I've had a lot going on here lately, but somehow I still manage to find time to update this story. I really hope you're enjoying it so far! It's been fun for me exploring these characters. Enjoy this next chapter as the action picks up soon!
Neither of them spoke a word until they got to Kakashi's apartment.
"Here," Kakashi said, handing Nayamae a towel, "to wipe the makeup off your face." He didn't dislike the makeup on her, but it definitely made her look much different.
"Thank you," she replied softly, taking the towel from him. "You should take yours off too."
"Right."
He sat on the edge of the bathtub and watched as she took off the gold jewelry she had in her hair and on her neck and ears, setting them carefully on the counter by the bathroom sink. He had removed most of his disguise already, leaving his pants and shirt. He had gone back to his normal eye color, his left eye closed to hide the sharingan, his face hidden by a mask.
"You said that the Hokage approved of you doing this on your own," Kakashi started, "but did he approve the part of the plan to dress like a prostitute?"
She turned around to face him, wiping her face with the towel. "I suggested it," she admitted. "Thought it would be easier to get Akito to open up to me."
"And did it work?"
"Does it bother you if it did? I know where Shinjou is. And I know much more than that." She turned back to the mirror, wiping at some particularly stubborn eyeliner. "I know how she's planning to keep growing her business. If we stop her, the whole organization falls apart."
"And you think you know how to stop her?" Kakashi questioned.
She turned to face him again. "If we can kill her, it'll be over."
He looked at her in her eyes. Their sharp brown color was full of a fighting spirit. He couldn't help but feel that her eagerness to carry out this plan had something to do with revenge, but he wasn't able to entertain the thought long.
"Besides, your Hokage wanted me to help solve the drug problem in the village, so any plan I came up with he was game," Nayamae added.
"Sure, but the least you could have done was told me about it," he countered.
She shrugged. "I didn't think you would have approved."
"And you're right. Like I said earlier, you aren't trained enough." She rolled her eyes, but knew he was right. "How did you even find out about Akito?" he asked. "Did you work with him before?"
She shrugged. "In a way, I guess," she replied, putting the towel on the counter. She was quiet as she thought. "Abba was usually the one to do all the talking. He had to fight Shinjou for me to even be in the same room as the rest of them while they discussed their distribution plans. He wanted me to learn the trade." She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter behind her. "I was allowed to sit beside Abba as long as I was quiet."
"Yes, but how did you find out he frequents that bar you were at?" Kakashi made a mental note to ask about Abba, suddenly realizing he didn't know much about the man she considered to be a father. "When you went to go speak to the Hokage that night, you were in a huge hurry. What happened?"
She stared at him, trying to decide what she should tell him. Finally, she decided to tell him everything. She told him about seeing Akito leave the bar with a woman and distribute drugs to the people waiting in the darkened alleys. She told him about the conversation she had with the Hokage on how to gain Akito's trust. With Kyrie's help, she was able to get a good disguise and to infiltrate herself among the other prostitutes to get close to Akito. Akito was intrigued by her almost instantly. She had managed to keep him interested in her enough to give her information without sacrificing too much of her dignity. When she had asked him too many questions, he had begun to be suspicious of her. It was just before Kakashi had intruded on them that Akito had admitted to her that he knew who she was and what she was up to.
"I don't know if he had figured out who I was soon enough to inform Shinjou, so as far as I know, she's unaware I'm working with the Leaf against her," Nayamae finally finished. "I'm sorry for not telling you, but I honestly didn't want you to know."
"Well, you had Kyrie concerned for sure, and she knew what you were doing." Kakashi rubbed his chin, thinking. "Now that you know where Shinjou is, when did you plan on going after her?"
"As soon as possible," she replied. "Can't have her running the slums of this village anymore, can we?"
Kakashi shook his head. "No, I guess we can't." He stood up and stretched, glancing at the clock. It was close to 1 in the morning. "I suppose we'll have to start tomorrow then. We'll talk to the Hokage first thing in the morning."
