A small great Dane blinked against the filtered light in the hotel room. His claws scratched against the filthy carpet, kicking up dust motes into the air with every step. There was a dark blue vest on his back, and Mina's heart broke at the sight of the bandages covering him from head to toe. She remembered all too well how Uhei had received those injuries. Next to him, a small blond mutt with a shinobi kanji on his forehead stared at her in disbelief. The small ninken blinked his eyes furiously several times, trying to dispel the mirage in front of him. Bisuke was always the more skeptical of the two.
"Bisuke. Uhei," Mina muttered, dropping down to the floor. "You're…alive. You're okay."
Bisuke blinked again and shook his head as if to banish the shadows of the past.
"Kakashi told us," Uhei rasped.
Bisuke looked at him in disbelief. "That's the first thing you've said in thirteen years," the small dog told the other.
"Has it been that long?" Mina asked as the tears fell down her cheeks.
Uhei was the first to move. He sniffed underneath her forearm, shoving his soft head beneath her palm. Mina pressed her forehead against the side of his neck, letting her tears soak his bandages.
Bisuke doggedly sat against the stripped bed, refusing to move any closer. "Kakashi told us you were alive. Weeks ago, Mina. Weeks. This is the first time—I just…I want to know why you waited. We won't align against Konoha."
"Speak for yourself," Uhei muttered, his voice rough with disuse. His short coarse fur tickled the sides of her nose as he nuzzled Mina's cheek. "I missed you, girly."
"I missed you too," she cried. "Come here, Bisuke."
She held out her empty arm in invitation, waiting for Bisuke to leave the relative shelter of the bed. He hesitated a moment, his brows furrowed, refusing eye contact with either of them.
"Bisuke-chan," Mina cooed through a tight throat. In two seconds, his control shattered and he bounded across the room, jumping into her waiting arms.
"I missed you," Bisuke muttered, licking her neck and cheek. He gave a sorrowful whine, repeating, "I missed you."
She rubbed her cheek along the top of Bisuke's head and tugged Uhei in closer.
"Good dogs. Good puppies. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. I'm sorry for waiting. I'm sorry for leaving. I'm so sorry." She hiccuped through the tears, carressing both of them. "I'm sorry you had to see me die like that. I'm sorry you had to live with the…fear and regret. I'm sorry for what Kakashi's made you do. I just…"
"Quiet," Uhei murmured, stroking his muzzle against her chin. "Calm. We'll figure out what comes next."
"We really can't go against Konoha. Kakashi is still the Hatake pack alpha. We can't break his orders," Bisuke said, laying his head on the top of her chest. He had fully curled into the top of her lap. Uhei rested his head on Bisuke's back and cuddled in close.
"I'm not asking you to. I know he is. Or at least, I figured he is." Mina exhaled. "I left Kumo. That's what took me so long to summon you. I couldn't—"
She breathed out again, burying her nose into the side of Uhei's neck. Soft oatmeal shampoo and the light mint of his flea control clung to his fur.
"If I summoned you in Kumo, the Raikage would have listed you both as Kumo summons. I wasn't sure what my next moves were going to be, but I know you're both loyal to the pack, to Konoha. I couldn't put that on you."
Bisuke was silent for a time. His cold wet nose sniffed against the side of her neck.. "Why aren't you in Kumo now?"
Mina sighed. "Kakashi. And well, Darui."
"Kakashi isn't the same as you knew him," Uhei grumbled with a leisurely stretch.
"I know. That's why I want to see him. Get to know him. I figure he goes out of the village for missions. And if I have to sneak into the village to see him, I will."
Bisuke lifted his snout from her neck and looked into her eyes. "He said he found you in the TI basement, tied up, tortured. I'm surprised you'd be willing to go back at all."
Mina lifted Bisuke into her arms and awkwardly stood up. Uhei jumped onto the bare side of the mattress next to the sleeping bag. Climbing onto the bag, Mina laid Bisuke down beside her. The trio cuddled in closely, sharing a spare blanket from her mission bag.
