Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto or any of the other characters. Kishimoto says he wouldn't consider selling his toons to me until I learn to treat them better. Some nonsense about me always killing the Banshee girl off and being too mean to the bloodline brat.
Chapter Fifteen: Kakashi Gets His Due
Over the following days Tsunade entertained several ideas as to how to suitably punish her errant Jounin. What he had done was so much worse than what Sakura had done for several different reasons not the least of which was his actions had violated his own code. The code she had assumed would keep Naruto safe.
She held several meetings with different people taking all sorts of suggestions as to suitable punishments. She had heard suggestions of having him spend a month training with Gai wearing the same outfit as Gai to cleaning up after Konohamaru's pranks to doing D and E rank only missions. Several of the suggestors wanted to have free reign to prank him but she didn't want him too injured to be used on missions or too messed up to properly represent the village should he be needed to do a mission in another village. Everyone agreed they couldn't afford to demote him but she definitely wanted him to know he was gonna shape up.
She finally hit upon a set of ideas she liked. Before calling him in she called in her best form of punishment. Amidst the constant interruption of evil chuckles she finally got her plan for the one-eye deviant explained. She handed over a sheet where some of Naruto's more infamous pranks were detailed along with a list of villagers who had caused the boy the most painful of injuries and grief during his lifetime. "I want to make sure that all these people suffer some sort of discomfort and have to see ole Scumbucket cleaning it up," she said to her accomplice. An evil grin with twinkling eyes was all the answer she needed. "Make sure no one dies but you're free to do whatever you deem necessary to insure my will." After the plan was detailed the administrator of her plan poofed away to go set things in motion. Tsunade waited while she watched out her office window for the sign that things were ready.
Around the village pranksters were being spoken to and several bits of mayhem were being enacted. Kakashi's house was targeted by the Konhamaru Corp who were old hands at pranking thanks to instructions taught by a much younger and happier Naruto. Several shop owners who were known to have hurt Naruto on more than one occassion and to have celebrated the loudest when his demise was announced were also targeted. No one caught any of the pranksters but bright neon colors suddenly adorned sedate businesses and homes. Tenderly cared for plants, bushes and trees were newly decorated with toilet paper and confetti. In the parks benches where villagers would sit to watch the wildlife or children at play were suddenly unuseable being covered with foul smelling food stuff or worse. Ponds were clogged with trash and debris as the pranksters of Konoha turned their iminaginations free. And the orchestrators of it all were the infamous Konohamaru Corp who oversaw each and every prank to make sure no one got seriosly injured, though from the screams coming from several upscale homes you'd have thought there were lots of murders taking place.
Konohamaru reported each prank back to his boss and got further instructions on what else needed to be done before the Hokage's plan could be set in motion. He and his own friends undertook the defacing of the Hokage Monument. This was a mission they all knew they would remember fondly for the rest of their lives and though they would have been happy enough just to be given the permission to prank the village on this scale, the thought that they were doing this to get revenge for their personal hero just made the mission all the sweeter.
When she saw the flare in the sky, signalling the plan was in motion,she finally called Kakashi into her office and explained what she knew of his behavior towards Naruto from the day he'd been assigned to Team Seven until the day he'd left the boy behind on a mission. She told him, "It'd be different if he hadn't been who he is. But housing the Nine-tailed Fox the way he does, you knew full well that there was an excellent chance that he was still alive. Even if he hadn't been you saw the form he was in and yet you left the Nine-tails free to rampage the world. That can not be allowed to go unpunished so I have finally found something I think you will absolutely love." She grinned.
Kakashi gulped envisioning himself being used as a ball again while she and her old teammate played with him. " While I can not treat you as I would wish to I can and will make you wish I had. Though you will retain your rank and status no one will listen to you or take your orders until I say otherwise again. Not even the students at the academy will be obligated to show you honor or respect. That is for those who have honor to begin with."
"Furthermore, I am assigning Anko to be with you everywhere you go. She will make sure you do not try to intimidate anyone into being respectful to you. Every time you are late for something, even if it is only by five minutes, she will choose an appropriate punishment for you. Nor will you be allowed to read your books in front of minors anymore. If she catches you reading it where minors are gathered, she will punish you. You may not read it in front of any woman who objects to it either. Again if she catches you, you will be punished. For the final restriction, you are prohibited from any contact with team seven. Either the original team or the replacement members. If Anko sees you in contact with them, she will punish you. Is that clear?"
