Chapter Five

The next morning, Kakashi and Obito sat in the kitchen with their heads together, surrounded by the pleasant smell of coffee and breakfast. Minato and Gamashi's seats were vacated – their teacher to send a report to Konoha, and their client to prepare for the visit to the lord's estate.

The last place at the table was notably untouched.

"I woke her up last time," Obito said in a low voice. "Lost half my hair to her Kamaitachi, remember?"

Kakashi shifted his eyes to his friend's head. "It's grown back."

"That's not the point!"

"We have ten minutes. Sensei's orders."

"You do it then."

"No."

Obito growled, sounding much like a frightened dog doing its best to appear intimidating.

Nanami looked from one of the other with a curious expression as she came back with a pot of tea. "What are you discussing?"

"How to wake Midori up," Obito replied. "Sensei told us to be ready by the time he comes back, but her temper's worse than a starving bear in the mornings."

Nanami laughed. "Let me try then."

Both Kakashi and Obito lurched out of their seats to try and stop her, but she picked up a bowl of fruit and headed straight for the guestroom. The two boys shared a horrified look and hurried after her to see her kneel beside the single occupied futon. She gently shook Midori's shoulder and murmured a soft good morning.

"You have to save her," Obito hissed, trying to push Kakashi into the room.

"It's too late," Kakashi shot back, digging his heels into the tatami floor.

Midori groaned and burrowed deeper into the covers. Undeterred, Nanami picked up a slice of fruit from the bowl and slipped it into Midori's mouth.

A moment of silence passed, the boys standing frozen in the doorway.

The futon covers rolled.

Kakashi tensed.

Obito jumped and shielded his hair.

"…breakfast?" a small voice whined.

"It's all laid out in the kitchen," Nanami replied brightly. "Would you like a slice of peach?"

Midori made an incoherent sound and Nanami obliged by feeding her another piece of fruit. Then she stood up and gave Midori a cheerful shake, covers and all.

"Come have some of the bread I baked this morning," she said. "It's still warm."

Midori's head emerged up from beneath the covers, eyes still half closed, as she sluggishly began to reach for her clothes. Nanami left the room with a bright smile and the two boys trailed after her in awe.

"How'd you do that?" Obito asked.

She chuckled. "Chewing helps to wake us up. My daughter used to be just like Midori. Has Kengou told you about her?"

Obito hesitated, seeing her expression slowly lose its mirth. "He said the Rocks took her away."

Nanami nodded and her eyes trailed to a photo on the wall. Kakashi noted that it hadn't been there the night before. He stepped closer to see a younger Gamashi and Nanami crouched on either side of a small girl. Her wide grin and bright eyes were framed by dark blonde hair tied into twin braids.

"What happened?" Obito asked.

Nanami sat down with a heavy sigh. "Ever since the last Shinobi War, the Hidden Rock Village began recruiting children from civilian towns to make up for their losses."

"That's not unheard of," Kakashi said. "Konoha does it too."

"But we don't just kidnap kids," Obito objected.

"They weren't forceful," Nanami said, "but I'm not sure how true their stories were. Misa took one look at their demonstrations and wanted to join. We forbid her, but she snuck out during the night with only a note telling us she was leaving. We were devastated."

"Didn't they let you go with her?" Obito asked. "Families move into Konoha all the time."

Nanami shook her head. "We tried. We were prepared to. But they wouldn't let us in."

"Why?"

Nanami had no answer and Kakashi could only shrug at Obito's questioning look. The short silence was broken by the sound of the guestroom door opening.

"Morning," Midori yawned. She paused mid-stretch and blinked at the heavy air hovering over the room.

Obito indicated to the photo. "Nanami-san was just telling us about her daughter."

"Oh." All signs of sleep vanished from her face as she approached the photo and studied it. Then she turned to Nanami with a smile. "She has your eyes, doesn't she?"

Nanami's expression softened and she nodded.

"Why didn't you want her to become a shinobi?" Kakashi asked. For all the dangers that came with the job, it provided an otherwise helpless girl with strength to defend herself and those she loved.

Over the past year, he had watched countless clients pay small fortunes for Konoha's help, unable to resolve their issues on their own. Gamashi was no different. In Kakashi's mind, there was nothing worse in this world than being powerless. Danger was a small price to pay in that regard.

