I sighed, finding myself in the same black expanse as before and I sat up, sitting cross-legged on the ground with my elbows on my knees.

"I died again, didn't I?" I questioned, knowing that somewhere behind me, God was probably painting another landscape.

"You did."

"Do I…" I winced, bowing my head. "I don't get to go back, do I?"

"That… depends on you."

I glanced to my right to find him sitting next to me, blowing bubbles as a breeze cut across the grass now at our feet; the two of us sitting on a hill. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I rested my chin on my folded arms and sighed.

"Of course it does…"

"Do you want to go back?"

I frowned slightly. "I… don't really know. I've been tortured, poisoned, hurt, killed, attacked, poked and prodded, and am probably mentally unstable at this point… but… There's people I care about there. Kakashi, Naruto, the other genin, Gaara, the jounin… They'd be really hurt if I left them behind and I would miss them."

"Friends… are some of the best things to have and some of the worst… They love you and hurt you… Would you be willing to risk everything you have for them?"

His question swirled around in my head, but before I could answer, he added more.

"Even if I were to say you could ascend right now? See your family? Your friends? All the people you left behind?"

My throat closed up as tears filled my eyes, memories of my old family and friends coming back to me now and I was conflicted. I could return to them, all of them, if I left behind the life I had made now. But the life I have now… sure, it's dangerous, but the people I've met, the friends I've made… could I really leave them behind? I heard laughing then and looked up, seeing Naruto running around with Sakura and Sai and the other genin and jounin, and I felt myself lower my head as I swung back and forth slowly on the swing I was now sitting in. It was a reverse of the situation I had seen before coming into Naruto's world. He wasn't alone anymore… I was.

I felt more tears fall from my face as I struggled internally with my decision, feeling myself slowly falling apart. What if I end up hurting them? I have a monster in me. I'm a monster. I-I should stay dead… if only to protect them… I heard the laughter stop and spotted a pair of sandaled feet step into view, causing me to look up and see Naruto's confused expression as he looked at me curiously.

"Neh, why are you crying?"

"I-I… have to c-choose between my old family and m-my new one…" I muttered, lowering my head once more and rubbing at my eyes with my fist. "B-B-But how can I-I choose one over the other?"

"Hm. Well, which one needs you more?"

"W-What?" I glanced back up at him, confused.

"Which family needs you more?" He said with a little grin.

"U-Um…"

I saw flashes of people from my new life, Naruto and the others. Kurenai crying over Asuma's grave, Shikamaru's silent mourning, Naruto by himself, Kakashi at the memorial stone, people fighting, wars, battles. And then I saw my old family, smiling, happy, joyful.

"I think your old family would understand if you went. Don't you?"

I choked on a sob as I nodded, understanding now what I was deciding. I wasn't choosing one family over the other, I was choosing happiness. Their happiness, and mine.

"Come on, then." Naruto smiled, holding a hand out. "What are we supposed to do without you, Shi?"

I grinned back as well, feeling a warmth flood my stomach as he pulled me towards the group and I realized what that warmth was as I felt the seal on my stomach pulse. No way… he's… I looked back as Naruto let go of my hand and stared at God as he smiled and waved.

"Think of it as a gift." He said. "Use it well."

I nodded and chased after Naruto and the others, everything before me fading into white, as a new figure joined God; one with long white hair and red markings under his eyes, giving me a few last parting words before he too disappeared and tears fell from my eyes.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital of course, and my room was empty. Bringing a hand to my face, I brushed off the left-over tears and tried to see if I could sit up. I could, though the process was painfully slow—my muscles pretty stiff—and I regretfully pushed the call button for the nurse. I heard one approaching, but was surprised at what she said as she opened the door.

"Mr. Uzumaki, I told you time and time again not to play with the call bu… tton…"

Her mouth dropped open in shock as she dropped her clipboard and I blinked back at her confused, before giving a little wave.

"Yo?"

