Pieces
A Kakashi Romance
Chapter 9: Choices
Kakashi found Emiri the next morning in Mei's kitchen, sitting with Isamu as he finished his breakfast. Easily, Kakashi took a seat across from Emiri as she nursed a cup of green tea between her hands.
"How was your meeting with Mei-sama?"
"Predictable," answered Kakashi, pouring himself a cup of green tea as well. He then glanced up at Isamu and Emiri who were looking at him intently. "What?"
"Are you going to take your mask off?" Isamu stared with wide eyes.
"Probably when you look away."
"I WON'T LOOK AWAY!" Isamu raised his spoon into the air; rising to the challenge that Kakashi most certainly did not give him. A look of fierce determination crossed Isamu's small face as he stared hard at Kakashi. He refused to blink or even look down as he spooned cereal into his mouth and getting milk and sugary carbohydrates everywhere.
"You're spilling, Isamu," Emiri raised an eyebrow at the boy. Isamu lowered his eyes for a fraction of a second—
Kakashi put his empty teacup on the table.
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT SO FAST?!"
Emiri chuckled and shook her head; she wouldn't admit that she was a little disappointed as well at not seeing Hatake Kakashi's face.
"When are you leaving to meet with the medical consults?" Kakashi asked.
"We were waiting for you to get back. Well, I was waiting for Mei-sama. She is part of that meeting," Emiri then nodded at Isamu's direction, watching as he carefully picked up each piece of cereal that had spilled and wiped up the milk, too. With his tongue sticking out, Isamu carefully walked the bowl over to the sink.
"I don't know what to do with him today, though."
"I'm going with you!" Isamu quickly ran from the sink and to the table. From under his chair he produced his orange tiger face backpack and pulled it on.
"It will be dreadfully boring, I don't think it's the wisest plan for you to come," Emiri said. "What do you have in your backpack anyway?"
Isamu grinned. "Special treasures!"
"I can take care of him."
"Kakashi, I mean, it's fine, Mei-sama might have—"
"Emiri your mission is to consult with a medical team, not take care of a child. I happen to be free all afternoon."
Emiri frowned. "Do you even like children?"
"I was a sensei."
"That doesn't answer the question."
"Let's ask Isamu."
Both adults turned to face the little boy who stood gripping the shoulder straps of his backpack. He looked from Emiri to Kakashi.
"Will you be boring," Isamu asked Kakashi.
"Probably." Kakashi fixed his lazy gaze on Isamu. "But there's a chance that going with Emiri will be even more boring."
Isamu frowned. "I choose Kakashi!"
X
"Late night?"
Mei arched a delicate eyebrow at Emiri. "You look tired. So did Kakashi earlier this morning."
Emiri was offended by her comment—she took great care of her appearance and even put on her customary red lipstick—but she was sure no amount of caffeine or lipstick would make her appear well rested.
"You know we were chasing after Isamu—I briefed you last night, Mei-sama!"
"I know," Mei laughed, "but there was still plenty of time—"
"Plenty of time to go to my own bed, and sleep by myself, if you don't count Isamu, and wake up very early this morning." Emiri narrowed her eyes and looked away from Mei. For a Mizukage, that woman had no boundaries.
Emiri internally rejoiced when they arrived at Kirigakure's small hospital, ending the other woman's bold insinuations.
"Mizukage-sama!" A man in a white coat greeted from the front desk. "We've been expecting you! This must be Yamanaka Emiri from Konohagakure. I am Sano, lead medical specialist here." The man bowed respectively to both women.
"Pleasure," Emiri smiled and offered him a bow. "I'm excited to get to know the Kirigakure clinic."
"Then let me show you around."
Mei trailed behind Emiri and Sano as they toured the hospital, the tour ultimately leading to an empty hospital wing.
"And this will be the mental health unit," Sano said.
Emiri smiled at the man as he held one of the double doors open for her, and as she passed him, a chill ran through her body. Emiri's eyes narrowed—what was this feeling? Emiri rolled her shoulders, trying to dispel the feeling.
As she walked forward through the empty wing, Sano joined her side. "Our clinic will be a bit different than the original in Konoha and the branch in Suna. We will serve children, but we will also serve adults too."
"That's ambitious," Emiri noted. "Will they be in separate wings?"
"No, together."
Emiri frowned at that. She glanced at Mei who simply watched her, trusting her opinion. "I don't think that's a good idea," Emiri started slowly. "Adult and child services are very different."
"I understand that, Emiri-san, but you must understand that Kirigakure culture is much different than Konoha culture. Our children can handle it." Sano glanced at his Mizukage.
