Kisame

I walked along the moisty woods that would take me to the Land of Waves. I wore my Akatsuki robe-black with red clouds-and a hat made of hay with a bell hanging from its edge, which ringed at every swift movement. In every step, I would hear its melodic sound, playing a symphony as I walked.

The only thing I didn't like about it, was that it alerted every shinobi that could possibly be near me, but it was part of the organization's policy to wear it while travelling, so enemies wouldn't recognize our identities.

I frowned when I suddenly heard a twig break from behind me, even under the bell's noise. I halted on my step and waited for the enemy to make another sound. I moved my eyes to look around and smirked when the intruder didn't make a move, even though it was pretty obvious that I had already noticed him.

Another sound caught my attention. This time it seemed to be like a gust of wind, and one that I recognized almost immediately. I reached my hand behind me to grab my sword, Samehada, and quickly pulled it out of its bands at the time another large sword flew towards me in a circular motion. I clashed my sword against it, making it fly back to the opposite direction. My grin widened when the sword was caught by a tall man, dressed in the typical clothes worn by Kirigakure's best trained swordsmen.

"Zabuza." I greeted the man with a malicious grin, which he returned from under his half-bandaged face.

"You came sooner than I expected," the man replied with a chuckle as he shoved his sword back to his back. "Eager to get away from the Akatsuki for a while?"

"No, actually they are quite an interesting gang. Almost remind me of how you guys were." Zabuza chuckled again.

"No one can be what we used to be," he said. "We were almost known as the demons and monsters of the Mist."

"Almost?" I raised an eyebrow at that and Zabuza and I laughed at that.

"Anyway, you made sure no one had been following you, right? With that bell you have in your hat, I'm afraid that in Konoha they didn't hear you." I grinned at that.

"Who in their right mind would follow a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, especially if he is going to meet another member? They would know they'd be dead meat if they're discovered." I raised my brows. "No one is brave enough to take that risk."

"You would be surprised with the stupidity among the brains of these people." Zabuza grinned back as he tilted his head to the side and cracked his bones.

"You mean like the child who followed you here?" I asked as I poked my chin in the direction where I saw a kid, no more than twelve with an ANBU mask, hiding in some trees. Zabuza turned his head to look at the kid and sighed.

"Haku, didn't I tell you to stay back while I dealt with this?" he asked the boy with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but I wanted to make sure you were safe, Zabuza-san."

"I told you I was meeting with an old friend, why would I be in danger?"

I smirked when the boy didn't say anything but instead jumped and landed right beside Zabuza. "So, he's with you?"

"I found him not long ago and have been training him since, he's quite skilled in ninja abilities so he's good company to have around."

"You're using a little boy? That's cruel even for you, Zabuza." The man only smirked.

"Like I said, no one can be what we used to be, Kisame."

"Are you Hoshigaki Kisame-san?" The boy, Haku, asked. "The owner of the Samehada sword?"

"And I see you keep him updated," I chuckled. "I'm flattered that your new sensei has been speaking to you about me." I muttered as I looked at the swordsman.

"Haku, go back. I'll catch up to you in a moment."

"Hai." And with that the boy disappeared among swirling leaves. My grin widened.

"So, do you have the information you promised?"

"Why would I have called you if I didn't?"

I only smirked while letting out a soft chuckle.

* * *

Hanako

"If you ask me, that was disappointing." I glared at Sasuke after he spoke.

"I didn't."

Yes, yesterday I lost against Kakashi. He took his book back after he pinned me, but when I went to grab my necklace, he took it away again.

"You really think I will let you get away with this?" he asked with a mischievous smirk from under his mask that made me narrow my eyes. "Congratulations, Hanako. You are a Jonin now." He had his closed-eye smile again. I pursed my lips.

"What's the catch?"

"I'm really hurt you think like that..." He opened his eye to look at me as he stood straight. "We start missions tomorrow, so I expect to see you at first hour with the rest of the team."

After he said that, he turned away ready to leave. "When you are going to get there like three hours later? No, thanks." I replied with a chuckle. His clone disappeared, so I could finally get up and dust myself.

Kakashi halted on his step when he heard me and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "If you want your necklace back, you will."

I clicked my tongue. "How did you even manage to get it? I was being careful."