"But Sasuke is my student. How am I supposed to teach him without contact? And Sakura. Who is to teach her now that you have told her you will no longer instruct her? My students need me." She noticed he didn't mention either Sai or Naruto and that almost made her angry enough to punch his head through her office wall but she restrained herself.
"No they don't. From what I have learned this past couple of days they could only have learned dishonorable things from one such as you. You broke your own code so how could impressionable young people learn anything useful from you? They need to learn true teamwork and they won't learn it from you. I have other plans for them." Actually she had absolutely nothing planned for the Uchiha punk as she thought of the arrogant little prick but he didn't have to know that. She paused to regain her former thought process and then continued as Kakashi gulped but nodded glumly.
"Finally, to keep you busy here in the village, I have compiled a list of things I wish to have done. Anko also has a copy of the list so don't think you can cheat. You will do them. Alone."
He sighed and took the list from her hand. His eye widened. Clean the Hokage Monument. Ok that was done yearly. But sanding the wall! Where did she ever come up with that one? After that he was to white wash and clean the Hot Springs and then do the landscaping of the village greenways and parks as well as fix up homes and businesses that had been damaged due to pranks. Once he was done with that he saw he was supposed to re-carve all the weather-beaten tombstones in the graveyard so the names and inscriptions could be read again. Given some of the things he'd seen on his way to the tower, he knew this was gonna take a long time to complete. A very long time he thought as he squeaked, "Alone? It'll take me years."
"It took Naruto years to recover. He was your student too. But he was no Uchiha so you didn't care. You threw him away like he was trash but we both know who was the real piece of trash, don't we." Kakashi gulped again. He'd forgotten just how strongly she cared for his unwanted student. "You told them those who don't follow the rules are trash but those who abandon their comrades are scum. By your own rule you are scum. So tell me, Hatake, why should I care if your punishment drags on for years?"
"What about missions?" Missions were the lifeblood of a ninja. The money they got from missions made it possible for them to stay alive and have down time to rest and recover from the strenuous job of killing people and stealing information from other villages. With this list of tasks to complete he seriously didn't see how he would have any time for doing any missions whatsoever and somehow he just knew he wouldn't be paid for doing anything on this list.
"You'll still have missions to do. Anko will go with you on your missions to make sure you obey the terms of your punishment. This list will be done in addition to missions. And I will make sure that your missions are appropriate for one of your standing." Somehow he didn't like the sound of that. Kakashi walked solemnly out of the office. Her last statement before dismissing him probably meant D and E rank missions more than likely. Oh God! That meant he might actually have to go and capture the cat from Hell's Back Gate. Kami save him! He almost cried at the thought. Not even Anko could measure up to the torture of that cat. No matter how much he had drunk the other night, it wasn't enough. He was definitely too sober for this. He wondered if he had time to reach the bar and get drunk before this nightmare began.
"One more thing Kakashi. No more drinking to excess. I have a copy of the bill you ran up the other night and you are paying it. That's not a job related injury," yelled Tsunade, after his retreating form.
He rolled his eye and his chin quivered under his mask. He wasn't going to cry. He was a man. He would make it through this. How could Naruto do this to him? He had watched over the boy while he was growing up. He'd saved his life more times than he could count over the years. Sure he'd let the villagers beat on him but he'd saved him from being killed too. Didn't that count for anything to that boy? This couldn't be happening to him. He was Kakashi. The one and only Copy-cat Nin. Man of a thousand jutsu's and Son of the White Fang. He was important.
Not even noticing when a shadow joined him, he just about jumped out of his skin when a sultry voice whispered, "I'll be sticking to you like glue now." A fingernail dragged over the gooseflesh on his arm. "We're going to get to know each other very well and you'd better hope I form a better image of you than I have now. I always did like that Gaki and you will pay for what you did to him." He looked at Anko out of the corner of his eye. "Either that or you'd better have a hidden fondness for my little pets." If he hadn't been pasty white before, he was now, as sweat beaded on his forehead. The paper in his hand began to shake as a small green snake poked it's head from her sleeve and she laughed. "Good I see you understand your position, Maggot." He could actually feel his butt cheeks clench as she grabbed his shirt collar and led him out of the tower. Though he was whimpering like a misbehaving genin she didn't waste any time as she led him back to his house to change his outfit. She let him keep his mask but other than that he was stripped of all his rank insignia. He wore tight black leather looking plastic pants and heeled pointy toed shoes. She even confiscated his headband though she did hand him an eye patch with which to cover his chakra draining sharigan. She didn't want anyone to mistake him for an honorable nin.
