Kotori and Aimi were seated at Aimi's kitchen table, their heads together as they poured over the chunin exam that her students had stolen. Kotori had made them answer the questions for the experience anyway. Now she and Aimi were checking to make sure that they were right.

"I don't even remember these being on our exam," Kotori grumbled. "And I don't think I've ever calculated the trajectory for my kunai before, it's all muscle memory."

She checked the advanced trigonometry textbook she had checked out from the library and compared it to one of Ryoku's answers. While she had been a good student in school, she had also graduated at nine. The focus had been getting them field ready as quickly as possible and less on actual academics. Only the basics of literacy, geography and mathematics had been taught. The bulk of the units had pushed aside for taijutsu, ninjutsu and survival skills. Kotori had been forced to catch up when she went for her chunin exams. Although most of it she hadn't used since. Fortunately Aimi liked logic puzzles so these were more her strength.

Aimi shook her head as she marked up the page. "I swear, Ibiki makes these harder and harder every year."

Kotori let out a content sigh as she put the pen down. "And done. Looks like I deserve my rank after all."

As far as she knew, Ryoku's plan for the exam was to memorize the answers, or at least the process for solving them, and then use shadow imitation to help Mimi and Daichi. It was a good plan and Kotori was confident the three of them would make it through the first round. The second round was always some sort of team mission and the third was always a tournament. Her students should be able to make it through to the end. They had more than enough mission and sparring experience.

Aimi poured both of them a glass of wine. "Now we can properly begin girl's night. Well, as soon as Yugao shows up."

"No Kurenai tonight?"

"She got her kids a two day C-Rank for some extra field experience. They'll be back tomorrow."

"That's a shame."

When Kotori had first started dating Kakashi, Kurenai had immediately worked her magic, sliding up to Kotori one day in the marketplace and introducing herself. Before she knew it, they were dragging Asuma and Kakashi out on double dates and having wine nights and spa days like they had known each other their entire lives. Kotori had worried the breakup would impact her friendship with Kurenai, however Kurenai had pointed out that they had more in common than just Kakashi. For that, Kotori was grateful. She enjoyed Kurenai's company.

Right on cue there was a knock on the door; Aimi stood up to answer it.

"Sorry I'm late," Yugao apologized. Her purple hair had been pulled in a slicked back ponytail and looked damp, as if she had quickly showered and then rushed over to meet them. "They have us doing double patrols with all the visiting teams. I can't wait for this stupid exam to be over!"

Kotori could sympathize. With the chunin exams only a fortnight away, Konoha was keeping everyone close on hand. The increase in foreign visitors - and foreign shinobi at that - meant that extra security was needed. Everyone was a little on edge. It hadn't been that long ago that Suna and Konoha were enemies. Their parent's generation certainly remembered it. Kotori could remember her uncle being furious during the third war when they were suddenly allied with Suna. Even Ensui was uneasy around them. He had stopped Aimi and her from befriending a pair of boys from Suna when they were at the same outpost for the night.

"Never trust anyone outside of Konoha," he had warned them before dragging them back to their side of the camp.

It was a rocky alliance, but one that continued to hold to this day. The other villages invited were all minor villages that had allied itself with Konoha and Suna. There had been a brief time when Kumo had been part of their alliance, however that had quickly gone downhill after it was revealed Kumo was trying to steal the Byakugan. The current talk of Konoha was a hidden village named Oto that had been recently founded. No one had heard of them before or even knew where they came from. Oto had entered into an alliance with Suna who had vouched for allowing them to enter the chunin exams. Three teams from Oto had been allowed to travel to Konoha and were being heavily monitored. These exams were meant to be a test to see if they could be trusted. Even Kotori found herself involved. Her current ANBU captain, Tachibana Ken, had approached her about needing someone on the inside of the exams. As Kotori would be there anyway with her students, it would give her access to the spaces the jonin leaders were in and allow her to keep an eye on them. Truthfully, she would have done it even if she wasn't officially asked. Kotori was certain all of the Konoha jonin would be paying close attention.

"Tell me about it," Aimi sighed. "Genma's never home, you two are always busy. I never thought I'd be so bored with everyone in the village!"

The three girls shared a pleasant evening unwinding. Aimi was an excellent cook and went all out, preparing several dishes for their little get together. Kotori had supplied the wine and Yugao entertained them with recent stories about ANBU. Team Ro had went through several changes since Kotori had left and the new members left much to be desired. Weasel, otherwise known as Taketori Tadashi was getting on everyone's last nerves. The most recent drama was that he had been caught cheating on his girlfriend with his female ANBU partner.

