Chapter ten

He heard someone moving in the futon next to him. He didn't think too much of it, had his mind too full of other things, dreams tainted his awareness like brisk breezes across the seas. Wearily he turned around so that he was on his side, the morning light tried to get him moving but he refused until a more sound part of his brain woke up as well. He stretched a little, carefully opened his eyes but not taking in the boring wall, opened them just because he had to, not caring about what he might find when he did.

Naruto was awake too, he heard it in his breathing, in the very air of the room, like when you know who it is outside the door. Nothing in the world belonged to him except the knowledge that he was awake. Another minute passed and with oxygen he was able to breathe. And then he sat up, shouldered his responsibilities for this day as well, aware of yesterdays remaining duties that were pressing down on him. He looked around the room, could barely remember paying for it the night before.

"Good morning," Kakashi said and yawned wide enough to hear a creak in his jaw.

"Mornin'," Naruto said and looked a little fragile as he nestled in under the cover. He was pale, maybe he was hungry but determined not to say anything, let anything on.

Kakashi got up, embarrassed to be drinking him in like he did, went to the bathroom and excelled at his usual morning routine because of the urge to leave the hotel and get some air. He got out only to find Naruto in nothing but his black pants, digging around in his bag, Kakashi approached the door and realized he should probably tell him where he was going.

"I'll just go out to get some breakfast." He was not going to eat another one of those pre-cooked meals.

"I won't be long. When I get back I think it's best if we go through what we know and what we'll do. But breakfast first."

He looked back at Naruto. The light that came in through the window was direct and made a sharp outline around him, where he stood, and fine particles of dust encircled him, as if they were revolving around a new sun in their lives. Naruto nodded slowly, yawned, now held a shirt in a firm grip.

I wish I could live in this moment.

He wished he could tell the thief to fuck off, that he could use the scroll as a napkin for all he cared if it meant that he'd never have to leave him.

"I'm off then."

"Yeah, bye."

Out there on the street he shook his head at his idiocy. A man in front of him had dark hair, cut in a peculiar way. It reminded him of Gai. He wondered what he'd say if he saw him. He chuckled as he realized that he knew exactly what he'd say.

"Kakashi! Youth is a time of passing, enjoy it while it lasts!"

Despite his generally boasting attitude Gai could be both insightful and eerily correct in sensing peoples moods, something Kakashi had learned the last time they had met. After their normal greetings and hashing out what they both had been up to, Gai suddenly had interrupted him in the middle of a sentence.

"What's bothering you, Kakashi?"

Was it that obvious?

The best defense is a good offense.

"What do you mean?" he said tensely, setting up a red flag. Don't.

"You seem a little tired."

They had long ago stopped caring about whether they were tactful with each other, ever since their first high-stress mission with countless enemies and assaults they had dropped the formalities and never got them back.

"It's nothing. Work has been troublesome lately."

He'd probably heard how you rarely saw the copy ninja in the village these days, neither him nor his Icha Icha Tactics were anywhere to be found. Gai was silent for a while, knowing that the subject was mined and yet felt that it had to be said, out of line or not. He was concerned.

"Maybe you could take the weekend off, I know this great-"

He interrupted him, couldn't stand the thought of having to answer questions about his work, or worse, personal life.

"Maybe not." Meaning: I'm not discussing this.

And that was the last they spoke of it.

It was still pretty early but a lot of the shops were already open and he stopped by one of them to buy food. The lady behind the counter was a real chatter box.

When he got back Naruto had showered and, thankfully, put some more clothes on. The futons had been folded away, now there was a table in the middle of the room instead.

Kakashi had ordered rolled omelets and grilled fish and his mouth watered just by looking at it. It tasted even better, probably because of his hunger. They both wolfed it down, Kakashi even more so as he valued the privacy his mask brought him. They ate in silence, replenishing their strength.

"Ah, I feel a lot better. I've missed eating proper food."

Kakashi nodded. "Me too."

He took a second to breathe, get his thoughts in order, his words to say what he wanted them to say and not wander off on their own like they usually did.

"I spoke to some people that live here and it seems that the town is in a bit of a mess. Their kage, Onoki, is sick and they don't know if he'll make it." Kakashi didn't know him personally but he was bothered by what he'd heard; apparently the kage had been in bad health for a while. According to customs, if the kage was obstructed by illness to perform their duty he or she was supposed to choose a replacement, sooner rather than later to make the transition as smooth as possible. But that was not the case in this village. The kage had not found anyone fit for the role as leader and that was the main cause of the problem. There was supposed to be a summit if the kage passed away without selecting someone, which did nothing for their present situation. As a result of the uncertain state of things the village had seen a massive increase of hopeful applicants to the position as kage, and they in turn had brought their own entourages. They were all trying to impress the temporarily elected leaders.

He remembered what he'd thought of the night before, about the many shinobi with different headbands, and the amount of people without one at all. Well this explained it. It seemed discretion was important among the many stakeholders, a common reluctance to show their true colors. It wasn't only applicants from the Land of Earth, according to the woman he'd spoken to some of them came from countries even farther away than Konoha.

Kakashi ran out of new things to add and Naruto, who'd been mostly quiet until then spoke up.

"So, if I get this right, whoever stole the scroll is trying to use it in their favor to become tsuchikage?"

"Seems that way."

"And the first step to getting it back is...?"

He was taken aback at how brisk he had become but found that he liked it.

"We find out as much as we can about the thieves and where he's staying, which means surveillance. They have guards outside and I suspect that there's even more indoors." He thought for another while.

"I think we'll get a better grip on the situation once we find out more about who they are and what kind of power they have. Worst case scenario is that we go in and take it by force, which would definitely result in casualties."

It would be idiotic to rush in and cause an incident that might blow back on Konoha. Naruto looked down at the table, thinking.

"So first of all, surveillance?"

He nodded. "Yes. I think it would be good to try and rent a room close by."

An hour later they had payed for a room close to the thieves hideout, but on the other side of the street. The owner had another guest booked but money changed hands and he swiftly changed his mind. They made themselves comfortable and Kakashi summoned Pakkun.

He was not used to working with the ninja dog, on a normal mission when he was fighting he didn't have enough energy to summon him, keep the contract stable and at the same time retaliate. Here, where there was little strain on his body, he could keep him for longer periods of time. The dog showed up, grumpy looking, Kakashi ignored his frown.