Masked Koi: Chapter 14. "Stain"

Minato had come to the conclusion that his son wasn't acting right. Naruto used to be a perfect son, never pestering him with thousands of questions, and inquisitive and very polite and quiet. Minato sipped his tea, his oldest son already gone.

"Tou-chan, pick me up!" his daughter, Saki lifted up her arms, as if to demonstrate. Yori did the same to her son. With his daughter bounced on his knee every so often, she fell asleep, allowing Minato to return to his morning newspaper and coffee with his wife.

Minato wanted to ask what was bothering his son, and it didn't take a genius to see that whatever was bugging him was serious and needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Minato looked up as Mikiko walked in with her pretty kimono and Kayo in tow. Mikiko gave Yori a scathing look and the new wife smiled tightly at her in-law. Kayo grabbed her lunch and left for the Academy, leaving the adults alone with toddlers.

Mikiko scowled even deeper at the woman. "You're just like that disgusting ANBU Minato had, the one who acted like she was better than me and took all my things! You think you're better than me, don't you, Yori-san?"

Minato didn't step in. He knew he'd just get hurt. Yori ignored her and took a sip of her tea. She had a faint smile on her lips. This only got Mikiko angrier.

"Hey, ANBU! Get out here and protect me! I'm the Hokage's direct relative!" Mikiko yelled out.

Minato sighed. Koi…she was such a strange child. I just don't understand how she died, though. From what Shisui and Kakashi said, Seiseki killed her. Seiseki was always described as weaker than her, and she still…I need to look into this. Minato looked up at his sister. "Mikiko, she's dead. She died on a mission."

"Really?" Mikiko asked, her voice a little too light and airy and gleeful.

Minato winced. "Yes."

"How did she die?" Mikiko took a seat next to her brother and listened with open ears and wide eyes and propped her chin up with her hands and her elbows on the table.

"Well…she was murdered. The killer had escaped capture," Minato said. "Why are you so interested? Did you and my ANBU become friends or something? Or are you concerned?"

"F-friends. Yeah," Mikiko said. "Yeah," she said again. "Friends."

Minato went back to his thoughts. Minato wasn't quite sure where his son was at the moment, but he knew he wasn't on any missions outside of the village. Otherwise, Minato would be issuing a mission to his son's team. Minato frowned. He'd arranged the teams' last minute, almost forgetting. He hadn't really thought about balance as much as picking three names underneath a registered Jounin sensei. It had been around 1am when he'd done it and he couldn't even remember going to bed after that.

Minato let it go. He could talk to Naruto some other time. Who knows, maybe Naruto was skittish because he had a girlfriend. Minato dared to admit his son was handsome.

"Well, you're just full of surprises," Kakashi said, putting his book away as he stared at his sensei's son.

Naruto didn't respond; he simply launched himself at Kakashi. His legs were pumped with extra chakra and his limbs almost overflowed with it. He caught Kakashi by surprise; the Jounin wasn't expecting the boy's speed. Naruto's fingers wrapped around a bell, only for it to slip from his fingers.

Kakashi had increased his speed to Jounin level, just to prevent Naruto from getting the bell. He narrowed his single eye at the boy who didn't seem to even break a sweat. If I didn't know better, I'd say that Nee-san had trained him. Maybe that's why he was at the funeral. But he seems to be holding back. Maybe it's because he doesn't want to go on any missions; the official statement of how she died was that she died because of an accident on a mission. It's understandable.

Suddenly, Naruto created multiple copies of himself and some wielded a few fingers of fire. Kakashi's eye widened even more when the other half of the clones blew out wind. A very hot fiery wind was rushing at Kakashi and he dove into the ground. From the bushes, Haru and Ino watched the Hokage's son, the famous Namikaze Naruto, wield both flames and wind. It was mesmerizing.

Then, Naruto dropped to one knee and panted a little. His clones all disappeared and he looked around for his sensei. Then, Haru realized it.

"Under!" Haru screamed.

Naruto's eyes widened and he jumped into a tree right as Kakashi jumped up from the ground. Naruto tried to catch his breath, jumping from tree as he threw exploding kunai and smoke bombs to get out of the area as quickly as he could. When he finally caught his breath, he saw Kakashi force Haru into a taijutsu bout. Ino was unconscious. Naruto crept close to her and poked her. She didn't move. Genjutsu, then. He looked up as Haru cried out and fell to her knees.

