The next weeks fell into a simple routine, Kakashi would wake up early, start some coffee, wake up Naruto, get some breakfast for the two of them. After cleaning up, Kakashi and Naruto would head to the Academy where Naruto and Masahiro would talk about something, and if Sasuke was around, the three of them would talk and it would be loud and high pitched. Thank kami that Harumi would be there to translate the three of them.
After dropping off the boys at the Academy, Kakashi and Harumi would decide who would pick up the boys, most of the time it was Harumi and she would take the boys over to the training grounds on the Nara compound and the boys would do their homework and then train. Once the plan for the boys was finished, Kakashi would run to ANBU headquarters where he would change into his ANBU uniform and head out to one of the ANBU only training grounds.
There, Team Ro would meet up and go over maneuvers or sparing, or anything else Kakashi could think of to make sure his team was in the best shape for an unknown mission. After a number of hours of training with the team, Kakashi would then train by himself, bringing himself back to his best, getting faster with his hand signs, perfecting his taijutsu and ninjutsu. He would train until it was time to go and pick up Naruto.
Grabbing Naruto and getting dinner, either with the Shimizu family or some fast takeout would start the final part of the evening. After dinner, some reading, a shower and it was bed time, only to start again.
The wait before being called into action was a bad place to be for long. Shinobi would get restless, which leads to carelessness which means someone is taking a trip to the hospital to get healed. It also leads to pranks.
Which was why Kakashi was currently looking at himself in the mirror, staring at the bright yellow hair sitting on top of his head. He went to sleep with his hair silver, he was sure of that, which means either someone came into his room in the middle of the night, or someone had done something to his shampoo. Or this was all an elaborate henge.
Forming the ram seal, Kakashi muttered, "Kai!" Nothing happened, so not a henge. He pulled on the bright yellow, twisted his head around to see the back of it, the normal silver was showing as streaks in the bright yellow. Shrugging, Kakashi decided to let the others see their handy work and just think of a suitable revenge. Finished shaving, Kakashi put his forehead protector across his eye, secured his mask and walked out of his room into the hallway.
He could hear Naruto moving around in his room and raised his voice a little, "Hurry up Naruto, you still need some breakfast before we head over to the Academy."
"Okay, Kaka-nii," came the voice from Naruto's room.
Kakashi moved into the kitchen, started the coffee and pulled some rice out of the fridge to make breakfast. Rice porridge with egg and thinly sliced vegetables would be a good and healthy start to both his and Naruto's day. Quickly slicing the vegetables and adding them to the rice heating up, Kakashi then pulled out some leftovers for their lunches. Packing the bento boxes with the leftovers, Kakashi set them over to the side. Then stirring the rice porridge and adding the eggs, Kakashi quickly dished up breakfast.
"Naruto! Time to eat!" Kakashi yelled over his shoulder as he placed the bowls on the table and turned back to the kitchen to get his coffee.
Naruto came running into the kitchen and slid into his seat. Picking up his chopsticks, Naruto started shoveling food into his mouth as fast as he could.
"Slow down, Naruto, or you will choke," Kakashi admonished.
Naruto looked up and froze, his food forgotten halfway to his mouth. "Kaka-nii?!" Naruto's pitch going higher, "What happened to your hair?"
Kakashi shrugged and took a sip of coffee, "I don't know what you are talking about. I have a new shampoo I'm trying out."
Naruto stared, "Your hair looks like mine!"
"Does it? Do you like it?" Naruto jumped up, a grin spread across his face, "I love it Kaka-nii! Now you really look like my nii-san!"
Kakashi started to smile but stopped when he heard the almost imperceptible hesitation in Naruto's voice. Not sure if he heard it correctly, Kakashi turned and rubbed his hair on Naruto's face, "I do huh?"
Naruto's lips twitched, "You do!"
Kakashi's grin grew, so that was how they did it, Naruto was in on the prank. "Then you think I should keep it?"
"Only if you like it, I mean I like your normal hair, but it is cool to see you with hair like mine."
"I might, I need to think about it, it was a surprise this morning."
Naruto swallowed another laugh, now that he was looking for it, Kakashi could hear and see it, "Okay, but you will keep it for the day?"
"Of course, Naru-chan, how else will I figure out if I like it or not?" Kakashi quickly ate the rest of his breakfast and swallowed the now warm coffee, "Now hurry up, you don't want to be late to the Academy."
With that reminder, Naruto rushed back to his food and went back to shoveling it into his mouth as fast as he could.
"Don't eat so fast, you will choke," Kakashi admonished again.
Naruto slowed down, but not by much. It wasn't long before breakfast was done, and Naruto was putting the bowls in the sink while Kakashi moved their bento boxes to the front door. Then Naruto ran over to put his sandals on. Leaving the apartment, the two walked to the Academy.
A few minutes later, Naruto ran ahead to the corner where Masahiro and Harumi waited with the Uchiha brothers.
"Sasuke! Masahiro!" Naruto shouted, causing the boys to turn and Kakashi watched as Masahiro grinned at the sight of Naruto. The sight of it made Kakashi happy, Naruto was making friends and they appreciated him. Sensei and Kushina-nee would be happy. Kakashi felt his grin turn evil when his gaze turned to Itachi staring at him. Oh yes, he still needed to come up with a suitable punishment for his team.
