It was late afternoon when Kakashi returned to Konoha after more than three weeks away. He had a single prisoner tied securely and kept unconscious with a sleeping jutsu. The prisoner, Kuroppoi Tsurara, was an A-ranked missing-nin from Yukigakure and a sensor-type according to the Bingo Book. He had been leading a small band of weaker missing-nin, who had been raking in a fortune hunting descendants of Whirlpool shinobi.
Like the group Team Taka encountered, Kuroppoi's band had been targeting primarily redheads but also widened their selection to individuals who showed unusual endurance or had a talent with calligraphy. Kakashi had missed their last shipment by a day and found them celebrating their windfall at a teahouse.
It was his irritation at the situation, at these people who profited from capturing and selling Naruto and Kushina's lost family, at Kakashi's failure to save even one person, which caused him to return with only one shinobi to interrogate rather than any trouble that came with subduing the group of missing-nin.
Kakashi used one of ANBU's many secure entrances and greeted the masked sentry with the first of several coded sign-counter-sign exchanges that would both grant Kakashi admission into the village and explain his prisoner. The sentry finally nodded in acknowledgement and lifted his wrist-communicator to announce Kakashi's arrival to ANBU's higher-ups. Kakashi left him to it and headed straight for T&I. His mission wasn't over until he had handed over Kuroppoi, but he still relaxed at the sight of Konoha's familiar skyline.
Well, almost familiar skyline. It took Kakashi less than a minute to notice the giant tree in one of the village's more distant training grounds. From where he stood, the tree didn't look that big, but Kakashi guessed it to be at least one hundred meters tall. It wasn't as tall as most of the trees in the Forest of Death, but it wouldn't look out of place there either.
Ino was manning the front desk that afternoon. There were chunin and jounin who were equally qualified, and perhaps less vital to Interrogation, who could man the desk instead. But Ino had liked working in her family's flower shop and brought some of that customer-friendly attitude with her to T&I. Some shinobi thought it unsettling. Kakashi thought that unsettling feeling was why Ino did it the first place.
"Welcome back, Kakashi," said Ino. "And who did you bring us today?"
Ino signaled the nearest guards to relieve Kakashi of his burden, even as he explained who the unconscious nin was and how he was related to the Uzumaki kidnappings. The two chunin had carried Kuroppoi downstairs into the facilities before Ino had finished recording Kakashi's statement. Kakashi would have to submit a separate report for the Hokage, but this log book was for T&I and only official members of the department had access to it.
Kakashi tried to sneak a peek anyway, but Ino closed the book before he could get a good look. Then she had the audacity to smile serenely at him when he scowled at her.
"How many other teams had success?" asked Kakashi. He had been away for a month, which was far longer than he liked. He and his dogs had done their best, but other teams might have had better luck.
Ino's smile morphed into a concerned frown. "You were the only team to report a success."
Kakashi stared at her in shock. "You're joking."
"No," said Ino. "No one encountered any of the false shinobi, and the handful of teams that found other slave-traders only found dead bodies. We've kept in contact with Suna. They've been looking too and haven't found anything either."
Kakashi glanced at the door where Kuroppoi had disappeared. "I wonder why this group was still alive."
"You think he's a plant," said Ino.
"It sounds like you do to," said Kakashi with a pointed look.
Ino shrugged. "Plant or not, Ibiki and Anko know what to do. The group for the emergency Kage Summit is leaving tomorrow morning, so we'll have to try to get what we can out of him."
"Is that so?" asked Kakashi. He had better report to the Hokage in-person. Usually, he attended the summit, but Tsunade might want him to stay in the village if she left the Kurosakis or Team Taka behind.
Kakashi set aside the task for later. If it was urgent enough, the Hokage would have sent Naruto to fetch him as soon as he hit T&I. Instead, it was time to catch-up on what he had missed in Konoha while he was away.
"Speaking of plants…what's with the tree?" asked Kakashi.
"Oh, you noticed that?" asked Ino. "That was Ichigo's first attempt at using Wood Release."
Kakashi had guessed it was something like that. Even in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, trees didn't just appear without prompting, but he had never seen Tenzo grow something that big.
