Chapter Summary: A lot of things happen. Ha ha

Chapter Eight

"Hatake-sama? Hatake-sama!"

Persistent raps on the front access of his house interrupted Sakumo's musing in the backroom dojo. Absent-minded, he stowed his saber aside and headed to the wooden entryway. He slid the front door open and blinked once.

A young, unfamiliar chuunin stood before him. Black eyes, unruly black hair, fan sigil embroidered on a thigh holster – an Uchiha.

"…yes?"

"H-Hatake-sama! I have a message for you."

Should I know you? Sakumo stopped himself before he asked. In any case, it wouldn't do him favors to seem unwell to shinobi ranked lower than him. "Mm. News from the hokage?"

"Er, no…" The boy sounded anxious. "It's a message from… a friend… I guess?"

"You… guess." he repeated tonelessly. Sakumo arched a brow at the messenger, crossed his arms in an attempt to intimidate and bit out with his rarely used tenor, "Have you forgotten how to conduct yourself, chuunin?"

Dark eyes widened. Straightening immediately, the messenger gave his respects and introduced himself as Uchiha Shisui. "Apologies, Hatake-taichou!"

The reinstated commandant sighed. "If your superiors are making you deliver slander to my doorstep, you can leave, Uchiha-kun…"

"N-Not at all!" Shisui took a deep breath and vocalized dutifully, "Hatake-taichou, the message I bring goes as so: 'On the divine path, a scarecrow stands facing east; alone as earth falls.' End of message."

Crows cawed mockingly overhead until a full minute passed in silence.

"…I don't know what that means." Sakumo deadpanned as he stared at Shisui, utterly blasé. "I am not fond of riddles… much less haiku, Uchiha-kun..."

As if physically pained from embarrassment, Shisui's eyes shuttered closed. Clearly, he regretted every minute of their interaction. "I-I see… Then I apologize for the disturbance, Hatake-taichou!"

The light-footed Uchiha was quick to turn to leave and made it as far as the edge of the front lawn when Sakumo decided to ask after him, "Well, does your friend have a name?"

Shisui slightly turned back and hesitated before he answered, "…Namikaze Rika. Though she's a genin, taichou, so I should have known better—"

Shit! What an aura! Shisui's senses prickled at the instantaneous change in Sakumo's disposition. The elder's tone dropped dangerously as he demanded, "Tell me the exact circumstances of her message. Now."

Shit shit shit. "S-She simply collapsed from training, Hatake-taichou. I would assume two weeks' worth of excessive conditioning." It seemed that this answer brought even more displeasure to the infamous jounin and Shisui wished the ground would swallow him whole. "But the station medic assured me that her recovery won't even take a full month!"

Sakumo made a short sound of acknowledgment and closed his eyes briefly. "'In the divine path, a scarecrow stands facing east; alone as earth falls.' Is that right, Uchiha Shisui?"

He gulped. "Y-Yes, Hatake-taichou. That's exactly what she told me."

"Mm. Do you have the fifth and twenty-eighth shinobi rules memorized, Shisui-kun?"

"O-Of course!" the chuunin answered immediately. All matters of communication are confidential unless declassified by a tribunal. Abandon all speculation and divulge the truth only to its intended audience.

"As you say." Sakumo's unsmiling face disturbed him. "Go."

"H-Hai!"

For the first time in a long time, Shisui's quickstep could not carry him out of the fields fast enough.

I feel happy, Sato Inoue thought as she smiled to herself. A single beat of silence in her head, then her subconscious voice floated back. I've missed happy.

"Sachi-chan, be gentler. You'll waste another hundred yen that way." Inoue bent down and took the overexcited toddler's hand in her own. With soft guidance, she demonstrated the ministrations of using the paper-lined scooper to catch guppies. "Think of it like a thin wing. So thin. Move it with the waves of the water, that way the wing won't get ripped. It'll glide instead. See?"

"Heh, fish don't have wings, sensei. They have flippers!"

"…I don't think so…"

Sachi's mother corrected from behind them as she spectated. "Ah, no, Sachi. Flippers for penguins, fins on fish."

