Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Chronicles of Kakashi & the Kunoichi from Thunder Country ❯ The C Mission ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The C Mission

Client: Matsui Joben

Age: 52

Occupation: Import-Export Manger of First Wave Produce Corporation

Target: Akane, nee Sato

Age: 22

Relationship: wife of client

Description: Brown eyes, platinum blondehair, medium length, 5'5” 110 pounds

Residence: 55 Peony Lane, Creek District, Wave Country

Mission: document any evidence of infidelity, determine the identity of adulterer

Details: Client and target have been married for two months. Client met target during a seminar on trade logistics in Wave Country. Target claims to be an orphan with no living relatives, originally from Earth Country.

After dinner, the team mapped out the town based on the dossier the client provided - where the target lived, her favorite places to visit, and general landmarks. The client was not in town but he had sent a messenger over to Tazuna's house with details for the case.

Kakashi arranged the team into staggered 12 hour shifts based on personal considerations. Kenji wanted to go fishing with Inari who was up at dawn. Rikako didn't mind staying up all night because things were usually more peaceful so she could read her book “Exotic Animals of the Known World” which had a good section on poisonous snakes and bugs. Takeo could sleep anytime anywhere. And Kakashi wanted the late night hours, when it was more like they could gather evidence on the target. (He definitely wanted in on this kind of action!) He'd also rather spend 6 hours with either Takeo or Rikako instead of Kenji. At least the other two were quiet and would normally leave him alone.

Schedule:

6AM - 12PM Kakashi & Takeo

12PM - 6PM Kenji & Takeo

6PM - 12AM Kenji & Rikako

12AM - 6AM Rikako & Kakashi

Shinobi were light sleepers, and though the night passed peacefully enough, Kakashi woke up in the middle of it with a start. There was something in the air…It just felt wrong, oppressive. But as he got up to investigate, the sensation disappeared. Still he left his room and walked along the corridors, up and down the stairs. Nothing, nothing at all. No strange sounds or smells or sights. 'Maybe it was just a dream. After all, it's just a C mission.'

-…-…-…-…-…-

Day 1

Surprisingly, everyone was up for a very early breakfast. Not so much because of excitement, at least not for the majority of them (Kenji and Inari were the only ones who were ready to go), but rather from a restless night.

Tsunami looked the most worn out. “I don't know why, maybe it was because of all that talk about Gatou, but I had nightmares all night,” she sighed.

No one mentioned any actual disturbance during the night, so Kakashi let it pass.

Each team member was equipped with a short range radio headset for communication and a voice recorder and notebook for mission notes. All but Kakashi wore their regular civilian clothes. He planned to use henge or camouflage when necessary to avoid detection. Kakashi and Takeo left first to do the initial surveillance and wiretap. Kenji had a few hours to spare before his shift so he accompanied Inari on his fishing boat, learning how to steer and how to handle a net.

Rikako, as usual, had a restless night. She had the late shift and should have rested more, but it was their first C mission and she was uncharacteristically excited. The team had had stakeout missions before, but they were of the find the lost pet type. People were more interesting. She struck out on her own, wandering through the streets, stores and buildings, covering all the possible routes of the target.

-…-…-…-…-

The client and his spouse occupied a sizable two story house, approximately 40 x 70 feet. The first floor included the kitchen, living room, dining room and a bathroom. The second floor had 3 bedrooms, study and bathroom. There was a cellar, no attic. The team had memorized its schematics.

Takeo settled on the roof of a building opposite where the target resided while Kakashi situated himself in a large tree in the backyard. Takeo was to cover the front of the house while Kakashi covered the back. With their binoculars, they could clearly see into the windows - only one bedroom had its shades drawn. They were waiting for the target to leave so they could install the bugs.

Via radio contact:

Takeo: “Target's awake, it's 10AM, nice schedule.”

Kakashi: “Ok, I can see her silhouette in the back here. She's going to the bathroom. Target's taking a shower.” (Kakashi tried to see through the frosted bathroom window with his sharingan, but alas only the byakugan had that ability.)

Kakashi: “She's out of the bathroom.”

Takeo: “Target is leaving the house. It's 11AM, should I follow?”

