The feline spits the arm aside and hisses back at him. Slinking in closer.

"Hana, please!" He begs, his voice breaking. Then a silence takes over everyone as she closes in the distance. She stops within inches from his terrified face towering over. It was at this moment his fear took over completely. There had only been a select few times he had ever been this scared before. With her hot breath wafting over his skin, smelling of blood, chunks of flesh stuck to her mouth, she is the raw version of horror.

He swallows the lump in his throat and sits still waiting for her to devour him.

She takes a deep breath, sucking in his scent, closing her eyes to taste it. Her mouth opens bearing those red stained fangs. And just when he thought it was all over, just when he thought she was going to eat him. She presses her nose against his cheek and groans. That wet nose runs along his neck and down into his shoulder leaving a crimson residue behind. She nuzzles him, circling around his body just like a cat would, only stopping once to hiss at his fellow nin huddled together behind him.

Shiro gasps at the sight.

"She's not attacking."

Kakashi breathes out heavily.

"No...no she isn't."

And Konohamaru starts towards them.

"Hana..."

But he is quickly stopped by her growls and hisses, even swatting at him with claws bared. Hana positions herself overtop of Kakashi pushing him to the ground, standing guard over him in protection. She hovers over his lap watching the others cautiously.

"Everyone get back. She's protecting me and will attack you." Kakashi informs.

He takes an experimental hand and draws it along her back, feeling the soft fur. The feline arches her back and shudders at his touch. She nuzzles her nose into his shoulder appreciatively.

Shiro straightens up, finally able to stand now that his stone isn't destroying his body.

"Looks like she's found her mate." He says and laughs, although not without feeling the heart ache from this. It wasn't the first time he's seen her rip bodies apart, yet it still makes him sick to his stomach over it. She is too good for this and deserves so much better.

Kakashi shares a somber look with him.

"I guess she has.." he replies sadly.

"What now?" Sakura asks.

He thinks on it. With the shinobi targets taken care of, it was time to go home.

"Let's go home, I've had enough..."

Everyone agrees to that except for Konohamaru who voices a very strong opinion.

"And how the hell do you plan on bringing that home with you? I doubt hokage guards would even let her through the gates!"

That just angers Kakashi. For someone who loves Hana so much, he easily pushes her aside when shit gets real.

"Would you like me to abandon her? Is that what you would do?"

Konohamaru immediately chokes.

"Well... no! I'm just stating the obvious."

By now feline Hana has slumped down into Kakashi's lap pawing at him for more pets. This sparks more jealousy from Konohamaru. He scoffs at their affection.

"At least she's friendly to someone ." Shikamaru states.

"Ahhh...to a point. I have a feeling if I piss her off she may rip my head off...literally..." Kakashi replies.

"So what are you going to do with your new pet?" Konohamaru asks very bitterly.

Kakashi leans over, running his fingers along her belly. She begins to purr loudly just like Hana used to do.

"Well...there's not much I can do but take her home and wait."

"You don't sound worried at all."

Sakura replies.

Kakashi looks up at her.

"I don't know what else to do...and worrying isn't going to help. So let's stay positive. I'm sure our superiors will help us figure something out. On the plus side, I doubt Hana will be going on anymore missions for awhile....right kitty kitty?" He continues to scratch her side waning happy groans and pants.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Kakashi." Sakura says, rubbing her arms nervously.

He too doesn't feel this is a good idea. Bringing a wild stray feline the size of himself home with him to terrorize the neighborhood. He can only hope they don't throw her in that cage again as he doubts they will be able to contain her unless a sedative is onboard. Even then...getting one into her now, would cost some lives and maybe an arm or two off himself.

"This is my problem. I will take care of it." Kakashi says while trying to remove the large lazy cat off his lap. She hisses and groans stubbornly as he nudges around her side until finally she saunters to her feet and gives her fur a shake. Bits of blood and gore fly about them pattering their white gi making Sakura gag.

