Chapter 3: A Worried Friend

Across the way, in Konoha, while Yugao was trying a new meal, a concerned friend was on the lookout for her whereabouts. Tenzo had woken up early, finishing up any missing parts in his report before going to hand it to Lady Tsunade. When he had finished his delivery he made his way towards his dear friend Yugao's house. He had hoped that she was awake and they could do something to help her pay respects to her lost love Hayate. Something he knew she had been anxious about on the mission. They had made sure to finish the mission as quickly as possible to make it back on the date but had been delayed slightly due to a large storm that they had to wait out. They were a few hours behind and it was late into the night when they had made it back. Tenzo had promised her that they would do what they could to pay respects today instead. As much as he trusted his friend he was worried that she had done something irrational and didn't head right home after her late-night walk.

Tenzo was closest to the memorial stone and decided that would be his first destination to search for his friend. At the memorial stone, he didn't see the small violet-haired woman and instead saw his old senpai Kakashi. "Hey, Kakashi-senpai." Tenzo said, getting into view of his old comrade. "Tenzo surprised to see you here. Do you need something?" Kakashi asked, wanting to get to the point like always. "Actually, I was wondering if you have been here long, and if you have seen Yugao?" He asked, standing next to Kakashi who turned towards him. "I have been here for a few hours, and I have not seen Yugao. Have you just gotten back from a mission?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly. "Yes, we came back late last night. Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of Hayate's death and I had planned to help her do something to honor him today. I wanted to check here first before I got caught up with coffee with her Dad." Tenzo said, sighing, causing Kakashi to laugh at Tenzo's annoyance. "Well, I am sorry I haven't seen her. Good luck with finding her, and tell her I hope that she is doing okay." Kakashi said, Tenzo nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Kakashi, see you." He said as he took off towards the apartment that Yugao shared with her Father Gakupo.

Their apartment was in one of the nicer areas of Konoha and more in the area that most civilians were retired samurai who used to be known across the land and feared from the lost village of Uzushiogakure. Now he was a sickly man struggling to combat his own illnesses and seen as a jack of all trades around the village when needed. Some less kind members of Konoha saw him as nothing but a wash-up and useless. Especially as his illness took him further away from his glory days. Even so, Yugao adored him and was so thankful to have such a caring and hardworking father. He would do what he could to be one of the most welcoming people and at times Tenzo thought he was too welcoming. Tenzo would say he appreciated Yugao's father but only in small doses. Hopefully, he wouldn't talk his ear off and he could just head out quickly with Yugao.

Tenzo made it to the pair's apartment and first tried to look inside of Yugao's window from her balcony. Peeking in he tried to see if she was in there but saw no sight of her. Nor did she see anything that indicated that she had slept in her bed. He jumped off of the balcony and jumped to the front door. Taking a deep breath and hoping that he wouldn't be bombarded with a cheery Gakupo this early in the morning he knocked on the door. After a minute of knocking Tenzo started to grow concerned. The pair were always prompt to answer a door, especially Gakupo. Tenzo looked around trying to see if anyone was looking and then bent down to grab the spare key from under the mat. Quickly he unlocked the door and let himself inside. Carefully he stepped inside and his eyes began to widen when he saw the contents inside of the house.

Laying haphazardly on the couch was a passed-out Gakupo with several sake bottles around him. Next to the couch was a shirtless Ibiki. Tenzo had no idea what to think of the sight and carefully stepped over the bottles and passed Ibikki to get to Gakupo. Skilfully he did what he could to get right into Gakupo's face and started to push him to get him to wake up. It took some pretty harsh shoves before Gakupo finally woke up and when he caught sight of the very intense Tenzo he gasped out in fright. This gasp caused Ibikki to start to wake up.

"Tenzo my son!" Gakupo said, hugging Tenzo seemingly a little tipsy still. "No, remember Gakupo I'm not your son as much as you want to try and claim me." Tenzo said, carefully pushing Gakupo away from him. "Oh now come on, Tenzo you're practically my child. You've been coming around long enough haven't you?" Gakupo said, causing Tenzo to sigh, and put his face in his hand. "I'm more like the stray cat your daughter keeps feeding and insists on letting inside on rainy nights." He said, getting a joyous laugh from Ibikki who was slowly coming to. "I will take it!" Gakupo said before he started to dry heave. In a quick insight Tenzo quickly created a trash can and put it between Gakupo's knees before the man started to throw up. "Oh no don't do that I'm going to hurl!" Ibiki said quickly, rushing to the bathroom before vomiting into the toilet. Tenzo stood up and rolled his eyes before heading into the kitchen. "What the hell did I get myself into today?" He asked aloud hoping Yugao was as far away from these two idiots as possible, but in a safe spot, he could find.