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Chapter Text

Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I also need to confess some lack of familiarity with feudal terms, organizational politics, and the other details of the Land of Fire. I am reversing the names (Kakashi Hatake instead of Hatake Kakashi) for what seems to be more natural English reading for me and adding honorifics like spice. Just a dab here and there in the narrative and where appropriate in the dialogue. I fear updating will be slow – but I'll do my best!

It was easy to navigate through the wide and smooth streets of Konohagakure. The village which existed to support the ninjas of the Land of Fire was new enough that some thought for its design had been put into place. Instead of growth forcibly shoved into old infrastructure, there was a natural progression and an almost aggressive integration. Civilians walked among ninja and ninja who were half-heartedly reading pornographic books walked among civilians.

That changed once Kakashi Hatake and his preferred reading material got closer to the offices of the Hokage. There were more ninja here, still going about their days and whatever in-village missions they might have. He relaxed ever so slightly. After all, his habits were well known among his comrades and he could trust that they, unlike some of the civilians, would not accidentally bump into him if he didn't keep an eye out for their actions as well as his own. He was at a particularly riveting chapter.

One step, two step. He climbed up one set of stairs and then abandoned them all together. It was a fine day and he trusted that the Hokage, as leader of the village, would have her windows open to enjoy it. And if she didn't, well, he'd knock politely then, wouldn't he?

After all, she was the one who had summoned him.

It was a mission, of course. It wasn't like Kakashi would be summoned directly to the Hokage's office for anything less. Most of his assignments came straight from Tsunade herself lately, rather than delivered strictly through the chunin desk in the mission office. This wasn't something he minded, since it usually cut out a lot of reading between the lines work on what was being asked of him. And, for the types of missions he was used to being assigned in these troubled times; there was always at least one hook involved.

Though, he had to admit, he did somewhat miss baiting Iruka Umino, the Academy sensei who worked part time at the mission office. The man's temper could be legendary if it was pricked just right and it was often amusing to see what would serve as adequate catalyst.

It took little effort and almost no thought to spring up the side of the building to the broad rooftop that loomed just over the window in question. While Kakashi did not put his book away, he did pause to briefly listen in to the voices that were carrying.

"Tsunade-sama!" the deferential yet worried tone could only belong to Shizune, the Hokage's personal assistant. "Surely you can't be serious."

"Of course I'm serious," the woman's voice was thoroughly irritated, "Unless you have another solution that you haven't shared?"

"Ah – no… But! But!"

"There is no more to talk about!" The loud smack of a heavy hand on a desk echoed and the whispering sound of papers falling to the ground followed. "Can you or can you not do what is required of you?"

"Yes, I can, but I don't think…"

"That's settled. Now if only that Kakashi-san would…."

That was his cue to enter. Or, at least, his cue that Tsunade had had enough of his eavesdropping. He jumped through the window, feet landing with a quiet thud.

"Yo," he said mildly, moving to join the dark-haired assistant on the opposite side of the Hokage's desk. "You called for me, Hokage-sama?"

He was faced with two awe-inducing sights as he faced his Hokage. One was the thundercloud scowl twisting her expression. A wise ninja quickly learned that any signs of ill temper from Tsunade were to be noted as potential heralds of doom. While her face was heart-shaped and lovely and there were no signs of age by those warm chocolate eyes, the woman had the temper of an impressively pissed off bull. Even more, her chakra control gave her unnatural strength and she was not afraid to use it to intimidate, correct, or simply vent. The frequently replaced furniture of her office could attest to that.

The second sight, of course, had to do with the fact that she'd planted both her hands on her desk to glare at Shizune, and now him. Leaned forward as she was, the cleavage revealed by the neck of her robe would have caused many lesser men to stare.

Kakashi did not stare. He wanted to remain intact.

"It's about time," Tsunade said sharply. She picked up a file, seemingly at random, off of her desk and tossed it to him wordlessly. He caught it, though he had to put his book away to do so. "I have a mission for you."

The basics were easily and succinctly conveyed. Since Kakashi gave the mission details his full attention (no matter what his slouched shoulders and half-lidded gaze implied) he had no trouble absorbing the gist of it. There was a sickness in the western provinces that was creating some concern.

It was not so much that there was sickness - plagues and the like did sometimes occur. It was the fact that this particular illness seemed to have a knack for striking only the enemies of that county's lord and several other important political influencers in the area. The enemies did not seem to recover. Some of the richer merchants and council members oddly did. Their newfound health was usually paired with an abrupt about face on policies or tax issues.

The working theory was that the lord, a Hikaru Fukuda, was using some sort of previously unknown poison to consolidate his position and eliminate threats. The complication came in how delicately they needed to handle the situation. Fukuda was no gem, but he was a known quantity that stabilized the area. While such tactics needed to be answered, they had to be subtle about how it was done. There could be no public loss of face which could encourage a political scramble, while at the same time there had to be a distinctly private scolding that would carry the weight of the Feudal Lord's wrath.

"I see," Kakashi mused. "Ma, this does seem to be a difficult one, doesn't it?"

"There is a short window coming up in which Fukuda-san will be attending a wedding in a neighboring district. During that time, we need to verify that he is using poison, find a sample of it, create a cure, prepare to have it distributed through assets in the city, and encourage him to rethink his strategies."

Something seemed a little off here. Tsunade was rarely quite so pointed about how a mission should be handled. Kakashi raised a finger, "Question. Why do we need to accomplish all of this while he is out of the city? Surely there'd be more impact if it happened under his nose, so to speak?"

The Hokage shook her head, "Yes, but this is hardly a simple in and out mission. We'll need to find those samples and create a cure on the fly. That means we'll need some space to work and the fewer guards around the better. Fukuda will be taking most of them with him on his journey." She anticipated his next question, almost as if she'd already been asked it by others, tone sharpening, "And no, we can't take a sample and bring it back here. The poison works quickly and we want /some/ of the opposing parties to live if possible. There's not much time left."

"There's no time to lose then," Kakashi agreed with a placating smile. "I suppose it will be Sakura accompanying me?" He fished a little. Obviously there'd need to be a skilled medic-nin accompanying him. He was aware of only two that really fit the bill - Shizune and Sakura. Both were apprentices of Tsunade and both had become truly formidable in their healing talents as a result. Given Shizune's pinched expression and protests of earlier, Kakashi was betting she'd been drafted. Maybe there was some sort of clerical emergency and she was upset at the prospect of being dragged away from her self-appointed task of getting the Hokage to get through her paper-work?

"No," the Hokage said, dark eyes glinting. "I'll be joining you on this mission."

For the first time in months,(the last time being when Gai had challenged him to a hair braiding contest with a venomous Neji somehow blackmailed into service), Kakashi's jaw dropped.

Chapter Text

Running through the forest, leaping from tree to tree, was often more dangerous than one might think. Sure, there was always the prospect of being thrown off balance by an enemy's kunai and falling, or becoming disorientated when the natural zig and zag of following branches forbade a straight path. But there were other things, like the danger of slipping due to the oddly viscous nature of squirrel poop, or avoiding the occasional hive of bees.

Not that Kakashi, the famed Copy Ninja, had ever fallen prey to such things, no.

Never.

However, it was in the spirit of caution and wariness for those types of easily overlooked dangers that he was eyeing his mission partner. There was already a bump rising at the side of his head, and he was not eager to encourage another one.

"Hokage-sama? I never would have guessed it was you. You look so… urm…. so…"

A dark eyebrow had twitched.

"Lovely and capable!" Kakashi's visible eye had curved upward in a smile. "You should think about wearing that henge all the time."

In retrospect, it had been a rather foolish thing to say. Perhaps, he thought sadly, he'd been spending too much time with Naruto lately. The excitable and often orange-colored young man was very sincere and full of good intentions that simply did not prevent his foot from making a vacation home in his mouth.

Given how well-known Tsunade's face had become, it had been decided that she should use her jutsu to change her appearance on the mission. Since she, actually in her fifties, maintained an altered appearance on a daily basis anyway, this was no strain on her capabilities. For the moment, she appeared to be a young woman with black hair that streamed down her back in no less than five separate plaits. Her hitai-ate allowed two curling locks to drift down by her chin in an artful but not very original style. She wore the standard Konoha gear, though a scroll or three along her back promised sealed gear that her specialty would undoubtedly need once the poison had been discovered.

In some ways, she looked like a buffed and shined up Shizune. It was clear that she'd stolen something of the eyes and chin from her assistant with the appearance she'd chosen. Since Shizune now bore the blonde locks and impressive curves of her Hokage, it seemed fair.

After all, a village could not be without its Hokage and if anyone could disguise themselves as Tsunade accurately in the face of ninja scrutiny, it would be Shizune. It wouldn't be for very long in the end, anyway.

In fact, Kakashi was fairly certain that having to impersonate the Hokage was not something Shizune would have minded, in other circumstances. It was a grand opportunity, after all, to let loose a little and enjoy some of the glory and power that came with the paperwork.

Which reminded him of something. Kakashi dropped back slightly, having taken the lead in their travels, to match pace with Tsunade.

"There's a fairly good place to make camp, or there used to be, about two hours from here," he said conversationally.

Tsunade nodded, "Good. That will give us a chance to rest up. That should put us a few miles from the village and can walk the rest of the way in."

"Sounds fine with me," Kakashi shrugged. He paused a beat, "So, why was it that Shizune-chan could not come along?" He'd already discovered that Sakura was already on a mission of her own, away from the village.

"That's none of your business," Tsunade said. The words were not sharp, like an attack. Instead, they were neutral, solid.

A defense.

"I don't mean to pry," Kakashi said mildly, "But Shizune-chan is a comrade of mine. If there is something wrong with her that prevents her from carrying out a mission, it worries me." He let that rest for a beat, and followed up, "Does Genma-san know?"

Tsunade frowned, "Does Genma-san know what?"

"That Shizune-chan is so ill she cannot take a mission?" His tone was filled with feigned innocence.

Tsunade sent him a scathing look, lips twisted as if to reproach him not for the question, but for the obvious lead in.

Kakashi filled the gap with a loud gasp, pushing even further, "Wait, she… she isn't pregnant, is she?"

"No, she is not pregnant," Tsunade scoffed at him. Dark eyes flashed, "If you must know, she's strained her wrists. Nothing that will keep her from desk duty, but a mission assignment is totally out of the question."

"Ah, I see…" Kakashi cocked his head to the side. "It must be quite a strain if neither you nor she can heal it."

"Some things should heal naturally," Tsunade raised her chin. It was an obvious but near irrefutable evasion. "But I wouldn't expect you to understand that."

"Of course not," Kakashi agreed, "Why a strained wrist could prevent an otherwise healthy ninja from going into the field is beyond me."

A point, most definitely. Tsunade recovered immediately and fired back, "There are other reasons as well!"

"Oh?"

"Ton-Ton is hurt."

Now it was Kakashi's turn to look surprised. Not necessarily at the words, but at the overly prim tone they were given in. It was outright haughty bordering strongly on imperious. Surely she couldn't be serious?

"Ton-Ton? But, I thought she was your pet?" Kakashi was truly puzzled.

"Yes, she is. But she's always liked Shizune-chan better." Tsunade sighed gustily. She muttered something under her breath about porcine traitors.

Looking underneath the underneath, a common shinobi phrase, had always been something Kakashi tried to live by as well as practice. As a result, even though he ran alongside the Hokage, a person whose title required the highest obedience and a sannin, a ninja whose power commanded the highest respect … he smiled.

He was well used to the diversionary tactic of giving outrageous reasons in the place of explanations when there were situations he had no desire to discuss. He'd had years of practice and had honed that art to a razor sharp perfection. What he wasn't used to was being on the other side of the situation.

He hadn't realized Tsunade had a sense of humor.