"Look! Kaka-nii has hair like mine!" Naruto shouted once he was closer to the group. The boys looked over at Kakashi and they both grinned.
"Cool! Do you think it will stay that way?" Masahiro asked.
"Not sure, Kaka-nii said that he is going to try it out and see how he likes it."
By this time Kakashi had made it to the corner and the group started to move.
"Good morning, Kakashi," Harumi's soft voice sent butterflies moving in his stomach.
"Good morning, Harumi," glancing over at Itachi, who was as stoic as ever, "Itachi."
"Taichou," Itachi murmured. Kakashi noticed the slight crinkling at the corners of Itachi's eyes, signs of guilt perhaps, at the very least amusement.
"If you wanted to dye your hair, Kakashi, I would have come over to help you, to make sure you got the back and everything," Harumi said, her voice shaking with laughter.
Kakashi rolled his eye at her, "I will have to tell you about my experience later."
"I can live with that," Harumi said, "Would you like me to pick up Naruto today? I have an unexpected day off at the hospital, so I am free."
Kakashi tilted his head, "If you don't mind. It seems I have to work my team extra hard today."
"Oh?" Harumi asked.
"Well apparently they were really worried about my hair, so they helped to pick out new shampoo for me," Kakashi said.
Harumi started to laugh, "Oh they did huh? Well at least they picked a good one for you. I can tell it is really working well with your hair."
Masahiro decided to speak up, "What does that mean, Haru-nee?"
Kakashi watched at Harumi turned her whole attention to her brother. It was interesting to watch as Harumi was able to not only focus her entire body on the person she was talking to, but also how she simultaneously was in tune with the world. Kakashi had seen that quality the very few times he had seen Harumi work in the hospital.
"Well it means that I think Kakashi-san's team did a good job with their choice. I mean, they could have picked something that caused his hair to fall out, or fall flat, or even color his hair green!"
Masahiro laughed, "You mean like that time when I was really little, and your hair turned green?"
Harumi laughed as she pushed her brother's shoulder to get him moving again before she stood up, "Yes, like that time my hair turned green." Harumi turned towards Kakashi and Itachi, "My team and I were tasked with a simple protection mission, but we couldn't let the girl she was being protected. So, we all had to change our looks, our sensei decided this would be the perfect opportunity to practice our civilian ways of disguise. Well long story short, I had this dark forest green hair for weeks, because my sensei forgot to tell me that the shampoo I was given with the hair dye, was designed to continually dye my hair."
Kakashi watched as Harumi's eyes dancing with laughter, slowly grew soft at the memory.
"Mother was so mad at Sensei, I'm sure that he was convinced that he was talking to Yoshino-oba. Sensei took me to a special salon that afternoon and my hair was back to it's normal black by dinner." Harumi smiled, "Mother sat me down that night and explained the whole process of espionage hair dye and how that whole thing works. Thankfully that was much less painful than the other talks we have had."
Kakashi nodded as he watched the three boys race up to the stairs leading to the Academy.
"I will see you three this afternoon! Behave!" Harumi called after their retreating backs. "How did your Father take the news that Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't be in the same class?" Harumi asked Itachi.
"He was disappointed, but he is confident that Sasuke will continue to improve enough to start the process of early graduation," Itachi answered.
Kakashi winced, "How do you feel about that?"
Itachi shrugged, "What I feel doesn't matter."
Harumi put her hand on the teen's shoulder, "It does matter to Sasuke. If you don't think early graduation will be good for him, then Kakashi and I can see what we can do to make that happen."
"What can you do against the Uchiha clan head?" Itachi asked.
Kakashi knew the teen well enough to hear the slight bitterness in his voice.
"Well I know I'm not part of the Uchiha clan, but I am the niece of the current head of the Nara clan. I also am connected to the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans. Kakashi is the head of the Hatake clan, and an ANBU captain. And you are the genius of the Uchiha clan, I am sure between the three of us, we can figure something out."
Kakashi nodded, but before he could say anything the doors to the Academy flung open and Tamotsu came storming out.
"Harumi Shimizu! You are supposed to be at home resting!"
Kakashi watched as Harumi took a step back.
"I was just walking the boys to the Academy, then I was heading straight home."
"What am I supposed to say to Katsu when he asks if I saw you huh?"
Harumi rolled her eyes, "The truth? I am a fully-grown adult, I think I can walk the few blocks between my house and the Academy."
"That isn't the point and you know it. You fainted this morning while training. You need to rest!"
Both Kakashi and Itachi's eyes settled on her and Harumi could feel the weight of the combined stares.
Shrugging she answered, "I fainted because I didn't eat breakfast and I had just gotten off a very difficult surgery that I wasn't supposed to be doing, but I was called in anyway because the medics on duty couldn't do it! So, it isn't my fault!"
"What do you mean you fainted?" Kakashi demanded.
Harumi looked at him, "It was exactly as I said, I was called into the hospital for surgery, then I went for some training. It isn't my fault no one listened when I said I was running low on energy and decided that it was the perfect time to scale Hokage Mountain using only our hands!" The last sentence was said in a slightly louder voice as she yelled at the Academy Sensei in front of her.
"You could have said no," Tamotsu replied.
