Retirement suited Mei. She made her own schedule, spent time with Kakashi, Tsunade, and her other new friends in turn, and trained where and when she liked. She was "the Hokage's wife" which shadowed everything she did around the village, but compared to being the kage, the job of being a spouse to such a person was relatively stress-free.

That was until a particular letter arrived from the Mist Village. She read it over her late breakfast and all thoughts of going back to bed to read vanished. Chojuro needed her help, or so the elder who'd written assured her. Mei scowled at the letter. If Chojuro needed her help, why hadn't he written himself? The letter went on to state exactly how long she'd been away, down to the day, and included several more comments about her duty. Mei sighed. It had been a long time since she'd been in the Mist, it was true.

She considered her blank calendar on the wall. It wasn't like she had any other obligations keeping her from visiting. She decided she'd discuss it with Kakashi next time they were alone together. That turned out to be a shared dinner.

"Why would I have a problem with you visiting the Mist?" Kakashi asked once she brought it up.

Mei played with her food. "I was hoping you'd give me a reason not to go. A good one." Mei liked her retirement and the time they'd been spending together, but she felt childish. It was like she was avoiding going home to disappointed parents. She'd much rather stay in the Leaf and enjoy herself but she felt compelled to answer this summons.

Duty had been Mei's whole life up until her retirement. She hadn't expected her duty to magically go away after Chojuro took over or even after her marriage; that just wasn't how the world worked. But there were other things in her life now, and this wasn't about her obligations to the Mist in any case. This was about the elders asking something of her rather than something for the betterment of the village. They were yanking on her leash and to see if she'd come.

"This was exactly why we decided to marry in the first place wasn't it?" Kakashi pointed out. "So you could retire peacefully."

"I intended to visit the Mist, I just didn't want it to be because I was summoned by the village elders." Mei tilted her head. "And things have changed a bit since we first discussed the marriage contract." The couple locked eyes and smiled at each other. That smile shared so much without words being needed.

"Still, if you want a reason, that's as good as any," Kakashi continued. He looked at his wife's unhappy face. "But I think this is going to bother you until you get it over with."

"Until they do it again," Mei sighed.

"Yes," Kakashi agreed, "but that's how duty works. If you're right and there is no crisis, you can make it a quick trip. Tell them your husband can't do without you for long and that he misses you terribly when you're away. Then hurry back." Their eyes met again, this time more seriously. "You won't have to feel guilty, it isn't a lie," he added.

Mei smiled. "I'll miss you too."

"I wish I could go with you," Kakashi muttered to himself. He looked thoughtful for a moment. Then, "I would feel better if you took someone with you, Yamato for example."

Mei raised an eyebrow.

"I know you don't need protection, but it would be for my peace of mind. Yamato will keep you safe or die trying, like I would."

Mei smiled. "Doesn't he have more official things to do?"

"More official than ensuring the safety of a retired kage who's married to another village leader? No, I don't think so."

Mei agreed, and they spent the rest of the evening laying out the details of Mei's visit to her home.

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Just as Mei had suspected, Chojuro did not need her help with anything. She regretted the trip the moment she entered the village and saw the looks on the elders' faces. The six who came to meet her at the gate managed to look both smug and disappointed at the same time. Mei's shoulders slumped and her bag slipped off of her shoulder. Yamato was quick to scoop it up.

The man had been a mostly silent presence the entire trip out to the Mist. Mei got Yamato to talk a little about himself, about his hobbies and lack of childhood. His adolescence was greatly influenced by her husband, as it turned out. Every time Kakashi came up it seemed to be at some turning point in Yamato's life. Mei would have to ask her husband more about that later. Still, Mei could have been traveling alone, with Yamato being just another passenger she happened to chat with, for all their interactions went.

When they got to Mei's guest rooms in the Mist and they were alone, Yamato suddenly asked, "do you want to talk about it?"

Mei was startled and a little confused. He'd asked that just how Kakashi would have, hesitant but supportive, and completely based on her reaction to her welcoming committee. "No," she answered quickly without thinking.

The man nodded and said nothing else. Mei watched him set her bag down without being asked and move into the room assigned to him, a guest room off of her suite. His confident stride and quiet manner reminded her of Kakashi again. She stared after him, thoughtful.

Then it hit her: what if Kakashi had come after all, just disguised as Yamato? She wouldn't put it past him, to throw off his Hokage duties for a few days. He himself had suggested the trip be quick. Mei smiled slyly. Kakashi thought he was so smart but she'd figured it out. She went to sleep cheerful that night, knowing that her husband was just in the next room instead of across the ocean.

The next day Mei met with Chojuro. He was happy to see her, of course, but a little confused about the timing of her visit. Nothing had happened that warranted an interruption to her retirement. The young man frowned. "Unless they think I'm not doing a good job?" Chojuro had made strides forward in confidence but nobody took on better habits overnight.

