Dark crept into the forest, elongating the shadows and emboldening the biting insects. Kakashi could hear the scratching from across the campsite. Bisuke cuddled into Mina's side. She reclined against the trunk of an oak. Sand stuck to the bottom of her black pants and bare feet. Uhei already bedded down on her sleeping bag behind her. A mug steamed in Kakashi's hand as he handed it to her. Inhaling deeply, she smiled in gratitude.

"Same brand you bought when we were kids," she whispered when he sat down next to her. Her voice brushed over him like a warm security blanket he didn't know he needed.

He gave a noncommittal shrug. "I like what I like." Poking the fire with a stick, he exhaled sharply. "Why are you really here?"

She took a long drink from the warm mug and passed it back to him. "My memory returned in your presence. Actually, your chakra inadvertently broke the Sandaime's seal, and it, ah… put me in a small coma for a bit," she offered a humorless laugh. "I…I thought I knew my village. I was wrong. And then, just when I thought I could live with it and move on for the sake of my village, I asked a friend to compile information about you."

He grunted, banking the coals in the sandbar. "It wasn't complimentary, was it?"

A grimace crossed her face. She reached into her bag and yanked out a flask. Kakashi chuckled when she flipped the lid open. Aromatic whisky floated over the air, and he pulled down his mask to enjoy the fragrance. It smelled almost exactly like what their father drank. After taking a long drink, she passed the bottle over to him.

Taking a small sip, he passed it back.

She refused to take it, pressing it into his hand. "Nah uh, medic's orders for heavy conversations. Drink up."

He rolled his eye in response, dutifully obeying all the same.

"It wasn't complimentary in the least. One of our genin teams saw you eating a raw deer heart."

Whisky spewed into the fire, releasing pops and sparks into the air.

Mina smothered a laugh with her hand while Kakashi's shoulders shook.

"I take it that's incorrect?"

The dry look he gave her made her break into peals of barely contained laughter.

"Right. On a serious note." She pulled out the picture she had saved from the folder and passed it over to him.

His face fell as he looked at the picture of him. It had been taken in the spring. He was perhaps eighteen, still in pain and mourning the loss of his sensei. Though, when had he ever stopped? His chidori was through an Iwa-nin's chest. How Kumo obtained the picture, he couldn't imagine.

Mina took the picture back from him and tucked it away into the side of her bag. "That was the deciding factor."

She untied the headscarf and carefully folded it. Silver curls bounded down her head, released from their confines. Kakashi captured one of the ringlets between his fingers and gave it a light tug, watching as it bounced back, like he had when they were children. Bisuke jumped off her lap with a glare at the sudden movement then trotted over to her sleeping bag.

All humor left her tone as she quietly added, "You're my brother, Kakashi. Pack. Family. You always will be. No matter what you've done."

He put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest. The mussed curls tickled his nose as he squeezed her. He was vaguely aware that tears were running down his face. She smelled so familiar yet different at the same time. Far too much scented hair product for his comfort, but his baby sister was a grown woman now. One who knew her mind well enough to come to find him. He tugged again on one of the silver curls, watching as it bounced back in the firelight.

His cheek was on the top of her head now. She could feel the wet tears drip onto her head. He was sniffing her hair every now and then. If she thought anything of it, she said nothing.

"I love you, nii-san," she whispered, squeezing him tighter. He felt her embrace glue the remains of his shattered heart back together.

"I love you too, imouto," he replied, laying a soft kiss on the top of her head. "I love you too. I'm sorry—"

"No. Let the past lie. You couldn't have done anything anymore than I could have."

Wind blew through the trees, kicking the flames of the fire into the air.

Mina sniffled, wiping her own tears on the inside of her shirt sleeve. "I want to know about your life."

"Ah, mine?"

"Yes, yours, Mr. Taciturn," she joked, wiping her face one more time. She let go of him and bumped his shoulder with hers.

"Well. I still like eggplant miso. I still like reading."