"I see," Kakashi made a tsking sound and bowed to the inevitable. She wasn't going to let him know what was going on, no matter how he asked. He couldn't prevent one last teasing dig, however. "That is quite a shame. But, look on the bright side. I'm sure both of them will be healthy by the time you get back. Almost as if they'd never been injured at all."

Ah, there was the swat he'd been half-expecting for the past five minutes. Had it connected, Kakashi would have surely been seeing stars. As it was, the whoosh of Tsunade's palm flying by his face made his hair ruffle.

Gesture of irritation given, Tsunade simply ran faster, pulling ahead of him, "Brat."

By the time they found a place to camp, by a small river and the shelter of several broad pines, they were ready to rest. Theoretically, they probably could have travelled quite a bit further but there was a distinct difference between "could" and "wanted to" even for ninja.

A small fire provided carefully controlled heat and light, and they made the usual "mission" soup of standard rations and whatever edible plants they could find nearby. It wasn't that bad and clean up was quick. Afterward, Kakashi leaned back and took out his travel copy of Icha Icha Paradise (as opposed to his house copy, or his training copy). Tsunade rolled her eyes at him but didn't otherwise protest. Instead, she summoned a rather hefty book from one of her scrolls and began reading, making occasional notes.

Perhaps it was the quiet. Only the soft flip of turning paper and the gentle scratching of quill on parchment gave any variation to the sounds of the night forest around them. Usually on a group mission there was at least a little chatter to break up the monotony. Not that Kakashi was often the source of such, but he'd gotten used to it with Team Seven.

Then again, besides the mission, what was there for him to talk about with Tsunade? She was literally twice his age. They were peers in the fact that they were both Kohona ninja but that was likely to be as far as it went. He began studying her, unobtrusively.

For a while, she read. There was a furrow between her brows that spoke to her concentration. Her hand moved smoothly on the parchment, often jotting down thoughts without looking. There were a few ink smears as a result of that, but surprisingly not many. Her back was curved in, comfortable if not relaxed, and her head was tilted just slightly. Listening to the area around them, devoting some attention to the woods and their perimeter as well as to the task at hand.

It was the balancing act of a person accustomed to many difficult missions but even more, many difficult missions with time constraints - multi-tasking as a way to accomplish her goals in as short amount of time as possible, because each morning might be her last. Watching her, it was impossible to forget that her entire ninja career had been made up of missions that were not held just for coin, but for the survival of the village.

She was out of practice, though.

He could see in the subtle shifts of tension that she kept letting one thing or another slip. A line she had to re-read, a note that she scratched out, a sound that shouldn't have startled her but did. It had been years, decades, since she'd been on a mission like this. Eventually, she gave up everything but the pretense of work. Her hand stilled and her gaze settled beyond the pages of her book.

"Do you miss it?" he asked finally.

She glanced up at him, "Miss what?"

"This. Missions. Field work in general."

She eyed him for a moment, as if suspicious. "Miss the cold nights, the lousy food, and the blood? What do you think?"

"How about the freedom, the companionship, and the adrenaline rush?" he waggled a finger at her. "I'm fairly sure you don't get at least two of those things out of pushing paper."

She wrinkled her nose at him, the very mention of paperwork somewhat distasteful even after all this time, "Well, there are those things, I suppose." Her book was placed to the side and she spent a moment sealing it back up in one of her scrolls. "It took a while, you know, after I left the village. I suppose that's part of the reason that Shizune-chan and I moved around so much. Risking your money isn't quite the same as risking your life but it does in a pinch."

Kakashi had known of other ninja who had retired and faced similar problems. Some managed to handle it. Some did not. "Did you regret leaving, then?" he asked quietly.

"No," her response was just as quiet but there was no hesitation in it. Her gaze went somewhat distant, probably focusing more on the ghosts of the past than the fire in front of her.

"Do you regret coming back?"

"No, of course not! Don't be stupid," Tsunade barked, shooting a glare at him, "I knew exactly what I was coming back for and why. The village didn't need me, then. It does need me now."

Perhaps the village hadn't. It was hard to say what may have changed had Tsunade stayed. He knew better than to argue the point, though. Obviously, a nerve had been touched. He raised a hand, fending off protests and signaling his acceptance of her answer.

The glare remained for several more moments before she shook her head. "Besides," she said more calmly, "you have to face the enemy in yourself before you can be effective facing an enemy on a field. Sometimes that battle just takes longer than you might hope."

"Funny," Kakashi said with a smile, "That sounds like something Morino-san told me some time ago." It was followed by an enforced "vacation" from active ANBU service and several "talking" sessions with a ninja therapist. Losing the last of his precious people had not been easy on him and, in retrospect, burying himself in his role in ANBU had likely been its own type of running.

Tsunade, who had read his psyche file, accepted the gesture behind that statement for what it was. "I'm not surprised to hear that. In fact, I think that might be one of Morino-san's unspoken rules of life."

Kakashi nodded gravely, "It's number twelve."

She laughed, "Wait, he actually codified them?"

"He calls it his "Rules for Getting Through Shit" and there are twenty five of them," he confirmed.

"Really? Tell me what they are, then."

Kakashi was glad to oblige. The conversation flowed smoothly between them after that. They knew quite a few people in common and had been on similar missions, granted though in slightly different wars and positions. In the end, he felt that silences between them in the future would probably never be quite so daunting ever again.

He was fairly satisfied with that.

Chapter Text

Morning dawned over the forest and the two ninja bid sleep a curt farewell. They'd debated it a little last night but eventually decided that it was more efficient to set up a series of traps and trip wires as an alarm system than to go on a two man watch. Technically, it could have been a three man watch had Kakashi summoned Pakkun, one of his ninja dog summons. However, Pakkun was rather skittish around Tsunade and refused to explain why.

All Kakashi knew was that Tsunade's expression got rather dark when the little pug was mentioned, and that bringing up Tsunade would make the pug mutter something about burrowing being in his bloodline.

Some questions did not need to be asked.

Though they'd both set up the camp security, Kakashi volunteered to go take it down. Doing so would give Tsunade a chance to change into her civilian disguise and do whatever female waking-up-things she needed to do. He'd be within earshot the whole time in case anything went wrong, for either of them.

It was a somewhat tedious process to wrap the chakra wire back into a coil, retrieve the various paper bombs, and unhook the set kunai. He did not lower his guard as he did so but he couldn't help but appreciate his surroundings. The old growth forest was really quite peaceful. The rustling of the leaves around him was due to a crisp but not cold wind, the warmth of the sun as it rose was gently painting his skin by inches, and the scent on the air was sweet, as if from some not-so-distant meadow.

Even though he'd been on more missions than he could count, from further back in his childhood than he could accurately remember, he still knew that mornings like this one were rare.

He walked back towards camp somewhat cautiously, just in case age or lack of practice had made Tsunade slow in breaking camp. The thought of catching the Hokage in some bit of dressing disarray should have been an alarming one for any number of reasons. And, admittedly, it was.

After all, who would want to see their Hokage so human as to be fumbling with her garters? It was the Hokage, a woman who had the power and authority both to metaphorically (and literally) pull his choke chain back so hard he'd be tasting metal for a month. Besides, he respected her. Not that he didn't respect all women, of course. But they had a unique working relationship that gave another additional level of… wrongness… to any potential peeping.

Besides, she was wearing a Shizune-like henge, anyway. The pay-off wouldn't be nearly as…

Kakashi broke that thought sternly as he walked back into camp, crunching a few branches as if to underscore his resolve.

Tsunade might have appreciated the audible announcement of a friend returning to camp but she didn't need it. She was already fully dressed, modest in her kimono with hair neatly pulled back. No garters in sight.

She straightened from where she'd been bundling up her bed roll. "All clear, I take it?"

"All clear," Kakashi confirmed. He walked to his pack, retrieving his own clothing so that he could change, and she left to give him some privacy. Ahh, the luxuries of a mission that hadn't really entered dangerous territory yet.

His disguise was simple and he had plenty of time to finish packing up after the fact. He wasn't fond of sealing away needed tools, but he did so anyway in order to maintain the cover of an "honest citizen." He tucked his Icha Icha book in his back pocket (honest citizens could have exemplary literary taste too) and began to put out the embers of last night's fire.

A quiet sound from Tsunade, just reentering the circle of the camp, made him look up. She was watching him, brow furrowed in a rather uncharacteristic way. "What?" he asked.

She opened her mouth and hesitated a moment. Then, she apparently thought better of the softness of indecision, and she strode forward. "When is the last time you tried to pass yourself off as a civilian?"

"Huh?" He straightened up. "What's wrong?" He had his suspicions though and he touched the eye-patch that now covered his sharingan. He did not, however, touch the scarf that was wrapped around his lower jaw, concealing most of his nose and half of his face.

He didn't want to give her the impression that its presence was up for debate.

Tsunade stopped right in front of him and peered up. "You look like you are prepared to walk through a blizzard," she told him bluntly but with a more conciliatory tone than he might have expected. He was immediately more wary. She reached out a hand and he took a half step back.

"Come on," she said, familiar impatience flickering into her eyes, "You look ridiculous! Let me fix it or the whole mission will be blown."

"Why would it be blown?" Kakashi argued, "Even if it does look ridiculous? In fact, perhaps that's the best cover of all. To be so visually memorable, that no one would even think…."

"It will be blown because I will shove that thing down your throat and you'll be spitting wool while you are supposed to be slipping past guards." Tsunade said behind gritted teeth.

Kakashi scowled at her.

"Look, I promise we'll keep your face covered, alright? Just…" she reached forward again and Kakashi sighed. He supposed there was nothing else to do but endure.

Tsunade unwound the scarf efficiently and placed it over her shoulder for safe keeping while she fussed with his jacket collar. She did not meet his half-lidded stare of irritation, but she wasn't actively avoiding it either. Or at least, if she was, she was being subtle about it.

He didn't bother being subtle. She was invading his personal space and while it might be for a good cause, he still wasn't pleased. So he openly, critically, studied her features. There was surely something there to point out as a flaw that she could improve upon. He was somewhat surprised though, to realize that the difference the henge seemed to make wasn't really all that drastic up close. In fact, it was an impressive set of tiny changes that had created such impression of change.

Perhaps that was why he could still identify all her expressions as Tsunade-expressions, without ever feeling they were odd upon this woman's face. Of course, the henge didn't change the woman's smell. The scent of white tea and jasmine still clung to her hair like it always did.

Though, the familiar scent of sake that usually accompanied it was gone.

These musings stopped instantly the moment he realized her gaze was lingering on his bared mouth and that her lips were curving upwards in a quickly hidden smile.

"What?" he asked, tone darkening. Fifteen genin, six chunin and twelve jonin. That's how many people had tried to see his face beneath his mask before he'd stopped counting them. He didn't hold that against them. He'd made the decision to wear the mask at all times knowing that he'd be faced with questions about it, and then the challenge of fending off the curious. One might even say he had fun with it.

But he'd allowed Tsunade to help him perfect a disguise for a mission. Not to gawk at him. Hokage or not, there was a line there and if she didn't…

"Nothing," Tsunade said simply and flipped his collar up. "It's just that you reminded me of an old friend." Deft hands replaced the scarf around his neck, using it to prop up the collar and settle for an Aburame look that probably seemed more natural and covered nearly as much.

"I know who I reminded you of," Kakashi said dryly. The sudden sense of betrayal, unexpected as it was, disappeared. That he could understand. He wasn't aware that Tsunade and his father had ever been close or anything, but he'd no doubt they'd known each other. He could allow a sad smile for a lost comrade's sake. "I'm not him."

"No, you aren't him." She agreed just as dryly and stepped back again. She met his eyes and raised her chin. "But you are someone I don't mind being seen with. Now, at least."

"Maa, I guess I can say the same…" he exhaled and put as much doubt as he could into the words.

"What?" Tsunade balled up her right fist and drew her arm back threateningly. It was teasing. Kakashi was at least seventy-five percent sure she was teasing. Sixty-five, at least. Being a cautious fellow, he hopped back anyway and quickly, yet smoothly offered. "I said, perhaps we should go now?"

