Part 2: Chapter 5

(Narrator POV)

The morning of their separation Sakumo woke Kakashi up with a few gentle shakes of his shoulder and playful pokes to his ribs whenever his son tried to roll away from the offending motions. The elder Hatake found the actions cute, but wouldn't dare mention that to his son least he find himself on the receiving end of one of Kakashi's patented 'glares of death'. The older man wouldn't admit it to his son, but he also found the glares adorable. They reminded him so much of another death glare given out by a feminine pair of green eyes.

"Come on Kakashi, you've got to wake up and get ready for the day's travel."

"Go 'way."

Sakumo snorted at his lazy son. Perhaps it was just age, but Sakumo could clearly remember a time when Kakashi didn't need this kind of prompting to get up. There was once a time when Kakashi was the one waking Sakumo up for an early morning run or training session. Smiling, Sakumo reached for the blanket underneath Kakashi and harshly tugged it out from underneath him. The sudden movement jolted Kakashi awake and Sakumo soon found himself on the receiving end of one of Kakashi's glares.

"Did you have to do that?"

Sakumo nodded, "Everyone else is already awake and getting ready. Can't have you being late, now can we?"

"Fine, fine, I'm up."

Sakumo smiled as he watched Kakashi scramble around the empty room to find all of his stuff. It was funny how Kakashi maintained the same routine he had at home. He always made sure his supplies where in order before making a trip to the bathroom and this morning was no different. The only difference with this morning and all the others was that Sakumo wouldn't see his son for at least half-a-year. The man couldn't remember a time when he didn't see Kakashi at least once a week, if not every day. It made Sakumo wonder just how much trouble he was going to be in with Nozomi once he saw her again on the other side.

"Don't forget your conductors; those might come in handy later."

"I won't dad."

As Kakashi continued carefully checking over his supplies, Sakumo fought an inner battle. On one hand, he was proud of his son. Not very many shinobi his age or rank were assigned highly classified missions as the one Kakashi was going on. On the other hand, Sakumo feared for Kakashi. Feared so much that it kept him up at night and constantly nagged him during the day. Becoming an assassin was stamping Kakashi's future as a professional killer and something told Sakumo that his son was going to be very good at what he did. It wasn't the killing part that bothered Sakumo; the act itself was an everyday thing for shinobi, but being an assassin opened up a whole new area of killing for Kakashi. Sakumo was a tracker and very rarely had standing orders to assassinate his targets. Kakashi, on the other hand, would have orders to kill political figures, women, children, and anybody else that simply knew too much. Kakashi's future line of work was tainted with darkness and Sakumo couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the darkness swallowed his little boy up.

"Dad? Hey dad! Old man! You're not listening to a word I say! Sakumo!" Hearing his name brought Sakumo out of his thoughts as he turned to look at the smirking nine-year-old standing in front of him. Kakashi's head was tilted upwards with that smirk plastered to his face and a devious look in his eyes. "Listening now?"

Sakumo rolled his eyes and tried hard not to think about how he could see that same smirk on another face. That same devious look too. Sakumo shook his head, for some reason he couldn't get his late wife out of his head this morning and something told him that it had nothing to do with Kakashi leaving. It suddenly dawned on Sakumo exactly what the date was; it was the day after Nozomi died. Funny how things work out. "Sorry 'kashi, I didn't hear you. What did you say?"

The smirk was still there as Kakashi took on a teasing tone, "Age finally catching up to you? How old are you now, fifty?"

Sakumo's left eye twitched dangerously as he lunged forward and scooped Kakashi into his arms to pin him on the bed. Kakashi kicked playfully back and laughed uncontrollably as Sakumo found the ticklish spot along Kakashi's side. "I'll have you know that I am twenty-nine-years old and have three more months before I even hit thirty."

Kakashi rolled his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest. "So? That's still old."

"You're going to give me a complex if you don't stop that," Sakumo grinned evilly, "little boy."

"Now who's giving who a complex?"

Sakumo chuckled before letting go of Kakashi and sitting beside him on the bed. For what seemed like forever, Sakumo watched his son catch his breath and calm himself down. Only the elder Hatake knew how to get his overly uptight son to act like the child he was supposed to be, well only him, Minato, and a certain blonde haired girl. Even after the little display of age, his son's maturity level amazed him sometimes and there were things he said that made Sakumo truly wonder if his son wasn't the reincarnation of an older man. Sometimes Sakumo would listen to Kakashi speak and hear him say phrases and words that he knew his child hadn't gotten from him. There were even times when the tone of Kakashi's voice would take on a coldness that only war hardened veterans developed, the same tone that sent shivers up and down the spines of those around him. He couldn't exactly place what was different, but he knew something was off with Kakashi.

Sakumo shook his head before looking back down at the boy, maybe he was overreacting. Kakashi was growing up on the battlefield. That alone was bound to have some affect on him. The father wouldn't worry about it now; he had other pressing matters to attend to, like saying goodbye to his son.

Sakumo sighed and pulled Kakashi up to sit on the bed. "I think it's time we get serious, because soon it'll be time to leave."

"Okay."

"I don't know if you realized what yesterday was, because I know it snuck up on me, but yesterday was the anniversary of your mother's passing."

(Kakashi POV)

I think forgetting the anniversary of your own mother's death is just about as low as dancing over her grave. I couldn't help but feel horrible because I simply forgot. I couldn't even use the excuse of being in a war because I remembered last year, I remembered.

I looked down at the ugly, flora printed carpet and mumbled out a soft 'sorry'. Dad immediately shook his head. "No need to be sorry, because I kind of forgot too. She's been gone for eight years now and I…." Dad broke off and stared out the window. My mom's death was still an open wound for him. I knew it and anybody else that was around him knew it. I reached for his shoulder, but he shook it off and continued talking. "She's been gone for so long that I have to fight to remember certain things about her and sometimes I fear that I would forget her completely if I didn't have you."

Dad reached over and grabbed the mask that was pooled around my neck. I never wore the thing to bed, but always put it on first thing in the morning. He pulled it up to rest across my nose. "Whenever I pull this up all I see are my features. You have my eyes, hair, and ears." He pulled the mask back down around my neck. "But when it's down, I see so much of your mother. You have her chin, nose, lips, and even those adorable dimples."

I glared at him, but he only laughed. "And don't get me started about the glares and smirks. All things she gave you." He stopped laughing and reached into his shirt to pull on the chain that carried his dog tags. "The reason I'm mentioning all this is simple, when you're with Minato in some hostile land I want you to remember something. Never forget that we fight for not only our Hokage, but also for our precious people. I fight for you and your mother's memory, what are you going to fight for?"

I knew exactly what I was fighting for. I was fighting for a better future, one that didn't involve my student razing Konoha to the ground. One that didn't involve watching Naru's knuckles bleed after others refused to acknowledge her hard work. One where my dad would stand beside me strong and proud, not buried deep into the back of my memory. I was fighting for a future that didn't involve total destruction, but I couldn't tell him those things because they wouldn't have made any sense to him.

