The Bank II
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de La Fontaine
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.
A/N: Unbeta'd. I will attempt to post every week.
Enjoy.
Chapter VI
Sakura suppressed a sigh as she entered the coffee shop. Itsuki was there, just placing his order at the counter. Upon seeing her he waved and added her usual to his order along with pastries. Silently she cursed. If he ordered pastries then that meant that he intended on staying – she'd only intended on picking up something to go, mostly to avoid him if he happened to be there.
Resignedly she made her way over to the counter.
"Hi Itsuki, I didn't expect to see you here today."
He beamed as he finished up the transaction and accepted the pastries from the cashier. "Nice to see you, Ms. Haruno. Why don't you take these," he gestured with the mouth-watering pastries, "to a table? I'll pick up our coffees and join you in a moment."
Sakura forced a smile and accepted the plates. "Thanks, I'll be right over," she turned to scan the crowded coffee house for a free table. She paused upon spying a familiar shock of silver hair tucked away in a corner booth, what was Kakashi doing here?
"Oh, looks like there's a free one over there!" Itsuki interrupted her momentary distraction.
Shaking her head to clear the conflicting emotions seeing Kakashi brought to the surface, she followed Itsuki's gesture and spied the free table. "Right, I'll be just over there." She nodded before briskly setting off toward the table.
Sakura didn't have long to ponder Kakashi's presence in the coffee shop as Itsuki joined her fairly quickly thereafter.
Kakashi found himself at loose ends. Because of his last mission, and his condition upon his return, he was still not going to be assigned to much of anything for some time. It would be another month at least before he was deemed sound enough to be assigned to anything more dangerous than a B rank. Not particularly in the mood to train, Sakura would kill him if he re-injured himself so soon after recovering from his last round of injuries, he had decided to find somewhere in the village to kill a few hours with one of his orange companions before heading to the pub for the evening.
After discovering that his favorite rarely used training grounds were already occupied, some of which were definitely not in use for shinobi training, he had decided to branch out in finding new loitering locations. As much as he wanted to set up camp in Sakura's office, as he usually would in this situation, he felt that things were still a little too awkward between them for that to be a viable option. So, instead, he had found himself drifting toward the coffee shop he knew Sakura usually hit in the afternoon on her way home from the hospital when she had worked an early shift.
Feeling somewhat self-conscious in the unfamiliar environment, he ordered himself a coffee and with some additional thought, a croissant (the least fancy thing they had to eat in the pastry case) before making his way to one of the corner booths where he had set up camp for the afternoon.
Sometime later the coffee shop becoming busier as the afternoon wore on, the occupants of the booth next to his changed, the students were now replaced with two young women – housewives if didn't miss his guess. Both short and with long dark hair, similar facial features, and dressed remarkably alike, if one were to discount the colors of their shirts, one was wearing red and the other blue. They were probably related, sisters or cousins he mused.
The two women spent a few moments settling themselves, clearly getting ready for a long gossip session. With a sigh of resignation, he made an effort to tune them out.
A little while later, and several conversation topics for the two women in the booth next to him, Kakashi glanced up to scan the busy coffee shop, as was his norm. He was only a little surprised to see Itsuki standing at the counter, he frowned. A quick glance at the clock by the register confirmed his suspicions, Sakura was due to stop by any moment…
Right on time, Sakura walked in, pausing in the doorway. If Kakashi hadn't been looking for it, he would have missed the momentary flash of resignation that crossed her face. As he watched, she approached the counter slowly and engaged Itsuki in conversation. He could only guess that the clearly well-planned ploy had worked and she would likely sit and have coffee with the determined man.
Hastily Kakashi returned his attention to his book as he observed Sakura start to scan the room, obviously looking for a table. Kakashi knew she would see him but he didn't need her knowing that he had seen her. So far, since showing her his paperwork, he had been very careful about not pushing their interactions too much. He suspected that she was still coping with it all and didn't want to blow their relationship by pushing her too fast too soon. As much as he wanted everything to go back to normal as soon as possible, he was well aware that Sakura would need some time to process it all before he could hope to resume their comfortable friendship.