"If you think about it, I tried, but you two wouldn't hear no for an answer. 'But Haru-chan, how are you going to keep up your strength if you don't train when you are tired?' 'You know you want too'," Harumi said, mimicking her teammates.
Tamotsu threw his hands up in the air, "You didn't protest too much. And I am not taking the blame for you falling!"
"What?" Kakashi interrupted. "You fell, off Hokage Mountain?"
Tamotsu jerked his head to look at Kakashi, his mouth dropping open as he took his first good look at the newly blond jounin. "What?" shaking his head he continued, "Never mind, the point is, Harumi, go home! You should be eating and resting. I will bring the boys to you if you are not here to pick them up. But for all that is holy, go to sleep!"
Harumi rolled her eyes, "Where do you think I was going? Off to buy clothes, or maybe some grocery shopping I have two extra mouths to feed tonight?"
Tamotsu glared at Kakashi, "You really shouldn't be eating at Harumi's house every… ouch!"
Harumi pulled her hand away from the back of his head, "The two extra mouths is not Kakashi and Naru-chan, although they are always welcome to my house. The two extra mouths would be Maiko's team. Her sensei is in the hospital for a little while and they are feeling a little out of sorts, so I offered to make them all a good dinner and let them all talk."
"That was nice of you, but should you be doing..."
Tamotsu was cut off again, but this time with a hand over his mouth, "I have no condition that won't be solved with some rest. However, if you continue this train of thought, I will be forced to remind you why Nara women are feared in Konoha."
Both Kakashi and Itachi watched fascinated by the way the chunin swallowed audibly and grew steadily paler.
Itachi glanced at Harumi and saw that she was glaring at her teammate.
Kakashi was shocked to feel the temperature drop around the woman standing next to him.
"No, Harumi, I'm done. I am just worried about you," Tamotsu gave her a small smile, "You fell off Hokage mountain this morning. If it wasn't for Katsu and me, you would have been nothing but a stain on the ground. It took you almost three minutes to wake back up!"
Kakashi and Itachi shared a look, both knowing that this was more than just being tired and hungry. "Don't worry, Tamotsu-san, Itachi and I will make sure Harumi makes it home. We have to talk about the boys' training anyway," Kakashi said, placing his arm on Harumi's shoulder and pulling her away from Tamotsu, and into Kakashi's space.
Tamotsu opened his mouth, either to protest or agree, but quickly shut it when Harumi continued to glare at him. Nodding his head, he turned around and jogged back into the Academy.
Kakashi pulled Harumi around to face him, "What happened?"
Harumi sighed, "It is like I said, I was tired from a long night of surgery and I didn't take care of myself. Then while I was climbing, I," she hesitated, "About halfway up the mountain, I could feel someone watching me. It could have been paranoia, I suppose," Harumi glanced around, "actually, could we talk about this after you walk me home?"
Kakashi felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise at the same time Itachi's eyes flashed red. "Itachi?" Kakashi asked, his voice just a whisper of sound.
"On it," Itachi said as he grabbed Harumi's arm and with a "left my stomach somewhere in the area of my toes" feeling, Harumi found herself standing in a room that was not familiar to her.
The lack of natural light said they were either underground or deep in center of a building. The slight buzzing of the overhead lights was the only sound, well other than their breathing. A quick glance showed some tables with chairs, a large board on the wall with some sort of formation plan, maybe, on it. There was a small sink and a single burner stove, on the stove was a tea kettle and a small cabinet above the whole thing.
Itachi moved to the sink and took the tea kettle and added some water to it before placing it on the stove and turning it on. He then pulled out a small tea pot and added some tea leaves to it, then pulled four cups from the cabinet. Setting everything on a tray, Itachi turned to look at Harumi, who was still standing in the center of the room.
"You should sit. Shishui and Kakashi- taichou will be here in a moment and they will be able to tell us what happened."
"Itachi-san, can you tell me what happened? Or, where are we? Or why we are here and Kakashi is somewhere else?" Harumi asked, sitting in the first chair she touched.
"We are in Team Ro's mission room, it has another name, but Team Ro has taken it over for the time being. We are here because it is the most secure room that most people don't know about which means most people can't follow us here. As for why, that was taichou's call. I am just following orders."
"So, in other words, I should save my questions for Kakashi?" Harumi guessed.
"That would be best," Itachi answered, pouring the boiling water into the tea pot and bringing the whole tray over to where Harumi was sitting. Setting it on the table and taking a seat across from her, Itachi sat down.
"Since I can't get answers from you, is there something you wanted to talk about?" Harumi asked, frustration coloring her words.
"I was hoping to talk to you about Sasuke, if we had the chance before I was deployed. This seems to be the best time to do it," Itachi replied with a small shrug.
Harumi sighed, placing her elbows on the table and her head in her hand, she focused on Itachi, "What about Sasuke?"
Itachi took a deep breath, "I know that you will be looking after Naruto-chan when we are deployed, and I was hoping that you would be willing to continue to work with Sasuke while I am gone?"
"You want me to continue to train with Sasuke, Naruto and Masahiro?" Harumi asked.
Itachi nodded, "My ototo does not interact with many people outside of our clan, I thought it would be beneficial for him to continue to interact with your brother, Naruto and whom ever else you were going to intact with. Oka-san and Oto-san wouldn't be offended if you were to continue to train with him, simply because you have shown yourself to be a trustworthy person."