It didn't matter anyway; Dad didn't wait for my answer. All too soon he was removing something from the chain around his neck. He reached for my dog tags and unhooked them before sliding a strangely shaped object onto the chain. The hard rock-like object was nearly pure white, but had the strangest swirls of gold wrapped around it. Plus the entire thing was formed into the shape of fang. I raised an eyebrow at the object before looking up to meet Dad's eye.

"What is it?"

"You don't remember this, but the day after your mother's funeral I requested a week long mission to Suna because I needed to get out of the village. Of course, the Sandaime denied my request. I understand why now, but at the time I was very angry and distraught. I left you with Miki and spent a few days in the Forest of Death. I ended up completely shattering the end of my tanto in a fit of rage." He touched the object and smiled sadly. "At first the blacksmith said he wouldn't be able to fix it, but he miraculously managed to cut the sword down and sharpen the end. I had to re-teach my body to handle the shorter blade, but at least it wasn't completely destroyed."

"So this is the piece that broke off?"

Dad nodded, "Yes, but that's not why it's shaped that way. Nozomi made me promise to not burry her in her wedding ring. I don't understand why, but she said I would someday. So I took our wedding rings and the piece of my tanto and had them melted down. Then had the jeweler forge the entire thing into an amulet in the shape of a fang. Our clan has such a connection to our canines that I figured it was a nice nod to them and a way to keep the bands together."

"And now you're giving it to me?"

Dad nodded his head once again before tucking the fang amulet into my shirt. "I want you to have this, so whenever your training gets tough or you get tired, I want you to remember that I'm rooting for you here and your mom is rooting for you on the other side." Dad pulled me into a hug and held me tightly against his chest. "We're both so very proud of you. Please Ka-chan promise me you'll do everything you can to come back to me safe and sound."

The traitorous lump of emotions in my throat tightened as I hugged back and made promises that I hoped to the heavens above I could keep.

The next couple of hours passed by in a blur of whirlwind emotions and unrecognizable scenes as everyone scrambled to get where they were going. Ronin took control of Dad's squad and they headed out towards Kusa with Jiro leading Sensei's squad following close behind.

Dad and I were the last ones standing by the entrance of the little village as Naru and Sensei said their goodbyes. Dad's hand gave my hair one last affectionate ruffle before he took off with Jiraiya and Naru. It was definitely a bittersweet sight.

"Chin up 'kashi, you'll see them again."

I turned to glare at the red headed woman. "You're ruining the moment Kushina."

She rolled her eyes and walked over to stand beside me. She nudged me with her elbow. "This kind of reminds me of all those sappy romance stories. Ya know where the boy watches his girl walk off into the sunset." I looked up at her and instantly didn't like the twinkle in her eyes. She leaned down and whispered into my ear. "So should we tell Minato now or later?"

I looked up at her with confusion. "What do you mean now or later? And what are we telling him?"

Kushina rolled her eyes before pulling me over to the side. "Well, I ran back to the room last night for a quick shower after you and Naru left. I was dirty, sweaty, and in a rather foul mood, so imagine my surprise and delight when I walked upon the cutest scene I had ever had the pleasure of seeing." She grinned at me and crossed her arms, "I saw what happened between you and Naru, especially you kissing her."

I could feel my eyes widen as I frantically tried to fight down that annoying blush. "That wasn't what you think it was! It was just a friendly peck on the forehead."

Kushina smirked evilly. "Oh really? Naru seemed to like it a little too much for it to just be a peck on the forehead. I bet if you would have stopped moving she would have returned the favor." I was determined to not react to what she said. Nothing she said was going to bait me enough to answer her. I was a shinobi and had the strength to ignore her. I would survive this. She got right by my ear again and giggled. "Perhaps even on the lips."

Naru kissing me on the lips? As if. A kiss on the cheek or forehead was one thing, but on the lips? I don't see that happening anytime soon. I was so caught up in denying Kushina's words that I never noticed Sensei stalking up behind us.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing Sensei!"

I wasn't scared of him, but he had a tendency to go into 'overprotective daddy mode' whenever someone mentioned Naru was growing into a very pretty girl, especially if that someone was a boy. I didn't know what the man would do once Naru started dating, but I foresaw me and him spending many a nights scaring boys away from our Naru. I remembered how well she grew up and how nice she looked once she stopped wearing that hideous orange jumpsuit. She was going to be a looker, God help Minato once she started dating.

Kushina grinned my way as she walked over and looped her arm with Sensei's before ignoring his disbelieving look. "Oh nothing dear, just chatting before you two leave. Have fun, be safe, don't die, and don't forget to change your underwear."

I raised an eyebrow at Kushina as Sensei snickered and leaned down to give her a long kiss. Seriously, they kissed for almost two whole minutes before finally drawing away and giving each other another hug.

Sensei smiled at her softly as he took a deep breath. "Let's get going Kakashi. We've got a long road ahead of us."

I nodded and followed after Sensei, but not before turning around to give Kushina a final wave, which she returned with a blown kiss and a wink. I shook my head at the red haired woman, between Naru and Kushina, Sensei's home life was never going to be boring.

Sensei looked back that Kushina one last time before nodding my way and pointing forward. "Race ya to the check point!"

"You're on Sensei!"

I didn't know what we were racing to or even where, but I could only hope we weren't inadvertently racing towards our deaths. I didn't remember this mission from my memories of the other timeline and felt like I was running blind. I didn't know what to expect and that was a strangely thrilling thought. I wonder what this year will bring.

(Narrator POV)

Minato and Kakashi ran for two straight days, stopping only for short breaks. They didn't know very much about their mission, but they did know the window of opportunity to get inside Iwa was very small. They had to not only meet up with their third teammate, but also go over the mission objective before sneaking into Iwa. Bad thing about not knowing anything was that they had to constantly be on alert. The mission scroll from the Hokage gave little to no directions as where to find their third teammate, just the community name and a secret phrase that she would answer for them. They would ask 'do you know when the bird flies' and she would answer 'the bird flies before the cat can catch it'. The pair hoped their third teammate wouldn't be too terribly hard to find.

The two stopped in a small fishing community right outside of Iwa, the place their third teammate was supposed to meet them, and waited along the banks with some of the local residents. A huge festival going on so Kakashi and Minato's drab, unremarkable henges drew not even the slightest attention their way; in fact the other residents ignored their presences. Both were dressed in muted browns and grays, even their hair color took on the same drab brown color. Needless to say, they were undistinguishable and easily forgotten in the large crowds walking throughout the village.

Minato and Kakashi were walking through the village looking for any sign of their third teammate when something bright and loud caught Minato's complete attention. There in the middle of the street was a rather beautiful woman dancing enticingly for a large crowd of people. Minato stopped Kakashi in mid-step and pointed at the woman clad in clothing that left little to the imagination. There was something about her that caught Minato's attention more than it should have.

