"Missing?" Kushina looked from the Third Hokage to the other two occupants in the room, Jiraiya, and Minato. "What? How?" She knew the moment that they were told that the Hokage wanted to see them something was wrong. On top of that were the looks that a couple of the villages were giving them as they passed. She didn't miss the glares in her direction, not that she wasn't already used to that. What had caught her attention were the looks of pure sympathy directed toward Minato. Whether or not he had seen them she wasn't sure, he kept his sights straight ahead as the two of them walked through the village hand-in-hand.

"She was assigned out as part of a four-man B-ranked mission." The Third explained as he smoked his pipe, "It was a simple scouting mission to take place near the southern most border. I am sure you are aware of the situation going on in the Hidden Wave Village." She nodded as did Minato next to her. "They left for their mission according to plan, only Kei returned hours after they had left."

"Meaning the attack was near the village," Minato stated from next to her, she could practically feel the air around him shift as his mind began pieces together.

"The Genjutsu placed around the forest was impressive, in the ten minutes it took me o realize what it was and break it Kei was bleeding, bloodied and alone in front of me," Jiraiya spoke up from his spot leaning against the wall on the Hokage's right side. "Kohaku was found presumably at the attack site, however, there was no trace of a battle and both Holo and Sho were missing."

"And no one noticed?"

"The Genjutsu?" The Hokage asked Minato nodded, "No. Which is troubling for it to be near the village and no one to have noticed." Kushina bit her lip having caught the implication. The Third hadn't noticed the technique and if Minato's intensifying frown was any indication it was that he had caught onto that as well.

"There has to have been something left behind, any indication of who did this, how is Kei?" Minato asked crossing his arms and putting on his 'thinking face' as she had dubbed it.

"He had fallen from exhaustion from breaking the Genjutsu and only woke up recently." The Third explained, "The only information he had gathered was that the people who had attacked them wore Hitai-ate that bore a musical note." Kushina bit her inner cheek at that bit of information as the Third continued speaking. "He believes there was only one person in the initial attack, but saw three when he broke free. And he was unable to detect their Chakra levels either."

"He remembered one of them having blue, red and orange hair," Jiraiya added with a frown, Kushina frowned herself feeling as if she was just on the precipice of connecting the dots. As if she had been given most of the pieces to a puzzle and she was still unable to bring them together, Kurama cackling in the back of her head told her that he knew damn well what it was that she was not getting.

"Should I even bother asking?" She asked already knowing the answering to the question.

"And miss out on the expression on your face when you finally realize what's going on?" There was a scoff, "Never." She rolled her eyes and returned her attention back to the three others in the room with her

"We've already sent out a team in search of them." The Third replied as he exhaled the smoke from his lungs, "They didn't find anything and since it has been a week given the situation of the world. I have ordered everyone to keep an eye out for them while out on missions, along with the keep an ear out for any information on this possible new village." He then shifted the topic, "Was your mission a success?"

"Yes, the Fire Daimyo and his family are safe and unharmed." Minato answered for them, "He said he would send word ahead." Kushina kept her attention on Jiraiya as Minato and the Third spoke. He wasn't an easy book to read, but given the amount of time she had known and been around him she has picked up on a couple of his quirks. The smirk on his place as he was looking at her was forced, she could tell by the tenseness behind it. It didn't reach his eyes, which if he hadn't had anything trying on his mind, would have held mirth behind them. Of course, he could have easily covered all of this up but even Jiraiya needed to unwind and relax.

"You are dismissed." The Third announced, Kushina bowed reflexively but not before giving the Sannin a knowing look. She was onto him and she had every intention of questioning him.

"I hope she is alright."

"We both know that Holo is a tough person to kill."

"That's the very problem," Minato admitted with a frown as they entered the Ramen Shop. "She knows too much and if these people are as powerful as they sound. Chance are they have done their recon and know just how important or rather knowledgeable she would be about Village affairs. Both she and Sho both worked closely with the Hokage."

"Sho, was the bitch behind the reception desk at the Office?"

"Kushina."

"What?! She was, ya know." Minato chuckled and she, in response, smirked. Teuchi hadn't bothered asking them what they would like and instead went about making their usual, a knowing smile on his face when he saw them walk in told her that maybe Minato wasn't bullshitting her and Holo had concocted this whole ordeal. Something she had every intention of thanking the female as she was to hit her, the Chunnin could scheme Kushina would give her that.

