A/N: Again, thanks to everyone for the reviews! You people really do make my day. It makes me so happy to know you're having as much fun with Kakashi and Suyo (and Sai and Naruto and Sakura and Gai) as I am. Ahh, Gai, he's just so delightfully insane. But then again, I think being batshit crazy is a requirement of making jounin. Hmm, by that measure, Naruto ought to be a jounin by the end of the week… :-P
The disclaimer… do I really have to repeat it at every chapter? I don't own Naruto. If I did, Kakashi would go around shirtless pretty much constantly and I'd draw myself in as his girlfriend. Hamana hamana.
Kakashi steadied Suyo as the reappeared in her apartment, anticipating a little extra disorientation this time around since he'd not only transported them over a mile again, he'd taken them from sitting to standing. Unfortunately, she recovered her balance quickly, which removed his excuse for holding her close.
This time he didn't let her go, though. To his delight, she didn't release him, either. For a long moment they just stood like that, silently holding each other in the middle of her dark living room. Finally Kakashi made himself speak. "I'm really going to kill Gai, you know."
Suyo laughed, the sound muffled against his chest. "Maybe just a little grievous bodily harm," she suggested instead. "Naruto says that Konoha needs all its shinobi for missions."
Missions… he stifled a groan. "Actually, that's probably what this summons is about," he said. He stroked her hair, loving its softness in his hands, hating that he hadn't gotten the chance to feel it against the rest of his skin. "I don't know how long I'll be gone…"
She finished the sentence for him. "And you wouldn't be able to tell me if you did." She raised her head and smiled, but he knew her well enough now to see the tension hidden behind her eyes and the worry betrayed by the stiffness of her shoulders. "It's all right, Kakashi. I've known Naruto long enough to understand how this works."
"Should I tell you not to worry?" he asked, still caressing her hair.
Her smile vanished and she closed her eyes. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "Don't tell me that."
"I won't, then." He released her to slide his fingers over her wrists. He raised her hands and placed them gently on his cheeks, over the mask. Her eyes opened with surprise. "I gave you a promise, Suyo. Do you still want to see me?"
It was an absolutely unprecedented offer. Oh, some had seen his face–Minato had seen him when he'd been a child, Ayame and Teuchi had caught a glimpse once as he ate at Ichiraku, and he was sure various medical nin had sneaked a peek or two over the years. And now that he thought about it, Gai had accidentally knocked his mask off during a sparring match a few years back, but Kakashi had retaliated by kicking Gai's ass so thoroughly he wasn't sure the Green Beast even remembered it. He'd certainly never mentioned it after he'd been released from the hospital. But to offer to let someone else remove his mask… Kakashi had never done that before. He wondered if Suyo would ever realize what this meant.
Her fingertips slipped under the edge of the cloth and stilled there. "Are you sure?" she asked, not tugging the mask away, and he thought perhaps she did realize.
He nodded. It still surprised him just how much he was sure. "Easier to kiss you with it off."
Suyo smiled at his attempt to relieve the tension, but she withdrew her hands instead of pulling the mask down. "When you get back. This is enough for now," she said softly, then traced a fingertip gently over the scar marring his left eye before going up on her toes to press a kiss to the closed lid. "Besides, you'll have more motivation to come home quickly if you know you've still got an outstanding promise to keep."
The swooping drop in the pit of his stomach could have been relief or disappointment–he couldn't quite decide which. But he just nodded, accepting her decision. "I've already got a lot of motivation to come home quickly, you know." He bent and brushed his lips over hers, and just as before, the cloth barrier didn't do much to dampen the fire that shot down his spine at the contact. He kissed her again, this time a little slower, lingering over it.
She laughed against his mouth. "You know, that mask probably thinks I like it quite a bit," she teased. "I think I've kissed it more than I've kissed you."
"Well, while I'm gone you can think of ways to even up the score when I get back."
Suyo smiled and gently moved away from him, softening her withdrawal by taking his hands again. Her smile quickly faded, though. "I'll do that, but only if you promise me one thing." He raised an eyebrow at her sudden seriousness. "Don't think of me while you're gone," she said, her tone and gaze now almost fierce. "Think of me when you get back, but not for a single instant while you're away. Keep your mind on the mission. All right?"
Kakashi nodded. He knew she was right, but he couldn't guarantee what his mind would do during the mission's inevitable downtime. Thinking of Suyo would certainly be more pleasant than his usual musings… but the distraction she presented could certainly be dangerous. "I'll do my best," he murmured, wishing he could give her the promise she wanted.
