Chapter Text
“What do you mean he doesn’t have a file?”
Kakashi leans against the doorframe of the internal records room, arms crossed against his chest, with one uncovered eye trained on the panicked clerk searching through the filing cabinets.
“I can check again, Captain, but there’s nothing under the name Tenzo or Kinoe…”
In a rare sight of impatience, Kakashi straightens up from his usual slouch, voice tightening and flat stare prickling with a twinge of irritation.
“Then check again.”
The clerk yelps and pivots back to the files with shaky hands, tearing their focus away from Kakashi’s single dark eye to keep searching. He's heard the rumors about the Copy-Nin’s infamous eye, striking fear into even the surest enemies, and assumed that meant his sharingan. Though after this interaction, he’d put his money on the other.
After sifting through rows of files for now the third time, the clerk steels himself for another confrontation, turning back around.
“A-apologies, Captain, but—”
The words clip into empty air as Kakashi’s already left the room. Frustrated and relieved, the clerk rests his head against the cold metal of the cabinet and sighs.
Kakashi heads towards the Hokage’s office, making no effort to stop at the check-in desk when he reaches it. He barely gets a hand on the large wooden entrance door before the woman stationed there speaks up.
“Captain Hatake, you need to request a meeting first!”
He slightly pivots in her direction, cocking his head over his shoulder to make eye contact. Decidingly taking a different route than he did with the records clerk, he lifts his hand off the door and swipes it through his silver locks, responding in his lowest timbre.
“He’s expecting me. But don’t worry," he eye smiles, "I’ll come back and say hi to you when I’m done.”
Even he thinks it’s overkill, but it earns a barely concealed giggle from the woman who leans over the desk to push the door open for him herself.
“I’ll hold you to that!” she promises.
Kakashi wordlessly closes the door behind him.
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen stands facing the window behind his desk. He's draped in his traditional white robes, looming like an enigmatic figure—hat tilted down to cover his face as he lights a pipe.
“Kakashi, welcome. How unexpected of you,” Hiruzen begins, clearly having overheard the exchange outside the door. “I assume you’re not just here to harass my workstaff?”
Kakashi smirks under his mask but remains ramrod straight, arms behind his back, playing the role of a seasoned professional. “I’m actually overdue on bothering my own. I’m here to request Tenzo’s file.”
“What for?” He says through a drag of his pipe, puffing a cloud of smoke towards the window and casting the room in a sheer blanket of fog.
Kakashi moves a half step back, beginning to feel a bit suffocated under his mask, and coughs once before responding.
“As he’s just joined Team Ro, I’d like to understand his abilities better. I’ve tried asking about his experiences in the Foundation, but he couldn’t tell me. We assume it’s on account of the curse mark Lord Danzo refused to remove.”
“A correct assumption,” Hiruzen says around his pipe. He takes another drag, and between the white robes and the added layer of smoke, he's visible as a ghost.
Kakashi knows Hiruzen can follow his train of thought, but he continues anyway, itching to get to the point.
“I’d like to view his file to learn this information without triggering the curse mark. I’m preparing the team for a mission in the next few days and would like to utilize his abilities most efficiently.”
Hiruzen hums, finally turning around to face him, and sets his pipe down. “He doesn’t have a file.”
Kakashi does his best not to sigh. He doesn’t enjoy talking much in the first place, now having wasted an entire explanation when he could’ve led with that to begin with.
“I understand if it’s classified, Hokage-sama,” he begins, his desperation to get some answers obvious in the use of honorifics, “but any information you could share would be beneficial.”
Hiruzen emerges from the smoke and rounds the desk.
“It is classified, yes, but I can’t share anything with you simply because I don’t fully know myself. Danzo took extreme measures to keep his background, identity, and training under wraps," he explains, lifting the brim of his hat slightly to make direct eye contact. "We attempted to recover the file after your little confrontation with Root.”
Kakashi attempts to apologize again for disobeying the Hokage’s orders that day, but he knows Hiruzen can tell he doesn’t mean it. He’d do it all over again.
“Unfortunately," Hiruzen barrels on, not bothering to listen to his transparent excuses, "Danzo made sure all record of Kinoe was burned away. This is why sometimes you need to handle conflicts politically and not rush into things—”
“—he would’ve died if I waited," Kakashi interrupts, restarting a familiar argument.
