Having hurried to get dressed following her abrupt awakening, Kisa closely followed behind her friend as he rushed the short distance through Konoha's crowded streets towards the Hokage's office, trying her hardest not to show just how anxious about their plea she was feeling. Ever since he burst through her door her heart had been racing with excitement and uncertainty; something that Takao's run wasn't helping.
"Wait up Takao!" She instructed as she jumped up and over a group of villagers in an effort to remain on his tail with a loud huff of annoyance, bringing Takao to look back at her and grin.
"No, you need to keep up! There was already a line waiting at Tsunade's door when I came to get you, so we have no time to dilly-dally!" The man replied, to which Kisa silently grunted. When they had dinner with the Hokage the night before there had been no mention of this mission, leading her to believe it must have come up at some point during the night. Could that many people really have heard of the assignment already?
It couldn't be. If a lot of shinobi were interested in the mission it meant that Tsunade had much more talent to pull from, significantly lowering their chances of being accepted for the task.
Holding any further complaints, Kisa continued to follow Takao until the two arrived at the base of the Hokage's office a few moments. Coming to a stop to catch her breath after their short yet swift sprint, Kisa looked up at the small tower and swallowed nervously as Takao grabbed the door to step inside and turned back to her.
"You ready?" He asked, holding their stare for a moment or two until the girl agreed, at which point he promptly opened the door to allow the two to step inside where almost instantaneously they were greeted by a line of Leaf shinobi extending all the way from the front door up the stairs that ascended to Tsunade's office, immediately causing the two of them to react with a hint of dismay.
"Oh man, look at all of the people!" Takao complained out loud, catching some of their fellow ninja's eyes in the process as Kisa grabbed his arm and calmly pulled him to the back of the line behind everyone else. She too was a bit discouraged by the sight of so many interested volunteers but she knew better than to make a stink about it. They were both quite new to the Hidden Leaf's ranks and many of their fellow shinobi were still hesitant to trust them, so the last thing they needed was to make a scene.
"Lady Tsunade will pick who she feels best for the mission after she had seen all those who were interested. We just have to wait for our turn." She advised despite her own hesitation as Takao sighed and reluctantly nodded.
"Yeah, I know, I know." He replied, eyeing up several of the other shinobi in line as he did so. He had seen some of them around the village before, some more than others, though no single name stood out amongst the crowd. However, what did stand out was their appearances, each giving a clue as to what their specialty as a ninja may be. Some of them wore only the traditional Konoha attire suggesting an all-rounder of sorts while others were covered in weapons, some of which were oversized just like his own. To counter this there were some who wore little armor or equipment, hinting towards ethier expertise in ninjutsu or simply taijutsu itself, offering the Hokage with a large pool of talent to pull from.
Kisa too had taken notice to the largely diverse selection of shinobi who were their to stake their claim as part of the mission at hand Like Takao there were some faces she recognized from town, some of which belong to those who she knew the name of but had never held a conversation with, though that changed after nearly a half hour passed as a young shinobi with short pink hair emerged from the office door at the top of the steps and began to descend.
"Sakura?" The woman questioned as she spotted the girl approaching them, bringing the young woman to smile and wave.
"Hey Kisa, Takao. Are you two here to apply for Lady Tsunade's mission request as well?" She asked as Kisa nodded. Over the past few months she had grown to know Sakura through Tsunade, the former of which having been the Hokage's student and now a close assistant, and being a medically trained shinobi like herself allowed them to rapidly form a unique friendship.
"Yes ma'am, along with the rest of the village." Takao replied as Sakura's own eyes to widen a bit in surprise.
"Only a day off of light duty and you're already looking to go out on some more difficult assignments?" The girl asked as Takao's smile swiftly widened.
"Of course we are! I hate just sitting around doing nothing, but I certainly don't want to keep delivering messages to the satellite stations for the rest of my life." He responded, causing Sakura to laugh lightly before turning toward Kisa, who she could tell was preparing to ask her a question.
"We were with Lady Tsunade last night around dinner time and she didn't mention any kind of assignment, has something happened? " She questioned in a quiet tone to prevent attention from the others, causing Sakura to tilt her toward the top of the stairs as her smile retracted.
"Yes, but not here. Someone attacked Amegakure a few days ago leaving many dead." Sakura responded just as quietly as Takao raised an eyebrow in thought.
"Amegakure? Huh, with how secretive and secluded they are from the rest of the world I'm surprised they asked for help." He replied with a scoff, to which Sakura shook her head.
"They didn't, but the man who attacked their village was last seen heading east into the Land of Fire, making this a problem that the Hidden Leaf can't ignore. If this is Akatsuki related this man can't be allowed to roam freely around in the Land of Fire, not after what they did in Sunagakure." The pink-haired girl replied as Kisa stared into her eyes.
