One evening, Mei was summoned to Kakashi's office. Her husband hadn't come to dinner and Mei's heart skipped in anticipation of a surprise date. Kakashi greeted her with a careworn expression instead of his usual masked smile. Mei's spirits shrank but her posture straightened. Something was amiss but he'd asked for her. What could she do?
"Mei, Fire's Feudal Lord sent an ambassador. He was delayed but still wants to have our scheduled meeting tonight so he can start his return trip tomorrow morning."
Mei looked at the clock in realization. "You made clones today?"
Kakashi nodded. "You see my problem. He wants to meet at 8 o'clock."
That didn't leave them a lot of time. "What do you need me to do? Go around and tell your clones to delay dispelling?"
Kakashi scowled. "Unfortunately, one is in the jutsu archives. I'll just need to handle that when he calls it a day and his memories come in. Could you go talk to my clone in Training Ground 10? I would appreciate it if he'd give me another hour. The meeting should be quick but-"
"No problem," Mei agreed easily. Then she crossed her arms. Now that she knew where they were, a little teasing seemed to be in order. "Maybe he and I can go on a stroll together since you're so busy lately?" Mei smirked at her husband.
"Are you threatening to leave me for a clone?"
"It's a clone of you, if that's any consolation."
Kakashi gave her an annoyed look.
Mei winked and said, "I'll go tell him, don't worry. Is there a signal if we're in the clear?"
"I'll send someone to alert you. I'm sorry we won't be seeing each other much tonight."
"I'll be seeing you," Mei corrected. "And you'll be seeing me later, in the memories that are returned to you."
Kakashi let out a sigh. Mei left the office with a chuckle. It was his own fault, he didn't need to make the clones, and Mei had seen precious little of her husband lately. She decided to tell him how she felt about that, in a gentler way, once this was taken care of.
Mei hurried to Training Ground 10 to inform the clone of the change in plans. But Kakashi's clone seemed to sense that Mei had been needling the original. The copy of her husband eyed Mei skeptically, arms crossed. For a clone, he was coming up with a surprising number of reasons to question her motives. He was also rather snarky. Mei figured if he interrogated her any longer, Kakashi would have all the time he'd needed.
"Maybe you're a spy sent to mess up my original's sleep schedule?"
"Why would a spy-" Mei began. She didn't have time for more.
The long-suffered conversation was suddenly interrupted by a joyous greeting. "Hey sensei! Hey Lady Mei!"
The couple froze in shock and then turned. Naruto and Sakura stepped out onto the training field. "Want to spar?" Naruto called.
Mei's eyes widened in panic. "That's really not a good idea Naruto," she sputtered.
"Naruto, it's been a long day," Kakashi's clone spoke up smoothly. Mei was instantly envious; even his clones were suave.
"All the more reason," Sakura replied, cracking her knuckles. "It's been a difficult shift and I want to punch something."
"And I really don't want that something to be me," Naruto added. "Please sensei? Sakura and me against you and Lady Mei."
Mei turned to the clone. Kakashi's double was giving Naruto an even look. Mei's heart began to pound in panic. She'd explained the stakes but she wasn't sure if this clone believed her about the meeting and the need to dispel later than usual. The copy of her husband side-glanced at her.
"You can't be considering this? If you get hit-" Mei warned in a mutter.
"They haven't managed it before," the clone argued. "And I'm not supposed to break character. Kakashi wouldn't turn them down."
"You also weren't supposed to be seen."
The Kakashi clone shrugged, then raised his voice. "We can spar." He said in a lower voice, "I guess you'd better protect me then."
"This is not funny," Mei hissed.
They were out of time. Sakura cracked her neck. Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly.
Normally Mei would support from a distance while Kakashi moved in for close combat but she needed to protect Kakashi's clone. Kakashi wouldn't want people to know that he was sending clones around town while he worked in his office. She was sure it would ruin his Hokage facade or something like that. Unfortunately close combat and protection were Mei's weak points, not her weakest but they were close.
Mei mostly used large scale, destructive techniques. If she was on protection duty, like when she'd defended the Feudal Lords during the war, she'd worked with a team so they could support each other. The idea there had been that Mei could stop any attack from a distance before it even got close. Kakashi knew that so his clone knew that. Mei hoped this wasn't some roundabout way of Kakashi proving his point that she needed to improve on her taijutsu.
Mei tried to think fast. How could she end this spar quickly without blowing their cover? She could allow herself to go down, obviously, but Kakashi's clone may insist on assisting her. Before she could strategize more, the fight began.