The woman looked to be younger than Minato, but there was something mysterious about her. Her long, black hair fell unbound down her back in loose curls, moving perfectly with her as she turned for her audience. The long sheer white skirt she wore was thin and nearly see-through, but fitted her curved hips perfectly. The top of the skirt was embellished with gold designs and fell right below her bellybutton, where a small gold ring shimmered in the sunlight. The male eyes of the crowd hungrily took in the valley of naked, tan skin between the top of her skirt and bottom of her blouse, if the little strap of cloth could be called that. Her chest was completely covered by a small tan half-vest that tied up the front, barely keeping her breasts from falling out before the crowd.

Kakashi looked to where his Sensei was pointing and gave the older man an accusing look, as if to remind the elder shinobi he had a girlfriend back home. Minato shot Kakashi a silent look before dragging the young boy towards the street show.

By the time they got over there, the woman was working on her third trip around the open circle. Clad in her nearly see-through skirt, the woman swung her hips slowly in time with the beat of the drum behind her. The crowd watched, too mesmerized by her to pay attention to anything else but the woman dancing. As her hips enticed the men in the crowd, she unhurriedly lifted her hands to tousle her hair as the beat of the drum increased in time and rhythm. Slowly, she brought her hands down to caress the back of her neck and undo the gold chain that resided there, it fell down her body and hit the ground by her bare feet.

She stepped over the discarded chain and reached into the side of her skirt to pull out two thin paper fans. As the drum increased to a heart racing beat, the dancing woman snapped open her fans and continued the swinging of her hips.

Minato's blood raced as did Kakashi's, but it wasn't because of the woman slowly untying the top two strings of her vest. No, it was because of the warm breath blowing across Minato's back and the cold voice that whispered in his ear.

"I love crowd mentalities. All of them are so stupid, vulnerable, and weak right now that it isn't even funny. I could easily do away with any of their public officials and they wouldn't know what happened to them until after gypsy here finishes. Hell, I could start randomly killing people in the crowd and they wouldn't notice until it was too late."

Minato pushed down the shiver that threatened to work its way up his back and simply laid a heavy hand on Kakashi's shoulder. Something told him that he wasn't going to get along well with Kakashi's instructor.

Kakashi looked up at the figure behind Minato and smirked. "Weak and vulnerable are the same thing."

"Whatever kid, I don't have time to care about my vocabulary. Let's go before someone gets an idea."

Minato shook his head and looked back over at the woman that was now dancing with one of the young men from the village. "Do you know when the bird flies?"

Kakashi watched as the woman's frown twisted into a smirk. "Yes, the bird flies whenever he damn well pleases." Minato turned to glare at the woman as she gave out a barking laugh. "Geez, lighten up. The bird flies before the cat can catch it."

Minato nodded and nudged Kakashi to follow the woman. She was leading them out of the little community and into the countryside. Kakashi turned around once more to watch the finale of the street show, only to see the woman toss and large scarf over her head and disappear completely. They left the community just as the loud shouts of shock and glee erupted around the street.

(Kakashi POV)

About thirty minutes later, I found myself face-to-face with the woman that correctly answered our question. She could have easily been the gypsy woman's twin, except her hair was a shocking shade of artificial blue. Well, that and the fact that she was fully clothed in the standard ANBU uniform, minus the arm guards and grey armor.

We walked a little further until we reached a tent hidden in the tall grass of a large field. The blue haired woman motioned for us to enter the tent before walking in herself and putting up a privacy jutsu.

She grinned widely as she introduced herself. "I am Tsukiko of ANBU. No, that isn't my real name, just my codename, and no, this isn't my natural hair color. You can both drop the henges so we can get acquainted."

Sensei and I both dropped the henges at our teammate's request.

"Namikaze Minato."

"Hatake Kakashi."

She looked me over before shaking her head. "You really are a Sakumo clone. I thought they were lying, but it's almost like he cloned himself and then shrunk his clone."

"I resent that."

Tsukiko laughed before sitting down in front of us. "It's nice to finally meet both of you. I've read your files the entire way over here and couldn't wait to see how accurate they were. Well, Minato, Kakashi, let's get started. I have two jobs here, one is to make sure our mission is carried out and the other is to train Baby Fang over here to become an assassin."

I was really starting to dislike my new teacher.

Sensei sighed before holding out his hand. "Do you have the mission scroll?"

She nodded and pulled a scroll from the inside of her black vest. "Of course, here it is."

I moved closer to Sensei and read over his shoulder. Our mission was to infiltrate the family of one of Iwa's top advisors, Abe Fudo, and take him down. He was a new advisor to the war council, but his fresh ideas and insider information of Konoha wasn't sitting well with the Hokage. He needed to be stopped soon. I kept looking at the name on the sheet and reading about the guy's family as I tried to remember where I had seen that name before. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, Abe Fudo was the same consult I tricked on the mission I took with Dad. I looked at the picture on the next page and automatically recognized the same bright red hair and blue eyes.

"I've met him before."

Sensei and Tsukiko looked over at me with identical questioning looks on their faces. "Really? Where at Kakashi?"

I looked over at Sensei, "Back on that mission with Dad a few years back. He had the scrolls about Konoha's supply lines and stuff."

Tsukiko grinned, "Good, then you know about his soft spot for children? He has a son and recently adopted a little girl. Both are your age and they're his pride and joy. Those children are going to be how we get you into his inner circle."

Sensei dropped the scroll and glared harshly at the ANBU. "So Kakashi's going in there by himself?"

"Sometimes he will be and sometimes he won't. He'll be fine either way, but we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Let's start from the beginning. We're going into Iwa as a small farming family hoping to find income in the main village. My parents were close relatives of the Daimyo of Tsuchi, but they disapproved of our marriage and disowned me. It was such a horrible memory that I refuse to speak of it, so now we're stuck searching for income. My name is 'Nemoto Kazumi' and since I was at once a lady of wealth, I would work very well in any wealthy setting. You are a very unsuccessful farmer that is better suited for gardening than anything else. Your name is 'Nemoto Minori'. Baby Fang here is going to be called 'Nemoto Hikaru'."

Sensei raised an eyebrow at the information she supplied us with. "Did you have to get that detailed with it?"

She nodded her head, causing her blue bangs to move into her eyes. She flicked them back with her thumb. "We have to have all of our information down. A sob story gets us sympathy, especially one they can't prove or disprove. If I'm disowned then no one would speak of me. If the officials asked the Daimyo then they would deny my existence. Plus, there are so many unsuccessful farmers that it would take them years to find out if you were real or not. Then we have Baby Fang, his existence wouldn't be on record because he was born in some backwoods town. We have to make our story not only believable, but also vague."

I sighed, "Okay, but what do we do once we get inside of Iwa. If we're so poor how are we going to afford an apartment?"

She smiled my way, "That's the beauty of Iwa kid; we're going to live in a cave."

I shot Sensei a 'she better be joking look' before turning back towards her. "Seriously?"

