Chapter 9 -> Part 9

I walked into the briefing room the second the clock reached reporting time. I would have been a few minutes early, but Hatake had decided that we would be briefed in the Jōnin briefing room and the security didn't believe I was supposed to be there until Dog came down to make sure I found the place.

"My brother really hates you, Uzumaki," Shimizu greeted, oddly amicable.

"I wonder whose fault that was," I responded sarcastically and took the only open seat as Hatake pushed himself off the wall and spread our mission scroll out on the table.

"Let's focus on the mission," Hatake interrupted Shimizu's response. I skimmed over the mission as Hatake pulled down a map of the shinobi nations. "As of this morning, Konoha is at war with all of the other shinobi nations, which means we are fighting a war on four major fronts. We are one of several groups who will be running to every front and determining who needs the most help, as well as providing temporary relief where it is needed, primarily through medical care." He looked directly at me. "Uzumaki, you have specific orders to conserve your chakra as much as possible, except when healing, and then you are to do everything you possibly can to enable our shinobi to return to the battlefield. For the most part, you will be partnered with Dog when we stop to assist and assess the situations. Shimizu, you will be interrogating whomever the teams have captured for information, which we will relay to the messenger teams. Inuzuka and I will be providing relief on the battlefront."

"Will I be healing on-field or on-base?"

"Both. You are currently the only one on this team who hasn't been truly tested in combat, recent events not in consideration. If something, anything, goes wrong or even takes a step in that direction, you are to pull out immediately. Every country is fighting on multiple fronts, but Konoha has four while the other countries have two at most, Kumo could potentially have three soon, but that isn't certain. The ability to put shinobi back in the field is what might be the only thing to ensure our survival, and to do that, we need medics."

I nodded.

"Verbal affirmation, Uzumaki."

Flushing with a bit of embarrassment, I spoke. "Orders acknowledged."

"The mission starts on the Suna front. We'll be moving in the basic diamond formation until we reach the yellow line." Hatake traced the line on the map. "Uzumaki, you will take the client position as our medic and a Genin. Dog, take rear. Shimizu, take left, and Inuzuka take point. I'll take right. After the yellow line, we'll be using the spearhead formation. Dog will take point and Uzumaki will take his tail. Shimizu, you'll be the right and Inuzuka will take left. I'll take the rear and stay about a hundred meters back. When we reach the red line, we'll start the sphere formation." He pointed on the map. "I'll take the ground, Uzumaki take top. Shimizu, Inuzuka, and Dog will be on rotation. Information is being severely compartmentalized, so only team leaders know where the border stations will be located. All except Uzumaki will have a basic disorientation Genjutsu placed on them by me at all times in order to keep these locations secret."

"Why will I have base locations and not the others?"

"First, the others can determine their location if we are separated and I drop the Genjutsu, you have not even been outside the village. Second, in case of separation, you return to last base visited at top speed and stop for no one, not even if I give you direct orders otherwise. When you arrive at base, you will deliver this to the team leader." He handed me a small, grey bead with a hole to lace onto my necklace that now had dog tags as well as my apartment keys on it. As I put it on my necklace, I noticed that the bead was actually white, but the tiny, black sealing lines turned it grey at a distance. "Upon taking it, the bead should turn red for a moment. If it does not, you are to run back to Konoha at top speed with every evasion tactic you know and head straight to the emergency returns. Take no chances."

"Acknowledged."

"Good. We all know the basic Jōnin identity confirmations, but we'll need individual confirmation as well. Request for confirmation will be Uzumaki's 'Genin' stance. Dog, you'll just sneeze, both for individual confirmation and request. Uzumaki, shift to your toes. Shimizu, switch to a reverse grip on your kunai. Inuzuka, shake your hair out of your eyes. I'll clap once. Is there anything else?"

"Kill or capture enemies?" Inuzuka asked.

"Capture if possible, kill if necessary. Uzumaki is trained in applying Fūinjutsu to prisoners. Shimizu will be conducting on-site interrogations."

I covered my mouth at the thought. I happened to be one of a half-dozen people in the village that showed any sort of interest in sealing and because of that, I was automatically in charge of nighttime security and all prisoners obtained. I didn't mind the former, it made me feel useful, but the latter made me sick to my stomach.

