Chapter 21 – Guilt and Contact

Tsunami tightened her nightgown as she made her way down stairs. She had been violently woken up by the banging that echoed throughout the house. Inari rubbed his eyes as he drearily followed her.

"Who is it mom?"

"I don't know sweetie. I'm going to check."

The knocking on the front door continued as a voice cried out, "Tsunami! Tsunami, it's me! I'm back!"

Relief flooded through her body as she rushed towards the door.

"Father, where have you been? You should have arrived hours ago! You've had us worried sick!" she chastised as she unlocked the door. She swung it open and her breath caught in her throat.

She was stunned by the strange image before her. Her father had a blonde young boy passed out on his back and behind them were a young girl and boy holding up a passed out gentleman with white hair.

"Heh heh. You could say we ran into some trouble on the way here."

Kakashi winced as he slowly opened his eyes. He felt like hell. Every muscle in his body screamed at him, as he tried to sit up.

"Don't! Please stay still Kakashi-sensei."

He lay back as Hinata jogged up to him, and ran her hands above his chest as a green soothing chakra poured into his system.

"How long was I out?"

"About two days sensei. Your chakra levels were severely low after that last attack."

"That's what I get for copying a jutsu I've never used before. Zabuza's chakra levels must be insane if he was going to casually throw that jutsu around," he winced.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll give you the full talk about the sharingan, when everyone is present. I don't want to have to repeat myself. I you want the gist of it, I'd never used that jutsu before, and it drained a hell of a lot more out of me than I thought it would."

That was one of the dangers of the sharingan. It could copy any jutsu and permanently imprint it in the owner's mind, but that did not mean it made the jutsu any easier to use. If he was being honest with himself, the fact that the jutsu required an enormous amount of chakra wasn't the only reason he was in this state. Since he had left ANBU to settle down and train a team, he had become somewhat lax in his training. For three years he waited to find a team, but none ever caught his eye. In that time, he had become reliant on his natural talent and intuition to get him through any missions he was sent on in the meantime.

Oh the lecture sensei would have given him if he could see him now.

"How long until I'm fully healed?"

"It would have said five days from the incident, but I've been speeding up the process. You should be fully healed by late tomorrow evening."

"At least that's some good news. You and the boys are going to be busy in the meantime."

"What do you mean?"

"Go fetch them and bring them back here. We need to talk. Our work isn't finished yet."

She was worried, but did as he said and went downstairs. Kakashi closed his eyes as he thought back to his encounter with the hunter-nin. He had been on the verge of passing out, and only hung on through sheer willpower. If he had been fully attentive, he would have noticed at the time what was wrong.

The hunter-nin had not followed protocol.

Zabuza would be coming back.

'What am I going to do with them,' Kakashi mused as he stared at his team. He was supporting himself with crutches as they stood in the woods a short distance from the cottage.

"I'm willing to bet that we'll have about week until Zabuza decides to show his face again, and next time he won't be alone. You all have come a long way during our time training, and I'm certain if you work together you can take out his companion."

"You know it sensei! Just leave it to us!" Naruto boasted with a grin.

"However, it will not be as simple as that," Kakashi cut him off.

They were silent as he continued, "Remember, their objective is not about settling a vendetta, although I'm sure Zabuza wouldn't mind getting another crack at us. Their objective is taking out Tazuna. I can't protect him, focus on Zabuza, and worry about his companion all at the same time. You boys are going to have to work out protecting Tazuna and dealing with the hunter-nin at the same time."

"What about me sensei?" Hinata asked.

He gave her a silent look before he replied, "You're going to be helping me with Zabuza."

She eyes were wide and her knees started to shake.

"What the hell do you mean sensei? Hinata-chan is amazing, but she can't take down a A-rank criminal!" Naruto shouted as he stepped in front of her.

"I agree. She's incredibly skilled, but she's not up for fighting a jounin. None of us are," Sasuke cut in.

"I don't expect her to, but her byakugan can see through his hidden mist jutsu. It is irritatingly a rather good deterrent against my sharingan, so I'm going to need her to help locate Zabuza."

"So what? That just means he'll target her instead of you," Naruto shouted.

"You're right. That is why I don't plan to have her with me the entire time, which brings me to my next step. Naruto I'm going to need you to design a seal for me."

