9 courier
A/N: Happy V-day. Call this "spur of the moment" crap.
/
He becomes acquainted with her younger comrade a little over two weeks after her departure from Konohagakure. Asayake Tenkou is the counterfeiter of her three-man team, Tori-Hana-Ken. A long-distance fighter and excellent marksman, her presence is a burst of bright (unwanted) energy from his routine. He knows of her from before, but hadn't had the opportunity to hold a proper conversation with her until now.
It is late in the morning when she appears before him with dirt on her face and leaves in her hair. She waves to him before dismissing the chuunin she had been tutoring on the varieties of medicinal herbs found in Torigakure, her hometown. She runs up to him with and begins their conversation by stating the words he didn't want to hear:
"She sent a letter."
"Ah. Yes." He replies curtly. "I've read it.
She frowns. "Aren't you going to reply?"
"I don't know what to say."
"Say something." She shrugs. "Anything."
He looks around. They're in front of his home, and she having caught him just as he was about to leave. He decides to ask, "Why are you here?"
She nods. "To make sure you do say something."
"Oh." He ponders her statement, but dismisses it as he walks past her, "Well that's not really necessary."
She quickly turns and falls into step with him. She hums to herself, sporting a casual smirk as she asks, "Do you like her?"
He is dumbfounded by the question, but answers with an automatic: "I don't know what you mean."
She glances at him knowingly. "You sent her haiku didn't you?"
That is when he stops. "She read that to other people?"
"No." She chuckles. "But she isn't keeping it a secret either."
He flushes slightly, muttering to himself, "I see."
He didn't think she'd keep the haiku at any visible place. If anything, keeping the haiku away from prying eyes seems more like her. Maybe she'd even keep it on her person, but he rules that out as being uncharacteristic of her. Surely, she isn't one for the sentiment of it. Surely, he thinks, she would have kept the haiku at the bottom of a drawer somewhere, where she could only chance upon it.
The younger woman looks at him and sighs to herself.
"If you're thinking of sending her flowers, she doesn't have any favorites, but her favorite color is blue."
Of course she wouldn't have any favorites. Flowers wouldn't be of much use to her beyond the aesthetic appeal. She prefers blades, or anything solid and long-lasting in her hands than anything transient and temporal. He thinks of giving her another gift, but what kind and what for?
He nods. "I'll keep that in mind."
And at that point, the young woman beside him winks and says,
"Mine are chrysanthemums, if you're wondering."
He's not.
/
Life goes on in Hagakure after the war. Peace is what they had sought, and peace is what they had finally achieved. Since her return to Hagakure, she has spent much time reuniting herself with the family she had spent little time with. Visitors come into Hagakure to congratulate them, to commission them, very little come to hire them as bodyguards and the idyllic lifestyle slowly seeps into their lives. But she doesn't expect visitors that come into her family home asking specifically for her.
"Samurai-san."
Hatake Kakashi is her first visitor from Konohagakure. She receives him in one of the room overlooking the courtyard. When she enters, he sits on his ankles, presses his palms to his knees, and bows.
"You." She says, not knowing how to address him, as she sits across him. "What brings you to Hagakure?"
He rises and meets her steady gaze with a single eye. "The Hokage had me deliver a message."
A teapot and two cups are placed on the low table between them. The door is slid shut and a breeze passes by the trees.
She sighs and settles on the floor, gesturing to the tea. "Courier duties, then?"
He nods, taking his cue to sit on the floor rather than the balls of his feet. She pours him a cup and he takes it.
"Anything to escape what's coming." He blurts out.
"Pardon?"
"Ah, I forgot you were not there to hear the news." He says sheepishly. "The fifth Hokage is stepping down from her position. I am to replace her."
A brief silence.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you, I suppose."
She pours herself a cup and drinks her tea gingerly.
When she finishes, she sees that he has also finished his. How? Did he drink with the mask on? Is his mask made of mesh?
"Is there anything else that brings you to Hagakure?"
"I'm hoping you could help me find a certain man hiding in Ken no Kuni."
She appreciates his being straightforward, but frowns inwardly at the message itself. "Are there not any shinobi to aid you in this endeavor?"
"It is a mission of utmost confidentiality."
Her frown tips deeper into her face. What kind of missions was this that it only had to be done by a shinobi and samurai duo?
