Rating: M

Words: 3,800

Pairing: Genma/OC (that's the plan, they've been strong willed thus far though), more to come

Warnings: Language, drinking, temper tantrums, general setting up for shenanigans

Author's Note: Okay, first of all a big thanks to Lisaflowers for helping me develop so much plot for this story and beta-reading it all. She's awesome. I've planned quite a bit for this story (assuming I follow our outline, which I usually don't) so I hope you guys enjoy it. The name for this comes from Crave You by Flight Facilities. Feel free to send me suggestions, requests, whatever. Reviews are life. Thanks for reading!

"I'm not going anywhere with that woman. Especially not a six-month long mission," Genma spluttered indignantly, voice echoing in the Hokage's office. The senbon between his lips quivered with unspent rage. "Be reasonable, Kakashi."

Once the onslaught of complaints slowed, Kakashi glanced up from the report he'd been pretending to read. Genma's hands were balled into fists, and his hazel eyes were furious as he met the Hokage's gaze. Kakashi almost expected the man to start tapping his foot or huffing. It took an exceptional amount of pressure to push Genma to this level of frustration. Kakashi waited until he was sure that Genma's tantrum was spent before opening his mouth.

Genma interrupted before Kakashi could speak. "Why can't you pick someone worth spending six months with? Send Raido, or better yet, that new jonin. You know, the one with the auburn hair and nice ass, what's her name? Kiyoko? I bet she'd be fun to get to know. Hell, you can even send Anko, anyone but Setsumi." Desperation slid into Genma's voice on the woman's name.

Kakashi didn't correct Genma that the jonin in question was Kuniko, not Kiyoko. Not that the Hokage had given her hair, or backside, a second glance. Okay, well, maybe he had looked twice, but not a third time. Either way, Kakashi wasn't about to admit that to Genma. After a few moments, Genma sighed dramatically and fell silent, recognizing that he would be overruled regardless of his arguments.

"Setsumi is one of the best intelligence gathering ninja at my disposal," Kakashi said. Genma's frown deepened as he tried to come up with another shinobi that could fill the role. "There's nothing wrong with her just because-"

Before Kakashi could complete his justification, Genma snorted. "What do you mean there's nothing wrong with her?"

Kakashi continued over the man's outburst. "Just because she shunned your advances doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with her." He tried to suppress the smile forming behind the mask before it could reach his eyes. "Not every girl is going to hop in bed with you; a few of them have to have common sense."

"I don't even want to sleep with her," Genma blurted. "That alone should tell you how bad she is. I know Shikamaru makes you read the mission records, so you know that the only mission that we were ever assigned together ended in complete and utter disaster. Tsunade-sama almost killed us when we got back." The tokujo chuckled, and scratched the back of his neck, cheeks darkening slightly at the memory.

Kakashi knew about their past. If fact, it was half of the reason that he'd given both Genma and Setsumi advance warning of this mission. While he wasn't vindictive, Kakashi enjoyed seeing Genma frustrated, knowing what was coming, but unable to change it.

"That was years ago, I'm sure you've grown up by now." The silver-haired man's lips twitched into a smile despite himself.

"She's only gotten worse," Genma groaned. "The last time Ebisu and I went out, he offered to buy her a drink and she practically threatened to castrate him."

Setsumi swept into Kakashi's office like a hurricane. "Well, you don't have to worry about that. I'd have to get far closer to you than either of us want to cut off your favorite part." She paused and smiled nastily at Genma. "If I could find it at all."

Genma growled low in his throat, undoubtedly more from her insinuation than the actual words. Setsumi turned toward Kakashi, blue eyes nearly as angry as Genma's. She blunted the razor edge of her tongue with a deferential tone since there weren't years of friendship between herself and the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, I respectfully ask you to reconsider this assignment. I could complete the mission in half the time by myself." Setsumi smiled.

Genma didn't miss a beat. "I could finish it in two months," he boasted.

"You have all the subtlety of a rampaging boar," Setsumi said, rolling her eyes. She turned toward Genma. "These kinds of things require finesse, which is the exact opposite of your leadership style. You'd rather trample over everyone than admit that someone else might have a better way to do things."

Kakashi laced his fingers together in front of him and waited for the vocal sparring match to end. When it became clear that neither was going to back down, Kakashi cleared his throat to interrupt before kunai were drawn. "I didn't expect either of you to be happy about the assignment, but the safety of the village is at stake."

Both shinobi swiveled to face him. "I've given you a few days to put your affairs in order, I suggest you use them wisely. I'll summon you when the final mission details are ready. Until then, you're dismissed."

The pair turned toward the door, almost bumping into each other. Setsumi glared at Genma, who took a step backward, raising his hands. Growling, she jerked the door open hard enough to make Kakashi's guards jump. Genma shot Kakashi a frustrated look before following Setsumi into the hallway. The pair turned in opposite directions and if they didn't quite storm off, they certainly walked loudly.

