"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes apart of us." ~Helen Keller

.21

She took a moment to curse every single god she could think of. This was all their faults, for bringing her back to life, putting her in this universe, for not letting her rest. Surely they must have known. What exactly this was going to do to her. Right? It couldn't have just been some glitch in the matrix, a crack in reality, there had to have been a known reason. So she cursed whichever god put her in this situation and then took a deep breath because she knew it wouldn't change anything now.

There isn't anything that she would have done differently provided it all happened again. That being said this was getting a tad ridiculous. It was almost as if the kami was placing these people in her path so she had to save them. That the echo of her existence included them. Why else? Why else would she have been given these three as students?

Hibiki closes her eyes, pinches the bridge of her nose and tries her very best to be patient with them. She has to remind herself that they are children no older than eight and that she is an adult. Their behavior should come as no surprise to her, she had just made them wait an extra hour for her. Although unlike her own sensei it had been accidental. Gaining a genin team didn't change the fact she still had a full time position at TI and if there was any pressing matters it would unfortunately come before them.

In all reality she should have expected them to act out. But why did their prank have to be water based? After her stint in Iwa Hibiki loathed being doused in water. She clears the dripping water from her face, runs a small current through her body to dry the rest of the affected limbs and then made eye contact with whom she assumed was the initiator of the prank.

"You're late!" There is a sense of déjà vu that crashes into her. A smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth. Hibiki places her hands on her hips, raises a brow at the boy.

"That doesn't explain why you felt the need to trap the door." A trap she could have avoided, if she'd really felt like it. But Hibiki had been in the mood to humor her new students.

That caused the boy to sputter. "Well what were we supposed to do?! We've been waiting for you for two hours!" She hadn't remembered him being like this in the manga, but then he had been older during his first appearance.

"Wait patiently like the good little genin you are supposed to be. As a genin you will be expected to wait longer, for orders, for information, for your mission objective, and even on each other. Well since I am in fact late, let's get straight to it. My name is Kano Hibiki. I will be your Jonin instructor for the foreseeable time being. Now introduce yourselves, state your name, and a little about yourself." Hibiki crosses her arms over her chest and waits.

The sole female of the team goes first, from what she'd read from their profiles the girl was the oldest at eight. "I am Noa Koari, my favorite color is purple, I wish to one day be a great medic." Hibiki gave the girl a small nod of approval and then turned her attention to the boy who had been silent the whole time. He flushed under her gaze.

"Uchiha Masato, um… I like to swim, and I want to one day be a respected member of the military police." Masato states, stuttering slightly. Hibiki offers him a reassuring smile. Even if she didn't like his goal to one day join the Uchiha police, she still had less than favorable things to say about them.

"Last but not least." She tilts her head to the side eyes once again making contact with the smallest of the three. His large onyx eyes stare back at her defiantly. Hibiki wonders where the respectful child she always thought he would be was.

"Uchiha Shisui, I want to protect my friends and to help make the village great." There it was, she actually smiled then. A lightness in her chest. To think that she'd already taken away half of the equation to his demise.

She clapped her hands together, the irritation she was feeling earlier now gone. "Great! Like I said, I am Kano Hibiki your jonin instructor. This team will start off as an intelligence based team, we will focus a good deal on gathering intel and running missives. I will also be teaching you the basic of code breaking and reading between the lines. Any questions?" Not a single one of them made a move. Hibiki sighed.

"Great. Tomorrow morning 0700 we will have our very first team meeting and perhaps even stop by the mission's desk to pick up a D-rank or two. Meet me at the Tactics office then. For now, you are all dismissed." Hibiki didn't wait for them to respond, she disappeared in a seal-less shunshin as soon as the words left her lips. Leaving the children alone and exceedingly confused.

Uchiha Shisui was quiet on his walk home. Masato and Kaori were talking to each other behind him discussing the dark haired woman who was now their teacher. But he couldn't find it in himself to interject himself in to their conversation. His mind kept going back to what his father had said that morning, he wasn't supposed to have heard it but he couldn't stop thinking about it now.

"Kano Hibiki is a plague, she'll be the ruin of this clan." The old man had stated angrily at whomever he'd been talking too. Shisui had stayed out of sight during the apparent argument his father was holding. He had not wanted to get caught up in it.

