The Bank II
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de La Fontaine
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.
A/N: Unbeta'd – this was my 2018 NaNoWriMo project and has been sitting (mostly complete) on my hard drive for about a year. With all that is going on in the world, I thought maybe someone might appreciate the distraction even if it was unbeta'd and might turn out to be terrible.
This is a direct sequel to my one-shot, The Bank, if you have not read it, please go back and give it a read before continuing. I will attempt to post every other week, weekly if my work schedule permits.
Enjoy.
Chapter I
Kakashi stood in front of the Memorial. The highly polished stone no longer seemed to provide the sense of calm that he had come to expect from the well cared for monument. His brain kept returning to the conversation he had had with his former student, now good friend. He knew all his current issues led back to her. Or, rather, that he would continue to blame the woman who had become too good of a friend over the years for his own failings. It was far easier for him to blame her than to accept responsibility for his own part in his current predicament.
"Come on, Kakashi!" the young woman cried as she pulled on her reluctant teammate's arm, trying to urge him to follow her faster. "At this rate, we'll never get there before she closes for the evening!"
With a sigh, the wary young man picked up his pace and continued to follow his teammate. Kakashi found the whole thing to be ridiculous and a waste of time. He should be training. They all should be training. Why Rin should think that this would be good for them as a team he couldn't even begin to guess.
Still, he couldn't help but shoot her a sideways glance from out of the corner of his eye, what could it hurt? Refusing to do such a small thing, a thing ostensibly for the sake of his team, seemed incredibly silly - even more so than the fool's errand they were currently running. A quick evaluation told him that it was more trouble than it was worth not to go along with it. So, here he was following his teammate to participate in something that was certainly going to be a waste of time.
A few minutes more of hurried travel brought them to a brightly colored tent set up at the very edge of the village. Obito was already there, waiting for them.
"What took you so long?" he grumbled as the pair of shinobi slowed to a halt in front of him.
"This one here didn't really want to come."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes."
Obito eyed Kakashi for a moment. He'd never really thought that his sullen teammate would actually acquiesce to such a silly flight of fancy. "You agreed?" he couldn't keep the tone of disbelief from his voice.
Kakashi, feeling more than a little defensive, shrugged. "Yeah, so?"
Obito narrowed his eyes in suspicion for a moment before shrugging. It didn't matter how their third teammate had convinced the loner to join them. What mattered was that she had convinced him.
"Right," Kakashi started, just wanting to get the whole thing over and done with, "how is this supposed to work?"
Obito shrugged. "Dunno - Rin?"
The kunoichi grinned. "No idea. Let's just go in and find out!"
Before either of her two male teammates could respond, she grabbed one of each of their arms and pulled them along with her as she barged into the brightly colored tent.
It only took a moment for their eyes to compensate for the dim light inside. Once their sight adjusted they found a large burly man with long curly dark hair standing in front of a curtained-off area, just inside of the tent.
"You wish to see Madam Verushka?" he asked placidly, without preamble.
Unable to contain her excitement, Rin stepped forward with her hands clasped in front of her. "Yes! We came as a team to discover what the future holds for the three of us."
The man nodded slowly. "I see. Madam Verushka does not do group readings. Too many… possibilities. Makes visions... muddy."
"But, but- we came as a team! We need to know the fate of our team!" Rin cried with more than a little distress. None of the other teams who had gone to see the famous fortune-teller had had this problem. As far as she could tell going as a team was a time-honored tradition. Though, as she reviewed her memories of other shinobi telling her about experiences, she realized that they never said anything about getting a reading as a team, just that they went to get readings as a team. With more than a little dismay, she realized it was an unfortunate oversight on her part. She really wanted her team to work.
"Balko, what is all this racket?" An older woman stepped through from behind the curtain. She paused upon seeing the three young shinobi in front of her. "What is this?"
"They came to-" Balko started only to be interrupted.
"We came to have our fortune told!" Rin cried excitedly, sensing that she may only get one chance to make her appeal. "Only, he just said that you couldn't do a group reading." She deflated noticeably.
The old woman eyed the three for a few long minutes. "I do not usually do group readings, no…"
Rin straightened at the woman's tone of voice. "But?" she asked hopefully.
Madam Verushka chuckled. "Yes, little one, there is a 'but.' In this case… I will make the exception."
Rin cheered and clapped her hands excitedly. "Hear that Kakashi, Obito? She'll make an exception for us!"