She'd known that Sakura was part of the team that responded to the Akatsuki's attack on Suna and during the short time the two of them had been friends she had heard bits and pieces of her journey. This included her successful altercation with the well-known and now deceased Sasori of the Red Sand and his partner, Deidara. From how she described him it appeared that both he and Akito's personalities were far from similar, and that unlike Akito, Deidara appeared cold, heartless and quite self-centered.
It was from this conversation as well that Kisa first heard of the smallest shred of the Akatsuki's motives; capturing the world's jinchuriki and extracting the tailed beasts from them. Before Sakura shared her story she knew that the Akatsuki had captured the Kazekage and attempted to kill him as did most other shinobi across the Hidden Mist, but after hearing it was all in an effort to get at the One-Tailed tailed beast, she couldn't help but grow concerned.
In the past the tailed beasts had been used as weapons; unleashed at strategic times to cause havoc or harnessed by their controlling villages inside of a host to create an extremely powerful and dangerous shinobi, but with the Akatsuki it didn't make sense. What would they do with a tailed beast? Did they plan to seal them within themselves to harness their power, and if not, where were they keeping them?
"I'd say that's a priority alright." Takao replied as he interrupted Kisa's thoughts, bringing her to look at him for a moment and then back to Sakura.
"Did you volunteer for the mission as well?" She asked although much to her surprise the girl shook her head.
"No, not this one. I've got some things here in the village I need to attend to, so Tsunade thought it would be best if I sat this one out." Sakura replied before looking to the bottom of the stairs and then back to Kisa and Takao with a small frown.
"Speaking of which, I really must be going. Good luck you two." She added, flipping her smile into a cheerful grin before finishing her descent down and out of the office, leaving the two staring at one another before silently yet anxiously continuing to wait their turn.
After yet another half hour of waiting passed by the time finally came for the two former Mist ninja to plead their case. With some nervous hesitation, Takao reached out and took the door handle at the top of the stairs in his hand and looked back to Kisa who upon catching his gaze slowly nodded, prompting him to turn the knob, open the door and instantly bring both Tsunade and Shizune's eyes to widen and smiles to form on their faces.
"I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before they showed up." The latter stated as Takao closed the door behind him and joined Kisa as she bowed in respect before motioned to stand up straight by the Hokage.
"So you've heard, have you?" The Fifth questioned, bringing the two to look at her and nod.
"Yes Lady Tsunade." Kisa replied as Takao grinned.
"I knew something was up when I got here this morning and spotted the line forming at your door. Once I saw that I immediately rushed back home and grabbed sleepy here." He stated, instantly catching a slight hint of annoyance from the side of Kisa's eyes as Tsunade laughed.
"To be fair neither of you knew this was coming, so I don't blame you for trying to get as much sleep as you can." Tsunade replied, unaware of the real reason she was so tired though Kisa simply nodded as Tsunade put her hands together and placed them on her lap.
"So I'm sure by now the two of you have already heard all about this assignment, am I right?" She questioned, causing Kisa to shake her head despite understanding the mission's core objective. Lady Tsunade had already told her that they would not be permitted to go out on any Akatsuki related assignments, so the last thing she wanted was for her to assume they knew that this could possibly involve the nefarious organization and still proceeded to ask anyway.
"No, just some loose details about an incident in the northwestern-most parts of the Land of Fire." She stated, though as she did so Takao almost immediately ruined her plans.
"Well I mean, we heard from Sakura that a man attacked Amegakure and that he was last seen heading this way. She also mentioned that it didn't seem outwardly apparent that this man with the Akatsuki, but that his allegiance wasn't clear." He interjected, causing Kisa to glare at him and let out a sharp gasp.
"Takao." She grunted under her breath in irritation as the boy shrugged and looked at her in surprise, unsure what he had done.
"What, we did!" He replied, connecting his eyes to Kisa's as her death-glare remained. How could he be so stupid, didn't he understand what she was trying to do?!
Seeing the two's exchange, the Fifth Hokage grinned and chuckled under her breath before closing her eyes, though after a moment her smile slowly faded.
"So you do know then. Didn't we just have a conversation about this last night, Kisa? About not wanting you two to participate in these Akatsuki-hunt missions?" She questioned, bringing Kisa to bite her lip nervously as her heartbeat steadily increased.
"I know, but w-we… we didn't know what the mission entailed until just a little while ago when we got here." Kisa responded sheepishly, nervously swallowing in the process. She couldn't quite tell if Tsunade was upset or not, forcing her to tread lightly while also fighting to keep herself from backing down as Tsunade's eyes remained focused on her.
"But even knowing that the Akatsuki could be involved you decided to apply anyway." She stated, to which Kisa nodded, causing the Hokage to sigh.
