UZUMAKI SHIPPUDEN!

[18.] Missions Never Stop!

At some point both Gai and Lee have decided to make getting back home a competition. Unfortunately for Kakashi he couldn't walk due to the overuse of his sharingan, meaning he was on Gai's back. 'That looks so painful' I thought trying to hold in my laughter as Kakashi was flung around like a rag doll. His brain was probably mush by now and I'm pretty sure he had passed out because he looked limp.

"I WIN!" Gai cheered giving Lee a thumbs up, I'm not even sure why I decided to follow them. Now I was feeling extremely exhausted, their pace was unbelievable. 'I can't imagine how Kakashi's feeling' I thought taking in deep breaths.

"Of course! You are amazing Gai-sensei" Lee marveled going on about how he'd do even better next time and start more rigorous training. I had to admit his perseverance was extremely admirable.

"Ok now it's time to report to the Hokage!" Gai yelled almost running off again, but I grabbed his vest. "What is it Mito! Do you need more training?"

"N-no" I sweatdropped "we need to get Kakashi-sensei to the hospital."

"Huh? Oh! Alright first stop the hospital!" Gai declared promptly running off. 'That's probably not helping,' I chuckled waiting for Sakura and Naruto to catch up before heading over to the hospital. Kakashi was going to be there for awhile meaning we wouldn't be going on missions anytime soon. 'I bet Naruto's going to complain' I thought sitting by Kakashi's bedside, he couldn't even move.

"I feel like an old man," Kakashi said blandly staring up at the ceiling with his blanket slightly slipping. 'I wonder what he looks like...' I thought leaning a tad bit to get a peek but as soon as I saw a bit of skin I looked away. 'Now's really not the time' I blushed pulling the blanket up to his eyes.

"I-it was slipping," I mumbled feeling embarrassed I had been tempted to look. I just wanted to know what kind of face was so bad that you had to hide it from everyone, I sometimes wonder if he came out the womb with a mask. 'I don't think I can imagine a baby Kakashi-sensei' I chuckled amusing myself with my bizarre thoughts.

"Mitooo!" Naruto whined obviously wanting to finally solve the big mystery, but I just rolled my eyes. 'It must've been a bad idea if Naruto thought it as well' I thought taking that as a sign to leave it a secret...for now.

"Gomen~" I said sticking my tongue out at him when I felt someone grab my arm gently.

"Mito, can I tell you something?" Sakura asked looking somewhat distraught by whatever the news was. It must've been something really important if she needed to tell just me. 'Girl issues maybe?'

"Always," I responded stepping out into the hallway with her, but she wasn't able to tell me right away. "Sakura, don't be nervous we can get through it together dattebayo!"

"I-i know, but it's about Orochimaru," she admitted gaging my reaction. My eyes went wide at first, but then I calmed down, if it was about Orochimaru that meant Sasuke was involved. 'Her nervousness makes sense now' I thought staring down at the ground to cope with my own hesitation. "When I was fighting with Sasori he told me where he was supposed to meet with one of his spies with information on Orochimaru."

"You..he wouldn't lie about that I guess" I mumbled to myself trying to absorb this information. Of course any kind of information on Orochimaru is valuable to not only us, but the village. It would be worth the risk especially if we could see Sasuke and have the chance to bring him back. "We need to tell Tsunade-Baa, this kind of mission is..it's important."

"Yeah I was planning on telling her after she was done with Kakashi-sensei....do you think—"

"Sasuke?" I asked already knowing what she meant, she wanted to know if we had a chance to actually bring him home. "Don't worry about that, my brother is a sore loser, he's not letting Sasuke get away so easily."

"Even so—" Sakura was interrupted once Tsunade and Shizune stepped out of the hospital room. 'I guess we won't be stopping missions' I thought opening a nearby window. "Mito! Where are you going?"

"Just on a walk, this is the fastest way" I smiled hopping out the window and landing on my feet. Sakura looked out of the window with a panicked face, but I was completely fine. "Tell Baa-chan! She'll know what I think about it!" I yelled up to her before running into the village. I needed a few moments to collect all of my thoughts and relax for a bit, the thought of seeing Sasuke again was troubling. All these emotions were bubbling up, all the love, all of the resentment, and most of all the hurt. Of course I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking so I ended up bumping into someone.

"What a drag...oh it's you," Shikamaru sighed looking down at me with a small yawn. 'I'm surprised he's not sleeping or something.'

"Yup it's me, so what're you doing here?" I asked walking beside him throughout the village. Apparently Shikamaru was running errands because he was a proctor for the chunin exams this year. 'Aw I wanna help! That sounds like fun, he probably thinks it's a drag anyway.'

"Spit it out," Shikamaru groaned upon seeing my puppy dog eyes. I used to do it all the time when were kids, usually when I was the seeker in hide and go seek. Shikamaru wouldn't bother hiding, but he would tell me where everyone else was.

"Can I help you dattebayo!" I pleaded with a slight pout causing him to look away. "Pleaseeeee!"

"Tch, troublesome! I don't care as long as you don't drag it out" he said finally caving in and I promised not to make him do any more work than he bargained for.

"Oh Naruto!" I smiled feeling his chakra around so I went to go follow it.

"Jeez go to bed are you hallucinating? He's nowhere around here" Shikamaru groaned as I kept twisting and turning down different roads.

"No I'm fine..Naruto," I said once again after he was a few more steps away.

"I'm not Naruto you idiot, tch troublesome woman" Shikamaru complained once more, but I pointed to my brother standing in the crowd.

"I'm a tracker-nin Shika," I explained with an apologetic smile. I forgot that the last time we had gone on missions together my tracking skills were purely instinct. "And I'm not an idiot!" I said punching him in the arm much like when we were kids.

"Why didn't you just say that from the beginning!"