Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or anything other than my OCs.
Gaara-sama,
I know you're probably busy so I'll try to keep this short. I've recently been discharged from the hospital. I've been given an opportunity to train in a land far away and I won't be able to contact you freely. This will be the last letter in a while so I hope, in my time away, you'll remain in good health and manage to rest well.
Hyuga Kori
She rolled up the scroll just as Rokuro came padding impatiently into the room. She smiled awkwardly and held up the scroll, "Sorry. I'm ready now."
Rokuro didn't wait much longer. The feline leaped behind his master and scooped her onto his back in one motion, "Say your goodbyes in passing, Kori-sama."
She smiled down as she passed by her brother in the halls, "Bye Neji!"
He just glared back and rolled his eyes at her as if she hadn't spoken at all.
She thought about where she would go or if she should go and say goodbye to certain people, Asahina and Kakashi for example, but she would be back and they would find out one way or another so a goodbye was unnecessary. Turns out that fate had a goodbye in plan for her.
In Tsunade's office, Team Kakashi's leader himself was standing across from the Hokage. Both of the older shinobi looked surprised to see her and her feline companion.
"Kori?" Kakashi called out to her as if he was asking what in the world she was doing there.
"I've come to ask for permission to go on a training journey to Snowy Peak." She said bluntly and clearly, "Rokuro will be my guide."
"Did you just think I would say yes?" Tsunade raised her eyebrow, "Snowy Peak is a place that doesn't exist in our information system."
"Pardon me." Rokuro spoke up, "But I am solid evidence that Snowy Peak exists just as the frog summonings are evidence that Mount Myoboku exists."
"And where is this Snowy Peak?" Tsunade asked skeptically, "I can't believe your team. One of you goes to Sunagakure, you want to go to some place that no one knows about, what? Is Kai about to come and ask if he can go to another country too?!"
"I don't know anything about Saizo but I know Toshizo is in good hands." Kori grinned, putting a hand on her partner's head, "But I want to go to Snowy Peak. So if it's information you need then I can tell you. Snowy Peak is a place close to Kirigakure."
"Kirigakure?!" Tsunade slammed her hand on the table, "Your whole team is ridiculous! First Sunagakure and now Kiri?! Do you think Danzo would allow this?!"
"..." The Hyuga exchanged a nervous look with her companion.
"I'm against Danzo's involvement." Kakashi spoke up for the first time since the conversation had begun, "Snowy Peak is a place of legends. Sending Kori there, regardless of her motive, would help us gather information on a place we know very little about."
Tsunade sighed, "Kakashi's involvement usually means that you're about to go regardless of whether or not you have my permission. Just go."
"Really?!" She grinned broadly at the copy ninja, "Thank you!"
Kakashi returned the smile with a very small smile of his own and he motioned for her to leave before the Hokage changed her mind.
"One more favor?" She tossed Kakashi the scroll before he could refuse, "A message for Gaara-sama!"
"I will return and reverse summon you once you have summoned Koichi." Rokuro spoke in a rushed manner, "Koichi will be our connection to Konoha and we'll send updates of her status for the Hyuga Clan so they can be sure that she's unharmed and her kekkei genkai is safe. If her immediate return becomes necessary, you can contact us through Koichi."
Leaving no room for questions, Rokuro vanished in a puff of smoke. Kori's hand hit the floor just as her partner vanished, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Summoning Technique)"
Koichi appeared with a lazy stretch, "Finally."
"Goodbye Kakashi-sensei! Thank you!" She grinned and then she was gone.
In the aftermath, Tsunade heaved a long and heavy sigh, "You and Asahina must have some sort of curse with students. They're so troublesome."
"They are the future, Tsunade-sama. They will be burdened with the duty of protecting this village after us so it's only right that they travel and do as they please while they still can." Kakashi chuckled, "This is the first time she has ever been so pushy with me."