"Oh yeah? What do you like to read."

A hot blush crossed his cheeks, spreading to the tips of his ears. "I uh. Well."

Mina smirked at him. "Come on, what do you read?"

"Icha-Icha," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard that right," Mina teased with a wide grin.

He glared at her. "That trick might work with others, but I am your brother, you hear just as well as I do."

She raised her hands in surrender. "They're not bad books."

"Wait, you read 'Icha-Icha'?" he asked doubtfully.

"So surprised?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I guess I shouldn't be," he groused. "You shouldn't be reading them, they're inappropriate for you."

Mina rolled her eyes at him. "I read a lot of books. The Icha-Icha series are just a few of them. I think I got that from you, actually. You were always reading something."

"Kaa-san. We got it from kaa-san," Kakashi corrected. "She used to read to us all the time, before, ah well…" He poked the dying coals.

"That's one thing I can't remember. How did she die?"

Scrubbing his hand over his face, Kakashi was silent for a moment. The crickets chirped from the forest. Small fireflies lit up the dark night as though it were the middle of June and not early November.

"Kaa-san was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You were maybe a year old? I had just started my apprenticeship with Minato-sensei. She…" He exhaled roughly, letting the fire die completely, concealing the area in darkness but for the glowing embers. "She had this habit of taking care of everyone. Some of tou-san's squad were in charge of manning the gates that day. She wanted to bring them lunch."

Mina took his gloved hand in hers and squeezed tightly.

"She had dressed you up and everything. You looked so cute in your little stroller with your strawberry hat. I think I have the pictures somewhere…"

"Kakashi," Mina interrupted gently.

"Ah, well she made it to the gate. Parked you in the stroller in the shade underneath a Hashirama tree just inside the gate. Tou-san's squad had stepped out of the barrier, and she walked out to deliver their lunch. Retired chuunin and her ninken—so I'm sure she didn't think much of it."

Kakashi exhaled quickly, and Mina laid her head back on his shoulder.

"They found her body maybe an hour after she was killed. You were screaming your head off by that point because of the heat. Kushina Uzumaki found you. She was called down to assist with the barrier seals."

"Did they find out who did it?"

"Yeah. Kumo-nin."

Mina was taken aback. Her eyes blinked in incredulity and shook her head. "Kumo doesn't target civilians. It's against the law. Shinobi have been thrown in the North Sea Prison for less."

"Kumo shinobi were seen in the area that day. Kumo shinobi signed in and out of our village. There weren't any other suspects," Kakashi practically growled.

"You mean, none that were considered."

"As I said, I was six. I'm inclined to believe the reports about the village that kidnapped my sister."

Mina scrubbed a rough hand over her face. "I'm getting some sleep. Wake me for watch. I don't trust my life to baby genin."

Kakashi frowned. "Mina, I—"

She waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Difference of opinion. I just… I asked. That's my fault."

He could hear her as she exhaled near the sleeping bag, nudging Uhei with her toe. He grumbled, scooting over to the corner.

"You too, Bisuke," she groused, holding open the cover. He had monopolized the inside center beneath the downy blankets. Rolling over on his side, he gave her scant space to slip in next to him.

Kakashi hid a smile. Some dogs never changed. People too.

Dawn was peeping through the trees by the time Kakashi woke up. He rubbed his eyes groggily. Bacon popped over a pan on the campsite fireplace. Running his hand over his face, he gingerly stretched, moving his chakra through his body. They would be heading into deeper danger today, no doubt. Especially if this businessman was as intent on killing the bridge builder as the man claimed.

"Morning," Mina greeted from the campfire. "I made coffee, bacon, eggs."

"Where'd you get eggs?" Kakashi asked, quirking his eyebrow.

