So… first of all I wish a Merry Christmas or whatever else you are celebrating in the next few days!

This chapter is a bit of a collaboration with lost in details, Yamanaka Matsu is her character. There are two or three more scenes planned in Inoue Shiori and lost in details will also post a few scenes about her… tell me if you want to read more about her.

Interlude: I am well aware that it isn't the right word for POV (Inoue Shiori started out as a story with just Shiori's view and a handful of POVs of other characters and that's why I used Interlude in the beginning… it just snowballed from there out of control) and I am also aware that you are able to notice a POV change without it… it's more for me than you to be honest… and I have to admit that I'm too damn lazy to correct this on 60+ chapters… maybe when I'm finished I'm going to delete them completely.

Chapter 64

Beta'd by Black Sparrow

Shiori Interlude

Shiori felt giddy the following days, she was having another baby. Kakashi and her hadn't actively tried for another child but they also hadn't used protection and Shiori had been somewhat confused about the fact that she hadn't become pregnant, after all she was aware that ninja, shinobi especially were quite fertile. When she had asked Etsuko-sensei tentatively about the reason, the medic nin had just laughed and told her that she hadn't been ready for another pregnancy. Apparently it had taken her body until now to fully recover from the stress of having a shinobi child and so prevented another conception out of survival instinct.

When she had returned home on that day she had given the ninken Kakashi had left with them a heads up on her condition so to not worry them unneeded. As a result she now had a canine escort wherever she went. Shiori had felt somewhat irritated by that though this feeling had soon turned into wry resignation, she should have seen that coming miles away, as if Kakashi's ninken would be any better than their human alpha.

She had also decided against alerting any of her friends or Hinako about her new condition. She still wasn't far enough into her pregnancy that she felt safe to say anything to anyone, additionally she thought that Kakashi should know before any of their friends did, it was his right after all.

So the only thing that changed in her daily routine was that she was even more conscious of what she ate and refrained from doing any heavy lifting.

Inoichi Interlude

Inoichi clenched his fists while he studied the file in front of him, wasn't it enough that Danzo had apparently stolen a Yamanaka bastard child that Inoichi hadn't been aware of? No, Danzo had apparently also kept close tabs on Matsu too. His sweet little second cousin, the only thing that he had left from his cousin/ older sister figure and her husband had been on the watch list of Root for the last twenty plus years, Kami-sama.

"Oi, Inoichi-san you finished? I have a few questions concerning…" Anko trailed off while she studied him inquisitively.

But Inoichi couldn't react or even acknowledge the purple haired Jounin at the moment; he was trying and failing to reign in his temper. His peripherally took note that the snake summoner walked closer to his work station and sent the file in front of him a quick glance. Inoichi could practically feel her eyebrow rise and then she silently whistled.

"Isn't that the younger cousin you treat like a daughter? The one that doesn't like to talk?" the purple haired kunoichi asked.

Still fighting with his anger he pressed out, "Yes."

"Danzo had the balls to have her watched? But… doesn't she live at your clan compound? Kami-sama, we may have a bigger security problem than we thought if the bastard dared to keep surveillance on YOUR clan of all things and got away with it," the kunoichi said pained.

Inoichi had to agree, slowly the curtain of red lifted somewhat, at least it gave him some cold satisfaction to know that Danzo had received a traitor's burial, which meant that his ashes had been carried out of Fire Country and unceremoniously dumped there.

Breathing in slowly the clan head turned to his younger colleague. "Anko, I get the feeling that we are missing something, the information is to complete and thorough, there is no way those emotional stunned Root agents could have compiled such files, there has to be somebody else that we have been missing."

Anko closed her eyes and nodded before her eyes wandered back to the pretty recent picture of Matsu. "Do you think Matsu knows that she had been watched since her childhood?"

Inoichi just sighed without answering.

Anko Interlude

The sound from her superior was answer enough for the snake summoner, with a tired sigh to herself she looked up at the ceiling as if she was praying for strength. If the kunoichi knew about it she probably didn't say anything, convinced that she was under observation because of one reason or another. Anko should know, she had been on that particular end of the deal more often than she liked to remember.