Kakashi: “Yes, I'll handle the audio.”

Takeo: “Copy.”

Kakashi: “Remember to check in every fifteen minutes.”

Takeo: “Right, over.”

Takeo's notes: Target entered a sushi bar at 11:20, had her lunch (crap I forgot mine!) and left at noon. Entered a lingerie boutique at 12:15 till 12:40, but did not make a purchase. Entered a hair salon at 12:50. Target had her hair bleached and dyed. (She's not a real blonde! I should get some lunch while she's in there but I don't feel like making the effort.) Left hair salon at 3:30. (Why do women spend so much time and money on hair?) Target entered a woman's clothing boutique at 3:40, left at 4:00 without making a purchase. (I'm really hungry, I hope Rikako brings food when she relieves me.) Target took a cab to the other side of town (had to run hard to catch up!) and spent the next two hours playing Pachinko. 6:00PM (Thank the heavens! Rikako's here and she brought two bento boxes!)

Kakashi's notes: House is kept immaculately. They must have someone coming in to clean. There are no signs of live-in servants. Proceeded to place bugs in every room and the telephones. Minimal knick-knacks or anything sentimental. Looks like a guy's house, no womanly touch. Strange, most women when moving into a guy's place would redecorate as soon as possible. (They're always trying to change things!) Searched target's bedroom (Good thing I have this part of the mission!) nothing unusual except for the lack of jewelry and clothes and other finery wealthy woman usually covet.

Now that the audio had been set up, the team members monitored the house from the roof of the building across from the target.

Kenji's notes: Target returned home at 7:30PM. (Geez I'm so bored, over seven hours of just monitoring an empty house. I'll do the stalking tomorrow and Takeo can monitor the house, that's more his thing.) No visitors except the mailman.

Rikako's notes: Target left gambling establishment at 6:42PM. Picked up take-out order of yakisoba at 7:12PM. Returned home at 7:31PM. Target stayed in all night. No calls no visitors. Target watched television until 11:48 before engaging in bathroom routine until 12:23AM whereupon target retired for the night.

-…-…-…-…-

Day 2

“Kakashi sensei, Did you find anything interesting in the house?” Rikako asked when Kakashi rotated positions with Kenji at midnight.

“Interesting? Yes, but nothing relative to the case. What I found interesting is the lack of personal items.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, most women like to decorate and make a house their own. They've been married for two months and other than their bedroom, it looks like he's the only one living there.”

“Maybe he's a control freak,” she suggested.

“Maybe, but still it's strange. There's not much of her stuff in the bedroom either besides her clothes and a few pieces of jewelry that look recent.”

“The file says she has no family and she's not from around here so it's not unusual for her to have so little. Maybe she's used to living simply.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Well, let's settle down for the night. Shouldn't be much activity now that she's gone to bed. Only one of us needs to monitor the house just in case. You've been here for a while so go ahead and take a break. Tsunami-san sent over some food.” He handed her a bag.

“What about you? Have you eaten already?”

“Yep.”

She gave him an appraising look. “Do you know of an animal called a camel? It has a hump where it can store fat. It can go without food or water for weeks. Do you practice a jutsu like that? We never see you eat or drink anything.”

“Ha ha, that's an interesting animal,” Kakashi said as he played with the audio equipment, purposely ignoring her and preventing any further conversation.

-…-…-…-…-…-

Takeo's notes: Target woke at 11AM. (Her schedule gets better and better!) 12PM target had leftover yakisoba for lunch and watched soap operas until 3PM when target finally left the house. No calls or visitors.

Kenji's notes: Followed target at 3:00PM. She walked across town to the gambling district. Played dice for two hours. Looks like she won about 20,000 ryou. Did not speak or socialize with anyone other than house dice roller. Target then played slots for another hour before leaving. Did not appear to win anything from slots. (They're all rigged!) Target bought an order of fried dumplings (I tried that place, my parents' shop is better! They skimp on the meat.) and an order of dumplings in soup noodles (my favorite!). Target returned home at 6:50PM. Received phone call at 7:00PM.

Rikako's notes: Phone call received at 7:01PM:

Caller: It's me.

Target: Yeah?

Caller: In three days.

Target: Right.

