Author's Note: Ahh, the weekend. This week felt like a long one.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Not a whole lot of action, but hopefully a nice fluffy moment with Kakashi at the end will make up for that. :)
Thanks to BlackRose723, Angel42497, and Ninja Trio's Best for the reviews on chapter seven! You guys made my day. :D
Reviews on this chapter would be amazing. It's great to hear what you guys think!

Eight: Preparation

I explained the entire situation to the Hokage; the enemy attack, the Kiseigan's unveiling, and everything else in between. I made sure that no detail was left unsaid. Lady Tsunade listened with stern eyes, her laced fingers shielding the lower half of her face as she took in the information spilling from my lips. Kakashi gently placed his hand on the small of my back when I started to talk too fast, instantly calming my nerves so I could articulate better. When I had finally finished speaking, Lady Tsunade sat back in her chair to think everything over.

"I see," she said softly, pursing her lips in thought.

"What should we do, m'lady?" I urged.

Kakashi leaned closer to me. "Calm down, Kae," he whispered, "Let her think."

I bit my lip and glared at the floor. Patience wasn't exactly my cup of tea.

The Fifth sighed as she rose from her seat, walking around it to peer out the window facing the village. "Alright," she said, "Here's what we do."

"We're listening," I assured her.

"I'm going to send a squad of Jonin to patrol the Isami clan's corner of the village. They'll be at every entrance, watching for anyone suspicious within the vicinity. Toshiro will be guarded at all times. In the meantime, you, Kaeda, will accompany Squad Seven to investigate. Go outside the village, and gather any information you can about the situation. Report back to me within three days, then we'll figure the rest of this out."

"What about Hana and Nikko?" I asked her.

"They'll remain in the village," she answered, "They're straight out of the academy; this mission may be a bit too much for them yet."

I nodded in agreement. It wasn't that I didn't believe in my team, it was just that I wanted them to be safe.

"Now," Lady Tsunade breathed, "pack up for your mission tonight, and leave first thing in the morning. I'll send someone to inform Sakura and Naruto."

Kakashi and I bowed, thanking her for her time, before turning to exit the room.

The journey back to my apartment was silent, for I was too deep in thought to converse with my friend. I didn't think that I would have to deal with an issue like this at all, let alone a mere month after I had met the three Genin assigned to me. To think that someone would have the nerve to conspire against an entire clan of good people by taking advantage of their youth was disgusting to me. I grimaced as I dreamt about what terrible things I would do to those people.

When we reached my apartment, I stepped inside and immediately kicked my shoes off. Kakashi mimicked me, and the two of us trudged down the hall to enter my bedroom. I began rifling through my drawers, grabbing all the kunai, shuriken, bandages, tags, and scrolls I could find. I shoved the weapons into the holster on my leg, and I put the rest into another pouch that I had also extracted from the drawer. I set the two bags on my dresser after loading them up and zipping them shut. "Well, I'm all packed," I sighed.

"It took you a whole minute," Kakashi mused.

I scrunched my face in his direction, earning me an amused laugh. "Aren't you going to go home and pack?" I asked him.

"Trying to get rid of me… how rude," Kakashi mock-cried, hiding his face in his hands.

I rolled my eyes at him, although I couldn't keep the smile from forming on my lips. "You goober," I laughed.

Kakashi lowered his hands to his sides and lifted his eyes to mine. "Goober?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yep,"

"I can't believe you just called me a goober."

"Well, believe it, because I did."

"You're an interesting woman, you know that?"

"So I've heard," I sighed while letting myself fall onto the soft, inviting mattress beside my window. I closed my eyes, letting my blankets and pillows envelop me in their warmth and comfort. I felt the other half of the bed dip down under Kakashi's weight as he seated himself beside me. Peeking one eye open, I grumbled, "Don't get any bright ideas,"

"Damn," he whispered, loud enough so that I would hear.

I was so relaxed that I decided against swatting his arm. Instead, I laughed at his response.

Kakashi let himself fall into a more comfortable position. He brought both hands up to cradle the back of his neck, and he crossed his ankles while sighing contentedly. I turned my head to look at him. His spiky silver hair fanned over the pillow, contrasting with my black sheets so much that it seemed to shimmer in the dim lighting. The mask that he wore so religiously matched the dark value of the rest of the bed, and, for some reason, I wanted so badly to just reach over and pull it down. For as long as I've known him, I have never seen him without that thing on his face.

He turned to face me, his visible black eye instantly bringing me back to reality. I smiled at him, and, despite the invisibility of the lower half of his face, I could tell that he was returning the gesture. "Remember when we were teenagers? We used to do this all the time." Kakashi wondered aloud.

"Except we wouldn't have been in my bed," I giggled, "My mother would have had a stroke."

Kakashi laughed. "She was pretty paranoid."

I couldn't control my goofy smile as I remembered a night when Kakashi had snuck into my bedroom without my parents knowing. We were lying on my bed, talking, laughing, and reminiscing about old missions from when we were Genin. Kakashi had wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I had leaned into him; it was meant to be nothing more than a friendly gesture, but when my mother came up to check on me, that's obviously not how she saw it. She screamed so loud that I was sure we were going to get complaints from the neighbors. Kakashi and I were so startled that we bolted out of bed and stood frozen as she proceeded to lecture us on our "provocative" behavior. At the time, I was scared out of my mind, but when I think about it now, I just can't help but laugh at how ridiculous she was.

My expression as I tried to contain my amusement must have been pretty strange-looking, for Kakashi burst into laughter and asked, "Are you thinking of the night when—"

"My mom walked in on us and—"

"Basically gave us the—"

"Sex talk!" We finished our explanations in unison, and we immediately burst into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. Tears squeezed out of my tightly closed eyes as I struggled to gain control over my breathing. My cheeks burned and so did my lungs. Finally, after a few minutes, we managed to calm ourselves down until we could actually form whole words.

"That was so incredibly awkward," I said.

"Definitely," Kakashi agreed.

"We weren't even doing anything wrong."

"Right," Kakashi nodded, "I mean, what's so wrong about this?" As he spoke, he snaked his right arm underneath the small space between my neck and my pillow, wrapping it loosely around my shoulders just as he did when we were teenagers.

I blushed, and my muscles tensed slightly. I really didn't expect him to do that, for, despite the occasional friendly hug, he hadn't been this close to me in years. Although I was feeling sort of strange, I leaned myself into him anyway, enjoying the warmth of his body.

"Nothing," I agreed, while somewhat trying to convince myself at the same time, "nothing about this is wrong."

My muscles slowly relaxed, and I allowed myself roll over and place my right hand on his chest. I rested my head in the space where his arm and shoulder met, and I couldn't help but remember how nice it felt to be in his arms. Inhaling his musky scent, a smile formed on my lips as I let my eyes fall close. I could hear the steady rhythm of his beating heart, and that, along with the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, lulled me into a pleasant daze.

Kakashi lightly rubbed my back with his fingertips. "Please tell me that your mom doesn't regularly check up on you anymore." His voice was low and raspy from a mixture of fatigue and comfort.

"You're safe," I laughed.

"Good," he replied, "because I'm too comfortable to move."

I smiled, "Me too."