As a thank you for all the love and support, here's a brand new chapter!
The giant cleaver swings down and Obito's katana and tanto rise up to meet it, kicking up a cloud of debris at the clash of power.
"Heh, looks like Konoha has a few loyal dogs after all," Zabuza mocks, a wide, bloodthirsty grin on his face.
Obito grits his teeth, muscles straining to keep the heavy weapon and even heavier power backing it at bay. It's a strange remark, one that he can't help but retort, "Can't say the same for the village you came from. A loyal dog is better than a rabid one and they should've put you down a long time ago."
Rin doesn't hear or see much more of the exchange before she's being forced away several dozen feet by a rain of senbon. Her quick reflexes and familiarity with the forest are the only things saving her as the frost biting at her hands and feet make her usually impeccable control harder to maintain. Don't tell me, an ice manipulation Kekkei Genkai? Her heart leaps in her throat when a senbon just barely catches the fabric of her mesh shirt and still manages to tinge the skin around it blue with the intense cold.
She dances through the branches on light feet, quickly brushing her fingertips against the bark of trees and watching in grim satisfaction as the branches decay at her pursuers feet almost immediately, imperceptible puffs of vile smoke clinging to the strangers skin and clothes. She doesn't see much more than flashes of the bone white mask and long dark hair, but the chakra surrounding her is as cold as the frigid rain in Ame while metal rings far away with two masses of chakra rippling along her senses. The branches and leaves repeat themselves in a dizzying whirl and she loses her footing more than once.
She turns and throws two kunai towards the fake hunter nin and frowns when it merely passes through, and that moment of hesitation costs her as she feels more than sees her opponent creep up in her blind spot, ice senbon glittering dangerously in his hands. Through the trees, she glimpses Zabuza press his advantage, eyes wild as Obito grits his teeth against his own exhaustion.
And then there's another ice mirror. And another. And another.
She takes a deep breath. Two.
Those aren't bushin.
Heat builds in her lungs and she can taste flames on her tongue.
Katon: Haijingakure no Jutsu!
Chakra-heated ash and fire break out around her in a fiery blanket, instantly erupting into steam as it comes in contact with the ice mirrors surrounding her.
The world goes quiet, still, and then-
BOOM!
The explosion throws Rin off her feet, sends her and the Hunter nin flying through the trees, and she can't figure out whether to scream from the heat or choke on her breath from the force of it. The forest rushes by in a swirl of brown and green and red before something instinctive takes hold and she manages to find purchase on a large branch. Nausea swirls in her stomach and her lungs are burning, but even as she focuses her healing chakra to clear her system, she senses the two foreign chakra signatures move away.
A familiar voice pierces through the residual smoke and steam. "Rin! Rin, are you okay?"
New weight joins her on the tree branch and her fingers twist in his sleeve before she really even thinks about it. The relief that slams into her is almost overwhelming.
She finishes her own cursory healing, almost back to full health already and finds Obito looking at her with that expression he always gets when she's hurt - from a paper cut to a broken bone, like he wants to take every bit of pain away.
For once, he's the one with the admonishing frown. "Rin, what the hell were you thinking? You could've been seriously hurt!"
Rin manages a small smile, finally able to take a breath with the space she created between them and the two mercenaries. "Took a chance and it worked out, right? Any injuries?"
He knows better than to lie to her, especially with blood running down into his left eye from a cut over that brow and a cough that isn't a product of the smoke dissipating around them. "Just some chest pain...and he got a good shot at my calf, but I can still walk."
Rin's already running a hand over his chest and frowns as she clears the accumulation of water building in his lungs. Damn Mist nin trying to dry drown her partner; sometimes Rin really hates shinobi with water affinities since they can try sneaky stuff like this. She passes a hand over his calf and agrees that it's superficial. "Good, your lungs are clear now and your leg should be fine until we get to a hospital. What-"
Obito moves in front of her, the White Fang's tanto bared towards their two assailants now perched on a tree not far from them across a clearing. Rin feels the effects of the cold even more now despite combating it, but she takes pride in the bloody gash across the missing nins chest and the uneven breaths of her own opponent, singed at the edges. They don't move to attack again and Rin takes the opportunity to observe them during the short reprieve.
The young man at Zabuza's side is a startling contradiction to the older mans bulk - slender and graceful to the older mercenaries' rough edges and gruff demeanor - but he is no less deadly nor someone to underestimate. The senbon earlier hadn't been aimed to kill but Rin knows the fickle nature of arrogance masked as mercy, how it is a gift and a tool all in one, and doesn't let her guard down.