"Yep. This way I have a place to train you without drawing suspicion upon ourselves. We'll live in a cave until one of us gets a job close enough to Fudo's property, then you're going to get a chance to shine."

Sensei frowned. "What is he going to do?"

"His job is ultimately going to be to kill Abe Fudo, but first he has to get in good with the family. I'm going to train him right Minato. Don't worry, with my teaching he won't fail this mission."

Sensei's frown deepened as Tsukiko called it a night and bid us to do the same. "We're leaving bright and early in the morning. We need to get into Iwa before noon so we can get there just in time for the lunch rush. The guards tend to get more lax in their standards around that time."

I nodded and lay down beside Sensei. Suddenly I didn't know if this mission was going to be as fun as I originally thought it was.

(Narrator POV)

The trio woke up the next morning before the sun came up. Tsukiko then spent the next half-hour meticulously going over how their henges should look.

Tsukiko settled for glossy black hair and piercing green eyes, she claimed that even though she was no long a woman of wealth, a lot of her habits would still be intact. No matter how poor her husband was she would continue to try and look her best. Though, her dirty and torn clothes made up for the look of poverty she was going for.

Minato henged his sunny, yellow hair into hair the color of mud, but was allowed to keep his eyes the same. Tsukiko claimed he needed some quality that she could claim she found irresistible.

At first Tsukiko didn't exactly know what to order Kakashi into. They really needed to stay in the same black to brown hair color range in order for his genetics to remain unchallenged by Iwa's idiotic guards, who really didn't understand genetics at all. Finally, the ANBU decided Kakashi's hair was going to mirror hers and asked the boy to henge his hair into a less shiny shade of black. Kakashi's eyes remained the same shade of gray, though, Tsukiko liked them the way they were and didn't want them to change. Kakashi's clothes mirrored the dirty, torn look that Minato and Tsukiko's did.

"Okay, one final thing and then we can get going. Lift up your shirts and pull down the left hip side of your pants."

Minato crossed his arms as he glared at the younger woman. "Why?"

"Cause Iwa has henge detectors at each entrance gate now and in order to keep your henges from breaking I'm going to put a high level seal on each of us. That way only a large amount of chakra will dispel the henge and even then the henge will probably still stay on. It's a drain on the chakra system, but it's easier and safer than trying to keep the henge up during that part of our entrance."

"Okay fine, just hurry up."

Once everyone was dressed and henged correctly, the trio took off towards the north and slowly headed into Iwa. They were a civilian family now and couldn't blow their cover, no matter how irritating it was to have to walk the long distance.

(Kakashi POV)

We automatically knew when we were close to Iwa's borders, because the ninja guards were everywhere. Well that and the fact that everything got less green and more brown. Iwa was surrounded by mountains and each mountain seemed to have its own shinobi patrol squad. I bet the number of shinobi patrolling the borders was triple what it was the last time I was in Iwa. Well, I guess war does that to people, makes them paranoid.

"Stop right there you three!"

Sensei and Tsukiko stopped in front of me, making me stop too. I could see the tensed muscles in Tsukiko's back as she turned to face the bearded shinobi that yelled at us. Sensei automatically took on the role of the protective husband and father as he pushed both of his behind him to speak to the shinobi.

"Yes, shinobi-san?"

"State your business here."

"We're hoping to find work inside the village. Our crops failed this year and it was either starve or move to the village. Starving isn't an option that I like picking."

The bearded man walked over and around us. He looked thoughtful before he grabbed my shoulder and dragged me away from their side. Sensei took a step forward, but was held back by two more shinobi that appeared from the side of the road. Tsukiko was also grabbed by a kunoichi.

"Well, look what we have here! The boy's old enough to enter the Academy and he doesn't seem to have parents. I think we've found ourselves an orphan."

Sensei weakly struggled against the men holding him. We had to stay in character, so I managed a whimper and reached for their hands. The bearded man holding me just tugged harshly against my arm. I wanted so badly to smash my fist into his nose, but I restrained myself and let my body follow his.

"What the hell do you think you are doing shinobi?"

The bearded man immediately let go of my arm as he turned to look at the little man standing menacingly in the middle of the road. It was none other than the kage of Iwa himself, Onoki. It's surreal to think I was standing mere feet away from the enemy himself and couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"No one ever gave you clearance for stuff like this. You should be ashamed and you will be. Take them through the scanners and then send them over to the immigrants division. Your mission for the next few days is to find them work, food, clothes, and a home."

The shinobi bowed low to the ground and apologized profusely before shuffling us into the village gates. I could see the anger in Tsukiko's eyes and figured it was the same anger I felt. Seeing Onoki was a once in a lifetime thing, but the timing for us wasn't right. We wouldn't have survived if we tried something against the man. It was better for us to just stick to our mission and complete the one assigned.

After the shinobi took us through the nightmare that was the checkpoint, we were ushered to the immigration office. The office was literally a hole in the wall of a huge mountain that surrounded Iwa's inner village. They weren't able to offer us much help there, regardless of what the Tsuchikage ordered. The bearded shinobi, whose name I found out was Fumio, looked absolutely worried as he paced around outside of the immigration office. He looked to be wracking his brain for any kind of idea as to what to do with us.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened and he grabbed Sensei's hand. "I know where you can find work! Abe Koji is always looking for hired hands and maids. You may recognize the surname, he's Abe Fudo's younger brother."

Mentally I was rejoicing. This was great on so many levels; if Abe Koji accepted us then we had an opening to get to Fudo. I quickly turned to look at Sensei and Tsukiko; they both looked apprehensive, but hopeful. I just hoped Koji would agree.

(Narrator POV)

Koji did agree, but Kakashi soon found himself wishing the man wouldn't have. He looked a lot like his older brother, except smaller around the waist. He had the same bright red hair and blue eyes, but Koji's were far colder than the warmth Kakashi remembered in Fudo's eyes. There was something about Koji that sent shivers down Kakashi's spine and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something screamed 'danger' about the man.

The good thing about working for Koji was that the Abe family had a close bond between them. In fact, their houses were connected by a hallway. It gave the three Konoha ninja the perfect opportunity to get Fudo when the time came. Another good thing was the Konoha Nin's housing. The Nemoto family wasn't allowed to stay in the main house, because the entire servant housing floor was full, so they were given a small cottage in the very back of the grassy field that ran towards the mountains. Not only was the cottage nearly hidden by rolling hills and brush, it also was near several mountainside caves. Kakashi could now learn the tricks of his new trade without having to worry about drawing suspicions to himself.

'Kazumi' was immediately set to work as a maid in the main house. Koji evaluated her and determined that, with her background, she would be better fitted where the more important visitors were. The Abe family wasn't strangers to entertaining and required the best for their guests. 'Minori' was placed manning the gardens. Luckily for him he actually listened whenever Naru tried to talk to him about the different plant species found around the villages. 'Hikaru' was sort of in limbo. He wasn't old enough to have a set job, but Koji did like to put him to work running small errands around the estate. His real job was to get acquainted with the Abe children and get close to Fudo, but as their first day slowly formed into the first month in Iwa, they saw neither hide nor hair of the other Abe brother.

