Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters Kishimoto has so imaginatively created. Unfortunately.
Tenzou had never sprinted faster than he was sprinting right now, with his chest heaving, his mouth parched until it felt like it was shriveling, and his face flaming with the rush of heated blood. The towering red building which housed Konoha's esteemed Hokage seemed a hazy dream, impossibly far, and he was very, very late.
Shit, Tsunade would have his head on a stick.
oOo
"Where is that man, it's been 15 minutes!" exclaimed Tsuande furiously, "I swear when he gets here-"
The door blasted open with a jarring sound uncomfortably similar to that of a medium-sized land mine detonating.
"I'm here!" Tenzou gasped, doubling over and collapsing immediately in an attempt to breathe.
The room was dead silent save for his labored wheezes. Tenzou managed to look up through his pain, only to discover an unpleasant sight.
Unpleasant, that is, for him.
"…Indeed," acknowledged Tsunade frostily, "I'm delighted to see that you have such an acute awareness of the time."
"Hokage-sama, I'm truly sorry, you see, I just-"
"SILENCE!" Tsunade roared, all iciness melting in a blazing instant, "You have wasted fifteen minutes of my precious time, FIFTEEN MINUTES! Do you see those endless stacks of papers threatening to collapse the legs of my desk? I don't have a second of my life to waste, do you understa-"
The door swung open, and a silver-haired man strolled leisurely in.
"Yo," he greeted sleepily, raising a hand.
Tsunade's right eyebrow twitched independently of her face like some gruesomely happy caterpillar. She opened her mouth once, twice, and then closed it once more. The veins in her forehead pulsed noticeably more visibly.
"You…" she managed to utter before her mouth returned to the thin, hard line she had previously sported.
Tenzou shuddered. Who was this man? And how in tarnation did he have the nerve to waltz into the Hokage's office late, particularly considering the infamous rage of their renowned leader? He allowed his hands to travel up in preparation of what was sure to be an immensely terrifying and life-threatening explosion.
"…Hatake Kakashi, you're only fifteen minutes late?!" Tsunade finished in merry disbelief, "What insane miracle brought this unexpected blessing about?"
Tenzou's jaw dropped 5 feet to the floor.
"Oh," answered Kakashi, completely unfazed by the instant mood change, "Well, I just couldn't wait to see who my cute little partner was for this mission. Who is this Tenzou anyway?"
Tsunade chuckled.
"Funny you should ask. Kakashi, meet Tenzou." She gestured towards said man, who, until a moment ago, was about to be subject to a volcanic, ear-splitting destruction.
Tenzou gaped. He was paired with Hatake Kakashi, the Hatake Kakashi? The Kakashi who became a jounin at the mere age of 10, who had become an ANBU captain at only 13, who was famed, envied and feared for the thousands of techniques he had mastered? There was no way. Why him? Tenzou had just become a jounin last week, he was nowhere near the league of this extraordinary man.
"So does he always look that dopey?" asked Kakashi pleasantly, as he eyed his new partner. Tenzou wasn't aware that his face could heat up any further, but it did.
"Excuse me, but I don't look..." Tenzou paused for a moment, wondering where he had gotten that word, "I don't look dopey." He looked passably calm, but it was evident to everyone in the room that inside, the offended man was livid.
"Mm…" hummed Kakashi, as if he hadn't heard the indignant jounin.
The Hokage rolled her eyes.
"I can see that you two will get along wonderfully," she interjected, "But unfortunately you'll have to save the love for later. Anyway, as I was saying, you two will be partners for this next mission."
She stopped to chuck a scroll at Kakashi, who caught the cloth deftly in one hand and unraveled it all in one fluid motion.
"A group of construction workers have been hired to complete a mansion for one of Fire country's newest feudal lords. Unfortunately, bands of bandits have harassed the crew ruthlessly, murdering the builders one or two at a time and setting the framework of the mansion on fire on numerous occasions. The feudal lord's personal body guards will attend to the security of his home after the building is complete, but they can not leave his side, so the mansion must be completed with outside help. That's where you two come in. All you have to do is protect the construction workers until they finish the project."
"Sounds good," said Tenzou. Thankfully, his first A-rank mission didn't appear especially dangerous. He glanced quickly at his silver-haired partner to observe his thoughts, but Kakashi was gazing blankly at the massive window behind Tsunade and didn't appear to have heard the talk.
"Good, you two are dismissed" the Hokage announced, and with an irritated shooing motion, ushered them out of her office.
