I'm humbled by such loyalty from my followers! Thank you! ;3

Thanks to long live marshmallows, KaiaRenkin, buterflypuss, Prescripto13, Gacsam, NarutoxHonoka, Jleath1234, mashiro-chi1, cloystreng, My #1 Guest Fan, Millycorn, Bindi-fox, Fuyukioujo and Sailor Pandabear for their reviews! :D

long live marshmallows: Uchiha Attack is referred to the two bullies that went for Obito several Chapters ago. I don't even know which one XP And yes, Minato was overly worried and I wanted a group hug for Team Minato! ;)

Prescripto13: I have something so absurd in mind that I'm not entirely sure if I should add it! ;P But, in a way… maybe. Maybe. XD

Gacsam: I wonder how Canon Obito and Rin got promoted if they couldn't waltz into the Exams. Just for once, let's pretend the Hokage wants tradition to be upheld for the Chuunin Exams, pretty please? ;)

Millycorn and mashiro-chi1: let's leave Orochimaru to his spooky jutsus, and as for his madness… meh. He's not that bad of a character, just not a good guy to leave near children ;)

Bindi-fox: you have my stamp of approval for a story with nukenin Minato and Kakashi ;D

And warning – I might have ignored/changed/added something that doesn't fit within Naruto's timeline. But who cares? This Timeline has already gone awry, what's something more?

Chapter 25: Investigation

'So you mean that the Bijuu Cloak should become second nature?'

A nod. "Exactly. Just keep focusing our chakra on your skin and, when it's necessary, in muscles, organs, bones, and so on."

Younger Kakashi nodded back and tried again.

The so called 'Bijuu Cloak' wasn't all that natural, in his opinion. It felt like he was forcing too much chakra where it shouldn't be, and it took a lot of trial and error – much more than he would have liked – to get it right most of the time.

It was some days before Minato-sensei returned, and Kurama had announced it was time he started the next phase. "You should just focus a certain amount of chakra on your skin," the bijuu had said, "not enough and the Bijuu Cloak will be useless, too much and you'll get chakra burn."

And what was worse, Kurama had denied every kind of help he might get from Older Kakashi, claiming, "I've got a plan for the memory-merging, and whether it works or not you won't get any help from him." The young chuunin wondered what kind of plan it would be, but he remained silent at Kurama's tone. No matter how much he asked, the bijuu would never reveal just what that was.

The first times without his older self were something close to abysmal failure. He had gotten too used to his help (was it so bad, since he was himself?), and it made him too sloppy in his chakra control – which took him two days to get on a level that was enough for him, but Kurama brought up Madara's topic and the once-jonin agreed it might never be enough.

So the next three days were spent learning the exact amount of chakra necessary to create a satisfying Bijuu Cloak. If the ANBU were startled – and they really were, if the constantly buzzing chakra was anything – by the bright orange glowing kid, they said nothing.

The only time they radiated annoyance was when a group of chuunin wandered too close and they had to shoo them away, just in case they saw the chakra beacon Kakashi was.

The Bijuu Cloak wasn't exactly a stealth mode, that was for sure.

The secret – though not so secret to the ANBU or the Sandaime – training was abruptly cut off when the Hokage called Team Minato, Anko and Hanju Inuzuka for a mission.

Obito looked far too enthusiastic for a measly C-rank. Then again, the fact both time-travellers had their fair share of annoyingly boring missions – as the sensei of a genin team and the knuckleheaded blonde ball of sunshine – doesn't help when trying to understand why he was so happy.

Rin was in a similar state, although much better at hiding it. Obito didn't even bother, almost shouting his happiness form the rooftops for everyone to hear. It wasn't that hard to imagine him in that situation.

Minato was more tense and wary – probably thinking about the thousands ways the mission could go wrong – but he didn't let it show. If it wasn't for the newly-acquired ability to feel the emotions from the others' chakra, Kakashi would have taken longer to know it.

Hanju was almost bubbling in excitement, and his ninken waved her tail in equal enthusiasm. Probably something with working together with Konoha's Yellow Flash and the eagerness to tell everyone about it, no doubt gloating.

Anko was a little less excited and, after quickly checking if Kakashi was truly mission-ready, she seemed content enough to look around her and occasionally joining in the conversation between the two genin.

"This time," the Sandaime spoke, getting everyone's attention, "your mission is relatively straight forward. In this area," he pointed a town on the eastern coast near Benisu Island, "the citizens of Shichi Town reported suspicious activity near the Main Route. They asked to investigate and get the ones behind this disturbances, dead or alive."