"I'm sure the elders just want to harass me about something," Mei assured him. The retired Mizukage didn't know how right she was.

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Mei sat down at a low table with the six village elders she remembered. Since none of them were able to fight in the last war, the group had not changed despite their military being halved. Mei would have preferred some fresh blood to liven up the group but not enough to wish any of them dead either, at least not most days.

After the tea was served and the staff had departed, several throats cleared. "Lady Mizukage," one began as she sipped her tea, "we've asked you here because we wanted to remind you of your duty."

Mei frowned behind her cup. There it was again, the word duty, but this time it didn't seem to be used the way she'd expected. Her mind raced. She had thought the duty that was mentioned in the letter meant to her village, supporting Chojuro, acting as diplomat, and so on, the kind of things she'd set aside since her marriage and relocation. She thought they'd wanted her to visit and yet even as she sat there before them, she continued to be a disappointment?

"How is your husband, Lady Mizukage?"

Mei's cloud of annoyance cleared for a moment as she held back a smile, thinking about Kakashi. Little did they know that the Hokage had accompanied her. "Lord Hokage is well," Mei replied with a smile. Then, remembering what Kakashi had said back in the Leaf she added, "he hopes this trip won't take long; he can't bear being parted from me."

There was a snort of disbelief that made Mei look up, frowning. She couldn't pinpoint who had made the noise. One too many paper bombs had taken their toll on her hearing. A throat cleared to her right, making Mei's angry eyes turn that way.

"Lady Mizukage," a new thread began but Mei was still struggling to understand the tapestry that was being woven, the full picture unclear to her. "Are you well?"

Mei gazed at the wrinkled and scarred speaker. They'd asked after Kakashi's health, then hers, but it didn't strike her as small talk. "I am," Mei answered slowly.

"You're in no way…in any sort of…delicate condition?" There it was, the question finally asked. The tapestry was in fact a web, and she'd walked right into the snare.

Mei stared in disbelief, that she'd heard what she thought she'd heard. Only her years in politics kept her mask in place as she processed the situation. The letter convincing her to come, the disappointed looks upon her arrival, them asking about Kakashi's and her health. Her DUTY. They were disappointed that she wasn't pregnant. They were upset that she still hadn't passed her bloodline on to the next generation. Or, they'd thought she'd hidden a pregnancy from them. That she'd maybe keep her pregnancy and then children hidden so they wouldn't be swept into the village system like so many had, like she had. Mei pushed the thought away, Chojuro was in charge. The Fifth and Sixth Mizukage were in agreement; they wanted something better for the future of the Mist than what they'd been born into.

Mei swallowed. Her voice was quiet but sharp, "do I look pregnant?"

A chorus of "no"s broke out, with a stray, "so sensitive" thrown in that made Mei want to boil away the tea in her cup. Mei rose fluidly, dangerously. She wanted to breath fire, to terrify the people before her, but there was no point. Whether she raged or not, it was all the same to them. There was only one dignified response. She turned and walked out without a word, head held high.

Mei felt like she was breaking inside. Nothing would ever be enough; she knew that now in a way she never had when she first took on the mantle of Mizukage. If she had one child they'd want two, if she had two they'd want three. It never ended with them and it never would. How was it that she felt more welcome in a village that was once her enemy rather than the one that had forged her? She wanted nothing better than to run back to the Leaf, but that would be just what they wanted, wasn't it? To run into the arms of her husband and…make babies.

A chill swept through her, clamping down on some of the anger and pain with an icy grip. They didn't know what they were asking. She and Kakashi had been making progress but… Mei shivered, hurrying back to her room to pack. Chojuro knew her trip would be quick and she'd told no one else she'd come. No one would miss her if she left. The thought made her heart ache all the more.

She burst into the room and caught Yamato reclined in a chair, reading. He shot up and practically threw the book into his bag, embarrassed. "Sorry," he apologized.

"They want us to make babies," Mei burst out, throwing things into her bag.

Yamato's face turned maroon, right to the tip of his nose. "Surely," he stuttered out, "that's not something I need to know about. You and senpai- I mean Lord Hokage, you-"

"You can drop the act Kakashi, I know it's you." Mei retorted, roughly shoving things deeper into her bag to make more room. Before now she'd thought Kakashi tagging along in disguise was cute but now the continuation of the lie just annoyed her. She wanted his support, to have someone to talk to, not another deception. She didn't look up at him, shoving the dress she'd planned to change into for dinner back into the bag.

Yamato stared at her as she packed. "Excuse me?"

Mei pushed the last article into her bag, it bulged in odd places. Tears streaked her face when she looked up at Yamato. "I should have known. I should have known why they wanted me here." She swiped at the tears on her face and sniffed. "Now unless you want to go yell at them, I suggest we go home."

"I don't think that's my place Lady Mizukage," Yamato stated, confused.