Once he was alone, Kakashi rubbed his eyes to calm the headache forming behind them. Being Hokage was a lot more work than being a jonin. There was less time for Icha Icha, and considerably more time spent actually working. Kakashi pulled the book from under a stack of reports that probably needed his attention and flipped it open. His office door swung inward just as he was getting to the good part. When Kakashi realized that it was Sakura, the growl in his throat died, and he went back to reading.

"Hokage-sama." Sakura bowed respectfully, as if they hadn't known each other for years. As if they weren't close friends. She always had been too proper.

Kakashi cringed. "Call me Kakashi. Hokage-sama makes me sound so old."

"Yes, Kakashi-sama." Sakura sat a stack of paperwork on the desk. Coming around to the side, she smiled down at him. "These reports need your approval."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes; there were at least fifteen or twenty pages there, maybe more. "Tsunade does this just to torment me, doesn't she?"

Sakura laughed, green eyes sparkling. "Tsunade-sama would never do something just out of spite, and certainly not because you refused to fill out the necessary paperwork when she was Hokage."

Her words could have been confirmation or denial of Kakashi's suspicions, but Sakura made it damnably difficult to tell. She glanced toward the open door, then dropped her voice conspiratorially. "Did you quarrel with Genma? I passed him on the way in, and he looked ready to kill someone." Sometimes Kakashi forgot that the two knew each other from when Sakura was Tsunade's student, and Genma her guard.

"He's just forgotten that his duty to the village comes before his personal comfort. Seriously, is it that hard to get someone to do their job around here?" Kakashi complained, irritated after a long day of difficulties. He paused when Sakura reached down to tap the book in his hands.

"I don't know. When the Hokage sits around reading porn, it's hard to be motivated to do a good job." Sakura grinned again, letting her fingers linger on the worn cover.

Kakashi snapped the book shut and sighed. "It's not porn. We've talked about this before. You know, you're old enough to buy them yourself so you can-"

"No," Sakura shook her head, smile never leaving her lips. "Keep your perverted ways to yourself. I have to get back to the hospital." Kakashi started protesting, but Sakura ignored him, as she often did when she thought he was being silly. "Tsunade-sama needs those reports the first thing in the morning." Kakashi swore he heard Sakura laughing when she stepped into hallway.

Setting his book on the desk, the Hokage sighed and picked up the first sheet. Proposal for Rotation of Medical Ninja through Allied Shinobi Villages. Kakashi's eyes glazed slightly, and he'd only made it through the title. It was going to be a long night.

Setsumi paced from one side of the small room to the other, while Kurenai watched silently from the safety of the couch. Kurenai liked the younger woman, but she tended to explode at the smallest things. The raven-haired woman trembled with pent up fury and growled in the back of her throat with every circuit. A piece of paper that looked suspiciously like the 'Notice of Mission' paperwork was crumpled in the woman's hand. Thus far, whenever Kurenai asked Setsumi what was wrong, the other woman snarled, then resumed her pacing.

"If you wake Mirai with all that stomping around, she's going to be up all night," Kurenai complained, glancing toward the room where her daughter slept. The girl had been grumpy all day, and Kurenai had just gotten her down for a nap when Setsumi slipped into their shared apartment through the window. Kurenai had never seen the woman use a door that she didn't have to.

Setsumi paused, then sighed and dropped onto the couch beside Kurenai. The older woman softened her words with a smile. "Now, are you going to tell me why you're wearing a hole in our carpet? Or do you want me to guess?" Rather than answering, Setsumi looked down at the tattered paper in her hand, then held it out to Kurenai. Red eyes slid over the words quickly.

Though nearly ten years spanned the women's ages, they were as close as sisters, and best friends besides. Kurenai knew that Setsumi had no issue whatsoever going on a six-month long mission, which meant the problem was her partner. Shiranui Genma. Kurenai tried to hide a smile behind her hand. Setsumi had disliked the man for as long as Kurenai could remember. "Genma isn't so bad once you learn how to work with him."

"How do you do that? Go down on him at regular intervals so that he can focus on something other sex for five minutes?" Setsumi spat, grabbing the paper from Kurenai's hands and tearing it in half. Then, deeming that not enough, the girl ripped it into quarters as well.

"That's not fair, Setsumi. Genma may be," Kurenai paused, looking for the right word, "free with his affection, but he's still an excellent shinobi."

Setsumi huffed. "He's entirely focused on getting into bed with anything that wears a skirt. Hell, maybe anything that wears pants too, for all I know. He's a nightmare to work with." Setsumi paused, then shook her head. "It would be one thing if he was young and attractive, but he's nearly forty." She said the final word like a curse.

