ˢᵖʳⁱⁿᵍ ᵈʳᵃᵍᵒⁿ :|: 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘰

10: Conversation

Kaida was sitting in front of the Demon Brothers when they woke up. Naruto was sharpening one of his kunai in the tree above them, Hinata was questioning Tazuna while protecting him in case of another ambush, and Kakashi was leaning against a tree next to the Demon Brothers, observing Kaida.

"Let me guess. Some stronger Missing Nin wanted to try and damage Konohagakure no Sato's ego by killing off a Genin team, so they sent two Chūnin to ambush us, assuming you could kill a few Genin before the Jōnin sensei could do anything," Kaida says once the Missing Nin fully wake up. They struggle for a few short moment before realizing they were tied to the tree by their own chains and gagged. Kaida stares at them, not bothered by the bandages wrapped around the left side of her face.

"Many would assume that that would be what you were doing, with the obvious evidence that you went after the Jōnin sensei and the Genin first, and not the client." Kaida turns her nose up slight, posture perfect. "But, if that was the case, a stronger Missing Nin would have easily taken your place to kill off a Genin team themselves. Pride and ego being the reward, obviously."

One of the Demon Brothers growl, glaring heavily at Kaida. He starts to release his killing intent, making Kaida raise an eyebrow.

"Weak," Inner Kaida scoffs with an eye roll, not even bothered to insult the Missing Nin further.

"Is that really all the killing intent you have? Surprisingly unimpressive." Kaida brushes off the killing intent easily, resting her arm on her knee and relaxing her posture. She makes herself look like a bored noble listening to some of her subjects drone on about their problems.

"Kakashi-Sensei, please don't make your surprise so obvious," The pink haired girl drawls easily, tilting her head to give the shocked Jōnin a small stare.

Hinata walks over, her soft expression blank. "Kaida-chan, they're after Tazuna-san. Tazuna falsely documented this mission as a C-Rank when it should be a B-Rank because he didn't have enough money."

Kaida hums, seeming disinterested, but her hand twitching once makes Hinata nod in agreement. This was way above their level of skill... but... all missions C-Rank and above were thoroughly checked by the Hokage...

"What are our choices, Kakashi-Sensei?" The pink haired girl asks calmly, inspecting her sharp nails. Kakashi clears his throat and stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"Well, you got severely injured. We aren't too far from Konoha. We could go back and let a higher ranking team take the mission." Kakashi gives Kaida his eye smile. "Or we could continue with the mission, but with your eye possibly being damaged, we need to go back."

"My eye should be alright. Naru-kun can continue healing it in intervals. This is our mission after all and Hokage-sama would not give it to a brand new Genin team unless he thought us capable," Kaida hums with a wave of dismissal.

"Alright! If Hinata-chan and Naruto-kun agree, I'll send a message to have the Demon Brothers collected and we can go on our way," The silver haired Jōnin exclaims cheerfully, carefully hiding his concern. Kaida doesn't look up from her nails, already knowing what their thoughts were.

"This is our mission! I ain't letting another team steal it!" Naruto exclaims angrily, a scowl on his face.

"I still want to go through with the mission," Hinata agrees calmly, giving Naruto a small glare.

"Alright!" Kakashi states cheerfully before doing a few hand signs. "Bisuke!"

Kaida scrunches her nose a bit when she smells the scent of a dog. She side-eyes her Sensei and sees a small, light haired dog with a symbol drawn on its forehead.

"Bisuke, go to Hokage-sama and give him this scroll. Tell him that we have apprehended two Missing Nin and to immediately send a team to bring them back to Konoha," The silver haired man says, making the dog nod its head before grabbing the scroll from Kakashi and starts running back towards the village. Kaida stands up while she calmly stretches her arms.

"Tazuna-san, let us continue on our way. We can still make good progress before night," She says calmly, walking back to stand in front of the old man. He shakily nods his head as he stares at her bandaged face. Tazuna averts his gaze with a slightly guilty expression.

"Are we ready to go, Kakashi-Sensei?" The pink haired girl asks calmly, turning around to stare at the Jōnin.

He nods his head with his cheerful eye-smile. "Yep, but please let me know if you need to rest. That leg injury is deep."

Kaida nods her head and turns back around, leading the small group. It was a little past mid-day. Hopefully nothing else will get in their way.

-----

Kakashi does one last glance over the small clearing before nodding his head in satisfaction. "We'll rest here for the night. Hinata-chan, you'll go hunt for some food, Naruto-kun, you get us some firewood and check the perimeter. Kaida-chan, you'll set up the camp with me. Tazuna-san, you can rest while we work."

Tazuna practically collapses in relief, grabbing an unopened bottle of alcohol from his pack and chugging it down. Kaida nods her head and walks over to her sensei, sliding her pack off.

"You seemed surprised that we know about Naruto's... pet," Kaida states calmly, not beating around the bush. Kakashi chokes in surprise, not expecting the sudden conversation. He turns to make sure the bridge builder wasn't in earshot.

"...it's an S-Rank secret. None of you were supposed to know. Not even Naruto, until he reached Chūnin-if he ever reached Chūnin." Kakashi opens his pack and takes out his bedroll. "You and Hinata can be sentenced to 10 years if T&I found out you knew."

Kaida raises an eyebrow and sighs in slight irritation. "Is he a fuckin' joke?"

"Inner!" The pink haired girl stares up at Kakashi before focusing on her pack and taking out her own bedroll.

"It's a bit obvious, Kakashi-Sensei. The whisker birthmarks?" Kaida says with a small eye roll. Kakashi clears his throat awkwardly.

"Besides, my parents were good friends with the 4th Hokage, his wife, you, and the rest of your team. Did you expect my parents to ignore Naru-kun like you did? Pretend he doesn't exist?" She adds coldly, glaring up at Kakashi.

Kakashi glares icily down at Kaida. "I didn't-"

"I know." The pink haired girl takes a deep breath. "I lost my cool. I apologize. I know you, Obito-san, and Rin-san didn't have a choice. You don't have the same protections that my family has in this village."

Kakashi's glare softens into a sad stare. Kaida glances up at him and places a hand on his clenched fist.

"Make the most of the time you have now. As my sensei, you have more protections against the Civilian Council than you did before. They will find some way to hinder Naru-kun though," Kaida says softly before turning back to her pack. She starts to set up camp in silence.

Naruto's and Hinata's spark slowly walk away once it was clear the conversation was finished.

-----

Hey! Hope you all like the new chapter! Bye.

WhovianWhoudini