"Yo! Kakashi-kun!" The silver-haired jonin turned lazily to greet a familiar voice.
"Yo." He replied as Genma approached, slumping back and shoving his free hand in his flak jacket pocket, the other propping up his beloved Icha Icha inches from his face.
"Hokage-sama needs to see you. I'll walk with you." Kakashi nodded and slid his book away to stroll beside his comrade.
"Crazy to see Chiyoko again, isn't it?" Genma asked innocently, trying to start a conversation. Kakashi noded hesitantly, desperately trying to avoid the subject.
"She's grown into quite the beauty," Kakashi scowled before Genma added, "I wonder when they'll arrange her marriage."
Kakashi stopped in his tracks when he heard Genma's last statement but quickly caught himself and continued at Genma's side trying to act casual.
"What do you mean?" He asked nonchalantly.
Genma chewed on the senbon protruding from his mouth and raised an eyebrow at his fellow jonin.
"You don't know? Chiyoko has to have an arranged marriage. She's Onigoroshi right? Well that means she has to have children." Genma and Kakashi began to ascend the stairs to the Hokage's office as he continued, "The catch is, Chiyoko is the first female Onigoroshi in centuries not to mention the strongest carrier of their Kekkai Genkai in decades." The older jonin furrowed his brow and tried to mull the situation over in his head.
"Well what difference does that make?"
Genma slid his arms behind his head and kept explaining, "Well, when a female has the Onigoroshi Kekkai Genkai it is possible to cross breed with another holder of a different Kekkai Genkai. You see, with males of the Onigoroshi clan their genes completely cancel out the females. That's why Chiyoko's mother was probably not even a shinobi." Genma sighed before adding, "Plus, she comes with the most perks."
Kakashi fumed at the word and asked perhaps a little too hastily, "Perks?"
Genma snorted and shot Kakashi a sideways glance, "You really don't know any of this?" Kakashi simply shrugged so Genma continued.
"Well, beside the fact that Chiyoko is a total fox," Kakashi glared,"Her husband would gain complete neutrality in all nations, a giant dowry, and the strongest genes you could ask for. I'm sure she's getting proposed to left and right." Kakashi gave no reply as the finally finished ascending the stairs. Genma eyed him and sniggered to himself.
"Why're you so interested anyway? From what I saw last night, you're not Chiyoko's biggest fan." Kakashi scoffed but still didn't give him an answer. Genma took the cue to drop the subject as the pair approached the door of the Hokage's office. Genma announced their presence with a single rap on the door. The walked through the threshold when the heard a stern, "Enter."
When they walked into the the office they were greeted by the sight of the 3rd Hokage sitting behind a large mahogany desk, a long wooden pipe hanging from his mouth. Both jonin bowed deeply before Genma excused himself from the room.
"Kakashi, I have a bit of action for you." The silver-haired ninja met eyes with the older man and waited for him to continue. "I'm sure you know Chiyoko returned." He nodded, while mentally cursing himself. He really wish everyone would stop bring her up.
"And I'm also sure you know she left again." Kakashi nodded again and the 3rd continued, "This may not be wise of me, but I want you to follow her to the Village Hidden in the Mist." The Hokage removed the pipe from his mouth and let out a thin cloud of smoke. Kakashi stood to his full height and stared at the man questioningly.
"Can I ask for what reason?" The Hokage pressed his lips into a firm line and placed the pipe back in the corner of his mouth.
"The village is not suppose to meddle in Onigoroshi matters but I believe it is necessary." He took a slight paused before continuing, "Iwao sent the girl to kill her brothers."
Kakashi's mouth fell open from shock, he thanked his mask for hiding it, "Why exactly?"
The Hokage furrowed his brow, "From what I understand, if a child born into the Onigoroshi clan does not possess the Kekkai Genkai then they are completely disowned and are strictly forbidden from fighting demons. Apparently, Chiyoko's older twin brothers have gone against Iwao's word and have been advertising themselves as Demon-Slayer's. This will not end well, Kakashi." The Third sighed heavily and wore a concerned look on his face.
"As put together as this girl let's on to be, she's had a hard time. This would tear his apart mentally, even if she is a Demon-Slayer."
Kakashi stood silent, thinking of the girl he had challenged just this morning out of hot-hotheadedness. Her own father ordered her to kill her own flesh and blood.
"So I should follow her and stop her?" The Hokage closed his eyes as if in deep thought. He opened them and stared intently at the jonin in front of him.
"I don't think it will be that easy, Kakashi. We can't stop her as the Leaf Village, we have no power over her and I am too old to deal with Iwao's wrath. She possesses more compassion than her father, perhaps she could be talked out of it. Or at least let them off with a just beating." The Hokage let out a light chuckle with his last comment.
Kakashi nodded and bowed his head, "Consider it done." The Hokage smiled and bowed his head in return to the younger man.
"Remember, she's not an enemy Kakashi."
By the time Kakashi left the gates of the village he knew he was a good four to five hours behind Chiyoko. He had to push it if he wanted to catch up with her before she reached Kirigakuru. It would be hard for him to enter the village in the first place, and he knew that once she entered those gates there would be no turning back. Kakashi actually found himself hoping that the fearsome kunoichi's brothers had sense enough to leave the village.
The silver-haired jonin leaped through the trees deciding that there was a smarter way of trying to track his target. Biting his thumb hard enough to draw blood, he slammed his hand on a nearby branch and let out a strong,
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The black markings sprawled around his hand and in a puff of smoke a bored looking Pakkun appeared waiting for instruction.
"Can you catch a scent of Chiyoko? You remember her, yeah?" Pakkun nodded and began sniffing the area around them.
"Her smell is faint but I should be able to follow it for now." Kakashi nodded and indicated for him to lead on. The two ran quickly, putting in extra effort to keep up with the escaping scent. Sweat beaded on the jonin's face, he felt droplets slide down in his spine as he ran against the beating sun. They had been chasing the girl's scent for nearly three hours and still had not made much progress in catching up with her. Both him and Pakkun could feel their muscles straining to keep up with their break neck pace.
"Fuck she's fast." Pakkun breathed through heavy pants. Kakashi decided to save his energy and not reply. He realized that Chiyoko's last ten years of wandering the lands had made her an excellent navigator as well as an extremely fast mover.
Through his thoughts Kakashi saw something glimmer in the corner of his eye, "Pakkun! Trip line!"
The words reached the ninja dog's ears just in time to leap over the shiny line, only to catch a smaller line with his foot a step after.
Kakashi stopped in his tracks and swore underneath his breath.
"A trap within a trap. I should've expected that." Pakkun jumped back to the jonin's feet and both waited anxiously to see what kind of trouble they were in.
Author's Note:
It's been kind of slow but this was the last set-up chapter I swear! Thanks for all those for reading and feel free to review, I'd love to hear from everyone. Next chapter is already written and should be up ASAP.