Caller was male, adult but not that old, likely to be between 20-40 years of age. Target stayed home and watched TV until 11:32PM. Retired at 12:07AM. No other calls or visitors.

Day 3

“So what do you think?” Rikako asked Kakashi after her report on the mysterious phone call.

“I think something will happen in three days and we'll be able to finish the mission and go home.”

“Yes, but do you think she's cheating on him? It wasn't a romantic call, but maybe they're being circumspect, or maybe it's more of a business arrangement.”

“Well, it doesn't seem like she's after his money - she hasn't spent it to redecorate the house or to buy any jewelry. She dresses rather plainly though in the photographs with her husband she's dressed up. But maybe she plans to kill him and take everything.” He shrugged. “We'll know soon enough. You guys will have to maintain radio contact and check in more often.”

Takeo's notes: Target did not leave the house at all. No calls, no visitors.

Kenji's notes: Target received a call at 5:45PM, but did not answer the phone.

Rikako's notes: Suspiciously inactive today. Target watched TV until 10PM. Went to bed at 10:32.

Day 4

“Still doesn't seem like much is going on,” the smaller boy commented to the larger one as they waited on the rooftop.

“Yeah, she hasn't been out of the house and it's already past five. I guess no action till tomorrow. This mission has been so disappointing," muttered Kenji while fiddling futilely with the dials on the receiver.

"I think it's going great. It's better than following a lost cat around through the trees and bushes," his teammate replied.

"Yeah, you would think so, you lazy useless shit."

Takeo shrugged at the insult. He noticed his teammate only used foul language and called him names when the female member of their team wasn't around.

"Our first C mission and it's no better than a D mission, just longer. I wonder what the other genin teams are doing. I bet they have several C missions under their belts. Why did we end up with the worst sensei!”

"I like Kakashi sensei."

"That's because he's as lazy as you are! I bet the other sensei are better teachers, more enthusiastic, better motivators. You need a better motivator. I bet I could learn much more from another sensei. I wonder if we can switch."

"I think he trains us pretty hard sometimes. And he's shown us lots of jutsu. It's just that we haven't been able to learn them at our level. Well, Rikako has learned some of them."

"That's my point, he's a lousy teacher. He just shows us a bunch of seals and expects us to copy it. She can do it but we can't. He's just not a good teacher."

"No, we just lack the ability."

"No we don't - it's him! There must be exercises we can do to build up to those techniques."

"Well, he just believes in self-motivation, for us to work it out ourselves, no pressure."

"If we had a better sensei, I bet you'd be a lot stronger," Kenji insisted.

"I'm pretty happy with my progress."

"Well you shouldn't be. The chuunin exams are coming up."

"We're rookies. We're not ready for that anyway."

"We could be, at least Rikako and I are ready. You, I don't know, you're still weak."

"I may be weak, but you still can't get out of most of my traps, so who's the weakling?"

"Getting braver now with your smart mouth, aren't you? You little..."

“Hey look, she's moving…”

The target came out of the house dressed in a pair of beige cropped pants, and a pink tank top covered by a short blue jacket.

"Get the camera, let's go," Kenji ordered while he turned on his headset to let Kakashi and Rikako know they were on the move.

They followed the target to a newly built three story building which housed the main office of her husband's company. She came out after only ten minutes. Then they followed her to the docks where she entered one of the many large warehouses. A minute later she came out. She was apparently waiting or looking for someone. There weren't many people around. It was Sunday and the dock workers had left early, leaving behind scattered palettes stacked with crates, containing all sorts of goods, to be moved the next day.

The two genin decided to slip into the warehouse to hide and to see what the target was checking on. Kenji loosened a plank in the back. Takeo slipped in easily, but it was a squeeze for the larger boy. There were several pallets stacked with crates, all marked “Superior Preserved Whole Peaches from the Lands of Water.”

“Does that label make any sense? How can you have Lands of Water? Isn't that an oxymoron?” Takeo pondered.

“Who cares? I'm hungry. How about we open a jar of these peaches? No one will notice one missing jar. They expect some stuff to disappear. It's all in the overhead.”

“Umm, I don't think you should be doing that,” the other boy weakly protested.

