A/N: Well, it seems you all convinced me to update;) Thank to my beta, Kilerkki:)
ps. Naruto doesn't belong to me. Neither does Kakashi, alas.
The train had stopped for the first night at an inn on the outskirts of the town, giving Kakashi and Rin the opportunity to become better acquainted with their clients.
Kakashi was used to adults deciding his fate as if he weren't standing there listening. What he wasn't used to was the fate these adults had in store for him.
"Oh, a soft pink would go excellently with her hair."
"It's summer. She should be in something more festive!"
What Tojo-sama had forgotten to mention in his mission brief was that his wife didn't want extra servants - she wanted dress-up dolls. Kakashi had been at the mercy of the client's wife, Misaki-sama, and her sister, Sachiko-sama, almost since the moment he had arrived. Rin was demurely helping the sisters by fetching a seemingly endless supply of yukata and cloth. Since demure was not an adjective Kakashi would ever have used to describe Rin, he had carefully been watching her and had caught the growing amusement in her eyes at his predicament. He couldn't decide if he preferred it to her flare of anger when he had been picked as the 'cuter' of the two hours before.
Kakashi would happily have given up the honor to her. His experience was limited, but Rin did look pretty in her yukata, even if it was weird to see her with her usual facial markings covered. She probably thought the same thing about him and his mask. Had it just been Rin alone here, the women would have chosen to fawn over her, but Kakashi had an exotic appeal with his silver hair and eyes and pale face. He knew this because the women had told him how amazing his features were several times since this ordeal started.
Not for the first time, he wished he had enough chakra to hold a henge illusion for the two weeks this mission was going to take.
"What do you think, Hatako-chan?"
It took Kakashi a moment to respond to the name. He had reasoned he was much more likely to react better to a feminized version of his family name on this mission, since every time he heard 'Kakaru' or 'Kakki' his mind went blank and he automatically reached for a kunai. What he hadn't counted on was his client's persistent use of 'chan'.
He stared blankly at the three different yukata spread before him. Why did they expect him to have an opinion? "Whatever you think is best, Misaki-sama," he said respectfully. It was the exact same answer he had given half an hour ago when they'd asked his opinion, only this time they didn't seem satisfied.
"Oh! But you must have a preference," said Sachiko-sama. She was the more energetic of the two sisters. The pretty, dark-haired woman had recently been widowed, but if she did miss her husband she certainly wasn't showing it. "What's your favorite color, Ha-chan?"
Did she have to destroy his name even more? He took a deep breath as he considered an answer to the question. He had no favorite color, and would wear whatever was required, this mission being a case in point. "Blue," he said finally, settling on his usual uniform color.
"Dark or light?"
"Dark."
Misaki-sama bit her lip. "That would certainly be striking," she mused.
"Too much would make her look washed out," protested Sachiko-sama.
Kakashi breathed a subtle sigh of relief as they settled back into their debate. So long as they didn't want his opinion, he could just stand there and occasionally let them dress him in one of the yukata they both liked enough for him to try on, but not enough for him to keep wearing. It was a bit like being on sentry duty, only more annoying, since he was going to have to move very quickly to get to the weapons that were secreted away in his original yukata if they were attacked. The light cotton under-robe he was wearing didn't allow for many weapons.
Suddenly, Misaki-sama screamed. Kakashi's hand went for the shuriken tucked in the small of his back, but relaxed when he saw Rin giving the all clear sign. The women were all clustered around the pile of robes. Crouching down to peer past their legs, he could see a huge, black spider sitting happily on yellow and green silk. The two women were obviously repulsed. From the rate they were backing away, they were going to run into him in a moment, yet they couldn't seem to take their eyes off the spider.
He started to push past them to deal with it, but Rin got there first. She picked up one of the nearby lacquer boxes for storing the fabric and easily scooped the spider into it, then walked over to the window of their room and dumped the spider out.
"Rin-chan, you're so brave! You did that so calmly," said Misaki-sama after a moment. "I thought we were going to have to call someone to get rid of it. Are you all right, Hatako-chan?"
Kakashi was insulted by the implication that he was afraid of spiders, but his annoyance must have looked like something else to the older woman because he was suddenly pulled into a deep hug. A hug that became very interesting when his face was pressed into her breasts. Comforting words were whispered into his ear, but he couldn't hear them since he was concentrating very hard on preventing his whole body from turning red in one massive blush.
"Mi-chan, don't suffocate her just because you were scared," scolded Sachiko-sama. Kakashi was abruptly released.
"Sorry, Ha-chan." Kakashi was patted on the shoulder, while he tried not to meet Misaki-sama's eyes. "Why don't you and Rin-chan get some sleep? We'll pick out a pretty yukata for you when we leave in the morning." They didn't wait for his answer, but swept out of the room, avoiding the pile of supposedly spider-infested yukata.
Kakashi glanced over at Rin, daring her to say something.
Never one to lack for courage, she did. "Well, Sensei will be jealous at least."
"It isn't necessary to include in our report," said Kakashi stiffly. "That's an order," he added. While he had never seen Rin blackmail someone, he was certain she wasn't above it.
"Who said anything about the report?" she asked with a grin.
Kakashi sighed. Two more weeks of this.
"Hatako-san,
To see your beautiful face
As the morning turns to dew
Let my heart be at rest.
– Minato"
Kakashi stared at the verse, desperately trying not to think about the fact that his sensei had sent him love poetry. The message underneath was clear – meet his sensei outside their inn at sunrise – but Sensei could have found a different way of telling him.
"You already have an admirer at your age? How cute. He better not be too old for you," warned Sachiko-sama. "Believe me, twenty years age difference never works out." She sounded bitter.
