Kakashi examined the shinobi in front of his desk with a blank expression but, internally, he's burning with questions and curiosity. He resisted the urge to glare at him. Sota Miho stood in attention in front of him, looking back at him with a determined gaze.

From what the Hokage can remember from the groups that Yamato had set-up, Miho is supposed to be on a rest day today. Which would then explain his presence here in his office. And his weird request for that…

His appearance had startled Kakashi. He had just sat down behind his desk, ready to tackle the work for the day when Miho went inside his office, without knocking, unannounced and without the express permission of Shikamaru or him.

Kakashi stared at him for a little while longer, "You came here at my office with the request to interrogate the rouge shinobi that we captured," the Hokage repeated his request flatly.

Miho nodded, "Yes, Hokage-sama. Perhaps I can try my luck to see if he will answer my questions. I'll assure you that I have the full permission of my teammates."

Kakashi tilted his head to the side, "And what makes you think he will respond to you? Our Interrogation Corps had been questioning him for the past two days, trying everything to get him to say anything about his companions, and yet, he still wouldn't talk."

"Then maybe I could try, Hokage-sama," he replied.

"How so?"

"He could possibly talk if I try. He may recognize me as a Yuki shinobi and feel some sort of familiarity with me since we came from the same land. We wouldn't know unless I try, Hokage-sama," he explained.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "What's with the interest in him?" He asked doubtfully.

Miho's face hardened, "Hokage-sama, with all due respect, we have been hunting this group for almost a decade now. The shinobi of our land and our leader herself is weary of these criminals and we want to resolve this problem as soon as we can. Now that we have a clear lead of how we can eradicate them, then we have to exhaust every single options that we have to capture them."

Kakashi stared at him. Miho's posture was determined, his face set and his shoulders squared. Judging from his expression, Kakashi only had two options: (1) deny his request and have an angry Yuki shinobi assaulting the Interrogation Corps building or (2) grant his request.

He sighed, picked up the telephone and called the Interrogation Corps.

"Hello, Ibiki speaking," the Jounin answered on the third ring.

"Ibiki," Kakashi spoke lowly, "Are you interrogating the man?"

"We're about to," Ibiki said, "If he still didn't talk, we'll have Yamanaka Ino have a look at his head."

"Someone wants to talk to him. Is it possible that he can do the interrogation for now?"

"Who is it?" Ibiki asked in return, perplexed.

"One of the shinobi sent by Koyuki-sama from Snow wants to take a hand at interrogating him," Kakashi explained, "Perhaps it will be a good idea to try if that man will see a person from his land."

"That's a plausible idea but…"

"You can go," Kakashi told Miho, ignoring the exclamations and curses from the other line, "Shikamaru will accompany you to the building of Interrogation Corps. He's office is right next door to my office."

The man bowed respectfully, "Thank you very much, Hokage-sama!" he said and then turned to leave, shutting the door behind him.

Kakashi pressed the telephone to his ear once more, "Ibiki?"

"What the hell, Kakashi?!" the other man raged on the other line, "I know you're the Hokage, but do you know the risk of what you're doing?!"

Kakashi sighed quietly, "Yes, Ibiki, I know very well that there may be consequences. But we have to try."

"When did you become experimental? Beside, if we lose this lone witness we have…"

"We won't," Kakashi interrupted, "Because while they were talking, you'll be right there inside the room, listening to their conversation. If Miho, the Yuki shinobi, tried to do anything to him, he'll be apprehended. You will search him for any weapons that he had in his body and confiscate them before letting him into the interrogation room. The prisoner will be handcuffed so he will not try to attack any of you."

The man on the other line fell silent.

"Ibiki?" Kakashi inquired, "Are you still there?"

"Yes," Ibiki replied shortly and then sighed, "I have a bad feeling about this, Kakashi."

I have a bad feeling about this, too.

It took a while for Shikamaru to return to do the Tower but, when he did, he looked breathless and harried, as if he had been in some sort of a commotion.

"Hokage-sama," he said breathlessly as he entered his office without knocking, "Our witness is dead," he announced

Kakashi stood up, his chair almost falling down, "What?! What happened?!"

"That Jounin, Miho, tried to talk to him but he still wouldn't say anything. There were five of us in the room with them and there were ninjas all over the vicinity listening: outside the door of the interrogation room, by the window, by the vents. Nothing out of ordinary was asked or said.

"One of Ibiki-san's subordinate escorted Miho out of the interrogation room. He only had his back turned for a second before the prisoner went absolutely crazy. He stood up and lunged, but not to attack any of us. He hit his own head on the wall. It all happened so fast, we didn't have the time to react or stop him. He hit his head with so much force that he only had to do it once," Shikamaru recounted.

Kakashi stared at him, his mouth agape behind his mask, "You mean… he died by hitting his own head?"

Shikamaru nodded, "Yes," he confirmed grimly, "He hit his head so hard, there's a dent on his own skull."

Kakashi ran his hand down his face in frustration and sat down heavily. Their only witness, their only trace for that group's capture, now gone. They didn't even know his name, for god's sake!

"Miho?" he asked wearily.

"Ibiki-san is keeping him in custody."

"Was anyone injured?"

"None, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi can only nod in acknowledgement. He felt the throbbing of a headache behind his left eyebrow. This is getting harder every passing day.

"Send the corpse to the hospital," he ordered, "Have Shizune lead the autopsy of the body."

The young advisor nodded.

"Miho could have done something to the man. Maybe injected something or had him inhale anything that made him act like that."

"But Miho gave his weapons to the Interrogation Corps when asked to and willingly agreed to be inspected for any hidden tools. He couldn't have injected him if he doesn't have anything with him," Shikamaru protested.

"We never know, Shikamaru," Kakashi replied firmly.

