Transfer Mission: The Blackbird's Dilemma

Kana realized when Felix started laughing that he was actually laughing at her, and her head turned to the side with an oh-so rare blush on her cheeks. "I-if you weren't so injured right now..." she said through clenched teeth. She was fighting with herself to not hit him, really. What the hell was he thinking, just kissing her out of the blue like that, and then laughing at her about it after! Pushing her tongue to the side of her cheek, Kana gave a small 'hmph'. "Tch...fine, go the hell home if you want, or wherever," she finally said, her face still coated red in embarrassment.

Felix smirked. "Oh, is that blush I see? Where is Kana?" He asked. "You can't be here, she never blushes. She's far too hardcore for that." Felix turned on his heel. "Or maybe I don't know her as well as I think I do." He gave a small wave. "Don't be so uptight, it was just a small joke." He could have added more, but he figured he'd better stop before she tried to murder him in his sleep. He'd make sure to lock his room door tonight. "See you when you get home, Kana. Oh, and don't forget what I said about everyone being at your disposal." He gave a slight pause. "Because a war is not won without blood being shed first."

Kana simply didn't respond to Felix, for fear that she'd end up actually hitting him. He didn't need to be anymore injured. Though, he was right about one thing; Kana wasn't all that sure Felix knew as much about her as he thought he did. And she wouldn't forget his little piece of advice. She'd hold onto that. For this war wasn't one she was willing to lose.


When Kana returned home, she started on getting papers and such ready; things she'd need to go over things with Kymin. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but she felt that he might've been the one ANBU out of all of them that she'd be able to trust. It was a strange feeling, trusting someone that was outside of her village.

When one-thirty came, Kana had already packed up the papers and scrolls in a backpack and headed out. She was wearing her ninja outfit, because honestly, she didn't want to dress in anything casual and be seen as slacking, as Felix had mentioned earlier. And besides, it's not like this was an actual date. As she arrived at Green's Pub, she found that Kymin was already there waiting for her with his usual confident smile. It almost made Kana scowl at him, but she'd behave. What was with him anyways? Acting so confident. This wasn't a date!

As was fairly usual for Kana, she ordered a burger, fries, and coke before starting with taking scrolls out. Kymin was the first to say something on the matter. "Aw, come on, can't we at least eat before talking business?" he complained lightly. When Kana gave him a look, his response was a simple "What?"

"You know this isn't a date, right?"

"Yeah, but we can't talk business the entire time."

"Sure we can."

Kymin gave a light frown. "Man, you really are tough, aren't you?"

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing, nothing at all," Kymin said with a shrug.

"No no no, it's not nothing, you brought it up, so tell me."

The black haired ANBU simply shook his head. "Nah, you want it to be all business, then fine, all business it is. And what I said has little to nothing to do with said business." Kana pushed her tongue to the side of her cheek and looked off to the side in irritation. "Anyways, let's have a look at those scrolls." When Kana didn't respond, he raised an eyebrow. "Are you just gonna ignore me now?"

"....Fine."

"Fine what?"

"Just tell me what you meant, and it doesn't have to be all business." With her head turned to the side, she didn't see the way Kymin grinned before he spoke again.

"Well it's nothing really. Just a thing going around with the ANBU."

Kana raised an eyebrow at him and leaned forward in an interested way. "Oh really? And just what are they saying about me?"

"There's this little debate going on among us," he said with that same small grin. "Now, everyone agrees that you're hella tough. But we're debating on which would be harder for you; a casual conversation or admitting that you lost a fight."

"And what'd you say?"

Kymin shrugged. "Nothing. I stayed out of it."

"You're lying," Kana said with a blunt expression.

Kymin laughed and gave a shrug. "Yeaaahh. I said I thought it'd be harder for you to have a casual conversation," he told her with a chuckle.

"Well...you'd be wrong," she said, looking off to the side.

"You haven't exactly proven me wrong," he replied slyly. Just as Kana was about to give a snappy response, the waiter walked up with their food. Kymin grinned a nervous grin and looked at the waiter. "Thanks mate. Saved me a scolding there." Taking a drink, Kymin looked back at Kana with that same grin, only less nervous. "A'right, food's here. Let's talk business. What updates do you have for me?"