"His first try?" he asked. "It seems a bit big for that."
"Apparently he pumped the thing full of chakra," said Ino. "Gave himself a mild case of chakra exhaustion and recovered in a night just like some other idiot we know."
"Is that so?" asked Kakashi.
He wondered exactly how much chakra Ichigo had. His own skill at sensing wasn't honed enough to tell him anything more than "a lot" and the last Kakashi had seen Ichigo mostly focused on the Academy jutsu and genjutsu, neither of which used very much chakra at all. He would have to ask Karin of Team Taka what his exact level was if the Hokage hadn't done so already. Then again, if she had asked, Tsunade-sama might not have put an accurate number in his file.
Kakashi abruptly became aware of Ino's deliberately poor attempt at hiding a grin.
"What else happened?" he asked warily.
"Our favorite knuckle-headed ninja was there when Ichigo was practicing," began Ino.
Kakashi listened with dull horror as Ino gleefully described Naruto's folly. That was their future Hokage in action. He would have to think of an appropriate punishment, er, lesson after the Kage Summit was over. It could be a useful team bonding experience. They hadn't had time for one of those since the Kurosakis had arrived in Konoha.
Naturally, that thought led him to the one other person who enjoyed working T&I's front desk. "Isn't Yuzu supposed to be working the front?"
Ino smirked knowingly. Kakashi kept his expression deliberately neutral. His primary focus over the last month had been the mission, but there were long periods when his mind had wandered. He had considered the Yuzu-matter from every angle and had failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
The entire situation was ridiculous. She was young with barely more training than a civilian and had a promising future ahead of her. He was almost twice her age, nearing retirement age for shinobi if he wasn't killed in battle first, and had something of reputation. Yuzu should be the one upset at being romantically tied to him not the other way around.
Kon's theory was impossible. Shinobi used lust-at-first-sight to great effect, but love-at-first-sight did not exist. Eventually, Yuzu would get over her crush and move onto someone more appropriate. The best solution Kakashi could think of was to behave as if nothing had changed, and that meant checking-in on the Kurosaki siblings right away.
"Yuzu's been shadowing Anko for the past week. She's downstairs right now," said Ino.
Kakashi frowned. "I thought Ibiki wouldn't let anyone downstairs if they hadn't demonstrated proficiency at T&I-style taijutsu."
"Like I said, Yuzu's been shadowing Anko for a week," said Ino. "It turns out when Yuzu says she's not as athletic as her siblings, she can still compete with upper-level chunin. Ibiki was very impressed."
Kakashi was floored. Yuzu and Karin both had been learning at an incredible rate, and of course Ichigo's progress was simply unbelievable, but Ibiki wouldn't permit Yuzu downstairs if she only knew the forms by rote. She would need to be able to pick and choose the appropriate action instantly in any situation. Experience like that couldn't be taught; it had to be learned overtime. She must have been practicing constantly while he was gone.
"It's not just Yuzu either," continued Ino. "Sakura has been letting Kurosaki Karin use healing jutsu at the hospital. Then there's Ichigo's schedule, which makes me tired just thinking about it. Naruto, Sasuke, and Suigetsu spend half their time sparring with each other. And Sasuke's Karin has been practicing with Juugo. Those Uzumakis are terrifying when they get going."
For a moment, Kakashi felt he understood the reason behind the destruction of Uzushiogakure. If everyone there were like Naruto, Kushina, Tsunade-sama, and the Kurosakis, then it was frightening place indeed. But surely they couldn't all be like that? Karin of Team Taka was… obsessive, dedicated, and willing to die for her beliefs. The Sand Siblings were equally as bad. Pain, well, it was better not to linger on that sort of memory. Then there was Team Taka's report on that group of civilians they had almost rescued. One of them had broken his own arm and attacked a shinobi in order to protect his family.
