The first of September arrives. They meet at the Mission Assignment Desk at eight o'clock. Jūn-sensei and Hokage-sama are present, as well as Shimura Danzō.
Honōka wants to pretend to be a nervous stuttering mess again, but Jūn-sensei and Hokage-sama will know something is up and get on her case about it. They don't know Shimura Danzō is bad news.
She settles for being bouncy. Nobody takes bouncy little girls serious. It's a small departure from what Jūn-sensei and Hokage-sama are used to, but her pranks have been a major change from her previously studious and quiet personality. And—she hates to take advantage of it… but—she's a child just getting out of an abusive household. Of course her personality is changing.
She expects Hokage-sama to say something encouraging for their first 'major' mission. Or even comment on her excited fidgeting. Danzō speaks first.
"Is it wise to send a green genin on a mission of such importance?" Danzō asks, challenging the room at large.
The mood shifts. The Hokage regards Sensei with unconcealed suspicion, and Honōka frowns. It almost doesn't feel natural. She can't quite put her finger on it, but something definitely feels off. She and Hokage-sama still meet biweekly to drink tea and eat manjū and discuss Sensei like he's a wayward son; but he never aims his suspicion like this—like a finely honed blade.
"It is a rather unusually balanced team, isn't it…" Sarutobi Hiruzen muses. "Are you certain the girl is ready for this mission, Orochimaru?"
Honōka's skin crawls. Hokage-sama has never so clinically addressed her person before. She once was 'child' but never 'girl'.
She checks Sensei on her peripheral. He has to know something is up.
He appears unruffled—but is seething inside. He's hurt by Sarutobi's unprompted suspicions. Except it was prompted—by Danzō, she thinks. Can't he see that?
"Honōka-kun has not yet seen battle, but she is not green, Sensei. I believe border patrol will be a suitable place for her to sharpen her claws."
A flicker of something passes between them.
"What does she bring to the team, Orochimaru? Do you plan on being a man down in enemy territory with a child as your only backup?"
Sensei's temper rises to a scalding degree and Honōka breathes in through her teeth. What on earth is going on?!
"Hokage-sama," she demurs, like she's speaking to her father from a lifetime ago. Always wanting to be heard, but always expected to be the perfect daughter. Be reasonable, be sensible; be more like your mother. "I will be supporting Orochimaru-sama and the others with my sensor abilities, like we discussed last week."
Sarutobi blinks, a flicker of confusion, and then he's Hokage-sama again.
"That's right, Honōka-kun." Hokage-sama's eyes twinkle. He's not like her grandfather, but he can be grandfatherly. "You would have given Tobirama-sensei a run for his money, and he was not a betting kind of man."
He shakes his head and clears his throat. Jūn-sensei unfreezes. He brings the mission scroll to Sensei, who is still simmering. Minato and Kakashi are oddly… uninvolved. Distant.
Danzō's measuring stare falls on her and she takes a moment, just a second, to sink her teeth into the unpleasant aura the man just oozes.
Every hair on her body stands up. He feels inhuman. Like a ball of hate and fury and something other. He doesn't know what's so special about her that Sarutobi and Orochimaru dote on her (they do not! She thinks) but he knows they see something in her that is special and that is enough to make him want to possess her.
She latches onto Sensei, mentally.
Sensei is an island. Sensei is an island at sea on stormy waves and cutting winds, but he is an island, no less. A solitary island on the edge of the world where none have walked before. Sensei's island is not a place to be sullied, not a place for Danzō to track his filth. She pushes.
Honōka flexes a muscle she wasn't entirely unaware of possessing and the gray sky clears. In a blink, everything is blue skies, mirror clear water, and green leaves on great maple trees.
She steps away from the island and not even a second has passed. Danzō still flaunts his greasy aura, but it's no longer so terrifying with Sensei's island at her back.
She grabs Sensei's hand and he jolts, anger draining away. He's begins self-analyzing his anger and cross-examining the potential sources of it. It loops in confusion, and a lump of dread forms somewhere in his head. He's suddenly very aware of Danzō, and yet is purposely ignoring him, pretending he's not even there.
She's had enough.
"Let's go!" she pokes Kakashi in the ribs and he almost punches her, elbowing Minato while raising his fist, who in turn rubs his side and shoves Kakashi's fist down with a warning look. "Come on! We're wasting daylight, everybody!"
Everyone moves and they (finally!) leave Danzō's presence.