Madam Verushka frowned awesomely, quieting the exuberant girl. "However, you must also have readings alone. The group reading will be useless if done without individual readings." She eyed the three young ninja before her, wondering why it was so important that they have their fortunes told and if it was just her imagination or if the new teams were getting younger every year. "You understand?" she prompted, wishing not to dwell on her potential customers' ages.
Eagerly, Rin nodded.
With a suppressed sigh, a part of her had hoped they'd refuse the additional expense, Madam Verushka nodded. "Settle with Balko. Then all come through." She gestured to her curtain. "We do the group first, then each, alone."
Happily, Rin turned to face the intimidating Balko, paying the amounts he quoted - elbowing Obito and Kakashi to pay their shares.
Kakashi kept his grumbles to himself, allowing Obito to complain for the both of them. Not that it did them any good. Oh, no. Rin was hearing none of it. They were there as a team-building exercise and they were going to complete it, come hell or high water.
Their accounts settled, the three shinobi cautiously made their way back into Madam Verushka's reading area.
The cordoned-off portion of the tent was even dimmer than the entrance area and they took a moment for their eyes to once again adjust.
"So, you wish to know your future?" Madam Verushka asked from her seat behind a table, upon which a large clear crystal ball resided.
Eagerly, Rin moved forward, again pulling her two reluctant teammates along with her. "Yes! We've just been assigned to a team together and we want to know how we will do."
The old woman nodded. She'd gathered as much. Most new teams found themselves drawn to her one way or another. However, this was the first time that she'd had shinobi this young. They were barely out of childhood. For some reason, this made her feel ill at ease with the situation - and she felt a small amount of regret for agreeing to do this in the first place.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she turned her attention to the shinobi in front of her. "You may ask no more than three questions."
"No more than three?" Rin asked with some hesitation.
Madam Verushka frowned slightly. "Sometimes questions have… big answers. You have less questions if they need big answers."
Rin reluctantly nodded her understanding.
"Good. Place your favored hand on the crystal."
With only a little hesitation, the three young teammates complied.
Madam Verushka nodded and quickly, under the cover of the table in front of her, started a quick chain of hand seals before closing her eyes and placing both of her hands on the crystal ball. Deep within the crystal a light suddenly flared to life, causing all three shinobi to flinch - though none of them pulled their hands away.
Madam Verushka sat stock still for several moments while the crystal ball continued to glow, pulsing softly as she worked.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, the light dimmed. Another moment later Madam Verushka opened her eyes.
Eagerly, Rin leaned forward, hoping to hear the good news.
"So…" the old woman started slowly, uncertain for the first time in a long time. She had nothing positive to tell these three kids. They had nothing happy in their futures, none of them. There was very little good for any of them. And, one and a half of them had very little future left. "What do you wish to know?" she asked carefully.
Excited, Rin couldn't help but bounce up and down on her toes a little. "Will we make a good team?"
Too cautious to let out a sigh of relief quite yet, Madam Verushka nodded slightly and chose her words carefully. "Not… not at first. But... you will get there. You will be a strong team." There was no reason to tell them that they would become a team for only one brief shining moment before everything went to hell in a handbasket and destroyed everything the kunoichi had been trying to build.
Too happy to consider Madam Verushka's cagey response, Rin exclaimed happily and did a little dance before playfully shoving both of her teammates. "See you two dummies! You will learn to work as a team! So, you might as well just start getting along now and save us all some time and trouble!"
Kakashi and Obito exchanged glances, neither one of them very happy with the fortune teller's pronouncement or Rin's interpretation of it. Madam Verushka's endorsement of their future teamwork still did not change their personalities nor the fact that they were like oil and water - never mixing well or for very long.
Madam Verushka cleared her throat, hesitating to poke the bear so to speak but knowing she would have to in order to move the appointment along and actually earn her fee. "You have no more questions… as the group?"
Kakashi briefly narrowed his eyes. He hadn't missed the careful phrasing. "We will become a successful team?"
"All teams have successes and failures. Such is the way of life."
Kakashi cocked his head to the side, it was a fair response. "So, we will be a good team, eventually."
She nodded slowly. "Eventually."
Obito grinned suddenly as it occurred to him that if they were to become a good team, they would certainly be together for a long time - he couldn't imagine them suddenly becoming a team overnight, no, it would take quite some time in his estimation. "We will be together for a long time, then."
Without waiting for a response, he pulled the girl next to him into a bit of a side hug. He wanted nothing more than to be able to stay with Rin. That he had to share her with Kakashi was unfortunate but if having to deal with Kakashi meant that he'd get to be with Rin then he could put up with it. Besides, Kakashi had never shown any interest in anything that wasn't training or rules. So he had nothing to worry about coming from that quarter.