Sakura wound up and arched her body to slam her fist into the ground. To everyone's surprise, Kakashi's clone mirrored the action and Sakura actually paused in shock. The clone's blow landed like thunder. The ground shook and split into a fissure between the two groups.
Naruto and especially Sakura stared in awe at the new crevasse. "That is so not fair," Naruto nearly whimpered.
"No way," Sakura burst out. "How did you do that?"
Kakashi's clone shrugged. "I figured it out. Copy Ninja."
Mei wondered if Kakashi's clones were a little unhinged. First he'd argued with her about the validity of orders his original had given her. Then he'd accepted a spar and was now taunting Kakashi's very powerful students? Was he hoping to distract them with a lecture about expecting the unexpected?
Sakura broke out of her shock and protested. "But- but you have to mass a large amount of chakra in a small area, with a lot of control, and release it all at once!"
"Right," Kakashi's clone agreed in a deadpan tone, "because I've never done that before." He pointed at his left eye, where Obito's Sharingan used to reside.
"Oh," Sakura deflated, "good point."
"Alright, that's enough," Mei called out. "I just remembered Kakashi and I need to be somewhere so-"
Naruto's dozen clones poofing into existence cut her off. Mei resisted the urge to jump back and instead let lose a spout of water from her mouth.
The rushing water filled up the void in the ground and took out several of Naruto's clones. It also made the ground soggy. Kakashi's clone created water clones but only two. Mei made only three to hide the fact that Kakashi was holding back. If the clone ran out of chakra then it would dispel whether it was hit or not.
Naruto shot out a fire jutsu. While the water clones dodged the fire, he threw some kunai toward their possible new positions. The water clones burst as the kunai struck them and their sodden bodies joined the already wet ground. Meanwhile Sakura charged forward. Mei stepped between her husband's clone and Sakura, forcing the girl to stop and confront her. Mei frantically dodged each gloved blow. If Mei got knocked out of the fight, the clone was a goner.
Meanwhile Naruto and his remaining clones attacked Kakashi's clone from all sides. Mei had assumed Sakura would be more likely to get a hit in, how could she have been so short-sighted? Sakura hit harder but there were more Narutos! No time to worry about it now. Mei kicked Sakura back a few paces. If she tried using a large technique to wipe out Naruto's clones then she'd risk taking out Kakashi's clone as well. The silver-haired clone was ducking, weaving, and using replacement jutsu to save its life.
Sakura came charging back at Mei and the pair grappled. Mei was more experienced and got the young woman into a headlock from behind. However, Sakura simply flipped Mei over her head and slammed her into the ground. The Mizukage went down hard but she knew how to take a hit. Mei rolled away from Sakura's follow up kick and glanced back at the boys.
The glance caught Sakura's eye and she paused mid-fight, a frustrated frown on her face. She'd noticed Mei's inattention. "Lady Mizukage, if you aren't going to take this seriously-"
Mei almost laughed, a little hysterical. "Oh, you don't know how seriously I'm taking this." She resisted the urge to glance at the boys again.
"Then why-" Sakura turned to squint at the men herself, eyebrows furrowed. The sun was setting and it was getting harder to see. "Is sensei hurt? Is that why you didn't want to spar?"
Before Mei could get a in word, Sakura called out, "hey Naruto, hold up a minute!"
Mei turned to look. Kakashi's clone was panting, lending credit to Sakura's assumption.
"Aw Sakura," the middle Naruto of the three that had been charging Kakashi's form said. They skidded to a stop. "I had him right where I wanted him!"
"Let me examine sensei a minute," Sakura stepped briskly to the boys.
Mei hurried after the medic. The Mizukage's mouth hung open but a proper excuse eluded her.
Kakashi's clone put his hands up, despite his slumped shoulders. "That's alright Sakura, I'm fine." He started backing away from the medical ninja. His sandals squished in the mud.
"I've heard THAT before," Sakura complained. "Just let me-" she held out a glowing hand.
The Kakashi clone tried to run but Naruto clones surrounded him.
"Sakura, he's really fine." Mei tried to assure her. Her voice came out a little too high but she had no time to master it. "We were just going to-"
One of Naruto's clones grabbed Kakashi's arms to restrain him. Kakashi's exhausted clone turned to smoke in his hands.
Mei's breath stopped. She whipped around to look at Hokage Tower. Mei couldn't see anything from there but she squinted anyway, willing Kakashi to be alone in his office when the fatigue hit. Mei knew how it would look if she'd fainted in the middle of a meeting. The Mizukage barely heard the ensuing argument behind her.
"A clone? So much for having him right where you wanted, Naruto!"
"No way! I was watching him the whole time; I would have seen him!"
