When night fell, Seina swapped her usual uniform for casual clothes. The truth was, she didn't even know what to wear since wearing a uniform for so long had saved her from having to think about it. In the end, she shrugged and put on some black jeans along with a navy blue sweater, some black boots she conjured out of thin air, and a jacket. As she went downstairs, she saw Kakashi-sensei sitting in an armchair, waiting for her.
"Wow," she said, nodding. She saw the blush rise to his cheeks.
"Do you like it?" he asked, almost shyly.
Seina nodded. In fact, he had dressed almost like her, except that instead of a sweater, he wore a dark gray button-up shirt, probably over an undershirt. Instead of a mask, he wore a black scarf wrapped around his face a couple of times.
"You look beautiful," he smiled.
They walked through the village, chatting about trivial things until they found a restaurant to eat at. Seina was surprised to see an inner courtyard with a glass roof, green vines giving it a cosy touch, oil lamps, and tables separated by wooden trellises. They were seated, with some surprised glances, at a table in the back of the terrace.
"Welcome to the Garden of Konoha. Do you know what you'll be ordering, or would you like a menu?"
"The menu, please."
Seina took the menu handed to her by the waiter and cast a couple of spells as soon as he left. She quickly decided what she wanted and set the menu down on the table, watching with a smile as the jonin seemed absorbed in what he was reading. She always found it surprising when she stopped to think about how attractive Kakashi-sensei was, and how strange it seemed that he hadn't had any serious relationships.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, catching her off guard.
"I was thinking about how strange it is that you haven't dated anyone seriously," she confessed.
"To have a serious relationship, I'd have to open up to someone," he shrugged. "You know that's not my thing. Why is it strange to you that I've been alone?"
"Because not only are you physically attractive, but you're also intelligent, powerful, and a good person. What more could anyone ask for?"
Kakashi-sensei blushed, unable to help it. Seina stifled a laugh, realizing how much compliments always seemed to affect him. Then her smile faded as she realized it might be because no one had given him sincere compliments before. Fools, though better for her.
"Why are you blushing? Am I not telling the truth? People are foolish, but that works in my favour," she smiled, fully aware of the truth.
"I guess I'm just not used to people saying things like that to me... genuinely, and so directly."
"Get used to it. I'd fight people just to be with you," she half-joked.
Kakashi-sensei put the menu down on the table, no longer able to hide behind it, and locked his grey eye and his black eye onto hers intently. She blinked, realizing that the playful atmosphere had suddenly shifted for some unknown reason. They stared at each other in silence until he spoke.
"In a few years, it'll be me fighting for you. You know that, don't you?"
"What? Why do you say that?"
"Why? Seina... You're the Fourth Hokage's daughter, the daughter of the heir of Uzushiogakure, the apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, an excellent medic, you became chunin and tokubetsu jonin in less than two years after leaving the academy, and with your track record, you'll be jonin soon enough. Not to mention that Jiraiya-sama is your godfather, I'm your teacher, and other A and S-rank ninjas are your training partners. You're far above average, and people are starting to notice. What do you think will happen when you're 15, 16, or 17?"
Seina, who had just grasped what he was trying to tell her, relaxed. With an incredulous but comforting note, she realized that Kakashi-sensei was afraid of losing her in the future due to others' interest in her. How ridiculous. Even so, the fact that Kakashi-sensei admitted he would fight for her... She didn't know how to describe it, but it sparked a flame inside her that hadn't existed before.
"Kakashi, love… None of that matters," she said softly, unable to suppress her affectionate term. Kakashi-sensei looked noticeably surprised to hear her call him that. "Do you know why? Because I only want you, and no one else. They can admire me, stalk me, desire me, envy me, hate me... I don't care at all. The only thing that matters to me is my people. Naruto, Sasuke, Tsunade-sama, my friends, Shikaku, Tenzo, Yugao... but above all, you. Do you think I'd be so easily won over with a few pretty words and a bouquet of flowers without truly knowing me? Only knowing what I show publicly? Just because now I'm someone of public interest?"
The waiter came to their table, interrupting their conversation. Kakashi-sensei was still watching her intently, giving her his full attention, but he ordered from the menu, and she did the same. The waiter quickly left, sensing the tension. The jonin looked down at the table with wide eyes, thinking about what she'd said minutes earlier, until he looked up.
"I understand."
"As I said: I'm more likely to fight someone, simply because more people know the real you due to how long you've been friends."
"You're wrong," Kakashi-sensei interjected, cutting her off. "No one really knows me, Seina. Except you. God, why couldn't you be three years older?... What I mean is... I only want you too. There's never been anyone else, not before or now, that I want to be with. So it doesn't make sense for you to fight anyone for me because... I'm already yours, do you understand?"