By evening he was hanging suspended by a rope seat scrubbing the face of the first Hokage. Tears had rolled down his face when she had led him to the monument and he'd gotten a glimpse of it for the first time. It looked even worse than it had when Naruto had decorated it all those years ago. To keep him working, a huge snake was wound around the rope dangling just over his head as he scrubbed. He wondered if this was the Manda he'd heard about from Naruto after he'd gone to find and retrieve Tsunade for the position of Hokage. If it was he took back the disbelief he'd greeted the tale with when Naruto had told them about the three way confrontation between the Sannins. Of course Naruto had painted himself as having had a major role in the fight, supposedly slamming a poorly formed Rasengan into Kabuto's stomach before being knocked out and nearly killed. He'd actually claimed it was by saving his life that Tsunade-sama had overcome her fear and hate enough to come lead the village. Of course he hadn't believe the boy. But now looking up into this snake's face he couldn't help but wonder.
Sasuke tried to go by Kakashi apartment only to be refused entrance by Anko who informed him that contact between the two was now restricted. "What does that mean?" asked Sasuke.
"It means the Hokage has forbidden that comrade leaving scum to have contact with good ninja of this village and that includes you for some strange reason."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow but said nothing else for a minute. "Well, can you give him a message for me then?"
Anko nodded, curious to hear just what the relationship was between the two. Lots of rumors had been going around about the two and that pink-haired floosey they called a teammate.
"Tell him that I plan to follow the Sand Trio to find where she stashed him. Then I will find out what's going on. She can't hide him forever."
Anko's eyes narrowed dangerously. So this little prick thought he could do as he pleased and force the Hokage's hand did he? Well, if he was lucky enough to find Naruto it would be his last mistake. Even if Naruto let him survive it, she wouldn't.
"You would be well advised to lay off until the Hokage tells you he wishes to see you, Wormboy. You tread on dangerous ground."
"I don't take advice from you and no one has the authority to keep me from seeing whoever I wish. I am the last Uchiha. I can do as I please." Sasuke turned around and sauntered off as if he didn't have a care in the world. What was everyone's problem anyway? He wasn't the one that had left him behind. He'd actually tried to go back for the Dobe. Kakashi wouldn't let him. And besides if anyone in this stupid village understood that Dobe it was him. They had a common background after all. Both of them knew loneliness up close and personal.
Anko watched him saunter away, struggling to control her natural instinct to hurt traitorous little wanna-be snots and then went back inside. She whispered, "It's your funeral," as she sent a black-eyed glare in the direction the punk had gone. Maggot was still washing the monument as she fixed some food and drinks for them. She planned to keep him at it until full moonrise before she'd let him get some sleep. She grabbed the basket and trudged back up the stairs to the top of the first Hokage's head.
"You had a visitor," she called out. Kakashi looked up but didn't stop cleaning. "The traitor came by. He left a message for you. What's your problem anyway? I thought you actually liked that boy."
"I liked all my students," he muttered. "I'm just not blind to what and who they are."
"Sure you did. Well, you must not like that one very much, not that I can honestly say I blame you after what he did. But if he's still looking for Naruto-kun, then it's pretty clear you don't like him any more than you do Naruto." She ignored his glare as she continued, "He said to tell you he plans to follow the Sand Trio to where Naruto-kun is and then he'll find out what's going on. Why would you encourage him to disobey the Hokage? She told him to back off. Why would you tell him to go behind her back like that? And don't even try to convince me you liked Naruto-kun. No one who actually likes the boy could have left him behind like you did."
"I do like Sasuke but no one can tell him what to do. He does as he chooses because he has the power to make people get out of his way. I did not encourage him to go behind the Hokage's back. I told him to wait. That when Naruto remembers him better he'll be able to see him but he doesn't want to wait."
"Why?" At least he didn't try to lie to her about liking Naruto-kun.
"He thinks he and Naruto have a bond of some sort that time can not break. He thinks because he didn't kill him at the Valley of the End and sees him as a brother that Naruto see him the same way. I tried to tell him that Naruto isn't here right now but . . . can you blame him for not believing me? After all I did make sure no one went back there after him."
Anko looked down. "Why, Kakashi? I never thought that you of all people would turn your back on him. It was your own nindo."
