Konohagakure's Kakashi Hatake & Nina Sarutobi have only lived & prepared to die by the Shinobi rules.
Amid an intensive investigation into a spate of mysterious deaths, a birthday party for the elusive Copy-Nin sets off a chain reaction no one quite...
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(Tuesday> September 23> Amegakure> Village Outskirts> Before Dawn)
~Nina~
Few torture methods were as effectual as sleep deprivation, even for a shinobi like Nina.
Wide awake with her mind in overdrive, she'd ventured out of the hotel room and found ample concealment from wandering eyes for a much-needed workout within the cluster of trees across the lake.
Shit...
Breathing heavily and bent over with her hands on her knees, Nina stared at the tree trunk ahead. "That was fucking close," she mumbled with gritted teeth. Rather than felling the entire tree, she'd recoiled her frenzied right hook at the last second enough that her blow glanced, flaying the tree's trunk.
Nina straightened up and, supporting her lower lumber with her hands, arched her spine backwards, then twisted her torso from left to right; conditioning and training had taken a backseat as of late.
"Tch," she tutted, adjusting the fit of her wrist-length, fingerless gloves, pushing down the webbing between her fingers.
In Nina's absence from Konoha, the yet-to-be-reviewed and filed medical files would be piling up high on the desk in Treatment Room Four and out there somewhere was an S-ranked rogue ninja doing Kage-knows-what. It was also un-fucking-likely that Tsunade would have had a moment to spare to have a second look over Nina's notes for the investigation.
Sure, there was some sense of productivity with hers and Hatake's recent involvement with the local orphanage, but they were now waiting on Mr Baku and his team to complete the clothing order and for Tenzō's arrival.
Everything is at a fucking standstill.
"Incoming," Pakkun alerted.
Guruko, another of Hatake's faithful ninken, greeted Nina with a nod, then joined the pug at the base of a nearby tree. He had tan fur, a white snout, long, dark brown coloured ears and noticeably more pronounced whiskers than the other ninken.
"Hey," Nina rasped. Kakashi didn't reply. A terrible mix of guilt and anger settled in her stomach.
Is he going to lecture me?
He better fucking not.
All the flirting versus fighting business with her pseudo-boyfriend was waining on her. Nina clenched her fists. "I needed this."
"So it would seem," Kakashi said, walking over to the savaged tree trunk. He unpocketed one hand and ran it over the splintered surface. "You're out of practice."
Nina simultaneously closed her eyes and bit down on her tongue. If it'd been Shiranui to say such a thing, she would have lashed back verbally or physically without a second thought, but Hatake had said it. His honest observation was delivered in a cut-and-dry manner that Nina equally appreciated and respected.