The two of them went on eating their Ramen in silence and she had to admit, while the two of them were alone… it didn't feel right. She had spent the whole return back to the village threatening to hunt down and smack the Chunnin when she returned. As true as that was she also wanted to treat her to some Ramen and thank her for the trouble she had gone through. Holo was a Chunnin who had no reason to do what she did, she gained nothing from it other than to see the two of them together. Hell, the Chunnin had been out of the village when she had first started this silly attempt to replace herself with another more 'Kushina' Kunoichi.

"She wouldn't want the two of you to let this bother what she put so much effort into," Teuchi replied from behind the counter, bringing the both of them from their thoughts.

"You knew?!" The embarrassment was almost too much to take and Kushina was sure it came out in the unintentional, shrill of her voice.

"Anyone with two eyes and half a brain saw what she was doing," Teuchi laughed, "I couldn't tell you how many times she came in here grumbling about how stubborn and blind the both of you were." The elder laughed, "She swore you two were going to be the death of her." Minato brought his hand the back of his head and laughed.

"Was it that obvious."

"To everyone but you two," Teuchi replied as he placed the pot where it belonged and dropped his apron. "There was an ongoing bet on whether you two would notice what she was doing before she got you two together." Kushina could feel her cheeks flushing, "Though I wasn't aware that Minato was aware of it for as long as he had been until after she sent you two off. After the Third informed her of the ongoing bet she laughed and told him that technically Minato always knew of her intentions, though he may have only recently realized just how dedicated she was…" He looked like he wanted to saw more, but another customer entered the shop. "It's been a long time, I'll have your dish ready in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you." She wrapped her arms around teen before he could finish his response. "Sensei, Kushina." There was a momentary pause, "I could hear you from across the marketplace." Her friendly hug turned constricting.

"You little brat." She growled as Minato smiled behind her and greeted his student.

"Kakashi, you look well. You smell like you just left a burning building." She could feel the kid tense for a split moment before relaxing as she let go and sat back in her seat. Minato wasn't wrong, the Hatake did smell like something had been burnt to a crisp right next to him. And Kushina was willing to bet that it had nothing to do with training and everything to do with him trying to cook a meal. Luckily he was saved by Teuchi bringing out his favorite dish

She turned her attention back to Teuchi to give him privacy. "Wouldn't that mean that technically everyone lost their money?" The elder smiled brightly and laughed.

"She said something similar saying that she should get all of the money in the pot since no one had technically been correct." Teuchi paused and seemingly remembered something rather important before turning to Minato. "Speaking of Holo, she told me that if she couldn't that I was to tell you that Rin left with Tsunade about a month after you two left on your mission."

"Rin's gone?" Kushina frowned knowing that while he hadn't technically lost another student like he had with Obito, Minato would look at it as a loss. Even though the conversation had been brought up a couple of times before they left and he had given his blessing everyone could see that he didn't really want to. Minato was a man of many layers, that was something Melody had always told her, that his character always seemed to be simple and plain but she was positive there was more to him than shown. Kushina knew from experience that this was true, it was one of the many things she loved about him. "She could have sent word."

"You know she wouldn't." Kushina interrupted before Teuchi could, "You were on an important mission." When he didn't look convinced she continued. "Sure she was hoping that we would get together during this mission, but we had to make sure that the Daimyo and his family were safe as well. She probably thought that while it was important you had enough on your plate by having me out there and apparently knowing her hidden purpose behind sending us." She sighed, "Not that I am happy that apparently you, here and the Hokage were in on this but that is beside the point."

"She did the right thing." Kakashi spoke as he pushed his empty dish back toward Teuchi, "We all know she did. If it helps you any, she didn't tell me about it either."

"When did you find out?"

"Just now." If Kushina didn't know Kakashi as well as she did she would have missed the look that glazed over his features momentarily. "It would explain why patrols have dropped since Tsunade-Sama left instead of the opposite."

"You aren't happy she left."

"I am unaware as to whether it was the best choice." He turned to face them, "I am not questioning Hokage-Sama's logic. There are not many who would dare to challenge Tsunade-Sama, but everyone knows that if anyone can train her how to control Isobu it is you Kushina."

"A lot of chakra control goes into it." Kushina explained, "If there is anyone who has mastered that art~ it is Tsunade-Sama. She knows a bit about seals herself and I am sure has been explained on how to renew the seal before she was sent off. Rin and Isobu are both hesitant on allowing her to use his Chakra, her control is impressive but Demon Chakra is a whole different beast. I would feel more confident knowing Rin has been trained by Tsunade before she learned how to harness that Chakra from me." The Ramen Shop remained silent for far longer than she liked. "What?" Kakashi and Teuchi merely looked away, she was sure they were both smirking.

