Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The next morning Tenzou woke to a dull feeling of loneliness, and what was shaping up to be far more soreness then he ever remembered having.
Then again, he'd never really had...passionate...sexual frustration sex?
Well, whatever you want to call it, he'd have to force himself not to limp. In any other circumstance, he would find it hilarious, and maybe even a source of pride deep down. However, it would just serve as a reminder for the next few days of what he potentially could never have again.
With a loud sigh, he rolled over and stuffed his face into the pillow.
It had still been worth it, though.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
After he'd showered and gotten dressed, Tenzou pulled down his mask and exited his room. Normally he would wait until mission departure to mask up, but he didn't feel like hiding his emotions himself that day.
As he was passing by Kakashi's room, he stopped when he heard shuffling. Nervousness gripped him. He knew Gai was on a mission, which meant Kakashi was in there. He didn't know if he should go in. He was scheduled for a mission, and so was Kakashi, so who knew the next time they'd see each other.
Kakashi's exit the other night had been dramatic and perfect, so he hated to spoil that.
Buuuuuttt...
Too bad.
He opened the door slowly to give Kakashi time to get decent (HA) if he needed to, and took a cautious step inside.
"Senpai..."
He froze.
Looking back at him with embarrassment and confusion was a half naked blond woman.
What the hell?
"EEK! Do you mind?" she squeaked, grabbing a towel off of Kakashi's bed and covering herself up.
Tenzou could not help but stare, rudely, at her in response. He had never been so thrown in his life.
"Ah...excuse me. Do I have the wrong room? This is Kakashi and Gai's room, isn't it?" he asked slowly, despite knowing the answer.
A coy little smile spread across her pretty face. "Oh, honey. You're adorable. Of course it is."
A horrible feeling of terror stuck its long, cold claws right into his throat and dragged its heavy paw all the way down to his abdomen. He was frozen in place, completely lost.
This made no logical sense.
Kakashi had JUST come from him mere hours ago. They had DEFINITELY been together most of the night. He wouldn't just hop off of Tenzou and bang some chick ten minutes later. Especially a chick Tenzou had never seen before.
Not that he'd...really met everyone in ANBU.
Whatever.
"What are you doing in here?" he asked, his voice and confidence returning. This was not what it looked like. It couldn't be.
The girl looked like she was getting annoyed. She spun to face him fully, one hand holding the towel, the other on her hip. She glared. "None of your business. If you're planning on standing there and staring at me all morning, I'm going to go and get Kakashi."
Tenzou breathed very, very deeply to try and control himself, but an irrational, TERRIBLE pain was crawling up from the recesses of his psyche and slowly taking over. This looked bad, but who knows what was happening. Maybe this was one of his friends and she'd just come back from a mission and...her...bathroom was broken?
Her room flooded?
She has post traumatic stress disorder and can't stay in dark rooms by herself and her roommate is on a mission?
See? Lots of options.
"Fine." was all he could say before he turned to leave. He wasn't going to make an ass of himself. He would talk to Kakashi about this after. He trusted him.
He did.
But suddenly, all sorts of self depreciating thoughts starting slamming into his head. Maybe Kakashi preferred women and that's why he'd broken up with him (last night kind of disproves that). Maybe Kakashi had been seeing this girl for a while and broke up with Tenzou so he could be with her (still doesn't make sense with last night). Maybe Kakashi had slept with Tenzou because he needed some stress relief, and wasn't satisfied, so he picked her up (Kakashi doesn't have 'stress relief sex' and you know it).
His shoulders slouched with his heavy thoughts; so much so that he almost missed his one clue. As he turned to leave, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He whipped his head back, but the girl was there, frowning at him.
"What are you, some kind of love sick fan boy? Sorry to disappoint you, but Kakashi-kun has standards." she sneered, jutting her hip out to the other side.
He stared, unsure of what he'd seen. It was like a ripple. A sheen.
But it was gone and only she remained, taunting him.
Again he turned, but this time saw nothing. He opened the door. He left. He shut the door. He stood out in the hall, the hand behind him still on the door handle.
He toiled.
He tormented.
Kakashi wouldn't have done that to him...he wouldn't have...
He cried out when a memory slammed into him. The memory of Kakashi smiling down at him. He was young, so it must have been a suppressed memory from the Foundation. Tenzou saw a bright, surgical light above him.
"Kakashi-san?"
"Come, fjkgjk. We have to get out of here."
And that was all. His name had been erased from his memory, so he assumed he did not go by Tenzou in Root. But, the memory served to give him strength. Kakashi had saved him. That is what he got from that memory. He didn't want to think from what, since it looked like he was in an operating room. But he'd risked his life to save him. He needed to give a man like that his due credit.
Whipping around, Tenzou cranked the handle back and swung the door open. The woman spun around again, the towel in place.
"HEY, what did I-"
"KAI!"
Poof.
The genjutsu was dropped.
Standing before him was an ANBU male he didn't recognize. The culprit froze, obviously mind blown that his ploy had been unveiled. Tenzou was also still, deathly still. His fingers were still pressed together in the standard hand sign to break genjutsu. He stared. He stared with such venom he could see the man before him shake.
