I let out a long yawn, catching Naruto's attention as we walked.
"Neh, Shi! I'm tired! Can't you call out that horse thing so we can hitch a ride?"
I smacked him on the back of his head. "No. You need the exercise."
"Huh?! But all we've been doing the past two and a half years is training! I'm not going to get fat!"
I scoffed quietly. "You will when we get back and eat Ichiraku out of all their ramen."
Naruto's face turned a bright shade of red, knowing that I was right, and he stomped his foot childishly.
"Gah! I hate it when you're right!"
I smirked. "Always am."
Naruto settled for folding his arms across his chest and grumbling to himself as we walked while Jiraiya chuckled, patting him on the head.
"Heh, she's right, you know. It's best to just accept that women are usually right, even when they're wrong."
I gave Jiraiya a glance, suspicious of his sudden words of wisdom, when he ruined it.
"Especially in bed—"
I immediately punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground as my eyebrow twitched. I had been struggling to keep my temper in check these past two years because of him and protecting Naruto from his perverted ways was not an easy task. Especially when he had us both running around that one time to gather so called 'information' when he just wanted us to steal some women's underwear. I sighed, calming down and pulled the hood of my tan traveling cloak up to keep from looking at the moron.
Naruto and I had changed quite a bit in our years of training and, as much as I hate to admit it, he was only a few centimeters from matching my height and he loved to rub it in. He may seem more mature, but if anything I'd almost say he's more immature than when we left. I sighed to myself and decided to focus on something else. At least Jiraiya was decent enough to give us money for new clothes. Naruto's and mine were ruined. I pulled at my sleeveless black shirt and, although my outfit hadn't changed too much, the metal arm guards and shin guards were new as were my black gloves at went up to just past my elbows. A light jingle from my ear reminded me of my other new additions to my wardrobe; two silver earrings on my upper right ear and a long gold one on my left earlobe. Add those to my new katanas and red sash, and I guess I've actually changed quite a bit.
"Oi, Shi! You're not listening again!"
Then again, some things never change… I thought, turning to Naruto with a blank look. "You say something?"
"Agh! Shi!" Naruto whined, but he got distracted as the village gates showed up not too far in front of us, and grinned widely. "Look Shi! We're finally back!"
I nodded, pulling down my scarf and grinning back, ruffling his hair despite the fact that I know he hates it now that he's 'grown up'. He didn't seem to mind this time though and continued to grin happily as the three of us walked through Konoha gates.
"It's been about two and a half years, neh, Shi?"
I pulled my scarf back up, hiding the small smile I had. "Yeah."
"Indeed." Jiraiya commented, having managed to recover from my previous punch to the face.
Naruto then dropped his back pack on the ground and jumped up to the top of a pole, overlooking the whole village.
"Haha… He's certainly cheerful today, isn't he…"
"It has been almost three years." I commented, looking up with Jiraiya as Naruto took in the sights, laughing at Tsunade's face on the Hokage mountain.
She's going to hit him one day for making fun of her. I thought with a sweat drop, when a familiar voice rang up from a nearby rooftop.
"You've grown a lot, haven't you… Naruto… Shi."
I looked over and saw Kakashi looking down at me, waving lazily with one hand as his other held a familiar book.
"Yo."
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, jumping and landing on the roof beside him as I jumped up and did the same. "Haha. You haven't changed at all!"
I reached back and pulled out a yellow book, hitting Naruto on the head with the spine of it.
"Says the childish prankster."
"Hey!" He said, rubbing his head with a pout. "I only pranked pervy-sennin a few times!"
I raised a brow, and Naruto turned his gaze to the ground.
"And I only tried to prank you a bunch of times."
I nodded, and passed the book I was holding to Kakashi, who looked at the cover is shock.
"What?! You… H-How… T-This is…"
I smirked, enjoying the shocked look on his face as Naruto spoke.
"It's the latest in the Icha Icha series after three years. It's really boring, but Shi said it was good so you'll still like it… I think…"
Kakashi looked up at me and I pulled down my scarf giving him a grin, surprising him.
"It's good."
He looked down at the book with wide eyes and back up at me before standing and placing a hand on my shoulder.
"I am forever in your debt."
I pulled my scarf back up and nodded, before the three of us jumped down to join Jiraiya once more. Naruto grabbed his backpack and charged ahead of us a bit, shouting about Ichiraku ramen whereas I stayed back with Kakashi and Jiraiya.
"As promised, I'll leave Naruto back into your care." Jiraiya said to Kakashi, giving me a smile too. "Lovely Shi, as well."
I glared at him and he chuckled nervously before regaining his serious face.
"I fear Akatsuki has been growing impatient. They may make an attempt on Naruto soon. I'm going to head around and gather as much information as I can. You better watch it too, Shi." He said, eyeing me. "Try to keep out of their radar."
I nodded calmly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. He had told me during our travels about the Akatsuki group and even had me accompanying him to gather information on them while he had Naruto training by himself. Needless to say, I was a very good asset to Jiraiya and proved my worth in tracking and information gathering while I was with him. Not to mention the fact that I was also capable of handling an out of control Naruto pretty well too. However Jiraiya wasn't the only one who received scars from that encounter.
"Ah!"
I was jolted out of my thoughts as Naruto shouted.
"S-Sakura?"
"Eh? Naruto?!"
Sakura wasn't alone either and Tsunade stood beside her, catching my gaze with a serious look. I gazed back evenly and removed my hood with a nod, attracting a raised brow from Kakashi and Jiraiya, the only two who had noticed our little exchange. I reached into my small pouch at my waist and pressed my hand to a seal at the bottom of the bag, allowing me to reach in and pull out a nice sized bottle, that shouldn't have fit in the small bag I had pulled it from. Working with a seal master like Jiraiya has its perks. Once the adults of our group caught sight of what I pulled out, Kakashi and Jiraiya sweatdropped and I handed it over to Tsunade discretely, watching as she tucked it away up her sleeve.
"Took a while to find it." I said quietly. "I tested it though. It's the real deal."
She grinned, as did I, both of us sharing a like for rare sake brands which had brought us together once before for drinks and had established a good friendship between us. All thanks to Anko blabbing to her about my drinking skills. I then turned my attention to Sakura, who was poking her cheek and staring at Naruto in a more… flirtatious manner.
"How do I look? Do I look more like a woman now?"
"You look fine!" Naruto grinned, though I feared what he'd say next. "You haven't changed at all."