Madam Verushka refrained from making a response. Because no one asked, no matter how much she may wish, she could not answer. She had ignored the warnings too many times and now the penalties were more than she was able to pay.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed momentarily as he caught the fortune teller's non-response and he carefully filed it away. All was not as Rin and Obito thought it was. However, as it hadn't been his idea in the first place he didn't see any reason for pointing it out. He didn't particularly care how long they were together as a team. From what knew, depending on the village's current need, teams could be dissolved and reformed at any time. Few shinobi spent their entire careers with their genin teams. As such, there was simply no telling how much of their careers they'd actually spend together. Though Madam Verushka's words appeared to indicate that the three of them would be together for years as Obito chose to believe, it was entirely possible that it might only be for a few months. There was just no way of knowing for sure.
Instead of bringing any of those possibilities up and therefore extending the time they spent there, Kakashi decided just to make sure he got clear answers from Madam Verushka in his own individual reading.
"So," Madam Verushka started, ready once again to try and hurry the three shinobi along, technically they'd only asked two questions but she was hoping that two would be enough, "are we ready for the individual readings then?"
Happily, Rin nodded, forgetting entirely the possibility of a third question. "Yes, please!"
"As you wish. Ladies first." Madam Verushka gestured for Kakashi and Obito to exit the private portion of the tent.
Obediently the two male shinobi returned to the reception area with the bulky Balko, who they found reading a small slim orange volume with a red slashed circle on the cover. Disinterestedly he glanced up only briefly from his book to take in the two shinobi before returning his attention to his novel.
Unwilling to socialize with each other, Kakashi and Obito each took up silent positions on either side of the waiting area. After maybe ten minutes, Rin exited Madam Verushka's reading area and gestured for Obito to take his turn.
Kakashi regarded Rin silently, watching for any signs of how her reading had gone. He had no doubt that Madam Verushka was the real deal. He'd heard that most if not all teams eventually made their way to the fortune teller's tent to have their compatibility fortunes told. And, he had not missed the hand seals she had performed under the cover of the table and crystal ball. Future-gazing jutsu was highly specialized, very difficult to perform - so much so that most who bothered never managed to master any other techniques - and imposed steep penalties for those who did not follow the rules. Consequently, very few were willing and able to learn future-gazing jutsu, never mind perform it commercially.
From what Kakashi could see, Rin appeared to be very happy with her reading. With no small amount of disgust, he realized that she probably had asked about her love life. After a moment of further consideration, he suppressed a shudder. She had not been very subtle in expressing her interest in him. And, while she was attractive enough, he supposed, he simply wasn't interested. He was a tool of the village and nothing more. It was simple. He had been raised to be an implement of the village and would, as all honorable Hatake did, die in service of Konoha. His future had no room for a partner or a family and he had no intention of trying to fit either into his planned life path now.
Maybe ten minutes over Rin's ten minutes later, Obito exited Madam Verushka's reading area with a slightly troubled expression on his usually happy face. Upon realizing that he was not hiding his feelings very well he shook his head and pasted a slightly forced grin on his face.
"You're up Hatake."
With a stifled sigh Kakashi nodded. He didn't particularly want to do a reading but felt obligated since not only had he paid for one but both of his teammates had already done theirs. With some trepidation, he returned to Madam Verushka's reading room.
"Ah, so you have decided to come after all," she stated without preamble.
Knowing that there wasn't really a good response he shrugged.
She gestured to the crystal ball and he obliged, once again placing his right hand on it. Curious this time around he tried to examine the depths of the crystal as the light pulsed faintly within. With a mental shrug, he realized he couldn't see anything this time around either and allowed his mind to wander instead.
Several moments later he realized that it was taking far longer than it had earlier when she was doing the team reading. Kakashi couldn't help but frown, why was it taking so long for him when it hadn't taken very long for the team… His stomach sank sharply as he realized what that likely indicated and his stomach sank even further when he realized how long Rin had been in for her private reading in comparison to how long Obito had been in for his. Feeling slightly sick he turned his focus once again to the crystal ball, wishing he could see what Madam Verushka could see.
Another few minutes later the glow dimmed and Madam Verushka leaned back from the crystal ball, her eyes still closed. After a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes to regard the shinobi in front of her.
"No more than three questions."
Kakashi thought for a moment. He didn't think he really wanted to know anything but knew he would have to ask something.
"What will be the cause of my demise?"