"Storage seal?" Mina replied jokingly. "Just kidding. There's a farm down the road, the farmer had started setting up his egg stand when I was patrolling. I bought two dozen. Figured your kids probably have an appetite. I remember when Darui was this age. He'd go through a dozen eggs by himself and still claim to be hungry. S was always a good sport about it, just made extra food when he came to visit."

Kakashi quirked his eyebrow again.

Mina continued, pouring the coffee into Kakashi's canteen. "Well, I really think half the time he was just competing with C. Oh, C's a medic, by the way, like me. He's the same age as Darui, though. A year older."

Kakashi remained silent, willing her to continue. The tightness in his chest eased slightly hearing that his sister had friends. That she was taken care of in Kumo. Fed, at the very least. All too often he heard stories about how Iwa-nin allowed their genin to starve in the name of training. Since hearing she was in Kumo, he couldn't help but pray they had a gentler training program.

"And you're dating C?" Kakashi asked mildly when she fell into silence, flipping the bacon on the pan.

"What? Oh, no. We are…were…co-department heads of the ED. I love him, he's a good friend. But no, we're not dating. We'd kill each other, he has OCD and I'm a bit of a slob. I'm not even sure if he'd like living with Darui, and Darui is neat."

Kakashi furrowed his brow and took a long drink of the hot coffee. There was stirring from the other side of the campsite.

"So do you still live with this S? You said he was your guardian when you were younger, right?"

Mina cocked her head toward him, carefully setting down the cooking utensils. She raised a finger to signal Kakashi to wait. Pulling out her headscarf, she carefully concealed her hair. It wouldn't do for the genin to return home reporting that Kakashi let a silver-haired woman join them on their mission.

"Ah, no. S died from a heart attack about five years ago. Kumo's different from Konoha. The village pays for our living accommodations. Genin live in a barracks, chuunin share apartments. Jounin are assigned an apartment with their mission partner, or they can opt to live solo in a studio apartment. I live with Darui. He was my roommate when we were chuunin too. Bunkmate when we were genin."

"So you're dating Darui then?"

"Ah, again, no. I don't really date. Not in the sense that you think of. In Konoha, you think dating is tantamount to courtship, a prerequisite before reaching marriage. In Kumo, we don't believe in possessing a single person. Doing so only breeds jealousy and resentment. Instead, free love is preferred. It builds stronger teams, a stronger village. Monogamy happens, but it's rare."

Kakashi's grip tightened around the canteen and he looked to the ground. Swallowing hard, he voiced the question he knew he would hate hearing the answer for. "Do you live like most Kumo-nin, then? Loosely?"

Mina barked a laugh, scooping the bacon out of the pan and plating it. "Are you trying to ask me if I sleep around, nii-san?"

His cheeks heated above his mask, and he quickly looked away.

"I have a few lovers. Only one that's steady."

"I see," Kakashi said quietly, his appetite quickly diminishing. That was certainly not the lifestyle he had envisioned for her nor one she was born to.

A sleeping bag was flung open. Naruto popped up excitedly. "Is that bacon?"

"Yup!" Mina chirped. "And eggs. I made you four a piece."

Sasuke sat up and rubbed his eyes groggily. He threw a pebble at Naruto's head. "Dobe, I was still sleeping."

Sakura opened her sleeping bag and walked into the forest to freshen up.

"Have some food, Grumpy," Mina chided, handing Sasuke a plate of food. She held up the small carafe of coffee and offered him some. He shook his head to decline. "You too, Blondie, eat up. You look skinny."

Sakura returned from the woods. While she was rolling up her bag, Mina offered her a plate of food.

"Oh, no thank you. I don't eat breakfast," she said.

Mina quirked her eyebrow, and Kakashi almost laughed. She looked far too much like their father when someone refused his food.

"And why not? You're a growing kunoichi."

"I'm on a diet."

Red crept up the back of Mina's neck. Her words came out as a bite. "Sit down and eat. We'll talk about your expectations as a kunoichi on the road. Kakashi, you seriously let your genin starve themselves?"

Sakura turned cherry red, complying all the same.

