Konohagakure no Sato, Hokage Tower Conference Room

The clock on the wall ticked by slowly, though Kakashi willed it to speed up. Casualties on the Konoha side had only numbered in the low hundreds, thank the gods for that, while Suna had lost approximately forty percent of their fighting force in the invasion. Who knew Otogakure's true numbers. The hospital had been destroyed in an explosion of rubble by some Oto-nin. Or Kumo-nin; the reports were unclear.

There was one nurse who reported Kaminari Hatake's kidnapping by a large dark Kumo-nin and his blond genin student. The kidnapping transpired ten minutes before the hospital exploded. Everyone within thirty feet of the emergency department entrance died or was seriously injured. Tragic, of course, though, it did confirm one thing for Kakashi: Obito wanted Kaminari dead. Whether or not he was trying to purposely kill her, or simply was celebrating the circumstances that allowed it to happen, Kakashi wasn't sure. The anger Obito felt after Kaminari's return, then after the Land of Waves, and now, could only make sense if he wanted her dead.

Kakashi wanted to know why. Mina was a girl—no, a woman, who he had known since birth. Obito had helped raise her in the few years that they were teammates before Kannabi happened. He'd watched her train with Rin, helped catch a wayward medical octopus every now and then. One thing that Kakashi did know was the Kumo-nin wanted his sister alive, and unscathed. From what he could tell, the man truly loved her. Or so Bisuke had reported.

That was more than he could say for his present company. It was why he had given her the photograph in the hopes Shisui's kotoamatsukami could be lifted. No matter how the Uchiha might want to paint it, modifying someone's memories and inserting yourself over them, then sleeping with that person was rape.

The conference room doors opened one more time, and Obito strode in to the council meeting like he had already been inaugurated. Itachi followed closely behind him. All of the clan heads sat around the large conference room table, except Fugaku Uchiha.

Apparently his sister's mister was powerful enough to easily kill a clan patriarch, yet dumb enough to do it in front of witnesses. Frankly, that was almost good enough for Kakashi to give his blessing. At the very least, the Kumo-nin hadn't coerced her into loving him. So what if they had five children at a young age? Accidents happened all the time in long-term teenage relationships, and twins ran on the Hatake and Senju sides of the family. It was probably a loving home. She was prone to sarcasm; he very much doubted they all lived in an orphanage of some kind—she told him how this 'S' had brought her up.

Kakashi believed her when she said she came to see if he was okay. The last eight months had proven she was more concerned with everyone else than she ever was about herself.

"Itachi Uchiha will be filling in as the Uchiha clan patriarch at present," Obito said brusquely. He squared a stack of papers against the head of the table and sat down. Itachi took Fugaku's seat next to Hiashi Hyuuga.

The air was electrified. Tension flowed between the clan heads and elders. Shibi Aburame nodded at Kakashi from across the table with a sympathetic look. Or at least what Kakashi thought was a sympathetic look. Hiashi Hyuuga was the epitome of anger, glaring from one patriarch or matriarch to the next. Kakashi was sorely tempted to bring out his copy of Icha-Icha, just to see what the overly proper man would do in response.

As if he knew what Kakashi was thinking, Obito glared at him.

Homura tapped his pen on the table. "Our first order of business is to move the godaime Hokage's inauguration to tomorrow. While not convenient, this village needs a pillar of strength to flock to. All in favor?"

A chorus of aye's rang out from around the table. Kakashi remained silent, hoping his quiet dissent would go unnoticed.

"Very well, that passes. Obito-sama will now address our next few items."

Obito nodded at the withered old man. "Our next item involves the abduction of Jounin Medic Kaminari Hatake. You all have your packets in front of you with the details. I needn't go into it. The 'Godaime-Presumptive Raikage,' Darui of Kumogakure was last seen outside the hospital emergency department minutes before it exploded. Intelligence does not believe he set the bombs, but he did render Jounin Hatake unconscious and carry her off.

"His next known actions were to then kill a clan head in cold blood when he was challenged. The witness to that action was Mikoto Uchiha, Fugaku's wife of twenty-five years. Itachi, you don't need to hear this," Obito stopped.

Itachi inclined his head with a blank face. "Please proceed, Hokage-sama."

"The witness stated that Darui of Kumo apologized profusely while decapitating her husband. He instructed his genin student, Atsui, to carry the unconscious jounin past the village walls."

