Minato's Daughter

Chapter 29 - Two Akatsuki

Miyuki

"You can't go, I forbid this!"

I watched from the shadows as Lady Tsunade attempted to stop Asuma's students from continuing his mission. When I had noticed Shikamaru missing from the funeral, I had kept a closer eye on him. I knew what it was like to lose someone close and the feelings that come with it, along with the actions that result from those feelings. The three students didn't appear to back down.

"A squad needs four people not three-..." Lady Tsunade said again, only for a voice to cut her off.

"So if I join, then it'll be alright for them to go?"

Kakashi had been leaning against the village gate. He walked over, his hands in his pockets.

"Even if you stop them this time, they'll go again. I'll join as the captain for team 10," he told her.

"But what about Naruto?" Ino asked him.

He held up his bandaged right hand, smiling. "There's another captain who can watch over Naruto and the rest of them."

I watched as all three faces broke out it smiles while Lady Tsunade looked defeated.

"This is a crazy revenge mission, one of you will die like this," she said, her voice low.

I jumped from the tree branch I had been standing on top of and landed behind the trio of students.

"I'll go too," I chimed as everyone turned to face me.

"No," Kakashi immediately replied.

"Wouldn't it be better to have two jonin, just in case something happens?" I asked, ignoring Kakashi and looking at Lady Tsunade.

"You..." she started to say before I cut her off.

"I'm ok, everything is under control," I reassured her, already knowing that she and Kakashi were mostly concerned about my emotional state.

"Fine," Lady Tsunade muttered, clearly annoyed and frustrated.

Kakashi's eyes appeared to be staring daggers at me but I shrugged it off. I offered a small smile to the three students in front of me. They reminded me so much of their fathers during the war.

"Let's get going."

Kakashi

I glared at Miyuki, annoyed that she was also coming on the mission. The safest place was back at the village, she didn't need to come with us. I grit my teeth as I followed behind her.

"Let's stop and take a quick break, we'll burn out if we continue all day with no rest," Miyuki called with Ino agreeing.

All of us landed on a flat patch of grass, opting to stay underneath the tall trees that provided us shade. I saw Miyuki walking over to me and crossed my arms.

"At least try not to show how upset you are," she said once she reached me.

"Why did you volunteer to come?" I asked her.

"I could ask you the same thing," she replied simply.

"Don't give me that." I snapped. "You're out of line-..."

"He was my friend too, Kakashi," she said quietly. "He was someone important to me."

I softened my gaze as I watched her, looking down at the floor. Both of them had lost their fathers, who were both Hokages. Both of their fathers had sacrificed themselves for the sake of the village. I placed a hand on her shoulder as she flinched, snapping out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

She only gave me a small smile in return, placing her hand on mine before walking away back to where Ino was. It seemed as though she had taken a liking to the Yamanaka girl.

"Is the lover's quarrel finally over between you two?" Shikamaru asked as he walked over to me, Choji next to him.

"Lover's quarrel?" I asked.

"You and Miyuki sensei. You both hid it better than Asuma sensei and Kurenai sensei ever did but it's still noticeable," Shikamaru said, with one eyebrow raised up.

Choji snickered in the background while I began to mumble a response. However, Shikamaru and Choji continued to torment me. I sighed, placing a hand over my face. Miyuki should have just stayed home.

Miyuki

After our break, we had continued traveling. Shikamaru stopped us to tell us about the plan along with the abilities of one of the Akatsuki members. He wasn't sure about the second one but even having information on one was lucky. We continued on, stopping in a clearing where the grass ended and the vegetation was dead. Ino transferred her mind into a hawk and began looking for the Akatsuki while the rest of us stayed around her, keeping our eyes opened for danger.

"Ah!"

We turned to her as she woke up in shock.

"Did they notice you?" Choji asked her.

"No, I don't think so. You were right, Shikamaru. They're heading to Konoha, we'll run into them in about ten minutes," Ino quickly explained.

"Alright, let's get ready."

Kakashi and I stayed behind trees, Kakashi watching the two Akatsukis movements with his sharingan. Shikamaru had executed his plan perfectly, trapping the two with shadows. He began to manipulate the one named Hidan into attacking the other named Kakuzu. However, one part that we didn't account for was Kakazu's arm detaching and pulling out the chakra blade from the ground, freeing him. It didn't matter though, as Shikamaru continued to use Hidan to attack the other Akatsuki member. If the stakes weren't so high, the scene in front of me could have been comedic with Kakuzu jumping back to avoid Hidan's arm shaking wildly while holding his scythe. I watched Ino as she also hid behind a nearby tree and watched the situation in front of her. I was broken out of my thoughts when I heard the familiar sound of lightening and saw Kakashi, behind Kakuzu, with his lightning blade through the man's heart. I winced, remembering the scene of Rin with Kakashi's chidori through her heart.

"One's finally taken care of," I heard Ino say quietly in relief as Kakuzu fell face first into the ground.

I also felt a feeling of relief wash over me. Now, we could all relax and focus on the more troublesome one. Just as I jumped out and landed on the ground behind Shikamaru and Choji, Kakashi was kicked and sent flying back. The man, Kakuzu, who Kakashi had definitely killed just moments ago was standing back up as if nothing had happened. I felt my blood begin to run cold. What was going on?