Chapter 9.

Kakashi was really starting to regret staying up all night to read through Minato's scrolls. He hadn't told anyone – he had a reputation to maintain – and he hadn't fallen asleep at the riverside so no one at his birthday party had noticed – but he hadn't counted on being called into action on his birthday either.

Not that Konoha ordinarily took something as trivial as a birthday into account when it came to defending against unexpected crisis situations, but Kakashi was an idiot with a head full of cotton, a broken nose and bruised fingers who had forgotten that fundamental bit of information.

His brand-new commanding officer gave him an unimpressed look. "Well, you'll have to do. Don't fall asleep on the job," Uchiha Fugaku said, "or you'll get reassigned. I have no place for wastrels for my team."

He looked the type – all harsh lines and stern, dark eyes. Very unlike Mikoto but at the same time, exactly the same. He was just missing patch particular strain of warmth Mikoto reserved for her children.

Kakashi saluted. Reluctantly. The universe seemed determined to always keep an Uchiha within throwing distance. Perhaps it was the law of averages; the clan did tend to produce solid shinobi. Aside from Fugaku and himself the platoon was about ten men strong, with one other Uchiha, two Sarutobi and even an Akimichi. A couple of clan-less chunin made up the numbers, including two older kids he recognized as Genma and Raidou, dressed in their uniforms. Which was weird, when you were used to seeing them in shorts and colorful T-shirts. Even idiots had to grow up sometime.

As they started their march, Fugaku explained that Jiraiya had discovered some kind of Kiri plot near the Eastern border and discovered an enemy platoon hidden away in the forests just inside of Fire Country's borders. His presence had spooked them and apparently sent them careening straight into a small Konoha border patrol, who had been stupid enough to actually fight back. Cue nearby Kumo agents getting wind and revealing the presence of a much larger Kiri force stationed near the border so they themselves could get away to call up their own troops, preferring to weaken either of their enemies to taking on a badly planned, disadvantageous alliance against Konoha.

Cue Jiraiya and the small patrol team racing right the hell back to the nearest communication post because there was a whole damn army on their doorsteps.

Minato sensei had already reached the communication post by the latest reports and sent for reinforcements. Kiri had made use of the confusion to barricade themselves inside the remnants of Steam Village.

In short, it was an awkward, piping hot mess. What kind of commander would allow his people to get trapped in such a way?

"They want to keep Steam village," Minato explained a few hours later, when they reached the other Konoha troops. They had set up camp on top of a plateau next to Steam Village, allowing them to overlook the village and the towering barrier seals the Kiri shinobi had conjured up around it. They could even see the small Kumo camp on the other side of the village. Wisps of fog curled around the blood red chakra barriers and chilled the air.

The commanding officers gathered around Minato and Jiraiya, and Kakashi forced himself into a place by his teacher's side, ignoring the ugly look Fugaku sent him. Minato wouldn't send Kakashi away. So what if Kakashi abused his position a little? That was politics.

If you had a name and a network, you might as well use it.

"The Steam village has a strategic position due to its location and battle strength. If Kiri can hold it…" Minato shook his head. "It would be better for us for the village to stay neutral."

"Surely Kumo will fight by our side," one of the older troop commanders said. "They want Steam to remain neutral as well."

"And they're perfectly happy to let us do the heavy lifting," Jiraiya said grimly. "Kiri was trying to talk them into an alliance, but they obviously didn't take the bait. I guess they'd rather see the two of us beating each other up and taking losses without losing any of their own men."

No one mentioned that Konoha would very much like to see Kiri and Kumo do the same thing.

"So it's a stalemate," one commander said. "We're all stuck here waiting for someone to take action."

"Any chance of getting through those barriers?" Another commander asked.

Fugaku shook his head." Not unless we can take out whoever is casting them. The barriers are too strong to break through otherwise. I can locate the casters, but –"

"But they're probably inside the barriers," Minato finished grimly.

No one said anything for a little while. Then Jiraiya snorted. "Actually, I've got a solution for that – we'll just need a solid method of communication. If we could get someone in..."

"What are you thinking of?" Minato asked.

"Tsunade was staying in that town. I met her there about a week ago. I'm not sure she's still around, but if she is…" Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows. "She can take out the barriers from the inside out."

"Tsunade-hime?" Minato said incredulously. "No one has seen her for ages. What was she doing here?"