"I don't want to go back to Konoha. But if it helps my brother—I just. Kakashi needs me. I see that."
They were silent for a time while Bisuke's soft snores from Mina's stomach filled the room.
"Who's Darui?" Uhei whispered from her right side. He propped his chin on her shoulder and licked her jawline.
"Darui is…my partner. My lover, I suppose. Well. Former lover."
"You still love him?"
She exhaled in a breathy sigh. "I don't think I'll ever stop," she finally murmured. "But, he's going to be the Raikage. He can't tie himself to a nuke-nin. And that's what I am. I'm on the run from two different villages. The Daimyo in the Land of Lightning is a shrewd and conservative man. He doesn't abide by scandal. He makes the ultimate decision on who becomes Raikage."
"I see. Is he pack?"
Mina blew a stray curl from her forehead, pretending not to hear him.
Bisuke stretched on her stomach. "Mina. Is he pack?"
She lifted her head. "Yeah. To me. He's pack to me."
"Pack is pack," Uhei said, turning to Bisuke.
"Pack is pack," Bisuke agreed.
"Pack is pack," Mina whispered with closed eyes.
Morning came early as dawn crept over the horizon and invaded the cracks of the holey curtains on the dirty window. Mina's hand was resting in Bisuke's soft fur while he snored away on her belly. Uhei was cuddled against her side, a puddle of his drool in her clavicle. She stretched her arm up, and gently rolled Bisuke onto her other side.
She quickly went about her morning routine. Twisting her hair up in pins, she walked out of the minuscule bathroom to find both ninken waiting for her to emerge from the door, tails wagging.
Bisuke cocked his head to the side before jumping up onto the bed. "What are the plans today, boss?" he asked.
"Well, I thought we could start with breakfast. After that, we can track down Kakashi. I figure you both might have a good idea where he's going."
After sharing a loaded look, the ninken nodded.
Raikage Tower, Kumogakure
Snow piled up on the outside of the Raikage's office windows. Darui crossed his arms protectively over his chest as he watched it drift along the wind. Mina had been gone for a week and a half. By now, she was probably somewhere warm. A beach, maybe. She always loved the beach.
When he closed his eyes, he could picture their last summer: they were on an aid mission on the southern coast of the Land of Lightning. He had fallen asleep in the warm sand. The water was already lapping at his toes by the time he woke up, completely buried in it. Mina kissed his forehead, her soft lips twisting into a mischievous grin as she sprinted away. Her novel lay abandoned on her beach towel. Sand was in the spine of the book, and he carefully shook it off, taking it with him as he extricated himself from the sand and pursued her. He could almost feel it: the coarse grains against his fingertips, her waist under his hands, the crisp cotton sheets after he carried her back to their room.
"Darui," Ay interrupted. "What do you think about Konoha's demands?"
Darui scrubbed his hand over his face to ground himself into the present. "I believe they're reaching for something they know we will not give them. Demanding twenty million ryo for Mina as a shinobi is unacceptable, even though we do not have many medics. Her last known bounty from Iwa was only ten million. Doubling it simply because she escaped alive is ridiculous. They have no proof she even returned to Kumo, and they will not risk losing face by admitting it internationally that they could not contain a jounin medic.
"However, their demand to host the chuunin exams out of turn gives me pause. Why now? What are they going to get out of it? If anything, their hosting would be to our benefit. We would have fewer man-hours, and would not have to deal with the security concerns. We wouldn't have to cover the overall expense, either. Mabui, how much did we spend the last exam cycle?"
Mabui shuffled through the papers on the desk, pulling one out of the folder. "Approximately sixty billion ryo. Not including our own dignitaries' security. We file those separately for correct compensation."