Mina trudged into the woods, her hands in the air, muttering, "Damn these kids, risking everyone's life for fashion."

Kakashi put his fist over his masked mouth to stifle his laughter. Kushina had long repeated a similar sentiment when Mina was young. 'We'll talk about your expectations as a kunoichi…' was the preface to many a monologue that would be relayed when Kakashi returned home. 'I refuse to take an underfed genin,' was pure Tsume Inuzuka. In the two missions he had joined Shisui and Tsume on, Tsume refused to start with empty stomachs. Even though Shisui and Kakashi both technically outranked her nowadays, she still demanded they eat first.

By the time the genin were finished eating, Tazuna had begun to stir. Breakfast finished, and the two boys washed up the dirty dishes and carefully repacked them.

"Are we worried about being tracked?" Mina asked, gesturing pointedly at the ashes in the center of the now packed camp.

"This is a common stopping place for Konoha ANBU patrols. We'll leave the stones for their next patrol to enjoy."

Mina nodded at him, burying the ashes deep in the earth with a quick jutsu.

"Woah! Kakashi-sensei has a jutsu like that," Naruto commented, clipping his sleeping bag to the bottom of his backpack.

"It's a common jutsu," Mina said with a shrug.

"You used lightning jutsu yesterday," Sasuke added, raising his brow.

Mina put her fists on her hips. "I'm from Kumo. Of course, I used lightning jutsu. That's like saying shinobi in the Land of Fire use fire jutsu. It's the most common element here."

Sakura raised her finger as though she was going to interject. Instead, shifting it between Kakashi and Mina as they stood beside each other.

"You have the same eyes."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Well, now, that's just insulting. I'm clearly better looking."

Sasuke squinted at them. "You do look awfully similar."

"Coincidence."

Kakashi shook his head. "And, we're on the move. We should reach the coast in the next couple hours or so."

"Are you sure you're not related?" Naruto asked, his brow furrowed.

"We're walking," Mina reminded with a tight smile.

As promised, two hours later, they found themselves on the pebble shore of the Land of Fire.

For the first time in two days, Tazuna spoke, "This way, I know a guy that can get us there safely."

Fog was still curling above the gentle waves. A soft current lapped against the stones in a salty brine, bringing the rich seaweed from the sea floor. Tension underlay the fog, the fear of the unknown as Team Seven shook hands with the boat owner and climbed aboard. They were silent for most of the half-hour crossing until they reached the half-finished bridge.

"Tell me the truth, why are shinobi trying to kill you?" Kakashi asked darkly.

Tazuna swallowed harshly. "This entire island is controlled by one man: Gato."

Mina blinked, fixing Tazuna with a critical stare. "The shipping magnate?"

"The same. The Land of Waves is an impoverished nation with very little money. A year ago, Gato began to monopolize the boats that were used to cross the sea to the Land of Fire. After a time, he completely took over using gangs and shinobi. He's sucking the life out of our economy. Our markets are bare except for what he allows to get through."

Sakura interrupted, "That's why you're building a bridge."

Tazuna nodded. "As soon as we finish the bridge, we will be able to export and import supplies more easily."

"And you expect a team of baby-faced genin to what? Protect you and your crew while you finish the bridge?" Mina asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Against gangs and shinobi?"

"That's the gist of it, yes. Of course, you could just let me die. My daughter will mourn me, cursing Konoha ninja—"

Without warning, Mina held a kunai to Tazuna's throat. He swallowed harshly, the movement nicking his skin. "Or I could just kill you now, spare this lot the trouble. I'm a nuke-nin. Sure, Kakashi might be a bit miffed at me, but your life isn't more valuable than Kakashi's or these kids'."

Kakashi raised his hand. "Enough, Kaminari," he commanded in the deep pack alpha voice he seldom used. He could tell it bristled her, her eyes narrowed at him.