"If there are bandits down here," everyone looked at Hanju, "then there must be something in the mines." He pointed to the site a few kilometers away from the Main Route.

"Or maybe that's their headquarter, whether they're shinobi or not."

The Sandaime nodded at Minato. "That's what I suspect, as well. But since our nearby troops didn't report Kiri interference of any importance, I highly doubt there's shinobi activity. Furthermore, Kiri is fighting against Kumo and they wouldn't send many ninjas without a reason."

Somehow the fact it was so unlikely fueled Kurama's suspicion there actually were shinobi in there. "We can't afford to send anyone else for this mission, and I trust you to complete it."

At the Sandaime's words, every ninja bowed slightly and accepted the mission before leaving.

Orochimaru wasn't easily surprised. He took some pride in that fact – surprise was a key factor in battle, and the Sannin knew how to cover his shock or emotions.

But he didn't expect a mysteriously-glowing scroll in the hands of a missing man, which was suddenly recovered on the field and immediately took to the medical tent. "Where were you last night?" Orochimaru hissed, locking his predatory gaze on the poor, injured and pathetic jonin.

He cowered under that glare. "S-Scouting, O-Orochimaru-s-sama," he whimpered as the scroll was snatched from his bloodied fingers.

"Scouting doesn't bring scrolls of this color!" his hiss resembled a snake's and nobody was that surprised to hear it. His words, however, made both medics and injured recoil. "Brown is used for treaties! Why the hell did you have this?!" He waved the scroll in front of his face, just in case he didn't remember what he brought inside their camp.

The man cowered further. "A-An enemy p-patrol found me." And that alone earned him another Orochimaru snake glare. "I d-don't know w-why, but they w-wanted this scroll d-delivered to H-Hokage-sama."

"And you thought it was a good idea bringing it there?!" Orochimaru hissed, wishing dearly to bash the man's head in with the still-glowing scroll. "Have you any idea about what kind of damage it would do?! Do you?!"

He whimpered again, and everyone nearby stepped away from Orochimaru. Just in case he had rabies or the like. "I-I… I thought y-you could…"

"Deactivate it and discover something about Kumo?"

The man nodded at his snap and regretted it an instant later, when his amber glare intensified.

"You're lucky Konoha doesn't kill for insubordination anymore," he snapped once again, taking sick delight in the others' horrified expressions. He let that sink in before turning around. "Kugori, I expect you to maintain order inside this camp while I open this scroll away from here."

Kugori stiffened and, knowing the importance of that task, nodded resolutely. Orochimaru left without another word.

Once he deemed the distance between himself and the camp enough, he took out his sealing kit. He wasn't a seal master (yet, he repeated himself), but with enough time he could find his way around most seals without mishaps.

Seals were logic sequences of symbols, kanjis and shapes – it wasn't hard for him.

He still narrowed his eyes at the seal on the scroll. A high level blood seal based on the Cobweb, a tricky one to unlock without knowing the counterseals of each line. It was triggered to unleash lightning on whoever dared to open it without caution. The blood was surely of a Raiton user, most probably the Raikage himself.

Orochimaru carefully wrote the counterseals for each of the six main lines of the Cobweb, aware that even a single sloppy stroke could trigger the lightning. But predators knew when to be patient – their target's defense would become undone with a little effort, and the prey would fall.

The Sannin smirked when his first try was successful. Each symbol had an opposite one, and it was relatively easy to match them.

Now unraveling the scroll, Orochimaru's satisfaction quickly turned into disbelief.

It didn't take long to reach Shichi Town at low-chuunin speed – in fact, just two days later, Team Minato rented two rooms and reported their presence to the town's leader.

Shichi was a small, busy port with two dozens of houses around and few people with shinobi training. The highest chakra Kakashi felt in the whole town was somewhere down low-chuunin level. It was no wonder they immediately asked for help to a Hidden Village, although it was strange they didn't send a request to Kiri first.

Minato-sensei shrugged at his student's question. "Probably Kiri is too busy with the war to send help here," he stated, but Kakashi wasn't that satisfied yet. He asked the time-travellers what they knew about Kiri's situation in this period.

"Well… I think Kumo had sunk some ships and raided a couple of Kiri's ports," was Older Kakashi's answer. He shrugged. "Kiri had been mostly neutral during this war, but they couldn't tolerate the raids and started attacking Kumo's coasts. The Raikage got so angry that he declared A-san his successor and immediately left for the battlefield."