"Of course, I will continue to train Sasuke, do I need to talk to your parents about this?"
"I will take care of that," Itachi paused looking over Harumi's shoulder his eyes a little glassy like he was thinking about something, "My parents may ask you for something more, I don't know what it would be, but don't feel obligated to agree to what they ask. Sasuke will be able to continue to train with his friends with no strings attached."
Harumi was slightly confused by the harsh tone Itachi used when talking of favors and strings, there was more going on than she knew. "I know you are a very private person, Itachi-san, but just know that if you ever need to talk to someone, who is able to be impartial or you just need a sounding board who isn't involved in ANBU or the Uchiha clan, I can listen," Harumi was guessing at the possible causes, but she was confident that her guesses would prove correct, after all ANBU and Clan problems were always the most stressful problems. One because of the emotions involved and the other because it was done in the shadows and therefore couldn't be talked about.
Itachi nodded, "I will keep that in mind, Harumi-san."
Harumi smiled at the teen and poured a cup of tea for each of them, "So now that we have taken care of the family business, does Sasuke like training with us?"
"He says he like it, although he says he like is better when I am there with you."
Harumi laughed, "Isn't that how it always is with younger siblings? I can't tell you how many times Hideaki, Maiko or Masahiro would complain about not training with me, at least until Hideo and Maiko graduated and were put onto genin teams."
"Did they stop asking to train with you?" Itachi asked.
"Not really, but they did ask less frequently. With the four of us, we do try to get together a couple times a month, just to see how we are doing. But it does help that Hideaki and Maiko have different specialties from mine."
"What are their specialties?" Harumi shrugged, taking a sip of her tea, "My siblings are better versed in the Nara family jutsu than I am. I can do the basics, but my focus, even before I became a full-time medic was trying to incorporate poison into my water jutsus. It didn't always work out the way I wanted too, but it did give me a fun basis for my medical training."
"What made you want to go into poisons instead of using the shadow jutsus?"
"My father used poisons, since I had difficulties using Mother's jutsus, I focused on poisons. Also, since I am water natured, I started working to get my medic's certification. It was difficult to train to be a medic and be on a genin team full time, but it ended up working out well. When my parents died, it was an easy way to ensure that I was around for my siblings who needed me."
"How old were you when they died?"
"I was fourteen and had made chūnin eight months prior, my parents were very proud. But it was because I was a chunin and Hideaki would be graduating the Academy later that year, that I was able to become the guardian of my siblings."
"Do you ever regret giving up full time missions?"
Harumi took a drink of tea, alerted by the seriousness of Itachi's voice that this was not just an idle question. "I miss the rush of doing missions, the ability to stretch my legs and really move, the knowledge that I am keeping my village safe. However, there are many things I don't miss at all. For instance, I don't miss sleeping outside for the majority of my days, nor do I miss having to eat rations. I don't miss having to deal with stupid clients on escort missions or stealing scrolls or any of the other mindless missions I used to go on. But most of my complaints is simply because I was always the medic on the team, which means even if there was a problem, I stayed in the background and let my teammates handle the problems." Harumi waved her hand in the air as if brushing those thoughts away, "But none of that matters, because my team would have been broken up even more than they already were, because when I was promoted, so were my teammates and Tamotsu started the exams to teach at the Academy while Katsu was invited to join ANBU. So, in the end it all worked out for the best."
"I am confused, you say this is for the best because your team would have been split up anyway?"
Harumi smiled, "I guess that is one way to look at it, another way is to say that I am looking at the bright side of the major change that was me becoming a genin, gaining guardianship over my siblings and moving to be a full-time medic in the hospital."
Itachi took a sip of his tea, "Hm," was his only reply before his eyes turned red as he looked at the door.
Harumi followed his gaze, as the door was shoved open. Kakashi stalked in, with a tall man with dark hair that was in serious need of a brush, followed closely by Tenzō and a woman with long purple hair. Three of the four had ANBU masks strapped to the side of their heads. Seeing me, the woman and the dark-haired man halted just inside the doorway. Kakashi glanced at them before turning his gaze on Harumi.
"Are you okay?"
Harumi summoned a reassuring smile, "Of course. If I can't handle a simple body flicker, then I am not much of a jonin."
"Have you had anything to eat or drink yet?"
Harumi held up her mostly empty cup of tea, "Just this," she made a show of glancing around the room, "and from the looks of this place, there isn't food to be had, so no food yet."
"Tenzō," Kakashi said.
"On it, is there anything specific you would like Harumi-san?" Tenzō asked.
Harumi just shrugged, "No egg, of possible, but nothing specific Tenzō-san."
Tenzō nodded and walked out of the room, moving the two people away from the door and closing it behind him.
Kakashi stared at the closed door for a few minutes, his eyes had the glassy look of someone lost in thought.
Harumi used this time to assess Kakashi's condition. He was leaning slightly on his left leg and there were fresh scratches on his right hand. Frowning, she looked closer, there were specks of blood on the bandages on his left leg and a small cut through his pants on his right leg. Harumi quickly stood up and walked over to Kakashi. Before she could take two steps, a blur of purple stopped in front of her. With a glance at the hand on her shoulder, Harumi turned her focus onto the purple haired woman in front of her, with a raised eyebrow she waited.