"Right. Oh, hang on," she said, stopping him before he could leave the bathroom. "You still have a bit of makeup on you," she told him, gently pulling his mask down and holding the towel to his face. "Hold still." He obeyed. Carefully, she held his face while she carefully wiped around his eye, slowly revealing his scar again.
When she finished, they continued to stare at each other, almost unsure of whether to look away. They moved closer to each other. Gently, their lips touched. Kakashi liked this particular kiss much better than the last one she had given him many months ago. It had been forceful and almost painful, but this was different. He held her face in his hands, deepening the kiss. Nayamae couldn't remember the last time someone had kissed her this well, or this intimately. Something told her they should stop, but they kept going, getting closer to each other. Kakashi had pressed her against the counter behind her. Suddenly, she was putting her hands beneath his shirt, feeling the muscles over his stomach and his back. With one hand, he explored the exposed part of her leg, not realizing he was lifting her towards him. His other hand was placed on her back. A small voice told him to stop, that he was manipulating her and using her loyalty against her, but he ignored it. His brain was going a million miles an hour, not totally in control of what his body was doing.
"Kakashi," Nayamae breathed out when she realized she was sitting on the counter with her legs around his middle. "Kakashi," she repeated, "maybe we shouldn't do this where we could accidentally break your sink?"
He stared at her, processing what she said as they caught their breath. "Oh, right!" He let her stand first then swiftly followed her out of the bathroom and to his bedroom.
Nayamae pulled him along as she fell backwards onto his bed. Almost immediately they continued where they left off in the bathroom, only this time more intensely. At some point, his shirt ended up on the floor. He had somehow managed to undo part of her kimono, but left the rest to her. She sat up to remove the rest of it, then settled herself beneath him in her underwear. Kakashi felt he couldn't keep his hands off of her, he wanted more of her, but something else nagged at him now. How far had she gone with Akito? He mentally shook his head, thinking it was stupid to be jealous when he didn't know anything. He also couldn't help but realize what he was doing was complete fraternization. She wasn't part of his village, but she wasn't an enemy. Yet, there was something weird about her that he couldn't quite place.
He tried to concentrate on how she was feeling, but couldn't shake his thoughts, pulling himself away from her in frustration. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting up on her elbows. "Why'd you stop?"
"I… I have to ask you something," he said, unsure of how to explain himself. He sat on the edge of the bed.
Nayamae sat up beside him. "What is it? Are you nervous?" She sounded almost amused.
"It's not that," he replied, though that was a lie. He had no idea what he was doing and was hoping she wouldn't notice, though she probably already had and was kind enough not to say anything. He had a vague idea on what he was doing from some books he read, but wasn't sure how accurate they were. He also wasn't sure how to explain what he was thinking. He felt like she was manipulating him. He didn't like that at all. "We have to stop. We can't keep going with this."
"Why? What do you mean?" she asked, looking confused and almost hurt.
Kakashi suddenly felt horrible, but continued to speak. "We can't do this. It's not… It's not right." He had never told her about the deal he had made with Hiruzen to get her loyalty to him. This wasn't what he had thought was going to happen.
"Naya, we can't go any further," he added softly. "It shouldn't have even gotten this far. I'm sorry."
She shook her head, looking away from him. "No, you're right," she said bluntly, getting up from the bed and dressing quickly. "I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have come home with you." Hurriedly, she ran out of the room.
"Naya, wait!" Kakashi called after her. "Nayamae!" He caught her by the arm before she could leave his apartment.
"Don't touch me, Kakashi!" Nayamae shouted. He instantly let her go. She stared at him icily. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said tensely, before swiftly turning around and leaving his apartment. Kakashi stood at his door, staring after her as she walked away into the night.
Kakashi awoke the next morning, feeling like he hadn't slept at all. Despite his sour mood, the sun shone brightly through the crack in his curtains, illuminating the room. A soft breeze blew gently into the room from the open window. His clothes were still strewn across the floor from the night before. He turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what had happened the night before.