Kana looked visibly relieved, though she tried to hide it. "Well, Felix's trial is coming up, and he should be sent back to the Crested within the month. The new ANBU from the Crested, er, there's three of them, plan to drop training the younger ninja altogether. I don't think that I'll be able to carry on their training," she told him, sounding a bit downtrodden. Though, she continued on without much of a pause. "I plan on finding a suitable ninja from this village, most likely an ANBU to take care of their training though. I'm going to continue on with training the ANBU and Jonin, hopefully get a few appropriate rank changes." Kymin nodded in a short agreeance. "In a couple months, we'll be taking the higher ranking ninja to the Sand for an assault. Just a warning, to show that we can hold our ow-what?" The reason for Kana's pause was clear; Kymin's face had suddenly went blank, and had possibly even paled a shade.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? It might be easier to attempt a negotiation, wouldn't it?"

Kana shook her head. "Well, that's only one of the plan's."

"...what's the other?"

"Investigate Aidelia. Find her superiors, and halt all orders from them. Wait until she slips up and be there when she does, so we can prove that the Sand did indeed send in a spy."

"And by halt her orders, you mean dispose of her superiors, right?" When Kana nodded, Kymin continued on. "And how do you plan to investigate her?"

"Infiltrate the Sand," she said in a hushed voice. "I'll be going, of course."

"No you won't," Kymin responded quickly, coaxing a raised eyebrow from Kana. "Your chakra flow still isn't right, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then it's not safe for you to go."

"It's not safe either way."

"If you get in trouble, you'll have no escape route. It'd be easier if I were to go and investigate her. Things like infiltration are my specialty," he told her.

"You wanna go?" Kana asked, sounding a bit confused. "My chakra should be fixed in a few days, it's all taken care of."

"You focus on taking care of the Jonin and ANBU, I'll take care of investigating her Horribleness," he said, making Kana crack a smile.

"Fine, fine. I'll let you do it." Kana paused when she realized that Kymin had pretty much just made the exact argument that she'd given to Felix that morning. Talk about deja vu.

"Alright...about those new ANBU. Anything I should know?"

Kana nodded. "Yeah. They're pretty hard down. The no-nonsense type," she told him. "And they're not fans of me and Felix. There's only one that I particularly feel I can trust, but even so, I don't think any of them would mind having me gone as well as Felix." As she spoke, her voice was streaked with distaste at the thought of the three ANBU. The Kage's dogs. At least one of them seemed to have a conscience. But she couldn't really say that. After all, how much of a conscience did she herself have?

"Alright, so I should stay away from them as much as I can. And...about those kids." Kana gave him a puzzled look. "The Academy kids, genin, and chuunin," he clarified.

"Oh, right. What about them?"

"After I get back from the Sand, I can request permission from the Kage to take on their training for a little bit. Of course, it'll only be temporary, until you find a permanent teacher. Now that I think about it...what's wrong with the guy they have now?"

"He's a loser. Has the kids doing bookwork instead of training. Felix doesn't think he's good for them and neither do I." Kymin raised an eyebrow, and Kana promptly responded with an irritated "What now?"

"I thought that you were done with that guy."

"I was, but we're fine now. Why do you bring that up?"

"Because you've brought him up an awful lot."

"Well...he was my partner. And my teacher. I trust the guy, that's all."

"You sure that's all?" Kymin asked skeptically.

"Of course I'm sure."

He shrugged. "Okay then."

"Why do you sound like you don't believe a damn word I'm saying?"

"There's a lot of rumors going around about the two of you."

Kana nearly found herself blushing. She knew exactly what rumors he was talking about. "People will say a lot of things about those they don't like," she said. "After what happened, not a lot of people in the Rock are fond of the two of us."

"So those rumors aren't true then?" When Kana remained silent, Kymin nodded. "So they are true."

"I didn't say that," she protested.

"You didn't say they weren't."

"They're not," she said resolutely. Why was she trying so hard to keep this from him?

"Hey, makes no difference to me," he said, leaning back in his chair and popping a fry in his mouth. "That's your business. If you guys are together-"

"What? Together? N-no, we're not...together," she stated quickly, a bit of red finding it's way onto her face.

Kymin gave her a look, though there was a bit of a spark in his eyes now. "You're not? Because, you know, with rumors like that, people are gonna think-"

"I don't care what people think," she said quickly. "We're not together, get that through your head."

