"Intel can figure that out for themselves, or we can send them a clone," Ginta said. He stood in one place, a counterpoint to Kakashi's frantic activity, and shifted his weight carefully from foot to foot, stretching in preparation for the run he knew was coming.

"And I don't know more than they do," Ginta continued. "I've put together my best guess from rumors and a few pieces of info I managed get from contacts who owed me favors, but all I know for certain is where his mission was supposed to take him, what he was supposed to be doing, and that he was in halfway decent shape when he left for it. And that he didn't come back and he never sent any messages. I have one mission report from one of three search teams, and what they found was fuck-all. So I need your brain on this, Kakashi, not just you haring off after a three-week-old scent-trail."

Kakashi didn't look at Ginta for even a moment. He buckled his armour tight, then started pulling stacks of sharpened steel from his weapons chest, restocking his holsters with shuriken and kunai. The metal flashed dull grey and lethal, and clanked like a death sentence. "You're not coming with me."

"Yes I am. You need me. Ryouma needs me. Needs both of us. We have a way better chance — he has a way better chance — if we work together." A chance with odds Ginta didn't want to consider, but if they were playing odds that bad, they definitely needed the edge they'd gain from pooling their resources.

Kakashi slung his sword over his shoulder, snatched up his ANBU mask, and jerked a grey cloak from behind the door. Then he turned to face Ginta, all leashed energy and fractured calm. "The last mission you went on nearly killed you. You're still on sick-leave. How does me carrying you home again help Ryouma?"

"I'm fine," Ginta said, meeting Kakashi's bright glare with his own steely intensity. "And I'm going, with you or without you. Can you see the future now? Because if you can, you should use that ability to tell us where to find Ryouma, not predict carrying me. You can come with me and take advantage of the maps I plotted and the information I gathered, or you can go your own way and get as lost as he is."