'…And? What happened?'

Older Kakashi looked (and felt) thoughtful. "A-san said the Sandaime Raikage fell in battle after facing both Kirigakure's Swordsmen and Orochimaru somewhere between the islands, but I never got the whole story." He ignored his younger self's slack-jawed surprise and shrugged. "Thing is, A-san had to organize everyone – since his father didn't bother warning the troops of his impromptu decision – and retired from the war."

Younger Kakashi quickly closed his mouth before anyone noticed. 'And why did he get so furious?' Just in case it happened again, or just to know what to change and what not.

"Kakashi, do you have anything strange on you?"

He immediately turned around. "Uh, no. Why?" Why would he assume this?

Hanju's ninken barked at him and growled lowly. He shot an apologetic look at the chuunin, who took half a step back. "Kurai isn't always like this…" he murmured to himself, then looked again at Kakashi. "I really don't know what got into her now. She's always pretty friendly with anyone from Konoha, but she won't say why she growls at you."

Kurai barked something angrily, and Hanju cocked his head. "Foxes…?"

Behind them, Minato stiffened slightly and walked over before Hanju could sniff. It was impossible he could feel Kurama, but he still wasn't about to take any chances (irrational fear, surely). Problem was, Kakashi and Hanju were the best at tracking outside cities and the three genin couldn't be left to their own research.

"Hanju-san, Kakashi-kun, you'll head outside the town and investigate near the Main Route." Minato opened a map and pointed three areas circled in red. "There were disturbances in these places – foul-smelling smoke, unknown men sighted and everything remotely suspicious. I suggest you start there, instead of heading straight into the mines."

Obito frowned. "Why not, Minato-sensei? If they're here we'll complete this mission immediately!"

"And you'd rather barge in without any idea of who or how many are there?" Kakashi snorted, wondering why his teammate was this oblivious. "Analyzing those areas can give us an idea about who we're going to face."

Anko and Rin nodded in agreement, and Obito flushed red.

"Rin, Anko, Obito and I will question the citizens about those disturbances and investigate the area near Shichi," announced Minato, earning three acknowledging nods. "We'll rendezvous at the town's gates in five hours and we'll return at the inn to share our information." His eyes became even more serious, if that was even possible. "If a group doesn't show up within the next two minutes, the other is authorized to search for it. No one will be left behind, understood?"

The four of them nodded and the students agreed with a, "Yes, Minato-sensei." Kurai woofed with the same sentiment, but still shot Kakashi a warning glare. The blonde sensei and the three genin walked back into Shichi town, leaving the two trackers alone.

Now Kakashi was ready for five hours of investigation with a ninken angry at him.

Joy.

The first area was at the edge of a thick forest.

"Do you have any experience in tracking?" Hanju turned around to look at his chuunin teammate. "I've heard your Clan had a ninken summoning contract, but I don't think you have signed it yet."

'Do you think I can't track something myself?' Kakashi bitterly thought. It always left a sour taste in his mouth when people doubted his abilities. "I don't have my own pack yet," he admitted, "but I've got some experience in tracking, yes."

"Which is almost all mine."

'We're the same and currently merging.'

"…Touché."

Hanju nodded and crouched on the leaf-covered ground, sniffing. Kurai was doing the same a little further into the forest – she really hated Kakashi's foxy smell, then. The thought of being discovered so easily almost made the young chuunin squirm in discomfort, but not quite.

Kurama flooded his coils with warm, filtered chakra and triggered the Demon Eyes mode. Kakashi's eyes inspected trees and ground, his nose caught every scent near him and he felt the chakra signatures around him – Hanju and Kurai near him, Minato-sensei and Obito three hundred meters away.

The trees. Kunai marks in a quadrangular formation. Slight scorch marks near the ground.

The ground. One, two, three, four different chakras.

Blood.

"Blood."

Hanju glanced behind at Kakashi's whisper. "Yeah, we found a faint trail of blood," he said, then turned around fully. "You smelt that from there?"

A shrug. "Yes, of course." It might be a little strange, knowing Kakashi was almost eight meters away and the smell of blood was almost completely covered by the forest's.

Kurai barked at him again, this time actually taking a fighting stance. Hanju was by his ninken's side in an instant and looked strangely at Kakashi. "What's up with your eyes?"