"She needs a bath."

Shikamaru curses.

"Yeah she does..."

"I'll handle it." Kakashi says, rising to his feet.

"Let's hope so." Konohamaru replies bitterly.

And they make their way back towards the town they had just left. Now that their enemy has been terminated and their mission is complete there is no need to avoid the village any longer. They can rest in the buildings safely without any problems......

———————————————-

They approach the town, which is now completely abandoned. It would seem their assumptions were right. This small village had been vacant for quite some time prior to their enemies' settlement.

"The broken barrel inn." Sakura says with a foul taste in her mouth. She is sick to her stomach over the fact she couldn't see through their deceit. If not for Kakashi and Konohamaru who knows if they would be alive right now. She couldn't imagine blindly spending the night here in the enemy lair.

Stupid...

"I now hate this place." Shikamaru states while reaching for the door handle.

Konohamaru pauses behind everyone.

"Are we really going to sleep here tonight?"

Kakashi turns towards him, getting tired of his back-talk and whiny attitude.

"Yes, now stop whining. I'm getting sick of it."

Shirou coughs again, spitting up fluid that had pooled in his lungs from his cohort instinct nearly destroying his body. He is healing rapidly, however there is still a substantial amount of damage and his chakra has only regenerated fifty percent of its strength. "I need rest, and can't regulate my body temperature outside. I will freeze to death if we sleep outside. So, we sleep in here. If you don't like it Konohamaru then sleep outside with the rats, I don't fucking care."

He stumbles over to the door just as Shikamaru opens it. Immediately they are hit with a gust of warmer air and the after smell of booz and cooked food. Shirou stops just inside the door to look around. The fire is still ablaze with a roasting pot hung overtop. Glasses and plates of food are still lingering on the tables. It was obvious once they had left this inn, the entire room had followed right after. Which means they knew who they were once they had entered the inn.

"They knew we were coming." Kakashi states as he and his feline walk through the door behind Shirou. The rest of the group skirt by him fanning out, searching the room for any clues as to how they would know of their existence.

Kakashi walks over to the fire to warm his hands, with Hana nearly at his heels. He looks down at her questionably. Her black velvet head swivels around the room, her nostrils flaring, and ears twitching as she uses all her senses to scan for threats. He crouches down beside her catching her attention. Those golden eyes snap over to him, making his heart skip a bit. He calms his nerves before resting a careful hand on her head, patting it.

"Picking up on anything, kitten?"

She snorts and begins to pant, pleased with something. But no tell tale sign she knows anything about what he is asking. Another confirmation that Hana is no longer with them in this world. His chest tightens at the thought, he begins to pray to the gods for her salvation as small tears swell in his eyes.

"Kakashi?" Sakura calls to him, startling him.

He flinches slightly and clears his throat, gaining back his composure. Hana growls in warning at Sakura, making sure she doesn't get too close.

"Keep your distance from me ok? Everyone will need to earn her trust before you can get any closer." He warns.

Sakura hugs herself feeling strange, scared and helpless. She buries her face into her hands sobbing. The men in the room stop everything they are doing and turn their attention to her.

"We fucked up so bad." She cries. "We fucked it all up..."

Tears begin to patter against the wood floor below her.

"This should have never happened.." Her voice level escalating. She growls angrily through her tears and rips off her pack sending it soaring across the room into a table. It knocks over a few chairs, smashing the legs of one before it skids to a stop by the bar. Everyone watches her breakdown silently, not saying a word, feeling the same way.

"She deserves so much better than this. How could we be so blind? How did we not see what was happening?!" She shouts and collapses to her knees.

Kakashi swallows hard.

"It's not our fault."

Konohamaru snarls.

"How is it not our fault?...actually it isn't! ....Personally I blame you!"

Kakashi rolls his eyes.

