Hello! Here is an interlude that sorta wrote itself! It is from from 4 different people's POV so each 'X' means a change in Point of view!
EDIT 14/12/15: this has now been updated and what you are currently reading is the beta'd version done by bleeding-roses-16
Thank you! Enjoy!
The second time Kakashi woke it was to the sharp smell of antiseptics and the lingering smell of death.
'A hospital.' Of course, the one place he hates the most. The place where he brings back his injured comrades for them to be healed only to die instead. He pulsed his chakra once and felt that the room entirely empty as he could sense no one else's chakra's but he didn't believe that one bit. He knew that there were ANBU members surrounding the room to keep an eye on him. It was protocol, especially for ninja to return home from long term undercover missions lest they betray.
Turning his thoughts away from his current situation, Kakashi cast his mind back to the last thing he could consciously remember, which was Fumiko chatting his ear off about her everyday happenings for the last three years. That and the faintest scent of forest surrounding him. Kakashi could just smell the same scent lingering on his skin, which he also considered odd since he couldn't remember coming in contact with anyone having that scent.
His inner musings were interrupted by the only door in the room opening and a medic with and ANBU - Bird - escort entering the room.
Kakashi could feel the annoyance building up when he saw the medic with the clip board, he really didn't want to answer any pre-set questions or deal with any of the on-duty med-nins until the Hokage debriefed him on the scroll that he had sent ahead via summons.
X
Tenzo watched as his captain and friend's emotions change from contemplative to annoyed, which was almost tangible if going by Bird's very subtle twitch, at the very sight of the medic and the clip board.
As he watched the proceedings, Tenzo's thoughts turned to the woman that had helped his captain who's name he'd later been told was Akiko. His own encounter with the woman was ...unique. It seemed that she was the type of person who helped others because they had the ability to help. Her own words were also peculiar when he had questioned her motive, something that he hadn't heard from others before.
"People don't just do that."
"Well I'm not people."
Her looks were average; she was ordinary in everything except for the fact that she had hair which he could only describe as the colours of a sunset and the fact that she wore men's clothing.
The debriefing wasn't going to start until later but Tenzo was very curious as to what the report that their contact, Eiko had submitted and hopefully it would shed more light on the odd woman known as Akiko.
X
As Genma crouched in the hidden rafters of the Hokage's office he absently rubbed at his stomach, chasing away the phantom pains of being elbowed with great force by a civilian woman. Of course, that led him to think about the woman who had caused him the pain. She had stared at him with brown eyes glittering with indignant anger, something he found attractive, and later with exasperated concern. After inflicting him with a substantial amount of pain, for a civilian, she then pulled up his pants leg and eased the pain with simply a finger.
She was an interesting one, fierce and beautiful despite hidden in all those baggy clothes.
Fumiko had told him with subtle words, that she may have been a threat to Kakashi but he suspected otherwise especially when he had seen the racket that Kakashi had caused during the night.
He had watched from the window as Kakashi seemed to be stuck in a flashback and had watched the orange headed woman keep her cool and subdue the ANBU member, suffice to say, he was impressed. He was even witness her getting a scar on the right side of her forehead to the hairline, for her efforts of saving Kakashi from hurting others and himself.
As he watched her keep her calm in a situation that had him restraining himself from helping his fellow family member, the admiration that he had seen bloom in Fumiko had also sprouted in him too. Enough so that when that woman was saying her good-byes to the contacts, he subtly revealed his identity to her.
A pulse of chakra caught his attention and Genma look in the direction of the window as Kakashi and Tenzo slipped though and stood to attention, waiting for the Hokage to begin.
He watched with keen eyes as the Hokage performed the hand seals to activate the silence seal so that ANBU members were able to debrief with the Hokage.
'Well, now I get to learn more about that mystery woman...' Genma thought with a grin behind his mask.
X
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, watched with impassive eyes as his best operative recounted the information he had gathered for the last three years as an undercover operative in Ame, focusing on the main points that were in the report that had been handed in earlier.
Their final and only successful attempt of infiltrating the village. With Kakashi having been discovered and attacked, Sarutobi knew that whoever was in-charge would tighten their security even more, making it impossible for a spy to infiltrate Ame again.
The information wasn't much, as Inu could not get any closer than a janitor in the administrative headquarters but it could be considered vital as there had been individuals sighted in cloaks with red clouds. Hiruzen knew who they were, Jiraiya had told him earlier about them but as of yet their objective was still unknown.
"...once the enemy ninja had been defeated, I had collapsed due to unknown causes within the visual range of, who I would presume to be, a civilian." Kaka...Inu's words had caught the Third's attention, a civilian?
He stared at the operative more in intensely. A civilian could spell trouble for this mission but the Third wasn't sure, so he motioned for the man to continue with the report.
The Operative merely looked at the Hokage and continued.
"Later on, I regained conscious, I was already at the rendezvous point. Contact Beta, Fumiko, was beside me and well aware of my condition. I did not meet with the civilian that I had seen however, a woman called Akiko was apparently the one to bring me to the inn. I left consciousness once more and woke up in the hospital." He finished flatly as Hiruzen contemplated on this odd occurrence.
His eyes drifted to the room and with a subtle poke of chakra to the operative in the room, a beaver faced mask dropped down from the darkness.
"Beaver, you were the scout. You mentioned a civilian who...had strength to subdue you. Explain." The Third ordered with a firm tone that was tinged with curiosity.