"Anyway, Tadashi's in love with Suki and he's promised Tenzo it's different this time. It's true love. She's the one. It won't affect their work." Yugao gave an exaggerated eye roll.

"Oh that's a load of bullshit," Kotori scoffed. Tadashi had been in her year at the academy. He once tried to date Aimi, Sayuri and her at the same time. It had lasted about a week before the girls realized they had been played by the same guy and used him for target practice.

"Right?! Tenzo's at his wit's end with him. Both of them really. No one trusts Tadashi, and Suki keeps being weirdly competitive with me. And you know Tenzo, he's really big on teamwork. He wants to ask Lord Third to reassign them once things calm down after the exam. I was hoping with your assignment coming to an end it might mean we'll get you and Genma back."

Kotori held her tongue, unsure how to answer the unspoken question. If she had to be an ANBU, there was no better team than Team Ro. She enjoyed working with Yugao and Tenzo and Satoshi and Genma. However she really didn't want to go back. Fortunately, it was Aimi who spoke first.

"I should really let Genma be the one to tell you - " Aimi was twisting her hands in her lap.

"He's leaving ANBU, isn't he?" Kotori softly asked. She knew he was trying to get out. They had talked on their most recent mission together and Genma was tired of ANBU. The secrecy, the long missions, the dirty work - all of it had been getting to him lately.

If Yugao was disappointed, she didn't show it. "I guess it'll be me and you, harassing Tenzo and Satoshi. Just like the good old days."

"I don't think the boys are ready for that." Kotori gave her a small smile. Eager to move the topic to something else, she asked, "So what's the deal with Genma? Did he get a reassignment?"

Aimi looked happier now that the news was out. "Raidou's wife is pregnant, so he took an assignment as one of the Hokage's bodyguards to stay closer to the village. And he needed a partner, so Genma offered to team up with him."

"Aw, Shiori is pregnant?" Kotori was fond of Raidou's wife.

"Yes! I'm so happy for them! I love babies. Other people's babies," Aimi quickly clarified. "They're just so snuggly and they have that new baby smell."

Yugao gave Aimi a wary look. "Note to self, don't leave Aimi alone with any future children."

"Oooh, future children?"

Yugao shrugged. "Yeah. Hayato loves kids and wants a big family, but I'm thinking two? That seems like a manageable number. Not for a while though. I wanted to be promoted to captain and do a few years before retiring from active duty. What about you?"

Kotori rolled her eyes. "That would involve finding a baby daddy and that's not happening any time soon."

Immediately Yugao and Aimi started giggling and Kotori instantly regretted opening her mouth. Now the subject of her love life was on the table. The rest of her friends were in happy committed relationships and as the single friend, they loved trying to set her up with someone. It didn't help that they had a large circle of guy friends and everyone was at that stage where they wanted to settle down. Most men outnumbered women by at least two to one in their profession and there were few opportunities for shinobi to meet civilian women. A single kunoichi was apparently a hot commodity on the dating market.

Kotori tilted the wine glass back as she sunk into the couch. She was going to need it for this conversation.

"I don't know, I think Aoba wants to be your baby daddy," Aimi teased.

Kotori's face reddened. "T-that's not happening. We were just having a little fun."

"Yeah, that's what I said about Genma too."

Kotori rolled her eyes. Genma and Aimi had been friends with benefits for so long that they accidentally ended up in a relationship.

Yugao plopped herself down on the couch, wrapping an arm around Kotori and lightening the mood. "Here's what you do, you pick a guy with great genes. Maybe someone with a bloodline from another village. One we don't have, I bet the elders would love you for that. Clanless so you don't have to deal with that nonsense. Get pregnant and then hire an assassin to take him out."

"I'll consider that," she deadpanned.

"I'm just saying, you have plenty of friends in shady places."

"You volunteering?"

"Just say the word."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kotori joked. "I was always rather fond of storm release. I thought that would be cool to have."

"Kumo, huh? I'm up for the challenge."

Kotori thought the topic was dropped after that. Yugao left shortly after, needing to call it an early night before her next patrol shift. Aimi kept giving her these calculating glances as the two of them cleaned up. The third time she felt Aimi's eyes on the back of her head, Kotori dropped the dishtowel on the counter and turned around. She lifted an eyebrow as she waited for Aimi to speak.

"You don't still love him, do you?"

The question caught her entirely off guard. "What?"

Aimi gave her a meaningful look. "Kakashi."

"Of course I don't!" She could feel Aimi's eyes borrowing into hers, most likely looking for the minor tells that she was lying. She doubted Aimi would actually try to read her mind. However even if she did, Kotori was telling the truth. The thought that she could possibly still love Kakashi was ridiculous. She defiantly stared back at her friend of nearly twenty years.