"A-ah...ha ha...it's just a joke..."
He snapped.
"Fucking ASSHOLE!" he snarled, and leaped at the object of his fury with the intent to kill.
He didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse (definitely blessing) that Gai happened to be coming home from a mission a few minutes later, but his friend might have been the only thing stopping Tenzou from putting a very able ANBU member out of the mission roster for at least a couple of weeks, if not permanently.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Tenzou hung his head low as he sat in the Hokage's office. From his appearance, you could hardly tell he'd been in a serious fight. The only clue was the one bloody hand smear low on his hip, and the dishevelled appearance of his hair.
His victim, however...
The man named Juyoi had a busted lip, two black eyes, a broken nose, a large gash going up his arm, and at least thirty splinters scattered around his body where Tenzou had very gracefully decided to avoid impaling him with wooden spikes.
Hiruzen watched them both from his stance before them for a few more moments before speaking.
"So. Here we are."
Tenzou and Juyoi's heads bowed lower.
"You both have missions to attend to, so I will keep this brief. Juyoi. If you can, which I doubt, explain yourself."
Tenzou could hear the other man swallow thickly (probably around a throat full of blood, he thought with pleasure) before he spoke softly.
"I couldn't sleep last night. I was annoyed."
The amount of blood that rushed to Tenzou's cheeks SHOULD have floored him instantly, but the sheer horror of the situation probably kept him conscious.
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
Juyoi sighed loudly. "They were loud. Like...fine. You're having mind blowing sex. Keep it to your damn selves." he growled, licking at his cracking lips.
If it was possible, Tenzou sank EVEN LOWER in his seat.
For the love of God...
Hiruzen coughed loudly. He paused. He coughed again. He looked between the two of them. He seemed to take a bit of an inhale through his nose.
"So...you took your revenge on your teammates for your lack of sleep by attempting to break Tenzou's heart and dishonour Kakashi? Do I have that right?"
Juyoi looked frustrated. "I've been stuck in a rock quarry for a month. I deserve some damn peace and quiet when I return to my village. I don't want to think about Kakashi-taichou butt banging the Mokuton user."
Tenzou whirled on his fellow black-ops with sheer disgust. "What the FUCK!?"
"Silence!" Hiruzen bellowed.
Silence followed.
The Hokage sighed. "Juyoi. I don't care how annoyed you are, if you have a problem, you are expected to deal with it like an adult. How am I supposed to trust you on high stress missions if you cannot even handle missing a few hours worth of sleep without feeling the need to mentally terrorize your team mates?"
Juyoi looked cowed. He swallowed again. "I...I felt justified at the time..."
"Right. Well, we may have to reassess your stability in that case. Perhaps I should take you off of your mission?"
"NO!" he bellowed, leaping up instantly. He bowed low to the Hokage, his shoulders shaking. "No, please, Hokage-sama. It won't happen again, I promise."
"Good. Turn around and give your sincerest apologizes to Tenzou."
With obvious humiliation, Juyoi did as he was told. He spun curtly on his heel, facing a very, very furious Tenzou. The mokuton user glared bullets at him. Crisply, Juyoi bowed, as low as he could go. His arms were rod straight at his sides.
"I am sorry for the pain I caused you."
Tenzou was having a very hard time being mature.
"Are you?" he growled.
He saw Hiruzen give him a look, but he was just...SO ragingly furious that someone had tried to put SUCH a huge rift between him and Kakashi just because he was bitter that they were getting laid and he wasn't. Because COME ON, that's what this was about.
Juyoi breathed through his nose before he continued. "I realize that I overreacted. I...have a bad temper."
Cool.
He really wanted to give this Juyoi guy a WAY harder time, but the look the Hokage was giving him told him he'd have to wrap it up. He sighed.
"Thanks." was all Juyoi was going to get.
Hiruzen accepted it.
"Very well, then. Juyoi, please proceed to the hospital wing to get yourself fixed up. If nothing else, I hope you learned your lesson from the severe beating you received. Perhaps you should show the Mokuton some more respect."
Obviously being burned by the Hokage did not feel pleasant, so Juyoi merely bowed again wordlessly and limped out of the room, accompanied by another ANBU.
When they were alone, Hiruzen let out a long, drawn out sigh. "My goodness..."
Tenzou just sat there, his head in his hands, COMPLETELY humiliated.
What was better than the Hokage knowing about your sex life?
NOTHING!
Oh wait, except that he knows who you're sleeping with, and it happens to be one of the ANBU members he holds in the highest regard, practically like a son.
YAYGASM!
After a long drawn out period of silence Hiruzen chuckled lightly. Tenzou dared to peek up through his hands, curious to see what was so amusing about his super awesome situation.
"I'm glad to see you are finding some solace in these trying times, Tenzou."
UUGHHHHHH!
"Hokage-sama..." Tenzou groaned, covering his face again. "Please. Please, lets not discuss this. I am so embarrassed I can hardly speak."