I immediately bopped him on the head with my fist, scolding him. "Be nice."
"You look very, erm, pretty Sakura." He muttered in response, pleasing Sakura more than his previous comment.
She then turned her eyes to me though, grinning almost… mischievously. "You've gotten prettier too, Shi."
I flushed a nice pink shade, blinking in shock at her words, and looking down at myself in confusion as to what could make her say that. I-I hardly look womanly. I mean, sure, I do have some assets, but nothing worth her praise. I looked back up at her to find her giggling at my shocked expression, before she turned to none other than Kakashi.
"Don't you think so, Kakashi-sensei?"
I turned to him with wide eyes, only to find him look me over and give me a closed-eye grin, Tsunade and Jiraiya also grinning in the background.
"You certainly have gotten more beautiful, Shi."
The pink in my cheeks turned a dark scarlet color and I turned away, moving shakily to leave.
"I-I just remembered, I h-have something to do." I muttered, moving to leave, only for Tsunade to grab the back of my collar and hold me back.
"Not yet, you don't." She said, keeping me from leaving, just as someone new showed up.
"Naruto niichan!"
I turned and looked as a young boy with goggles called out, "Sexy no jutsu" and transformed into a naked woman. Recognizing the technique, I felt all previous embarrassment leave, being replaced by annoyance. Sensing this, Tsunade released me as I pulled out a book from my pouch and threw it at the boy/girl's head, the spine of the book smacking them hard across the face.
"Ow! What the hell?!"
The boy transformed back, rubbing his reddening face and looked up to find me standing above him looking less than pleased.
"U-Uh, w-w-who are you?"
I frowned. "Shi. And you will learn not to do that around me unless you want to end up bleeding."
A drop of blood dripped down his red nose from his contact with my book and I picked up said object, snapping it shut loudly and making him jump before I walked back over to where Kakashi and the others were, all of which looking at me shocked.
"That was, uh… interesting." Kakashi said, glancing as the boy went over to Naruto and complained about me.
I nodded, eyes closed. "I can only handle so much thanks to them." I grumbled, opening my eyes and thrusting a thumb in Jiraiya and Naruto's direction.
"A-Ah. I see."
"You idiot!" Sakura suddenly shouted, punching Naruto and launching him a good distance from us before yelling quite loudly, even scaring the boy from before (Konohamaru, as Kakashi so nicely provided).
"Jiraiya… Naruto has grown more and more like you in these past two years, hasn't he?" Tsunade commented, though I could tell Jiraiya was thinking the same as her about Sakura.
Like teacher like student, I suppose. I thought, remembering how much I acted like Kakashi when I was first being trained under him. I guess I still act like him on some accounts though. I have opened up a lot more however, since being around Naruto and Jiraiya.
"Right. The nostalgia ends here though." Tsunade suddenly announced. "Kakashi."
Kakashi snapped his book shut, catching my attention, seeing how he hasn't put it away since I gave it to him.
"Well… It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Even Naruto and Sakura were as confused as I was, as to what was going on and the three of us gazed curiously at Kakashi as he went on.
"From now on, the three of you will come with me on team-related missions. It's different than before. It's no longer teacher and pupil. Starting today, we're equal Konoha shinobi."
I was still confused and blinked a few times, tilting my head to the side in curiosity, until Kakashi held out a set of three bells.
"Well… first I'm a bit curious as to how you've developed. The rules are the same as when I first met you three. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will never succeed in getting the bells!"
The four of us followed after Kakashi as he led us to a familiar training ground, three stumps still waiting behind him.
"Like I said, the rules are the same as before. No matter how, try to get the bells from me. You have until sunrise tomorrow."
Naruto and Sakura looked around, most definitely remembering what had happened the first time we met Kakashi here.
"This place… I've missed it."
"Yeah."
Kakashi though, seemed to have just recognized where he brought us. "Ah, that's right. This is where you first trained, isn't it?"
"Team Seven." Sakura said.
"The four man team." Naruto followed afterwards, obviously remembering Sasuke and getting more depressed by the minute.
Kakashi, of course, made it worse. "That time… Sasuke was around too, wasn't he?"
Things grew even quieter and I sighed when Naruto and Sakura curled up on the ground in a depression. I was a bit upset by remembering him as well, but it was more of a feeling of slight anger at him for abandoning his comrades the way he did. Like Sakura, I never got to know Sasuke very well. There were times where we would understand one another about some things, but for the most part we never spoke. Can't say it's odd for me to do that though. I'm the same way with Neji, Choji, and Ino for the most part and Tenten too. Though with her, it's more of her peppy forceful nature that has me staying away. Even Lee and Guy are less eccentric than her sometimes. A chill ran up my spine at remembering the one time Tenten was trying to put a rather bright pink accessory in my hair. Needless to say, it wasn't long before I was joining Naruto and Sakura on the ground in my own little depression only for the snapping of Kakashi's book to catch our attention.
"Well then, shall we begin?" Kakashi said, putting his book away, which picked all three of us up from our depression. He was getting serious.
"Heh, you won't do it while reading the book this time, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto chuckled, tightening his forehead protector.
Sakura too, smirked, pulling on some black gloves. "You've already finished it?"
"No. I think I should save the enjoyment for later. Besides, this time, for some reason…" Kakashi pulled up his forehead protector, revealing his sharingan. "I get the feeling I should take it a little seriously too. Especially with you, Shi."
I raised a brow, struggling to hide a smirk. "Oh?"
His eyes narrowed seriously. "Who knows what sort of new tricks you have up your sleeves. I haven't yet forgot how you took the bells from me the first time."
I gave him a closed-eye grin. "That'll just make things more interesting."
The bells on Kakashi's belt chimed and, as expected, Naruto was the first to move, throwing shuriken at Kakashi, who ducked and returned his own shuriken. I simply began shrugging off my traveling coat and tucking it into the storage seal on the inside of my bag, keeping an eye on Naruto as he jumped over the shuriken and Kakashi threw more at him mid-air. Naruto, having at least grown a bit more battle savvy while with Jiraiya and I, created a clone that pulled him out of the way. As soon as he landed, he transformed his clone into a fuuma shuriken but Kakashi was a step faster and had a kunai to the back of his head the same instance another clone popped up behind Kakashi with a kunai to his back.
"Your haste hasn't changed." Kakashi said, before grinning. "Alright. Start!"