Jiraiya pulled a face and took a moment longer to respond. "Gambling den. She likes 'em sleazy and illegal."

Fugaku scoffed. Some of the other commanding officers shifted uneasily. Way to go, Senju Princess.

Minato sensei stayed quiet as he digested the message. "It would certainly be useful if she was in there, but we'll need confirmation. I'm not going to try sending someone in if she is not there."

Jiraiya nodded. "I'll figure it out, kid." He walked off with long, determined strides.

Kakashi's brain had stuck on the 'sending someone in' part and not let go. "Minato sensei, if I could walk into Kirigakure without too much trouble…" He whispered, when the other commanding officers had left to fulfill their own tasks.

Minato's shoulders dropped and he gave Kakashi a tired look. "Kakashi…"

"What? I'm the youngest person here. They won't suspect a kid looking for his parents, right?" The trick had worked often enough for them in the war. It would continue to work, until his damned voice decided to finally break properly and permanently.

"They're on guard. I doubt they're going to let anyone in, civilian or not. This plan of Jiraiya's is much riskier than I would like."

"What other options do we have? We can't just sit around and wait for this Tsunade to get her act together."

Minato sighed. "I'll consider it –" he held up a finger to silence Kakashi before he could say something, "– but first we'll explore different venues. I'm not risking your life on a bet."

Kakashi balled his fists, but nodded.

He left Minato to his maps as one of the officers returned, and walked over to the edge of the cliff. He sat down, allowing his legs to dangle off the edge. There were craters to the left of the Steam Village, deep gouges in the landscape like scars on a veteran's body. From above, Kakashi could see clearly the difference between the older, darker buildings in the village and the lighter, newer ones that had only recently been added. There was another crater in the village itself, wider than the ones just outside. Perhaps that was where the Kumo jinchuuriki had unleashed his terrifying power and started his rampage. The people of Steam Village had to be terrified of a repeat event.

It was hard to tell where the people of the village had gone. The barriers were thick enough that the streets of the village could have been packed with people without anyone outside the barrier noticing. He pushed his headband up and opened his left eye. Even with the Sharingan only the barrier casters were visible, as pale pink silhouettes in the deep red walls.

A small group of villagers was sitting just outside the barriers, locked out from their home and too scared of enemy shinobi hiding away to go anywhere else. Sitting ducks.

"What a mess, right? Wouldn't want to be in there right now." A voice piped up next to him. The smell of straw and oatmeal. Kakashi looked up and saw Genma, chewing on his straw (gross) and overlooking the village as well.

He dropped his headband back down and hummed.

"Dumb of them to not just retreat," Genma added. "I mean, what are they going to achieve here?"

"If they can hold it the village could serve as a strategic outpost and a base for gathering human resources," Kakashi said.

"Human – human resources? Oh come on, Hatake, you mean they'll recruit the kids? People aren't resources," Genma told him, kicking at Kakashi's thigh." Geez."

You're so cold, he heard Obito's voice say. Kakashi shivered. "I'm not saying that's how I think about people. It's just village politics."

"Yeah, but you can choose not to talk like those cold bastards, right?"

Hmm. Point to Genma. Kakashi pulled his knees up to his chest. "You asked a question. I just answered it."

Genma snorted. "Right." He tapped his foot a few times, then threw his hands up in the air. "Okay, but no – it still doesn't make sense. How is it a strategic position if we all know they're there?"

Kakashi shrugged. It seemed pretty obvious to him. "So long as they have those barriers no one is going to get in without their permission. In the meantime, Konoha and Kumo are forced to waste troops on keeping an eye out. We have no idea how many of them are in there. They could man it with five shinobi and have us waste fifty on trying to monitor them. Might give them a slight advantage somewhere else."

Genma whistled, low. "Cunning little bastards."

"They are one of the smallest of the major villages. They have to make do. Anyway, once they're in there they can just replace the casters every now and then and hold out indefinitely."

"Man, I need to learn barrier jutsu."

"Agreed."

Genma stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well, if you change your mind about being clever and broody over here, me and the boys have obtained some sausages. There's too many for us, so if you want one…" He shrugged, the very picture of nonchalance. "You know where to find us."

Kakashi turned wide eyes on him. He wasn't used to being invited.

Genma obviously read his surprise and grimaced. "I mean... If Obito liked you, right? You can't be all bad." He shrugged, then turned around and left before Kakashi could respond.