'Might as well twist the truth, since this can't be hidden for long.' "A Kekkei Genkai. It was dormant until a few weeks ago," Kakashi found himself saying, "and I've practiced with it for a while. My senses are sharper when I activate it."

Not exactly the truth, but the last part was true enough for Hanju to relax. It wasn't the most absurd thing to happen in Konoha, after all, and he shrugged. "Alright then, let's see where the trail ends," the jonin announced, promptly followed by Kurai. She didn't seem ready to deem Kakashi not a threat.

As it turned out, the smell of blood led into the second area the trackers had to investigate, somewhere into the thick forest.

There was a small pit, and into it there were ashes and the strong smell of something burnt.

"Woah, they burned someone in there." Hanju waved a hand in front of his nose for emphasis. Burning corpses wasn't that unusual, but it didn't made the remaining stench any better. Kakashi's nose twitched.

"Looks like our targets had important company."

'Aa. And apparently that company had important information, or dangerous abilities.' Kakashi frowned in thought. The first area was surrounded by a barrier, most likely – so there had to be high level shinobi. Very few chuunin knew how to create barriers, so they had to deal with jonin.

Fabulous.

Kurama nodded at his thoughts. "It was most probably a medium quadrangular Fire Barrier, which can be held by kunai tags." The bijuu shrugged. "It's a pretty common sealing jutsu, so our targets aren't that high-ranked."

"I bet Minato-sensei could break those seals with a single glance."

The Fox snorted, saying, "Anyone with a brain could. Just disrupt two tags and the barrier collapses."

Hanju snapped Kakashi out of his internal conversation. "This guy was burnt at least five days ago, maybe more," stated the Inuzuka, and Kurai barked in agreement. "His smell covers the nearby area, but there surely was someone else there. Do you have any ideas?"

Kakashi nodded. "I felt four chakras before, and since one of them died here…"

"There must be at least three enemies," Hanju completed, standing up from his crouched position over the ashes. For a long moment he looked at the young chuunin, then shook his head. "Let's go on the next area, Kakashi."

And they took off.

Minato felt more like an overly worried mother hen than a jonin.

Before leading any sort of undercover search through the town, the blonde checked every inch of their disguises-outfits to give them any kind of useful tips – where to hide weapons in case brawls occurred (with Kakashi's unlucky streak, chance would have a hard time messing with him), cover stories with shady types, confirming their abilities in hiding their chakra signature…

"Sensei, we are ready!" Of course Obito had to whine.

Rin was so fidgety that she agreed with him. "You've checked our clothes, weaponry and knowledge twice now – we can do this."

"Damn right we do!" Anko puffed her chest with pride. Those lessons with Orochimaru-sensei weren't for nothing! "We'll have each other's backs and complete this mission!"

Her upbeat declaration brought a small smile on Minato's face. "Let's go, then," he announced, nodding. He pretended not to hear their excited cheers as they walked down the street.

Occasionally Anko and Obito would separate from Minato as per plan, since Anko proudly proved her training with Orochimaru wielded good results and leaving Rin and Obito alone was a bad idea for the latter's focus. At times the black-haired boy would stick to Minato's side and the two girls went in the nearby shops to draw answers with an innocent smile on their faces.

Their genin training didn't exactly include information gathering skills, but the blonde sensei wanted them with every ability possible to pass the nearing Chuunin Exam. And get alive out of every situation, but that was implicit every time he taught.

When the shinobi reached the port, they assisted at an interesting scene.

"What do you mean you don't have Taisei paper?!"

"Forgive me, miner-san, but I don't have that kind of paper…"

The rough man, dressed in brown and dirty clothes, stomped in front of the flustered shopkeeper. "What kind of mining shop doesn't sell Taisei paper?!" he exclaimed once again in enraged disbelief, "I've come all the way here to get that paper, and now I find you don't have it!"

The other man narrowed his eyes, left eye twitching. "Well, I definitely don't – never in my life I've met a miner who wanted paper, of all things!"

The miner growled enough to further scare the nearby people, taking a menacing step forward. He stopped himself before he could rearrange the shopkeeper's face, stomping once again like a petulant child. He hissed something at the shopkeeper before turning around and heading somewhere else.

Rin noticed first Minato's narrowed eyes. "What is it, sensei?"

He didn't answer and Obito piped up with a scoff, "That was a jerk worse than Bakakashi. Can we kick him in the butt?"

