Not Alone

[59] Decision making

Third pov

"Well done you four. You finished your mission faster than I anticipated." Tsunade smiled at the ANBU members before her. Well, three ANBU, and jounin member.

"Right. We will be reporting it to headquarters now."

"Go on. Ah, Megumi you stay." Osamu, Samurai and Mastukawa left. "Out." The chakra signatures of the Hokage's ANBU left the building.

"Wait..." Megumi threw three seals, one on the door, another on the roof, and the last on the window. "Okay, you can go ahead now Tsunade."

"Right. I was going to have you take the ANBU exam upon your return however, I decided against it."

"Nanda?"

"Not yet. I don't want you to fall under Danzo's command yet. Being an ANBU gives him the full right to take you under his ranks. And now that Sasuke and Naruto are out of the village he'll want to have you under his wing by any means necessary. Being an ANBU might keep you out the village for longer but that tactic won't last long." Tsunade narrowed her eyes at just the thought of that old man getting to have Megumi in his division.

"Hmm. I see, so what's the plan? You seem to have something in mind." Megumi titles her head waiting patiently for her, aunt to speak. It was silent for a moment before Tsunade sighed.

"While you were gone. We had gotten a visitor..."

••Flashback — 2 days after Megumi's team departure •••

Tsunade sat grumbling as she continued to internally fight paperwork. She needed a drink but Shizune had hidden hers and replaced some with tea and some with water.

The audacity.

A knock brought Tsunade out of her thoughts of simply chucking everything out the window.

"Come!" Perhaps that sounded too aggressive... In any way a bear entered the room, dragging one confused Hatake Kakashi with it.

"Kakashi...?" How should she react to this situation? The bear released the ninja who stood and dusted himself off.

"Forgive the intrusion Tsunade-sama. This bear is apart of the clan Megumi summons. Seems he has a message for us." The two looked to the bear that sat down seemingly glaring at Kakashi.

"She. I'm a girl. How many times must I say so?"

"Ah, g, gomen but....ano...you never told me anything..." Silence.

"Oh."... "Anyway we would like to have Megumi come with us to train. Her chakra is in tune with the earth but she's lacking control. Allow us to train her." Acting like nothing happened. Smart.

"Are you referring to her Mokuton?"

"Mmn. Mokuton has a stronger connection to the earth then other earth jutsus'. Additionally, Megumi's chakra is so fine tuned that she absorbs and releases chakra naturally. If we can get her to control that she'll be a great bear sage!"

"I see...this is the perfect opportunity! Upon her return I shall discuss this with her. But you should have gone to her first."

"We will, but we wanted to inform her guardians first. We'll be keeping her for some years. Time moves different for us but in your years she'll be gone for only two maybe three, it depends on her progress. Can we keep her for that long?" She looked directly at Kakashi.

"Hmm. I want letters and constant updates. If this is a way to keep that man from taking her, I'll risk even having her travel with a rogue ninja." Kakashi was dead serious.