It's not until they're well outside Konoha and setting up camp for the night that Sensei sends her a mental tug and casts a meaningful look around.
"No one followed us, Sensei. I checked."
Minato and Kakashi shoot them startled looks.
"What do you mean, Honōka-chan? Why would anyone follow us?"
"You… didn't notice anything weird at the Mission Assignment Desk?" she asks.
Minato and Kakashi glance at each other, worried. They don't think she's being paranoid, though. They're worried because she's worried and they trust that if something weird happens, Honōka will be the first to know.
They trust her.
"I mean, we were only there for two, maybe three, minutes, max?" Minato says.
"Neither of you heard Hokage-sama questioning whether I should be on the mission?"
"He what?!" Kakashi snaps. He's feeling affronted for her and himself. "Did he question me being on the mission, too?"
She shakes her head. "Just me. But that's not the point. Neither of you noticed."
"Genjutsu?" Minato asks. It's the only logical answer, but he's still puzzled. "Why would Sandaime-sama cast a genjutsu on us just to have a private conversation with you? He could have just asked us to leave."
"It was not Sarutobi-sensei's doing." Sensei says.
"Then who? Jūn-sensei?" Kakashi snorts. "Jūn-sensei likes genjutsu, but he's not that good at it."
She bites her lip and glances at her sensei. He gestures for her to 'go ahead'.
"You guys didn't notice Shimura Danzō, did you?"
"Elder Shimura Danzō?" Minato asks, bewildered. "No… not at all."
"Sensei… Did you see Danzō?"
"Not at first." He says.
"He's not supposed to know about my sensor abilities or genjutsu immunity, is he?"
"…Not to the extent you showed him, no."
"Sorry, Sensei… I knew something was off, but I couldn't see just how… wrong it all was."
He pats her on the head. "Do not apologize for what is not your fault."
"Sensei, why does no one actually take my genjutsu immunity and sensor abilities seriously?" she asks.
Kakashi snorts. "Because you're hit-or-miss Honōka and total genjutsu immunity should be impossible."
"And your sensor ability is frankly absurd." Minato adds.
She scowls at them both. "How was I supposed to know that? Nobody told me."
Sensei fondly shakes his head at her. "Nobody told you how to cast Genjutsu Kai properly, either."
"Jūn-sensei said all the technique requires is for you to disrupt the flow of chakra. It's not that hard."
"It shouldn't apply to…" Sensei sighs. He's tired, maybe even a little frayed. "Genjutsu Kai should not erase… certain conditions."
Oh. He noticed what she did to his 'subconscious' space. He's not afraid of her, she reminds herself. Exasperated. Fondly exasperated.
"I fixed the wobble," she says.
"Wobble?" he doesn't know whether he should feel offended or not. 'Wobble' is not a word he wants associated with himself.
"In your lower dantian. It's still not perfect, but it's not all squashed looking anymore."
"You did this when you grabbed my hand and rather rudely dragged me out of the mission assignment room?" he asks, lip twitching. He's almost amused.
She smiles and makes grabby paws at him.
"I'm never holding hands with Honōka again," Kakashi deadpans.
She kicks a pebble his way and once again misses her intended target. Minato ducks, and it sails over his head.
"Honōka-chan, I swear! I'm starting to think there's nothing wrong with your aim!"
Kakashi pokes her awake in the middle of the night. She turns over in her bedroll.
"What?" she asks.
"…"
"Kakashi, what?"
"You're not a morning person, are you?"
"Kakashi. It's the middle of the night."
"Fair."
She blinks her sticky eyes and takes in Kakashi's mood. He's… anxious. Jumpy. She flexes her sensory-field. Nothing.
"There's a normal tanuki about thirty meters from here. He probably smells our rations. He's hungry. Don't throw kunai at him. I like raccoon dogs. They're so fluffy in the winter." She turns over again.
"…"
Kakashi lies back down and turns away from her. He's still restless about something.
"What?"
"Is Shimura Danzō the Child Snatcher?"
"…"
"…?"
"I think so."
"…"
"Have the masks been watching you too?" she asks.
"…yeah."
"Wanna know my super secret super power?"
"…" Kakashi sighs, textbook put-upon. But he's interested. "Sure. What's your super-secret-super-power?"
"I always know when my friends are thinking about me."
"Yeah?"
"Um-hum. So, if you ever need help, or you're just sad, say my name in your heart and I'll be there to answer."
"Honōka… you are so weird."
"Hey…!"