As expected, the mission wasn't exactly smooth sailing. They had been flying for hours toward the nearest "enemy base of Konoha." Upon arrival, observing from the sky, they discovered it was nothing more than a group of petty bandits looting merchants from Konoha. Hence the label "enemies" of the village. They marked the spot on Hayate's map and moved on.
The next base was outside the borders of the Land of Fire, so reluctantly, they left it behind without even investigating further. They continued flying west. The plan was to scan the area systematically while flying from right to left, then left to right, repeating the process while moving from north to south.
It was exhausting work. Luckily, flying at high speeds spared them from many dangers and fatigue. Also, their bird's-eye view often sufficed to determine whether something was worth investigating further or not. However, that didn't make the job any less mind-numbingly boring, especially as Seina had to stay alert and manoeuvre her dragon.
"Ever heard the saying, 'third time's the charm'?" Yamato said, looking at the ground as they approached the third potential enemy base.
"And it only took us two days," she replied sarcastically, "and countless miles of flying without a single break."
She wasn't exaggerating. They were now near the Tenchi Bridge—the same one she had flown over a few days ago on her last mission. They had covered much of the northern territory without stopping since, surprisingly, there were fewer bases than expected. Perhaps because having a base so close to the border wasn't practical? She didn't know, nor did she care to dwell on it. She estimated they had only surveyed about a sixth of the Land of Fire's territory, so conserving her mental energy was crucial.
"I see only one squad," Kakashi said, his sharingan activated. "They look like Iwa ninjas."
"They're not using the base. Just maintaining it."
"So it seems... If we fight them from the ground, we'll definitely be at a disadvantage. They probably have traps everywhere, and those stones hiding the base surely serve more than just camouflage."
"Can I cut in?" she asked, raising a hand as if in class.
"What are you planning to do?"
"Put them to sleep. It won't be instant, so they'll notice, but once they're... caught, they won't be able to resist, and in a few seconds, they'll be unconscious. We should be safe up here if they try to retaliate."
"Do it. I'd like to see this," her teacher said, leaning forward to watch closely.
"Somnus."
Seina directed her magic toward the enemy base. She gradually increased the spell's potency, but the moment one of the ninjas wobbled, the others knew something was wrong. The mentally stronger ones resisted longer than the deadweight members of the team.
"Genjutsu!"
"Kai!"
"Kai!" The first one to fall under her spell collapsed to the ground, snoring. "It's not working!"
"Activate the barrier!"
Another dull thud sounded as another ninja hit the ground, and the two remaining ones, moving sluggishly, tried to activate some sort of defence. Realizing they had been discovered, Seina increased the spell's strength. They dropped like flies. Silence fell over the enemy base, broken only by snores and the deep breaths of the ninjas.
"Have I ever mentioned how glad I am that you like us?" Yamato said when they realized no one was waking up.
Kakashi chuckled softly. He sent a couple of clones to analyse the traps and barriers. One of them intentionally triggered a trap, which he had likely spotted with his sharingan. The other approached the nearest Iwa ninja to confirm they were truly unconscious. The ninja didn't stop snoring.
After five minutes, and after the clone ventured deeper into the stone fortress, the original Kakashi stood on the dragon's back.
"We can go in."
They landed in a safe area. Yamato and Hayate dispatched the unconscious ninjas with a few well-placed senbons while Seina followed Kakashi into the base.
"What do you think they were doing here?"
"Waiting. Maybe it was also a resting point for Iwa ninjas crossing our borders. After all, they're in enemy territory."
She understood what he meant. Waiting. Waiting for another war where a base in enemy territory might prove useful. Of course.
"Fortunately, it doesn't look like there are too many traps inside the base," her teacher remarked. "Let's gather all the documentation we can and get rid of anything potentially dangerous."
Half an hour later, they had combed through the three hidden levels of the Iwa base. Hayate and Yamato had dismantled several traps, while others were triggered intentionally to neutralize them.
"Looks like we're done here."
"Your turn, Seina."
It took her less than a minute to place the base under the Fidelus charm. They cleaned up thoroughly to ensure no one would stumble upon it in the forest and left.
"I can't believe we found an Iwa base in the middle of the Land of Fire," Hayate said that night in Kakashi's tent as they ate dinner. "And an active one at that!"
"Just goes to show you can never be too careful…"
"Even so, I expected more bases," Yamato confessed. "We've covered a lot of ground in three days to find only one base of this calibre."
"Perhaps the more concerning bases are along the Land of Fire's borders, but in other countries. They're not under our jurisdiction, so we can't do anything about them," Kakashi said. "For now, at least."
