It was incredibly dark at the gates of Konoha. The winter nights were bitter and cold as the empty skies showcased the stars above. Ame was leaning against the colossal wooden gate just before 4 am dressed in her usual anbu gear plus a heavy brown cloak. The lights of the village barely reached the outskirts and she squinted through the darkness. The two gate guards sat in their booth playing cards next to candlelight.

After visiting the Hokage yesterday she spent the rest of the day scouring the file on the mission. She was no less pissed that she had to team up. The Hokage knows what happened last time. Betrayal swirled uncomfortably in her gut as the minutes ticked by. The cold crept through her skin, seeping to her bones. She carried a small pack across her back offering her a little comfort as she waited for her teammate.

The frigid morning was the only thing keeping her awake as minutes turned into an hour. Her eyes burned at the lack of sleep and her lids threatened to close. Her legs grew stiff and her head began to fall. She jerked back up and straightened off the gate. The aroma of a winters morning filled her lungs and fended off sleep a little more.

Her knees creaked as she heaved her sleeping legs towards the gate guards booth.

"Ya-" she called. The guards barely looked up from their seemingly infinite card game.

"Hn?" one of them grunted through his cigarette.

"You seen another anbu this morning?" her voice felt scratchy. The guards both looked up to her this time with vacant and bored expressions. "Yay high, grey hair, fox mask, fragile ego?" she gestured with her hand the height of her teammate. The guards shook their heads.

"Only seen you" they began their cards again ending the brief conversation. Her blood simmered slightly as she was thinking through the possibilities of where he is. She had to make a decision.

1. Go look for him in the village, maybe he overslept.

2. Wait here, he might be running late.

3. Leave without him, he's Anbu I am not mothering him, or,

4. The worst-case scenario, he left even earlier, leaving her behind.

She stood between the gates, looking out into the black oblivion of a winter morning. She shut her eyes and inhaled, composing herself before launching into the trees outside the village. He was over an hour late and this was a time-sensitive mission. She wasn't going to compromise herself for the sake of a teammate she didn't need.

It felt good to run. Each foot that fell on the branch launched her faster and faster through the lightless canopy. She could barely make out the next part of her path but she didn't falter. Her heartbeat faster sending warmth through to her extremities.

The rush of leaving the village for a mission was almost unbeatable. The five days she had of leave was five too many in her opinion. She couldn't say she enjoyed what she did, taking a life always took a part of you, but she enjoyed using her skills. It was the only thing she was good for and no one could take that away from her.

She'd been running for an hour at nearly top speed when the sun peaked through the horizon. It sent rays through the morning mist illuminating the woodland. The birds awoke and began their morning call as she flew past them.

A presence suddenly came up behind her at flying speed. She leapt and swung herself around the next branch already in her fighting stance preparing for the oncoming attack.

"Yo," Hatake Kakashi stood donning a fox mask, anbu uniform and a cloak, on a tree branch a few meters from her. Dread and disappointment lay in her stomach. She turned on her heel and began leaping through the trees at a near breakneck speed. She couldn't hear his footfalls but she could sense his presence behind her.

"You began the mission without me" his voice sounded fairly far off and she replied by driving her feet forward faster. "This will have to go in the mission report" oh how her blood boiled. He had a knack for pissing her off and she didn't like it. It was too early in the morning for this.

"Along with your tardiness," she quipped.

"Maa- you said 6 am." Could one shake from anger?

"And you said 4 am"

"You waited all that time for me? I'm flattered"

"Don't be, I didn't wait" she replied too quickly.

"Ahh," he was closer to her now, "that's why you were going slowly, so I could catch up." She reached boiling point and threw a warning shot with a kunai at his head knowing he would dodge it.

"That wasn't very team-mate like at all, Ojou-sama. I'm beginning to think you don't want to be partnered up." Does this man have more than one personality? She is getting whiplash from all his demeanours.

"I was under the impression you shared the same view"

"Maa," he waved her off as they continued leaping from tree trunks, "Ojou-sama would it kill you to be kind to a comrade" he was almost cooing at her.