Koharu raised her hand. "This, of course, is the third known attempted abduction Kumogakure has attempted against a Konoha shinobi with a specialized skillset or kekkei genkei. The first was Genin Kushina Uzumaki at age nine. The second was Hinata Hyuuga, age three. Not to mention the murder of retired Chuunin Kanna Hatake and her ninken, Hoshiakari."

"Two. She was two," Hiashi interrupted. "And now they have abducted Medic Hatake not once, but twice." His face reddened as he spoke and he stood up with white knuckled fists against the table. "My brother was murdered to hold peace with these rats, and what has that allowed? Fugaku slaughtered outside of his own home after battling a bijuu? The Hatake girl stolen to play the part of concubine to their Raikage?"

Obito held up his hand. "Would you like to add anything, Kakashi? You reported that she has five sons. By rights, those boys should be in Konoha. The youngest must not be even a year old, and they already had her out in the field with no maternity leave."

Kakashi frowned at him. "I have nothing further to add."

Hiashi banged on the table. "Nothing further?! Do you not care that your own sister has been made a whore for the pleasure of Kumo rats?"

Kakashi's fist tightened under the table, he fixed Hiashi with a level glare as the man continued.

"I care that they are responsible for the death of my twin brother and the trauma of my eldest daughter."

'A daughter whom you ousted from the clan,' Kakashi thought. 'A brother whom you enslaved and relegated to the branch family.'

"Come now, Hiashi," Inoichi Yamanaka said. "The man lost his sister again a day ago. Do you honestly expect him to have come to terms with this so soon? And only months after her genin teammate rescued her."

Tsume growled from the opposite end of the table.

Hiashi balled his fists again then lowered himself into his seat. "My apologies, council, Hatake, for my outburst."

Obito nodded and steepled his hands in front of his face. "Very well. With the death of Fugaku Uchiha, the kidnapping of Kaminari Hatake, and the hostage situation of her five children, I wonder if intelligence has any report to suggest Kumo was involved in this attack. I sincerely doubt Orochimaru alone could have pulled this off. Kumo has the means, after all. Killing our Hokage would give them an advantage. Ibiki?"

Ibiki laid open a folder and cleared his throat. "We were able to interview fifty-three surviving Oto and Suna-nin after the attack. As most of you know, in the midst of the attack when Orochimaru's involvement was made clear, Suna laid down their arms. The remainder are, of course, still in holding. Of the fifty-three, twenty-one seemed to point to Kumogakure's premeditated involvement. It also appears there was a slight altercation between Darui of Kumo and Shisui Uchiha the night before the invasion."

Obito nodded, "I was witness to that myself. Darui of Kumo made it quite clear to Shisui that he would kidnap Kaminari Hatake by any means necessary and keep her…Kakashi, you don't—"

Kakashi glared at him and lowered his voice. "Continue, Obito. You'll have to get over this squeamishness sooner or later."

"Keep her as his sex slave. Naturally, Shisui was infuriated by this. I intervened and sent Shisui to escort the Daimyo and his men back to the capital before the invasion. He requested Kaminari be sent with him. I declined his request due to the imminent need for medics in the village."

Kakashi spoke up, "You should have sent her with him. You knew the Kumo-nin wanted her, didn't you? You could have prevented the kidnapping of a prominent jounin medic."

"I told you. My information indicated that we needed all medical personnel in Konoha."

"And then the hospital was blown up," Kakashi added. "The hospital my sister was in not ten minutes prior. Where were the security guards? The jounin shinobi that were assigned to guard it? The Uchiha police officers that were assisting with evacuations?"

Itachi shook his head and pulled a piece of paper. "If it would help, my father assigned over fifty officers to guard the perimeter of the hospital. Twenty of whom died during the invasion. Each were engaged in their own battles at the time of the explosion, of those that survived."

For the first time since the meeting began, Shikaku Nara spoke up from Obito's right side, "Kakashi, intelligence indicated that the hospital exploded from the inside out. It was a premeditated attack. That supports Obito's hypothesis about the Kumo-nin being involved. He planned on mass chaos to follow so he could slip away. The charges were probably incorrectly set by his genin in advance."

"Do you truly expect me to believe that the second most powerful man in Kumogakure dragged his country - his very prosperous country - into war over my sister? There are plenty of kunoichi available in Kumo if he was that desperate."