"Any other questions?" Hatake asked. When no one answered, he dismissed the team to rendezvous in ten minutes at deployment point six. "Uzumaki, remain."

They all filed out and Sakumo sat down beside me.

"You alright kid?"

I wanted to tell him to buzz off, but I knew it wouldn't be appropriate, not now.

"You've only been in this world for two years, Kichiro, you can't be fine with what you would consider torture and murder as well as knowing your sister will soon be participating in it even though she's only eight."

"Her and Minato were supposed to be ten when they graduated," I said. "Something changed because I'm here and I don't know what. This war is in the wrong place. I-I told them they would survive, I said they would be fine but I just don't know anymore."

"They'll be fine, I'm sure of it. You're the only Genin allowed beyond the yellow line."

"That's a death sentence and you know it. I may be on a team with three Jōnin, but I'm still a Genin who will be targeted first, simply because of my size."

"You may be a Genin now, but you can keep up with Chuunin twice your age. You may not have age and experience, but you have the skill and creativity to survive. Remember, just yesterday, you managed to beat Shimizu and you tricked the traitor. Trust me, by the end of this war, you'll be a Tokubetsu Jōnin at the very least."

I managed a tiny smile. "Aren't the Chuunin exams suspended during wartime?"

"Inter-village Chuunin exams are, but Konoha still has theirs, even if it's just to boost morale and provide a bit of entertainment. You won't be participating because you're so far beyond your Genin peers, I'll push your field promotion through as soon as I can. You're going to survive if I have anything to say about it."

"And if you don't have a say?"

Sakumo couldn't answer that. "Come on, we have a mission."

It was a good thing Hatake brought me to the rendezvous point, because I had absolutely no idea where to go.

I could feel my chakra reserves growing by the day our mission actually began. From the moment we reached the border, I was healing at least a dozen major injuries per day. While I wasn't specifically trained, I had no choice but to counter poisons in nearly every injury, at least for as long as we were on the Suna front. The handful of other medics I encountered on the Suna front had no idea what to do about it and dozens had died before I could reach them. Without the general knowledge of chemical compounds and bioweapons from my world, they all would have been sunk. Just like every boy with a passing interest in history, I had read countless books on WWI and WW2. After the Ebola outbreak, I had touched up on the science behind viruses, which led to a passing interest in poisons, that somehow turned towards venoms and immunities. With that knowledge, I figured out a way to simulate the production of antibodies and the creation of memory cells in the lymph nodes to create immunities.

After the first week of practice, I managed to figure out a way to immunize someone against the most common poisons, even if they'd never been hit with it. I wasn't sure if it would last more than a few months, or if I had even made the memory cells, but everyone assured me that every little bit helped.

I tried to teach the other medics how to do it, but quickly found out that while antidotes and antivenom were a thing, but no one knew how or why they worked, thus the development process was trial and error. The little fact quickly frustrated me and when I tried to explain the whole process to the sixth medic, I found that there just weren't the words to describe antigens and the process for making antibodies. Hell, I didn't even remember all the English words for it, I just got the gist of the process and used the magic chakra to speed it up, whether it be healing or artificial immunization. Inuzuka suggested that I write down as much as I could and they would find a way to get it back to Konoha for others to study and find a way to explain.

I felt a little bit guilty that I was stealing some of the renown Tsunade would gain in combating Suna, but not so much as to keep me from milking it when I could. Occasionally, I could be an S-ranked troll, and when the news of my existence started to reach the bases ahead of us, I managed to persuade Hatake to let me run to one of the nearby villages to buy some sort of trademark. After our second week on the Suna front, he let me. Accompanied by Dog, I made the dash and ducked into the first seamstress shop I found and ordered a haori. Frankly, it was a joke only I would get and probably would never become funny to anyone else, but it was a very effective way to keep my spirits up and help me pull out a smile to calm the people I healed.

The haori was a bright green with black flames around the hem and had 'medic' written in bold, black kanji down the back. Yes, it was the future Yondaime Hokage's signature haori with a new color scheme and it cracked me up every time I saw it from the back. Shimizu thought I was insane, Inuzuka and Dog ignored the quirk, and Hatake would send me looks that demanded an explanation as soon as we were somewhere secure.