"Next time maybe you should have a clone watch him, or better yet, I'll take sensei and you take the Mizukage!"
Mei should have made an excuse or given an explanation. Any thought of a cover story flew out of her head. "What time is it?" Mei interrupted their fight.
Naruto kept looking around for the real Kakashi, sure he'd attack at any moment. Sakura pulled a hospital badge/watch combo from a pouch on her belt. "Quarter to 9, why?" The kunoichi gave Mei a puzzled look but the Mizukage was already gone.
"Maybe they're sneaking off for a date," Naruto suggested, wagging his eyebrows.
Sakura frowned. "They owe us a spar," she replied in a mutter. She glanced at her watch again. "I'd better get home anyway. It's getting dark."
000000
Mei ran so fast that she almost didn't see Itsuki. They ran past each other. Mei skidded to a halt and darted back to the tan aide.
"Lord Hokage just sent for you."
Could Mei dare to hope? Had Kakashi had enough time to send Itsuki before his clone burst? She gasped out, "is he in his office?" Mei could hardly hear his response over the pounding of her heart. She asked him to repeat his answer.
"Yes, he said he'd wait for you there."
Mei sprinted toward Kakashi's office. The winding route she had to take from the main entrance to Kakashi's office had never felt so long, not even when she'd come to demand an explanation for his proposal. The Mizukage breezed past the aide on duty and flew into the Hokage's office, shutting the door behind her. Mei scanned the room frantically.
Kakashi lay face-down on the floor, half hidden behind his desk.
"Kakashi," Mei breathed. Her legs felt watery and she stumbled the last few steps. Mei grabbed her husband by the vest and rolled him onto his back. The action briefly reminded her of the Third War. Memories crowded into her mind, unwelcome.
Kakashi moaned a little. "What was that?"
Kakashi opened his eyes and Mei breathed. Her dark memories scattered before the light in his eyes. Sweet relief flooded her. "That," Mei replied, pleased that he could speak coherently, "was your clone doing something stupid again. Do shadow clones become more eccentric the longer they're around?"
Kakashi chose to conserve his strength rather than answer.
A firm double knock echoed through the office and Mei froze. She held back a curse and opened her mouth to dismiss the visitor when the door opened. Two pairs of green eyes met.
"Lady Mei, what are you-" Sakura caught sight of Kakashi. Mei had pulled his head into her lap but he was practically lying on the floor. The medic's eyes rounded but she didn't say anything at first. Sakura hurried over and this time, Mei had no problem with her examining Kakashi.
"What happened?" Sakura demanded.
"I got tired and decided to nap," was Kakashi's overly innocent response. "Everyone's making a fuss."
"No more lying," Sakura demanded. "Lady Mei, you were acting weird. Sensei, you started sparring with us even though you seemed tired. Now I walk into your office and you're on the floor. What is going on?"
Kakashi took a deep breath and, with Mei's help, maneuvered into a sitting position. He told Sakura about his clones. The medic's eyes got huge. Mei watched Sakura's expression go from worried to angry to hurt, then it became dull and closed off.
"Okay," Sakura finally said.
"Okay?" Kakashi replied. He was surprised.
Sakura lifted her hands and then smacked them down on her quads in a fed-up gesture. "If you guys are going to insist on being stupid, I'm going to quit wasting my breath." Sakura's eyes filled with tears but she didn't let them fall. "I'm done. I'm done trying to be sensible and convincing you to be as well."
"I'll have you know that I was being sensible before you were born," Kakashi muttered. Mei gave him an annoyed nudge.
"It's not just you," Sakura burst out, her voice cracking. "It's you and Naruto and-" she trailed off.
Kakashi stared at her for a long minute. Sakura composed herself but wouldn't look at him. There was no doubt who the unnamed person was.
"Sasuke will get through this," Kakashi assured her with a sigh. "And I think he'll come through better for it. And you know there's no changing Naruto's mind once it's set."
"As for Kakashi," Mei pitched in a defense for her spouse, "he's trying his best to serve the village without killing himself."
"Could have fooled me," Sakura sniffed.
"Sakura, let me-" Mei stopped herself. Kakashi's eyelids were drooping. It was late. "After we get your sensei to bed, let me lay out some facts of life for you, okay?"
"Bed great plan," Kakashi contributed in a mumble.
Sakura glanced at Kakashi and agreed. Sakura supplied a simple genjutsu and the two women carried the Hokage from his office.
Once they were in the safety of Kakashi's room, Mei paused halfway to the bed. "Let's take his vest off. It makes his neck stiff if he sleeps in it."
