I have no excuse guys. Read the authors note at the bottom. If you want to know what I've been up to… Well a lot of role playing with some online friends. Playing League of Legends and Dragon Nest. And I've recently got into Attack on Titan and Diabolik Lovers. I've got a boyfriend now too so that takes up part of my time.

Hope you guys enjoy this part at least.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto


Kakashi was in the Hokage's office, waiting on Tsunade to look over the plans Inoichi, Shikaku and he had come up with for battle strategies and splitting teams into groups. They had just sent the scroll with him since they were quite busy with other ongoing jobs at the moment,

I wonder if Katsumi is finished with her mission. Tsunade didn't say how long she would be gone and it is nearing six days. I wonder if Gai was one of her teammates since he's not in the village, though that could just be coincidence.

"I approve of these plans. I will send a copy of them to the other Kages and then they can adjust it to fit their teams as needed," she said and set the scroll over to the side after rolling it up. "You are dismissed, Kakashi. Though you might want to wait up here for a few moments since I believe Katsumi has returned from her mission," Tsunade said, looking out the window with a slightly amused expression.

Raising an eyebrow, Kakashi looked out the window across the rooftops to see Gai gleefully dodging several kunai thrown by Anko. "You sent Katsumi out with Gai and Anko as teammates?" he asked as an amused grin formed under his mask.

That would not have gone over well with Anko at all.

"You could've warned me about Anko's short temper with Gai," Katsumi said as she entered the office through the window.

Kakashi gave her quick glance over and did not see a scratch or hair out of place, but she still looked quite annoyed and her gold eyes flickered back to where Gai and Anko were still having a scuffle.

Tsunade smirked and the comment before her face formed a serious expression. "So how did the mission go?"

Katsumi smiled slightly and then reached into her pocket to pull out a scroll, which she then laid on Tsunade's desk. "The message was delivered successfully and I found out the coordinates of the base, as well. All the information and words exchanged are in the scroll."

Tsunade smiled slightly at her. "It is good to have you back, Katsumi. I don't have any other missions for you or Kakashi, so you can just continue to help with the repairs and weapons preparation until I hear more from the Kages," she said in a dismissing tone.

Kakashi nodded and bowed before turning to leave, only to notice that Katsumi was not moving.

"Tsunade-sama, I wish to request permission to leave the village for two days in order to search for a summoning contract I wish to sign. I know it could wait, but I believe it would be helpful for the upcoming battle," Katsumi asked her.

A summoning contract? I always expected for her to sign the snake contract, but she wouldn't need to leave the village for that since Anko has it after swiping it from Orochimaru's base.

"I suppose you won't tell me what animal this contract is for, will you?" the Hokage said, but started writing out a pass for Katsumi to give to the guards. "Do you know exactly where it is?"

The Shisou nodded, her slitted eyes filled with certainty and Kakashi once again realized that he needed to talk with her as soon as she got back.

"I'd rather it be a surprise since no one has signed it in over a hundred years. It's located in a cave near Kusagakure. I plan on shadow traveling there and back so I'll have time to work with the summons and make sure they'll follow orders," Katsumi replied and Tsunade handed her the scroll. "Arigato, Hokage-sama," she said with a bow and then turned to Kakashi. "Walk with me to the gate?"

Kakashi nodded and followed her out the window before both of them took off towards the gate. "How bad was the mission?" he asked once they slowed down to a walk.

Katsumi snorted and rolled her eyes. "The actual mission part went without a hitch. It was Anko that was the biggest problem."

Anko is a Jōnin. I'm sure she knows how to behave on a mission.

"What happened that has Anko chasing Gai all over the village with kunai?" Kakashi asked while tilting his head slightly as his sharpened hearing could still hear Anko's shouting in the distance.

Katsumi evidently heard it as well and the corner of her mouth lifted in amusement. "Gai was continually wearing on Anko's nerves on the way to the base the whole time we were in the Land of Fire, though he switched to mission mode once we crossed the border. Once we finished and began to head back I dropped the suggestion to Gai that even though he mainly uses taijutsu, I knew a great genjutsu that would work well on friends and enemies and perhaps encourage other to find their youthfulness," she said and then chuckled as Kakashi sweat dropped at the Gai-like word.

I fear to ask where this is going. If it is enough to drive Anko to give into her bloodlust…

He sighed heavily. "What was the genjutsu?"

Katsumi smirked at him and made a single sign and Kakashi felt a genjutsu cover him. Realizing Katsumi was simply showing rather than telling he resisted the urge to dispel it immediately was waited to see what it was, only for nothing to happen.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" he asked, looking around to see that the genjutsu had not changed his surroundings.