Nanami bowed her head. "Forgive me when I say this, but we didn't want her to become a murderer."

"Better a murderer than a corpse."

"Kakashi!" Midori berated.

"He's right though," Obito said, sitting down beside Nanami at the table. "But it's not murder when both our lives are on the line."

Midori and Kakashi joined them.

"We're not all cold-blooded bastards either," Midori added. "Most of the jobs we do is helping people."

Though still looking a little pale, Nanami smiled at them. "I know," she said. "You three made me realize that. You believe in what you do and you all put the wellbeing of one another before yourselves. I never knew that was also part of being a shinobi and it made me proud that my daughter was one them – one of you."

Midori smiled. "I'm sure Misa will come back one day. She'll be an amazing kunoichi."

"Don't forget we're enemies now," Kakashi said. "If we see her, we'll be forced to – ow."

He scowled at both his teammates who had their heels digging into his feet.

Midori laughed forcefully. "We'll be forced to say hello, right, Kakashi?"

"Don't worry, Nanami-san," Obito added hurriedly. "I mean, what are the odds that we'll meet her when all five countries are at war. And even if we do, we'll make an exception and –"

Nanami smiled, even as she lowered her eyes. "Thank you. You're all such sweet children. Please, have some of the bread, Midori-chan. It won't be long before Kengou and Minato-san return."

At Midori's questioning look, Obito explained where the two men were. Nodding, she began to eat and struck up a light-hearted conversation about the homemade jam and fruit juice.

A few minutes later, the door to the dining room opened to reveal Minato.

"Good morning," he said. "Are we ready?"

"Hai," Obito and Kakashi replied.

Midori stuffed the last of the bread into her mouth and hopped off the chair. Then they made their way down the short hallway to the entrance where Gamashi stood waiting.

"Be careful," Nanami said as the team slipped into their shoes and checked their equipment. "Please don't get hurt."

Midori grinned. "We'll be back before you know it."

"Let's go," Gamashi barked, throwing open the door. "We don't have all day."

Kakashi recognized he was resuming his outward persona and was about to follow Minato out without another thought when Nanami cleared her throat with the force of a man throwing down a gauntlet. Gamashi froze and looked back over his shoulder. The glare on his wife's face made him blanch and shuffle his feet in discomfort, while Obito ducked behind Kakashi and Midori snickered in glee.

Minato alone smiled with his usual cheer and nodded to Nanami. "We'll be off then."

Unlike the night before, the streets were filled with people, but rarely did anyone stop to chat. With faces downcast, they attended to their business and while a few turned wary eyes on them, none approached. They made their way deeper into the town, passing fewer people with every corner they turned until they looked up at a majestic building elevated on a low hill surrounded by a moat.

With a few words from Gamashi, the guards led them across the stone bridge and through a large gate. Spread on either side of the path leading to the entrance was an austere rock garden. It had clearly seen better days. Patches of weed grew between the pebbles that were scattered and marked with boot prints, and one of the stone lanterns lining the estate was toppled over and cracked in half.

The guards ushered them silently into the entrance hall where they left their shoes. The interior architecture was an unusual but graceful blend of earth-toned stone and wood. Gamashi led them down wide corridors that would have exuded an air of majesty had dust and cobwebs not hoarded the corners. No matter where they went, a stale smell filled the air, characteristic of rooms that had not seen the light of day for months.

"Doesn't he have anyone taking care of the estate?" Midori muttered.

"He fired all his employees a year ago, except for the advisor," Obito said.

"How did you find that out?"

He shrugged. "I carried some stuff for an old grandma and she told me."

Midori growled. "How do you always manage to do that?"

"Quiet," Gamashi hissed as he stopped in front of a large doorway. He knelt and rapped on the door. "Hiyashi-sama, they have arrived."

"Enter."

Gamashi pushed open the door and stepped inside with a low bow. The room was spacious and undecorated, save for an abstract mural along one wall. It was pockmarked with bare strips where gold inlays may have once resided. The other side of the room was lined with sliding wooden doors that led to an outer corridor. Through a small opening between two of partitions, Kakashi could glimpse the town spread out below them.

The team followed Gamashi and knelt before the three individuals seated at the head of the room.