"You know that side of you I said not many had the chance to see unless they fought alongside you. The determined, wise, calculated genius hidden behind that short-tempered Habanero?"

"Shut up…" She grumbled swatting away his playful pointing.

"Impressive." She smiled clapping her hands in enthusiasm. "I mean, I cannot say it's okay. You did kill one of them, but I am surprised at how far you've come."

"You've helped a lot." He watched as the redhead blushed with the compliment and She just looked at him like a mother would their child...a sister would her baby brother.

"Oi! And just what exactly does that make us?!" The Orange-haired young adult bolstered as he swung an arm around the blue haired rather annoyed looking woman. Their dynamic was refreshing and reminded him a lot of his own group. He could easily see why She was drawn to them, even if it felt as if She had stomped on his heart by doing so.

"You don't have to yell, we are all standing right here." She complained as she grabbed his arm as if it were garbage and dipped out of his grasp. "Why do you have to be so loud?"

"Gosh, you guys are the best." She laughed, it was familiar soothing nostalgic, walking over and wrapping her arms around all of them. She turned around just as quickly and began tearing up, "They grow up so fast."

"Excuse me." Having just about enough of the situation he made his presence known, all of them spun to face him. All the while She shot an arm out, keeping them back. It was a surprise that she didn't attack him on the spot, given his prior experiences watching her that is exactly what he expected her to do. A part of him was hoping she would, they would fight he would measure her up and move on. No need to grow attached, no need to reminisce, no need to talk.

"Can you give us a minute?" The trio didn't look like they wanted to leave, but nothing giving the leader a pointed look didn't fix. He had to admit, a part of him was glad to finally have her to himself after all of this time. She seemed to be the only thing that was different, that was bringing change and he had every intention of finding out why.

"We'll be right outside if you need us." She nodded her red eyes not leaving him for a second and something was telling him that if he tried to anything she would give him a good run for his money. Once the three had left he let his shoulders drop and let out a long sigh.

"I wouldn't have ever guessed this is where you have been." He watched as her brows knit together and while she seemed to have relaxed in his presence as well he knew better, she was ready now more than ever to move if needed. Years of watching and training under her had taught him how to read her body language and it would seem that even here after all this time some things didn't change.

"What have you done with him?"

"With who?"

"Don't play stupid, who do you think?" She snarled as she waved her hand up and down, motioning at him. He paused and arched his brow, it was his turn to be confused.

"How long have you been here?"

"You are going to have to be a bit more specific than that." She growled but then something seemed to have crossed her mind. "Why didn't you attack Kakashi?" Her eyes already as intense as they were narrowed and darkened. "If you loved her, why didn't you do anything to stop her from being slaughtered."

"I wanted to." He broke, "With every fiber of my being I wanted to jump in the way and stop the fighting, but there are some things that cannot be changed no matter how hard I try." He paused, "Something that apparently doesn't apply to you." He snickered, "You never were the one to play by the rules, were you?" He let the question hang out for a moment, "I've been watching you a long time." He could tell that he was getting under her skin, but if she wanted to play stupid he would continue to dance around the one thing she truly wanted to know.

"Who are you?"

"Obito."

"Bullshit." Her left thumb twitched, indicating she was keeping herself from attacking him. A good sign, it meant she was willing to listen and then maybe he could start getting some answers to his own questions.

"You were always the anomaly," He began leaning back on the wall of the room they were in. "At first I figured you were just wishful thinking, that this was a dream. A familiar face of hope in my final moments of life, then I opened my eyes. So it must have been a dream a hallucination of my own creation." His eyes scanned around the room as he spoke, but darted straight to hers as the next sentence left his mouth. "Then we got word of the failed mission. Many were captured, killed or missing." Her eyes narrowed further if that was even possible. "Firebird and I couldn't believe it. But then they had us all evacuating." Had he moved, like his body was telling him to, he would have been hit by the kunai that grazed both his cheeks.

She was pissed. That much was obvious.

"Who the fuck are you."

"I've already told you." She didn't seem to be hearing him, instead, he watched as a million thoughts flickered behind her eyes. He had seen that look plenty of times before, it convinced him of something he had already known but didn't have the heart to accept.