"Yes," she said, eyes narrowed. "Yes. Perhaps we should."

Chapter Text

Sometimes Kakashi wondered what other people thought about when they visited villages or towns outside of their own. Did they unconsciously tally up all the good and bad points of what they saw in some sort of mental notebook? Was there a scale to determine whether the produce in a strange town was better than that of home? If they saw a nice apartment building, did they grow envious if their own village had no equivalent?

Kakashi knew that comparison was one of the basic ways people made sense of the universe. However, in his case such conjecture simply had no place.

Only Konoha was Konoha. So there was no comparison.

This town looked to be nice enough, though as far as such things went. From the approach he could see that it was prosperous, well tended, and lazy in the way that bigger towns often got. He walked in through the fortified gates with Tsunade, mentally assessing the ways he could get in or out should the need present itself. It was almost too easy and he gave up after six. That wasn't even counting the number of trees stretching their branches over the walls as if in open invitation for a ninja like him to run across.

The gate guard, a man who was distinguishable only for the size and ill-conceived implementation of his mustache, asked them their business in a bored tone. It was almost offensive.

The way he eye-groped Tsunade while ignoring Kakashi's answer was most definitely offensive.

Neither ninja batted an eye, not even at the man's smile and not-so subtle queries about Tsunade's availability. She laughed at him, lowering her eyes demurely, and took Kakashi's arm. Kakashi bit back a yelp of pain when that hand unconsciously tightened in anger as the man licked his lips, shrugged a shoulder, and urged them on.

She let go of him the moment they were out of sight and a familiar scowl drove off the smile.

"Cheer up," Kakashi advised. "He might be on duty when it is time to leave."

"We can only hope," Tsunade sniffed.

"I'll admit, I'm a little surprised though," Kakashi continued, "I mean, aren't you used to that sort of thing by now? Why does it bother you?"

Admittedly, there was a part of him that was baiting her. But in a way, he was also truly curious. Tsunade was a force to be reckoned with and not only due to her status as a ninja. She was a very good looking woman. So much so that Shikaku, brilliant, practical, hen-pecked Shikaku, had called her the most beautiful kunoichi in the village.

As a result there was no doubt that she'd been dealing with rude, offensive, sexist, or just plain stupid men for most of her life. The oogling by the gate guard was nothing compared to the reaction she would have likely gotten in her usual form. Surely it must get rather tiring to get so angry over each and every rude comment?

"Because not every woman can defend themselves like I can," Tsunade said.

He raised a brow and nodded. That was interesting. He changed the subject, "Scenic route?"

"The happy couple goes sightseeing?" Tsunade retorted but was already reaching for his arm once more. In truth, they hadn't spent more than a half-hour working out their cover story. New couple, blah blah blah, traveling to see blah blah, and if anyone asked Kakashi's face had been burned in a freak baking accident.

(Well, that was what he planned to say. Unknown to Kakashi, Tsunade was planning to blame his mouth covering on persisting bad breath due to terrifying dental issues).

Getting a sense of the streets by strolling about only made sense. It was a good way to get a feel for the quality of patrols and map out some escapes at the same time. As they did so, Tsunade smiled sunnily at his side, playing the part of his companion easily enough. Occasionally he leaned in and pointed at this or that, feigning a protective and even supercilious nature while they exchanged quick observations.

So far, so good.

When they finally got to the Inn they'd scouted out they were greeted by a robust woman who gushed over them like a grandmother over new babies. She had /just/ the perfect room for them and /oh/ had they seen the theater down the road it was playing the most romantic drama.

Tsunade giggled and leaned her head against Kakashi. In turn, he slipped his arm around her waist in an easy, but affectionate, embrace. He immediately felt her stiffen. It wasn't so much that the babbling woman would have noticed. In fact, if Tsunade hadn't been so close, he might not have noticed either. Or caught that her breath caught on her next inhalation.

The innkeeper kept talking. Tsunade gave no additional signs that anything was wrong, but instead delicately probed about where a potential lab facility might be (ooh, what was that big building over by the garden?).

Kakashi mused for a moment while giving every sign of paying perfect attention to the conversation. The conclusion was there, but he found himself a little reluctant to acknowledge it.

But, yes. It probably had been a while since anyone had embraced Tsunade, hadn't it?

"Ah, I should probably take our packs to the room," he smiled gallantly at them both, "But don't let me interrupt. You keep talking, my Chīsana hana." He deftly got out of her strike range.

The innkeeper beamed at the term of affection, corny as it was, so freely and publicly given. Tsunade was less pleased but never missed a beat. "Okay," the newly-dubbed little flower said, "I promise I'll be up very soon, my husband."

This sweetness was punctuated by the sharp force with which she thrust her pack into his arms. Despite the threat of imminent injury, Kakashi was relieved. He'd rather deal with an angry Tsunade than a sad one any day.

And, though it was somewhat cowardly, he'd rather get away from her for a bit so he wouldn't have to remember how long it'd been since he'd been hugged either.

… Anko draping herself on him didn't count.

Chapter Text

Dusk was falling and the town was shaking off the day's activities like a dog shaking off water before curling up on a rug. From Kakashi's vantage point on a rooftop he could see vendors packing up their wares in the distant market and shops turning on their outside lights as they prepared for new customers. Even the sound of voices, parents calling children home from the park, made their way to his lofty perch.

It wasn't his fault.

Kakashi banished the thought, shoving it down into the depths where it belonged. He was on a mission, he was at a target site, and he was waiting for his comrade. His focus should be on the tasks ahead and nothing more.

During their initial walk around the town, he and Tsunade had identified the lord's residence and his office. Either one could have provided clues about the poison being used, or if they were very lucky samples of the poison itself.

Tsunade had decided that it made sense to search the office first. After all, what sort of man left deadly poison in his house when he had small children running about? Kakashi, on the other hand, had pointed out that not all men were so careful and they knew nothing about the lord's character.

It was, admittedly, a very weak argument. What he didn't say was that he had a hunch about the mansion. He'd been ANBU for years and his hunches were conclusions that his subconscious mind put together while he wasn't paying attention. They were almost always right. That sort of thing was difficult to explain sometimes, so he didn't bother trying now.

The ensuing argument had started out friendly, but rapidly became filled with irritation on both sides. The lines of authority in regards to the mission were just blurred enough to make things complicated and neither of them felt like they should have to explain themselves.

Of course, it didn't help that once Tsunade had finally bowed to his insistence about where to check first, they had a new topic to cross metaphorical swords over. Tsunade had wanted to wait until it was well into the night to head out. Kakashi felt it made more sense to go when the dining hall was serving the mansion's staff.

It was her fault for being so loud.

The argument had gotten the attention of their landlady - their overly romantic and nosey landlady. The speed with which Tsunade had gone from outraged Hokage, certain that a jonin was screwing with her just because he could, to a flustered young woman was truly amazing. And when the landlady had chided them both, she'd even conjured up tears.

"Now, now," the landlady had soothed, "Go on. You two kiss and make up. It's not right that you should be upset with each other."

Perhaps it was a trap that Kakashi Hatake, Copy Ninja extraordinaire, could have wiggled out of. He could have used a joke, Shunshin no Jutsu or even just rudeness by telling the woman to mind her own business. But that would have been dangerous and there was no way that Hiro Soohoo, slightly naïve farmer scarred by a rogue baking accident, could have done any of it.

So there'd been nothing for it.

He'd had to kiss Tsunade.

And, once the landlady had protested that she'd seen better kisses given to a pillow, he'd had to kiss her properly. Pulling her close against him, as if she belonged nowhere else, the scent of her hair filling his nose while the taste of her lips and tongue filled his mouth…

It was her fault for that soft little noise she'd made in the back of her throat…

Fine. It would have been fine! So she was a good kisser. So what? He'd kissed and been kissed by skilled lips before. So what if he'd enjoyed it?

So what if he'd found himself focused too much on kissing Tsunade, a woman who hid behind her temper as often as he hid behind her mask, who possessed a sharp wit, a rebellious heart, and a body that had inspired more than a few passages in his beloved books…

…. and not nearly at all of Tsunade, Hokage, and woman of his father's generation.

It didn't matter. Everything still would have been fine.

Except…

The door closed behind the innkeeper, the smug woman giving the two their "space". Tsunade heard the soft scrape of the panel hitting the frame and immediately pushed Kakashi away. The shove wasn't completely surprising. It was Tsunade, after all. He was just grateful she didn't send him through the wall while she was at it.

However, the sheer venom in her gaze as she glared at him caught him completely off-guard.

He raised a hand to his hair, doing his best to look non-threatening despite the whirlwind of his thoughts. "So, that was interesting, wasn't it?" He smiled at her.

Wrong choice of words apparently, as the glare became even fiercer. "If you /ever/ do that again…." She hissed at him. Her lips twisted in something akin to disgust and she wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

Kakashi went very still and his eyes narrowed.

She actually wiped her mouth?

"We all do unpleasant things to accomplish a mission," he said flatly, "Something I'd expect a genin to understand, much less a woman who claims the title of Hokage." His eyes were hard and he nodded his chin to the door, "I'd also expect a Hokage to speak with a little more discretion, given the thinness of the walls here."

Kakashi shifted his weight on the slates of the rooftop, watching the last of the light fade from the sky. That had been it. There'd been no salvaging anything after that. Her expression had done some sort of twisting thing, and even with all his experience reading people, he hadn't been able to tease out all the threads in it. He'd braced for rage, for a fight, for any number of things that never actually came.

Instead, Tsunade had just stared at him until those emotions turned to stone in her eyes. Then she'd calmly told him how they were going to complete the mission. He was to head out and scout the mansion and see if he could find any patterns in staff movement that they could exploit. She would stay behind (she didn't give a reason) and follow him as soon as possible.

Until she joined him, however, he was not to enter the mansion. He was not to go in alone. This was her decision, as Hokage, and he was to obey. There was no discussion on the matter.

He'd nodded and left without a word.

It wasn't my fault.

He repeated it to himself.

As long as he could keep his unruly thoughts going back to that phrase, and stayed away from replays of caught breaths and irrationally hurt feelings… he'd be fine.

Chapter Text

The light thump on the rooftop could have been the result of a bird landing, a particularly dainty squirrel hopping or a Hokage joining her teammate. Kakashi didn't need to turn around to tell it was the last of the three. Instead, he remained at the edge of the roof, standing over a very promising window just a couple stories below.

That window was, without a doubt, the very best way for the shinobi to slip into the mansion. He'd had more than enough time to survey every other opportunity, weigh various factors like effort and the likelihood of being spotted from the street, and even run through some speculative scenarios about what might be waiting on the other side of each entry point. So he was certain.

"Do you remember what we're looking for, brat?" Tsunade asked from behind him. Her voice held nothing but her usual mild irritation. However, Kakashi found it telling that she stayed where she was, some two yards away. By the shifting of fabric he heard, her arms were probably crossed over her chest.

It was going to be like that then?

"Well," Kakashi said with deliberate nonchalance, "I thought we were looking for a sample of the poison being used, or even better, a sample of an antidote? Did something change?"

"No," Tsunade returned. "But we need to talk before we go any further."

"Mmm?" Kakashi was more than a little wary at this announcement. He found himself thinking longingly of missions with Guy or Yamato. They were good, solid men who, if they'd been unlucky (or lucky) enough to have to kiss him in order to distract an innkeeper, wouldn't have felt the need to talk about it afterwards.

Of course, that led immediately to picturing actually kissing either man.

Or both.

Kakashi sighed and sadly mused that sometimes his imagination was too vivid for his own good.

"…can't happen again." Tsunade was saying.

Kakashi frowned, focusing back on Tsunade. "With all due respect, I'm not sure that's something we can control." He raised a hand, "Don't get me wrong! Obviously, avoiding the… uhh… situation is better. But sometimes a mission takes an unexpected turn and things like that happen."