"Clearly, that's not the case or else we wouldn't be having this conversation." I looked away from him, no way I was admitting he was right. "When I made the move to get your weapon pouch, you were so focused on that hand that you forgot I had another one." I bit my lip. I could feel his smirk from under his mask and the mocking tone hidden in his voice. I hated masked men. "Of course, you didn't notice when I reached your neck with my free hand and took off your necklace."

"Why did you approve me? I lost." I looked at him with a serious face but he only smiled again.

"I think I already told you that. I only wanted to test your abilities, I already think you're fit to become a Jonin...and I need you, Hanako."

Tsk...why couldn't you just find someone else to do this?

"Kakashi, I'm in point D. Report." I suddenly heard Kakashi through the earphone and sighed.

"Sasuke, I'm in point B."

"Sakura, I'm in point C."

"Naruto, I'm in point A, dattebayo!"

"Hanako, what's your location?" I rolled my eyes and clicked on the microphone.

"Do we really have to do this? It's just a missing cat."

"It's practice for when we perform a real tracking mission." Kakashi replied with a tired voice.

"It's dull."

"Why are you like this, Hanako-neechan? You're making it look less exciting, 'ttebayo..."

I sighed after I heard Naruto. Jeez, this kid was only looking at the good side of things. I looked back at Sasuke and he only shrugged. "Why am I doing this, again?" I asked through the mic, but everyone got that the question was directed to Kakashi.

"Because I'm sure you want back your necklace." Kakashi was quick to reply.

I sighed again. Of course, I made sure to keep the mic on just to bother the hell out of Kakashi, yet I wasn't sorry for the kids. "Hanako, I'm in point B."

"The target has moved." Sasuke was quick to react at a movement in some bushes near us. Luckily, the cat we were looking for jumped out of it and hurried in the direction opposite to us. "Naruto, it's moving towards you."

The three Genin were quick to follow the pet, while I stayed on the same spot and just rested against a tree trunk. Not even a second passed when Kakashi arrived next to me and looked down at me with an inquiring glance.

"The target stopped moving." Sakura suddenly said through the radio and we looked towards the direction the cat had went.

"Perfect. What's your distance from it?" Kakashi asked.

"Five meters." Naruto replied in a low mutter. "I'm ready, just give us the signal, 'ttebayo!"

"Me too." Sasuke said.

"Me as well." Sakura was the last one to reply.

"Alright," I looked at Kakashi and he looked at me for a moment before he looked back towards his students. "Now!"

"I really don't understand why you take these petty missions so seriously, considering you were an ANBU and used to work in way more interesting stuff..." I uttered as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"The way I act during these missions will greatly influence the way our students perform. If I don't take them seriously, how would I expect them to do so?" He raised an eyebrow at me but I just scoffed.

"We caught our target." Sasuke's voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

"Can you confirm the red lace in the right ear?"

"Positive."

"In that case, the missing pet, Tora, has been captured."

After Kakashi said that, I took off the earphones. Apparently, I did it right on time, because not even a second passed when I heard Naruto yell even from Kakashi's radio.

"CAN'T WE JUST GET A LITTLE MORE IMPORTANT MISSIONS?! AS OF TODAY, I HATE CATS, 'TTEBAYO!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at Kakashi's disfigured face after Naruto's sudden outburst. That must've hurt.

I walked closer to him and leaned closer to mutter into his ear. "That was karma speaking."

+ + +

I flinched when the woman received her retrieved pet and hugged it tightly as if there was no tomorrow.

"Oh, my sweet little Tora! Why would you run away from me like that? You have no idea how worried I've been for my petite fur ball..." All the while, the mistress had been rubbing her face against the cat's.

"Now I understand why it ran away..." Sakura muttered silently.

"Seriously, if I were that cat, I would have fled, too." I agreed with a nod.

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "It's only fair for her!" I chuckled at his comment as I looked at him. He still had scratches all over his face and arms made by the cat as it tried to escape from him.

The ma'am paid for the mission and turned to leave the room with a smile on her face. My eyes drifted up to the cat's eyes and I swore I could distinguish a pleading full of desperation, begging for us not to let her take her.

I looked away from it and shook my head. It's just a cat, for goodness.

"That was faster than I expected..." the Hokage commented as he checked his documents, looking for another mission to assign us. "Alright, for Team 7's next mission..." The Third smoked from his pipe. "I have: helping an old lady carry her groceries back home, babysitting a three-year-old child while its parents go out, weeding a backyard-"

"No, no, NO! I refuse!" Naruto snapped after a few listed chores and shook his head furiously while crossing his arms. "Why should a team as awesome as ours have to oblige to do some useless missions? I signed up for being a ninja. I want to do some ninja stuff!"