She continues for him, "And you would share this mission with me."
"The Hokage recommended that I seek your assistance."
She nods. "And she believes I would assist you."
"Is she wrong?"
She looks at him and dislikes how she could only see a single eye that is neither pleading nor convincing. He's asked a question that had struck quite a sensitive nerve in her; should she reject the invitation, she would be answering to the Hokage herself, one of the few that outwardly expressed their trust on her, should she accept the invitation, she would be allying herself with a shinobi that she had little experience with, but other than that there seemed to be no other complication.
Her frown disappears as she sighs defeated.
"Who are you looking for?"
/
In the next few days, he, Tenkou, and Sakura are assigned on a simple mission. Rescue a hostage. Simple. Given his unique ability, her precise skill, and Sakura's strength, it would be simple.
And it was. Surprisingly so, even. Have Sakura take the front line, him on support, and Tenkou handling surveillance and infiltration. For a three-man team, it felt as if they were an entire band of shinobi sent to rescue this innocent civilian
-that apparently was one of the richest nobles in the Fire Country.
Upon returning to Konohagakure, Sakura is assigned immediately to another recovery mission, and Tenkou treats him to dinner as congratulations on their job well done.
She immediately kickstarts their conversation with the question, "Have you sent it yet?"
He stutters in spite himself, a little surprised that she is still hung up on that. "No, I…"
She sighs dejectedly. "It's nearing month now and she hasn't heard from you."
Of course they write to each other; they've known each other for years. Having command over several types of birds, it would only make sense that this young woman have messenger birds in her arsenal-making it feel as if personal communication across vast distances were simple face-to-face conversations.
"Then why won't she write to me?"
She's only written to him once. It was her fifth day in Hagakure and her letter simply contained her narration of her day-to-day life. He's excited for her, of course, it's been quite some time since she had returned to her home and it only seems opportune that she indulge herself in the Hagakure lifestyle now that the war is over. He appreciates her vivid descriptions and wishes he were there to see it in person.
But would he say that? What could he reply, then? Shall he narrate his daily life for her in return? How bland-he thinks. If they did do that, write to each other letters narrating their mundane lives, what else would they talk about when she returns?
Tenkou sighs again. "She did and you haven't replied."
He concludes then, that he might not be as good with words with her as he is with others.
He asks her then, "Why are you so concerned about this?"
It is the question of the hour-no, the week, as she had kept pestering him on it. But for Tenkou, the answer is simple.
"She's different around you." She states. "Before she'd be so stoic around other people, but now she's a little bit more sociable." She smiles.
He dismisses it as simply being pure coincidence as he replies, "Maybe she didn't know that much people before."
"I heard she's teaching her mother's Yatagare-ryu." She says. "To kids." She pauses for dramatic effect. "She's dealing with kids!"
Tenkou always knew that Shikai disliked working with children.
He smiles. "That sounds nice."
His dismissiveness astounds her, so she says, "And your senpai is in Hagakure."
"Yes." He nods.
She could almost be shocked by how calm he is. "Doesn't that make you feel uneasy?"
"Why would it?"
"He's the type that she doesn't want to work with." Obviously. "Stubborn and single-minded as she is."
"And?"
She groans. Looks at his face. Laughs. "Write to her!"
And that night, he began drafting his first letter.
/
Similarly, she and Kakashi began a simple mission of tracking a ronin in Ken no Kuni only to find themselves in a mission to find a group of ronin planning to overthrow a certain country's daimyo in order to be hired by a richer country's daimyo. A few days after beginning to formerly tracking mission, the group of ronin are arrested by Hagakure's elite guard and are placed on execution for treason.
It doesn't make sense at first that Konohagakure initiates the mission to save the Hagakure daimyo, that he is sent with her, but it does later on. The group of ronin are composed by both samurai and shinobi who have combined their individual techniques in order to create synchronized attacks that would overpower any other opponent.
But he is who he is, and so is she. His Sharingan could so easily copy any of those physical techniques and her Shuureigan could so easily nullify those elemental attacks. It only made sense then, during their first and only battle with the group, that only the two of them would be sent on this mission without any other assistance.