"Considering how many lovers you've had…" said Misaki-sama disapprovingly, trailing off when she realized that Kakashi and one of the other maids, Fuu-san, were in the room. "Time for us to retire, I think. Hatako-chan, make sure he's good to you." She swept out of the room, Fuu-san and Sachiko-sama trailing her. Kakashi went to find Rin so he could switch their unofficial watch schedule and inform her that he was meeting Sensei, then thought better of it, and first went to find a lamp so he could burn Sensei's love poetry.
The next morning found Kakashi walking softly down the hall, heading for the outside of the inn. He was feeling traumatized from the horror of having to put on his own makeup since Rin was on guard, and so only belatedly remembered to bow respectively to the man he encountered in the corridor. The rules of the women's train were relaxed when it stopped for the day, allowing men within any distance they liked so long as they didn't see Misaki-sama or vice versa. It meant the train could stay in a regular inn so long as they were careful to shield the lady, and the men's train always picked an inn on the opposite side of town.
"Excuse me, miss," called the man after Kakashi had passed him. Kakashi turned. "You have beautiful eyes," said the man with a smile, then walked off with a spring to his step.
Kakashi added the comment to his growing list of moments he would never think of again. It was disturbing how many of those moments had happened over the past few days.
Outside, it was muggy with the sun burning off the early morning haze. Kakashi took up position at one corner of the building. He ignored the stares of the few people on the street. There was no helping the fact that he stood out. Misaki-sama had taken to dressing him in a different yukata each day, and today's was a light blue with pink sakura petals and calligraphy scattered across it.
A half hour later, he was beginning to worry. It wasn't like Sensei to be late, and if Kakashi stayed out much longer he would be missed at breakfast. He scanned the street, his eyes snapping back to where a black-haired boy had just rounded the corner. It was Obito. He was wearing an ill fitting servant's outfit, and he had his usual stupid look of panic on his face about being late. Normally, Kakashi would have been furious about lateness during a mission, but he was too busy desperately hoping that the bouquet of flowers in Obito's hand wasn't for him.
He watched in horror as Obito got closer, the flowers held out before him like some sort of shield. It was too late for an invisibility jutsu, and Sensei would probably object if he killed Obito to avoid embarrassment. Obito stopped in front of him.
"Here." Obito held out the bouquet of blue and yellow flowers.
"You're late," said Kakashi, ignoring the bouquet as if his life depended on it.
"I know. I had to get the flowers. Just take them!" He thrust them into Kakashi's face, making Kakashi's nose twitch. Reflexively, he batted the flowers out of the way.
"Come on, Ka- Hatako-san! Sensei said you can't go court a girl without bringing her flowers, so I did. You think I did this on purpose?"
He probably hadn't, Kakashi concluded reluctantly. If only because his face was a lot redder than Kakashi's was from embarrassment.
"I don't want them," said Kakashi, then let out a deep breath and took them anyway. It's for the mission. It's for the mission.
"Knew you'd come around," said Obito with a grin, completely forgetting his own embarrassment. "I even got flowers to match your yukata."
"That's not something to be proud of," Kakashi practically growled, ignoring a nearby young man who jumped and stared from hearing such a sound coming from a cute little girl. "What did Sensei say?"
Obito crossed his hands behind his head and stared at the sky for a moment. "Well, first he said to apologize to you because Tojo-sama wanted him to go hunting birds with him early this morning and he couldn't say no."
Kakashi nodded curtly. Sensei was his commanding officer and didn't have to explain anything, but it was good to know that sending Obito hadn't been just to torment Kakashi. "Go on."
"Sensei said to let you know there's someone following the trains."
"How many? Where?" demanded Kakashi. This changed everything.
"Hey! Calm down. He said that it's only one person and they're always a day behind the woman's train, but he doesn't think they mean any harm since the camps are poorly hidden, and they've had plenty of opportunities to attack."
Kakashi allowed himself to relax slightly now that he knew his charges weren't in danger. "What are his orders?"
"He thinks they're a thief looking for something specific so he says to keep your eyes open and see if the ladies have anything valuable to steal," said Obito.
It wasn't in their orders to protect Tojo-sama from theft, but they were likely to get a nice bonus if they did. "I'll upgrade to type two level surveillance of the clients," said Kakashi.
"Yeah," said Obito with such a vague look on his face that Kakashi wondered if he even knew what type two level surveillance was. He opened his mouth to lecture him, then stopped as the smell of a nearby meal caught his nose. Breakfast would be starting. There would be time to correct the idiot later.
"Tell Sensei what I said. Anything else?" he asked.
"He said to send him a poem if you find anything." There was a mischievous glint in Obito's eye that told him Obito had been hanging around Rin for too long.
It was only years of training that kept any reaction from Kakashi's face. Poetry?! Tsunade-sama was right. Sensei was insane. "Fine," said Kakashi, feeling a bit ill at the prospect of writing his report about this mission. "I need to go." He started to walk away.
"Yeah. Me too," said Obito to his back. "Er… Hey, Ka-Hatako-san, what's it like?" Kakashi knew he meant living as a girl, or maybe living with so many women.
It was a stupid question to ask on the street, but Kakashi did consider answering it for a moment. Scary? Weird? Disturbing? He shook his head. Obito would never understand how nice he was being by not explaining. "You don't want to know." He headed back inside.
A/N: One more chapter I think. What crossdressing fic would be complete without a bath house scene? eg I'd love to know what you found most amusing here (just so I know what's working and what isn't). Cheers and thanks to everyone for the reviews:)