The concern did not leave Naruto's face, even when faced with the prospect of a new seal challenge.

"What do you mean sensei?"

"I want you to find a way target Zabuza in the mist. If I can have Hinata help keep track of him until we can find a way to plant a tracker, then it will make it easier and faster for me to take him down before he decides to take a swipe at Tazuna."

Naruto closed his eyes as he rubbed his chin. "I suppose I could try. I have a couple ideas, but I would need some time to figure it out."

"You have six days. Concentrate and get it done."

"Fine, but if I can't, I don't want you placing Hinata-chan in Zabuza's way!"

"That's fair enough, though it doesn't matter unless Hinata is willing to do it. I won't put her in a position she's not comfortable with," he said as they turned their attention to her.

Hinata was quivering at the thought of having to face that man directly again. The last time she had been close to him, he had nearly driven Sasuke and herself mad with his toxic presence. She had grown leaps and bounds over the last few months, but she was still a teenage girl faced with an opponent who would kill her without a second's hesitation.

She had questioned herself in the past whether or not the Hokage had made the right decision in placing her on this team. After their run-in with the Iwa nins at the lumberyard and the progress they had made in training, she had begun to feel that maybe she did deserve this spot on the team.

Yet, when faced with an overwhelming threat, she tensed up and was too scared to act. She looked at the two boys and was surprised by their grave looks of concern. Naruto's words rang through her mind. He was right. She couldn't take on an A-rank criminal. He was out of her league. He had been so fast on the road that even though she could see him, he still broke through their guard.

However, the boy's other words ran through her head as well. They both thought she was skilled. "Amazing" even. She realized their looks of concern didn't mean that they didn't think she was too weak to handle it, they just wanted to look out for her.

This roused something inside her. She was surprised when she identified the feeling. She was eager. Eager to prove them wrong. She had always considered herself below the two of them, and she had been driven to catch up to them. Now she realized, she didn't want that. She wanted to go past them as well. To prove to them that she could handle anything thrown at her.

If they need her to do this, she would try her best.

She didn't fully stop shaking, but she looked Kakashi dead in the eyes and said, "I can do it sensei. I will try my best to help you."

'That's my girl,' Kakshi pleasantly thought as he straightened his back.

"Alright. In any case, that means that you two boys will have to deal with his accomplice and guard Tazuna simultaneously."

"I got Tazuna, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto firmly stated.

They were all surprised by his declaration. "Really? You actually want to be the one to guard him?"

"I got a trick up my sleeve that will make guarding him a breeze. Not even Zabuza will be able to get past me," he smugly stated.

"That's a pretty big claim. Is that all talk, or do you actually have something planned?"

"I'll be ready for anything he can throw at me sensei. Don't you worry, and I'll be able to help Sasuke-teme out with the other guy."

"You can't just leave clones Naruto."

"I don't intend to. Trust me sensei, I got it."

Kakashi nodded. "Alright then. I'll leave it to you, which means you'll be dealing with the hunter-nin, Sasuke until his little project is complete."

Sasuke smirked as he shot Naruto a grin. "Just try to not to beat him too badly until I get a shot in," the blonde grinned back.

"Alright. With that taken care of, let's discuss what we'll be doing in the meantime. Naruto and Sasuke, you two will be alternating guarding Tazuna throughout the week. Naruto, whenever you are guarding Tazuna, I want you to have a clone at the house working on your idea. Otherwise, I want all of your time being spent on your tracking seal."

"You got it sensei!" he replied as he saluted.

"Sasuke, I want you practicing your raiton jutsu. Your opponent is likely to be from Kiri as well, and will likely specialize in suiton jutsu. Try to reduce the charging time for some of them."

"Got it."

"Hinata, you and I will be prepping for dealing with Zabuza. You three are already fast, but you'll need to be faster to deal with Zabuza's speed. Are we clear?"

"Yes sensei!" the echoed together.

"Good. Naruto, get to work on that seal. Sasuke, you'll be guarding Tazuna today. I'll meet up with you around 1:00."

"Roger," they replied as headed back to the house, leaving the two alone.

After he was sure the boys were out of earshot, Kakashi turned to her and said, "Hinata, I want to make sure you are absolutely comfortable with this. You don't have to save face in front of the boys."

"It's not that sensei," she muttered as she twisted her shirt, "I don't want them to keep seeing me as someone who needs to be protected."