Kakashi let the moment go. Understanding why Kiri and Kumo had allied, however briefly, to destroy Uzu would not explain why the Uzumaki were under attack now. Neither the Mizukage nor the Raikage had indicated any knowledge about the missing Uzumaki clan members at the Chunin Exams, and they had eventually agreed to the emergency Kage Summit after the attack on Suna. While conflict always provided plenty of business for the Hidden Villages, Kakashi knew none of the five major villages were in such dire straits as to deliberately start another war.
Ino was oblivious to the turn Kakashi's inner thoughts had taken and was listening to her radio.
"They're going to start Kuroppoi's interrogation now," she reported. "Ibiki has invited you down to watch if you want."
"I think I'll do that," said Kakashi heading casually for the door.
He was almost free when Ino called out, "Don't forget to say hi to Yuzu-chan!"
Kakashi dashed down the stairs. He wanted to reach the interrogation room before it started. He was definitely not running from Ino's gleeful cackle.
Kakashi had attended dozens of interrogations over the years, even if he wasn't officially part of T&I, and he knew where they would take a new arrival that they needed to crack in a hurry. He found the appropriate cell with ease.
Anko and Ibiki were already inside with a different Yamanaka, Hanashi, who had attended the last Chunin Exams in Suna. Yuzu and another guard were watching through the one-way mirror in the main hall.
Yuzu, he noticed, was in her usual green and grey attire. The apron made it seem like she should be in a kitchen preparing dinner rather than in the depths of T&I's dungeons, but Kakashi reminded himself that butchers wore aprons too. She wasn't wearing her face mask either. Though she had the grey one she bought herself hanging around her neck like a scarf. She was watching the proceedings with polite interest.
When she noticed his approach, Yuzu smiled brightly at him. "Welcome back to Konoha, Kakashi-san."
"Thanks," said Kakashi. "I thought it would still be a few weeks before you made it down here."
Yuzu's smile dimmed somewhat. "Ibiki-san let me in the building because it's safer for Karin and me to be around more shinobi, but I wanted to earn my right to enter the basement as soon as possible."
"Impressive," said Kakashi.
Yuzu's smile returned full force. Kakashi felt an answering grin rise on his own face, even hidden as it was. Then he noticed the guard watching their exchange with not-subtle-enough interest. Kakashi wondered exactly how many people knew about Yuzu's declaration of intent.
"The one-way mirror won't do much good here," said Kakashi.
One-way glass was an intimidation factor. Knowing people could be watching you but not knowing how many or who they were unsettled some people. Shinobi trained to resist that sort of mind-trick, but every bit helped. Kuroppoi Tsurara's skills rendered it virtually meaningless in this case, but it still provided a measure of safety to the observers.
"Because Kuroppoi is a sensor-type like Karin-nee-san, right?" asked Yuzu.
Kakashi's brain temporarily ground to a halt. "Karin-nee-san?"
"Yes, Karin-nee-san asked to be called that. I think she did it to mess with Sakura-sensei, but Karin and I agreed to it because Sakura-sensei has such a funny reaction," said Yuzu. She blushed faintly. "That probably wasn't very nice of us."
Kakashi didn't want to imagine Sakura's reaction to hearing her rival called "nee-san" by her only apprentice. Funny was not the word that came to mind. Terrifying was more accurate. Not for the first time, Kakashi had to admit the Kurosaki siblings were more than a little strange.
"No, probably not," said Kakashi fixing his gaze on the interrogation room where Kuroppoi was strapped into a chair. He couldn't help but notice Yuzu's shoulders wilting faintly out of the corner of his eye. "But if you stop now, Karin might be hurt."
"You're right," said Yuzu sunnily. "I'm sure Sakura-sensei will get used to it eventually."
Kakashi expected hell to freeze over first.
What he did not expect was for Kuroppoi's first act of defiance to be spitting blood all over himself rather than his captors. No shinobi had aim that bad.
Half a second later, Yuzu was the one sitting in the chair instead of Kuroppoi. Kakashi couldn't imagine how he had gotten the genjutsu to work. He was trapped by a bevy of chakra suppressors, and the Yuki-nin's talents didn't lie in the art of illusions.
Kakashi glanced to the side wondering how Yuzu would react to seeing herself in the chair but found he couldn't. Turning his head seemed to take an age like he was moving through molasses.