"What are you doing?" The woman hissed.
"Making sure Kakashi doesn't have more injuries that I can't see," Harumi answered.
"What makes you think he is injured," the dark-haired man demanded.
Harumi didn't roll her eyes, but Kakashi could see the subtle twitch at the corner of her eyes that meant she was getting irritated.
"He has scratches on his right hand," Harumi waved a hand in the direction of extremity as she spoke, "there is blood on his left leg and a cut in the right leg of his pants. He is favoring his right leg slightly, which tells me that he is injured. And," Harumi paused, "If you bothered to use your noses for something other than looking down at me, you would notice the smell of blood."
Itachi turned to look at Kakashi, who was slowly straightening his posture, dividing his weight more evenly, and moving his right hand under his left arm, still crossed in front of his body.
"Let her look, Yūgao, she had fixed me up before. Besides," Kakashi said as he moved to lean against one of the tables, "Harumi won't let a person suffer, especially if she can fix it."
Harumi's head swiveled towards Itachi when he made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
"Itachi-san?"
Itachi just gave a small smile, "You are patching up Kakashi-taichou and he claims you wouldn't let him suffer. You did, but because it was in his best interest."
Harumi smiled at the young teen, "You are correct, I have been known to not fully heal someone because of their stubbornness in not staying in the hospital where they belong!" The last part of her sentence was said through gritted teeth and a glare at the now blond jonin who was famous for his hospital escapes.
"Maa, it isn't personal, I just don't like being in the hospital. Not that you have much room to talk, you couldn't wait to get out of there after twelve hours."
"True," Harumi nodded as Yūgao moved her hand away and Harumi moved to stand in front of the jonin. Focusing her chakra, her hand began to glow blue as she put her hand on Kakashi's arm, "But my reasons were purely because I wasn't going to get any rest at the hospital because people were going to constantly be asking for my help. Case in point, I had only been awake for three hours when a new medic came in and asked for a second opinion on a poison case he was working on."
"What?" Kakashi asked, "How did I not know that?"
Harumi shrugged, as she made note of all of Kakashi's injuries. The gash in his leg was the biggest one, but the cracked rib was slightly worrying. However, the rib was already healing, which meant it happened before today.
"You don't know everything about me Kakashi. You can't watch over me all the time, every day. Do you really want to irritate me while I am trying to heal you?" Harumi's hand turned from blue to green and she started to knit together the gash in his leg and to fully heal the cracked rib. "I'm not even going to ask you who tried to heal your rib, because then I would be forced to yell at someone for either not finishing the job, not doing the small parts they did correctly or even at a beginning level of maybe correct."
A swift intake of breath behind her told Harumi that the person who did the healing was in the room with them. The question was would that person take offense to her remarks, which really, she could care less if they did or not. Doing a poor job on a healing was never acceptable, especially since they were in the village. If you couldn't handle the healing, send for someone who can! It was a simple rule.
"Now what makes you think that someone tried to heal it?" Kakashi asked.
Harumi glared at him, "Do you really want me to answer that, Kakashi Hatake?"
"Sure, I am curious as to how you know that I had a healing lately."
Harumi gave a sigh of frustration and dropped her hand, now that she was done using her chakra to heal the stubborn man, "I can feel the residual chakra from someone running through your system. I also know what normal healing looks like and what healing with chakra looks like." Seeing the skeptical look Kakashi was giving her, Harumi rolled her eyes and move to go sit back in her seat from earlier, "Sit down and drink some tea Kakashi, you need fluids to replace the ones you lost. Now back to knowing what healing looks like, it is my job. I am sure you can look over an ambush scene and tell me which jutsus were used first and where people were standing during the fight," Harumi shrugged, "It is your job to know those things, just like it is my job to know the stages of healing and what types of healing look like."
"Tell me about my rib then," Kakashi said, glancing at Yūgao over Harumi's shoulder.
"You are worse than my instructors at the hospital. Fine, your rib was cracked sometime yesterday, due to the placement of the crack and the direction, I would say that it is from you running into something rather than something running into you. You also have someone look at your injuries, which must have been extensive for there still to be some chakra left in your system. Instead of fully healing the rib, the person put the chakra equivalent to a band aid on it. It looks pretty but is useless when it comes to a cracked or broken bone."
"Would you be able to tell who it did if you had a sample of chakra to work with?" The dark-haired man asked.
"I doubt it. I know that I am not familiar with the chakra, so it is fairly easy to figure out that it is not someone who works at the hospital routinely. So, I would say it was either a field medic, or more than likely someone who has had one of those week long 'how to heal your teammates' classes that are given to people interested in learning some basic field medic training. Mainly they give you just enough information to not kill your teammate with your chakra, how to stop the bleeding and ensure that someone is stable enough for transport." Harumi could feel the tension in the room rise with every word she said, if she pushed maybe someone would say something without her asking. On the other hand, it never hurt to just ask. "Now, do you want to tell me what this is all about, Kakashi? I don't have all day to sit around, heal you or dazzle you with my medical knowledge."
Kakashi leaned back in the chair he was seated in, "Shishui, Yūgao, sit down. There is no need to hover."