Kakashi let out a long breath. His left eye stung. They don't like me, but they're still thinking of you, he thought. So why the hell am I the one who –

He stopped himself. That was a familiar road, and one he tried to avoid going down. That way lay nothing but trouble and ingratitude. That crybaby idiot... Okay, so maybe it would have been nice to have Rin by his side after all. Then they would have been invited without needing Obito as an excuse. People tended to accept him and Rin as a package deal.

He looked over his shoulder to where Genma sat. He and his friends had built a small campfire (because what was the point of subterfuge when their enemies already knew they were there?) and were loudly arguing about who was responsible for burning one of the sausages. The sausage in question was discarded and gratefully picked up by a hungry raven courageous enough to approach their camp.

He wasn't going to join them. Those boys were rowdy and wild and dumb and everything Kakashi didn't care for.

Kakashi's stomach grumbled. He quickly turned back and doggedly stared at the horizon. Traitor.

… Perhaps he'd join the boys after all.

The fighting started sometime during the night. Some of the Kiri shinobi had tried to sneak out under the cover of darkness, probably to get reinforcements, and ran straight into a Kumo patrol. Minato exited his tent sharp eyed and focused as the sound of battle reached them, along with the ghostly echoes of chakra being released.

Kakashi sat up and watched his teacher's tense form. He'd been dozing near the fire, unable to fall into a real sleep despite the numerous guards set up around the perimeter of the camp.

A deep pulse reached them, echoing between Kakashi's ribs. He stood up quickly. "That was a powerful jutsu," he told Minato.

Minato nodded. He was still watching the darkness below them. Every now and then, light flashed and illuminated the chaos of battle. "S-rank, I would say. They have a heavy hitter down there," he said, keeping his voice low.

Kakashi followed his gaze. "Do you think it's a…?"

Minato looked at him sharply. "Probably not," he cut Kakashi off. "I doubt you'll find someone like that thrown into a mess like this. They are hardly ever suited for close combat with many allies around."

Because they tend to attack anyone in sight, Kakashi silently added. "Someone strong, then."

Jiraiya appeared next to Minato as silently as an owl descending on its prey. "I have your confirmation. She's still in there, and mightily annoyed. I couldn't get my toad to convey a lot of information, but I think she got the message. "

Minato nodded curtly. "But she's not exactly known for subtlety. With her skill set, she won't just be able to sneak up on them and – except she could, couldn't she? If she uses a chakra scalpel..."

Jiraiya grinned, his teeth glinting in the light of the campfire. "You've got the idea. Problem is that she doesn't know where the barrier casters are holed up. She can't tell from in there, and I don't want to risk outing her by sending more frogs. There's only so many of those a lady can receive in her hotel room before people start noticing."

This seemed to Kakashi like the ideal time to go up to his teacher and give him a meaningful look.

Minato scowled. "Kakashi, no."

"Sensei, yes. You know it's the only way."

Jiraiya looked from Kakashi to Minato. "What's the squirt talking about?"

"I'm not a squi-"

"He wants to go in to share our Intel with Tsunade."

"If I just pretend I'm part of that little group just outside the barriers – I could say I'm a genin, so I need to be inside the village –" Kakashi blurted out. "That will work, right? If I can get some of the others to join me, I won't stand out. Besides, I can use the Sharingan to memorize the location of the barrier casters."

"Not as a genin, they keep close records of their shinobi. Go as a civilian and they won't pay as much notice," Jiraiya said, shaking his head.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato hissed.

"The idea has merit," Jiraiya said, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "You'll need a good excuse to get in, but once you have you can find Tsunade and she will do the rest. Once the barriers are down, we can do whatever we like. No more stalemate."

"The villagers will need food," Kakashi pointed out. "They didn't have any time to stock up."

Jiraiya grinned. "There we have that little genius brain of yours coming out to play," he rumbled.

Minato still looked worried. "I don't like it. I see the merit of it, but I don't like it."

"You'd agree to it if it was anyone else going in, wouldn't you?" Kakashi asked sharply.

Minato blinked. His lips thinned. "Yes," he admitted. "I would."

"He's a jounin, Minato. And he's experienced enough," Jiraiya said gently. "Besides, we don't have to put all our eggs in one basket. We can send out distractions."

"I can do this," Kakashi repeated.