A loud, joyful bark of laughter greeted his words. Tenzou glanced up again, pretty much resigned to the fact that he was going to want to die the entire conversation no matter what he did. Best to man up and face it.
"Whatever for? You did nothing wrong. Do not let Juyoi make you feel bad, Tenzou. He has a bit of a...streak to him. We have been keeping an eye on him to make sure he stays in line. This is most assuredly a strike against him."
Well. That KIND of made him feel better. Not really...
Hiruzen could see Tenzou struggling. His smile turned coy. His eyebrows narrowed.
"Tenzou. I trust you. You have a good heart and a good head. We can talk openly, can't we?"
Surprised, the mokuton user sat up in his chair. Why, for the Hokage to say such things...
"Hokage-sama, please feel like you can share anything with me."
"Ho ho ho! I knew you would answer along those lines." the Hokage responded with a wink. Tenzou blushed. Hiruzen cleared his throat and took a few steps closer to Tenzou. The young shinobi had no idea what to expect.
"Here is the reality of the situation, Tenzou. You slept with one of the most romantically coveted members of this great village. Not only that, but it seems that you satisfied him more than any other person in existence has been able to. I believe that generally constitutes a pat on the back and not utter embarrassment."
Tenzou's jaw slammed against his neck. His eyes blew open. He stared, gaping, at the Hokage. Of all the things he expected him to say...
Of ALL the things...
Again, Hiruzen laughed. "Come now, Tenzou. I know I am old now, but I was not born an old man."
JKFHLKHFDLKJDFLK
...
Tenzou looked like someone had just come in and levelled him with a sand blaster.
Hiruzen could not contain his laughter. He laughed, and laughed, and Tenzou stared and turned redder and redder.
"Alright, I see you were not prepared for that. But, it is the truth. Kakashi is a hard nut to crack, but you seemed to have cracked him. Good for you! I hope you two...uh..."
Hiruzen trailed off as Tenzou's expression changed from utter astonishment to one of barely contained heart break. He started down at his hands, unsure of what to say.
"We're...not really...together anymore..."
"Ah..." was Hiruzen's response. He sighed, chewing on his pipe. "Well. I did say he was a tough nut to crack."
Tenzou scuffed his feet against the floor. "Yah..."
"Well." the Hokage concluded, walking right up to Tenzou and putting a friendly, firm hand on his shoulder. "I consider all residents of Konoha to be my children. If you ever need anyone to talk to, I want you to know you can come to me."
Tenzou shone a bright smile on the Hokage. "Thank you."
"On that note...I have been working side by side with Kakashi since he was quite young. He is rather complicated, but some things about him can be glaringly simple. For instance, because he is so complicated he rarely gets deeply involved with people. Most call him cold, hard to get to know, etc. He has come a rather long way lately, I must admit. But, he seems to prefer keeping the group of people in his heart as small as possible. It is rather an incredible feat to be romantic with Hatake Kakashi. I dare say it has never been done before. For it to be with you, Tenzou, a person who has been by his side for years...well. I do not want to put words in my dear Kakashi's mouth, but I chance to think it is rather significant."
Tenzou sucked in a deep breath, staring down at his fingers as he twisted them together, wringing his palms. "I...I know it is. I believe him when he says it is."
Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as he gazed at Tenzou in thought. "Hmm. Why, then, are you no longer together?"
With a sort of strangled yelp, Tenzou scrambled for something to say. Hiruzen watched him in open amusement. "Hiruzen-sama. I am so honoured that you are trying to help, truly, but I don't think Kakashi would want me to discuss this with anyone..."
"HOHOHO! Of COURSE he wouldn't, hahaha!" Hiruzen howled, smoke billowing from his nose and mouth. Tenzou stared in blatant shock. "Kakashi does not speak to ANYONE of ANYTHING. Please, Tenzou. Talk to me about this if you wish it, but do not take Kakashi's regard in this. He does not even tell people his favourite colour. Or his favourite food. Or his favourite anything."
A little warm ray of sunshine blossomed in his chest. Tenzou knew what Kakashi's favourite food and colour was. He knew lots of little things like that about him. He had taken it for granted before, but now, it made him feel a little bit special. He pondered on the situation a bit, and then decided that if Hiruzen was willing to help, he should take it. Maybe something he learned could put his mind to rest for the duration of the conflict between Sand and Stone.
"Well. Basically. Kakashi thinks it would be in our best interests not to be together during this...ah...situation. I think he's worried I'll become distracted and get hurt on a mission. He said he wants me to look out for myself, and not think about him."
Well. Saying it out loud made Kakashi sound like a saint, but it sure as hell wasn't easy being the other party involved in the situation. Hiruzen seemed to understand that, though. He nodded slowly, his eyes closed.
"Hmm. That does indeed sound like Kakashi. He has been taking very good care of you for a long time, Tenzou. He risked his life many times to save you, as you did for him. I believe he is simply being paranoid as you are an incredibly confident shinobi. And, obviously, the rift between you is causing its own kinds of distractions, isn't it? But, so far, you have been one of Kakashi's greatest accomplishments, if I dare call it that. He has not had such good luck protecting his friends in the past. It would be a hard blow to him if anything happened to you, and I believe he is desperate to prevent that."