"I once more have to admit that your eagerness to serve impresses me, but I fear this mission is far too dangerous for your first assignment on your own." Tsunade added, causing Kisa to grunt in displeasure as she prepared her rebuttal.
"B-But Lady Tsunade, your said that we were free to take on any missions we wanted so long as they were not Akatsuki related. We don't know for certain that this has anything to do with them, and that is why Takao and I still want to be part of this mission." She responded, forcing the Hokage's hands up to her mouth as she took a deep breath to gather her thoughts and formulate them into words that did not involve angered expressions.
"That's just it Kisa, that's the point; we don't know whether or not the Akatsuki is behind this. When this man was first brought to our attention a month ago he was nothing more than a suspicious person, but now he is far past that. His physical appearance and tactics do not match that of the Akatsuki as every encounter we've had with the group has been with pairs of them in distinct identifying attire, but at the same time the level of violence and raw destruction caused at this man's hands can not be taken lightly." Tsunade responded as Kisa bit the inside of her lip, trying to judge what she should do.
Ever since the incident in the woods she had become as loyal and subservient as she could possibly allow herself to be, taking on a habit of letting things lie rather than arguing for what she believed was right, but she couldn't just back down now. Even if this person wasn't with the Akatsuki there was a chance that Akito was out there after him too, especially given how close to the Land of Earth this all took place.
Having remained silent up until this point as he watched Kisa do all the talking, Takao quietly took a thought-gathering breath and opened his mouth to assist his partner in her plea.
"Not to sound like a smartass, but I feel like you may be underestimating our abilities, Lady Tsunade." He stated, catching a brief glimpse of concern from Kisa's eyes though he managed to calm her with a reassuring grin and wink, all as the Hokage watched on.
"Oh?" She asked, to which Takao nodded.
"Yeah, I mean… before all of this happened we faced plenty of dangerous enemies. At one point in time Kisa, Jun and I were accepting contracts ranging all the way from simple genin-level deliveries to A-Rank fugitive recovery missions. We've fought with and held our own against everything from your average scumbags to organized crime rings. Hell, we even fought Orochimaru and came out mostly unscathed. That has to account for something." He stated as all eyes remained locked to him, though the Hokage's were rather unwavered unlike both Kisa and Shizune.
"It does, but past experiences don't always guarantee success in the future. Orochimaru is nowhere near as powerful as he once was and while I unfortunately never had the pleasure of meeting Jun, I have no doubt that much of your strength during those assignments came from your close knitted and longstanding teamwork." The Fifth responded as Kisa, who had looked down at the floor at the mention of Jun's name, bit her lip.
Although Jun had been gone from their lives for nearly eight months she often found herself thinking about him, causing what the Hokage was saying to hit home. She was right to assume that they were a tight knit team as in her opinion there was no other team in Kiri closer than the three of them, and although it hurt her cause to admit it there were several occasions on the top of her head that she could recall were only victorious because of Jun's abilities, causing her to frown.
Seeing this and knowing her dismay was in reaction to the Hokage's comments on Jun as he too felt a tinge of sadness in their wake, Takao took a deep breath and returned his attention to the Hokage. He too missed Jun and knew that many of their career's successes were because of his arrogant self, but that didn't mean that they weren't capable of carrying out this mission, especially if they were to be paired with others.
"Even still, all I'm asking is that you at least consider us for the mission. Kisa and I are both ready and willing to do our part, and with Kisa's skills as a medical ninja I'm sure she would be invaluable to any team she's attached to." He concluded, bringing on a short period of tense silence before Tsunade tilted her head to the side and looked between the two of them for a moment.
Unlike Kisa it wasn't often that Takao challenged her ruling, so to hear that he too wanted to be dispatched on this mission quite badly. Why were these two so anxious to get out there? Did they really want to prove their fealty that badly or was it something else? Every bit of her was telling her to say no, but yet there was something else inside of her urging her to at least think about it, leaning her to simply nod with a sigh instead.
"Fine. Because Takao made a good point about your skills as ninja I will keep you two in mind for the mission, but I'm not making any promises." She added, causing Kisa's eyes to widen and Takao to show a small grin across his lips. She was going to consider them for the mission after all? Was she being serious?
"Right on. That's all we wanted." He responded as he looked to Kisa who subtly smiled in gratitude for his assistance before looking back to the Hokage and humbly bowing.
"Thank you Lady Tsunade." She stated as the Hokage pulled her hands back up to her mouth to hide the small, amused smile that had formed.
"Don't thank me, at least not yet." The Fifth replied before looking over her previously silent advisor, questioning without words if there were more shinobi waiting to be interviewed which in turn brought the woman to nod as she turned back to the group.