"The only benefit to them I can see is possible prestige. Their cycle isn't due for another nine years. Hosting so shortly after the Kyuubi attack and out of turn could prove to the dignitaries they are capable of taking on more extensive missions. Most likely, their hope is to recoup the losses of the chuunin exams as well as the Third Shinobi War and Kyuubi attack in one fell swoop, assuming their genin do well."
"An expensive gamble," Mabui commented, briefly glancing up from her notepad.
"I would agree. However, the shinobi of Konoha have never been afraid of losing a bet. No matter how hefty. Their first Hokage, Hashirama, for example, was infamous at the Dagarashi casinos. He was known for even losing large sums of money during his tenure."
Ay crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. "Apt assessment, Darui. What would your course of action be?"
"I do believe based on my own assessment of their forces, they do not have the manpower to enforce these demands. With Mina…" Darui exhaled sharply. "With Mina in the wind, under Bee's authority, she can run indefinitely. Which we should advise her to do. But I also don't believe we should tip our hand and let Konoha know that she isn't here. She knows how to go to ground.
"That being said, even if her bounty is paid, they will still attempt to recapture her. We shouldn't pay it. But, their hosting of the exams holds appeal. It saves money. We could use that money to invest in our civilian staff and renovate the ANBU headquarters. Our reputation has been secure and stable since the second shinobi war. The daimyo of the Land of Lightning is our steadfast ally. We're large enough to sustain ourselves and our own missions. Waiting another twenty-seven years to host the exams will not damage us."
Ay nodded his head in agreement. "I agree with your assessment. It's fair and frees up budget space. Konoha can't fight against us without an international incident either. They would have to admit that their shinobi are less than competent. Alright. Mabui, write it up."
"Right away, Raikage-sama," Mabui said, leaving the room with a stack of notes in hand.
"Not you, Darui," Ay said as Darui tried to leave.
"Raikage-sama?"
"I know Mina was important to you."
"I'll do. I—"
Ay nodded for him to continue.
"I want to build a Kumo she wants to come home to. One that our ten-year-old selves would be proud of."
Ay stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I see. Be sure to hold the right motivations. Dismissed."
Darui put a fist over his chest and bowed.
Eastern Forests of the Land of Fire
Kakashi felt the pull on the pack summons link and hid a secret smile, Mina was finally calling on the pack. The smile faded as soon as he looked back at Team Seven's drunkard client. Clients lied all the time; it was practically a requirement when enlisting shinobi help. This one, however, bothered him. There was far more to the lie than normal.
Days passed in silence on the road. Well, he wished it were silent in any case. He had never heard more bickering in his entire lifetime than he had in the past week. Though he supposed that also was a lie; he and Obito had bickered all the time when they were their age.
New chakra signatures appeared at the edge of his periphery, and he opened the top of his mask. Bisuke and Uhei were perhaps a quarter of a mile out. A small smile crossed his face. Mina was with them. He breathed in again, the faint scent of lavender and ozone before dropping his mask back into place.
The three genin went rigid, dropping like flies with glassy-eyed stares as Mina jumped in from the trees. Their client lay in a heap beneath a rotted oak. She appeared healthier than the last time he saw her. Her cheeks had a rosy tint from a slight sunburn. Coming down from the autumnal mountains would do that, he supposed. She had covered her silver hair with a dark floral scarf, reminiscent of the kind their mother used to wear to protect her own curls. He vaguely wondered if it was a conscious decision or not. More than anything, she appeared strong. Steady on her feet with the slightly arrogant stance of one who is used to commanding others.
"They're in a dream genjutsu. I…use it in the field for injured shinobi…" Mina started, holding her hands up.
"Mina," Kakashi greeted quietly, barely registering the kunai in his hand. He stiffened when she threw her arms around him.
Burrowing her nose against the side of his neck, she whispered, "Nii-san."
Thirteen years of repressed emotion came flooding to the surface. The kunai in his hand clattered in the dirt below. His face felt far too hot, ripping down his mask from his face, he nuzzled the side of her hair. Heart pounding in his chest, he buried her so tightly in his arms he could practically feel her ribs crack.
