Will of Fire: Kakashi Hatake

Chapter 36

Akira was the first to find Eto Seika, and it was completely by accident. She was ordering some dumplings at a food stand near the Mizukage tower, when an old man walked up beside her.

"Oh, good morning, Eto! Slow day today?" The cook greeted enthusiastically.

The old man shrugged. "Just taking a break from planning."

"Planning?" He asked as he handed Akira her dumplings. Akira said a quick thank you, then walked away from the stand and around the nearest corner. She could still hear the two men conversing from where she was at.

"For the war effort. We are expecting to be attacked by the leaf any day now."

Akira's jaw dropped. Expecting to be attacked by the leaf? War effort? They would have to find those plans when they went to assassinate Eto.

"Wow, I didn't realize things were so serious."

"Well... they will be."

Akira narrowed her eyes. Will be?

"Alright, well good luck with those plans!"

"Thank you," Eto said.

Akira peeked around the corner to watch the old man walk away. He had a long, navy blue robe on over a gray shirt and black pants. He had short gray hair and a gray beard. There was a scar that marred his aged skin, running from the corner of his mouth up toward his eye. It twisted the corner of his mouth upwards into a constant smirk. Akira carefully reached out just enough to sense his chakra, using only the bare minimum of her own. She felt his chakra signature and smiled. Now she had him. Akira followed his chakra until it reached the Mizukage tower, then up into it. She was able to get a general idea of approximately where his office was.

She carefully made her way closer to the tower, munching on her dumplings as she went and stopping at various shops along the way to keep up the ruse of being just a tourist. When she reached the tower she sensed for Eto again and found him almost immediately. He had a strong chakra presence, one full of anger. Akira looked up and was able to locate the window that led to his office. She took note of where it was, and any identifying features on the building that could help her locate it later. Then she left, making her way back into the streets.

Akira wandered until she found Seek, who was sitting at a ramen stand a couple of streets over. She sat down next to him, drawing his attention.

"Hey," he said nonchalantly. "How's it going?"

"Good," Akira waved down the cook. "Real good."

Seek raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

Akira made her order and the cook walked back over to his stove. "Yup. Got some good stuff from the market, I'm excited."

Obviously, it was a ruse to throw off anyone who might be eavesdropping, but Seek got the message. "Great!" He smiled. "Find that sushi place we've been looking for?"

Akira shook her head. "No, not yet, unfortunately."

"Sushi place?" The cook asked from his stove.

Seek responded smoothly without missing a beat. "Yeah, on our way here we met an older couple who said the sushi in the Hidden Mist Village is amazing. We've been trying all different kinds of restaurants, but can't find the one we've been looking for. Apparently, they sell eel? It doesn't seem to be a common dish but we would love to try it."

"Oh, they must have been talking about Richigo's. It's just a couple of streets over from here."

"Awesome!" Akira said, feining being excited. "Can we go there for dinner, Dad?"