The lord was a lean man with greying hair pulled into a tight knot high on his head. The dark kimono he wore emphasized the unnatural paleness of his skin, drawn and wrinkled with stress. He looked sick and frail, but he sat straight and glared at them with hard, narrowed eyes.

"I'm warning you, Gamashi," he said in a guttural voice. "If this turns out to be a waste of my time, you and your wife will pay dearly. As if it isn't enough that you explicitly defied my orders."

"Please, forgive him, my lord," his wife whispered nervously. She was a thin woman with fretful, watery eyes and hunched shoulders. "I told you, I was the one who told him to go to Konoha. I didn't want to see any more of our people killed."

"Silence!" Hiyashi snarled. The lady recoiled and shrank into herself.

Sitting on the lord's other side was a young man in his mid-twenties wearing a haori jacket bearing the lord's crest. It was on this man that Kakashi focused his attention. His thin eyes were almost obscured by pale hair, and the blank expression on his pinched face revealed nothing. Still, he held himself with the quiet confidence of one who knew what he was doing – a trait neither the lord nor lady seemed to possess. Kakashi immediately surmised he was the rumored advisor, without even needing to see the low table beside him stacked with papers and scrolls.

"Hiyashi-sama," the advisor said quietly. "It isn't too late to send them away. We have more important matters to discuss."

"I beg your forgiveness," Gamashi interjected, lowering his head to the ground. "I swear to you, this information will be worthwhile."

Hiyashi pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed impatiently. "Well go on then. What is so important that the high and mighty shinobi has to present it in person himself?"

It was in that moment that Kakashi realized something – a faint, almost imperceptible sense of dissidence that mingled like an undercurrent in the air around the lord and lady. Beside him, Midori stirred uncomfortably and Minato gave her a sidelong look. Obito's eyes flicked between the three occupants of the estate, before settling on the advisor.

"Well?" the lord demanded, turning his irritated eyes to Minato.

"There is something I would like to know before we get to that, my lord," the Jounin said. "A simple question."

"What is it?"

"How do you see your town?"

Hiyashi was still for a second, then his eyes bulged in anger and he surged to his feet with a shout. "Are you blind?! You can see for yourself! The crops aren't growing, we're being shunned by our trading neighbors, we grow poorer each day and the people have had enough. They are abandoning the town, looting deserted houses and starting fights at every corner!"

He paced the width of the room, hands flailing in agitation, his mind consumed by his own tirade. "Even my estate workers have turned their backs on me and left! The only hope we have is to expand our lands and create our own sustainable trade – by force if need be!" As if finally remembering his audience, he whirled again to Minato. "Now, do you have information that will help my people or not?"

Minato regarded the lord in silence for a moment, but it was disrupted by Gamashi who lurched forward, eyes wide in confusion and shock. "Hiyashi-sama, what are you saying? The town is indeed suffering, but by no means are we abandoning –"

"Silence, Gamashi!"

"Perhaps, my lord," Minato said, "it's time you stepped out and took a good look at the town for yourself."

"What –"

Hiyashi's words were cut off the moment the advisor and Minato rose to their feet, each of them forming different seals. Minato was quicker. He executed the Kanashibari no jutsu and paralyzed the advisor's limbs. His palms trembled, but didn't budge, an inch apart from finishing his last seal.

Ignoring the advisor's angry shout, Kakashi and Obito took one bound to land before the lord and lady. The lady screamed and Hiyashi threw up his arms in fright. Undeterred, the boys reached out to tap them with a surge of chakra that dispelled the illusions clinging tightly around them.

Hiyashi slowly lowered his hands and blinked at the two young shinobi.

"What did you…"

"My lord," Minato said, his eyes still fixed on the struggling advisor. "Take a look at your town."

Midori pushed open the wooden doors to reveal the view outside and Hiyashi stared in stunned disbelief.

"What in the world," he breathed, rushing to the windows. "Half these houses were crumbling and abandoned just this morning! The streets were lined with sick and dying people. Is this a dream?"

"No, you've woken from your nightmare," Minato answered. "This shinobi here has been holding you and your wife under an illusion for an entire year."

"Kashin, is that true?" Hiyashi asked.

"I advised you, my lord," the man hissed. "You shouldn't have allowed these shinobi to come."

"But why?"

"That's something we would all like to know," Minato said. He smiled pleasantly. "Now that we finally get to talk to the missing link, I have a few questions for you. Which Hidden Village do you come from and what business do you have with this town? Most importantly, why are you looking for information on the Sanbi?"

