Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs.

The countdown to our hero's comeback has ticked down to the final hours but there is still a few last important changes for the members of Team Nine. These last important changes had the members of Asahina's Squad standing in the Hokage's office with anxious expressions.

Tsunade glanced up from her papers at the knock on her door, "He's here. Enter!"

The door swung open to reveal Morino Ibiki, their very first proctor from their failed Chunin Exams, "I've brought the forms you requested."

Taking the forms and dumping them aside, Tsunade turned her gaze onto the young members of Asahina's squad with a scowl, "They're late! I expected this from Kakashi but Asahina too?! He's a bad influence!"

As if on cue, Asahina came bursting in, dragging her lazy lover behind her, "We're so sorry! Kakashi insisted on going to the monument and the time just flew by!"

"It's no matter." Tsunade gestured for them to hurry it up and close the door, "Team Nine! You have all worked extremely hard to come this far. With the promotion of Saizo Kai to the rank of jonin a few weeks ago, I've determined that there is a clear gap in skill between the members of your team. But there's no need to worry. I've found places where the rest of your skills can be put to good use."

This news was received with mixed responses.

"Yes!" Kai shouted, throwing his arms up in celebration, "Finally!"

Kori elbowed her blond teammate in the gut, "That's not something to be happy about. We're losing out on more opportunities to learn from a good ninja."

"What about us?!" Toshizo cried, "We're still chunin!"

"So this is how it works in Konoha." Yui mumbled acceptingly.

"Hehee. Does that mean we get to go on bloody missions alone now?" Aya grinned, her pale skin practically glowing with excitement.

"Not all of you are being replaced into another position." Tsunade explained, "Ibiki here has taken great interest in Aya's skills and would like to extend an invitation for her to join the ANBU Black Ops' Torture and Interrogation Squad. And to Momochi Yui, the elders of the village have come to the conclusion that you are too powerful and knowledgeable about our village, Danzo has extended an invitation for you to join his personal ANBU squad."

The two foreign kunoichi shared a look and nodded, "We accept."

"Not that you had much of a choice anyways." The Fifth Hokage chuckled, "Ibiki would never take no for an answer and the elders would nag until I force you into the Root."

Kai tapped his foot with irritation, "So there's nothing for the rest of us?"

"The rest of you have all been gathered here to hear some news." The Hokage pointed at him demeaningly, "Be quiet and listen, you brat."

The blond bristled with frustration and nearly lashed out at the Hokage but found himself unable to do so with the Hyuga's grip fisted tightly into the sleeve of his shirt.

"Tell them, Kakashi." Tsunade ordered impatiently.

"Ah. Well…" The copy ninja started awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as he thought of a decent way to start, "I hate to tell you all but Asahina won't be able to help you out with training and things from now on."

"Is there something wrong?" Toshizo asked worriedly.

"A long mission?" Kai stared pointedly at his mentor, "What? I thought you were too old to do that stuff."

The redhead punched her lover in the side and demanded, "Tell them properly."

"She'll be off duty for the next nine months or so." Kakashi grinned, "Maternity leave."

"M-Maternity?!" The children screeched, staring and pointing at the pair, "Y-You guys are having k-kids?!"

"That's right." He nodded, "So if you guys need some help with your training or something else, I've agreed to take you under my wing on Asahina's behalf."

"Congratulations!" Toshizo was the first to snap out of the stage of disbelief.

"Those books you read claim that pregnancy is the bane of all free men." Yui mumbled, "You are losing your freedom, Kakashi. Why are you happy? Is that simply how it's done in Konoha?"

"Does that mean that you won't have anymore bleeding?" Aya asked curiously, staring at the woman's still-flat tummy.

"Tch." Surprisingly, Kai was not the last to slip out of the awkward stage of denial and disbelief, "You guys were getting old anyways. About time."

"That's great." Toshizo grinned, "Isn't it nice, Kori-san?"

The Hyuga nodded mutely, her face pale and her eyes locked tightly onto the copy ninja's as if she were asking him a very important question.

Kakashi simply stared back with a smile and nodded.

The celebratory mood seemed to grow as the students crowded their teacher with smiles and questions but there was a secret here between Kakashi, Asahina, and the pale-faced Hyuga. That child was created on accident. The protection had not been so absolute and therefore, the child would be born to two famous shinobi parents as an accident, bastard child.

But there was another secret on hand here. A secret between Kakashi and Kori that would probably not be shared with Asahina. The child was not as accidental as Asahina thought for Kakashi had planned for the protection to be broken. How hard would it be to explain to a child that he or she was planned by only one of the parents? Kori would not know but she knew one thing for certain. The blame for this one-sided plan was hers for she had been the one to suggest, albeit jokingly, that Kakashi take drastic measures.

