CHAPTER 67(The Cost Of Failure)

Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story.

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and changes etc)

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CHAPTER START---

In a guarded hospital room in Konoha, Shino, Hinata, Sakura, and Naruto lay unconscious as they have for the last two days of travel.

Kakashi sits up in his bed reading his book and Kiba is sleeping peacefully in his own bed after getting his check-up, he was just barely able to carry himself and Akamaru back to the village.

Jin sits in a bed across the room being treated by Tsunade, her hand currently on his throat inspecting the clearly visible scar. He was currently shirtless with bandages wrapped around his freshly healed shoulder.

"It'll fade in about two weeks, how's your chakra?" Tsunade asks, her voice soft and worried, not something she ever thought she'd sound like talking to or about Jin. He was a pain in her neck and barely respected her, but he was currently her best asset. Strong and a master of many ninja arts, before this she would have thought him invincible, but it seems even gods can be brought low.

"I need time to recover, but I'll be fine, Kisame was an asshole," he groans out.

"Hmm, you can tell me in a second, alright I'm done with the checkups." Tsunade quietly announces.

"You should get in the hallway, if you don't meet them before they see this then this place is gonna get really damn loud and annoying," Jin's voice was low, but Tsunade didn't question him, she knew what he meant.

As she quickly exits the room, Jin looks over at Kakashi, "Team seven is paying for BBQ when everyone is up," he says matter of factly.

"Hmm," looking around at all the injured people Kakashi then looks over at Jin," yeah, that's the least we could do I suppose."

"That includes team 10, and CHOJI."

"That's mean..." Kakashi grimaces at the bill," why are you still in here anyway, can't you just heal up whenever you want?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"I'm not dumb you know, I know lady Tsunade can't actually regrow limbs and stuff like that, and you had some missing ones that miraculously came back, can't you do that again?"

"Hmm," no sense lying to one of the smartest men in the world, and he knew how to keep secrets," it takes an enormous amount of chakra, normally I can brush off the cost but right now, I won't be able to for a few days, my chakra's never been this low so I'd rather get fully healed up naturally and give it a break," Jin confesses as he takes off his visor, revealing his brown eyes.

"You must really be tired for once, and here we all thought you were invincible," Kakashi jokes as he sees Jin's eyes.

"I never claimed to be invincible, but between us, if I didn't have to worry about the...collateral damage," he looks around to his injured allies," Kisame wouldn't have been an issue, but alas your kids want to chase Sasuke instead of just killing him," Jin shrugs as he leans against the wall while sitting in his bed.

"Are you so against believing in one's friends, can't imagine you have much reason for such a mindset if you and Naruto have always been friends," Kakashi asks, the first time someone really asked Jin why he thinks like this, it almost catches him off guard.

"We live in a world where a single person, like myself, could walk into the hidden leaf and destroy the entire village. Leaving traitors alive, especially with the Sharingan, is asking for problems. What kind of shinobi would leave a sword at their back over something like friendship?"

"The kind that has seen how dark the world can be, and wants to believe in something brighter, I don't see what's wrong with believing in friends."

"Sometimes the world has to get a lot darker before everyone can come together to find the light Kakashi, sorry I'm not sentimental like your team, but I understand what shinobi actually are. If Naruto wants to play hero and redeem every lost soul he finds then that's his problem, but the moment it becomes a problem for me, people I care about or this village, nothing and nobody can stop me from finding the traitor and tearing his heart out, got it?" His hateful stare was hollow, he meant every word, a lesser man would have buckled under the pressure from Jin, but this was Kakashi Hatake after all.

"Hmm, guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," and so the copy ninja went back to reading his book.

Moments later, Tsunade opened the door to the room and walked in.

Kurenai waddled in with her big belly right behind her with Asuma at her back. Her eyes open wide as she looks around the room in shock, had Tsunade not told her before they entered she likely would be making noise right now.

Team 10 walked in behind them reacting much the same way as they look at their friends.

Ino immediately made a beeline toward Jin as she did her own inspection of him, not that she didn't trust her master but to put her own mind at ease.

As she feels about his bandaged shoulder wordlessly, Kurenai begins the official debriefing with a simple demand.

"What happened?" her eyes were fierce as she glared dagger at Kakashi.

"Well, we tracked Sasuke and Itachi to a hideout, when we got close we were hit by a Tsunami."

"Tsunami? Like actual Tsunami?" Asuma asks, not sure if it was a metaphor.

"Yes actual Tsunami, wave blocking out the sky kind of Tsunami, then it formed a giant water prison around us that constantly drained chakra and fed it to the Jutsu user.

"My god..." Kurenai could hardly believe what her children had to fight through.

"Shino and Hinata slammed into some trees and got knocked out by the wave, Akamaru got hit by the wave and passed out, Kiba and I were awake and got attacked by a Zabuza's sword, Sasuke's ally Suigetsu became water and was slashing at us," Kakashi explained.

"Hmm, he made the Tsunami then?" Asuma asked only for Kakashi to look over at Jin, figuratively passing the mic to him.

"That would be Itachi's partner Kisame, he came after me. He merged with the legendary blade Samehada and became a human shark hybrid that consumes chakra. The giant water prison also moves to keep him in the middle."

"That's why you dragged him away from us?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, I figured it out as I was getting Shino and Sakura out and getting them awake. Kisame was focusing on me because Sasuke's team basically told him that I'll kill him if he doesn't. The entire fight was just me trying to play keep-away between them and you guys," Jin groans out before Ino lifts his head to check his scar.

"What happened here?" She demands while touching the scar on his throat.

"..." he doesn't speak, she moves to stare him in the eyes before repeating herself only to be met with more silence.