She withdrew her blade and returned it to her kunai pouch. Tapping furiously on the side of the boat, she signed, "Ditch him. He's going to be nothing but trouble for your genin."

Kakashi shook his head and responded aloud, "You're right, they are my genin. We'll take a vote. All in favor of accompanying Tazuna until the bridge is complete?"

Three hands shot up in the air. Tazuna timidly raised his own.

Mina rolled her eyes. "I'm just along for the ride, I 'spose," she muttered. Looking back at Kakashi, she added, "I'm not healing them if you let them get too injured. You know damn well you're walking into a trap."

"Understood." He had hoped smiling at her would ease the tension, but she simply glared at him.

The boat reached the sandy shore, pulling in silently. The fog had begun to clear up by the time they made it to the mangrove forest surrounding the town. Sand scraped along the bottom of the boat as the team hopped out and helped store it until the next tide.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn't meant to order his sister around. He wanted her to stay, even though he knew that was not possible. He wanted to treasure the small amount of time they had together.
"So, Darcy's your mission partner?" he asked awkwardly, trying to mend the silence.

"Darui," Mina replied cautiously, moving to Kakashi's left side.

"Ah. The one who took you from Konoha?"

"The one who rescued me from Ibiki's torture chamber, yes."

He let go a long sigh and scrubbed his hand over his face. Rin was always better at these heart-to-hearts. Gods, he wished she were here. She would know exactly what to say and how to say it.

"Do you love each other?" he asked gingerly, hoping that bringing up another loved one would fix his predicament. Mina gave him a cold stare. He wondered why that was the wrong question to ask, it seemed innocuous enough. "Okay, fine. I'm just trying to find out more about your life."

Mina rolled her eyes and bumped her shoulder against his. "Of course, we lived together. We have four, no, maybe five children? Big strong strapping boys." She turned around and smirked at him this time, carefully watching for his reaction. "That's just between the two of us, he might have more somewhere. You know how men are. Of course, we don't raise them ourselves, they live in the village child care center so we can continue mission work. I forget their names half the time, to be honest. I think one's name is K."

Kakashi stood stock-still. His heart pounded in his chest at her admission. "You're only twenty-one…" he whispered. "Five Hatake children…"

"Shit," Mina said, shoving Kakashi down as Naruto threw a kunai into a nearby bush. They waited on the ground with bated breath. When nothing happened, Mina jumped up and grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his neck. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

"I thought I saw something!" Naruto protested, squirming in her firm grip.

"You don't make your team panic! Panic leads to mistakes! Mistakes cost lives in our line of work!"

Sakura cried out, grabbing Kakashi's shirt sleeve, "Sensei, do something!"

Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pocket. "She's right. Naruto overcorrected his earlier behavior. Instead of freezing, he's overreacting."

Mina released Naruto's collar, letting him fall back to the ground. Kakashi opened the top of his mask, scenting the air, when Mina looked back at him. Their hunters were already here.

There was a whoosh behind them. "Get down!" Kakashi yelled, hitting the ground, protectively tugging Sakura under his body.

Mina a white-knuckled fist on the collars of the boys' shirts. Sasuke had dragged Tazuna down with an iron grip on the old man's wrist.

There was a heavy thunk in a tree forty feet away from them. Kakashi jumped to his feet, Mina following suit.

"Get your client, kid," she muttered to Sasuke. "Keep him between the two of you."

Sasuke gave a curt nod, tugging a kunai out of his pouch.

"Kakashi Hatake," the tall shinobi greeted, perched on top of his oversized sword.

"Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi returned. He gave a quick glance behind him. Sakura's small hand was trembling against his back. The two boys were behind Mina, Tazuna between them. He could feel Mina's chakra coil, ready to strike at a moment's notice. One medic. Three genin. One civilian. He breathed out and pulled up the hitai-ate that hid Obito's eye.

"And Mina of Kumogakure. Great. Now that we're all acquainted, why don't you beat it, Kiri." Mina yanked her headscarf off and shoved it into her pocket.