Their little discussion had garnered some volume as the argument heated up, and some of the other commanding officers had come to join them. Fugaku eyed Kakashi up critically once they'd shared the plan. "It's not a bad idea," he finally said, destroying the last of Minato's reluctance.

Kakashi hadn't expected he'd ever feel grateful to Fugaku, of all people, but right now he was so eager to contribute that he could have hugged the sour-faced Uchiha. Not that he would. That would only have been worth it if Obito had been there to laugh about it.

Minato finally nodded. "We'll have to disguise your eye and the scar, obviously. A chameleon jutsu, don't you think, sensei? And we'll need civilian clothes. No masks, Kakashi."

Kakashi scowled. Right. There was always something, wasn't there?

Once the plan was communicated to the other commanding officers, they went around to collect clothing articles from the other shinobi of the platoon. Kakashi ended up in Genma's spare shorts, of all things, and stripped his own navy and white shirt of all equipment so it resembled a normal T-shirt. He had to replace his comfortable shinobi sandals with an uncomfortable pair of traditional flip-flops. Losing the mask was the biggest sacrifice so he waited as long as he could to take it off, when only Minato, Jiraiya and Fugaku were still close enough to see his face. Someone else donated a rather lumpy backpack, stuffed with camping supplies as if he'd gone to visit a neighboring village for a week or so before returning.

"You're a civilian orphan who's not showing an awful lot of shinobi potential," Jiraiya fabricated, "so they won't be too surprised not to have you on record. Small shinobi villages like these tend to have largely undocumented civilian populations who are only tolerated for their commercial purposes. Your mom was probably a prostitute or something."

They all collectively ignored Minato's impressive blush.

"Her colleagues are taking care of you now and are waiting for you to come back. Tsunade is in the red light district so you'll have an excuse to go there. The reason they'll let you in is because you've seen a Konoha patrol on your way through the surrounding forest. They let you go because you're just a civilian, but now you have their location. And above else, for God's sake – don't use your real name," Jiraiya finished.

Kakashi scowled at him. "Obviously."

Minato pushed past Jiraiya and placed gentle hands on Kakashi's shoulders. "If they catch you, do whatever you have to to stay alive. There's not an awful lot you can tell them that they don't already know," he said, and Kakashi only now noticed how pale he looked. "Keep an eye out for that S-rank jutsu user. If you can identify them, all the better. But keep your distance."

He wanted to argue, I know Konoha has a second jinchuuriki now, and I know where you live and just who your wife is. I'm not a kid anymore, sensei – much as you would like me to be. He didn't say any of it. This was their best shot at breaking the stalemate. He wouldn't get caught. If he was, he would die before speaking.

"I won't give them anything," he said, more for the benefit of the other officers than Minato's.

Minato met his eyes. Even in the dark, his irises were still remarkably blue. "Watch your back," he finally said, as if he'd mulled over several options before choosing this one.

Like they can't already tell you're compromised when it comes to me, sensei, Kakashi thought, and pushed down the fear that rose up alongside it.

Minato nodded. "You'll go tomorrow evening."

The worst part was always the waiting.

Rin sent a torrent of water smashing into one of the dummies. It gave a satisfying crunch as part of the shoulder came flying off. Rin tightened her control over the torrent, instead of releasing it, made it spiral around the dummy and then drilled it into its chest. The dummy's footing broke with a horrible shriek and the whole thing went flying several feet into the air.

"I might have to rethink what I said about you being such a nice girl," Kushina said weakly, from behind Rin. "Did it help, at least?"

Rin resisted the urge to growl. At first they'd stayed in the apartment, but Kushina could only take so much of Rin's pacing before she'd suggested they go to the underground training field. Kushina would be able to stop her, if necessary. "We don't need those boys for this," she had said.

That much was true. Rin did feel a little bit better. There was something very satisfying about channeling her anger into destructive jutsu and destroying things. She formed another seal and water came rushing back up, circling around her body before flashing towards another target.

"You're getting faster," Kushina said. She sounded pleased.

Rin nodded. The only downside was that her anger pleased Sanbi as well. She could feel him watching her, alerted by her fury. Waiting for the opportunity to strike. The thought of that happening only made her angrier. "It's just – they should have let me come," she said.

"You know why they didn't, sweetheart," Kushina said gently.