"You're weak," Kakashi said. She was cast aside and Kakashi quickly found the red-haired boy.

Naruto was taken by surprise, seeing how Kakashi disappeared so quickly and without a puff of smoke or anything. He flew out of the tree and just barely stuck the landing to the ground. Kakashi quickly engaged the boy in a taijutsu bout, using high Chuunin speeds on the boy. Naruto gasped at the speed and quickly became overwhelmed. He began to feel the blows on his arms and legs and then a sudden punch to his stomach caused him to fly into a tree and he couldn't get up; he was in too much pain.

Lamely, Naruto watched as Kakashi dusted his hands off and shook his head dramatically.

"You three are a mess," Kakashi sighed. "I wonder what she would've done in my place…"

Naruto looked up. Someone was calling. "Naruto-kun! Where are you!?"

Naruto groaned. Ino. She would ruin the element of surprise. Naruto felt better and able to move and was about to when she ruined it. He was about to ambush Kakashi again. He wouldn't expect it since it was in the open and Naruto was called a 'genius' or something.

Ino came to a skidding halt when she saw Naruto and Haru not fighting Kakashi. Ino put her hands on her hips.

"I'll show you how it's done," Ino smirked. "How to beat a Jounin, that is!"

Kakashi shook his head. "You three are by far the worst Genin team I've ever seen. Honestly…" Kakashi eye-smiled. Naruto felt chills go up his spine. He knew of the man and as a child talked to him sometimes but in reality, he didn't know anything about the man. Naruto looked at him with genuine admiration, or something close. Naruto still wasn't very fond of the man. To some extent, he hated Kakashi. Naruto bit his lip to keep from saying anything that might anger him further. Nishiki-sensei had been there and Kakashi was restrained so much so that he couldn't do anything. I know it's stupid to hate Kakashi for something like that, but I can't help it. But who am I to talk anyway…I wasn't able to do anything but watch.

Kakashi kept going on about how they sucked. Naruto tuned him out. Nishiki-sensei was strong and so is Kakashi. So this is a Hatake…so this is what I'm up against. This is the kind of strength I've got to beat. Kakashi's a legend. I've got a long road ahead of me. But first…I've got to deal with the problem at hand. Shisui said to look underneath the underneath. I ate breakfast this morning and I gave Ino and Haru some energy bars, standard issue. Kakashi did say it was a mission so it makes sense for us to eat. Today has been taxing. My legs still kinda hurt. But it's strange…this bell test. What's the point in forming a three-man cell if they just split us up like this? And, why did Kakashi tell us not to eat breakfast if he knew we were going to fight with the intent to kill—our hardest? I'm missing something key here…

"I'll give you three pathetic excuses of Genin one last chance. Haru, Ino, don't feed Naruto or you'll all go back to the Academy," Kakashi said and disappeared.

Naruto looked at the two girls carefully. Haru looked like she wanted to stuff rice in his face and Ino looked very, very guilty. Naruto looked out to where he supposed Kakashi was, in the trees. I don't get it. In the Academy, we were taught that three-man cells need teamwork. This is test is the opposite. What is Kakashi getting at? And what did Shisui mean anyway? Look underneath the underneath…that phrase comes up everywhere. Think, Naruto, think. Objective: get a bell. Consequence: Kakashi easily overpowers us. Look underneath this. Look underneath the objective. What is the true purpose? A moral? What's the purpose in pitting us against one another when we know that one of us isn't going to get a bell and yet placing us in teams? It's like they're setting us up for failure and then tell us that if we fail, we'll go back to the Academy. They're testing us, seeing if we'll pass this impossible test without telling us what to really do. Because…because we're ninjas and under the same jurisdiction as Chuunin and Jounin and we should be able to handle a mission and complete it with success. To pass this test, we have to…we can't get a bell. Trying to get one landed us here and it feels just as bleak as it did earlier. The bells…we can't get them. The bells aren't something we should get. They aren't because that's not our objective. If the bells weren't the point, then what is? They falsely pitted us against each other, lying to us that to pass we'd need a bell.

Naruto's stomach growled a little. His breakfast had been too light; a slice of bread. Haru groaned and shoved rice into his mouth. "There. Is it better than my cooking, Naruto-kun?" Ino growled and shoved rice into Naruto's mouth as well. He tried not to choke.