I chuckled at that. When I first became a Genin, I remember having to make these kind of missions as well; retrieving lost pets, helping old ladies go home, sometimes even Fugaku made me patrol the streets for bandits. It's not exactly ninja stuff, and true it didn't help me in the slightest, but it indeed was a good way to get you started into the ninja business.

The only way of gaining experience is to go out of the Village into a real mission; see the real dangers this world holds, and face them without fear. If I was going to accompany these kids into their missions, please, at least let it be something I could truly participate in.

"NARUTO, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" The Hokage spoke loudly, making our attention snap back to him. He had been explaining everything about how the missions worked, but Naruto as he was, instead of paying attention to him he was speaking to his teammates about the kind of ramen he would like to have later.

I chuckled. Not that I blame him, I wasn't paying attention, either. But not that I needed to, all this matter concerning missions was something we were taught at the Academy. And yes, I did remember that.

Missions were classified according to their difficulty into various ranks. From the easiest to the hardest, from D-rank to S-rank. At the same time, ninja were also classified in ranks, from Genin to ANBU.

D-rank missions were the easiest ones, from doing someone's laundry to running simple errands. These missions were often assigned to recently graduated Genin, baked right out of the oven. None of these missions require going out of the Village.

C-rank missions were a little more complex, but not anything from the other world. These often include escorts for merchants, builders, people not wanted for any particular reason, protection from bandits, bullies, etc. These were assigned to more experienced Genin and low rank Chunin. These missions do require leaving the Village, but for short periods of time and they do not include fighting shinobi from other Villages.

When do we do the fighting then? Patience, I was getting to that.

B-rank missions are the real deal. This is usually the most requested type of mission, and it encircles a large variety of possibilities. Information gathering, object retrieval-usually important scrolls or valuable projects-, escorts with the requested protection against shinobi-the rank may vary depending on who you request protection from-and delivering messages cross-country. These missions are usually assigned to Chunin and Jonin.

A-rank missions are especially delivered to Jonin. They are pretty similar to B-rank, but they imply facing Jonin from other Villages, this is the reason why they would only assign Jonin to them. Sometimes, they would even call ANBU.

And my favorite, S-rank. These ones are truly challenges, and are often assigned to specific Jonin and ANBU. They include: assassination, espionage, rogue tracking, and more valuable information gathering.

"Alright, Naruto. I've decided I may listen to you this one time." We all snapped our attention at the Hokage when he suddenly said that.

"What did you just say, Sandaime-sama?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

The old man chuckled before he looked at the team with mischievous eyes. "I'm going to assign team 7 a C-rank mission." Naruto cheered.

"Ha-HA! I knew that one day you would admit my awesomeness!"

I sighed at the blond's words but just decided to let it drop. However, their ex-teacher Iruka didn't seem to have the same plans for them.

"Hokage-sama! Are you sure about this? These were my students before and I don't think they're yet ready for-"

"As you just said, they were your students. Now, they are mine, Iruka." Kakashi interrupted him with a calm voice. "We are going to take the mission, Hokage-sama."

"I would guess as much." The Third smiled at us as he smoked from his pipe. Iruka didn't have any other choice but to comply with the Hokage's orders-despite how much he really wanted for them to not take the mission-so he just opted for sitting down silently beside the old man. "It's a simple escort mission."

I smirked at that. Of course, the easiest C-rank missions happen to be escorts. I looked over at the team to evaluate their expressions. Sakura seemed to be worried, whilst Naruto and Sasuke were excited. Kakashi, well...he was as calm as ever.

"OH! Who are we going to escort, 'ttebayo? A young princess? A really important person?" Naruto started to list every possibility. With every new thing that happened to cross his mind, his eyes glistened. "Oh no, I know! We are escorting the Feudal Lord, aren't we?!"

"If I were such an important man, I wouldn't be here in a business trip." I turned to the door in search of the owner of the new voice. It belonged to a middle-aged man, dressed in the clothes of a traveler. His voice was rough, probably from the amount of alcohol that he slumped down his throat and burnt his whole esophagus.

"And you are?" Naruto raised an eyebrow upon seeing the man closely.

"Hiruzen, don't tell me that this bunch of kids are in charge of my escort." The man called upon the Hokage. "Especially you, the short kid with the stupid-looking face. Are you even a ninja?"

