Woo hi, it's time for chapter 15. I hope you like it, and review if you've got the time. Also, I hope Hajime is a good OC. Kana certainly thinks so. ;) Anyway, here it is!

Chapter 15- S-rank mission

Every day, the fresh smell of wood dominated what was once the village hidden in the leaves. The smell of wood, the chopping and sawing of wood, hammering in screws and nailing tapestries and fabrics to walls, busy chatter of children… the Leaf was a hub of frenzied activity, people with a burning desire to see the village stand tall once again. Gossip topics were few and far between amongst the general populace- of course they would want to continue working no matter what. The people who knew, however, who Kana was, the shinobi, were talking at every turn and the amount of slander from these supposedly civilised people was unbelievable. Kana bore all this with gritted teeth. After all, how were these stupid people to know that she was forced, that she had no choice? They were deliberately blind to the truth, and she didn't blame them. Itachi had often warned her of mankind's tendencies to shy away and smear the unknown.

Team Kakashi and Hajime were being awfully supportive, though, almost to a fault. She was never left alone- in case Danzou and his ANBU unit came to call- and they always made sure she was occupied. Naruto's fiery resolve to rescue Sasuke from his dark path was overwhelming. Deep down, really she wanted to kill Sasuke for what he did to Itachi, but Naruto's determination was catching.

On this particular day, two weeks after the 'incident', Kana awoke in the new larger tent that she, Hajime, Sai, Sakura and Naruto were all sharing. She yawned lethargically and rolled over to doze off once again…

"Kana!"

Someone was slapping her face.

"Kana, wake up properly, lazy."

"Hajime?" Her voice was muffled. She shoved him away and sat up, opening her bleary eyes. Her bed hair was a bird's nest atop her head, and dark circles were forming under her eyes.

"Kana, you've been asleep for half the day…"

"I need my beauty sleep…"

He conspicuously cleared his throat and laughed. "Absolutely. So, are you going to train today or are you going to lie in bed and brood?"

"Train! Just let me wake up, first."

"Sai said he would train with you today if you need it. I can't today. I have a mission to get to."

"With your regular team, right?"

"That's it. I'm the leader, so I have to make sure everything, including the battle strategies, are prepared. It's an S-rank mission, you see… And we need all the advantages we can get." He shifted uncomfortably, before regaining control of himself. "Maybe I'm being paranoid, but it can't hurt to prepare too much."

"Have you done many S-rank missions before? What do you do in them?"

"I've done three so far. They were incredible, and horrifying. They were so tough, and I wasn't expecting my team to be in so much trouble." He caught her expression and sighed. "We were sent on a mission to ambush a team of jounin from another village who were set up to steal the byakugan from the village and then kill the wielder. Naturally, as a Hyuuga, I was given the mission and we accomplished it."

"How?"

"We ended up having to kill them," he said simply, but she could sense the thinly veiled regret. "They just wouldn't surrender."

"I hate it when that happens. But I suppose I wouldn't surrender, either." Suddenly, inspiration hit her. "Hey! Hajime, let me come on your mission with you!"

"What?"

"I need the distraction if I'm honest. Plus, I'd be a great help. Please Hajime…" Social tactics, social tactics, she chanted in her head.

Hajime's reluctant eyes stared at her. "Kana… It's an S-Rank mission."

"You think I haven't done that kind of thing before? You forget where I'm from, who I was trained by. I can handle myself."

"These missions require a lot of teamwork, Kana. It's not something someone like you can jump into straightaway. I don't think you'd handle it."

Her face flushed with anger. "Hajime! I can't believe you just said that. Dammit… I thought we were friends!"

"I'm only saying this because I care about your safety, and the safety of my team! Shut up and listen to what I'm trying to tell you!"

"Excuse me…" What was that voice? It sounded a lot like Danzou. Kana swivelled around, still furious with Hajime, and glared into the face of her interim Hokage, and the person she hated most of all.

"Danzou, what the hell are you doing here?" she growled.

"I think you should go on this mission. Hajime, give her the briefing and take her along with you."