Sakura stared at the Mizukage over Kakashi's bent head. "He used to sleep in his vest all the time on missions, he never said anything."
Mei shook her head, eyes on Kakashi. He was in a bit of a stupor. "He still doesn't, but he rubs his neck a certain way afterward," Mei trailed off. She didn't know how to explain.
Sakura was startled to realize that even though she'd known Kakashi longer, the Mizukage knew him better. That knowledge stung but it was also a comfort knowing that Kakashi had Mei in his life. Once again, Sakura didn't argue.
They finished their walk to the bed and sat Kakashi down, propping him between them. They'd help Kakashi take his vest off and-
As soon as her weight settled onto the mattress, Mei's senses screamed at her. Sakura's eyes widened. Kakashi lunged up as if possessed. Each tried to grab the others in a mad scramble to get them away from the bed. They ended up flinging themselves across the room in a huddle. The apartment exploded with light and sound.
Ringing filled Mei's ears and white filled her vision. Sakura shouted something that Mei couldn't understand. A hand gripped her arm but Mei yanked it away savagely. She blinked in an attempt to see.
Kakashi's voice shouting her name filtered through the ringing. His arm was around her shoulders and the three stumbled into the hallway. When Mei could see a little better, she noticed Sakura holding glowing green hands out to her. Mei allowed the inspection even though she knew she wasn't hurt.
While Sakura ran her chakra tests, Kakashi and Mei had a conversation with their eyes. Kakashi looked haunted; she wasn't doing much better. Mei took his hand and squeezed it. Sakura saw the interaction and struggled to hide her surprise.
It only took a moment to discover that none of them were hurt, at all. Sakura put her hands down in puzzled relief. A team of ANBU chose that moment to appear, filling the hallway. They did not do anything but stand at the ready.
Sakura glowered up at them from her crouched position next to the kage, annoyed at everything and everybody. "What is going on?" Her hearing was returning to normal and she only sounded a little over-loud to them.
"A drill," Shikamaru appeared among the ANBU. He circled the group of three huddled in the hallway. "And it looks like you've passed. If you'd been in range, there'd be confetti on you."
Mei craned her neck to look back into Kakashi's suite. The bed and surrounding floor were covered in white bits of paper. She presumed those were meant to indicate the kill zone of the simulated paper bombs.
Sakura shot up from her place on the floor, face red and spitting with anger. She advanced on Shikamaru. "A drill? Sensei is ill! The Mizukage and I were finally getting him to bed and you spring this on him?"
Shikamaru backed up a pace but the ANBU did not move to accommodate him. He held up his hands. "Relax, the drills are random, that's the whole point."
Sakura seemed to enlarge in her anger. "Relax was what sensei was TRYING to do until you put paper bombs under his bed. While you're at it, why don't you remind him of some other trauma he's suffered? As one of his assigned medics, tell me, how is he supposed to get to sleep now?" Sakura was inches from Shikamaru's face. He cringed away from the medic.
"Sakura," Kakashi sighed. "Calm down. I ordered Shikamaru to stage these drills, he's just doing his job." His speech only slurred a little.
"And I'm just doing mine," Sakura replied, without releasing Shikamaru from her gaze. Regardless, she sounded calmer. Sakura turned around to check on the Hokage again. She didn't like the sound of his voice.
Mei could tell Kakashi was only just holding it together. Sakura could see it too. She turned back to Shikamaru. "Can we all go home now? Or do we need to be debriefed?" Her tone indicated there was only one correct answer.
Shikamaru quickly waved them off. "We can do the debrief later. It looks like you already had an eventful night."
Sakura huffed but said no more. Kakashi dismissed the ANBU and Shikamaru wandered off, muttering something Mei didn't catch. The three of them were alone again in the hallway.
"Are you okay?" Mei whispered to her husband.
Kakashi nodded.
"Let's get you to bed." Sakura's voice had gentled in surprisingly little time.
"You can sleep in my room," Mei offered. "Sakura and I have some things to discuss. We can pick up your room at the same time?" She turned to the girl, checking to see if that was acceptable to her.
"Sure," Sakura replied. Her heart was still pounding from the exploding tags. Despite the long day, she was all keyed up.
At last Kakashi was given a chance to have a restful sleep. The women helped the Hokage out of his vest and into Mei's bed. Mei gingerly took his headband off, smoothing his hair back as she did so. Kakashi cracked his eyes open and smiled at his wife. Mei smiled back. Sakura watched the interaction thoughtfully before turning away, embarrassed.
Once Kakashi was settled, the pair quietly stepped over to Kakashi's room for a private talk. When the door was shut, Sakura couldn't hold herself back. "You really love sensei," it was a question but also a statement, almost an accusation.