"Djinn, you have to be, it all make sense this world the impending doom." She laughed to herself and it had to have been the saddest laugh he had ever had grace his ears. Especially coming from her, his beacon of hope. "So what, I guess all of this is some fantasy of mine that I get to play out and alter, but in the end, nothing can be changed and like everyone else I am to die. The last of my life drained from me to feed you and here you are basking the glory knowing there is no way after all this time and effort I have put into this am I going to turn my back on it now." That laugh escaped her lips once more, "OH can my father call it or can he call it."

He was at her side in a flash, her arm shot out to attack him and it was like she had lost whatever control she had built up after all of these years. He had dodged her arm swinging back to clobber him upside the head but hadn't anticipated her leg to trip him. He was on his back for all of a moment caught off guard and shocked, then he was five feet away from her and the ground where he had been crumbled under the force of her punch.

Even he was shocked. Especially when those red predatory eyes locked in on him, he had never seen that look fall upon her features. Not here nor there and it bothered him, it honest-to-God bothered him.

She was fast, but he was faster and the wall behind him was gone as the three from earlier kicked in the door. He wasn't here to fight, he wasn't here to make an enemy. He was here to verify his hypothesis and he had done that and much more. He caught her leg as it came up to hit him upside the head and he slid four feet back from the sheer force behind it spinning around and using the momentum to send her toward her companions.

"What the hell is going on here!" The Orange haired man asked, or rather, yelled as he caught Holo as she now called herself. He could feel himself being pulled away and knew that if he didn't leave now then all of this effort that she had put into this would have been for naught. "Taicho?!" The woman merely glared at him, nonverbally daring him to do anything and he knew better. If he thought she was deadly then…well, you know what they say about mothers.

"I will take my leave…" The room around him disappeared in a swirl and he returned to the room that housed the Shinobi Worlds greatest enemy. He walked over to the bed and laid down, while he was showing up more often he had no intention of meeting the man that would bring the Shinobi World to their knees. If there were anyone who would catch on, who could possibly pull him back forcefully it was that man and they all had enough on their plate already. The last thing any of them needed was to gain his attention any more than they already had.

"From what I hear you and Holo had an argument before she went missing." Kakashi didn't bother looking up from his book when Minato came and sat across from him at the Dango shop. "I don't know what it was about, but some hospital workers say she had gone in there for a couple of broken bones from training that day." He could hear his Sensei trying to figure out just how exactly to bring up what was obviously bothering him.

"I had told her not to go easy." He chanced a glance over to his Sensei and he seemed to be mulling over what to say in response. "Dai and Guy do not understand the meaning of holding back." He explained shooting his eyes back down at the book when his Sensei gave him a questioning glance. "She threw me out of the way and ended up getting in the middle of both their Barrages."

"Why would she do that?"

"To let me see it." The two of them remained silent and in the time he finished three pages. "We had an argument, yes. There were something she was keeping from me, I don't like secrets though I understand the need for them." He sighed and shut his book knowing that chances were his Sensei's souring mood was because of his latest fix. "She claimed she would make it up to me and then went and allowed me to Copy their move." That seemed to knock him out of his thoughts.

"You were fighting with your Sharingan?" As tempting as it was to remind him that it wasn't his Sharingan, Kakashi figured that this was neither the time nor place.

"As she and Dai blatantly put it, it is my best advantage and while I should maintain training to hold my own without it. I should also practice with it to allow my body to acclimate to it." His Dango came out and he quickly popped one of the delicious sweets into his mouth as his Sensei made to order his drink and ask for a moment to look at the menu. "I am not an Uchiha and therefore it will strain my body far more than it does theirs."

"You shouldn't speak with your mouth full." Kakashi let out an amused huff at his Sensei's deadpanned brotherly reprimand. "So she managed to get herself injured to win you over."

"Win me over?" He arched a brow and popped some more Dango into his mouth when he looked back up to find his Sensei staring at him seemingly in shock the Hatake rolled his eyes once more before popping another into his mouth. "Everyone has a face."

"You don't." The words were out of the blonds mouth before he had thought them over, that much was apparent even before it dawned on him and he backpedaled. "I mean, of course, you do. But you never show it to anyone."

"To anyone, I don't trust." His mask was back on by the time the waitress came back with his green tea. "Just give him the same thing I have." He ordered for his Sensei as his mind restarted. She nodded and told him it would be out in ten to fifteen minutes, though it didn't seem like his Sensei was processing anything just yet.

