of us take the first shift, won't it leave the other shift more openings for enemies? Not that, you know, you guys are bad at picking up on enemies, it's just that our noses would come in handy. Besides, it may be true that Genma-san and Raidou-san are a good team, but if we're all going to be in the same team, we need to know how to work together. So, since I already have a vague sense of how you work, that leaves Genma-san and Raidou-san." Lina tried to explain her logic.

"She's right. What, Kakashi, you don't wanna stay with me or something?" Genma joked.

"But-" Kakashi tried to protest. He wanted to stay and talk with her. He remembered his first 'real' mission, when he was a leader. Of course, he had been 12, being a genius, but he knew the feeling of anxiety well.

In the last few months he'd grown to care for the girl. Not in the 'I'm in love with her' sense, but in the 'I want to take care of her and make sure she's ok', friendship sense. Despite his initial intense feelings towards her, he'd slowly gotten over them as he got to know her. Sure, every now and again he would have the odd dream about her, but whenever they met up he didn't seem to have the urge to hold her as close to him as possible, wanting to kiss her senseless. His dreams were as vivid as always, thanks to Jiraiya's novels, but he had never been one to fall slave to his body. She had become a friend to him, and since he didn't have many, especially after losing Asuma to Akatsuki, he wanted to make sure she was ok with the mission, regardless of what his body was signalling him to do. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her before they left since he'd been late (he cringed inwardly, remembering why he'd been late), so he couldn't tell how she was feeling.

*Flashback*

"Come In."

"Tsunade-sama."

"Kakashi. Shouldn't you be packing?"

"I did already. I was wondering if I could have a chat with you."

"Oh? This is rare. What about?"

"The mission, the one you assigned Lina-san." Tsunade held up a hand to silence him. Motioning him to follow her lead, she said, "There's nothing to discuss. I made a choice, and you are not to argue with it as I am the Hokage. Understood?" Being a master of seeing underneath the underneath, he nodded and spoke in a normal voice. "But Hokage-sama-"

"No, Kakashi. Now get out of here, I have a lot of work to do. And you don't want to be late."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." He walked out of the room and waiting. Several minutes passed before she walked out too, and they walked out of the office together, silently. A good distance away, Tsunade spoke up.

"Let me guess, you want to know why I assigned a potentially S-ranked mission to a new chuunin, telling her it was a B-to-A ranked one. And, you're probably also wondering what the heck was going on just now." Kakashi remained silent, and Tsunade took that as an affirmation. She led him away from the centre of the village, making sure to look like she was simply on a walk with one of her subordinates. No one would dare question the intentions of the Hokage, but she knew several people were keeping close tabs on her. After entering the forest surrounding Konoha, Tsunade stopped and turned towards Kakashi.

"I'm being watched. I can guess who, and I'm sure you can as well. For obvious reasons, I'm not going to be stating the person's name. As for this mission, you of all people should know that things are not always what they appear. Make sure Lina reads the scroll before you get too far out of Fire Country. Understood?"

Kakashi nodded. No, he didn't understand fully what was going on, but he knew that Danzou was obviously the one watching and spying on Tsunade, which meant that ANBU ROOT was probably going to tail the group and/or meet them in Water Country. As for the scroll, he could only assume that the scroll had further instructions as to what was REALLY going on.

Tsunade nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. 'Kage Bunshin, huh?' Kakashi thought before making his way home. He got his stuff and was just on his way out when Lina's clone appeared and dragged him to the meeting place.

*End Flashback*

He couldn't understand what Tsunade was thinking, sending a chuunin on an A-ranked mission? She'd said it was a B-to-A rank, which meant the likelihood of anything actually happening to danger Lina was moderate, especially since she'd put Raidou, Genma, and himself on the mission, but Lina was a chuunin! And she had no experience with this kind of mission (to his knowledge). Sure, she wasn't a virgin, but having random sex with people you chose was a completely different situation from doing it or putting on a show for the sake of a mission. He had seen many of his fellow jonin (mostly kunoichi, but some shinobi when men were necessary for the job) fall under the pressure, needing to take time off to recuperate psychologically. She had said that things were not what they appeared, so maybe the mission was a false pretense? And what on earth was going on with Root? He hadn't sensed them the entire trip, but there was no reason to suggest that they WEREN'T being followed, if the conversation with Tsunade was any indication.

"-But nothing. You go to sleep." Lina interrupted Kakashi's thoughts and shot him a determined look. Sighing, he went into his sleeping back and closed his eye. He'd talk to her later. Tsunade had said to make sure the scroll was read before they got out of Fire country. They could read it tomorrow. Lina looked over at Genma's stuff and saw him already in his tent. She went up to Raidou and sat down, giving him a smile.