Wait a second, if it hasn't changes anything around me…

Kakashi suddenly look down at his body and paled before dispelling the illusion. "Don't ever do that again," he said, giving a chuckling Katsumi a hard glare.

Though I can see why Anko is now trying to kill, or at least maim Gai.

"What, Kakashi? You don't think you look good in green spandex?" Katsumi asked as they neared the gate.

Kakashi shook his head with a heavy sigh. "Seriously, Katsumi, did you have to give Gai the idea for such a genjutsu? Though I am surprised that he didn't come up with it on his own."

"Because it was funny, plus you have to admit it is rather effective in startling your enemies," she said and handed her pass to the guards.

"True. Be careful, Katsumi," he said, nodding to her.

Perhaps I will talk to Gai now that he is back in the village. He might have some insight on the situation and Katsumi may have told him something regarding her feelings towards me; especially since it was supposedly obvious to everyone else.

Katsumi smiled at him before stepping through the gate and sinking into the shadow of the wall.

….

Kakashi headed back into the village. He knew that most of the repairs were almost completed, so the other shinobi had that covered. Deciding to go help with restocking the weapons, he headed to the weapon storage building that was close to the ANBU headquarters.

The weapons storage was where shinobi dropped off their worn out, standard shinobi tools, then store owners would come and pick them up to be sharpened, or melted down to reuse. Most of the time the shinobi did not mess with them and just leave them for the store owners, but with the war on the horizon all extra weapons were needed and there was not enough people to look through them that actually knew what was salvageable, and what needed to be melted back down. Plus if a few Jōnins that knew what they were doing worked through it, it could be done in less than a day.

Genin sometimes don't realize how important a tiny crack in a kunai could be in a battle. If someone used a cracked kunai to block a sword, and the kunai broke, it could be life or death.

To his slight surprise, Anko and Gai were already there laying out the many kunai, shuriken, swords, and other various and deadly sharp shinobi tools. He also spotted Tenten working a bit further away with one of the weapons store owners.

Kakashi moved over to Gai. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Ah my eternal rival, the ones on the left have already been inspected and sharped, so you can just grab a stack from the right and start sharpening and inspecting," Gai told him, motioning towards the pile of weapons.

I'm not sure how wise it is to have Anko around so many weapons at the moment, but at least Gai is used to dodging.

Kakashi sat down and started checking over the kunai for any cracks that could weaken the weapons. He also noticed Anko was tossing the kunai she was finished with to Gai, well less tossing and more throwing them towards his head, though Konoha's green giant caught them with barely even a glance.

"So Anko, how did you enjoy the mission?" he asked, looking over at the kunoichi with an eye smile, only to have to catch several shuriken aimed at his head.

Anko is so fun to rile up. I can see why Katsumi suggested that genjutsu, even with the risk of her wrath.

"I take it Katsumi told you what happened?" Anko asked through gritted teeth as she found a kunai with a large crack and tossed it into the reject pile.

Kakashi shook his head slightly and tossed a shuriken into the reject pile along with a sword, before getting started on sharpening a Fūma shuriken. "She decided to show me rather than tell," he replied and Anko started laughing.

"Perfect! I knew I put up with Katsumi for some reason," she chuckled.

Kakashi noticed Gai had an amused expression before he covered it with his blinding smile. "So, Kakashi, when are you going to ask out Katsumi?"

If Kakashi had been a lesser shinobi, he would have cut his hand open by dropping the giant shuriken. Instead, he simply slid the sharpening block off the metal edge a bit too early.

"Has Katsumi said anything?" he asked, knowing Gai was the most likely person she would talk to about such things.

Though Anko might know as well since she was on the mission too.

Anko chuckled and smirked at him. "She didn't have to say anything since it is glaringly obvious, but yes she did say something. I'm just not going to tell you," she said with a smug grin.

Gai nodded, catching Kakashi's attention once more. "You two should quit tip-toeing around each other."

Kakashi rolled his eye in exasperation. He had already explained the situation to Inoichi and Shikaku; he did not wish to explain it again. "I'll speak to her when she returns to the village."

"Ah yes, she had mentioned going to find a summons that would match her own youthfulness," Gai exclaimed, nodding in satisfaction.

Well… four sentences without mentions of flames or youth. I suppose that's a new record for Gai.

….