"Of course you do!...Although I should let all of you know the real reason why I have been doing this my own research in this whole fucked up mission. It is because I believe we were sent out as aids in a plot to get rid of Hana once and for all."

Gasps and shocked expressions circle the room.

Kakashi looks over to Shirou who has settled into a chair still panting and holding his chest.

"The land of lightning had no intention to ally with the land of iron..." He pauses a moment to let that sink in with everyone. "After Hana's hearing, I kept an eye on the judge and the land of lightning. I noticed they had shared far too many glances at each other. So I followed them that night and found the land of water, rain and lightning holding a secret meeting outside the gates of hidden leaf village. The only lands not present were ours, the land of iron, and the smaller lands that don't hold much of a significance."

Sakura scans the floor attempting to come up with a reason for their coalition. Then Kakashi comes forward with it.

"I believe they have been plotting to get rid of her for quite some time. The first attempt was in the land of rain, which they had underestimated her power and failed resulting in seeking help from other lands. Her power had caught the attention of the most wealthy and dominant lands in the world, which had started a war between them."

Everyone stands shocked, quietly listening to his explanation. Shirou in particular is very obviously disturbed by this stark reveal.

"The only resolve they could come up with was to get rid of her for good. Next on the list would be you , Shirou." Kakashi says, nodding his way.

Shirou huffs and curses under his breath.

"Once they had gotten word from hidden leaf village that Hana was being held captive in our facility. They had set a new plan in motion, collaborating together to carry out their original goal. Every ninja in this room was hired as assassins to kill her and us if need be. These ninja had been carefully selected to meet the requirements. However, I had picked up on this much sooner than they had anticipated. They had demanded a full report on her progress, including anything personal about Hana. I found that the personal aspects requested were a little strange. They were looking for something and I caught on too quickly.....so I gave them a false report."

Shikamaru and Konohamaru gasp.

"False reports are basically illegal and can deem oneself exiled from the land of fire Kakashi." Shikamaru states.

"I know. I took a risk...I had to." He sits down with Hana on the floor, stroking her head and scratching behind her ears. "She is worth it."

Konohamaru huffs at him and looks away, feeling the sting everytime he says that. She was his first damnit!...

Kakashi continues his story.

"The false report stated only chakra could control her and that she solely relies on it as well as relying on a trusted individual, like myself. I left out a very important fact, that Hana does not need chakra to use her stone to its full potential. Unlike Shirou, she does not rely on it, in fact the first time she has ever drawn chakra was with me."

"Or maybe it was with me up on top of that mountain overlooking the sunset!" Konohamaru says bitterly as he replays his first kiss with her.

Kakashi glares at him and lashes back up unintentionally.

"I believe I have gotten all her most important firsts, Konohamaru, don't kid yourself."

His eyes widen and his mouth drops open.

"You fucker..."

He starts towards Kakashi, but his sudden aggressive movement is quickly put in its place by Hana. She leaps to her feet in a second crouching down low, hissing and growling, warning him not to come any further.

"Gods Konohamaru! Would you stop?... Just stop it! I need to hear this!" Shirou snaps.

Kakashi sighs and Kono storms over to a chair to sit down facing away from the group, easing Hana's defense. Kakashi easily coaxes her back into his lap for more scratches.

With the silence growing between them Shirou demands For Kakashi to finish.

He clears his throat.

"So, with the tension growing between the lands at war over Hana, it was their priority to establish themselves in hidden leaf and devise a plan to kill her. However, by then I had already had a conversation with Naruto about it and we had came up with our own plan to counter theirs. With Naruto interfering in everything they had set in place they chose a last resort. To send us out on a mission and hope we don't return. Naruto chose us for our abilities and strength. Although, Shirou, you were chosen by our enemy....that brings my full attention to you now."

Shirou sits up straight, eyeing him up, building a defense in his mind.

"It seems like the land of iron has backed down. All of a sudden your name stopped coming up in conversation. Did you know about all of this?"

