Pieces
A Kakashi Romance
5: The Road
"Emiri-nee-chan don't go."
"I have to go, Isamu. I have a mission." Emiri knelt on the ground, trying hard to extract little Isamu from her arms, but the boy had a grip like iron.
Finally Isamu pulled back, his young face scrunched as he stared at Emiri. "You don't go on missions," he complained.
"Sure I do," said Emiri. She then flexed her lithe, toned arm. "See? I'm very strong."
Isamu stared at her bicep dubiously before he frowned again. "Can I go?"
"Isamu…" Emiri sighed as she got to her feet. "Your mission is to stay here and help Ryo-san take care of everyone, okay? And I will be back in a week and I will have lunch with all of you again."
Isamu folded his arms over his chest, his frown deepened before his eyes brimmed with tears and he turned and ran away. Emiri frowned, that little boy had stolen such a big part of her heart. Adjusting her backpack, straps, Emiri left the children's clinic; there was one more stop she had to make before she met her mission companion at the entrance gates.
Emiri, lost in thought, walked through the town to a less populated area—the memorial site. Passing the KIA stone at the entrance, she walked through the rows of names, until she found the one she wanted.
HYUGGA NEJI.
Emiri stopped in front of his grave and put her backpack down. Her backpack was filled with essential supplies and extra shinobi tools that made it annoying to carry. Reverently, Emiri knelt in front of Neji's headstone.
She tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled slightly. "Hello, Neji," Emiri started, gently running her fingertips over his stone, the engraved etching of his name familiar to the touch. "I'm going on my first mission in a while. Ino, Sakura, and I started up a children's clinic and it's expanding to Kirigakure so that's where I'm going. Ino and Sakura won't be able to accompany me, and the Hokage promised me he'd find someone to go. Of course, my first choice is always you, but if I can't have you, then maybe Shikamaru would do, don't you think? He's my cousin, so he knows how I fight if that will be necessary, but he's probably on some other liaison mission with Suna. Oh, Tenten would be nice too, she's strong and diplomatic."
The wind blew and Emiri frowned as the breeze ruffled her hair and the grass around her. Carefully, she placed the tips of her fingers on one hand to her lips before touching those fingers to Neji's headstone. With a sad smile, she rose gracefully to her feet and adjusted the belt around her hips. The belt held four important things: her two short swords with adjustable black leather straps on the hilts, and at the small of her back, her tool bag that held medic supplies as well as any extra tools she might need. Finally, looped through her belt on her left hip, was Neji's handband. At the time of their engagement, they had exchanged headbands at her request.
Emiri hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders, and she was ready to go. "Watch over me, okay Neji?"
As she left his grave site, Emiri passed the KIA stones once again, this time, there was someone standing there.
"Kakashi-sama!"
Kakashi looked up when he heard his name called. He was not dressed in his Hokage robe and hat, but in his black outfit with his gray flak jacket and a backpack.
"Emiri," Kakashi responded with equal surprise. He seemed to take in her appearance—her short, dark blue kimono dress with long sleeves, and to the black compression shorts that showed beneath the slits of her dress that started at her waist.
"I was just on my way to the village gates," said Emiri—she had given herself ample time to arrive five minutes early to the designated meeting spot. "Kakashi-sama, are you able to tell me who you found to accompany me on my mission?"
Kakashi turned to face her, his onyx eyes aloof. "That would be me," he said. "I'm going with you to Kirigakure."
"You?!" Emiri's mouth fell open. "B-but why?"
"Don't get too excited now," Kakashi dryly responded to Emiri's shock.
"No! I'm sorry!" Emiri took a deep breath and puffed out a sigh. "That's not what I meant. I mean…." This wasn't going well, Emiri quietly mused as she pulled her long hair over her shoulder, believing she managed to offend her Hokage. "I just meant, it's a simple diplomatic mission. And you're the Hokage, isn't your presence a bit extreme?"
Nope, Emiri decided, that wasn't any better either.
To her surprise, Kakashi chuckled amicably, seeming unruffled by her sputtering.
"It just so happens I haven't been to Kirigakure in some time, and I am due for a visit, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone?" Kakashi fully turned away from the KIA stones to regard Emiri. He drew one hand from a pocket and help up two fingers. "There is a second point."
Emiri heard the humor leave Kakashi's voice, and she had a strong feeling she wouldn't particularly like his second point. "What's the second thing?"
"This is your first mission in two years, Emiri." Kakashi said, his eyes carefully watching her.
"So?" Emiri felt all of her guards go up. "I took time off from missions, but if you look back through my record, I responded to every domestic emergency response when all shinobi were summoned in the course of the two years."
"That is true," Kakashi admitted. "However, the Elders are suspicious of your inactivity following The War."
"The Elders? Why do they care?" Emiri new her response was petulant and childish, and she didn't care. "What matters now is that I'm ready for this mission."
Kakashi remained silent, and Emiri laughed bitterly, incredulously.
"The Elders are worried about my mental state because I chose to step down from missions for a while," Emiri spat. "They're sending you to watch over me to make sure…make sure what? I don't have a break down and embarrass Konoha?" Emiri had her hands tightly clenched into fists, her nails drawing up red crescents of blood.
"If you are successful during this mission, you'll never have to worry about the Elders suspicions again," Kakashi promised.