Maybe because it was earlier in the war, maybe because that front of the war was better off, but things got much darker once we hit the Iwa front. On the Suna front, most injuries were minor, if severely exacerbated by poison. In the Iwa front, there was a triage system and the ground permanently stained with blood. Losing patients didn't bother me because I knew every person I helped would have been worse off anyways. Across the entire Iwa front, most of the sleep I received was when we traveled between the camps. Generally, I rode on Dog, but occasionally, Hatake would carry me on his back. I objected to the rides at first, but quickly discovered that I just couldn't keep up with the speed we needed to travel.

Shimizu generally dealt with defenses around the camps while Hatake and Inuzuka provided relief on the battlefront and Dog accompanied me. Periodically, Hatake forced the team into mandatory rest times. Even though I was almost entirely sure Hatake knew, he didn't say anything when I snuck out to help those in the triage who were placed in the category of being too far gone to be worth helping. In total, I only managed to actually save about twenty of nearly a hundred I attempted to save, the rest, I did my best to ease their pain. It wasn't until we were nearly to the Kumo front when I noticed Hatake following me when I snuck out in the middle of rest times.

The front with Kumo was an offensive operation instead of defensive, so on the Kumo front, the team was effectively operating in enemy territory and the injuries were much less severe. The Kiri front was the same. By the time we finished the mission, it had been nearly five months and Hatake brought us back to Konoha at top speed. He dismissed the team once we passed the gate, but made sure to bring me to the door of my apartment.

He left to report to the Hokage.

On the small table, there was a note from Kushina saying she had been on a mission for the past few days and was due back within the next few days. There was also about two more pages summarizing what had been going on for the months I was gone, but I was too exhausted to read them. Until the apartment door closed behind me, I didn't realize how much the paranoia of a potential attack at any second was effecting me. My mission pack fell someplace in the kitchen area and I collapsed on my bed without even taking off my shoes. I was asleep in seconds.

(-_-)

What seemed like ten seconds later, I was awoken by the distinct urge to eat something and relieve myself. I made several packages of only food in the apartment, ramen, relieved myself, showered, then collapsed back on the bed. This cycle repeated twice before someone banged loudly on the door. I was still so exhausted I could barely walk straight, so it took me far longer than I would have liked to open the door.

"You're supposed to report to the hospital within twenty-four hours of returning from a mission, kid, you haven't been seen for thirty-six. What happened?" Sakumo asked, more than a little worried.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "Sandman did hi' job prop'ly 'or once." I had spent at least two-thirds of the mission staving off sleep with the jutsu I had decided to never share unless absolutely necessary.

"Sandman? Kichiro, was someone in your apartment?" Sakumo's voice gained a panicked edge.

"Not th' I know o'," I responded.

"Who's Sandman?"

"Myth'cal 'ude who 'elps people slee' an' sen's goo' 'reams." I listed to one side and after a delayed wondering of why I didn't fall, I realized I was leaning against the wall, while Sakumo did a security check on my apartment.

I yelped when Sakumo sent a jolt of chakra into my body to dispel a nonexistent Genjutsu.

"No' cool, man, no' cool," I grumbled.

"Security code, now."

I rolled my eyes and rattled off the code.

"Who or what is Sandman?"

"A story."

I was sure Sakumo was shaking his head at me. "Come on, you have a physical you should have been at this morning."

"'M coming." I stumbled forward, but Sakumo stopped me.

"It may be nearly spring, but you still need more than a pair of shorts if you don't want to catch a chill."

I didn't even have the mental faculties to flush in embarrassment. When it took me too long to stagger across the room, Sakumo snagged a shirt from the floor somewhere and pulled it over my head, followed by strapping the closest pair of shoes, my civilian sandals, on my feet. I wasn't working at the hospital so there wasn't a basic dress code for me to follow. About a quarter of the way there, I stopped abruptly.

"I look like a civilian," I said.

"Yes, you do."

"The seals—"

"Kichiro, let's just get you to the hospital. Since everyone knows you're a shinobi, a few seals will be fine." Sakumo put a hand on my back and guided me forward.

"Wait, why'm I goin' to the ho'pital, 'm not hurt." I dug my heels into the ground.

"You were just on an extended, foreign mission and someone needs to make sure you're not sick in any way, it's procedure."

"Okay."