Too distracted by his thoughts about his current relationship issues with Sakura to really take in the words on the page, he let his mind wander instead. The words of the two women in the booth next to him suddenly coming to him.
"So, Ayumi, have you seen Akimi lately?" The woman in blue asked.
"No, not since the memorial anyway…" she trailed off as the realization hit. "I really am a terrible friend, aren't I?" The woman in red responded, clearly chagrined with her own behavior.
"Well…"
"No, Noriko, I am. I should have made more of an effort to stay in touch." Ayumi sighed.
"You're not alone, there."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I ran into her the other day."
"Oh, did you?"
"Yeah, she and her daughter were at the park and I stopped to catch up a little."
"So, how are they faring?"
"Not well from the looks of it." Noriko sighed this time, frowning as well.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I think she's holding up pretty well, as is Reika, all things considered."
"So, what's going on then?" Ayumi shook her head in confusion.
Noriko lowered her voice significantly. "Well, between you and me, it sounds like Sousuke didn't pay much attention to his paperwork."
"What do you- Oh! No!"
"Yes! He should have left them pretty comfortably off, widow's benefits and all, but apparently, he never checked in on his status."
"Oh… that's not good…"
"Yeah, even though he was thirty he never bothered to do the paperwork to advance within the ranks. So, the benefits that Akimi can collect are pretty minimal. The equivalent of maybe a 20-year-old with only a few years of service to the village."
"That's terrible!"
"The worst part is that apparently even though he never bothered to do his homework to make sure things were squared away for his wife and daughter, he was only one mission away from automatically being bumped up…" Noriko trailed off, clearly thinking that it could be any of them.
"Can't they make an exception, do something retroactively to his last mission to enhance the ranking or something?" Ayumi asked with concern.
"Nope, he died in a freak accident on the way to the store. Their hands are tied." Noriko shook her head with disgust.
"So, what's she going to do?"
"She's considering using his bank account to have a second child."
"I don't understand, won't that make things worse? A second mouth and all that?"
"No, apparently the benefits she can get by using the bank are far better than what she's currently getting now. So, if she has a second child she'll get both and even though Reika wasn't born in the program she'll be able to enjoy whatever benefits she can from the second child."
"Oh, I see, that's smart!" Ayumi exclaimed, pleased that there was a solution for Akimi.
"Yeah, they were planning on trying to have another after he finished his most recent set of training anyway so..."
"Though, really, the village should just make things right with Akimi. Making her have a second child just for the benefits… Widowed mothers from outside the program should be granted the same benefits as those within the program."
"It's messed up."
"Makes you think."
"Yeah. Have you checked in with your hubby lately on the status of his paperwork?"
"Nope, but I can guarantee you that will be the first thing I ask when he comes back from his current mission. You?"
"Will be the first thing I ask mine about when I get home tonight."
Kakashi's eavesdropping session came to an abrupt end when coffee in a to-go cup suddenly appeared in front of him.
Surprised, he hadn't even sensed anyone approaching, he looked up and smiled when he realized why.
"I asked for caramel today – seemed like a good seasonal addition."
He chuckled, she was the only one who knew that he secretly liked his coffee with a shot of something sweet on occasion. "Thanks, Sakura."
She eyed him for a moment before returning his smile. "Self-preservation. If I didn't have it added to yours, you'd most likely end up drinking mine."
He laughed as he pocketed his book and pushed himself up from the booth, draining the last of his now stone-cold coffee before picking up the to-go coffee Sakura had gotten for him. She was right, he always ordered his coffee black – he had a reputation to uphold – but had gotten into the habit of drinking it with some sort of sweetener added. Too many years of stealing Sakura's coffee had given him an embarrassing taste for it.
