Chapter 6

The next morning Nikono woke up without any pains. She got up, stood, walked around the room and she felt as if nothing had happened. Tsunade came and granted her permission to leave the hospital. She changed into her regular clothes that Kurenai had dropped off and left. When she got back to the apartment, she first noticed the dishes spewed all over the counter and the smell of something burnt. Konohamaru probably tried to cook something. Was he home?

"Konohamaru!" She shouted.

A thump sounded and thundering feet ran towards her.

"Auntie your back!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms around her.

"I was only gone for a couple days. What the heck happened here?!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I tried making dinner… and breakfast… and maybe lunch too… but…" he trailed off.

Nikono laughed. "Why didn't you go over to Kurenai's?"

"I didn't want to bother her," he said shamefully looking at his feet.

"I'm sure she'd be more than happy to feed you," Nikono said, setting her belongings on the counter. "How about this? Everytime I get called away on a mission, you are to go over to Kurenai's okay?"

"Okay," he said looking up at her.

"Now come on let's clean up this mess." she said.

Konohamaru nodded and the two walked over to the sink. For a second he just stood there. She got the feeling that with all the eating out Asuma did, Konohamaru probably didn't know how to do dishes. She chuckled to herself remembering the first time she had learned to do such things. Being a single father and Hokage, he didn't have time to cook or clean nor teach any of her siblings to do so. Many of the villagers came in to do the cooking and cleaning, paid of course. It wasn't until she had started to spend dinners with the Hatakes that she realized good food didn't just appear and disappear at the dinner table.

"Here," she said, turning on the faucet then grabbing the dish soap from underneath the counter. She plugged the sink, the squeezed soap from the bottle into the pooling warm water. Once the sink was filled, she grabbed a sponge. "I will wash, and you dry, how about that?" she smiled.

"Okay," Konohamaru answered, grabbing a clean dish towel.

Nikono proceeded to grab the dishes, dip them in the soapy water and scrub then clean. She then handed them to Konohamaru to rinse off and wipe dry then put them away. "See, its not so bad."

"Yeah," he smirked. "It's pretty easy."

She looked down at her nephew admiring his smile.

"How are you liking your missions?" she asked.

"They're okay, kind of lame," he answered.

"Oh really why is that?" she asked leaning against the counter scrubbing the inside of a drinking glass.

"Well, most of the time we were doing yard work or chasing after cats." he complained and she chuckled.

"I remember doing all of that when I was your age," she said.

"You did all of that too?" he asked.

"Of course, Everyone has too, " she nodded. "You know there's a reason that when you're a genin you get in village jobs."

"I know I know, it's dangerous and we have not trained completely yet." he slumped.

"Well, not only that," she responded. He looked up at her curiously with the same big brown eyes as his mother. "The people of this village put their lives in our hands as shinobi, the safety of our villages people is dependent on us. What would happen if they don't trust us enough to let us protect them?"

"So you mean doing chores around the village is to gain trust?" he asked, confused.

"Yes," she smiled. "You see it's very hard to trust someone if you don't know them. If we continue to help in the village the people will continue to trust us while also keeping the people happy."

Oh," he responded. Nikono could see the gears turning inside his head.

"Konohamaru, let me ask you, what does one thing every great shinobi, even the Hokage needs?" she asked.

"A really powerful jutsu," he exclaimed with a big smile.

She chuckled. "No, no that's not it. It does help, but it's not the most important thing."

"Then what is it?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

"Trust," she said.

He nodded understanding. "Auntie?" he asked after a long pause.

"Yes?" she responded.

"Would you mind training with me?" he asked.

Nikono smiled. "I would love that," she smiled from ear to ear handing him a sudsy plate.

~

"How are you feeling Nikono?" Tsunade asked, hiding her mouth with her hands.

