Notes:Hello lovelies!
Time for another chapter :D
Not much to add, besides the usual 'don't mind the mistakes' and all that.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 33: Travels
"So, what are you going to get her? Did you think of anything yet?" Shisui asked enthusiastically once they had gotten comfortable in their room at the inn they had found. He sat down at the edge of the bed, looking at Kakashi.
Yugao stepped out of the bathroom just as he asked the question. "Shi, stop harassing him."
"I'm not harassing him!" The Uchiha argued. "I'm simply asking if he has gotten her anything yet. It's the least you can do, since you're gonna miss her birthday!"
"How do you know when her birthday is?" Kakashi asked, now suspicious.
"Eh, she told me?"
"You've never spoken with her." He turned towards the Uchiha, crossing his arms. "So, how did you know?"
"Ah, well. Someone may have mentioned it?" Shisui ended the sentence in a question as if not certain of his answer. Which was ridiculous. Who else would-
"Son of a bitch."
"Captain?" Yugao asked, "what is it?"
"Genma knew? Genma?" Of course he knew. And of course he wouldn't have said anything to Kakashi. He had wanted Hermione for himself, if his reaction about their bond was anything to go by. He had no doubt wanted Kakashi to seem like a total asshole for him not to have gotten her a gift while Genma had.
"Maybe?"
Now Kakashi knew he had no choice but to get her a gift. He wasn't sure if Genma would get her something now, if he would even speak with her while he was away, but he knew he couldn't not give her something. She probably expected one as well, right? Damn it. He didn't even know what he could get her. He didn't even know what she liked. Kakashi sat down on the other bed in the room, put his face in his hands and had been so determined to keep her from his mind during this mission. He couldn't afford to get distracted. Especially now.
He must've been quite out of it, if he didn't notice Shisui approaching him and kneeling down in front of him. He peered at the younger teen between his hands, getting annoyed with his behaviour.
"I'm guessing you have no idea what to get her, huh?"
Kakashi didn't bother with a response this time, he knew it was a rhetorical question. Instead he waited for whatever comment was going to follow. Luckily Shisui didn't disappoint.
"We can help you figure something out! Because you can't show up empty handed, especially since you've already missed her birthday. Yuu, help think of something, will you?" Shisui said, turning to the only female in the room.
She, in turn, rolled her eyes. "Keep me out of this, Shi. I'm not the right person for this."
"Why not? She's a girl. You're a girl. You're our best bet!"
Now, Kakashi had to admit. When it came to women and relationships, he was next to clueless. He never had had the time for that anyway. He did know however, that that was not a comment one should make in Yugao's presence. She was anything but a girly girl, after all.
"What?" She hissed. "Are you kidding me?" She rolled her eyes, "you're sleeping on the floor tonight, Shi."
"Eh? What did I do?" He asked confused, making Kakashi shake his head at him. For someone who was in some sort of relationship, he sure as hell didn't know women that well. Even he knew not to make such a comment.
The next day, they went over the plan several times, making sure every single possibility was discussed and they knew how to deal with every single outcome. Kakashi was silently counting down the hours until about an hour and half to midnight. He knew Tenzou would react to any order given, so there wouldn't be any problems there. He just hoped the bodyguards and the princess would do the same.
"So, what are you gonna get Hermione-san for her birthday?" Shisui said, breaking the silence. Kakashi closed his uncovered eye at that and groaned.
"Really? Haven't you learned your lesson yet?" Then again, sleeping on the floor for one night didn't bother Shisui, or any of them. They've had to sleep in tougher situations plenty of times, so sleeping on the floor of an inn, which was warm and dry? Yeah, not at all bad. He also knew however, that Shisui would not stop harassing him and while he hated to admit it, Shisui had a point. What was he going to give Hermione for her birthday? "I'm going to do some recon in the town," Kakashi then said, eying both his subordinates. "I'll be back in an hour or two. Don't stray too far. I'll send Pakkun if anything happens."
"Yes sir," both commented as he left the room after performing a quick Henge. Time to stretch his legs and do some investigating.