Finally, one night after Tsukiko came back from the main house she sat Kakashi down and tapped her fingers against the kitchen table. The cottage was a quaint little thing and fully furnished, but it wasn't home. Tsukiko found herself hating it more every day. She quickly put up a privacy jutsu before beginning her speech.

"It's time we start your training since Minato is gone and won't interrupt us. You know he'll never understand your line of work. Neither will your father, but you can't worry about that right now, you need to focus on everything I'm going to tell you. Becoming an assassin isn't something you can do half-assed. It takes time, patience, discipline, and above all, silence."

Kakashi watched with a strange excited light in his eyes as Tsukiko began moving around the room. "I'm going to teach you to step without making a sound, to walk in a room without moving the air, to entice the mind with just a flick of the wrists. Kid, I'm going to show you how to walk into a room, kill your target and walk out like nothing ever happened. I'm going to teach you to love the darkness and hate the blinding light. I'm going to teach you pain. I'm going to teach you suffering and I'll teach you pleasure. I'll teach you everything you need to know to succeed in this line of work and survive in this line of work." She grinned Kakashi's way. "So, are you ready?"

Kakashi nodded once as the door opened to reveal a very hot and sweaty Nemoto Minori. He waved at them both before disappearing into the bathroom. Tsukiko grabbed Kakashi's hand and dragged him out the door, towards the caves behind the house. Once inside, she practically threw him to the ground before lighting a small candle she had confiscated from the cottage.

"Lesson number one. As an assassin, silence is your lifeline. You're supposed to be a deadly killer, so walk like one. I'm going to sit here and I want you to sneak up on me."

The silver haired boy slowly stood up from his position and as lightly as he could, walked over to the woman sitting on the ground. She sighed and yawned loudly. "I knew you were there the exact moment you got up. You're too loud and being too loud in this profession gets you killed. How would daddy feel if you were brought back in a body bag, if we could even get to your body?"

The nine-year-old felt his blood run cold in his veins. The thoughts of his father finding his dead body were too much for him. He shoved down those traitorous emotions and glared at the woman before him. "There show me what to do."

"Of course. You sit here."

Kakashi huffed and crossed his arms as he strained to hear even the tiniest sound, only to hear nothing. Sighing, he uncrossed his arms and strained his ears. That's when he felt the cool metal of the kunai against his neck. In a voice of complete awe Kakashi waited until she removed the kunai before turning. "I didn't even hear you. You have got to show me how to do that."

Tsukiko smirked. "No problem kid, but it will take some time. If you'll listen closely to everything I say then you'll get it just fine." Tsukiko squatted down and held her hands out in front of her. She reached down and gripped Kakashi's sandal. "First things first, make sure your sandals are made of softer material, yeah they wear out sooner, but it's better than your clunky sandals giving you away while you're milliseconds away from assassinated the kage of another village. Always make sure to test your sandals out before you buy them too, because each sandal feels and sounds differently." She pulled Kakashi to a standing position and began taking off her sandals before motioning for him to do the same thing. She walked towards the back of the cave, without making a single sound.

"Now, walk towards the back of the cave and tell me what you hear."

Kakashi did and could hear nothing but the echoing thud of his feet lightly hitting the floor. "I hear my feet."

"Yeah, but you should feel proud, that was a whole lot quieter than any other beginner. Did someone teach you to walk on the balls of your feet?"

Kakashi nodded and smiled proudly, "My dad did. He kind of specializes in tracking so I used to have to try my hardest if I wanted to sneak up on him."

"Don't let my compliment go to your head, you're not great, but you're better than bad. I can still hear your feet though. Come back and we'll go over the next thing."

Kakashi did as he was told and stood before the henged woman. They had to stay in henge because of the possibility that someone could stumble upon them. It was weird, but doable.

"Next thing we're going to talk about is wrappings. From now on I want you to tightly wrap the ends of your pants as tightly as you can. The looser your pants around your legs, the more noise they make when they rustle together. We'll worry about that later though; we can't do much about it right now. We can talk about your breathing. You do really good for a kid with your breathing, just try to keep it regulated and even. Please don't even try to hold your breath during an assassination because that is just begging for trouble. Breath evenly and slowly."

Tsukiko tapped her finger against her chin as she tried her hardest to remember more pointers to give Kakashi. "Ahh! Remember to always place the heel of your foot down first and then rotate your hips forward slightly so your toes can gently hit the floor without much sound. I think that's everything, so let's give it a try."

Kakashi quickly tried to recall all of Tsukiko's pointers and thought he was doing well as he walked across the cave floor once for her, but the displeased look on her face told him differently. "This henged thing isn't working for me." She looked out towards the opening of the cave and saw the sun setting. "Tomorrow we'll try this again, but without the henge."

Kakashi nodded and the two left back towards the cottage.

(Kakashi POV)

Unfortunately for me, Tsukiko wasn't pleased with my progress on stealth. I was okay, but I wasn't excellent or so she said. She was getting this rather devious look in her eyes that only grew and burned brighter as day one developed into week one. We had already been in Iwa for a month and hadn't accomplished a single thing. I was beginning to get discouraged. I'm pretty sure Sensei was too.

While Tsukiko was working in the main building, I was in the cave practicing. I was determined to get the stealth part right, even if I broke something while doing it. It was my determination that made me start experimenting with my stealth skills, because I could vaguely remember having a hard time with lightly walking in the other timeline, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what I did to remedy that problem. It was right on the tip of my tongue and yet I couldn't figure it out. I started off by crouching low to the ground, but that position was too uncomfortable. It wasn't until I started tensing the muscles in my thighs and walking on the outer edges of my sandals did the whole stealth thing start feeling right.

It was like a light bulb clicked on it my head and suddenly the tension in my body felt familiar. I knew this feeling and had used it many times before when I was stalking a target. I couldn't wait to show Tsukiko later.

I quietly waited inside the cottage for Tsukiko to come back from her day of cleaning and charming the other maids of the Abe estate. She was exhausted, I could see it in the way she walked and ran her hands over her face. I waited until she turned around before I exited my hiding space and slowly made my way towards her. Focusing on my breathing, the tensed feeling in my legs, and the ever so slight rolling of my feet, I walked forward. She didn't notice me until I had a kunai placed in the middle of her back.

Her breath hitched and she slowly turned to grin at me. "Good job Baby Fang, you finally surprised me. I do want to say that you did get a little noisy about halfway across the room. If you ever make another noise like that then freeze completely. Don't shift and just wait until your target plays the noise off, like I did." She reached over and ruffled my hair. "Put your henge back up and then get ready for lesson two."