"And sometimes a mission can be lost because things like that happen," Tsunade returned firmly. "We're Konoha ninja. We're better than that. Besides, if we decide where the lines are ahead of time, it never has to get that far."

Decide where the lines were? What, like whether he should keep his hands at waist level or above? (He'd meant to. His hands had just sort of drifted.)

Any good ninja, or even any ninja who'd been on more than a handful of missions, knew that plans seldom survived a first encounter. You only built in contingencies for things that were mission critical or for things that truly mattered. Anything else was a waste of time and a cluttering of tactics. Tsunade had to know that…

No, she did know that.

So the question was: why did structuring an improvised gesture of affection mean so much to Tsunade? It had just been a kiss.

Alright. It had been a rather heated kiss, but still…

Suspicions bloomed and the implications of what might have caused such a need for control brought Kakashi up short. He looked sharply at Tsunade, searching intently for confirmation.

She stood mission-ready, garb and hair fiercely utilitarian. She'd uncrossed her arms from earlier and her expression was neutral, perfectly and flawlessly neutral.

His gut tightened. Neutrality was not a mask he was used to seeing on Tsunade's face. She was loud and aggressive. Hiding her reactions was not her usual way of handling a matter.

He thought back to her expression and body language right after they'd kissed.

Eyes wide, stance subtly defensive, voice tight with tension. And, had her hands been shaking?

…

His hands clenched into fists.

"Alright," Kakashi said very calmly. He'd break into Tsunade's files when they got back to Kohona. It might be difficult but it wasn't beyond his skill. There would be a lot of mission reports to sift through, and he might have to do some cross-referencing, but it didn't matter. One way or another, he'd find out who was responsible for Tsunade's fear. And if the people who'd hurt his Hokage were not already dead, they would be very shortly. "So what lines then?"

"As much as it pains me to admit it," Tsunade shifted her weight, "I think that I'll have to resign myself to following your lead."

"What?" Kakashi was surprised by the gesture of trust.

Tsunade's jaw tightened, "What? I'm not blind, Kakashi-san. You've got more experience than I do right now. So, I'll trust your judgment on the best way to do things."

Kakashi supposed that was true. But somehow he wouldn't have thought that his experience (such as it was) would be important. But then again, if it came to the mission, selling a kiss without crossing a line would be a matter of experience wouldn't it?

Something felt off about all of this. But, the important thing was that Tsunade was putting a great deal of trust in him, personally. And that made him feel… he shook his head, getting his unruly thoughts back in order. "Maa, I… appreciate that."

Tsunade raised one finger, "I have two exceptions, though."

That sounded a little more reasonable. After all, hand-wandering could certainly become a potential issue of contention.

"I am the medical ninja on this mission and I am still the Hokage," Tsunade said firmly, "So if I give an order based on those factors, I expect to be obeyed."

Kakashi stared at her.

"I don't think it will come to that," Tsunade apparently took his silence for an argument, "You are the mission leader and I acknowledge that. But just as I'm trusting you with the mission decisions in general, you'll need to trust me if something comes up in regards to the poison or something with political implications."

"Ahh," Kakashi bought himself a moment. Then he smiled at her, "Of course, you're right. I think that makes perfect sense."

Her eyes narrowed, "Kakashi."

"Mmm?"

"What did you think we were talking about just now?"

"Nothing! Oh, look! Here's a window in. Let's get going, Tsunade-sama. We're losing valuable time."

Without another word he stepped off the roof and swung into the mansion.

Chapter Text

Taste was a sense lodged thoroughly in the eyes of the beholder. Several encounters with other cultures, casual discussions with other like-minded men, and even the inexplicable reaction so often given to his favorite reading material, had proven that fact to Kakashi a long time ago.

That being said, Hikaru Fukuda's eyes must have been shallow indeed to hold so little of that undervalued commodity. If his hallways were any indication, his home was a veritable monument to ostentatious displays and tacky wealth.

From the dark wood panels dizzyingly engraved to the thick velvet curtains, the overall effect of the décor was both dreary and headache inducing. Here and there tapestries hung, chosen more for the gold-shot thread in their designs than for any meaning behind the scenes that they showed.

They weren't exactly helpful either. Their presence meant a muffling of sound that would be nearly complete given the thick rug that ran along the length of the hallway. Kakashi and Tsunade, of course, needed no such help to remain unheard but the servants or guards in the house would certainly be benefiting from it.

All in all, Kakashi had never seen a more moving argument for a traditionally decorated home in his life.

Tsunade apparently agreed with this silent assessment, given the very soft snort she gave as she looked up and down the hall. They wasted no more time in shared distaste, however, but began their search right away. Tsunade slipped into the first room silently. As she searched it for any sign of the poison, Kakashi kept watch for signs of incipient company.

And for a while everything was lost in the unique focus that Kakashi associated with any involved mission. Time did not stretch nor contract for him but instead it simply sort of morphed around his individual view of the moment. It was a helpful sort of synchronicity that meant every second was filled with awareness of his surroundings, yet there was no sense of those seconds being overwhelmed by either input or adrenaline.

It also meant that when the last room searched he already knew what their next move would be without even having to think about it.

He jerked his chin to a stairway that they'd discovered early on.

"Living quarters?" Tsunade asked as she shadowed him. He understood her doubt. Searching the bedrooms did seem to be a long-shot, after all. The office, the workshop, or even the small meditation room on this floor had all been more likely candidates to hold poison labs or incriminating notebooks. Since they had all been empty, it would not have been unreasonable to move on to the Fukuda's office in the municipal building – much as she had wanted to do from the beginning.

Kakashi had no intention of giving up yet on the house yet, though. Instead, he nodded to Tsunade and took the stairs down to the next floor two at a time. She followed him, any skepticism left absent from both her voice and body language.

This hallway was much like the one above, varying only in the fact that the doorknobs displayed were gilt and crystal instead of silver. Kakashi knew that there was a large garden on the grounds, carefully hidden away from the city and the noise by high walls. He bet that Fukuda would have the windows of his bedroom suite open up to it, despite the fact that it was not at the back of the house but to the western side.

That meant he had a good idea which room on this level was his and he ran past all others in favor of targeting that one instead.

They had almost made it to the broad double-doors when the sound of approaching voices from the stairwell required a quick change of plan. Almost in unison, the two ninja bolted for the nearest safe haven.

That happened to be an unexplored door. Tsunade reached it first and, opening it quickly, darted inside. Kakashi's gaze was fixed on the stairwell, one hand already molded into the first sign of a sleep jutsu, as he swiftly followed.

He ran straight into Tsunade.

Tsunade, in turn, was shoved hard against the shelves that she'd so narrowly avoided smacking into just a heartbeat before.

Despite the tangle of limbs, hissing of curses, and stepping on of toes, the copy-ninja's famed skill enabled him to shut the door to the exceptionally small broom-closet with a soft click, just as servants entered the hallway.

Chapter Text

"I've come to a decision," Kakashi said casually, his breath stirring the hair at the back of Tsunade's head. Goosebumps fled down her arms, just like panicking chickens, at the reverberations of his lowered voice.

"What exactly would that be?" she said tensely, eyebrows twitching.

In the background, outside in the hallway, a group of servants were enjoying the rare treat of an absent master. They exchanged gossip, laughed, and showed no signs of returning to their duties any time soon.

This blatant lack of work ethic was enough to make Tsunade want to scream.

The fact that all of her efforts to gain a little distance from her partner only resulted in her getting a face full of toilet paper or having her backside pressed up hard against him may also have had something to do with it…

"I think there has to be some sort of divine presence in the universe," Kakashi told her. There wasn't room in the tight space for the copy ninja to have both hands in his pockets; he had to settle for just half of his usual easy pose. The other hand was left to idly hold onto a shelf in front of Tsunade, his arm hovering carefully an inch or so above her shoulder.

"Really?" Tsunade asked, briefly taken aback. For a moment she felt obscurely guilty. Things of a philosophical nature were certainly not foremost on her mind. The warmth of Kakashi's chest against her back, the pressure of his hips, and whether she was a dirty old woman for not being able to completely ignore either, on the other hand…

"Yes, I think so. I mean, the absurdity of this situation alone is fairly convincing, don't you think?"

Tsunade began to smile in spite of herself. He had a point. Two elite ninja forced to hide in a criminally small broom-closet to avoid a bunch of silly civilians? "There is that." She raised her chin, tone teasingly snippy once more, "Though, if that's the case, it seems that this deity isn't very fond of you."

"That thought had occurred to me," Kakashi acknowledged, his tone rather pained.

She smiled fully now, feeling obscurely at ease with the expression given the blanketing dark. She even found herself relaxing a little. Of all the things that could go wrong on a mission, this was fairly benign, after all. Their cover wasn't broken and eventually those lazy-do-nothings out there would move on and allow them to continue in peace. They'd find what they needed by the end of the night, she'd whip up an antidote, get it out to their contacts in the city and that would be that.

Back to Konoha.

Back to shouting at hyper-active blondes and the solid presence of her desk all day.

Back to drinking away the afternoons and sending good men out on tough missions.

Back to being Hokage.

Her smile didn't disappear but it faded a little. She enjoyed her job. It had given her a sense of fulfillment and hope that she hadn't had in years. However, it had been … unexpectedly nice… to be on a mission again.

She drew a deep breath that smelled of cleaning supplies and Kakashi. Like most ninja who had spent time in ANBU, Kakashi was very careful with his scent. Konoha had the edge when it came to conventional tracking, but that didn't mean that other villages didn't have their own methods. As a result, the man's scent was faint, even in this proximity. Nearly overwhelmed by her shampoo (light as it was), Tsunade found herself straining to pick out the elusive details of it.

Yes, there it was. Metal, a touch of unwashed dog and the slightest hint of masculine sweat.

Kakashi swallowed. He swallowed very hard indeed. Tsunade blinked, momentarily confused.

Ah. Well. She was leaning back against him now, wasn't she? She'd even turned her head, nose nearly buried against his arm and her hips had tilted…

Oh!

Blushing furiously, she pulled away. Unforgiving shelves cut into her thighs and arms painfully, but it was the least she could do. Strangely, the confirmation that she was not too old or too "unpleasant" to keep a man (or more specifically Kakashi) from reacting like a man when she was practically grinding against him did not give her any sense of vindication.

"I'm sorry," she apologized and immediately regretted it. She should have let the situation die unacknowledged.

Kakashi made a non-committal, almost thoughtful, sound in return.

Unable to cure the awkwardness with either violence or any other means of dismissal, Tsunade searched frantically for some topic that could distract them both. It wasn't as if she'd jumped him, after all. She just… well… he… it wasn't like…

"For what, by the way?" Kakashi spoke from the silence, curiosity the only thing audible in his tone.

Tsunade huffed skeptically. It was a little late for him to pretend that he hadn't noticed her or that he hadn't, on some level, enjoyed their proximity.

"I mean," Kakashi clarified with exaggerated patience, "are you sorry that you were cozying up to me, or are you sorry that I didn't cozy up to you right back?"

Tsunade's eyes flew wide. She nearly called up chakra to her fists, ready to send the arrogant man through the wall, mission or no. In fact, she even started to turn before she was brought up short by the realization of how much squirming turning in such tight confines would require.

Common sense had that split second to make its protesting voice heard. She couldn't maim Kakashi before he helped her finish this mission, she needed him. Even more importantly, if she broke him now, it would be almost as good as admitting to him that he was right.

"Pervert," she retorted instead. "I wasn't the one clearly thinking clearly inappropriate thoughts."

"Really?" he pondered slowly, obviously aware of his upper hand. "I'm not entirely sure of that."

He was teasing her. She could practically sense the grin smothered beneath his eyes.

Tsunade took another deep breath. "Kakashi-kun," she said very sweetly.

