As they walked through the village towards the Hokage's office building, Kakashi was attempting to give Nayamae instructions. "You should be respectful," he told her, walking slightly ahead of her. "Look at him when he's talking to you. Don't say anything rude." He glanced down at her. "Hey! Are you even listening?"

"Yeah, yeah," Nayamae said, waving her hand. "Be polite and keep my mouth shut, got it."

"You can talk," he replied tiredly.

"If you would rather I not say anything rude, then keeping my mouth shut is your best bet," she said matter-of-factly.

Kakashi sighed irritably. "Come on. We're almost there."

They approached the building and climbed the stairs to the upper office of the Hokage. Kakashi stopped Nayamae in front of the door. "Just… try to remember some manners," he urged her.

"Stop worrying about me!" she said, feeling annoyed as they were allowed inside of the office.

"Lord Hokage," Kakashi greeted, kneeling in front of the desk where Hiruzen Sarutobi sat. Kakashi glanced at Nayamae who was standing awkwardly beside him. "Psst!" he hissed at her.

"It's alright, Hatake," Sarutobi assured him before Nayamae could bother kneeling as well. "Don't worry about that this time."

Kakashi stood, stealing an annoyed look at Nayamae. "Sir," he began, gesturing to her, "this is the kitsune I was telling you about."

"Yes, I've heard much about you," he said, approaching her. "You're looking in excellent health. Nayamae, isn't it?" She nodded. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine, thanks," she replied, shaking his extended hand.

"Good, good." He returned to sitting behind his desk. "Nayamae, do you have any idea why I wanted to speak with you?" She shook her head. He turned to Kakashi. "You didn't tell her?" he asked, slightly surprised.

Kakashi shook his head. "There wasn't any moment I could have brought it up since you and I last spoke about it," he replied. "Kyrie came in first thing this morning and we walked here immediately after and we couldn't have talked about it in public."

Sarutobi nodded. "Understandable."

Nayamae looked at Kakashi indignantly. "What are you talking about?" She looked at Sarutobi. "Why do you have to be mysterious about whatever this is? Just say it."

"Nayamae," Kakashi warned. "Watch your tone."

"Alright then," the Hokage agreed. "I'll get right to it. Our village is currently under attack by two significant individuals: a man named Orochimaru and a woman named Shinjou. You know them, correct?" Nayamae was frozen to her spot at the sound of their names, but nodded regardless.

The Hokage continued. "Orochimaru, as you know, has done horrible experiments not only on our children, but also on our shinobi. I fear he may be planning to do worse if we don't stop him soon. We must find him. As for Shinjou, her crimes are different. She's brought a plethora of illegal drugs and weapons through an underground Black Market. The drugs she's produced have found their way into our village and have absolutely ruined many good shinobi and their families. If we find and stop her, I believe it will save our village from going to ruin." He leaned forward in his chair, staring intently at Nayamae. "With your help, we can find both Orochimaru and Shinjou and bring them to justice!"

Nayamae stared back at Sarutobi. "You want me… to help you?"

He nodded. "Yes," he replied simply.

Nayamae looked to Kakashi, cracking a small smile. "This is a joke right?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, it's not."

Her smile faded. She began to shake her head. "No," she said flatly. "I won't do it. I can't help you and I won't."

"No?" the Hokage questioned. "You don't want to see Orochimaru be punished for his crimes? Or Shinjou?"

"You're asking me to do something I can't do," she said firmly.

"Why can't you?" Kakashi asked. "It's either you help us or you serve your sentence behind bars."

"Is that what this is?!" she cried angrily. "A trial to see if I would help you?! I will NOT!"

"Nayamae!" Kakashi grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to his side, whispering harshly in her ear. "You can disagree all you want, but think about the consequences!"

"The consequences?!" Nayamae shouted, her voice growing louder. "You are asking me to go after the two people who want me DEAD!"

"Kakashi. Nayamae," Sarutobi said firmly, his voice raised above their argument. He was standing now. Kakashi immediately let go of Nayamae's arm. "I understand this is a big decision that cannot be taken lightly," he continued, his voice softer. "However, if you are willing, we must act quickly. I can't give you more than a day to think this over. However, understand that if you are not willing to work alongside us, you will be given a trial and be sentenced for your crimes. Your help in finding the children Orochimaru kidnapped will be considered to alleviate any official punishment." He nodded to Kakashi. "That is all. You're dismissed."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Kakashi said hurriedly, as Nayamae immediately stormed out of the room. Kakashi followed her out, having to run to catch up with her. He grabbed onto her arm again and pulled her into an empty room, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Stop manhandling me!" Nayamae cried, prying his fingers off her arm. "I am not a doll that can be tossed around!"