I did as she asked. Tsukiko was a hard teacher, demanding and impatient, but we respected each other. Unless she was calling me 'Baby Fang', then I lost all respect for her. "Lesson two goes hand-in-hand with the first lesson. You know how to walk now, but can you walk through a room without being seen or felt? You've got to learn how to glide through a room of people without setting off their warning senses. This is a skill that can't be taught though. It's one you pick up as you grow and learn." She looked out the window of the cottage, back towards the large estates and grinned. "Better sooner than later. The Abe family is having a rather large party this evening. We're going to practice your skills on them. Henge into some nice clothes and be ready in five minutes."

I nodded and disappeared into the small bedroom Sensei and I shared. He was sleeping on the bed; his day was split between tending the gardens and sneaking around Iwa. Every chance he got, Sensei tried to sneak off of the ground and searched for any extra information to give back to Konoha. So far he was successful in his endeavors, discovering several unmarked ships that were supplying Iwa with goods. Somewhere there was a supplier that didn't want Konoha to know about their involvement with Iwa.

"Come on kid!"

I sighed and quickly left from the room.

(Narrator POV)

Kakashi and Tsukiko traveled the length of the yard and entered the estates by the back doors. The party was already in full swing with many couples dancing and chatting around the large grand ballroom. Tsukiko pointed towards the floor and led Kakashi down there before slowly walking into the crowd.

Kakashi watched in amazement as the crowd swallowed her up, but didn't seem to notice her presence. Her chakra and aura around her were perfectly calm, showing no apprehension or fear, and her whole being screamed leisure. The young boy was itching to give it a try. Tsukiko made her way back across the length of the floor and smiled as she stopped beside the boy. She nodded towards the crowd and watched as the younger shinobi calmed his chakra and emotions before walking into the crowd.

Amazingly, no one noticed the young boy walking amongst them. Well, almost no one. As Kakashi was walking around the floor in circles, a brown haired girl ran over to him and bowed. "Hello! I'm Abe Takara."

Kakashi took a small step back and looked at the girl in front of him. She was about a year older than him, with soft brown hair and light blue eyes. He bowed back to her before introducing himself. "Nice to meet you. I'm Nemoto Hikaru."

"Well, would you like to come play with me Hikaru? My brother is staying with my grandparents for the year and I get a little lonely."

Kakashi blinked and looked back at Tsukiko, who was waving him forward, and begrudgingly nodded. He really didn't want to go with the girl, but he would if it meant getting closer to Fudo then he would do it. The girl led him all the way out of the ballroom and into a hidden passage right outside the ballroom's door.

She turned and giggled. "Papa says this passage goes all over the house and was at one time a servants passage, but now we get use it to play hide n' seek."

Kakashi was mentally taking note of the passage and filed it away as a potential getaway later. He halfheartedly answered the older girl. "Oh really? That's cool. Your dad sounds fun."

She nodded and continued to drag Kakashi down the passage. "He is. He's the main advisor to the war council now, so we don't have much time with him, but when he's home he does all sorts of things with us."

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly as he turned to look at the brown haired girl dragging him after her. He couldn't help but ask, "Who exactly is your dad?"

"Abe Fudo."

All Kakashi could do at those words was resist the urge to laugh uncontrollably. He was literally being dragged by the same girl that would get him in his target's good graces. Life was definitely ironic.

"Tag you're it."

Seeing as she was his target's daughter, Kakashi ran after her.

(Kakashi POV)

I didn't return to the cottage until well after midnight when Takara was forced by another servant to call it a night. The girl had taken me all over the house, showing me all the secret passageways and hidden rooms. She was a nice girl, but I couldn't help but feel horrible that I was going to eventually kill her father.

When I entered the cottage I was bombarded with questions from both Sensei and Tsukiko-senpai. Sensei looked worried and Tsukiko looked excited.

"Kakashi! What happened?"

"Yeah Baby Fang, tell us what happened?"

I took a deep breath and recounted my adventures from the past few hours. "The girl is Abe Takara, adoptive daughter of Abe Fudo. She's ten-years-old and about four months shy of her eleventh birthday. For some reason she instantly liked me and hopes she can see me again. She took me on a personal tour of the estate, every secret passage and hidden room."

Sensei frowned deeply, causing wrinkles to sprout across his forehead. "This almost seems too good to be true."

Tsukiko shook her head. "No, this is perfect for us. I can now teach Kakashi his next lesson since he has someone to test his skill out on. According to the mission scroll, Abe Takara has always been known to be extremely naïve and easily swayed. She's pretty much destined to be a trophy wife with no other redeeming quality."

Sensei turned to Tsukiko and glared. "That's a little harsh to say about a little girl. She's barely old enough to know what a kiss is let alone old enough for someone to make those judgments."

"Does it matter Minato? She's the target's kid, not someone you should concern yourself with."

Sensei quieted, but still didn't look pleased. I turned to Tsukiko and sighed. "You said she works out perfectly for our next lesson. What is our next lesson?"

She grinned and I very quickly realized I didn't like the look in her eyes. "Your next lesson is enticement."

Enticement? She wasn't talking about seduction was she? Sensei apparently thought she was. Both of his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as he stood up and towered over her. "You're going to teach a nine-year-old boy enticement? Seduction? He's a child!"

Tsukiko stood up and didn't back down from Sensei's angry form. "It's not like I'm going to teach him how to have sex. All I'm doing is teaching him little tricks to charm not only this girl, but future people. An assassin is only as good as their talents and I'm sorry, but sex and sensuality are important keys to getting close to a target."

I understood her point and she was right. Sometimes there were times when an assassin needed to watch and interact with their target before finishing them off. I looked over at Sensei before moving to poke his arm. He stopped his glaring at the woman to look down at me. There was sadness in his eyes that I didn't understand. What did he honestly think she was going to teach me?

"Sensei, it'll be alright. I'm sure what she has to teach me isn't horrible."

He shook his head and sighed. "Why don't you go outside for a minute? I need to talk to Tsukiko for a minute."

I did just as he asked because something in his tone dared me to disobey him.

(Narrator POV)

Minato stood looking at Tsukiko with his arms tensed by his sides. The look of pure anger on his face sent shivers down Tsukiko's spine, but she didn't let it show. She retaliated with her own harsh glare and strong stance.

"What's wrong with our next lesson Minato?"

"Enticement? Seduction? He's a child and shouldn't even know what sex is, let alone how to stimulate arousal."

"Why are you being so damn blind? He has to learn these little tricks so he can get himself out of sticky situations later on. Minato, I'm not teaching him to grope a woman, but I'm going to teach him how to move, speak, and charm his way into any house, office, building in any of the villages. You've seen firsthand how enticement can get a mission completed, or did my little gypsy show not catch your attention?"

Shock developed across Minato's face as the realization dawned on him. "You had a clone do the gypsy routine."

"Yes, I did. Minato, I'm not going to turn your student into a whore or even teach him sexual acts, but I will teach him how to charm this little girl."

Minato sat down and looked at the table. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Sakumo is going to kill me."