Naruto laughed at that. "Who's the short kid with the stupid-looking face, huh?"

We all just stared at the blond. Silence reigned in the room and Naruto started to get uncomfortable as he searched for answers in all of our faces. My eyes met the blond's blue orbs and slowly drifted to the ground. That was enough to get him to understand the message.

"I am SO going to kill you!" Naruto made a move to attack the drunk man but Kakashi immediately stopped him by tightening his hand on the neck hem of his clothing.

"Naruto, you're not supposed to kill your client," he said.

"I don't care! Let me go!"

"This man happens to be an old friend of mine. His name is Tazuna and he is the most important bridge builder from the Land of Waves." The Hokage explained and we all nodded in understanding. "Your mission is to escort Tazuna-san back to his homeland and protect him while he finishes the bridge he's currently working on."

"Seriously," Tazuna sighed loudly as he took another sip from the bottle he held on his hand. "How am I supposed to feel safe along a bunch of Genin shinobi wannabes..."

"There is nothing to worry about, Tazuna-san." Kakashi said to him with a smile. Naruto had seemed to calm down and was now fuming silently, directing death glares at the bridge builder every now and then. At least Kakashi didn't need to keep him from murdering the client anymore. "Hanako and I will both be coming with you in this mission as well. We are both Jonin, so please do feel safe around us."

"Actually, this mission was meant only for the three Genin and yourself, Kakashi." The Hokage hurried to say before he stood up. "I need Hanako to stay in the Village since I have another mission waiting for her." I looked at the Hokage and smirked as he looked back at me. "Besides, I assume a C-rank would be too boring for you. The mission I'll assign you to will be of a much higher rank."

My grin widened at that. "I knew there was something you were keeping to yourself, old man."

The Hokage chuckled. "Well, to be honest, I was kind of in a rush for you to become a Jonin. Especially for missions like this one. It's an A-rank solo mission, for which I need you specifically."

"Hokage-sama," This time, it was Kakashi who seemed to have other plans.

"I accept the mission." I replied before the silver haired Jonin had a chance to say something that might make the Third change his mind.

"Excellent. Kakashi, you and your team may leave at any moment now." The Jonin nodded with a sigh before he turned to his students.

"You guys, go ready everything you might need for a mission of at least a couple of weeks. I'll meet you at the entrance gate in two hours. You too, Tazuna-san." This last thing he mentioned at the bridge builder.

"Hai, hai... I understand." The man waved his hand at us and left the room. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were looking at us.

"A-rank solo mission?" Sakura muttered as her eyes were fixed on me. "Wouldn't that be too dangerous for you, Hanako-sensei?"

"Sensei?" I raised both my brows at the name. "This is actually the first time one of you acknowledges me that way...hmmm....you know, I actually would prefer if you just call me by my name."

"Guys..." Kakashi looked at them. "Go. Now."

The three students were reluctant to leave but they did, nonetheless. The Hokage also kicked Iruka and everyone else out of the room, since he figured this conversation was nothing they needed to listen. When it was just us three in the room, the Hokage spoke.

"So, Kakashi. What-"

"I thought that one of the purposes of getting Hanako in my team was to help me with these kids." Kakashi interrupted him with narrowed eyes while he crossed his arms over his chest. "Why is she not allowed to go on the first mission we go out of the Village?"

"Aren't you taking this too seriously?" I raised an eyebrow. "It's just a C-rank."

"As I said, I need Hanako for this mission." The Hokage explained.

"And what mission is it that you can't just hire some other Jonin?"

"I can't tell you, it's confidential information." Kakashi turned away from the Hokage, turning his back to him. "Hanako, I will discuss the details with you when I have cleared some things up. But this might take a few days, you don't mind the waiting, do you?"

"No, of course not."

Kakashi walked towards the door and grabbed the handle. The Hokage stopped him before he opened it. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you what you wanted," he said at the same time he exhaled smoke. "But, I can see you're not concerned for the mission, are you?" Kakashi only remained silent. "I'm sure Hanako will be all right. She's the one perfect for this job."

Kakashi didn't say anything and just walked out of the room. I sighed and looked back at the Hokage. "I think I should be going with them to the Land of Waves. Kakashi is right, I am part of Team 7, I-"

"Don't worry, you will be going to the Land of Waves." The Hokage interrupted me before he smoked yet again from his pipe. "Your mission happens to have the same setting as Kakashi's."