Seems that was a bad thing to do, for she immediately screamed and dashed out of the room yelling for a doctor. Well, that was odd… and painful to my ears… Needless to say, it wasn't long before a doctor came in with the frantic nurse and began checking me over in complete and utter astonishment. Very much confused, I finally managed to get his attention once he finished.

"Could I possibly ask… what's going on?"

He looked at me and quickly nodded, going through his clipboard. "Yes, yes. Of course. Let's see… You remembered what happened, yes?"

I nodded.

"Good, good. Um, you've actually been in a coma for a good month."

"A-A month?"

He nodded, pushing the glasses up his nose. "We actually thought you were dead a few times. Your heart stopped at least three times."

I nodded again, pulling a shaky hand through my hair. "Does anyone, um, know I'm awake?"

He shook his head. "No one but myself and the nurse. Though I'm sure the rest of the staff will know in a minute."

The man chuckled, but I shook my head to shake myself out of my thoughts.

"When can I go? I need to do something."

"Well, I've already checked you over and everything seemed alright. You're movement's a little on the slow side, but that's to be expected after—"

"Can I go?" I interrupted, growing annoyed with his skipping out on my question.

He nodded with a grin. "Yes. Yes. You can go. Though I should probably call someone to bring you spare cloth—"

"No need." I said as I stood up from the bed and made sure I was stable before waving in a lazy manner. "Bye."

With that, I focused my chakra and flashed to my apartment door where my marked kunai hung. From there, I changed out of the hospital gown and into my own clothes before spotting something lying on my coffee table. I furrowed my brows, before heading over and picking up the bundle, loosening the twine wrapped around it and allowing the smooth cloth to unravel as my eyes widened.

In my hands, was a long silver scarf and I immediately realized who left it here. I looped the scarf around my neck, inhaling deeply, before focusing my chakra once more and heading to the Hokage's office. I poofed up right outside, cringing as my body ached in protest already at the use of chakra and what wounds were still in the process of healing, and I heard voices from inside. One of which sounded like a frantic Shizune.

"The nurses said she's awake and the doctor said she just disappeared the moment he said she could go! No one's seen her! What should we do, Tsunade-sama?!"

I rolled my eyes and slowly opened the door, stepping in and catching Tsunade's attention, to which she too rolled her eyes.

"Why can't you just stay out of trouble?"

Everyone—Kakashi, Sai, Shizune, and Sakura—looked at her confused, having not noticed me yet.

"Trouble seems to find me." I grumbled, making the others in the room turn towards me in shock.

"Shi!"

They all looked very surprised and I too was a bit surprised when I noticed the other guests in the room. Frogs? Jiraiya then, but… wasn't he… I see… I felt the edge of my lip twitch downwards as I remembered the new face from my 'dream' and what he had said to me.

"Keep an eye on that little brat, would you? And tell Tsunade—"

"Shi! Pay attention!"

I jumped, eyes wide in a slight panic and a hand already on a weapon, when I snapped back to reality and calmed myself down at sight of the worried, cautious looks aimed at me.

"S-Sorry."

Tsunade nodded, eyeing me a little bit more. "As I was saying, you're going to be suspended from mission duties for a few days for you to finish recovering and, being Jiraiya's student also, I regret to inform you that… he died in battle."

I nodded, bowing my head and staying silent.

"Naruto has already been informed and has gone off on his own not too long ago. However, I wanted to know if you understand the message Jiraiya left behind, as Naruto didn't have a clue."

She gestured to the elder frog who removed his cloak and showed me the numbers burned into his back. I blinked, confused by the series of numbers, but the first one had me curious. Looks like a 9, but… with Jiraiya, it could be the katakana 'ta'.

"I'm… not entirely sure." I finally said, allowing the elder frog to replace his cloak. "It's a code, but without knowing the key…"

Tsunade nodded. "I will leave the task of figuring it out to you and Shikamaru, though I suggest taking a day off first. Some people were more worried than others."