"I wouldn't say they think that. They know how capable you are."

"Maybe, but unconsciously they might think differently. I don't just want to prove them wrong, I want to make it so there is no doubt in their minds that I can take care of myself."

She was quiet before she muttered, "I also want to prove it to myself."

Kakashi winced slightly as he knelt in front of her. "I proud of you for pushing yourself to take that step out of your comfort zone. In my eyes, you have already proven you are a fine kunoichi. If I wasn't sure you could handle it, I wouldn't have asked."

Her face lit up in a small smile, and the faintest blush crept to her cheeks. "Thank you sensei."

"No problem. Now let's get down to work. Are you ready?"

"Yes sensei."

"A little louder."

"YES SENSEI!"

"That's what I like to hear. Now, we are going to focus on getting you fast enough to keep track of Zabuza."

"How are we going to do that?"

"I'm going to teach you a well-known technique called forcing. You already know that pumping chakra into various parts of your body can help you move faster, jump higher, and hit harder. Forcing involves spreading chakra across your body at once, causing your brain to work overtime. You'll think faster and move more smoothly than ever before."

It couldn't be that easy. "What's the downside sensei?"

"The downside is that it eats up a lot of chakra. I mean a lot. You have certainly increased your reserves over the last month; I won't deny that, but not quite enough to continuously use forcing. Even I can't keep it up for long. You're going to have to learn how to shut it on and off frequently to conserve chakra. Your Lion Fang technique will also help you with this by stealing your opponent's chakra. Please activate your byakugan and I will give a demonstration"

He smiled as he began forming chakra and the veins around her eyes started to jut out.

She was going to be ready. He just knew it.

Naruto pulled at his hair.

"Dammit, dammit, dammmit!" he cursed.

He had been at this for 3 days now, and he had little to show for it. Oh, he had plenty of ideas of how to keep track of Zabuza, but each of them involved getting Hinata closer and closer to the missing-nin than he was comfortable with.

You couldn't just track a seal just because it exists. It had to release a signal that could be followed. His first thought had been to use radio waves. By setting up two transmitters on the bridge and one on Zabuza, he could create a seal to help triangulate his location and send the information to Kakashi. Trouble was, that this would take a long time to write out, and take up a lot of space. Plus it would put Hinata in danger, so no go.

Next he had thought of using magnetism. If he could form a seal to make Zabuza's sword a charged south magnetic pole, he could create a sort of compass for Kakashi to follow. Again, this involved them getting up close and personal, plus Zabuza could just ditch the sword leaving it pointless.

It all came down to how comfortable he was with letting Hinata get close to that man. The thought of her so close to danger brought an aching pain to his chest.

He was at an impasse. If he decided not to make the seal, Kakashi might make her stick with him the entire time in order to keep track of Zabuza. If Naruto did make a seal, he would have to put her in harms way.

"Dammit!" he reiterated as he bang his fist on the ground.

"Something I can help you with?" a kind voice called out.

He was startled and turned around to see one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen approaching him. A slender girl was so close that he was surprised that he had missed her presence.

"Who are you?"

"Just a friend," she said simply, "but you can call me Haku."

"Ur, hello. Well I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. What are you doing out here?"

"I'm just gathering some herbs for a ointment I'm preparing. I think the real question is what are you doing out here? This doesn't seem like the best spot to work."

He was sitting in a clearing out in the middle of the woods, with his books and supplies scattered around him.

"Being in nature helps me think. I've always liked to come out into the woods whenever I'm facing a new problem."

"That's very well said. That shows a very mature outlook for your age."

"Hey, you're not much older than me!"

"I suppose not. Now, what seems to be troubling you so much?"

He was quiet as he stared at his hands in his lap. He didn't know why he felt like talking to this person, but his stress had been building over the last few days and he needed an outlet.

"I'm stuck in a bad spot. A friend of mine could be in serious danger, unless I work something out. She could be seriously hurt if I don't do this."

"You make it seem like she can't protect herself."

"That's not true at all!" he retorted as he sprung up, "She's amazing! She can kick so much ass with her special taijutsu thingy and her made-up moves!"

"Yet, you seem to think that it is your mission to protect her."

He was silent as he stared back at the ground. "I just want to make sure she stays safe."

