- Shochu -
"You." Tsunade's voice is the threatening creak of a 40ft damn about to break open. "I send you off to get a field clearance exam, and you put my most valuable asset in the hospital. What the fuck Hatake?"
Shit. So she'd already heard.
Kakashi had hoped to make it at least 10 feet into the Hokage's office before being reprimanded. Some days, he could even make it 15. Tonight, he hadn't even made it 2. He was screwed.
He closes the office door behind him like a criminal facing his firing squad. He knows a deadman walking when he sees one. Today it just so happens to be him.
Tsunade's seeming omnipotence over the going-ons of the village is to be expected. After Orochimaru and then Sasuke's defection, she's practically as paranoid a Ninja as he is. He wouldn't be surprised if her spy network operated as deeply inside the village as it did beyond it. He'd hoped to break the news of Sakura's hospital stay to his Hokage himself. Instead, she looks ready to break him.
Tsunade was a proponent of something called 'Tough Love.' Though she didn't often show it, she was as protective of Sakura as she was mean to her, and she could be really, really mean. Once, the lengths to which Tsunade would push Sakura had admittedly bothered him. But it was her one man good-cop-bad-cop routine that had honed Sakura into the Kunoichi she was today, so who was he to question her methods.
"Sakura asked me to spar to prove I was fully healed and field-ready. We got…carried away. But you'll be glad to know her condition has stabilized. Your guard dog Chisue says to tell you her injuries look worse that they actually are. Of course, she let me believe Sakura was practically on her deathbed. (I think you're right, I really pissed her off. ) Point being, if you're looking to punish me, know that I've spent the last six hours punishing myself."
'For more reasons than one.' He thinks bitterly.
Kakashi had definitely been punishing himself. He'd spent the last few hours in purgatory wondering what he was going to do. How he was going to fix the uncomfortable position he'd put himself and Sakura in?
He'd kiss her. His student. The last student still under his care, and the only one who hadn't left the village. He'd kissed her and she'd kissed him back, and now they were going to have to have that talk he'd been dreading having with her for years- The same one they'd been about to have before she left for Suna…
Looking back, he knew now that he'd been right to avoid that talk. The untenable thing lingering between them for years had not been the embers of a forgettable affection. It was a bonfire that would burn them both the second they acknowledged it. He'd known it in his gut, but now he knows it from their kiss. He'd been too big a coward to confront her about it because he wasn't strong enough to deny her.
Instead dealing with their situation head on, he'd resorted to staggering levels of self denial. But that denial hadn't solved the problem. It had only made him weak over time. As a result of that unforgivable weakness, he'd broken his promise to never get involved with one of his juniors. Now, he was going to lose the little bit of her he'd allowed himself to have.
The way her tongue had rolled against his while she clung desperately to his shirt had left nothing to the imagination. He didn't like the fact that the only kiss he would likely ever share with her was now tainted by the sting of questionable consent. He was willing do anything she asked of him to make everything alright again, even if it meant exiling himself from her life.
He just needed to get through this talk with Tsunade, and then get back to her to face the music.
Tsunade stamps the file she's reading, then sets it aside in her towering Out pile. "If I didn't already have so much shit to deal with, I'd be dealing with you myself. But lucky for you…I think I have a lead on our lightfoot mercenary. I'll think of ways to punish your recklessness while you're out completing an Op for me."
This…was a turn of events.
"How has there already been news?" He asks, switching into Anbu mode. "Team Gai is still in the village as far as I know."
"This lead didn't come from them. I stumbled onto it in this-" Here, Tsunade pulls out a status report from one of the border patrol file cabinets.
"Here. A Chunin patroller noted a strange campsite just beyond the Grass border. It was 80 clicks North of the spot where your attackers trail went cold. This report is over a month old, but that's just how behind I've been…The patrol team found an abandoned campsite with-"
Here she pauses, considering how much information to divulge to him. She stands up from behind her desk. "Understand that everything I'm about to tell you is class-S confidentiality. The only person you discuss this with is myself, or another Kage."
This puts Kakashi further on edge. "Understood." He nods.
"The officer noted that the campsite had a bloody factory uniform…and several bottles just like this one."
And because Kakashi apparently wasn't the only one on the edge of a nervous break down tonight, Tsunade crosses to the back wall of her office. From one of her bookcases she pulls a hidden liquor bottle. A worn white and gold label reflects in the light. The inside sloshes with half a bottle of something clear.
His good eye doesn't miss the tiny tremble when her hands pull out a pair of cups. She pours them each a strong drink, double filling her own glass. She sighs, leaning against the shelves.
"This is Grass country Shochu, Kakashi. It's the good stuff, drink up." She says, tipping back her glass. Her face fold in as the liquor burns up her nose.
"The good stuff?" He asks, eyeing his cup warily.
"This particular bottle is from the Grass Daimyo's personal collection. It's aged for over ten years before it ever sees the light of day. Once it gets bottled down, it sits in an isolated cold cellar for another four. The distillery where this liquor is made is a little known facility near the borders of Grass, Fire and Waterfall."