She gave me a pointed look and I gave a brief nod, face red as I bowed with the others and we were dismissed. Once outside, Sai went one way and Sakura the other, but Kakashi and I stood there for a moment just watching each other. Finally, I decided to make a move and hesitantly grabbed his hand and began pulling him through the village. He didn't say anything and I stayed silent as well, my face a nice shade of red, though I hoped Kakashi couldn't see. It took a bit of walking, but I had soon reached the place I wanted and I stopped, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath of the forested area.

"Thank you." I said quietly, turning to look at Kakashi from over my shoulder, a hand reaching up and brushing over the fabric of my new scarf.

He gave me a closed-eye smile. "Glad you like it."

I dropped my hand, eyes sad, feeling that Kakashi wasn't saying what he wanted to. He's hiding himself… Why?

"Kakashi?"

He brought his hand up to the back of his head with a small chuckle. "Well, I should get going. I have some things I need to do."

He turned to go and seeing his back made something in me click and I wasn't seeing him anymore; I was seeing myself walking away from everyone.

"Please." I felt my voice crack as I called after him, throat tight with possible tears. "Please don't turn your back on me…"

He stopped, hands in his pockets and head bowed, but he didn't turn around. I knew what he was doing though. I knew why he was turning his back on me.

"You're running to protect me… but… I don't want that… and you don't want that. I know you don't." I turned my head away, looking down at my hands that were scared pink from when I created my newest attack. "You'll think' its fine now. That you're protecting me by pushing me away, but then you'll realize that you're hurting yourself… That you're lonely and isolated and lost and broken… and that darkness that you're holding inside bubbles to the surface and starts swallowing you. You lose yourself to that darkness and then… before you realize it… you find you're hurting the one you wanted to protect." I dropped my hands as a tear slipped down my cheek silently. "You don't want to live like that, Kakashi… you and I… haven't we been hurt enough trying to protect others?"

He didn't say anything and I felt a weight settle in my stomach as I bowed my head and stuffed my scarred hands into my pockets.

"…Apologies. I shouldn't have said anything…" I muttered, hearing him walk away until his footsteps were gone.

I choked back a sob, not used to so many emotions trying to pour out at once; my palm pressed against my left eye in a vain attempt to stop the welling up of tears. As numb as I appeared to Jiraiya's death when I was first told and when I saw him in my 'dream', his death had a big impact on me. He was just as much my teacher as he was Naruto's and—though I had been tortured and had seen death before—this was the third close death I've had to deal with. The Third Hokage's was the biggest, but I hadn't been able to attend his funeral due to my own situation, and the effects were lessened. Asuma's happened then and, as much as I liked the man and as close as we were, I knew that Shikamaru and Kurenai were having a harder time dealing with his death and I shoved my own feelings back to help them with theirs.

I was doing the same with Jiraiya up until this point as well. I had just been released from the hospital and had my own personal situation to deal with just before awakening. And finding out he was dead the moment I woke up… Even though I knew beforehand, it didn't make shoving those emotions back any easier. But I needed to hide them. I knew Naruto was hurting and that Tsunade was hurting and my breaking down would only cause more complications. So I shoved them back and tried to deal with something else to keep me busy. That was something I was good at. Hiding my emotions, distracting myself. So, seeing how Kakashi was hiding his, I knew how much pain he was having to deal with and I didn't want him to end up like me. I didn't want him to hide behind a mask of indifference or a mask of fake smiles and laughs. I didn't want him hiding from his own monsters.

But it was useless. He didn't listen to me and now… I closed my eyes as another sob managed to break past my lips, curling an arm around my stomach as I doubled over slightly. It was the only pain I couldn't handle. All of the torture I had ever been put through was easy to overcome. The pain stopped as soon as the torture did and I could just lock everything away and not have to worry about it. But emotional pain, this deep set emotional pain, stays with you. Even when the person who caused it is gone, the pain lingers. And that pain brings up other pain until everything becomes unbearable and you forget who you are or what you're doing. The only thing you can feel is pain and it will haunt you, far longer than any physical pain ever could. And the only way to fix it, is for that person to come back. For that person to turn around and reach towards you and pull you up.