They have surprisingly had this conversation multiple times now, having only been a few weeks since Tenzo’s recovery from Root. Still, every time they do, Kakashi feels a tightness in his stomach when he thinks of what might’ve happened if he had waited. If he didn’t take things into his own hands. If he listened to his Hokage.
Hiruzen levels him with a stare that makes it clear he knows what Kakashi's thinking, but carries on without acknowledgment.
“While it would’ve been a great benefit to all of us to learn more from Tenzo’s history, I have nothing more to share with you than what you already know.”
Kakashi does sigh this time. He realizes that he actually doesn’t know much himself, except that he was involved in the experiments done to recreate the mokuton. He wonders if there’s a roundabout way to ask Tenzo questions that won’t result in him choking on his own tongue.
“Thank you, Hokage-sama.” He bows, accepting defeat and waiting to be dismissed.
Hiruzen picks his pipe back up and resumes his original stance, continuing to blow smoke rings at the window ahead. Kakashi wonders how he survives without a vent in here, but takes that as his cue to leave, heading back out the office door.
The moment it closes with an audible shut, another, sharper noise makes itself known. It grates his ears the moment it reaches them.
“Hiiii Kakashiiiii,” the woman behind the desk greets, leaning over it to get his attention.
Both distracted and disinterested, he continues walking towards the building’s exit, not a word or glance offered her way. She crosses her arms against her chest and huffs in frustration, plopping roughly back down into her seat.
“What a jerk!”
Without warning, a hand comes from behind and covers her mouth. She looks up, startled, to see that it belongs to Toshiko from the records room, clearly in a panic as he looks past her to eye Kakashi walking down the hall.
“Shh! He’ll hear you!”
Listening to their loud whispers as they bicker behind him, Kakashi hides a small smirk under his mask and makes his way back to Anbu headquarters.
“Captain Hound! Welcome back!”
A young boy in a bird mask bows as he enters the building, rank noticeably obvious in the shake of his voice, underconfident yet overexcited to see the Copy-Nin.
“At ease, Lark,” Kakashi gestures for him to stand straight. “You seen Cat around?”
“I just saw him at the training grounds, sir!”
Kakashi tips his head back and sighs. He had told Tenzo to take it easy before he left for the records room.
In what couldn’t have been longer than an hour ago, Tenzo had attempted to answer one of Kakashi’s questions about the difference between Anbu and Foundation hand signs, and froze up, practically paralyzed and struggling to breathe.
It felt like some of the longest few seconds of Kakashi’s life, long enough to mentally curse himself, Lord Danzo, and Kami for killing his newest kohai, but Tenzo managed to focus enough to close his mouth and bite his tongue, halting all curse mark symptoms immediately. Unfortunately, it also halted any possibility of answering Kakashi’s questions, but he’d take Tenzo not dying his first week on the team over Root intel any day.
“Sworry, swenpai,” Tenzo had said, tongue raw from the pain and swollen from the bite, “I shwould’ve asswumed thwat qwuestion wouldn’t bypwass Dwanzo’s swealwork.” And as if to paint his point, he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing a little blood he bit from his tongue across it.
“Don’t talk if you don’t have to," Kakashi instructed. "I’ll find your file and figure it out. Just take it easy until I’m back.”
“Cwertainly, swenpai!” Tenzo had promised earnestly, no hint of rebellion in his words.
Disappearing from the headquarters lobby in a gust of leaves, Kakashi shunshins to the training grounds, hoping to find anything but Tenzo exerting himself, but to his disappointment…
FWUH!
Tenzo sweeps his leg behind Badger’s ankle, pushing it forward to flip him over and onto his back in an Osoto-gari throw.
Badger catches himself on his hands before hitting the floor, and moves from a bridge pose to right himself back to standing. He jumps away before the next attack is thrown, holding a steady distance from his opponent.
Tenzo closes in, swiftly re-entering Badger’s space to direct a kick to his chest. Badger jumps back once again to avoid the impact, missing Tenzo’s outstretched foot by a few inches, and grabs his ankle to prevent an escape. Locked in his grip, Tenzo catches Badger's eye through his mask, visible just over his outstretched foot.
Kakashi watches from the sidelines and sees him caught in a vulnerable position—at least one that would be to any other ninja. He smirks despite himself, tabling his earlier irritation to wait for what happens next.