Madam Verushka blinked and sat back, surprised. "That is what you would like to know?"
Kakashi nodded.
"You do not wish to ask about your life?"
He shrugged. "I am an implement of the village – that is how my life will be lived. There can be no question of that." He sighed. "If I must ask something, I will ask about my death. If not about my actual demise, then what is my biggest concern, the biggest threat to my desired end?"
Again she sat back, surprised. Madam Verushka took a moment to gather her wits before carefully composing an answer. "The greatest threat to your desired demise… as you choose to see it… is two-part, women and children…" she paused for a moment before adding with a shrug, "or, perhaps, children and women." She waved a hand impatiently. "Does not matter, they could cause your undoing."
"I... see." He thought for a moment, assuming that she meant that he would find himself caught in an unhappy relationship that included children - he'd certainly seen enough of those and could easily see how being trapped in such a situation could cause a lack of focus which would likely lead to his death – possibly not the honorable one in service to the village that he desired. "Anything to be done?"
She started to shake her head but paused. "You, you are unlike the others." She couldn't help her lips from flattening out in a faint grimace for a moment before continuing, "You have a crossroads." She stopped to think for a moment before proceeding very carefully. "Focus only on your career - let no one into your life. Avoid both women and children - that path leads not where you wish to go." She nodded slightly to herself, satisfied with her words. "If you stay on your desired path, then nothing will stop your true demise as a shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
Never once had Kakashi ever guessed that Sakura had been pining for him. Him, of all people! And, yet, when he had actually, finally, sat down to go over the distasteful packet of papers, he had found the unbelievable. Her name, Sakura Haruno, was right there, at the top of the page. Right there, the top of his list! Her name was on his list!
Slowly, Kakashi made his way back to the outskirts of the village, it was late but he knew his destination would still be open. The brightly colored tent was pitched in the same clearing and more or less appeared to be exactly as he'd remembered it. With only a little trepidation he made his way into the tent.
Though several years had passed since he had first visited the fortune teller, he wasn't particularly surprised to see the bulky Balko still standing watch over the back portion of the tent.
"You wish to see the Madam Verushka?"
Kakashi silently nodded.
"Let me check. Is late but, perhaps not too late." Balko disappeared into the dark recesses of the tent.
While he waited, Kakashi turned his attention inward. He had been at a loss as to what to do with himself until he'd heard that the fortune teller had once again turned up at the outskirts of the village. His teammates would give him no end of trouble if they'd heard that he'd returned. It was acceptable, even expected, for the young new shinobi teams to pay Madam Verushka a visit. But, it was quite another thing for newly minted ANBU to visit the aged fortune teller. Fortune tellers were for the elderly, the superstitious, and the giggly girls. They were not for the battle-hardened shinobi such as himself. However…
Balko returned. "Madam Verushka will see you." He held out his hand silently.
Kakashi remembered the fee. He paid without comment and made his way back into the darkened portion of the tent.
Upon entering he found a woman who appeared to be the same Madam Verushka seated behind the same crystal ball. Everything appeared exactly as he'd remembered. For a moment he had wondered if it would be the same 'Madam Verushka' or if Madam Verushka was, as he suspected, the title of the job rather than the name of the actual person. Since everyone for as long as the village seemed to remember visited 'Madam Verushka' and he had caught on to how she was able to tell accurate fortunes on his last visit, he had wondered if the whole thing was perpetrated through jutsu. If it was just a long string of 'Madam Verushkas' who traveled the same routes and visited the same villages on some sort of circuit, each Madam Verushka taking on an apprentice who would eventually take their place when their mentor either retired or died.
"So… you have returned." She began, without preamble. "I did not think I had seen the last of you. But, then, you… you are one with a crossroads." She paused before musing aloud, I" wonder, have you stayed true to your desired path?"
Unsure how else to respond he simply nodded, doing his best to ignore the guilt he felt at the fact that in doing so he had inflicted pain on those he had come to care about.
"I see…" She took a moment to look him up and down.
Kakashi was glad that he'd stuck to his usual clothes rather than going to see her in his new ANBU uniform.
"Yes, I see in your posture. You have moved up in the world." She was unable to keep a brief frown from her lips before continuing. "You have indeed stayed true to your path despite the grief it has caused you."
Unsure how she could know but figuring that she was just guessing he nodded again.
"I see that this time you have come alone."
"Yes," he hesitated and then continued, of course, she already knew what had happened, "the team I was with before is dead."