"But it's still such a bother." The Hokage grumbled, "If you like pushy women so much then I've got an order for you. You tell Danzo."
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
"They what?!" Aya shrieked, grasping Kai by his shoulders, "Why?!"
"I don't know." The blonde grumbled, "I found out as they were leaving but it's not like I can't understand their feelings. They probably left the village to find some sort of strength they couldn't grasp here."
"And where's Yui?" She whined, "I can totally overlook everyone else but Yui's gone too?"
"I don't know anything about Yui." Kai shrugged, "She didn't say a word but knowing her… She's probably on a mission and couldn't tell us."
"How could this happen when Ibiki finally let me come out and have a break?!"
"You train, we train. If it doesn't overlap then that just sucks for you. They're all trying to better themselves like you did."
"Aww… Then why are you still here?" Aya muttered, "You're the meanest one…"
"I'm going to ask Kakashi to train me so of course I'm still here."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. Fucking clean out your ears." He grumbled and rolled his eyes as he turned to walk off, leaving Aya to stress over the lack of her friends on her own.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Yui heaved a sigh, a scroll in her hands. Her heart felt heavy holding the freshly delivered letter from Kori. Sadly, the heaviness of heart did not come from the letter itself but from the fact that the letter was not meant for her. The letter was a goodbye-for-now message to Sunagakure's Kazekage with an explanation of why she would not be in touch in the days to come. What the young Hyuga didn't know was Gaara hadn't been receiving any letters at all.
She turned her eyes over to the sandy battlefield behind her. Toshizo was to receive his first real lesson in puppeteering today. She only hoped Kankuro was not the same monster his younger brother had been.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
"Please teach me the Raikiri." Kai made his request to the copy ninja very clear, "I want to get stronger."
"Raikiri?" Kakashi looked mildly surprised, "There are plenty of ways to get stronger but why the Raikiri?"
"It's the best thing, in my opinion, to add to my arsenal."
"Well, unfortunately for you, there's something your arsenal lacks if you want to learn that move." The older jonin leaned back in his chair again, his single visible eye wandering towards his lover who sat in the living room with a glare, "If Asahina put you up to this, give it up."
"So if she didn't then you'll teach me?"
"Kai, the Raikiri puts the user at risk for death. You've seen it in action. The speed at which the user must move makes it impossible for the body to react to counterattacks." Kakashi slowly risked making full eye contact with the disappointed Asahina, "Without a measure like the sharingan, you will fail to properly use it and it could cost you your life."
"..."
"Do you understand now?"
"What if I have something that makes up for it?" Kai's fiery gaze was enough for Kakashi to return his full attention to the younger jonin, "Kakashi-sensei, I have something you didn't have. I know your story and I understand the danger but I have one thing in my arsenal you didn't have."
"You have something that can make up for the incapabilities of the human body?" The older ninja said dryly. He really doubted there was anything to remedy an uncertain reaction time.
"A team. A team that is currently scattered throughout the world but they're trying their best to find a new strength. They're fighting to get stronger just like I am. I have faith in them." The blonde declared, "When I charge in, they'll be right there to cover me. Even if I only use the Raikiri as a decoy for the rest of my team to make the finishing blow, I want to do it. If you still have doubts, teach it to me and then I'll show you exactly what I mean when my team returns to Konoha. We'll show you together."
Kakashi had never seen this level of determination to learn from the Saizo Clan's genius. Kai was a relatively independent learner and had never approached him first for training. Nevertheless, Kakashi had experienced first hand just how deadly the Raikiri could be for someone who did not have the capacity to react like the sharingan but Kai had thought of something that Kakashi had not thought of in the past; the capability to become the only sacrifice for his team to earn victory in a desperate situation.
Unlike Kakashi, Kai had teammates who could keep up with him. In fact, Kori was the fastest shinobi of her class so even with the hard speed training that comes with learning the Raikiri, he was certain that she could keep up. Worst case scenario, Kori and Toshizo's combined efforts would bind the enemy and give Kai the finishing blow. But Kai already owned a wide array of lightning techniques. Adding the Raikiri to that arsenal was not necessary. Any technique could potentially land the killing blow once an enemy is bound.
