Kakashi noticed Kita seated near the back of the Jounin Council looking more than a little perturbed. He wondered what had come over her. She'd not said a word the entire meeting. Over the last two meetings he had actually attended, he remembered the small, spritely young kunoichi being rather vocal and while some would say her rather needless comments were childish or indicative of bad bearing, most came to see them as simply a part of her. She was a young shinobi and being full of life wasn't exactly a bad thing though sometimes Gai took that a bit far.

Gai wasn't on this council though. Only one shinobi of each main specialty took part Gai's main specialty of field battle units had been manned by Nara Shikaku for four years. Gai was the second in that field, but when Shikaku was made Jounin Commander in a year or two Gai would join them here.

Kakashi was present as the representative for Ninjutsu Reconnaissance teams and Kita was- Kakashi had finally looked into her file- the village's premier Infiltration Specialist and doubled as the representative for the Messenger division until a replacement for her former post was chosen. Every Infiltration mission that came through the village crossed her desk in Hokage Tower. She knew all about the logistics of it.

It was strange to think that four of his missions that year had been assigned by a shinobi eight years his junior, but he didn't mind that much. He was sure there were much better things to be annoyed by… like Gai's challenge a week ago. Why he'd said yes to a taijutsu ninja dance off was beyond him, but he had and he regretted it terribly. It wasn't something that would be easily forgotten. He had vowed to shy away from the hard alcohol for a while after that.

Kakashi was a bit concerned with how easily Kita had convinced him of her white lie. Of course she'd known about his specialty in infiltrations though she'd put on a good show of not knowing anything about it. It was to be expected of a Gekkou however. Their skills of deception were one of their strongest traits, second only to the fierce loyalty they held for their comrades

Still, today he was more curious as to what was bothering Kita. Her eyes were far off as if she weren't even listening to the Third Hokage. Kakashi had a feeling she actually wasn't and was prepared to step in should-

"We're finding it easier and easier to get in and out of Suna these last few months. It appears as if their infrastructure has been breaking down likely due to the largely-unpopular Fourth Kazekage. Kita-san, do you think this might make it possible to stage a small scale infiltration that could unseat the Kazekage? He has been more and more Anti-Konoha these past years," Danzou asked, eying the unseeing girl with a leer that Kakashi did not like.

"Gekkou-san," Kakashi said loudly, not leaving a pause which would make Kita's distraction more obvious, "encountered difficulty during her last mission. It is not wise to continue prodding at a village that is becoming more and more aware of our interest." She looked his way at the familiar voice saying her name, face reddening slightly.

"Did you encounter difficulty, Kita?" the third asked, interested. "I was unaware." Kita stared at him for a long moment, before glancing to Kakashi then Ibiki to Kakashi's right for a spare moment.

"I didn't want to bother you with it, but I informed intelligence department as well as interrogations and it was in my written report that I was injured, Hokage-sama, but not so bad as to make it necessary to seek medical attention or add unnecessary details to the verbal report. I believe the shinobi that cut me was the Fourth Kazekage," she said.

"You faced the Kazekage and lived to tell the tale?" Danzou scoffed disbelievingly.

"I do not face shinobi, Danzou-sama. That is the point of my specialty as a Infiltrations Shinobi. I go in and I get out. As both a messenger and an infiltrations specialist, this is my duty, this is my strength. I deal in information, not death," she said, hardly sparing Danzou a glance.

"A true shinobi knows what it is to take a life," he replied.

Kakashi saw the hollow-eyed Hayate open his mouth to retort, but Kita was quicker. "I've taken my fair share of lives Danzou-sama, shinobi and otherwise, but there are some of us who have more than one talent. We don't all feel joy at the sight of genin blood on our hands." Danzou sneered, but didn't reply to the mention of the most disgusting of rumors regarding Root's taboo initiation ritual.

"Kita," Hayate said in a low tone. It was clearly a warning, but certainly not a rebuke.

"I do believe the Kazekage might listen to you Hokage-sama, but you know how the Wind Country forms contracts… face to face, something I would never suggest with such a treacherous kage. I'm not sure it is the proper time to make such a bold move as Danzou-sama suggests. The fourth Kazekage is not quite as unpopular as Danzo's half-assed infiltrators would have you believe. An assassination is not only unnecessary, but a logistical impossibility due to the information gathered on my latest mission there."