"HEY! YOU WANT TO DIE?!" Kakashi roared. Naruto wanted to back up, cringing out of fear. He swore the skies darkened and his whole train of thought was broken and he's going to kill us!

"YOU…" Kakashi allowed a bit of killer intent to spill into the air and seep into their lungs. Naruto couldn't breathe. S-so this is my Jounin sensei…and he's holding back still! "Pass."

"W-what?" Ino gasped. "Pass?"

"Teamwork. That was the point. Naruto, I could tell you were about to figure it out. You make the same face as someone I knew. You can explain," Kakashi said. Naruto made an 'oh I get it' face and frowned in thought before starting.

"Well, what's the point in making teams of three when you just pit us against each other to get bells, or we go back to the Academy? It forces us to think for just ourselves. When we do…well…" Naruto paused. "When we do, we attack Kakashi head on because it's simple logic you don't work with your competitors, in this case, each other. They wanted us to look underneath the underneath, the objective of the mission. In a mission, any mission, you need teamwork to be successful. After all, three against one has greater odds no matter the strength versus one on one, like here, where we're going up against a seasoned Jounin. You know how he kicked our asses today," Naruto said, a little bitter.

"Yes, yes, good job. Now, let's get lunch. I don't think that small lunch is enough after being beaten by a seasoned Jounin," Kakashi grinned under his mask. Naruto was untied and glared at him. He'd been beaten and hated it. But Naruto couldn't totally hate the man; he was paying for lunch.

"How…" Ino gaped. Suddenly, Naruto didn't seem as appealing as he did. He was still more amazing than anything she could think of, but just a tad bit less so. She looked at her bowl. She'd ordered a half size, something that looked enough for an ant in comparison to his mountain of stacked finished bowls.

There were about eight or nine bowls, almost a foot in diameter. Haru just barely finished hers and Kakashi vacuumed his, but made no attempt to order seconds. The owner just smiled.

"Where do you put everything?" Haru asked, her black eyes wide with shock. Naruto didn't look fat in the slightest.

Naruto shrugged as he drank the soup from the tenth bowl and patted his stomach contentedly. "I've never eaten this much before, but I guess I just craved it. It's certainly better than anything you could ever make."

Haru rolled her eyes. "It's a restaurant. They have to be good, or they're not going to make money and will go out of business," Haru turned to the owner. "How long have you been in business?"

"Forty years, I think," the man said. Then he deflated a little. I'm so old…

"He has experience, stupid. Of course it's better," Haru said. Naruto ignored her as he finished his cup of complimentary tea.

"Naruto-kun, could I take your photo? You're the third person to eat this much. Also, please sign your name on this," the man handed Naruto a pen and slip of paper. Naruto paused, looking at the paper. He frowned and wrote うずまきナルト(Uzumaki Naruto). Kakashi looked at him with subdued shock and Ino and Haru were confused. Why didn't he just use his father's name? It was his name. Kakashi narrowed his eye. Naruto handed it back to the owner, who didn't say anything but ask Naruto to stand and smile. There was a burst of light from the camera and then the photo was spat out. After a few minutes, the photo developed and it was pinned on a board on the side of the restaurant.

Haru looked over at it. "Uzumaki Kushina: 21 bowls; Hatake Koi: 20 bowls; Naruto: 10 bowls. Ne, Naruto, Kushina's your mom, right?" Naruto nodded a little stiffly. Haru tilted her head as the owner went into the back, muttering how he didn't have any more bill slips and had to get more. Team 7 was alone, for the moment. Haru glanced back at her sensei. "Who is Hatake Koi? She looks like a younger version of you, Kakashi-sensei. A prettier and nicer version," she smirked.

Kakashi looked at her, his eye and face carefully blank. Naruto drank Haru's tea, seeing that she wasn't drinking it. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"My sister," Kakashi said. "We have a mission tomorrow, by the way. Meet me in the Mission Assignment Room at 7am," Kakashi said. He put more than enough money down on the counter and left his three cute little Genin with an eye-smile.

"Sister? Naruto-kun, I don't remember reading about any Hatake sister. In the Academy, they just talked about two children, sensei and his brother and their father. Do you think it's some kind of illegitimate child thing or maybe she was adopted?" Ino looked at Naruto. Naruto's eyes glared at her with pure anger and barely suppressed bloodlust in his eyes. Ino couldn't explain it, but she felt terrified. Of her own teammate.

