Chapter Ten: The Price of Friendship

Tenzou walked as fast as his battered body allowed to the Hokage Tower. He was glad Genma, Hayate and Raidou hadn't noticed that he'd given them the slip; he wasn't in the mood to explain why he was in a rush nor divulge the contents of Kakashi and his private discussion. As sour as his disposition was towards Kakashi, Kakashi had asked him to keep their conversation between them and the Sandaime only.

Why him? Tenzou thought. Why would Kakashi entrust him with this message and not the other teammates that he had known inextricable longer? Unless…

Tenzou shook his head, letting the thoughts tumble out of his mind immediately. It had never been voiced, but Tenzou knew that Kakashi trusted all his men to the highest degree. He could have told them; he should have told them. A thought formed in front of Tenzou then. Whether or not it was true was another matter entirely. If it was true, however, then Kakashi had just shielded him, Tenzou, from judgment by the rest of his team for his blunder. And Tenzou was grateful for it.

Tenzou made good time to the Tower. He walked down the corridor to the Sandaime's office, his footsteps echoing along the walls. The trepidation that he'd felt earlier in the week when he'd made a similar trip was nothing compared to what he felt now. If he was a weaker man, and not determined to redeem himself, he might have turned around and pretended Kakashi had told him nothing.

He marched through until he finally came to the lobby. The Hokage's assistant popped up from behind her desk and held a hand out. She had seen the determination etched on Tenzou's face and knew by his walk that he had no intentions of stopping to announce himself or make an appointment.

"Um, excuse me-? Sir?"

Tenzou paused briefly. "I need to see the Hokage right away."

"I understand, but you need to make an appointment. You can't just walk into his—"

The oak doors to the Sandaime's office slid open with a loud click. The Hokage himself stood there in the doorway, looking pleasantly surprised to see Tenzou and his assistant bickering. Tenzou felt that, contrary to the Sandaime's expression, the Hokage had been waiting for him.

"Tenzou... I'm glad to see that you are out and about. Please, step inside. A little bird sent word that you might be coming by."

He waved Tenzou in genially. The Sandaime sat behind his desk and swept a hand at the chair where he expected Tenzou to sit down. Tenzou did as he was bid and sat down. His ribs were aching now and a dull throb pulsed at his temple.

"Thank you, Pakkun," the Sandaime said.

Tenzou hadn't noticed it before, but a squat little pug was sitting on the corner of the Sandaime's desk. He knew at once that he was Kakashi's nin-dog that had went to their aid after their mission. Pakkun nodded, a scroll gripped tightly in his maw, and jumped out the window.

"Now," the Sandaime said, "Kakashi said you have important information for me."

Tenzou swallowed thickly. He told the Sandaime everything that Kakashi had passed to him and he made no attempt to leave out Kakashi's criticism of his actions during the mission.

It felt like hours had passed before the Sandaime said anything.

"This is indeed grave news," he said. "And you're sure his ring was gone?"

"Yes, sir," Tenzou said. "His finger was gone."

"Hmmm… we have enjoyed peace for many years now, Tenzou. I'm afraid some might not be enjoying this period as much as we."

"Sir… are you saying…?"

"That this was the beginning of a mass murder of all the Feudal Lords in Fire in a bid to start another conflict? No, not at all… but there is definitely something amiss. Until we get to the bottom of this, I'm afraid I will have to ask you to let this incident out of your mind."

"Whoever is behind this tried to kill me and my team!" Tenzou said fiercely and much louder than he had meant to. Tenzou flushed immediately and stammered out an apology.

The Sandaime waved it away. Tenzou had expected the Sandaime to be furious at his outburst, but he looked very pleased. "Before I let you go back home, please give me the pleasure of recounting a small anecdote."

Tenzou, knowing he really had no choice in the matter, stayed silent.

"Months ago, perhaps before you had even made up your mind about the whole thing, your teacher came to me and confided in me that you were planning to apply to ANBU. I asked him to discourage you from these ambitions. I advised him of such because, please understand, that I have grown quite fond of you. Yes, the last time you stood in this very office you made quite an impression on me and I have followed your career in passing ever since…"

Tenzou turned over the Sandaime's words as they rang through the office. If the Sandaime was fond of him, then he should have wanted to foster Tenzou's skill and ANBU seemed to him the next logical step. Why would he have wanted to discourage him from pursuing this? Tenzou looked up at the Hokage and waited patiently for him to continue on, knowing that he hadn't yet been dismissed and hoping that this anecdote wouldn't bring another blow to his pride.