Harumi watched as the jonin's chest rose as he took a deep breath, "Well to put it simply, the Hokage and I believe that someone is following you. It started shortly after you went back to work in the hospital after you were poisoned. The spy is somehow getting information back to Ame about what your movements are. In fact, we are pretty sure they know your schedule and the schedule of those around you."
"What makes you think that?"
"The stalker is only sensed when you are not with me or Naruto."
"Sensed? Not seen?"
"We haven't been able to find more than just a scent of the person, or the smallest trace of chakra. No one has seen the person or can tell us anything about him."
"But you can smell him?" Harumi asked.
"Yes, I had my nin-kin also searching for him."
"And they couldn't pick up a trail?" When Kakashi nodded, Harumi continued, "Pakkun must have been upset."
Harumi could see Kakashi's lips curl under his mask, "He was not happy about it."
Harumi poured herself some more tea and took a sip, "What do want me to do? I am assuming the Hokage has spoken to you about this, or else I would still be in the dark."
The dark-haired man snorted, "Some kunoichi you are, couldn't even tell you were being followed."
Harumi rolled her eyes, "I never said I didn't know I was being followed Uchiha-san. Just that I was kept in the dark about what ANBU and the Hokage was planning to do about it." She could feel the Uchiha's eyes on her back, even if she didn't see Itachi's Sharingan flash briefly, she could almost feel the Uchiha's Sharingan staring at her. "Should I feel honored that you find me enough of a threat that you feel compelled to use the Sharingan on me? Or maybe you are just trying to figure me out, hmm Uchiha-san?"
Before he could say anything, the door was slowly opened and Tenzō walked in carrying a small tray with two bowls covered and a small plate also covered.
Harumi smiled as he placed the tray in front of her, "Thank you, Tenzō. This was more than you needed to do, a simple bowl of takeout ramen would have been fine."
Harumi watched as the young man's ears turned pink and he ducked his head, "It was no trouble, Harumi-san. After all you have prepared a much more elaborate breakfast for us. It was the least I could do."
Harumi smiled and made sure to catch his warm brown eyes, "You are always welcome to come over for any meal, consider it a standing invitation. Besides, it will give Kakashi another adult to talk to, besides me."
"Wait, what?" The purple haired woman, Yūgao said, holding her hands in a time out sign. "You know Tenzō and Itachi? Enough that Itachi is willing to challenge his cousin for you and that Tenzō has had breakfast with you?" Her tone implying something other than a meal was shared between the two.
Harumi turned to face the woman head on, "Yūgao-san, wasn't it?" When the woman nodded, Harumi continued, "I have shared many meals with patients, their friends and family. I don't like the implication that I have done something inappropriate with my siblings in my house. I also know Itachi-san because his brother is two years younger than my youngest brother and the same age as Naruto-chan who is close enough to my youngest brother that he could be considered a sibling. Also, the three boys have often done their homework in my home and in each other's homes. It is only natural I would have met Sasuke's precious nii-san."
Kakashi shoved a spoon in Harumi's hand, "Eat, you have a long day ahead of you, especially since you will be spending it where I can see you and I have training to do."
"What?" Harumi asked.
"If your stalker isn't waiting for you to be alone anymore which is a possibility since he was there this morning, then he could strike at any time, which means you are not to leave my sight until we can get a better idea of what is going on."
Harumi frowned, "Can't you get someone else to play babysitter? I would think you would be too busy trying to get clues or something."
"I can do both."
Harumi rolled her eyes and started to eat the meal Tenzō made for her. "Do I have a choice?"
"If you want, I could get Hokage-sama or Shikaku tell you."
Harumi frowned, "To be honest I am not sure I want Shikaku-oji to know about this. He might let it slip and Yoshino-oba will start to meddle. She is already mad that I was in the hospital as a patient."
Kakashi laughed, "At least you were out of the hospital when she started to hoover," having heard all of the complaints, Kakashi knew there was a reason Harumi didn't want her aunt to hear about this.
"So, this is the mysterious medic," Shishui said softly, probably to himself.
"What mysterious medic?" Yugao asked.
"Uchiha-sama was talking about a medic that saved Sasuke's life a while back. He wanted to find some information about her, but since I was going on a mission the next day, he didn't ask me. I just heard it through the gossip that all she asked for was a favor."
Harumi frowned, "I didn't ask for a favor, in fact I didn't want anything. It was Uchiha-sama who decided a favor was required. It wasn't even that big of a deal, all I did was hide the boys in a small rock formation," she grumbled. "I really wish people would stop bringing that incident up. It isn't like being poisoned is that big of a deal. I can't tell you how many times R&D has come to us because they needed an antidote to a poison that they accidently created."
"Well you have to admit, it isn't every day that a non-clan member saves a clan member's life inside the village." Shishui replied.
Harumi rolled her eyes again, "I'm not clanless, my mother was a Nara, she married outside the clan and father didn't want to give up his clan name, since he was the last one in Konoha."
Itachi stared at Shishui, "Normally I am the socially inept one. This is unlike you."
Shishui frowned at him, "You are quick to defend a woman who is going to cause all of us nothing but a bigger headache."