A plague. Why had his father referred to his new teacher in such a way? How had he even known her? Shisui didn't understand. His confusion over the situation caused him to act out of character. He'd managed to set up a bucket of water to soak her. Although looking back at it now, she had probably just let it happen. Weren't jonins supposed to be really strong?

He shook his head. It was probably better if he didn't think too long on it. Not like he could even ask his father what he meant by that, his old man would be upset if he found out that he'd been listening in. No, the best thing going forward was to just see how it went. Maybe he could figure out what his father had meant.

Her words from earlier hitting him now. Shisui groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. "Shi are you okay?" Kaori questioned from his right.

"She was right." He mumbled. Masato raised a brow in his friend's direction.

"What?" The older of the two Uchiha boys asked, but Shisui didn't answer the turn to his house came up and he mumbled a quick goodbye.

Masato and Kaori shared a look. Both thinking something similar. What was going on with him today?

Hibiki threw herself into the chair, slumped over her desk and let out a tired groan. She rubs her head trying to appease the forming headache to no avail. There was already so much on her plate, why had she agreed to this? Students had never been part of the plan, she didn't have time for the distraction they would cause.

"It was that bad huh." Inoichi is leaned against the opened door a smirk adorning his stupidly perfect face. She glared at him without hardly moving her head.

"I don't have time for students, I don't even make time for myself Ino. What was the Sandaime thinking? I can't do this." He raises his brow then. This was unlike her. Hibiki always had control over everything, she never complained. It was worrying at times. To see her like this. Meant she was worried. Meant she didn't know. That the situation was slipping out of her carefully controlled fingers.

"It's unlike you to admit defeat. What's going on?" He crosses the threshold of the door then, closing it softly behind him. She forces herself to sit up, leaning back into the uncomfortable office chair, and runs a hand through her scalp.

"How am I supposed to balance a team, my work here, and the little time I take for myself? There is a war going on, I can't cut back my work here to focus on them, and yet I can't ignore them I don't want to see them killed. What do I do?" Inoichi looked at her startled by the admittance. He took a moment to just really look at her then, the dark circles under blue-gray eyes deeper and darker than normal. She looked like a ghost, tired and sunken features.

"What time are you meeting them in the morning? I assume you haven't done your jonin test yet." He inquires instead of answering her question. Inoichi needed a moment to think over it.

"0700, in front of the Tactics building. I'm not planning on doing a jonin test, it isn't a requirement and I have to pass them anyway." She tells him, reaching for the cup of coffee she'd been ignoring. The drink was still mildly warm so it would be drinkable.

"Wait, what? Why?" He raises his brow. While he knew the jonin sensei test wasn't something that was required of Jonins to do most of them did it regardless. But he'd never heard of a team that couldn't be failed. That just wasn't something done.

"Two of my students are Uchihas, and the other is from the Noa clan. One of the small sister clans to the Uchiha. I have to take this team, it was a request from Fugaku himself. A show of good faith on the Uchiha's part to me. That in light of the trial they are still willing to work with, and even trust me to help train members of the clan." A smart political trap, saying even though you won we can still dictate aspects of your life. It was a small price to pay for all the other freedoms she had.

Inoichi took a deep breath. Because that hadn't been what he had expected her to say, and damn the Uchiha were proving themselves to be sneaky bastards. He also suspected that there was a bit more to it than she was telling him. Something to do with the old case files on her parents death and why exactly she wasn't speaking to Sakumo currently.

"That's…" He trailed off not entirely sure to how he was supposed to respond. That was just a lot to take in.

"Alright, you know what you need. A break. Let's go out." Hibiki stops sipping at the coffee he knows is lukewarm and raises a singular brow at him.

"What?" Inoichi tries not to laugh at her baffled tone.

"You need a break, probably a strong drink too."

"Inoichi we have work to do, we can't just skip out." She tries to protest. But he's resilient and just shakes his head at her.

"Everyone in this office takes personal days. Everyone but you. Take a night off, just take a break. Out of everyone here you deserve it."

And there wasn't anything she found say to him to get him to change his mind. Once Inoichi decided on something he got what he wanted. Stubborn bastard.

Which brought them to now, a shinobi inclusive bar a few blocks over from the office. Inoichi has been kind enough to let her finish a few things before sending her home to change. She wasn't sure what he expected her to change into since all she did was work, but it was to much trouble to protest. He wasn't going to let her win.