"Zabuza-sama," the masked nin murmurs, laying a delicate hand on the older mans arm. It's a question as much as it is a statement, but she doesn't think she likes the ire she hears lurking in just those few syllables. "It seems we've been deceived."
The mercenary grunts and shoulders his weapon. "This job's a bust." Zabuza's mouth twists, and for the first time since laying eyes on him, he looks angry. "Fucker shoulda' known better than to lie to me. I'd love to cleave him in half myself...but I'm sure he'll get what's comin' soon."
The mask turns towards them. "I apologize for our intrusion, we mean you no further harm."
Rin has to blink a few times before the words really register, but Obito is the one to reply first. "What?"
Rin clears her throat. "What he means is, what are you doing so close to Konohagakure? Why did you just attack us?"
A wave of power ripples through the trees, a whisper of familiar, lightning edged chakra charging their senses, and Rin's eyes widen when she sees the passing interest in Zabuza's face. "New blood, eh? Meh, doesn't matter. We're leaving." He shoots Obito a pointed look, "Fight me at full strength next time, loyal dog."
In moments, they're left alone.
Obito blinks and the Sharingan is gone, but the dumbfounded look remains. "Did they just…?"
Rin doesn't blame him for his shock.
It's obvious she's not the only one with several trains of thought when he says, "We need to find out what the hell is going on. I can't sense anything right now, but right when that explosion went off I felt Iruka's chakra."
Ice tumbles down her spine. "The Academy's field trip is today. Obito, the children!"
Without another word, they disappear.
"Rin-san! Obito-kun!" Gai's booming voice easily cuts through the din of the forest. They land beside him in less than a second, and for the first time in a while, his usual exuberant grin is tempered with severity, surrounded by a decimated forest and facing mysterious, strange opponents creeping along the edges of their senses. "Mizuki has revealed himself to be a traitor attempting to kidnap academy students. Iruka-sensei has drawn him away to protect the children and Kakashi has gone to help while Genma-san and I take on this group. Please escort the children back to the village."
Further away they can hear the sounds of battle as Genma holds off what feels like two jounin level shinobi and three more circle around them. None of them are wearing headbands, but there's no mistaking their coordination. They don't have time to talk at length, especially when the three enemy shinobi start to move in coordination ahead of them, still hidden among the trees.
"There's something weird about these guys," Obito asserts, a concerned frown marring his features. "Their chakra is nothing like we've encountered before. It's...black, and seems like it has a life of its own. Gai, I know you and Genma can handle yourselves but-"
"I'll stay," Rin inserts. "Obito, you're exhausted from the sealwork and fighting Zabuza, your eyes are at their limit- I'll stay and provide backup for Gai."
"I-" he sighs roughly, and Rin understands his frustration. He meets her eyes and the burning, focused gaze on her takes her breath away now like it has for a very long time. "You're right. I'll leave it to you two."
He moves away to the area where the children have been concealed under a hasty but effective genjutsu.
Before he disappears from view, he throws a vicious grin over his shoulder. "Give 'em hell."
In a flash, he's gone.
Rin watches the spot where he'd last been for a second longer before turning to face Gai, a game plan quickly forming in her mind, but she bites down on her words at Gai's blinding grin and thumbs up. "The Springtime of Youth Blossoms in You Quite Brilliantly, Rin-san! I Applaud Your Beautiful Feelings for-"
"Gai!" Rin cuts in, cheeks suspiciously hot. "Not now. Let's take care of business, alright? What are their abilities?"
Gai can be eccentric on a good day but he is gratifyingly effective as a teammate. The levity disappears and he succinctly reports, "Three individuals, all male. The large one seems to have a strength enhancing Kekkei Genkai of some sort, the slim silver-haired one wields a blade in the shape of a needle, and the third seems to prefer hand to hand but I haven't had direct contact yet. Unlike the other two, however, he's incredibly fast."
That's all they have time for before the three individuals launch from the trees right at them.
Rin rolls a shoulder. It's been a while since she's had a good fight.
"Mizuki, why? How could you do this?" Iruka demands, very real betrayal and hurt and a low burning rage simmering under his usually calm and kind exterior, and it pings something sympathetic in Kakashi's chest.
Mizuki, a traitor in this life and any other it seems, bares his teeth. "It's not your concern Iruka. Turn around and go back to the village."