Well. Tenzou felt like he was just being bombarded with waves of warm fuzzy feelings for no reason. He almost felt guilty, sitting here, getting the Hokage to tell him things about Kakashi. None of it was really that private, but still. However, it didn't seem like Hiruzen was done.
"I am not trying to tell you to alleviate him of any ill will, because I am certain it is not easy to 'lose' someone you care about, especially if it was their decision. Knowing Kakashi the way I do know him, though, I am almost 100 percent certain that the last thing he wanted to do was leave you. It seems to me he did it because he felt the other option was to lose you forever."
Tenzou felt he could not continue with his conversation without getting embarrassingly emotional, especially since he could not school the dumbfounded expression on his face. To hear it from Hiruzen was...well. Another thing altogether.
He stood and bowed as low as he could go. "Thank you, Hiruzen-sama." he whispered into his bow, coming up slowly, flicking his eyes up to meet Hiruzens', but not able to hold his gaze. It was...different, having such an intimate conversation with the Hokage. He wasn't sure how to act, and he was slightly embarrassed it needed to happen in the first place. But Hiruzen showed nothing but understanding kindness, so he assumed he was making a big deal out of this for nothing.
"It is my pleasure, Tenzou. Now. Go get cleaned up. You have a very important mission in about three hours."
Again, Tenzou bowed. When he was at the door, Hiruzen cleared his throat. He turned slightly to face him.
"Excellent work thus far, Tenzou. I am very impressed and proud." he said with a smile.
Tenzou blushed, bowed to him again, said his humble thanks, and left.
When Tenzou was gone, Hiruzen sighed loudly to himself and rubbed his temple with the end of his pipe. "Kakashi. You're lucky you're good looking, you're so much trouble. Sheesh. And his father was so personable."
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The mission Tenzou went on that day was a gruelling two weeks long. He was part of a large 14 man cell, which he was slightly bitter contained none of his friends. He knew Gai was back from his mission since he'd had to pry Tenzou from Juyoi's neck. He knew they would be scheduled for missions apart, but he had no idea they would NEVER be together. Tenzou was starting to desperately miss his inappropriate conversations with Genma, or Gai wailing about how youthful his youth was.
He had little time to reminisce, however, as half way through the mission their team captain assigned Tenzou as the leader of part of their squad. Shocked, he'd almost questioned the order. Thankfully, one thing he had (to make up for his staggering lack of social skills) was incredible discipline. He controlled the urge to shout "WAIT, WHAT?" and merely bowed in acceptance.
So, for a week he was (so strangely) "Tenzou-taichou." Vaguely, he remembered Genma jokingly pegging him for captain status in two months, and he was honestly only a couple of weeks shy of being right if this mission had anything to say about it.
His squad (one of whom was Niina, who couldn't help but ask Tenzou if she 'looked fat in this outfit' at one point in the mission) were top drawer and were responsible for wiping out an entire reinforcement squad sent after a large Sand battalion, which also comprised of quite a few Konoha shinobi. They were hidden in the leaves of a great forest bordering Sand, obviously using their best fighting environment to their advantage. Not to mention Tenzou, who at this point in his career, could manipulate at least 6 giant trees at once.
This was Tenzou's first mission in a real war-like scenario. And he was captain. A temporary captain, but a captain none the less. Dear, sweet heavens. What were they thinking.
Finally their targets arrived. Tenzou formed his seals. His wood clone, perched a few trees behind him, popped out of a branch and quickly flew through some hand signals to communicate what was happening to his team. Meigo, a Hyuuga shinobi, was his leading scout.
"Tenzou-taichou, 100 meters to go. All units are dead centre. No one is approaching the rear."
"Perfect. Please return to centre formation; I'll be relying on you to watch the backs of your comrades."
"Understood." she whispered before she disappeared.
He took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally for one HELL of a battle. But, hopefully if his plan succeeded, the fighting would be significantly decreased.
As soon as the small battalion got deep enough into the forest that he could trap them, he rained a woody hell onto their heads. Roots popped up under their feet and snagged them, while the trunks of trees around them twirled in and bound them. Naturally, many of the Stone-nin were fast enough to escape the first onslaught, but were smashed down to the ground when more and more wood rained on them seemingly from the sky.
Tenzou could literally feel his chakra reserves being depleted like water in a well. He wanted to take the brunt of the attack himself, though, so he kept his attack up until the remaining shinobi had slipped too far past him.
"NOW!"
Two of his teammates dropped down to his tangle of mokuton mess and started to take care of any shinobi who were still conscious. The rest whipped out of the trees and tackled the Stone-nin dead on. He could hear his comrades fighting, but he needed to take a second to catch his breath before he joined them. He slipped into a tree and popped out closer to the ground, to speak to the 'clean up crew'.
"Everything alright?"