"What if I do?" Mei replied. She started picking up the confetti that littered her husband's bed.
Sakura raised an eyebrow in outrage. "Oh no, you don't answer questions either? Is that just you and Kakashi-sensei or your whole generation?"
Mei laughed, loosening up a little. "It's how we were raised I suppose." After a pause she answered, "I do love him, very much."
"That's good to know. I'm certain he loves you too."
Mei only gave a sad smile in response.
Sakura frowned at that. "You doubt it?"
"It's not that, not really. I haven't had a lot of relationships to compare it to," Mei admitted. Mentally she added, much less healthy relationships. "But I think we're both happier together. Still, I'd love to have what you have here in the Leaf."
"Annoying boys pulling your heartstrings every time they're hurt? All your life?" Sakura grumbled.
"Bonds."
Sakura frowned again. "I don't know about your friends in the Mist, but you and the other kage fought together, worked together for the first time in history. Lady Tsunade said she hasn't felt that close to people in a long time and never to people outside the Leaf."
Mei blinked. "Tsunade said that?"
Sakura nodded. "She chose to shorten her own life to keep you all alive when you fought Madara."
That surprised the Mizukage. Mei knew that Tsunade had used one of her secret medical techniques to pull herself and the rest of the kage through that battle. She hadn't realized to what extent the Hokage had risked herself for her peers. The thought made Mei feel grateful and warm inside.
Sakura went on. "She made it seem like the feeling was mutual. I'm sure you guys still argue, but Team Seven has no stones to throw in that department."
Mei laughed. "No, you certainly don't." Sakura looked sad so Mei continued, "just because you argue doesn't mean you don't care about each other."
"But you and sensei never argue!"
"Oh yes we do," Mei disagreed. "Everyone argues at some point in their relationship. But we're a bit older and the older you get the more you realize what's worth fighting over and what's just worth talking over. We also don't have the same baggage you and Sasuke do," Mei added frankly.
Sakura blushed at that.
"But as Tsunade once told me, 'we all have baggage'. I wouldn't be embarrassed about it. You just need to communicate." Mei cleared her throat. "Anyway I promised you some facts of life."
Sakura straightened up a little, throwing her handfuls of confetti in the trash.
Mei looked at the young woman squarely. "You don't need to spend your life following after the rest of your team. They're big boys, they can take care of themselves. If you want to support them then go ahead, but don't hang on their hopes and dreams. You can have those for yourself.
"Sasuke chose his path and he's still choosing it. Trailing after him is going to make you both unhappy, so I advise you don't. Let him figure his life out. If he comes back to you once he has a clearer idea of what he actually wants out of life, great, if not, then I suggest you move on." Mei wasn't sure where she was getting all this advice from. She'd certainly never been in this situation. Still, sometimes when you were outside of the emotional turmoil it was easier to see things clearly.
"I appreciate your concern," Sakura replied. "But you wouldn't understand."
Mei nodded. "That's fair. I can't understand, not fully. I'm just trying to help by pointing out how I see things. I'd hate to see you swirl around in your whirlpool of angst forever. Sometimes it takes an outside force to break the cycle."
Sakura nodded but Mei wasn't sure if the girl fully took it in. Then Mei frowned, thinking of Sakura's interactions with her team that she'd seen.
"Sakura, have you been…okay, since the war?" Mei asked this slowly, not sure if she should. She and Sakura didn't know each other that well. However, the way Sakura had overreacted at the bar when Pakkun showed up kept nagging at her.
Sakura met the Mizukage's eyes and nodded, but her lips were pressed together, hard. Mei stared at the young woman for a few minutes. Sakura looked down at her hands and shook her head vigorously.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Another head shake.
"Do you mind if I tell you what I've experienced?" Mei offered.
Sakura looked up at her, startled.
Mei shrugged. "It seems to me that you're worried about your team and it reminded me a little of myself. Have you felt overly anxious about their security, since the war? When I'd get back into my village, after a battle, I'd have trouble relaxing, sleeping, or feeling happy in general really. I almost wanted to go back out and fight again, just to feel…well, not normal, but just to feel like something mattered. Then I'd feel guilty for wanting that. It was all mixed up and confusing and I never had anyone to talk to about it. I got through it, but it was hard. You don't have to go through it alone." Mei trailed off, unsure where to go from there. She'd extended her offer, that was all she could do.
Sakura nodded but didn't say anything. She didn't seem mad, just pensive. They picked up the rest of the confetti in silence. When they finished, Sakura gave Mei a small smile, thanked her again, and bid her goodnight.