Hi guys! Sorry that I haven't updated any of my stories in a while; I'm pretty bad about updating on wattpad, since I don't really have any readers, compared to the other site this is posted to.  But I promise that I'll be better about updating, and hopefully gain some more readers.  I'm working on getting wattpad caught up.  I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

"So what's the plan?" Tenzo asked. He and Kakashi stood outside of Konoha now, deep within the woods. "The plan is to first track her down. There's a chance she's been seriously injured, and if that's so, she probably hasn't made it very far. However, it's safe to say she's working for an enemy village. And if she's not injured, she's probably already made it to her destination, in which case, we'll have to get the information back from a whole squad of enemy ninja." Tenzo nodded. "So, who is it that we're up against?" Tenzo asked. "Her name is Koishii Iburi, an old teammate of mine." "Iburi?" Tenzo's gaze shot up to his senior, flashbacks of their encounter with that clan making its way into his head. Kakashi nodded. "She'll be tricky to deal with. There's a good chance she'll fight us primarily as smoke. In which case," "she'll be nearly undefeatable," Tenzo finished. Kakashi nodded. "But I have a theory." "A theory?" He nodded again. "Smoke, like any other gas, cannot escape an enclosed, air tight area. If you use your jutsu to enclose her in a wooden box, she won't be able to escape, but it also needs to be small enough so that she cannot turn human again and escape." "I see," he crossed his arms, deep in thought, "it makes sense. It's worth a shot." "Then let's get started. We have no more time to waste." Kakashi bit his thumb, welcoming the blood. "Summoning jutsu" he slammed his hand onto the ground, and in a puff of smoke, Pakkun appeared. "Hey Kakashi," the little brown pug-like dog greeted. Kakashi knelt down, pulling a headband from his back pocket. "I need you to track down the girl this belonged to." Pakkun nodded. "Leave it to me," he said as he started sniffing it. "Hm? You kept her headband?" Tenzo asked, curious as to why he would keep something like that; he waited patiently for an answer. Kakashi remained silent for a moment, his mind temporarily blank of a response, remembering when he took it:

It was noon. Minato, Kakashi, and Rin all stood in the training area they were supposed to be meeting up in 2 hours ago. Where was Koishii? "This doesn't seem like her" Kakashi said, his arms crossed, wondering where she was. Had he not gotten through to her last night? Minato nodded. "I agree. She's a very punctual person. We better go look for her. Rin, go check around town. Kakashi, go to her house. I'll check the other training grounds. Check back in 30 minutes." Rin and Kakashi nodded, and then they were gone.

Her house was empty. Too empty. Her clothes were gone, as were all her weapons, and some food. Kakashi went over to her desk and opened the drawer. The picture of her mother was gone. And her headband. It sat folded on her desk. Sorrow slowly seeped through him. He had failed to get through to her. She had left. He placed his hand on the cloth, sliding it off the desk and placing it into his pouch. Why was he taking it? He wasn't entirely sure. But there was... There was a part of him that couldn't let her go. He didn't understand it himself. Another comrade gone. Because of him. He couldn't save her. Just like he couldn't save Obito.

"I thought it would come in handy one day. Looks like I was right" he finally replied. Some part of Tenzo doubted his answer, but was there a reason to doubt his senior? No. Pakkun finished sniffing the headband, and turned his nose to the ground, walking around in circles. "Got it" Pakkun lifted his nose from the ground and looked at Kakashi. "She's about 10 miles in that direction. She's injured, too. Seems serious. I smell a lot of blood, but she's still very dangerous." "Good. We'll still have the advantage, then. Lead the way, Pakkun. Oh, and Tenzo, there's one other thing..."

Koishii hadn't made it near as far as she had wanted. As she should have. She cursed herself. She should've been back in the village collecting her fee by now. But instead, she was leaned up against this god forsaken tree, unable to stand up or change for very long. She had to rest. To better patch herself and stop the bleeding. She was sure the Konoha ANBU were after her. Enemies she would not take likely. She undid the blood soaked bandages she had previously patched herself up with. Gritting her teeth, she slid her top off to better tend to her wound. She retrieved a small medical box from her back pouch. She quickly went about stopping the bleeding as well as she could with pressure and gauze, and immediately after, cleaned it. She layered gauze onto it and wrapped bandages around herself. She put her top back on, and with one more deep breath, she stood up. They would be here soon. She could already sense it. She had taken too long.