Hermione couldn't stop herself from feeling giddy the entire way to the town they were heading towards. Itachi had explained that they were heading towards a town called Tanzaku Gai, which was about a day and a half away. It apparently was a town where a lot of people went for gambling opportunities and other adult pastimes, or so he had said. It didn't matter to her what they were doing there. All she could think about was taking in the scenery that was vastly different compared to England. It was beautiful in its own way, but she couldn't help but miss home.
Along the way, Genma had kept to himself, which hadn't surprised her that much. After her outburst, it seemed even Gai had kept his distance from him. Itachi pretended nothing had happened, which is what every good leader should do, of course. That didn't mean he didn't have any questions. It surprisingly took him half a day before he asked her the first of many questions.
"The Hokage says you're different, that you're from somewhere else," he had started softly. "That you don't use chakra but that you have abilities?" Hermione let him get his thoughts in order, waiting for an actual question instead of just responding to this. She knew Gai was paying attention too. Genma already knew most of it and had witnessed her so-called abilities firsthand but she could tell he was listening too. "He was a bit… vague, really." Itachi continued, a small frown on his face, as if he didn't like the fact that there was something he didn't understand. "I was wondering if you would be willing to explain? Does it have anything to do with that stick you held in your hand?"
Hermione had to bite her tongue and remind herself that Itachi wasn't properly informed. She would have to start all over again with her explanation, reminding herself not to explain everything. Only enough to satisfy their curiosity. "The stick is called a wand." She hoped she didn't sound as annoyed as she felt. It really wasn't his fault. "Where I'm from, it's what we use to do magic."
"Magic?" Gai commented behind her, which made her look at him. "I am afraid you are mistaken, my friend," he said, looking troubled, which somehow was something that looked completely wrong on his face. "There is no such thing as Magic to be discerned."
"Of course there is," Hermione retorted. "Just because you've never seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist, Gai-san. For instance, I never thought that walking on walls or running extremely fast like you lot do was something that was possible. Yet here you are." She said with a wave of her hand, as she looked over her shoulder to make her point.
"You specifically need that wand?" Itachi interjected, saving both her and Gai from a discussion that was bound to happen, by the look on the older teen's face.
"I- well. Yes." He didn't have to know that there was such a thing as wandless magic. Thinking about that, maybe she should look into that. In case someone does manage to steal her wand.
"Doesn't that make you extremely vulnerable? I'm guessing you only have one of those?" The kid was smart, even if it was common sense. The fact that he asked if she specifically needed that wand was more than enough for her to come to that conclusion. She would have to be very careful with what she said and how she said it when she was around him, that's for sure.
"I suppose so, yes" She agreed. "Back home, that wasn't as much of an issue. It's certainly different here," she offered.
In the next few hours both Itachi and Gai asked questions here and there. Gai went as far as to demand a demonstration, to see for himself what her abilities are, which she politely declined. She didn't think it would be such a smart idea to openly use her magic here, you never knew who would be lurking around. Also, judging Itachi's look, he wasn't too thrilled with the idea of her using her abilities right then and there. Still, he also seemed incredibly curious as to what she could do.
Nearing nightfall, they decided to stop at a cluster of trees. All three men took out their sleeping bags and unrolled them in a semi circle. Genma had gone to gather some wood to make a campfire. She had asked if it was safe enough to do so, but Itachi waved it off. They were still in the Fire country so it was safe enough. As the eldest of the group returned with a couple of logs, she decided that she could show them a small bit of her magic. "I can light that fire, if you want."
Itachi looked at her as if wanting to decline, but it seemed his curiosity won out, giving her a small nod. All eyes turned to her as she took out her wand and pointed at the logs. "Incendio," she said softly, a small flame ignited from the tip of her wand and within seconds a nice campfire was flickering on the logs.
"Incredible," she heard Gai whisper. As she turned to look at him, she paused the second she saw Itachi's eyes. Blinking, she looked into his dark eyes, which she could've sworn were bright red a second before. It reminded her of Kakashi's eye. Of Shisui too. Then she remembered his last name, Uchiha. It would seem this was something that ran in the family.
"It's just fire," she shrugged, trying to cover up the fact she had been blatantly staring at the young teen. "Also, don't you guys have a tent?"
"We usually sleep out in the open," Itachi offered. "Also, bringing a tent takes up quite a bit of space, so we don't usually bring one, unless it's to save us from the weather."