"I-I'm sorry." I cried quietly. "I'm s-sorry, Kakashi. I-I-I couldn't h-help you. I'm s-so sorry."

Something brushed itself against the side of my face as I cried, a deep voice coming from in front of me.

"Why are you apologizing? You try so hard to help others, but shouldn't you help yourself a bit first, Shi?"

I continued to choke on my sobs, being unable to get any words out as I struggled to wipe the tears from my eyes and face Kakashi properly.

"You get yourself into so much trouble… You scare me so much…" He brushed away some tears from my cheek with his thumb, only for more to take their place as he sighed softly. "What am I going to do with you?"

I felt his cloth covered lips brush over my left eyelid and he pulled away, brushing some stray hair from my tear-streaked face as he glanced down at me with a soft smile.

"Come on. You can stay at my place tonight. I doubt you want to be home alone and… I think I might have something that will cheer you up a bit."

I nodded solemnly, wiping away my left over tears now that I was calming down, and followed after him. His house wasn't far from where I had brought us, something I didn't know with my horrible sense of direction, and he had me sit on the couch as he went to get me a blanket and some tea. Next thing I know though, I heard paws clattering on the wooden floor and I was suddenly surrounded by a group of dogs of various shapes and sizes, though only one I recognized.

"I told you I had something you'd like." Kakashi said with a closed-eye smile, handing me my tea and draping a blanket over me. "I thought you'd like to meet the rest of my nin-dogs."

I looked around at the numerous dogs as Kakashi sat beside me and laid and arm across my shoulders, speaking to them.

"Guys, this is Shi. My… erm… mate."

I flushed at his words, noticing he did as well and I almost felt like I was being introduced to his parents and that, if these dogs didn't except me, then there was going to be definite issues between Kakashi and I. Their opinion on me has to be important to him, otherwise he wouldn't be so embarrassed about all of this.

"Um… hello." I said, not really sure what else to do.

The largest out of the group wandered over and sniffed me, cautiously, before turning back to the others.

"She smells weird."

Kakashi immediately slapped a hand to his face as the other dogs came over to smell me as well. It was odd, being sniffed by a bunch of dogs, but their comments about everything were actually kind of funny. Just goes to show how close they are I suppose.

"What do you guys think she smells like?" The large one asked.

"Like I know, Bull." A smaller brown one said, scratching his ear with a back paw; the kanji for 'shinobi' on his forehead and dark rings around his eyes.

"Aw, come on, Bisuke! Give it a guess! I think she smells like pine trees and oranges!" Another one said, this one grey with a black tuff of fur on its head, tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

"Are you an idiot?" The spiky furred one said, eyes staring angrily at the other dog. Or maybe that's just the way it looks… "She obviously smells like cedar wood and fresh vanilla."

"Urushi is right, Shiba." The one wearing sunglasses said. "Though not about the cedar wood."

"What?! I thought you just said I was right, Akino!"

"Come on now, guys!" A dog said, stepping forward; whiskers plain as day on his face. "Aren't we supposed to be getting to know Kakashi's mate? What's arguing about her scent going to solve? Besides, she obviously smells like apples."

"Says you, Guruko!"

The various dogs went back into arguing, Pakkun putting a paw to his face in a similar manner as Kakashi and the quiet red and white dog just stared between the arguing dogs, looking unsure about whether or not it should step in. I couldn't help but chuckle though, their interacting reminding me a lot of the old Team Seven and how everyone bickered, but still got along. Something about that just seemed funny and I didn't notice that the dogs had stopped their arguing to stare at me until I managed to bring my laughter to an end.

"S-Sorry." I apologized. "You're just… t-the bickering… it's kind of funny."

They looked at one another in confusion, before I calmed down a bit more.