Kenji took his kunai and forcibly opened one of the crates, which already had a loosened top. He randomly took out a jar and twisted open the lid. From the syrupy liquid, his kunai pulled out a peach, but it wasn't a real peach. It was plastic and what he bit into was a piece of oddly twisted metal.

-…-…-…-…-

'This is it,' thought Hisame as she headed toward the pier. 'The shipment will arrive today.'

It had been three years since the fiasco with Suien at Hidden Waterfall Village. 'What a selfish idiot, drank nearly all the Hero Water and still couldn't defeat a bunch of genin, pathetic!' She and her Rain comrades started this venture soon afterwards. This part of it had taken months to plan. Of course she had to do all the work, all the thinking, the seduction, and sleeping with the old geezer. But she would get a 50 percent cut while Murasame and Kirisame would only get 25 percent each, a fair division, considering.

The genocide of the Mist shinobi clans with advanced bloodlines left behind numerous shinobi artifacts. Special amulets and scrolls with the secrets of the clans that were hidden away - until now. It was her idea, her plan, after investigating a small lead about the missing-nin Zabuza who was rumored to have such a boy with him. That lead them to Water Country and after years of research, working in the black market, and digging up mass graves, they were able to locate several valuable items, long thought lost or destroyed. 'I wasn't the smartest Rain shinobi for nothing!' she thought, extremely pleased with herself.

But how to smuggle them out of Water Country and to the mainland? Smuggling was a difficult business. Some of these special items radiated such power, an elite shinobi would easily detect them. And she and her comrades were still missing-nin, wanted, in hiding, traveling with these items would put them at extra risk. And Fire Country patrolled its water borders diligently. Wave Country was the easiest access point. Then she hit upon her ultimate idea. Smuggling through legitimate means, via a legitimate company, via the normal trade routes. That required further research, and a better cover. She colored her hair, formerly brown, now a platinum blonde. She found a position assisting in coordinating an import-export logistic trade show in Wave Country, where she met their mark. His shipping routes ran across the five great countries, perfect.

Meanwhile, her comrade Murasame brokered a deal with the Tsuchikage, and received an extremely good price, one that would set them up practically for life. After all, despite peace treaties and alliances, these countries were always looking to obtain an advantage. Peacetime was just another euphemism for a period of war preparations.

The rest of it was simple. Men were easily seduced, especially civilians. All lonely old men wanted a caring beautiful wife. Blinded by lust, he wouldn't question her background, or lack of it, at least not at first. She anticipated that he wouldn't trust her completely, that he would expect her to cheat on him; after all, that's what beautiful young women married to older men did, without fail. She didn't anticipate that his suspicions would surface so soon after their marriage.

There were people following her. 'Damn it, so close to the shipment date.' She could sense their chakra and even saw a glimpse of them in her hand mirror. Inexperienced little shinobi who could not completely mute their chakra, there were three of them, plus an older, more experienced one. She didn't need to sense their leader to know there was one. They were working in two man teams, rotating every six hours. But if everything went according to plan, they would not encounter their leader, and the young ones would not be a problem. The enemy would be deceived by their simple secret codes. Three days meant two days. The unanswered phone call at 5:45pm let her know when the shipment was arriving.

Murasame and Kirisame were to hide the smaller artifacts within the shipment of peaches from Water Country. The scrolls that needed to stay dry would be in the sacks of rice. Then the artifacts had to be transferred from the boats to the trucks that were headed to Earth Country.

Hisame greeted her colleagues impatiently when they finally appeared: Murasame in his tight black muscle shirt and brown arm protectors; Kirisame in his gray attire with the lower part of his face covered by a black mask. They had been checking on the truck schedule for tomorrow. She quickly filled them in on the little shinobi that had been following her for the past few days. “They're probably Leaf genin. Wave Country generally likes to hire Leaf shinobi. There're usually two around but be wary of more. Their leader has the late shift so we shouldn't be encountering him, but you never know. We might need to take these kids hostage if he appears.”

Then she felt the tampering of the seal encapsulating one of the amulets. The seal was specially created to summon her and her colleagues if it were broken. Someone was ruining their plans and had to be dealt with immediately.

