Ooh, a change here, title is taken from Read My Mind by The Killers... I'm sorry if I seem to be a slave to scene setting...
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I Missed Again
26. The Restless Heart, The Honest Man
"Kakashi! Finally! What took you so long?" He laughs nervously and scratches the back of his head,
"Well, you see-"
"Ah, save it, and answer instead why the hell I'm supposed to come with you on this mission," Her hands are on her hips and her face twitched into a scowl, even though there's a pack on her back and she's in her typical clothes ready for a mission,
"Well, we have to escort the Daimyo's son to his wedding and we wouldn't want him to become injured or ill,"
"A likely story, what's going to happen to him? A bug in his eye?"
"Sakura! That can be an extremely uncomfortable affliction… It's his wedding and an important political function, it's imperative that he arrives well and uninjured," Kakashi diverts his attention from the now grumbling Kuniochi to the two remaining teammates, "Are both of you ready to leave? Good, let's go then," They all leap away Sakura following last, Kakashi isn't quite happy with the arrangement but decided to let it slide – he's already pissed her off once today – doing so again would be of absolutely no benefit.
They run for several hours (the Daimyo's current residence is, rather irritatingly in the south-easternly corner of the Fire Country and as such, they had to travel for four and a half hours (at their top speed, which was probably something like six or seven times the rate they'd manage with the Daimyo's son and convoy) before they would even being their mission). No doubt they'd make it half-way back up to Tanzaku Gai by the end of the day – if they were lucky; Kakashi sighs heavily (albeit internally, he does have an image to keep up) as the realization finally hits him at just how long the mission really will be.
For Kakashi, there is little more tedious (other than monitoring small children) at having to escort purposefully slow royalty over extended distances. For the rough distance he'd been given at where the wedding was to take place, he – and the rest of Team 7 – could make the journey just inside a week (and that was assuming that they'd face no serious, delaying threats). With the rate of travel he'd expect from a carriage and a sizable convoy travelling, the same journey could well take more than twice the time. Hopefully, at least, this mission would give Sakura something else to focus on and a sufficient change of scenery enough to take her mind off the day-to-day.
"Kakashi," Sakura suddenly falls into step next to him,
"Hmm?"
"Why am I really being brought on this mission? It's highly unlikely you're going to face any major threat – it's not even like the Five Great Nations have much in the way of enemies between each other… It's nothing that you guys can't handle even if you were to run into trouble," Kakashi eyes the Kuniochi beside him,
"I know, but this wedding is important, it's crucial for Fire and Earth to solidify their alliance with each other and if the Daimyo's son arrives and is unfit to wed anyone, they'll treat it as a sign of something deeper… Besides, it's nice to be on a mission which isn't battle orientated for once, isn't it?" He did his best to put a smile into his voice but Sakura's lips merely pursed into a wavery line – as though she knew he wasn't telling the truth but didn't want to say so outright.
"Why don't you take this as an opportunity to relax on an easy mission like this, as you say, we're unlikely to run into much trouble," He makes eye contact this time and her eyes are glowing with suspicion, but there's a playful twinge,
"I can't say I like what you're trying to do, but I suppose I don't have much choice," He grins to himself,
"That's the spirit, Sakura," She rolls her eyes and darts away a little, putting some distance between them, he's fine with this, crowding her in – much like annoying her – tend to end badly and this mission is to get her to relax – and, with any luck, open up a little. They continued to run and before long, Naruto's shrill voice alerted them,
"Ano-san, ano-san, we're here!" Kakashi slowed his pace and landed next to Naruto,
"Ah," He stepped forward towards the guards present, "Konnichiwa, we are shinobi of the Leaf here to chaperone the Daimyo-sama's son and escort to the Earth Country for his wedding," Kakashi spoke clearly, politely and plainly – he really couldn't have gotten his point across any more succinctly:
"Ah… Your names, please?"
"I am Hatake Kakashi and these are my subordinates; Uzumaki Naruto," He points to the blonde, who is almost leering over the elder male's shoulder, "Haruno Sakura and Sai." He gestures to the remaining pair of shinobi, the guard eyes each carefully for a few moments before diverting his attention back to Kakashi,
"Please remain here whilst we alert the Daimyo-sama," Kakashi nods as his three subordinates step up next to him and they eye the complex – Naruto with slightly starry eyes and Sakura with a far more subtle, but equally awed expression. Kakashi chuckles to himself, remembering how awed he felt when first assigned an escort mission to the Daimyo – it's of a grandeur all on its own.
"Hatake-san, the Daimyo-sama awaits you," They follow the guard through the first set of doors and into a courtyard where the sizable convoy waits – five carriages were held, and numerous servants all fussing around them. Seemingly endless boxes and chests were being loaded onto the carriages,
"Hatake-san, this way please, your subordinates may remain here," Kakashi nods and turns back to them,
"Remain here and take a note of what everyone is doing, we'll rendezvous in a little while," They all nod and turn their attentions back to the convoy, their eyes carefully but subtly analyzing what they can see.
He returns a short time later with who is presumably the Daimyo's son, who follows a few steps behind Kakashi as he walks over to the last of his team,
"This is the Daimyo-sama's son, Hiro-sama." Kakashi then turns back to address the royal "And these are my teammates, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Sai," They each bow in turn,
"It is pleasant to meet you," Sakura steps forward, catching his attention,
"Hiro-sama, I am a medic, if you have any illness or complains, please do not hesitate to let me know," He eyes her carefully for a few minutes
"Thank you, Sakura-san," She steps back and Kakashi steps in,
"Well, Hiro-sama, if you are ready we should get going," He looks over to the shinobi, he's older than Naruto, Sakura and Sai – late thirties by the look of it, deep blue eyes and short-ish, black hair; handsome enough – seems agreeable too,
"Hai, Kakashi-kun, I am ready to leave. Please alert Ken-san of our departure," Kakashi nods as he turns back to the group, catching Sakura biting her lip in what seems to be an attempt to prevent herself from laughing – although Kakashi isn't too impressed,
"Sakura…"
"Hai?" Her voice wavers slightly, trying to keep her laughter in check as Kakashi shoots her an unimpressed look, no doubt saying something along the lines of 'you dare laugh at me and you can have the entire night watch,'
"Why don't you go and speak to Ken-san, he's the man over there in the purple robe, and let him know that we're ready to depart," She nods swiftly, trying to hide the mirth in her eyes although it seems that Kakashi can still easily see it, although thinks better of bringing it up here, "Then I want you to remain by Hiro-sama's carriage as we travel,"
"…Hai, Kakashi-kun," Her words were extremely quiet and not quite loud enough to be heard by the others although the silver-haired Jounin internally grimaces, he hates that damn suffix;
"Naruto, I want you to remain at the back of the convoy and watch what's going on behind us and Sai I want you to take point, use your ink animals to scout ahead when you feel it necessary,"
"Hai,"
"I'll be on the left hand side of the covey and Sakura on the right, closest to Hiro-sama's carriage. I'm not expecting too much trouble, but keep your eyes open for opportunists."
"Understood, Kakashi-Taichou,"
"Hai, Kakashi-sensei!"
"Alright, let's go,"