Silk and electricity never mixed well. Kakashi had learned that lesson once when a friend gifted him a silk hitai-ate.

"I'm flattered you deem me a credible enough threat to reveal your sharingan," Zabuza said. "Hand over the bridge builder, and I'll let your team go."

Shouting, Mina drowned out his voice, "You raising money for the rebellion?"

Zabuza stiffened in response.

"Thought so," Mina mumbled. She yelled up to Zabuza, "Are you part of Mei Terumi's faction?"

"Who wants to know?" Zabuza said cautiously. His eyes narrowed as he crouched on the tree branch.

"Mina of Kumogakure, head medic, personal medic of the Raikage. Mission partner to the future Raikage, Darui of Kumogakure."

"Prove it."

"The last bingo book we got out of Kirigakure had me as a brunette named Kanna the medic. It was listed as partnered with Darui of Kumogakure. We broke a few people out of Yagura's prison a few years back."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes at her, carefully trying to place her features. Kakashi's heart raced in his chest when Zabuza's eyes widened in recognition.

'Please dear gods, don't let her be internationally renowned,' Kakashi silently prayed. He had lived far too long with his own bijuu-sized target on his back.

He yelled down from his perch, "If I am?"

"Come down here, and we'll talk, like civilized people!"

Zabuza hesitated for a moment. He glanced at the tree line with a barely perceptible nod in the shadows.

Kakashi hissed at Mina, "What rebellion?"

"Quiet, the grownups are talking," Mina baited. "You wanted to resort to violence. I don't; not with this many liabilities. The Raikage has been waiting for this opportunity for years. He won't pass it up, no matter how he feels about me personally."

Zabuza jumped down from the tree, his sword in tow, hand carefully on the hilt. Kakashi's heart felt like it was beating out of his chest when he heard his sister's footsteps behind him. There was a disruption in the air as Zabuza pulsed his chakra, carefully checking for genjutsu.

Kakashi stuck his arm out the moment Mina tried to pass him to get closer to Zabuza. He yanked the back of her arm in a vise grip, keeping her from moving closer to the enemy.

Continuing to keep his voice low, he added, "That is the former head of the Kiri assassination unit. He could kill you in an instant and not feel any remorse."

Lightning danced along his palm from Mina's arm, accompanied by her harsh glare.

"Don't presume to know my abilities anymore. Release me."

Zabuza stabbed the sword into the ground in front of them. "Family spat?" he asked sarcastically.

Mina jerked her arm out of Kakashi's grasp and bounded forward. All too easily, Kakashi could see the four-year-old girl with waist-long curls drowning in the Nakano River. Her hair had barely been visible underneath the water by the time he could reach her. She had overestimated how long her chakra could keep her on top of the surface, despite his warning. Precious seconds passed before he realized she'd lost consciousness from chakra exhaustion and wasn't playing a game.

The swift current of the Nakano had been unforgiving as it tried to claim its victim. Kakashi had used all of his strength to keep his hand around her wrist, fighting the current to keep her above water. She thought she knew better then, too.

"The Raikage of Kumogakure has been kept abreast of the civil war. He expressed an interest in supporting Mei Terumi's claims of legitimacy."

Zabuza leaned against the hilt of his sword. "Why would the Raikage care?"

"Kirigakure is our closest neighbor. Instability for you means bad business for us. The position of Mizukage was hereditary for generations, even before Hashirama landed on your islands with a notion of a shinobi village. Mei Terumi is the rightful heir to the Mizukage's hat."

A small smile appeared on Zabuza's face, vanishing as quickly as it showed up.

"She is the rightful heir," Zabuza confirmed.

"Glad to hear it. As I said, I'm the Raikage's personal medic, and the Godaime-presumptive's mission partner. That position alone places me on the elite jounin council of Kumogakure. It's a lifetime appointment. If you'd like, I would be willing to assist in brokering a deal for safe transport to the Land of Lightning for further negotiations for your faction."