"I'd honestly like an explanation for that too, he ran back to us with a bloody hand and messed up shoulder but his other hand was holding his throat together..." Kakashi sells him out, Jin just knew he was giving him his best grin under that mask.

Looking at Ino the glare she was giving him made it clear they'd be talking about this later.

"I had to tackle Kisame to push him away from you guys, I pretty much kept cutting away at him, even shoved my hand down his throat to do internal damage. He made a last-ditch effort to slash my throat open, thankfully he didn't have enough strength to do it completely," he admits, only to be met by horrified stares.

"My God," Kurenai gasps as she stares at him.

"I survived and he didn't, plus we got his legendary sword, it's alive and really really hates me but we got it at least," Jin gives them a small smile.

"What about Itachi and Sasuke?" Tsunade asks, receiving a harsh glare from Asuma, Kurenai, and Ino.

"Pretty sure Itachi died there, Sasuke got away and his friend too, so two Akatsuki down, that's a win for us even if we technically failed the mission," Jin admits with a wide smile.

"I don't even know if I'd of been helpful or more collateral in that kinda fight, damn." Shikamaru quietly admits.

"Yeah me too..." Choji can't help but agree.

"Trust me, nobody is prepared for something like that, well, unless your name is Tobirama according to the history books," Jin tries to relieve their guilt.

"Hmm, that seems pretty accurate," Tsunade almost chuckles at his little joke.

"And on the bright side, team 7 is buying all our teams dinner, well, once they're all awake that is."

That got a small smile on Choji's face and a grimace from Kakashi.

"Alright, my patients need their rest, visit time is over everyone, I'll contact all of you when any of them wake up I assure you," Tsunade begins to clear the room.

"Do I need to stay here?" Jin asks, giving her a bored look.

"Hmm," looking between him and Ino she can't help but release a tired sigh, she looks to her student before giving her a simple instruction," no training of any kind, he can move around but not much, got it?"

"Yes sensei," Ino gives her a grateful nod.

"And no strenuous activity," Tsunade narrows her eyes at the girl.

"I know that sensei," Ino blushes as she looks anywhere but at Tsunade.

---Jin's Penthouse Later That Night...

Laying in bed on his back to avoid pressure on his injured shoulder, Ino cuddles up to Jin's side and lays her head on his chest as they just enjoy each other's company.

"You know my dad hates you right?" She casually mentions as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Mhm, anything new?"

"I'm serious, have you ever even met him?"

"Nope, why would I, we don't exactly work closely together, he's all the way in sensory and interrogation."

"Both things your amazing at."

"That's beside the point, why does he hate me anyway?"

"Dunno, every time I stay over here he rambles on about how some devil stole his precious little girl from him without even asking his permission, then next time I see him he's pouty about me not coming home and mom keeps him quiet, now whatever could that mean," sarcasm dripped on every word as she looked at him, doing her best pout.

"What are you getting at princess?"

"Ever considered, I dunno, meeting my parents, family dinner or something. Like this weekend?"

"Gonna be honest, this isn't the most appealing pitch you've ever done, and you have met me right. I tend to bite back, even the old lady can't hide behind that Hokage title," Jin points out.

"I'm not asking you to be besties with him, just at least show your face so he can say he met you. And mom is actually happy for us since you're kinda famous. Konoha's latest genius and all that. She's hoping I'll become the Hokage's wife if we stay together," Ino quietly admits, she's never really mentioned marriage or anything like that before.

"Sorry but that's never gonna happen, the Hokage part that is," he quickly clarifies.

"Just the Hokage part?"

"Yeah, just that part, I wouldn't be any good at being Hokage."

"Liar," she didn't believe him for a second," what's the real reason?"

"Hmm, well, what so wrong with just wanting to relax and enjoy life with my family, Hokages always have to work and tend to die young, can't I be selfish for once and just live a full life with my loved ones?" his voice was low, as if he really was asking permission, but not to her in particular, maybe to himself.

"Mmm, that sounds great, I'd rather have my husband around than the Hokage title on my family honestly," she tightens her hold on him slightly.

"Glad you see the appeal, princess,"

Looking up at him for a moment, Ino takes a deep breath as she barely sees the scar on his neck again.

She can't help but reach up and pass her finger on the skin, rough still. But fading quickly.

"Is it wrong that I'm changing my mind?" her voice was low, as if ashamed of what she was saying.

"You're gonna need to be more specific babe, about what?"

"I...When I saw how sad Sakura was these past few years, I was right there with her when I thought you'd always hate me. But then we just, fell back into place so quickly, and she's still heartbroken and alone. I want her to find her love but, I don't know if I'm ok with you being this...involved."

"You're scared I'll die on one of these stupid missions to find Sasuke?"

"Am I a bad best friend, I-I want you to live more than I want Sasuke to come back," he could feel tears falling on his chest as her voice cracks.

"It's in human nature to be selfish Ino, but don't worry, I'll always come back. I'm really hard to kill remember," he wraps her in a soft hug as she just enjoys the embrace.

"That doesn't make it any less scary, that last mission was too close Jin, I don't wanna lose you, I... I want to be selfish too, if she can selfishly ask us to help her, then we can selfishly say no right."

"Right, you can do whatever you want princess, I only go when it deals with Akatsuki because those terrorists are attacking all the big villages, and they'll eventually have to come here, and there's no coming back if they get what they need."

"Mmm, ok, I just, I dunno how I'm supposed to feel about all this."

"Yeah well, I'm not going anywhere so you've got time to figure it all out."

"Mhm, like when we join my parents for dinner right," she looks up at him with her best puppy-dog eyes.

"Sigh, woman, you're relentless..."

END CHAPTER---