"Hm. That's good to know then."

".......what's...that suppose to mean?"

"It means there's still hope for the rest of us lowly ninja out in the world," he said with a sly smile.

When Kana realized that he was now blatantly flirting with her, she decided that it was about time to change the subject. "So...just when do you plan on going to the Sand? I need to know so that I can cover for you with the other ANBU," she questioned, her head turning to the side.

"In a couple days. But before that, are you doing anything tomorrow night?"

Kana tilted her head a bit. "Maybe. Why?"

"Because I wanted to invite you to dinner. Why else?"

Kana's eye twitched. "Don't you ever give up?"

"Not a chance."

"The only reason I came today was to discuss my mission and update you."

"All of which you've done." At soon as she saw his grin, Kana knew she'd lost, and sighed. This lunch was going to be longer than she'd expected it to be.

Despite how important this trial was, Felix couldn't bring himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. For some reason he was extremely distracted. It may have been because of what he'd witnessed the other day, or maybe because he'd been told something that could have jeopardized everything that had been so carefully put into place. Felix took in a sharp breath and narrowed his eyes. He should have been focusing on what was going on, because if he was forced to leave the village, he'd be in some major trouble. Felix tapped his hand on the wood as the judge continued to speak about some unknown matter.

"Do you wish to explain Mr. Kuriyama?" The old man with his white hair and dark green eyes peered down at the Crested Shinobi.

Felix blinked, clearly confused. His Captain would have his neck for this. Izua told him to get himself out of this, and he was screwing up big time. Felix was disgusted with himself. He took in another breath and looked the judge straight in the eye. "Can you repeat the question?"

The judge looked annoyed at being asked to repeat himself. "Please pay more attention Mr. Kuriyama. I asked, why did you attack your own comrades?"

Felix nearly grinned. Something inside him wanted to start laughing like a psychopath. What kind of question was that? Felix settled for a less insane answer. He honestly didn't know what was wrong with him. He'd known there were lingering effects from the Blue Demon, but all the same he was drained of chakra.

"I lost control, sir. I was in a subconscious state when I lashed out at my comrades, and for that I am truly sorry," he said. Felix wasn't sorry. He felt nothing for the dead. Hell, if their loved ones only knew how much more peaceful death was for a ninja. Felix shook his head, which unintentionally made him look like he was mourning the dead. Far from it really. He was envying them. I just want peace. Death. Death would be nice.

"Is that all? What made you go into such a rage," the judge asked.

Took you long enough to ask that question. Felix sat up in his chair and looked from the judge to the Kage. His blue eyes glowed under the light. "I went into such a rage because I was informed that a certain someone didn't take any action after being informed that a shinobi of this village was a traitor. The Mastermind behind the attack on the Rock." Felix looked at the Judge. "So I decided to set an example of what I was capable of to prove to said traitor, and prove to them that they were chewing off more than they could handle. It was the only way to get my point across. The collateral was an accident. I didn't know that it was going to get so bad. But you should know as a former ninja, that you can't wage war without spilling blood." Felix gave a small grin.

Izua was present at the trial and one could only imagine the look on his face as Felix spoke his last sentence, as well as revealed that there was a traitor amongst the Rock ninja's ranks. Was he out of his mind!

Even the judge looked surprised. "Mr. Kuriyama, is that a threat?"

How dumb can these people be? Felix couldn't believe this. "No your honor. I was just simply stating that I had a reason behind the outburst, but sometimes power can be hard to control. Especially when there's a mole within your ranks. I can't complete my mission without sacrificing a few people along the way. That included my partner."

A few gasp came from the witness and jury stands. As well as those on the plaintiff side. Then someone screamed out, "So you had to sacrifice my son as well! He was 19!"

Felix sighed. "Your point is irrelevant. Your son was a shinobi. He took an oath. When you become a Shinobi, there is no guarantee that you'll live to see the next day." Felix wasn't going to argue down some clueless mother. It was a waste of his time. He had to find a way to stay in the village.

"Kuriyama, if you'd focus on the case ahead, we can move on." Felix was getting sick of this judge. "Can you give us a reason as to why you should even be allowed to stay in this village? You killed over thirty of our ninja, injured at least 20, two are still in critical condition, and one is in a coma. May I not fail to add how our prophet Kyla's house is in ruins."

