It was late. It was late and Kakashi was tired. He had been running on half sleep the last few days of the trip home. Every time he closed his eye to get some rest he would relive the fight on the bridge but it would end with his students dead, making getting any rest very difficult, but they were finally back in Konoha. Back behind the great walls that defended this village. That should have been enough to calm down the veteran ninja, but a sense of unease had been growing within him since Team 7 had started their way home and he didn’t know why. It had contributed to his restlessness, not that his students were aware. They all were just glad to be home and he could see that the near death experiences had brought them closer together. They had just gotten done with the debriefing, having a C rank turn in to an A rank wasn’t unheard of unfortunately, but Team 7 was walking away alive with extra pay and time off to compensate. They would still be meeting up for regular trainings but they were barred from missions for a week to make sure the genin had recovered. [color=yellow]“Hey, hey let’s go tell Airi we’re back!” Exclaimed Naruto just as Team seven was starting head their separate ways. Said team took a moment to reply, partly due to exhaustion, partly due to not being sure if they heard a tremor in Naruto’s voice or not.[/color] [color=blue]“You just want to spend your earnings on cake” Replied Sasuke His tone lacking the harshness it normally had when he was talking to his blond teammate. Rolling his eyes he sighed out “Fine” before bumping shoulders with Naruto to get the orange clad ninja moving.[/color] [color=pink]“Will Airi still be awake this late?” Asked Sakura even as she started heading in the directions of Delicious Delights making her choice known with that act.[/color] “She was a chunin once, I’m sure that she will understand.” Replied Kakashi with a soft chuckle, he could tell that none of them were comfortable with separating just yet despite the ways they tried to hide that fact. He could sympathize really. -- The feeling of unease became one of deep foreboding as Team seven turned on to the street that housed Delicious Delights. As the store in question currently had Chunin standing guard in front of it, as team seven walked closer they started to learn why. “Are you the squad sent to help with the investigation?” asked the taller of the two guards “No” Kakashi replied as he forced himself to be calm “We just got back from a mission that went longer than expected and were just going to drop by a friend of ours.” He answered gesturing to the building they were guarding. The rest of team seven stood behind him with looks of worry plainly visable. The two guards shared an uneasy look with each other that did nothing to help Kakashi keep his composure. Still it wasn’t these two who ended up being the bearer of bad news. It was a third member coming from inside that would fulfill that role. “Is the Dog squad here yet? We not going to have any luck finding the kidnapped vicums if they don’t show up so…” the man trailed off as he realized his mistake as team seven stared at him in horror. Kakashi felt his blood turn to ice as the implications hit home. Outward the only thing that changed was the apathetic expression that he now was wearing. Internally Kakashi was preparing to kill someone, he didn’t know who it was yet, but they were dead. Without another word Kakashi walked in Delicious Delights, none of the Chunin could bring themselves to stop him. His team was still too shocked to move. Years of experience and practice helped Kakashi quickly take stock of everything, and it was due to his focus that only the things that were important stood out. Like the scent of sleeping gas that covered everything else except for Airi’s ever present scent. Like a blood hound he latched on to that smell and traced it back to where she had laid when the attack must have happened. From there he noticed the card. He knew her well enough that it took only a moment for him to piece together the hints she had left. He had everything he needed, and it had only taken him five minutes. “Tell whoever comes next that I’ve gone off ahead, we have seven missing with at least five collaborators. The owner was taken and all other scents are overpowered by the sleeping gas they used, so if they need a scent grab it form the living space upstairs.” He was violating dozens of rules, and would likely get chewed out for it, but he did not care Airi was more important. Making a clone he turned to his team, “Follow the clone, it will lead you to my place. No you can’t join in, I’ll see you all when I get back” without waiting to see how they replied he blurred out of sight following Airi’s scent the entire way. He wasn’t going to lose her, not if he had anything to say about it, not to anything or anyone.