He shakes his head.

"No, I had no idea."

"Then what is your purpose here?" Kakashi's expression turns dark. "And I will remind you that in your physical state right now, you are no match for me. I can end you, depending on the answer you give me."

Shirou leans his arms over his knees staring at the grooves in the floor planks.

"Alright, I'll tell you. At first we were in league with the land of lightning. But not by choice...we are not ally's. You see...the land of iron is...well...broke. I know it's hard to believe, as we don't look like we are in a billion dollar deficit. But we are. With the land of lightning now being the capitol for wealth due to the increase in electricity consumption in the world, we have been forgotten. Our profits have plummeted, we are on the brink of a recession."

Now that was a shock to Kakashi. The facade they put on is astonishing.

"We still spend like we're rich, but we have no money. It's a fucking joke...anyways....we owed the land of lightning a lot of money. We had...well I had..promised them a ninja that could carry out any mission possible. I offered my sister in return for wealth and prosperity to our land. She was to marry Arufa and become the land of Lightning's highest ranking assassin with me fighting by her side. But that wasn't enough, they wanted more. They had one more condition to keep us afloat. We had to sign over the deed to our land, giving up our ownership. They own us now, every part."

Kakashi blows out a breath.

"So that explains things. We have been watching the land of iron, wondering how a land can dip so low in the stocks and still maintain a high steady income."

"We borrowed a lot of money....as for Hana, I used her to get her back so I could protect her, just like I've always done....but when I arrived in hidden leaf village. I found out she already had someone to protect her and I was too late." His expression saddens. "That being said, I know she is in good hands."

Shirou looks up at Kakashi and they share a sympathetic moment together. While Konohamaru huffs sarcastically in the corner.

"As for the alliance between the land of water, rain and lightning. We have been deceived just as much as you have...then again what voice to we have? We just sold it! So informing us of any new plans is not necessary." Shirou states.

Sakura, who now sits comfortably on the floor listening intently, asks.

"Why send us? It can't possibly be just for our strength and skill. There are other ninja in our arsenal just as good as us."

Shikamaru surprisingly speaks up.

"I can answer that. We are the closest to Hana making us the first ninja to say yes to the mission. The rest of our clan either fear her or hate her and would probably turn it down. That is another reason why you're here Shirou, because of how close you are to Hana."

He hums in understanding.

"So thanks to your false report and intuition, Kakashi. You may have saved us all. But...how did you know Hana would be able to take on the shinobi like she did." Shirou asks.

Kakashi shrugs.

"Honestly I took a risk. My true intention was our first plan. Rubble and ruin protocol. But letting Hana handle the situation if things went sideways was the last option."

"And how did you know they had been tailing us?" Sakura asks.

He smiles proudly.

"Well...remember when Hana was calling for me from the resort room Konohamaru had carried her into after the explosion?"

She nods confused.

"I was searching the room for something. I had felt a strange energy source coming from under the bed, Shirou felt it too. I found a crystal under her bed with a rune symbol engraved on it. The same rune was engraved on the shinobi leader's necklace. They used a trinket that stores chakra inside of it, an energy  similar to genjutsu. Once activated it releases it onto its target. That is why had those terrible dreams and blew up her room in her sleep. After comforting her, I went down to talk to the front desk as they were the only ones around in the whole resort when we got there. It seemed strange to only have three staff members working a resort that big. Sure enough after the second conversation I picked up on one of the girls' distant behavior. I used my sweet talking ability to persuade them into giving me their numbers. Only one out of the three refused to give me their number, nailing her as the culprit who had placed the rune under Hana's bed. Instead the girl gave me souvenirs and a discount on our rooms to divert my attention, which I played along with."

Shirou begins to laugh.

"So that's why! You really put Hana through some torture there."

Kakashi scratches the back of his head feeling entirely ashamed for putting her through all of that. But it was necessary.