The silver haired Shinobi nodded. "As I stated before, there is a mole within your ranks. You have three ANBU from the Crested here, my partner, and myself. That's five shinobi from the Crested trying to take down one traitor from your village that holds more strings than you can count. If you breathe wrong, you're dead. Your Kage is in danger, and all you can do is think about is my trial. Haven't you been listening. Your village is about to go to war, and you want me to answer why I should stay here? Well here's your answer. I've spent majority of my life here, I am by far the strongest shinobi you've ever met, I can level a village by myself. You want someone from your village to protect your Kage, please, he'll be dead before the night is over with. The three ANBU from my village are far too busy on their own personal mission to worry about his life. My partner has to train your ninja to protect themselves because they are nothing more than deer caught in the headlights, and who does that leave to protect your precious Kage? Me. But if you send me away, who can you trust?" There was an eerie silence in the court room.

Izua narrowed his eyes. What are you playing at, Felix.

"Time's a wasting, judge." Felix was now leaning back in his chair. "You think my hurting a few shinobi was the extent of my power." Felix's grin grew wider. "That was just the tip of the iceberg. Would you prefer some untrained deer protect your Kage, or me?"

Both the Kage and the judge exchanged glances. The judge swallowed and then cleared his throat. "If the jury and both lawyers would join me in the back, we will continue this in an hour." As the groups begin to separate, Felix was taken to the back where Izua awaited him with arms crossed.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at," asked the older ninja.

Usually Felix would be in a cold sweat, but he was actually cool. "Weeding out the enemy. The judge is working for Aidelia. So is most of the jury. They're going to put me as the Kage's guard, that way they can keep an eye out for me. Whether they believe I can level a village by myself or not is something I don't even know. But with that little display of power a month ago, they'll be on their guard. But over all, they'll just have me in their so I wont cause any trouble. If I were to get out of control again, I'd end up taking the Kage out as well. So I have to behave, unless I really want to be prosecuted." Felix paused for a breath. "I won't be able to do much from the Kage's office, but Kana is free to roam. Give her the name of the judge and have her interrogate him or something, he's got some kind of information. The girl with the blue hair, the one on the jury that occasionally nods her head, get Kana to find her too. She's relaying information to someone outside the courtroom. The guard outside the door as well."

Izua frowned. "How do you know all of this? Why didn't you let me in on this earlier. Now the entire village and Aidelia know about the upcoming war. And the villagers know there is a spy within their mist. Felix, you're getting careless."

"Or smart," countered the blue eyed immortal. "Kana will know what to do about the war. It's not coming as soon as they think. We're in a...sort of jam..." Felix didn't want to explain, so he continued with. "If we have to, we'll just send a small group of ninja and declare that as the war, but we'll really have something much stronger planned for later." That would buy him time to get his chakra back, and then he could save Kana's ninja. "As for the village knowing about the spy, they'll get scared, the Shinobi will train harder, the villagers will file complaints because now they know their Kage has failed to take action, which in turn will force him to do something about Aidelia." Felix paused. "As for how I know this, I tend to over observe everything." He shrugged casually.

Izua sighed. "You're a damn fool."

Felix smirked. "I know."


Exactly an hour later, Felix was facing the judge once more. This time, they had their verdict. The blue haired woman came up to the stand and looked at Felix. "The jury has come to a decision. Felix Kuriyama, Shinobi of the Crested has been found neither guilty nor innocent. There will be second trial once the mission is officially complete. Until then, you will remain under the constant watch of two Rock ANBU while you guard the Kage with your very life. If anything happens to him, you will immediately be prosecuted. While guarding the Kage, you will not be aloud to leave the building or village without escorts. You are now looked upon as a danger to society. If you are even possibliy seen as a threat, you will be hunted down and executed, with the permission of your Kage. Does the defendant understand?"

"Loud and clear," Felix mumbled.

"Good. You are all dismissed."

Felix glanced back at his Captain and tried not to grin. Though he'd gotten what he wanted, he hadn't anticipated for security to be so tight. Oh well, he could always get around it. Now all he had to do was wait until the nights where he'd be escorted home and then he'd give Kana all the information she needed. Yes, the game had finally begun.

