Daybreak | Kakashi Hatake

2

The next morning, Mare woke and felt the heavy emptiness settle once more in her chest. The guilt and shame she carried with her seemed to have no expiration date. It had been over ten years since Jiro and Hamako's deaths, yet the burden her heart carried remained fresh. She often found herself hoping to one day know what it was like to wake up without the overwhelming pain residing in her heart.

She drug herself out of bed and went through the motions of her morning routine. She blankly stared at the framed photo of her and her brothers, Jiro and Ezume, with the man who raised them, Ao. A small sigh passed from her lips as she looked at the young faces frozen in time. Her nightmares continued to roll through her mind as she readied herself and walked through the heavy fog blanketing the streets of Kirigakure to the Mizukage's office.

She had barely knocked whenever she was bid to enter. Silently, Mare stepped in and bowed before closing the door behind her. She forced a smile onto her face as she greeted her friend, "The hat looks good on you, Godaime."

The Mizukage rolled her eyes and playfully scolded Mare, "Spare me, please." Mei sat in her chair and gestured for Mare to take a seat as well. She spoke again, "I'm glad you're back, Mare. It's been a very hectic few months around here. As cruel as it is to say, Yagura's death was a relief..."

"Maybe Kirigakure can finally put its sins behind it," Mare responded as her eyes gazed across the landscape out the large windows in the office.

Mei smiled brightly, her vivid green eyes shining. "That's the plan, but I need your help of course."

"My help?"

The Mizukage hummed in affirmation as she shuffled around a few papers. She then commented, "Your help, Mare Nakagawa. But first, let's talk about you... How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Mare lied with a shrug. She kept her face collected and her chakra calm in an attempt to fool Mei, but the Mizukage screwed her mouth up. Mare continued to look past Mei and out into the thick fog.

"I've known you long enough to know that you're not fine. You look terrible."

Mare laughed dryly, "That's quite rude of you, Godaime."

Silence was thick between the two for a moment. The dark haired girl was stone-faced while the Mizukage laid sad and heavy eyes onto her. In a concerned voice, she began speaking, "I'm sorry, Mare, you know I didn't--"

However, Mare cut her off, "They're still looking for him, right?"

Mei's lips were set in a thin line as she answered, "Yes."

"Please assign his case to me. He's out there, Mei, I know he is. He's my older brother. I deserve the chance to ask him why."

"You know I can't do that."

"Why not?" she replied quickly, turning to look at Mei for the first time. "If it was your sibling, you'd want to do the same thing."

The Mizukage shuffled a stack of papers before pushing her hair over her shoulder and continuing without answering Mare's question. She trained her eyes on the exceptionally skilled hunter-nin in front of her and spoke evenly, "Missions are delicately assigned, Mare. You of all people know this. We have other hunter-nin looking for Ezume; meanwhile, I have a set of missions that I entrust only you to successfully carry out."

It took a bit of self control to keep Mare from rolling her eyes at the Mizukage; however, she respectfully nodded as she was handed her papers. She quickly glanced over the contents of the mission. Another tracking assignment as usual. She raised her eyes to Mei and knitted her brows as she asked, "This is just a regular mission. Why am I the only one you trust to execute it?"

"Keep reading," the Mizukage answered boredly as she stamped her seal on mountains of paperwork.

Mare scoffed lightly and dropped her eyes back to the paper. She continued through the details, and then her eyebrows began to raise higher with each word she read. As she finished reading what was expected of her, she whistled lightly and laid the assignment down on Mei's desk.

"Is there a problem?"

"It's just..." Mare began, running her tongue along her teeth and fighting off irritation. "Mei, you want me to go to Konohagakure to tell them our village won't be participating in the Chuunin Exams? Are you fucking kidding me? You could send a bird to deliver that message."

"Mare," the Mizukage responded, ignoring the younger woman's defiance. "I need you to do this for me, please. Like I said, I only trust you to do it. I'm trying so hard to establish peace between our villages." She paused and held her temples in her fingers before continuing in a stern voice, "Just do what I ask. I promise it will make sense later. Okay?"

"Of course, Godaime. You know I'll do anything you ask," she answered, gulping hard before continuing, "I just don't see how this is more important than finding the only living relative I have left in this god-forsaken world."

Mare then stood and bowed, sharing a long stoic glance with the Mizukage before turning quickly to leave. She let out a frustrated sigh as she gathered her things and prepared for the beginning of what she expected to be a very long and boring mission. At least with all the traveling she would be doing, she would be able to search for Ezume on the side. That one small silver lining brought a bit of peace to her as she set off on her way.

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