"Yes, I had asked your sensei when you were first assigned to his team to give me updates on your progress. As such, I knew that your genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu were well above your teammates'. I also knew that your team-building skills were very poor… practically nonexistent. If you were planning to join ANBU, you needed to excel in the very attribute you so clearly did not possess. You will come to realize—very soon, I dare say—that there is extreme isolation in the ANBU corps, but that you will rely on your teammates more heavily than anywhere else. Forgive me, Tenzou, but I didn't think that you could cut it…"

The Sandaime looked into Tenzou's eyes with a piercing gaze. "You were the very ninja the ANBU would be looking for—thorough, consistent, and exceptional in every way. However, I knew your sensei's recommendations would be very poor. I'm sure you might have had your suspicions, but your sensei was quite a decorated war hero. We both agreed that in a conventional ANBU team you wouldn't last. Then, one night, when I was reviewing your application… a flash of inspiration struck me. There had been a squad without a member for a very long time, as the spot had been near impossible to fill. The captain was unreasonably picky and had chosen a superficially mismatched team in the eyes of the corps handlers, yet they were the best on paper. Can you begin to think of whom I am referring?"

"Kakashi," Tenzou said at once. There was no need for hesitation.

"Yes. Kakashi. You may find this surprising, but he regards teamwork very highly. I thought that, perhaps, if I put someone that was very much like him—"

"Hokage-sama, you just said that my teamwork sucks…"

"Why, yes, I did," the Sandaime said kindly. "Were you born able to control your chakra? Throw a shuriken perfectly on target?"

"No, sir," Tenzou murmured.

"Exactly. You had to learn how, in the Academy, just like you were to learn teamwork with your genin teams," the Sandaime explained. "Kakashi has paid the price to know the value of true friendship. You have shown yourself to be every bit of ninja you had aspired to be. Don't let your heart be your greatest weakness..."

The room crackled with an unknown energy. Tenzou could not describe the feelings that welled up in him like a tide. What had the Sandaime meant, that Kakashi had paid the price?

"You, too, have suffered… at the hands of Orochimaru and because of my negligence," the Sandaime said after a long moment, his voice full of sadness. "I would like very much for you to not suffer any more."

Tenzou felt exposed, his aching head swimming from the admission of the Sandaime.

When he had first been accepted to the team, the Hokage had made it seem like he'd been gunning for Tenzou—like someone else had been the stopping point, but it was the Hokage himself that had been the one trying to hold him back, because of his habit of distancing himself from his team. The only reason he was even considered for ANBU was because the most awkward team needed a filler and the Sandaime thought Tenzou could try to plug up the hole.

If the Sandaime were to have told him this before his first mission, he would have flared up with anger, maybe even snipped back and tried to defend himself. Now? Now that he his clear disregard for teamwork had resulted in a botched mission, broken ribs, a dislocated arm and a teammate that had been knocking on death's door, Tenzou knew that the Sandaime and his sensei's observations were indeed quite correct.

He had sacrificed safety in order to get the mission done—then he hadn't even accomplished the mission. The ring was missing, the daimyo was dead and they would never know who had taken the ring from him.

Tenzou smiled awkwardly. "This hasn't been my most shining moment, Hokage-sama…"

"Mm, let it be a lesson learned. Go home and get some rest."

"Boomer, calling Bravo Team."

"Ranger is in position, over," Hayate whispered.

"Parrot. Ready to move," Genma said.

Tenzou adjusted his earpiece. This is such bullshit. "This is Whiskers. Can you hear me, over?"

"Loud and clear, Whiskers, over," Boomer, call sign for Raidou, crackled over the radio.

Three weeks had passed by, rather uneventfully, since Tenzou's official acceptance into Squad Number 024, his conversation with Kakashi and his private meeting with the Hokage.

His shoulder had healed in two week's time; it took another week to get it fully functional, and his ribs had stopped giving him trouble just a little bit after that. Rehabilitation for a shinobi tended to be much shorter than an average civilian's-especially when they disregarded strict medical advice-and Tenzou was thankful that this was true.