Kakashi spent the next two days training, strategizing, and helping out whenever he noticed someone needed it. He was soon reassigned to working with Shikaku and Inoichi once more, but they quickly smoothed out the issue of how to keep Naruto safe, but still allow him to fight. It would just waste fighting power to try and keep Naruto away when Kakashi figured he could probably escape most situations. The fact Naruto could avoid several Chūnin and Jōnin when he pranked the village so many times was a testament to his evasion skills.

There were still some arguments about the decision, so they also came up with a backup plan for either Katsumi, or another fast traveling shinobi, most likely Gai, to get Naruto out of the area if anything were to go wrong. Tsunade would also contact the Raikage to see if he wanted Killer Bee to be included in a retreat plan if it came to that. Naruto would be going to train with Killer Bee for a little while before they are allowed to enter the battle in the hopes Naruto can get better control over the Nine-tail's chakra, but everyone knew better than to rely on that.

Hopefully with all the knowledge we have, this war will be over much faster than Madara expects.

Kakashi mulled over one of the problems they were having with deciding how they would go about sealing the resurrected shinobi should Katsumi's plan fail. He was deep in thought as he headed towards the training areas to get some quiet to go over some ideas, when he sensed a chakra signature approaching and he looked up with his single eye to see Katsumi jumping through the trees towards him with a smile on her face.

Kakashi smiled slightly under his mask before realizing what he was doing, but warmth still filled his chest just from seeing her smile.

I really do act love struck around her. I guess it's not surprising that everyone else could see it. It's just so much harder to tell with her because she acts friendly and smiles to everyone.

"I take it your mission was a success?" Kakashi asked as Katsumi landed lightly on the grass in front of him.

She nodded, her golden eyes lit with excitement. "Oh yes, want to see one of my new friends?" Katsumi asked him, though the grin on her face warned him that she would show him even if he said no.

"Show me, but just remember that you will need to show one to Tsunade as well and some animals dislike being summoned without real need," he warned, although he had never had to deal with the problem personally since he and his ninken got along rather well because he raised them.

Katsumi nodded and then suddenly stepped closer, reaching up to tap his nose once with narrowed eyes. "You, Hatake Kakashi, are forbidden to make any type of pun or comment about this," she warned and then bit her thumb before flashing through the hand signs and slamming her hand to the ground.

Kakashi felt his amusement start to rise after receiving the warning and the Jōnin raised his visible silver eyebrow as a poof of smoke about three feet tall appeared.

No puns? Don't tell me she ...

The smoke cleared away to reveal a cheetah, the yellowish gold fur almost matching Katsumi's eyes. The large cat had bandages wrapped around its legs along with a light amount of leather armor, but what caught Kakashi's attention were the extremely sharp metal tips on its claws.

After noting that the cheetah was clearly built for speed, but could also fight, one thought crossed the silver haired Jonin's mind.

Kat has cats.

A grin broke out under his mask, but Katsumi looked at him with her eyes narrowed in such a warning that Kakashi quickly composed himself.

Katsumi noticed his grin, but huffed instead of saying anything further and looked down at the summons, who was staring back at Katsumi, its strip tipped tail twitching slightly in wait.

"Kibou, this is Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi, this is Kibou," she said, motioning between them.

Kibou lifted is nose towards Kakashi for a moment before huffing slightly. "This is the one you told me had a contract with dogs. I can smell them on him," he said before looking at Katsumi once more with his green eyes "You said you would also summon me to meet your Hokage. Are we going to do that now?"

Katsumi nodded to Kibou before looking at Kakashi. "Are you going to come, or do you have something else that you need to work on?"

"I was heading to the training grounds to work on some new jutsu, so just come find me when you finish," Kakashi replied casually, not letting his nervousness show.

Plus that will give me a bit more time to think about what I want to say. This seems to be harder than any mission I've been sent on.

Katsumi nodded and smiled slightly before glancing down at Kibou. "Come on. I'll introduce you to Tsunade-sama," she said and then ran towards to village, followed by Kibou, before leaping onto the rooftops and disappearing from his sight.

Sighing quietly, the Jōnin turned and continued walking until he reached his usual training ground where several of the training posts had scorched Chidori holes in them… and he planned on adding a few more by the time he was done.

…..

Kakashi panted slightly as he felt the chakra drain from the use of his Mangekyō Sharingan. He had successfully used Kamui to consecutively send a kunai and then a log into another dimension without having to wait a few minutes in between to build up his chakra.

I still need to be able to use it more than twice a day for it to be useful in battle, plus I need to figure out a way to reduce its chakra drain so I won't be left completely useless.