"Ino," Haru hissed. Naruto reached over the counter and poured himself even more tea. He grabbed some sugar and a spoon and dumped a few tablespoons into the tiny cup. He visibly winced as he drank the sugar. It was painful, all that sugar. Maybe his ears would ring and then he wouldn't hear Ino being unbelievably useless and stupid.

"Let's talk later, okay?" Haru asked. Ino nodded slowly, not sure of what she was talking about. Naruto finished the teapot of tea and left just as the owner came back with the bill he'd written up. He looked at the counter and shrugged. It was enough.

"Thank you, come again!" the man said as the two girls walked away.

At a park as the sun was setting, the two girls sat side by side.

"Well?" Ino looked at Haru expectantly. "What's so important that you're taking up my shampooing time?"

"Don't talk about that woman in front of Naruto. Once, when I went to his house to teach him how to cook in exchange for taijutsu lessons, I saw a photo of him and the woman. Naruto looked so young, maybe about four or five. And so happy. The woman was smiling too and I bet if Kakashi didn't have that mask, they'd look exactly the same. I don't know who she is, but Naruto seems to care for her a lot. I get the feeling that something bad happened, judging from Kakashi-sensei's and Naruto's reactions," Haru said. "Besides, Kakashi-sensei wants us to have teamwork and work together and mission success and all that. If Naruto gets all mopey like that, he's not going to work with us."

Ino frowned. "Oh. Still…"

"Still what?"

"What do you think happened to her? Naruto-kun doesn't seem happy now. I mean, he always seems so angry, you know. And so critical. Cynical, I guess," Ino sighed with a small smile. She always liked talking about Naruto.

"I don't know. Maybe she left on a mission and never came back," Haru said.

"I…I want to help Naruto-kun. If he's grieving, I want to help him get over it. Tou-chan says that to get over grief, it's best to talk it out. To talk it out, we can't just say 'get over her'," Ino said.

"So you want to know about her? Ino, don't be stupid. I tried to ask, but he just got angry at me. I still think it's best to leave him alone. I don't want to get involved in his personal life. Kami knows it's got to be hell. You know, his father remarried and had kids. I can't imagine what that's like for him," Haru shook her head.

"But I heard Hokage-sama's new wife is nice," Ino said. "My mom met her, too."

"I hope so," Haru stood up and brushed off her pants. "Well, Ino, it's been nice talking to you. I'm not going to get involved in whatever you're planning, but I wish you the best of luck."

"Yeah. Thanks," Ino said, blinking. Haru…she's nice. Everyone said she was a bitch in the Academy but she's a normal person. And she's strong and smart, more than I am. And she's not even mad that I made sure no one was her friend.

With Haru gone, Ino set out to the library.

"Welcome," an old man at the desk said. He smiled with his too wrinkly face and Ino got the feeling that he wasn't as old as he looked. He had one of those faces. Ino suddenly felt incredibly shy and her words came out in fragments, not making much sense. The man kept smiling, as if that's what 300 ryo per hour paid him for, instead of checking out books.

"H-hello. I'm Yaman-naka Ino. I'm looking f-for a pers-sonal file," Ino said.

"Don't be so jumpy. I'm old. I'm not going to bite or hurt you. I don't have anything else in life but this job, and myself so I'll try my hardest to help you find what you're looking for. Whose file?" the man kept smiling. Ino suddenly felt sorry for him.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Uh, the file is on a woman named Hatake Koi," Ino said.

The man didn't smile. He narrowed his black eyes at her dangerously and Ino suddenly couldn't breathe. Killer intent swept through the room and it was so thick that no one heard the scream in her throat die.

"I can't help you," the man said. His smile faded and his cold black eyes bore into hers.

"Why…?" Ino asked, trying to breathe.

"Because I won't," the man said. "Go home, girl."

Ino found herself sitting on the library steps, trying to wonder what she did wrong. She just asked a valid question…"I knew I couldn't have trusted that old man. He was creepy. He probably had some weird fetish."

"Hey, aren't you Kakashi's student? That was pretty great, yesterday, right?" the man grinned as he sat next to Ino.

"Shisui-sensei…right?" Ino asked. He nodded and gave her a funny look before responding. "What's got you so down? Your team desert you? I remember when that happened to me. Not fun. Took he three hours to track them down, just to find that they were enjoying some sweets and made me pay. But that's why I'm a Jounin now."