(We'll say this trial started sometime in the morning and ended sometime mid afternoon.)

Standing outside the courthouse, Kana leaned impatiently on one of the walls, glancing at the two ninja who were guarding the outside of it, making sure that no one got in for this 'high profile hearing'. Kana gave a small snort. For whatever reason, she was undeniably pissed off now. Well, it was more so that when Kana attempted to get in, the guards wouldn't allow it, even though she'd told them that she was to be part of the trial. It was a lie, of course, no one had told her a damn thing about it, and she'd only heard the date from Felix. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was, the guards had told her that they were specifically there to keep her from going in. That meant someone was watching her specifically. She didn't like that, and what she liked even worse was that she didn't know who it was tailing her. That she couldn't see them, couldn't see their chakra, had they any. It should've been easy to spot a stalker in a town like this!

Tapping her finger on her crossed arms, Kana finally got up and decided to take a walk around the block. Normally when she was this pissed off, she would've just barged straight past the guards, or put them under a genjutsu that allowed their minds to think she was allowed in, but she had to be careful. Had to watch herself better than that stalker was watching her. Of course she knew the person following her was there on Aidelia's orders, otherwise the guards wouldn't have needed a place outside the doors. Then a thought struck Kana. What if those guards had been told to tell only her that she wasn't allowed in, and to tell everyone else that they were just watching for intruders? That would've started making everyone else think that she was paranoid, maybe even unfit for duty. Kana rubbed a hand in her hair a bit in irritation. She was over thinking this. But really, those guards wouldn't tell others that they were there specifically to keep her out. That would've been suspicious.

Upon getting back to the courthouse, she found that it was starting to empty out and immediately started looking for Felix. She knew the chances of him being able to stay in the Rock were little to none, but then there was also the matter of his punishment. She hoped it wasn't too bad. Seeing silver hair, Kana made her way over to it, glad to find that it was the silver haired individual that she was looking for. "Hey. How'd it go?" Her walk around the block had made her significantly less irritated. Now she was just curious, and maybe concerned.

Felix and Izua met in a private room to discuss the matter at hand. It was a rather unpleasant meeting that left Felix feeling drained of any energy he once had. Apparently, his own Kage did find it okay to kill him if the Kage of the Rock happened to disappear without a trace. He wasn't sure if that meant the ninja working for Aidelia would come at him with everything they had or not. Honestly he didn't need a fight. He still wasn't ready for combat. And in addition to this, he still had a final trial to attend and upon returning home, he was going to receive even more punishment. Far worse than a simple suspension.

Felix sighed, head slightly bowed as he walked out of the courtroom. When he heard Kana he looked up at her. "The war has officially begun.," he said with a minor shrug. "And I've just become the Kage's Bodyguard until this is all over." Felix shook his head. "That means, I won't be able to leave without an escort, they think I'm a threat to the village. I have a second trial coming up as well." Felix looked over his shoulder at his Captain who was making his way away from them. "Basically you have this mission to yourself now." He gave a grin. "It'll be like I'm not even here, except for at night."

If something seemed wrong with Felix, she was blaming it on his trial. He seemed a bit drained. She supposed that was normal though. She blinked when he said that the war had officially begun. That didn't sound good. A look of puzzlement crossed Kana's face when he said he was the Kage's bodyguard. "Uh...huh? I thought...they were sending you back to the Crested," she said, a clear look of confusion on her face. She didn't want to sound like a jerk or anything by saying that, but it was the truth. "A second trial too, huh." A spark of anger reignited in Kana. She supposed they wouldn't allow her at that one either. "I'd been planning it that way already, so I've already got ideas but...escorts?" She understood, but at the same time, she didn't. "Well, don't expect me to leave you out of the mission just because you're a bodyguard now," she told him with a light smile. Either way, she was kinda glad he was staying.

"They were, but I convinced them to let me stay. It's better to have your enemies close, than out and about where they can mess up your plans." Felix shrugged. "Anyway, the villagers know there's a traitor, so you should expect to see them spreading rumors and things of the such." Felix glanced up at the sky. "As for the escorts, I'm on twenty-four hour surveillance." This made him sigh. "Two escorts will be following me every where I go. If I make one wrong move, they're allowed to kill me, and that's by the Kage's orders...our Kage." Felix placed his hands in his pockets. "On a lighter note, I've found a nice little way to get back at Aidelia, but it'll take us meeting in person." A slight pause. "No, I won't be killing her, just having a nice little talk. I'm sure she's not one to negotiate with, but all the same, it's worth a try. I want to see if we can work something out."