"I have a tent," she blurted out. "And it's big enough for all of us." She said, shrugging. Hermione didn't know if it was smart to say that, but she didn't really feel like camping outside and sleeping on the floor, when it was possible to just sleep in a cot.
"And where exactly is this tent?" Genma asked, finally breaking the silence between the two of them.
"In my bag, of course," she replied, refraining from adding an immature 'duh'.
The only response she got was a raised eyebrow. Both Gai and Itachi kept quiet as they both eyed her bag. With an eye roll, she opened her bag and stuck her arm in. It never ceased to amuse her how people looked when she did that. With a small grin on her lips, she pulled out the small package that contained her tent. The looks she had gotten at that moment were priceless. That showed them. 'Magic isn't real,' they had said. Yeah, right.
Placing the tent on the floor, she pointed her wand at it. With a quick "Erecto" the tent was set up. Looking at the tent, she remembered all the times she, Harry and Ron had used this tent. Arthur had gifted this tent to her once again, after having learned of her parents' deaths. He understood she needed some time and figured she could use the comfort that the tent offered.
Ignoring the looks of the shinobi, she opened the flap and walked in. A few steps in, she stopped, getting overwhelmed with all the memories this tent held, once again. From the Quidditch World Cup and the horrors that followed, to the months she had spent hunting Horcruxes, to grieving the loss of her parents. This was too much. There were too many memories for her to keep it together.
"Hermione-san?" She heard Genma asked from outside of the tent. She didn't respond, instead choosing to walk further inside the tent, moving towards the kitchen. She could do with a cup of tea right now.
"What the fu- Hermione-san?!" Genma's voice called out, this time a bit more panicked.
"I'm in the kitchen." She called back, busying herself with the tea.
It took a while before he entered the kitchen though and when he did, she noticed both Itachi and Gai standing behind him. All three of them had wide eyes, looking around, taking everything in. The second the senbon-user saw her face, however, his attention turned to her. "Are you okay?" He asked, switching to English. Giving her at least some privacy, since neither Gai nor Itachi spoke English.
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. It's just- There's a lot of memories here." She said, not wanting to go into what memories had resurfaced. "If you want, you can sleep in here?" She offered. "I can put up wards around the tent, as well."
"Thank you," Itachi said with a nod. "You won't have to put up any wards, we'll take shifts keeping watch."
"Suit yourselves." Hermione understood that they'd probably feel more comfortable doing that. With a flick of her wand, she levitated the tea out of the kitchen near the seating area, with a couple of cups. "So, I'm sure you have questions." She said as she sat down. "How about some tea?"
After roaming around the small town, his team had checked all their packs and gotten ready for the mission. While roaming he also had found a gift for Hermione. He had been aimlessly walking around until he passed a small bookstore. Normally he wouldn't have bothered. The only books worth buying nowadays were easily accessible back home. His eye caught a book he didn't know, however. Moving closer, it seemed to be a children's book, which meant the text was larger than normal and it was a simple version of their written language. It reminded him of all the books he's seen in Hermione's possession. Before he realised what he had done, he'd given the vendor the asked amount of money and received the wrapped book. Kakashi looked at it for another moment, before storing it in his pouch. He finally had a gift for her. That was one less thing to think about.
The mission had gone without a hitch, thankfully. Kakashi liked to think it was because of their careful planning, but knew it also helped that the bodyguards and the princess followed every single one of their orders, without any whining, which was a big plus. Honestly, he had expected some whining, seeing as she was only fourteen. Of course, when he was that age, he was nothing like that. But he did know they had different upbringings. It'd be wrong to expect the same type of maturity from her.
It took no time at all to reach the boat they had arranged for this escape. Kakashi ended up carrying Koyuki on his back. She had her arms around his neck, holding on tight as he sped through the trees, away from the castle. In order to protect her face from the cold, she had buried her face in his neck. The moment he felt her hot breath, he had stiffened at first, not expecting her to do that. Hoisting her up to make it comfortable for him to hold her, she had tightened her grip a little before letting go again, as to not choke him while he carried her.