"That librarian is terrifying. Who is he?" Ino asked. "I'm going to report him."

"That'll get you nowhere. He's a veteran of the Second and Third War. He's been through a lot, even recently. But around anyone who walks in, he's pretty laid back and helps and files things. Old people like to do that sort of thing, I guess. Do you like helping old people? They're pretty interesting, if you enunciate enough," Shisui said.

"That's no excuse. I asked a valid question and he won't answer because he can't and won't help me," Ino complained. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I heard. I know," Shisui said. He took out a book and flipped a few pages. "Look."

"This is a Bingo Book…" Ino muttered. She looked to where he placed his finger and saw a photo of the woman. There was black ink crossing out her photo. Ino gasped a little. "Dead? That's…"

"I don't know why you want to know, or how you found out about her, but please, for your sake, and your team's sake and lives, don't search anymore. She has particularly bad karma and I don't want Genin dying for silly reasons. If you keep trying to pry into this, you'll only get hurt and jeopardize your comrade's lives. Can you bear the weight of knowing that you could've done something while you look at your friend's grave?" Shisui asked, his voice dead serious all of a sudden. "There's a reason no one is supposed to talk about her. But I'll tell you this: very, very dangerous people wanted her dead. And they succeeded. Keep in mind she was S-Rank."

"Shisui-sensei, Naruto-kun is hurting and to increase the efficacy of teamwork, he needs to get over his grief. I'm worried it'll eat him up inside," Ino said.

"If you passed Kakashi's test, a mission, then you used teamwork. If you're able to use teamwork now, then there's no reason for you to interfere with him. Naruto can take care of himself. He's strong and smart. Stop worrying. The more you keep worrying, the more bad things will happen. You don't want him to die, do you?" Shisui smirked.

"Of course not!" Ino scowled. Then she sighed. "You're right. I'll try not to worry so much."
"Good. Promise me you won't look any more into her life," Shisui said, holding out his hand.

Ino tentatively met his and shook. "Thank you, Shisui-sensei, for the advice. But—"

"Promise," Shisui reminded. "Don't tell anyone what I said, either. The consequences would be just as bad."

"Yeah…" Ino said. There was a twinge of uncertainty in her voice.

"Well, have a good night, Ino. Good luck on your mission tomorrow," Shisui said and teleported away. Ino picked herself up and walked home.

For some reason, she still wasn't convinced. As she lay in her bed that night, she decided she couldn't live with herself if she didn't help Naruto. If Naruto was in pain and she sat by doing nothing…Ino couldn't stand herself. But I promised Shisui-senei…I can't. But Naruto-kun will be hurting. I have to help, but I can't. Argh, what should I do?! I certainly can't just lie here forever. I have to ask someone else, someone who's sure to know and hopefully won't turn me down.

As Minato was getting ready for bed, as he was brushing his teeth, he was listening for the door. For Naruto to come home. He didn't hear it. When midnight came and Minato was drifting off to sleep (and he was a heavy sleeper), he still didn't hear the door. Naruto was still out.

After a long day of simply pulling weeds, which Naruto made very short work of with his clones, and walking dogs, Kakashi dismissed them. Haru went home and Ino went to act upon what she'd decided to do. She couldn't let Shisui know she was breaking her promise. She was confident that she could do it behind Shisui's back. Even though he was a Jounin. Even though he was an Uchiha. Even though he was a former ANBU. Even though he was S-Rank.

She went to Shikamaru's house and found his father there, along with her father and Chouji's father.

"What's wrong?" Inoichi looked at his daughter, worry clear in his eyes.

"Well, I want to know about a Jounin. A deceased one. The library doesn't have anything on her," Ino said. "I thought that Shikaku-san or Chouza-san or you could help me."

"Who?" Chouza asked.

"Hatake Koi," Ino said. The three Jounin's faces fell and there was a heaviness of animosity and uncomfortable feeling in the air. Ino was only more confused. If Naruto was happy with her in the photo Haru mentioned, why would they act like this? She must've been a nice person if she managed to make Naruto smile…

"Why and how did you come across this?" Shikaku asked, his eyes narrowed. Ino felt like she was a bug underneath a microscope. The two fathers looked at her, her father clearly distressed and keen on knowing as well.