"It sounds to me like this person is very important to you," Haku smiled gently.

Images from their first day of their training flashed to his mind. He remembered his feeling of utter content as the three of them dozed off against the training posts. Their warm bodies pressed against his had filled him with a strange feeling he had never really felt before.

"Yeah, I guess she is. Both of them are," he murmured.

"Well, I think that is a very good mind set to have. You see, I believe that when a person has something important to protect, that's when they truly become strong."

The girl paused as she let her words sink in. "I don't know if it's any consolation, but if your friends feels in any way the same as you do for them, I'm sure they can overcome whatever obstacle seems to be in their way. You said for yourself that you trust this person's abilities. Maybe it was about time that you proved it."

Naruto eyes slightly widened as the girl's message sunk in. Maybe he had been looking down on her. He had let her go off after the Iwa-nin because he had been to exhausted to do anything, but the moment he could move, both he and Sasuke had torn after her worried sick. Maybe they were coddling her. It was time they took a step back and let her rise to the challenge.

He slightly blushed as he realized he had been silent for an awkward amount of time. He tried not to make eye contact with the girl as he tried to think of something else to say. "Y-you said you were looking for herbs right? Do you mind if I help?"

She closed her eyes and offered him a smile. "I would be happy if you did."

So the two of them set out gathering the necessary plants. It was actually relaxing for him as they searched for the specific kinds Haku needed. It helped relieve some of the tension that had been building up in him for some time.

After they were done, they stood smiling across from each other.

"You know, you actually kind of remind me of my friend."

"Oh, really? Why is that?"

"She makes ointments too. But you're both soft-spoken and have a way with calming me down."

Haku offered a smile. "May I ask her name?"

"It's Hinata."

"That's a lovely name. Well, I thank you for your assistance. These will be perfect to help the one I hold special. I'm sure you will be able to solve your little problem. Maybe try to approach it from a new angle."

With that, she offered one last smile as she started heading out of the clearing.

"Oh, and…" Haku had his back turned so he couldn't see what Naruto's reaction would be, but he was willing to bet it would be hilarious. "I'm a boy."

Haku's prediction came true as Naruto's eyes bulged out of his head. His jaw dropped to the ground as he clutched his head.

'NOOOO! HE'S EVEN PRETTIER THAN HINATA-CHAN!"

Haku gave one last chuckle as he waved over his shoulder and walked away.

Everyone else had long since returned to the cottage that night, before Naruto returned. Inari was quiet upon his arrival and left the table in a hurry. After their argument the previous night, he didn't feel like being in Naruto's presence.

"Any progress?" Kakashi piped up from his newspaper.

"I've had a lot on my mind," was his response.

'I guess not,' Kakashi frowned. When it came to seals, Naruto was usually better than this. What was holding him up?

Naruto shuffled his way to the table and stood in front of Hinata. He avoided eye contact as he uttered, "Could we talk outside? Alone?"

She was surprised and fought back a blush as she nodded.

Sasuke sent them a confused glare as the two headed outside. What were they talking about that they couldn't discuss here?

All the while, Kakashi was studying his reaction. It would be troublesome for the team dynamic to be disrupted by something as petty as jealousy.

Naruto shuffled his feet as he stared at the ground. He didn't know what made this so difficult.

Hinata actually had to stifle a laugh. This was a complete role reversal. Usually, she was the one too nervous to talk.

"H-how's your training coming along," Naruto asked.

Hinata could tell this wasn't really what he was after, but she replied, "It's going well. I've got the basics of the technique. It's just a matter of turning in on and off fast enough so it doesn't massively drain on my reserves."

"Good, good," was his reply.

They awkwardly stood there in a few minutes of silence, as the full moon reflected on the water.

Finally, Hinata started to ask him what was wrong, when he said, "I'm sorry."

She blinked and stared at him. She was confused. What did he have to be sorry for?

"I haven't been fair to you."

"What are y-"

"No, I have. I could have had multiple seal ideas done days ago, but I haven't because I didn't want you to have to get so close to Zabuza. I've been a bad friend and a bad teammate. I should trust you enough to take care of yourself. I've just been so worried that I didn't offer you the respect you deserve. I want to apologize."

Hinata's eyes softened and she gave a kind smile. "I accept your apology Naruto-kun. While I can understand why it's troubling you, it also means a lot that you care."