"Good, ready to get back to work." Nikono answered. Nikono had spent these last couple of days resting, mainly meditating. She found it very effective when trying to recover and reboot her chakra networks. She did as she promised, training with Konohamaru. She had begun to show him meditating techniques as well, though he wasn't a big fan.

"That's good," she said. "Perfect timing, something has come up and you're the only shinobi I have available that can possibly complete this mission."

"What is it?" Nikono asked curiously.

"It appears that the three tails has finally resurfaced." she said.

"What?" Nikono asked, shocked. "But I thought the three tails disappeared after the war?"

"That's what we thought too," Tsunade responded. "Kakashi and his team discovered it while searching for Orochimaru's hideout."

She had heard that another of her father's students, Orochimaru, had become a rogue ninja. But she didn't realize it had gotten this bad.

"What is the plan?" Nikono asked.

"I'm assembling a team for you now. Your mission objective is to seal the three tails and provide aide to Kakashi and his team." she answered.

"Seal the three tails?" Nikono asked. "All due respect Lady Tsunade, I've only had to use the sealing jutsu once and it wasn't a successful attempt. Are you sure I'm the best fit for this?"

"Don't tell me you're finally getting scared," Tsunade teased.

Nikono let out an exhausted chuckle. "No it's not that, I just think that I don't have the proper experience to ensure the success of the mission."

Tsunade smirked. "You are the only Ninja available who even knows of such a jutsu."

She thought about the last time she used this jutsu. It had been during the war. She was just a kid then, but so were her dead teammates.

"I know you're still adjusting to being home, I take it you haven't been introduced to the new generation." Tsunade said interrupting her thoughts.

"Just my brother's team," Nikono answered.

"Right," Tsunade said. "For this mission, I'm sending Ino with you. Her medical ninjutsu studies have taught her about the need for chakra control for this seal. For this mission Team Kakashi consists of Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga."

She recognized those last names, all powerful families. Inuzuka clan specialized in using dogs for their jutsu's while the Aburame clan specialized in training and utilizing insects. The Hyuga clan were the keepers of a special ocular jutsu called the Byakugan. Her mind drifted to an old team member and a feeling of dread entered. The Byakugan was powerful, but it couldn't save everybody. "Team Yamato was also sent out to provide aide."

"Yamato," Nikono said. "I remember him from the ANBU, he was part of the Foundation."

"That's correct," Tsunade said.

"Are you sure he can be trusted?" Nikono said.

"He has long since left the Foundation and the ANBU. He's proved himself trustworthy." Tsunade said and Nikono nodded. "His team consists of Sai, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki." Uzumaki, that was the last name of Minato Sensei's wife. He was the son of Minato Sensei and the nine-tails jinchuriki! "You can use Sakura. She is a student of my own and her abilities may one day surpass me. Hinata will also be vital to the sealing team, she has mastered the Gentle fist and shows extreme knowledge of chakra control. I will also send with you Tenten and Rock Lee, they will be replacing Sakura and Hinata."

"Yes Lady Tsunade." Nikono said.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Tsunade called.

The door opened and three teenagers walked in. One of them just so happened to be Ino. Behind her was a girl who wore her hair in space buns and behind her a guy who looked like the miniature version of Might Guy. That had to be one of his students but how did he ever convince him to wear that ugly sweatsuit?

"Just in time I just finished debriefing Nikono on the situation." Tsunade said.

"Nikono sensei!" the boy exclaimed. This must be Rock Lee. "I have heard so much about your awesome jutsu!"

"Please, just call me Nikono" Nikono asked. This boy was so much like Guy it scared her a little.

"But I have so much to learn from you Nikono Sensei!" he exclaimed wide eyed. "Blue Flame of the Hidden Leaf! Rumors spread far and wide of your awesomeness!"

"Lee stop it, you're being weird." The girl with buns elbowed him in the ribs. This must be Tenten. "We came over as soon as we got your message M'Lady."

