Chapter 13: Under Pressure
"You shouldn't be here."
Her brows were scrunched in concentration as the bird attempted, for the third time, to escape.
"Stay...still," she grunted as she flicked more dirt its way.
Caw! Caw!
Another whip of dirt and the bird was finally in her grasp
Another whip of dirt and the bird was finally in her grasp.
"Let go of me you fool!"
"A talking crow..."
"Of course I speak. Now let go of me, halfwit!"
"You know, if you keep insulting my intelligence, I may have to squeeze a little harder and see what pops out."
"Not before I pluck your eyes out, girl."
The sound of rustling dust grew louder as she slowly brought the crow closer to her face, tauntingly tightening her hold.
"What's your name?"
"Tenshi," she clicked out.
"Meeting a little early aren't we?"
"Yeah, well I don't doubt Itachi for wanting to make sure you kept your end of the deal."
She feigned hurt, slightly loosening her grip as Tenshi cautiously cocked her head.
"I have a message."
"I'm being watched, you know."
"And we're taking care of it."
"Kakashi?"
"Distracted."
It was Kintsugi's turn to cock her head as her forehead crease. The last time she had counted she still had at least eight more days until the Akatsuki showed up at her door.
"What do you want?"
The faint sound of dust, and a few crushed feathers, rapidly gathering back into the jar she had in the middle of the floor, were the only things heard in that moment as the crow glared back.
"The tip panned out. You've less than four days before they'll be heading back and they want more results."
"You do realize money doesn't actually grow on trees? I didn't expect any visit until at least four more days than that."
"That sounds like a you problem."
"He's not making it easy," she said with a sigh, massaging her temple.
"Like I said, four days, otherwise you're just a liability? "
Tenshi's eyes glinted.
"Get out," she sniffed, not bothering to ask about their sudden push. If they were in a bind, she needed to hurry.
"Four days."
A small puff of smoke was all that was left as Tenshi disappeared.
She'd be lying if she said she didn't find a thrill from the added pressure.
She smiled as she polished her blade.
She smiled as she went to bed.
And she was still smiling as she fell asleep.
She felt a shadow of a sense near a tree.
Another near a bush.
Another by a roof tile.
"Hey," her voice was slow and low.
"You're up early today."
"Well, you did tell me to wake up on time."
They were walking down the steps to head towards the mountain mine that morning and though the air was chilly, Kintsugi felt a warmth of both excitement and pressure.
They were walking down the steps to head towards the mountain mine that morning and though the air was chilly, Kintsugi felt a warmth of both excitement and pressure
"I was under the impression you didn't care what I said."
"From one weirdo to another, I'd say anything is possible."
"You're the demented one," Kakashi said as he stared at her wet, uneven, and unkempt hair.
"Says the man who treats his students like they're his little soldiers."
"..."
"What? Too far? I've heard what they say about you," she said wrinkling her nose.
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"You're not deaf Hatake-shi. You've been here far longer than I have. I'm sure you can imagine."
"They're not wrong. But every day, I eat, I sleep, I worry about dumb things. My job is to make sure these kids have as many days as they can where they can be idiots like this."
"I beg to differ."
"Really? Have you ever?"
"Had a different opinion than you?"
"Begged."
"Cheeky. But, I do think what they say about you, though to a certain extent may be true, you're not demented, just...built...different."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"No, but you just have to see underneath the underneath to know that's not really who you are. You care about those kids. You just said so yourself."
She quickened her pace as she suddenly felt awkward, the small patter of their footsteps filling the empty silence.
I'm getting really tired of pretending I'm good.
"Ah, shinobi's," a gruff older women in a large gray one-suit called out, "What brings you two on my site this fine morning, huh?"
"Good morning, ma'am," Kakashi smiled at her. "This is the Supervisor, uh -," he paused turning to the larger woman, forgetting her name.
"Cho," she replied in a hoarse tone.
"...right, Cho, she'll be the one to show you around. Cho-san, this here is Kintsugi."
"Oh, so that's what they meant, and here I was thinking I was gonna get me an actual present, not 'have someone present' today."
"What are you twelve?"
"Yeah, on a scale of one to ten."
They both grinned at each other.
"Well, I'll get out of your way for now, in the meantime, if you need anything, just remember that help is right around the corner," he said as he turned to look at Kintsugi.
She knew what she meant.
"Help, huh? I wish I could get more help around here. Alls I get after ten years are a bag of bones and a good-for-nothing wannabe hero who up and leaves on the first day."
"Wannabe hero?" She mouthed mockingly as she looked over to Kakashi.
"Oh, I just remembered. I think I left my stove on. I should go."
A blurry flash and Kakashi Hatake was gone.
"So, should we put some meat on my bones?"
"You're a kidder ain't ya."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Come on," she smiled as she spoke gruffly.
"This here's Daichi," Cho pointed to an older disheveled, grimy man. "Daichi-chan, say hi."
"Huh? Who's Sai?" his shoulders were naturally hunched over as he lifted a hand to his ear.
The sound of metal hitting rock echoed through the cave, ringing loudly over their conversation and settling into Kinstugi's mind. She could sense her environment clearly as everything became clearer and clearer.
"What? No, I said, 'SAY HELLO'. We have a new recruit."
"I don't like jello Cho, I already told you last time," he ignored the woman who towered over him and went back to work. "I won't eat it. Even if it's good for me."
"Nevermind, over here K-hoss, let' s head over this way."
With the limited light she could distinguish, she knew this place was dark. She could feel the dirt as she slowly bent floating particles away from them. She was pretty sure she could also smell the beginning of mold coming from somewhere.
"You know, for a bag of bones you seem to be very sprite."
"Well, for an older woman, you seem to be sprite too."
Cho laughed in a roar.
"You've got the mouth K-hoss."
Turning the corner, they walked up to another man, this time in his late 30's.
"You scared me, boss!"
"As I should, you still haven't returned my sifting pan from yesterday."
The man cautiously hobbled closer to them.
"Now, Cho-san, I-I-I think I left it in my locker, and...wait."
He lifted a thin finger shakingly towards Cho's shoulder.
"Is that- is that, ...blood?"
There was a rather dark, rather large stain reaching from her shoulder to her arm.
"No?"
"That's not a question you're supposed to answer with another question Cho-san!"
"Listen here, you get me my sifting pan by tomorrow and we're good," she grinned at him.
"Y-yes, ma'am."
"Now move over, we need to get through."
Shuffling around the narrow corridor, she could sense the metal door behind him.
It was a small room, a closet really, with the space already feeling cramped as they both walked in.
Only a small, yellow bulb hung from the ceiling.
"It's not much, but this is what the village gives us up here."
Cho sat at the small desk, reaching down into the cabinet as she pulled out a file.
"Here's a list of the workers with the year's report. They say you're the new "mole". I don't know what they want me to tell you. There's not much."
Sliding the thin file in Kintsugi's direction she cocked her head as the girl seemed to stare at nothing in particular.
"Do you mind moving over a bit?"
"..."
Cho stood up from the metal chair and watched as the younger woman placed her hand on the cold, hard ground where her chair once stood.
"Just a moment."
Clenching her fist, Kintsugi brought her hand towards her and in one movement, she brought her fist down.
Her whole arm had penetrated the ground.
"I never really needed an office," Cho said, grinning at her.
Slowly pulling her hand back out, a rather large, shiny rock was brought out.
"K-hoss...?"
"Cho-san, we're going to need to empty this room."
A/N: I thought it would be a longer while before I published this. But here you go. Many thanks to those who have continued to read this.