"Yes?" The tone alone gave him pause enough to be wary, the saccharine honorific was just icing on the cake.

"A ninja of your skill doesn't need both arms, does he?" She reached up and grabbed him, fingers stretching around bicep. Those same fingers dug in.

"Ha ha. I was just kidding, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi changed his tune very quickly, "I know you that you couldn't possibly find a lazy, practically retired, rogue like me irresistible in such tight confines."

For a moment, just a moment, Tsunade almost allowed herself to believe there was a soft lift of a serious question behind the careful soothing and false franticness.

She jerked down on his arm, hard.

Kakashi hissed a breath in the anticipation of pain, only to exhale it a moment later when none came. Tsunade had pulled his arm down to her shoulder, the one he'd been so studiously avoiding touching, and no further.

"Stop holding your arm up like that," she snapped. "You'll strain a muscle that way. It's annoying."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said. He shifted behind her and added neutrally, "And maybe you can stop giving yourself bruises against the shelves, too?"

Ah, he'd noticed then? Grudgingly, she started to step back, cautious, ready to keep their contact as light as possible.

Then she changed her mind. Impertinent brat. Why should she be so careful of him when he was so pleased with teasing her? Two could do that. She pressed herself back again, this time firmly and with a vindictive little twist.

Kakashi's cough sounded a little strangled, but he said nothing.

Silence returned and left them standing there, not at all comfortable but not quite uncomfortable either. Tsunade drummed her fingers on her thigh for a moment before she shook her head.

"I wonder how much longer they…" Then it dawned on her. She closed her mouth with a snap.

It dawned on Kakashi too, "They've been gone for quite a while, haven't they?"

The silence provided the answer.

Damn it.

Chapter Text

There were several Shinobi rules about the danger of underestimation. There was one about threats from unexpected angles, another about the power of a coordinated team, and even one about the usefulness of masonry trowels.

But as far as Kakashi knew there wasn't a single one about the risks involved in getting between a determined woman and her goal. And following Tsunade down the hallway as she strode to the next unchecked door, he was more certain than ever that there really should be.

It'd only been his considerable reflexes that had allowed him to open the closet door before Tsunade shoved him straight through it. The hallway was, as they'd both suspected, entirely empty. He'd braced himself for a follow up punch, expecting the Hokage's temper to need that additional outlet given the perceived humiliation and his previous train of less-than-pure thoughts.

However, the hit never came. Instead, Tsunade had just straightened her shoulders and started for that last door, kami help anyone who got in her way. The surprise of this, though initially pleasant, soured almost immediately on Kakashi's tongue. He prided himself on his ability to read situations and people, on knowing who was about to strike when. This deviation from what he'd anticipated was disturbing and he refused to think too long on why.

Instead, the elite jonin studied the woman as she stormed down the hall and methodically cataloged every detail. His eye missed nothing, from the tilt of her head (speaking to a hard jawline) to the roll of her step (indicating she would be plowing through obstacles rather than dodging them).

Admittedly, there weren't many conclusions he could draw from the oscillation of her braids, swinging hypnotically over the curves of her backside but he noticed that too…

… in fact, his gaze lingered there for just a fraction of a second too long...

...

Damn it yet again.

"Ready?" Tsunade murmured, taking up position at the door. Of course he was. Any realizations, sinking as they might be, were neatly tucked away for the time being as he came up beside her.

She didn't reach for the doorknob right away, though. Instead, her head tilted forward as she listened and then cast a quick look to Kakashi.

He nodded briefly. He heard it too. Someone was in there, though not moving around. Perhaps asleep? He gestured for Tsunade to move. It was better to have a genjutsu specialist lead off with a potential witness, especially when discretion was required. He'd take point on this.

He flipped up his hitai-ate and Obito's eye whirled, sucking down chakra to feed him back information in return. Then he opened the door.

The room, even in shadow, was a pink and white concoction. Lace curtains draped frothily around the windows, white furniture boasted doilies and nearly every horizontal surface was covered with a toy of some sort. A western style bed, canopied and heavy, obscured but did not hide the slight form of a child sleeping within.

A girl, probably between nine and ten.

Kakashi stepped back and, seeing absolutely no need for his sharingan, slipped his hitai-ate down again. There were still four more rooms on this level, and then the offices to search if nothing here panned out.

However, before he could finish shutting the door, Tsunade raised her hand to stop him. Her eyes narrowed and she slipped past him into the room. Skillfully she maneuvered around the scattered blocks, dolls and marbles that littered the floor and moved quite purposefully for the tall dresser in the corner. Once there, she scanned it, but only for a moment. Then she stretched, using a low stool to gain some height, and pulled down the plush bear that had been set rather jauntily on its high top.

Tucking it under her arm she rejoined Kakashi in the hallway. He raised a brow and she gestured for him to shut the door as she led them a few judicious feet away, studying the toy.

"I thought you preferred pigs, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked. She had found something. He could tell by the way she looked up at him, smiling smugly.

"What? It's rather sweet don't you think?" she said.

Kakashi took her word for it. He only got brief glimpse of the bear's black thread nose before Tsunade turned it over in her hands and found the concealed zipper in its back. She opened up the toy and her finger probed around inside. There she found a glass vial, the blood red liquid inside looking particular ominous against the white fluff.

"There's not much left," Kakashi noted. "How much do you want to bet that means it's the poison, and not the antidote?"

"There are some bets even I know not to take," Tsunade sniffed and then scowled. "What kind of man puts poison in his child's teddy bear?"

"Well," Kakashi shrugged, "A bad man, I imagine?" He wasn't thrilled about the placement either but he wasn't entirely surprised.

Tsunade gave him a wry look.

By some silent signal, they both turned and started towards the broad windows of their escape. There was no reason to linger now. Tsunade's mind was already jumping towards the steps she'd need to deconstruct the poison, Kakashi's to the best way to threaten the lord now that he had additional reason to dislike him.

They'd made it about halfway there before the shouts of alarm and pounding of running feet reached them.

It wasn't like Kakashi and Tsunade had not been prepared to deal with the occasional errant servant or nosy interloper. The chances were high, after all, that they'd get spotted at least once while searching a house the size of Fukuda-sama's.

The missing nin that showed up at the first sign of a genjutsu from Kakashi, however…

There'd been six of them and their battered hiate spoke to a previous allegiance to Kumo. At least one of them was a sensor and medic, probably how they'd been alerted to descend on that particular hallway, while three of the others had to be at Jonin level skill.

On any other day, in any other situation, Kakashi wouldn't have been concerned. Outnumbered the Konoha ninja might be, but they also had well deserved reputations for skill and, in Tsunade's case, temper.

Unfortunately, the circumstances favored the enemy. Kakashi and Tsunade couldn't afford to allow the house to be significantly damaged during the battle. If word got out that a group of ninja had been fighting in Fukuda's halls, unsettling questions would be raised. Fukuda would have to give answers to any rumors that might arise and his position might become even more precarious.

As a result, Tsunade was forced to pull her punches, Kakashi limit most of his ninjutsu, and both had to bend over backwards to not only control their own impact, but that of the enemy as well. Luckily, the legendary Sannin was well used to close coordination with another team member and Minato's student was no slouch at team work either. More than once Kakashi threw himself out of a defensible position to counter a jutsu only to find that Tsunade was at his flank, making sure there was no chance for anyone to press him. And when the enemy wind user threatened to gain the advantage of the increasingly irate blonde by remaining far out of fist range during his attacks, it was Kakashi that took him down. Eventually, the enemy nin had bugged out, disappearing with their unconscious comrades.

All in all, Kakashi felt pretty good about the whole thing.

They retreated back to the hotel room, slipping in the narrow window past the judgmental eyes of the ceramic cats who plotted together on the frame.

Kakashi hit the ground and immediately reached for his weapons pouch. It was unlikely they'd been followed, but if the other ninja had a chakra sensor with them it meant that this was likely only a reprieve and not an ending to the battle. Once they'd licked their wounds and come up with a strategy they'd start searching, and it behooved the Konoha ninja to be ready.

"How long do you think you'll need?" Kakashi asked casually, unspooling a length of wire.

"I'm not sure," Tsunade said tensely. She took the storage scrolls from her back and began summoning the bits and pieces of a field lab, "But I'd start out with at least six hours."

Kakashi considered this. "We'll stay here then. If we need to, we can relocate in the morning after we take another romantic stroll about the village."

Tsunade made a non-committal sound, fabric rustling.

"I wasn't aware of such a large group of ex-Kumo nin operating in the area," Kakashi commented, fingers and eyes intent on setting kunai in place but mind already racing to point out something that didn't feel quite right.

"Neither was I," Tsunade said, and the words were punctuated by a tink of sound. "But let's handle one complication at a time…"

Tink?

"Maa?" Kakashi looked over his shoulder, curiously.

He shot to his feet, the trap under his hands immediately forgotten.

"You'd better not be ogling…" Tsunade grumbled under her breath without looking up to check whether it was the case. Instead, she pulled another blood coated sliver of glass from her chest and dropped it in a waiting petri dish.

"Not even remotely," Kakashi said automatically. Ironically, it was true. Perhaps some day, in the distant future when he was bored or perhaps even reading a beloved passage of his books, he'd look back on this moment and ogle the memory of Tsunade's mostly bare curves highlighted by a silver satin bra.

Today, however, he was much more focused on the mingled red of blood and the unknown poison, smeared on her skin.

"Here," Tsunade dipped one hand down moderately ample cleavage and came up with the inch or so of vial that had remained protected. Kakashi stepped forward to take it. The fact that there was at least a dropper full of the poison left did not cheer him very much at all.

"Stupid," Tsunade shook her head, hands as swift as a darting humming bird. "He was just flailing, so I didn't bother to block. His wrist guard just caught the worst possible place."

"Of course. Because normally the space between your breasts is so secure," Kakashi brushed the argument aside, "This poison has no cure, Tsunade-sama. We shou…"

"Yet," Tsunade interrupted.

He looked at her, jaw tightening

She looked up at him, eyes glinting. "It has no cure yet. But it will. And with any luck, within six hours too."

"How quickly does it work when it's been introduced to the blood stream like that?" Kakashi's eye followed what seemed to be the last piece of glass, shimmering red, as it was pulled free.

"Not fast enough to beat me," Tsunade said firmly, full of confidence and more than that, stubborn determination.

Chapter Text

"We can't allow them to regroup," she'd said.

And he'd had to agree. Leaving an active enemy at your back, especially when your full attention couldn't be devoted to watching said back, was a big no-no.

"Fukuda-san needs to get the message that his actions are not meeting with the Daimyo's approval," she'd pointed out.

This was another fact on which he could not disagree. They had roughly two days before the lord was scheduled to return from his trip, during which time they not only needed to create the antidote but they also needed to set up that message for Fukuda and make plans to ensure that the antidote would get to the parties that were in need of it.

And finally, "You're getting under foot, brat. Get out of here."

That last one had pricked at his feelings, somewhat. Really, there was no need to be rude.

Or maybe there was. Kakashi had felt distinct reluctance leaving the hotel room to go track down the ex-Kumo nin. Ostensibly, there was no need for the gnawing anxiety that even leaving a clone behind had not alleviated. Tsunade was the best medic-nin of her life time. Some back-water lord's home-brewed poison wasn't going to counter years of medical experience, senju life energy, and large stores of chakra.

Oddly enough, though, those comforting facts didn't change the rather uncomfortable fact that he was … worried for his Hokage.

And that didn't change the fact that he had a job to do.

It did mean that he found a way to tie up all of his tasks together to save time, though.

Finding the enemy nin had been fairly straight forward. Pakkun, who for some reason kept giving him side-ways looks and even offered the sympathy of his puppy-supple paw before being dismissed, had picked up the scent quickly enough from the mansion. The ex-Kumo taken up residence in a warehouse on a disreputable wharf and Kakashi had pulled out some of his lesser used water based jutsus to take advantage of the nearby element. Once his initial blow was struck, he'd summoned the rest of the pack and made relatively short work of the unprepared men.