She nodded. She had seen it the first time the three young shinobi had come to her. Neither one of his teammates was long for the world - in two different ways. One would be back, changed beyond recognition, the other lost forever. Both causing the remaining third no end of pain and grief.
He nodded and then narrowed his eye as something he had known for some time but had never chosen to acknowledge surfaced in his mind. "You knew they were going to die."
Madam Verushka closed her eyes and sighed before opening them to respond. "Yes."
"Did you tell them?"
"No."
"No? You didn't tell them?"
Madam Verushka narrowed her eyes. "The rules of the gift are very strict! Answer only what is asked - no more, no less," she spat, unable to prevent the potent venom in her tone. The older woman shuddered before collecting herself to continue. "The consequences are terrible for disobeying the rules."
Taken aback by the cold almost vicious tone in her voice, Kakashi had to physically prevent himself from stepping away.
"They did not ask. I could not answer." She shook her head slightly, her lips pursing in regret. "Do not think this does not bother me." She paused and narrowed her eyes once again as she hissed, "Do not think those are the only ones who haunt me - many come, many go, most die young."
"But, you knew!"
Her gaze hardened as she looked straight into his eye and responded evenly, "That and so much more."
Kakashi stared at her for a few moments, too full of anger and regret to form words. Finally, long years of training took over, corralling his emotions for later, he shook his head and gathered himself enough for one final accusation.
"You knew it would be my fault."
She frowned, not expecting him to go in that direction. "That is not-"
Kakashi interrupted. "It was my fault."
Madam Verushka studied him intensely for a moment before nodding slightly. "If you choose to see it that way, then I cannot say otherwise." Her mind wandered for a moment. She had never met someone so dead certain about things. Especially not one who could be so dead wrong.
Managing to finally get his emotions entirely under control he carefully exhaled, knowing that it would do him and his reading no good. After his consultation, he could spend a few hours at the memorial to get things back under control. "I did not come here to argue."
"No, no you did not." She sighed, letting her intense emotions go as well, and gestured to the crystal ball in front of her. "Let us see what can be seen."
Knowing what needed to be done, Kakashi reached out and placed his right hand on the crystal ball. He tilted his head slightly to better allow his partially uncovered Sharingan unrestricted access to the process. This time he hoped to see more than what he was told.
Madam Verushka quickly completed her chain of hand seals before laying her hands on the crystal ball opposite of his.
Kakashi's Sharingan copied the movements even though he knew before she had even begun that he would never be able to duplicate the procedure. Like some of the other techniques he had copied since acquiring the memento mori, this one required more of him than he had to give. Similar to any number of medical jutsu he had also copied, the amount of focus and control necessary to perform them simply went beyond his own.
The old woman closed her eyes as the glowing crystal gently pulsed, reading and interpreting what she saw. After a few moments, she sat back, keeping her hands on the crystal ball and the jutsu going. She wasn't certain about what she had seen and thought to take a moment to gather herself to try again. With a frown, she leaned forward once again and continued her reading.
Kakashi watched the glow in the depths of the crystal pulse, grow and fade in an irregular rhythm. He was faintly disappointed to find that he could not actually see anything more than he had the first time he had paid Madam Verushka a visit. With a silent sigh, he resigned himself to wait for the fortune teller's verdict. The fact that she was frowning was not encouraging.
A few moments later she finally sat back once again, removing her hands from the crystal ball in front of her, keeping her eyes closed.
Kakashi waited, knowing that she was likely processing what she had seen.
A minute later she finally opened her eyes. "So, what is it that you want to know?"
Kakashi opened his mouth and then closed it. He had thought to ask about how he would do in ABNU - he was confident that he would do well, he was an excellent shinobi, he followed orders and did the tasks assigned to him. Of course he would do well in ANBU. No, instead, he would repeat his original question.
"I would like to know more about my possible downfall."
She nodded, having expected as much. Because the young masked man all those years ago had asked about his death when both of his teammates, who were themselves slated to die young, had asked about their futures and love lives, she had never been able to forget him.
"I see you have," she paused, looking for the correct words, "successfully managed to… hmm... delay your crossroads."
"So, after avoiding my crossroads?"
Startled out of her musings she shook her head slightly as if to shake the errant thoughts from her mind. "You will, eventually, find yourself at your crossroads."
"What?"
"You are the rare case - your crossroads, it will follow you. It has been delayed, not avoided. Unusual. Few make the correct choices to be granted a crossroads, never mind one that can be delayed."
"I see." He thought for a few moments. "So, my possible downfall?"
"Of course. That has not… not exactly changed."
"How so?"