-…-…-…-…-…-

“Someone's coming! You idiot you got us in trouble!” groaned Takeo, looking around for someplace to hide as subtle footsteps approached.

“The way we came in…” Kenji grabbed the smaller boy and headed toward the back where they had loosened a board to enter.

But when they wiggled through they found a muscular man with a blue stripe on his nose standing over them. The four lines on his forehead protector indicated he was from the Rain Village.

“Little Leaf genin. I've been waiting for a chance to get back…” Murasame started to say when the air filled with black smoke. Then he lost his balance as the earth trembled beneath him. “Get them!” He yelled angrily to his comrades.

Takeo had thrown a smoke bomb to hide their retreat, while his teammate smashed the ground with his fists full of chakra, cracking the earth to send the enemy off balance. Now Kenji dug deep into the ground, lifting a wall of earth to block the torrent of kunai.

Murasame's water sword easily sliced through the soft earthen wall, but he found no one behind it. Instead he encountered an explosive tag attached to a kunai staked to the ground. The former Rain-nin instinctively leaped behind a large crate just as the incendiary elements triggered. Still he felt the heat from the blast and was pelted with the resulting debris as splinters of wood flew all around, along with burnt potatoes.

“They can't have gone far. Don't let them escape or our years of hard work will be ruined!” yelled Hisame. “You kids think you're so smart? I knew you guys had me under surveillance since day one,” said the pretty counterfeit blonde into a radio headset she had just picked up.

The two genin were back in the warehouse. After all, it was likely the last place they would look for them. “Contact Kakashi-sensei!” Takeo whispered desperately. 'This is not fun at all!'

“Right,” his teammate agreed, “do it.”

“Me? Where's your radio?”

“I lost mine while we were escaping the first time. Where's yours?”

“I didn't bother to bring it. It's uncomfortable, Rikako's relieving me soon, and you made me carry the camera so…”

“You're so fucking lazy! I should…” Both boys fell silently as they sensed their enemy coming closer.

“We need to get the radio and contact them. How much longer before Rikako arrives?” whispered Takeo.

“She's not due for another 15 minutes. But I did contact her to let her know we were headed to the docks a while ago,” Keji reported. Now that they were truly facing danger, he was just as scared as his lazy, irresponsible teammate. 'If we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill him!'

-…-…-…-…-…-

Rikako liked to be on time, all the time. What she liked even more than being punctual was to be early. So it was not unusual for her to rendezvous with her teammates before her appointed time. After Kenji had contacted her and Kakashi to let them know the target was on the move and headed toward the pier, she headed there as well.

As soon as the worn, drab warehouses were within sight, she felt something was wrong. There were other shinobi around; she could sense their chakra. But how many and why? Were they there to escort and protect shipments? A common mission, but…

She went into stealth mode, just to be sure. A sudden blast shook the ground and the air. She did not immediately run toward the danger, but instead approached cautiously, muting her chakra so that she could not be detected. The little kunoichi hid behind a pallet stacked with sacks of rice and saw two men wearing Rain forehead protectors talking to the target. She also observed her teammates slipping into one of the many warehouses.

“Kakashi sensei,” Rikako whispered urgently into her headset, “Kenji and Takeo are in trouble at the loading docks. Looks like something is going on with a couple of Rain shinobi. What should I do?”

“Do your best to distract them. I'll be there in less than 5 minutes,” Kakashi replied as he ran out the door.

Distract them? Two grown men? And Rain shinobi at that. And possible more? They were genin and these guys were probably chuunin at their age, maybe even jounin. If they caught her, chances were she would be killed along with her teammates. But if she did nothing they would definitely kill her teammates. These guys looked like they meant serious business. But why? What was going on? Why were they here at the docks? There must be something here that was important to them. Something in the warehouse? In one of these crates? Where?

'Will Kakashi sensei arrive on time? Or will he be late again? Do I owe them anything? If they died could I live with it? Do they mean anything to me? No...yes...maybe...But I do need them because... I have to save them, or at least try. Kakashi sensei, please hurry for once!'

The woman made a motion to the men to check the warehouse where her teammates were hidden.

In her second of hesitation, there was another explosion, this time from inside the warehouse.