She came to an abrupt halt and snapped her head to his presence behind her. Her byakugan engaged and scoured his body. He halted only seconds after she and raise his hands feigning innocence. His eye was closed giving a crinkled fake smile until he dropped the act. Seems he reached his limit too. He stood tall and his expression darkened.

"It will take more than a byakugan user to kill me" he warned.

"Don't flatter yourself, if I wanted you dead you'd already be in the ground" she took off without notice through the canopy of the trees. She didn't look back to see if he was following. "I was checking to see if you were an impostor." She clarified.

"You already gauged my chakra signature?" if he was surprised he didn't let on.

"No" is the only answer she gave

"Then your byakugan can't tell between an impostor and your real partner."

"I didn't know you were an expert in the byakugan" she quipped. He didn't respond and she glanced back towards him. "Please, do go on. Tell me how I can use my byakugan"

Silence. That's what I thought.

They continued on foot without stopping until late evening. The silence continued after that conversation. Ame slipped down and broke through the tree line onto a dirt road and henged herself immediately.

Her hair fell into the soft brown she always wore, and her mask appeared as a regular female citizen. She mixed it up and henged her eyes a pretty jade.

She felt Hatake fall into step next to her henged in a similar appearance. He wore darker brown hair, grey eyes and purple paint over both his eyes. Their cloaks kept their uniform hidden as they made their way into the small town.

Calling it a town was a bit of a stretch. It was often frequented by Ame as she passed through here on many missions. It was a single dirt road lined with pubs, restaurants, inn's, and a range of shops. It was the last stop they could make before their mission truly began. If they stopped at a town nearer the location it would be too risky.

"We don't need to stop here" his voice broke the day-long silence.

"What happened to giving me the silent treatment?" she swore she could hear him taking a deep breath. "I don't know about you but I just adore the Dango here" she batted her eyelids at the annoyed nin. His face was stone-cold looking only ahead.

"We should continue to the location"

"The meeting isn't taking place for 4 more days, and the rate we are going we will get there in 2."

"Then we can set up and stake it out"

"Or, we could take advantage of this quaint little town by filling our bellies and having a decent night sleep."

"It's unnecessary"

"I find I perform better when I'm not half-dead, don't you?"

"Hn" is the only reply she got.

"We can get there with a day to spare and fret not we can sit for an entire 24 hours waiting for nothing to happen before the meeting takes place."

Silence.

"What happened to your upbeat oh-so-cheery attitude of this morning?" she watched as his eyes slid momentarily to her. "Ah, so your plan of annoying me to death so I'd leave you to complete the mission alone, didn't work?" she smirked as his head snapped fully to her.

"That wasn't my plan" he stated flatly.

"So there is a plan" she glared up at him.

"Maybe" he offered, "maybe not"

"Real mature" They hadn't noticed they'd come to a temporary halt. She cleared her throat and they continued to walk down the street to the inn.

The lights of the street lamps flickered turning on as the sun painted the sky in an array of oranges and pinks. She adores the sunset. She could barely take her eyes of the mirage of colour.

The streets began to busy as people filtered towards the pubs and restaurants. The aroma of foods coaxed a growl from her stomach. If Kakashi noticed he didn't let it show. They entered the Ryokan dipping their heads below the curtain in the doorway. The smell of onsen filtered through the little inn.

"Irasshimase" the clerk bowed towards us offering us welcome.

"Good evening" Hatake answered.

They managed to get a single room with two futons and unlimited access to the public onsen. It was expensive as there was only one ryokan in town and it was standard for all leaf nin to occupy a single room overnight. Safety reasons. She couldn't think of anything worse but at best she was professional. Nothing was said between them as they entered their room. They placed what little belongings they had in the wooden entryway.

She contemplated their predicament but knew this would be a long week if she didn't at least try and be amicable.

"Dinner?" she offered.

"I don't date" he sounded grossly offended at her offer and spoke with a deadpan face before heading out the door and left towards the public onsens. She had to close her eyes to suppress the rage brewing inside of her. He was mocking her just for the fun of pissing her off and she knew it. It was the standard protocol that anbu never leave each other sights unless the plan calls for them to split up. In downtime such as this, it is against protocol. She took a deep breath trying to disperse the anger for the thousandth time in the day and headed towards the onsen.