They both started blushing and their smiles lit up the dark night.

"Besides," she said as she shot him an uncharacteristically sly smirk, "I don't want to just be equal to you boys anymore. I want to be ahead of you."

"Waah? Where is that coming from?" he asked as he took a comical step back.

"Let's just say I have a long way to go before I earn the spot that the Hokage has granted me on Team 7," she said as determination gleamed in her eyes.

"What are you talking about? You've already done that. You took out two chunin all by yourself. That's incredible."

"Maybe, but not compared to the legends who were on this team before us. I want to live up to their legacy."

Naruto's mind flashed back to the conversation he had with Kakashi when he gave him his second Hiraishin kunai. He had been ecstatic when he found out his current sensei had been taught by his idol, but he never really made the connection that the Yondaime had probably been on Team 7 as well. This made him curious. Whatever happened to the Yondaime's teammates? What were they like?

"So what do you think you are going to do about the seal?" Hinata asked breaking his train of thought.

"I don't know," Naruto replied as he rubbed his head. "Every seal I've thought of involves you guys tagging Zabuza with it, and I doubt he's going to just let you. He's also not going to wait around for you to spout off his location to Kakashi-sensei. He'd be on you guys in a heartbeat before you could even…"

His eyes widened as he finished, "speak."

"Hmm?"

Naruto's mind was racing as Haku's words raced through his head.

'Maybe try to approach it from a new angle.'

All this time he had been basing the designs of his seals by requiring Zabuza to be tagged. A new train of thought entered his mind, and he shot Hinata one of his signature cheshire grins.

"What is it? Did you think of something?" she asked excitedly.

He smirked and replied, "What if we don't have to tag Zabuza?"

She sent him a confused look. "What do you mean? That's the whole point of you creating a seal."

"No, the point is so we can track Zabuza in the mist! Kakashi-sensei never said Zabuza had to be the one we planted a tag on. He just needs to be able to keep track of Zabuza's location!"

"I'm still not sure I follow."

"I'll explain it inside. Come on!"

He grabbed her arm and started pulling her back towards the house. She was dragged along and barely kept up as they rushed back inside.

Naruto kicked open the door and raced to the table in a blur of yellow and navy.

"I got it Kakashi-sensei! I got a plan for putting down that Zabuza-teme!"

Kakashi kept his composure as he sent him a bored look. On the inside, he was smirked. Whatever the two had discussed, it had certainly raised the blonde's spirits and given him the boost he needed to figure out his seal problem.

"Alright then, let's hear it."

Time flew by, and before they knew it, a week had come and gone. They were more somber than usual that day. As of now, Zabuza could return at any moment, and this time he wouldn't be alone. That morning they all set out with Tazuna, with Naruto leaving a few clones behind with Inari and Tsunami.

As they drew closer to the bridge, Naruto's nose started twitching and a pungent odor filled his nose. He may not have been an Inuzuka, but his nose was almost as good as one's. He growled placing them all on edge.

He smelt blood, and a lot of it.

They finally arrived at the bridge, and Tazuna let out a cry of horror. The bodies of his workers were sprawled across the bridge, soaked in blood. Kakashi frowned as an ominous mist started enveloping the group and they all took up sides around Tazuna. From the other side of the bridge, they could see two dark shadows drawing towards them.

Each of them tensed as the forms of Zabuza and the hunter-nin clearly came into view. Zabuza was sporting a different outfit from their first encounter and he had his head tilted in a playful manner. However, his eyes were just as full of bloodlust as they had the first time they saw him.

"You know, it's not polite to keep people waiting Kakashi, and I believe we are due for a rematch," Zabuza taunted as he hefted the ridiculously sized blade from his shoulders.

Kakashi remained silent as he raised his headband over his left eye revealing the three tomoes of the sharingan. He sent his team a quick glance, and they returned it with a nod. They all knew what to do.

"Naruto, you're up. You asked for the job, and you've got it. Make sure nobody gets to Tazuna."

"You got it sensei!"

With that, Naruto summoned 4 clones, which surrounded the old bridge builder. They reached into their bags and pulled out vials of ink and several brushes as they began drawing intricate symbols on the ground. Sasuke pulled out a kunai as he stepped in front of the group of clones, and sent a glare at the masked boy across from him. He couldn't help himself when he started shaking. He was just too excited by the prospect of fighting a worthy opponent.