"The cause of your possible undoing is still children and… hmm... a woman."
"So, if I continue to avoid letting anyone in, I should be fine?"
Unhappily she nodded. "If that is how you wish to live your life, your demise will eventually be as you wish."
"As I wish?"
"In service of your village. That is how you expect to die, is it not?"
Kakashi blinked. "Yes, of course. There is no other way."
Madam Verushka sighed. "If that is what you wish, avoid women and children. They cannot - will not - bring you what you desire."
Sakura, the woman Kakashi had spent the past few years fantasizing about. The woman who was the reason why he was on intimate terms with all pink-haired women within a day's travel of the village. (Though, just the pink hair, Kakashi couldn't bear intimacy with women who shared Sakura's green eyes.) The woman who was directly responsible for his inability to settle into his chosen life's path. The woman who he had spent many agonizing hours helping through messy breakups. The woman who had occupied his dreams for longer than he cared to even contemplate.
And, she was on his list. Sakura cared for him and by her own admission, she cared for him too much.
"You did not avoid the children, did you?" Madam Verushka asked, faintly chiding.
"How could I have?" Kakashi snorted with disgust. "It was a direct order."
"Yes, and you always follow orders, do you not?"
He paused. He could no longer say that that was true. Kakashi could no longer say that he was the perfect tool for the village. He was broken. He had already failed.
Madam Verushka chuckled, having already guessed the truth.
"Place your hand on the crystal ball. Let us see what can be seen."
Without any hesitation, he placed his hand on the crystal ball.
Madam Verushka once again set her jutsu in motion. She was unsurprised to see the changes in the man's future this time. After several moments' study, she pulled back her focus and shut the jutsu down. Giving herself a moment to gather her thoughts.
"So, what is it that you wish to know?"
"The possible threat to my preferred end."
She nodded, she had expected as much. "It is still children."
Startled, he looked her in the eye. "No longer women?"
She shook her head slightly. "That path has been… hmm…" she paused to think for a few moments before continuing. "Women are still a threat to your desired demise, yes. But… perhaps not as strong now as before. At least… not, not at the moment."
He narrowed his eye. "How so?"
"You have already encountered the… woman who could be the potential cause of your downfall."
His eye widened.
"You have made it out of that meeting… more or less... intact. For now. That crossroads has not yet been traveled … there is still danger there. But, for now… be on your guard against children."
"I see…" Kakashi trailed off thoughtfully. He'd been spending all his time focusing entirely on the village and how he could be of service. But, lately, the little orange books (and others like them) he had picked up to curb certain desires were no longer serving their purpose nearly as well as they once had. If women were no longer the big danger to his desired path that they once were… so long as he was careful, he should be able to safely satisfy those urges more often.
Guessing where his thoughts were going, Madam Verushka reached out and cuffed his shoulder. "Do not be going off and leading any poor young woman on now that you do not need to worry as much."
"What?"
"If you are to start doing what I think you are, then make sure you do not start anything you cannot - or will not - finish!"
For a moment he stared at her, puzzled, before the realization dawned. His tried and true method of flings and one night stands seemed to be what she wanted him to do, or rather continue to do - no messy relationships or anything that might resemble one. No, he understood, any sort of relationship would be unfair to the woman. One night stands it would be… just more often than he'd dared to indulge in in the past.
"And," she continued, snapping him out of his thoughts. "If you want to avoid that possible downfall, you still need to be careful of both women and children. Though women are not the threat they were, they can still lead to an unwanted demise."
Sakura, the woman who he had just spent a productive morning trying not to think about while he wrapped up his business at the bank.
The fact that the contents of his account would be going to her did not help things in that respect. Eventually, Kakashi had had to give up and allow his mind to wander - if only to ensure he completed the deposits necessary to fulfill all the requirements. Because of the nature of his agreement and of the account, he had been given high quotas to fulfill. And, if he were to be honest with himself, he had set his sights on even higher goals. He wanted absolutely everything to be there, perfectly laid out for her. Kakashi wanted to leave nothing up to chance.
The way things were going, Kakashi was fairly certain that he wouldn't be allowed a second chance. He'd already squandered the one he had been given. No, instead, he'd make sure every 't' was crossed and every 'i' dotted. So, when the inevitable came to pass, everything would be there and ready for Sakura.
He shouldn't have been surprised that when his paperwork had finally been complete, he had been summoned to the Hokage's office. Tsunade had his next mission ready for him. She had given him the afternoon and evening to prepare himself. He would leave unseen in the dead of the night. Kakashi would not, as the Hokage had not-so-subtly suggested, stop by to see a certain medic before he left.