After dinner, Seina went to shower. She was brushing her hair when Kakashi knocked on the door. Being nearby, she opened it herself.
"Hey."
"Hey," he said, a playful smile on his face. "Can I come in?"
She let him in without saying a word.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. Does something have to be wrong for me to come see you?" he asked. "No, I just missed you."
"Aww. If I told Yamato or Hayate that, they wouldn't believe me," she laughed. "I missed you too."
"I know it's not the most appropriate thing, considering we're on a mission, but it's been weeks since we've had time alone."
Seina took his hand, tossed her comb onto the nightstand, and pulled him to her bed. Kakashi let himself be led. He lay down on her bed and hugged her close. They stayed silent for a while. Seina gently stroked his bare hand, listening to the soft rumble of a hum escape from him near her ear.
"It's starting to feel endless…"
"What is?"
"Growing up. I already did it once. You can't imagine what it's like to do it again."
"It's true. I can't imagine it."
Not that he was the best person to discuss childhoods with, given that his had been practically non-existent due to his mother's death, his father's suicide, Rin's murder, Obito's accident, and the deaths of his parents. Just thinking about it made her squeeze his hand in an attempt to comfort him. She felt a kiss on her head.
"Seina... Do you think about the future?" he asked suddenly.
"In what sense? About our relationship?"
"Yes."
"Of course I think about it."
"We've never talked about the important things."
"Like what…?"
"Like whether you want to have kids, if you want to get married, or if you'd continue using your mother's name with all that entails…"
"I would like to have kids and get married. What about you?"
"I never really thought about it before, but when I imagine being in a serious relationship with you, I can see it easily," he admitted. "The more I think about it, the more I want it. To marry you and have children with you."
"Then, we agree that we both want to have children together, don't we?"
"It seems so."
"As for the name… I've already led two families in my previous life. I don't care about being the leader of the Uzumaki clan. Even if I passed the leadership to Naruto, I'd still support him in every way, and I know he'd do a great job."
"In any case, if you took my name, you'd still be a clan leader. You wouldn't escape that responsibility so easily," Kakashi said, stifling a laugh.
"I'm going to teach my brother everything I know, and I'll learn what I need to do in this world too. If anything were to happen to me, I know I'd have taught him everything he needs. Regardless of whether I keep my name or not."
"Good idea, but I'd rather not think about that scenario," he said, holding her closer. "No 'just in case something happens to you.'"
"Back to the topic. I'd have to talk to my brother for him to accept the role. Not that he'd have much choice, really."
"Then, would you take my name?"
Kakashi asked with a trace of doubt in his voice. She raised her head to look into his eyes. She didn't want him to have any doubts.
"Yes."
She leaned over him, momentarily pulling down his mask, and pressed her lips gently to his. She felt him kiss her back a couple of times, cupping her face with his hand.
"I should let you sleep."
"I know."
If they had been at home, she might have asked him to stay, but they weren't at home. They were in the middle of a mission with Yamato and Hayate. She pulled his mask back up, gave him one last kiss on the cheek, and let him get up.
"Goodnight, Kakashi."
"Goodnight, love."
She went to sleep unable to suppress the silly grin on her face.
The next day, they had breakfast and went hunting again. It didn't take long to find a new base, but it turned out to be abandoned. They still claimed it for Konoha after thoroughly clearing it of traps and old documents. After that, they flew for hours, only stopping briefly for lunch at midday. They flew all afternoon, bored, and night fell.
"By tomorrow, we'll be parallel to Konoha," Hayate said, studying the map while the others set the table. "At this pace, we won't need the full three weeks Tsunade-sama gave us."
"I don't think so. I estimate we'll be back in Konoha in about ten days. If we had travelled on foot, even three weeks might not have been enough… Let's keep going for a couple of hours after dinner and stop before midnight."
And so they did. Seina yawned later that night as they flew under her disillusionment spell near Konoha. Along the way, they found a bandit base and an illegal market hidden in the mountains.
"Tsunade-sama will be rubbing her hands together when she sees this," Yamato said with a chuckle.
On the fourth and fifth days of the mission, they flew over the southern region near Konoha. As expected, they found another bandit base. Bandits always took advantage of their proximity to the village and wealthy merchants to set up bases for raiding. This was why many genin and chunin were regularly sent out of the village to deal with them—a nearly traditional ninja village mission.
"We've covered about 45% of the area by now."
"About 2,700 kilometres?" Hayate guessed aloud.
"More or less. We probably have another 3,000 kilometres to cover heading south."
Seina didn't want to calculate how much that was in square kilometres; it would only make her cry.
