Once Again (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Sequel to Another Take) (Complete)

Ch. 13: Do This Anymore

~When am I gonna learn? Why, cause I'm tired of hating. When will it be your turn? Why, cause I'm tired of waiting~

Kiyomi's POV

One easy mission later, and I was back resting in a tree near the training grounds. The rest of Team Seven had gone to see Kakashi-sensei in the hospital again, but I didn't feel like going. I'd seen him earlier, and felt no need to stay in the company of my team any longer.

~Flashback~

I slowly slid the hospital door open, peeking inside. A familiar gray-haired man lay on the bed, his headband off showing his scarred eye to the world. He was reading his usual orange book that I was pretty sure was porn.

"Kakashi-sensei...?" I hesitantly asked, taking a step into the room. I wasn't quite sure how he'd react to seeing me. It'd been three years, after all.

Kakashi's head jerked up, his book dropping into his lap. "Kiyomi...?" I took another step forward, nodded guardedly. Kakashi grinned at me, making me smile back. "It's good to see you again! You've grown!"

My smile widened as I walked over and gave Kakashi a brief hug. Once I pulled away, I sat down on the edge of his bed and started to tell him what I'd been doing for the past three years.

~Flashback End~

Kakashi hadn't been very surprised when I told him I'd made chunin. In fact, he said Sakura had also become a chunin during my absence, a fact that wasn't very shocking. Training under Tsunade had made her strong indeed.

'I can't believe that the old man is one of the only people you trust here,' Fenrir griped, still in a bad mood from the conversation with Kakashi. Fen had never really let go of the grudge he'd held ever since our genin days when Kakashi was convinced Fenrir was a rabid beast ready to destroy the village.

I shrugged. "He hasn't given me any reason not to trust him," I began, replying aloud due to the lack of people in the training ground. "And plus-"

A poof of smoke interrupted me as an ANBU appeared, this one wearing a bird-patterned mask. "Please come with me," they ordered in a polite but commanding voice. "Lady Tsunade wishes to speak with you." The ANBU held out their arm, and after a moment of staring at them, I placed my hand on their forearm.

In a flash I stood in the Hokage's office, standing before Tsunade's desk. The Hokage herself was seated there, and there were three other people standing beside her. All of them old people I didn't recognize.

One of the old people, the one lady besides Tsunade, peered at me calculatingly. "She's a little young, Tsunade," the lady muttered to the Hokage.

"Is she really ready for this?" one of the older men, the one covered in bandages and wielding a cane, asked Tsunade. "My option still stands."

"No, Kiyomi is one of the most mature shinobi of her class," Tsunade assured the man. "Rest easy, Danzo, she's almost sixteen. That's not as bad as some other cases we've had."

My suspicions grew. These people obviously wanted something from me, and from the way the man named Danzo was looking at me, it probably wasn't good. People don't look that intent when it's something small.

"If I may ask, what have you called me here for, Tsunade-sama?" I basically spat out, forcing my tone to be as polite as it could be when I didn't want to be polite.

Tsunade sighed, lacing her fingers together as her elbows rested on her desk. "It's a proposition that's more like an order," she admitted. "I will advance your rank to jonin, and you will be given a team of genin to train."