"Good, I will be sending you four on a mission to provide aide to Team Kakashi. The original mission was to find Orochimaru's secret hideout. Now the mission has changed. The Three tails has reappeared and that changes our object. Team Kakashi has run into a very powerful Crystal style user. Tenten and Lee, you are to join with Team Kakashi and Team Yamato to take on the enemy while Nikono and Ino, as well as Sakura and Hinata seal the beast. Sealing the beast before the Akatsuki and before any of the other nations catch wind is your primary objective.

"Yes, M'Lady," they responded.

"Pakun here will lead you to Team Kakashi and Team Yamato." Tsunade said. "Tenten, I'm giving you this special scroll to use in the sealing of the three tails. Make sure it arrives safely." Tsunade stood placing her hand on a giant scroll sitting next to the desk.

"Yes M'lady." Tenten walked over to the scroll and picked it up securing it to her back.

"You are dismissed, get to them as soon as possible." Lady Tsunade said.

"Understood Lady Tsunade," Nikono responded. She turned and walked out of the office, they all followed behind her.

"Cool, we have Nikono sensei as our captain, this is going to be awesome!" Ino said when they got outside. Nikono turned to the rest of them.

"Don't get too excited, we have to remain focused on the mission. It's not going to be easy, it's a very large task. That being said, in five minutes we meet at the front gate. There's no telling how long this mission will take so be prepared for a couple of days."

"Right," they said and then ran off. She turned to Pakun. "You can come with me."

"Alright," the dog spoke. She went to the apartment and left a note for Konohamaru. She was not worried about him, he knew how to take care of himself, but she also knew Kurenai would be here if anything really bad happened. She grabbed her cropped vest putting it on over her black top but leaving it unzipped. She stocked her bag with all her weapons, food pills, and protein bars. Then grabbed her Katana. Then her and Pakun made their way to the front gate. It was not long until the rest showed up.

"Are you guys ready?"

"Yes!" They responded.

"Alright, Pakun lead the way," she said.

"Hope you guys can keep up," he said then took off running into the forest.

They arrived in the dead of night. It was eerily quiet. They arrived at a large wooden building situated in a small clearing in the trees. Why was this here? There wasn't a village for miles and miles. This had to be some kind of jutsu.

"They're just inside," Pakun panted as they all walked up the steps. Nikono didn't bother to knock, instead she opened the door and walked straight in. She was met with a large amount of surprised faces. A few lanterns were placed here and there illuminating the room. A few teenagers stood at the center of the room all staring in surprise. Then they're faces lightened as they saw Ino, Tenten, and Lee.

"Hey, you're the lady from the produce market," Naruto pointed at Nikono, smiling.

"Naruto!" a pink haired girl exclaimed behind him. This must be Sakura. "Don't be so rude!" She smacked the back of his head.

She chuckled to herself.

"I wasn't!" he exclaimed holding the back of his head. "Lee!"

"Naruto!" Lee exclaimed. "We have come to reinforce!" They ran to each other and high fived.

The rest of the kids walked to their friends shouting with joy that they were finally here.

"Nikono," She heard to her right as she watched the kids interact. IT reminded her a lot of when she was a chunin. She turned and faced Kakashi, his face looked surprised. She took in the flecks of dirt in his hair and the slight bruising on his right cheek. It was obvious he had gotten into a fight. But with who? "What are you doing here?" He walked to her, lowering his voice.

"Tsunade sent us to help with the tailed beast." She answered.

"You should be resting," he said.

"I'm fine Kakashi I promise. It's like nothing ever happened." She smirked.

"Something did happen though," he said quietly.

"I'm fine, I promise."

"What are you guys doing here?" Sakura asked.

"We came to bale you out of trouble and save Sasuke billboard brow." Ino insulted and Sakura got red in the face.

"No one has had the nerve to call me that in awhile Ino pig!" Sakura shot back.

Nikono looked questioningly at Kakashi who just shrugged and shook his head.