Just how could you have convinced them to let you stay? Kana was kinda curious now. But she knew better than to ask. She blinked when he mentioned that the villagers knew there was a traitor. After that, she stayed silent until Felix mentioned a meeting with Aidelia. Already a plan had formed in her head. The villagers knew there was a traitor. Which meant...many of the ninja did as well now. Kana had the look on her face that gave it away that she was planning something. "Work something out? The Sand already knows that the Rock knows about it's little spy problem. If something could be worked out, the Sand would've pulled her already." Kana looked down and crossed her arms. "You can have your little talk with her, see what you can do. But I've got something else in mind," she informed him. She didn't like the idea of talking to him with his damned escorts around. It could wait until later.

"Did you tell your girlfriend you're not coming back for a while yet?" she asked calmly. Surprisingly calmly, really. Her mind was on other things than being jealous right now. She'd figured a while ago that she didn't have time for such petty things. Well...a while ago being a couple days before Felix's trial. She'd thought he'd been going home, so she'd made relative peace with it. It wasn't even that big a deal.

Felix knew she was curious, but he wouldn't speak on the matter. However, he did notice the change when he'd mentioned the meeting. "Under any other circumstance, I would ask you what you're up to, but I suspect this isn't the best time." Felix shook his head slightly. "Anyway, you're right about the Sand pulling her out, but you have to think carefully about this. They already have the upper hand, why stop now. That's why I want to talk to Aidelia. See what she wants out of this." He paused. "More than likely she wants power, but if not, I'll see what I can do about getting her what she wants. I don't mind negotiating. Besides, these are not my villagers. What do I have to lose?"

Felix gave a slight pause when asked about Serenity. "I haven't spoken to her much," he said nonchalantly. Why did she care, she was with Kymin. Felix found himself rather annoyed by the thought, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and merely shook his head. "I'll tell her this afternoon." Honestly, he wanted Serenity close, in case Aidelia decided to take someone close to him. He needed to be able to protect her and the girls. Felix nearly bristled with anger.

(Oooh, looks like Kana's not the only jealous one!)

Kana shook her head briefly when he said that this probably wasn't the best time. "Not really. Later today, when you're without your escorts, we'll talk," she told him. She didn't need them spreading the word about Kymin's personal mission, should they have decided to eavesdrop. "I don't know what time you plan on getting home, but I won't be there until about nine," she told him. She would've been home earlier to speak with him, had she not other plans to take her night away.

Kana only gave a slight nod when he said that he hadn't spoken to her much, and that he planned to tell her this afternoon. She guessed that would be a little bit awkward for both of them. Kana could only hope that Felix's escorts would follow at a distance. It brought her mind back to what had happened with the guards earlier. At least Felix knew who was following him. Again, Kana found that sense of anger well up, but managed to keep it under wraps. Hell, she thought she'd been doing great with keeping her temper in check this mission. And her captain had thought she'd needed anger management. Pfft.

"I don't know how long they'll keep me there. I'm on their time from here on out." Felix frowned. He was under the enemies control. On top of that, he wasn't sure if he had ordinary ANBU watching over him, or Aidelia's ANBU. Now he had to be on guard, just like his opponent would. He could play the same game as her, but eventually it would get old. Hopefully the Kage would speak up before he had a chance to confront Aidelia. Felix sighed. This was going to be a long mission.

Kana gave a slight nod when he said that he doesn't know how long they'd keep him there. Made her wonder just how he was going to get out to see his girlfriend. Wasn't really her business though, so she didn't bother asking. So she instead asked "So all you do is follow the Kage around? Honestly, that's a good chance to keep an eye on her Horribleness." Of course, she hadn't realized that she'd used the same word that Kymin had used the day before. Not that it really mattered in her mind. She gave a quick glance around before adding "Just make sure you use their time wisely. I'll see you later on, I wanna take care of some things." With that, she gave him a wave before starting away. She had to take care of finding a teacher to take care of the students until Kymin returned from the Sand in a couple weeks time.