Shikamaru opened his mouth, as if to argue, but decided against it.

"Understood, Hokage-sama," he answered instead, "I'll go now."

Once the door closed behind the young man, Kakashi leaned back on his seat and massaged his temple in a futile hope that the headache will go away.

It was late at night and Kakashi had no desire to go back to his quarters. He finished his work hours ago but he couldn't bring himself to look away from the window.

The past few nights had been hard for him and he had a feeling that they're about to get harder. He was being plagued by numerous nightmares every single night, his mind replaying every single tragedy that he saw, every death that he ever witnessed. In addition to that, a new horror was added in his collection of nightmares.

Seeing the woman that he cared for dearly die right before his eyes.

His nightmares vary; sometimes, he would see Shizune die at the hands of the very criminals that they were searching for. Other nights, it would be by his own doing: his hand going through her chest and his purple lightning glowing at his hand. The same way that Rin died.

He shuddered at the memory of his nightmares. It's very exhausting for him and it makes him want to stop sleeping altogether. And with everything going on, I don't know how I'll be able to even sleep tonight.

A knock sounded from the door, startling Kakashi. It's quite late and there could only be one person to knock at his office this time.

"Come in, Shizune," he called out wearily and he turned to face the door.

Shizune came in, looking apprehensive, a tray with a pot of tea on one hand and a bag of take-out boxes on the other.

She closed the door behind her, "Hi," she greeted timidly.

Kakashi tried to smile behind his mask, though he suspects that it looked more like a grimace, "Hi."

Shizune pulled the chair from the corner of the room, settling it beside his chair and she put the boxes on the table.

"I wasn't able to cook for dinner, so I ordered take-out instead," she said almost apologetically as she fixed the desk.

Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder, "It's alright," he reassured as he took his seat, "Thank you, Shizune."

She smiled, albeit tiredly, as she sat beside him, "It's the least I could do, Kakashi. How's your day?"

He sighed as he drew his mask down, "I can't even describe it."

Shizune took out the chopsticks from the bag and cracked apart one pair then handed it to him. Kakashi's heart warmed. It's all the little things she does for him that makes Kakashi fall deeper in love with her.

They began to eat in comfortable silence. He was absolutely hungry, but every bite tasted like dust in his mouth. He gulped down the tea and pushed the box away.

He turned to his companion, who was just finishing her meal, "How's your day?"

"It was alright," she replied, "Most of the confined ninjas had been sent home since they're already well enough. Few, severe cases were left in the hospital. If my team can finish the autopsy tonight, I'll be able to work here at the Tower tomorrow," she said cheerfully with a smile.

Even though he's tired and anxious, he couldn't help but smile back at her. Shizune's smile is… infectious.

"That's good. I missed you," he answered with a grin.

She rolled her eyes, "We see each other every night."

"Still. I miss you here at the Tower."

"Cheeky."

Kakashi suddenly turned serious, "Shizune, I have a question."

She hummed as she began to put away the empty boxes and the chopsticks.

He cleared his throat, "That shinobi, Miho… what do you think of him?"

She focused on him, "Sota Miho? Well, I think he's loyal to his leader and his land. But if we ever learned anything about our history, it's that unexpected things happen every time."

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully, "That's… very true. Are you trying to say that we shouldn't trust him?"

"Sort of," she answered as she stood up to throw their garbage on the bin by the door, "To clarify, what I'm saying is that we should keep our guard up, not just around Miho."

"Sounds fair," he acknowledged as he stood up and stared out the window again. He never expected this kind of problem to land on his lap. He was stressed, anxious and so very tired with this situation and the only thing he can do right now is to have faith in Tenzou's team that they find these criminals soon.

He heard Shizune's footsteps getting closer until she's standing right behind him. Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his back. Kakashi took one of her hands and pressed a kiss on her palm. His biggest fear right now is her safety. Though he knows that Shizune can take care of herself, he doesn't know what he will do to anyone who will dare to hurt her.

Kakashi stared uncomprehendingly at his father, who was lying face down on a pool of his own blood. Kakashi tried to wake him up, shaking him by the shoulder but he wouldn't move.

He doesn't understand. What's going on? Why is he not moving? Why is there so much blood?

His surroundings changed and he was in a cavern this time, hiding from the Iwa shinobi hunting him and his teammates down. It proved to be a fatal mistake when the cavern began to collapse and huge rocks began to fall down.

"Obito!" Kakashi cried out as he witnessed his friend and teammate get crushed under the boulder. He tried to push it off him, but it wouldn't even budge.

"Stop it, Kakashi," Obito said weakly, "It's useless, anyway. My entire right side is completely crushed. I never gave you a present for your promotion, didn't I? I'm giving you my eye. I want you to see the future with this. Protect Rin in my absence, alright?"

He closed his eyes tightly in denial. When he opened them, he was no longer in the cavern. Instead, he was running, running towards these Kiri shinobi with his purple lightning. He was so damn angry of this war and he wants to kill as much enemies as he can. He raised his hand and thrust. But he didn't hit the enemies; he hit Shizune.

"Shizune," he whispered in a horrified voice. She stared at him with eyes filled with fear and she coughed up blood, red running down her chin and dripping on the ground below. He pulled his hand away but he knew it was too late. He caught her body as she fell but, even with the clothes, he can still feel the coldness replacing the ever present warmth of her body…

Kakashi sat up, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes scanned the room wildly, his mind still stuck in the dream that he had and ran his hands through his hair. When his heartbeat slowed, he grabbed his pillow and threw it across the room in frustration.

A/N: im baaaaack! im so sorry for the long absence! i have to go back to our hometown because one of my grandmothers died and and theres LITERALLY no stable internet connection in our town and i had to wait to go back to our home in manila. anyway! i hope you enjoyed the chapter! love you guuuys!