"We need money, more than that, we need manpower."

"Understood. Respectfully, I would remind you that Kumogakure is the most financially stable of all the shinobi villages. That is to say, our pockets are deep. As to manpower, we have the best training program, as well. The vast majority of our genin are equivalent to many chuunin from other villages."

"I knew that," Zabuza grumbled, stroking his chin in thought. "All right, little Hatake, you have a deal. I want collateral."

"Not a Hatake. Kaminari of Kumogakure," Mina corrected.

"Right, and I'm the Tsuchikage, clearly," Zabuza said. "I want one of the brats until you return. Make sure this deal of yours goes through."

Kakashi's breath caught in his lungs as he glanced at the three fearful genin behind him.

"I accept those terms." She nodded to the tree line and let go of Zabuza's hand. Looking back at the bridge builder, she said, "I assume there's a telegraph operator in town?"

Tazuna quickly nodded. "Excellent. I'll send a coded message to the Raikage. We can wait together for the reply. Does that work for you?"

Zabuza shrugged. "In case this deal of yours goes south, I would prefer to meet you in the forest, alone."

"Done," Mina chirped, pulling her headscarf out of her pocket. "I'll find you after dark."

Kakashi shook his head. "Absolutely not, he's not taking one of my genin."

"Not the boss of me, remember?" She placed a warm hand on Kakashi's. "Trust me. This is the easiest way to prevent bloodshed. Besides, if it would help, Bisuke can go with them. Pick one."

Again shaking his head, Kakashi felt every muscle in his body tighten as he looked into Mina's soft grey eyes.

Dropping her voice low enough so only Kakashi could hear, she whispered, "Nii-san, please. Trust me. Trust in me. Trust in how you raised me. Your genin will be fine, I promise."

He scrubbed a rough hand over his face. "Sasuke, go with Zabuza." Narrowing his eyes he added, "Sasuke is from the prominent Uchiha clan. Itachi Uchiha is his brother. Shisui Uchiha is his first cousin. His father is Fugaku Uchiha. If a single hair is harmed on his head, I have no doubt that they will come after you en masse."

Sasuke nodded, wobbling on shaky legs to the Kiri-nin.

Whispering to Mina, Kakashi added, "I mean it about the Uchiha clan. You don't want to cross them…if this deal sours."

She placed her hands on his shoulders. "It won't sour. I promise."

Backing up, she bit her thumb, summoning Bisuke on the road.

The mutt blinked against the sunlight. "Boss? And Boss?" he asked, peering at all of the somber faces.

Mina knelt down in front of him. "Hey, Bisuke," she greeted, scratching his ear. "You're going to go with Kakashi's genin, Sasuke, here. Make sure there's no funny business on the Kiri-nin's end. I'll be back by dark to retrieve you both. Can you do that?"

Bisuke glanced behind her shoulder at Kakashi. 'Reverse summon yourselves back to me if there's any sign of false play,' Kakashi tried to tell him. Bisuke inclined his head slightly, allowing Kakashi to let out a slow breath.

Kakashi reached out and latched onto her arm again.

"Stop man-handling me," she said lowly. "I don't like being grabbed."

He released her, holding his hands uselessly in the air before shoving them in his pockets.

A teenager appeared from within the forest, his long black hair floated in the wind. He removed a ceramic hunter-nin mask from his face, tying it onto his belt.

"Follow him," Zabuza ordered Sasuke, pointing to the teenager. Sasuke followed the boy on shaky legs as though he were in a trance. "You have until midnight, baby Hatake."

"Understood. And it's Mina of Kumogakure, not a Hatake," Mina said brightly. Her shaking hands behind her back told a different story. Kakashi could only pray that her intuition was right and that the Raikage returned all correspondence quickly.

AN: Thank you for reading! If you have time, please leave a comment.

Beta'ed by: Cherryberry12