So there they were, taking shots at the bar with Minato and Kushina. Shikaku was there too but he was further down the bar talking to some dark haired chunin. So they'd decided to leave him alone. Especially since the woman looked vaguely like the picture she remembered seeing if his wife. Hibiki for the life of her couldn't really member her name.

"Five ryo says he takes her home." She smirked at Inoichi, idiot.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Suckers bet." He just shakes his head at her comment. Minato looks over at the two of them then pulling himself out of the conversations he'd been having with his fiancé and the jonin next to them.

"You know the same could be said about the two of you." He says it so nonchalantly, like it's just an offhand comment that it shouldn't have made her react like that. But she chokes on the shot she'd just taken and the look in Minato's eyes told her he'd expected that sort of reaction.

She doesn't see the dirty look Inoichi gives his fellow blonde. To add the the matter. Hibiki sputters. "What?!" Like she couldn't believe the audacity of his statement. Or the gal he had to look so damn smug about it.

Hibiki couldn't deny the fact that she did have feelings for her old teammate. Feelings that weren't professional and could make him a liability for her. But there was no way he felt the same way. Right? They were just friends.

Minato sighs rolling his eyes at them both. Kushina turns to join their conversation then as she had heard his first comment and decided to see where this was going to go. Those two had been dancing around each other for a decade and honestly she was getting tired of watching them. If the rumors she'd heard about Inoichi's clan pushing him to find a wife were anything to go off of too. He needed to own up to his feelings soon before he got paired with someone he didn't like.

Inoichi glares at both of their smug faces, he can't believe them. Hibiki swivels around on the bar stool eyes meeting his and demanding answers. He just sighs. Fuck it. Now was a good of time as any.

"Let's go for a walk." He suggest. She just nods her head slowly as if she's still in some sort of daze. Inoichi flips Minato off behind her back as they walk away from the bar. Leaving there tab for him to pick up since he decided to pull such a dirty trick.

The future yondaime just snickers at their retreating forms. About damn time.

Inoichi in that moment really is struggling between wanting to punch Minato or thank him. He eyes Hibiki who is standing to his left. They've ended up at the banks of the river close to the memorial garden. There was something about this place, that she always drifted to when uncertain. She clasps her hands behind her back, eyes staring out over the moon reflective river, Hibiki looks contemplative. As she takes in everything they've just talked about.

The cat was out of the bag now. All of his feelings were on the table, now it was up to her. Hibiki finally turned to look at him. A sort of awed clarity in her pale blue eyes. She actually smiles at him then, and her reaction is sort of surprising. While he'd been a little over half sure she felt similarly about him you could never know with her. He gives her a moment longer then he has to say something, knowing that she would need a moment more to process and find the words to say.

Except she doesn't speak. Perhaps in light of recent events, or the previous shots she feels bold. She closes the gap between them, wraps her arms around his neck with one hand settled on the back of his head. Her lips crash into his, surprising him completely. It takes a moment to adjust before he kisses her back. He ecases her with his arms, one around the small of her back and the other going around the top, his hand lacing through her curls. Inoichi deepens the kiss. Pulling her as close to him as possible.

When they both pull away it's mutual understanding with a need to breathe. Hibiki's face is slightly flushed, she smiles at him. "Is that a clear enough answer?" She questions cheekily. Inoichi smirks at her reaching for her again.

"Perhaps, maybe just one more kiss. To be absolutely sure we're on the same page about this." She takes in his smug look and teasing tone. A sly smile works its way across her features.

Hibiki runs a hand over his cheek, he leans into her touch. She leans up, lips brushing softly against the slightly swollen flesh and kisses him again. This time it's different, where the first kiss had been hungry, passionate, this was more delicate, assuring. His hand cups her jaw, thumb brushes faintly against her cheek. Inoichi appreciate the sincerity of the moment.

This moment had been long overdue for quite awhile. The Yamanaka clan head was glad he waited.

XOXOX

So I'm half happy with this chapter and the end revelation. I'm ninety percent certain that this is the best possible way to write the admittance of feelings between these two. Since the build up has been little by little since chapter five-ish. It's just how these two are together. I will admit that this is a mostly filler chapter, while each little part important to the coming arc not a whole lot of plot points to harp on here. I do hope that you enjoyed it nonetheless. Thank you for reading the chapter. Please let me know what you think!

Sincerely, La'Rae