Mei's lips tightened into a line. "There is a distinct culture difference in our nations," Mei said diplomatically, "but if you feel children and adults will not pair well together…"
"For something like mental health, children and adults should be assessed separately," Emiri said, her tone unmoving. "Regardless of culture, mental health is a delicate process. And while I am intrigued by Sano-san's ambition, I will only speak to pediatric care, not adult care."
"She is right, Sano," Mei consented. "The clinic should be singular, either adult or child. For the time being, for the sake of our nations, I will fund a child mental health clinic, and if we expand to adult services later, then so be it."
A tick worked in Sano's jaw as he regarded the women, and the chilling feeling went down Emiri's spine.
"Very well, Mizukage-sama, Emiri-san. I will draw up a proposal for a children's clinic and have it ready by tomorrow."
"I look forward to it," Emiri said and she turned to leave the empty hospital wing with Mei.
Emiri paused outside of the hospital to wait for Mei.
"Sano means well," Mei said, as if she noticed Emiri's unease. "He is smart, strong, and I trust his expertise."
"I don't doubt it," Emiri responded. "If he chooses to continue with this clinic, I would like it if one of my assistants spent some time here ensuring Sano-san's team is provided with the skills necessary to treat children."
"Do you want to walk by our Academy, Emiri?"
The Konoha kunoichi regarded the female Mizukage carefully—she could sense the quiet strength in Mei's chakra and her good intentions—which equated to a trustworthy Mizukage.
"That would be nice."
Mei and Emiri walked in silence all the way to the Academy a few streets down. Since it was the middle of summer, all of the students were away on summer vacation.
"It's smaller than Konoha's," Emiri said, putting her fingers through the chain-link fence that over looked a field and the Academy.
"It is," Mei agreed. "I'm sure you've heard of the history of Kirigakure."
"The Bloody Mist."
"Beauty and brains," Mei approved. "I have worked tirelessly to reform the system here—some say it is a losing battle because we have to make up for our small size with brutality…but I don't believe in that. I believe our future shinobi, no matter how small our numbers, can put up a great fight with their strength without losing their humanity in the process."
"I'm sure you'll build a bright future for Kirigakure shinobi."
"I hope a children's clinic will aid with that—to address the needs of children without parents, and the children with parents who still believe we should be the Bloody Mist."
Emiri frowned, thinking of Isamu's Kirigakure origins because of his father. As if reading her mind, Mei continued.
"The boy that you brought here, Munashi Isamu, do you think he will benefit from being in Kirigakure?"
"That's hard to say," Emiri said. "He was born here, but has spent more years in Konoha."
"Before you leave, I'd like it if you would consider allowing Isamu to stay here and be trained by Kirigakure shinobi."
Emiri looked at Mei, momentarily shocked.
"It will be a great way of continuously building an alliance with Konoha," Mei continued. "Since he is part Kiri and part Konoha, as he grows older, he can grow into a position as a liaison between our nations. And it will give him a chance to learn about his birth country. Finally, I looked into it. Sano is related to the Munashi family—making him Isamu's living relative. I expected Sano to mention it to you today, but"
Emiri had so many counterpoints to Mei's proposal. Everything that Mei said, Emiri could argue in favor of Konoha, but Emiri had a good point—but Mei's last comment was enough to dispel all arguments.
"Isamu should be with his family."
X
It was still afternoon by the time Mei and Emiri returned to the Mizukage's residence. She climbed the stairs to the second floor, to her and Kakashi's adjacent rooms, and opened the door to her room.
The curtains were open and Isamu sat by himself at the desk beside the window, the sea breeze filtering through the sunlight room. He sat and swung his legs, working on something with all his concentration, his little legs swinging as he did so.
"Where's Kakashi?"
"He's in the other room reading," Isamu said, his voice short as he was still concentrating.
Emiri ruffled Isamu's hair. "Did Kakashi hang out with you at all today?"
"Yeah! We walked around, we went to the park, I threw a shuriken, and now we're playing a game."
"What's the game?"
"Hokage and assistant."
"Oh?"
"We sit in different rooms, he does his work and I do mine, and I only find him if he calls me or if I finish my work first. It's fun!"
Emiri's eye twitched with irritation as she glanced toward Kakashi's room. She grudgingly gave him points for having all the bathroom doors open so Isamu was very loosely supervised.
"What are you working on?"
"A present for you and Kakashi—don't look!" Isamu bent over the desk and covered his art with his body. His dark eyes flashed with panic, and Emiri laughed.