As the loud chatter and excitement grew, the two secret-sharers stepped back into a solitary corner of the room.

"Kakashi-sensei, please tell me that you didn't really poke a hole in the condom." Kori muttered desperately, "Asahina-sensei will never forgive me if she finds out that I played a part in this."

"I did take your suggestion and I did know you were just teasing but it sounded like a good idea to me." The copy ninja whispered, "Don't worry. Even if she finds out that I did it on purpose, I won't tell her that you gave me the idea."

"Thank god…" She heaved a sigh of relief.

"Where did an innocent fourteen year old girl get that idea anyways?" Kakashi chuckled, "Is there something that you're not telling me?"

She blushed at the implications and shook her head, "No. It was in a movie that Saizo and I saw about a poor man, who wanted to marry into a rich family, so he forced his way into a rich woman's family with a similar method."

"Hmm…" The copy ninja said no further words for the attention in the room had been turned onto the father of this 'accident' child.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Toshizo called out to him, "Have you decided on any names yet?"

"Isn't it too early for that?" Kakashi ruffled the girl's hair as he left the privacy of their conversation to join the more entertaining one, "I can't give a baby without a gender a name."

Kori was left with her own guilt as the to-be parents garnered some much deserved attention.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Aya stared down Morino Ibiki for the longest time. Even after the man had just finished explaining what she would be doing for the next year or two. The torture master stared right back at her without blinking. The silence wasn't uncomfortable but it was strange.

"Well?" Ibiki prompted her for a response.

"Does it really take that long before I can actually do something cool?" The girl wasn't enjoying the idea of training for years just to torture someone.

"Of course. You're joining the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Division." He wasn't about to let her get away with less training just because she had a special kekkei genkai, "The only reason I scouted you was because of your special skills. That genjutsu that you use was sought out by other villages as well."

"Maybe I should tell you that I can't choose whether or not a person dies." She thought aloud, "Just because my genjutsu is mental and physical torture put together it doesn't mean that I can choose how much physical pain someone feels. It all has to do with them. If they accidently see themselves dying they just die. I can't save them or get information from them if they die."

"That's why you'll be training." He smirked, "Even if it takes ten years, we're going to train you until you can specifically control your genjutsu down to the ounce of blood they spill."

"That's crazy!" She screamed and threw a completely childish fit.

Ibiki watched her with an amused look on his face, "How old are you again?"

"Fifteen! Just like everyone else!" She whined, "Can't I just skip the training and kill them on accident?"

"No."

"Why?" She whined, throwing another tantrum along the way.

"Are you trying to turn the Torture and Interrogation Squad into the Torture and Kill Squad?" He asked completely seriously, "That's not our job. Our prime objective is the interrogation part. Not the torture part."

Aya's bottom lip stuck straight out in a pout, "So I have to train until I can use my genjutsu without killing anyone?"

"Even if it takes your entire life." Ibiki smirked as she threw another childish fit, "I think I'll be torturing you for the next few years. For now, you will work on your technique with shadow clones as your opponents. If you inflict so much pain that they disappear, you will be punished."

The ghastly young lady threw her arms up in frustration as her training began.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Momochi Yui was not one to judge about the strangeness of other for she was fully aware of how strange she was herself. Her kekkei genkai along with the fact that she was a foreigner to Konoha was what set her apart from her companions more than anything else. She was strange and she knew it but when she entered the Root and was introduced to Shimura Danzo, she knew that she had entered a group that was stranger than she could ever be.

Danzo was a man stern, stoic-faced man. Half of his face was hidden by tightly wrapped bandages and despite the walking stick in his hands, he was a man of utmost grace and esteem.

Yui was a virtually emotionless being after the loss of her brother. She felt no fear despite the man's harsh, one-eyed glare.

"You are Momochi Yui?" Danzo asked.

"Yes." She responded and she was rewarded with a wooden stick to the side of her head. She recoiled, clutching her aching skull with careful hands.

"Wrong. From this day forward, you will be Kyrie." He told her, putting his cane underneath her chin to direct her gaze upward, "Open your mouth."

She responded obediently, allowing his curse to be placed upon her tongue.

"You will never speak a word in betrayal to our association. If you ever give away any information on me or the Root itself, you will be paralyzed on the spot." He warned her only once, "From this day forward, you will be a member of the Root that supports this village from the shadows. You will obey my orders and conform to the schedule I provide. Do you understand?"

She nodded mutely.

