Chapter 9

"I can't believe you wouldn't let me fight this gag order," Guy complained. "People need to know they are being used. It's horrible and shameful of the council. I'll never forgive them! I promise on my youthful soul I will fight this-"

"Fight what, Guy Sensei?" Lee asked.

"Something horrible, Lee!" Guy scowled.

Izumi rolled her eyes. "Relax, I know what I'm doing."

Kakashi finally raised his gaze from the ground and frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

Izumi bit her lip. "Let's just say I'm currently working on a project of my own, and leave it at that. Sorry, but with an ANBU here I'd rather not reveal too much."

"Probably a good idea," Tenzo agreed.

"How are you handling all this, Kakashi?" Pakkun asked softly.

"I'm trying to register it, but my mind is blanking," Kakashi admitted. "Just that I could be... Well, it's a hard thought... I've never really thought about having a pup."

Lee gasped. "A pup?"

Guy shushed him.

"You might not be pregnant," Tenzo said softly. "It's going to take some time to find out, right?"

"I suppose, another week or so and I could take a pregnancy test to check..."

"I'll buy you hundreds, Kakashi!" Guy grinned. "And if it turns out you are pregnant then I'll be right by your side the entire time to help you. We're eternal rivals after all!"

Kakashi loosened up, and he actually smiled, the Omega's scent growing pleased. "Thank you, Guy."

Tenzo scoffed, a teasing note to it. "Please, I'll be more helpful. I could build you whatever you need, Kakashi senpai, and Team Ro would happily help you provide everything you need for a newborn pup."

Izumi smiled. Kakashi was growing distracted by the pair's bickering, the Beta and Alpha both insisting that they could do better. A familiar scent caught her nose, and she looked to the left and almost sighed. Shikaku was leaning against the wall, eyeing her from the shadows. Kakashi followed her gaze, blinking at her.

"What does Shikaku want with you?" Kakashi asked quietly.

"Don't worry about it." Izumi smiled. "You just focus on you and your little team, yeah? Sasuke won't admit it, but he's missed you training him. I'm apparently too crazy."

Kakashi snorted. "He complains about me being too lazy."

Izumi winked. "Both are the best way to be when dealing with Guy's training."

When Guy first began training her it had been overwhelming. He was way too enthusiastic, and well, Izumi had been surrounded by angry, paranoid and possibly depressed Uchihas all her life. She wasn't used to people like Guy, especially not having just lost her entire clan to her own mate. Izumi had been ready to give up, to go curl up in a corner and hug Sasuke to feel slightly less lonely when she saw Kakashi.

Kakashi was an honorary Uchiha, at least that's what Mikoto had always said. All because he was Obito Uchiha's mate. Mikoto usually said it so dryly, rolling her eyes and teasing about the 'honorary' part, because Uchihas didn't like to marry outside the clan and weaken their bloodline. Thus, 'outsiders' were made honorary Uchihas, to keep the regular Uchihas from freaking out.

The image of Uchihas freaking out was always an entertaining thought.

When she saw Kakashi, a member of their family, interacting with Guy, it eased something within her. Izumi had been nervous, and still overwhelmed, but she kept up her training with Guy. It had taken a while, but she ended up approaching Guy with Kakashi's easygoingness, and sheer crazy.

Now she was a jonin trying to overthrow the council with Shikaku Nara and Guy had his own little squad of genin. Time sure passed quickly.

"I need to go," she said, noticing Shikaku staring dreamily at the clouds. "Otherwise I'll be stuck trying to wake him up from another damned nap."

Kakashi snorted. "Good luck."

She headed for Shikaku's side, who yawned and walked along the street with her. They felt two of the ANBU that had been following their group split off to stalk her, so they rounded the corner. Shikaku nodded and Izumi activated her Mangekyo Sharingan.

Her and Shikaku turned invisible just as the ANBU rounded the corner. They stayed still, waited for them to curse and race down the street to track her down.