Once outside the room, Tenzou found himself encompassed in a silence that suffocated with awkwardness; with Kakashi walking idly in apparent oblivion of his new partner, there really wasn't much to say.
"Er, if we're going to work together, we should probably get to know each other first" began Tenzou uncertainly, after the two had made their way side by side to the end of the hallway in utter quiet.
Kakashi acknowledged the statement with a brief glance in his partner's direction. Tenzou chewed his lip nervously when the man's actions went no further and silence once again settled around them.
"So…how 'bout we go get drinks or something? Does tea sound good, or maybe a bit of sake?" Tenzou suggested hopelessly.
There was a pause.
"Tea will do," responded the silver-haired jounin.
"Okay, let's meet up at Asuka's Teahouse in ten minutes then," said Tenzou, eager to escape Kakashi's presence.
"Yeah that's fine," replied Kakashi, and without further words, disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Tenzou sighed. What a strange man. He didn't know if he could tolerate working with him for what was sure to be a substantial amount of time.
The wood ninja shrugged.
Time would tell.
oOo
Asuka's Teahouse was loud and rowdy with the laughter of large crowds. Tenzou pushed his way through the masses of people with slight impatience. He had not anticipated how difficult it would be to step out of the shower once he was in it, and was now faced with the consequent urgency of tardiness for the second time that day.
At the counter, a waitress dressed in a white blouse greeted him happily.
"Hello! What would you like today?"
Hmm…what would he like today? Hmm…she was kind of cute, with her brown hair tied back into a neat ponytail and her round eyes that seemed to flirt with his…and that...ample chest...he snapped awake when he realized he was staring at an inappropriate area. Okay back to reality. He wasn't feeling sick, so chamomile tea would be unnecessary. Black tea seemed a little too bitter for the occasion. What about the white tea…Oh heck, he was going on his first jounin mission with none other than the legendary copy ninja, he might as well treat himself to something nice.
"I'll have the specialty jasmine milk tea with pudding," he decided firmly.
"Okay, it'll be just a minute!" answered the waitress, and she hastened to announce the order.
Tenzou nodded, his eyes lingering on her awhile longer before he made his way to the side so as not to get in the way of things. He looked around, perplexed. Where was Kakashi? The wood nin glanced at the clock on the wall. 11:17. They were supposed to meet here seventeen minutes ago! He scanned the crowded room again, but the elusive silver-haired jounin was nowhere to be found. Damn that man…where was he?
"Specialty jasmine milk tea with pudding!" called out a waiter.
Tenzou's irritation was temporarily dispelled by the shout.
"Coming!" he called back, and sprinted for the counter.
The tea was steaming, literally. Vapor swirled and twisted around into nothingness from the top of the light green drink, and Tenzou could smell the faintest of fragrances wafting from the cup, even through the heavy odor of sweaty customers. The egg pudding drifted slowly around at the bottom of the liquid. The new jounin sighed happily. This was going to be amazing. But amazing would have to wait a bit longer, since there was no way he could enjoy his tea with this many people yelling and laughing around him. He began shoving his way through the horde and past the narrow doorway into the freedom of the outside. God why were their so many people?
Burning tea splashed across his fingers. Shit shit shit! His hand screamed in protest, and it was all Tenzou could do not to drop the whole cup onto the floor in pain.
"Move it!" he ordered loudly, aggravated now by the loss of his drink and the consequent agony that came with it. He more or less barreled his way through the remainder of the mob, shouting curses over his shoulder whenever a particular person failed to evade him and scalding tea splashed out yet again.
Almost…there….
He burst out of Asuka's Teahouse with what remained of his precious drink, triumphant at last, free to enjoy the last of his expensive beverage…to joy...to life...to infinite happiness!
He crashed headfirst into the chest of a man. The teacup soared from his hands, flying into the air in what seemed like slow motion, the porcelain glinting in the sunlight as it began to spin, and Tenzou was falling….falling…and the cup was too far away…
A strong hand grabbed his collar, hoisting him up and saving him from what would certainly have been an unpleasant face full of dust. Another hand grabbed the teacup effortlessly from its disastrous descent. Tenzou gazed up in wonder. Who was this mysterious savior?
The sunlight streamed through silvery hair as he stared into one, very bored eye.
"Why hello Tenzou" greeted Kakashi.
Sorry, slightly hasty. This is just a rough start, REVIEWS PLEASE :]