Once they arrived at the docks, Team Ro and the bodyguards quickly boarded the boat. The boat had been ready to go since the moment they had arrived in Snow. Kakashi had made sure to have this boat ready for their leave, making the secret escape easier on all of them. With a little help of a wind jutsu from both Kakashi and Tenzou they made good time too, cutting the original time to cross the water in half. They didn't need to be as sneaky now, seeing it was more important to get as much space between the Princess and her uncle as fast as possible. It only took them two days to reach the capital of Waterfall.
"You can't leave us! You have to protect us. It's your job!" The Princess of Snow whined when she had heard Kakashi discuss with Sandayuu Asama that they would leave them there. Giving them the choice of where to go next. Their mission was over technically. His team had successfully helped the Princess escape.
"I don't have to do anything you say." Kakashi retorted. "We did what we were paid for. You're safe from your uncle. Our job here is done."
"Nooo!" She wailed, throwing her arms around him, making him flinch. He grabbed her arms and tried to pry away her arms without hurting her, but she refused to budge. For fuck's sake, was this girl serious?
"Let go," he grunted.
"Koyuki-sama," Sandayuu scolded. "He's right. They've done what we hired him for."
"No!" She started sobbing, holding on to his clothes. Kakashi's patience had run out though, not that he had a lot of patience to spare. He switched his grip from her arms to her wrist, applying a little bit of pressure, causing her to release her hold. A second later, she was pushed back several steps, Kakashi taking a few steps back as well.
Behind him, he could hear Tenzou, Shisui and Yugao snickering at the scene. With a sharp glare, they immediately stopped. The moment he looked away, he could hear Shisui let out another snicker. With a roll of his eye he turned back to the bodyguard and the Princess. "If that's all, we'll be on our way. Best of luck to you." He said with a nod. Right as he moved to turn back around, the Princess called out to him again.
"Wait! I- please wait!" With a silent sigh, he turned back once again. "Are you sure you can't stay with us?" She asked, sniffling. "I'm scared! What if my uncle comes after me?"
He stopped himself from sighing again, telling himself that she couldn't help it. Kneeling down in front of her, he made sure she was looking at him before he started speaking. "It's not that simple." He started. As stated before, the mission had been completed on their end. They did what they were paid to do. He also knew they only had so much money to spare, especially since their main goal was to keep the Princess safe. "We've done what we were hired to do. It's the job of your bodyguards to keep you safe. Not ours." He told her.
"But-"
"No buts. No more high expectations and using your money to get things done. You're on your own now."
He saw her bottom lip quiver and almost thought that she would start crying… but she didn't. Taking a deep breath she pulled herself together. With a nod she looked up to him, determination visible on her face. "You're right. Thank you." She then reached out to him, to which he took a step back. He really didn't want her to try and attach herself to him again. He didn't like it. "It's just a hug, to thank you."
"I'd really rather not," he said in return. He wasn't sure why, but being in close proximity made him nervous. Taking another step back, he turned to his team. He heard her take a breath, to no doubt say something else but then heard Asama tell her to not bother. With a nod to his team, all of them followed his lead, walking away. It was time to go back home.
After having slept fairly peacefully and leaving quite early in the morning, Hermione and the shinobi had arrived at Tanzaku Gai. If her math was correct, it had taken them about a day and a half. In the hopes that they would find Sirius fairly quickly, they wouldn't be away more than a week. Which was long enough for her. She was already missing Teddy terribly. She hoped nothing would happen to him while she was away.
Hermione was surprised to learn that they were going to stay at an inn. She still didn't have any money but when she tried to say so, Itachi had waved her off. He explained that the Hokage had given them a small budget and that they'd easily be able to stay at the inn and take care of any food and necessities for at least a week. That had shut her up, but she still felt guilty that they spent money on something like that.
"Just our luck," Genma had groaned as they had gotten inside their room. Apparently there was a festival going on in the town. Which would make it a bit more difficult to find someone who was possibly a wizard. Combine that with the fact that if he was, he'd have a lot of experience of not standing out. Yeah, it would be anything but easy, she guessed.
"It's not so bad. The festival ends tomorrow, right?" Hermione offered. "We'll have a better shot at finding him then."
"You're right." Came from behind her. Itachi entered the room, followed by Gai. "Which is why we're not going to look today. We'll wait until the festival is over. Until then, we'll go over the plan to find this man."
"So we won't be able to go to the festival at all?" Hermione asked.
