Two Week Later
Daiki shifted, rolling away from Iruka's bare chest. She stood up slowly, careful not to disturb her partner. Daiki picked the throw blanket off the end of her bed and wrapped it around her exposed body. Iruka rolled over to face her, his eyes opening slightly.
"Someone's here." He whispered.
"I know." She nodded. "He was expected. I'll be right back." Iruka shifted to face the wall, understanding her desire for privacy. She walked into the living room, pulling the door shut behind her. The room was dark, the morning still hours away.
"A little late for a social visit." She stated. The small light over the stove was on, backlighting Kakashi who stood leaning against the island.
"I didn't want to interrupt." He stated, the orange book open in his left hand.
"Don't tell me you were waiting in here the whole time." Daiki mused. Kakashi looked up from the book.
"Of course not." He looked her over skeptically causing her to shift uncomfortably, instinctively hugging the blanket closer to her body.
"What?" She asked, self-consciously.
"It's just…" He shook his head. "Nothing." Kakashi fully closed the book, sliding it into his vest. Kakashi knew all about her dirty pleasures of submission. It wasn't often she left a rendezvous without a few marks. When he saw Iruka hadn't left, for the third night in a row, he expected to find her sexually content and marked from her escapades. She was certainly one of the two.
"What's so urgent?" She asked, redirecting their conversation, all too aware of his gaze.
"We have a mission." He started. "Team 7 and I will head out early. If you're wanting to check-in on Sasuke before we go, I suggest going around dawn."
"What's the level of difficulty?" She pried.
"C rank, escort mission." Kakashi answered without hesitation. "They'll be fine." Daiki smiled, relaxing slightly as his scrutiny had ended.
"I know." She nodded. "They have you." Kakashi stepped forward, offering her a small picture.
"For you." He nodded. It was a picture of team 7, small enough to be discreetly hidden anywhere.
"Thank you." Her throat felt tight as she looked at the two boys that she'd monitored for the last 13 years of her life. When her eyes shifted to the silver haired sensei standing behind the pink haired girl, she felt calmer, the tightness evaporating.
"Just because the old bird wouldn't approve the adoption doesn't mean they aren't your boys." Kakashi stated, turning to walk towards the front door.
"Be careful." She called out to him. "You're one of my boys too." Kakashi was her best friend. They had been through so much together and it had all begun at such a young age.
It had taken them a long time to repair their relationship after Kakashi had burned her with his lightning blade. He had held so much guilt. She hadn't seen him so reserved since Rin's sacrifice. Things were never the same after that, they stopped sleeping together and for half a year they hardly spoke outside of work.
He left her apartment without another word. Daiki took a deep breath, holding the picture close to her chest as she willed herself not to cry. After she collected herself, she returned into her bedroom. She slid the picture into the top drawer of her desk and crawled back into bed with Iruka, curling up on her side next to him. He draped his arm over her side and hugged her close.
"Is everything alright?" He asked.
"Yeah." Daiki assured, intertwining her fingers with his. "Everything is fine."
…
Jiraiya watched as the blue haired warrior shifted nervously, as if she couldn't control her own movements. Daiki was dressed in her anbu armor, but her face was exposed, the porcelain mask resting between the two buns fashioned on her head. He crossed his arms, feeling slightly frustrated but determined to maintain a sense of understanding.
"I need you to focus." He finally stated. "This isn't like you."
"Sorry." She sighed. "It's just-"
"I know what your problem is and I am telling you to put it out of your head." Jiraiya instructed. "You are an operative first. Recommit if you have to, because I need you and that brain of yours."
"I am committed." Daiki assured him.
"What do you have to report?" He inquired.
"Well first I'd like to report that using me to spy outside the realm of my sworn duties is a gross misuse of authority." She chided. "But also the Akatsuki are moving."
"Launch a formal complaint." Jiraiya suggested, with a smirk. "What do you mean moving?"
"I mean their base of operations is relocating." She clarified. "Their leader is suspicious that information is being leaked."