Conscientiously he grabbed his dishes and brought them to the return station, tossing his trash in the bin along the way. Without another word the two shinobi exited the coffee shop together, each sipping their coffee and enjoying the crisp late fall evening.
Sakura didn't particularly have a destination in mind, rather she allowed her feet to wander on their own, Kakashi clearly content to follow along with her, wherever she may be going. To the surprise of both of them, they ended up at a park not too far away. The trees still had their leaves, and the colors had not yet started to fade. Probably within the next day or so the leaves would start dropping and then it would quite suddenly be winter.
Absently they made their way to one of the many benches to better enjoy the fall colors with the benefit of the hot coffee to keep them warm.
As they sat in companionable silence, both too pleased that things didn't seem as strained as they feared to try and break it, a group of kids suddenly appeared on the wide expanse of grass in front of them.
Sakura chuckled as the children started arguing amongst themselves almost immediately.
Kakashi turned his gaze to her and raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"I see them here often, and they always have the same argument."
"About what?"
"Teams."
"And, that's funny?"
She laughed again. "Not from the outside I suppose. The funny part is that it's always the same argument and they always end up spending at least five, often ten, minutes on it."
"So?"
"The resolution is always the same. The three dark-haired children, the tall blonde and the short red-headed on one team and all the rest on the other. They could save themselves a lot of time if they just skipped the argument and got on with it."
He stared at her for a moment before chuckling. "Really?"
She shrugged and responded with the only explanation she felt qualified to give. "Kids."
After a few more moments of watching the children finish arguing, they finally resolved themselves into two teams – exactly as Sakura had predicted. One of them produced a black and white ball while two others set up goals. In no time they began to play.
Tearing his attention from the children, Kakashi turned to face his companion. "Sakura, I-"
She shook her head slightly, remaining focused on the soccer match. "It's okay Kakashi."
"But-" he tried again, feeling that it would only be right for them to discuss the elephant in the room.
"Really, it's okay." She took a sip of her coffee. "It was just a surprise, far more than I could ever have hoped for or expected." Sakura paused to think for a moment before adding, "Still is, to be honest. I-I haven't quite finished processing it all – so much to take in... But, it's fine... It'll be fine."
"Sakura, look at me."
She shook her head, unable to take what she was certain would be a concerned expression on his face. She wasn't ready to handle his concern. "No regrets, remember?"
He sighed, realizing that she wasn't ready, and turned his attention back to the kids playing soccer. "No regrets."
Briefly, Kakashi knocked before entering the Hokage's office.
Tsunade glanced up from her paper-strewn desk, surprised to see Kakashi so soon. She figured he'd turn up once he was well and truly tired of doing lower ranked missions and would eventually appear demanding something more challenging.
"What brings you here today, Kakashi?" she asked, careful to keep any hints of her suspicions from her tone of voice.
Instead of speaking, he approached her desk and placed a porcelain mask on top of her papers.
She eyed him and then the mask and then him again. "What's this?"
"I want back in."
"What are you talking about?"
He gestured to the mask. "I want back in."
"You are in, you never left." She shook her head. "No one ever actually leaves. You know that."
He shook his head. "No, I want back in, full time."
She stared at him in surprise, no one ever wanted back into ANBU. Tsunade couldn't even begin to imagine why he might make such a request. Suddenly it hit her and she pushed the mask away. "No. I'm not helping you commit suicide by mission."
"What?"
"You've tied up all your loose ends now," she eyed him for a moment before continuing, "You've even managed to get Sakura to look at your file so she will be prepared." Tsunade snorted. "I'm not going to help you remove that last little thing on your to-do list."
He sighed. "That's not it."
"You're bored, I get it. You probably are fit enough to start taking on some of the more challenging missions. I'll have your status fully reinstated so you can start accepting some of the more difficult missions as they come in. That should keep you happily occupied."
He shook his head. "I need back in."
"Why? Even if I did reinstate your full-time ANBU status, I would not be assigning you to any suicide missions any time in the near future."