She had unfortunately gained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan after the Uchiha Massacre, with her mother as the first victim. Izumi had only just gotten downstairs when Itachi cut her mother down, then knocked Izumi out cold. Izumi's Omega had taken control while she had been out, and took their mother's eyes, implanting them into their own. When Izumi woke up, it had been in hospital, with only her and Sasuke as the survivors. And it had taken years for Izumi to learn that she could turn herself invisible with her left eye, and then others with her right eye without being drained instantly.

The price was way too much though.

It was why she was trying to get Sasuke out of this cycle of revenge. Which had rather mixed results so far. There were days he wanted to do nothing but kill Itachi, then there were days he wanted to go see his teammates and harass his mate. Naruto and Sasuke had a rather interesting relationship. Izumi just hoped it would go better than hers and Itachi's.

Izumi smirked. "I told them I wouldn't tell anyone, right Shikaku?"

He snorted. "I heard everything they said through the microphone you have on you. Glad to hear Kakashi wasn't harmed, but I'm pissed off about the contraception pills. I knew something was fishy about those pills. I started buying the civilian ones years ago, as did Chiharu and Noriko when I mentioned it to them."

"What do we do?" Izumi asked. "I've been making my own from the Uchiha supply left behind, but that's only because I took that from the estate before Konoha closed it down."

"We add this to our evidence," Shikaku said. "Our main concern is who will be Hokage after we blackmail the council and Third to fuck off. They can no longer be in charge, not with the way Konoha is deteriorating, but we need a power to replace them."

"You said Kakashi, but if he is pregnant..." Izumi frowned.

"Yeah, that would be way too much pressure on him with a pup on the way," Shikaku agreed. "The problem is, we don't have a lot of options in that regard. Tsunade, Jiraiya, neither of them have returned. You wouldn't accept it-"

Izumi choked. "Hell no!"

"And neither would I," Shikaku grunted. "But we're running out of time. The plan for Danzo's assassination is still in place. You wanted the eyes he stole after all."

Izumi nodded sharply.

Izumi, because of her invisibility, has been sent on many infiltration missions. When she had seen Danzo's arm and Shisui's eye, her blood boiled, and her hatred had nearly made her snap.

But Izumi had pushed back the murderous thoughts and left without attacking Danzo. She told Shikaku everything that night, broke down crying and had to let Yoshino Nara, Shikaku's Alpha, console her. Shikaku had awkwardly patted her back before going to attend to his pup, who had been napping on the couch at the time.

She swore a few days later that she smelled Itachi's scent lingering nearby, but when she tracked the scent he wasn't there.

Good, because she would have done her best to chase him off. Mate or not, he killed her mother and tortured Sasuke. Izumi would never forgive him for that. He should have just knocked Sasuke out like he did with her.

"So when?" she asked.

"The Chunin exams will begin in about a months times. It would cause too much chaos for a dead council member to suddenly turn up," Shikaku grumbled. "So after it, when all our guests are gone, so none of the other lands can be blamed. We will go after Danzo together."

Izumi grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

"Just continue as normal then," Shikaku dismissed her with a wave. "Oh, and Izumi? Do take care to be cautious."

Izumi scoffed. "I've been careful ever since Itachi murdered the clan."

She disappeared with a swirl of leaves. The traditional Konoha way.

.::.

Kakashi skipped out on the medics. No, instead he retreated home, followed by Tenzo. Kakashi quickly ended up curled up on his couch, drowning his sorrows in much needed tea and biscuits that Tenzo had bought on the way back to his apartment.

Tenzo had Kakashi's feet on his lap, patting his leg reassuringly.

"I hate to admit it," Tenzo murmured. "But I'm not surprised they did this..."

"I didn't think Lord Third would..." Kakashi mumbled. "But his council? Yeah, I expected it from them. I just thought he would overrule them."

Tenzo sighed, the Beta almost looked pitying. Almost. If he had been looking at him pitying, Kakashi would have thrown the biscuit plate at him. Or one of his hounds. They were all sprawled along his floor after all. It meant that Kakashi had plenty of ammo.

"You and I both know the Third never puts his foot down and always gives into the council. That's why Danzo has so much power in the first place."