"Where'd you guys find this place?" She marveled. It was a lot bigger on the inside than the outside.

"That would be me," a voice came from behind Kakashi. Into view stepped Yamato. "It's good to see you again Nikono,"

"Thank you," she said. "It's good to see you too Yamato." She had seen him in her fathers office plenty of times.

"Come on, let's fill you in on everything that has happened." Kakashi said and she nodded. She followed the two up a flight of stairs into a private room. A small lantern set in the middle of the room. They all walked in and sat around the lantern.

"Lady Tsunade briefed me on what happened," she said sitting down.

"So you know about the Three tails," Yamato said.

Nikono nodded. "As far as Tsunade is concerned, The search for Orochimaru's hideout is to take a back seat. Now the main goal of our mission is to seal the three tails before the Akatsuki and the other nations."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Yamato asked.

"Lady Hokage wants me to use the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier that was taught to me by my old man. To do that I'll need Ino, Sakura, and Hinata. Lee and Tenten are to help you guys deal with the enemy." she answered.

"You haven't used that jutsu in a long time," Kakashi said.

"I know," she said. In fact, the last time she used this jutsu her team was murdered in cold blood. Kakashi eyed her, knowing this. Normally he was good at reading people's faces, but her. He couldn't figure it out. He had heard about that night on the battlefield. Back then she had specialized in sealing jutsu to help the war efforts. Until the night of the two tails. Her whole team, massacred. That was right before she joined the ANBU. I guess after Rin died, he followed in her footsteps.

"Tell me about the enemy." she said.

"The most powerful of them is a crystal style user. She seems to be able to turn any material thing into crystal and turn it against us." Yamato said. "The rest of them seem like some sort of henchmen."

"Four of them seem to be able to move freely in some kind of smoke screen. Then there's the big guy that I fought." Kakashi said. So that's how he got all those bruises.

"What is their connection to Orochimaru?" She asked.

"We think they're acting under his direct orders. She mentioned in our last fight returning the beast to Orochimaru." Kakashi said.

"Have we figured out how they intend to do that?" she asked.

"Naruto mentioned a young boy," Kakashi said. "So far, he's the only one that has seen him. But he claims the boy can control the beast."

"How? That's impossible," Nikono said. "What is his connection to the enemy?"

"It seems the boy and the crystal style user are close. Naruto has stated that she is where the boy will return." Kakashi answered.

"That changes things," she said quietly. "We have to recover the boy then and get him away from Orochimaru."

Kakashi nodded. "Well, we may as well inform everyone so far. Tonight we rest, and then first thing tomorrow we go after the beast."

They all agreed and stood up. They walked down the stairs to everyone else.

"Alright, listen up guys," Kakashi said loudly, getting everyone's attention.

"We have a plan," Nikono said. "As of now, the search for Orochimaru's hideout is completed. Our new mission is to seal the tailed beast. Sakura, Hinata, and Ino, you three will be under my command in sealing the beast. The rest of you will be under Kakashi."

"Our goal is to encounter the enemy and keep them away from the seal. Our second goal is to get the boy Naruto saw away from the crystal style user." Kakashi said.

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed.

"But Kakashi sensei, how will the rest of the team be structured?" Tenten asked.

"About that," Kakashi said. "Naruto, Sai, Shino, You three will go with me, we will attack the crystal style user head on and go after the boy. The rest of you will go with Yamato and provide the girls with protection against any attacks."

"Alright, let's split up and go over the strategies." Yamato said.

Nikono glanced at Kakashi. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little nervous that he was going after this powerful jutsu user.

"Hinata, Sakura, this is Nikono sensei." Ino introduced.

"I told you not to call me sensei," Nikono said under her breath.

Ino ignored her and just smiled.

"It's nice to meet you," Hinata spoke in a high pitched voice.