It only made sense then, when they've incapacitated the enemy without so much as a strategy that consisted of "Watch my back, and I'll watch yours" and nothing else, why the copy-nin and the chakra-eater are sent on this mission together.
"And so they sent you." She says as a conclusion to her thoughts on their way out of the daimyo's tower.
"They could have sent anyone, actually." He replies sheepishly.
And she agrees. "Then they should have sent Tenkou."
"I heard she's busy with something else. And the Inuzuka clan seems to have their hands full as well."
In all honesty, the mission would have gone faster with a veteran tracker. Tenkou's army of beasts would have done the job quite easily. And the Inuzuka dogs are clearly better than any other tracking animal in Konoha.
Too bad, she thinks. "And so there's you and your mutts."
"Ninken." He corrects.
"Mutts." She deadpans. They don't matter to her, anyway. "What about those students of yours, couldn't they have been sent instead?"
What is he-the only one who could do such an easy task of finding someone? Despite their success, she's still wary of him with the Sharingan eye. He's spent much of their time together in silence, drowning himself in that book he keeps glued to his face. He doesn't talk of a plan, and she think she's making things up as he goes along, trusts his abilities too much and expects that she does the same. She mistakes his perpetual calmness as carelessness, laziness, and she wonders what is it in him that makes him a man worthy of much admiration in Konoha because she can see none past his skill.
He gets the subtle message in her words and says it for her: "You dislike my company."
She exhales through her nose and explains, "When it's clear enough that you'd rather be doing something else."
Even now after their mission, it's clear that he'd rather be reading his book-again.
"And what are you doing these days?" He is genuinely curious.
"Teaching my mother's Yatagare-ryu to prospective students." She answers.
"I didn't know you had it in you."
"Neither did I." She could opt to end the conversation there, but continues, "But things change, and I returned to Hagakure to make sure that these teachings don't disappear in time."
He's sure that she's a better fighter than a teacher, but admires how she values teaching as much as him.
/
He is halfway through writing the letter when Tenkou surprises him, blurts out, disturbs the silence like thunder on a sunny day.
"She liked him before, you know. Before she met you."
He grimaces and stops writing. He turns to her then and wonders why he allowed her in his home as he writes the letter. His stern face meets her shocked expression.
He raises a brow. "And you are telling me this as I write the letter?"
She waves her hands in front of his face in defense. "I thought you knew!"
He narrows his eyes. "I do now."
Well. Now that she's introduced the idea, it doesn't sound half-bad. Kakashi was the cool, mysterious type that had girls swooning and women blushing without even knowing it.
"Sorry." She says before muttering a string of curses under her breath.
He shrugs. No harm done. If anything, it made enough sense that she did. She's only human after all, prone to feelings of attraction and desire. They were both strong individuals in their own right, users of special bloodlines and bearers of great physical prowess. If the Sharingan and the Shuureigan were combined in battle, then-
She stops his stops with a casual confession: "If it makes any difference, I like you."
He stops thinking, exclaims the only word in his head, "What?"
She clarifies as she looks him dead in the eye, "Present-tense."
He swallows his nervousness. Was this an actual confession? If it was, she couldn't had chosen a better time.
"I'm-I'm not sure what to say."
"Don't say anything!" She waves her hands in his face again. "Just had to put it out there."
He doesn't understand, but then begins to piece things together. Her sudden intrusion into his life. The free lunches, dinners. The near-constant pestering. Her curiosity in his relationships…
The thought struck him like a thunderbolt. "Were you waiting to confirm something?"
"Confirm what?" She replies suddenly before realizing that he's found out. She groans. "God, I feel like the villain here, but yes. I wanted to confirm something from your end because she's somewhat already confirmed on hers."
She's an open book when she's honest, he supposes.
"Somewhat?" He genuinely wants to learn what she said. "What did she say?"
"I'm not telling!"
He frowns. It's already a lot to take in. He's half down on his letter and then a sudden confession comes in without any prior notice or explanation.
"You're not making this any easier for me."
"Easier for you?" She sounds appalled. "I'm the one with the dilemma here!"
"Just tell me."
His face is calm, collected, but he's sure that she's seeing something else-judging from the terrified expression that flashes across her features before she drops defeated.
"In verbatim." She clears her throat before taking a folded piece of paper from her pocket, she shows him the only visible line from the letter as she states from memory, "He and I are good friends. If anything else, I think we'd be great partners."