Kakashi debates on when to step in — this is Naruto's teacher after all, a man who saw a scorned prankster for the lonely child that he truly was and reached out a hand to help, and is still unfailingly kind even if those circumstances hadn't repeated this time around. He's still a prominent fixture in Naruto's life, more of a respected older brother figure instead of a father, but that respect is the very reason he steps aside like Iruka had asked once he arrived.
Some battles, Kakashi thinks, are not meant to be won.
He half expects Iruka to try reasoning with his old friend, someone who hadn't revealed himself as a traitor nearly half a decade earlier through underhanded manipulation. That's at least a handful more years of friendship to overcome and not an easy bond to break even if Mizuki has never been a person worthy of such trust and confidence. It certainly wouldn't be the first time Kakashi would witness a change of heart, but he's relieved and impressed when Iruka narrows his eyes instead. Kindness, Mizuki misunderstands, is not weakness.
There's no pleas, no more questions, no demands. Just a simple-
"No. This ends here."
Kakashi summons his hounds, all eight eagerly waiting for orders. "All of you head to Obito's location and assist in escorting the academy kids back to the village, except you Urushi. Alert the village and guide the reinforcements. I'll take care of the extras trying to run or interrupt Iruka-sensei's fight."
Various affirmative barks and yips later, Kakashi leaves a clone to watch over the academy teacher while he tracks down the low level trash attempting to flee. Mizuki is no great mastermind, but he'd at least brought proper backup for his little plan - he's sure Gai, Rin, and Genma will be fine against even three familiar Cursed Seal Users and a few extra jounin, though they'll have their hands full for the moment - but every large operation requires even more manpower than just pure muscle and he intends to track down every last one of them. Mizuki will be a tough fight for Iruka in every sense of the word, but if his student has taught him anything, it's to have a little faith.
He follows the muted signatures further south, a ways away from his comrades, and falls upon two unsuspecting Chunin-level shinobi with no identifying marks.
The fight is quick, even for his standards, and even a thorough search of their equipment yields no useful results. He sends a bushin to run down another squad east and takes a moment to think. Let's see...large crime syndicate embroiled in human trafficking, an entire region suffering from kidnappings - specifically Kekkei Genkai users, traces of human experimentation, and now an abduction attempt of an entire class of Konoha shinobi that happens to have several children from prominent households…
"If I was a mad scientist with an immortality-kink, what would I do next?"
As much as he would love to blame Orochimaru solely for this little venture, it feels too hasty. The Sannin loved his long, convoluted plots almost as much as Danzo, and painting a target on his back by directly threatening the village is too juvenile for his caliber-
His head whips to his left, locking onto the scent that's the slightest bit out of place.
Warm and dry, with bitter notes and a unique, cool touch that makes his nose twitch because it's like breathing in frost-covered pine- a faint base of rot and moss underneath that doesn't belong in the forests surrounding Konoha-
Is that-?
He's speeding in the direction of that scent without a second thought, reaching out with his senses and latching onto the spark he finds.
He catches up to the mysterious figure just as it ruthlessly dispatches the clone he'd sent minutes ago. He throws several shuriken and they're predictably deflected and dig into the earth surrounding what he now sees is a ROOT member. It does the job and pauses the operatives' movement for a split second, long enough for Kakashi to catch the feline features of the mask, eyes framed by red crescent moons, and his hands determinedly do not shake as he activates his seals.
Raiton: Bariashiru.
Like a livewire, the shuriken surrounding the ROOT member connects with thin beams of crackling lightning, spider webbing up and up until it fades some dozens of feet in the air. It's a temporary and admittedly weak raiton-infused barrier he'd cooked up in his spare time with some pointers from Kushina, but it does its job now by pinning the other shinobi long enough for Kakashi to gather his thoughts and think of the next step.
Why would Danzo's men be here? Danzo is insane, sure, ruthless and all too willing to sacrifice everything else for his perfect vision of Konoha, but even he would not stoop so low as to harm his own villagers needlessly.
He has so many questions he wants to ask, so many answers he needs, and what comes out is-
"Kinoe?"
The ROOT member doesn't respond, likely coming up with a way to escape, and his posture doesn't change with the call of his name.
And it is him, Kinoe, Yamato, whatever name he wants to live by but Kakashi would know the man anywhere, his shadow for a decade. The one he'd been looking for since realizing he likely never escaped ROOT, the reliable, responsible companion who'd followed him to hell and back right on his heels, Kinoe.