"No he won't. He won't ever find out about this training. Kakashi isn't going to tell him, because what son in their right mind would tell their father about this training? Don't worry about Sakumo; focus on your part of the mission. Honestly, what do you have to fear? You forget that enticement has two definitions. Yes, enticement can attract arousal, but it can also attract hope. Everything I'm going to teach him is strictly human interaction and it may come in handy later, he's obviously going to be in ANBU one day and this training could help him with those emotions."

This time Minato pinned Tsukiko to the ground with a heated glare. "I was in ANBU for two years. I remember the missions and I remember the fine line between charm and seduction."

Tsukiko looked at the ground before quickly looking up to meet Minato's eyes. "If I promise Kakashi will stay far away from the seduction missions, will you let me start his training?" Minato closed his eyes and nodded his head once. "Good, I'm beginning today."

Minato let her walk outside to join Kakashi while he sat at the kitchen table with guilt settling heavily in his heart. ANBU was filled with nothing but darkness and horror. It made Minato truly wonder how Sakumo felt about the whole thing. Did he realize Minato was allowing some ANBU chick to turn the silver haired little boy into a weapon that used everything from the weapons in his pouch to his body to get a target? How long would it be before someone told Naru she had to learn the fine art of enticement before she could continue further in the ninja world?

Suddenly Minato found himself wanting to retch.

(Kakashi POV)

The next two months passed by in a flurry of secret meetings, hushed training sessions, and daily meetings with Takara. Sensei didn't like what I was learning to do. I could see it in his eyes whenever I walked into a room or tried to talk to him. Something akin to guilt was eating him up and god forbid Tsukiko try to give me a pointer in front of him, because that look not only increased, but he literally looked like he was going to be sick. I didn't like the distance between us, this was supposed to be our time to come together, not fall apart.

Finally I decided I was going to confront him on the issue. Tomorrow would mark day one of Tsukiko's experiment to get close to Fudo. Takara had practically glued herself to my side since the first time we met and using the information I was picking up from her I was confident about my ability to carry out my mission. I would start charming Takara tomorrow so today was the day I needed to talk with Sensei.

I found him sitting underneath a large cherry blossom tree basking in the shade. He looked over at me and waved me over. "You okay Hikaru?"

I nodded before sighing. "Are you mad at me?"

He shook his head. "No, not at you, but at life in general. I guess I just want you to stay a child a little bit longer."

I quickly scanned the area around us before turning back to him. "You do realize she taught me stuff like how to present a flower to a girl and how to hold her hand right?"

Sensei broke out into a smile and chuckled. "Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that, but the word 'enticement' just brings up all sorts of other images that I don't want you doing any time soon."

I grinned at him and rolled my eyes as he ruffled my hair. "You worry too much."

(Narrator POV)

Tsukiko sent Kakashi out of the house the next morning in a nice set of clothes and neatly combed hair. She claimed he had to look his best so Takara would see him instead of the dirty clothes. Minato wished Kakashi good luck before taking off to his position. He had finally caught sight of Fudo a few days ago and was able to confirm the man was actually on the grounds.

Kakashi instantly jogged over to the hiding place Takara used whenever she was waiting on him. The maids didn't like it whenever they played together so the other girl had to sneak out of the house if she wanted to see him.

"Hikaru! Over here!" Kakashi mentally prepared himself before running over to see where she was at. Today the older girl was dressed in a pair of old shorts and shirt, much different from the elaborate dresses she wore on other days. Kakashi grinned at her as she tugged on his hand. "We're going to explore the southern side of the grounds today! There is a small forest there; it's the only one within three miles of here. There's no telling what we'll find over there."

Kakashi's fake enthusiasm was just enough to be believable to the girl as they took off from their hiding place to the southern side of the grounds where there was a small patch of trees growing near the bottom of the mountain. Takara let go of Kakashi's hand as she ran around the tree and tried to wrap her arms around the base of it. Kakashi watched as she hugged the tree before calling him over to help her, she couldn't fit her arms all the way around the tree, but with his help they would be able to do it together.

She was right; with Kakashi's extra arm span they were able to hug the tree tightly all the way around. Takara laughed before tightly grasping Kakashi's hand again and pulling him deeper into the patch of trees. The girl was almost exactly like Tsukiko described her, but Kakashi found her infectious laugh endearing. Plus she had the same kind heart as Naru and never seemed to meet an enemy. Whenever they would stumble upon a small animal Takara would quietly crouch forward and watch the little guy with rapid attention. It made Kakashi think of Naru and for that he was glad.

As the day continued, the two traveled closer towards the mountain and found a small waterfall that trickled down the mountainside. It was completely hidden from the rest of the forest and the two had to duck under several overgrown bushes to get to it. As they looked over the baby waterfall, Kakashi became hyperaware of the fact that Takara was cupping his hand.

Tsukiko's words echoed in his head as he looked down at their hands. The first step in any relationship is holding hands. If you get the opportunity, gently grasp her hand and intertwine your fingers with hers. Nothing says 'I like you' better than sweetly holding her hand. Now if you were older then I would say caress her wrist with your thumb, but ignore that for now.

As Takara was watching the water fall down the mountainside, Kakashi gently moved his hand down to intertwine their fingers together. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Takara's body jump and her cheeks rush with blood as their hands intimately intertwined together. He gave her hand a soft squeeze, which she returned, and smiled to himself. A part of him wondered if he should feel guilty about leading the poor girl on, but he squashed back that thought. He had a job to do.

Minato and Tsukiko sat up waiting for Kakashi to get back and both watched him closely as he walked into the room. "So Baby Fang, how'd it go?"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Good, I guess." Tsukiko gave him a look that screamed 'you better give me the answer I want before I make your life miserable'. Kakashi grinned, "We held hands."

Minato looked relieved before slyly grinning. "How did she react?"

"She blushed a lot so I guess she liked it."

Tsukiko was beside herself with joy. "We're going in the right direction with this one. Now, let's see what tomorrow holds!"

The next morning, Takara was waiting outside his door with a Popsicle. Kakashi took the frozen snack before raising an eyebrow at the girl. "Isn't it a little too early eat these?"

She laughed and shook her head 'no', causing her hair to fly around her shoulders wildly. "Popsicles are good anytime of the day." She looked down at the ground. "Plus this was the only thing I could sneak out of the kitchen and I really wanted to bring you something this morning."

"Oh, okay."

Tsukiko's voice was back inside of his head, drilling him on proper etiquette. If she gives you a gift, no matter how small, you have to find one to give her. Don't you dare let her think she doesn't mean anything to you or she'll get discouraged and you won't get where we need you to go.

Kakashi knew he had to think fast so to distract the slowly frowning girl, Kakashi grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a patch of flowers in the middle of the field. These grew naturally in the tall grass of their backyard so they weren't any of the ones Minato had to take care of during the day.

Takara watched with bright eyes as Kakashi handed her his Popsicle and knelt down to the patch of flowers. After a few minutes of careful thinking, he reached down and plucked a white daisy from the growing patch. Kakashi turned and looked into Takara's eyes before smiling and placing the flower sweetly behind her ear.

