(Six days previously)
The Kazekage was seated at his desk, head bent over the piles of paperwork he had to finish. If there was one thing he disliked about the job, this would be it. He brushed his red hair out of his eyes and sighed. He wanted to earn the love and trust of his people and if that meant protecting them from invaders or finishing paperwork on time, he would do it. He just didn't see why it had to be so… boring.
A light knock at the door provided a welcomed distraction.
"Come in." The red-head glanced up to watch his visitor's entrance.
The door opened and a head topped with spiky white hair peaked through the opening. The one uncovered eye appraised the room as if checking for enemies. Finding none, it returned to its customary twinkle and the rest of the ninja stepped over the threshold and into the office.
"Kakashi. To what do I owe this visit?"
"Lady Tsunade sent me. She wants me to look into a few things." The Jounin's slouched posture showed his comfort with his surroundings. He had a habit of appearing at ease even in the most hostile of situations and this didn't even count as mildly threatening.
"You want access to my records?"
"Yeah, but only some of them. Nothing important or vital to security. Oh, and a few maps. Yours are more complete than ours." The ninja shifted his weight and scratched his head uncomfortably. He knew it was a lot to ask even from an ally. After all, information was the deadliest weapon a ninja could possess.
Gaara stood and walked to the front of his desk. "I suppose I should take you, then." Kakashi blinked in surprise at the quick response, but retained enough composure to follow the Kazekage out of his office and down the halls. That letter Tsunade had sent must have contained more than Kakashi thought.
The two proceeded down the hallways in silence marked only by the occasional nod of acknowledgment to other passing sand ninja. At last, they turned down a final passageway and the two ninja standing guard snapped to attention.
Gaara stopped in front of them, his blue eyes not hinting that he noticed their previous lack of attention. "Requesting access to the archives."
"O-of course, sir." The left-hand guard reached for the door but paused, looking at the white-haired leaf ninja behind Gaara. His eyes flicked back to Gaara asking a silent question.
"He's with me." The guard nodded and opened the door to allow them both to pass.
The room they entered was cool and dark; the walls windowless. Scrolls filled the shelves and lined the walls but resisted the haphazard urge that the scrolls on Tsunade's bookshelf had long ago succumbed to.
"Tsunade wrote that you have a stranger in your village whose story needs cross-referencing. Is that right?" Kakashi simply nodded. "Which records do you need?"
"A detailed map of the Wind Country and a record of recent bandit activity. Specifically kidnappings."
"Is that all?"
"No…wait…there's one more." Kakashi's eyebrow furrowed. "Ah!" He snapped his fingers and his face relaxed. "That's it. A record of any border towns that speak another language, or at least a strong enough dialect to render our language incomprehensible."
If Gaara was confused by the request, he kept that emotion from showing. "Very well. I will inform the book-keeper and she will fetch whatever you need. If you want anything besides what you told me, you will need to come get permission again." With that, Gaara turned and disappeared behind a bookshelf.
Kakashi waited for a moment and then began looking for a place to sit. Spying a simple wooden table and some chairs, he proceeded to flop down, prop his feet on the table, tilt the chair back, and pull out his book to read. He was just reaching the climax when the main character [CENSORED: this fic is rated T while Kakashi's book is definitely NOT.] when he was interrupted by the approach of shuffling footsteps. He dismissed them as unimportant and returned to his book. The footsteps stopped in front of his table and someone cleared his or her throat. Never mind that. Just a few more pages-
BAM!
Kakashi jerked upright; the loud noise sending his fantasy world crashing down.
The culprit of the loud noise was a giant leather-bound tome that was lying on the table where it had been deliberately dropped. The one who had done the dropping was grinning at the startled look on his face. "Hehehehe. I finally got your attention, didn't I?" She cackled. Gently this time, she placed the scrolls and the rest of the (smaller) books on the table. Her giant glasses obscured most of her face while her locks of crazy white hair shot off in every direction. What wasn't obscured on her face was covered in wrinkles. Her short stature meant that even though Kakashi was sitting, she was looking straight at him with a grin that was becoming slightly creepy.
"Well. Hiya dearie. I'm the book-keeper around these parts. I "keep" the books. Get it? It's my job to look for whatever book you want to find. Hehe. That rhymed." She cackled again, overly pleased with her own cunning, and the harsh noise grated on Kakashi's ears. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the Kazekage quietly slip out of the door leaving Kakashi alone with the batty old lady.
"I was just talking to the Kazekage. He's such a sweetie; I don't see why everyone was so afraid of him. He doesn't reply much but that just makes him so cute." She looked at Kakashi appraisingly. "Say, you're quite the looker aren't you? I haven't seen someone as fine as you down here in a long time." Kakashi blanched as she grabbed a chair and sat next to him with an uncomfortable lack of space between them. "Now. What can I help you with?"
Five hours later, Kakashi made his escape. Despite concerns for the old lady's mental health, she was very well read and had a surprisingly acute, almost photographic, memory. The research he had thought would take at least two days if not more was complete. She'd even helped him take notes and double-check his findings.
Kakashi carried his stack of papers under his arm as he made his way back to the Kazekage's office. Upon reaching the door he knocked, waited for confirmation, and then stepped in. "Yo."
The red-head looked up. "I see you have finished." He said glancing at the papers under Kakashi's arm.
"Yeah. There's just one lead I need to follow up on and then we'll have our answer." The Kazekage remained silent waiting for elaboration. "The kid told us that he was from a small town on the outskirts of the Wind Country. He said they farm sheep and speak a different language. He also said they recently suffered a bandit raid. I was attempting to find a place like that in the records." Gaara nodded. Apparently he had already been told that much by Tsunade. "There was only one place that was even slightly close. Unfortunately, there is no sign that they speak a different language. If they did, you'd think there'd be some reference to it. No one in Konoha even recognized the language the boy was speaking."
Gaara's eyes looked calculating as he weighed every piece of information. "What are you going to do now?"
"I need to write a letter to Lady Hokage and then follow up on the lead. First, however, Tsunade had two things for me to tell you." The Kazekage waited. "Do the bandits you wrote about have any chance of actually being the right ones?"
"No." The answer was quiet and short, but carried a disproportionate amount of weight in its single syllable.
"Okay…well, Tsunade expected that." Kakashi took a moment to regroup before continuing. "Secondly, Lady Tsunade would like you to inform Sakura about everything. She's the one that has been watching over this kid, and will be the best person to make a decision when the time comes. Tsunade trusts her and doesn't want her judgment to be impaired by a lack of knowledge or being left in the dark about anything. She will also give you a full report on the journey once she gets here."
Gaara simply nodded leaving Kakashi standing awkwardly in the silence.
After a few moments, the white-haired ninja realized he had just been dismissed and began backing toward the door. With a last glance to make sure the Kazekage wasn't going to spring any last minute demands, he slipped across the threshold and into the hallway beyond. He had a message to deliver and a town to visit.