Itachi shrugged, "Harumi-san is a medic that has been caught up in something that is beyond her control. Should I be upset by that? Should I be mad that Hokage-sama has deemed Team Ro the only team who can deal with this threat? Should I be mad at someone who shows kindness to Sasuke and treats him the same as she does her own brother, all without asking for anything in return?"
"I wouldn't expect you to be upset, but a little more hesitant would be more like you."
Tenzō frowned at Shishui, "Are you upset because Itachi is protective of someone not his brother?"
Shishui frowned, "No that isn't it at all. All I'm saying is that this woman has caused us nothing but trouble since we were assigned to watch her and with her knowing what she knows, she will cause even more trouble."
Harumi had finished her soup and was working her way through the grilled fish and rice, pointedly ignoring the discussion going on at the table. "I never asked for a babysitter. I am certain that my uncle didn't ask for me to have a babysitter, so I am not sure what all of the fuss is about. You are welcome to just leave me be, Uchiha-san, especially if I am such a bothersome woman, as you claim."
"Now, now, no need to call each other names," Kakashi spoke up, "We are watching Shimizu-san because Hokage-sama had made it our mission, at least until we have to leave the village for another mission. Now the reason I am letting Harumi know of the stalker is because something happened this morning while she was with Itachi and myself. And if I am reading the situation correctly, something happened while she was with her teammates."
Harumi didn't shift in her seat as five sets of eyes turned to her. She also didn't roll her eyes at the very obvious way Kakashi had distracted everyone with his observation. She could feel the electric tension in the room, similar to the mission room when a team was given a mission. Moving slowly, she continued to take small bites between her report. Because really, this couldn't be anything else with how everyone was staring at her, waiting to pick apart her words.
"This morning I was out training with my teammates. It was decided that we would climb Hokage mountain, using only our hands. I informed my teammates that I was tired from a long night of surgery and I hadn't eaten anything since the night before, but it was decided that I should be fine. Everything was going fine, until we were about three quarters of the way up the mountain, when suddenly the rock I was holding onto crumbled under my hands. When I moved to find something to grab onto, I found myself falling through the air. The next thing I know, Katsu is holding onto me and Tamotsu is lowering us with a rope. I was informed by me teammates the I fainted."
"Why do you think their assessment is wrong?" Itachi asked.
"Simply because fainting would mean that everything I saw was a lie. From what they said, we were much further up then I originally thought. I was also informed that I just fell down instead of slipping and falling."
"If you suspected a genjutsu, why didn't you dispel it?" Shishui asked.
Harumi shrugged, "Because by the time I had that suspicion, I was already on the ground and my teammates were already fussing over me."
"Is that all?" Kakashi asked.
Harumi nodded slowly.
"Alright, I am going to send Tenzō and Yugao with you to get some lunch packed and to change into something a little more comfortable. You will be spending the day where I can see you," Kakashi held up his hand as Harumi opened her mouth, "Don't bother arguing. You will be where I can see you, this way my team can continue to go through formations and you can rest. We will discuss the protective detail after you have had some rest."
Harumi glared at him but nodded, "Fine," she said as she stood up. "Tenzō," her voice was a much softer tone than the one she used on Kakashi, "can you take me home, I really could use a shower to wash off the smell of surgery."
"Of course, Harumi-san," Tenzō answered as he took Harumi's hand and shunshined them out of ANBU headquarters.
Yugao glared at Kakashi, before fitting her mask in place, pulling up her hood to hide her hair and follow the two people.
"Well that could have been worse," Kakashi said. "However, we do need to keep a closer eye on Harumi, since she is the target right now and her stalker is getting bolder. Attacking her in front of her teammates."
"The common aspect of the whole thing, is that you are nowhere near her, Kakashi-taichou, could this be something against you?" Itachi asked.
Kakashi shook his head, "It is more likely that the stalker knows I will be able to sense him, so he keeps his distance. Any suggestions to who should be assigned to watching Harumi?"
Itachi smirked, "You could get Mouse and Yūgao to do it. I would love to see Mouse's reaction to some of Yūgao's words."
Kakashi gawked at Itachi, "Please tell me you are joking. I have a mean streak, but that is just cruel. No one wants to piss Mouse off when it comes to Harumi."
Itachi shrugged, "Everyone needs to learn to work with someone they don't like. Besides, Harumi is nice and Yugao is just mad that Harumi insulted her healing job."
Shishui frowned, "I noticed that neither of you said I should, or even Itachi for that matter," unhappiness flowing through his voice.
"Since you have shown such a dislike of her, I assumed you didn't want to watch over Harumi-san," Itachi replied.
"Besides," Kakashi interrupted, "You two have more on your plate than the rest of us. The clan problems must be bad if Itachi is trying to ensure Harumi is going to take care of Sasuke."
Shishui frowned, "Is that what you were doing?"
Itachi's lips curled slightly, "If all else fails, she will watch out for Sasuke as if he were her brother. She could even adopt him, her uncle has already told the Hokage that he would help her keep Naruto away from the clans if something were to happen to Kakashi-taichou, so it is a safe assumption that she would try the same for Sasuke."
Shishui put his hand on Itachi's shoulder, "Don't worry cuz, we will find a better solution than the one the impostor Madara has proposed. Your father will listen to you, and if not," Shishui tapped his finger against his temple.
Itachi nodded.
Kakashi stayed quiet but once he decided that the two were done talking about clan business he asked, "Anything more orders from Danzo?"