Emiri narrowed her eyes at the man and bit down on her tongue to keep from responding. Instead, she turned on her heel and stalked away from him toward the village gates, barely hearing whether or not Kakashi followed.
X
It took at least an hour before Emiri's anger and shame cooled while she ignored the silvery-haired man who walked in silence beside her.
"Isn't it an issue for you to be away from the office for a week," Emiri finally asked. The mission would last at least a week. If things went smoothly, it would take at least two days to travel from Konoha to Kiri, at least two days to meet with the necessary medical parties at Kiri, and a two day journey back.
"Hm," Kakashi murmured. He glanced at Emiri before he glanced at the sky. "It's a welcome break to get away from the paperwork," he answered. "And I trust your cousin Shikamaru will take care of things while I'm away."
For some reason it startled Emiri when Kakashi demonstrated knowledge of her family. She wondered what else her Hokage knew about her. Suddenly, she felt at a disadvantage—he seemed to know quite a bit about her, and she knew little about him aside from rumors
"You put a lot of faith in him," Emiri smiled, thinking of her cousin's lax attitude and penchant for putting off responsibilities as much as possible.
"I have a lot of faith in my comrades."
Emiri tore her eyes from the dirt road ahead of her to look at Kakashi. Something in his tone made her believe he was talking about more than just confidence in Shikamaru's abilities.
"Sakura told me that when she was your student, the only way you passed her team was by a strong demonstration of teamwork." Emiri offered the tiniest of smiles. "I can see how that desire is demonstrated through your work as a Hokage."
Emiri noted the subtle ways in which Kakashi's eyes widened at her kind words. His eyes then closed in a way that Emiri had come to realize was a smile beneath his mask.
"Thank you, Emiri."
The wind blew, and Emiri narrowed her eyes for the third time in the past hour. They were being followed, and she wondered if Kakashi felt it too. Emiri quietly scanned the area around her; forest lined the dirt road she and Kakashi travelled. If someone was following them, they'd have plenty of places to hide.
Emiri pushed her hearing out further and into a range that most civilians couldn't hear unless they were trained. As she did so, she focused on the presence she felt and listened.
About 300 meters up, she heard a slight rustle in the trees on the left of the road. While Kakashi and Emiri continued to walk forward, the presence seemed to stay where it was. When they were close enough, Emiri dashed forward without warning and pinned a body against the trunk of a tree.
A second later, Kakashi was at her side. When he saw who Emiri had pinned, he raised an eyebrow. "Well this is interesting."
"Emiri-san!"
Emiri looked into the wide, dark eyes of little Isamu who looked up at her fearfully.
"Isamu! What are you doing?" Emiri shook the little boy's shoulder once, not to hurt him, but to emphasize that his actions weren't wise.
"I wanted to go on the mission too." Isamu's eyes filled with tears.
"Isamu…" Emiri sighed as she rose to her feet. She put her hands on her hips and looked up at Kakashi.
"What do you suggest we do? We're already more than an hour out from Konoha, and I would hate to backtrack."
"It's up to you, Emiri," said Kakashi with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "This is your mission."
"And you are absolutely no help," Emiri sighed, as she pressed her fingers to her forehead and shook her head.
"Are you taking me back?" Isamu watched as Emiri frowned slightly.
"No," Emiri compromised. "That would be too much of a hassle." Reaching into the tool bag at the small of her back, Emiri extracted a pen and a small roll of parchment.
Quickly she scribbled a note on the parchment before rolling it back up. "I'm just going to send a message to the clinic. If they realize Isamu is gone, and they should, they'll be turning the village inside out looking for him." Emiri then held the small scroll between her teeth as she did four quick hand signs and tossed the scroll into the air. Once in the air, it poofed into a cloud of smoke and disappeared.
"That's so cool, Emiri-san, what is that?" Isamu asked excitedly.
"A summoning scroll." Emiri explained. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Perhaps the Ninja Academy is something we should consider for you."
"Yeah!"
Emiri smiled at the boy before she glanced at Kakashi. "Ready to continue?"
"Lead the way," Kakashi consented, gesturing in the direction they planned on going.
Emiri rolled her pale green eyes and smile at her Hokage. As she passed him, she touched the wrist of his outstretched arm, and lightly, teasingly, pushed it away.
Kakashi's eyebrows rose at Emiri's touch, but he said nothing as he followed Emiri with his hands in his pockets.
Emiri breathed out a sigh as Isamu reached for her hand. When she looked down, Isamu smiled up at her.
All the while, Emiri thought of her physical contact with Kakashi. It had been a while since she used a telepathic jutsu, and she hoped he got her two-word telepathy: trust me.
"I'm surprised you didn't bring anything with you," Emiri said to Isamu a mile later.
"No, I followed you as fast as I could."
"You were very fast," Emiri agreed, proudly. "It also seems like you've been practicing stealth, just like I taught you."
"Yeah," Isamu said with a happy smile. "I have been, Emiri-san!"
"Good work, Isamu." Emiri ruffled the boy's hair—and at last minute, she gripped it hard and pulled her to him, simultaneously unsheathing a kunai and holding the tip to his neck.
Isamu screamed. "Emiri-san!"
"Drop the act and reveal yourself," Emiri hissed.
Author's Note: Ahh! Thanks for answering my question about honorifics, friends! You guys are the best readers! :)
Thanks for reading!
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