"Thank you." She let go of his hands and reached up to untie his hitai-ate from around her neck. "Here. Now go–you don't want to keep Hokage-sama waiting."
He accepted it and nodded, even though normally he didn't care if he kept anyone waiting. The longer he stayed with Suyo, the harder it would be to leave. "I'll see you as soon as I get back," he promised, beginning to make the Shunshin-no-jutsu hand signs for the third time that evening.
"Please be careful," he heard her whisper as he vanished.
Kakashi didn't go to Hokage Tower, though–not yet. He arrived in his apartment and changed out of his civilian attire, scowling the entire time. Of all the fucked-up ways this date could've ended, getting called away to go on a mission–with freaking Gai of all people!–was definitely not an outcome he'd anticipated. That moment in the clearing replayed in his mind, sensual and tender and fraught with the promise of a kiss that would've sizzled the brain right out of his head, and that just pissed him off more.
What the hell could be so important that Gai hadn't been able to wait five damn minutes to tell him? Why did the Green Beast have to be so oblivious that he hadn't bothered to check out what was happening in the clearing before announcing himself like that? Wasn't a shinobi supposed to be aware of his surroundings? What the hell kind of stupid excuse for a jounin was he?
He'd worked himself into a fine temper by the time he arrived at Hokage Tower–leaping from roof to roof this time to conserve his chakra for the mission ahead instead of employing the Body-Flicker again. The thought of retrieving Gai before arriving at the Tower didn't so much as cross his mind. He didn't much care if Gai waited all damn night at the clearing because Kakashi sure as hell wasn't going up there to find him.
To his great displeasure, however, Gai was waiting for him when he landed on the roof of Hokage Tower. "Kakashi-san, I–"
Kakashi's fist flew before he even had a chance to think about it. The only concession he made to the upcoming mission was to make it a straight punch, not a chakra-enhanced one–oh, he was still going to make Gai suffer, but it would be counterproductive to disable his mission partner. His full retaliation would have to wait until their mission was completed.
But regardless of the mission, Kakashi had to have a little payback right now.
Chakra-loaded or not, his punch still sent Gai flying a good five feet before he skidded to a stop against the low wall that encircled the roof. He sat sprawled there as stars danced in his stunned eyes. Kakashi advanced on him, glaring death, both fists still clenched. "Next time, assess the fucking situation before you go charging in, you bloody idiot!" he snarled.
Gai rubbed his jaw, wincing. "Forgive me, Kakashi," he said, and for once, his tone was genuinely contrite. "I just… it never occurred to me that you… I mean, you never…"
You never give women the time of day. Kakashi didn't need him to actually finish the sentence. "You're right, so when I do, it means I really don't want great lumbering morons crashing in and wrecking everything," he growled. He finally lowered his fists but didn't offer Gai a helping hand up. The memory of this afternoon's humiliating hours with Sakura burned though him, fueling his anger even more. "You have no idea what I went through to even get that date set up, damn it, and when it was going so well… grah!" He punched the wall beside his self-proclaimed rival's head, leaving a spidering circle of cracks in the stone, before shoving his hands in his pockets and glaring down at the stunned jounin again.
His words were now clipped and savage. "For future reference, Gai, if Konoha isn't on fire, the Hokage hasn't been taken captive, Sound nin aren't rampaging in the streets, or Naruto isn't in full-on Fox Mode killing everything in sight, nothing is so important it can't wait five fucking minutes. Got it?"
The Green Beast lowered his eyes sheepishly. "… got it," he said meekly, still rubbing his already-swelling jaw.
"Good." Kakashi took a deep breath to calm himself, and suddenly caught a whiff of Suyo's unique fragrance from his hitai-ate. More than anything else, that helped him rein in his fury before he went too far. "Now come on. Let's get this mission started so we can get it over with."
Tsunade was waiting for them in her office, frowning over a scroll in one hand while the other held an empty sake cup. "Finally," she snapped when they landed silently outside her open window. "I have an urgent S-rank mission for the two of you. Get in here."
Kakashi and Gai obeyed and stood at attention in front of her overloaded desk. She threw the scroll at Kakashi, who caught it with the flick of one hand. "We received this message from the Daimyou of Marsh Country. Chichiyasu-sama's son is being held for ransom. The mission is to retrieve the child and dispose of the kidnappers in any way you see fit, as long as it's messy enough to deter anyone else who thinks kidnapping is a good way to make a living. As usual, Konoha cannot be implicated in any way, so discretion is vital. Got it?"