"We've got several more people interested in the mission so we have to continue with the interviews, but a decision should be reached within a few hours. Why don't you two carry on with your day and we will send for you when we've reached a decision. I'm sure you could use a day off Takao." Shizune recommended as both ninja nodded and turned to exit the room, not wanting to hog any more of the Hokage's precious time.
However, as they began to walk towards the office entrance Takao's grin widened as he stopped in his tracks, pointed his finger towards Kisa and turned back towards the Hokage and her assistant.
"Oh, just keep in mind that we are a packaged deal. If Kisa's going, so am I." He stated in a joking manner, bringing Shizune to sigh and the Hokage to form a miniscule grin.
"Takao." Tsunade warned as the man chuckled and turned back to the door, knowing better than to push his luck any further than he already had.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
Doing as they were instructed as hard as that was, the two shinobi made their way out into the streets of Konoha to take a short walk. Both knew that their chances of being accepted for the mission were still slim with how many other ninja applied to be a part of it, causing both of them to become rather anxious and leaving Kisa to believe a relaxing, mind-clearing stroll would be best.
It was still early enough in the day where the temperature was comfortable to walk around without melting while still allowing them to enjoy the sunshine, leading them to set out to find something to eat since neither of them had yet to do so that morning.
Waiting for Takao to finish the topic he had been speaking about, Kisa's eyes locked themselves to her large companion hesitantly. His assistance during their meeting with the Hokage was unexpected yet highly appreciated and although she was appreciated it she was a bit hesitant in thanking him, all because she was unsure how he had interpreted her insistence in being part of the mission.
"Thank you for helping me back there." She stated softly as she continued to look up at him, causing Takao, who had been holding both of his hands behind his head as he stretched in the sun's subtle warmth, to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Hmm? Well I certainly wasn't going to let you speak up for both of us without offering a hand. Not to brag, but I think if I would have remained silent we would be on our way back home in defeat."
"Absolutely. At least now we have a chance to be picked up for the assignment." She responded as she looked back down to the road in front of her for any sign of a restaurant serving breakfast, to which he nodded and stared at her blue eyes for a moment before chuckling to himself and looked up at the cloud-dotted sky above.
This chuckle did not go unnoticed however, prompting her to return her gaze to him as she raised a brow in question of what he was laughing about.
"Hmm?" She inquired, catching a brief glance from the corner of his eye as he lowered his left arm and placed it on his hip in thought.
"Oh, nothing. I guess I'm just wondering why exactly you want to go on this mission so badly."
Hearing his reply, Kisa continued her gaze as her head tilted a little further out of curiosity herself.
"What do you mean? I want to help the village. Things are getting worse and our new home is in danger." She stated, though after witnessing Takao simply shrugging and letting out another silenced chuckle she couldn't help but become a bit irritated.
"Why are you laughing? If you think my reason is so funny tell me why you want to go then." She asked as he laughed again.
"Uh, the money. Sure, I want to help the village, and there are plenty of other missions we could have done to do so, but this one… god. With the money this mission would bring us we would be set for years, especially if we managed to bag this high profile criminal alive." Takao replied almost instantly, bringing their sight together once more as he formed a sly grin.
"I don't find your desire to help the village funny. In fact, I find it quite noble and reassuring in the fact that Kiri truly messed up getting rid of two excellent shinobi like us. I just strongly believe you've got something else on your mind… or should I say someone else." He added, causing Kisa's eyes to grow a bit wider for a second before she could look away to avoid what she perceived as judgement and rubbed her arm nervously.
Takao was plenty capable of acting stupid at times, but time and time again he proved that he was indeed much smarter than he first appeared. She had been caught without ever having to so much as say a word, and given how well they knew one another there was little use denying what she knew he understood. It didn't take a Kage to know that she was still hurting deep because of her separation from Akito and as such he had assumed the boy had something to do with this all along, though his compassion for his best friend kept him from pushing the issue any further down the path of annoyance.
Instead, Takao took a short brief in chatter to take nice breath of humid morning air as he collected his thoughts and formulated them into something more akin to the role he had played quite often over the past few months.
"How have you been holding up, anyway? It's been about three weeks since we last talked about this, about him... you still okay?" He questioned, again catching Kisa's attention briefly before she again looked away and let out a small sigh.
"I'm getting by." She responded while thinking over the last few months and trying to filter out anything that might be worrisome to Takao. So much of what she was secretly trying to achieve by going on this mission was constantly sounding in her head as rather selfish, so the last thing she wanted to do was make him worry when it could be avoided.