Hajime had a sharp intake of breath. "What, Danzou? You can't be serious! If this goes wrong, then…"

Kana understood perfectly. Danzou didn't think she could do it. He thought her lack of interpersonal skills and experience of teamwork was going to act as a disadvantage on the mission, and she refused to acknowledge that he was right on this one. He was going to insist on her participation because there was, if only a slim one, a chance that she would not come back alive. It was a sly trick, and it definitely didn't sit well with Hajime, who must have realised. He bared his teeth at Danzou.

Team Hajime now comprised of four ninjas: Hajime, who was still furious and refusing to talk to Kana, Akira Sarutobi, the young male heir of the Sarutobi clan, and a mature kunoichi named Emi Katsumi, who was the medic for the team. So they had the medic, the sensory ninja, the ninjutsu master, but what was Kana to them?
She pondered this as the plunged deep into enemy territory, ready to carry out her first mission for Danzou, and it was dirty one at that: to zero in on and eliminate the tiny Yokai clan, a rogue ninja clan who posed a threat to the Leaf's security. She had to admit, it was the perfect mission for someone like her. Brought up by Itachi and given worse missions than this, her mind retreated back into that safe schema where she knew everything. A battle maiden rose within her again, and her senses gained those old levels of paranoid alertness.

"This way!" Hajime's commanding tone rung throughout the forested area. His right hand signalled that it was okay for the rest of the team to go on ahead. Emi lead the way, with Akira and Kana flanking her at either side, ready to react to enemies at most angles.

Kana's ears pricked. Yes, she could sense the enemy close by.

"Hajime! Do you see anything, because I can sense them."

"Yes Kana, I can see them resting about two hundred metres away at two o clock," he agreed, and reduced his voice to a whisper. "I will scout ahead. Kana, you come with me. Emi, Akira, you wait ten metres to the left and right, and set up trip wires rigged with explosive tags around the perimeter of the area. Then we will surround them at all four corners."

Emi nodded. "Yes, but what if they have sensory ninjas who know we're there?"

"Then we abandon the ambush and go for the all-out offensive. But you stay out of most of the action. We don't want our only medic to die in a battle when you can heal us all at the end."

Akira patted Emi on the shoulder. "Come on, don't make that face. You know your safety is the most important out of all of ours. You are an important member, so don't let us down, okay?"

Kana remained silently astounded. They all cared for each other so much, as a team. There was no-one who was prepared to go rushing in and battle alone, they all looked out for their members, and Hajime's leadership was impressive to say the least. No wonder he was a jounin of the jounin council at such a young age. He was born for this kind of thing.

He took a deep breath. She could see his jaw harden, how much he hated this mission, but he carried on anyway. "Right, Kana, come with me. Emi, Akira, wait for my signal."

And then her mind completely lost that kind, village dweller part of it, and became solely intent on the mission. Those old thoughts about never wanting to kill anyone again were fading fast; how could she have been so naïve? There wasn't a ninja alive who didn't have to kill at some point. As much as it disgusted her, this was a mission for Danzou, a test, and she was going to pass.

There were ten enemies, all of fairly high calibre. Upon a startled exclamation from a member, they gripped their kunai and sunk into animalistic crouches. Great, so they knew they were hiding in the branches. At least Emi and Akira had enough time to set up the trip wires and explosive tags; it restricted the enemies' movement enough.

"We know you're out there!" one of them shouted. "So come out and face us."

Hajime could be seen through the thick tangle of branches on the opposite side of the perimeter to Kana. She saw him raise his right hand, and bring it down like that of an axe.
That was the signal.

She leapt from her hiding spot and within ten seconds had killed two of them with her kunai alone. Blood shone on the now dulling blade of her childhood, glistening in the sunlight through the gaps in the foliage. Hajime took one down with his gentle fist, leaving no visible damage on the outside. The ninja merely groaned in extreme pain, and collapsed to the ground, the light having left their eyes. Akira cast a lightning jutsu and electrocuted two at the same time, gripping them tightly by the necks. So five were down, five more to go.

Kana's mind was completely blank. As Hajime and Akira restrained the strongest together, giving each other an exchange of true desperation and sorrow, Kana faced the remaining four. She ignored the blood running down her forehead. Forehead wounds always bled more, she remembered calmly.

She muttered without thinking about it, "Katon… Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu."