"I know...man...she sure can dish out the backlash when she needs to." Kakashi replies.

Sakura laughs quietly to herself.

"I hope this clears things up for everyone, sorry I couldn't keep you all in the loop. But I couldn't risk our plans being exposed, especially since we were being watched. We have always been one step ahead, although I personally like being five steps ahead, we still did ok. I mean...we're alive aren't we?"

"Except for Hana." Konohamaru pipes up.

Kakashi sighs.

"I'll get her back, Kono. It's just going to take some time."

"I know you will. But I won't." He replies sadly while resting his head into his palms.

"I'm sorry, Kono. It just happened...It wasn't my plan to fall for her...."

"Whatever...."

Kakashi sighs, defeated by him. He is far too hurt by this to convince him of any remorse and he would be too. He would be devastated if Hana had chosen Konohamaru over himself.

"They're going to be pretty surprised when we show up in hidden leaf with a fully intact team, and a death panther..." Shikamaru states.

"Yeah...." Sakura agrees. She draws her attention to the big black panther now fast asleep in Kakashi's lap. "She's like a kitten around you Kakashi."

"That's because they are mates." Shirou says.

"What do you mean by that?"

He laughs.

"Think about it, Kakashi and Hana must have..." Shirou is quickly interrupted by Konohamaru as Kakashi's cheeks begin to burn.

"I don't want to hear it! So shut up!" He leaps to his feet pushing over his chair and storms out of the inn into the cold air before anyone can say anything else.

The room grows silent as each ninja shares uncomfortable glances.

"He's really pissed at you." Shikamaru says to Kakashi.

"I know." He focuses on the purring cat in his lap thinking of all the mistakes he's made up until now. If he refused Hana and found her another sensei, what would have happened? Where would she be now?

"I have to admit, Kakashi. I'm a little surprised by your relationship...I mean she is half your age. If she wasn't as hot as she is I would really  be confused." Shikamaru says, making him feel even worse.

Thankfully Sakura speaks up.

"Age doesn't matter, Shikamaru. They are a perfect match. She keeps him on his toes, and Kakashi grounds her."

He hums to himself thinking that theory over.

"I guess you're right. Does Naruto know?" Shikamaru asks.

Kakashi shakes his head. This is very hard for him to talk about and he fidgets nervously as things get a little too personal for him.

"He knows I have an attraction to her. But has no idea how close we have gotten to each other."

"Damn this is messy..." he replies.

"Look, it doesn't matter anyways. Hana isn't here right now and until she is back to her normal human self we should focus on what's in front of us right now. A wild oversized panther and three angry lands plotting against us....although with Hana's track record there could be more." Kakashi ponders the thought further.

Finally Konohamaru returns from his cool off outside. He glances at everyone before heading towards his pack he has set down by the door.

"Let's get some sleep, it's really late and I'd like to get home as soon as possible."

He crouches down beside his pack and begins to unload his sleeping bag.

"Sleep sounds good to me." Shirou agrees.

"Alright. I don't feel it is necessary to check the entire village for any ninja that may be lurking around. Our big cat can most likely hear and smell everything within a mile from here." Kakashi gently removes the cat off his lap. She grunts half coherent opening one eye to make sure it is still him and slumps her head back down onto the floor. Kakashi pulls his pack towards him, unpacking his own sleeping bag.

"I'm sort of glad she's here just for that reason. We are heavily protected." Sakura says as she tucks herself into her sleeping bag.

"Yeah..." Shikamaru agrees.

"Sweet dreams...I guess..." Shirou says quietly.

————————————————

Morning came far to quickly...

Kakashi wakes to a thick tongue lapping at his hair. He groans.

"Stooop." And pushes the wet toothy mouth away.

She purrs loudly at him and continues her motherly licks, rousing him enough for him to sit up.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." He runs a hand through his hair smoothing it back, which it easily sets into place from the saliva. Her stomach groans wildly as she sits up looking around the room fixating on Konohamaru who is snoring loudly.