"Nii-san? Nii-san! Nii-san!" Kushina's voice rose above the murmur of the streets. A moment later, a blur of red collided with me and it was only Sakumo's support that kept me from cracking my head on the cobblestones. "Is it true? Is what Tsunade-nee-chan said true? Are you as big of a hero as they say you are? Did you really show all the medic nin how to stop all of Suna's poisons? Did you? Did you?"

"Let him go, Kushina-chan. He's only got back from an extremely exhausting mission yesterday that had me laid up for nearly as long as he's been," Sakumo said as my knees started to buckle and I wondered how I managed to run at top speed all the way from the Kiri border if I was still this exhausted a-day-and-a-half later.

"Then why isn't he sleeping?" She challenged, pulling back and putting my arm around her shoulders. I was rather annoyed that she had grown at least two inches, judging by the fact that she now seemed taller than me, but that was probably because I wasn't exactly sure I was upright.

"He needs to go to the hospital first."

"Did he get hurt? Why didn't you go to the hospital sooner?"

"He's fine, it's just procedure after a mission in enemy territory."

"You went across the lines!" She squawked. Just like that, I felt like I was flying as Kushina lifted me onto her back and took off. I'm sure I fell back asleep on the way, because I didn't wake up until someone else laid me on a bed.

I jerked my arm out of their grip and tumbled off the bed, landing on someone who grunted. I quickly rolled off them and struggled to focus on the redhead in front of me.

"Nii-san? You alright?" The girl asked as I blinked.

"He'll be fine, just exhausted as far as I can tell," someone else, a woman, soothed. "Come on, kiddo, up on the bed. Sakumo should have brought you straight to the hospital with your level of exhaustion." A strong hand grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet and I clutched at the wrist for balance as the world started to spin and a splitting headache clawed its way to the forefront of my mind.

"Too long isolating adenosine and melatonin buildup and stimulating epinephrine production." I mumbled, one of my knees giving out.

"I only understood half of that, kiddo," she responded kindly as she laid me back down on the bed. I blinked up at the woman leaning over me, her hand over my forehead, the green glow turning the rest of the room odd colors.

"I 'member you, you're Tsunade."

"That's Tsunade-sama to you, twerp." Her voice gained a bit of an edge. "I know you've been messing with your own body and it doesn't look like experimentation so what the hell are you doing and how do I fix it?"

"Can't fix, 'm fine, just need to sleep it off. I played with adenosine and melatonin for too long an' now 'm paying for it. Just need fluids and calories. Can I sleep?"

"Fine, I'll give you an IV, but you better have answers for me when you wake up."

"Mm." As she pulled her hand away from my forehead, I let myself just fall back asleep.

(-_-)

When I woke up actually rested and somewhat refreshed, if lethargic, a note on the table beside me said it had been slightly less than two days since I arrived in the hospital. It also contained orders to open the room for someone who needed it and report to Tsunade. I ripped out the IV and quickly healed it before I dripped blood on anything other than my shirt.

In five minutes, I had prepped the room for whomever would need it next and signed it open at the end of the hall.

Ten minutes later, I managed to locate Tsunade in the shinobi medic breakroom. She sat in the corner on one of the sofas, her head in her hands.

I knocked softly on the door. "Tsunade?"

"Adenosine and melatonin. Mind explaining?" She patted the cushion beside her. I sat down in one of the chair a few meters away, just to be contrary. I felt strange without my fighting sticks, but it was a comfortable strange. "It's not in any book you've read and I've been keeping a close eye on you since you started training."

"No, it's, um, something I made up?"

"Really." She stated, finally looking at me. "I don't take bullshit from anyone, what makes you think I'll swallow yours."

I tried a different approach. "Adenosine and melatonin are chemicals in the brain which build throughout the day and causes tiredness and helps facilitate sleep. I wanted to figure out a way to stave off exhaustion, so I did. The only problem is that adenosine is generally broken down during sleep and after staving it off for however many months I was on mission, it took a very, very long time to break down and I didn't realize that until a few days ago because I had only used it once to hold off sleep for a few hours. Before you ask, I'm not teaching the technique to anyone else because it's so easily abused and no one else has both the pure-blooded Uzumaki vitality as well as medical experience to fall back on if something goes wrong."

Tsunade was very unhappy about that last little bit. "You're withholding information from a superior."

"I practically went into a coma afterwards for almost four full days, think about how many people, who don't have the famous Uzumaki resilience, could end up dying after the war is over if I release this technique."