"Yes, Tenzou-taichou! We'll be through in a minute." Meigo replied.
Satisfied, the mokuton user travelled as fast as he could to the rest of his team. Niina had started pulling out all the stops, her giant fist smashing through a Stone-nin and at least a dozen feet of branches. Tenzou formed his wood release again and snatched up a couple shinobi who were tag teaming Beibe, a rather quiet but skilled swordsman. He missed not a beat and spun around, slicing another incoming shinobi without blinking. Takahome was a feisty fire-specializing ninja who had no qualms charring up sections of the forest trying to barbeque his enemies. Tenzou was getting tired, real tired, but seeing the mission going so smoothly energized him. He danced around the forest, wielding his mokuton so smoothly it was like breathing, like commanding the very forest itself.
Eventually, their enemies were taken care of. Tenzou's initial attack had taken them by surprise and severely dwindled their numbers. Takahome had sustained an injury to his leg, Niina was exhausted, and Meigo was getting a migraine from using her Bakyugan so often, but other than that, they were in good shape.
"Hey..." Tenzou murmured, looking around at his team as they filed in. "Where is Takki?"
"Oh, he's always late." Beibe muttered. Tenzou was not satisfied, though.
"Everyone stay here, I will bring him back."
Takki had been the other shinobi who, with Meigo, had taken care of the initial casualties of their attack. Tenzou navigated around his own mokuton easily, popping up here and there to search for him. He began to get uneasy, until finally, he saw Takki resting against a particularly large branch of wood. He looked around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps he had been injured and couldn't move.
Emerging right beside him, Tenzou smiled down at him. "Takki, is everything alright?"
"Uh..." he groaned, shifting slightly. "I feel funny. I can't move."
Crap, Tenzou thought. And the one medic was with the other team. He had no idea how thin they were stretched for medics until now. Popping out of the wood completely, Tenzou landed beside him.
"Let me take a look at you. Can you move your-"
PIIING.
A sword would have impaled itself right into Tenzou's neck if he hadn't whipped to the side just in time. Spinning, he faced his enemy. Well. His two enemies.
Two Stone-nin, bleeding but otherwise functional, glared at him from their positions. Tenzou had no idea where they'd come from, but they were obviously using Takki as bait. Quite clever. Tenzou formed a sign and sent a little signal to his team in the form of a wood bird swooping by. With all of them together, they would make quick work of these two.
"AUGH!" Tenzou screamed, searing pain slicing through his shoulder. He turned to face one of the Stone-nin who had been standing in front of him, now behind him. Looking down, he could see he had travelled underground. The one in front of him must have been a copy. Damnit.
"MOKUTON!" he shouted. The wood around him pushed out to stab at their attackers. They leaped away, but Tenzou predicted it. The trees behind them warped out to get them, but not before they formed their own seals.
The ground under Tenzou suddenly gave way. It must have been a stone grave technique. Unfortunately for the Stone-nin, Tenzou could also use earth jutsu. He quickly formed his hand signs, smashed them onto the broken ground, and in an instant it solidified. He pushed himself back up, just in time for one of them to come at him with a sword. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself away with another earth jutsu. Landing far away enough to ready himself, his attacker recovered quickly and came at him again.
"KATON!"
But not before being incinerated by Takahome.
Tenzou glanced around for the second shinobi and saw that Niina had grabbed him with her large hand, and Beibe had made quick work of the immobile shinobi with his sword. Tenzou grit his teeth, clutched his shoulder and made his way back to Takki. He knelt down next to him.
"Can you move now?"
Takki, looking utterly humiliated and slightly horrified, shook his head. "No, Tenzou-taichou. I am so sorry...I almost got you killed."
"Don't say that. I should have been paying closer attention." Tenzou assured him, his smile in place. "Lets have a look at you..."
He gripped his teammates shoulders and very, very gently pulled him back from the wood. Sucking in a sharp breath, he moved him back as slowly and carefully as he could. He stood, looking grave.
"What is it, taichou?"
The rest of the team had converged in a semi circle around him. He turned to regard them all.
"He has a kunai imbedded in the small of his back."
Everyone winced, except Takki, who gasped loudly. "Wh-what..."
"So, we can't move him." Meigo resolved. "We could paralyse him."
"Exactly. He needs a medic." Tenzou sighed. The medic was far away accomplishing the second half of their mission. What a mess.
Takki looked pale enough to pass out. "P-please don't worry about me. I'll...just...leave me."
"Don't be ridiculous. I won't leave anyone behind." Tenzou assured him, still trying to smile. He sighed. "Alright. Everyone, go back to the meeting point. When the others arrive, send Kyaku over here. I will wait with Takki."
Everyone glanced at each other. Niina spoke first. "Tenzou-taichou, that isn't really safe...especially since we're so close to Sand."
"Yes, I know. But I will not risk the lives of the entire team. This is the best option. Please go."
Everyone looked uncomfortable, but, they couldn't deny that he was right. As one, they bowed low to Tenzou. They wished him all the luck and safety they could. Niina left them with a bit of extra gauze and water, just in case. Then they left.