Kakashi scowled at the thought, and munched on another biscuit. He scrunched up his nose. That one had been way too sweet.

"What am I going to do if I am pregnant, Tenzo? I can't raised a baby."

"You'd do better than the rest of us."

"Oh yes, because that's reassuring," Kakashi said dryly.

"As Guy and I said earlier, we'd be there to help. You aren't alone in this, Kakashi."

"Thanks, Tenzo. But I... I really don't know what I'm going to do."

Tenzo straightened up, fist up as he grinned victoriously. "We're going to summon Team Ro and read on everything there is to know about babies! Guy will not defeat us."

Kakashi sweat dropped. "You two are taking this rivalry quite seriously, huh?"

"Messing with Guy is kinda fun," Tenzo admitted. "But I want to be here for you, just as you have been for me."

Kakashi hadn't done that much for Tenzo. The sentimental idiot. But it was kind of him nevertheless. So Kakashi only chucked a pillow at him instead of a plate.

"Alright, alright," Kakashi forced a laugh. "No need to be so sweet. You'll smother me!"

Tenzo threw him a look Kakashi didn't understand. It was somewhere between annoyance and concern, so Kakashi brushed it off. There were more important matters anyway. Guy's team had gotten demoted in mission ranks, and while that wasn't the worst thing ever, it still sucked.

But Tenzo and Izumi hadn't received any proper punishments yet. Nor had Kakashi for failing his mission so badly, although, in the council's eyes he might have accomplished something if he truly was pregnant.

But thinking about that made him want to curl up and drown in his own misery, so he focused on the others.

"How much trouble are you in?" Kakashi asked softly.

Tenzo shrugged. "Not much with that escort mission with the Daimyo coming up. Team Ro has been assigned to it-"

Kakashi chuckled. "You know you aren't supposed to tell me your missions anymore, despite my being a former Captain?"

Tenzo stuck out his tongue. "We still stick to you like glue. Besides, the Daimyo will probably request your presence again. He still has your name, Kurenai's and Izumi's in his book of future wives. He's even eyeing up Hinata Hyuga as a future wife once she is older. I noticed her name being added on when she became a genin."

Kakashi grimaced. Every year the Daimyo married another Omega, which was supposed to be the 'highest honour'. He even married mated and bonded Omegas. Although those were much more rare in his collection of wives.

It was a disgusting, old practise. A Daimyo could marry as many times as they wanted, as long as they were an Alpha marrying Omegas, or an Omega marrying Alphas. No Betas had ever married into the family.

Thankfully this Daimyo took 'no' for an answer, sort of. He never forced marriage on someone, but he had probably annoyed many Omegas into just saying 'yes' to finally stop being asked.

Kakashi had been asked to marry the Daimyo about a hundred and twenty times this year, and it was only the end of April. He had been interrupted during training his genin (not that he did much of that successfully), or missions with his genin, by favoured attendants of the Daimyo's court. Kakashi had even taken to using the attendants as training exercises during lessons.

Kakashi had to use them for something.

Sometimes one of the pups had to steal the letter from the attendant, stop him from speaking without harming him (Sasuke tried to set one on fire once so he had to add that rule), or distracting the attendant long enough for Kakashi to escape the stubborn fools trying to deliver him love poems, or romantic letters, or sing outright proposals to him.

So far the pups were doing a pretty good job. Although Naruto had gotten a bit too enthusiastic and tackled one of them into a river last time.

"Hopefully the Hyuga are feeling possessive then," Kakashi huffed. "Besides, that's gross. He's older than even me."

"Maybe he's noted her down for one of his pups?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "His many pups. Isn't he at twelve now?"

"Yeah, almost one for each wife."

No matter how annoying being proposed to was by the Daimyo or his attendants, Kakashi would happily continue to say no. He could never imagine having to be dressed up like a fancy noble everyday or to even try and act the part.

He'd never get to torment anyone.

No, he'd be treated like a delicate petal and the thought made Kakashi want to hurl over the Daiymo's shoes.