Kojii's Return

The man whom Kaito was escorting to the Hokage's Office seemed rsther lively. His head was bobbing around in all directions nonstop. If Kaito had known better he would say it had been years since the mysterious figure had been back in the village.

When Kojii thanked the Uchiha for his assistance and told him that he had been rivals with Minato during their days back in the Academy, a sense of sorrow swept through Kaito.

"I had a rival myself back in the Academy. Nakimura, Tenjiro. He was blown to bits by an explowive tag on our first mission during the war." Kaito paused for a moment, realizing that he was being rude and morbid. He shook his head from side to side as though to wioe the memory from the forefront of his mind. "Sorry 'bout that, Kojii." He said, turning his frown into a smile. "Let's head up to the office now."

Kaito led the wqy into the building, which was in severe dissary as people ran all about. It was most likely because of what had happened in Hoahigakure, and while Kaito wanted to offer his assistance, he knew thst he would only be getting in the way. Instead he led Kojii up the stairs to the top floor and down a round hallway befire coming face to face with an intricately designed wooden door. It had the kanji for 'Hokage' on it. Kaito wasted no time knocking, and a second later a voice echoed from inaide.

"Enter." Said the voice in reply.

Kaito would do as he was told, opening the door to reveal Namikaze, Minato standing behind hia desk and looking out the window toward the village below.

Kaito watched as Kojii greeted Minato like the old friend thst he claimed the man was, and Minato turned around slowly. The man's face was pale, almosrt like he saw a ghost.

"Fujisaki... Kojii..." The man said, trying to piece everything together in his mind. "You were dead... Your name is engraved on the Memorial Stone... How in the world are you here?"

Kaito stood by idly, heavily confused by what was going on before his eyes.

'Just who is this Fujisaki, Kojii?' He asked himself.

"Still the same jokester as ever, I see." Minato sqid, the color starting to come bavk to his face. A moment of laighter overcame the Hokage, but when Kojii stoped so did he. Minato and Kaito both listed to what the man had to say.

Kaito, for one, was a bit suprised to hear what Kojii had to say regarding the Root organization. To speak so openly about his disdain, and the fact that he hqd qctively decided ctively decided to flee the village to the Hokqge definetely took some major balls. When the man mentioned Hoshigakure, howeve4, Kaito's mind raced a bit.

"Did you see him, then?" Kaito asked. "The White Tiger of Kusagakure, I mean?" Minato glared at Kaito for a moment, and the Uchiha realized thst he was not only spesking out of turn, but potentially leqking vital information. He clqmmed up, throwing his hqnds into his pockets as he held his heqd down to the floor.

"I must ask you the same thing, Kojii. While I am not q fan of your fleeing the village, especialy during wartime, you are perhaps my greatest friend. I'm sure I will not come to regret alllowing you back here or locking you up for your actions." The Hokage paused for a moment and sighed. "Hoshigskure was destroyed the other night, and a messenger pigeon we recieved asked for assistance. It said thst the White Tiger of Kusagakure, Aizen Kurosqwa, was behind the qttack. Did you happen to see him, by chance?"

Kaito just kimd of blinked as Kojii went through his thought process. He couldn't tell whether the man was joking given his playful nature or if he was being serious. Then agqin he did spend the better part of the war living as a vagabond of sorts, so perhaps he really hadn't heard of the infamous White Tiger of Kusagakure.

"We're not talking about a real tiger..." Minato said, doing his best to stiffle a laugh. "The White Tiger of Kusagakure; Megumi, Aizen. He was a shinobi of Kusagakure during the war, and a very powerful one at that. Its rumored that Damagakure captured him towards the start of the conflict, so that's either a false rumor or he escaped their custody at some point." Minato sould cross his arms across his chest and sat upon the top of his desk.

"This is a very messy situqtion, Lord Hokage." Kaito said, pointing out the obvious. "Even moreso if Damagakure is involved."

"Your right, Kaito." Minato said. He thought for a minute before continuing. "Kojii, I am sorry to ask this of you given you just got back, but I need your help. I would like for you and Kqito here to do some investigsting. Follow any leads you can find regarding Megumi, Aizen. Will you teo be up to this mission?"

Kaito looked over to Kojii, awqiting the mqn's response to the Hokage's inquiry.

Kaito nodded at Kojii's accsptqnce of their top secret mission, but couldnt help but feel a bit uneasy about it all. Was Kaito, with his Sharingan and well known abilities, really the best choice for this type of mission? He would sigh, knowing thst there would be no arguing it with the Hokage.

"That's it then. Looks like we'll be partners from here on out." Kaito smiled at Kojii begore turnimg his attention back to Minato. "When should we head out, my Lord?"

"First thing tomorrow morning." Minato shuffled through the paperwork on his desk, removing a map and book before handing thrm over to Kaito. "Our scouts stationed throughout the surrounding teritories have marked down the locations of rumors pertaining to Megumi, Aizen, and the book is a specialized bingo book that goes into as much detail as possible regardimg what we know about his abilities." Minato narrowed his eyes at Kojii. "Stay alert, Kojii." He warned. "I know you're strong, but Aizen is perhaps one of the most skilled shinobi I've heard tell of. He is not to be taken lightly."

Kaito would wait for Kojii and Minato to finish before bowing to Minato and turning his attention back to Kojii. "I'm going to head home to prepare myself for tomorrow. I'll meet you at the gate at sunrise."