"Do they know who the leak is?" Jiraiya asked. "Or where the information is being leaked?"
"Source says no." Daiki shrugged. "We can't be sure. If they suspect he is the leak they aren't just going to tell him."
"Did you run into any trouble?"
"No." She assured him. "All went according to plan."
"And Orochimaru?" Jiraiya questioned.
"That's not my department. You'll have to ask Tenzo." She shook her head. "However, I can tell you he is operating out of Otogakure with a regime of young willing shinobi."
"Kakashi was right about you." The white-haired sage chuckled, impressed. "You know everyone's secrets."
"Not everyone's." She chewed on her inner cheek, thinking back to Danzo…the one man she just couldn't crack.
"Could have fooled me." Jiraiya stated. "Is there anything else you'd like to report?"
"I have nothing more." She announced, clasping her hands behind her back. The older man nodded, taking in everything she had reported.
"Return to Konohagakure." He instructed. "Report to the Third, as we discussed."
"Understood." She nodded, fixing the mask back over her face.
"Before you go." Jiraiya halted her. "Rumor has it Team 7 encountered Momochi Zabuza." Daiki tensed, continuing to stare down the path in front of her. She was glad the mask hid her concerned face.
"I was under the impression this was a C-ranked mission." She responded, her voice even and her tone calm. "Zabuza is listed as an S-rank."
"Unforeseen complications." Jiraiya shrugged. "The men you love are all shinobi now…can you handle that?"
"May I take my leave?" Daiki asked, ignoring his question.
"Of course." He nodded. "Next time…same place."
"Understood."
…
Daiki leaned against the small desk parallel to the bed decorated with a green comforter. She had been denied entrance to the hospital because it was after visiting hours. She pulled herself up onto the desk, sitting cross-legged. She didn't have to wait much longer, after about thirty minutes of silence the door creaked open, and the silver haired man walked in.
"Daiki?" Kakashi was surprised to see her. "I thought you 'd be at the hospital, or with your boyfriend." He had left his vest in the other room, but his headband and mask were still in place. No doubt he had sensed her there long before actually entering the apartment.
"The hospital won't let me in until tomorrow." She explained. "Iruka is busy now, but that isn't the point, I wanted to see you."
"Oh, why?" Kakashi sat on the edge of his bed, leaning his elbows on his knees. Daiki slid off the desk and knelt in front of him.
"Zabuza!" She furrowed her brow moving to hit his chest with the back of her hand. Kakashi grabbed her wrist, halting her action. He pulled her closer, his face sunken behind the headband and mask. "Kakashi," She whispered. "Are you okay?" Kakashi's face shifted, as if he were smiling at her behind his mask.
"Everything is fine." He assured her. "I didn't realize our mission would take such an exhausting turn." Daiki used her free hand to jerk the mask off his chin and as she suspected he wasn't actually smiling, just faking it.
"Damn it." She grumbled. "You can't lie to me."
"I'm not lying." He assured her. "I'm just tired, Ki-sama." Daiki pressed her lips into a hardline before throwing her arms around his torso and resting her cheek against his chest. Kakashi pulled at the ends of her hair, draping his right arm over her shoulder to return the embrace.
"I was so worried." She whispered.
"No need." Kakashi remarked. "Don't let this distract you from your responsibilities." Daiki chuckled, closing her eyes as she relaxed into him. He was the second man in as many days to scold her for being distracted. They were both right, she had to let go.
"How's their rivalry?" She asked, hoping to take some of the attention off of herself. Kakashi laid back on the bed, pulling free of Daiki's embrace. She sat on her knees between his thighs, watching as he stared at the ceiling.
"Intense." He admitted.
"Care to elaborate?" She asked.
"Get off the floor." He insisted. Daiki climbed onto the bed next to him, sitting cross-legged to his left. She was wearing her usual black pants but had donned a red quarter-sleeve shirt.
"How were they?" She questioned again.
"They are constantly trying to outperform each other." Kakashi noted. "However, when faced with such a powerful foe the two worked quite well as a team."
