Unlike becoming a chunin, a jonin promotion didn't come with new physical proof of rank, but that didn't matter much because Kyoko had never really worn her chunin vest anyway. Instead, her jonin promotion came with weight on her shoulders when the Sandaime said, "I was wondering how far behind your brother you would be."

She had no idea what she needed to do for the Hokage to tell her she'd done well. Once, she had helped take down a Konoha missing nin before he could cross the border to Kawa no Kuni, and Hiruzen had simply mused that Shisui had done a good job teaching her shunshin. Maybe it was her fault that she wasn't used to it by now. So she kept her shoulders squared as she waited for her paperwork to be finished.

When she finally left the Hokage Tower with scroll in hand, it was just past midday. Someone was waiting for her.

"You made it!" Shisui said, all grins as he jumped up from the bench by the entrance.

"You were waiting for me?" she asked, happily taking his hand when he offered it to her.

"Course!" He swung their hands as he started leading the way. "Took you long enough!"

"I'm only eight months behind you," she defended immediately.

He glanced at her, frowning. "What? I'm talking about how I sat there for five hours."

She blinked. "You were there the whole time?"

He shrugged. "Q or Ichiraku?"

"I had Ichiraku yesterday. Q, please."

"Barbecue it is!" He yanked her closer, laughing. "Let's go!" Then he dragged her with him into one of his extended shunshin.

Once they'd stopped, she shoved him. "Give me some warning next time!"

"But it's less fun that way," he pouted.

She scrunched up her nose. "It makes me dizzy."

"You'll get used to it."

She huffed and then pulled him towards Yakiniku Q. "You're paying, by the way."

When Kyoko showed up at Training Ground 3, Kakashi wasn't training like she'd expected. Instead, the training ground was silent, and Kakashi was standing in front of the Memorial Stone. She paced across the grounds, well aware that he knew she was there. Stopping at his side, she murmured, "I brought onigiri."

He glanced the container in her hands. "Kombu?"

"Okaka," she said, sitting down and not looking at the Stone or her father and brother's names on it. "Shisui made them, actually, but he made way too many."

He hummed for a moment. As she opened the container and got out a rice ball for herself, he sat down facing her. "Thank you."

She nodded, handing over a rice ball. "I thought you said you were training raikiri."

"I was." He didn't elaborate on that, but his shoulders were tensed. "Are you wanting to spar?"

She finished off her rice ball and shifted around so that her back was to the Stone. "If you're up for it." Her promotion scroll was heavy in her kunai pouch, and she hesitated. "I've been working on a new technique I found in my father's library," she settled on.

"Katon?"

"Taijutsu, actually. With the sharingan. Could work for you, too."

Interest sparked in his visible eye. He hauled himself to his feet. "Show me?"

An hour later, Kyoko threw herself to the ground, gasping for air. "Time out," she called, lungs heaving. "That's enough. You've got it. We've both got it. We mastered it, and we never have to spar again."

Kakashi huffed a laugh, sitting down next to her and leaning forward, elbows on his knees. He started absently yanking up grass. "Thanks."

She hummed, letting her eyes close and basking in the sunlight that would start fading soon.

"You should join ANBU."

Kyoko's eyes snapped open. She sat up, leaning heavily on her hands. "What?" she asked, not convinced she'd heard him right.

"I need you to join ANBU."

There were pieces to the conversation that she had to be missing because what she had wasn't fitting together. "I've never wanted to be an ANBU," she managed.

"Me either."

Kakashi wasn't looking at her. His shoulders were hunched, and the patch of ground in front of him was almost bare.

"Alright," she murmured. When his gaze snapped to her, she shrugged and amended with, "I'll think about it, but I'm not promising anything just yet."

He huffed. "Thanks."

"Uh-huh." She laid back down, tucking her hands behind her head and closing her eyes again. "Did something happen?"

He didn't respond. Instead, she felt something tickling her face. She squinted and then batted away the hand that was dropping blades of grass on her. "Hey! Not exactly helping your case."

Kakashi snickered. "I thought you might be falling asleep."

"I was talking," she muttered, sitting up again and brushing the grass off. "You must be a nightmare to have as an ANBU captain."

"I'm just fine as an ANBU captain, thank you."

She glanced at him. He looked exhausted. She rolled her eyes and shoved at his shoulder. "I'll be the judge of that."

The morning after her promotion, Kyoko found herself in the Hokage's office again. She was standing in the middle of the room, feet even spaced and hands clasped behind her back. The Sandaime was considering her curiously, pipe between his teeth. After a long moment, he sat back and said, "Your brother isn't in ANBU."

Kyoko paused. "No," she agreed. "He isn't."

"In fact, you'll be the first in your family, I believe." He gave a little chuckle. "Not only your family line but your clan as a whole. I'm impressed by such a deviation from tradition. What led you to this decision?"

"It had nothing to do with tradition or leaving it, Hokage-sama. I'm following the request of a friend."

Hiruzen's amusement died into curiosity. "A friend?" he murmured. "Ah. I see. Kakashi-kun has had some . . . growing pains since his promotion."

Kyoko tightened her hands on each other but was careful to keep her face neutral. 'Growing pains' was not how she would characterize Kakashi's nightmares and guilt complex.

"Am I to understand you would like to be placed on his team?" he asked, turning to pen a drawer. He pulled out a scroll.

"Yes, sir."

"Easily done, then." He opened the scroll and picked up a pen. "The transfer will only take a day at most, but I'll delay any Team Ro missions for a week at least to allow for you to practice with your new teammates." He finished writing, set the pen aside, and rolled up the scroll. As he held it out to her, he offered up a warm smile. "For now, go ahead and take this to ANBU HQ. You'll need your tattoo, and I'm sure Kakashi-kun can show you the way."