Chapter 16: Indirectly


(Monday September 22 Amegakure Village)

~Nina~

While the trailing chakra signature was damn near unmistakable, Nina hadn't forgotten where they were—Amegakure. Marco had elatedly taken her hand and led her deep within a maze of intersecting alleyways within the village's slums. They were stopped and standing in the centre of a four-way intersection, the pin dot cylinders of sunlight beamed down through wherever they could.

"So, how long would you like me to pretend I don't know you're following me?" Nina asked aloud in the seemingly empty alley. Her hand instinctively shielded the boy buried behind her leg while Pakkun glued himself to her ankle. "Because I can keep pretending if it helps."

A weight fell from Nina's shoulders seeing the familiar crinkled-eye smile; even Pakkun let out a discernible sigh.

"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi replied, stepping out from the shadows.

"Yes, you missed breakfast," Nina clipped. "So, I took Marco." The boy shuffled out from behind her. "He asked if I could escort him home," she said, looking down at Marco and giving him a small smile.

Kakashi's eye flicked between the boy and her. Nina could feel the boy's heart rate pounding from within his chest; hers wasn't much different. This was outside the mission's requirements. Far outside. But then, so was Hatake's show-ponying for the local harlots.

~Kakashi~

Kakashi's jaw ticked, unliking—perhaps for the first time—that he was late. He would have caught up with Sarutobi sooner, except the observing, frisky women swooped in, and he'd spent the next twenty minutes giving them the slip. Summoning another of his ninken, Bisuke, he was able to track down his displaced team.

Kakashi walked towards the kunoichi, boy-thief and Pakkun. He crouched in front of the grubby child, "Where's home, Marco?"

"You're supposed to tell me your name first, Mister," Marco bit back, crossing his arms across his chest.

It was amusing to the Copy-Nin that of all the people in this village, Nina had managed to find this village's equivalent to Konoha's knuckleheaded ninja, Naruto Uzumaki. Kakashi looked to the kunoichi, who simply arched one eyebrow.

"My apologies. My name is Kakashi."

The scrappy kid eyeballed him from head to toe, then grunted, "If you say so." Marco held one of Nina's hands and tugged her straight ahead. "Home's this way," he chided.

Kakashi took hold of Nina's free hand, disliking that he still didn't know where home was even more than his tardiness.

"Is this guy, like, your boyfriend or something, Nina?" Marco asked.

"Something like that," Nina replied.

Pakkun's head snapped to Kakashi immediately, seeking confirmation. He probably should have passed on that tidbit about their mission to his canine companion on review. Meanwhile, Marco was spiralling and all on one breath.

"But he's so old. I mean, he's got grey hair. He's got to be like, what, fifty? Just how old are you, Kakashi, Sir? And what about those girls?"

Hm?

Whether coincidence or not, Kakashi had felt the flinch in the kunoichi's grip on the last question. The thought had crossed his mind that perhaps she'd done all this in spite. A decision on misplaced jealousy. Then again, this was Sarutobi, not Anko or any other typical female. All the same, he made a mental note to test those waters later. For now, he figured it best to stay within the lines of the old saying he'd heard Shikaku echo many a time—"Happy wife, happy life."

"I don't have a girlfriend. Y'know, girl germs. You're really pretty, Nina. Maybe your next boyfriend can be someone who's not so old."

The kid talked too much; they needed to get him home. One slip-up could undo their entire mission.


(Amegakure Village Orphanage)

~Nina~

Nina's heart sank when met with the sight of the slipshod stack of rotting timber that was supposedly this village's orphanage and Marco's home. It was downright fucking shameful to think children were being raised in such disgusting conditions.

A heavyset woman wearing a well-worn floral-print apron filled the building's front door. "Where have you been?" the woman grilled, wagging her stubby pointer finger at Marco. "Your chores are waiting for you."

"Sorry, Ma'am," Marco replied chipperly, dusting the bottoms of his feet off with his hands. Then, he squeezed sideways through the doorway, pausing to give Nina a quick wave.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"No, Ma'am. Sorry to impose. We just wanted to ensure the boy's safe return," Kakashi replied.

"Good day to you both, then," the woman farewelled.

Nina nodded autonomously, distracted, listening for Marco's voice amongst the others, which emanated from further within the building. "How many children are here?" she blurted out, gaining the strictest scrutiny from the woman and her partner. "At breakfast, Marco mentioned there were others like him."

"Why do you care?" the woman asked. "What sob story did he give you?"

"None, Ma'am," Nina answered. The woman's bluntness did nothing but grate her the wrong way, but there was every chance she was defensive with good reason. "Apologies, Ma'am. I…" Nina looked at Kakashi and back to the woman. "Is there something we can do to help the situation?"

"Help?" the woman scoffed in cynicism. "Do you plan to adopt?"

"No, but—"

"Then you can't help," bit the woman. "Best you be on your way… I'm sorry I didn't catch your names."

Diplomacy had rendered Nina silent, that, and logic. She was flying by the seat of her pants, unknowing how she hoped to achieve her want to help Marco and the other children. She wasn't rich, but she had money, which had to count for something.

~Kakashi~

Kakashi had taken over with the talking. He'd given their names to the woman, finding hers to be Kimi. There was no anger on the caretaker's behalf that he could find, just defeatism for a plight that had long gone unchanged and unheard.

"We try to feed them as best we can, but as you can see, we aren't well funded. Though we make do."

Kimi's caregiving for the unfortunate in the face of adversity was commendable. However, this wasn't his and Sarutobi's calling.

"Apologies, Kimi, but could you please excuse us for a moment?" Nina asked.