Hiashi curled his lip. "Are you arguing against war with Kumo? After what they did to your family? They murdered your mother, kidnapped your sister, whored her—"

Kakashi slammed his hand on the table. "Call my sister a whore one more time, Hyuuga, and I swear to the gods this table will not hold me back from putting a hole in your chest. The fact of the matter is we cannot afford a war with Kumogakure. Our losses from this last invasion, the Kyuubi attack, hell, even the third war have not been recouped. We don't have the manpower. We don't have the money. Only bravado and foolish pride."

Asuma folded his arms over his chest. "They hold six of your clan captive, man. Your sister and five of your nephews. How can you be so calm? If my sister was still alive today and they kidnapped her…You're not in your right head." He shook his head then glanced up at the head of the table. "On behalf of the Sarutobi clan and in retribution for the death of our clan patriarch, and Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, I move for a declaration of war or a demand for the head of the Godaime-Presumptive Raikage."

Obito nodded. "As well as the return of Kaminari Hatake and her five children to their rightful home in Konoha, since my friend seems to still be in shock over the loss of his sister."

There were scattered mumblings from around the table. Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and carefully studied Obito. Let them think he was crazy. They had thought he was crazy for years.

'What do you have planned, old friend?' he thought. 'Did you plant that bomb? I don't know much about Darui of Kumo, but I know my sister. She's a medic at heart. She would never love a man who could commit a war crime like that.'

Obito continued, "Koharu, please see to it that the articles of war are written up. If they send us our concessions as a protest of their involvement in our invasion, then that is just as well. In the meantime, Shikaku prepare us for war. Council adjourned."

Kumogakure no Sato, Jounin Apartment #28

Music blared from the speaker set in Samui's apartment. The floors practically vibrated with energy beneath the swaying bodies. A banner reading, 'Congratulations, Chuunin Atsui,' hung on the wall by two precarious thumbtacks. Mina curled her legs beneath her on the window bench and stared out at the Raikage Tower. Light after light went out in the offices as the apartment became more crowded.

A cold drink was pressed against the back of her hand. The condensation slipped off the outside of the cup to her knee. "Here," C sloshed. "Berry good. Fruity."

Mina shook her head with a small laugh. "You are very drunk. How many of these have you had?"

He scrunched his nose and plopped down on her lap. "Four? Nope. Fibe. Yah. Fibe."

"Five? Gods, C, you know you can't drink." She took an experimental sip, it was almost pure fruit juice with a splash of vodka. "Samui made this for the teenagers."

Throwing his arms around her neck, he rested his cheek on the top of her head. "You're so small. Like a cute liddle shrimp. Squishy, squishy shrimp."

R moved through the throng that pressed against the window and raised his hand. "Oh, there he is. I was going to take him home before things devolved, but he ran away from me."

C carded his fingers through Mina's carefully set curls and girlishly giggled as they frizzed. She quickly slapped his hands away and held out the drink to R.

"I can take him home."

R raised a brow at her dwarfed form beneath C. "You sure about that? He's like an octopus."

She sighed, gracelessly throwing C off her lap to the floor below as she stood up. "I'm aware."

R shrugged and walked off with the drink. Mina stooped down and threw C's arm over her shoulder.

"Nice dress," Tsu commented from the corner when it hiked up on her thighs. He grazed her legs with a heated expression in his green eyes. The deep plunge front shifted further down her cleavage. "Hey Mina, after you drop him off, I wouldn't mind meeting up with you alone."

C belted a laugh and threw his other arm around Mina's chest, fully leaning onto her. "Darui would smode you," he sang. "Smode? Smith? Smide? Smite. Smite you. Smitten you."

Mina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Shush, Darui's not like that. And no, Tsu, I'm not interested."

Tsu ran the back of his hand against the side of her arm. "Come on, didn't you have fun last time we were together?"

"I said no." Mina jerked from Tsu's touch and adjusted C on her back. "Let's go."

"Smotted! He's smotted!"

She dragged C into the hallway while he maniacally giggled. "Enough. You're going to bed. Darui didn't even show up."

"Oh no, prince sharming didn't show up?"

"Gods help you, C, because I'm about to drop your ass in the trash chute."

Stumbling on the smooth carpeted hallway, he pouted when he landed on the floor. "Bully. Go boder 'im. Why you take it out on poor ol' C? If you want dick—"

Mina slapped a hand over C's mouth. "For the love of all the gods in the pantheon, please be quiet."