Takara's eyes widened and her blush returned with full force as she handed Kakashi back his Popsicle and touched the petals of the flower in her hair. Softly, with her eyes shining, she thanked him and gently intertwined their fingers before pulling him after her towards their hiding place.

(Kakashi POV)

Those first few weeks were kind of awkward for me. I was skillfully playing this girl, but somewhere along the way I actually started to like her. Not in the cute, romantic way I was pretending to, but in a sort of friendly way. She was cute and adorable, but she was also part of the mission. I made sure to keep that fact straight in my head; she was part of the mission and nothing else.

Tsukiko-senpai had a breakthrough the other day; she actually got to meet Abe Fudo after four months of being in Iwa, she finally got to see our target. Their meeting didn't last but a few minutes, but it was long enough for Tsukiko to put a chakra sensor on the man. Now she would be able to follow him regardless of where he went. Sensei also had a breakthrough, he met Fudo's wife. The woman loved what he was doing with the outside garden and moved him inside of the house. Everything was falling in place, except I still had yet to meet the man.

Takara and I were getting along fine, but I wondered if she would eventually introduce me to Fudo. She talked enough about her adoptive father that I was sure I would have met him by now.

"'kara?"

"Yes 'karu?"

Petnames, number five of Tsukiko's lessons. She made damn sure she covered everything. I loathed my job right now. Takara was nice and I was just lying to her. I would be eternally grateful when we finished this mission.

"You talk about your dad a lot. How come I've never met him?"

She blinked before biting the tip of her thumb, a habit I notice she had whenever she was thinking deeply. "Well, he's been really busy lately, but he's home right now. Come on, let's go meet him."

I know my eyes widened as she took my hand and dragged me towards the main house. As much as I wanted to meet the man, I hadn't expected it to be this very minute. I quickly calmed my breathing and chakra as we ran into the house and up the stairs all the way to the third floor where a large door was slightly opened at the end of the hallway.

Takara let go of my hand and pushed the door open. "Papa! I'd like you to meet Nemoto Hikaru!"

Well, she and Naru shared another common trait; they were loud whenever they were excited. Fudo hadn't changed since the last time I saw him. He still was rather large around the waist and had that same warmth in his eyes, for just a moment I wondered if he really had to be killed.

"Hello Nemoto Hikaru. I've met your mom already, but hadn't had the chance to meet you." Fudo's gaze shifted to the flower in Takara's hair before shifting back to me. "So you're the one that's been entertaining my daughter. I'm glad she's found such a great friend here on the grounds."

I bowed low to the man and smiled at the floor. "Takara is a really good friend of mine. I'm glad I found her."

"I'm sure you are. Now, I'm very busy can you to do me a favor and go play outside. I promise to come find you two later."

He did come find us later as we sat underneath the same cherry blossom tree Sensei and I sat under days ago. For the next few hours he chased Takara around the yard and laughed along with her. I slowly detached myself from their sides and made my way back to the house where Sensei was washing dishes. He looked over at me and smiled sadly. I think he could see the question in my eyes and one my face. Did Abe Fudo have to die?

He stopped his chore and walked over to pull me into a hug. "Tsukiko's not here right now, she's checking out something at the dock so you're free to speak."

My throat was tight as I looked out towards the main house. It really was a beautiful house; the tan color was set off nicely by a warm red roof. "The more time I spend with Takara and Fudo, the more I question this mission. I know he's an enemy of Konoha, but why does he have to be so nice Sensei? Why can't he be the same evil persona we associate all Iwa people with?"

Sensei sighed and let me go. "Because it's easier to train children to kill someone if they think they're bad. The Academy senseis knowingly lie to their students and pray they never find out the truth, because learning the truth compromises the mission. We both know all of Iwa's people aren't ignorant barbarians, but believing that makes it easier to complete our missions. Fudo is a nice man, but this nice man is planning the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of Konoha citizens."

I understood that part, but spending time with the family was dangerous because I was slowly beginning to like them. "Will it always be like this?"

Sensei nodded and placed his hands on my shoulders. "I hope it always is. The day you stop feeling bad for doing your job is the day you lose every bit of humanity we've work so hard to instill in you. Emotions separate us from animals and the ability to cry, feel pain, and remorse keep us from turning into emotionless machines. Yeah, it hurts to know you're manipulating a young girl in order to get close enough to kill her father, but this is for your village and for your precious people. It'll get easier, but it will always hurt."

Sensei's words flew around my head for the next few days as I traipsed around the grounds with Takara by my side. She kept saying she had a special surprise for me. She claimed I would love her surprise and be 'eternally grateful to her'. I couldn't help but wonder if somewhere in her young mind she imagined herself in love with me or rather Hikaru. Did she dream of growing up and marrying the black haired boy? Did she dream of Hikaru loving her back with the same intensity? Girls thought about that stuff, right?

A few hours later I found out exactly what her surprise was. After a lot of talking with her father, he was permanently moving me into the main house so I could act as his personal errand boy, just as I had done with Koji in the beginning. I would leave behind my 'parents' and live in the house where I would be easily accessible by Fudo. I was literally being placed just feet away from my target. Life couldn't get any easier for me at this point.

Takara giggled and twirled as she showed me to my room, just a floor above hers, and pointed out certain things in the room. I sat on the large bed and watched her skip around the room. She looked happy, so very happy with getting her heart's desire. She bounced back over to me and blushed slowly as her brown bangs fell into her eyes.

"I really like you 'karu, a lot."

Her face was right before mine and Tsukiko's voice was shouting loudly in my ear to do something, but I couldn't hear what the memory was saying. All I could focus on was the fact that Takara looked like she was going to kiss me and how fucking wrong this all felt. All I could think about was the absolute sacredness of a girl's first kiss and how hers didn't deserve to be with me, a liar and her father's soon-to-be murderer. I wanted to clench my fists and push her away, but I had to stay in character, and it didn't help that her soft, too soft, hands were ever so gently squeezing mine that I didn't have the heart to push her away.

Then, all of a sudden I felt her softer lips against my own. I can feel her fleshy lips pressed firmly against mine as she attempts to mimic every single kissing scene she's ever seen. She's trying too damn hard to impress me. It's sloppy and inexperienced and so clumsy that I want to laugh, but she's putting her all into pressing her lips against mine that I can't ruin her confidence like that.

She pulled away slowly with that blush stamped hotly across her cheeks. Her eyes are bright and wide, she looks like she's waiting for me to do something, but my mind was completely stopped. Finally, I realized what she was waiting for. I braced myself and leaned forward to whisper back a lie that I hoped she couldn't detect.

"I like you too, 'kara'."

I leaned forward and closed the distance between our lips again and gave her an innocent kiss. It's still sloppy and feels oh so wrong, but she's enjoying it to the fullest. I just gave away my first kiss to my target's daughter, but not before taking hers.

It's official. I'm taking the express route straight to Hell.