Kuroppoi casually sauntered into view. He was smirking as he raised his hand to show off a faintly glowing seal.
"Looks like this works just as promised," he said.
Kakashi didn't scowl. He couldn't move his muscles fast enough to bother anyway. He reached out a hand, reflexes reacting to danger even if he knew it was futile.
Kuroppoi was a plant. Whoever was targeting Uzumaki, whoever was equally talented with seals as that lost clan, had provided him a means to escape his bonds and slow down any attacking shinobi on his way out of the village. The blood had activated the seals, and Kuroppoi had obviously selected Yuzu as the least trained and therefore least able to resist the forced transportation.
Kakashi wondered at the distance. Was everyone in the building effected or just this room and section of the hall? Would it continue working or wear-off once he was out of range? How did it effect his chakra? He couldn't form hand signs, but could he still shape chakra to make a jutsu?
"I think I'll kill you first, Hatake Kakashi," said Kuroppoi. "If anyone could figure a way out of this trap, it would be you."
Kuroppoi lifted a kunai from the frozen guard. Anger blazed in the chunin's eyes. As an afterthought, the missing-nin nicked the guard's throat. Blood dripped slowly from the wound as the anger shifted to despair. He couldn't move to stop the bleeding, and once the seal wore off the man would bleed to death.
Kakashi's own fury ratcheted skyward as Kuroppoi took deliberately slow steps toward the Copy-Nin. He spun the kunai idly on one finger.
"Prepare to die, Hatake! I'll slaughter you the same way you slaughtered my comrades," he said loudly.
Kakashi thought, somewhat uncharitably, that the man took loyalty to his dead band of slavers a little too far. Not to mention, that the missing-nin Kakashi had killed had at least had the chance to fight back. Not a very good chance, but still a chance. This was a pathetic end for the legendary Copy-Nin.
There was movement from the interrogation room.
A dark chain burning with bright red runes burst from Yuzu's sleeves and raced out of the room toward Kuroppoi. They weren't exact quiet, so the missing-nin had plenty of time to dodge, but at least he dodged away from Kakashi and down the hall with a surprised curse.
The chains kept extending, pouring after the fleeing shinobi in an unending stream. Kakashi, whose hand was still reaching out from that first initial reaction, brushed the edge of the chain with his fingertips.
His hand was on fire.
Kakashi screamed in agony and jerked his arm away from the chain. The feeling faded but didn't disappear. His hand wasn't actually burning, but it hardly made any difference. He flexed his fingers but the pain refused to dissipate. He would just have to ignore it for now.
He looked up and realized he could move freely. Kakashi turned his head to the chunin. The man was still dripping blood, faster now, but nothing to indicate the slowing-effect had worn off. Kakashi lunged for him and inspected the wound. It was deep and every second the tear opened just a little bit further.
Kakashi pushed the edges of the cut together and stood back. It didn't come open but still wasn't sealed. He moved the chunin's hand in place to apply pressure.
"If you know any healing jutsu, try to use them," ordered Kakashi. With Tsunade as Hokage, most shinobi knew at least one these days.
A faint green glow surrounded the shinobi's hand. Good enough.
There was a clunking sound and gasp from inside the room. "I didn't get him!" yelled Yuzu.
Kakashi stuck his head in the doorway. "Hit Anko and Ibiki with your chain when you recall it. Don't hit this guy outside. He needs medical attention."
"Hurry, Kakashi-san!" said Yuzu. "I think he's heading for Ichigo!"
Kakashi sprinted out of the room and up the stairs. He was in too much pain from his hand to accurately perform Body Flicker, but he could still enhance his speed with chakra. The shinobi in the welcoming room were as frozen as Kakashi had been just moments ago. He blazed past them without stopping. None of them looked injured, and at the moment, he was the only person immune to the freezing effect of Kuroppoi's seal.
Kakashi chased the escaping Snow-nin into village. From what he knew of the patrol patterns, Yuzu was right. Kuroppoi was running straight toward Ichigo. He was likely planning to grab the man on his way out of the village.
