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Chapter 32 – A Princess's Determination; Part 1 – A Fight to Remember

Raido and Kazuma were waiting by the gates just as Haku said. The scarred Jonin raised a hand in greeting when she approached. "Haku finally found you, huh?"

"Yeah, I was...stuck watching Kakashi for a while. Couldn't leave," she said, the half-truth making her grimace a bit.

"How's he doing? I heard what happened from Raido," Kazuma chimed in.

Amaya was glad to see her old teammate looking more himself than when she'd last seen him. He'd lost some weight, but his smile came easily. He was healing, if not whole yet. She answered his question with a shake of her head. "He's not waking up. Haku's letting the hospital know. They'll take care of him. So what's our mission?"

"We're going to the Land of Rivers to protect the Daimyo's daughter. We'll be filled in on the details once we get there," her former teammate replied.

"That seems...suspect." She couldn't help remembering Team 7's mission to the Land of Waves and what not knowing the specifics had almost cost them.

Raido shrugged. "He paid for an A-rank, so I'm not too concerned about not knowing."

The auburn-haired shinobi wasn't quite convinced, but she had some of the best Leaf nin as teammates. Her worry dropped a notch and she was able to chat with the two other Jonin until Haku arrived.

"Kakashi's at the hospital now and they're looking over him," the white-clad nin said as the group headed out the gates.

"I'm glad." Their conversation dropped off after that as they concentrated on making up for lost time.

Once they were on schedule again, Rai dropped back to her while Haku caught up with Kazuma. The scarred nin smirked at her. "You think they can handle being up front together? Haku's not much of a talker from what I hear."

"Kazuma may like to talk, but he'll be fine. Even when we were Genin, a mission would shut him up pretty fast," Amaya said, trying to suppress her laughter.

"It's good to hear you laugh again. I mean, really laugh. These last few weeks, I thought you'd forgotten how."

"Emotional stress will cause you to forget how to do a lot of things. Like how to eat."

"Yeah," Raido said, a smile creeping into his voice, "there did seem to be more waffles around. I'm surprised you and Genma lasted as long as you did. Everyone except the two of you seemed to know things weren't going to work out."

"And no one said anything to either of us because?"

He shrugged. "It was the first time I'd seen Genma happy in a long time. And none of us really knew how healed you really were. And it would've ruined the betting."

The auburn-haired shinobi frowned at him. "Betting?" She wanted to be angry, but amusement was all she could muster.

"It wasn't my idea. Anko started it as a joke, but soon most everyone put some money in."

"What was the bet?"

"Well, a couple people thought you wouldn't make it a month. Others said you'd last until the teacher exams in a few months. After the Chunin Exams wasn't a popular opinion. People either thought you'd cave before or long after."

"What was your bet?"

He looked away from her as he spoke. "I wasn't allowed to since I live with Genma. I had an 'unfair advantage'."

A smile lit Amaya's face; she could hear the pout in his words. "You would've made a killing, wouldn't you?"

Raido didn't answer. Instead, he cleared his throat and tried to steer the conversation back onto serious ground. "Honestly, though, you and Genma needed to come to that realization yourselves, otherwise you might have stayed together just to prove us wrong and been miserable."

"I don't think we would've been miserable, just stagnant. Neither of us would've grown."

"You think you can do that with Kakashi?"

"Yeah, I do. It sounds weird, as tied up in the past as he is, but I think we can help each other heal."

Raido's smile returned. "First you have to get him to start and that's a challenge that would make any ninja shiver with fear."

"I don't expect to change anything overnight; I'd be stupid to try. When he's ready, I'll be there to help, but until then, all I can do is point him down the path and hope he follows it."

"Amaya, you're the only one I've ever seen get under his skin. If anyone can help him, you can."

She thought about the scarred nin's words for a while before changing the subject. "You said we're going to Kawa, right? That's only two days away. Why didn't we just wait until morning?"

"The Daimyo wanted us there as soon as possible. We'll be stopping around dawn both days for a few hours' sleep. We should get there around evening of our second day."

"Kazuma and I have summons. They can keep watch so we can all sleep. Do you know anything about the Daimyo's daughter?"

"Only that she's about ten."

"Wonderful," Amaya grumbled. She had nothing against kids, but ten was an obstinate age. "I guess she's the reason I'm here."

The dark-haired Jonin chuckled. "The Daimyo was insistent that we have two kunoichi, but you were the only one who wasn't going to be sent on a mission tomorrow."

"Then who's the…. You can't be serious."

"Hey, Haku was the one that volunteered for the role. He said he'd pretended to be a woman enough times while traveling with Zabuza. No one forced him."

"I guess. Let's just hope the Daimyo doesn't figure it out."


A cold nose in her ear jostled Amaya awake. As she sat bolt upright, dazed by the bright sunlight of mid-morning, Mamoru tumbled to the ground with an indignant squeak. Nearby, Kazuma was getting the same treatment from Kogera, the wolf-dog having decided it would be amusing to pounce on his master and not get up.

"Get off me, you mutt." Kazuma tried to shove his summon, but Kogera snapped his teeth very close to the nin's ear.

"You should be grateful that I watched over you while you slept. I could have just let the rodent keep watch."

"I am not a rodent!" Mamoru said as he climbed back up to Amaya's shoulder. "I am a micromys minutus. That's more than you can say. At least my parents were the same breed."

Kogera glared at the harvest mouse, rose to his paws, and took a few steps forward, letting Kazuma scramble to his feet. The shinobi tried to hold his summon back but to little avail. The wolf-dog's hackles were raised and a snarl lifted his lip. "Brave words for a squeaker."

Amaya barely caught Mamoru as he used his powerful hind legs to launch himself at the wolf-dog. His squeaks became increasingly high-pitched the longer he yelled. "How dare you. You half-breed! I'll show you just what a squeaker can do. You like those pointy ears of yours? I can chew them to bits in a matter of seconds!"

Hearty laughter made all involved turn their heads. Raido and Haku were doubled over, unable to breathe. The young medic regained some of his composure first, but Rai managed to speak through his amusement. "Stop fighting, you two. We have a schedule to keep."

The mouse and wolf-dog glared at each other for a moment before Kogera snorted and vanished in a puff of smoke. Before leaving, Amaya's summon mumbled something about the world being full of stuck-up mutts. Amaya and Kazuma shared a glance once the mouse disappeared in his own tiny puff of smoke. He gave her a small smile. "Maybe we should just have one of them keep watch. I don't think we'd get any sleep otherwise."

Amaya nodded in agreement, rolling up her blanket and strapping it to her pack. Mamoru only fought like that with people he liked, and if she had to guess, she'd say the feeling was mutual on Kogera's part. No one would get eaten if they were left together, but no one would have peace either. Luckily, the Daimyo's estate wasn't all that far away. The team headed out, little talk passing between them, and two nights later found themselves inside the village surrounding Kawa's leader's home. Despite the Daimyo's insistence that they arrive as soon as possible, the shinobi decided to spend the night in a local inn; they were all exhausted and needed a good rest. The tattooed Jonin fell into bed with a sigh, asleep by the time her head hit the pillow. Tomorrow would come too soon.