𝑰𝑵𝑶𝑪𝑯𝑰 𝑵𝑶𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑨 :: Dauntless

11. GOODBYE

Inochi was now halfway through her plan.

"Ohk.. Now I just need to train hard for the mission plus give instructions to those two about what to do" Inochi was thinking to herself as she headed towards Kakashi's apartment. She and Kakashi were supposed to be coming up with the points on which Inochi could spy upon about the jinchuriki without giving away any important information.

As Inochi reached Kakashi's place, they both sat down immediately to continue with their plans. However Inochi was a bit out of her mind as she was thinking about her own scheme. Kakashi noticed it, but before he could enquire Inochi, she put forward her own thoughts.

- "Will you watch over Naruto when I am gone?"

-" What type of question is that? Of course I will" Kakashi replied, frowning a bit at the question.

- "No offense, but you and him aren't exactly close" Inochi said while crossing her arms." What was the reason again? for you being so distant to him?"

-" Its not that I wanted to stay away" Kakashi sighed "but the Hokage asked us to not let him know of his true identity"

-" That's just bullshit you know. What harm could it have possibly done?" Inochi was pretty doubtful of the decisions by the Hokage. She respected him a lot, but again in many matters, she thought that better decisions could have been made. "The jinchuriki of the sand is also of Naruto's age and he knows his parents" Inochi took a pause before jumping over to her next thought "Why is it always the kids who are burdened with such great responsibilities? It is so unfair" Inochi said while being annoyed at the ignorance by the Kages. She truly hated the way Naruto was treated although he was an accidental jinchuriki. She had heard stories of even Kushina being ostracized in her childhood days for being one, that too out of order by the then Hokage.

Kakashi looked over to Inochi, who was already lost deep in thought. He thus interrupted her rant to bring her out of her mind,

- "Don't overthink things Inochi. Right now its best if you just complete the mission. ANBU requires you to be emotionless" Kakashi said in a cold voice. He had been on twice as many missions as Inochi but had never been assigned a mission with a kid involved, so he was unable to give her any advice.

-" I understand" Inochi said in a low tone, as she also knew that morals and ethics were probably the most dangerous things that an ANBU shinobi could have. The moment one is accepted in the ANBU they are to be prepared to face excruciatingly dark missions, which normal shinobis won't be able to handle. Inochi did not want to lose her mind over something as trivial as a spy mission which did not involve any kind of violence that normal ANBU missions did. But the timing of the mission, and the avoidance by the Uchihas were brewing up loads of doubts in her mind, that she just couldn't let go.

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Inochi followed a fixed schedule for the following two weeks to keep herself calm and quiet. She would train in the morning, report to the headquarters to discuss about the mission, head back to train Naruto and finally return home. It only changed in the last week when she started with the last stages of her personal mission.

Inochi met up with Izumi, who with much excitement, told her everything she had gathered about Itachi. Inochi had faith in Izumi but still the analysis that Izumi gave her came as a shock, as Izumi had not only found the place where Itachi and Shisui trained but had also made a chart on when they went to train, what they ate in between, where they ate and what type of training they did each day. Inochi was so impressed that she let out tears of joy, being happy that she chose Izumi for the job. Izumi on the other hand was thankful to Inochi for letting her be a part of the mission as she got to spend more time with Itachi.