"Good." He motioned for another to take his place, "Sai. Show her around the base."

A pale-faced shinobi greeted her without a single expression on his handsome features, "This way."

The dark and dreary hallways seem to stretch forever, the endless number of doors belonging to her fellow ANBU shinobi. Sai gestured to each closed door one by one, naming off his companions but when he reached the end of the hall the words he spoke were directly contradictory to the names he had given his comrades one the way down the hall, "In Root, you have no name. You have no feelings. You have no past. You have no future. There is only the mission. The only absolute things are Danzo-sama's orders."

"You say we have no name but did you not just name all of your allies?" Yui asked warily.

The boy called Sai paused, "Those are not their real names. They were names given by Danzo-sama. I meant that we have no real names."

Yui shook her head, "That's ridiculous. You must have a name."

"Kyrie, you would do well not to say that in front of the others." Sai told her, "We have no names."

"Is that the way it works in Konoha?"

"No. This is the way it works in the Root."

Momochi Yui asked no further questions. She simply accepted this as her fate due to a lack of further emotions or feelings on the matter at hand. Kyrie had accepted her position because it was easier than questioning and fighting against her fate.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

"This sucks." Kai kicked up his legs against the table, rude as ever, "She gives them entry into the ANBU squads and I'm stuck guarding the gate?"

"Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san are working inside the Hokage's office today." Toshizo swatted his dirty shoes off the table, "Kai-san, you should appreciate the work we were given. It's an honor to guard the gate."

"I don't have a problem with gate duty." Kai grumbled, "The problem is that I have gate guarding duty with you while Kori and Kakashi-sensei are out catching a wanted criminal! Why was I stuck with the lesser job?!"

The blond received no answer as his more muscular teammate spotted the very pair they were speaking of wandering down the road, "Kori-san! Kakashi-sensei!"

The Hyuga glanced up, a white tiger prowling closely behind her with their criminal unconscious and strapped to his back, "Toshizo! Saizo? You guys are guarding the gate today?"

"Tch." The blond jonin kicked up his feet again, "Get a move on. The Hokage is waiting for you."

"Kai-san." Toshizo hissed sharply, swatting at the rude feet.

The Saizo looked the white-eyed jonin up and down for wounds, lowering his feet slowly and reluctantly so that he could take his time making sure the Hyuga was alright, "You don't look like you chased down a B-rank Bingo Book criminal."

"That's because Kakashi-sensei did all the hard work." Kori grinned up at her temporary partner, "We came back earlier than expected too."

"Don't humble yourself." The copy ninja said modestly, "The one who managed to capture him was you. I just led him your way."

Kai's eyebrow flickered in jealousy and irritation, "I could've done all of that alone."

"I'm sure you could." The two said with a laugh.

"I'm sure the two of you are eager to file your report and get home to rest." Toshizo elbowed the blond when his feet came up once more, "Please go ahead."

"Work hard, Saizo." Kori waved at him over her shoulder as she hurried off with the copy ninja just barely ahead of her.

"Kai-san." Toshizo said as soon as the two were out of earshot, "When are you going to confess to her?"

The blond turned a sharp glare onto his fellow guard, "You knew?"

"Is there anyone who doesn't?" The puppeteer chuckled but not unkindly, "I think Kori-san knows too."

A dark blush crawled onto the jonin's face. If she knew and she wasn't saying anything that could only mean one of two things. She was either waiting for him to make the first move or she didn't feel the same way but she didn't want things to change.

"If you don't hurry, I think you'll lose out to someone else." The chunin said quietly.

"Lose to who?" Kai demanded, his heart beating rapidly with anxiety.

"The person she always receives letters from." Toshizo muttered, "I think it's Gaara-san."

"The Kazekage?" The blond snorted, "I'm not going to lose to some foreign snob."

"Rude." The dark haired puppeteer scolded him, "But you should hurry and say something."

"I'll confess when I'm good and ready! Worry about yourself!" The jonin snapped.

The two fell into silence for a moment before letting out similar sighs.

Time waits for no one thus the hands of time have begun to move towards an uncertain future.

AmericanNidiot: Judging by your pic, you've probably seen Attack on Titan. When I saw Gaara's hair in the final chapter I screamed "Oh my god. Erwin Smith! WTF are you doing here?!" I personally think that he looked better with the messy spikey hair and I was kind of unhappy with the way it ended up but I guess the hair doesn't really matter.

And to everyone else! The first chapter of the sequel has been uploaded as a new story under the title : Bonds Unbroken . Sorry for the long wait but I finally started it up! Read it at your leisure! XD