"He transformed, Anko. He wasn't Naruto anymore. I was too depleted to fight the Demon. My team was injured or unconscious and Sakura wouldn't have fought him no matter how much she might belittle him. She wouldn't have seriously fought to kill the demon. I did what I thought was best for our survival. All of us who ever worked with Naruto knew the day might come when we would have to kill him or leave him behind and run for our lives."
Anko grew angry. "That's bullshit. You knew he was still in there. You knew if the demon had been in control he'd have rampaged and at least tried to kill everyone there. He let you walk off without trying to stop you. Therefore it was Naruto you abandoned. Not Kyuubi. But worse than that, you abandoned him long before he transformed. I've heard the details, One-Eye. You set him up to fight a battle you knew damn well he couldn't win without transforming and maybe not even then. I want to know why. He is your Sensei's son and this is how you repay the man who taught you. Who comforted you. Who helped you deal with your own loss."
Kakashi stopped scrubbing and let his hands fall to his lap where he was swaying in the rope chair. He closed his eye as he whispered, "You weren't there, Anko. You didn't see him. You don't know. Yamato was our only chance but Sakura, after she used all her chakra to reach and then heal Sasuke, couldn't revive him. So we did the only thing we could. We left. If he'd regained control, I left a trail for him. I kept watching for him but he never came. I figured the number of tails had killed his body. I didn't know he thought I'd meant to leave him behind."
"He said you had orders. He didn't seem to think he'd misunderstood."
"He wouldn't think he'd misunderstood, would he? Yeah I had orders to do that but I never planned to listen to them. I always got orders to get rid of him. Every time the team went out, someone would pull me aside and tell me to make sure he didn't come back. But I always brought them all home again." Maybe, just maybe, there was a way he could turn this situation to his advantage. If he could convince her he was just following his orders than maybe he had a chance of being done with this punishment in the not too distant future. "He was getting more and more unstable. His transformations were happening more and more often with less and less provacation and it was taking longer and longer for him to transform back. Each time he changed we'd wonder if he could come back this time. We took more and more injuries trying to slap that seal on him so yeah I had orders to make sure he died. If you want the truth that's the only thing I didn't do. I didn't make sure he was really dead because I could do that to him. If he had a chance to come home I wanted him to do so." Every word he said was just slightly true but mostly exaggeration. Everyone who'd ever gone, as team leader, on a mission with Naruto surely would have gotten the same order. After all, Danzo couldn't truly believe he was the only one weak enough to leave the boy behind.
But then, he'd thought about what Yamato had said to him the first time they'd gone on a courier mission together. "I know of the order from the council. Don't think to leave the boy behind this time. He is needed later for the retrieval mission because surely you know he is the key to the Snakeboy's return. No rescue mission has a snowballs chance in a volcano if he is not with us." Obviously Yamato not only knew about Danzo's orders, he had also gotten it and ignored it. Maybe he could get Yamato to back him up. He knew there was no written proof of those orders but maybe if Yamato would back him on how many times he'd been ordered to abandon the boy and hadn't he'd be let off this punishment. After all, Danzo had been giving the order to him for years before he had finally left the boy behind. He finished the sandwich she had prepared for him and she motioned for him to get back to work.
After several more hours worth of scrubbing, when all his muscles were protesting and his butt had fallen asleep from the ropes of the make-shift chair he was in, Anko motioned for him to gather his things. She had noticed the chakra he was utilizing to keep the bucket where he needed it was starting to wobble and knew he was reaching the end of his strength. Though she personally thought he should have been able to stay at it for a couple more hours the moon was rising high overhead now. So she shrugged and led them back to his apartment where she sent him straight to bed for an early six am wake-up call. She didn't believe a word he'd said about why he'd left the boy behind but working with him would be a hell of a lot easier if the foolish man thought he could convince her to side with him. She had too deep an understanding of what Naruto's life had been like to just willing believe a spoilt jounin like Kakashi. And it was that deep understanding along with her sadistic nature that had led Tsunade-sama to choose her to be the administrator of his punishment. She planned to make sure that every tear Naruto-kun had shed, every insult he'd suffered, every thought of worthlessness he'd had, his Sensei paid for in blood, sweat and tears of his own.
While he slept she planned his wake-up. She outlined a devious plan for the next day that would have the Copy-nin cursing her name loud and clear before the first hour was over. Then she summoned her favorite snake and asked it to keep the pervert company while she slept. After all she needed rest also.