Finally, when I could sense that the mission report wasn't going to draw to a close until the genin left and I gave my individual report, I turned to my team. "You three are dismissed. Report at our usual training grounds no later than 5:00 a.m. Get some sleep. You'll need it."

The genin nodded, bowed to Tsunade, whose face was cold but eyes concerned, and left. Before they were out of hearing range, I heard Kento postulate, "If we're going to our normal training grounds at our normal time, the punishment can't be that bad, can it?"

He was met with grim silence from the other two.

I didn't allow for any signs of weakness, exhaustion, or puzzlement to show in my stance as I stood in front of Tsunade. Instead, I spoke bluntly. "I'd like to request a leave of absence for my team. I understand you don't grant these requests often, as there is a lot going on right now, but I believe that during this time away from missions, the training I provide will be highly beneficial for the team."

"Yes, they did seem a bit down, didn't they?" Tsunade said.

Not what I was thinking about...

I shrugged. "This mission took a lot out of them. They're still very... sheltered," I said. "I'm intending on correcting their actions during the leave of absence. That is, if you'll grant me one."

She studied me for a long moment before nodding and agreeing, "Two weeks." She shuffled some papers before continuing, "Now, as for the Individual report..."

***

I leaned back against the tree on the hill that held so many memories. This hill, that used to be my safe haven, my eye of the storm, the core of my mind. Now, I needed to sit down and think, reflect on this mission that had gone so awry.

They had disobeyed me...

I sensed his presence moments before he appeared, leaning against my tree, nose buried in that book of his. "I heard about the mission," he said in lieu of a greeting.

I glanced up at him. "Kakashi," I sighed. He snapped his book shut and gave me a close-eyed smile. "What do you want?"

"One of my students went rogue," he began, ticking off fingers. "Another one is being hunted down by the currently most feared organization in the shinobi world. The other loves the rogue and trained under the most powerful medic nin while coming to terms with her own weakness. You were declared dead. I've been where you are. Sometimes things just go badly." Of course Kakashi knew about what happened with my subordinates.

I sighed again. "Our team was fucked from the start," I replied dryly. "My team isn't. But this just might be the first warning sign of a potential downward spiral." Though I would never admit it to Kakashi, this was new for me; I didn't know what to do. Or rather, what was the right thing to do.

"Sometimes I wonder if I missed some sort of early warning," Kakashi admitted with a shrug.

"They disobeyed me. I gave them orders, and they disobeyed me," I laid out plainly. "And Aisa, after disobeying, did so again after I came to correct their mistake." Maybe Kakashi would be able to give me an answer to my unknown question.

Instead, he chuckled. "Cashile, you disobeyed me." He shook his head, stepping away from the tree so he could face me. "More times than I can count," he added.

I smacked my palm against my forehead. "That was different," I argued. And it was. The spiders were a risk I took to gain greater power. I always knew what I was doing, calculated out to give me the outcome I wanted.

"Not just the spiders," Kakashi said, reading my mind. "Remember the drugs?" I rolled my eyes, internally hiding a wince.

"I was curious," I defended myself pointlessly. We both knew I had been in the wrong.

"My point is," Kakashi paused, "Here and now, you followed your mission. You extracted your team out of an unruly situation, safely. You've taken the right actions so far. Just know that this really isn't too uncommon of an occurrence with genin."

I sighed again, letting him know that he wasn't being exactly helpful.

"Well, at least you can console yourself with the fact that your team remained a team, even while disobeying orders," Kakashi pointed out. "That's better than most can say."

I groaned pinching the bridge of my nose. A glare formed on my face when I saw his face twitch in the beginnings of a smile. "Wipe that smirk off your face," I ordered with no real force behind the words. "I can tell that you think I deserve every second of this after what I put you through as my sensei."

"Karma's a bitch," Kakashi replied smoothly, laughter hidden in his voice as he walked away, no real sting held in the words. He paused. "Oh, and Cashile?" he added, turning back.

I looked up. "Yes?"

"Get some sleep, would you?" he ordered. "You look like you need it."

As I walked down the hill away from him, I realized I was smiling.

***

I went to Aiden's apartment instead of my own without really thinking about it, knocking on the door and just barely keeping myself from leaning against the frame to support my tired legs. Only after I'd knocked did I realize that Aisa might not want to see me, might be upset with me for coming to his home. I sighed, giving in and sagging against the door frame.

Aiden opened the door and I took a step forward, ignoring the slight stumble as the toe of my shoe hit the ground. Aiden's face grew worried, though, and he immediately grabbed my shoulders in an attempt to steady me.

"Aisa came home over four hours ago," he commented, pulling me into the apartment. "I didn't think you were coming; I put the food away."

"It's fine, 'm not hungry," I replied, eyes half-lidded.

He watched me for a moment, then pulled me to the table and sat me down. "I'll warm up some food anyway."

"'kay," I acknowledged instead of bothering to argue with him, and when he set a cup of tea in front of me with too much milk and too much honey, I didn't comment on it, either, choosing instead to drink the warm liquid.

Aiden set some beef and rice with vegetables in front of me, and as the smell hit I realized that I was ravenous. He waited silently as I took several large bites of food before asking, "How did the mission go?"

"Fine," I shrugged his question off, chugging some water. "Finished the objective, in a way."

Aiden nodded, opened his mouth, and closed it again before saying, "It's just, Aisa went straight to bed, and he wouldn't come out for dinner, either."

I slowly set down my chopsticks. "Oh," I murmured, taking a sip of the now lukewarm tea. "I see." I rolled the mostly empty teacup between my palms, watching the milky liquid tremble inside.