Ame stood staring at the sign above the onsen entryway. She paled as she read the words "mixed bathing". She sighed and rubbed her eyes. Tiredness was seeping in after the day spent sprinting through treetops. She debated skipping bathing. She tried to persuade herself she didn't need it but the aftermath of the strenuous exercise begged to differ.

She entered the bathhouse and removed her clothing in exchange for the small towel. No one else occupied the changing rooms and she could see the onsen was almost empty. She smirked to herself, planning revenge.

She henged herself into a gorgeous brunette with long flowing locks, large blue glistening eyes, not to mention the curvy figure and humongous bosom. She entered the courtyard with her head held high and made her way to the shower. She washed and showered before folding the towel on her head. She turned and began to enter the open-air onsen.

She swayed her full hips as she stepped lower into the hot spring water. She stole a glance towards the annoying copy nin. He had both his arms outwards over the sides of the rocky border and his head tilted back. His henge was the same but she noticed he didn't henge his anbu tattoo and of what she could see, his body was littered with scars.

The onsen water stung as she sank deeper into the healing waters. It was hot enough that it marred her skin light red where it touched. It was a sizable pool considering it was a small inn. Only one other man sat in the pool, the opposite side of Hatake. She glanced over feeling someones gaze, the man tried his hardest not to look in her direction after being caught. She gave him a deep scowl and made her way to where she'd sit.

"You should really henge your anbu tattoo" she leant down and whispered to the copy nin as she stood directly in front of him. A single eye slowly opened taking in the sight that lay before him. Shock registered and his face morphed. The towel he'd folded on his head slipped into the water and his henge wavered momentarily. He looked away as quickly as he looked and she smirked to herself. She sat a little too close to him as someone would in an onsen and gave a soft content sigh. Her enlarged bosom floated to the surface and she pushed them down causing them to jiggle and shoot upwards.

She could feel the eyes of the old pervert on her but Hatake did his best to look straightforward. The old perv face dropped and he left hastily. She did her best to make him uncomfortable and started to giggle causing her breasts to jiggle, sending ripples in the onsen.

The sound of faint dripping alerted her to the copy nin. As she turned her head towards him he was up and striding out of the pool. She smiled at her doing and sank further into the pool until it was over her nose, admiring the behind of the ninja. She had the whole bath to herself. She dropped the henge on her body and stretched out to relax.

Her eyes found themselves on the spot that was just vacated only to see faint red swirling in the water, dispersing before her eyes.

Pervert.

After soaking for a little too long, and the heat making her feel a little too dizzy, she found herself wrapped in her baby blue onsen clothing sat on the tatami of her room. It was empty except for herself. The staff must've come and laid out their futons whilst they were bathing because they were placed in the centre of the room. A little too close for comfort. She rose to her feet and began dragging a futon away from the other when the door opened giving way to the henged ninja. He was dressed in similar garb of the onsen robes.

He faltered as he made his way through the entrance as his eyes fell on hers. She looked up to him guiltily but toughened up and continued to drag the futon away. Her henge had dropped completely giving him the full sight of her lilac long hair made up in low twin tails and her grey byakugan eyes.

She stood tall, her hands on her hips, proudly observing her work as Hatake removed his shoes in the entrance and made his way to the tatami. The silence hung heavily between them until her stomach growled aggressively causing them both to falter in their movements. She could feel herself warm under her pale skin but ignored it and held her head high.

She made her way to the door, slipping on her outdoor shoes. A symphony of stomach noises erupting with every step.

"I'm heading out for food, stay here and mope by yourself, or, eat," she said and without looking back she left.

She walked through the street slowly taking in the sites now the sun had set. She spied a curry stall but after some contemplation considered it to be unfair to Taiyo-san. In her moments of deliberation, Hatake fell into step beside her.

"Get it to take-away" he commanded. "We are leaving early tomorrow." She wanted to roll her eyes but he was right. She nodded.

After finding a stall she ordered simple food. Steamed fish, rice, and miso soup. Surprisingly Kakashi ordered the same and they wandered back through the street to the ryokan in silence. The winter chill bit at her fingers as she carried the containers back to the inn.