An eternity devoid of 'I love you's,' 'Welcome home,' and 'I'm proud of you,' flowed between them in the space of an instant, spanning the gap the long years had left. For a moment, everything else slipped away, nothing was more important than his baby sister, whole in his arms.
"I remember. Everything," she sniffled, her nose cold against the side of his bare neck.
"That's good."
"I'm sorry it took me so long…"
"Shh," he soothed, stroking the back of her head. "I'll always love you, imouto. The most important job I will ever have in my life is loving you. Making sure you're taken care of."
"I love you too. Even when I forgot, I could feel you reaching out to me in my dreams. You were always there."
A tear slipped down his cheek, saturating the silk scarf below. His collar was soaked by the time they finally pulled apart. She gave a small tug on his jounin vest, resetting the wrinkles their embrace had caused.
"Look at you, jounin-sensei and everything," she teased through a watery laugh.
Rolling his eye, he tucked a stray curl back under the scarf. "The Raikage's personal medic, right? That's no small achievement."
Mina huffed, and walked over to the genin on the ground. "Not like Kumo has all that many competent medics to begin with. I'm sure in Konoha I would be middling, at best."
"I doubt that, you're a Hatake."
"Sorry about your genin. Didn't want to give away my identity."
As if on cue, Sasuke moaned on the ground, his hand twitching. He sat up, shaking his head to clear it, blinking against the tree-filtered sunlight.
"Ah, they could use the extra training. Looks like Sasuke figured it out first."
Kakashi pushed chakra through their client, the man continued to lay on the ground, moaning with his hand on his head. Glancing over for a moment at the client, Mina turned her attention back to Sakura. The girl sat up, covering her eyes with the heels of her hands.
"Ne, Kakashi, make them drink some water, that should clear the worst of the headache."
Naruto was last, shooting up into a seated position with a confused look on his face. He squinted, blinking harshly, looking over at Sasuke. Sasuke was stumbling to his teammate, holding onto the bark of the trees for balance.
"Wait a second! We know you!" Naruto exclaimed, bounding to his feet, pointing his finger in her direction.
Sasuke slapped the back of Naruto's head, squinting in Mina's direction. "Dobe, she's the one that robbed that scroll from us a few months ago."
"You can't harm our client!" Sakura said, her hand shifting to her kunai pouch.
Mina smiled and patted the top of Sakura's head. "Name's Mina. I like your enthusiasm, kid. Word to the wise, though, don't make any ostentatious moves. You want to be subtle."
With a flick of her wrist, she knocked the two shuriken out of Sasuke's hand before he could fully remove them from his kunai pouch.
"Like so. You see, he was not subtle. I could see that move a mile away. You should all drink some water, you were in a medical grade genjutsu for five minutes. It'll help relieve your headaches," Mina said kindly.
Sasuke scowled, retrieving the two shuriken on the ground.
"Now, who saw me move?" Mina goaded.
Kakashi closed his eyes; he felt like he was ten again. Two starry-eyed five-year-olds in front of him ready to train with live kunai for the first time.
"Now, which one of you saw me move?" he had asked Mina and Shisui.
He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present.
Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, answer her. Free training from foreign shinobi is rare. You should take advantage," he encouraged.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Kakashi could only imagine how many times he had played this particular game with his brother and cousins. Naruto raised a hesitant hand. Sakura stood up, placing her hands on her hips.
"Good job, blondie. Ya know, you remind me of someone—"
Kakashi gave a subtle shake of his head. A sense of relief passed through him when she rolled her eyes at him, albeit with a furrowed brow.
"Fine. You just look a lot like my brother's sensei."
A kunai landed in the dirt near Sakura's foot.
"Who saw that one?"
Sasuke raised his hand that time. Mina turned to him with her hands on her hips.