"It's nice to meet you too," Nikono responded. She tried not to let her mind wander as she looked at Hinata's eyes. She couldn't think about that night. She had a mission to fulfill and it wasn't going to happen the same. The lives of these kids were her responsibility. "Alright ladies," she handed them each small green scrolls. "You will each need these. Once Team Kakashi and Team Yamato get into position we'll start the seal."

"What exactly is this seal?" Sakura asked.

"We will have to suppress the three tails chakra into the scroll Tenten carried here," Nikono answered. "We have to maintain just the right amount of chakra balance to form the barrier, then once the beast is located we will have to form the sealing jutsu. The barrier will act as a net. Then once the net has located the beast, the opening of the barrier will suck the chakra of the beast through to another dimension."

"Wow," Ino awed.

"It's going to be difficult, but you were hand picked by Lady Tsunade herself. She wouldn't have chosen you three if she didn't know you could do it." Nikono encouraged them.

"Have you used this jutsu before?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Nikono nodded. "The scrolls I just gave you will help us in locating the tailed beast."

They went over the hand signs for the sealing jutsu and showed them exactly what they needed to do. When they had finished, the rest of the teams seemed to do so as well.

"I say we call it a night, we'll head out first thing tomorrow morning." Kakashi said and they agreed.

"The girls can stay up stairs, we'll stay here for the night." Yamato said.

Nikono grabbed her pack from the floor and went up stairs with the girls. She laid out her mat on the floor closest to the window in case of an attack. That and she liked sleeping under the moonlight. The girls set up their mats around the room. She listened as they huddled together talking about some boy named Sasuke and then Naruto. It appeared Hinata had a little crush on Naruto. While Sakura and Ino both fought over Sasuke. She chuckled to herself. She remembered when they were in the academy, girls tried to fight her over Kakashi. They were jealous she was so close with him. She played it off pretending she wasn't madly in love with him like the other girls. Back then things were so simple.

"Oh please, you're almost as bad at hiding your feelings as Kakashi sensei." Ino giggled.

That caught her attention.

"Kakashi sensei is in love with Naruto?" Tenten asked.

"What no!" Ino exclaimed. "It's obvious there's something going on between Kakashi sensei and Nikono sensei."

She froze. What?!

"Is that true Nikono sensei?" Sakura asked. Nikono had her back turned.

"We are old friends, that's all," she answered, not looking at them.

"I think it's more than that, I mean do you see the way he looks at her?" Ino said.

"Well, it's kind of hard to tell since he always wears that mask." Hinata spoke up.

"That's true, and he's so emotionless all the time." Tenten said. "Sometimes it's kind of scary,"

"It's also kind of cute," Ino said. "Can you imagine what he looks like under the mask? I bet he's gorgeous."

"Have you ever seen Kakashi without a mask Nikono sensei?" Sakura asked. She finally turned and looked at the girls.

"When we were younger," she said. "He didn't always used to wear it."

"Were you guys close?" Tenten asked and Nikono nodded. It had been awhile since she participated in girl talk so she figured she'd indulge, just this once.

"Very," she nodded. "We were best friends,"

"No way," Ino gasped.

"A lot has happened since then," Nikono said. "Now you three go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow." They did as told and all hunkered down for the night. Nikono drifted off into a restless sleep.

She saw blood. It covered her hands and the ground around her. The wind around her blew against the hot tears streaming down her face. She looked down at the could dead purple eyes of her friend who lay in her lap. This was her fault. They were all dead because of her. No. It wasn't her. It was the two tails. The beast did this. It was his fault! Rage burned inside her chest. She could feel her weak muscles and the cool blood drip down her arms. She looked down at the Katana in her hands. Rage was all she felt and dead eyes were all she saw as the blue light engulfed her.