"Never heard of it." He says, setting down his cup.
Tsunade looks pointedly at Kakashi's glass. Even though he doesn't want it, he turns his head and takes the shot. She at least gives him the courtesy of looking away, not bothering to try to peak at his face. When he's done, he refills their glasses once more, his still a single and her own to the rim.
"Only a select group of people have. The five Kage, a handful of essential staff…Access to this special facility is strictly monitored by some of the most dangerous Ninja for hire. It's more than just a private distillery. Shochu isn't the only business the Grass Daimyo has his greedy fingers in."
"What is he hiding?" Kakashi asks.
"Not what. Who."
This… this is very bad.
"It's a prison, isn't it." He says, hoping to god he's wrong.
Except Tsunade doesn't correct him. She takes another swig of shitty liquor, skipping the cup and going strait for the bottle. Kakashi is generally bad at feelings. He and Tsunade are alike in this. He's bad at talking to kids and he's even worse at self reflection.
But he isn't considered a genius for nothing. He knows where this is going.
"But there is no ninja prison in Grass." He says, knowing now that it's a lie.
"There is no publicly funded prison in Grass." Tsunade corrects him. "Because publicly funded institutions are susceptible to corruption and transparency laws. But what about the times we can't be transparent? What do we do with the prisoners that we need to hold for information or leverage?"
"You're talking about a detention center for terrorists and war criminals."
Tsunade nods. "People who, as far as the world is concerned, have already been long executed. On paper the prison doesn't exist and neither do the prisoners."
Kakashi knows exactly what keep around for leverage means. The Shochu factory is a torture camp sanctioned by the Kage. By his Hokage.
"So you think the Ninja who has been going around testing our security... Trying to start a war between Grass and Fire… You think they might be an escaped prisoner? Some war terrorist they put in a hole for years to be tortured in the dark?"
"I don't think it's just any terrorist. I think it's one that I put there, Kakashi. Someone who would have a vendetta against both Grass and Fire because of it." Then, she throws him a curve ball. "Did you at least pass your cardiology exam before hospitalizing my pupil?" The seriousness of her tone is cut with exasperation.
Kakashi has a flashback to his bargain with Sakura, the stakes they had wagered on each of their bells. The memory of his tongue down her throat is intimately connected with the telltale snap of the string at his hip. Once more, her tenacity had outmaneuvered him. She really was something else…
"Technically, no." He says through his complicated mix of emotions.
"That's better, actually." Tsunade murmurs to herself. She returns the stopper to the bottle in her hands, once more concealing it behind her bookshelf. "As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you will still be on bed rest here in the village. I want you to leave tonight under cover of darkness. Don't check out with the guards, don't tell anyone where you are going. Your mission will be to head to the distillery and double check their roster with your own eyes. Make sure no one has actually escaped… and if someone has, then at least we will have 100% more information than we do right now."
Tsunade slips behind her desk, pulling out a small scroll of paper. "I'll send your security clearance ahead by messenger hawk, and I'll send team Gai behind you for backup 24 hours after you leave. If there is a war criminal on the loose, avoid engaging them solo at all costs. Wait until the rest of your team arrives."
Kakashi gives her his nod of understanding. "I'll leave by midnight." He confirms. Unfortunately, this inconvenient timing is exactly what he needs.
Before he turns to leave, he hands Tsunade the refilled cup she'd poured him earlier. Shochu has never been his thing.
She takes it from his fingers with a sigh. They both still have a long night ahead of them. "Be careful this time, Kakashi." She says, finishing the drink like it's a punishment. "Something dangerous is out there watching us."
Kakashi takes her words, unconcerned. He knows he should be nervous, possibly even scared. But his last fight with the young man whose jaw unhinged is more than just a nightmare now. That fight is valuable information he can replay and study through his sharingan. He is Hatake Kakashi, and he won't make the same mistake twice. Not with the enemy, and not with Sakura.
He won't be caught unaware again.
Moving past Tsunade to her open window, he briefly wonders if she keeps it open just for him. "Let them watch." He say beside her, voice cold in the late summer air. "This time, I'll be watching back."
When he jumps from the ledge, he has every intention of heading to his apartment. He won't be packing up for a long mission, so he can be in and out easily. He considers going to see Sakura first, but…He can't afford to go into this with anything but a clear head.
On the other hand, there is also the possibility this mission could be his last, now matter how strong he thinks he is.
The image of Sakura in her hospital bed worms its way to the forefront of his mind. After everything that has happened between them, and after the way Sasuke left her… he can't just leave without saying goodbye, even if it's just in a note. Tsunade has ordered him not to tell anyone he's leaving, but he knows he can't just disappear. He owes her that much, at least.
When he lands, he makes the smallest of shifts in his heading, cutting back towards the East side of town. There's one more thing he has to do, and then finally, finally he will be gone.