Shinobi and civilians alike had noticed the escaping prisoner. They couldn't fail to notice, given the way most of them froze up as soon as he got too close. As far as Kakashi could tell, the affected range was a ten-meter diameter sphere centered on Kuroppoi. Unfortunately, no else knew that and Kakashi was lagging too far behind to tell them.
The worst part of the chase, in Kakashi's opinion, was the increasingly large gap between the two of them. The pain in his hand destroyed his concentration. He could keep running or he could use a jutsu, but he couldn't do both, and he needed to both if he wanted to keep up with Kuroppoi.
The former Yuki-nin hit the wall when Kakashi and the nearest backup were more than one hundred and fifty meters behind. Kuroppoi raced up the wall with ease. Kakashi watched desperately for a sign of retaliation from Ichigo. Yuzu had been able to use her chains despite the slowed-time effect. Perhaps Ichigo could do something too.
Kuroppoi Tsurara reached the top of the wall. There was a beat and then a giant explosion of dust and rock. Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't felt any chakra from that attack, and it had been fairly large. He would bet it was one of Ichigo's foreign, reiatsu-based attacks.
Kakashi raced up the wall as quickly as he could. Other shinobi were flocking to the scene, passing him at top speed, but whatever Ichigo had done, it hadn't destroyed Kuroppoi's seal, and the shinobi were still getting stuck on the way to the top.
At some other time, Kakashi might have appreciated the looks of annoyance and disbelief on his fellow's faces. Now he could only feel seething rage on behalf of his village.
On the top of the wall, Kakashi found an interesting tableau. Ichigo had gotten stuck in the seal after all and was slowly executing a punch. At Ichigo's feet, Kuroppoi was stuck in a kowtow, arms outstretched and forehead touching the ground.
"What the fuck is this?" demanded Kuroppoi. Apparently he could still move his jaw if nothing else.
"I was going to ask you the same question," said Kakashi peering down at the trapped shinobi's hands.
The seal was on the right hand and still glowing faintly. It appeared to be a tattoo. Kakashi considered chopping the man's hand off. But he wasn't sure that that would stop the slowing effect. Instead he settled for searing the seal off with a fire jutsu. Kuroppoi's shriek of pain was only fitting considering the discomfort Kakashi found himself in.
"What the hell?" demanded Ichigo as soon as the seal disappeared. "What was that?"
Kakashi carefully suppressed a shiver at the sound of Ichigo's voice. Whenever Ichigo wore his chosen ANBU mask, his voice double bizarrely. The second layer had an evil undertone that made the most hardened shinobi fear for his life. Between the voice and gold-on-black eyes, Ichigo would be unrecognizable without his bright orange hair or wooden bokken at his side.
Roughly three dozen shinobi appeared on top of the wall at the same time. The resulting clamor was deafening. Most of the shinobi were asking the same questions as Ichigo.
"Shut up!" barked Kakashi. The mob quieted instantly. "Clear this section of the wall and see if anyone in the village needs help. This is an ANBU matter."
The gathered shinobi dispersed. Kakashi had to admit that seniority, or notoriety as the case maybe, had its perks from time to time. Anko and another T&I shinobi appeared as the last of the crowd was leaving.
"I see you caught him," said Anko through gritted teeth.
She had been hit by Yuzu's hell chains too and hurting as much as Kakashi. The second shinobi was white with pain.
"Kurosaki did that," said Kakashi. "Somehow."
"It's a kido," said Ichigo. "Bakudo #67 Supplicant's Stance."
"Peachy," said Anko. "Can you do that thing with gold light?"
Ichigo blinked in surprise and peered at them. "Did you all get tagged by Yuzu?"
"It kept us mobile," said Kakashi. He tried not to squeeze his hand. Movement only made the ache more pronounced. "You weren't."
"I could move my reiatsu just fine," said Ichigo. "My body just couldn't keep up. It wasn't like the other kidnapping attempts."
He closed his eyes and concentrated. A golden glow surrounded his hands and slowly spread up his arms. Ichigo reached out for Anko. He touched her shoulder, and the pain in her expression faded immediately.