He then disappeared in a poof of smoke and this time, Sakura was the one to find him, slamming her fist into the ground and destroying a good portion of earth with her punch, uprising the ground to find Kakashi looking more than surprised.
"Found you!"
I heard a dry chuckle from Naruto and raised a brow, before giving my own short chuckle. He's obviously worried about how to treat her now. It's a whole lot different when the girl can kick your ass, isn't it, Naruto? Kakashi jumped up onto the top of a section of earth and smirked.
"Alright, this time I should also do something on my end."
I smirked under my scarf, shouting out. "Sakura! Duck!"
She did so and I charged, barely a blur as I jumped off her back and up into the air. Kakashi stared up at me, but I had picked the best angle where the sun was behind me and he couldn't make out my hand signs, causing his eyes to widen in shock and giving him little chance to dodge as I pulled my scarf down and shouted out my attack.
"Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
A dragon made of flames came from my mouth, swooping down to attack Kakashi, who just barely managed to dodge, though the edge his sleeve and glove were burnt. Moving quickly, I landed behind the dust the dragon had thrown up upon hitting the ground and did more hand signs, launching another rather large dragon upwards into the sky.
"Oi, Shi! You missed!" Naruto shouted, but he soon shut up when I stood, pointing at the sky and drawing my sword.
"No, I didn't."
Clouds had gathered and the deep rumble of thunder shook the area we were in, as a steady rain began to fall.
"Hm, smart, Shi." Kakashi said, standing not far from me. "The heat from the fire gathered storm clouds, but there's just one problem. You seemed to have forgotten…" He smirked, hand charging up with lightening behind him. "I have lightning chakra nature."
I tilted my head with a grin. "Oops."
"Oops?! What do you mean, oops?!" Naruto shouted behind me, Sakura holding him back as he flailed. "How did you not know that?! Shi! You baka!"
Kakashi charged at me, the high pitched whistling of his chidori ringing loudly, and I crouched down—ignoring Naruto for now—and dragged my sword tip along the ground as I ran right towards him. I pushed chakra into my blade, lacing it with wind nature chakra and, as powerful as I knew Kakashi's chidori was, I had high hopes for my own technique. Taking a deep breath, I reached back and attached a chain and kunai to a hole in my blade and just before Kakashi thrust his chidori forward, I lifted my sword and threw the kunai into the ground. His chidori hit my sword, screeching loudly and spreading electricity into it, but the lightning trailed down the chain into the ground, negating it and causing me to smirk at Kakashi's shocked expression.
"You forget, Kakashi…" I said, beginning to duck. "...I know the elements like the back of my hand."
As I ducked, a Naruto clone jumped onto my back with a fuuma shuriken aimed right at Kakashi. Problem was, Kakashi managed to evade it and elbowed the Naruto clone in the gut, getting rid of it before going after me. Damn, he's fast! I jumped back as quick as I could, but he managed to guess where I was jumping to and a kunai embedded itself deeply into my shoulder. I stood, taking a step back, and stared as the blood began staining my shirt; remembering just how much money I had used on new clothes while with Jiraiya and Naruto, and imagining the many ways I could skin Kakashi for what he had done.
Immediately, Sakura went to take a step forward to help Shi, but Naruto pulled her back.
"Naruto, what are you doing I need to—"
Naruto shook his head quickly, eyes wide in a familiar panic. "Bad idea, Sakura! We need to get back!"
Sakura raised a brow, but upon looking over Naruto's shoulder at Shi, she paled, allowing Naruto to tug her wrist away from the clearing as Shi's killing intent went through the roof.
"I just bought this shirt…" Shi muttered, reaching up and pulling the kunai from her shoulder without so much as a wince.
Kakashi too, seemed to pale in understanding of what he had done. Seems that possessiveness over food now applies to her clothes as well… Not good. "S-Shi, you can just get another shirt. It's fine."
"Fine?" Shi said, lifting her head enough for Kakashi to see just how furious she was, her eyes flashing a frightening grey.
Kakashi took a step back, looking around for an escape from the enraged female, only to spot Naruto with a hand cupping his mouth.
"Bad move, Kakashi-sensei! Shi hates it when money is wasted!"
You're kidding me. He thought, turning back to Shi to find her yanking the chain attached to her sword and pulling the kunai up from the ground where she had thrown it earlier, walking towards him most certainly with murder on her mind. Seeing no other option, Kakashi swallowed thickly and prepared to fight. And if I'm lucky, she'll tire out. Shi let out a growl and attacked with everything she had, Kakashi barely blocking her sword with his kunai with wide eyes. Or not!
The sun slowly set as the battle between Shi and Kakashi continued, Sakura and Naruto hiding behind a tree, panting from trying to help Shi on occasion.
"I already knew it, but the sharingan is really amazing… And not only that, his seal-making speed… It's too fast for me to follow… If we could somehow stop him using both hands, we could get to the bells."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah… Kakashi-sensei's unreasonably strong. He's smarter than Shikamaru… And he has a better sense of smell than Kiba… He has better sharingan skills than Sasuke… and better taijutsu than Bushy-Brows…"
Sakura nodded, a small grin on her face. "Shi's pretty strong too. The two of them haven't stopped since Kakashi landed that hit to her shoulder."
Naruto let out a quiet chuckle. "Heh, yeah. Shi's super strong. She's probably better than him too."
"Maybe, but don't you think she's holding back?"
Naruto nodded, a small frown on his face. "Yeah. I was wondering why. She goes all out with Pervy-sennin."
"Neh, Naruto?" Sakura leaned closer, whispering to him quietly. "Don't you think Shi and Kakashi like each other?"
"Huh?" He gave her a confused look. "Of course they do. Shi likes a lot of people, Sakura."
Sakura's eye twitched as she hit Naruto upside the head. "Not like that, you idiot! I mean love each other!"
"Oh!" Naruto put a finger to his chin in thought. "Well, she was doing some weird stuff while we were training."
"Like what?" Sakura asked, curious.
Naruto held a finger up. "She painted a lot."
Sakura sweat dropped. "Painted?" I didn't take Shi as the artsy type.
Naruto nodded with an evil grin. "I caught her painting Kakashi-sensei."
Sakura's mouth dropped open in shock. "No way."
"Yup! And when I asked her why, she totally blushed!"
Sakura smiled brightly, getting excited. "She totally likes him! That explains why she's not going all out! He's her weakness!"
"Yosh!… Ah, but we need to find Kakashi's weakness."