Seina nodded with a lump in her throat. Kakashi-sensei placed his foot next to hers, comforting her, unable to hold her hand over the table. Another silence fell between them, though this one was filled with desire and understanding. At that moment, she wished she were three years older so she could kiss him, but she held back, knowing that sooner or later, she could do so publicly whenever she wanted, without anyone watching with disdain. Not that she cared about disapproving looks, but she knew she couldn't have a full relationship with someone 13 years older when she was only 12. It didn't matter if it was in the magical world or this ninja world.
"Even if I don't have to fight to be with you, I'll still have to scare off your admirers," she smiled, breaking the tension with a half-joke. "And I'll kill anyone who hurts you."
Kakashi-sensei seemed surprised again by her words, as if he hadn't realized what she'd be capable of doing for him and for those she loved. A part of her understood that it was hard for him to grasp that he wasn't alone anymore and that if something happened to him, there was someone to defend him in any situation. It pained her to realize that, until she came along, he had been alone against the world for years. His colleagues were great, but Kakashi-sensei didn't enjoy the same kind of friendship that she had had with Ron and Hermione, who had given almost everything for her during long and arduous years, or with Naruto and Sasuke, who were both literally and figuratively her brothers with whom she lived and shared practically everything, even her mind.
She mentally noted to remind him from time to time that she was there. She'd have to think of a way to show him more than just being there for him, especially since they lived together.
"Here's your order. Enjoy."
They ate in silence for a few minutes. The conversation had been heavy, necessary and comforting, but heavy nonetheless. She brought up a lighter topic, and they dined with new smiles on their faces. A few hours later, they returned home after a walk through the village. As soon as they crossed the stone wall, she felt a hand grab her waist and pull her until lips were pressed chaste against hers. Her hands rose involuntarily to his hair and face, stroking him for a couple of seconds before being set back on the ground.
"Thank you, Seina."
"You're welcome. You know I'm team Kakashi against the world."
"Not my team. Our team," he corrected.
"Even better."
"I like it."
Kakashi-sensei's happy, genuine smile followed her into her dreams. She hadn't expected the dinner to end with a serious, romantic conversation about their intentions, but she wouldn't change it for anything in the world.
The next day, she was called for a mission, but to her surprise, she wasn't the only one to receive the summons. Kakashi-sensei got another note that same morning, making them think they had a mission together. The first in over three months. Seina could barely hold back her smile. When they arrived at the Hokage tower, their hopes were confirmed as Tsunade-sama nodded for them to enter her office together.
"Well, well... I've been expecting you. Do you remember the man who manufactures the modified laboratory materials?"
"Yes."
"No."
Seina and Kakashi-sensei exchanged glances before the jonin raised a curious eyebrow at the Hokage. Tsunade-sama sighed.
"Yeah, maybe I didn't tell you. I don't even know who I've told what anymore," she muttered to herself. "Tenzou's team stole modified lab material from one of the bases they destroyed. Thanks to that clue, we were able to find the person supplying Orochimaru with that material. I sent a team to protect this person, and with some luck, we got there before Orochimaru. This man, Akira Yukimura, was transferred and placed under the custody of a chunin team while we attempted to set a trap for Orochimaru."
"Let me guess, something went wrong? It didn't work?" Seina asked, stifling a tired sigh.
"Yes and no, we destroyed another one of his bases last week while you were on a mission. The problem is that Orochimaru has figured out the deception and managed to locate Yukimura. The team protecting him is missing, along with Yukimura."
"How do you know they're not all dead?" her master asked, his face serious.
"The crime scene. There are signs of a confrontation, but not enough blood to indicate anyone's dead. Right now, we have four Konoha ninjas kidnapped by Orochimaru, and a civilian we were supposed to protect," Tsunade-sama sighed. "I'll give you the information on the team I sent and on Yukimura, but we don't have a single lead on where they are. The traps we set were our last chance to figure out where his other bases are. Now we're in the dark."
"What's our mission?"
"Your mission is to find the Konoha comrades, the civilian if possible, and rescue them. If you find a new base, destroy it and steal any documentation you come across. We need another thread to pull on… Kakashi, you'll lead this mission. You can leave immediately."
"Hai."
Kakashi-sensei and Seina left the Hokage's office, both frowning.
"Got everything?" her master asked, purely out of habit. They both knew she never left home without everything she needed, and more.
"Yes. We can leave whenever you're ready."
"Let's stop by the park for a moment," he gestured with a nod of his head.
They headed to the park next to the Hokage's tower. It was becoming a ridiculous habit to stop there for a quick chat. Seina cast some spells to ensure they couldn't be spied on.
"Try giving me a location."
"Akira Yukimura."