"Partners." He repeats.
"It could mean anything." She says exasperatedly.
It could, and so he decides to finish the letter faster.
/
She treats him to lunch the day he is scheduled to return to Konoha, as thanks, as congratulations. He accepts her invitation out of respect, seeing as she's been such a kind host, offering him a place to stay for free in her family's estate and being the good comrade she is. They're sitting beside each other, albeit a visibly empty space between them, that way-she thinks-he could eat without worrying over whether or not she sees his face, not that she cares about it. She doesn't.
Their conversation comes across a particularly sensitive subject when she asks:
"How is he?"
Kakashi already knows who she's talking about. "He's doing fine. Just a bit more flustered than usual."
"Really?" She stares at the steaming bowl in front of her.
He continues, "He seems to be the target of affection for a lot of ladies."
She tilts her head to the side. "Is that so?"
"You can't blame him." He shrugs. "Your friendly relations seems to be taken exactly as what it seems-friendly relations."
She's quiet for a moment as she thinks. Could he assume that she's attracted to his kouhai? She is, but hasn't had the leisure to wonder what direction she'd like their relationship to turn to. They're an effective team, yes. He's charming to a certain extent. He's understanding. He's a natural leader. He's simple. He's down-to-earth. He's…nice.
But she decides to downplay it altogether when she exclaims suddenly, "Because there's nothing more to it!"
To which he retorts with a simple: "He's written you haiku."
She winces inwardly. "A terrible one."
He sees her smile. "You kissed him."
"On the cheek." She is on the defensive, but her averting gaze is telling. She calms herself before turning to him with an annoyed expression, "Really, does everything have a hidden message with you shinobi?"
"I should ask the same thing." He shrugs. The fact that the only thing she can see of his face is the single eye does not help. She feels attacked when he asks, "Is not poetry the language of courtship in your archaic culture?"
"Of refined taste, you mean." She scoffs. "You shinobi have no idea what proper courtship entails."
"Then what does?"
She sees him lean a little towards her.
She grounds out. "I think of him as a comrade."
The single eye blinks at her.
"I'm not asking for him."
At that moment, her mouth runs dry.
/
After that outburst, an awkward silence falls on the both of them as he finishes the letter as fast as he could and she occupies herself with reading through a scroll. Internally, she's screaming at herself for outwardly proclaiming her girlish feelings for admiration for him. He's a great guy. A good guy. Shikai becoming a more sociable person is a testament to that, but how dare she intrude on their nearing-intimate relationship when she hasn't been given the sign of approval?
The pen drops to the table with an audible thud. He finishes the letter in record time and she sighs inwardly to calm herself.
He hands the letter to her, all five pages of it, folded neatly with the recipient's name written on the front, without so much as a word. His eyes are cast down and she wants to apologize.
Instead, she promises, "I'll make sure this gets to her before sundown."
"Thank you." He mutters.
She bites her lip and a string of curses flood her head, but she always keeps her promise. So she sends the fastest bird she has, the falcon, towards Hagakure right after she exits his home.
/
After the open-ended conversation, a silence befalls the two of them as she eats quickly, as noisily as she can to fill the already awkward space between them. She minutes the entire bowl in a little over three minutes and sees that he hasn't touched his. She frowns. She found herself attracted to him before, yes, but hadn't most women? The guilty feeling that settles in her stomach accompanies the food, leaving a sour aftertaste in her mouth. She doesn't know what he really meant by his words and thinks about asking him about it. Then again, she might have misinterpreted them and asking could only cause her embarrassment.
And Yamato. She likes him. Tells herself she likes him, but the lack of response to her letter doesn't help with the distance. Perhaps she's delusional, perhaps she's mistaking her feeling for something else. Perhaps she ought to ask-
He's reading his book again, for what might be the fourth time, and she just dismisses the thought.
It is then he stands up and bows deeply towards her, without removing the book from his face, and says for an abrupt goodbye: "I look forward to working with you again, samurai-san."
She looks at his single eye and mutters. "Likewise."
His food remained untouched, except that there is a piece of paper wedged underneath the bowl that wasn't there previously. Her curiosity gets the best of her and she decides to check it.
"Come back."
/
A/N: Well. That was a sharp turn.