"Okay, I will leave you to your work then, young assistant."
Emiri walked into Kakashi's room and found the man sitting at his own table with the window open. His legs were crossed and propped up on the table as he reclined in his chair, his face buried in an Icha Icha book and Emiri rolled her eyes—she read the series once, and she wasn't impressed. It was repetitive and some of the positions described were impossible to bend into—even for high quality athletic shinobi like either Kakashi or herself. Emiri's eyes widened and she blushed slightly as an image of her and Kakashi as the main characters of Icha Icha flashed into her mind.
"So…Hokage and assistant, huh?" Emiri cleared her throat, and Kakashi promptly looked up from his book and put it away, a guilty blush on his face.
"He also mentioned something about shuriken throwing."
"Ah, maybe I shouldn't have done that. He hasn't been trained at all." Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. He watched as Emiri perched on the edge of his bed and crossed her legs and gave him her attention, her face aloof.
"Was he any good?"
"A little shaky, but good instincts and decent aim. He could become remarkable with training."
"Well that's good," Emiri said, her blank look breaking into a smile. "We made a decision at the clinic that the children without families to speak for them will have a choice if they want to pursue a shinobi path or not regardless of their family traditions."
"If Isamu decides to become a shinobi, he'd be a very successful one." Kakashi agreed. "How was the clinic?"
Emiri frowned at that, and Kakashi's eyebrows raised curiously.
"Strange," Emiri admitted. "I would open a clinic here, but the head medic…I didn't get the strongest of impressions from him. I would have this one under constant surveillance for some time."
Kakashi was quiet with thought. "I don't want to disregard your opinion. However, I don't know if constant surveillance will strengthen ties between Kiri and Konoha."
"Exactly, and, it turns out Isamu has a relative here, that same head clinician Sano."
"Oh?"
Emiri stood from Kakashi's bed to look out the window. From her vantage point, she could see the small city, and she knew beyond that, there was the sea a few miles out. "So, legally, I'll have to leave Isamu here. Even if he was born in Konoha."
Emiri wondered what Kakashi thought of her, her heart tangled in this mess of working with children without families and locating families. And little Isamu who she had come to love with her whole heart—she wondered if Kakashi thought of her as weak and unprofessional.
"Working with children often ends up complicated," Kakashi agreed, watching Emiri's every move.
"Yeah."
"Kakashi! Emiri-nee-chan! I'm done with my work!" Isamu ran into the room, a huge grin on his face as he stopped in the space between Kakashi and Emiri. In either hand, he held to folded pieces of paper. "One for you, and one for you!" He exclaimed, holding them out.
Kakashi and Emiri shared a look and took the pieces of paper.
"Oh, Isamu…"
Emiri stared down at the drawing in hand. It was a five-year-old's best efforts at drawing human figures, but based on the colors and sizes, she knew it was her, Isamu, and Kakashi, standing in order of tallest to shortest, their noodle arms connected as if they were all holding hands.
"Isamu, is this really what you think my face looks like?" Kakashi asked, turning his page side-ways. Emiri glanced over at Kakashi's picture and laughed out loud at the large smile drawn, and a strange black mark. She wondered what that was.
"I only saw your face once, and it's hard to remember," Isamu frowned. "But did I do good on yours, Emiri-nee-chan? I got your legs right?"
"They are…very long and skinny…I think that's a compliment."
Isamu beamed as he crawled onto Kakashi's bed to sit beside Emiri. Absently, Emiri ran her hand through the boy's hair, and Isamu snuggled against her side.
"It's us," said Isamu. "You, me, and Kakashi as the best team ever!"
"We are a good team," said Emiri softly. She took a breath, her green eyes flicked up to her Hokage—her partner in this moment she needed support. Kakashi was still; his dark eyes were anchors that kept her from floating away.
"That's why," she continued, "you're going with me on my mission tomorrow, I need the very best team with me."
"YEAH!" Isamu said, punching a fist into the air. "Do I get to use your shuriken?!"
"I definitely hope not."
"Aww, that's not fun, Emiri-nee-chan! Kakashi, can I use yours then?"
"Probably not. Sorry, Isamu."
"You guys are no fun!" Isamu protested, crossing his arms and pouted.
Emiri's eyes never left Kakashi's—and Kakashi's gaze was unwavering, as if he was okay with being the only pillar reminding her to be brave when all she wanted to do was crumble.
Author's Note:
Guys. I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I've been busy to say the least. Here's to hoping I can get back on a somewhat regular schedule! Thanks for sticking around! And for the new readers...welcome!
Thanks for reading!
Your reviews are love!
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