The fog fully encased the group, and Kakashi felt Hinata leave his side. She had her preparations to complete as well.

Tazuna could only gulp as he felt the killing intent of the Demon of the Mist rise and direct towards him. All of this was because of him. He glanced down at the blonde boys busy at work beside him, and made a silent prayer that no one would have to die because of him.

Whether he liked it or not, by the end of that day, someone on that bridge was going to end up dead.

Kakashi's glare didn't change as he dived headfirst into the mist after Zabuza, who leaped back into the obscure safety of the mist.

He wasn't worried about his students' abilities. He was worried about when it would all go to shit.

Because even the best laid plans fall apart upon contact with the enemy.

Author's Notes:

YES! Another cliffhanger! I'm reeeaaallly sorry. The chapters are just not long enough for me to cram everything in (I once tried uploading a chapter with 10 thousand words in it one time, but my internet speed wouldn't let me. So I had to split it up into two parts. I believe it was chapter 7 and 8.) Anyways, we are breezing through the wave arc and getting right into the final fight. I skipped over the Inari stuff since we've all read it before. We know what happens. We've been down this beaten path hundreds of times, and there's not much that can really be changed about it.

Sorry that Sasuke didn't really get much time in this chapter. Don't worry, he'll be a big factor in the next one. We all know what major development he'll be undertaking in this battle.

You guys should really enjoy this fight. The tactics are going to be inventive and the battle will shift from the established chain of events, as we know them (or else it's no fun otherwise).

I'll try to get another chapter up tonight to not keep you in suspense. Sad to say, but there will be no chapter on Sunday like we usually do. Like I've said, I'm heading up to Jacksonville and I don't know what time I'll be returning. I hope two chapters today can satiate your thirst.

But holy shit! I was checking the story stats Friday morning and shocked that you guys didn't just beat the old record, you blew it out of the water. With only one new chapter, we hit 4.47 thousand views in one day. That's insane! That beats our previous record 3.6 thousand by a large margin. Thank you guys so much. It's so awesome seeing more and more people jumping aboard.

I checked my phone my Friday and was shocked by an email I received. It couldn't be true… But it was. Guys…Santa Claus is now a follower of my story. Crowning achievement of my life. (That is an amazing username!)

Review Corner:

(To MoonlitMelody)

I actually appreciate the criticism. Every comment can't be praise, and I appreciate you voicing your honest opinions. It helps let me know what's working, and what is not.

I'm actually a physics major, and I like trying to incorporate what I've learned into my works, especially since I view fuinjutsu as a sort of written contract with the universe. For those of you who don't know, density = mass/volume (didn't know you'd be getting a physics lesson did you?). That means for the density to increase, the volume has to decrease. For Tazuna, his density was increased so much that if it had continued, he would have imploded by the dramatic decrease in volume.

I also agree on the OP distance of the byakugan. I actually should have looked into its maximum distance, but I wanted to use a length far enough where they could continue talking without the Demon Brothers noticing them.

(To Kelvin King)

There's no need to rush baby. We get there, when we get there (ouch, I sounded like a parent). If you think about it, most stories would have already reached this point around the same time as the Iwa-lumber mission. I wanted to take my time and develop the other characters, so their jutsu and abilities didn't seem to come out of nowhere. I also have to take the time and set up plans for the future, so they don't feel as if they had come out of left field later.

Jiraiya will certainly be a driving factor for Naruto's development.

(To bigfan22)

Oh, trust me. The biggest scene in the time skip is exactly that.

(To )

…maybe. I've actually gone over that a few chapters ago in one of the Author's notes, but you're right on the money.

(To Lioness of the Leaf)

You right. I do plan on getting Hinata and Sasuke in on the tag team action. It's just that Naruto and Sasuke share a special connection that we all know about. If you think about it, they've known each other for centuries. This innate sense of understanding will also be a plot point very soon.

(To NatLS)

Like I said, it wouldn't be his full back-story. It would just give you a better idea of who he is, give you a kick ass action scene, and hint at where he came from. Oh, trust me. You'll all be in for a shock from that reveal (though it won't happen for a loooooong time).

(To luqie10)

I know it's not a genetic trait in canon. However, I am using it that way to better fit the story.