The kunoichi's polite request was uncannily timed with an ear-splitting squeal that had Kimi rushing off to defuse the ensuing ruckus.

"I'm going to be honest, Boss, I recommend you just give up," Pakkun remarked, plonking his hind at Kakashi's feet.

Fearful that the orphanage's infrastructure would suffer additional damage, Kakashi leaned against the stone wall of the nearby alleyway. He watched as Nina eventually made her way over to stand before him, her head bowed towards the ground, giving him a chance to study the detail of the flower crown she had been wearing.

"I can't walk away from this," Nina murmured.

Kakashi knew that; he'd seen Nina's expression. The same one from yesterday. He shoved his hands deep within his pants pockets, auditing the orphanage. The place needed much more than a few odd-bod handyman fixups.

Kakashi flicked the drooping petals of the kunoichi's flower crown. "Secret admirer?"

"Jealous?" Nina shot back. Her head lifted while her eyes searched his face.

"Not at all," Kakashi replied, pocketing his hand again.

She turned her back to him, trudging back to the orphanage's front door. Kakashi usually didn't entertain someone's plans for martyrdom to deal with their guilty conscience. But Nina had a way about her, and the longer her wayward idea ruminated in his tactically-geared mind, the more he was inclined to follow Pakkun's smart-alecky advice.

"It could work in our favour indirectly," Kakashi began, pushing off the wall. "We can carry out reconnaissance—"

His tongue caught the remaining words inside his closing mouth. Nina had surprised him, spinning around and looping her arms around his waist.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Kakashi nodded. Sarutobi was kind of cute like this. He swallowed that thought immediately—he couldn't afford to think things like that about her.

"Head in, Sarutobi. I'll," Kakashi cleared his throat, "I'll be in a bit."

The kunoichi let him go and did as instructed, but not before doing a double take over her shoulder.

"Girlfriend?" Pakkun asked.

"Mission cover, Pakkun," Kakakashi answered, scribbling a note and tucking it into the binding around the pug's front paw. "Deliver that to Lady Tsunade."

~Nina~

Nina remained vigilant about where she stepped; most floorboards creaked, and some were missing altogether. The need for her concentrated attentiveness was welcomed—anything other than questioning if hugging Hatake wasn't just for their mission's cover.

Accustomed to quick assessments and prioritising tasks whilst respecting the available resources and skill set, Nina got to work.

"How many children are in your care, Ma'am?" she asked.

"Please. It's Kimi, my dear, and twelve children. The youngest is four, and the eldest is twelve."

Not that the local weather helped matters, but the place was rank with the stench of mildew. Despite there being no windows, the wind whistled through the inferior framework. Nina rubbed her upper arms for warmth while waiting for Kimi to slide the screened door at the back of the building.

"Nina!" Marco shouted, dropping the bag of rubbish. "I told you I wasn't lying. You can tell 'em we had breakfast, right?"

"No one likes a brag, Marco," Kimi scolded.

A couple of the other boys broke out into collective laughing and jeering. "Yeah, Marco."

Kimi didn't utter another syllable. She narrowed her eyes, and the larking boys ran off, and Marco huffed, swinging the rubbish bag over his shoulder. Nina chuckled quietly to herself.

Kimi must have the patience of a Saint.

The orphanage's backyard was its sole redeemable quality. While unkempt, it boasted luscious green grass, an abundance of flowers—probably weeds—and a handful of trees that provided plentiful shade. As beautiful as that was, Nina was drawn to a little girl with emerald green eyes, freckles and the most gorgeous red hair holding a very loved plush bunny.

Hana would just adore her.

"That little love is Maya. She's our youngest. She doesn't say much either," Kimi explained.

Nina sat down on the top step observing the children, noting that the one thing they all had in common was the direful state of their attire. "Kimi, I am wondering if you would mind if we took the children out, please?"

The woman coughed and spluttered. "All of them?"

"Yes." Nina swivelled around to face Kimi. "I would like to get them measured for some new clothing."

Visibly shaken from the offer slash request, Kimi fumbled until she found the support of the door frame. "New clothes for all of them?" She repeated. "You don't—"

"Also, your kitchen," Kakashi piped in, as if he'd been present the whole time.

The kitchen was, well, it was hardly a kitchen at all. It consisted of a small bench, a rusted, shallow sink that matched a rusted and loudly whirring fridge, and a pantry with doors half-hanging off their hinges.

Kimi patted her brow with her apron. "What about it?"

"It needs restocking," Kakashi said lightly. "How does a night off cooking sound to you?"

The first thing to come to Nina's mind was Naruto's perpetual complaining about Hatake's insistence on eating veggies on occasion. However, Guy had raved about his rival's culinary skills once or twice, as had Asuma.

Like he could taste anything.

It'd been proven in several medical studies that smoking dulled a person's tastebuds.

Baka.

Nina's nose scrunch was interrupted by Kakashi's hand in front of her face, offering her help in coming to her feet, which she took.

"Y-y-you don't have to do that. Neither of you," Kimi stammered.

At this point, some of the children had overheard the conversation. They quickly gathered the others, informing them of what was said. Nina was being poked, pulled and squeezed by the encircling twelve orphans, separating, again, her and Kakashi.

"No, we don't," Nina said, to which the children wailed. "But as I said, we would like to help."

The children rushed to Kimi in a chorus of pleas and begging. The kunoichi was saddened, rather than gladdened, by the sheer desperation of the youngsters. The offer was in no way a discredit to everything that Kimi provided for them. Without her, many of these children would have died.

Nina watched as Kimi hushed the children's outcrying, standing those who'd been on their knees to their feet, and brushed down her apron. "As long as you're both sure."

~End of Chapter~