Kita thought of the boy… the boy with the scar… the sand. She knew what a tailed beast felt like. The nine tails had destroyed her home the night the fourth hokage was killed. She was distracted by the memories of that night… a teenaged Gai on his hands and knees above her, boards falling around him and onto him, but he only smiled at her, just told her that everything was going to be okay. She could still feel his blood on her skin, dripping off his chin having slid from the back of his head where a particularly large board had struck him. She even remembered the blood cooling on her skin throughout the night as Gai held the rubble off of her until Hayate and his squad arrived and dug them out.

"Duly noted Gekkou-san," the third nodded with a tired smile. She looked to him and nodded seriously.

Kakashi was glad to see that Kita remained a bit more focused as the meeting went on. He couldn't interfere twice to assist her. That would be too far out of character. He wouldn't even do something like that for Gai. Was that it: why she was so clearly distressed? Was it something to do with Gai? Kakashi locked his question away, knowing it wasn't his business. He hardly knew the kunoichi himself.

Thankfully, the meeting finished up quickly and by the time he looked to Kita's chair she was gone. Hayate was still sitting in the seat beside hers though, looking tired. He rose slowly, looking up and meeting Kakashi's eyes. He walked forward.

"Thanks Kakashi," Hayate said. Kakashi nodded. "I swear I leave for a couple weeks and I come back to a whole new sister: hanging out with Genma, avoiding me, distracted during briefings."

"Well, she was captured once while you were away," Kakashi shrugged. Hayate chuckled, then coughed then chuckled a bit more.

"All that's a game to Kita," Hayate said. "A reckless, stupid game, but not one that's ever affected her like this."

"She seemed fine last night," Kakashi admitted. He'd returned to the bar after he'd made sure Asuma would keep an eye on the moody Green Beast. He couldn't just let her go home alone, knowing Hayate would kill him especially since he was sure Kita wasn't going to allow one of those clan men to walk her home no matter how much they insisted.

"Are you attempting to egg me on Hatake?" Hayate scowled, a deadly look in his eyes.

"When she left the bar by herself she looked fine," Kakashi said, not even taking the effort to roll his eyes.

"Where was Gai?" Hayate asked immediately, in surprise. Kakashi's curiosity peaked at that. So Hayate knew about her and Gai? Clearly not the casual relationship Kita had implied or Gai would have been run through with a blade by now. He'd have to keep that valuable information to himself for now. There was no reason to have Gai killed just yet. It wouldn't benefit Kakashi at all. Hayate didn't take Kakashi's silence well. "He let my sister walk home alone? Had she been drinking?" Hayate demanded.

"Yes and yes," Kakashi said, deciding that this would lead to a more innocent, old fashioned beating that could prove a bit funny if he was able to track the Gekkou to where Gai would be training about this hour. He wouldn't tell Hayate how she'd really left Gai no choice. She'd been angry with him, had him forced him out of the bar. Hayate's fists clenched at his sides then he drew a breath. He walked from the room without a word, Kakashi went to follow, but was intercepted by Kita's imposing chuunin comrade from the bar the night he first noticed her.

"What the hell did you do to her, Hatake?" a large burly chuunin demanded. Kakashi didn't know his name, but he did recognize the brute from the first night he'd noticed that troublesome girl at the bar with her friends.

"Not following," Kakashi muttered, wondering how he'd gone so long without getting drawn into this little Gekkou Kita world.

"I heard you and Gai were harassing her last night and today she's hardly even here," the boy snapped.

Kakashi sighed. "It has nothing to do with me. Why don't you ask her?"

"Because I'm asking you," was the response Kakashi received. Shaking his head at all this ridiculousness, Kakashi brought his hands together in a swift jutsu, leaving the room in a whirl of leaves. Luckily he found the right training grounds, but Hayate did not come upon Gai in a blaze of angry words and fists. Instead he walked up to him calmly and they exchanged a few brief words, words too quiet for Kakashi to hear, before Hayate nodded and left. Thoroughly disappointed, Kakashi slunk off.

Kakashi had never considered the idea of Maito Gai in an actual relationship, though it seemed to be near a fiery end at this point. From what he'd seen last night and what he saw this morning, things weren't headed anywhere good. It wasn't bound to last long anyway though, not if Kita thought her words from before were true. Kakashi shook his head.

The thought that Gai might be in an emotionless relationship was a laughable idea, completely unbelievable. Whatever this girl thought was going on with her and Gai was definitely not the same on the other side and an unbalance like that didn't last long. He wondered what would happen. For once, he found himself hoping something for Gai's sake. He hoped it worked out in Gai's favor, because even if Gai was ridiculous, he was a good man and a great shinobi. He also happened to be one of Kakashi's only sincere friends not that Kakashi would admit that to anyone else especially not Gai himself though he was sure Gai knew.