He quickly nodded in agreement. She reached down to pull him back over her shoulder.

"I can see your panties," C sang as she stood over him. He wrapped his hand around her calf and lazily pet her leg. "Those really are small. Wha's that dangly?"

"Trash chute."

"Were those for him? Oh, honey. You're upset because you shaved and pervuumed and pantied up. And he's working lade."

Mina glared down at him then began to walk off.

"Wade! Minaaaa!" C yelled from the floor.

She stomped back over and hauled C over her shoulder. By the time they reached his apartment, he was half-asleep on her back. His feet dragged uselessly over the carpet.

"Key," she demanded, holding out her hand.

"Oh. Samui has it. So I don't lose it," he sleepily breathed against the side of her neck.

"You have got to be fucking kidding. I'm not going back there." She laid C on his side then fished underneath her welcome mat next door. "You're sleeping on the couch."

"Dawee is going to fug you doe. I don't wanna cock block."

Mina jammed the key into the lock and threw open the door.

Gingerly pulling himself to his feet, C held onto the wall and walked into the apartment. He quickly tripped against the entry way step and face-planted on the hardwood floor below.

"For fucks sake," Mina muttered. Her high heels clacked on the tile as she yanked off his shoes and threw them into a cubby.

C turned over on his side with a sloppy smile. "I lub you. You're da best."

She toed off her shoes without storing them. Tugging C underneath his arms, she threw him onto the couch.

"So aggredive." He snuggled onto a throw pillow and closed his eyes.

"Darui hasn't touched me since we came home," Mina admitted quietly. "...I don't think he wants to touch me. He's angry I left."

C opened one of his eyes and stared at her. "He nod angwy. He's sad."

"Why's that?" Mina walked to her room and pulled a quilt from the storage bench in front of her bed.

"He blamed himself. Every day. For mons. He still does. He said your friend raped you. Thinks is his fault."

Mina squeezed her eyes shut, tucking the quilt around C's shoulders. "Shisui never raped me. What he did was wrong, but I was perfectly willing to have sex with him."

C shrugged and closed his eyes again. "Not how Dawee sees it. You know how strict he is with law."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

A soft snore drifted from beneath the tucked quilt. She rolled her eyes fondly then kissed his temple. The small light above the stove illuminated her journey to the fridge where she grabbed a cold noodle dish for Darui. If he was still working this late at night, he probably forgot to eat. She quietly picked up her heels from the entryway then shut the front door behind her.

Air whooshed past Mina's face as she opened the door to the Raikage Tower, lifting the bottom of her dress. Foolishly, she had thought Darui would appreciate the tulip hem with the side slit almost completely past her hip. He had barely looked at it when she modeled it the night before. She faced back at her reflection in the glass doors and adjusted her cleavage. Seafoam green was one of her better colors. The long string of pearls S had given her for graduating medical school drew attention to Darui's favorite feature.

Her high heels tapped down the hall on the way to his office and echoed off the walls. His office door was open, he tiredly glanced up with bloodshot eyes when she stood in the doorway. He ran a hand down his face and stared at her.

"You look beautiful," he said quietly.

Mina raised an eyebrow at him and closed the office door behind her. "You look tired. Haven't you been sleeping?" She held up the cold noodles and handed them over to him.

"No. Thanks."

"You always forget to eat." She crossed the room and perched herself on the desk. "Can you talk about it?"

"I missed appreciating quite the sight tonight, didn't I?" He took her calf in his hand and gently kissed her knee. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I took C home. He's on our couch."

Darui gave an empty laugh. "He drank."

She smiled at him. "Yeah. Samui's punch that she made for the teens. He's used to you switching out his drinks for juice. Darui?"

"Hm?"

"Talk about it. Tell me what's bothering you. We've been best friends for thirteen years. We've always been able to tell each other anything. That hasn't changed."

He walked to the couch on the other side of his office and patted the empty cushion. He sighed when Mina joined him, throwing her legs over his lap.

"Konoha has declared war. We received their declaration yesterday."

She gasped and stiffened against him. He rubbed soothing circles on her exposed back.

"Easy, baby. They declared war because I killed the Uchiha clan head. Among other things. They are accusing us of taking part in the invasion. And kidnapping, as well as aiding the assassination of their Hokage."