Unbidden his hands clenched in his pockets, where he had casually stuffed them, as always, while he pondered the Memorial. He was one of the most elite shinobi the village had on their roster and yet he was still a coward. He had done things the mere thoughts of which would make the vast majority of the village's current active shinobi quail. He had no excuse. And, yet, there it was. When all was said and done, he was a coward, plain and simple.
A braver man, a better man, a man Sakura deserved, would deal with the situation at hand. Kakashi was not a brave man, he was a coward. He would slink away into the night, likely never to return. It would be better that way. Sakura would remember him as the carefully aloof man she had somehow, bafflingly, pinned her hopes on instead of the coward that he truly was. Far better for her to remember him in a positive - if false - light than to remember him as the poor excuse for a man that he truly turned out to be.
Sakura sighed, unaware that it was the third sigh since her mentor had stealthily turned up outside her office, and shuffled the papers in front of her once again. Her concentration had sadly been lacking all morning and she couldn't quite put a finger on why.
"If you keep sighing like that, you will let all your happiness escape." Tsunade chided as she finally entered Sakura's eyesight, carrying a thick file with her.
"Oh!" Sakura felt her cheeks heat a little. She hadn't realized that she had been allowing her restlessness to show so plainly. She'd been having a tough time focusing since her late-night conversation with Kakashi two weeks prior and for some reason it was far worse than it had been that day.
Tsunade stepped into the small cramped office, closing the door behind her, and crossed over to stand directly in front of Sakura's paper-covered desk.
Sakura raised an eyebrow at Tsunade's motion to ensure their privacy but chose not to comment on it.
"Kakashi filed his paperwork yesterday." Tsunade started, without preamble.
"Oh?" Sakura asked noncommittally, attempting to focus her attention back on the papers in front of her. A tricky case, one that she should have found both fascinating and absorbing. Yet, she had found that she simply hadn't been able to properly keep her attention on it.
"'Oh?' Is that all you have to say? 'Oh?'" Tsunade eyed Sakura as she clearly tried to focus on something that did not appear to hold her attention in the least. Tsunade couldn't quite keep her amusement to herself.
Sakura shook her head a little and shuffled the papers again, avoiding eye contact. "I'm not sure what you were expecting from me?"
"You don't seem surprised."
Sakura paused and thought for a moment. "No, I suppose not."
"He was dead set against it."
Sakura hesitated for another moment and then nodded. "Yes, he was."
"Did you talk to him about it?" Tsunade asked with a sly sideways glance at the woman in front of her.
"What?!" Startled, she glanced up to look at the Hokage and inwardly cringed at the smug expression on her face.
"Did you perhaps, convince him to cooperate?"
Sakura shook her head, absently shuffling her papers a little. "Not really. I explained why he should cooperate but I didn't really press him too much about it. Trying to push Kakashi into something he doesn't want to do is a certain path to failure." She shrugged. "I think it was really only a matter of time before he saw the light and cooperated anyway. Not like he actually had an alternative option at that point." Sakura paused as a thought occurred to her. "Actually, now that I think of it, I'm more surprised that it took him so long."
Tsunade tilted her head a little, considering. "What do you mean?"
"Since the bounty was recalled the day after you'd given him that ultimatum… Well, I'd assumed that he'd squared it all away then. I hadn't realized that he'd dragged his feet quite so much." She shrugged again. "Leave it to Kakashi to draw something so simple out for so long. That man does like to take his time and only do things when he is good and ready to do them."
"Well, he opened an account the next day. Just took him a little longer to file his paperwork." She gestured to the fatter than expected file in her hand.
Sakura found her eyes suddenly fixated on the file. She hadn't realized that the folder Tsunade had with her was Kakashi's file. She'd assumed that it was a new patient file that the Hokage was planning on dumping on her as something she herself didn't want to handle.
The older woman chuckled, realizing that she finally had Sakura's undivided attention. "You want to see?" she asked, doing her best to keep all smugness from the tone of her voice.
Sakura found herself staring at the folder. It was fatter than she had expected. Her file wasn't nearly as thick and the paperwork she had had to fill out was nearly comparable with the paperwork he had had to fill out. So, how his could have grown to nearly two or three times the thickness of her own, she could not guess.
With an ill-concealed smug smile, Tsunade waved the folder closer to Sakura. "You do want to see it, don't you?"