Felix nodded at her assumption. "More or less," he answered. He gave a small grin at the nickname given to their silver haired enemy. Felix gave a small yawn and then waved goodbye to Kana. "Will do," he said casually. He looked at the guards waiting off to the side. "I have to go meet a friend, I suspect you'll be tagging along." They both only gave a small gruff and then followed him to Serenity's hotel. When he went up to her room and found she wasn't there he went back to the front desk, only to be told she'd left for home. "And she didn't wait for me to get out of trial...." Felix was a bit disappointed at not being able to see his blond counterpart. "Okay, thanks. Um, one more question, did she say anything about it being the babies?" The old man shook his head no. "Just that she wasn't feeling well, sonny." Felix sighed. "Thanks." He'd call later to check on her when he felt that she'd be home. Felix looked at the guards. They were annoying. "I'm ready to protect the Kage," he told them. "Not like I really have a choice." Again he was answered with a gruff from the both of them and then escorted to the Kage's building.

While Kana had her work cut out for her in finding a decent teacher, she did finally find someone worth while. But it was actually a jonin she'd chosen. And she truly hoped she picked right, considering she was no good with kids, and she had had to pick someone who was. As the day dragged on, she found herself getting almost antsy about that dinner with Kymin. She wasn't sure if this could be considered a date or not though. She knew that the black haired ANBU would call it one though. He was just so persistent. When she got home an hour before the dinner, she spent more than half of that time trying to decide what would be too dressy and what would be appropriate to wear. She finally decided on a dark skirt and a nice top. And, which was a huge change for her, decided to leave her hair down when she went out.

When she arrived at the restaurant to meet Kymin, he'd almost mistaken her for another person. And it was apparent to Kana that it was an actual mistake, and not just him being a fool. Which caused Kana a bit of grief from him in the form of teasing words throughout what Kymin insisted was a date. But regardless of her annoyed tones of embarrassment, she'd actually rather found that she'd enjoyed herself. So on her way home, she found herself in a pretty good mood. Giving a light smile, Kana looked up as she walked. Been a while since I felt this good about anything, she thought silently.

Felix, unlike Kana, had spent his day in a boring office filed with the typing of secretary and a Kage that did more wheezing than paper work. Felix was sure it was time for the old man to retire, but that was not his place. Most of the time he sat in a chair bored out of his mind until he decided to do a casual walk around the building. It wasn't really casual, it was more of him finding out where all the exits and entrances were. He needed to know in case of an attack. If the guards weren't following him, he would have set up miniature traps, but that didn't seem to be possible.

After his long day of nothing he was escorted home and the guards made it clear that they would be back at six am sharp tomorrow. Felix sighed. Six o'clock was very early. He'd be needing all the sleep that he could. Heading to his room he changed into something comfortable, like a pair of of grey sweatpants and a black shirt. Since it was still early though, he decided to eat dinner. Felix never cooked, but he didn't want to run the risk of being attacked for trying to go to the convenience store to get something like bread for a sandwich. So he ended up cooking Chicken Parmesan, which was a rare treat for anyone, because as stated before, Felix never cooked. Sitting down at the table after leaving Snickers a can of tuna out to eat, he started into his food. He'd noticed Kana wasn't home, but he didn't worry about it too much. He was more worried about Serenity.

By the time Kana got home, her mood hadn't gotten worse, like it normally would have. Her mind, rather than wandering over mission details like normal, was replaying the dinner in her head. Walking through the door, she announced herself like she usually did, with an "I'm home." The lights were on, so she guessed that Felix was home. However, if it was actually some stupid intruder who hadn't left after figuring out their jutsu wouldn't work, she'd just announced herself to them. But if they were that stupid, she had no fear.

Felix looked up from his plate as he heard the door open. When Kana announced herself he continue eating. She'd figure out sooner or later where he was. And besides, it was rude to speak with your mouth full. He looked at Snickers, wondering if the black cat was going to go running to Kana. He often wondered if the little guy would be okay without them once they left. He also thought about taking the feline home if Kana didn't do it herself. He figured the kids would like a pet. It would be a nice little 'I'm your dad,' present. Felix grinned to himself.