"I know what it is." A voice said, and they both jumped as Shi stumbled over, plopping down on the ground with a 'thump'.
"S-Shi! Uh… how much of that did you hear?" Sakura questioned, worried that Shi had overheard everything they were talking about.
"You were talking about Kakashi's weakness." She panted out, pulling her scarf down and spitting some blood off to the side. "I know what it is."
"Ah!" Naruto said. "He does have a weak point!"
"Eh? R-Really?"
"Hahaha, Sakura! If you really think back about how Kakashi-sensei's been until now, you'll understand." Naruto snickered.
"Stop being such a know-it-all, Naruto! What's the weak point?!"
"Hehe, well, it's got to be that, right Shi?"
Sakura turned to Shi, who nodded, canines shining in the dim moonlight as she pulled out a familiar yellow book.
"Here's what we'll do."
Once they all knew what the plan was, they used Shi's nose to track Kakashi down and immediately jumped at him. They really have to be joking, making a direct attack. Kakashi thought, but he didn't expect what happened next.
"Now, Naruto!"
"Let's go! Kakashi-sensei! The last joke in Icha Icha Tactics! The truth is that the main character—"
Kakashi panicked, covering his ears, only to realize that he can still read Naruto's lips with his sharingan and thus closed his eyes as well. Taking that chance, Shi, Naruto, and Sakura grabbed a bell from Kakashi and held them up with equal grins.
"Huh?"
"Hehe, a ninja should look underneath the underneath." Naruto said, quoting Kakashi from their first survival training years ago. "Right, sensei?"
Kakashi sighed, admitting defeat and pulling back down his forehead protector and putting up his palms in defeat.
"I suppose you win this time. Ah, but Sakura? You should probably heal Shi."
Sakura's eyes widened and she turned to find Shi tilting her head in confusion.
"Hm?"
Sakura, obviously not pleased with Shi's indifference to the fact that her shoulder was still bleeding quite a bit and that there were other wounds that she was ignoring, quickly pushed Shi's shoulders down, sitting her down on the ground up against a tree nearby.
"Shi! Why didn't you remind me?!" Sakura scolded, placing glowing green hands on Shi's shoulder wound.
"Forgot." Was Shi's simple response, earning a sweat drop from Naruto and Kakashi.
"How do you forget something like this?! And you!" Sakura rounded her gaze to Kakashi, who pointed to himself in confusion. "Was it really necessary to inflict this many wounds?!"
Kakashi nervously scratched the back of his head. "W-Well, she was trying to kill me."
Shi narrowed her eyes at him. "And you better keep your promise."
"Promise?" Naruto and Sakura questioned.
Kakashi nodded with a resigned sigh. "I have to buy her a new shirt. It was the only way to get her to stop attacking me for a few minutes."
Naruto chuckled at Kakashi's anguish, whereas Sakura rolled her eyes, turning back to Shi.
"I need you to lift up your shirt, Shi."
"Hm?" Shi hummed, playing innocent.
Sakura frowned. "Don't give me that. You have a cracked rib. I'm not stupid."
Shi blinked, still playing innocent. "I do?"
Sakura, having enough, poked Shi's ribs rather harshly, earning a painful grimace. "Yes. You do. I need to make sure it's not broken though."
Shi begrudgingly lifted up her shirt, revealing not only a rather large bruise, but also multitudes of scars. Despite the numerous times Shi had been injured, there was always someone else bandaging her up and healing her, so none of the trio had actually seen the extent of damage Orochimaru had done to Shi during her two years of torture, and she preferred it that way. The looks Sakura and Naruto were giving her were only further proof that she didn't want anyone seeing the scars and she pretended that she couldn't see their worried looks. Especially since there was one set of scars that were more recent than the others.
A group of five long scratch marks that started at the end of her sternum and went down around her left side and hip were still a shade of pink, as opposed to the lighter coloration of the older scars. These, as Naruto's guilty face would tell anyone, were from him. As mentioned before, Shi had proven to be very apt to helping Jiraiya control Naruto's rampages and, transformed or not, stopping an out-of-control jinchuriki was not an easy task. Spotting his look, Shi gave him her own serious look, mentally telling him it wasn't his fault and to stop blaming himself, something Naruto understood and he looked away while scratching his cheek. Kakashi caught sight of this and easily put two and two together but before anyone could think more about it, Sakura spoke up.
"Shi… What are these from?"
"Sakura, I don't think—" Kakashi started to say, but the teary eyed look Sakura gave him quickly shut him up.
"Don't tell me not to ask, Kakashi-sensei! I've known Shi's been hiding things for a long time now and don't you think it's about time we got some answers too?!"
"Sakura…" Naruto said quietly, not expecting this kind of response from her.
"I'm not stupid, you know!" She went on. "I remember what happened when she fought Zabuza! I saw her during the chunin exams! I heard what people were saying the two months she went missing! And if we're going to be a team, then I want to know! I can't team up with someone if I don't know what could happen while we're fighting! Even if it's Shi!"
Kakashi turned to Shi, watching her for some sort of reaction to what Sakura was saying and he was surprised to see guilt and a deep sadness written clearly all over her face. I've never seen this much emotion from her… What that bastard did to her… It must really hurt and keeping it a secret for so long… Those scars run deeper than just the surface… Sakura turned back around to Shi, as she pulled her shirt back down, eyes downcast.
"Please, Shi." Sakura said quietly, looking down and placing a hand over Shi's, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"I-I…" Shi closed her mouth, choosing her words carefully before she spoke. "I am… was… an experiment for Orochimaru."
Sakura look up in shock along with Naruto, who clenched his fists tightly.
"He found me when I woke up with no memories… He took me and… I didn't stand a chance." Shi swallowed thickly. "I spent two years with him and escaped… I was lucky… the seals were old and I had enough stored up chakra to overpower them."
"Shi…" Naruto whispered in surprise.
"I held it back… at first… But then, with Zabuza…" Shi looked down at her palm, remembering the blood on her hand when she killed Haku. "And it happened again when he showed up at the exams… I just… didn't want anyone to get hurt."
Shi looked over at Naruto sadly, who stared back equally emotional. Shi looked back down, quiet for only but a moment.
"I understand should you ask for me to be on a different team…" Shi placed a hand on her stomach where the seal was. "It may be sealed, but… I don't want to be a danger to any of you."
"What are you talking about, Shi?" Naruto said, surprisingly quiet, turning to look at Shi with a big grin. "It's not Team Seven without you."