"Hi. Mind if I sit?" Raidou shook his head, watching the fire. She nodded and made herself comfortable, pulling out her book. Her fingers brushed past a scroll and she looked down at which one it was. She immediately noticed it was the one that the Hokage had given her. Being slightly neurotic, Lina decided she might as well open the scroll now. Undoing the seal, she unfurled the scroll, staring at its contents. Tsunade had told her the scroll contained the coordinates of the mission, but that was a lie. Why, Lina had no idea. Inside contained mission details as follows:

Team Lina. You have been dispatched to Water Country on the pretense that you will be completing a B-to-A rank mission regarding Akatsuki. This is a false pretense. Your real mission is as follows: You are to go to Water country and solicit information regarding Yakushi Kabuto. There have been rumors that one of Orochimaru's bases is still intact in Water Country and Team Lina will investigate. As well as gaining information on Kabuto, Team Lina will follow through on inquiries that may lead to information regarding Akatsuki and Konoha. However, that is secondary to the primary mission. The actual coordinates for which you will begin your search are listed below. For your disguises, you will not be pretending to be part of the sex slave business as mentioned previously, but instead a travelling civilian family. How you maintain this cover is your choice. This mission is being classified as B-to-A ranked, but the secrecy of this mission is S ranked. Fail and there will be consequences.

Lina looked briefly at the coordinates, stunned at what she'd read. What the heck was going on? She was so shocked that she nearly missed the tiny folded up slip of paper that was attached to the scroll. Unfolding it, Lina read this:

Lina: I realize that this mission has probably left you with many questions. Unfortunately, I cannot give the answers to you, not yet. I have given Kakashi some clues as to what is going on, so you can ask him. He doesn't know much, so don't expect to get an epiphany or anything. This mission is of utmost importance to this village. You are now a reinstated chuunin, and I have seen that your capable of becoming a Jonin soon. Therefore, I am granting you this one chance to prove yourself. Good luck.

"Is everything ok?" Lina's neck snapped back as she heard Raidou's voice beside her. She'd completely forgotten he was there. Smiling weakly, she nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. But, we need to talk. All of us." She got up and made to wake up the other two people on her team.

"Genma-san, wake up. We need to talk." He groaned, making noises inside his tent. "Talk tomorrow. I'm tired." "Genma-san, it's about the mission." "What ABOUT the mission?! I'm TIRED." "Genma-san, up. Now." She used her best authoritative voice, and in a few moments, she heard enough rustling and grumbling to tell her that he was indeed doing as she asked. She turned towards Kakashi's sleeping bag.

"Kakashi-san. Get up. We need to talk." She laid a hand on his shoulder and gently pressed. Kakashi opened his eye, slightly glazed for a moment before clearing. He nodded and made to get up. Lina walked back to the fire, motioning the rest of the group to sit around her. Unsure of what to do, she passed the mission instructions to Genma, her second-in-command, and gave a brief summary to the other two. Immediately, everyone was wide awake. She could practically feel the tenseness in the air. As the scroll was being passed around, Lina waited for someone to say something. After the last person (Kakashi) had finished reading and given her the scroll back, they all sat around in silence, taking in the new information.

Clearing her throat, Lina took out the piece of paper that Tsunade had left on the scroll (who else would it be?) and read aloud what it said. When she was done, everyone was looking at Kakashi, who was staring at the fire.

"Kakashi-san? What did Tsunade-sama say to you?" Kakashi looked back at Lina and told her about the conversation he'd had with the Hokage prior to her clone finding him. The silence, if possible, got even more quiet.

"So, let me get this straight. We're NOT on a mission to get info about Akatsuki, we're on a mission to get info on Kabuto, that freak who went off with Orochimaru. And, the Hokage's being spied on, which mean we're probably being tailed and the person controlling the spies probably sent a couple of people ahead of us to meet us there. AND! This is a secret mission, with a chuunin as the leader?!" Genma said in disbelief.

"Sounds about right." Kakashi spoke up quietly when Lina remained silent. Genma had every right to be furious. He, Raidou, and Kakashi were elite, the best of the best. And they were being led on a mission by a chuunin, not even a low ranked JONIN! But Kakashi also understood that the Hokage's hands were tied. Asuma was gone, jonin were being assigned missions left and right, it was a wonder that the 3 top shinobi of Konoha were even in the village with the amount of trouble Akatsuki was causing. And Lina was no ordinary chuunin. She had proven her strength in beating him. It was now just her loyalty that still held some question, which was why there were 3 jonin stuck with her. If she could prove herself on this mission, she could earn her place back on the missions roster for higher missions that suited her level of capability.

"Well...fuck." Lina raised her head and said with a half smile, "Sorry. You're not my type." Raidou smiled and Kakashi chuckled while Genma rolled his eyes.

"Listen. This is your first mission. I know you're team leader, but I'm betting you've never been on a mission like this. Why don't you let me take over?" Lina looked at him, eyebrows furrowing.