"Oh, right, kaa-san. A-ha! Here goes!" Sachi's paper net-wielding hand haphazardly waded through the basin of water as she hastened to catch a silver-scaled guppy. Predictably, her scooper tore right in the middle, and soon enough the entire flimsy paper material sunk to the bottom of the basin. Her small mouth wobbled dangerously. "K-Kaa-san…!"

"Maa, maa, Sachi. You did your best, ne? Let's go to the temple now, papa's got a spot for us."

"…Papa?"

"Oh, is it alright if I sightsee for a while?"

"Of course! See you there, sensei!"

Aimless for an hour, Inoue wandered through the brightly decorated festival streets. She purchased a candied apple and ate it sparingly. She marveled at the animist shrines, the delicate firelights, the dancers. The fullness of the night came not long after and she grew averse, tired of the loud, booming noises from drum-wielding teens and their makeshift trumpets. She'd have gone to the temple right after finishing her candied treat had the vibrantly painted stall at the foot of the temple steps slipped her attention.

"Come in, come in! Kitsune masks would suit a woman like yourself!" The shopkeeper greeted her when she ducked in, showcasing the multicolored fox mask designs on one area of his stall. "Or perhaps – a neko?"

Sure, Inoue was lonely, much like a cat. But the simplicity of the cat mask's design did not appeal to her at all. "Uh, something unique…?" she suggested.

"Unique as in strange?" The shopkeeper queried teasingly as he gestured to the brown weasel mask. "Or unique as in funny?" An elaborate, cartoonish dog mask was offered to her.

Inoue considered each craft curiously as she turned them over in her hands – but the price tag! "No, no. I can't wear these. They're amazing, but light as shell, I might break them..." she lied.

"I see… Erm… How about this one? My eldest daughter made this when she visited me! It's not as finely painted, but it's been sitting here a long time, and if you want it—"

Inoue plucked the neglected crow mask from its perch and inspected it. Unlike most of the masks in display, this one had not been crafted traditionally. With its short beak not even reaching the tip of her nose, the obsidian feathered mask barely covered half her face. Its style tailored more to a masquerade accessory of sorts – definitely not the Toshi-ya festival.

"Unique, in the sense that it doesn't belong." Inoue suggested as she tried it on, smiling at the image she saw in the hand mirror. "Unique as in rare."

"More like unique as in unsought!" the shopkeeper laughed. "My daughter made it a year ago, I don't think I'll have anything like it ever again. She's moved away with her own family now."

"Oh no, would you like to keep it?"

"Nonsense! Do I look like I sell one of those things, much less keep them?" Inoue chuckled at the artistic jab. "You would appreciate it more for what it is. Please take it."

"I'll come back for the weasel and dog if I don't spend much for the rest of the night," Inoue promised.

"Go ahead, but I leave once the Sanjusangendo gates close!"

"Ne, ne, sensei, can I ask you a question?" Rin trudged up quickly to match Minato's pace at the front of the four-man team. "Do you think I could be hokage someday?"

Taken off-guard, Minato's step faltered and dug into the wet soil. "W-What? I didn't know you also wanted to…"

"I mean, who doesn't, right?" Rin grinned when she looked back and received an optimistic series of nods from Obito. Nevertheless, while Kakashi and Obito were surprised by Rin's query, they chose to lag behind and stay quiet. They'd never heard Rin say something like this in the years they'd served together… "I bet I could convince those old geezers to change some things," she grumbled under her breath.

"Some things like…?"

"Like, you know…" the brunette's tone wavered. "How they treat us grunts. Our families."

Obito winced, fully anticipating where this conversation was headed. "Rin, don't—"

"I finally saw my parents after two years. I'm sure you know what I'm saying too, Obito." Rin said stiffly. "They were happy to see me, but they fussed because – because they had nothing to welcome me with. From my stipend they only had enough food among themselves to last the month. I mean… I was out there! Risking my life! Thinking they were better off! And yeah, sure, there's free food, free lodging… at the academy." Rin continued through gritted teeth. "If they want more, my parents have to give up my siblings, too. It's like my pain here isn't enough. So of course I want to become hokage, sensei. I want to matter. Life isn't just about fancy obligations and enforcing borders… Life is eating. Having food, being healthy. Having comforts. I had to see them to remember but – the war isn't just happening outside Konoha."

Minato's face twisted. "I'm so sorry, Rin. I didn't know. I'll talk to the chuunin commander about your pay."