At dawn the next day, they got up and resumed their work for the sixth consecutive day. Soon, as they approached the border with the Land of Rivers, they saw where their arrow was pointing. Kakashi and Seina exchanged a look, clearly thinking the same thing.
That was where Akatsuki was. That was where Itachi was, according to the tracker in the pendant he had given her. It was obvious now—they were in the same place.
They had also detected another enemy base beyond the border of Amegakure. Curiously, it was also one of the points marked on the map she had found in Uzushiogakure. With some concern and disappointment, she realized it would be too dangerous to investigate it alone, as her spell indicated there were enemies inside.
Even so, her arrow had pointed to multiple bases in all directions outside their borders. It was no surprise; every country, whether ally or enemy, maintained bases within its territory. They had spent more time searching for clues beyond their borders than locating bases within them.
"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked, sitting next to her on the back of her dragon. He smiled when he saw her yawn. "Tired?"
"Bored."
"Better to be bored than to have to fight," he said, draping an arm around her shoulders, earning a slightly surprised look from Yamato and Hayate.
"I won't argue with that, but it doesn't make it any less boring."
She yawned again. Her only task was to direct the dragon in the direction pointed out by her locator. Yamato and Hayate were responsible for scanning for anything suspicious below, while Kakashi watched the skies for potential threats. Seina had little to worry about beyond controlling their flight.
"Look, there's something strange down there," Yamato said, pointing with his finger.
"It's not in the direction of Seina's jutsu."
Kakashi stood up, removing his arm from her shoulders, and nodded toward the location. Seina guided them there. She soon saw what was "strange." It looked like they were constructing something in the middle of nowhere. She could only see the entrance to an underground cavern, tools piled under a plastic tarp, and mounds of scattered dirt in the small clearing, which they wouldn't have noticed if not for their aerial vantage point.
"It seems they're digging very deep."
"We don't have any information on this location," her mentor mused aloud. "We'll mark it on the map, just in case."
They stopped for lunch a bit later. Tired of eating while flying, they took a break to stretch their legs on top of a small hill. Seina glanced at the map again.
"We're about halfway through the territory."
She nodded. It was starting to feel endless.
The next day was more of the same, until midday, when they stopped for lunch in the middle of the forest. Seina silently listened to the other jonin talk while eating her bento when her auditory spells alerted her to footsteps approaching from the south. She continued eating as if nothing was wrong but noticed the slight change in Kakashi when he sensed the same thing. His eye briefly flicked toward her before shifting away, and she knew what he wanted her to do—they had discussed this before.
She sent her summoned creatures to investigate who was spying on them. Her bird quickly flew over the area, blending in as if it were an ordinary bird. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw it was a rogue ninja from Kirigakure, complete with a slashed forehead protector. Further away, just out of her auditory range, she spotted several more—about six in total, all exiles from Kirigakure.
She refocused on her team and sought Kakashi's uncovered eye. When she caught his gaze, she conveyed with urgency through her legilimency what she had seen. He lowered his gaze for a moment, sighed, then closed his bento and packed his things.
"We should get moving," he said calmly. "We've rested long enough."
Yamato and Hayate, who had sensed that something was amiss, nodded. Seina finished packing, keeping the exiled ninjas within her range of vision, and saw a couple of them move forward to attack. Their comrades silently stopped them, likely thinking they hadn't been detected, and allowed them to leave.
They stood up, and Kakashi led them in the opposite direction to find a clearing where Seina could use her summoning. The rogue Kiri ninjas let them leave without revealing themselves. Once they were airborne and far from their enemies, Kakashi turned to address the group.
"Rogue ninjas from Kiri. I recognized a couple from the Bingo Book."
"Rogues from Kiri? How do you know?" Hayate asked, surprised. "And what are they doing in the Land of Fire? With the new Mizukage, they should be able to return to their village."
"That's what we need to find out. Perhaps they don't want to return."
"We should follow them."
They turned back to track the group of exiles. It didn't take long to locate their small camp in a forested area further south of where they had been eating.
"They must have detected us. They're probably patrolling the perimeter now and then."
"So, what do we do now?"
"There are eight of them. They outnumber us two to one. We also don't know if there are more of them," Kakashi sighed, deep in thought. "But we can't just leave them. They're exiles in our territory… We have to go down and deal with them. If they let us leave, it's likely because they fear Konoha sending reinforcements to eliminate them. I doubt their intentions are good."
And so, they descended from their summoning to launch an ambush on a squad of rogue Kiri ninjas. Seina resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that, of course, this wasn't going to be as simple as it seemed.