Beaver merely nodded his head and started to speak.
"Contact Beta had reported that the civilian was a threat to Operative Inu, who appeared to be recovering from an unknown cause. I then attempted to do a threat assessment on the civilian.
I took on the role of a drunk male civilian and made contact with said civilian and was attacked on the count of self-defence. I then deemed that the civilian's threat as minimal, as her own skills were minimal. However I continued to keep watch through the night." Beaver laid out his decision in the bland and empty tone that was signature in ANBU.
Hiruzen, noted curiously that Inu had twitched and angled his mask slightly towards Beaver when he began speaking of the civilian.
'This civilian is becoming interesting.' He thought to himself as Hiruzen read the body language of Beaver. It showed in small subtle shifts from muscle flexes and re-positioning of his body, that Beaver found the female civilian attractive.
"Hmm...What is your assessment of her?" Hiruzen asked Beaver.
"From what I observed, the civilian has a calm temperament and is able to remain rational in times pressure and is able to remain professional in situations of stress. Her temperament is ideal as a medic." Beaver stated.
"Kinoe, what of you?" The Third turned to the cat shaped mask.
"The civilian is indeed a medic. Her skills are great for what seems to be a traveller. According to the civilian, Inu had suffered blood-loss and was recovering. From the information that I later gathered it was the civilian who had saved Inu's life." Kinoe recounted.
There was a minute stiffening in Inu as the information was relayed.
'I guess Kakashi didn't expect a civilian to save his life. One that seems to be well liked.' The Third mused.
"Explain." Hiruzen said as if this was new information.
Kinoe bowed before continuing.
"According to contact Alpha, the civilian had brought Inu to the rendezvous, who was badly injured due to a cut on the Femoral artery. Due to this serious injury Alpha had observed and assisted in a surgery to seal the artery that saved Inu's life."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow but did not say anything as he had read the report by Eiko and to say the least, he was impressed. Under the conditions and with a life at steak, this civilian was certainly something.
"Later, Contact Alpha had reported that the civilian had subdued Inu when he was in fever induced delusions caused from infections of several wounds on the upper body. The civilian had restored to restraining Inu with ropes due to the violent nature of thrashing which had left the civilian with a scar on the right side of the forehead to the hair line. "
Once more Inu had reacted subtly to the information being given, having been in the dark of all this. The Third could see the tensing of his muscles and the minute tilting of the mask that Tenzo would be questioned later about this woman.
"Once Inu's fever had broken, the civilian had rested in a separate room and then reset the bandages on Inu. At this time I arrived at the inn and made my way to Inu's room and caught sight of the civilian as she checked on the leg wound. The civilian was amiable with questions and asked me to change Inu's clothes, I believe they were a spare that the civilian used at one point."
Hiruzen's lips curled with a smirk at the twitch he could see go through Inu at the mention of the clothes.
"Then the civilian left leaving no name." Kinoe finished his report and waited for the Hokage to continue.
"Were there any defining features about the civilian?" Hiruzen asked the three ANBU in the room before him.
"The civilian has what appears to be orange hair." Kinoe stated flatly.
"The civilian wears men's clothing." Beaver volunteered, Inu stayed silent.
"A name?" The Third asked in a grandfatherly fashion in preparation for a golden ball of energy whose chakra he could feel rapidly nearing the tower.
"The name given to Contact Alpha was Akiko. No last name." Kinoe declared in that detached way and showing nothing about the change in the Hokage.
Inu twitched again, uncomfortably. This time not from the information.
Hiruzen cleared his throat in preparation to give further orders when the handle on the far door twisted.
"Dismissed." He ordered them as the door opened. The ANBU abruptly vanished back in to the shadows as Hiruzen released the silence seal in time for a bright yellow haired child to come barrelling into the office while shouting his lungs out.
Hiruzen chuckled fondly and moved to great the boy who was already speaking a mile a minute.
"GRAMPS! GUESS WHAT!GUESSWHAT!GUESSWHA..."
X
Kakashi stared at the neat pile of folded clothes in the safety of his apartment. He had retrieved them after the debriefing with the Hokage from his subsequent hospital room.
The clothes still had the smell of forest, dust after rain and that one scent that he still couldn't identify.
Kakashi could vaguely remember the civilian that he had stumbled across, a man, wearing a rice planter's hat, on the ground with eyes full of fear.
'But he wasn't a man.' Kakashi mused to himself as he thought over the information the Third had given him.
A woman, a civilian woman had saved his life. Kakashi was grateful but also curious about her agenda. Did she know who he was? Why did she help him? A stranger that could have killed her had he woken up?
He did feel somewhat guilty for giving the civilian that scar and he was also curious as to what else had happened.
'I might just take a peek at Eiko's report.' Kakashi thought, slightly gleeful at the prospect of learning more.
Such questions he pondered as he waited for the arrival of Tenzo, his cute subordinate he had adopted from Root.
A flare of chakra and then Tenzo was in the room with him. With a grin on his masked lips, Kakashi turned to his fellow operative.
"Ahh, Tenzo! I've got a few questions for you!" He called and watched with blatant amusement as Tenzo's chakra turned wary and he seemed to blanch.
Well, at least these questions that he has would keep him occupied for a while, hopefully until he was back on the mission roster.
Tada!
Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I;m glad you're enjoying this as much as I am writing it!
So thoughts?