I enjoyed writing Sasuke in the Tea House, but I do regret that I chose to make it a self-contained story. I want something new to write on whenever the mood strikes me, so here is my first attempt at a longer-term story in over 7 years. Be kind (or don't, I can take it) and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. None of its characters, concepts or locations belong to me. Masashi Kishimoto does great work, and I'm a huge fan of his universe, so it is my privilege to draw inspiration from it.
Things weren't the same without the team around. Kakashi had been a loner for most of his life, and right when he was really starting to enjoy Team 7, their bonds seemed to shatter apart before his very eyes. He had been unable to stop it from happening, nothing more than an observer forced into silence by circumstance and a cruel lack of perception. Ironic, as the power gifted to him by his dear friend Obito gave him remarkable insight in battle, but could not allow him to see through Sasuke with enough clarity to keep him where he belonged. With Sasuke gone, Naruto fell into a depression. Fortunately and with great thanks to Jiraiya, he was uplifted soon enough. Kakashi wondered if Naruto's eagerness to leave the village was, at least in part, an attempt to get away from Sakura after failing to keep the promise he made to her. Sakura, too, had parted from her teacher's side, instead opting to become a medical ninja under Tsunade's tutelage. I should be happy, Kakashi often thought. My students are all being trained by the legendary sannin. He would sigh, immediately remembering that Orochimaru was not exactly a positive role model. When it came to Naruto and Sakura, he could be proud of them both. On the other hand, Sasuke was Kakashi's own failure, and he could never take back his mistakes.
Kakashi was doing well in bringing himself out of the sorrowful guilt that accompanied such a failure, though. Missions had come and gone. Sometimes easy, sometimes brief; usually both. The silver-haired copy ninja was among the strongest shinobi in the ranks of the Leaf, so of course the usual fare did little to challenge him. That isn't to say that he was the sort of man to actively seek a challenge; slow days were a blessing, providing him with plenty of time after training to read his books and enjoy the sunlight. Kakashi envied Naruto just a bit. To be traveling with such an esteemed author as Jiraiya was a splendid opportunity, even without mentioning his tremendous skill as a teacher of powerful techniques. Reading one of Jiraiya's books was what Kakashi was doing when he felt movement through the earth under his back on an otherwise uneventful day. His headband was over his Sharingan, as usual, and the movement came from his left—if it was an ambush, it had already failed, but at least the encroaching presence had been mindful of the blind spot. Kakashi hummed, closing his eye and placing a bookmark, shutting the pages and setting his reading cover-side down on the plush grass. "Let me guess; I'm needed for a mission?" He asked into the breeze.
The voice that answered wasn't startled. "Yeah, we're both up," the stalker answered, perched up in a tree with a mask on his face as if his identity were some kind of a secret. Nobody had an easy time sneaking up on Kakashi, but sometimes Tenzo liked to give it a shot. He wore the gray of the Anbu, signifying that his task was assigned by the Hokage herself. Kakashi let off a sigh, fetching his vest from its place laying against the tree beside his resting spot. Sliding his arms in and fastening it at the front, he resumed his role as an active Jonin of the Leaf. The Anbu continued, "I hope I didn't come at a bad time. According to what I've gathered, this is going to be a long assignment." Though his mask hid them, Tenzo's eyes went to Kakashi's book. "You might want to bring more material."
"We'll see," Kakashi answered in his lazy way, sitting himself up and getting onto his feet in the manner of a sloth. His head was the last thing to rise, and he stretched his arms out to either side, limbering up for the minor journey to the Hokage's Mansion. Leaning down to scoop up his book and tuck it into a pouch on the side of his vest, the powerful Jonin put one foot in front of the other, heading on his way. Tenzo dropped down from behind and then followed alongside, falling silent as they both progressed. It was rare for the both of them to be assigned to the same mission. That usually meant real trouble.
Tsunade was buried in paperwork, all but literally. Sakura was to her left at her own small desk, fiddling with a book about toxins, taking notes like the A+ student she always was. Being the Hokage took a lot out of Tsunade, but she had been through worse during any single night at a gambling house, and her current duty had a rich supply of immaterial rewards. Much better than losing everything, that is. Nobody had called her 'the legendary sucker' since she took her position, so the perks had already been worth it.