Anko swatted his head for a question so detrimental to their mission, receiving a pained yelp. "Unless he's a target you can't!" she hissed, pinching his ear to underline her words.

The medic-in-training ignored them and asked once again, "You think he's an enemy?"

Minato nodded. "Taisei paper is used by fuinjutsu users to hold seals," he stated, and the two genin's squabbling immediately ceased. That 'miner' was definitely an enemy.

Once the enraged man was far enough, Minato sent Anko and Rin to a nearby shop, not so eager to attract attention in this town. The blonde and his student approached the mining shop, trying to appear not overly snooping by looking at the items.

The pickaxe reminded Minato of a mission he took with Jiraya, when a crazed man grabbed one from an opened box to swing around. He wasn't their target, not really – an innocent bystander caught into a poison cloud. The rogue he and his team faced was keen on using puppets and venom, as was almost every puppeteer in Suna.

Minato grimaced at the memory, and the shopkeeper caught his expression with a sheepish one. "These may not be the golden mining tools some newcomers want, but I figured the traditional ones would be enough," he babbled, then sighed. "Maybe I should have sold fishing nets for the fishermen. The clients would be kinder, anyway."

The blonde turned around. Lady Luck finally decided to give a helping hand in his quest! "Your presence here is helpful for whoever wants to mine," he offered with a smile, "as I am."

The man brightened immediately with the prospect of a kind client. "Really? Then let me lend a hand in getting you the best tools for you!" He nudged him toward the back of the shop, where the best kept items were hanged on the wall.

"Thank you." Then, "What do you know about the mines? I've never had the chance to explore them myself since I've arrived here yesterday."

"Oh, I couldn't either – dust and my nose don't get along well," admitted the man, chuckling to himself. "Everyone who knows about them calls them the 'Turtle mines' due to an old legend. It's said a huge, powerful turtle resided in there – his power was so great it was absorbed by the minerals! Ridiculous." He failed to notice Minato's un-amusement.

'It couldn't be the Sanbi, could it?' "The tale kept some away, but those who entered either had visions and never returned in there, or came out with glowing crystals and sold them at a hefty price for their beauty and rarity." Once again, the middle-aged man chuckled. "It was such a disappointment I couldn't get some of them, so I decided to sell mining tools to help the others." His face twisted into a scowl, remembering the previous client. "But I can't have everything."

Minato nodded. "I saw that man stomping away," he admitted, "and whatever his mining methods are, paper is a really strange choice."

"Exactly! But he didn't listen to a word I said!" the man exploded again in a frantic mess, waving his arms.

"Is there anyone else that requires such odd materials?"

The shopkeeper nodded heatedly. "This month five other people wanted Taisei paper, tags and ink for stone! Five!" he ranted. "Why can't miners ask for normal items?! If they wanted those things, why my shop instead of one for writing tools?!"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Five people request these things? I didn't think the other countries used those for mining."

"When I asked why, they just told me to mind my own business – those disrespectful people! All intimidating and sneering to whoever's shorter than them!" the shopkeeper kept talking, unaware of how much information he was giving. "Because they're tall like boulders, you know? Always glaring at everyone – especially at me, just because I don't have their absurd mining equipment!" He sighed tiredly, rubbing his forehead for his poor headache. "Maybe I might just buy those things, since they scare away any other customer – so much for my shop!"

The blonde glanced at Obito for a diversion, since this situation was a little sticky to get out of without the man babbling everything of this blonde kind client to the first person around. "Uuuuuncle, I'm huuuuungry!" he whined, holding his stomach and looking straight at Minato.

"Oh, just a moment!" he called back, then looked again at the shopkeeper. "Thank you, but now I have to get my nephew some dango – he never shuts up when he's hungry." He grinned with a chuckle, then slowly advanced to the door. "I'll return once I'm in need of getting new instruments. Farewell, and good luck with your shop!"

With that, Minato fled to Obito and led him to a dango shop they saw earlier, where Rin and Anko were told to go after leaving their target-shop.

They'll need to ask for more information without drawing too much attention on themselves, or worse – if rumors spread of shinobi roaming in these Turtle mines, who knows what the city would do to every ninja around.

The next area held a new chakra.

It was near the mine and a lake (if the over-sized puddle could be called that), but as long as they kept their signatures down no one without innate sensing ability would spot them. Maybe if Kurai tuned down her growls, their chance to be detected would be lower.