Shi looked at him in shock, turning to Kakashi to find him smiling as well, and then looking over at Sakura, who had yet to raise her head.
"He's right… It wouldn't be a team without you." She said, lifting her head to show a smiling face despite the tears that pricked the corner of her eyes.
Shi was surprised. She didn't really know what to think for a moment. These people before her, they cared for her. Even though she had a beast inside her that could possibly kill them, they still wanted to be with her. They weren't like Orochimaru and they genuinely liked her, despite all her faults. She felt at home once more and she swore that someone placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly.
"Go on."
Shi looked down, fighting tears for the first time in years, and she pulled down her scarf as she looked up, a large grin on her face; one they had never seen before that brought a smile to their own faces.
"Thank you." Shi said, letting out a genuine laugh, sharp canines clearly visible. "Thank you."
Kakashi looked down at the scene with a soft smile. Who knew a laugh could be so beautiful… He thought, but felt eyes on him and spotted a smirking Sakura, which made his smile falter. She's far too observant for her own good. Clearing his throat to get everyone's attention and to distract Sakura, he gave them all a cheesy grin.
"Well, I should be heading out. Shi, I believe I owe you a new shirt."
Shi's smile dropped for a moment before returning, and she got up from the ground and started following Kakashi as he pulled back out his book and headed in the direction of the market. Shi stopped though and gave Naruto and Sakura a look.
"Aren't you coming?"
Naruto grinned. "Sure! I'll co—Ow, ow, ow!" He shouted, Sakura having grabbed his ear.
"What he means is, no." She said with a far too innocent smile. "Naruto and I have… plans."
"We do?"
Sakura abruptly elbowed Naruto in the ribs. "Yes. We do."
She gave him a pointed look, gesturing towards Shi and Kakashi before he finally caught the hint.
"Oh, right! I totally forgot. We have that, uh, thing."
Sakura face palmed with a sigh, before hooking her arm through Naruto's and gave the two a wave.
"Bye!"
Shi raised a brow, but waved back, running a little to catch up with Kakashi before the two of them left the training grounds. Naruto, still very confused, turned to Sakura with a small grin.
"So where are we going, Sakura?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, dropping his arm. "Nowhere. I only said that so Kakashi and Shi could go out on a date."
Naruto raised a brow. "Date? Sakura, they were just buying her a new shirt."
Sakura punching him on the head, knocking him to the ground with tears in his eyes as she walked off.
"Idiot."
You still don't understand anything about love.
I walked beside Kakashi as he read his newest book, stretching my arms above my head with a groan, having had a good workout in our little team training session. I noticed Kakashi glancing at me out of the corner of his eye and raised a brow as I dropped my arms.
"Something wrong?"
"No…" His eyes returned to his book. "You've changed a lot in three years, Shi."
I slowly nodded, not really understanding what he was getting at. We soon reached a store though and he bought me a shirt just like the one I was wearing, before the two of us left. I half expected him to make up some excuse and poof off somewhere to go read his book, but he continued to walk by my side even though I had no idea where I was going.
"Kakashi."
"Hm."
"What did you mean?"
Kakashi looked up from his book. "Hm?"
I glanced at him. "You said I changed. What did you mean?"
Kakashi hummed, looking up at the sky as he spoke. "Well, you've definitely changed physically. You look much better than you did the last time I saw you."
I nodded, a light pink tint to my cheeks as I remembered how skinny I had been after I was released from that underground prison. I had quickly gained back my weight and muscle mass once out with Jiraiya and Naruto though. If anything, my muscle mass has increased since before. Either way, it works out in my favor.
"You're happier too."
I turned my head quickly, giving him a look as he grinned.
"It's the first time I've seen you smiling and laughing like that."
I swallowed thickly, feeling the heat in my cheeks grow warmer. "I-I, um… I was just…"
He chuckled. "There's no need to try and come up with an excuse, Shi. It's not bad to be happy sometimes."
"A-Ah." I muttered, head bowed in embarrassment.
"Hey, Shi? Why don't you come over for dinner tonight? My treat."
I turned to Kakashi in surprise, him never being the one to ask me over for dinner. I usually just showed up. W-Why is he actually inviting me this time? I suddenly realized he was waiting for an answer and tried to get one out of my mouth.
"I-I, um—"
Just then though, a shadow passed overhead and we both looked up, Kakashi with a slight frown as we both realized it was a mission request for me. Kakashi sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck with a small, albeit fake, grin.
"Another time then." He said, and I opened my mouth to say something to stop him, but he poofed off before I could get anything out of my mouth, leaving me with an achy feeling in my chest.
I looked down at my hand as it clenched around my new shirt just above my heart and let out a small sigh. I recognized the feeling almost immediately. Disappointment… I mean, I just got back from training and she's already sending me on a mission and right when Kakashi… I grimaced a bit before relaxing and channeling enough chakra to get me to the door outside the Hokage's office. I knocked and entered when she told me to, bowing and standing up straight with a raised brow.
"You asked for me?"
She nodded, gesturing for me to come closer, away from the door. I did so and stood maybe a foot from her desk as she dug through her paperwork and picked up a paper, holding it out for me. I took it and read it over, giving her a look.
"Don't give me that." She grumbled. "I know you just came back, but you're the fastest person we have and you already know what to look for, in this situation."
I glanced back down at the paper and sighed, scratching the back of my head. "No back up?"
She shook her head. "We're still a bit shorthanded and, as I said, you're the fastest person we've got. They may already be on the move, so the sooner you get there the better."
I frowned with a grimace. The mission she was asking me to go on was an S-rank mission to Sunagakure. I was too guard the newest Kazekage from the Akatsuki who may be attempting to go after the one-tails he had. It was a bit surprising that Gaara was already a Kage, but that was the least surprising thing to me at the moment.
"Why me?" I asked, curious and secretly not wanting to do the mission. Not to mention it's a bit out of my range. I'm still a chunin, from what I understand.
"Well, other than you being the fastest, you and Jiraiya are the only two who have an idea of what the Akatsuki are like. Their jutsu, their appearance, what they're going after, and how they're going to do it."
I pulled back in shock. "I don't know how they're going to do it."
Tsunade scoffed. "Please. Jiraiya and Kakashi aren't the only ones who know about your skills, Shi. Your skills in strategy and battle planning are some of the best I've seen since Shikaku and Shikamaru. Not to mention the stories I've heard about your knowledge of chakra natures and seals. Combine that with your speed and tracking abilities, and you're the best weapon we have."