A knock came to the door, and Shizune hopped up-Tonton tucked under an arm-to open up for the guests. "Oh!" she exclaimed, wholesome eyes all bright and shimmering. "Kakashi, and uh...you!"
"We're here on business; where's the Hokage?" Tenzo asked through his mask, turning his head to look around the room. Kakashi was silently at his side, just going along for the ride.
"Uhm, over there," Shizune answered a bit sheepishly, a finger half-heartedly pointing to the heap of books, folders and loose leaves of paper that piled into a mountain of work on the Hokage's desk. Tsunade's silky hair just barely poked out at the top, like a blonde snowcap. "We were expecting you."
A hand poked through the base of the stack of burdens, easily pushing half of the huge weight aside to form a valley. The Hokage's heavy chest and unnaturally young face was then clearly in view of her targets. "Good work, Tenzo," she began, setting down her pen and setting her arms up like a temple, hands coming together beneath her chin. She leaned forward, taking on a stance of rather serious business. "I hope you're both up for this," she said with a sliver of apprehension.
Sakura's ears perked up from her studies. She turned to look at Kakashi, as well as the Anbu he walked in with, trying to be subtle about it. It wasn't her business, but she recognized the mounting worry in her master's words. It must have been something troublesome.
"I assure you that we're up for anything, Lady Hokage." Tenzo bowed his head.
"Just point us in the right direction," Kakashi added with the same polite gesture.
Tsunade smirked a bit, glad to see the willingness. Guy and Asuma were already on missions with their teams, else she probably would have called them in as well. "I know this is going to sound like a lot of trouble, but there's a matter to the southeast that needs attention." She fished through her endless mound of information, deftly fetching a single blue folder labeled 'Truth.' She opened it up, turning it toward her summoned soldiers and laying it flat on the desk for their perusal.
Within the folder were numerous pictures, all accompanied by full profiles. It was loosely compiled, like the rough draft of a Bingo Book; no binding, but plenty of dangerous-looking faces. Among those faces were numerous names that Kakashi could recognize as belonging to deceased soldiers from the third war. He reached down to lift the folder, holding it at an angle for Tenzo to share. "What is this?" Kakashi asked, his showing eye tilting toward Tsunade's grave expression.
"A list of suspects. I told you, there's a matter to the southeast. The Land of Fire has a new enemy, perhaps even a new Hidden Village." Tsunade set her hands down flat, standing up out of her chair. She was about to get to the heart of the matter. "There have been attacks on our country's soil. Numerous people in weak, smaller towns have gone missing. Bodies aren't being found."
"I don't see Orochimaru in this file," Tenzo chimed in, lifting up his mask as if it would make the pages clearer. "Isn't this something that he would do?"
"It's tough to say, but my gut tells me that it's not him this time," Tsunade replied. "It's true that since the Sound fiasco two years ago, Orochimaru has been elusive. We don't know where he is, at present, but there has been no indication that he or his subordinates have been involved near the southern border. There's a peninsula to the east of that border, a long stretch of forestland without a proper name. The attacks seem to originate from there." She rolled out a map on her desk, a long-nailed, well-manicured finger pointed to a single spot upon it, a mile or two outside the border on the southeastern edge of the Land of Fire. The stern action shook the wooden desk enough to knock a few books off their piles, sending them cascading ungracefully to the floor. Tsunade was getting better at her duties, but her organizational skills needed some improvements. Shizune was quick to make up for it, though, skipping over like a worried older sister to pick up the mess.
"You want us to investigate, then?" Kakashi slanted his brow, narrowing his eye toward the folder of names and photos in his hand. "Some of these people are dead."
"Actually, they're all supposed to be dead, but none of their bodies were recovered during the war. Blown apart, captured by the enemy after death, lost at the bottom of a lake. For whatever reason, they've never been confirmed deceased. Just in case we're dealing with a deserter who slipped away without being tagged as a rogue ninja, you should keep these files. Show them to any of the people you come across. They might be able to help."
With a nod, Kakashi clapped the folder shut. It was a bit chilling to think about the dead coming back to life, whether a true resurrection or a sudden reappearance from an uncertain demise. He had seen plenty of death during the war; what if one of those people had come back? He didn't like it, but the possibility seemed very real. "We'll review it on the way. What was the most recent town to be attacked?"