"No."
"Oh," Hermione was bummed to hear that. The festival looked very interesting cultural wise. It would've been a great chance for her to learn more about it, she had looked forward at trying some different foods as well.
"Come on, captain." Gai argued, "it can't hurt to check it out, right? It's a flourishing festival that symbolises the end of the Summer! It'll give us a feel for the town. I can't wait to see what this beautiful Autumn festival has to offer!" He took a pose and held up his thumb, smiling wide. While it looked like an uncomfortable pose in general, he managed to pull it off. It was like he did this all the time, Hermione thought with a smile.
It took only a moment for Itachi to sigh and nod, "alright. I guess we can go have a look." He then turned to Hermione, looking her over. "You'll have to find an outfit that won't stand out, though."
Hermione's eyes widened as she looked down. She didn't bring any other clothing other than her most practical clothes. "Oh, well, what kind of clothes do I need then?" She asked.
He simply pointed to the window, signaling her to look through it which she did. As she looked at the people wandering the streets, she noticed that all the women were wearing kimonos, while the men varied with their clothing. Figures. One of the kimonos stood out to her, she just knew the colour would look great on her. With a nod, she turned away from the window and walked towards the bathroom, ignoring the looks of the men.
"What are you-"
She knew it was rude of her to ignore them and their questioning gazes, but frankly, she was a bit annoyed at the backwards society. Of course the women had to dress up, while the men could do what they wanted. With a sigh, she took out her wand and pointed it at herself, imagining the kimono she had seen. She had tweaked it a little in her mind, but hoped it would be good enough for her to blend in. With a soft murmur she felt her clothes change. Once done, she looked at herself in the mirror, feeling quite pleased with the end result.
Walking out of the bathroom, she heard the men talk about what she assumed was the plan for tomorrow. As soon as Genma noticed her, he paused, making the other two turn around as well. "How the hell did you manage that?" He asked.
A smirk made its way to her lips. "Easy. Magic."
"What can't you do with that magic of yours?" Gai asked. "I've never seen anyone do anything like it. This would be like a bloodline limit, right? It's something only your clan can do."She wasn't sure if it was. She still didn't understand exactly how the clans worked here. From what she had learned, each clan had their own specialty, which was limited only to their clan. But then, how could Kakashi use that Sharingan? He wasn't an Uchiha, like Shisui and Itachi. Honestly, Gai's comment only caused her to have more questions than answers. "I guess? I'm not really sure, if I'm honest." She replied.
Either way, they didn't have any objections on her leaving like this, making her think that she did a good job transfiguring her clothes. Finally she would be able to witness the culture during a celebration. She noticed people were most relaxed during a festival, giving her a good taste of how things worked. Hermione was happily trying different kinds of foods, looking at different kinds of stores and glancing at all the colours the town held.
Feeling herself get lost in the vibe, she almost missed the feeling of being watched. Looking around, she noticed it wasn't any of the men she was with. While she had no doubt they were keeping tabs on her, she wasn't blatantly stared at by them. If not them, however, then who? She tried to look around, without attracting attention to herself. Which, of course didn't, work. She was with shinobi after all.
"Something wrong, Hermione-san?" Itachi softly asked.
"No," she said slowly. "I don't think so. I must be imagining things."
"If you're sure…"
"I'll let you know if I change my mind." She said. She tried to shrug off the feeling. It was probably because of the past events she's had to deal with that made her more on edge. That sure made it more difficult for her to completely relax and rely on the shinobi for defence.
The feeling of being watched stayed, however. During the entire afternoon and well into the night, she kept feeling the prickly sensation of being watched but whenever she turned around, she didn't see anything suspicious. It was when they made their way back to the inn that she finally realised why she hadn't noticed. She'd been looking for people. Humans. The reason why she had missed it the entire time, stood right in front of her, now. Looking her straight in the eye. Hermione had forgotten how big he was, forgotten the colour of his hair, almost. Not anymore. Seeing what was in front of her, it clicked immediately.
Because right in front of her, stood a large dark animal. A black dog, to be precise. Of course, she thought. A feeling of relief surged through her as she realised who stood in front of her. He was actually here. Padfoot. Sirius. He was alive.
End of chapter notes:
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