She knew about Yamanaka Matsu, if only through the gossip of the T&I division. The blonde woman was a gifted analyzer and often worked insane hours to deliver time sensitive messages to the Intelligence ninja. From what Anko knew her work was always excellent and very detailed and gave them a good basis to plan strategies from. But that wasn't why she was such a juicy piece of gossip. It had more to do with the fact that she was nearly painfully isolated, hated talking and was more likely to use a mind connection on you to get her point across then to open her mouth. Anko wasn't quite sure but she also vaguely recalled something about a dead Genin teammate.

With another sigh Anko's gaze returned to Matsu's cousin. "I hope for her sake she doesn't… hell she is already antisocial enough from what I have heard, no need to make her even MORE skittish."

"I would prefer to not to have to ask her about this but… if she noticed something it is really important for us to know and… Konoha comes first," at the last part he clenched his fist in frustration; it clearly pained him to say that, Inoichi had always been a family man first.

"Konoha comes first." Anko nodded before she slammed her fist on the table. "But you shouldn't have to traumatize your almost daughter… leave that to me."

"Anko…"

"I'm going to be careful don't worry, I know how it feels to be close to the breaking point, I'm not going to push her over it."

"…thanks…"

With a last nod the snake user vanished out of the room. Now how the hell would she get Yamanaka Matsu, introvert extraordinaire to talk to her?

Kakashi Interlude

He woke up with a pounding headache and a familiar ache in his body. Chakra exhaustion, just great.

With a sigh he closed his eyes again while he took stock of his condition as well as his surroundings. He wasn't bound, so the possibility of being in enemy hands was next to nothing. Somebody had taken off his Chunin vest and sandals as well as removed his utility belt from around his hips. A quick glance through the room let him locate said missing items; they along with his students' packs were neatly stacked beside him and against the wall.

Kakashi purposely avoided using chakra for the time being and concentrated on his sense of smell and hearing to get a better feeling for the place he was now in. From the smell and the noises he was in a generously sized building made mostly out of wood, by the smell of it probably around forty years old but it could be fewer years by the smell of the air, he was somewhere near a water source and that meant that buildings aged quicker. His sense of hearing and smell also told him about the civilian woman in the kitchen a floor below and the child, a boy two rooms down his own. And finally there was Tazuna getting drunk somewhere close to the kitchen. So they had carried him to Tazuna's home then? But where were his kids? He could smell their things in his room as well as the next one but they weren't in the building right now. Kakashi felt a bit worried now but resigned himself to wait and rest until those brats showed up again. What were they thinking leaving their client without protection?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Maybe forty minutes later Kakashi received the answer. All three of them quietly entered the home and after a quick check through the rooms they made their way to his.

Sakura was leading the two boys and quickly dropped down beside his head.

"How are you Kakashi-sensei?" the pink girl asked while the boys looked concerned over her shoulders.

"Mah… I think I overdid it… it will take some time until I'm back in fighting condition," Kakashi admitted.

There was no reason in his mind to hide his condition from his students, not when he couldn't move even at basic civilian speed.

Sakura simply nodded in response before she poured him a glass of water. Kakashi was instantly contemplating if he should drink in front of his students before the decision was taken from him. His only female student helped him sit up in the Fuuton before she carefully placed the cup in reaching distance and then dragged the boys out of the room.

Kakashi could hear Naruto half-heartedly complaining, "Man Sakura-chan why are we leaving? I want to see his face, he has been hiding it from us ever since we became Genin."

Sasuke only voiced his agreement with a slight grunt.

"Don't you dare Naruto! It's one thing to bug Kakashi-sensei while he is healthy but it would be plain unfair to just take advantage of his weakened state right now."

Kakashi had to smirk slightly while he sat down the cup for a moment, Sakura was cute when she was so righteous but as a ninja she really should have tried to take advantage of the situation.

"But Sakura-chan! Didn't Kakashi-sensei tell us that as a ninja we should be super sneaky and use every weak point of our opponent?" the blonde answered surprisingly intelligent.