I winced at being called a weapon, memories of Orochimaru's laughter echoing in my head, but I silently knew that she was right. It was the same as what Jiraiya had told me not long after we had left the village for our training.
"Should the Akatsuki catch on to what we're doing and who we have with us, you're going to be the best option, Shi. I don't know what Orochimaru put you through, but from what I understand, you're the strongest and brightest person Konoha has. And that power will be useful, not only in fighting and battle, but in protecting the village and the people in it. You need to understand that."
I swallowed my fear and took a deep breath, closing my eyes and opening them with a nod.
"Very well, Hokage-sama. I will accept the mission."
Tsunade smirked and gave me a nod in return. "Good. I've already promoted you to a jounin, thanks to Jiraiya's recommendation. We'll have to do the orientation some other time though. And you'll have to pack a bit more than the last time you took a trip there as well, since you'll be staying for at least a month or two until Jiraiya returns with more information as to what the Akatsuki are up to."
"And should something… go wrong?" I asked, already knowing what my answer would be.
"Don't let it." Tsunade said, eyes narrowed seriously.
I sighed. Thought so.
"However, should the Akatsuki get there before you do, you are to immediately send a message back here and begin tracking them to discover where they will be at. I should be able to send back-up at that point and hopefully things won't get too serious… Our relation with Sunagakure still isn't as good as it could be."
I nodded and soon left her office and poofed home, packing enough things for a two month trip and making sure I had everything I may need. Once that was finished, I replaced my traveling cloak over my shoulders and left, locking up and heading to the gate. I bumped into Guy on the way, letting him know that I couldn't stick around due to another mission and he left me off with a youthful goodbye. I also sent a wave to Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, and Asuma as I passed by them before finally reaching the gates and looking up at them with a sigh.
"So I don't get a goodbye?"
I turned at the familiar voice and gave Kakashi a grin. "I should've left already."
Kakashi came over, looking down the few centimeters at me and making me nervous at how close he chose to stand.
"So how long am I going to have to wait?"
"Two months." I said, taking a slow step back, which seemed to amuse him as he begun to smile.
"Well then, I'll have to get away with this while I can."
He suddenly leaned forward and the cloth of his mask brushed my forehead, surprising me and turning my face a bright red. Kakashi, even more amused than before, gave me a closed-eye smile and waved before poofing off and leaving me very confused. W-W-What just happened?! It took me a moment to gather my bearings and, as much as I wanted to hunt Kakashi down and figure out why he did what he did, I had a mission to do.
It's alright. I thought, rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck. Gotta be fast and save chakra. I bit my thumb and slammed my palm into the ground, calling out Shoji who shook his head with a scoff.
"Already? And here I thought I'd get a bit of rest."
I patted his strong neck and sighed. "No kidding."
"Well, hop on." He said, turning his head and chewing my hair. "You'll owe me for this though."
I pushed his face away from my head and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I'll get you some apples once we get there, okay?"
He snorted, allowing me to climb up onto his back and the two of us headed off into the forest. And if I'm lucky, I won't be too late. The last thing I need is to run into Sunagakure mid-invasion. Little did I know, that was almost exactly what I would be doing.
I awoke with a start, having stopped to rest not an hour ago. There was a stirring in my gut, telling me to get moving, and I let out a long shaky breath, pulling a hand through my hair as I got up. Shoji also stood, having been allowing me to lean against him as we both rested, and gave me a serious look.
"You okay?"
I nodded, gathering my things and pulling out a roll of bandages to wrap Shoji's legs. I had learned while training with him that doing this helped protect his legs from being hurt while running through the forest. What's more, I had gear specially made for him, such as a saddle and reins, as well as protective metal plates to put on his legs. He didn't mind, claiming that he had once been used in wars with similar equipment, and gladly wore the armor without complaint. I liked riding him bareback though, but since this mission had a possibility of running into the Akatsuki on the way to Sunagakure, I wasn't going to take the chance of being attacked without armor.
"We need to hurry." I told him, climbing up onto his back and taking the reins. "I have a bad feeling."
He whinnied, rearing up on his back legs before taking off into the forest with me riding low on his back. The sun had just barely began rising when I had first woken up and by the time we reached the edge of the forest, it was high noon and one of the hottest times to be running out into the desert. I didn't have time to worry about the heat though and simply pulled the hood of my cloak up to protect myself from the sun. Nearly there. I thought, breathing in deeply through my nose and checking for scents, and what I found, had Shoji speeding up; him feeling my sudden urgency. Blood. I may be too late.
Shoji charged through the sands and as we grew closer to the source of the scent I had picked up, I had him channel chakra into his hooves, silencing them and making our approach nigh undetectable. And once I spotted the two figures, I immediately charged Shoji between them, drawing my sword just in time to block the large metal tail that had been aiming for the dark cloaked Kankuro on the ground.
"Y-You…"
Shoji pawed at the ground as I sat up in the saddle, sword drawn and staring down at the hunched over Akatsuki member before me, scanning my brain for the information I had on him. Sasori of the Red Sands. S-rank criminal. Known for his use of puppetry and poison. Seems Kankuro was outmatched in this situation. The man before me narrowed his eyes, swinging his tail once more, only for me to easily block it and redirect it into the sand.
"You're going to have to try harder, Sasori of the Red Sands." I said, blank look on my face.
"So you know who I am… Big surprise coming from someone who isn't even from Sunagakure."
A puppet arm suddenly flew up from the sand, aiming to take off his head, but he dodged last minute, it only managing to tear a piece of his face cloth.
"Close." He said, calmly as the arm went limp, Kankuro having lost all energy. "The poison's making its rounds. Fufu, to be suffering like you are, if you want to live so badly, I won't kill you off here. However that poison will kill you in three days. And you…" He turned his gaze to me, eyes narrowed. "I don't have time to waste with you."
"I'm pleased you think so much of me." I muttered, knowing that I had only two options.
I either try to defeat him now, risk losing what surprise I had with the Akatsuki, and possibly die as well as postponing Kankuro's medical treatment. Or I let him go, follow his trail after I hand Kankuro off to some medics, keeping my element of surprise and having him lead me to their hideout. They should be in pairs, but I haven't caught the scent of the other person, so he's my only option as to finding the Akatsuki hideout.