"Narra-taichou says it's a war allocation thing," Obito offered. When Minato turned to him, he shrugged his shoulders loosely. "Eh, I already asked. Iwagakure ambushed the Kikyo Pass a couple weeks ago and seasonal produce got burned to shit."

Minato shut his eyes tight. He'd recently been made aware of the genin recruitment scheme by Kushina, but the issue on food shortage… No wonder Sarutobi refused to have him deployed southwest. Konoha's vegetation must've been seared off. God damn it.

"Can we keep walking?" Kakashi interrupted. "The haunt site isn't too far off. If we hurry now, we can set up our camp before nighttime, then Kannabi's good as ours this time tomorrow. It'll be harder to infiltrate in broad daylight."

Obito bristled. "You insensitive piece of—"

"Wait. Did you say Kannabi?" Rin whirled around; hazel eyes wide. "As in Kannabi, near Kusagakure? That's where we're going?"

Kakashi nodded suspiciously. "What is it."

"Well, I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but—" Rin tapped at side of her head. "Mainlands of Fire, chapter thirty, supplemental map four. The off-road connection between Iwa and Kusa that got buried by a rock avalanche six years ago? That's the Kannabi we're headed to, right? But the bridge is supposed to be unpassable… Was it ever repaired?"

Kakashi's jaw went slack. "Sensei…!"

"It's highly possible, Kakashi-kun..."

Clueless, Obito's attention flitted from teammate to teammate. Much to his annoyance, it seemed that they had transitioned to communicating telepathically with each other, what with their meaningful eye widening and pointed brow raising. Eventually, Obito pulled at his hair and let out a desperate shriek. "Garghh! I don't even know what book you geeks are talking about, damn it! What about the map?! Tell me!"

Kakashi and Rin shared a sigh. Right... He was the batch idiot, wasn't he.

"Well… how do we simplify?" Rin turned to her teacher, helpless.

Minato sighed, too. "Basically, Obito-kun, what Kikyo Pass is to Konoha? That's what Kannabi Bridge may be to Iwagakure."

"Uh-huh…?"

"So, if we block off Kannabi, then…?" Minato hinged, brows raised encouragingly.

"…Iwagakure can't eat, either?" Obito fibbed. For a full minute his team stared at him, then Obito's entire face brightened as he realized, "Huuuh! It's probably not just their food that passes there!" A slight tilt of his head, "And I'll bet Kusa's the one backing their resources, too!"

"Aaand he finally got it." Kakashi rolled his eyes, shoving past Obito. "You know what, Rin. You could be hokage someday." Jutting his thumb backward, "If Obito were your competition."

"Joke's on you because I would never compete against Rin!" Obito declared, smug as he adjusted his goggles. His team stared at him again, then the insult sunk in. "Wait… You… You asshole!"

Rin scowled. "You know what, Kakashi? When we get back, I'm telling Hatake-taichou how you really are as a teammate. You'll be running laps for weeks. Remember that time you left Obito stranded in Kumo for a day because you felt like it?"

"Hey, I remember that! But… Kakashi, didn't you say you were delayed by a rogue nin…?"

"Tch… What I actually meant to say was: yes, Rin, Konoha definitely needs you as hokage. I just know you could revolutionize the whole system with your... maturity… and… discretion."

Rin huffed. "Yeah, that's what I thought, too." Stuck-up jerk.

Minato deigned the squad of ragamuffins with a long-suffering look before ushering them onward to resume their trek.

A mile in, a crow circled the skies above them, eventually descending past the slight forest canopy after four consecutive caws. At the squad's pause, it dove and rested on Minato's raised forearm. The blond undid the rope tied around the crow's neck, then the hokage's seal on the flap of the scroll before he was able to reveal the entirety of the missive.

Minato's face darkened. "They need us back at the frontline. The tsuchikage just broke through the front borders with a thousand reinforcements."

Obito balked, his eyes nearly spilling out of their sockets. "A thousand?!"

With a disapproving shake of his head, "If the tsuchikage's going all out now, cutting their means off from Kannabi will finally place them on equal ground with Konoha. We need this done, too." Minato deliberated. "I'm designating this mission an S as well. You three, stay the course. I'll split."

"An S?!" Rin repeated in disbelief. That would mean fifty times her normal wage!