"So let me see if I got this right… You're Bull." I said, pointing at the large black dog. "And you're Bisuke."

The smaller brown dog with 'shinobi' on its forehead nodded.

"And you're… Akino."

The sunglasses one sat down with a nod.

"Then there's Guruko."

"That's right." The whiskered one said.

"And Shiba is… you." I said, pointing at the grey one with the black tuff on its head.

"You bet!"

"Which makes you, Urushi, right?"

"What of it?" He grumbled.

I nodded to myself and turned to the red and white dog. "But I didn't get your name."

The dog nervously turned its head away and spoke quietly. "U-Uhei."

I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, before holding out my hand to the dog. "Nice to meet you."

I managed to smile a bit and Uhei hesitantly placed his paw in my hand and, that seemed to do the trick, because the rest of the dogs wandered up too, some more eagerly than others. They looked excited about meeting a new person and they were quick to take away any unease I had, as well as to inform me of a few things about Kakashi.

"I like you! You're a lot better than the other mates Kakashi brought home." Shiba said, tilting his head so I could scratch him behind the ear.

"Oh, yeah. I agree." Bull hummed, resting his large head on my leg as I scratched him with my other hand.

"Remember the one with the perfume?" Bisuke said, shaking his head.

"Ugh, don't get me started." Urushi groaned, covering his nose with his paws. "My nose wouldn't work for days!"

"Don't forget the cat-lover."

The dogs collectively groaned at Akino's words before Guruko hopped up to get scratched as well.

"What about the one who tried to surprise him by waiting upstairs and—"

"I think that's enough talking for now." Kakashi said with a nervous chuckle, having grabbed Guruko's muzzle to keep him quiet. "Shi's had a long day, so it'd probably be best if she got some sleep."

"C-Can I sleep with her?" Uhei stuttered out, looking up nervously, though his question got the others riled up as well.

"Yeah!"

"I want to sleep with her too!"

"Can we?"

"It'll be fun!"

"And warm."

Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his hair and turning to me.

I gave him a small smile. "I wouldn't mind."

I seemed to have missed something, for he dropped his head to his chest and slowly got up.

"I'll get some extra blankets…"

Confused as to what I did wrong, I turned to Pakkun on my lap. "Did I… mess up somehow?"

He sighed. "You're not good at this whole mate thing, are you?"

I winced, rubbing the back of my neck. "Not, uh… Not really. I'm still new to the whole emotion thing…"

Pakkun sighed. "He wants you to be alone with him."

I felt heat creep up my cheeks and looked over at the other dogs, who hadn't said anything. Guruko was the first to speak up.

"He's right you know." He gave me a puppy smile. "Kakashi's like that. He doesn't just come out with what he wants, you know?"

Bull nodded too, tongue hanging out. "That's right!"

Akino shuffled a bit, looking away towards the stairs that Kakashi went up. "He'll do whatever to make the girl happy, but never asks for anything."

"Che, he should just speak up every once in a while, you know?" Urushi said with a scoff.

Shiba suddenly hurried over, front paws on my knees and face looking excited. "I think you should go with him!"

Uhei stepped forward as well. "I-I agree. I think he would like that and… I don't mind not sleeping with you."

I opened my mouth to apologize to them, knowing they had been excited, but Bisuke cut me off.

"Just go. We'll be fine. Besides, you look like you could do with a bit of puppy love."

I nodded slowly, remembering why Kakashi brought me here in the first place and muttered a quiet 'thank you' to his ninken before heading nervously upstairs. Once up there, I wasn't sure where to go, not knowing where Kakashi had gone to get the extra blankets. The moment I turned though, I ran right into him, making his drop the blankets to the floor.

"Sorry!" I said, quickly picking up the ones that fell and handing them back to him as he raised a brow in question.

"Something up?"

"I, uh…" I swallowed thickly, not really knowing how to say this and the way I knew how was a bit… blunt. "Could we just, um… go to sleep?"