That was one hour and forty minutes.

He'd salvaged one of the corpses at random. Perhaps one might have been better than another, but he didn't feel as if he wanted to waste time in deciding which dead man was the most scary. Instead, he picked one that wasn't going to fall apart on him as he carried it around and that still had intact eyes.

Then he took his newfound friend back to the mansion.

One could only serve under Minato or know Kushina for so long without picking up a few things here and there. Seals were not Kakashi's specialty, but the ones he knew he understood inside and out. In very little time he added a few creative horrors to the corpse he carried and then sealed it above Fukuda's bed. Having no desire to terrify innocent family members or servants, he keyed the seal to release it's grisly contents at Fukuda's presence in the bed and nothing else. He even ran the corpse through with wire so that when it did fall it would hover just inches above the hapless man, giving him a good long look before a timed jutsu formula teleported the body far far away.

He was fairly sure Fukuda would understand the message.

Three and a half hours.

He cheated a little bit on the last part. He researched thoroughly, no matter how impatient he was, and got the name of a trusted doctor who serviced most of the high-income families. Then, henged to disguise his identity, he broke into the doctor's house and became very persuasive about the man accepting the antidote once it was ready and keeping his mouth shut about details.

Six hours and ten minutes.

As daylight threatened the horizon, Kakashi summoned what remained of his chakra and fairly flew back to the hotel.

--

Tsunade remained buried in her work, ignoring everything about the world around her for a long time. Her concentration was absolute as she isolated chemical structures, researched compounds and regulated breathing that was becoming increasingly strained.

Normally, the poison wasn't a quick killer. Normally, however, it was ingested and not introduced directly into the blood stream so close to the heart. Luckily, her knowledge and unparalleled control of her own body meant that she could keep herself upright and functioning despite the damage it was attempting to cause. She used her skill to set blocks in place, divert blood, encourage white blood cells and even isolate tissue that was becoming too costly to salvage. With the exception of a little difficulty breathing, she was doing fine.

Which was all very good.

Except that it was taking a great deal of effort.

By the time she'd set the fourth component through its paces, she decided it was probably best to be a little more pro-active. Her hands formed signs and she carefully siphoned off a measured amount of chakra from the seal on her forehead and dedicated it to cell regeneration around her heart.

When the glow of the jutsu faded, she was aware that she wasn't alone.

"You're supposed to be on the roof," she said, forcing her breathing to something less rapid as she turned to face the clone perched on the end of the bed.

"I'm supposed to be on watch," it corrected, visible eye crinkling upwards in humor that wasn't entirely convincing, "Which I can do from here as easily as from the roof." It gestured, "And you are taking a break, aren't you? So I won't get in the way."

This was a fine counter to any arguments Tsunade might have had about the clone being a disruption and she vaguely wondered how it'd managed to time its arrival for it.

"Yes, but only a few minutes," Tsunade said and searched for a way to reassert herself. The contrast between the clone's subtly battle-ready stance and its oh-so-casual drawl gave it to her. She offered it a faint smile and an arched brow, "Could it be that you're concerned?" She snorted and gestured, "Ridiculous. Though, I imagine it would be quite a scandal if I died while on a mission with you. Someone might accuse you of knocking me off just to become Hokage."

The clone smirked but the gesture died as it dropped its eyes and nodded to her chest. "Gray is not a good color on you."

Tsunade glanced down to see spidery thin lines creeping up over her curves towards her throat – a visible marker of the poison's progress through her veins.

"It looks much worse than it is." Tsunade raised her chin, making a show of dismissing the concern. "And I've got plenty of chakra to keep healing myself for quite some time yet."

The clone didn't look overtly reassured. Tsunade wasn't surprised. She'd told Kakashi that things would take at least six hours.

It'd only been three and she was already tapping into her chakra reserves.

Tsunade kept kicking the clone out of the room but, like a bad penny or someone she owed money, it continued to come back. She'd be grabbing a beaker and the warm wash of its familiar presence would politely nudge at her awareness. Then she'd glance over her shoulder only to find the clone leaning against the table by the window, studiously pretending to read the orange covered pornography Kakashi so adored.

She eventually gave up on working in privacy.

Not that the clone was being distracting. No, on the contrary, it was quiet as a mouse. In fact, she found that it was almost … nice… to feel it in the room. Not only did it sooth her instinctive wariness to have a trusted comrade at her side, but it was also good to know that Kakashi himself wasn't running into trouble as evidenced by the continued presence of his clone.

Of course, it was less nice to know that she had an audience to every bout of light-headedness and every cut-short breath. Eventually spots began dancing in front of her eyes and she had to swallow her pride and sit on the bed for a moment.

The clone looked over the edge of its book, studying her, before it sighed. It put the book away reluctantly, "I guess there's nothing for it. Tsunade-sama, is there anything that He can bring you?" The emphasis on the pronoun made it clear who it meant.

Tsunade stiffened up sharply, "No, and don't you dare dismiss yourself!"

The clone gestured at her, indicating the spreading evidence of poison, the paling skin, and the cramping fingers she'd been trying to hide. "He needs to know."

"He does know," Tsunade countered. "He knew when he left and it's not as if he can help at all. Besides, he's dealing with his own mission right now. He doesn't need to be burdened with non-essential details."

The clone's eyes went dark, reacting poorly to either the dismissal of Kakashi's skills or the denial of his right to worry about a team mate. "I seem to recall you gave Him control of the mission." it said, tone carefully light, "Usually that means that He should decide what is essential."

"Not this time," she said flatly. "This falls under my expertise as a medic," her eyes flickered briefly, "and as Hokage." She didn't want to explain herself, she really didn't. But both the clone's expression, painted in the subtle hues of Kakashi's stubbornness, and the memory of their last argument compelled her.

"It's not just that he can't help," she relented, "His mission is essential. And he's going up against at least five enemy nin. Of course he can handle it, but there's no need for him to be distracted by a situation he can't change."

"You don't know him very well if you think that he is so easily distracted, Hokage-sama," the clone said quietly. It looked away, though, and Tsunade knew she'd said something that resonated.

"I know he's not easily distracted," Tsunade agreed. "I just…" she broke off, throat unexpectedly closing and leaving her struggling for breath. The clone straightened, resolute once more, and she blindly reached for a pillow to fling at it, hard and fast. It dodged and the pillow hit the wall with a small explosion of feathers.

"I…said… don't!" Tsunade snarled through gasps. "And I don't have time to argue. I need to get back to what I was doing and… I need to concentrate. Stay and keep me safe or go and leave me at the mercy of an attack."

Naked fact could be very unkind, but she was not above using it.

Torn by loyalty and (perhaps, she thought) even friendship, the clone was silent for a few moments. "He won't be pleased," it said finally.

"No," Tsunade agreed. "No matter what you choose, I imagine he won't be pleased at all. But there's nothing you can do." A precise burst of chakra eased up the pressure in her lungs and she took a cautious breath. Then she stood up and added, crisply, "Except, go back on the roof. I'm tired of seeing that perverted book."

It had been five hours and forty minutes.

Chapter Text

It was very rare for Kakashi, Copy Ninja of Konoha, to have any hesitation when it came to deciding an appropriate course of action. Indecision was a fatal flaw in battle and, frankly, there was very little in his personal life that needed a great deal of thought one way or the other. After all, he'd long ago come up with a system for deciding which Icha Icha book to read next, and after that everything else was easy.

This situation, however...

As soon as he'd made it back to the hotel rooftop his clone dismissed itself and its memories became his. His dispassion, so carefully kept in place during the mission, was overwhelmed by the newly acquired hours of helpless frustration, the fast-forwarded images of Tsunade deteriorating before his eyes, and the burgeoning fear that by the end of this mission he'd have another reason to visit the memorial stone.

Naturally, he wasted no time in bursting through the hotel window to check on her, see her, help her. The kunai flung at his head by the trap he hadn't bothered to disarm wasn't even consciously registered. Instead his eyes zeroed in on the slightly surprised but not really alarmed figure of his Hokage as the most important thing in the room, pointy objects be damned.

That's when it hit him.

Not the kunai - that he caught absently, automatically reversing his grip on the hilt as it went by.

No, what really hit him was the fact that Tsunade was, in fact, his Hokage.

But somehow she was also more than just that.

If she'd been just his Hokage, he could have relaxed now that he'd verified she was still upright and conscious. He would have still been concerned, of course, but not nearly as much.

Instead he was struggling between the impulses to yell at her for being so stubborn or to throw her over his shoulder and high-tail it back to Konoha and Shizune, the mission be damned.

He would not feel such dread, such a sense of encompassing loss, at the thought of losing her.

…just as he'd lost everyone else who'd ever become precious to him.

Kakashi threw the caught kunai to the side, burying it inches deep in the wood flooring. With grim determination he deliberately shoved his "revelation" into the corner of his mind marked "later". Right now he needed to be calm to see clearly, to evaluate just how bad things were, and to decide what to do next.

On the surface, it didn't look too alarming. Tsunade was standing by the desk, glaring at him. Her shoulders were set, resolute and strong. Brown eyes were highlighted with dark circles but were also as hard as granite and twice as resolved. She looked, if not hearty, at least healthy.

A closer look, however, showed the gray lines dancing up her throat, the myriad burst capillaries in her eyes, and the fingernails that had gone yellow-white.

Her breathing was far too careful to be natural.

"You realize," Tsunade said dryly, into the strained silence, "That we're going to have to explain that gouge you just made." She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled so predictably that it almost seemed like everything was fine.

Kakashi swallowed. There it was, laid out before him. He could force her back to the Leaf, and likely get himself put into the hospital for it later, or he could trust her. Trust not only her strength and her skill, but trust the decision she was making about her own health and the mission.

He trusted Tsunade with his life every time he accepted a mission at her request.

He supposed he had no choice but to trust her with her own life.

Of course, the fact that he wasn't entirely sure he could force her to leave without getting at least two or three bones broken for his effort, didn't exactly slip past his calculations. It wasn't the deciding factor, but…

Kakashi offered his Hokage a sickly smile and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well. I got a little carried away."

Tsunade just looked at him for a moment before giving him a derisive sniff. Then she turned back to the dresser and picked up the pestle again. "You'd better do a better job of keeping quiet than your clone did."

Kakashi grimly reset the trap at the window and found a place to stand.

Morning was eventually seared from the landscape by the bright cheerful sun of the afternoon. In the streets outside of the hotel people went about their business. They moved, they laughed, they traveled and they lived in a rhythm that was both repetitive and reassuring.

Inside the hotel room, however, time moved differently. Marked less by the passage of seconds and minutes, it was tied firmly to inexorable progress of both poison and cure. The few attempts at normalcy through banter died as Tsunade found less and less breath to spare and Kakashi found himself retreating farther and farther back into a mission mind-set. No distractions. No emotion.

So hours passed while the Hokage, medical genius of her life time, worked on an antidote while fighting her own failing strength.

And the former ANBU, face as still and impassive as the ceramic he used to wear, maintained an ongoing of awareness of anyone approaching the room as well as monitored the general state of the town outside the window.

And eventually he watched as his Hokage's hand began trembling over slides…

… as fine lines deepened into brackets around her pursed lips…

… as first one and then the second henge dropped, brown hair blossoming to blonde before lightening into gray...

…as her uneven breath became rasping, rattling…

And the ANBU moved.

She was facing away from him, upper arm braced as she struggled with the plunger on a slim syringe. As he walked around her, he could see her fingers knotted – achingly bereft of their usual dexterity.

He touched her wrist with one hand and then gently reached over with the other to set his fingers along the syringe.

"Maa, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said quietly, casually, "I know I'm not medic, but surely you can trust me to do this much. Besides, it's a Hokage's privilege to order others around. Sit down for a moment."