The conjured arrow spun around until it firmly pointed northeast. Kakashi-sensei frowned again when he realized the direction. He didn't even need to explain why. To the northeast lay Kumogakure. Could Orochimaru be using the proximity to Kumogakure to avoid being tracked? They didn't know.
"Let's go. We don't have time to waste."
"I have a sealed stone in the Land of Hot Water," she said. "We could get there with the hiraishin."
"Good idea," the jonin smiled. "We'll leave through the north gate and then use the hiraishin."
And that's exactly what they did. It took them a few minutes to reach the north gate, and a few more to register their departure. Then, hidden behind some trees, Seina used the teleportation jutsu. They landed on the ground a millisecond later, a couple of kunai in hand just in case. Fortunately, no one was around thanks to her active spells. Without even needing new orders, Seina cast a few anti-spy spells and rechecked the direction.
"I like that you anticipate my requests," Kakashi-sensei confessed with another smile.
"It was the logical thing to do."
"I see it's still north. Maybe we'll get lucky and avoid getting too close to Kumogakure. Can you summon one of your beasts to fly us there?"
Seina cast a calculating look at the clearing.
"I think I'll need more space."
"Let's find a larger clearing."
It took them about 15 minutes to find a spot big enough and far enough from civilization to discreetly summon her dragon. Once they were airborne, invisible to everyone's eyes, Seina followed the direction indicated by the active spell. Fortunately, the runes and spells on their clothing were enough to keep them from freezing in the cold due to the high altitude they flew at, heading north.
"We're approaching the country's border," she noted, spotting the sea in the distance. "It seems the base isn't on land."
"That's what it looks like," Kakashi-sensei frowned. "I'm not surprised. A base in the middle of the sea draws less attention than one on land. Logically, this must be an important base for Orochimaru. Can you locate him with that spell?"
"Yes, of course."
She cast the spell again, but this time targeting Orochimaru. To her relief, the arrow pointed in a completely different direction. Kakashi-sensei raised an eyebrow when he saw it. As they reached the coastline, they flew out over the ocean under the bright morning sun. Luckily, it was still early, so they could see far ahead of them, which was basically nothing but water and more water.
"Look," Kakashi-sensei called, pointing at a distant spot. "There seems to be a small rocky islet."
Seina narrowed her eyes, realizing he was right. They flew closer to the small island, which was barely larger than half a football field. It was all grey rock, steep, with sparse vegetation at the highest point. She could count a few trees and some shrubs, but nothing more. There was undoubtedly little life on the island, except for Orochimaru's minions.
"Circle the island."
She complied, tilting her dragon to glide on its wings using its own inertia. As soon as she saw the back side, she realized where the base was. It was as if someone had carved out half the islet to build several floors in the hollow, protected by the rock from all angles except the front.
"Follow me."
Seina jumped from her summon right after her master, simultaneously unsummoning the dragon, and landing on the treetop without making more noise than a falling leaf. Thanks to the invisibility bracelet, they hadn't been seen, but from there they could see a watchtower on the left and several ninjas patrolling up and down. Kakashi-sensei gave her a signal using Konoha's jonin code.
"Send one of your creatures to inspect the area and tell me what you see."
She nodded. She summoned her loyal insects and sent them to scout the base. It was a slow job since they were so high up, but after half an hour, they finally infiltrated Orochimaru's headquarters without being detected. Who would detect them after she had cast invisibility spells on them? They slipped through cracks and ventilation shafts, giving her a perfect view of what was inside.
The first hallway she saw was grey, tiled, and crowded with people walking back and forth, wearing white coats and reading scrolls she couldn't identify. She even saw some carrying people on stretchers—some struggling, others dead or unconscious. It was definitely a laboratory. She relayed all of this to Kakashi-sensei, who didn't seem surprised.
"Get us inside."
She nodded. She found a half-open janitor's closet and snuck one of her insects inside. Then, they teleported. She quickly enchanted the small cleaning closet on the top floor, making it disappear from the map. They activated their invisibility bracelets before stepping out. Seina used her powers to guide them through the crowd, observing the people passing by as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Some weren't even ninjas. How was that possible? How had Orochimaru recruited or trained so many people in medicine without anyone noticing? How long had this empire of illegal research been operating?
They had to descend two floors before they found the civilian they had come to rescue. Contrary to what they had expected, Yukimura wasn't being tortured or imprisoned in a cell. He was working on creating more lab equipment, though, judging by the explosive tag on his neck, it wasn't of his own free will. Fortunately, he was practically alone, except for a few minions following his orders and helping him complete Orochimaru's tasks faster.
Seeing that they were civilians, Kakashi-sensei didn't hesitate for a second and knocked them all unconscious with a few neck pinches, moving so fast he went unnoticed. Seina enchanted the room so they could speak freely, and to make sure anyone approaching would suddenly feel the urge to go elsewhere. Ah, magic... how she loved it.