He seemed even more confused, making me mentally smack myself in the face as he gestured to the blankets in his arms. "That's why I brought the blankets. You and the ninken can sleep in the guest room and—"

"N-No! I mean…" I took a deep breath, closing my eyes tightly. "Alone… without the ninken."

Things were quiet and I quickly shook my head, figuring that I did something wrong again.

"I'm really not good at this. Sorry. I didn't mean to—"

Kakashi cut me off with a hand over my mouth, making me look up at him in surprise as he smiled.

"It's fine, Shi. Come on."

He led the way, tucking the blankets back into a closet and stopping outside of a door, his hand on the knob.

"I won't try anything if you don't want me to."

I blinked, not sure what he was saying, until it suddenly clicked and I turned a beat red. "No, I-I just…" I looked down, feeling depressed once more as I remembered Jiraiya. "I just want to sleep."

He nodded, letting me in and digging through his closet before handing me a shirt and some shorts of his. "Here. You can use these for pajamas since we didn't pick anything up. Bathroom's on the left."

I took the clothes and changed, returning as Kakashi headed into the bathroom himself.

"I'm going to shower, alright? You're welcome to use the bed."

I gave him my own nod, taking my folded scarf and clothes and setting them on the nightstand before laying down and staring at the wall, thinking about Jiraiya and how Naruto and Tsunade must be feeling, as well as his final parting words to me.

"Tell Tsunade not to get all stressed out over all that Hokage business. Though make sure she watches her gambling problems too. That last thing we need is for her to go running off on a drunk gambling spree again. And tell Naruto that he's a good kid and I hope he grows up just like his father, ruling the village with a kind heart because I believe he could be that hero who brings peace to the shinobi nations… Will you let them know that? And make sure they know that this old geezer isn't going to just sit around doing nothing up here. I've got some more research to do."

I felt tears trail down my face and held back a sob, feeling arms wrap around my waist as the scent of pomegranate washed over me, Kakashi calming me slightly as I lamented over a great teacher and a great friend's death. I will, Jiraiya… I will.

The next afternoon was when I woke up, without Kakashi by my side. I spotted a note on my clothes though and felt slightly better that I now knew that Kakashi had gone out to grab me some lunch. He's far too nice to me. I thought, stretching with a yawn as I tried to remember about the code Tsunade asked me to figure out. That first number though. I'm almost certain it's a letter and if it is, it could point us in the right direction as to what the key is. I got up and headed downstairs, feeling the need to just walk around a bit to get my blood pumping as I thought silently to myself. A book code maybe? But based on what? And if this is a letter, then the key's got to be something with that 'ta' character in it. Icha Icha Tactics? But that's ridiculous… isn't it?

"Oh? Pacing, are we?"

I blinked, turning to see Kakashi there with a grin, holding up a bag with take-out in it.

"Kakashi…"

"Good afternoon, Shi. I was wondering when you'd wake up. You'd think a month worth of sleeping would keep you from sleeping in this late." He said, pulling the boxes and chopsticks out and setting them on the table. "So what were you thinking about?"

I sat down, picking up the take-out box and starting to eat. "The code Jiraiya left. There's something about that first character that has me wondering."

"Well, I find it's better to share ideas in order to get another perspective. Shikamaru actually just asked me about it, though I didn't have much to give him."

"It's just that… while Naruto and I were training with him, he had us reading his scripts for another opinion. And a lot of the time, his 'ta' characters would look like the number nine. So I'm wondering if that first character is actually a 'ta' and if so, then that means—"

"It's a clue to the key."

I nodded. "You agree then?"

Kakashi nodded as well, setting his lunch down, having finished his meal at light breaking speed. "It's something to look into."

"That's what I thought." I muttered, looking down dejectedly at my food that wasn't even half finished.

Kakashi chuckled, standing up. "If you want, you can take it with you. I trust that you have a marked kunai over by the library and hall of records?"