"Hai." The two jounin nodded sharply as they answered together. Kakashi read the scroll, pushing everything out of his mind except for this mission, becoming the "perfect shinobi" once more. He understood why Tsunade had chosen the odd team she had–in addition to the Sharingan and all the jutsus it put at his disposal, Kakashi was quite possibly Konoha's foremost expert in all the various messages that could be sent through death. While Gai, despite his penchant for vivid green spandex and over-the-top dramatics, was a taijutsu master whose incredible power could smash through any enemy line when he chose to open his Chakra Gates. Despite that, he still possessed the ability to set a terrified child at ease… and unbelievable as it might seem, Gai actually could blend in when he put his mind to it.
Really, sometimes Kakashi thought the Green Beast's masks were every bit as good as his own.
He passed the scroll to Gai after he'd read everything, already making a mental list of supplies and weapons he'd need to gather before they set out. They asked a few questions, but the scroll was really all the mission briefing they needed. When Tsunade dismissed them a moment later, Kakashi and Gai didn't even have to speak to know that they would gather supplies at their individual apartments before rendezvousing at the gates in fifteen minutes.
They set off without a word when Kakashi arrived (on time twice in one night, not that anyone would ever give him credit for it, he thought wryly). Due to the urgency of this mission, they leapt through the trees rather than walking along the road. For nearly an hour, Kakashi was certain that they both had their minds firmly on the mission.
Until Gai broke the silence. "So who is she? I didn't recognize her."
Kakashi nearly missed the next branch. After their little altercation on the roof, he'd assumed Gai would realize that the subject of that interrupted date was firmly off-limits. "Why should you have?" he returned, hoping his curt answer would preclude further questions.
Gai gave him a surprised glance. "Well, I do know most of Konoha's shinobi by sight, even if I haven't worked directly with them all," he said with a shrug. "I mean, we see each other at meetings all the time, right? I know she can't be a jounin because then I'd have recognized her right off. So what is she, a chuunin? Tokubetsu, maybe?"
It took a moment for Kakashi to figure out what the hell Gai was talking about–what did rank have to do with Suyo? Then he remembered that she'd been wearing his hitai-ate when Gai had made his most unwelcome entrance. Naturally he'd assume Suyo was simply displaying her ninja symbol as most of Konoha's shinobi did at all times. "The hitai-ate was mine," Kakashi said shortly, hoping this would end the matter. He really wasn't interested in discussing with Gai just why Suyo had been wearing his headband. The man was the poster-child for tactlessness. "She's not shinobi."
The Green Beast actually skidded to a halt, jaw dropping in shock. Kakashi had no choice but to stop, too–it was against protocol to split the team during routine travel. "What?" he demanded, automatically going on full alert and scanning the area for the chakra signatures that could indicate unknown nin or jutsu traps. He found nothing–just what he'd expected this close to Konoha. "You can't need a rest already. We're on a tight time-frame here, so–"
Gai didn't even seem to have heard him. "You're… no, you're joking. She's a civilian?"
The incredulous tone in which he said that word grated on Kakashi's already raw nerves. He stared, utterly stunned at his partner's unprofessional behavior. Gai had actually stopped–was delaying their urgent mission–for this? He could hardly believe it. "This is not a subject that is open for discussion, Gai," he growled, turning his back on his partner and preparing to leap away again.
Gai grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. "Kakashi, come on–you know better than this," he said, and only the earnest, concerned tone of his voice prevented him from getting punched again. It was hard to beat up someone who sounded so genuinely distressed. "Getting involved with a civilian…"
Kakashi marveled at the jounin's nerve. He was either very brave or truly, deeply suicidal. "What happened to the joyful blossoming of my youthful springtime romance and all that bullshit?" he asked, hoping to short-circuit this before it went any further. After what Gai had done tonight, after nearly getting his jaw broken for it, he couldn't really be stupid enough to criticize Suyo to Kakashi's face. Surely he couldn't.
Apparently he could. "That was then, Kakashi," Gai said anxiously. "Civilians can't handle us, you know that. I never thought you'd do something so foolish."
Hmm… hard to beat up someone who sounded so worried, but definitely not impossible. "With every word, you take your life in your hands," Kakashi growled, keeping his back to Gai.