"Huh?" My jaw dropped. "What do you mean?"

"There have been certain rumors that there's been a revolution taking place in that country. An entrepreneur named Gatou has taken control of all the land's resources and has changed the economy of the place." Hiruzen started to explain as he turned to face the window behind him. "The building of Tazuna's bridge will be the only thing that saves the country from falling in bankrupt."

My eyes widened at that. "What? But shouldn't they be dealing with this man, Gatou, instead? I mean, who knows when he'll-"

"I understand what you mean." The Hokage sighed. "But the Land has been going through several problems, and they don't have enough money to afford an S-rank, which is the proper qualification of this mission. Gatou is a well-known man with a lot of fame around the place. Facing him, considering the hundreds of bodyguards he has in his power, would require at least an ANBU team. But that would be too expensive for Tazuna."

"That's why you suggested a C-rank, because that's what he could afford..." I muttered.

"Correct. This is why I'm asking you, Hanako. You're not an ANBU, but you have the way of one. And Kakashi does, too."

I chuckled. "So, you're saying that, you chose us for this mission because Kakashi was an ANBU and you require someone with S-rank experience for this...?"

"And he happens to tutor a Genin team, yes." I raised an eyebrow.

"Do you realize the danger you're putting these Genin in?"

"That's why I'm sending you." The Hokage smoked again. "As far as I'm concerned, Kakashi's mission is to protect the bridge builder. A C-rank mission. Your mission, Hanako, is to make sure they don't get attacked."

"So, you're sending me to kill the enterpriser?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm sending you to protect team 7 from the man Gatou hired to kill Tazuna."

"And this man is...?" I stretched the word, waiting for the Hokage to continue for me.

"People say that it's one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, but you know you can't always listen to what people talk about in the streets."

"Well, this Gatou must really want the builder dead if he's willing to deal with one of the Mist's demons." I pressed my lips into a thin line. "So, he hired a rogue mercenary...to do his dirty work..." I looked over to the ceiling and mentally started counting how many pieces of wood were used to build it. "Have people mentioned the name of this swordsman?"

"No. That's why I asked you to wait a few days, so maybe we could get a little more intel."

"In a few days, they could get ambushed by this man. They are professional killers, they'll make sure the builder doesn't get anywhere near that bridge alive." I looked at the Hokage with narrowed eyes. Hiruzen turned to look at me and studied me for a couple of minutes.

"Is there something wrong?" The Hokage asked when he noticed the unusual seriousness in my face.

"Mercenary...Ninja Swordsman...I think I have someone in mind..." I looked away from the Hokage. "I'll give them a two-day head start. I suppose you don't want Kakashi to know the details?"

"No."

I looked at the Third. "Why not?"

"Because there's something I want to make sure," he replied before turning his back to me again. I frowned.

"What?"

"Since I made Kakashi leave the ANBU, he hasn't been the same. He usually ignores everyone who tries to speak to him, he's become a solitary soul. He always asked me to send him away in missions and he hated the time of the year when the Genin graduated from the Academy. There was this one time where I believed that he even failed his students on purpose so he wouldn't become their tutor, but when you came back, he changed."

"Changed?"

"Mm, he went back to who he used to be." The old man stood up and started to pace around the room. I only followed him with my eyes as he slowly walked. "While in the ANBU, Kakashi used to take every mission I would assign to him, without asking the details and do it. But when I demoted him, he became picky and would reject almost every petition lower than A-rank, and he only accepted to work with a team he chose himself. So, I connected some dots and actually realized that his attitude was not because of the demotion," he said as he looked at me with serious eyes. "He started to act that way after you went missing. He liked to choose his team, because he used the missions as excuses to track you around, so he would often take more time than the originally previewed. He grew very fond of you, ever since he found out you were Obito's cousin."

"Why would you mention him at a time like this?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Kakashi already lost everything once, and I know that he doesn't want to be put into such pain again. He was very fond of Obito, to the point of calling him once his best friend, even though they were more like rivals. The day Obito died, Kakashi became lonesome. He tried cutting his bonds with everyone he knew, so he wouldn't be forced to be hurt like that again...until his other teammate died and so did his sensei. So, he became dark, ruthless. He had a look of murder that even scared me. But, his eyes changed when he met this one girl, one day at the Memorial Stone." I only listened silently to the Hokage as he spoke, slowly processing his words in my mind. "For him, you're Obito's living memory, and the only link he has to remember his past without hurting, regretting or blaming himself for what happened." The Third sighed. "There are two options. If he's still the same, when he finds out about the real rank of this mission, he will come back to the Village since he won't put his students into that risk without a reason. But, if he changed back, he will accept the mission and just work his best to accomplish it."