Mei sighed, angry, brushing away the last of her tears. "I can't talk to you like that Kakashi, could you please just drop the illusion, at least while we're still in the room? If you want to look like Yamato as we leave, I don't blame you. I might change into someone else myself." Mei looked at the man and frowned. "That's a better idea actually, just change into someone who looks like a Mist ninja and let's go."

Yamato, a frown of confusion still on his face, obediently put his hands together and henged into a Mist jonin with unremarkable features. Mei nodded her approval and did the same. They left town at a run taking the new, more direct, route to the coast. They didn't speak. Mei used the exercise to pump the anger and disappointment out of her. She'd hoped to show Kakashi around the Mist Village, to have a pleasant, if secret, visit with him. After all these years, she was still not enough and her village was only partially welcoming to her.

The pair kept the illusions up as they bought their tickets, boarded a ship headed to the Land of Fire, and finally entered their cabin. At least Mei could feel the relief of turning back into her blue dressed self. But when Yamato revealed his true form in a puff of smoke, she glared at him. "Why did you change back into Yamato?"

The ANBU stared at the Mizukage, agog. "Lady Mizukage, please, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your disguises could use a little work, Kakashi. You should walk more like Yamato and not get caught reading so easily. Disguising yourself as another ninja isn't as simple as changing your appearance you know." Mei was actually disappointed in her husband. He was usually so good at stealth but he'd utterly failed at this.

Yamato's mouth opened, then shut. His almond eyes were wide but then they narrowed in imitation of Yamato's serious face. Slowly, he formed hand signs, so slowly that Mei thought he might be mocking her. At the end of the sequence, wood sprouted out of one of his hands until it formed a plank. His arm jerked back suddenly, severing the connection between his own body and the elements he'd been combining. The plank fell to the cabin floor between them with a solid thud. Only the regular slap of the waves against their ship and the dull rumble of the engines could be heard in the ensuing silence.

Mei stared at the plank for a moment, waiting for it to switch back into whatever Kakashi had substituted to make it look like he'd used wood-style. The plank remained. Mei nudged it with her toe, the plank did not change form. Mei whipped out a needle and Yamato flinched. She threw the needle into the plank. The senbon buried itself in the wood with a reassuring thunk, the sound too familiar from throwing practices to be mistakeable.

"Senpai can't copy that," Yamato assured her. "I apologize if I caused any confusion."

"But you were reading," Mei accused. Her anger receded like a wave pulling away from the shore, leaving only fish flopping on the sand in embarrassment.

Yamato produced the book in question. It was a text about architecture.

"You were walking like him, moving like-" Mei remembered the stories Yamato had told about himself and Kakashi. It was clear the orphaned boy had idolized her husband, and in some ways still did. "You picked up some of his habits, after working with him for so long." Mei realized aloud.

Yamato shrugged. "Lord Hokage stayed alive in difficult situations for a reason." Things returning to normal for the ANBU made him revert to more formal addresses. "I learned everything I could from him, including how to move. It's not a perfect match but neither are our fighting styles, they can't be."

Mei exhaled, closing her eyes, then covering them with a hand. "I'm so sorry. I thought- I don't know what I thought. I guess I thought he'd snuck along, pretending to be you." Mei laughed at herself, embarrassed.

Yamato smiled kindly. "If your husband wanted to impersonate me, I don't believe anyone could catch him doing it. He knows me very well." The man said this in both a familiar and sad way. "Goodnight Lady Mizukage." The man went to bed.

When they returned to the Leaf, Mei and Yamato went their separate ways. Moments after she'd finished unpacking her belongings, Kakashi knocked and burst into Mei's room. "I missed you," he stated in a rush. Mei suspected he'd snuck away from work to welcome her back. Mei held out her arms to him and he complied, sweeping her into a hug.

Mei smiled up at him, enjoying the warmth of his greeting and embrace. Had it only been a few days? It felt as if it had been a lifetime since someone had wanted her company just for the sake of her. Even her friendship with Chojuro didn't give her this level of satisfaction, of belonging. "I missed you too." She clung to him, even as he moved to pull away. He renewed the hug until she felt properly comforted.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked into her hair. It was the longest hug they'd ever shared. It went on for so long that Kakashi could compare it to a dog pile and he relaxed.

Mei pulled away with a sniff. She wiped a tear from her eye that hadn't had a chance to make a track over her cheek. "Let's talk about it later. First I need to tell you about something funny I did. You'll never believe it. I thought Yamato was you in disguise, trying to tag along on the trip!"

Kakashi smiled. "Oh?"

"Yes," Mei continued. "I know it sounds hard to believe, but he moved like you and used a couple of your mannerisms. It seems silly now."

Kakashi couldn't help but agree. "If I'd been impersonating Yamato, I wouldn't have been caught."

Mei stared up at him, thoughtful suspicion replaced her smile. "Yeah," she agreed slowly. "That's exactly what Yamato said."