"But Kumo didn't kidnap me, technically. Bee rescued me. You rescued me twice over from Konoha. And we didn't help kill their Hokage, their own nuke-nin did that."

"The Hyuuga affair was another citation, as well as the death of your mother. Apparently their hospital was also partially blown up."

Mina leaned against his shoulder. They watched the lights of the mountain homes twinkle throughout the village while the clouds lazily meandered through.

"Kumo didn't kill my mother. I don't know who, but I don't believe it was a Kumo-nin. You'd never blow up a hospital either. Even if it was in Iwa, you wouldn't do it."

His lips were warm against her forehead. "I don't either. They're demanding my head, your return, and the return of the five children we apparently have together. And a good deal of money."

"Five? What the hell? That's ridiculous. Ay-sama would never agree to that. Even if we had children they wouldn't belong in Konoha, they'd belong in Kumo."

He shrugged against her. "I offered to surrender to them a few hours ago. Our meeting ran long, that's why…"

Silence loomed in the shadows of the dim office. Mina squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her grip around his waist. "Darui—"

"Ay-sama declined. He doesn't believe they would maintain peace in exchange for my death. Not if you were kept safe in Kumo. Even if he gave you up as well, he doesn't believe they would be content. Especially with their other grievances." Darui laid his hand over Mina's forearm. "They really believe we helped kill their Hokage and that I blew up a hospital. Of all things."

"Darui—"

He sighed, roughly scrubbing a hand down his face. "I've been assigned a mission to the capital. To help my father in lobbying efforts."

"I see." She gently kissed the side of his arm.

He exhaled sharply. "I want you to come with me."

"To play the part of arm candy?" Her laugh was a lie, an attempt to calm him and heal his melancholy. "I can do that. Tits out and all. Don't you know what a temptress I am? According to Konoha, anyway."

Instead of laughing with her, he hugged her closer against his side. He cupped her cheek in his hand and lifted her eyes to meet his. "No, Mina. I need your negotiation skills. I need your brains, not your body."

She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. Expectation mounted as she waited for a kiss that never came. "The last person I negotiated with ended up dead. I'm afraid I'm bad luck. I don't want to spread that to you."

"Did you kill him?" he asked gently. He stroked his thumb over her cheek, and she opened her eyes to meet his.

She sighed, pulling back from his hand and resting her head on the back of the couch.. "No. I tried to save him, actually. Like I said, a man in an orange…hickory smoke."

"Hm?"

"Hickory smoke. The man in the orange mask. He smelled like hickory smoke. Like…No. That's…" She set her feet on the floor, pulling her legs off his lap with a loud clack of her heels. She jumped from the couch and began to pace.

"What, baby?"

"Obito Uchiha smells like hickory smoke." Her hands shook when she came to a stop in front of the window.

"He's the Hokage now. Are you sure?"

"I never forget a smell. Why would Obito want to kill me? And Zabuza?"

"Perhaps he saw a security risk after you negotiated an alliance between Kiri and Kumo. Instability for Kiri is better for business in Konoha. Konoha gets the clients on the west side of the sea that might otherwise go to Kiri. Their civil war doesn't spill onto their shores like it does ours."

Mina clutched the windowsill in a bloodless grip. "Was I collateral? Because just before…He caressed my face, Darui. He looked at me like someone would look at a lov…Oh gods. He looked at me like I was Kakashi. Like I was my brother. Fuck. Fuck. I need to warn him. I need to—"

The couch squeaked when Darui walked up behind her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, the other over the top of her chest and gently rocked her. "They declared war, sweetheart. There's nothing you can do."

With a voice too small to possibly be hers, she whispered, "What am I going to do?"

He carefully watched her in the window's reflection. "Prepare the hospital and your medics for war. The copy-nin will take care of himself. Hokage or not, it is unlikely he would be able to kill the man outright. Your brother lived for thirteen years without you. He'll be okay."

She turned around in his arms and looked up at him. Reaching up on her toes, she closed her eyes and brushed her lips against his. For a brief moment, the air in their lungs belonged to each other. His lips remained still against her touch, his breathing turned shallow. Restrained tears pricked at Mina's eyes when she let him go. The sound of her carefully chosen heels echoed against his office walls. She stopped when she reached the door without turning around.

"I'll see to the medical preparations. And prepare for the mission to the capital. You needn't worry, Taichou."