Ame began thinking about when she was last here with her teammates, wondering the street finding somewhere to eat. Flashes of happy memories poured heaviness into her chest and she pushed it down. She needed to focus on this mission.

"We should review mission details before we sleep" she announced breaking the silence as they walked through the entrance to their room. She caught him nodding and agreeing. He had dropped his henge and his mask covered the lower half of his face once again. His hair was grey and unbound by the usual forehead protector. He kept his Sharingan closed leaving his onyx eye open.

They both removed their shoes and made their way to the small table and sat on the floor.

The smell of the food hit all her senses and she breathed deeply. Her stomach once again making itself known. She snapped the disposable chopsticks in two and began eating. She shovelled in rice and fish until her mouth was too full and glugged on the miso. The sensation of food on her tongue made her jaw tingle. Hatake cleared his throat as he snapped his own chopsticks. He lay the mission brief down and began to talk through details.

"We are to observe and feedback on a meeting that is supposed to take place between Iwa shinobi and Suna shinobi. There seems to be tension building between the great nations again and there are rumours of an alliance forming between the two hidden villages" he paused as he chewed his food pensively. She didn't see him drop his mask nor did she care what he looked like. She kept her eyes on her own food.

"On my last few missions, I've heard similar things. Nothing has confirmed it yet." She saw in her peripherals that he nodded as he finished chewing.

"We are not to engage unless attacked. We need to keep our presence unknown."

"Understood" she answered through a mouthful of food.

"We won't know how many nin will show up, we should track at least one side after familiarising ourselves with the meeting location." She hummed in response. "What are your main skills or abilities?" he asked upfront causing her to groaned internally.

"Assassinations and intel gathering" she answered as if it weren't horrific. His brows pulled down.

"You need to be more specific" he demanded. She sighed and placed her chopsticks on top of the container.

"I can remain virtually undetectable to most ninja through camouflage jutsu and chakra suppression. I have a few jutsu's I've created that makes dealing with hostiles or targets quick and silent. My summons and I can create a precautionary perimeter to limit surprises. Through my byakugan and sonar abilities, I can virtually see in the dark." There was more but she hated laying herself bare like this.

He nodded in understanding and continued his meal. She'd finished her food and began packing away.

"I'm skilled in tracking, hand-to-hand combat and competent with Jutsu's."

"You're not called copy ninja for nothing" she added silently cursing herself. This was the longest conversation they'd had without biting each other heads off. He ignored her and continued.

"Once we get to the meeting site I can begin to predict where each side are coming from and we can track them down from there." She nodded and she lay backwards away from the table. She stretched her arms above her head only hearing the copy nin's near-silent chews. "After we familiarise ourselves with the location and choose options to watch from afar we will head out."

"Track Iwa nin" she announced.

"I am going to ask what makes you say that"

"The quickest and easiest way they can get to that location is through a deep gorge if they're coming from Land of Earth." She offers the information as she hoists herself back up.

"Are you familiar with this area?" You could say that.

"As you know between the two nations is the Land of Birds." She bins the remaining packaging and heads to the bathroom. "It's where I'm from," she pauses "originally."

"You're not from the leaf?" she brushes her teeth and the question rings in the silence. After swilling her mouth she wanders back into the main room.

"My clan is from Birds" she makes her way to her futon and gracelessly slumps into it. Her body tingled as she snuggled between the luxurious futon. After a moment of silence, she glanced to the nin. He watched her with a crease between his brows. "What?"

"You're not Hyuga?" he rose from his seat.

"Do my eyes look like Hyuga eyes to you?" he closed the space between them with two long strides and crouched down staring too closely at her face as she lay in her futon. His frown deepened as he stared into her eyes. A deep unsettling feeling swam in her gut. She resisted looking away.

"They're grey, not purple/white," he spoke as if to himself. "So, no, I supposed they don't" he stepped away and disappeared into the bathroom.

Once he returned, he switched the lights out and climbed into his own futon. Her eyes were heavy and sleep wasn't far off. The moonlight poured in, illuminating the small room. She watched Hatake as he lay on his back and put an arm under his head. Maybe after this conversation, it'll be easier to be around him. She wondered as she fell into her slumber.

She slept deeply and dreamlessly.