"I had told you to be respectful!" Kakashi said angrily. "You were inappropriate and out of line!"

"I told you, you're asking me to go after the two people in this world who would LOVE to see my head on a silver platter!" She glared up at him. "I have feelings too, ya know! I'm human too! I'm not just some half-breed tool you can use however you wish! I don't care what your Hokage wants me to do!"

He stepped towards her intimidatingly, pressing her back against a wall. "You should care," he told her. He was inches from her face. "Funny thing you should know, if I remember correctly, you stole village secrets and had planned to give them to an enemy of ours. AND if I remember correctly, by law, that is punishable by death. With that sort of a charge, it doesn't matter what you did to save those kids. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Nayamae stared at him, tears rimming her eyes. She blinked them away. "How dare you," she growled.

"So if I were you," Kakashi continued, "I would choose the option that has a better chance of living."

"I'm dying anyway so what does it matter?!" Nayamae cried, pushing his chest. "What does it matter, Kakashi?!"

He was taken aback for a moment, shocked by what she had said. "Tell me something," he said, grabbing her hands to keep her from hitting him again. "Why didn't you ever leave? You've stayed at my apartment for the last two months and you never bothered to leave. Why is that?"

"Because you kept me prisoner-"

"I did not. The door was never locked," he interrupted. "You could have left any time, but you stayed. Why did you stay?"

Nayamae forgot her anger for a moment, considering Kakashi's question. She had thought about leaving, but only to run around outside of the village, yet had planned to return afterwards. She honestly hadn't noticed that she could just leave either, but at the same time she had never bothered to check the door. The only thing truly keeping her indoors was her fear that Orochimaru would find her and finally kill her. As far as Nayamae knew, Shinjou was on the other side of the continent and was much easier to avoid. Staying with Kakashi had made her feel safe.

"Because…" her voice faded. She looked at her hands in his, pausing to stare at them. He was being gentle now and she didn't like the sudden change in mood. She wrenched her hands from his, placing them firmly at her sides. She looked fiercely into his eye. "Fine!" she said at last. "I'll help you track them down, but I'm no good to you dead, so you better keep me alive!"

"I'll go inform the Hokage," he stated, turning around to leave the room.

"Wait!" she cried, stopping him at the door. "I need to talk to Kyrie first before you tell him anything."

"Kyrie?" he questioned. "What for? You just saw her this morning."

"It's something personal," she replied quickly. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest as the tension between them died down. "I have some questions for her."

"Well," he considered, "I can show you where she lives, but there's no guarantee you'll see her any time soon. She may be out tending to some patients." He opened the door. "I'll take you there, but we really should go and talk to the Hokage right now."

She shook her head. "Please, that can wait," she insisted. "He gave me a whole day, didn't he? It can wait. Besides," she said, shrugging her shoulders, "I may change my mind."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're blackmailing me."

"Only slightly," she admitted teasingly. "Now can you show me where Kyrie lives?"

He sighed irritably. "Fine. Come on."

Kyrie looked up from sorting a basket of medicine bottles to the sound of the door to her clinic opening, ringing a little bell. She set the basket of unsorted bottles on the counter, pushed her glasses back up on her face, and walked to the front counter.

"Back to see me already?" Kyrie asked, surprised to find Nayamae and Kakashi standing in the waiting room. "Did something happen?"

"She needed to talk to you," Kakashi said, indicating to Nayamae who had been admiring a painting on the wall. "Said it was important."

"KYYYYYRRRRIIIIIEEEEE!" Another voice shouted loudly from the other side of the clinic before Kyrie could reply. "KYYYRRIIEE!"

"Just a moment," Kyrie apologized with obvious tiredness to her voice. "My sister, Sayo… WHAT?!" she yelled walking away from the counter.

"She does have other patients," Kakashi said to Nayamae. "You sure this can't wait?"

Nayamae sighed. "It probably can for a little while, but it is important."

"What is so important that you can't wait?"

She shot him a glare. "She gave me the impression that I'm not the first kitsune she's interacted with. I need to know what she knows about my kind."

"And this can't wait?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Can you?" she retorted, annoyed. "There's more, but I don't want to discuss it with you."

He scoffed. "I didn't want to hear about it anyway," he muttered, his feelings of anger returning to him from their earlier argument.

Kyrie returned a few minutes later. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized, cleaning her glasses on the edge of her coat. "My sister had a problem with one of our patients. Nothing to worry about." She smiled brightly at Nayamae. "Well, come on back then, Naya." She waved at her to follow her, walking back down the hallway. She led her to a corner room that smelled strongly of cleaning solution. Nayamae sat on the table while Kyrie took a seat on a wheeled chair. "What seems to be the problem?" Kyrie asked, picking up a clipboard and a pen. "You seemed healthy this morning."