Wordlessly, Kakashi and the other shinobi held out their own arms. Ichigo touched Kakashi's hand. The burning agony shifted into gentle warmth. It was a strange but wholesome feeling, like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a winter's day, peaceful and content, and centered entirely on Kakashi's hand.
When Ichigo moved onto the next shinobi, that peaceful feeling went with him leaving Kakashi feeling unsettled. Anko exchanged a knowing glance with him. Moments of peace like that were rare in the lives of shinobi. The idea that people as violent as Hatake Kakashi or Mitarashi Anko could feel such contentment was almost beyond belief.
As soon as Ichigo was done with final shinobi, the golden light disappeared entirely. The man flexed his elbow tentatively.
"That was…" the man began, then stopped, and gathered himself. "I was burning before. Shouldn't I be cold now?"
Ichigo stared at him like he had suggested the moon was made of cheese rather than something reasonable like the body of the deceased Rabbit Goddess-turned-demon. Kakashi suspected he needed to gather himself too. The freedom from pain was a bit of a head rush.
"You know what happens to really hot things that get really cold, really fast?" asked Ichigo.
"They break," said Kakashi mildly.
"That's right," said Ichigo. "Now I'm not saying that your body would actually break, but the pain might be enough to make your mind snap."
Kakashi shuddered at the idea. He had been trapped in Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan. He was certain that the pain from the Yuzu's chains would have been worse than those days of hell if he had allowed himself to dwell on it for more than a few seconds.
"Wonderful," said Anko distractedly. She was glaring at Kuroppoi. "Can we take this guy in like this? Will Yuzu be able to break your whatsit… kido?"
"No," said Ichigo. "Bakudo #67 binds the victim in that position in a specific spot. I'll have to cancel it for you to move him."
Anko huffed. "Ugh. Why even bother?"
Ichigo nervously scratched at his head. "It's not usually for prisoners, but…" He made a quick chopping motion with his hand.
Kakashi studied Kuroppoi again. He was idly placed to lose either one or both of his hands. Or his head.
"An interesting choice," said Kakashi.
He seriously doubted that Ichigo had ever killed a bound or unresisting opponent. For all that Ichigo was nominally a part of ANBU, it was strictly for appearance's sake. Naruto's cousin was far too honorable to be an assassin.
Ichigo seemed to follow Kakashi's train of thought because the tips of his ears had turned red. His mask hid any other indicator of a blush.
"A lot of bakudo focuses on binding the arms and theoretically paralyzes the rest of the body, but really determined people can still use their legs and feet," explained Ichigo. "This was the first that came to mind that wouldn't also crush his head."
A missing-nin fleeing an enemy village would be more than really determined, and an escapee from T&I would have valuable information. Kakashi silently applauded Ichigo's quick thinking.
"At least you managed to catch him," said Anko with a sigh. "Furita, you and I will grab him when Ichigo lets him loose."
The other shinobi nodded and reached for Kuroppoi's left arm. Anko took a moment to slide a surgery mask around Kuroppoi's face to prevent any more bloody accidents then took hold of his right arm. They both looked at Ichigo expectantly.
"I'll need a five-count to release the kido," said Ichigo. He held up five fingers and pointed to the third.
From his face-down position, Kuroppoi could hear them but couldn't see them. If he tried to move, it wouldn't be on beat three.
"Alright," said Anko.
Ichigo concentrated. Kakashi noticed, distantly, that Ichigo's mildly fluctuating chakra had increased and steadied out. He was more interested on observing the effect of the kido on Kuroppoi.
"One…two…three…"
Purple straps of light flickered into view and shattered almost instantly. Anko and Furita had Kuroppoi bound and propped up between them before the missing-nin knew he was free.
Anko snarled viciously at the missing-nin. "You won't be escaping so easily. No matter what other tricks your contacts prepared for you."
It happened so fast not even Kakashi had time to react. A solid, metal spear hurtled out of the tree-line and straight through Kuroppoi's chest. The prisoner died instantaneously, a vague look of surprise on his face.