"That is true, and under normal circumstances we would have done that, but this is Kakashi-sensei! Our teacher! And it's not a task that he gave to us… so when he is healthy we can continue to try to unmask him but not when he is ill! Chakra exhaustion is a serious business and I won't allow you two to set back his recovery in any way!"

"Agreed," Sasuke finally added his two cents.

"Well, fine." Naruto sighed while he clearly pouted a bit.

Kakashi felt touched, Sakura had really put some thought into her actions and Naruto had been thinking and not just straight out acting. The silver haired Jounin took one last sip from the cup before he tugged his mask back in place and called the three Genin back in.

"Report," he said simply and watched how they reacted.

Both Sasuke and Naruto looked expectedly at Sakura, good. Apparently they remembered that she was supposed to be team leader on this mission. Said pink haired girl nodded before clearing her throat and started to speak.

"After you collapsed I checked your pulse and checked if you had been poisoned, but your blood test came out clean. After that the only thing that made sense to me was chakra exhaustion. Two of Naruto's clones carried you on a henged stretcher to Tazuna's house. You have been unconscious for a bit more than a day… I have tried to follow protocol but the next thing would have been informing Konoha about the situation… because of Gato's involvement we have decided not to risk trying to send a messenger bird from one of the bigger villages on the island."

Kakashi nodded at that and motioned with his hand for her to continue.

"After that decision I sent four of Naruto's shadow clones to check out the woods around us to scout the area. We have been using the standard rotation rooster since then to guard the house 24/7. Tazuna will return to work on the bridge tomorrow and today he only took care of a few errands in the next village."

The Jounin-sensei was impressed, Sakura did not only use the Standard Operative Procedures, they were there for a reason after all! But also improvised and thought things through; she kept a cool head, assumed control of the team and could explain her actions logically. He was glad that she was not only good at theory but could also apply it to reality; some ninja straight out of the Academy were unable to do that.

"Very well done Sakura-chan… what did you have planned if I hadn't woken up by tomorrow?"

Kakashi watched the three Genin in front of him while Sakura visibly tried to collect her thoughts for her next answer. Sakura had an air of quiet confidence around her as if she knew the answers to all the questions that were asked from her. Sasuke was also rehearsing what he would have answered if he had been asked in her stead, only he hid his expression a bit better than his teammate. And Naruto seemed to nearly vibrate in his seat but continued to keep his mouth shut, he was clearly thinking a bit harder about what Kakashi had just asked, probably because thinking further ahead was one of his weaknesses, he was more for improvising and making plans on the spot.

"Well, there are two variants I had in mind… number one would have been two people on Tazuna while one person guarded you and Tazuna's family, who are likely to be a target too. My second plan would have used Naruto's shadow clones as bodyguards for Tazuna's family and you while we three would have watched Tazuna at the bridge."

Kakashi nodded in understanding before asking, "Have you boys anything to add?"

"Regular scouting trips through the woods and the surrounding villages. With the ninja out of the way civilian attackers will probably be used, and they will be visible and audible to us before they ever reached the house," Sasuke added quietly.

He received a satisfied nod before the Hatake turned to his last student, "Naruto?"

"Setting traps around the house?" came the at first unsure answer.

"Not a bad idea but what about Tazuna's family?"

"They would have to know where those are and how to pass them safely," Naruto answered confidently.

Kakashi smiled before he somewhat weakly ruffled through their hair.

"I'm very proud. You have acted professionally and calmly even with me out of commission and your plans are sound if still a bit rudimental but with more experience this will become easier for you. Sakura I'm very satisfied with how you have conducted yourself, this type of leadership is what Konoha wants to see in its Chuunins. Naruto, Sasuke you have both remembered that Sakura is the designated team leader and deferred to her judgment and did not try to circumvent the mission hierarchy… there may be instances where this is needed but Konoha generally frowns down on such behavior. So well done!"

The dog summoner watched amused while all three of his students became a bit bashful and didn't know what to say. Though Sakura was clearly beaming under his praise, well she deserved it. Naruto finally started grinning too and Sasuke had a small telling smirk on his face, his students were just so cute!

"Now then, let's talk about the threats against Tazuna…"