Frustrated, he sat up, putting his feet on the floor. He wasn't sure what to think about Nayamae. He couldn't tell what she actually thought of him or was just using him for something. A sudden creak coming from his open window pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned towards the noise only to find Guy sitting in the window frame. Kakashi jumped back with a yelp, quickly covering himself with the blanket.
"There you are!" Guy exclaimed. "We've been looking for you all morning!" he said as if that explained why he was crouching in Kakashi's bedroom window.
"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, annoyed at the sudden intrusion. He leaned down to grab a mask from the floor, quickly covering his face.
Guy jumped into the room, straightening up. "You've got some doctor in a panic," he told him. "Kyrie, I believe her name is."
Kakashi grabbed for a pair of pants, trying to cover himself the best he could as he dressed. "Kyrie? Why? Is something wrong?"
Guy shrugged. "Said you didn't check in with her last night? Neither you or Nayamae." He watched Kakashi for a moment as he put on a shirt. "Since when do you sleep naked…?" he asked uncomfortably.
"I don't," he replied shortly. "I must have gotten hot last night."
Guy shook his head. "Okay, well, you better get to Kyrie soon. She's really worried about the both of you." He turned towards the window, but suddenly stopped. "I should use your door, shouldn't I?"
Kakashi nodded. "Please," he insisted, leading Guy out of his apartment.
"I'll see you later, Kakashi!" Guy said. "When you find the time, we must fight! After all, you are my rival!"
Kakashi nodded unenthusiastically. "Yeah, we'll have to do that soon. Bye." He shut the door.
Kakashi went back to his bedroom and shut the window. His bed was a mess of sheets and pillows. He grabbed the edge of the blankets, pulling them taut to get rid of any wrinkles. Faintly, he could smell Nayamae's sweet perfume wafting from the fabric. With a heavy sigh, he decided he probably shouldn't leave Kyrie waiting too much longer.
"No note?! No quick, 'Hey, we're fine! Everything turned out okay!'?!" Kyrie paced back and forth in her tiny kitchen while Kakashi sat at the table, looking sheepish. "I told you I had a bad feeling about last night! And when you didn't come back I was worried sick!"
"Kyrie, it's okay," he tried to assure her. "Nayamae was fine. We took care of Akito. He's in ANBU custody now."
"Well that's just great to hear!" Kyrie said, pausing to put her hands on her hips. "And neither of you thought it would have been a good idea to let me know that?!"
"We went back to my apartment," Kakashi replied. He paused, unsure of what to say next. He last saw her storming away from his apartment. She never said where she was going from there.
Kyrie crossed her arms with a huff. "Alright, then where is she? Where's Naya now?"
He hesitated. "I… I don't know," he admitted. "She left after she told me what she has been doing for the last month."
"Hm. Just as I thought," she muttered, taking off her glasses and cleaning them on the edge of her shirt. Her eyebrows were raised at him in concern. "You've read up on kitsunes," she stated obviously, changing the subject. "You know about them, but now you know one on a more personal level." She held up a finger. "Kitsunes are loyal to one person." She pointed directly at him. "If she's picked you, try to make sure you don't betray whatever trust she puts on you." She put her glasses back on her face.
Kakashi looked down at the table, thinking about what Kyrie said. "I think it might be a little late for that," he muttered. Without getting into too much detail, he told her what happened the night before. Kyrie listened intently. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked.
"Well, when you find her, I suggest talking to her about whatever it is that's going on between the two of you," Kyrie replied, sitting up a little straighter in her chair. "Figure out what that is and go from there."
Kyrie had told Kakashi he needed to find Nayamae before the day was over or she would string him up by the village gate. He wasn't quite sure where he was suppose to start looking for her, but he needed to go talk to the Hokage first to inform him on what happened with Akito before going out to look for her.
When he arrived to Hiruzen's office, he heard Nayamae's voice through the door. He took a deep breath before knocking. Her voice stopped.