Gai was smarter than he let people believe and Kakashi had a feeling he knew exactly what he was doing with this Gekkou girl. Kakashi's instinct was that if whatever he had with this girl was salvageable, he would salvage it. Very few important situations were truly outside of Gai's grasp even something as dire as this one. He may not be observant and sometimes seemed quite near the stupidest man on the planet, he was not actually a fool.

Kita reorganized the mess of papers on her desk, wishing the hokage would stop putting Kotetsu in as a temp for her position when she was away on mission. He was an utter slob and it was extremely frustrating for her to come back to this mess every time. Once everything was in its proper place, she drew a deep breath, taking a sip from her glass of water on the desk, looking over the piles and trying to decide where to start. She glanced at the clock. None of these missions were time sensitive so she was sure she didn't need to be doing this now, but there was little else she could do that wouldn't draw her thoughts to that maddening man. She felt physically ill at the moment, exhausted from over thinking the entire situation, going over it again and again in her head.

When she awoke he'd been gone and she had gotten no answers for her many questions about what exactly had happened the night before. Her face flamed with embarrassment. She had done much more intimate things with the taijutsu specialist, but something about the night before had seemed to take on a new weight, something about the way he kissed her, the way he held her. She wasn't sure why but she was sure that Gai could have told her... if he'd stayed.

She swallowed another sip of water, wondering why he would do that. He'd never let her wake up alone before, even following their most brief and frantic liaisons. She would always wake up with her arms wrapped around him. She fell asleep in his grasp and she would wake up clinging to him instead. It was expected, it was normal. Nothing about last night was normal and she should have expected the morning to be strange as well, but it was a rather painful type of strange.

All she could think was that she'd somehow disgusted him the way she'd reacted. Why had she cried? What had broken in her to bring out such weakness? Her stomach turned over and she felt the tears trying to fight their way forward again. Damn it! She slammed her hands onto the desk, drawing the attention of more than one of her fellow mission-reviewing comrades who had been working in peace for the most part. She didn't apologize though. She stalked from the office, leaving her work unfinished, her glass of water still half-full.

Kita walked through the village at an even pace, hoping that the bustling village would distract her from her persistent thoughts of Gai. Her thoughts did not waver however. Her thoughts centered on and stuck to the man. She ached for him both physically and… well something in her chest wouldn't loosen. It was increasingly difficult to even notice anything else around her and she didn't know wholly why.

Kita drew a deep breath, finding the nearest bench and sitting down quickly. She leaned over, resting her elbows on her knees and lowering her face to rest in her hands. Her head was aching. She didn't know what to do. The only thing she could think of was "find Gai" but what if he didn't want her around? If he'd wanted to be with her still, he'd have stayed wouldn't he? She groaned in frustration.

Usually the only time they really saw each other during the day was during training if they had it preplanned and they hadn't set a time for training today. She never just showed up on him except at night. He sought her out often enough, but she came to realize that she had literally never done so. Not even once. She sat up, leaning against the back of the bench sullenly. She was nothing if not stubborn and she didn't like appearing weak not even to her own Gai-kun. Apparently that had done well enough last night to scare Gai off. She couldn't let him see any weakness anymore.

Kita stood, fists clenched and a fabricated smile on her face. She could do this. She could not care. She'd done it for a long time now. That pressure in her chest did not go away though, nor did the tightness in her throat. No one needed to know that though. As she walked back to her desk, she was ready to finish that stack of missions, ready to assign and deliver the most informed decisions up to the Jounin Commander as soon as possible then get out to the training grounds.

Hayate would still be resting today, but she might be able to convince him to work with her for a while. She was still upset with him, but she missed her brother. She nodded to herself, speeding up a bit as she headed back to her office. She had to get back, had to somehow distract herself from the feeling in her chest, the feeling in her abdomen, from all of the feelings… all of them. She just wanted to not feel any of it anymore. She was far too tired to be so exhaustively focused on one man even if it was Maito Gai.

The work was painstaking and she nearly had every mission assigned when Hatake Kakashi came strolling in. He was walking by her desk when he paused. Normally, she wouldn't even look up, but something made her do so. He was staring at her, his dark eye bored. She met his gaze fiercely. "Got a problem Hatake?" Kita asked, in as menacing a tone as she could muster. She had things to do.