"You're hungry huh?..." another rumble emanates from her stomach. "Although I would love for you to eat Konohamaru, I don't think he would taste very good."

"I heard that!" Konohamaru says, sitting up rubbing his neck. "No one's eating me today."

Kakashi chuckles and scratches behind her ears. Wondering what the hell he is going to feed this giant feline.

"How about an arm or a leg, Kono?"

"Pshhh. You wish."

The others begin to rouse from their sleep feeling the pain of sleeping on a floor. Kakashi gathers himself and Hana to take her outside for a pee and maybe to figure out something to eat. It wasn't what she eats that puzzles him, it is how much she needs to keep her satisfied.

He opens the door to the bright white world outside and squints at the sun's reflection in the snow. He is hit with the cold immediately, stinging any exposed skin. He cringes at the feeling wishing he was home more than ever.

"Alright, kitten. Go do your thing, I'll be over here." He watches as she bounds through the snow playfully kicking it around. If he hadn't watched her eat a few humans last night he would almost say she is cute right now. However, the constant flashbacks of her tearing flesh from the neck of a shinobi and swallowing it down whole continues to haunt him. The things she did last night were inhumane on so many levels. He had no idea she could reach that level of brutality. Even though he had heard the rumors, they didn't quite set in until bodies began to explode all around her. She is...something else...not of this world....something from the deepest parts of the jungle you don't ever want to find yourself lost in.....

———————————————

Meanwhile In the land of jungles...

You have been running for what seems like an eternity. You had managed to escape the clutch of your cohort instinct and took off into the jungle, losing sight of the pool of water you had met your cohort at.

Huffing and puffing you stumble to a stop to catch your breath. Hands on your knees you swallow some spit to wet your throat, your lungs are burning and so are your legs. Rest is needed right now and you're pretty sure your cohort had stopped following you some time ago.

You slump onto the jungle floor wishing you had some water close by to quench your thirst. Looking around, you see nothing close by other than thick foliage and tall tropical trees. This place brings back so many memories. Ones you had tried to forget.

At six years old you were dropped off here in this exact jungle to find your instinct. It took you seven months and you were one year older when you finally found your way out. To your benefit it looks like nothing has changed. Even the small clearing you sit in looks familiar. If that is the case then the makeshift home you had built should still be intact and luckily you remember just where to find it.

Follow the sound of the song birds, across the forest of talks trees until you get to the bamboo grove. In the middle of that grove you had built your home. If you can get there you'll be much safer when nightfall comes. As sleeping on the jungle floor is a bad idea, and who knows if your cohort is still on your tail. As far as you can tell she has backed off, yet panthers can be very stealthy. You will have to be on your toes from now on...just like before..

You still can't wrap your head around the fact she had attacked you. Then again, she has wanted to take over your body and mind for quite some time. She now controls you and your stone in the outside world leaving you powerless here. Gods...if only you had mastered some jutsu you may be able to defend yourself if she tries to attack again.

You wonder how it is possible for her to switch in and out between this reality and your own. It must have to do with the mind and the subconscious. The same way you would tap into her using a thought connection. You remember the pool and how it reacted to your chakra when using that said connection.

It was then you had an epiphany. The only way out of this is jutsu and chakra. If you can master your wind technique, backed with your Kekkei Genkai you may be able to fight your way out. Or at least get your cohorts attention enough to appear in this world. From there you will use jutsu to beat her and gain dominance over your minds. She will have no choice but to back down. All you need to do is make sure you show her who is the stronger one. She must bow down to you. You know killing her would kill you, so this is the only option you have.

With new determination you rise to your feet and begin to draw chakra, just how Kakashi and Naruto have taught you. This time ...there will be no more mistakes. Without your stone interfering you can now draw chakra with ease and so you do as you make your way through the thick of the forest....

—————————————————-