Anko and Furita dropped the lifeless body, and all four of them ducked in case of a follow-up attack, but there was nothing.
"Shit," muttered Anko. "Our only lead, dead."
"Do you sense anything?" Kakashi asked Ichigo.
"Not anything alive," said Ichigo after a moment. "My guess is one of those fake shinobi."
Kakashi scowled. "Alright, Ichigo, Furita, stay here and wait for backup. Anko, come with me."
He took a chakra-enhanced leap over the wall with Anko following close behind cursing up a storm. The kunoichi quieted when they hit the tree-line. If the attacker had stuck around and hadn't noticed their pursuit, then there was no reason to alert him unnecessarily.
An ugly black smear covered the side of one the closer trees. Kakashi muttered a few curses of his own. It had been one of the fake shinobi, and it had self-destructed. He summoned Pakkun to try and catch a scent and jumped to the top of the tree anyway. But there was no indication of another person, real or fake, in the immediate area.
"Useless," said Kakashi when he finished his inspection.
Anko let out a roar of frustration and started heading back to the village. "Ibiki is going to love this."
Kakashi grimaced beneath his mask. Tsunade-Hokage-sama would not be pleased. This was not an auspicious start to the Kage Summit.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ichigo scowled in the faint, pre-dawn light. Between the questioning he had gotten last night and the preparations for their departure this morning, he had barely had an hour of rest. Kon's quiet snoring from Ichigo's backpack added insult to injury.
He had said good-bye to Yuzu and Karin before he left the apartment. Karin's lessons would continue under the supervision of Shizune, the Hokage's other apprentice, since Sakura was part of the escort. Yuzu's schedule would be uninterrupted since Ino was the one presenting the sum of T&I's knowledge—almost nothing—at this meeting.
Ichigo wasn't exactly thrilled about leaving his sisters in Konoha given the previous day's events, but Kakashi and all four member of Team Taka were staying in the village too. Even though Suigetsu had pissed off Ichigo that single time they had fought, he had still sensed the other man's dedication to his craft, and Naruto's friend, Sasuke, was pretty good in a fight. According to Karin and Yuzu, the big one, Juugo, had some tricks of his own. Ichigo thought, if nothing else, they would put their energy into protecting their Karin, which would be another level of defense for his sisters.
Lee had already stopped by on his way to early training and promised, on behalf of his team, to look after the twins. Ichigo had been touched by the thoughtfulness. He hadn't forgotten how a half-dead Tenten managed to pierce his reiatsu-enforced shinigami form. The kunoichi had been visibly dismayed at the lack of damage. Ichigo had been impressed that she had managed to scratch him at all. He knew Team Gai would do their best to defend his sisters and the village if there was an attack.
"Hey, Ichigo!"
The shinigami-turned-shinobi lifted his head and saw Konohamaru and Hanabi walking toward him. He lifted a hand in greeting.
"Long time, no see."
Konohamaru and Hanabi had both jumped on the opportunity provided by their promotions to take more challenging missions. They had been out of the village almost constantly since the Chunin Exams. According to Kurenai, who was Konohamaru's almost-aunt and highly invested in his career, to their dismay the two had still been paired together for most of those missions after having developed a very effective style of team combat over the years.
He noted they both carried travel packs. "You guys are coming too?"
"That's right," said Konohamaru grinning. "The boss already gave me extra-special instructions to look after you."
Ichigo worked very hard to suppress a smirk. Hanabi didn't bother. Every inch of her expression conveyed her disbelief. Konohamaru stuck out his tongue at both them, but he didn't look offended. All three of them knew that Ichigo had been the dark horse powerhouse of their temporary genin team.
"Hokage-sama really did stack the deck for this meeting," said Hanabi glancing at the handful of shinobi making their good-byes.
Ichigo frowned. "What do you mean?"
"After Kage Summits became regular occurrences, they had to pound out some rules. The annual meetings are a little different, but the Kages can only bring so many shinobi of each level to the emergency summits," explained Konohamaru. "Tsunade-sama went out of her way to bring teams that are known to work well together."
"Oh?" asked Ichigo.