"I know. I know. But it's not right, is it? If they're going to use me – why not now? Use me like – like – like they've always used us," Rin said. There was a lump in her throat again.

"Oh, Rin. Minato just wants to protect you."

"I know. I don't even know who I'm angry at. Maybe it's him, or maybe it's me, or maybe it's this stupid, evil, horrible thing inside me that I'm angry at, because now I can't do anything, I can't help anyone, I might as well be useless –"

"You're not useless. You could never be useless."

"What am I, then?" Rin said, turning around to face Kushina. Her eyes burned with tears. "Some fancy new accessory for Konoha to hold onto? I can't heal anyone and I'm not allowed to fight because it's too dangerous."

Kushina's face softened. "Would you say I'm useless? Just because I'm bound to the village?"

Rin stopped in her tracks. Her arms dropped to her sides. "I – no. Of course not. But that's different, you're..."

"A jinchuuriki, just like you. Trust me, I get it." Kushina stood up with some difficulty, cradling her massive belly between her hands. She crossed the distance between them a little bit slower than she usually did. "It's agony, every time they go out to fight and I'm stuck here. But it's not always like that – they don't always hold us back. Do you know what we are? You and I?"

Rin shook her head.

"We are Konoha's secret weapons. We come out when the going gets tough." She placed her hands on Rin's shoulders. "And we are the furthest thing from useless."

She nodded at the destroyed dummies. "But you? You're still training. And I'm guessing Sanbi is enjoying all of this a little bit too much."

Rin dropped her head. "He's not… Laughing, or anything. He's just…"

Kushina's jaw clenched and unclenched. "Enjoying himself," she finished. "Twirling his giant evil mustache."

Rin snorted at the mental image, but it didn't change her mood. "He'll come out if I keep going like this, won't he?"

"Yes. He will."

Rin's shoulders drooped as her anger slowly washed away. Even though Kushina was right there beside her, she felt horribly alone. For the first time in years, she wanted her mother again.

"Rin, sweetheart, you said 'use us'. Is that how you feel?" Kushina asked, gently lifting Rin's chin so they could see eye to eye.

Rin shrugged. "We've been weapons for years, even though we're just kids. The village never asks us what we want to do. And now I'm a jinchuuriki, and... I'll have even less for choice."

"What do you want to do?"

"...I wanted to be a doctor. A proper one, not just a field medic," Rin carefully admitted. "But you still need to be capable of medical ninjutsu. I...I can't do that anymore. Kakashi and I, we tried this morning. His finger. But I didn't fix it, I just burned his skin."

Kushina was still looking at her with those big, worried eyes. It seemed almost impossible that those eyes could look so warm, even though they were a cool dark gray.

"At least before I could have chosen to retire and become a civilian. Minato sensei would have accepted it. I don't mind being a shinobi. It's what I know. It's what I'm good at. But now I don't have a choice anymore. I liked having a choice," Rin said.

Kushina hugged her. She was so quick Rin didn't even see it coming. Hugging was a little awkward with the big pregnant belly between them, but it felt awfully good. Kushina stroked her hair.

"You're okay, baby. I know how it feels. It seems like losing control over your own life, but there are still things you can decide for yourself," Kushina said. "Even if it's just the small things. I still go on missions, and I am free to pick my friends. I'm free to pick my hobbies. I'm even going to have a baby, because I wanted one. It's true the village isn't going to give you as much freedom as anyone else, but I want you to remember that there's joy to be found in responsibility."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there are going to be people relying on you for their safety. They might not know it, but you do. The Hokage does. Anyone of importance in this village will be aware of what you're doing for them."

"But not yet."

"No, not yet. But then you're only thirteen years old. No one expected Minato to protect the entire village when he was fourteen. You're not expecting it of Kakashi either, even though you and I both know that silly boy is going to go places when he grows up," Kushina smiled and tapped Rin's nose. "Give yourself time to grow into this new Rin. It won't always be easy, but then that's just what life is like. There's no telling what your future will look like."

Rin smiled back through her tears. "Thank you."

Kushina nodded firmly. "All right. Now, I had also bought ice cream for our little birthday party but seeing as the birthday boy has escaped our clutches we're going to have to eat it ourselves. And then tomorrow…" Her face grew more serious. "Tomorrow we start the next phase of your training."

Did I mention I love Kushina? I think this might be the first time I've written a mother figure and it's really fun.