A second of surprise crossed Kashin's face before it turned into ugly rage. "Gamashi, you traitor!"

Obito snorted. "Like you're one to talk."

"Which Hidden Village?" Minato asked again. He slowed his words and dropped his tone. "Answer me."

Kashin glared. "As if I'd tell the likes of you."

"Hey, Kakashi?" Obito nudged his friend. "Remember that one proverb we learned at the Academy about the three arrows?"

"Three arrows are harder to break than one?" Kakashi said.

Obito grinned and brought his hands together in a rudimentary set of seals. "Exactly."

Midori rolled her eyes as she took up a position behind Kashin. "That proverb has a totally different meaning, you idiot."

Obito stuck his tongue out at her. "It means three is better than one. Right, sensei?"

Minato shrugged. "Can't argue with you there."

Kashin scoffed as Obito's illusion closed in around him. "I'm a genjutsu specialist. You think you can beat me at my own game?"

"For one, this isn't your game," Kakashi said. When he had dispelled Hiyashi's genjutsu, he had been struck by how delicately the chakra strings had been woven. From that alone, he could deduce the rigid control Kashin had held over the illusion, focusing on endurance and consistency to carry out his mission, whatever that was. The illusion they were about to use was far different.

Obito pulled out a kunai and threw it into the side of Kashin's stomach. The shinobi barely flinched.

Midori whistled. "That's the thing with genjutsu experts isn't it? They train their minds not to react to external stimuli. Must sure be handy."

"Not this time," Obito said. He released the illusion.

For a few seconds, Kashin blinked and stared at the wound, his face slowly paling when the pain wouldn't fade.

Kakashi stepped up to him and pulled the kunai free, ignoring his hiss of pain. He looked up into the shinobi's furious face.

"You're not in control anymore," he said. "So you aren't even playing."

Kakashi swiped the bloody weapon through Kashin's paralyzed fingers. The man gave a strangled cry before he realized he was under an illusion again – Midori's this time.

Withdrawing a second kunai, Kakashi rammed both into the back of Kashin's hands and activated his own genjutsu before throwing two more into his feet. Kashin gritted his teeth to stifle the pained groans and clamped his eyes shut. It was too late. All three of their genjutsu had penetrated his system, disrupting his chakra flow in short bursts of chaotic violence.

Overlapping one layer of illusion over another, pulling one out and slipping in another, they chipped away at his rational mind and composure until he wouldn't be able to differentiate reality from hallucination. In sharp contrast to Kashin's refined genjutsu, theirs were erratic, contradictory and unpredictable – real when he convinced his mind it was illusion, and fake when he feared it was true. Ironically, it was his own training and expertise that helped the three young shinobi bring him to his knees.

Kakashi leapt up and drove a kunai into Kashin's left eye. The shinobi screamed. Blood streaked down his face and he grew visibly more panicked with every passing second.

"That wasn't an illusion," Kakashi told him, even though it was. "You'd better hope this next one is."

He sliced the kunai's edge into the corner of Kashin's gaping mouth and Obito's illusion took it a step further so he felt it tear his cheek open. Kakashi repeated the same motion on the other side. The illusionist shrieked through the blood in his mouth and begged for mercy.

Kakashi paused. "Which Hidden Village?"

"The Cloud," Kashin gasped.

Minato put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and nodded. He immediately stepped back and stood in front of Hiyashi. Obito and Midori dropped their illusions and likewise took up guard beside Gamashi and the lady.

When Minato released the body binding technique, Kashin fell to his knees, shoulders heaving. Though his clothes were bloody from the small nicks and stabs that Kakashi had inflicted to confuse his mind, none were life-threatening.

The Jounin knelt in front of the broken shinobi. "What was your mission?"

Kashin only breathed heavily for a moment, one hand pressed against his torn lips and the other trembling against the initial stab wound. Then without a sound, he shot up from the floor.

He snarled a curse and thrust a hidden knife at Minato, but the Jounin remained unfazed. He caught the hand before the tip of the weapon even touched his vest and, twisting the blade from Kashin's fingers, stabbed it through the back of his hand, pinning him to the floor.

The Cloud screamed and doubled over, but Minato held a hand over the hilt to keep it in place.