"Just teach it to me." Kai was already speaking as if the copy ninja had agreed, "I swear on the honor of the Saizo Clan, once my team returns you can test my potential to use it safely. If I fail to meet your expectations, I'll pretend I never learned it and won't ever use it again."
Kakashi hesitated, thinking deeply. Kai valued his honor very much. He could be trusted to keep the promise but still…
"Kakashi." Asahina called him from the doorway. The signs she made were so very familiar to him: Raikiri. Her hand began to crackle with lightning. It was an unrefined shape and the chakra roamed wildly up and down her arm in an almost pitiful manner, "I've seen you use it enough times to get the fundamentals. Even if you don't teach Kai, he would probably learn it from watching in the future. Wouldn't it be better to teach him properly?"
He sighed, "I'll have to think about it a little more."
He could not deny Kai was every bit the genius shinobi that Asahina had been. It wasn't surprising to find she had learned so much of it on her own. She had shown a great interest in it in the past as well but in his honest opinion, it was not meant for her. Kai was right in saying he had something Kakashi did not have. The faith in one's teammates can take them far. Naruto has shown him the belief in one's friends can take them far.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
"Show me what you've got." Kankuro had demanded for their first training session. It was shortly followed by a sparring session demanding Toshizo's full capacity. It left him breathless and aware of how incapable he had been all this time.
"Oh. My. God." The Leaf ninja panted, glancing at his crumpled sword-puppet half buried in the desert sand, "Is there any possible way to beat your three puppets with just one?"
"Yes." Kankuro grinned at him and spoke very bluntly, "That's like asking if one ninja can beat three. The answer is yes depending on your skill level. You're pretty good. When I gave you the scroll I thought you would just give up but you've actually got a good grasp on your puppet control."
"Tha-"
"But you can get so much better." The Sand ninja was curt but not harsh, "You've got potential. During your time here, I'll teach you to make those chakra lines of yours thinner and nearly invisible to the eye to reduce your chance of having the connection cut. I also want to show you how to move more than one puppet at a time so that if you decide you want to add quantity to your arsenal you can do that even when you go home. I don't want to shoot for too much since you're not going to be here forever but I have a new idea for you to specialize in from here on out."
"All that just from one fight?" Toshizo was slowly starting to feel some fear. Kankuro was probably going to be a Spartan teacher especially since puppet mastery is Kankuro's specialty, "I'll work hard."
"You're damn right, you will!" The older shinobi grinned, "But I've got just one favor."
"Huh? Yeah! Anything! I'll try my best to help you out."
"Actually, Gaara is kind of down about Kori, you know?" Kankuro made an awkward expression, "She kind of hasn't replied in a while."
"Oh." The aspiring puppeteer blinked in confusion a few times, "She hasn't?"
"She has?" The Sand jonin was starting to pick up on something strange, "When was the last time you saw her?"
"Right before I came here. And you're saying that Kori-san was the one who didn't respond? Are you sure the letter hasn't already been delivered? Maybe there's a mix up."
"Could be. I'll have to look into it again." The Sand jonin grumbled, "But just in case, do you think you could ask her what's up for me? Send a letter or two back home to figure it out?"
Toshizo thought about it for a moment and then responded, "There is someone I would like to keep in contact with so if it's possible, could I send a letter to Kori-san and one other?"
"Normally, I wouldn't let it happen but if you swear you can keep it from Temari then I'll let it go." Kankuro grinned at the look of shock on his student's face, "What? Temari would freak if she knew I was letting you send letters freely to someone we don't know."
"Well… I don't want to get you in trouble so…"
"I knew you were a swell guy." The grin remained plastered to the puppeteer's face, "Now get to writing that letter before our next lesson!"