Tenzou padded Takki's injury as best he could without touching the kunai, but it was hard. Thankfully, he wasn't bleeding too much, so they didn't have much to worry about. He positioned himself behind Takki in the trees as a guard and waited.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Tenzou's team arrived two days late from their mission. But, arrive they did. Takki practically had to be carried, his injury was so sensitive. The medic had saved his life and healed the wound, but he needed intensive care. Tenzou's shoulder had been very lightly healed, but poor Kyaku barely had any chakra left to give Tenzou a full recovery. It was enough to keep him from bleeding or getting an infection and kept most of the pain at bay.
To say that everyone was happy to see them was an understatement. Apparently all communication between their squad and the village had been lost when Takki was being looked after. Everyone had feared the worst. Tenzou and their squad captain, Habichi, got quite an earful from practically every nurse and the people manning the missions desk. He had no idea so many people would notice they were late. It gave him the warm fuzzies.
Tenzou hobbled back to his room mentally and physically exhausted. Thank God it was protocol to carry emergency rations, or he'd have been starved, too. The hospital had healed him up pretty good but his shoulder was still extremely tender. Getting stabbed was not pleasant.
He put his hand on the door handle and could not help a sigh. The chances of any of his friends being back was slim to none, and it really made him sad. He could have used Genma's coy smirk, or Gai's big goofy grin, or Kakashi's bored expression. He would have taken any of it.
Pushing the door open, Tenzou made a b-line for his bed, assuming he would be alone.
"HOLY FUCK DUDE!"
Tenzou didn't even have time to leap up in surprise before he was side tackled and sent flying onto his bed, a lithe, strong body pretzelled around his. He tried to crane his neck around to look up at his friend, but he was stuck where he was and there was nothing he could do about it.
"You piece of shit! Fuck, do you know what coming back two days late usually means in war!? Seriously sitting here like a wifey waiting for you to come back with my toes and fingers crossed. God damnit it's good to see you."
"Genma, my injury..." he squeaked.
Cursing under his breath, the other jounin let go of Tenzou just long enough for him to sit up and suck in a large gulp of air. Then Tenzou was being punched playfully in the gut and his hair was tousled so viciously he couldn't see through his bangs.
"I'm supposed to go and get Gai as soon as you came back, but I'm too damn excited right now. What injury? Is that why you guys are late?"
"My shoulder; I was attacked from behind. One of my squad mates was seriously injured so I went to check up on him. I dropped my guard, and this was the result. We were late because we had to get him medical care before we could head back to the village." Tenzou finished and shined a bright, honest smile at Genma. "It's amazing to see you too, Genma. I was heart broken thinking I would come back and this room would be empty."
Before his friend could reply, a loud boom sent both shinobi to their feet instantly.
The door had been Power Kicked right off its hinges. It lay, dilapidated, on Genma's bed. In the door way stood Gai. Tears were streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls.
"TENZOU! TENZOU MY FRIEND!"
"Watch his shoulder, Gai!" Genma shouted as quickly as he could, which thankfully, was quick enough.
For the second time that day Tenzou found himself pinned to his bed by another man. A snarky thought passed through his head that it could be three men if Kakashi wasn't such a tool, but thankfully he had other things to think about than linger on that thought.
"I KNEW YOU WERE ALIVE! YOUR YOUTH SPEAKS TO ME FROM ACROSS THE VERY MOUNTAINS! YOUR BRAVE SOUL IS TOO STRONG TO CONQUOR! I HAD THE UTMOST FAITH IN YOUR RETURN! TENZOOUUUUUU!"
"Gai...it's...ugh...great to see you...sorry to...worry you..."
"OF COURSE NOT! WAR IS ALWAYS A SCARY TIME, BUT BECAUSE OF OUR GLOWING YOUTH, WE CAN PREVAIL!"
"...I...think I'm bleeding.."
"THE YOUTH OF-what? Oh, my!" Gai scrambled off of poor Tenzou quickly. Groaning, the mokuton user sat up, prodding at his tender back.
"It's alright, I'm fine." he sent a shaky smile to his friend. "I'm so glad you're both here. It feels like forever since we've all been together."
The room went pleasantly sombre. A thickness lingered in the air as they smiled at each other, mutual feelings buzzing that did not need to be said out loud.
"Hiruzen-sama was nice enough to push back all our missions until we knew you were alright." Genma explained after a moment. "I was supposed to leave yesterday, and so was Kakashi. Gai's mission is in two days, I think."
Tenzou perked up. "No way...Kakashi is here, too?"
"Yes, my friend!" Gai chimed with excitement. "He is in the kitchen making himself lunch. He will be very much elated to see you safe! My Eternal Rival likes to pretend he is alright when he is not, but to us it is more than obvious. He has been very worried these last two days."
Genma sighed and shook his head. "That idiot. Totally caught him trying to spend the night here so he'd see you as soon as you got back. He made some sly excuse and left when he found out I was home."