She looked up at him, brown eyes like caramel, despite the wrinkles fanning out from their edges. She wet her lips and smiled, bright and beautiful. "What? Now that I'm all done, you decide to be helpful?" She snorted but released the syringe to his care, "Go on then, fill it up, brat. You do know how to hit a vein, right?"

She offered up her arm boldly, almost triumphantly. He exhaled carefully, suppressing every outward sign of the relief he felt except for a twitch of his jaw. He carefully drew up the full measure of the antidote into the syringe and then injected her with it.

"We'll give it an hour but I'm positive it's right," Tsunade could afford to be gracious with her time now. She turned towards the small table, "Now we just need to get it distr..."

Kakashi caught her under the arms as her legs completely gave out.

"-buted…" Tsunade gasped and then swallowed. Apology, embarrassment, damaged pride – all might have been the cause for the slight roughening of her tone as she lay sprawled at the mercy of his grasp. "I might be a little lightheaded…"

Kakashi picked her up smoothly, readjusting once to settle her more securely in his arms. She was tense, stiffened at first, but she gave up with a sigh and turned her face towards his chest as she relaxed.

He walked her over to the bed and set her down. As her eyes began to flutter closed he pulled a blanket over her and sat in the nearby chair. He waited until she was asleep, fully and deeply so, before pulling out his worn copy of Icha Icha Tactics.

He figured it was his best shot to blot out the memory of how frail Tsunade had felt in his arms.

And how much he'd wanted to keep her there, regardless.

Chapter Text

Tsunade did not sleep deeply. The pervasive ache left behind by the poison and the weakness of near chakra depletion was too insistent to allow anything like that. However, for a while, the sense of warmth and security that she felt enveloping her was strong enough to allow her to slip beneath the waters of consciousness without too much floundering.

Eventually, the throbbing of her joints and sharp pains in her hands summoned her back though, and she opened her eyes in confusion.

Even though the fog in her mind had left her uncertain about where she was, she wasn't afraid. It was only habit that kept her silent as she looked around the unfamiliar room. She recognized it as a hotel room, but it wasn't until she spotted the scarecrow sitting slumped in the corner that she finally remembered where she was and why she had nothing to worry about.

Kakashi. With his gray hair darkened by mud and blood, the Copy Ninja had never looked more like his name sake. The smile that crossed Tsunade's face was fond and uncommonly unguarded. The man's clothing was ragged, and his mask was apparently so tattered and stained that he'd pulled it down all together.

Wait….

He was disheveled. He hadn't woken up at her stirring. And he was sleeping when he was the only fight-worthy shinobi in the room.

It took a few seconds for her to realize the implications of those things, but when she did the reaction was immediate. Tsunade clawed her remaining chakra to her and sweat broke out on her forehead as she cast a diagnostic jutsu on Kakashi.

He was near exhausted. Low on chakra, definitely. There were three, no, four cuts that hadn't even been touched but had just bled themselves out. Plus, his ribs had taken a beating and there was no shortage of bruising along his left side. He'd strained his hamstring, too...

Tsunade exhaled, closing her eyes briefly in relief. None of those things were fatal or likely to become so. A soft grumble near the foot of her bed made her blink. Pakkun, curled up by her left foot, was looking at her and shaking his head. He said nothing, perhaps not wanting to wake his master, but his expression was quite clear. If she'd been paying more attention to the room she would have realized that Pakkun had been left on watch. No matter whatever else she thought about the burrowing little pervert, she knew that he had enough common sense to not let Kakashi sleep if he was in danger.

She narrowed her eyes at the dog and his implied criticism of her overreaction.

His ears went back and he promptly laid his head down.

Tsunade was grudgingly mollified.

After a moment of still fuzzy thought, she began sending chunks of her regenerating chakra to the worst of Kakashi's kunai gashes. It hurt. It took her about ten times longer than it normally would have. But she did it anyway until the wound was firmly closed and well on it's way to healing.

After the room had stopped spinning, she blinked and thought to survey her handiwork.

Kakashi hadn't moved. He sat in the chair, legs askew and arms folded over his chest with no signs of being awake or waking up any time soon. His breathing was even and measured and his coloring looked a little better now. Well, he was still pale, but that was to be expected. He was always a little pale. What mattered was that his lips were tinged with healthy pink and that while the circles under his eyes were dark, they were only smudges in the grand scheme of things.

"Too handsome for his own good," she thought absently. Not that this was a shock to her, of course. The mask concealed the details of his face but it did nothing to hide the structure of it. She'd known ever since the first time he'd walked into her office that he was exceptionally good looking, with or without the mask. Still, there was something to be said for the full effect of his features as a whole. In deference to his feelings, she'd never stared at him when she'd had chance to observe him without his mask. Now, however, she felt her gaze lingering over the narrow line of his jaw, the angle of his nose, and the curve of his lips.

Kakashi. In her hazy state, the thoughts that his name conjured were fragments, emotion driven and unchecked. Respect for a ninja who was strong in every sense of the word, admiration for a man whose bravery in facing loss was no less than his bravery in facing danger, and underlying it all a sort of raw possessiveness that normally never saw the light of day.

Because he was /hers/.

Kakashi Hatake was a ninja of /her/ village. The irritating, perverted elite was hers to command. The brat who could fill the hokage's shoes if he truly wanted to and who met her on terms that were more equal than anyone else in the village was /hers/ to protect. He was intelligent and infuriating and steady and warm and he tasted like...

Tsunade closed her eyes, throat tightening. She turned her face to the ceiling and raised her arm silently. Fingers splayed wide despite the flares of pain, and she opened her eyes.

She opened her eyes to the blue veins, at the sagging flesh, at the flared knuckles of an old woman.

She was fifty-three.

She looked older.

Tsunade grit her teeth, expression losing its vagueness to become stone.

It took time.

It took time and it hurt.

But Tsunade was patient and once her chakra had restored itself to the bare minimum she needed, she cast her youth transformation jutsu.

Only then did she allow her arm to drop.

Only then did she allow herself to fall back into troubled sleep.

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful day, nearly perfect for traveling. The sun was warm but filtered by the green canopy above, the wind was gusting but confined to the tree tops where it produced little more than dainty rustling. Plus various fluffy examples of forest wildlife were showing a distinct lack of common sense about fleeing the presence of humans with exceptionally accurate knife throwing skills.

None of this, not even the prospect of rabbit stew in the near future, made a dent in the general bad mood of one Kakashi Hatake. Instead of enjoying the walk back to Konoha after a mission well done, he was pondering exactly how he could cast a genjutsu on his stubborn, mule-headed Hokage without getting beaten into a pulp for it.

The problem wasn't catching her in one. That part was easy. It was simply that no matter how he plotted it, eventually she'd wise up to the illusion and react in predictably furious fashion.

In the end, being far, far away before she came back to reality was his only option. Perhaps he could keep up the genjutsu until he dropped her off at Konoha's hospital? And, maybe he could bribe Shizune into sending him off on a long term mission before he released it?

Shoes shuffled against dirt to his left, but he very carefully avoided looking at his partner. Instead, he once more slowed his pace in response to her increasing fatigue.

It was partially his fault. It had been his choice to head back to Konoha right away rather than let Tsunade rest a little more in the hotel. In his defense, his primary motivation had been to get her back to the safety of the village and the support of other medics. However, if he'd of known she'd insist on sabotaging her recovery on the way by refusing the breaks she so obviously needed…

He glanced over at her after a few more moments and watched a curl of sweat damp hair first caress and then stick to her cheek.

"There's a good camping spot up here," he said cheerfully. Genjutsu be damned. It was time for the direct approach. "Water and shelter."

Tsunade blinked and looked at the sky, "There's at least two hours until the sun sets," she countered.

"Really?" Kakashi feigned ignorance, "Well, it isn't like that matters. It makes sense to take our time heading back. That way we can make sure we aren't followed."

He tried to sell it with an offhanded gesture that implied the conversation was too self-evident for debate. Tsunade was not convinced. He watched her eyes narrow, her jaw work and the bubbling froth of indignant protest rise with her temper.

Only to be forced down into an inarticulate near-growl that surely didn't do her frustration justice.

Stubborn, but by god not stupid.

An unfamiliar sense of empathy disarmed Kakashi's irritation. Very few people liked to be seen when they were weak, and even less liked seeming weak in front of others. How much more difficult must it be for a Hokage, and a female one at that, to allow anyone to point at a place and time when she wasn't strong?

Especially a subordinate…

Kakashi blinked and turned on his heel. Suddenly he wanted to avoid conversation as much as Tsunade did.

Subordinate. Funny how a strictly factual term of categorization could become so unexpectedly… irritating.

Making camp had the feel of an unexpected luxury. The extra hours provided by their early stop allowed for more effort to be given in making it comfortable as well as defensible. In fact, Kakashi was secretly pleased to be able to show off just how flexible he could be in creating accommodations. Tsunade had helped a little in the beginning, but eventually she'd sat down and dozed off, something that Kakashi was grateful to see.

There was only one problem. As soon as the sun slipped from the sky, the temperature had started dropping at a rather impressive rate. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but common sense really did speak against lighting a fire. Pine bough pallets helped, but the wind coming off the water had a formidable bite.

Tsunade's form was obscured under her blankets, but Kakashi suspected there was shivering going on. He stood up.

"What are you doing?" the woman's voice was low and dangerous.

Kakashi said nothing until he finished dragging his pallet over to hers. He looked down critically and then kicked it forward another couple inches until there was no separation at all between the two. "Moving my bed over to yours."

Tsunade propped herself up on her elbows to pierce him with a demanding gaze, "I see that. Why?"

Kakashi laid down, pulling his blanket and stretching it over the both of them. Tsunade's blanket stayed right where it was, wrapped around her and her alone. He didn't begrudge her that, though. "It's a little cold, don't you think?"

The small bamf of a summoning jutsu on his part interrupted anything Tsunade might have said in reply. Guruko padded up to Kakashi from out of the smoke and tilted his head curiously. He was not used to being summoned alone, but usually as a part of the pack.

"Guruko-san," Kakashi asked politely, "Do you mind taking watch for us tonight?" His eyes flicked over to Tsunade meaningfully.

Guruko might not have as much experience as Pakkun in being summoned for singular tasks, but he was not a dumb dog. A murmured assent and the dog deftly circled the pallets until he was beside Tsunade.

When he sat down, it was almost right on top of her - more than enough to provide her a furry source of warmth from her right side.

It was also enough to nudge her against Kakashi on her left.

She stiffened and he sighed.

"Please relax, hokage-sama," he said formally, "I promise, my intentions are entirely pure."

"I was on a genin team with Jiraiya," Tsunade returned dryly, "I promise you, Kakashi-san, I can handle you even if your intentions were not pure."

There was a warning in those words and Kakashi sighed silently. Though he wasn't surprised that there would be no inadvertent reenacting of one of his favorite Icha Icha Tactics chapter, he couldn't help but feel a little irrationally let down. He fought down the urge to squirm and closed his eyes.

There was one question though. One thing he needed to know.

"Have you never done this before?" he asked.

"What?" Tsunade turned her head to look at him.

"Well, when you were on a genin team with Jiraiya, did you ever share a bed with him? For warmth, of course."

"What do you think?!"

There was silence for a moment. "That's a no, then?"

He could feel her staring at him but he kept his expression bland.

"Yes, that's a no." Tsunade said firmly, "I did not ever share a bed with Jiraiya for warmth or any other reason."

The Legendary Pervert had made it all up then. Ah well. "Mah. It almost sounds like you trust me more." Kakashi allowed a tinge of self-satisfaction into his tone.

There was no snappy retort, no sound of movement. Curious, Kakashi opened one eye to peer at his Hokage.

She was blushing.

What was even more fascinating was that blush got brighter as she met his gaze. It took everything in him not to smile, not to let his lips twitch upwards in the slightest as he said, mildly, "What?"