"Well that's good. I know you miss him, I do too, but you have to just keep your head held high and remember that you'll see him soon 'cuz I'm sure he's missing you just as badly. Plus, he still owes me a rematch." Takao replied with a grin, though Kisa didn't find his words as easy to believe as he may have hoped. The last he saw of her was her rage-driven attempt on his life… how could he be eager to see someone who tried to kill him?
"I don't think that's true, Takao. After everything I did, after all the trouble I caused, after the pain I put him through… I doubt he wants to ever see me again." She sadly responded as Takao scoffed.
"Please, just because I am the ultimate lady killer doesn't mean I am blind to simpler human emotions such as compassion or affection, and I can tell you the last thing that Akito wants is to never see you again." Takao replied jokingly, once again catching her eye for a moment as his smile widened.
"So was I right? Does this have something to do with Akito?" He questioned, to which the kunoichi slowly nodded as she looked down in shame; embarrassed by how foolish her wishful thinking must sound, though Takao didn't seem to think so.
"You think he's out there after this guy too? Is that where he's been this whole time?" The man followed up curiously, causing her again to look into his eyes for a moment before shaking her head in uncertainty.
"I… I don't know. Ever since the incident with Kiri I've been holding my breath, hoping that Akito would just show up here out of the blue... but so far that hasn't happened. In all honesty I don't know if he's even alive. My heart tells me yes, but nobody's heard from him or Iwa about his condition. We don't know if he ever came out of his coma or if he's still in it because of what I did… and that's killing me." She responded in a disheartened tone as Takao shook his head.
"Stop. You know as well as I do that it would take more than that to Akito out, and if he hasn't returned to Konoha yet, and he really is out there looking for them, I'm sure he has a good reason why he hasn't stopped to see us." The man replied to reassure her as she slowly nodded in agreement.
"I know, and it's because of that I've been fighting the urge to go out there to find him myself. I have this strange feeling that Akito's out there by himself, still looking for his cousin or any traces of the Akatsuki connected to him… that's why I've been trying so hard to be assigned to the Akatsuki assignments, as selfish as that sounds."
Having finally heard the truth, Takao slowly shook his head at her confession.
"I don't think that's selfish, Kis. You care about him and you're worried about his safety. I'm worried about him too, though admittedly not as deeply as you." He joked as the girl's eyes remained locked to the road beneath them as they continued to walk despite the fact that her cheeks involuntarily darkened to a light shade of red.
"I just thought that maybe if he actually is out there I might run into him and that I… that I would finally get a chance to apologize for everything I've done." She continued as the man beside her stared at her for a moment.
"Akito doesn't want or need an apology, Kisa. I'm sure that just knowing that you came out of that horrible situation safe is enough for him… but, I guess this gives us all the more reason to get on that mission, hmm?" Takao question in response, bringing Kisa to look towards him just as his own eyes grew with the appearance of a place he felt would be suitable for their breakfast.
"There!" He exclaimed as he pointed to the restaurant with a large sign of eggs and rice hanging above it's front door in the distance, cutting off the girl as she prepared to reply, though to her that was fine. Talking about Akito was causing her emotions to flare up and the last thing she wanted to do was seem a mess in front of the Hokage when they returned to hear her verdict.
"Alright, let's go." Kisa responded as Takao stepped forward ahead of her towards the restaurant, only to turn and look back at her after a short second with a grin.
"And don't worry, I won't say a word to Lady Tsunade about the real reason you want to go on this mission. It will be our secret." He said with a smile as Kisa formed her own small grin as she nodded her head in appreciate before silently following behind her starving companion into the restaurant, although just as she was about to step foot inside something caught her eye; a man standing on the rooftop across the street staring at them.
"Wait." The girl muttered as she turned to face the figure, trying her hardest to make out his features amidst the almost blinding early-morning sun. She could see he was wearing the traditional Konoha shinobi uniform as well as blue bandana forehead protector and she could also see he had shoulder-length bangs framing each side of his face, but before she could make out his full facial appearance the man quickly disappeared back into the village, leaving her staring up at nothing as Takao turned to see what it was she had seen.
"What? What was it?" He questioned, at which Kisa turned to him then back to the rooftop. Even though they had been part of Konoha's populace for several months now it was not uncommon for them to spot curious eyes lingering on them, especially those in the shinobi community who knew of their true origin, leaving her with little but a slight bit of curiosity as she sighed and turned back into the restaurant.
"It's nothing. Let's eat." She stated, causing Takao's grin to return.
"Sweeeeet."
Following their breakfast and a short bout of browsing the street shops around town, both Kisa and Takao returned to the lobby on the ground floor of the Hokage's office to await news of Lady Tsunade's decision. It was only a little past noon at the time of their arrival, but with so much at stake both members of the duo found it hard to focus on anything but the pending mission.
This feeling of impatience was apparently not only reserved for them however, as around the large, round room were several other ninja who found themselves unable to go home, some of whom had been sitting there for the duration of the day.