"Hn, I will leave you be… for now." Sasori said, tail hiding under his cloak and, swirling the sand around him to hide his escape.
"Y-You idiot…" Kankuro said, as I hopped off Shoji and began to check his vital signs. "Why didn't you stop him…?"
I found his pulse and began taking mental notes as to what his symptoms were, before lifting him up and placing him on the back of Shoji, climbing on behind him as I took the reins.
"You'll find, Kankuro, that the lives of a comrade are more important than defeating an enemy who is willing to let you live another day."
"I don't… I don't understand you."
I smirked as Shoji hurried through the sands towards the village, the other shinobi we passed already dead and giving us no reason to stop. "Why fight a possibly losing battle when I can save you and follow his trail back to their hideout with back-up capable of taking him out?"
Kankuro scoffed as we neared the gates. "You're just like… that stupid blonde brat."
"If you say so." I said, quickly reaching the gates and informing the guards to immediately send Konoha an emergency message as I handed Kankuro off to a group of medics.
Staring down at the men seriously, Shoji obviously proving to be a frightening and empowering sight, I turned his reins a bit as he shuffled about anxiously.
"I need to speak with the person in charge."
"T-That would be Baki. H-He's going to be with Kankuro in the main building's medic center."
I nodded and quickly turned Shoji's reins towards the village, hurrying him along to get to the main building as quickly as possible. Once there, I stopped Shoji and faced the shocked shinobi standing at the door.
"Where is Baki?"
"I-Inside with Kankuro."
I hopped off Shoji, him nodding to let me know he'd wait for me, and I hurried into the building easily following Kankuro's scent to the room where Baki would be and barging in, surprising all who were in the room.
"What are you doing?!"
"You can't be in here!"
"You'll find I can." I said, calmly, facing the man who wasn't a medic ninja. "Baki, I am the tracker sent from Konohagakure and I have some information to pass along as well as information I need."
He nodded, telling the others to stand down as he led me out of the room and into the hall.
"Are all Konoha shinobi this brash?" He asked, obviously not pleased with my entrance, but that wasn't important at the moment.
"I have no time to waste with chivalry. I have information as to who attacked Kankuro, but I need all information you have about what's going on in return."
Baki frowned, but relented. "Gaara has been taken by the Akatsuki."
"Describe him."
"He had blonde hair and was wearing the signature Akatsuki cloak and he also rode a large white bird."
I frowned. "And his attacks?"
"I am unsure about the specifics, but it seemed he was using explosives."
Deidara. S-rank criminal. Known for using creatures made out of explosive clay and because he rode a bird, that explains why I couldn't find his scent. I nodded.
"Do you have anything bearing his scent?"
Baki shook his head. "Not that I know of. Now, what do you know?"
"The man who attacked Kankuro was also one of the Akatsuki. One known as Sasori of the Red Sands."
Baki's eyes widened as I went on.
"A master of puppets and poison, however, I have his scent and should be able to follow his trail to find where he most likely met up with the other with Gaara." I said, pulling out a piece of cloth that Kankuro had torn from Sasori's face earlier.
"You can track him just with that?"
I nodded, turning to go. "I was not called here just to stand around, Baki. I may have been too late to protect Gaara, but that doesn't mean I will be too late to save him."
I hurried off out of the building, and grabbed Shoji's reins with a sigh. It's going to be a long day.
"I guess this means no apples?" He asked, obviously tried from our trek, though he hid it well.
I rolled my eyes and reached into my small pouch, pulling out an apple and handing it to him, allowing him to eat it from my hands.
"Just don't say I never gave you anything." I grumbled, going to leave when Baki rushed out of the building and stopped me.
"W-Wait! What do you know about his poison?!"
I stopped, turning with a raised brow. "I do not know much other than him having three days. Are you unable to do anything about it?"
He frowned, obviously not liking what I was insinuating and I sighed, going to say something when a rather large hawk landed on Shoji's saddle. I rolled my eyes, ignoring Baki for now and pulled the message from its leg, reading it over with a small grin.
"It seems you will not need to worry for too long." I said, pulling a dead mouse from my pouch and tossing it to the bird, earning a sickened look from Baki.
"W-What do you mean?"
I burned the message in my hand and took Shoji's reins once more, looking at him over my shoulder.
"I suggest getting your best poisons expert in there with him for now. The rest of my team will be arriving shortly and they will help you."
I started walking away, but he stopped me once more.
"The rest of your team?! But what about you?! We need you here should they attack again!"
"They won't attack again." I said sternly, narrowing my eyes at the man. "They have what they came for and if you insist on keeping me here, there will be no way to track him to bring him back."
Baki backed off in shock and I jumped up on Shoji's back, turning around to Baki with a closed-eye grin.
"When they arrive, send Satoru off and I will return to lead them to the Akatsuki's location." I turned around and waved over my shoulder, Baki shouting behind me.
"Who's Satoru?!"
Of course, he was silenced by the same hawk from a few moments ago landing on his shoulder and I sent Shoji into a gallop out of the village and back to where I had first run into Kankuro and Sasori. Once there, I stopped Shoji and inhaled the scent of Sasori's cloth, putting it away and sniffing the air. It took a moment, but I soon found the scent and began following it through the desert. Let's hope I can keep a hold of the scent, or this may take longer than I thought.
Kakashi and the others had finally arrived at the edge of Sunagakure, having taken Temari along with them, and meeting up with a spiky haired guard who was sent to meet them and bring them to the gates.
"Temari was with you?" He said, obviously surprised by her presence, but he shook it off, getting back on task. "We have been waiting. Please, this way!"
He led them to the gates quickly, explaining the current situation as best he could.
"But… the Kazekage was abducted. After that, Kankuro pursued them, but he was wounded."
"What?! They got Kankuro too?!"
The man nodded. "Yes, and he was caught by the enemy's poison. And we have no way to neutralize it. At this rate, he has half a day at the most."
"Shit…" Temari cursed, but Sakura caught her attention.
"Let's hurry, Temari. I'll examine him!"
Temari nodded, but then the spiky haired man spoke up. "It sounds like that person was right."
"What person?" Kakashi asked, curiously.
The spiky haired man's eyes went wide. "Oh man, you should've seen him! He came in with Kankuro on the back of this beautiful animal and he stood tall and proud almost like a king or general!"
"Uh, and who was this person?"