"Then why didn't you counter it?"
The thirteen-year-old's face turned red.
"I'm a jounin kunoichi from Kumo. You are a thirteen-year-old genin from Konoha. Though I've been friendly thus far, you have no guarantee that I won't attack your squad at any moment."
Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the tree line.
"She's right," Kakashi conceded, holding his hand out as an indication to continue walking. "How long are you going to be with us?"
"Thought I might tag along for a minute. Don't have much else going on."
He raised an eyebrow, fixing her with a hard stare. She waited for the group to pass and fell into stride alongside him.
Using a halting code from the Third Shinobi War, she added, "I'm not here under orders. I…as soon as my memory returned I wanted to see you."
"You went rogue?" he fluently signed back.
She shrugged. Speaking aloud she said, "That's not quite the way I'd put it. Plus, I know a little about a lot. I could be helpful, ya know. It's always good to have a competent medic in the field."
Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "It's a C-rank mission."
Naruto turned around and asked, "Put what?"
"Why I'm here. Your sensei is concerned about my presence. I swear, on my honor as a jounin of Kumogakure no Sato that I will not harm this genin team and will render aid if I am able."
"Alright, Mina. You can tag along," Kakashi finally said, holding out his hand.
He took her hand, and pulled her close, throwing his spare arm around her. Her chakra tingled against his skin. He allowed his smile to show this time.
"You've become a talented kunoichi," he whispered in her ear. "I'm proud of you."
She nodded against his shoulder. He rubbed the bridge of his nose against her cheek before letting go.
Sakura's nose was wrinkled. "That was weird."
Sasuke raised a brow as he stared at the two. "How do you two know each other, exactly?"
Mina raised her hands. "State secret. Your sensei knows a lot of people, I'm sure."
The girl adjusted the straps of her backpack, turning back around with a furrowed brow. Sasuke lingered behind, his fist beneath his chin in thought.
"So, where are we headed?" Mina chirped, spinning a kunai around her index finger.
"The Land of Waves," Kakashi answered with his hands in his pockets.
With every soft whoosh of the kunai as it made a pass around her finger, the smell of soft clove oil drifted in the air. He shook his head. When there was finally a lull in the soft conversation hours later, Kakashi brought it up. "Still using clove polish?"
Mina shrugged carelessly. "I'm a medic. Poisoned kunai are my jam."
"Jam?"
She nodded seriously. "My jam. Yeah. My gig. My thing. My choice of weapon."
He shook his head again and bumped her shoulder with his. "I can smell that from a mile away."
Under her breath, she grumbled, "Yeah, you could. But it's fast acting enough it wouldn't matter to most."
He put a hand on her shoulder, reveling in her closeness and warmth. "I believe you."
She shook her head. "Sorry, I'm being an ass. It's been a long couple weeks."
The trees passed by, one blurring into the other. They began to thin out the closer they came to the coast. Small sandbars dotted the road, dry underneath the warm sun. A small puddle lay in the middle of the road, with perfectly round edges. Mina looked up at him and cocked her head to the side, reminding him far too much of Bisuke on a hot summer day.
"You gonna do anything about that?" she asked.
Kakashi shook his head, looking back at his genin team. "No. Object lesson."
Mina grunted in response. She slowly prepared to move behind the formation. "Your genin, I 'spose."
Kakashi inclined his head.
"What are you talking about, Sensei?" Sakura asked as they continued walking. She carefully skirted around the puddle.
Mina kept behind the formation. The next time Kakashi glanced behind, she had already melted into the trees—a medic's caution. He caught himself smiling for the tenth time that day.
Barbed chains spouted out of the puddle, surrounding Kakashi. He almost rolled his eyes at their predictability. The moment the puddle moved, he performed the substitution jutsu. He could feel Mina's stare on the back of his neck as he perched in a tree and watched as his genin team tried to protect their client. The two Kiri chuunin weren't after his team, he noticed. Their sole attention was devoted to ending their drunk client.