"It's a fuinjutsu collar," Kakashi-sensei sighed as he examined Yukimura on the floor.
"Can you remove it?"
"I'd need time to study it. I'm not as skilled in fuinjutsu as I'd like..."
"I imagine if we break it somehow, it'll explode."
"Exactly."
"What if I enlarge the collar without breaking it?" she asked finally.
Kakashi-sensei looked up at her, his expression thoughtful.
"If you can do it without disrupting any seals, nothing should happen."
She slowly enlarged the collar, but the fuinjutsu remained active, and nothing exploded. When the collar was large enough to slip over Yukimura's head without issue, Kakashi-sensei rescued him and laid him on the floor, checking his pulse just in case.
"He's fine. You have a seal in Konoha, right?" he asked. She nodded. "Send him back with one of your clones. Take him to the Hokage for questioning if needed."
"Hai."
She summoned a clone and had it carry Yukimura in its arms before disappearing with hiraishin.
"What do we do with all these people? Most of them aren't ninjas but civilians with medical training."
"I've noticed... We only have two options: we capture them or we execute them. Even if they're civilians, they work for Orochimaru. We don't know if it's against their will or not, but they're still enemies of Konoha..." her master sighed again. "The truth is, it would be very useful for Konoha to keep them alive for interrogation. If it turns out they're working for Orochimaru willingly, the interrogation department will execute them later. Could you lock them up in your suitcase cells? I'd rather not send so many unknowns to the village at once."
"Of course. In fact, Sasuke and I designed the cells so that prisoners can't wake up from a magical coma, so they won't cause any trouble until I release them."
"Perfect. Just what we need."
Kakashi-sensei nodded with a satisfied expression. He began gathering the unconscious civilians while Seina pulled out her suitcase, opened it, and summoned a few clones to handle the imprisonments. A few minutes later, they had even stolen all the documents related to Yukimura's modified models that were in the room.
"Let's head back to the top floor. We'll comb the building from top to bottom," Kakashi-sensei told her before leaving the enchanted room. "Can you prevent people from coming up to the higher levels once we've cleared them?"
"Easily."
"I remember you told me about a spell that could put people to sleep, right?"
"Yes. The somnus enchantment. It's a wide-range spell."
"Could you use it to put everyone to sleep at once?" Kakashi-sensei asked with interest. She nodded. "Would it affect me?"
"If you stand behind me, no. I can direct the spell in one direction."
"Great. Here's what we'll do..."
They left the room and went up to the top floor. Following Kakashi-sensei's orders, Seina cast the sleep spell on everyone at once. Bodies began to fall to the ground without much resistance. After all, no one could withstand her enchantment. As soon as it was done, they moved out of the stairwell. She and her clones started collecting the bodies while Kakashi-sensei stole any useful documentation or materials. The corpses were made to vanish into nothing at the jonin's command, while those on the brink of death due to human experiments were healed by her clones inside their cells.
She enchanted the staircase so no one could go up, and they descended to the next floor. The building turned out to have five floors, one of which was underground, but they were mostly civilians, except for a couple of low-level ninjas that Kakashi-sensei easily dealt with on his own. When they finally reached the end, however, they realized the Konoha team wasn't there.
"Try searching for each one by name: Mamoru Inuzuka, Kotetsu Hagane, Yanjirobee Futaba, and Natori Kirihara."
Seina obeyed. She quickly realized that Orochimaru had tricked Konoha.
"They're not here," Kakashi-sensei confirmed, though fortunately, they all seemed to be in the same place.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Our mission is to rescue the Konoha team, Yukimura, steal the documents, and destroy the base, and that's exactly what we'll do," he replied firmly. She nodded. "Let's go. We'll plant explosive tags to destroy the base completely."
They split up to speed up the task, placing the seals at the structural load points. Seina tried not to think about the state of the team they should have rescued, focusing instead on blowing up yet another of Orochimaru's bases before leaving. Half an hour later, the entire building, along with the watchtower and the outer shack, was packed with explosives.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu."
They flew away on her dragon. Once they were far enough, they activated the explosives. The building collapsed on itself in less than a minute, vanishing into the water.
"It's a shame you don't know how to form a bijuudama with my chakra yet," Kurama lamented. "We could've blown up the whole island."
"Maybe next time."
"Transport us back to the Land of Hot Water," Kakashi-sensei ordered as they watched the building explode properly. "We have no time to lose."
Seina unsummoned the dragon mid-air, grabbed her master by the hand, and teleported them away. They landed a second later. She wasted no time using the locator spell again, confirming they were even further south of their position.
"What sealed stones do you have in the south?"
"I have one in Konoha and another in the Land of the Sea."
"Perfect. We'll head to Konoha first."