He'd missed being efficient, even if this efficiency had him heavily entrenched in mud at the moment. Sitting at home with the occasional visit from his old team peppered with his new had only cemented his theory that he was meant to be out and killing people. Definitely not cooped up and snuggling with his cat (because he hadn't spent a few good days doing that at all).

During Kakashi's extended stay in the hospital (naturally low chakra reserves coupled with poor medical practice upon first receiving his injuries had kept him bedridden for a touch longer than Tenzou had thought "shinobi normal") he'd slowly become acclimated to ANBU life.

True to procedure, Tenzou was given an appointment to acquire his own equipment. Hayate had accompanied him to the custom armor fitting as soon as Tenzou had been ready, for which Tenzou was thankful. As young as Hayate was, his skill in weapon- and armor-making surpassed even those twice his age. The unfortunate part was that he had been told it would take a decent metalworker a while to complete all the guards, so he'd had to continue using the loaned equipment until then.

Tenzou had worried that he might not actually live to see his chest guard but, surprisingly enough, the infamous life he'd heard so much about turned out to be... not much different than his regular routine. He had more reason to be discreet with what he said and to whom, of course, and mind-numbing paperwork was a rare affair. But life continued on as normally as it had before.

At first, Tenzou was slighted at the notion that he wasn't going to be put in potentially lethal peril every other day. When he'd casually brought this grievance up with his teammates, they'd reassured him that it was simply the absence of Kakashi on the roster that had them working to a quarter of their ability. Tenzou wasn't sure if the case was such because Kakashi's skill was so great and unparalleled or because their numbers were imbalanced. It wasn't as if Kakashi had done much the first mission, anyway. He'd spent more time flipping pages of his book.

In either case, the Sandaime had the team doing the grunt work of the ANBU missions. It was mostly ghost reconnaissance, which took effort in keeping quiet and retrieving information without killing anyone important and not much else. Raidou, being the unofficial co-captain, had ascended to temporary captain. He was an efficient leader, just like Kakashi had been, but the team dynamic felt different somehow.

Obviously, Tenzou thought. Raidou wasn't half the sadist that Kakashi was.

Their team was currently on another surveillance run. Their fourth in the past week, to be specific. Some bad blood was beginning to boil between Earth Country and Fire again, with Waterfall stuck between the espionage and fumbling diplomatic outreaches. Tenzou wanted badly to tell the rest of his team about the missing feudal lord ring, but knew it would have been unwise.

It was beginning to feel like the last war all over again—not that he really remembered that period with much clarity. Raidou and Genma often became uncomfortable whenever anyone mentioned this, however. Their reaction reminded Tenzou of the years between them that was normally ignored.

Thankfully, it was clear that the Sandaime was against agitating the Hidden Rock further. Rumors spread around the village that the council thought him radical for suggesting they extend a hand in friendship. Tenzou didn't see the merit in actually wanting war. Even though it was ultimately his duty to follow whatever his commander said, be it bringing harm to those he considered innocent, or disposing of those who were tangible threats. It was the shinobi way. But actively pursuing this just didn't seem right.

"A half-witted chuunin could pull this off," Genma grumbled.

"Some of us are still chuunin," Tenzou whispered.

Raidou's voice crackled over the system. "Quiet. I see the convoy coming over the ridge. Ranger, do you copy?"

"Yes, I copy. According to our intelligence, the target should have a… goatee."

"Can I get a scan?" Raidou prompted.

Tenzou pressed his fingers together in a familiar seal and focused on his doppelganger, which he'd melded subtly into the forestation an hour previous. The group they'd been waiting for was now heading straight towards it.

Doppelganger-vision was always a little muddled the first few seconds, but Tenzou quickly noted that, "They all have goatees."

"Fuck," was Raidou's initial verdict. "Do not engage any unnecessary targets and please do not to eliminate any."

"Roger," Genma said.

A tense moment ensued, wherein Tenzou chewed the inside of his cheek and wondered what new plan Raidou was formulating. Their initial plan had been to casually separate their target from the rest of his traveling companions. Apparently he carried a document important enough that the Sandaime had called in an ANBU squad to retrieve it. Now that their only identifying mark was gone, any of the seven travelers could be their man.

"I can neutralize them in the next minute," Tenzou supplied.

"Tie them down and ransack them? I always knew I liked you," Genma said.

Hayate, always the voice of reason, spoke next: "We would need a high-level genjutsu initially."