"If you think I've been pining for three years and will jump back into his arms the moment he looks at me - I have a bit more dignity than that. I hate him, I want nothing to do with him. I can't stress that enough."

"Maybe you hate him because you're still angry?"

Kotori rolled her eyes. "What does it matter?"

"The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. You still feel something for him, even if it's hatred or anger. Those are all intense feelings. I think you need to find closure, and then you'd finally be able to move on."

"Can you not psychoanalyze me?"

However Aimi was on a roll and showed no signs of slowing down. Her pale blue eyes were full of determination and her hands curled into fists as she spoke. "You need to do something. This isn't you. The Kotori I know is a fearless kunoichi who isn't afraid to love or trust. You deserve to be happy. There's plenty of guys in this village who are totally into you and would fall over themselves if you showed any interest. And Aoba's a really great guy and he really cares for you. I think you should give him a chance."

Kotori picked up the dishtowel again and started drying the dishes as a temporary distraction. Fortunately Aimi left her to her thoughts, knowing when to push and when to back off. Aoba was good to her. He was everything that she thought she wanted in a boyfriend. Kind, funny, clever, good with children and most importantly he recognized her strength as a kunoichi and didn't belittle her. She just didn't feel any spark. She hadn't since - Aimi was right. She needed to let go of her past once and for all.

Perhaps she needed to give Aoba a chance.

It wasn't until two days later that she got her chance to speak with Aoba. The two of them were doing final preparations with their students. Kouta was sparring with Mimi, Aoba was sparring with his student, Daichi, while she was sparring with Ryoku.

Ryoku was resting on the grass, exhausted from their sparring match when Kotori plopped next to him and handed over a water bottle. She was pleasantly surprised that he had added Mud Wall to his techniques and had used it to alter his environment to cast more shadows. She was pushing to have all three of her students master at least one, if not two, nature affinities in addition to their clan techniques. It would give them greater variety. So often, clan kids were pigeon-holed into roles based on their clan techniques. Kouta had been able to quickly master wind and water while Mimi was still learning fire. Ryoku had surprised her by having an affinity for earth. As far as she recalled, most of the Nara had an affinity for fire. If they bothered to learn it anyway. Teaching earth style was a pain as it was her weakest chakra nature and she had never invested any time in it before. It took a lot of skill to be able to master all five and for the average jonin was unnecessary unless they were a ninjutsu specialist or saw a lot of combat. Kotori had mastered wind and lightning and could do the odd low ranking fire or water technique. Those were mostly for survival purposes like being able to draw water out of the ground or start a fire without a match. Fortunately, she had been able to sweet talk Tenzo into showing Ryoku a few earth techniques one afternoon.

"Your earth release is coming along nicely," she told him.

"Thanks! Captain Tenzo showed me a lot, he told me to talk to him after I pass the chunin exam. He said he could find me a spot on his team."

Kotori was going to kill Tenzo. She forced herself to remain cheerful as she listened to Ryoku go on about how Tenzo ran him through some ANBU training practices. Somehow, Tenzo running Ryoku through ANBU techniques made it feel more real. Her heart squeezed painfully. She wasn't ready to see her kids grow up.

"Same time tomorrow?" He asked.

They only had three days until the exam. "Take it off. You deserve the break and I want you both well rested going into the exam."

She checked in with Kouta and Mimi before giving them both the next three days off as well. After that she lingered while she waited for Aoba and Daichi to finish their spar.

Conversation between them had been stilted and focused solely on the kids since she had made her panicked escape out his window the other day. Something that Kotori decided to use to her advantage.

"I gave my kids the next three days off," Kotori told him. "Figured we could regroup the night before the first exam, go over strategy and take the kids out to dinner."

Aoba made a noise indicating his agreement. Then the two were locked in an uncomfortable silence. While his eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, Kotori could feel them keenly watching her. However his face gave nothing away. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking, which she supposed was the point. Kotori almost thought it would be easier if he wore a mask rather than sunglasses. The eyes were the window to the soul and all that.

"I'm sorry about the other day, I panicked and left things on an awkward note."

"You don't owe me an explanation."

"No, but I think you deserve one. I haven't done this in a while, and things ended so horribly last time that I - I don't know - " Kotori was rambling now. She really didn't know what point she was trying to make and probably sounded like a crazy person.

Aoba gently caught her hand, startling her out of her thoughts. He gave it a light squeeze. "You don't have to explain yourself. I get it. We can go as slow as you like, I'm not going anywhere. There's a teahouse that opened up close by, why don't we start by spending the afternoon together?"

"I can do tea," she shyly smiled. Aoba tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Good because I already made reservations."