Itachi shook his head, "Nothing more than just continuing to spy on the Uchihas. I am getting suspicious with the lack of orders from him, to be honest."
Kakashi nodded, "I will talk to Hokage-sama again to see if he has any thoughts. However, he does turn a blind eye to Danzo's projects."
Shishui's eyes flashed red for a moment, "Why wouldn't he? After all, Danzo is doing what he thinks is best for the village all the while Hokage-sama can keep his hands clean."
Kakashi nodded, "I have those thoughts, too Shishui, however I trust Hokage-sama and I will continue to do so until he proves me a liar. In which case I will be one of the first to become a nuk-nin."
Shishui and Itachi looked at their captain in shock, this is the first time Kakashi had ever expressed something other than complete loyalty to the village.
"What are you saying Kakashi-taichou?" Shishui asked.
"Easy, Sarutobi-sama has been given evidence that Danzo is not all that loyal to Konoha, however most of that evidence is rumors with no concrete proof. If we can bring proof of Danzo's treachery, and Sarutobi-sama does nothing, then I have pledged my loyalty to a corrupt system and I will not be part of such a system."
"What will you do with Naruto-chan if that happens?" Itachi asked.
"I don't know, I guess it will depend on Harumi-chan," Kakashi answered truthfully.
"What do you mean?" Shishui asked.
"Well if Harumi-chan is able to keep Naruto, then I will leave him with her, because Harumi will keep Naruto safe. Especially from Danzo and his schemes. She will ensure that Naruto will have a normal childhood with friends and family to back him up if needed." Kakashi shrugged, "It isn't that difficult to decide to leave him here, however if she can't take him, them I will try to take Naruto with me. But I doubt Danzo will allow Naruto to leave Konoha."
"True, he has been very vocal lately in council meetings about taking Naruto and creating the perfect weapon with him," Itachi said, "Father has been talking about it during dinners. At least when he isn't talking in code about the coup."
Shishui put his hand on Itachi's shoulder, "We will find another way, cousin."
Itachi nodded.
Kakashi stood up, "I will meet you two at our usual training grounds, I'm going to find Harumi-chan and make sure she hasn't done anything to Yūgao yet or worse, Yugao tried to do something to Harumi." Kakashi tucked his mask into his hip pouch and shinshuned away to Harumi's roof. Glancing around, he didn't see anything suspicious, nor did he hear anything from her house.
Jumping down to the back door, Kakashi opened the door and walked into the kitchen. Tenzō was sitting at the table, with a small bowl of rice in front of him and a cup of hot tea in his hand.
"Harumi-san made me this while she made one for herself. She is currently upstairs with Yugao outside her door. Harumi-san said that if Yugao came anywhere near her room, Harumi was going to show Yugao what they used to do to medics who were crappy healers."
Kakashi's eye widened, "What did Yugao do?"
"She was wearing her mask, so I didn't see any facial changes, but she did cross her arms and the room was very tense while Harumi made the tea."
"I'm going to talk to Yugao," Kakashi said as he walked up the stairs.
Yugao was standing at the far end of the hallway when Kakashi reached the second floor, "What did you do?" Kakashi asked.
"What makes you think I did anything!" Yugao shot back.
"Because Harumi doesn't threaten people unless she is provoked. She works hard to be kind to people, so again I ask, what did you do?"
"She insulted my healing abilities. I called her on it."
"Wrong, you said that I don't know what I'm talking about because I am nothing but a paper pushing medic who dreams of being able to run missions," Harumi said from her open door.
Harumi was wearing black pants, a black sports bra covered by a short-sleeved mesh armor shirt and a short sleeved hoodie unzipped and a pair of heeled sandals in her hand.
Kakashi stared at Yugao, this was more brutal than she was normally. "Why would she say that?"
Harumi shrugged, "I am going to assume it is because she didn't like my assessment of her healing of you. For that I should apologize, and yell at you for not taking care of yourself. However, I will not apologize for pointing out that the healing could have in fact been more harmful than the actual injury."
"How so?" Yugao asked.
"If Kakashi thought his rib was healed, then he would assume that he was at full strength and not take any precautions for having an injury. It could lead to a fully broken rib which could lead to punctured lungs or floating bones that could cause internal bleeding," Harumi replied, using her free hand to emphasize her point.
"Does that happen often?" Kakashi asked.
Harumi rolled her eyes, "Have you met any of the shinobi in the village?" Pushing away from her door, Harumi moved to walk down the stairs. "Don't you have training or something to drag me too?"
Kakashi gave his signature eye smile and moved to follow. "Yugao, you need to figure out how to work with Haurmi-san. She is our mission until we are called to go outside the village."
"Hai, tachio," the purple haired woman answered before following the two downstairs.
AN: Hello again, long time no see. We get to meet all of Team Ro! How exciting. Don't judge Harumi or Yugao too harshly, they are both strong women who have strong opinions. It will be interesting to see how all the men deal with two fighting women.
Since I am at home, I have been struck with inspiration, so hopefully the updates can be a little more consistent, at least until this craziness has calmed down some.
I hope you are all taking care of yourselves. Remember to enjoy the sunshine if you can. This is a difficult time, but seeing the blue sky helps to remind ourselves that this will pass.
