The first thing Tsunade did was heal those in the hospital. I was with Rai's sister when she awoke. When she opened her eyes, Rai was standing over her, smiling. She immediately smiled back and tears began falling from both of their faces.

"Shiomi," Rai said quietly, speaking her name. Even to me, he wouldn't speak her name out loud, for fear that he might lose her. Now, it was heart wrenching to see their reunion. I slipped out of the room in search for Kakashi.

When I knocked on his door, I didn't hear an answer. I turned the knob and walked in, but the room was empty. Go figure, he gets healed today and he's already out and about. I shouldn't have expected any less. I extended my mind and searched the village for him, but before I could find him, a bird landed on my shoulder.

"You too?" A voice came. "Tsunade-sama must be making use of everyone." I turned toward the location of the voice and saw Gai speaking to me.

"What is this?" I asked him, motioning towards the bird.

"It's a tool the Hokage uses to gather the Jounin and send them on missions."

"I'm not a Jounin though. Why would she want me?"

"The Hokage has her own reasons. You should go and see though. From what I hear, she doesn't like waiting."

I took his advice and gave up my search on Kakashi. Little did I know I'd find him on my way to the administration office. Sasuke's voice reached me first.

"What the hell do you know?! Don't talk to me like you understand!"

"Hey…calm down…" Kakashi's voice came. They were above me in one of the trees.

"What if I were to kill the one you love most?! How far would you stray from what you just said? I can make you feel true pain!" I was frozen, listening to Sasuke speak. I was surprised he would talk to our sensei that way.

"That would work, however, unfortunately, for me no such person exists. Those people have already been killed."

There was the answer I had been looking for. My face fell in humiliation. How could I ever think that Kakashi could love me?

"I've also lived in a long, hard era. I understand how terrible true pain and loss are. We aren't the lucky ones…that's for sure. But we aren't the worst off. Both you and I have found precious companions." His mind flashed through images of Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Team seven, he thought. I wasn't in the picture. He did not think of me. I turned and ran before the tears could well up in my eyes.

His team. Was team seven ever my team? I was just placed there to be watched, controlled. Kakashi doesn't love me…I'm a fool to think that. It felt though, like my heart was breaking. I'm not even a precious companion to him. Just…well, what exactly was I to Kakashi? Every time I was with him, he gave me hints, hugs, he mussed my hair…it was as if he loved me. Why did I not come across his thoughts?

I had to go see the Hokage. She didn't like to wait, and I had already taken my sweet time. I put on a blank face and walked toward her office. When I entered, she glanced at me.

Kakashi was standing in the corner with his book open, and he raised an eye lazily to look at me. I could tell the Hokage was irritated, and when I skimmed her mind it was because I was late. Later than Kakashi, which was saying a lot.

"I have heard about your skills as a kunoichi," Tsunade started. "I'm sure Kakashi has told you that you will no longer be a part of team seven. You have been advanced to a Chuunin, and this is your first mission as such. You will be paired with Kakashi for this mission. He personally chose you because of your abilities. I have heard that your strength complements his well, so I assented."

"I'm going on a mission with Kakashi-sensei?" Great… I thought to myself.

"This is an A-ranked mission."

"H-hokage-sama…I'm only a Chuunin!" A-ranked missions were only given to Jounin with high-level abilities.

"This mission requires someone of your abilities, and with the recent war, we are short-staffed as is. There will be no more questions or interruptions, understand?"

I nodded.

"Your mission is to carry vital documents to a man named Kasuga Hachirou. He is scheduled to be in the village of Otafuku Gai tomorrow. He must read the documents in your presence, and if he will not comply to the instructions, you are to assassinate him."

I left the Hokage's office with tons of questions about the mission, and for the moment, my issues with Kakashi were forgotten. I couldn't jeopardize the mission and our teamwork with my own stupid emotions.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Kakashi. "You don't need to pick up anything else before we leave?"

"I'm ready." We took off, and on the way to the village I asked some of my many questions.

"Who is Kasuga Hachirou, and why would he not want to comply to what is in those documents?" I began.

"It's not for me to say. As ninja, we must follow the orders of our village. We are tools to be used by the leaders, and in return they promise us a home, a job, and peace."

"A shinobi is more than just a tool." I thought back to Haku and my brother. "What if we disagree with the mission we are given? Don't we have a right to know, since we are the ones carrying out the orders?" I sensed in his mind that he knew more about the mission, but he did not want to divulge it to me.

"We can choose missions to an extent, but refusing a mission is looked down upon. We also get the details of a mission as well, but we are sworn to secrecy about a mission's contents. We cannot even discuss among others in our own village."

"I'm on this mission with you. I have a right to know why we are doing this," I said, determined to hear our mission from his own lips.

I can tell you here, but that's it, he thought to me. You never know who is listening. The documents are an order to leave the fire country. Hachirou is a headhunter, someone who pays big money for the dead bodies of powerful ninja. He usually remains within his realm in the river country, but the town of Otafuku Gai is known for its beautiful women and for prostitution. He's there, no doubt, for that reason, but once he entered the Fire Country, he left all hope for his life behind. You see, Amaya, he once lived in Konoha, but started his bloody business by killing two of Konoha's most powerful ninja.

Then why aren't we just killing him? Why give him a chance to leave? I asked.

The documents we take him aren't just an order to leave the country. They also order him to return all the bodies of the ninjas from Konoha that he has. I doubt he will comply, however, because the Hokage is asking him to give up his way of living.

Why did I need to come along?

Well, first of all, because of your mind reading jutsu. I need to know exactly what we are going to face when we get there. Second of all, because you're beautiful. You'll need to do a little bit of acting.