I nodded, and grabbed my food. "Shall we?"

He gave me a closed-eye smile. "Ready when you are."

I focused a bit of chakra and the two of us showed up outside of the hall of records, my nose quickly catching the scent of Shikamaru and Naruto. Judging by the conversation we overheard, Naruto was thinking the same thing I was and when Shikamaru mentioned going through all the books, Kakashi and I poked our heads through the window, Kakashi holding up Icha Icha Tactics.

"It's probably this one."

"Icha Icha Tactics… Ta!" Shikamaru stated with a smile, Naruto though was a bit more surprised.

"Kakashi! Shi!"

"Shi told me basically the same thing you just said, Naruto. I figured it was worth telling you guys about and came here."

I nodded, slurping up my noodles. "Yup. I guess reading that messy handwriting for so long really stuck in my head and bothered me until I could figure out the code. This is, after all, the book he wrote while we were traveling together, right, Naruto?"

"Yeah!"

"It's something no one but you two could have known, Naruto, Shi. He must have left this code for you two."

Naruto smirked at Shikamaru, making me smile a bit as well knowing that Naruto seemed to have overcome Jiraiya's death for now.

"The 'ta' at the beginning of the code was referring to the Tactics volume of the Icha Icha series." Kakashi said, getting us all back on track.

"Some codes that use books go by character order or number of lines, but the first thing to do is check the page numbers." The woman said, probably a record keeper of some sort. "Let's see… there are six numbers separated by commas: 31, 8, 106, 7, 207, and 15. So we're talking information from six pages. First, we start with page 31. Open it up to that page."

"Pages 31..." Kakashi muttered, flipping to said page. "Got it. So now what?"

"First, let's get the first character on the page. We want to know it's meaning too, so read the whole sentence."

Kakashi and I paled, knowing what this meant and we both looked at each other nervously.

"What's the matter? Just hurry up and read it!" Naruto scolded, and we sweat dropped.

"Uh… okay…"

Kakashi began reading off the lines, stuttering a bit here and there with the explicit content and once we finished—though Naruto and the code-breaker weren't phased—Shikamaru obviously had a new opinion on people who read the Icha Icha series.

"Okay. This is all six pages."

"So what have you got?" Naruto asked, eagerly.

"If I read the first character of each line, I get 'the real one isn't there'."

Things grew quiet and I frowned in contemplation.

"What's that mean?" Naruto questioned, extremely confused.

"It could have something to do with the enemy he fought." I announced and Kakashi nodded.

"Possibly. At any rate, we've got to let Fukasaku know. He fought Pain, so he might know something."

"All right." Shikamaru said. "Then let's have the Fifth call this Fukasaku right away."

"Can I come with you?" The code-breaker asked excitedly and Shikamaru nodded.

"Sure, Shiho."

"Okay!" Naruto said, loudly. "Let's go let her know."

I let out a sigh, rubbing the back of my neck and Kakashi let out a chuckle and gave me a pat on the back as we all hurried off to the Hokage's office. Once there, Kakashi and I stood by to listen in as the elder-looking frog looked over the code we'd given him.

"So, how 'bout it, gramps?! Do you know what it means?" Naruto asked eagerly.

The frog was quiet for a moment before handing the paper back. "I don't know. This is too vague."

"Well, do you have any thoughts?" Shikamaru asked, searching for anything that could give us a hint.

"I've told you everything I know about Pain. It seems he can revive himself if he dies… though that's only a guess. It's too dangerous to fight him now. We have to solve the mystery first."

I tapped my fingers against my thigh, a small frown marring my features. They mentioned that there's six of these Pain characters and each one has some different power. If that's true, plus the fact that he can revive himself, doesn't it sound a lot like that Kakuzu guy? He was able to revive himself in a way because he has different hearts. Is this guy the same or at least similar?

"What about other sources of information?" Kakashi questioned, drawing me out of my inner thoughts. "Like the autopsy and the interrogation."