"I'd recognize your Wood Release anywhere, Kinoe," he continues blithely, pretending his uncovered eye doesn't ache seeing him again, "Mostly that it makes you smell like a pine tree when you overuse it. Did you cut your hair? I thought you liked it long."
Time's up.
The other man claps his hands together then punches the ground, earth erupting beneath him to disrupt the shuriken barrier.
Kakashi doesn't move in closer though. Kinoe isn't trying to escape now that he's been discovered and can't afford to turn his back on him, and Kakashi can't afford to use his remaining reserves carelessly after that altered Hiraishin, summoning, and shadow clone took so much out of him already. They circle each other like two predators even as Kakashi tries to keep his body language as non threatening as possible. "I don't want to fight you, Kinoe. But I have some questions."
Kinoe still doesn't respond, and it strikes Kakashi as odd, a niggling suspicion in the back of his mind that slides down his spine like ice water.
Can you even speak?
Do you know who you are?
What has Danzo done to you?
None of those questions make it past the tightness in his throat.
Instead he fends off a sudden eruption of wood from his right, the trees coming alive under Kinoe's quiet command. He deftly ducks and weaves around sharpened branches, slips out of the grip of several feet of writhing bark attempting to wrap around his arms and legs, and through it all his old friend doesn't say a word. "Kinoe!"
He switches with a boulder just beyond Kinoe's shoulder, so close he can sense the unnaturally stilted flow of his chakra.
He's so close, if only he could just-
Spikes of deadly, poisonous chakra erupt in several directions, including Iruka's. Mizuki has a cursed seal? Like a signal, the ROOT member in his grasp quietly slips from his grip, earth erupting around them even more strongly than before, and Kakashi recognizes he's about to create a massive fissure to crush him.
"Doton: Doryuheki!"
Their chakra manipulation of the earth wars with each other for a moment, and he loses. His attempts to close the escape route fail with a rock wall, and he's already moving to his second and third contingency plans - the Root operative manages to get distance between them, but Kakashi closes it just as quickly, kunai sparking as they clash.
He slips wires around his opponents legs, allows himself to be kicked away, and channels lightning through the metal but the Root member is already cutting through it with one hand while a second reaches into his kunai pouch to throw several projectiles. Kakashi dodges them all, eye widening when he sees the explosive tag he'd slipped in the other's uniform attached to one, and BOOM! His ears ring in the ensuing explosion, but he's already halfway through the seals to make a water dragon that crushes his opponent to the wet earth. He sidesteps the wooden beams that shoot up from the ground below him and his opponent jumps to his feet after he destroys the water dragon.
He's not trying to win, Kakashi realizes with quiet dread. He's buying time, going to flee and disappear once more-
His pulse spikes, blood thundering in his head, he can't let go, he's so close, Kinoe-
The memories come in a flash-
"What...what is this? His chakra completely changed...his power almost tripled…"
"That would be the work of specialized fuinjutsu," Kakashi informs grimly. "I didn't realize he'd given Mizuki a Cursed Seal as well…"
"A cursed what?"
"Iruka-sensei, where are you hurt?"
The chunin blinks up at him, still seemingly reeling from the nightmare in front of them, but reports, "Ah, bruising and maybe a couple of broken ribs. He nicked me with a kunai after he- transformed, and now that arm is starting to go numb."
"I don't know how you know about this mark," Mizuki says around a mouthful of sharp teeth, "but I'll kill you both before you can say a word." Then he laughs, deranged and enraged with noxious power flowing from him, and he looks as demonic and twisted as Kakashi expected. The mark is somewhere on his left shoulder, the left side of his face and body now appearing grey and almost scaly in texture. He hasn't sprouted any unusual appendages, which Kakashi is grateful for, but the characteristic yellowed eyes and twisted features are a dead giveaway.
Kakashi passes Iruka a small vial. "Here's an antidote - I don't know what he got you with, but it will neutralize most poisonous compounds found north of Fire Country. Hopefully it will buy you some time to get to Tsunade-sama while I-"
"No," Iruka says, downing the vial in one swallow, "I'm seeing this through to the end."
Kakashi meets his even gaze and nods once. Lifting his headband to reveal his Sharingan eye, he says, "I will assist for as long as I can. I hear that you're fairly handy with traps- please make use of those skills in the meantime."
There's no time to say more as Mizuki launches straight at them.
Kinoe slips away, melting into the shadows, and Kakashi doesn't even have time to mourn before he also leaves. He races back, pulse jumping, haphazardly jamming the loose pieces of himself back into place while mentally scolding himself for being complacent and distracted. Hadn't he just promised himself to be more careful from now on? Stop making assumptions, stop thinking he somehow knows enough to make better choices? Obito had called him arrogant when they were young, but is he really so different now?