"Who is it?" Hiruzen called out.
"It's me, Kakashi," he answered.
"Enter."
He opened the door, seeing Nayamae standing beside Hiruzen's desk. She wouldn't look at him. "I'm sorry," he apologized, looking from her to the Hokage. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Nonsense," Hiruzen said, waving his hand. "Nayamae was telling me about what happened last night with Akito. I trust you know about that now?"
"I told him everything from the beginning," Nayamae answered before Kakashi could. She stole a glance towards him. "Thought he should know."
"Very well then," Hiruzen said, folding his hands in front of him. "Now that we have Akito in custody, we can gain more information from him to properly plan an attack against Shinjou."
"We have enough information," Nayamae interjected. "That's what I was doing for the past month! I may not have the same training your shinobi do, but I still got plenty of information from him!"
"I'm not denying what you did was useful," Hiruzen replied calmly. "There is likely more than he ever told you."
She huffed.
"Maybe we can still formulate a plan with what we have," Kakashi suggested. "If there's anything questionable we'll find out the truth."
"We'd be wasting our time," she replied, crossing her arms. "By the time we fact check everything, Shinjou would have moved on. I say we need to start as soon as possible before it's too late for us to even try. We need to start now."
"Who do you suggest would be able to take down Shinjou with the information we have?" Hiruzen asked.
"Me," Nayamae said without hesitation. "I know more about her and everything she does better than anybody here. Let me do it."
Hiruzen looked to Kakashi. "What do you think, Hatake?"
"I'll go with her," he replied. She turned to him. "If there's going to be anybody to go with her, it needs to be me."
"Just a two man team?"
"It would have to be. Scope the place out first and then send in a larger group to take her down," Kakashi suggested.
"I can take her down," Nayamae insisted.
"I know you can," Hiruzen replied patiently, "but you mustn't let your emotions get ahead of logical order." He looked between the two of them. "I'll send you out as a two man team to get a few days head start. I'll send a group to go after you. Be sure to stay in contact as much as possible."
"We'll head out as soon as we're ready," Kakashi said, turning to her. "We'll get supplies and be on our way."
Hiruzen nodded. "Be aware," he warned. "Shinjou will have many spies in the area that will alert her of your presence. Stay sharp. This is a dangerous mission."
"We'll be vigilant," Nayamae assured him.
Kakashi and Nayamae left the Hokage's office together. They were silent until the door was shut behind them.
"Kyrie was worried about you," Kakashi started. "Where did you go last night?"
"None of your business," Nayamae said shortly, walking quickly towards the exit. He followed close beside her. "And if she's worried that much, I'll see her before we leave."
"Fine. And you aren't going off by yourself this time. This isn't like with Orochimaru and getting your kitsunebi back. Shinjou wants you dead," Kakashi replied.
"No more than Orochimaru does," she said curtly. "She just has better protection." He grabbed her hand, stopping her quick strides. "What?!" she growled, but she didn't remove her hand from his.
"Remember when you helped us find those children? I had told you no games. Same rules apply here." She was glaring at him, but he continued. "We track down where Shinjou is hiding, we observe her while we wait for the rest of the team to show up, then, and only then, will we take her down for good. No games."
"What makes you think I'm playing you?" Nayamae asked.
"You're after revenge. Probably even more so than you were with Orochimaru. He's a lost cause, but you can still get even with Shinjou. Am I right?" He looked down at her. She didn't reply, still glaring at him. "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours," he continued, "but I need a partner I can trust on this mission. Don't leave me behind."
She paused, her mood suddenly changing. "After last night, I think I'll have to trust you. You're only the second man to see me nearly naked," she said playfully, removing her hand from his to continue walking. Kakashi was glad his mask could hide his reddening face.
I think Naya likes teasing him just as much as she likes to purposely get on his nerves, but also she doesn't exactly like him? Or does she? It's complicated.
How do you think going after Shinjou is going to turn out? Let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!