He layered genjutsu below as his shadow clone was torn apart by the studded chains. The branch creaked as Mina silently jumped next to him.
She elbowed him hard in the gut as if to say, 'Don't do that again.' He held her hand in his as she nuzzled the side of his shoulder. With a quick squeeze of her hand, he flashed over and stopped the Kiri-nin before they could harm Sakura. A body fell behind him, the bitter smell of electricity filling the air as he incapacitated the second.
He smiled at his team, his eye crinkling. "Hi."
Sakura threw her arms around his waist. "Kaka-sensei! You're okay!"
Kakashi patted her head. "Good job, Sakura, Sasuke. You did well. You both immediately jumped into action to defend our client." With a lazy glance at Naruto he added, "Naruto, you froze up."
Mina strolled past Kakashi, and raised Naruto's hand into the air to examine it. "Smells like poison. This is going to be unpleasant, kid." She briefly looked up at Kakashi for permission and continued at his slight nod. "Hey you, Grumpy, come assist."
Sasuke scoffed and trudged in her direction. Kakashi kept an amused eye on the proceedings as he lashed the Kiri-nin against a large Hashirama tree.
"Cup your hands. Yeah. Like that." She poured a small puddle of water into Sasuke's hands and manipulated it into Naruto's open wound. Naruto cried out briefly as Mina pushed the water into his veins, pulling it back out completely, allowing the green-tinted water to drip onto the forest floor.
"Alright. Almost done," she mumbled, sealing the skin with medical ninjutsu. "There. Good as new. You'd be a good medic, grumpy," she added with a smirk. Sasuke rolled his eyes, hiding his pinkened cheeks. He opened his hands, releasing the remaining water.
Naruto opened and closed his mouth. Red spread along his cheeks to the tips of his ears.
"I'm always so useless! I did NOTHING! While Sasuke and Sakura they—they immediately jumped into action. I worked so hard to get here, to become a genin. Trained alone for hours in my apartment. Just to get stronger to reach my dream. I will never back down again!"
Taking a kunai, he jabbed it into his healed hand.
Mina groaned, slapping her hand over her face. "Seriously, kid? I just healed that!"
"Upon this wound, I make this pledge! Dattebayo! Bridge builder, I will complete this mission, and protect you with this kunai knife."
Kakashi crinkled his eye in the false promise of a smile. "Naruto, that was cool and all how you stabbed your own hand, but maybe you want to let the medic dress it before you bleed out?"
Naruto's face went comically blank, he threw the knife onto the ground in a panic, screaming in pain. He hopped around on one foot then the other. Mina snatched a hold of his bleeding hand, keeping him in place as he shifted his weight from one foot to another. Her shoulders bunched up to her ears as he howled.
"Holy crap, shut him up, Grumpy."
"Gladly," Sasuke said, slapping a hand over Naruto's mouth.
"In Kumo, we have a saying, those who injure themselves must live with it. I'll wrap this up, but it's gonna have to heal naturally. Got it?"
Naruto winced as she roughly pressed gauze over his wounds. The bleeding slowed, Kakashi noticed the faint gleam of green chakra suffusing the bandages.
"Alright, that about does it. Did you see how I did that?" Mina asked Sasuke who was peering over Naruto's shoulder curiously. "You always want the end of any hand bandage to be wound nice and tight like this, in case your patient needs to perform hand signs."
Sasuke nodded, carefully inspecting the bandage on Naruto's hand.
By the time the three of them walked over, the Kiri-nin were coming-to. Kakashi crouched and let out just enough menace to intimidate them, keeping them compliant for his impromptu interrogation. As compliant as he could make them with three fresh genin, anyway. Sakura was tense by his side at the change of atmosphere. Their client quaked behind them, leaning over with his hands on his knees in the shadow of an oak. The drunk toed carefully in the sand bar, moving further away from Mina and closer to Kakashi.