The man shook his head. "I have no idea, but it's thanks to him that we were able to get to Kankuro so quickly. Not only that, but rumor has it that he's gone off to track the enemies and get the Kazekage back! Ah, here we are!" He said, stopping outside a large building and gesturing inside. "They should be in medical treatment room 3."
They group nodded and hurried up, entering the room to find Kankuro lying bandaged on a table and a number of people standing around him.
"Kankuro!"
An elder woman turned to see them and immediately rounded on Kakashi, shocking him.
"The White Fang of Konoha!"
"Eh?"
She jumped and went to attack him, but Naruto was suddenly there with a clone, blocking the hits, sending her skidding away.
"Why are you going at Kakashi-sensei so suddenly for?! You wrinkled old hag!"
She looked up and glared. "I remember that time… That White Fang of Konoha… My son's enemy… I will get my revenge for him today!"
"Ah! No, I'm not—" Kakashi tried to defend.
"There's no use in arguing!"
An elder man stopped her though. "Sister, take a good look. There's a strong resemblance, but he isn't the White Fang of Konoha."
"Huh?" She narrowed her eyes, before laughing. "No way! I was just pretending to be stupid! Gyahaha!"
Kakashi sighed in relief, as Sakura brought attention back to the matter at hand.
"More importantly, Kankuro needs to be treated quickly!"
"Please!" Temari asked, and Sakura went about extracting the poison from Kankuro carefully.
"Got it!" She chuckled a bit, whipping sweat from her chin. "Heh, I don't think there's any need to worry about his life anymore. I've directly removed the poison."
Temari also sighed in relief, falling to the floor as Sakura went on.
"Now I have to make an antidote for the little bit of poison left in his body. We can't relax yet. Please gather what I say!"
The elder woman scoffed. "You're a lot like that slug woman… That a girl like you would come…"
"Yes! It's because Tsunade is my master. And my master said that I should come here."
"Sister." The older man said. "Time really is slowly flowing by…"
Naruto, seeing that Kankuro was going to be okay, fist pumped. "Right! But we're not gonna be slow! Let's go right after the Akatsuki!"
Sakura went off to prepare the antidote with the elder woman, Chiyo, and Naruto began stretching.
"As soon as Sakura's done with that, let's get going!"
"Naruto, hold on a bit." Kakashi said, turning towards Baki and raising a brow at the hawk on his shoulder that he was glaring at as it pecked at his forehead protector. "Um, excuse me, there is something I would like to ask. What came of the pursuit of the Akatsuki after that?"
"Kankuro went alone after them and then…" He trailed off and Kakashi gave him a look.
"And then?"
Baki sighed. "A bodyguard we asked from Konoha brought him here on the back of some animal. He took a piece of cloth from the Akatsuki member who attacked Kankuro and went off after him. He asked for me to send this bird to him when you need him to direct you there."
"He'll have found them by now." Kankuro said, sitting up weakly.
"Kankuro, are you okay?!" Temari asked, helping him sit up.
"Yeah. I'm feeling a bit better now…"
"Kankuro." Chiyo returned from helping Sakura and gave him a serious look. "Are you absolutely sure that one of the two you followed was Sasori?"
Kankuro was surprised. "Chiyo and Ebizou?"
"What about that, Kankuro?" Ebizou said, trying to keep him on task.
"Yeah… It was Sasori of the Red Sand… He said it himself and… Somehow that guy knew it too."
Kakashi spoke up then. "That guy?"
Kankuro nodded. "Yeah. He's the same guy who led Gaara, Temari, and I to Naruto and them, though he's changed a bit."
Kakashi immediately sweat dropped, a vision of the great king/general that the spiky haired man mentioned before shattering into that of Shi ridding some animal with a lazy wave. He sighed and scratched the back of his head.
"Well, sorry to say this, but… he's not a guy."
All eyes went to Kakashi in question.
"Huh?"
"That was most likely Shi. And Shi's… well, a she."
Everyone in the room was in shock, though for various reasons, and Naruto suddenly began shouting.
"Shi's here?!"
Kakashi nodded. "Seems like it. Was she wearing a red scarf and tan traveling cloak over black clothes?"
Kankuro nodded. "Uh, yeah."
Kakashi glanced lazily over at Naruto. "See?" He then turned to Kankuro. "May we hear more about the Akatsuki? Please?"
Kankuro told them what he could about Sasori and Baki told them about Deidara, having sent the hawk off to get into contact with Shi. After that, Sakura gave Kankuro some last minute instructions and they all headed out, promising to bring Gaara back. As they waited at the gates though, they were surprised to see Temari.
"I'm going too."
"Temari, stay here and work on defense of the country border." Chiyo said, suddenly appearing on the gates. "From the shinobi of the sand, I am more than enough."
"But Chiyo!"
"That would be too much for you…" Baki said.
"Don't treat me like an old woman!" Chiyo shouted, jumping from the gates.
"She jumped!"
As she landed, Sakura and Naruto stepped back in shock whereas Kakashi just stared in disbelief.
"I've wanted to give my cute grandson some love for a while now." Chiyo said, just as she spotted something heading towards them. "Hm?"
The others turned to look and a hawk let out a cry above them, circling overhead them as the object approached them. Once there, the large animal stopped, rearing up and landing with a huff; the person on its back turning the animal sideways to give the surprised group an odd look. Lifting a hand, Shi waved.
"Yo."
Kakashi and the others couldn't get a word out, but Naruto, who had seen Shi and her horse before, hurried up and began shouting with a frown.
"Shi! Why didn't you tell me you were already here?! Did you find them?! Did you find Gaara?!"
Shi looked down at him with a raised brow. "Don't know. Did I?"
"Shi!" Naruto whined, as Shoji turned, snorting in Naruto's face. "Agh!"
Shi pat Shoji on the neck. "Don't do that, Shoji. It's rude."
Shoji scoffed. "Please. You were practically begging me to shut him up."
"It talks?!" Sakura shouted, still shocked obviously.
Shoji rolled his eyes as Kakashi seemed to connect the dots.
"A summon?"
Shi glanced up and nodded. "If you're done gawking, shouldn't we be going?"
They all nodded, but as Shi turned Shoji around she looked at Kakashi from over her shoulder.
"I would like to ask if you could use one of your summons to possibly keep watch for more possible back up."
Kakashi nodded, summoning Pakkun and explaining what Shi asked and sending him off. Once that was finished, Shi nodded her head towards the direction she came from as the hawk landed on her shoulder and she attached a message to its leg and sent it off.
"Follow me."