"And the girl?"
"Unrealized potential." Was all he offered. After a moment of silence Kakashi spoke again. "How are things with Iruka?" She shifted uncomfortably, running her palms down her thighs in a nervous gesture.
"Good." She nodded, clearly not sharing her true thoughts.
"Good." Kakashi accepted, not eager to participate in girl-talk. He had only breached the subject out of civility. "I'm going to enter them into the chunin exams." He declared.
"Are they ready?" Daiki asked, skepticism evident in her tone.
"No." He admitted. "But they will be." She slid away from him, moving further down the bed so that she could rest her head on his abdomen, waterfalling her hair over the other side of his body.
"You talk to Master Jiraiya about me?" She asked, folding her hands over her stomach. Kakashi ran his fingers through her hair, an overwhelming sense of nostalgia washing over the two.
"Only once." He assured her.
"You betrayed my secrets to him." She accused. Kakashi shook his head, tugging playful at strands of her hair.
"I simply informed him that you know everyone's secrets." He shrugged, the comforter bunching up under him. "Not your secrets."
"Knowing secrets is my secret." She laughed. "You betrayed me."
"You betrayed yourself to him."
"Never." She smirked, looking up at him.
Jiraiya took another sip of the cool liquid, setting the cup on the stone edge. The inn was nice and the attached co-ed hot springs even nicer. Jiraiya and Daiki were the last two individuals left, the other guest had turned in shortly after dark. Jiraiya looked up at the night sky above them, his muscular body covered in a line layer of sweat. The pair had met with their informant and were on the path home, this stop was a reward. Daiki moved across the pool, sitting next to him a towel wrapped tightly around her naked frame.
"Do you ever feel lonely back home?" She asked, resting her head on the outer rim of the hot spring.
"At home?" Jiraiya pondered the question for a moment. "All the time." Daiki stood up, removing her towel. "Interesting." He smirked, his dark eyes scanned her naked frame, lingering on her scar. She climbed on his lap, using the stone edge for support. Jiraiya slid his hands up her thighs, to the small of her back. He was tall enough that even sitting on him she was barely eye level. "There is an unfair power dynamic here."
"I won't tell." She whispered, pressing her lips to his as she reached between her legs to stroke him. Jiraiya gripped her hips tightly, returning the kiss. He was thick and rock hard in her palm. She lowered herself onto him, breaking the kiss with a soft moan.
Sasuke and Naruto had been assigned the same recovery suite. Naruto was positioned to her left, the innermost spot by the window. Sasuke was closest to the door. A thin white curtain was pulled closed, separating the two. Daiki crossed her arms over her burgundy clad chest. Her electric blue hair was fashioned in dual French braids, and she wore a tool pouch on her left thigh, strapped over her skintight pants.
"Dai-sama." Naruto greeted, grinning at her from behind a face wrapped in bandages. Sasuke was injured to a similar degree.
"Naruto." She greeted, her warm smile for both boys. "Sasuke."
"Daiki." The dark-haired boy responded. "I expected to see you sooner." Her smile fell and she nodded curtly.
"I tried to come by yesterday." She admitted. "I wasn't allowed. It was after visiting hours by the time I returned from my mission."
"Was yours as exciting as ours?" Naruto beamed, his smile dominating his face, secondly only to his sparkling blue eyes.
"No. Sadly, mine was pretty boring." She moved between the boys, pulling the curtain that separated them open. "Let's share the sunlight."
"I was fine without it." Sasuke grumbled. Daiki sat on the edge of Sasuke's bed, leaning back to bask in the sunlight that streamed in from the large window.
"Nonsense." She smirked. "You need vitamin D to heal."
"You are pretty pale." Naruto teased, sitting up to look at his teammate. Daiki giggled, nodding in agreement.
"What do you know?" Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Besides I wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you being a total loser."
"Guys." Daiki warned, as she always did when they started bickering. "You just had your first S-rank mission and you survived…as genin. You should feel accomplished. Proud. I know I am."