"Just who do you think I am? Do you think the Hokage would allow someone under-qualified to go on this type of mission? Not to mention I have the 3 of you watching my back. I trust you to watch out for me, can't you trust me to lead you if the Hokage herself has assigned me as leader? I may be a chuunin, but I've travelled more in the world than any of you, and I don't mean in just missions! I've seen the world, really seen it, from a normal person's perspective, someone who doesn't have orders to kill. I have been in the part of Water Country that the Hokage has listed as our destination. I am familiar with the area and I know what would be a good approach for such a place. You may be a higher rank than me, but I have more experience than any of you. So don't you DARE go pulling rank on me, not when I know I can do a damn good job if you'll just shut up and let me!" While she'd begun softly, Lina's voiced had now raised and by the end of her speech she was shouting at the person sitting beside her. It was a mystery that birds and animals weren't running away screeching, thought Kakashi, amused.

After a few moments of silence, in which Lina couldn't look at anyone's face as her own was burning bright red with a hot blush, Genma let out a 'hmph'. Sneaking a peek at him, Lina saw him run his fingers through his hair. "Well, it's not as if we can back out now, now can we? So what's the plan, captain?" Lina's eyes widened at the title, ignoring that it had been said sarcastically, and she smiled. He had accepted her. Sure, he was still an ass, but as long as he was willing to accept her leadership, and give her feedback, she was ok with that. And so she got to thinking.

"Well, I suppose the first thing we should do is go over our disguises. Since we're supposedly going to be a family, I suppose I'll have to choose one of you as a husband. Hmm…" Looking around, she suddenly got nervous at who to choose. A big part of her wanted to choose Kakashi, just because she was the most comfortable with him, but choosing him might make him think she liked him, which could get sticky. But he was still the best choice. How was she supposed to act like she was married to someone she wasn't even a friend to? But then again, Genma was her Second-in-Command. It was actually probably a better idea for him to be her 'husband', considering they'd be able to be alone together and make up plans, whereas if she were with Kakashi it would be more difficult to relay the plans to Genma. With this decision, Lina turned to Genma.

"Genma-san. You will be my 'husband', leaving Kakashi-san and Raidou-san to be our kids. Ok?" Genma nodded. It made sense, strategically. Lina nodded. "Good. Then, you and I are gonna have to work on our story, cuz I'm a very bad liar." At this everyone turned to face the girl. "You were travelling around the world, henge'd into different people, and you're a bad liar?" Genma said incredulously.

Lina massaged her neck sheepishly, "Ahh, well, that's different. This is a mission, and an important one at that, which means I can't exactly just make things up on the spot without consulting you guys, right? So it's a little more complicated."

Genma rolled his eyes and turned back towards the fire. "Fine." Honestly, this is why he hated working with anyone other than jonin. Completely incapable of lying at the drop of a hat. That, and their abilities were nothing to speak of, but in Lina's case, since he'd heard she'd beat Kakashi, Genma guessed he could be lenient on the latter point.

"So, we're a civilian family on vacation to Water Country. I suppose we can think of more details when we get closer, right now we should get some sleep." Kakashi stood up and stretched before walking to his sleeping bag. Genma did the same towards his tent, leaving Raidou and Lina to watch the perimeter. The rest of the night passed uneventfully, the pairs switching after several hours to allow Lina and Raidou to sleep.

While on watch, Kakashi thought he'd felt something several metres away from the perimeter, but when he'd gone to check it out, nothing was there. No trace of chakra, no footprints, no physical sign of disturbance. He went back to camp.

As soon as he left, a shadow stepped out of the trees, revealing a porcelain masked shinobi wearing standard ANBU Root uniform. He'd been careless, allowing Hatake Kakashi a chance at finding him. He had orders not to engage, directly from Danzou-sama. If he failed, Danzou-sama's plan, whatever it might be, would fail. He had to be more careful.

He hadn't been able to hear anything aside from the girl's outburst at Genma. From what he could piece together, seeing the scroll she'd pulled out and the serious expressions the group had made, something was up. But he couldn't just send word to Danzou-sama saying that he thought something was wrong. He needed proof. And for that, he needed time. Slinking back into he shadows, he motioned his partner that he was going to rest, signalling at the same time that they keep watch of the group. The partner signalled back, showing their understanding. And so, they waited till morning.

-end

Author's note: sooooo….what'dya think? Bet you didn't see that one coming, eh? :P I wanted to give you a bit of a shock last chapter. It was highly unlikely that a chuunin would ever be assigned such a mission anyway, but I had to expand more on Danzou's plan, so I made that into a bit of a plot twist. So, now you know a little of Danzou's plan. Will the Root shinobi find out what's going on before the team gets to Water country?

And yes, I know, no lemon or anything this time. For all of you waiting for it, sorry, not gonna happen, not yet. I gave you that random one with Kaede a couple of chapters ago, and then that whole dream sequence in the last chapter. That'll have to sustain you for a while. But never fear! There might not be one next chapter either, not sure how far I'm gonna let the story progress before I cut it off. But there will be fluff coming up soon (meaning, if I make it long enough it'll be in the next chapter, but if I cut the chapter down then it'll be in the following one). And I have the build up to the lemon/lime (haven't decided yet) all ready and set to go. As always, please review, comment, tell me it's horrible, tell me it's wonderful, tell me you have nothing to say, I don't care, just please comment! Lots of love,

-Chibi hina-chan