"At Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto-kun got 3rd place in the most amount of bowls eaten. I knew who the first was: his mother. But the second person I didn't know. In the Academy, they never said anything about any female in the Hatake family. I tried to ask Kakashi-sensei, seeing that they had the same name, but he just that we had a mission and then left. Naruto-kun suddenly got so cold and angry and I got the feeling that he knew her. I tried to ask him but he suddenly got so terrifying…it was by far the most terrifying thing I've ever seen or felt," Ino explained. "I came across this because she seems to be the source of Naruto-kun's pain and to increase the efficacy of teamwork and make him better, I wanted to know more about her and have him talk it out with me."

The adults looked at one another with dread and discontent in their expressions. Shikaku muttered a 'troublesome' while Inoichi tried to find the right words to dissuade his daughter from this topic.

"Ino, honey," Inoichi rubbed his face with his hands and looked at his daughter. "Go home and to bed, please. We'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?"

Ino made a face but complied with a grumble, leaving the Jounin to talk. Inoichi looked at his hands and wrung them. Shikaku looked at his friend critically and leaned his head on his hand.

"Inoichi," Shikaku said. His voice was gravely, it always was, but it had a hint of consolation.

"That monster…even in death she manages to come back and haunt me in my daughter," Inoichi gritted his teeth. "Damn Sakumo. Why couldn't he have reigned in his daughter more?"

"Inoichi," Shikaku said again. His voice was cold and sharp. "She was a good shinobi."

"Shikaku, you saw it! She is a human manifestation of bloodlust itself! Do you not remember? And her brother, he betrayed this village for Kumo. Thank Kami they decided to expel him from their ranks. How could you even think that monster is even human?"

"Inoichi, shut up for a moment," Shikaku said. Inoichi looked at him, barely holding back. "What do you think of Kakashi?"

"He's one of the best Jounin I've ever come to know. He's nothing like her. I'm grateful that he's Ino's sensei," Inoichi said, his voice full of pride.

"Do you know how she died?" Shikaku asked. "You remember the reports, don't you?"

"What?" Inoichi asked. "What're you talking about?"

"She saved Kakashi from being crushed under the pile of rubble that took her life. Kakashi, the one you adore, gave this report. His teammates were also present and Uchiha Shisui, who dug through some of the rubble confirmed this," Shikaku said. "You ignorant idiot. Just because everyone else believes that she was dangerous doesn't mean that she actually was! Are you not grateful for Kushina? If she didn't train her, do you think that we would have won the war? Without Kushina, Koi wouldn't have had the skills to protect Kakashi from being crushed, and without him, we wouldn't have destroyed Kannabi Bridge and won the war! Don't you see? Hatake Koi is the true hero of the Third War. Not Minato, not Kakashi, not me, and certainly not you," Shikaku growled.

"S-shikaku," Inoichi said. "You're overlooking what happened before the war. When she became a Chuunin. Could you overlook that?"

"Yes. What's worse: one bloody Kumo child's death in a place where murder is allowed and part of the rules, or the entirety of Konoha in a pile of rubble and all of our heads and innocent men, women and children's heads strewn everywhere?" Shikaku demanded. "I don't want to see you anymore. Leave!"

Inoichi did so. Chouza didn't feel comfortable in his friend's home as much as he used to, so he left as well. Shikaku poured himself a shot of alcohol from some other country, an imported brand, and drank it. He sighed loudly. Damn Inoichi…he got me angry. Now I'll have to apologize later. How troublesome. Koi, you've really made quite the impression on Konoha. Even when you took the blow from Seiseki for Kakashi without your eyes, you were a loyal Konoha shinobi as you always were. It's humbling, to say the least.

At his home, Inoichi sat on his daughter's bedside, looking at her innocent form as air entered and left her lungs evenly. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Ino."

He weaved seals and placed his hands on his daughter's head.

Within minutes, the mind master had done away with the memories from the ramen shop up until then. He placed a fake memory in her mind, a memory that would help her explain to her teammate that she hadn't been successful. Now, Ino wouldn't remember a thing about the name or photo of Hatake Koi.

Inoichi did respect Koi somewhat, now that Shikaku had thrown the facts into his face. He felt bad for the time he'd tried to punch the Hatake girl and all the times he'd helped in throwing trash at the girl. He held back a sob and quickly left Ino's room, looking for sake.

After a few minutes of monologue, he managed to put away the sake and fell asleep next to his wife. That night, he had a dream that Koi had been the one who saved him from being crushed under rubble. The next morning, he was late for work.