Meanwhile, Kurama dropped into an explanation of another barrier seal. "It could have been a medium Repulsive Barrier," the bijuu pondered aloud, referring to the first area. "It's similar to the Elemental Barriers, but it's a whole higher level – if the user keeps giving flowing chakra on a tag, the Barrier can determine the intruder's element and respond with the opposing one."

Kurama shook his gigantic head, then rested it on his paw. "But since none of the four chakra rose that much, I don't think that's likely. Unless we somehow stumbled across a Fuinjutsu user with medic-like chakra control."

"I wouldn't put it past the Timeline to do just that," Older Kakashi pointed out sourly, earning two grim nods.

'Do you know if there is one nearby in this period? Just to know if we should worry.'

"Uhm… as far as I remember, no. Maybe someone in Suna or Kumo… Kiri's Fuinjutsu users aren't very known." A shrug. "Right now, I don't think there's anyone with medic-like chakra control and seal knowledge. I would have heard of it."

Hanju's voice snapped him out of his conversion once again.

"Kakashi, what did you find? It's the second time I ask you!"

Holding two conversations was difficult, and Hanju didn't make it any easier. "There are five chakra signatures, four of which were in the other area," he answered.

The jonin nodded. "I think they made camp here before heading into the mine," he pointed somewhere west where the mine was supposed to be. "Their feet left quite the mark – I think all of them are men."

'They've been careless to put that much weight on each footstep.'

"Quite arrogant," Kurama added with a scoff. "Just because there aren't shinobi around in that moment, it doesn't mean there won't be."

"I think I recognize the shape."

An inwardly raised eyebrow from his younger self prompted him to continue. "The indents are deeper than what a normal Konoha sandal leaves with full weight," he pointed out. "Those were specifically made for slippery environment to stick better on the ground."

'What do you…' A light bulb went on in his head, brightening the mindscrape. 'Those shinobi were trained and dressed to fight in watery locations.'

"Those shinobi are from a ninja village near water."

Hanju turned around sharply, eyes threatening to leave their sockets. "And just how did you figure it out?" he asked suspiciously. This kid can't have that much experience in tracking! "These are just footprints, we can't guess their provenience without other objects – shuriken, kunai, a torn sleeve of their uniform – but not footprints!"

And here Kakashi thought he was a level-headed Inuzuka. "The indents," he quoted, "are deeper than the average shinobi sandals. Our targets had footwear made to stick better to the ground – and where do you need better adherence than water locations?"

He could see the gears turning in the man's mind, while his ninken sniffed on the footprints to get either a smell or see for herself if Kakashi spoke the truth. After an examination of the clearest footsteps, Hanju had to agree – even comparing his own ones, the marks always differed in depth. And to say these footprints were left three days ago!

"You've got a knack for tracking and picking details, kid." Hanju sighed as he admitted it, not knowing Kakashi was dancing happily inside his head. "Your ability will flourish under Minato-san's training, but I don't think you'll stick only to tracking."

"No," he chirped. "I think I'll head to the battlefield once I'm ready."

Hanju raised an eyebrow. Most kids of his age would be soaking their pants at that thought, but Kakashi merely saw it as his next accomplishment. Besides, didn't he get his unhealthy dose of terror already? "Weren't you on the reinforcements sent last time on Iwa's border? The kid Kushina-san brought in the Hospital with a severe injury?"

A tiny wince. "…Yes, it was me."

His eyebrows shot higher. "You got very, very lucky to have survived. Men died because of lesser injuries, you know."

"I know."

"And yet, your next goal is to go on the battlefield again."

"Yes." He said it without an ounce of terror, not even fear! Were the rumors about his determination true, after all? The kid of the disgraced White Fang, proving everyone wrong and putting Konoha above himself to atone his father's mistake?

They returned their full focus on investigating the surrounding area, knowing that in two hours they had to return to Shichi's gates.

Phew! I hope this Chapter wasn't too boring for you loyal readers! :D

For whoever wants to know, Taisei means "resistant". At least for Google Translator. Not the best source, but for a word it's enough. And I truly hope my lacking English vocabulary made the 'explanation' for the footprints understandable... it's the shape that's different, like football shoes (?) with those things under. On wet ground, it should leave a deeper mark than normal shoes... maybe. Forgive me for babbling! D:

Next Chapter will involve troublesome developments, Orochimaru's disbelief and Kakashi's inevitable reveal of his new powers (just to let everyone realize he's got a new Kekkei Genkai) Until next time, and beware of the Kitsune's rage! ;)

Shiiroi Kitsune21