After sitting until almost three or so and having won his eighth round of cards against one of the other Konoha shinobi waiting to hear if he had been selected for the assignment, a young man about his age with dark black hair tied back behind his head into a short ponytail, Takao stood up from the table he was at and stretched before pulling the few coins he had won through their bet towards him.
"Looks like I won again, boyo. You obviously are not the best at chip games, eh?" He taunted harmlessly, causing the man to sigh as he sat back in his chair and placed both of his hands behind his head in frustration.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just hurry up and deal the next hand. They could be coming to get us any minute now and I need to win my money back." He argued as Takao laughed under his breath and sat back down.
"Alright, alright, keep 'yer shirt on." He replied as he grabbed the deck of cards, shuffled it and began to distribute it once more, all while eyeing up Kisa as she sat alone on a couch in the distance; her hand subconsciously gripping what he knew was Akito's necklace underneath her shirt. As the day progressed he had watched her anxiety continuously grow and her talkative mood diminish as was her usual, though he was doing his best to keep her out of it as defined by his responsibilities as her friend.
"Remember that time Jun gambled away all of our earnings at that illegal street casino before he could get them to us?" He questioned aloud while readjusting the toothpick he had been chewing on in his mouth and upping the ante at stake, causing Kisa's eyes to look up at him.
"Yeah, I do." She responded fully knowing his intentions to take her mind off everything they had talked about earlier as Takao laughed to himself and pulled his next card.
"We had to convince the guy who won that two thirds of that money wasn't his to gamble, which at first the man didn't believe, but… we convinced him otherwise." He added, bringing his opponent to look up at him to see if this was meant to be some sort of foreshadowing as Kisa continued to stare at Takao, forming a small grin in the process at the memory of that day.
"Hmm. That was the day we decided that Jun was no longer allowed to collect our bounties alone." The girl replied with a small, silent laugh, causing Takao to chuckle once again and shake his head.
"Yeah, and we made sure the guy he lost to kept his portion. He was so mad, but rules are rules." Takao said as his opponent played his hand with the intent of winning.
"Well it's only right. Even if you managed to get your cuts back, this partner of yours rightfully forfeited his own." He stated as Takao looked at the hand that had been played and nodded with a facial expression showing that it was indeed a respectable move.
"It was indeed the right thing to do. We tend to abide by doing the right thing… just like this." He responded before placing his own hand on the table, yet again winning the game and the bet for himself as his opponents let out an exasperated groan of annoyance.
"Are you kidding me?!" He growled as Takao clapped and then rubbed his hands together victoriously.
"That's right! Give 'em here!" He exclaimed as Kisa shook her head, though just as he pulled the winnings towards his pile the door at the top of the stairs opened, followed shortly behind by footsteps heading straight towards them.
Knowing the sound of those footsteps well, Kisa's eyes immediately widened as she sat straight up at attention with the others in the room before being graced by Shizune's caring smile as she came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and looked around at those who had been waiting, causing Kisa's heart to race as fast as it possibly could. This was the moment they had been waiting for; they were finally going to know.
"Alright everyone, Lady Tsunade has made her decision." She stated as she locked eyes with the nervous black-haired girl with a smile before looking down at her list to see if the names indicated below were present in the room or if they had gone about their business.
"Tamiko Aburame, are you here?" She questioned out loud as a hooded woman wearing a long trench-coat like cloak stood up and put her hands in his pockets, bringing Kisa to shift her attention to the girl. She had taken notice to the shinobi earlier in the day, sitting by herself without a word at the far corner of the room, though until now she had been completely unaware of her status as a member of one of Konoha's Aburame clan.
"Yes." She replied in a monotone voice as she stepped forward towards her, beckoning Shizune to smile and nod before looking back out into the room as she read the next name on the list, once more causing Kisa to hold her breath.
"Koji Nara?" She questioned as the man sitting across the table from Takao snickered and stood up.
"Sure am. It's about time you came down, the climate here was just starting to get a bit stale." The man stated as he looked down at Takao with a sarcastic smirk reciprocated by the former in earnest.
"Sore loser." He uttered with a chuckle under his breath as Tsunade placed the clipboard in her hand back at her side, causing Kisa's heart to sink into her stomach. What was it? Why wasn't she calling any more names? Surely he couldn't have been the only one in this room to be picked, could he?
Swallowing nervously, Kisa again tightly grabbed the necklace around her neck as her mind slowly began to come to terms with the disheartening reality that she would not be going on the mission after all, though just as her attention fell to the floor in defeat Shizune turned her attention to the girl.
"Kisa." She stated, instantaneously bringing the girl's eyes to dart up to her own, meeting with the warm, caring smile that Shizune had prepared as she let out a small laugh at Kisa's reserved nature.