"You trust me?" Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how any genius was shoved in that head of his Sensei's. Honestly some things just seemingly flew over his head, it was a miracle Kushina hadn't murdered him yet.

"Isn't it obvious."

"You do know I have to ask why."

"Why I trust you?"

"W-was that sass?"

"No. Sarcasm." He paused and popped the third ball on his second stick into his mouth. "That... was sass." His Sensei excused himself from the table for a couple of minutes, Kakashi pulled his book back out and made it through the next two chapters along with his plate and his Sensei's plate of Dango before he returned. "I hope you don't mind."

"Who are you and what have you done with my student." His voice was steady and firm and Kakashi smirked under his mask. He goes and does what everyone tells him to do, be honest and open about what he thinks and this is where it gets him. To the point where his Sensei believes he must be an imposter. Though he couldn't blame the man, a lot has recently happened and he had been gone for a while.

"You haven't spoken with Inori." He placed the book on his lap and gave Minato his undivided attention. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with me, I am right here as I was when you left and before you showed up."

"You spoke with Inori."

"I lost a bet." That seemed to stump Minato for a moment.

"You lost a bet so you went to Inori."

"Me losing the bet meant I had to take my sessions seriously."

"Who'd you lose the bet to."

"Guy."

"And he wanted you to take your sessions seriously?"

"As soon as a certain Chunnin informed him that I wasn't, yes."

"That's brilliant."

"She's annoying."

"Can I take your order, Shinobi-san?" Another plate was placed in front of Kakashi and he waited patiently as Minato momentarily racked his brain for what would quiet his growling stomach.

"I'll take three sticks of Goma Dango."

"Of course, would you like another plate Hatake-Sempai?"

"No thank you." With that, she took off and he was stuck with Minato and he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that right now. So he derailed the conversation from his lost bet onto something more demanding. "She is going to be alright. She has an annoying knack for getting herself out of trouble." Minato visibly relaxed and brought his hand to his forehead.

"She also has an uncanny knack for getting herself into these kinds of situations as well."

"Exactly."

"If you are so sure she is going to be alright, then why are you here eating your fifth plate of Dango."

"Kushina sent you." It was a statement, Kakashi had a feeling that his Sensei's arrival was not as random as he wished it to be. Just like a certain annoying Chunnin, Kushina had made it her business to watch over him and take him under her wing. Minato brought his hands up defensively and smiled brightly.

"Guilty." He brought his hands down and leaned back into the seat, apparently he made up his mind to stay and enjoy the food. "She just worries about you."

"Apparently every female you know does." When his Sensei tilted his head to the side slightly Kakashi sighed. "Kushina, Holo, Mikoto… you know she seemed to be down every street I was watching on duty after Holo went missing. And there was a bento placed outside my door every morning." When Minato looked anything but surprised Kakashi knew that this must have been another one of those things he was aware of. "Holo made me her business long before you asked her to train us, were you aware that she was the one who got it into Guy's mind that I needed a friend and a rival?" Again he didn't seem the least bit surprised. "So the only one you hadn't anticipated was Kushina after my father died." His expression flattened, but there was still a small smile on his Sensei's features.

"She has a mind of her own." The waitress returned with his plate and excused herself just then. Kakashi made to take another stick only to find his plate had been moved and was now sitting in front of his Sensei. "I do believe you owe me a plate." The Hatake looked up as if thinking about it before nodding.

"I have had my fill and have somewhere to be." He could see the realization dawning on his Sensei's face just before he Shunshin-ed his way out of there and onto the Third Training Ground. Just because she wasn't around for the time being, didn't mean his training could let up. Guy and his father made sure of that and if there was one thing he disliked to this day it was facing someone who was better than him. Call it what you will, but until he could hold his own against father and son separately and together he was not going to stop.

Authors Note: Hot damn this came out of nowhere. I was sitting around packing my room, getting ready to move when this bad boy hit me. It is not the best, but it is an important chapter for progression. I am thinking of drawing this out and finishing it in January, namely because I would love to post a Christmas special or two with this cast before we move on to the next arc.

Don't worry I started writing those already so they should be more than ready for the Holidays!

That being said I have an idea of where I would like these last 3-5 Chapters to go. These last couple of subscriptions I have gained have been the driving force to finish this Arc. I have been noticing and have not forgotten about ya'll. I promise.

This Chapter hit the 5000 marker, surprisingly. and introduced important cast. So I hope you enjoyed and look forward to seeing a couple of chapters before the Specian and Finale in January.