Knowing that Felix most likely heard her, she started towards her room to get changed. She didn't need him teasing her on her looks that night. On the bright side, she hadn't stooped to wearing make-up. While the kitchen light was on, it, for whatever reason, didn't occur to Kana that Felix was in the kitchen, when she passed in front of the doorway on her way to her room. When Snickers came up to rub her leg after she'd passed the doorway, she did kneel down to pet the cat. After all, why not? It's not like the cat would tease her.

Felix had continued to eat his food until Snickers decided to leave the room. Felix's gaze followed the black feline to an oddly dressed Kana, with her hair down. "Who are you and what have you done with my partner," he asked lightly. "If you're going to impersonate her, you should know her hair is always in a ponytail and she never wears," a slight pause. "That...." Felix of course knew it was Kana, but what exactly had she been doing for her to need to dress like that. He hoped she wasn't seducing people to get information, now that would just be inappropriate.

Kana paused when she heard Felix speak to her, straightening up and looking to the side. "Shut up you," she retorted, but not unkindly. She was still in a good mood, despite Felix's words. Otherwise her response would not have been so light-hearted. She was sure that she was like a different person right now, both in looks and in attitude. After having 'answered' Felix, she started once more to her room, with Snickers lovingly on her heels. That cat was a bit clingy.

Felix blinked. She was in a good mood? Maybe this really wasn't Kana. Felix stood up and started towards the younger girl, intercepting her with his arm, so she could not inter the door to her room. "I don't mean to pry, but I have to confirm that you are in fact Kana Kianashi." Felix looked her over once. "What tasks required you to dress in such a manor. The real Kianashi wouldn't put on a dress, or skirt in this case, even if the Kage himself commanded her. Don't tell me a date, because I wouldn't believe it if I saw it," which was funny because he kind of had seen her on a date with Kymin, but he didn't care. It was none of his business, he'd hurt her enough, Kymin was better for her, and he had Serenity and his daughters. Everybody won. "A meeting I could accept, but the 'real'," he made sure to use air quotes, "Kana would be annoyed from having to sit too long in one spot, in a skirt." Felix raised a brow. "So what are you playing at?"

Kana blinked and looked at Felix as he put his arm in front of her. "Can I change?" she asked, giving him a bit of a look. Then she blinked again when he actually moved to ask if it was actually her. Was she really acting that different? Clicking her tongue, Kana leaned a bit to the side and questioned her actions. As was usual for her, once confronted on it, her good mood started fading. She almost laughed when he said that the real her wouldn't put on a dress or skirt even if the Kage had commanded it. Well, she would've if it hadn't been for his next statement. See, even he believed she wasn't capable of dating anyone! "What if I'm just acting like this to screw with you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. He was right about most of that, of course. Why she'd chosen to wear a skirt was beyond her, even her ninja outfit was shorts, not the usual skirt that women would wear. "Maybe you just don't know me as well as you think you do Felix. Cuz I was on a date." She paused, then looked down, almost with a perplexed look. "Well, sorta a date I guess." She shrugged. "That's what he kept calling it anyways," she said, looking off to the side as she realized that she'd been muttering. A moment later, she added in a bit of a mumble. "It's not like I can be anyone else, no one can use chakra in the apartment. I put up chakra seals a while back." She purposely left out the part about Kymin having helped her. Had she told Felix that her chakra wasn't working right?

Felix dropped his arm. "You wouldn't screw with me after knowing that I've had such a long day," he said with a nod. "Anyway, I'll let you go changed." He almost patted her on the head but stopped himself. "Glad you had fun on your date." He started away from the door and towards his own room when she mentioned chakra seals. "Oh, why? You expecting company?" He asked. His blue eyes glowing slightly. If Kana was getting paranoid, then it must have been something serious.

Kana went to walk into her room when Felix asked her about the chakra seals. Instead of walking in, she turned and leaned on the doorframe so that she was looking at Felix. "Remember those cameras I had put in a while back, to make sure that no one was trying to bug the house again? Well, I figured something. What if they're using jutsu to look like one of us, then coming into our house? And...well aside from that, neither of us can use our chakra. It's only fair to level the playing field, should someone come looking for a fight," she told him lightly. She'd almost smiled when Felix had said he was glad she'd had fun on her date. She didn't mind this kind of relationship with him, honestly. Because she'd realized a long time ago, that anything more than this would die out in a heartbeat. She simply couldn't hold onto relationships.