And they were dead too, burned to cinders.

Soon after that, Hajime and Akira disposed of the leader.

Emi emerged from the shadows. They all collapsed slowly to the floor, in pure relief. Kana caught Hajime's eyes and relaxed. But he looked at her with something that resembled… was it fear? Emi's healing touch soon found Kana's wounds, bringing instant respite, and she was finally able to process what she had just done.

"I did it again…" she mumbled, sighing. "I killed more people in cold blood."

Hajime struggled with his injuries, but moved over to sit next to her. "You were doing it for the village, Kana."

"No." She shook her head. "As soon as I registered what we were actually doing, my mind switched off and I went back into that state of mind I was in before. The part of me, the old me, who didn't care about killing people, surfaced. I felt just like I did when I was a kid, almost having fun. It was horrible." She felt tears gathering in her eyes. "I didn't want to kill anymore. I thought I had changed. But it turns out that my childhood really did ruin me. Hajime, I'm the worst kind of person."

OOO

Back at the village, they handed in their mission report.

Mission was a success. Enemy ninja disposed of with minor injuries to team, no fatalities. No jutsu or techniques were stolen. Team members complied with orders efficiently and carried out the mission without question or hesitation.

It turned out that they got paid a great deal of money for such a job, too.

It was disgusting.

After three days of not speaking, Kana was surprised to find a note through her door from Hajime. So he wanted to make amends. Fine by her.

They sat on the grass bank by the river in, at first, a stony silence. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier," he said suddenly without looking at her. "It was wrong of me to doubt you."

"No, you were right. I'm a killer who can't work in a team," she mumbled.

"That's not true! Not in the least, Kana. I refuse to believe you can't change that part of you with a little effort. I don't think I'd want you to, anyway."

"Why not? It only causes trouble."

"Don't you think that if I wanted to abandon you, I would have done it already?"

She wondered if he had a point. She had been in a roving gang of shinobi, perpetrators of mass murder and espionage, she had killed a ninja of the Leaf, destroyed their entire village whilst under the influence of Pain… and yet Sai, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Hajime all still stood by her. How? How could anyone be so kind, so willing to care for others?

"I've caused so much pain… I don't know what I'd do if anyone left me now. You've all been kind to me, healed me and forgiven me no matter what I've done. I just can't believe your… your kindness."

Hajime's kindness.

He cleared his throat. "Thank you, Kana. You know I'll always stick by you. Sai cares about you a lot, too, although he has a hard time showing his emotions, and Kakashi cares for you like a little sister. You're surrounded by people, Kana. Itachi is no longer your only companion. Never forget your friends."

"You remind me of someone." She smiled a little to herself.

"See? I knew you could smile like that. It's a pure smile."

She felt her face flushing and her body growing warm. It was a cool autumn day, so this was odd. Kana suddenly felt mortified with herself, and stood up suddenly. Hajime swallowed, and stood up too.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's nothing." She slowed her breathing. "I'm grateful to you, you know. So don't worry about me."

She turned around and began to walk away. Hajime grabbed hold of her wrist.

"I knew there was something else wrong. What is it?"

Aside from the fact that she was feeling something she'd never experienced? Yes, but it was difficult to say. His gaze wouldn't let up, so she relented.

"Danzou came to see me yesterday."

His breath hitched, but his face remained calm. "What did he want?"

"There's a summit of the five kages pretty soon, and I'm to accompany Danzou on his journey and be at his side during the summit, along with Sai."

"What? Are you serious? That's mad. He is targeting you, Kana."

She nodded. "I know. That's why… well, I have a horrible feeling that if I go, if I leave the village and go out into the open, there's people who will get me. Danzou isn't the only person who wants or wanted to use me or kill me. I can think of others." 'Madara', Pain, among others.

"You're smarter than I expected, Kana," he teased lightly. That was a surprise coming from someone so serious.

She smiled weakly, and they headed back to the centre of the village for food at the soup kitchen. He might have made the joke to cheer her up, but a lingering sense of foreboding bugged the back of her mind, and made the soup tasteless.

If she went to the summit, what would transpire? Who knew. However, it could not be good. Usually, as she had found out, Kana's hunches were correct.