Tsukiyama Yuuko, aka ANBU agent Rat, had been in a coma for the past four days. As much as everyone was worried about her, it had been deemed necessary to extract the knowledge of what exactly had gone wrong on that mission.
Agent Rat was a top assassin, and Agent Rabbit, one of their most promising new prodigies, had outright disappeared.
This mission had been of the highest security clearance due to the information they'd be gaining on the unstable Bloody Mist village. It would be an ace up their sleeve, something they could use to subtly dislodge the dictator known as Karatachi Yagura, turn the tides of the civil war in the favor of the revolutionaries.
But they had no idea if the mission was successful, if either Rat or Rabbit had eliminated the mark. Rat was hanging on by a thread as it was. She was far too delicate in this state for a Yamanaka mind-walk.
Concerning Rabbit, by the time her summons had led a team of reinforcements to the scene of the battle, she was gone. The only clue that she'd ever been there fighting in the first place and hadn't betrayed Rat, was the sheer destruction of charred forest around them.
Neither Rat nor Rabbit had fire affinities. Rabbit, for all of her prowess, was just plain bad at fire-style jutsus.
There was also the Mokuton. And considering the fact that Cat was on a different mission all the way in Lightning Country…
Spider, or Shiranui Genma as he was called when he was off duty, didn't like the picture it painted.
He stood by Rat's bedside, next to one of the Yamanaka, as a medic nin worked diligently. A knock sounded on the door, then Hatake Kakashi strolled in, nose buried in his lurid orange book.
"Yo," his friend greeted.
"Yo yourself," Genma said, rolling the senbon around he held between his teeth. He already had the beginnings of a migraine coming on. He didn't need Kakashi to give him the full thing. "What's up?"
He had a feeling he already knew.
"Maa, nothing. Wanted to talk, one captain to another."
"About what?" he asked, exiting the hospital room. They silently walked down the hall until they came to the courtyard.
"...you're sending a team back to Water Country, correct?"
"Yeah," Genma took the senbon out of his mouth and watched it glitter in the sunlight. "The circumstances surrounding Rabbit's disappearance are too weird."
(Why would evidence of a long-dead Konoha kekkei-genkai be found near a scuffle of an espionage/assassination mission concerning Kiri's bloodline purges?)
"Let me join it."
"Aren't you running your own team?"
"They'll be fine," Kakashi said breezily, "I can have Itachi lead while I'm gone."
They both knew Kakashi was barely stable as it was. Rabbit's familial resemblance to his dead teammate didn't help the man's mental state either. Genma was pretty sure that if he let him come on this mission and they discovered Rabbit to have been killed by the enemy for information… Well, it could be considered a miracle Kakashi hadn't managed to snap for this long.
Genma definitely felt that migraine coming on. He sighed and put the senbon back in his mouth. "Fine."
Kakashi would try to find Rabbit anyway. It was probably better he come with the official team so they could supervise him in case he did something stupid.
The door to the Hokage's office swung open then slammed against the wall, and with a great creaking noise, fell off of its hinges.
"Hokage-sama! We tried to stop her–"
ANBU weren't supposed to have emotions. They were the cold-hearted tools of the village, the kunai that was used to cut the throats of Konoha's enemies. However, there was an overwhelming sense of burning curiosity in the room as a short brunette woman stomped into the room, restrained by two desk chuunin. She wore jounin blues and white was beginning to streak through her hair. Her eyes were harsh and green, and she had purple markings on her cheeks.
" I am coming on this mission whether you like it or not! " howled the kunoichi, bringing her heel down on the toes of one of the chuunin. He bit back a shriek and loosened his hold on her just enough to be elbowed in the face.
None of the ANBU, kneeling before the Hokage, budged. Silently, each and every one of them– Hound, Spider, Raccoon, and Otter– cursed their porcelain masks for obscuring their peripheral vision.
"Ah, Kanae-chan," said the Third Hokage mildly, "How can I help you?"
"Hokage-sama," greeted Nohara Kanae, dipping her head in a half bow. Though it was difficult as she held the second chuunin in a headlock as he flailed hopelessly. "I want to join the mission that you are dispatching to search for my Asuka."
The Hokage took a match and struck it. A small flame burned at its head. He lit his pipe and inhaled thoughtfully. "This mission is classified, and concerns S-ranked intelligence that ANBU is attempting to recover, Kanae-chan. I'm afraid I cannot allow you to–"
"I wasn't asking," Kanae said.
Ice-cold, cutting , killing intent flooded the room. The temperature, stiflingly warm and sticky due to a broken air conditioner, dropped several degrees.
She released the chuunin from her choke hold and dropped into a full, proper bow.
"I am the head of the cryptology division. There isn't a secret that I haven't sworn to protect, that I am not taking to my grave . I've put the good of this village above myself and my clan for my entire life. I've cracked countless codes and created many others– without which we would have lost innumerable lives. Forgive me if I think I can be trusted with this information."
The Hokage exhaled a plume of gray smoke. "You're sure your emotions won't get the better of you, Kanae-chan?"
"You should be asking him that."
An ANBU doesn't wince. Hound merely heard the words the woman said, noted her grudge and anger and heartbreak and fear hiding within them, and filed it away.
The Hokage nodded. "ANBU Spider, good for one more?"
Hound could feel his friend's weariness from here.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