"Looks like they'll take a while longer." Sakura supplied, though Naruto didn't seem to like that answer.

"How much longer?"

"It's impossible to say."

"What's that supposed to mean?! We don't have time to sit around and wait!"

I rolled my eyes. Typical Naruto. Always trying to get ahead and stay moving. For him, patience is not a virtue.

"I don't know about the interrogation, but the autopsy involves carefully analyzing cells and tissue! It takes time!"

"It'll be a week at the earliest." Tsunade said, not wanting them to argue, most likely.

"That long?" Naruto dropped his head.

"Come on, don't let it get you down, Uzumaki." Shiho said, adjusting her glasses and I decided to speak up, more interested in what we need to do next, rather than the amount of time it'll take for more information.

"So what now?"

"Shizune's overseeing the autopsy, she'll probably be quicker than usual, but we have no choice but to wait."

"I'm gonna go tell them to hurry up!" Naruto said, starting to walk towards the door.

"Naruto." I grumbled, but Sakura was more aggressive about stopping him.

"Hey, Naruto! I won't let you interfere with Shizune's work!"

"I'm gonna avenge that Pervy Sage!" Naruto said, confidently. "I can't just sit around and wait!"

"…he's a good kid…"

Jiraiya's voice echoed in my head and even I felt a stirring in my gut, telling me that I shouldn't be standing around. So I knew how Naruto felt and, once he was done talking to Fukasaku and headed out to get ready for yet another trip to train, I turned to Tsunade.

"Would it be alright if I trained as well?"

Tsunade dropped her chin in her hand, giving me a look. "You just got out of the hospital yesterday after a month long coma and you already want to go back to training?"

I nodded. "Yes."

She quickly slammed her hand on the desk and jumped to her feet. "Absolutely not!"

I frowned and since Kakashi saw where this was going, he quickly escorted the others in the room out, closing the door as I walked up to her desk.

"Let me train." I said, eyes not shifting from hers as she vehemently glared back

"I already said, no. Do not make it an order."

I didn't move, the air in the room growing tenser as I spoke. "And what if I'm not prepared? What if his killer comes here in search of Naruto or I? Pain is Akatsuki. Do you expect me to stand back and watch as he attacks the village? Attacks Naruto? Or do you expect me to fight, only to get captured instead?"

"I expect you to keep your head and not do anything stupid. Training before you've even recovered is—"

"It may be reckless, but I need it. I know my body. I know how it works better than anyone. And right now, I need to build up my strength and my partnership with Shoji, not to mention working with the beast. I am also not just going to sit back and do nothing while Pain gets away with murdering my sensei."

She continued to glare at me for a moment, but slowly, her eyes softened and she let out a sigh; dropping back into her chair as she pulled the bangs away from her face.

"Very well. I will give you permission to train. However, if you are training with the beast, I expect Yamato to be in the vicinity. We do not need an out of control rage going on before someone like Pain possibly attacks. And I also expect you to put in some time to help figure out Pain's weaknesses and a strategy to counter him if he attacks."

"Of course. Thank you, Tsunade-sa—Urgh!"

I had forgotten how close to Tsunade's desk I had gotten during our arguing and had proceed to bow lowly as thanks, only to ram my head harshly onto it. I crouched in front of it, holding my head in pain as Tsunade full on laughed at my misfortune, peeking at me from over the edge of the desk with a smirk.

"And here I was thinking about respecting you a bit for finally going against my orders. Enjoy your training, Shi." She said, leaning back as I stood up; still rubbing my aching head. "And try not to end up in the hospital again, this time."

I bowed slightly, glaring at her desk before leaving, exiting to find Kakashi raising a brow at my pained expression.

"Did she say no?"

"No. I can train. I just… made friends with her desk…" I muttered, cheeks turning red in embarrassment as Kakashi chuckled lightly.

"Well then, glad to know you're making friends."

I frowned at him, playfully, before heading off. After all, I had a lot of work ahead of me.