-…-…-…-…-…-

When Kirisame entered the warehouse, the Leaf genin were nowhere to be seen. He entered cautiously and stepped over a poorly hidden trip wire. But he felt something under his foot and realized there was a row of camouflaged explosive tags just beyond the wire. With ninja speed he leaped to safety behind the nearest palette of crates. The blast destroyed the entire front of the warehouse, and several crates. “Damn! Our merchandise! Those fucking kids! They're dead for sure!” Kirisame's mask naturally filtered the smoke from the smoldering wood. He began to sift through the debris to see if their contrabands were damaged.

Murasame entered the room from a hole he cut with his water sword on the back wall of the warehouse. “Where are they?” he asked his partner. But his own eyes saw another exit the Leaf genin had carved in the side wall.

“I got them,” Hisame yelled from outside. She had the two boys wrapped up with her ropes of chakra infused water. She had been watching from the roof of the warehouse and saw the two Leaf genin trying to escape.

But trying to maintain and hold onto two water ropes was more than Hisame could handle. Kenji with his superior strength broke free and struck the earth. A huge crack rushed toward her. She faltered, but Murasame joined the fray. He leaped up and unleashed his special high tensile wire.

-…-…-…-…-

Rikako saw her teammates exit the warehouse and their subsequent capture by Hisame. She raced toward the action, lobbed a smoke bomb to aid his escape, and followed that with thrown kunai. The kunai deflected Murasame's wire, allowing the two to escape, but their other team member was still in the grip of the enemy.

“What's happening?” Rikako asked Kenji as they hid behind the palette stacked with rice sacks.

”I'm not sure, but we found this.” Kenji handed her the piece of oddly twisted tarnished metal he had found in the jar of peaches. “Do you have any idea what that is? I think they're trying to smuggle it.”

Rikako felt an immense power resonating from the strange article. It had symbols engraved on the front and back and all around it. “It looks like some ancient artifact. It's illegal to import or export antiques without the permission of the originating country.” She pocketed the object. “Kakashi sensei should be here soon, we just need to hold out.”

“Come out now or your little friend here will lose his fingers one by one!” announced the shrill voice of the woman they had been following. “There's no way you kids can win. We're shinobi with a lot more experience. Just return the amulet and we'll let you all go.”

Kenji came out, holding the amulet in front of him. “Here it is, just let him go. We don't care what you're doing. This wasn't part of our mission.”

“Oh? I guess my dear faithless husband hired you to follow me, suspecting some sordid affair. Well, I'm much more interested in money than men,” she laughed.

The Rain-nin with the blue stripe across his nose was still holding onto Takeo, trussed up with the wire. The woman grabbed the amulet from Kenji while her masked partner grabbed him behind. But Kirisame found he had just grabbed a sack of rice while his partner found that the amulet in her hand was just an empty wallet.

Senbon, shuriken, and kunai ripped through the air from all directions. The large Leaf genin jumped into the chaos with a swift kick to Murasame's head. The Rain-nin had to release his hostage to defend himself. Takeo fell to the ground, but he was still bound and unable to move. The wire cut into his body and blood pooled around him.

'Where the hell are you Kakashi sensei?' Rikako thought desperately. From her vantage point on top of the highest tower of crates, she could see the enemy and her comrades well, but still no sign of Kakashi. And now she was running out of weapons.

Murasame and Kirisame converged on Kenji. The boy ran away, trying to lead them away from his bound comrade. Meanwhile, Rikako quickly looped a rope of her own around Takeo, and pulled him to safety behind a pallet of rice.

But Murasame split into a water clone and now three figures circled around her teammate. Kenji ran behind a pallet stacked with crates of oranges, far from where Rikako hid. He picked up one crate after another, throwing them at the three advancing forms. He managed to take out the water clone, but the real shinobi caught him again with the ropes of water with Kurasame on one side and Kirisame on the other. This time they sent electric shocks through the ropes that brought him to his knees.

Rikako peeked out from behind the sacks of rice and saw poor Kenji about to pass out from the pain. She kept one hand on her hemp rope and threw her remaining kunai at the water ropes. But the kunai passed through harmlessly and the water reformed.