Kurenai tilted her head to the side, frowning. "You do know that he's not much older than me, right?"

"Yeah, but you're not trying to sleep with everyone you can. There's a big difference." Setsumi grinned, then nudged Kurenai's arm with her own. "Unless you are, and if that's the case, you need to spill the details."

Kurenai gave her friend a small smile to hide the ache in her chest that the thought of Asuma always produced. She saw him in Mirai's wild, dark hair, in her attitude, in the shape of her eyes and nose. The pain was duller, but constant. She would give anything to feel Asuma's arms pull her against his chest in the easy way he always had before kissing the top of her head. Kurenai missed his strength, the feel of his body against hers, even the smell of cigarette smoke that clung to him. "Asuma was my everything, Set. If soulmates exist, he was mine, and I have no interest in anyone else."

This was a familiar argument between the two women. Setsumi constantly dragged Kurenai out to drink with her. Kurenai didn't mind, she enjoyed socializing with their old friends, but when a potential suitor came, she always turned them down. It wasn't simply the fact that she had a young daughter at home to take care of, and didn't need the uncertainty that a new man would bring. It was that Kurenai honestly had no interest in anyone else. She was content with the memories of Asuma and the daughter they'd made together. Mirai was her world now, and she wouldn't sacrifice that for anything.

Sensing that the mood had taken a dark turn, Kurenai changed the subject. "Why do you hate Genma so much, anyway? Most girls your age are throwing themselves at him, hoping to catch his eye, or land in his bed."

"I'm not most girls, and I have zero interest in being in his bed." Setsumi rolled her eyes. "Did I ever tell you about the single mission we completed together?"

Kurenai shook her head and Setsumi groaned, launching into the story. "We were assigned a simple B-rank mission. It should have been easy for ninja of our skill, but it wasn't. I've never met such a pigheaded man. I suggested that we get the necessary intel through intrigue rather than force, he argued, and it became a shouting match. Then he thought I wanted to sleep with him, that came to punches. He blew the whole fucking mission because he couldn't keep it in his pants."

When Setsumi finally fell quiet, Kurenai grinned. She had worked with Genma often enough to know that Setsumi was probably overstating things a little. While he did seem to think that everyone wanted to sleep with him, it was usually because they did. Genma went through lovers the way other ninja went through kunai or shuriken. He never kept one for longer than a week that Kurenai knew of, but somehow he hadn't made enemies with every girl in the village. In fact, it just seemed to make them want him more. Maybe it was because he didn't do attachments. There was no worry of Genma becoming possessive or jealous; he enjoyed a relationship, then moved on to the next without dramatics and heartbreak.

"I'm sure you're over exaggerating it," Kurenai began to say, but both women were cut off when the door on the other side of the room opened. Mirai rubbed her red eyes with tiny fists, then she found Setsumi on the couch. With an excited squeal, the girl launched herself across the room and into Setsumi's arms. Kurenai couldn't help but smile as the anger melted out of the other woman. Her daughter babbled nonsense too fast to follow, but Setsumi nodded seriously as if she understood every word.

Though Setsumi would probably hate every minute of it, Kurenai knew she would complete the mission to the best of her ability. That was the kind of shinobi Setsumi was, and the reason Hokage-sama had chosen her. A slight smile tugged at Kurenai's lips. Going on a mission with Genma would probably be good for the uptight woman, maybe he would teach her how to relax and have a little fun. If they didn't kill each other first.

Raido couldn't stop laughing, and Genma barely resisted the urge to punch him. It wasn't that Genma expected his best friend to commiserate with his pain, but did he really have to make it worse? Raido's face flushed, and he wrapped an arm around his middle like his abs were sore. Genma was about to suggest that the man start working out more, when Raido raised a hand and ordered two more beers. The move put him back in Genma's favor. At least, until Raido opened his mouth again.

"Remember the time she broke your nose?" Genma's fellow tokujo doubled over for at least the third time tonight. Of course Genma bloody well remembered.

The memory surfaced hazily from wherever Genma had tucked it away. He and Setsumi's first mission together had been a complete failure. They had been assigned to gather intel and after two days of Setsumi's snarkiness, Genma suggested she sleep with their mark, because she clearly needed it. He'd been more or less joking, but the fist Setsumi slammed into his jaw had been hard enough to stagger him. The way she stood up to him was extremely attractive, as was the flush of desire his comment raised on her cheeks.

Genma moved on instinct, capturing her wrists and pinning her hands to the wall behind them. He'd mumbled some line about knowing that she liked things rough, then leaned in to kiss her. As he did, Setsumi acquainted him with her knee. When Genma didn't immediately release her, mostly from shock, the damn woman headbutted him hard enough for both to see stars. Blood gushed from his nose as Setsumi started yelling obscenities at him. He'd rounded, and answered her yell for yell. Their screaming match had blown the entire mission, and they barely made out alive. Tsunade had been furious, threatening to send them both back to the academy.

