Standard Disclaimers: I own nothing.
A/N: Yes, it's a new chapter. However, I went back and completely changed Chapter 10! Make sure you go back and re-read it for this to make sense. Sorry about the confusion - but I think it's a definite improvement :)
"We can't allow them to regroup," she'd said.
And he'd had to agree. Leaving an active enemy at your back, especially when your full attention couldn't be devoted to watching said back, was a big no-no.
"Fukuda needs to get the message that his actions are not meeting with the Daimyo's approval," she'd pointed out.
This was another fact on which he could not disagree. They had roughly two days before the lord was scheduled to return from his trip, during which time they not only needed to create the antidote but they also needed to set up that message for Fukuda and make plans to ensure that the antidote would get to the parties that were in need of it.
And finally, "You're getting under foot, brat. Get out of here."
That last one had pricked at his feelings, somewhat. Really, there was no need to be rude.
Or maybe there was. Kakashi had felt distinct reluctance leaving the hotel room to go track down the ex-Kumo nin. Ostensibly, there was no need for the gnawing anxiety that even leaving a clone behind had not alleviated. Tsunade was the best medic-nin of her life time. Some back-water lord's home-brewed poison wasn't going to counter years of medical experience, senju life energy, and large stores of chakra.
Oddly enough, though, those comforting facts didn't change the rather uncomfortable fact that he was … worried for his Hokage.
And that didn't change the fact that he had a job to do.
It did mean that he found a way to tie up all of his tasks together to save time, though.
Finding the enemy nin had been fairly straight forward. Pakkun, who for some reason kept giving him side-ways looks and even offered the sympathy of his puppy-supple paw before being dismissed, had picked up the scent quickly enough from the mansion. The ex-Kumo taken up residence in an warehouse on a disreputable wharf and Kakashi had pulled out some of his lesser used water based jutsus to take advantage of the nearby element. Once his initial blow was struck, he'd summoned the rest of the pack and made relatively short work of the unprepared men.
That was one hour and forty minutes.
He'd salvaged one of the corpses at random. Perhaps one might have been better than another, but he didn't feel as if he wanted to waste time in deciding which dead man was the most scary. Instead, he picked one that wasn't going to fall apart on him as he carried it around and that still had intact eyes.
Then he took his newfound friend back to the mansion.
One could only serve under Minato or know Kushina for so long without picking up a few things here and there. Seals were not Kakashi's specialty, but the ones he knew he understood inside and out. In very little time he added a few creative horrors to the corpse he carried and then sealed it above Fukuda's bed. Having no desire to terrify innocent family members or servants, he keyed the seal to release it's grisly contents at Fukuda's presence in the bed and nothing else. He even ran the corpse through with wire so that when it did fall it would hover just inches above the hapless man, giving him a good long look before a timed jutsu formula teleported the body far far away.
He was fairly sure Fukuda would understand the message.
Three and a half hours.
He cheated a little bit on the last part. He researched thoroughly, no matter how impatient he was, and got the name of a trusted doctor who serviced most of the high-income families. Then, henged to disguise his identity, he broke into the doctor's house and became very persuasive about the man accepting the antidote once it was ready and keeping his mouth shut about details.
Six hours and ten minutes.
As daylight threatened the horizon, Kakashi summoned what remained of his chakra and fairly flew back to the hotel.