The scent of blood and metal is cloying, and there's a bitter undertone that sends alarms ringing through his mind.
"Iruka-sensei!"
He lands in the clearing by the chunin's side, who looks a bit worse for wear and losing consciousness just as Kakashi comes into view. Mizuki certainly didn't pull his punches.
But then again, neither did Iruka, Kakashi notes with dark satisfaction.
There's an enormous shuriken protruding from Mizuki's back, piercing through the transformed skin deep enough to have Mizuki hacking up black blood. He's also sporting several massive burns varying in intensity, and the icing on the cake is his pink-dyed hair. Truly a prankster, through and through.
Once Kakashi is sure Iruka is out of danger, taking special care to apply what little healing techniques he's picked up over the years to ensure the teacher is well and truly in stable condition because he owes the man nothing less, he turns to the traitor. It takes little effort to subdue him as battered as he is, heaving up more blood, and he dispassionately looks down at the man quivering at his feet in a mix of terror and rage. Kakashi wonders if the stink of fear is for his impending visit with Ibiki or for his master. Kakashi thinks it's likely the latter - Ibiki is ruthless, but cruelty has never been his specialty.
He crouches down to where the traitor is bound but not yet gagged, bleeding sluggishly from the wounds Iruka managed to inflict before and after the cursed seal activated, and gives it a cursory glance with the Sharingan despite the lance of pain going through his head. Definitely Orochimaru's work, though even without in depth study he can tell it's not quite the prototype Anko wore in his world, a little too clean for a first try but far from the complete versions he'd seen in later years. Iruka's surprise at hearing the term is a bit strange, but Kakashi can't expect this Iruka to be as close to the situation as the one in his world- his students hadn't been marked with it this time around. He tsks instead of saying any of this out loud, finally meeting the traitor's contemptuous stare with a bored one of his own. "Mizuki-san, what did you plan to gain from this? Surely your master wouldn't approve of such...indelicate methods."
Mizuki's eyes widen even more, the whites of his eyes apparent all around the green color of his iris, but he can do nothing more than gurgle back at him.
Kakashi hums consideringly. Iruka sure can pack quite a punch, and to the throat? He makes a mental reminder to never antagonize Naruto's former teacher within reaching distance. He sighs, but doesn't question further. Kakashi's gotten what information he needed, confirmation that Orochimaru's presence is indeed much quieter this time around but his plans have not changed nor his experimentation, and with the information T&I will extract from him, he'll get more leads as well.
The scent of morning dew reaches his nose shortly before the mist does.
Is there a greater being out there playing games with him? He can't think of another reason why he would encounter the Demon of the Mist and his protege in this life.
"So you've caught the little bastard," Zabuza's voice rumbles from his left.
"Indeed," Kakashi hums, mind running through the scraps of information he gleaned from Gai, Mizuki, and Iruka before he fell unconscious. "I suppose you'd like to take your payment out on his hide for deceiving you about the precious cargo you were to help transport?"
He turns to face the imposing figure of one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, weapon hefted over his shoulder and grinning wide behind the bandages wrapped around his nose and mouth, and keeps a mental tally on his partner still hidden amongst the thickening fog. He hardly looks any different from the last time Kakashi had seen him except for a few bloody gashes, courtesy of his teammate. "You're damn right, but-" bloodlust skyrockets and it's enough to finally punt Mizuki into unconsciousness, "-I hate boring fights."
What to do, what to do, Kakashi muses as his hand creeps to his kunai pouch.
Even now with more experience and having faced monsters and madmen far beyond his own capabilities with varying levels of success, Zabuza is no easy opponent, and Kakashi would really rather get Iruka to a proper healer sooner rather than later. He's also depleted his chakra to dangerously low levels - his eye throbs with every beat of his heart and the drag of exhaustion is becoming hard to ignore, and not for the last time he mentally marvels at how Naruto is able to make so many clones and consolidate the massive information input with few repercussions. How embarrassing would it be to pass out right now?
He finds his opening when the Hunter nin attempts to blindside him but ends up fumbling at the last minute, movements uncoordinated and unable to dodge Kakashi's roundhouse kick. Kakashi doesn't hit too hard, just enough so that Haku ends up thrown into Zabuza's stunned arms, losing mobility by the minute.
Kakashi winces at the scent of rot on the other shinobi and quietly thanks the heavens he's on Rin's good side.