"I just have some questions," Nayamae replied. She told Kyrie about the Hokage's offer and the argument that followed with Kakashi. Kyrie listened intently. "You know I'm dying. Albeit slowly," Nayamae said almost too bluntly, "but I don't think they understand that. My question is, how long do you think I can live with what little kitsunebi I have left?" She had been pondering this question since she had learned she wouldn't get her fox fire back.

Kyrie nibbled on the end of her pen, looking thoughtful. "Well," she replied, taking the pen out of her mouth, "that really depends. You may have a year, or many, months, or even weeks depending on how careful you are while using your kitsunebi."

"But how do you know that?" she questioned. "I can't be the only kitsune you've dealt with if that's what you think."

Kyrie shook her head. "No, you're not, but you're only the second one I've dealt with. The other one was very old when she lost her kitsunebi. I think because you're younger, you'll probably last longer than she did. This is just a theory though." Nayamae didn't feel comforted by this. "But on the other hand," Kyrie continued, "it is possible that you could just live out a normal life without your lack of kitsunebi to bother you. You would probably just have a normal human lifespan instead of a significantly longer one of a kitsune's."

"I suppose," she said, her mind whirring.

"If you want, I could monitor your health to make sure nothing major is happening just yet," Kyrie suggested. "Come in once every other month and we can check your heart and your kitsunebi." She stood and put the clipboard on the counter behind her. "Sit up straight for me," she ordered, taking her glasses off. Her eyes went white again as she examined her. After several minutes, her eyes changed back to yellow. "Nothing's changed since this morning, but I'll go ahead and make note of how you are now." She had picked up the clipboard again and scribbled something. "And since you're going to be going after Orochimaru and Shinjou, I would suggest you monitor yourself too. Any chest pains, any control you have over yourself, anything you think would be a symptom related to your kitsunebi. I'll let Kakashi know to watch out for this stuff too."

Nayamae groaned. "Do you have to tell him?" she asked.

"I tell him what he needs to know and nothing else," Kyrie replied. "He is supposed to be taking care of you anyway." Nayamae made a face. She put her hands on her hips. "He's done quite a lot for you, you know. It wouldn't hurt to say 'thank you' at least once," she chastised. "There's just as much going on with him as there is with you so show a little grace to him, would you?"

Nayamae furrowed her brow. "What's going on with him?"

"Ask him yourself. It seems like you two need to learn to get along better anyway." She sighed. "Is there anything else you need from me?"

Nayamae shook her head. "No, that was everything," she said quietly.

"Alright then, get going. You have some work to do, don't you?"

She followed Kyrie back out to the waiting room. Kakashi stood when they entered, shutting the book in his hands and shoving it into one of his pouches. "All good?" Nayamae nodded. Kyrie quickly explained to Kakashi what he needed to monitor for Nayamae's health. "I'll be sure to do that," he said reassuringly. He turned back to Nayamae. "Let's go back and report to the Hokage." She walked towards him, letting him lead her out the door. "Thanks for everything again, Ky."

"Ah, ah, ah!" Kyrie said, holding up a hand. "Not so fast, Kakashi!"

"What?" he asked, looking back at her as they paused in the doorway.

"I have a suggestion first. Before you go and report to the Hokage about her agreement, take some time to sit down and talk to each other. And not in a hostile way." Kyrie pointed at them. "Kakashi, tell her what's going on with you. Naya, tell him what's going on with you. And boom," she clapped her hands together, "mutual understanding." She smiled. "Now, get going you two. The Hokage can wait until tomorrow."

Kakashi and Nayamae stared at Kyrie, then at each other, then at Kyrie again.

"Well, it is getting late…" said Nayamae. She tugged on the front of Kakashi's shirt attempting to lead him out the door. "Let's just go back to your apartment and talk to the Hokage tomorrow. He's not going to go anywhere."

He looked down at her, giving in with a sigh. "Fine. We'll talk to him tomorrow." He turned to Kyrie. "Have a good night, Kyrie."

Kyrie waved. "Good night you two," she said with a smile.

Kakashi and Nayamae looked uncomfortably at each other as they left, avoiding eye contact the rest of the way down the darkening road back to the apartment.

Wow, talk about awkward. Thanks, Kyrie.

Anyway, happy (way belated) Halloween! Just before November hit, I have been stupid busy and had to delay posting this new chapter until now. I'm glad to see there are still people reading this! I'm really having fun writing this story and I can't wait to get it to where I want it to be.

Leave a review to let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!