"And our best genjutsu-user is conveniently out of the picture." Raidou sounded more amused than frustrated.

Tenzou surveyed his surroundings. He was the nearest to the convoy and, unless they changed course all of a sudden, was in the best position to sweep them. They also had enough nighttime cover that, if he was fast enough, worked just as well as an illusion. "I can do it."

The silence over the intercom didn't make him feel any better about himself, but he knew he could pull it off.

"Make your move. We'll follow."

"Going in now." Tenzou took a deep breath to calm himself. The travelers looked tired, but in high spirits. And they were taking their sweet him in getting to him. If they had any inkling as to what Tenzou had in store for them, they were awfully good actors.

The man leading the group was talking animatedly. Tenzou could only make out little snippets of what they were talking about, but it sounded like they were discussing the newest popstar from River Country.

Tenzou breathed deeply once again. His heart was pumping rapidly—if he screwed this up he'd never be able to face the judgmental eyes of Bucket ever again. On the exhale, he vaulted from his position, already forming the seals for his mokuton jutsu.

A wall of wood shot up in front of the travelers. Dirt and cries filled the air.

Tenzou was already delivering the second guy in line a nasty jab to a pressure point when the wall broke off into separate spindles. In seconds, the convoy went from raving about a new hit single to being tied down by wood. The last man awake sported an awful handlebar mustache, Tenzou noted with some disdain.

He touched his fingers to the man's neck—it was always awful when they struggled—and slowly let a bit of chakra put him out completely. It was a trick his sensei had taught him a while ago. A little bit of chakra at a certain point disrupted short-term memory for a period lasting an hour or so.

Tenzou had his hands deep in the pocket of Handlebar-Mustache-Man when the rest of his team landed gracefully around the ring of unconscious bodies. Hayate broke off from them, presumably to help him search for the document.

Genma gave him a casual thumbs-up. "This must be the fifth time I've seen wood spontaneously burst from the ground. And it still hasn't got old."

"I've found it," Hayate said. He was holding up a dingy-looking scroll. The only point of interest on it was a bright-red seal wax and the official seal of Hidden Rock.

"What should we do with these guys?" Genma prodded another unconscious fellow with his sandal.

The man sighed softly, but didn't stir.

Tenzou released the bindings holding the men. "My chakra memory-wipe should have taken care of anything they saw of us. If we build a faux campfire and prop them up, they'll probably just think they got really, really drunk and passed out."

Raidou placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "Everything was easier when we just killed people."

Hayate coughed.

Genma just said, "Hear, hear."

The sun was just breaking over the horizon when Tenzou was roused from sleep. Something soft-then wet and kind of whisker-like-was rubbing against his cheek with much vigor. Then came the small paws against his bare shoulders. And then the claws not-so-gently digging into them. Tenzou groaned and pulled his hand out from under the covers to give Bucket a lazy scratch between the ears.

Considering the fact that Tenzou had been out for the better part of twenty-four hours (because Bucket was too much of a lazy ass to find himself a meaty mouse to chomp on), he was probably very hungry.

"I just got home a few hours ago. Have mercy."

Bucket meowed.

"Five more minutes," he pleaded.

But Bucket wasn't having any of it and gave his earlobe a sharp nip.

Tenzou finally got up, very reluctantly, and went through the motions of morning without being fully aware. By the time he'd downed his second cup of coffee he'd showered, brushed his teeth, fed Bucket, and dressed himself for a morning of hopefully not doing much of anything. Not fifteen minutes after drinking said coffee he'd crawled back under the covers, his curtains still very much open, and promptly slept until noon.

All his life he'd never been much of a heavy sleeper, but a week of near-active duty ANBU had him dozing through even the loudest racket, and at the oddest hours of the day. Sleep deprivation was standard practice in a shinobi's lifetime, but never before had Tenzou fully appreciated the daytime nap.

Once he finally woke up, the sunlight was pouring directly into his room. The memory of waking up to a pounding headache came forefront in his mind, but Tenzou was absolutely positive Genma wasn't going to materialize at his bedroom door. To be safe, though, he turned his head and looked. It was empty.

He heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

He just didn't have the strength for that today.

He rolled on to his back and just out of the corner of his eye saw a black blur shoot across his windowpane. He sprang up and pressed his face against the glass. Whatever had passed by was long gone. Tenzou rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

I'm losing my mind…