"Best back up," she warned when he got too close to her brother.
The old man backed up with his hands in the air, tripping on a root and landing on his back.
Kakashi remained crouching, turning his head to their client. "In your contract, you requested standard protection from highwaymen, robbers, and the like. You did not mention that you were on the run from shinobi. If you had done that, the mission would have been graded higher, given to more experienced shinobi. Not a genin team."
Sakura put her hands over her heart and looked around worriedly at everyone.
A crow cawed overhead. Mina threw a kunai in its direction, the metal glinting in the fading sunlight. As it scattered to the air, black feathers floated to the forest floor from the branch. Sasuke deigned to give a fleeting look at where she had thrown the kunai and rolled his eyes.
"It's just my brother's summons. He always keeps tabs," Sasuke groused with a shrug. "He worries a lot."
"Good brothers tend to do that," Mina said quietly. "Mine always did. I always knew my brother loved me because he always tried to keep me safe. Always watched, trained me when he had the time."
Sasuke shrugged. "He worries too much, him and Shisui both. Shisui's genin teammate died too young, he was always talking about how it destroyed her brother. Guess Nii-san always looked up to the teammate's brother growing up. He was scared it would happen to me too."
Kakashi's shoulders tensed. A shadow fell over his face and he glanced away from the Kiri-nin.
"Tazuna, right?" Mina asked the client, easily changing the subject and drawing attention away from Kakashi. "Why're shinobi after you?"
"I—"
Kakashi fixed him with an intimidating glare and stood up. "I would also like to know."
Mina rolled her eyes as the apparent bridge builder fed Team Seven a sob story about how his community desperately needed the bridge and how nothing would stop him. Kakashi was sorely tempted to do the same as the man pled his case. The genin seemed to fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.
Kakashi wanted to smack his forehead with his palm. 'Add recognizing manipulation techniques to the curriculum,' he thought.
"We should head back," Sakura said quietly.
Mina scoffed. "Say it with your chest, girly. Males don't listen unless you make them."
Sakura straightened her shoulders, still twiddling her fingers together, and repeated herself louder, "We should head back."
"Better," Mina muttered.
Sakura continued, "We're a genin team, we're not trained to handle a threat from other shinobi."
"We have two jounin with us," Sasuke argued.
Mina coughed and hid a smile behind her hand. "Remember, I'm not a Konoha-nin. I could very well bail the moment there's trouble."
"I'm not running from a threat! I'm the future Hokage, dattebayo!"
Kakashi shot Mina a warning look when her lip twitched from suppressed laughter. Though he looked like Minato, it was clear he was Kushina's son. Every moment he spent with Naruto made it more apparent than ever. Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and looked back at the Kiri-nin.
"ANBU patrol should be around to pick them up."
Mina rubbed the back of her neck. "They travel in fours? Wear animal masks?"
"Yes," Kakashi drawled.
She shrugged haphazardly. "Oops." Waving her hands frantically in front of her she added, "But they're alive. I promise. Or they were at dawn."
"Of course, you would," he muttered under his breath. He scrubbed a rough hand over his face, briefly adjusting the edges of his mask. "Itachi knows what happened here, by now. He'll have someone sent out shortly. In the meantime, we will continue to guard you, Tazuna. However, cross me again, and Kiri-nin will be the least of your problems."
Tazuna nodded. "I understand. I won't be trouble, I promise."
AN: Thank you for reading! Parts of this chapter were re-written like 5 times. How'd you guys feel about Kakashi and Mina's relationship? Any thoughts on team 7? I really hope Mina comes across as wanting to impress her brother. Kind of a 'Nii-san! Pick me! Pick me! I can go too!' kind of attitude.
Also; Ch. 5 was completely re-written. Instead of Darui negotiating for Mina's release, he just breaks her out. Very romantic...and less plot-holey.
Beta'ed by: Cherryberry12