"Be careful with that idiot," he said, looking away sharply. He walked off with a steady pace and she stared after him. She knew she should be angry, furious even, but all that registered was shock. Kakashi, warning someone off for his friend Gai? Such a thing was almost unfathomable, but it touched her deeply. She felt the tears, the damned tears and hopelessness she'd felt before Gai had returned from the bar last night. It washed over her in a wave.

Kita frowned. Why was she feeling so damned weak lately? She placed a hand to her side at a small pain and then her scowl deepened. She lifted her shirt to reveal that her wounds was infected, immediately dropping the shirt again to cover it. How did she not notice before? She was feverish too. Her weakened state was easy to understand now, though it was helped none by Gai's strange games.

"Ha-Hatake-san," she whispered. He stopped halfway up the room and looked back at her. "I think… I think I should go to the hospital." He frowned at her, turning fully and glancing to her covered wound. She had foregone the chuunin jacket today and she was almost certain he could smell the infection on her because his eyes narrowed at it.

"If you wouldn't mind telling Gai-kun," she said palely. She was not sure why she was not even pretending she didn't want him there. "I don't mean to say he has to come. Just let him know and if he feels inclined. I will probably be there for a while," she said, standing slowly with her hands braced on the desk. She swayed a bit, but steadied before standing straight and heading for the door, her eyes cast down. She didn't want Kakashi to see her face, to see her pain and hesitation. She was tired of all of this uncertainty. It wasn't her. She was a Gekkou damn it! Damn Gai! Damn him for making her feel like this.

As she walked towards the hospital, she was sure she was being followed. It didn't surprise her though. She looked like hell. One of her comrades was bound to have followed her from the office to ensure she was alright. She and Kakashi hadn't been speaking THAT quietly after all.

The feeling turned ominous though and she wasn't sure suddenly what or who was following her. She slowed to a stop, looking around at the crowded street. This feeling meant get the hell away from civilians and she quickly turned down an alley through a street and into another, becoming increasingly-aware of the fact that the person following her was not her friend.

Once she was far enough away, she jumped to the rooftop, "ANBU!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, knowing one was bound to hear. She could have got five if she had any power behind her small voice. She danced out of the way as a shinobi indeed came after her. She barely missed him, but was able to catch a glimpse of him. He was ANBU himself… Suna ANBU.

Kita was by no means up to the kind of battle that would result from a fight with an ANBU. She wasn't a strong shinobi by any stretch of the imagination and this was a large opponent with a great chakra base. She avoided though. He was fast however, almost as fast as Gai. She jumped over him, but his shuriken were already flying and one caught the side of her face, cutting deeply through her cheek. She knew that would scar nicely… if she survived that was.

Another volley was coming and she didn't hesitate to duck out of the way, having to block the last one by lifting her arm up straight in front of her eyes. It dug straight through the meat of her arm. Still, she didn't even flinch as she began performing a genjutsu, but before she could finish it, a sharp pain shot from her side and she was struck hard in her distraction, flying over the rooftops. She hit a roof not far away, banging her head hard and falling off the rooftop into the street. She landed on her feet at least, one fist in the ground, looking up and jumping out of the way before he landed, his fist destroying the earth where she had been, disrupting the foundations of the buildings on either side.

Then they were there though… at least half a dozen ANBU surrounding the foreign ANBU with dark auras coming off of them in waves. Infiltrators were the most hated of scum in a foreign village and the only thing more hated was an infiltrating assassin. She'd just been targeted for assassination and knowing that, she was pretty sure she should be afraid, but the pounding of her head didn't allow for that amount of presence of mind.

Kita slid herself back out of the way, leaning against a wall. He was so quickly immobilized that she might have just stayed where she was. It didn't matter. The kunoichi slid down until her rear hit the ground, but she was disoriented and dizzy. Her breathing was ragged and her head was throbbing something awful. The lightheadedness washed over her and she felt suddenly nauseous. She turned to the side, emptying the contents of her stomach before sliding a few feet down the wall away from it weakly. Her momentum caused her to fall over, the blow to her head not allowing her to keep balance. She lifted her uninjured but shaking hand to the side of her face, drawing it away to see quite a bit of sticky blood through her slightly blurred vision.

What felt like hours was actually closer to moments before Gai had come upon her. As expected he was the one, cutting in front of whichever ANBU had turned to deal with her. He pulled her into his arms and she simply focused on not throwing up on him as he reassured her in his powerful and comforting voice, words she couldn't quite understand. Her head was spinning and he was holding her too tightly. It hurt, but she didn't complain. She was trying her hardest not to faint, but the black was edging in. She couldn't fight it. She couldn't do anything.