Koishii waited in the trees, her trap set; they'd be in view any second. There. Two of them. She pulled the string, which was followed by a barrage of kunai and shuriken shooting from the trees towards the masked ANBU men. They jumped back, dodging easily, only to be met with the cold tip of Koishii's katanas on the back of each of their necks, piercing through them in a heart beat. Koishii let out a scream, her grip tightening on her katanas as electricity coursed through her body. Clones. Both of them. The one on the right was a lightening clone. From below, a firm grip wrapped around her ankle, pulling her one leg into the ground up to her knee. "Wood style, great forest release!" Koishii had little time to react before Tenzo appeared 20 feet in front of her, a mass of sharpened branches scattering from his arm towards her, easily piercing through her flesh. But then she was gone. Another clone. "Great fire dragon jutsu!" Tenzo heard the sound from the trees, but by the time he looked, a monstrous dragon made of burning flames was flying straight toward him. He reacted quickly, engulfing himself in a ball of wood. The dragon scarred the wood easily, and Tenzo let out a small gasp when the flames left behind a giant shuriken stuck in his weakend shield, it's blade mere centimeters from his face. He undid his shield, the giant shuriken dropping to the ground. This was going to be a tough battle.

Kakashi could see her in the trees. He himself also remained hidden, scanning the area with his sharingan. Their foe was undoubtably Koishii. She had grown. Had changed in many ways. But, so had he. He glanced over at Tenzo to make sure he was alright after the attack. He was. Now it was Kakashi's turn. Ox. Rabbit. Monkey. "Chidori!" Kakashi lunged from his hiding spot in the bushes, and jumped into the trees where Koishii was hiding. Koishii quickly jumped down from the tree, avoiding the attack in just the nick of time, the top half of the tree coming down with her from the force of the electrical outburst. The three ninja stood in the woods, forming a large triangle. Kakashi was poised with a kunai in each hand, ready to attack or defend; Tenzo stood defensively, monitoring the situation, preparing for just the right jutsu; Koishii had her blades out, crossed in front of her, her guard up-- ready to attack or defend. There was only one person she'd ever known that knew that move. Her gaze shifted towards the familiar silver-haired ANBU member, his face hidden beneath a dog-shaped mask. "Show your face, Kakashi! I know it's you that's behind that mask; fight me face to face!" Koishii roared, her heart racing in both rage and anxiety to see his face again. The face that part of her had longed for so long to see. The part of herself she wished she could discard. But it mattered not. They were here to get the scroll. To kill her if need be. And she was ready to do the same. To discard that part of herself. She would complete her mission.

Kakashi remained still. What should he do? They were in battle. He had to complete the mission. But he couldn't quite say no to her, either. There was a part of him that still longed to save her. And now, he had that chance. He moved his hand to his mask, grasping the side of it and pulling it up to the top side of his head, letting it rest there. His silver hair sat freely over his forehead without his headband, and his eyes, one black and one red were quite enticing, though the bottom half of his face remained hidden under his mask. "It's been a long time, Kakashi" Koishii greeted, now that his mask was gone. Now. She was ready. Koishii shot air chakra down both of her katanas, throwing the air-sharpened blades at Tenzo, though she held eye contact with Kakashi The attack was sudden. She didn't have to think about it. Her body moved on instinct alone. "Tenzo!!" Kakashi screamed, though already too late. Tenzo had little time to react; he threw his arms up to guard himself whilst jumping and flipping through them, the blades slicing through his chest and lower back. He had managed to keep his vitals safe.

Immediately following her throw, Koishii turned herself into smoke, though it used a considerable amount of chakra due to her ever-draining injuries, and faster than he could blink, taking advantage of the distraction that was Tenzo, entered Kakashi's body.