Sparks flared in Tsunade's eyes. "Oh, shut up!" She hissed, and then turned over, squirming away from him and closer to a somewhat surprised Guruko.

Kakashi smiled.

Chapter Text

Warmth.

The subtle scent of flowers inextricably mingled with his own and with that of the pack…

The weight that pinned his chest and leg might have trapped him, worried him, but it didn't. Instead, it grounded him and felt secure. Welcoming.

There was no danger.

Semi-conscious assessment complete, Kakashi slipped back into deep sleep.

Tsunade and Kakashi were both adults.

Not only were they both adults, they were both mature adults whose life-styles encouraged a strong dose of practicality. Team work was essential when on a mission and shinobi, as a rule, tended to be eccentric. To survive the quirks of one's comrades, one quickly learned to be flexible.

This being the case, the discovery that certain things had arisen, shifted, and otherwise gotten grabby between the two of them during the night, was naturally handled with aplomb and a minimum of fuss.

Kakashi stopped spitting leaves within a few minutes.

Tsunade's red cheeks lingered for a bit longer.

Considering the rather sensitive place her hand had been, Kakashi considered that was only fair.

They didn't talk about their mutual early morning surprise as they ate a cold breakfast or as they started down the road again. For all intents and purposes, their sleeping entanglement was treated a non-event. It didn't matter that they'd spent most of the night apparently clinging to each other. It didn't matter that said clinging was quite intimate in nature.

After all, Tsunade had been still recovering from near-chakra exhaustion and a poisoning. The night was cold and it was only natural for her to burrow as close as she could to the nearest source of warmth. It was a purely physiological reaction.

And Kakashi was a man. His body reacted certain ways to soft curves and dexterous hands when they were pressed up against him. That, too, was a purely physiological reaction.

So, it didn't mean anything.

At all.

No….

Kakashi was an excellent liar, but even he wasn't going to try to convince himself of a falsehood that big.

The fact was that no matter which way he spun it, no matter how hard he tried to rationalize it, he was a jonin-level Shinobi of the Leaf.

No one laid hands on him, asleep or awake, without his notice.

The same was undoubtedly true for the Hokage as well.

Physiology did not trump years of instinctive self-preservation for either of them.

Though, in all fairness, perhaps her excuse held more water than his. Chakra exhaustion could easily knock a person's situational awareness askew. She seemed well enough now, setting a fierce pace for the village, but that meant nothing in regards to a few hours ago. Kakashi studied her as they walked, once more assessing her apparent energy level and health. Her square-shouldered form was graceful as she navigated their path through the trees. She was quick. Her breathing was even.

No, she was fine now; he'd bet on it.

Thus reassured, his thoughts slid back to those first few seconds of waking that morning. He lingered in the memory, replaying impressions and sensations.

Of course, the indulgence didn't bring him any new clarity. Quite the contrary - it brought him a certain prickling sensation that promised yet another nose bleed if he kept it up.

Enough was enough. Time to admit what needed to be admitted, if only to himself.

He was attracted to Tsunade.

In fact, he… was fonder of her than he should be.

He…

He cared about her. He respected her. He wanted to see her safe. He wanted to see her happy.

It didn't really matter what all of those things added up to, did it?

No.

It didn't.

Some things were best left undisturbed.

With that in mind he put his hands in his pockets and closed the gap between himself and the Hokage.

Just in case.

The rest of the journey was almost depressingly anti-climactic. The two shinobi continued the ground-devouring pace until they passed through the gates of Konoha, speaking little and stopping not at all. The two chunin on guard seemed a little perplexed by the unknown woman accompanying Kakashi, but apparently they'd been told something to explain it. They marked down the arrival, gave Kakashi a wave, and waited until the team was out of earshot to gossip.

Wordlessly, Kakashi and Tsunade made their way through the streets towards downtown. The sun was shining and the chatter of the village at peace eased some of the tension that had taken up place in Kakashi's shoulders. Of course he knew that familiar ground could be deceptive. Just because a place was familiar didn't mean that there weren't dangers. But still, it was a comfort to be in a place where he so thoroughly belonged. There were few streets here that he couldn't navigate blindfolded and drunk, and not a single one that he couldn't walk down with an Icha Icha in hand.

The intersection up ahead, for example, he'd travelled a thousand times or more. If he took a left there, it'd lead to Headquarters. If he took a right, to the Memorial.

"Mah, Tsunade-sama," he said as they approached it. "Looks like this is where we part ways."

She turned to look at him, a single blink betraying surprise quickly hidden.

"Heading home, then?" she asked. It was an easy question, delivered in a light tone. But, Kakashi knew a little more about her than he did before, and he could pick out the threads of reserve in her demeanor.

He shrugged. "More or less."

She nodded, "Alright. Good job on the mission, Kakashi-san. We might have run into a bump or two, but… good job." Something flickered in chocolate brown eyes. "Thank you."

He bowed to her.

Then, without a word, he turned on his heel and began sauntering away.

One yard. Two yards. The distance spooled out between them.

"Oi, Tsunade-sama," he called without turning around, "As Hokage, I'm sure you have perfected the technique of writing a mission report. So I think it just make sense for you to write ours up, yes?"

"Wha-?"

A perfectly timed shunshin carried him away before either shout or fist could follow him.

There. He could think of no cleaner break to give.

The mission was over.

It was all over.

Chapter Text

Steam rose from the surface of the divided hot spring, dampening the blond locks escaping from Tsunade's impromptu bun. Lazily, she tucked the pesky strands behind her ears and settled a little deeper in the pool.

It'd been a rough month or so and this marked the first time since returning that she'd been able to truly relax. It wasn't that Shizune had done a bad job while Tsunade had been gone. The capable assistant had been nearly impeccable in her role as Hokage. In fact, the massive backlog of paperwork that normally occupied the Hokage's desk had been reduced to mere millimeters in height.

No, it was in impersonating Tsunade that Shizune had deviated from the script. It had been subtle, of course. It took Tsunade several days to realize that her usual bookie appeared to have skipped town in a hurry and almost a week to realize that several liquor stores were mysteriously closing every time she came into view.

Ah, well. She supposed it didn't really matter. A number of the over-all improvements Shizune had instituted were good ones and even this one was not, exactly, bad. Not that Tsunade intended to completely give up her gambling and drinking, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to lay off of them.

Just a little.

The decision would likely have shocked her friends, had any of them been alive.

"How could you send him to such a dangerous place, alone?"

It was funny how, even after all this time, Naruto's words still echoed in her head. Never mind that Jiraiya had been a grown man, perfectly capable of gauging his own strength. Never mind that he'd identified the mission himself, and assigned himself to it.

Never mind any of it.

In the end, it had been her responsibility. And she shouldn't have trusted that, just because he thought he could handle it, he hadn't needed help. She'd failed, as both a friend and as a Hokage, and she'd lost him as a result.

She sighed, a long and tired sound. "…bloody fool."

"Well, that's not very nice," the reproach was mild and very familiar.

Tsunade's eyes flew open and she quickly scanned the still empty pool around her. Then her lips quirked up in an involuntary smile.

The dividing wall that neatly parceled out the spring into a male section and a female section was very sturdy, stood over fourteen feet high, and was inspected daily for cracks or holes by the staff.

But apparently it was not going to stop a noisy jonin from commenting on things he shouldn't be paying attention to. Whether he'd been masking his chakra before, or she'd been too lost in her thoughts to notice it when he'd come in, the distinct flare of Kakashi's presence on the other side was now quite evident.

"Shouldn't you be tricking Guy into paying for your dinner right about now?" she shot back irritably. The sun was low enough in the sky for it, and the slight hollowing of her own belly reminded her how long she'd spent in her contemplations.

There was a pause from the other side. "I don't know whether to be flattered or worried that you know my habits so well."

Tsunade sniffed, "Be ashamed that you have habits at all."

"There has to be some way for people to find me when I'm not on assignment," Kakashi defended his actions logically.

Strangely enough, that made perfect sense to her. She speculated that it might even be true. Tsunade's shoulders relaxed a little and she settled deeper into the water. "Speaking of which, what are you doing here? I thought you'd been assigned that tracking mission by Wave?"

She knew that he had.

She also knew that he'd been gone for two and a half weeks, returning around noon just three days ago. His mission report had just happened to cross her desk before she coincidentally made the decision to head to the hot springs.

"I did," Kakashi agreed. "But I'm back now."

"Obviously."

She hadn't been worried. Imagine the hell she'd have to live through if she worried every time Kakashi was sent out on a mission? Imagine how crippling that could become if she realized that, despite her best efforts, she had acquired yet another hostage to fate? And of course, if he died, it would inevitably be her fault. Just another escalation to the types of pain she had to face with the people she cared about. First, to see her brother's broken body, then to feel Dan slipping away beneath her hands, then to be responsible for not sending help with Jiraiya on that mission...

And with Kakashi?

If he died, it would be because she'd ordered him to his death.

"Hokage-sama?"

Her eyes closed and she fought down the surge of anxiety.

She was not going to worry about Kakashi. He was a skilled shinobi and one of the finest…weapons… in the village's arsenal. In her arsenal. She was no weakling, no timid mouse, to hesitate in using him despite how she…

…

Besides.

He was Sharingan Kakashi. Next in line for title of Hokage. He was strong. He'd be fine. To not have faith in his abilities was almost disrespectful.

No.

It was disrespectful and he deserved better from her.

"Tsunade-sama?"

"I was thinking of Jiriaya," she said finally, evenly. Better to betray a small weakness rather than a gaping one. Eyes still closed, she focused on slowly letting the tension drain away from each muscle. The brat had survived this long. He'd outlive her. It would be fine.

"Ah. You must miss him a great deal."

The pang of old regret was a welcome contrast to the sharpness of potential futures. She focused on that, gratefully. "Of course. He was the last person who could see me as Tsunade and not as an authority figure." Except for Naruto, but being thought of as an old woman was hardly better.

"Oh. I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Kakashi's usual careless tone held something guarded just under the surface.

And, since he'd allowed this fact to be noticed, by default it held an invitation as well.

Tsunade opened her eyes.

Somehow she wasn't surprised to find him perched atop the dividing wall, watching her carefully.

She met his gaze and the silence immediately filled with all of things neither of them were going to voice…

…could afford to voice

…..and, in the end, even had to voice.

Concern. Loyalty. Admiration.

Protectiveness. Devotion.

Affection… deeper than affection…

Technically, it was Kakashi who broke first. The slightest of shrugs conveyed helplessness in the face of such emotional circumstances, while the steadiness of his gaze spoke to both a distinct lack of regret and a subtler absence of expectation.

To which Tsunade replied with a slow blink of acknowledgement, adding volumes of sub-text to speak eloquently of understanding, acceptance, and with a twitch of her lips, even agreement.

Eyes slowly reviewed the curved outlines of almost smiling mouths, familiar features were visually traced with new reverence, and the way sunlight hit bare skin was memorized for future reference…

For all that Tsunade and Kakashi might have been content with their silence and the things they found in it, the rest of the world could not be ignored forever.

All too quickly, the sounds of someone whistling in the bath house locker tugged at them both.

Kakashi sighed and straightened, briefly glancing at the bathhouse in irritation. Tsunade raised her chin yet again, putting forth what she'd privately call a heroic effort to keep her gaze from dropping in what would be shameless ogling of her very naked companion.

Kakashi had no such compunctions. It only took a half-second for his eyes to drop well south of her face.

He was perversely pleased that the chunk of paving stone she sent flying at his head appeared to have been slowed down just the teensiest, tiniest bit.

Likewise, Tsunade took a great deal of pride in both the burgeoning crimson beneath the man's nose and his sigh as he once more used shunshin to flee her wrath.

As he disappeared, she ducked her head, hiding her smile.

It was Tuesday.

The sun was shining in Konoha.

And everything was as it should be.