Stifling a sigh he pulled a sheaf of papers from a back pocket and dropped them on Tsunade's desk, next to his ANBU mask.
"What's this?" she asked with an eyebrow arched in curiosity.
He gestured for her to look.
Curiously, she picked up the packet of papers to examine them. It only took a moment for her to identify what they were. She raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Retirement packages? You? Retire?"
Without waiting for a response, Tsunade returned her attention to the papers. The packet had been folded open at the worksheet that could be used to calculate one's expected retirement benefits. Someone, likely Kakashi, had filled the entire thing in carefully, including some equations that spilled down into the blank portion under the lined scratch work area. At the very bottom of the page were several groupings of numbers and letters, one of which, the shortest string of the bunch, was circled.
"I thought you squared all this away when you wrapped up all your bank paperwork? All of your plans were updated and settled. No loose ends and all that. What could you possibly want to change?"
He frowned and shook his head, gesturing for her to flip to the marked section deeper into the packet of papers.
Curiously she flipped to the marked page, after a moment's study she stifled a gasp. The equations continued onto this page as well, along with a repetition of the groupings of letters and numbers along the bottom with the same, short string circled heavily as was the section header and a particular option. The math suddenly made sense as did the strings of letters and numbers. The math didn't work for the selected option without one of those strings of letters and numbers – the circled one the obviously preferred choice. Tsunade put the packet of papers down for a moment to stare off into space, contemplating this new development.
Kakashi found himself suddenly feeling nervous, shifting his weight from one foot to the other while Tsunade clearly carefully considered his request. He had hoped for a simple 'yes' without the request for his reasons. That he had to give them left him feeling uncomfortably vulnerable. He may have tipped his hand a little too far this time. Then again, it was absolutely necessary that he rejoin ANBU, so he may not have really had much of a choice in the matter anyway.
Just when Kakashi was about to pull out one of his orange companions to try and distract himself from the important request he had just made, Tsunade refocused her gaze on him.
"Fine."
He opened his mouth to argue before the fact that she had agreed hit him and he closed it again without making a sound. He was speechless.
"I'll let you back in only until you can finish this up. I'm not going to bother adding you to a team, you can do solos or be assigned to groups on an as-needed basis." She narrowed her eyes at him before continuing. "I'm also not going to send you on any suicide missions." Tsunade paused for a moment. "Aside from the village not wanting to lose you after your most recent close call, Sakura would probably kill me."
Silently, he nodded, it was going better than he'd expected.
"You can start tomorrow. Report for a mission briefing at nine." She rummaged around her desk for a moment before retrieving a small tightly wound scroll. "I even already have a mission for you." She tilted her head to the side. "It's been tricky to try and assign so I suppose it will be good to have you back in full time."
Kakashi nodded again and reached out for his ANBU mask and the retirement package papers. "Thanks."
"This is just until you've fulfilled the requirements, you hear? I'm pulling you back out as soon as that's done."
He nodded his acknowledgment. "Wouldn't expect anything less."
"Good." She started to turn her attention back to her papers before something hit her. "Oh, and Kakashi?"
"Yes?"
"Try not to be too late tomorrow. The client will be there and will likely require some convincing as it is – you haven't been full ANBU for years now – your habitual tardiness may turn out to be a deal-breaker."
"Right, right," he sighed. He rarely intended on being late. At least, not to meetings with the Hokage.
She studied him for a moment before sighing, it was as good as she was going to get. "That's all. I'm sure you know where to find whatever you may need to replace on your uniform to fit back in with the regulars. I'll be putting you back in as a 'senior' this time around so I'm sure, regardless, you'll need some new uniform pieces."
Surprised, his eyes widened. This was unexpected.
Catching his expression Tsunade chuckled before pulling out a fresh scroll to issue the necessary orders to have Kakashi reinstated and promoted, before returning her attention back to the paperwork in front of her.