But again Gai disregarded his own personal safety and pressed the issue. "They think they want a ninja, but they don't," he went on implacably in that concerned tone, squeezing Kakashi's shoulder to emphasize his words. "Civilians have a romanticized idea of what a ninja is, what a jounin is, but you and I both know that it's nothing like reality. They don't have any understanding of what we really do. They don't want to know what we really do. And when we come home with new scars and nightmares and someone else's blood soaking our clothes, they can't handle it. Remember Ibiki?"
Kakashi closed his eyes and stifled a sigh. He didn't want to remember Ibiki, but he did. He remembered the Interrogation and Torture specialist's retrieval mission that had ended so badly. Remembered how the tokubetsu jounin's civilian fiancée had taken one look at his horribly burned head and slashed-open face and just screamed. Remembered that she'd been gone from the home they'd shared when Ibiki had finally been released from the hospital, and when Ibiki had tried to persuade her to come back, that she'd get used to his new scars, she'd finally fled Konoha altogether just to get away from him.
And he remembered how long it had taken Ibiki to get past that betrayal… if he ever truly had.
The same scenario had played out over and over with various shinobi, and Gai and Kakashi had witnessed it every time. He could admit that. But Gai didn't realize that Suyo wasn't in the same class as the villagers of Konoha. Her past had given her an understanding of shinobi that most civilians could never even touch. "Suyo isn't like that," Kakashi said simply. "Trust me on this. She understands exactly what shinobi are."
"She's a civilian, Kakashi. I just don't want to see you hurt." Gai clearly thought that was all there was to say.
It wasn't, but Kakashi wouldn't betray Suyo's trust by explaining to Gai just why she was different. He'd seen how she protected those scars and how uncomfortable she'd been when she'd realized that Kakashi had seen them. She hadn't said a word, but somehow he knew she'd trusted him with that secret, just as he'd trusted her the night he'd come to her in such distress. That shared trust was something so very precious to him. He would never betray it by telling anyone else about what she'd gone through, even if her past wasn't classified.
"She understands more than you give her credit for," was the only explanation he offered, remembering her insistence that he promise not to think of her. That wasn't the kind of thing a civilian usually asked for. "And I want this, Gai. Do you understand? I want this, so you'd be wise to back the hell off."
He sensed Gai's frustration with what he clearly saw as Kakashi's refusal to acknowledge the facts of shinobi life. The Copy-Nin was about to suggest they get underway again when Gai spoke once more. "If it's just that you're lonely," he said hesitantly, trying a different tactic, "you know Anko's got a thing for you…"
Kakashi surprised himself by laughing. Could Gai really, even for an instant, think he could simply replace Suyo with some other woman who happened to be a kunoichi–and Anko? It was almost too ridiculous to get angry about. "Anko's insane, Gai."
"Yes, well…" He really had no argument for that–it was true, after all–and his voice trailed off for a moment. But he didn't give up. "What about Shizune?"
Kakashi shook his head, chuckling again. "Oh, yeah, like I need another female to fuss over my chakra levels after every mission," he replied drolly. "Because Sakura and Tsunade-sama just don't nag me enough."
The Beast tried again. "Inuzuka Hana? She'd like your ninken."
"My ninken don't get a say in this, and I don't even know Inuzuka Hana." But the increasingly hopeful way Gai kept suggesting kunoichi was starting to wear away at his patience. Ridiculous as this was, the humor value was now officially exhausted. He turned around and knocked the jounin's hand off his shoulder. "That's enough, Gai," Kakashi said firmly, meeting his partner's concerned gaze with a hard glare that showed just how much he wasn't kidding. "We're supposed to be on a mission to rescue a kidnapped child, if you'll remember, not standing around having a chat about whether or not you approve of my love life. In the future, when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Now drop it."
Luckily for Gai, this time he submitted to the suggestion with a muttered, "Fine." Kakashi was glad he wasn't going to have to beat him down again to shut him up. He was arrogant enough to know he'd rung the Beast's bell good back there at the Tower, while still being realistic enough to realize he'd only gotten such a clean shot due to surprise. It definitely wouldn't be that easy a second time.
"Good," Kakashi said with a sharp nod. "Now can we get moving? I really don't want to be away from Konoha any longer than we absolutely have to."
Gai made a face at that, but Kakashi chose to ignore it. The last thing he wanted was to give the Green Beast another opening to continue his concerned lecture. Kakashi leapt back into the trees, Gai right on his heels again. Seconds later, the scene of that extremely uncomfortable heart-to-heart was disappearing in the distance.