"I'm not angry about your refusal to share, I'm angry you attempted a new medical technique without supervision."

"I know what I'm doing."

"You're just a kid—"

"You never learn anything useful by playing it safe."

"You sound like Orochimaru."

"Don't compare me to that creep," I spat.

After a long silence, Tsunade decided to ignore my outburst.

"No more unsanctioned experiments, got it?"

"I'm not going to make a promise like that. I've already been bitten once and I learned my lesson when dealing with him."

"Who?"

"The Hokage." I stood up and left while she was still reeling in shock.

I made my way back to my apartment first to clean up the mess I probably left when I came back from my mission. When I unlocked and opened the door, I found Kushina had already cleaned up and was sitting at the table contemplating the dregs of her instant ramen and cementing my opinion that kids were entirely incapable of feeding themselves, no matter hypocritical that sounded. I picked up the cup, noting that it had long ago turned cold, and dumped the thing in the trash. I guessed it to be sometime around dinner. I was about to suggest we go somewhere nice to eat when I noticed my freshly-washed haori on the table as the focus of Kushina's gaze. I waved my hand in front of her face since she didn't seem to have noticed me cleaning up her ramen.

"Sensei had to bring us to the warfront with Iwa about a month after you left."

I was not expecting her to say that.

"He didn't want to, but there was an emergency and we were too close to the red line for him to send us back alone."

I squatted beside her, a hand on her knee.

"He left us at the base while he went to fight, but while he was gone, Iwa found out we, his Genin team, were nearby so they came after us. They destroyed the base. Minato and I got out because one of the Chuunin had taken us out to teach us how to patrol. Aoi was all arrogant and said he already knew how; his big brother was a Tokubetsu Jōnin, his team's security expert, and had taught him everything."

I knew exactly what camp she was talking about. I had reached it a few days after it had been destroyed. Only a handful of shinobi had escaped. Our team had stayed there for over a week until reinforcements had arrived.

"Aoi was on the base and they took him hostage to try and force Sensei to surrender. He was about to give up to save Aoi, but Orochimaru-baka arrived and wouldn't let him. They argued and it was terrifying. The next day, they sent Aoi back. On-on one side of head, his hair was dyed red and on the other it was yellow. His eyes had been ripped out, his tongue cut out, his nails torn off. Most of the skin on his body had been removed one way or another. His fingers, elbows, knees, ankles, and toes were all shattered beyond repair. His face was almost entirely burned away; we wouldn't have recognized him if we hadn't known who we were looking for. The worst part was that he was still alive."

I pressed my fist over my mouth, sickened.

"Sensei wanted to bring him back to Konoha so Tsunade could save him, but he wouldn't have survived the trip. One of the messenger Chuunin said that there was someone, a boy in a green haori, on their way who had the best chance of saving him if we left him at the base, slim as that chance was. We didn't have a choice. Sensei needed to join the rest of his team. I wanted to stay at the camp and help them rebuild, but Sensei sent us back with the next group that brought supplies. They brought us here and Minato and I have been doing every mission we could without a Jōnin-sensei ever since."

I remembered the base and the boy they had asked if I could heal. I hadn't recognized Aoi, nor had the rest of the team. If his brother recognized him, he never showed any sign. Names and team affiliations were extremely compartmentalized, especially the names of anyone associated with any high-profile Jōnin. None of the bases we came across were given my name, rank, or personal information besides my appearance, even though many of the people we came across knew it anyways, they didn't show it. Sakumo was too well-known and I was the perfect hostage, both to control him and to control the entire village. It was a show of silent comradeship to preserve the identities of fellow Konoha ninja.

I remembered exactly who Kushina was talking about. His hair had turned a disgusting orange from when someone tried to wash out the dye. It was obvious he had been a prisoner. I tried to save him, but his body went into shock as soon had I had managed to patch up the internal hemorrhaging to begin a surgery focused on removing the blood filling his chest cavity that was keeping him from breathing properly as well as his heart from steadily beating. I could have easily dealt with both the shock and the subsequent heart failure, I had plenty of chakra, but the dehydration from the burns and lack of skin killed the boy before I could do anything about it. Not that I could have done anything in the first place, at least not without hospital equipment.