Suddenly she awoke panting, sweat dripping down her forehead. She looked around realizing she was still in the structure Yamato built. It was just a dream. She convinced herself. She looked at the other girls who were still sleeping. She wondered what time it was. The moonlight is still shown through the opening. She stood and walked to the balcony. The air was cool outside and it felt good against her skin. She glanced around the trees. It was silent. Not a single sound. She turned and jumped up onto the roof. If she couldn't sleep she'd keep watch. She walked along the roof sitting down on its edge. She looked out at the darkness. It was like the calm before the storm. She listened as the leaves whistled in the wind. The moon shown above and she could see what felt like every star in the sky. She knew they were thousands of miles away but they felt so close. She couldn't help but think, we're Asuma's eyes behind those stars? Her father used to say that when every great ninja died, a star was added to the night sky to watch over them as they slept. She was wanderlust with it as a kid, now she was grasping at straws hoping it was true. She felt more at ease knowing Asuma was up there watching. He couldn't just be gone. No. None of them could be. Being alive was too complex for death to be so simple. But what did she know, she wasn't dead.

Her mind drifted to the night she first used the sealing jutsu. She was just a kid. Barely a jonin. She was chosen to be apart of a team that included three of her other classmates. Kids she grew up with. Kids she knew. She was the one who knew the jutsu so she was captain. It was another team like this. Two medical ninja and her friend Koka. Koka Hyuga. They tried to seal the two tails, but they were ambushed. Ninja attacked the teams who were supposed to be protecting them. They were told to abandon the mission, told to run and make it to safety before they were all massacred. But she didn't. She refused to run. One by one her team members were killed all because she put the mission first. She almost died herself trying to seal the beast away alone. That's when Minato sensei saved her. He came in like a flash of light, and they were gone.

"Mind if I join you?" Her mind had gotten so lost in thought she hadn't even heard his footsteps. She shook her head and he sat down next to her.

"Couldn't sleep?" Kakashi asked.

"Not really," she said. "You?"

"I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a long time," he said.

"Me too," she said.

"What's on your mind?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I guess I'm just a little nervous," she said.

"Because of what happened last time you tried to seal a beast?" He asked and she nodded.

"Those were different circumstances," he said.

"Were they though?" She asked. "Our protection detail was murdered before our very eyes and instead of running like they told us, we stayed and they all died. I was captain and I could've made them run."

"But would they have listened?" He asked.

Nikono paused. Would they? They were all as devoted as she was which was why her father picked them. They were some of the strongest ninja in her class, there was no way she should've even been made captain. They were all better than her.

"No matter what you would've done differently, the result would have stayed the same. Koka was just as strong headed as you were. She wouldn't have run even if you told her too." Kakashi reassured.

"Maybe," she said softly.

"The war messed us up in a lot of ways," he began. "But don't let that hold you back now. I was going down a dark path before I met these kids. They opened my eyes and gave me hope again. Listen to them, trust them, protect them from the things we had to go through. This generation will be far better than ours ever was."

She thought about Konohamaru. She hoped he wouldn't have to go through what she had gone through. He had been through so much already. "I hope you're right," she looked up at the stars. She was going to protect Konohamaru and Asuma's baby whatever it took.

"You'll see," he said.

She chuckled.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"It's just funny thinking about you as an instructor." She answered.

"I didn't want to be. Asuma actually begged your father to take me out of ANBU and put me with the students." He said. That's Asuma. He had such a big heart for the people he cared about. "I'm glad he did though, they've changed my life."

"Cold-hearted Kakashi finally warming up huh?" She asked and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." He said.

"That's good," she said. "Happy looks good on you,"

He looked over at her, the moon casting shadows across his face. She could tell he smiled then leaned back into his elbows and looked at the stars.

"I realized it's better to let people into your heart and love them while you can before you lose them forever." He said and she just nodded and looked back up at the stars.

"My dad used to say that when a shinobi died, a star was added to the sky and they would watch over us as we slept." She said. "I like to think Asuma is up there right now."

"Many of our loved ones are watching over us," he responded softly.

She nodded and they stared at the night sky.