Rikako was about to unbind Takeo, hoping he'd be able to help, but then she felt the cold tinge of metal against her throat. “Nice try kiddies, but three little Leaf genin are no match for three ex-Rain shinobi,” laughed Hisame. She had Rikako in a chokehold and a kunai poised at her throat.

'Not yet, not yet, it can't end like this. I haven't reached my goal. I won't let it end like this,' Rikako thought frantically. Her head and heart pounded and pounded and pounded.

-…-…-…-…-…-

'Damn it! Why do things like this always happen to my teams? I'm never coming back to this country again! And things were going so well. This mission's been like a vacation, sigh. We weren't expecting anything till tomorrow.Please let me get there in time…'

Kakashi ran at full speed, not bothering with the roads. He leaped from rooftop to rooftop to treetop to treetop, whatever was available, whatever would bring him closer, the fastest route.

They were his team, under his protection. He'd give his life to protect them, if he could.

“Of course, despite everything she is our only daughter. If anything happens to her during your watch we won't forgive you.” Otori had glared meaningfully at the younger man. Sharingan Kakashi or not, there were ways to deal with those like him. Medic-nin had very creative ways to cause pain or death, a slowing living death.

'Well, it's not like you've forgiven me in the past,' Kakashi voicelessly responded as Otori's threat rattled about in his mind. He didn't need any threats to give him motivation. He didn't want anymore people important to him to die, especially not on his watch.

Time to get serious, Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector to expose his sharingan. 'I'm not taking any chances.'

Nearing the docks, he felt a strange oppressive sensation, as if the air were statically charged. For just a second, he noticed an eerie green glow. Then there was the sound of a small explosion, or rather a series of explosions, that sounded like balloons popping.

When Kakashi finally arrived on the scene, what he found was as much carnage as he had ever seen in his life. Three bodies with no heads. It seemed the heads had been blown off, but by a localized explosion. From the neck down, the bodies were intact, but brains and bones were splattered everywhere. Two males, one female, adults, not his genin. He sighed in relief.

He looked around for his genin and found the two boys bound and strung up to a loading crane by a high tensile strength wire. Kakashi quickly cut them down with his kunai, unbound the two unconscious boys, and carefully laid them on the ground. His stomach clenched as he checked their vitals and bodies for injuries. They were bleeding from where the wire cut into their bodies, but otherwise they appeared to be unharmed.

Then he spotted the girl, obscured by several sacks of rice that had fallen off the palette to form a mini fortress around her. She was leaning against the palette, sitting curled up with her head bowed on her arms and her arms folded over her knees, trembling, covered in blood, brains, and other biological matter. The veteran shinobi quietly walked over to his genin. “It's all right now. It's over. You guys are all safe.”

The girl looked up at him coldly. She had not been crying; there was no trace of tears. “You're late again Kakashi-sensei,” was her only response.

“I came as soon as I could. I'm sorry I didn't make it in time, but it seems you guys did a fine job without me. What happened?”

Rikako stood up to her full height and reported officiously, “After I spoke to you there was an explosion and…” She gave him as much detail as she could recall. “Then I stuck one of my hollow senbon, which contained an explosive tag, into her neck. It blew off her head. The blast attracted the attention of the other two away from Kenji and Takeo and they came after me…”

Though her report was given calmly, emotionlessly, he caught a tremor in her voice she could not hide. 'You never forget your first kill. It always stays with you. But in time it becomes too easy,'he thought sadly.

Her report sounded plausible enough, but something was not quite right. He knew her skills. She was not fast enough to take on three experienced shinobi from Hidden Rain Village on her own. They were rogue ninja, probably all chuunin level or greater for a job like this. Unless she suddenly became able to convert her chakra to speed. That could have happened. The adrenaline, the stress, could have driven her.

Could the boys confirm her report? Unlikely, they were probably unconscious toward the end. For now he had to accept her version. Kakashi thought back to Otori's words and the incident from months ago and instinctively felt there was more to her story. But then she handed over the contraband. He peered at it curiously.'A chakra amplification amulet. I see...this explains it.'

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Author's Notes: Hisame, Murasame, and Kirisame are from the second Naruto special. I like recycling minor chars when possible.

The incident Kakashi refers to here and in the previous chapter will be explained in the second part.

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