"You should have seen his face when Hiruzen said he would delay our missions. I have never seen a man so conflicted. But Hiruzen assured us that we were not direly needed and it was possible to do with no serious consequences, so Kakashi obliged. He practically floated out of the room, ha ha ha! Though, he will most assuredly deny that." Gai explained with his usual large, toothy grin.
Tenzou felt a deep, reverberating warmth coursing through him. He felt terrible for making everyone worry, but he was so happy that they finally had a chance to be together again that he couldn't linger on the negative. As soon as Kakashi got back, even if it was only for a day, they would be a team again.
He stood from the bed, took the two steps needed to reach both his friends and threw his arms around them. Wordlessly, they hugged him back.
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Kakashi had to dodge far too many people on his way to the chopsticks. Seriously, did NO ONE have a mission right now? Was there something going on out there that he didn't know about?
Sighing internally, he spun on his heel and dared the busy lunch table to grab himself some spices. He'd just top off his rice lunch and then get the hell out of there. He was starting to get claustrophobic.
"...yah, and then Tenzou beat the shit out of him. I mean, I would have too if I was him. That idiot is lucky to be alive."
Kakashi's head jerked up in shock. What the hell? Tenzou got into a fight? Tenzou, of all people?
Frantic, he searched the room for the source of his uneasiness.
The copy-nin didn't have to search for very long. Two people were staring at him, frozen mid chew, looking so guilty they would have stood out in an army. Without hesitating he slowly approached them, emanating his usual cool, calm demeanour in an effort to look like he was merely curious.
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about my teammate." he started easily.
The two ninja glanced at each other uneasily. Kakashi felt a small bead of sweat form at the base of his neck. What the hell was going on?
Finally, one of them stood up and bowed low to Kakashi. "I apologize. We're not supposed to be talking about this, and it was especially rude to bring it up in front of you."
O...kay.
"Well. Brought up it is, though, isn't it?" was his response. He flashed them a smile that promised maiming, pain and more maiming if they didn't finish their conversation ASAP. They gulped and got the hint.
"Uh...well, uh...this is...awkward, haha..." the one who had spoken stammered, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Basically, someone who shall not be named for the protection of his mortal life, was frustrated with you and Tenzou for...uh..." he turned so red he nearly passed out from blood loss and stared at the ground as he continued. "Well, anyway. He decided to exact revenge on Tenzou by turning himself into a blond woman and sneaking into your room so Tenzou would find him. Find him he did, but because this is Tenzou we're talking about, he managed to see through his illusion. He was so furious he attacked him. Gai came back to your room just in time to break up their fight."
Kakashi stared in shock. He stared for so long the two ninja before him started to wring their hands with nervousness.
"Let me get this straight. Feel free to correct me at any time." Kakashi started, his voice eerily calm and cold.
Two vigorous nods.
"Someone tried to trick Tenzou into thinking I slept with a random blond girl?"
The poor ANBU gulped. "Ah...yah. That's the short of it, I'd say."
Kakashi smiled.
"Who was it?"
The whole room was obviously already listening, but now it went dead quiet. The two terrified shinobi glanced around for backup, but no one was touching that situation with a 50 foot pole.
"Ah...K-Kakashi-san...please, we're not allowed to tell you." one of them stammered.
Kakashi kept smiling.
"Who. Was. It?"
Another glance around the room, but all they got were looks of "sorry buddy, you're on your own."
"Trust us, Kakashi-san, he got what he deserved." the second one tried. "You should have seen him after Tenzou was through with him. They say the nurses were pulling small shards of wood out of him for over an hour."
Silence answered him. The room was so quiet you could practically hear people blinking. They all waited to see Kakashi's reaction. He was still, gazing down at the two ANBU pitilessly.
His eyes curved up in their usual fashion. His smile widened.
"If you don't tell me who it was, I'm going to assume it was one of you."
Someone snickered off in a corner and was promptly shushed. The two ninja before him balked.
"Wh-what!?"
"Five..."
"K-kakashi..."
"Four..."
"Ugh, come on..."
"Three..."
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Tenzou, Genma and Gai chatted for the next two hours about their latest missions. Upon hearing that he had been tried out as captain, Genma crowed and clapped him on the good side of his back.
"See? What did I tell yah! You're totally captain material. Look at yah, risking your life for people and shit. You're like an everyday hero. Your face is gonna be carved onto something some day."
Gai laughed and Tenzou blushed. "Genma..."
"It would be fitting, wouldn't it? Someone with the Mokuton as Hokage again."
Now Tenzou laughed. "Hokage. Right."
"For sure, Brah! Then you can hook me up with all the best privileges. I'd be the Hokage's second hand and get aaaaallllll the bitches."
Tenzou and Gai barked out laughter at Genma's weightless dream.
"You've clearly put thought into this, my friend." Gai mused.
"Uh huh. Cause I'm a visionary. I see this shit."
"It's a great vision. Except how do you know YOU would be my 'second hand', and not Kakashi or Gai?" Tenzou teased.
Genma did not look put off what-so-ever. "Because I OBVIOUSLY give you the best advice and everyone knows it. Kakashi is your source of drama and Gai is your backup. But I am Advisor Numero Uno. Believe it. Brah."