"Seems you two have met my teammates," he says cheerily and enjoys the caution that enters Zabuza's expression. "Loudmouth with a sword and a scary medic-nin? Normally I don't mind a good fight, but I'm a bit busy today. Rain check?"
He tosses his last vial over to the man who can do nothing more than shift Haku in his arms and catch it with clear suspicion. Somehow, the incredulity in Zabuza's face grows until now it's Zabuza staring at Kakashi as if Kakashi is the renowned, bloodthirsty killer (which is honestly just rude, Kakashi hasn't been known for that for a while now.) "What the fuck are you playing at, shinobi?"
"Think of it as a 'thank you' for the tip off with the Benigumoto."
"I didn't do it for a fucking reward, you bastard. Especially not from the enemy."
Kakashi smiles. "Then call it a gift from a past life."
The mercenary doesn't seem to know what to do with that but disappears after another long look, words lingering on the wind while that cloying chakra recedes completely. "This ain't over, shinobi. Not by a long shot."
Kakashi heaves a long, heavy sigh and glances at his two unconscious charges.
He really has his work cut out for him.
"How could this have happened?"
"The seals weakening - temporarily, mind you - are an almost unpredictable occurrence."
At once, Minato knows those are the wrong words to choose in front of a restless group of Clan Heads, of parents , prowling in front of his desk with bloodlust in their eyes. Unpredictability to a Seal Master is an inevitability that is felt through the very making of seals. It's an understanding he knows in his bones through the complex matrices that bind his chakra and life force to what most assume are powerful but inanimate pieces of paper. Kushina and Jiraiya understand this intimately, and even Hyuuga Hiashi to a lesser extent due to his clan's Caged Bird Seal, but the rest do not judging by the mounting righteous indignation.
He raises a hand to stall it for a moment and explains, " Unpredictable in the sense that even I am unsure how many years my seals will last before they need attending to, which is why we have three barriers surrounding the village as a failsafe and routine checks done regularly. That information is highly classified and reinforcing my seals is only done by my most trusted shinobi."
"Which begs the question, who could have known when the third barrier would be weak and how were they able to travel through the other two without detection," Hiashi finishes stonily. "With our children, no less."
"That is currently under investigation."
"Including the chunin academy teacher the Jinchuuriki favors?" Hiashi counters severely.
Minato considers the Hyuuga leader very lucky his callous words had been spoken among those who are in the know about his family's burden because such a treasonous statement would not be tolerated otherwise. Anger burns his throat but Minato has been dueling with clan heads for far too long, fought on the front lines and lead men through certain death far too many times to have a short temper now. " Everything is currently under investigation, Hiashi-san. I can assure you there will be no stone unturned." The hard edge in his voice is unmistakeable and only then does Hiashi back off with a twist of his mouth.
Tsume steps up, grim lines carved into her face and lip curled into a half snarl. "What can we do to help? If it means catching the bastards behind this, the Inuzuka Clan is at your service."
Minato, despite the heavy situation, has to stifle a smile when he catches Tsuma giving Chouza the stink eye and prompting him to step forward with a similar declaration with Shikaku reluctantly doing the same despite already spending every waking moment reviewing the details of what happened. What probably shouldn't be so surprising is Uchiha Fugaku making a similar offer with his Uchiha Police Force though Minato wouldn't be surprised if his once-upon-a-time friend has already done so en masse.
Minato dips his head in gratitude. "ANBU is on the move but we will use every resource we have. The shinobi on the scene have provided trackable scents as well and turned over evidenc that will lead to satellite camps. We can continue work from there."
They manage to hammer out a few more details, coordinating separate forces so that there would be no unnecessary overlap, every one of them chomping at the bit to find the source of this attack and rip it apart. The relief is palpable because the children are recovered safely and being looked after by Tsunade's team and their families, but the underlying promise of violence thrums heavily even as every powerful clan head leaves his office.
It leaves him with a headache building behind his eyes even as he prepares to visit each family involved in the situation, present a smile and a vow to appease the rage he'll no doubt face.
It's times like these that Minato wishes the Sandaime could be here to lend his calm and reasonable presence.
"You gonna stand there all day?"
He looks up and the relief that fills his veins is indescribable. "What are you doing here?"
Kushina winks, untouched by the air of dread still filling his office. She reaches out a hand, waiting for him by the door. "What else? Let's go make some house calls. Together."
Minato smiles, reaches out, and takes her hand.
"Together."