"So, you just want to prove yourself right about him?"

"You changed him, Hanako. I just want you to know that." He smiled.

I looked away from the Hokage and walked towards the door. "Two days." I said before I headed out.

+ + +

After leaving the Hokage's, I walked aimlessly around the Konoha street. The Hokage saying that Kakashi regarded me as Obito's living memory was rather insulting. But of course, the only memory I had of the Uchiha was a masked being who attacked me as a kid and killed my entire family. Kakashi had no idea who Obito was, no. For him, he died after being crushed by a rock when he was thirteen. He didn't have any idea of how wrong he was.

I found myself in front of a door a couple of minutes later. I could sense Kakashi's chakra from the other side, so I supposed that this was his apartment room. I knocked a few times over the wood and waited for him to open it.

When Kakashi appeared and opened the door, I immediately forgot what I was going to say. Well, I kind of never thought of anything, actually, I just knocked. Maybe I should've just turned around and left. The silver haired Jonin looked down at me and raised an eyebrow. I couldn't just say nothing now, could I?

"I just came to make sure you wouldn't be late for your departure." I said. Excellent, because when you had nothing to say, you would always mock him for his lateness.

"I still have..." He turned to look over his shoulder at the clock he had hung on the wall. "An hour and a half." When he looked back at me, he eyed me closely. "What did the Hokage tell you?"

"He...talked to me about you...and everything you went through." Kakashi visually tensed. Of course, his life was something he never liked to discuss. Even less, to be discussed at his back.

He was about to close his front door, but I stopped him by placing my foot on the door gap. "Stop, Kakashi." I said, and he opened the door partially again. "I know how it feels, to lose everyone." I looked up at him. Kakashi was not even looking at me, his gaze was lost somewhere else. He was probably reliving all those awful memories again and that made me feel like shit. But he needed to know that he wasn't the only one whose past is fucked up, he needed to know that I would be there for him.

I now understood why he approached me that night at the Memorial Stone. He was at the verge. He needed to let it all out, but he couldn't go to his friends because he had cut his bonds with them and he wouldn't feel comfortable. He would rather explode in front of a stranger than look weak in front of his comrades. I opened the door wider and this seemed to make him look back at me. I felt sorry for the look in his eyes, it was nothing like the Hokage had described. I had seen a lot of murdering glances but this was more like the eyes of someone who had already forgotten what company was like, because he was just too alone.

Without saying anything, I just walked in and hugged him. At first, he didn't know what to do, but after some awkward minutes he finally wrapped his arms around me. I smiled slightly when he also rested his head on top of mine. We stayed like that for almost ten-fifteen minutes. Without moving, without saying anything to each other. We only stayed like that, enjoying our mutual agreement of silence.

"Arigatou," he muttered against my head before he finally pulled away. I could see a small glint of happiness in his eyes and that made me smile. Making someone else's day better never failed to make me feel better.

"I will stay here just to make sure you don't leave our students waiting for hours at the gate." I could sense that Kakashi smiled from under his mask at the mention of "our". I hated how the Third always seemed to be right about everything.

Kakashi pulled out something from his pouch, and my eyes widened when I saw that it was my necklace. "I think this is yours," he said and stretched his arm in my direction. I smiled at the sight. I decided I would stop him, I didn't need the necklace right away. I just fought to have it back because it had a lot of sentimental value. It was the only thing I had left from Madara since he passed away.

"You can return it when you complete your mission in the Land of Waves." I said and looked at him with a smile. "Think of the necklace as myself, that way I'll be with you in your first mission outside of the Village." I placed my hand over his where he gripped the tomoe. "Just make sure you have it, at all times. And when you return it to me, all the memories will be saved in the necklace, and it will become even more valuable." Kakashi nodded and gripped the pendant tighter.

"I will take good care of it." He then turned away and walked into his house to ready his stuff.

I was also about to follow him inside as well, but I sensed something that made me halt on my tracks and turn around abruptly. This was an all-too-familiar feeling that for years couldn't make me feel any happier, but now it was just too confusing to the point I didn't know how I should feel anymore.

"This chakra..." My eyes widened. "It can't be..."