Silently, Kakashi made his way out of the office, his feet already heading in the direction of the armory. His mind already working on just what he would need for his uniform if he was to present himself at the mission briefing the next day as a senior ANBU.
Sakura did her best to stifle a yawn as she headed down the hall. She had not slept well the night before, no particular reason as far as she could tell, just a bad night's sleep. And now the fact that she had a morning meeting with Tsunade was not helping anything. Though, just what the meeting was in regard to she could not say as Tsunade herself had neglected to mention it. A part of her hoped it was to finish re-assigning her back to her usual duties. All the shifts in the maternity ward in addition to beginning to handle some of her usual duties was beginning to wear on her. Besides, she and Kakashi had more or less patched things up since his return from that suicide mission. There was no further reason for Tsunade to remind her exactly why she put up with Kakashi's occasionally infuriating antics. Never mind the fact that she now knew the contents of his file – something she was positive that Tsunade also knew. Why else would she have insisted so strongly when Kakashi had first filed them?
As Sakura turned down the hall that led to the Hokage's office, Tsunade's office door opened in the distance and out walked a few clerks, surrounding what was clearly a very wealthy man. A few moments later, Sakura now almost upon the office, the door opened again and a fully rigged out ANBU exited. Sakura recognized him immediately, if not from the familiar shock of silver hair behind the red and black painted white porcelain mask, then by his height and gait. She'd recognize Kakashi anywhere, even in an ANBU uniform – even in a senior ANBU uniform.
Unable to prevent it, she inhaled sharply – her mouth dropping open in surprise and her eyebrows drawing together and down, clearly expressing her obvious sense of betrayal. Sakura knew that he occasionally moonlighted as ANBU whenever needed, after all, no one truly left ANBU – they called him back whenever necessary. But, usually, whenever that happened, it was done in the dark and shadows – an ill-kept secret that he hadn't really left, even when she was assigned to his genin team, he had occasionally been called away from the village for unexplained reasons. ANBU, of course – some of those ridiculous excuses for being late could likely even be attributed to his being called back for something or other. But, whenever that had been, it had never happened in the light of day, never out in public. And, from what she could see of his uniform, he was not only publically back in ANBU but he had also been promoted.
Quickly, so he couldn't try and stop her, Sakura hurried past him and into Tsunade's office closing the door behind her. She knew that he would likely want to try and explain himself after catching the expression on her face and she didn't want to hear it. She could only wonder if he had even planned on telling her before going off on another suicide mission.
Better she not know, she decided, doing her best to get her expression under control – otherwise, Tsunade would notice and make no bones about asking. But, seeing Kakashi rigged out in full ANBU gear struck her harder than she could have expected. As had the realization that he was likely going off again, not expecting to return. Sakura had to admit to herself, bitterly, that he had no reason to return now. All his loose ends had been tied up, she'd seen for herself. Kakashi had accounted for everything. Now, all he really had to do was one small thing, and he would be more than happy to do it from what she could tell. Never mind that she had told him before when he'd returned from that last suicide mission, that she wanted him to return from his missions – that nothing would ever change that.
Kakashi didn't understand. Lived in a world where the concept of dying of old age in one's own home just didn't happen. Sakura had thought that she had made her peace with this particular personality quirk of Kakashi's but once again found herself struggling to accept it. She couldn't understand what sort of environment he had been raised in if he had believed from childhood that his future was already written in stone and that one day his name would be written on the Memorial with the rest of his family.
With a start, she realized that she could change that. She would have the responsibility of raising the next generation of the Hatake clan. And, while she had every intention of being as respectful of Kakashi's family as she could be, she could make one small change – one that would likely allow the clan to flourish rather than dwindle down to single child generations.
Tsunade glanced up from her papers, surprised to be bothered so soon after her meeting ended. Her expression softened upon seeing Sakura. She'd forgotten that she had scheduled a meeting with her former apprentice.
"Ah, Sakura," she glanced up at the clock, "just on time. Good."