"There's us," said Konohamaru. "Then there's the Boss, Sakura, and Sai. They worked together when Sasuke was away from the village."
"Then there's the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation," said Hanabi. "Those families are famous for their work together. Not to mention, they're all strong shinobi on their own."
Ichigo raised a thoughtful brow. "I've met Ino. And Choji is from the family with all those restaurants, right? But isn't Shikamaru the Jounin Commander? Is it really okay for him to leave the village with both Tsunade and Naruto going to the summit?"
"It'll be fine," said Konohamaru blithely.
Hanabi elbowed him in the side. "Don't be so casual about it, moron." She looked at Ichigo. "You're right. Except in wartime, it is very rare for the Hokage and the Jounin Commander to leave the village at the same time. But Kakashi has served as interim Hokage in the past, and he's intimately familiar with all the workings of the village."
Ichigo grunted in surprised acknowledgement. He only knew Kakashi as his family's constant shadow and Naruto's former jounin-instructor. He had gathered that the man had was well-respected in Konoha, but he hadn't known the shinobi was an interim-Hokage.
"Is that really a thing?" asked Ichigo after a moment's contemplation. "Interim-Hokage?"
Konohamaru waved his hand back and forth. "Not really. Kakashi is the officially recognized Rokudaime Hokage, but he's only ever served for a few weeks at a time. When Tsunade retires and Naruto takes over, they're going to carve Kakashi's head next to hers and then Naruto's."
"I see," said Ichigo.
Basically, the situation boiled down to "ninja are weird about everything," which was not news to Ichigo. He did feel slightly better about Yuzu's choice in partners. Not that he would be telling either of them that any time soon, if ever.
"So that counts as stacking the deck?" asked Ichigo returning to his original point.
"A whole tree is stronger than a single leaf," said Hanabi sagely.
Konohamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, there's that. And these guys took out at least three ANBU teams. She wants you and the boss to have reliable backup."
Ichigo thought about that for a moment. If he was honest with himself, then he was stronger than everyone here with the possible exception of Naruto. Anything that could stop him would probably go through Hanabi and Konohamaru like a hot knife through butter. He had a feeling they knew it too.
But Ichigo, Hanabi, and Konohamaru had spent weeks training together and then days in a desert fighting other genin teams. Ichigo had spent more time with them than anyone else in Konoha except Team Gai, and he had never fought in coordination with the taijutsu experts. If there was a team for him in Konoha, then Konohamaru and Hanabi were it.
"Thanks," he said. His earnest affection bringing a gentle smile to face.
Konohamaru and Hanabi both gaped at him. He scowled, and they recovered themselves.
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," said Konohamaru in a vain attempt to sound tough.
"I have to keep you in one piece or Hinata-nee-san would be upset," said Hanabi.
Ichigo blushed. "What?" he squeaked.
Hanabi grinned. "It's only fair. Neji told me you made a map of Uzushiogakure just for her, and you were very thorough in explaining all the pitfalls and ambush points."
"It was for her team!" protested Ichigo. "For her team! We there only a few months ago. It made sense for me to tell her—them!"
His protests fell on deaf ears. Hanabi's smirk only deepened, and Konohamaru's grin only got wider.
"It was the Hokage's idea!" he added.
Ichigo just hoped they never learned how Tsunade came up with the idea. He had casually reminded Naruto that Uzushiogakure was where his family had first landed in the Elemental Countries and relied on the blond to communicate that information to the Hokage before the tracking team left. After the ruin the attack on Suna had made of his first attempt to spend time with Hinata, Ichigo wasn't certain he could have summoned the courage to talk to her again quite so soon without outside influence.
Before Hanabi or Konohamaru could reply, the Hokage called them into line. Ichigo fell in with the others. They would run part of the way, then fly on one of Sai's art creations as they recovered, and then they would resume their run. The goal was to arrive in less than a day to outdistance any potential pursuit.
Naruto's team took up the vanguard while the Ino-Shika-Cho team took up the rear. Hanabi, Konohamaru, and Ichigo formed a diamond pattern with the Hokage. The gates opened, and the group was on their way to the Land of Iron.