"Your mission," Minato repeated, his voice dangerously quiet.

"To… to monitor this town and prevent the Rocks from siding with the Sands."

"This town has little influence over the Hidden Rock."

A shadow of Kashin's old confidence returned and he gave a small, shaky grin. "I sold them information. As useless as this town was… its extensive trade routes were invaluable for gathering intelligence. Information is everything. I told the Rocks that the Sands were planning an invasion… See how well that turned out?"

Minato narrowed his eyes. "What about the Sanbi?"

Kashin laughed weakly. "Ever since the Mists let the beast escape, they've been searching for it like fanatics, tracking down every lead. Bet those high and mighty idiots never thought to ask seaport fishermen, huh? The Sanbi will be ours now."

"I doubt it," Minato replied. "The information you read was wrong. I overwrote it last night."

The Cloud's head swung up, eyes wide. "You filthy fucking Leaf!"

He threw himself forward, his rage and desperation numbing the pain of tearing his hand from the knife. Minato jerked back and landed a foot cleanly in Kashin's chest, sending the Cloud crashing into the wooden doors.

Before he could draw breath, Minato stood over him, a kunai at his throat. "Go. Never show your face in this town again."

Kashin rose unsteadily to his feet, his eyes darting nervously around the room. Obito, Kakashi and Midori braced themselves, but the Cloud turned and fled through the windows.

Minato watched him disappear over the roofs and then turned with a shrug and a smile to the other occupants in the room. "Well, that's that."

A collective sigh broke through the tense air in the room and Gamashi collapsed against the wall, sweating and pale.

"What in the world did you kids do?" he muttered.

Obito grinned and held up his fingers in a basic seal form. "I could show you if you want."

"No!" Gamashi shook his head vigorously and Obito laughed.

"Nice work you three," Minato said. "You judged Kashin's abilities well and your teamwork was spot on. It saved us a lot of time and effort."

"What about the information we got out of him?" Kakashi asked.

"We'll deal with that later," Minato replied, turning to the lord and lady.

Hiyashi recovered his composure and bowed deeply to the team. "Thank you, shinobi of Konoha. How can we ever repay you for what you have done for us?"

"We don't need repayment," Minato said with a shake of his head. "Just take care of the town and your people. It would also be wise to reach out to the Hidden Rock Village and explain what happened. You'll need their protection now more than ever."

Hiyashi nodded. "Regardless of our affiliation, you and your team will always be welcome here. Thank you."

He and his wife bowed lowed again and the group took their leave.

They walked in silence as they left the estate and headed back to the center of town.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd rewritten the scroll?" Gamashi asked.

"I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark," Minato said. "I needed you to act naturally. That information was too dangerous to risk falling into the wrong hands."

"So what happens now?" Obito asked.

"Hokage-sama needs to be informed. Immediately. I can only hope the information was wrong or that the Sanbi will go into hiding. Bringing a tailed beast into this coming war would be disastrous."

Kakashi listened in silence. He had only ever heard stories of the Bijuu in folktales and history books, but the strained look on Minato's face told him enough about how much of a threat they really posed.

When they reached the house, they found Nanami waiting anxiously in the entrance and hurried to reassure her that their mission had been a success. Her joy was short-lived, however, as they told her about Kashin and their need to return to Konoha without delay.

"You won't even stay for lunch?" she asked.

Minato gently turned her down. "We must be on our way. The Village needs us."

"I see." She covered her disappointment with a gentle smile. "Please promise you'll visit when everything settles down."

"We will."

Within minutes the team was packed and ready to leave. Gamashi and Nanami stood at the entrance, thanking them again and again. Obito and Kakashi said their goodbyes and followed Minato down the street, but Midori hesitated and turned back one last time.

"I don't care that we're enemies with the Hidden Rock," she said. "If we ever see Misa, I'll make sure that no one harms her and I'll convince her to come home. I promise."

Nanami reached out to hug her, her lips quivering voicelessly and her eyes filled with tears.

"Thank you, Midori," Gamashi said. "For everything. You will always be welcome here. Take care of yourselves."

She grinned, and then turned and ran after her team.

Translations:
Haori – Traditional kimono jacket
Kanashibari no jutsu – Body paralysis

Thanks for reading! Your thoughts are always welcome.

.LinSetsu.