After several moments of silence, Aiden said, "If you don't want to talk about it right now..." and even though he was offering, I recognized that he would be tremendously upset if I didn't answer his unasked question.

"No, it's fine. It's just, I just finished my mission report to Tsunade and all the paperwork and... just let me finish my tea. Sorry."

The apology slips from my mouth without purpose, without any real meaning or sentiment behind it because there was nothing for me to apologize for.

Aiden watched me finish the food, and after I'd sat there in silence for several moments, he asked again, "How did the mission go?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line, shook my head, and admitted, "Not great. I had the genin infiltrate a rebellion organization in the village as I was gathering intel. Bottom line? They got too involved, defied my direct orders, and almost caused a conflict between two villages." I was clearly not happy.

Aiden's eyebrows scrunched up in worry. "Aisa...?"

I stared into my teacup.

"Yeah. He probably hates me the most."

***

A rooster crowed as the sun began to rise into the sky. I stood in front of my team, arms crossed. "I'm suspending your missions for two weeks," I said.

I was met with immediate protests from Kento and Michiko.

"That's not fair—"

"Sensei, you know I need the money—"

I cut them off with a glare. "You should have thought about that before you defied me," I said to Kento. I didn't even bother explaining to Michiko what was fair and unfair about this world.

I glanced at Aisa, who was sulking on the side. He hadn't attempted to wait for me this morning, or talk to me since I arrived.

That was fine. He didn't need to like me to learn from me.

"In those two weeks, we will be conducting a training exercise. A survival test, if you will. So make sure to pack everything you believe you would need for a two week long highly ranked mission. And say your goodbyes properly to whomever you love; I can't guarantee you'll come back alive from the Forest of Death."

"The Forest of Death?" Michiko echoed.

This time all three of their faces paled.

"Yes, that is the location of our training site for the next two weeks. I specially requested the Hokage for use of the grounds. Here are the coordinates. I will see you three in front of the gates, in one hour. Don't be late."

I disappeared. I needed to get to my apartment and retrieve some tools.

***

I stood in front of the gates, twirling a kunai on my fingers as I waited for Aisa, Kento, and Michiko to appear. When they do arrive, it's together, and exactly on time.

"You're all here. Good," I said. I held out two bells; training I'd picked up from my old sensei. "Your objective is to retrieve these bells. As you can see, there are only two bells. That means, one of you will not be able to complete your objective. The loser will endure a ... special training with me once your suspension is up." The blood drained from their face as I smiled a wicked smile.

"You must come at me with the intent to kill," I repeated Kakashi's old words verbatim. "Or else you'll never have a hope of even laying a finger on me. Now then," I grabbed my old Claw mask. I truly wanted them to come at me with everything they had, and if they saw me as Cashile, their sensei, they never would. "I will be your opponent, as the Claw. I'll give you three a fifteen-minute head start into the forest. I will track you down, and I will come after you. So do your best to survive. Now, go!"

I watched as my genin fled into the forest of death, fear evident in their eyes. I had a feeling they would work together no matter what, but it would be interesting to see what it came down to if they had to choose who went through my "special training." I closed my eyes and tilted my face towards the sky, feeling the cool wind and the warm sun on my face. Freedom.

Fifteen minutes passed. I placed my old mask on my face, feeling the familiarity, the ease of not feeling.

Mentally shaking the unwelcome familiarity away, I sprinted into the darkness of the forest in pursuit.

***

They hid their path well, well enough that I didn't find them in the first hours of the exercise. They were still easy enough for someone of my skill level to track down, however, and I frowned at a few of their sloppier mistakes.

I slowed, instinctually knowing that I was approaching the genin. Sliding into a few of the darker shadows, I paused to watch them rest. Michiko was leaning against a tree stump. Aisa was sitting on the ground, and Kento was bent over, hands on knees. They were all breathing hard. They had only been running for a couple of hours. Were they really that tired already?

Perhaps they were trying to lure me out.

If that were the case, big mistake.

I appeared behind Aisa faster than the average eye could track. Digging my heels into the back of his body, I bend his arms up and press his face against the dirt. If they were smart, the other two would escape. Knowing there was no chance of beating me in a fight, they should devise a plan to survive, to come back and save their teammate if he lived.

But I knew my team, and they would not leave without Aisa.

"Aisa!" Michiko yelled as she held a kunai in front of her. Kento had put a much greater distance between himself and Aisa, who I was now on top of.

"Did you know," I started, "that the only way out of this position, for you, is if you break your own arm?" I could feel Aisa tremble and gulp beneath my feet. "That is what the shinobi world expects of you--and you do not have what it takes," I sneered.

A whistle in the air alerted me of the kunai that had been thrown at me. It was aimed at my shoulder, and I simply swayed to the side in order to avoid it.

"I did warn you," I told Michiko, who had thrown the kunai. "If you are to have even the slightest trace of hope to beat me, you must come at me with intent to kill." I yanked on Aisa's arms even more, ruthlessly squashing all emotion as he cried out in pain. "This is just one possible outcome when you are not willing to do what is necessary for the success of the mission."

I knew that Aisa wouldn't break his own arm, but I was surprised when he yanked hard with his non-dominant side, hard enough to strain or sprain it before stopping from the pain. I raised an eyebrow, knowing any emotion would be hidden by my mask.

Quickly, I let Aisa go, snatched all his supplies and weapons, and retreated.

It wouldn't do to end the exercise too early.

_____________________________________________________

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