Needing a moment to rest and decide what to work on next, Kakashi moved to sit underneath a shade tree. He removed a bottle of water from a storage scroll and took a drink with such speed that even if there was anyone around they still would not have been able to see his face.

Katsumi should be returning anytime now. I'm just going to try to not overthink this and go with what feels right. Gai and Anko seem to think she feels the same way about me, so there is no need to be panicking over it. I'm a former ANBU captain; this should be a child's play as compared to that.

His plan decided, Kakashi stood up just as he felt Katsumi's chakra signature behind him.

"How's your training going?" Katsumi asked as she sat down next to him and took in his slightly tired appearance.

Kakashi looked over at her, his Sharingan still uncovered, but no longer in its Mangekyō form. "My other Sharingan form still takes too much chakra for it to be of much use in battle, but hopefully what little I can do with it will help," he replied.

He was taking the opportunity to take in Katsumi's appearance with his Sharingan, knowing it would be implanted in his memory forever. As he was watching the way her dark hair still managed to shimmer in the sunlight, he suddenly realized she was looking at him with an amused smile.

"See something you like, Kashi?" Katsumi asked as she shifted her hips on the ground so that she could turn to face him.

Well here is my chance…

Kakashi reached up and pulled his hitai-ate back down over his eye before replying. "Yes, actually. Listen, Katsumi, there is something I've been meaning to tell you. Ever since you came back I couldn't help but notice my feelings for you have changed as compared to when we were younger. Apparently everyone else noticed before I did, but several people pointed out that you probably felt the same way. Is that true?" he asked, trying to maintain a calm exterior.

Why did I say all that? I think I just set the record for the longest way to ask someone out.

After mentally berating himself for the verbal diarrhea, Kakashi focused his attention on Katsumi to find out her answer.

The golden eyed kunoichi seemed to take a deep breath, but instead of answering him, she simply chuckled lightly. "You know, I could go into a long spill about my feelings for you, but I think I'm going to take the shorter route," Katsumi replied and leaned forward, pulling down his mask and pressing her lips against his.

Kakashi mind was surprisingly blank at the moment, but his body reacted for him as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

After several moments passed they broke apart, their breathing a bit heavier than before.

"I guess that answers that question," Kakashi said with a content smile as he curled the ends of her hair around is fingers.

"If it doesn't then I will have to try again," Katsumi said, mirroring his smile.

He hummed as he considered it. "You probably should just to make sure I get the message," he told her and instantly was locked in another kiss with her.

When they pulled apart once more, Katsumi reach up and pulled his mask back to its proper position, causing Kakashi to raise a brow. "Unless you want everyone to know what you look like; we'll have to avoid doing that out in the open too much," she said in response to his questioning look. "Kiba, Shino and Hinata are heading in this direction and who knows how far out Shino has his bugs scouting."

"Hinata and Shino would be able to keep it to themselves, but if Kiba found out then the whole village would know within a few hours and you'd have to fight off fangirls for me," Kakashi said with a chuckled and then stood up, offering her his hand, which she took and he pulled her up as well.

Katsumi smirked as she replied. "I can handle any fangirls, but it would become rather troublesome."

Kakashi smiled under his mask at the fact she had used Shikamaru's favorite word and then glanced back over his shoulder and Kiba rode into the clearing on the back of Akamaru.

Is that dog still growing?

Hinata and Shino soon followed behind him and they all came to a stop in front of the Jōnins. The team came to a stop in front of Katsumi and Kakashi with a small bow.

Hinata started to speak, but before she could get a word out, Akamaru barked and Kiba patted his head. "What's that boy? Katsumi smells like cats now?"

Katsumi chuckled and nodded her head. "I recently signed a summoning contract with big cats, so that's why you hadn't scented it before, Akamaru," she replied, earning a smile from Kiba, who appreciated it when people actually addressed his partner.

Kakashi knew those two would be talking for a moment, so he looked over at Hinata and Shino. "So what brings you guys out here?"


Okay guys, this is the last bit I had written before I lost all urge to write. Now I want to finish this, but the issue I'm having is how long the war has gone on, and things that have been revealed. Now I was planning on wrapping the whole war up in like one or two chapters, because most of the focus of this fic was Katsumi and Kakashi's relationship. Here are my two options.

1. Write the war as I originally planned it, ignoring everything that was revealed in the manga

2. Or skim over the war and focused on Katsumi and Kakashi for a few parts of it, then move on to what happens afterwards.

So let me know which you guys would rather see.

I'm still working on another Katsumi story that is Orochimaru focused and has more action, so I want to finish that eventually as well.

Peace out guys.