Tenzou found himself laughing again and couldn't believe how good it felt. He tried to think of the last time he'd laughed so much, and had a hard time recalling it. He'd truly missed being with his friends. This conflict between Sand and Stone was rough on everyone and he prayed it would be over soon.
A couple of minutes later someone entered the room without knocking. They all craned their necks around to look at who it was.
Tenzou felt his stomach drop.
"Kakashi..."
The copy-nin stood in the doorway, obviously shocked. He stepped inside, his eyes only for one person.
"Tenzou...you're back."
"OH MY GOODNESS! Look at the time!" Genma cried, glancing at his very watchless wrist. "We should definitely get down to the training cells. For that thing. Yah. But, lets all go out for dinner in a couple hours, yeh?"
Gai looked confused but he nodded anyway. Tenozu smiled brightly. "I would love that. Just like old times."
Genma grabbed Gai and dragged them both up. "Yup, exactly! So lets say 7 o'clock then? Great! Bye bye!"
The two were out the door in record time. Tenzou chuckled and dropped his head, slightly embarrassed, but also grateful. As soon as the door was shut Kakashi advanced on him quick as lightning. In the next moment he was surrounded by his captain, clutched to his chest so tightly his shoulder screamed, but he ignored it. He felt Kakashi's hand on the back of his head, pushing him closer, his fingers digging into his hair.
"Tenzou." he breathed. "You're late."
"Sorry, Kakashi-senpai" he answered, smiling into his chest. "We had an injured squad member. We were waylaid waiting for medical treatment."
"But you're not injured?"
"Ah...well, a little. My shoulder."
Kakashi stepped back, turning Tenzou so he could see. "Was it bad?"
"Not life threatening, but not fun either. I just need to take it easy for a bit."
Kakashi seemed satisfied and turned Tenzou to face him again. He smiled warmly, his eyes so relieved Tenzou felt his heart clench.
"I'm happy to see you."
Blushing, Tenzou couldn't help but look away. "I'm sorry you were worried. I heard Hiruzen was kind enough to delay your mission."
"Yes. I haven't heard of anyone doing that before." Kakashi seemed amused, but mostly he was so intent on Tenzou the mokuton user felt his lungs constrict with emotion. Kakashi's grip had not loosened at all and he was still holding him close, their bodies touching. Suddenly, he seemed to look serious. He tilted Tenzou's head back so they were looking at each other.
"I heard about what happened." he stated simply.
Tenzou blinked, confused. "Sorry? Ah...lots has happened, haha."
"The incident with Juyoi."
Tenzou couldn't help but take a step back, his body going tense. "Oh."
Kakashi looked so wretched that Tenzou opened his mouth to say something, but was silenced with a light finger to his lips. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I wish I was there."
Tenzou shook his head resolutely. "No, don't say that. It was fine. Well...it wasn't fine, but I handled it."
Kakashi smirked. "I'd say you did. He had to have stitches in his arm before the nurses could heal him."
A blush graced Tenzou's cheeks again. "Ah...well...I may have been slightly upset..."
Suddenly Kakashi drew him to his chest again. His grip was tight, his fingers digging into Tenzou's arms. He pressed their cheeks together. "I know I don't have to tell you this, but I want you to hear it from me. I would never do anything like that to you, Tenzou. Never."
Tenzou let out a shaky exhale as he melted into Kakashi's body, a silly smile gracing his features. "I...I know. I trusted you."
There was a moment of silence while they held each other, the contact obviously craved on both sides. Tenzou couldn't believe how badly he missed being held by Kakashi. It was the warmest and safest he ever felt.
It was like some kind of unbeatable magnetic force lifted his face, and just like that, they were kissing. The kiss deepened instantly. It was so deep Tenzou had to fight not to moan, tilting his head up and pushing himself into Kakashi. It was the kiss of two people who wanted, craved, and needed each other. Needed each others bodies, hearts, and minds. He felt Kakashi's fingers claw at his hips, wrench him forward, then dig in even deeper before pushing him back.
They both exhaled loudly as Kakashi forced their kiss to end. He stepped back, his chest heaving, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't..."
Tenzou felt like screaming, but he controlled his breathing and glared at the ground. Right. Their...situation, or whatever.
A moment of tense silence passed before Kakashi spoke.
"I should head back to my room."
Tenzou's head whipped up, his eyes wide. "What? Already?"
Kakashi looked guilty as he continued. "I...yes. I'm going to get some things together for my mission before dinner."
Tenzou took a step back, trying not to be upset. He guessed things were still...like that. No matter what happened, no matter how much Kakashi OBVIOUSLY wanted to be with him, he would not give in. It just killed Tenzou, but he knew he could do nothing.
"Fine."
Kakashi watched Tenzou; how tense he was, how he glared down at the ground with his hands clenched. This was so unfair to him.
"I'll see you soon." he whispered solemnly. He left quietly without another word.
Tenzou wanted to throw something at the door after him.
Whatever.
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