Pushing the memory away by taking a drink, Genma frowned at Raido. "She didn't actually break it. It was more a misunderstanding than anything else."

"Was that her way of turning down your advances?" Raido grinned, peeling the label on his beer as he watched his friend.

Genma ignored him, then asked a question of his own. "Do you think that Kakashi is trying to get back at me for something?"

Raido's eyes slid to Genma in disbelief. "You do realize that half of the guys in the village would kill to have six months alone with Setsumi, right? Half of the women would, too." Raido chuckled, leaving little doubt about how he felt about Genma's new partner.

"So many jonin have thrown their heart at her feet, and she turns them all down from what I've heard. She's gorgeous, though, and with a body like that, I'd say she knows how to handle herself, and her partner." Raido snickered at his own innuendo. "I want all the details when you get back."

"There won't be any details. I'm not going to sleep with her, even if she begged me." Genma finished his beer, and thumped it back to the bar. Setsumi was pretty enough, he supposed, but not breathtakingly beautiful. Not like that girl in Suna a few months ago. Genma never thought that he might actually fall in love, but if he did, it would be a woman like that. Golden skin that tasted of fire, eyes deep enough to drown in, silky black hair that tangled between his fingers, and a lithe body that fit perfectly against his. It had been twenty-four hours of pleasure. Until her boyfriend found them; she'd neglected to mention that small tidbit. Not that it would have mattered, except to make Genma more cautious. He still had the scar across his back where the man's kunai had caught him on the way out the window.

Now, Genma couldn't even remember the woman's name. Resurfacing to the real world, he found Raido staring at him in disbelief. "You have to be kidding, Gen. I know you've had a lot of girls, but nobody can get close to Setsumi. I thought you'd like the challenge, if nothing else."

Usually, Raido would have been right. A challenge made things more interesting, but Setsumi wasn't worth the effort. The quarry had to want to be caught for the chase to be fun. Genma smirked. "Want to trade places for a few months?"

The other man laughed. "And what, wear a henge until we're out of the village, and you wear one for six months? I think someone would probably notice if I started sleeping with everyone." Raido wasn't quite as lucky with woman as Genma was, but he'd had his share as well.

"I don't sleep with everyone," Genma grumbled, then grinned. "But think about how good it would be for your reputation. You'd have so many women to choose from when you got back." Raido chuckled, and shook his head.

Genma's gaze slid past Raido to the end of the bar. A pretty young woman had been making eyes at him for the past several minutes, playing with her hair and smiling shyly. He knew what those flirty eyes were trying to say, and it would be irresponsible not to let her enjoy him.

"Let's finish this tomorrow." Genma clapped Raido's shoulder, and pushed himself away from the bar. Raido followed his gaze, then shook his head. Of course it would be another woman. He watched Genma strike up a conversation, then lean closer to whisper something in the girl's ear. Her blush was obvious, even from the other side of the bar, as was her nod. Ten minutes later, Genma winked at his best friend on the way out the door, girl hanging on his arm.

When the summons came three days later, neither Genma nor Setsumi appeared pleased about it. Regardless, both shinobi arrived in the Hokage's office with packs slung over their shoulders in preparation to begin the mission. Kakashi watched them from behind his desk, acutely aware of the tension in both bodies. Genma's lips clenched around his senbon, and Setsumi's arms crossed over her chest.

Their annoyance was palpable, so Kakashi went over the mission details quickly and efficiently. There were rumors of a threat forming in the Land of Water, a powerful man not entirely unlike Gato. However, this man was cautious, and there wasn't a lot of information about him available. Setsumi and Genma were to evaluate if the threat was founded. Genma's task was to eliminate the target if necessary. The mission could be completed in six months or less if they could get the intelligence needed quickly.

Once he was done, Kakashi set the scroll on his desk. They would commit it to memory, then destroy it. Neither Genma nor Setsumi moved toward the scroll, wanting to wait the other outer, but as Kakashi predicted, Setsumi broke first.

"Lord Hokage," she said, glancing down at the scroll. "Which one of us is functioning as captain for this mission?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, watching the hazel and azure eyes fill with hope. "I figured you two could work that out on the way." Setsumi's composure slipped as she reached for the scroll. Genma did as well, but the woman was faster. She sniffed, tucked it into her pouch, and bowed to Kakashi.

Genma growled as Setsumi turned toward the door. "Kakashi, can't we-"

Setsumi cut him off. "Let's just get this over with." She caught Genma's sleeve and pulled him toward the door. The man jerked his arm away, took longer than necessary to straighten his shirt, then followed.

Their first argument started before the office door clicked shut. Kakashi knew it wouldn't be the last.