Sakura couldn't take her eyes off the folder. For a moment, she just stared. Her desire to see the contents of the folder almost palpable. After what seemed like an eternity she finally pulled her eyes from the file. Shaking her head she attempted to refocus her attention on the pile of papers in front of her.
"No."
"No?" Tsunade asked with no small amount of surprise.
"No," Sakura responded firmly with another slight shake of her head. "If Kakashi wants me to know, he will tell me."
Tsunade opened her mouth and closed it before opening it again to pose a question. "Sakura, have you seen Kakashi lately?"
Surprised at the slight change in subject, Sakura refocused her attention back on the Hokage. "No, I don't think so. I haven't seen him since the day you gave him the ultimatum."
"What?"
Sakura shrugged. "He comes and goes - sometimes I can go weeks without seeing him and others I see him all day every day." She paused for a moment. "He's rather like a cat in that way."
Tsunade shook her head to refocus on the matter at hand. "So you didn't see him yesterday?"
She tilted her head. "Um, no, should I have?"
Unable to prevent it, the older woman frowned and shook her head, her brows drawing together in concern.
With a brief small smile, Sakura sighed, "Let me guess, you sent him back out again?"
"Yes."
She waved a hand negligently. "Well, then I'm sure I'll see him when he comes back. If he wants me to know, he'll tell me then."
"Sakura... I'm sorry."
"Why? I'll just see him when he comes back, that's all."
Tsunade tried again. "Sakura, there was a reason why I had to issue that ultimatum."
"What?"
"He had a mission waiting for him." She explained gently, knowing that Sakura's mind was actively trying not to understand what was right in front of her.
"H-he'll just tell me when he comes back."
"Sakura, listen to me, he had a mission waiting - one that required him to have all his loose ends taken care of before he went."
Sakura swallowed, her throat suddenly very dry. Slowly, she nodded. Given Kakashi's mission record and general willingness to take risky missions, she shouldn't have been surprised. But, somehow, she was. Due to their conversation in her kitchen and how he had left… Sakura hadn't been able to prevent herself from hoping that things may have changed between them for the better if only just a little. That he had taken the sort of mission from which he was not expected to return and hadn't stopped by to see her… that hurt far more than she'd thought it could.
Realizing that Sakura had finally correctly read between the lines, Tsunade frowned in sympathy. Moving to Sakura's desk, she took a seat on the edge and gently lay a hand on Sakura's shoulder and once again offered her the file. "Here, why don't you take a look?"
Startled out of her semi-reverie, Sakura shook her head slightly before fixing her gaze on the folder once again.
The thick file seemed to call to her. That Tsunade wanted her to see it had to mean something, but what? Should she look?
Stiffening her resolve Sakura shook her head again. She truly wanted Kakashi to be the one to tell her. She had honestly expected him to do so. Just looking herself seemed plain wrong. "No, thank you."
"Sakura, I think-"
"If he didn't tell me himself, then he didn't want me to know."
"I don't-"
"Regardless, it doesn't sound like I'll have long to wait anyway."
Tsunade opened her mouth to respond only to find that Sakura was right. Since Kakashi wasn't expected to return, Sakura wouldn't have long to wait at all.
"Are you sure?"
Sakura took one last long look at the folder before closing her eyes and slowly shaking her head. "I can wait."
Unsure what else she could do to try and soothe the distressed woman, Tsunade tried a true statement. "He's made it back from missions with worse return odds in the past."
With a forced tight little smile, Sakura nodded. "Yes, he has. Despite his affinity for dogs, he really is far more like a cat."
"Yes, he does seem to have more lives than one would expect."
"But, those lives will eventually run out."
"Yes, inevitably, they will. No one lives forever."
They sat in silence for a few moments, neither of them wanting to break it.
Finally, with a nod and a suppressed sigh, Tsunade pushed herself up from Sakura's desk. Before turning to take her leave, she paused to take a good look at Sakura. Seeing the slight signs of strain and deep distress broke her heart.
"Sakura, you've been working yourself too hard lately."
"What?"
"Take the afternoon off."
"What would I-?"
"Kakashi has spent a lot of time at the Memorial. Apparently, something about the atmosphere makes it very soothing." With her final admonition administered, Tsunade exited the office, closing the door behind her and sliding the panel under her nameplate from 'In' to 'Out.' Silently she made a note to stop by again in an hour to make sure Sakura really had taken the afternoon off.
Regardless, Tsunade knew that there was just no way Sakura would be able to get anything done with the cloud of Kakashi's most recent mission assignment hanging over her. She'd make sure to stop by again the next day to see how Sakura was holding up.