Kushina continued. "You were the medic who singlehandedly doubled the standing force on the Suna front just by healing those who were poisoned and stopping a lot of the poisons from hurting them again. You were the only medic who had any chance of saving Aoi. You're the person they're calling the Spirit of the Triage."

I had heard the name they had taken to calling me. Just like my haori, it made me smile every time I heard it, mostly because I had liked historical stories in my old world and even though the titles had nothing in common, I had gotten the name similar to how Florence Nightingale was dubbed the 'The Lady with the Lamp.' It was more common for me to spend several night in a row healing and get a few hours of sleep while being carried on a teammate's back to the next base.

We had stopped for the night at a civilian village somewhere near the Valley of the End when I first heard the name. I managed to choke down a laugh and immediately dashed to our rooms and collapsed into hysterics. Sakumo followed and was more than a little concerned for my sanity until I told him what I found so funny about the name. He didn't find it funny, but he rolled his eyes and let me have my laugh.

Finally, Kushina asked the question that I had been expecting. "Did you manage to save Aoi?"

"No," I responded. "I didn't know it was him until you told me what happened to him, but I tried to save him. As soon as I stepped on the base they brought me to him. I almost saved him, I think I could have, but I didn't have the hospital equipment I needed or anyone to help. But that's what most of the losses come down to now, there just isn't enough."

"It's okay, I know you did everything you could. Thank you for trying, Nii-san."

I let the silence stretch on.

"Did you have to fight?" She asked in a small voice.

"A few times."

"Did you have to kill?"

"Y-yes."

She looked away from me and laid her head on the table. "What did it feel like?"

I frowned. That wasn't a question Kushina would ever ask and she didn't even sound like she wanted an answer. A heartbeat later, I flinched. "It felt wrong, but not. The first time, I was too scared to fight. He was a teenager, no more than five years older than me, a new Chuunin at best, on a Jōnin team just like mine. He was from Suna and his team had somehow made it past the border. We weren't sure how. He was twirling a kunai around his finger, taunting me. I kept tripping backwards until he used some earth release to trap me against a wall, I didn't draw my weapons. He was about to tear my throat out when he stopped. He recognized me as an Uzumaki. He recognized me as the person who managed to counter some of their poisons. He swore my death would be as slow and painful as possible. I didn't want to die. I couldn't die. There were people who needed my help. He slashed at my stomach. I blocked and shattered his knee with one of my sticks. He screamed as he landed on that knee and then I broke one of his wrists. I dropped my sticks, grabbed the back of his head and bashed his face in against my knee. He was dead before my sticks hit the ground."

"A bunch of bandits were desperate when Minato and I were delivering supplies to the yellow line last week. They came out of nowhere. I-I don't really remember exactly what happened, just that by the end of the attack, there were eight of them dead and we had killed four each."

There was something else she wanted to say, I just knew it, so I waited.

"I didn't feel anything. We just left their bodies to burn and finished the mission."

I wasn't surprised. She had spent two years in the Academy being conditioned to kill without remorse.

"That's wrong, isn't it?"

It wasn't her fault she was trained that way. "You're the one who has to decide that."

"You think it's wrong, right, Nii-san?"

"I think murder is wrong. They attacked first, so it was self-defense. Maybe you took it too far, but that is most certainly not your fault. The Academy and your sensei trained you to kill and you did exactly what was expected of you. Now, let's go find somewhere to have a nice dinner because I feel like I haven't had real food in over a year."

"Sure."

Kushina wrapped her arms around my waist. When we stepped out of the door, I jumped in surprise as I noticed Arata leaning against the wall holding a corpse scroll.

"So my little brother is really dead and I just stood there. I thought it was him, but I spent the entire time thinking it might not have been. He was a Genin. He wasn't supposed to be allowed beyond the red line and he couldn't have gotten good enough to be a Chuunin yet, not on his team."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save him."

"Don't be. He was dead before you even reached him. Hatake sent me to bring you this." Arata handed me a cloth bag. "Congratulations, you're a Chuunin now, you've been a Chuunin for awhile, that's your uniform. Report to the briefing rooms tomorrow at sunrise. We have another mission." He vanished. I glanced in the bag and saw a Chuunin vest and a wad of black cloth before turning back to Kushina.

"We still have time for dinner, right? And you'll visit Minato-kun with me?"

I tossed the bag inside and gave her a tight hug. "Of course."