"You're next up." The Hokage's assistant stated, causing Kisa to jump to her feet without delay, her eyes wide with both relief and excitement. She couldn't believe it; Lady Tsunade really chose her to be part of the team, even after her annoyance at their application earlier? Could this really be the case?
Not wanting to wait any longer Kisa quickly walked towards Shizune and the other two shinobi selected for the mission while trying to hide the uncontrollable smile expression of relief and happiness on her face.
"Yes ma'am." She said as she came to a stop by Shizune's side and looked back towards Takao who, upon being left standing amongst the other rejected shinobi, held his hands out in annoyance.
"Ey, what about me?!" He barked as Shizune's face grew exasperated and deadpan.
"I was getting there, but you're too impatient to wait fifteen seconds." She stated in annoyance as the man's grin returned and too quickly made his way to Shizune's size with an almost child-like giggle before stopping beside Kisa and leaning on her shoulder with his elbow.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" He asked as he stared into Shizune's glare long enough that she simply sighed and motioned with her head back towards the stairs.
"The rest of you, thank you for your interest but the positions have been filled. Be safe out there." She stated before turning and guiding the four shinobi up the stairs to Tsunade's office.
Stepping in the Hokage's office the group came face to face with Lady Tsunade herself once again, this time after having passed her selection and prepared to receive the mission's full briefing. Filling into a line before the large wooden desk, the five selected shinobi stood by one another's side in silence as they waited for Shizune to shut the door so that the Hokage could speak.
"Welcome back everyone. As you can probably guess I have chosen the four of you for the task. I apologize, but with the extremely dangerous environment we find ourselves walking into with these reports I had to make sure I was creating a team I knew I could trust to not only get the job done, but return safely when it was all over." She began as the door latched closed, eyeing up the range of talent in the room as she did so.
"Many of you know some of the details, but I think it's time you understand just what it is you will be investigating. First and foremost, however, I will state that at this time we don't know if this mission is Akatsuki related, so caution must be exercised at all times." Tsunade continued as she placed a tan file folder on the table between herself and her fellow shinobi; the name of the man in question clearly written across it's cover.
"The mission will be to locate, gather information on and, if possible, apprehend a person of interest; a figure known only as 'Ibaraki'. We've known about this presumed man for a month or so now, but until he'd remained low on our priority list until now until a few days ago when he made his way into Amegakure and unleashed an attack on the village, leaving dozens dead, including many civilians, before fleeing the village east toward the Land of Fire." Tsunade stated as the man identified as Koji hummed in thought.
"Attacking a village, huh? After what happened in Suna it sure sounds like the Akatsuki to me, but it doesn't match their motives. As far as we know Ame has no jinchuriki for the Akatsuki to steal, so what would he want there?" He questioned aloud as the Hokage's eyes turned to him to listen intently.
"Not much is known about his motives and even less about his affiliation and abilities, but as you can imagine for one man to take on dozens of shinobi on his own an inflict enough destruction that we hear about it, he must not be taken lightly. Especially if he is wandering around our homeland uncontested." She replied before turning to her right as through the open window a Konoha shinobi appeared and came to a stop beside her.
"Ah, there you are. I was about to send Shizune out looking for you." Tsunade stated as all eyes in the room shifted to the man; his featureless white eyes immediately identifying him as a member of Konoha's most prolific noble clan.
"I'm sorry Lady Tsunade, my preparation took a bit longer than anticipated." He apologized though the Hokage simply smiled and turned her attention back to the shinobi in front of her.
"For those of you that don't already know, this is Tokuma Hyuga. You will all be answering to him directly, as he will be the team leader for this endeavor." She said, instantly causing Koji, who had known Tokuma since childhood, to groan under his breath.
"Tokuma is in charge? Aww man, this is going to be a disaster." He complained sarcastically much to Kisa's surprise, bringing both Tsunade and Tokuma's eyes to narrow on him in annoyance.
"I have the utmost faith that Tokuma is the right choice to lead this mission. He has sound judgment and has had plenty of experience tracking targets with his unique gift, so I request that each of you listen to his instruction as if it were my own and without question." She replied in a stern voice, reluctantly bringing Koji to nod as Kisa's attention again returned to the Hyuga in the room who, much to her surprise, bore a striking resemblance to the man who was watching them earlier in the day.
She couldn't say for certain if this man truly was the one who followed them do to just how far away he had kept himself during his sighting, but everything seemed to match perfectly. His outfit, the bandanna on his head as well as his tied bangs to each side of his face; it was all there, but why? Why would their future team leader be following them around the village? Was he trying to test them, or was it something else?