"But sensei – that's a thousand enemy nin!" Obito transferred closer to the lead jounin and thumped his chest with a closed fist. "Let me go with you!"

Minato evened himself with a deep breath and placed his right hand atop Obito's head. "Have faith in me, Obito-kun. Have faith in us. We're, ah, what did you say before, the 'dream team,' remember?"

Obito's eyes glistened. Had his sensei… always been this cool before?

"I…!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Don't forget sensei made a few hundred seals before we left."

The Yellow Flash only needed to encounter a platoon of idiots, tag them, and wait for them to tuck tail and run back to their respective bases – where Minato could slink in and opportunely wipe out whole legions. It was a glorious, fabled solo tactic, and Minato had even discussed the intricacies of it with Kakashi once before.

He is sooo going to become hokage soon. Rin nodded along, knowingly eyeing at the blond's bulky bag pack. "Even if we're not there, other jounins ought to have his back. We'll do this, sensei. Please take care."

Arguably, it was Namikaze Minato's bizarre plethora of applied jutsu that made him such a mammoth of an ally and opponent. Kakashi strived to be even just half the men his father and sensei were.

Minato exhaled again. "Alright." He turned about and jumped to the opposite path of trees. "And team?"

The trio halted and faced him again.

"We promise no more bickering, sensei." Rin supplied obediently. Obito followed with a wary nod.

"No, not that. But that's good to know."

Obito scratched the back of his head. "…yes, sensei?"

"Please do me the honor of rewarding your first S-class token when this is over." Minato bid with a lopsided smile. "Let's end this war. I believe in you."

Without another word, Minato left.

"K-K-Kakashi, a-are you crying?!"

"Shut up, dobe. You're imagining things. Let's go."

"Oh, who is this?" Yakushi Nono peered at the incapacitated genin in one of the beds when she entered the medic station. They really are getting younger and younger. "I've never seen her before."

"One of the early graduates, Yakushi-san," one of the medic aides answered. "She's exhausted herself, the poor thing. Is Kabuto-kun with you today?"

"Yes, he'll be here shortly…"

"That's great, we really appreciate his help."

Taking a closer examination of the unconscious genin, Nono's palms glowed green. Her olive eyes narrowed in on the girl's stomach. "Strange," she muttered. "Hakamada-san, are you sure it's just exhaustion? I'm seeing some blockage in her pathway."

"Oh…? You're right, I must have overlooked them. We had so many casualties coming in—"

"No matter, I'll handle this. Go on." Nono waved a dismissive hand, preoccupied with finishing her newfound patient's chakra scan. "This is so, so strange…"

If he were completely honest, Hakamada wouldn't have messed with the chakra blockages had he been the one to diagnose them in the first place. Thank Kami-sama for the medic corps captain – the wandering nun somehow always arrived when she was needed.

"You're a lifesaver, Yakushi-san!"

"Mm-hmm… This is going to take a while. Could you close the curtains around us, please?" Nono flexed her back and arms before assuming her medicating stance. "Time to do god's work."

Submersed in her dark dreamscape, Namikaze Rika laid completely still, unaware of the seated coils unravelling from deep inside her. Yakushi Nono, with great precision and skill, took to clear her chakra circuit, painstakingly dealing with each strange seal, one at a time, until her entire pathway regained its healthy yellow flow.

Finally finished, her knees wobbling, Nono wiped the sweat off her forehead and collapsed to the floor. She leaned her weight onto the side of her patient's bunk bed.

"You stay away from old council men, you hear me," she said, tiredly closing her eyes. "Else they'll put worse seals, then I can't help you."

Unbeknownst to the medical ninja, her patient's chest suddenly rose with a deep, waking breath. For a single second, Namikaze Rika's eyes flashed a color that was not her own, before she blinked again and they returned to their original ocean hue.

"Okaa-sama, I'm back. A-Are you alright?"

Bent over the kitchen sink, Uchiha Mikoto wiped the edge of her mouth. "I'm not sure, Itachi-kun... Noodles don't seem to agree with me these days."

"I... see..."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Okaa-sama, are you... pregnant?"

Mikoto froze. Her mind blanked and she remained speechless.

Itachi nodded to himself. "Please don't stress yourself. I'll be back with the clan doctor."