Another pointed finger, another little tremor, this time knocking books away from the other side of the pile. Shizune was on it, scampering around as if it were her only job. "Here." The position wasn't far from the border, and was in confirmed friendly territory. Whoever was behind the attacks, they must have begun quite recently. It had been years since the war; could there really have been a deserter lurking in the wilderness for so long?
"Right. We're on it," Tenzo said, another dutiful nod of departure, already turning to leave.
"One more thing," Tsunade called to the back of Tenzo's head, which promptly turned around with a puzzled, cautious expression. "This isn't the first time we've sent out an investigation." Another folder, much thinner, was produced from a stack. This one was a traditional file on a single operative. Anbu, by the looks of it. "His name is Kaine Hamasaki. I personally sent him three months ago to investigate these attacks as a top secret matter. He made it there, but stopped reporting back. Keep an eye out for him, as well."
The man in the photograph for this new file was young; no older than twenty, and even that would be pushing it. He had dark, mussed hair and a devious look on his face. He had high evaluations listed in most skill categories, though his score with genjutsu was below average. A prodigy, but not an exceptionally rare case. Not like Sasuke, and certainly not like Itachi. Kakashi took the additional folder and confirmed his mission. "Investigate the attacks, look for signs of a new enemy, and locate our missing man." He hoisted up the new file, then tucked it inside the existing trove of dead faces. "A-rank?"
"S-rank," came Tsunade's husky, sometimes-alluring voice. "We've already lost one man on this. That's why you're the only two I can trust right now to see it through. We're short on resources at the moment, so don't expect any reinforcements. Ideally, you should find the one responsible, capture him or her, and then bring them back here for interrogation. We shouldn't be taking risks right now, but this is a matter of growing importance."
Kakashi gave a nod, and so did Tenzo, though not quite in unison. "And 'Truth?'" Tenzo spoke up, noting the word written on the folder. "What does that mean to us?"
"Kaine sent one report immediately upon his arrival. He mentioned that the word 'Truth' had been carved into trees all along the border. We don't know what it means, exactly, but it's all we have to go on. Any other questions?" She passed her focused stare between Kakashi and Tenzo in equal measure, looking for misgivings. She was bad at gambling, and what she showed was clearly her poker face. She wanted to appear as if she were in control, but she had bags under her eyes that even her glamorous exterior jutsu couldn't conceal completely. She was exhausted already, and the day had only begun a few hours earlier.
Kakashi gave Tenzo a look, and although three quarters of the older Jonin's face were entirely covered, his long-time associate Tenzo could recognize it as a hint to cut the meeting off. "None," Tenzo spoke up, sliding his mask back down over his face. Sakura peeked again, but had just barely missed catching a glimpse of the Anbu's features. She cursed herself with a quiet huff when all she saw was the same clay-crafted animal visage as always. Oh well; she would find out what the man looked like someday. She was sure of that.
"We'll let you know what we find, Lady Hokage," Kakashi said, coinciding with Tenzo's lack of questions. "If something turns up, I'll send Pakkun with the details."
"Excellent. You're both dismissed. Be careful." Tsunade then resumed her previous task, lumping the parted ocean of books together like crashing waves, merging them back into a single pile.
"Good luck, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura called out from the corner of the room, giving out the well-wishes as a whisper as if she were trying not to misbehave.
Kakashi hummed with a delight that was almost paternal in nature. Sakura was still a long way from becoming an adult, and a powerful ninja, but he could see growth every time he looked at her. "Show me something new and interesting when I come back, alright, Sakura?" He gave her a thumbs-up, smiling under his mask in a way that could just barely be seen against the dark fabric.
"You bet I will!" came the enthused girl's voice, pink hair bobbing with the forward pump of her fist. She was smiling, even though Kakashi knew her heart was still heavy. Sasuke meant a lot to her, and so did Naruto. She didn't seem especially lonely, but then again neither did Kakashi. They shared that hidden desire to see the team reunited and smiling again. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.
Kakashi turned to Tenzo, then, and spoke. "Let's get moving. It's a long trip." And so they left Tsunade's office, getting a wordless but cheerful goodbye wave from Shizune as they made their exit. The door closed behind them, and they began their journey in search of 'Truth.'
I should be continuing this very shortly. Thanks for reading, and I hope you come back in the future.