Turning his attention from his friend to the other shinobi he had been assigned to lead, Tokuma focused brief on Kisa and Takao, moving on to the latter after Kisa's eyes moved away from the embarrassment of having been caught staring.
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade. As the Hokage has said I will be in charge of this assignment, and despite Koji's doubt, I assure you that I am fully prepared to make sure this mission goes according to plan, is successful and that each of us returned alive." He stated as looked to the Hokage for permission to take over before stepping forward and took the file folder on the table in his hands at the nod of her head.
"By now I'm sure that the Hokage has explained most of the details, so I won't repeat them. We will be heading north to the last known location of this Ibaraki and will begin our search from there. He is reported to be wearing a cloak similar in color to our own flak jackets underneath a unindicative grey set of soft armor, while his face appears to be covered by some sort of hard mask. Sources say the mask resemble a demon of sorts, but we've only received a single report of that and the intelligence department believes that is not accurate." Tokuma continued as Tamiko chimed in.
"I question the validity of any reports coming in from witnesses. Ame is rather secretive and traditionally uncooperative with Konoha, so it is very possible that the refugees could have been instructed to lie to hide what may have really happened there." She stated to which Tsunade nodded in agreement.
"Agreed, but it is all we have, so we will have to take into account anything our operatives were able to find out." She stated, bringing Tokuma to agree as well before looking back down at the papers in hand.
"Now onto the assignments for the mission. Each of you were chosen for a specific reason based off of your skillset, so starting off; Tamiko, you will be assisting me with tracking the target." Tokuma indicated, bringing the woman to nod as Koji grinned, knowing well that his clan's secret restraining techniques were already going to play a key part in his role.
"Let me guess, I'll be responsible for disabling him when we find him, right?" He questioned, to which Tokuma nodded before moving on to Kisa.
"Kisa, you will be our team's medical shinobi." He stated as the girl nodded, though after doing so the man looked back to Tsunade and then to Kisa once more.
"I understand this will be both you and Takao's first official mission as Konoha shinobi, and your first time doing so after a rather traumatic incident, so I feel I must ask; are you confident you will be able to perform your role to the fullest?" He questioned, causing Kisa to bite the inside of her lip, but out of irritation as well as worry.
The importance of a medical-nin in squad tactics was understood universally throughout the shinobi world; it was her responsibility to keep the team alive and fighting when times got tough, and it was also important for them to know that they could count on her if need be. Did he not trust her, or was this purely precautionary?
Swallowing nervously after a brief pause, the girl turned to Takao and with the help of his soft grin and silent confidence drowned her uncertainty and nodded in a sheepish yet confident manner.
"I am. I won't let you down." She replied, bringing Tsunade, who had remained silent to let Kisa speak for herself, smiled.
"Don't worry Tokuma. Kisa is one of the best medical shinobi I have seen in recent years, and I stand by my statement from the spring that Konoha is much better off with her in our fold." The Hokage stated as Shizune nodded, to which Tokuma looked back to Kisa and nodded.
"Alright. I believe both you and the Hokage, so that leaves us with Takao." He stated as the large blonde man grinned from ear to ear.
"It's cause of the swords, right? I figured." Takao chimed as Tokuma tilted his head a bit to the side.
"Strength and combat effectiveness." He responded, bringing Takao to shrug.
"Same difference." The man responded, leading Tokuma to close the file folder, move it to his side and look over the team briefly once again before taking a deep breath.
"Well, that's it then. We will be heading our first thing in the morning, so take the rest of the day to relax and get your affairs in order. This could possibly turn into an extended operation so make sure to pack for such; at least a week's worth of clothing and provisions, and dress warm. It may be summer but the temperature up north could be unpredictable and it looks like rain may be in the forecast." He stated as he motioned for them to dismiss, but not before Tsunade stood up from her seat and folded her hands before her.
"I know all of you will do your best out there, but just remember that no mission is worth your life, nor the lives of your comrades. If Ibaraki proves too difficult to capture, fall back and we will devise another plan. There will always be another day… he will still be out there." She ordered as she looked to Tokuma and then the others before focusing on Kisa with a smile, causing the girl to freeze.
What did that mean? With the way she was looking at her she was almost certain that was directed towards her, but her smile showed more understanding than disappointment. Was it possible she knew about her crazy plan but still agreed to let her go?
Her eyes still connected to the Hokage's, Kisa snapped from her thoughts at Tokuma's final order to dismiss and bowed with the others before following Takao down the steps towards their home; her heart still racing and her mind still ripe with uncertainty, though she had no choice but to force herself to look past it.
Tomorrow was a big day and she needed both rest and a level head, for this was the chance she had been waiting for, and she couldn't risk messing it up. Akito was out there chasing this Ibaraki too, and she was going to find him. She just knew it.