Badger tilts his head like a dog, confused by the assurance in Tenzo's eyes. “Why so confident? You missed!”
Tenzo pivots his captured foot just a hair before shouting, “Mokuton!” and a wooden beam shoots out from the sole of his outstretched foot, slamming point-blank into Badger’s chest plate.
WHOOOSH!
He goes flying across the grounds, path only interrupted by the waiting Anbu members lining the perimeter. They scramble to help pick him up, the sheer force of the impact knocking a few of them over.
Before Badger can fully right himself to continue the fight, an Anbu with a snake mask holds him back. "Badger, wait! You crossed the boundary. Fight's over—Cat won."
At the sound of his codename, Tenzo bows respectfully and graciously.
“Thank you for the spar, Badger.”
Badger seethes, teeth gnarling together, hot breaths steaming through them. He quickly gathers himself out of the arms of the other Anbu and stalks back over.
“You Root fuck!”
Kakashi's ears perk up, and he hurriedly moves towards the field to break up whatever is about to escalate here. Remaining decidedly still, Tenzo stays locked in his bowing position as Badger nears.
Kakashi knows Tenzo is too smart to drop his guard right now, but he continues towards the two anyway, that same tight feeling in his stomach propelling him forward. It's similar to the alarm of danger he gets on especially intense missions, but this time, it's accompanied by a tightening knot that wraps itself in his gut.
He's a Captain, effortlessly calm under pressure, but something about the scene pushes him forward, almost panicked. He gets halfway through the field before a small root shoots through the ground and gently wraps itself around his ankle, anchoring him to his spot. He could easily break through with a little effort, but he knows he's being told not to intervene.
When Badger finally reaches Tenzo, he grabs him by the back of his lowered head. And in the same moment, he pulls him up from his bow, reels back his fist, and punches him in the face.
“OW!”
The crowd of Anbu gasp and the grounds go silent…
Up until a loud POOF! rings through the field, and a cloud of smoke reveals the wood substitution Tenzo left in his place. Badger holds onto his wrist, yelling in pain again as several deep splinters are lodged between his knuckles.
"OW, FUCK!”
What was Tenzo’s bowed form is now a single log sporting his metal happuri with a teasing x) face carved on. It clatters to the ground, staring up at Badger mockingly.
“Oh, that son of a bitch, when I find him!”
“Badger," Kakashi projects, stern voice overtaking the field. He forcibly kicks out of the small root wrapped around his ankle and makes his way to the center. “You lost. If I ever see you strike a comrade who is actively disengaged from a fight, I will have you removed so quickly they’ll think to list you as a missing nin in the bingo book.”
Badger swallows hard, “Y-yes, Captain Hound, I’m sorry.”
“You’re dismissed,” Kakashi orders before continuing to walk across the field, lightly pushing Badger out of his way. He heads to one of the large trees lining the grounds. There are several, but he only stops in front of one. “Cat, let’s go.”
One beat.
Two beats.
Then, the tree rustles, causing a few leaves to fall to the ground. Soon after them comes Tenzo, hanging upside down on a low branch. He looks pointedly at Badger, who shoots him a heated glare. Tenzo makes an Akanbe face back, pulling down his lower eyelid and sticking his tongue out in response.
Unamused by their antics, Kakashi grabs Tenzo by the wrist, yanking him down and out of the tree.
“I said, let’s go.”
Tenzo rights himself and scurries behind his Captain, sticking his tongue out at Badger one last time before dutifully answering, “Yes, senpai!”
Kakashi leads them to a more secluded area in a less populated wing of the Anbu dormitory. It isn’t until they move into a tucked hallway that he lets go of Tenzo's wrist and levels him with a sharp expression.
“Cat. What did I tell you before I left?”
Just by hearing his codename over the name Kakashi officially gave him when joining Anbu, Tenzo can tell he isn’t pleased.
“You…said to take it easy. That’s why I fought Badger and not Boar.”
Kakashi sucks in his lips between his teeth, trying his best not to laugh behind the mask. He closes his eyes and breathes slowly to compose himself. When he opens them again, he sees Tenzo smiling up at him sweetly, unbothered. All too familiar with the mentality of a talented yet stubborn soldier, Kakashi relents with a sigh.
“Tenzo, even outside of a mission, I’m your Captain, and you need to listen to my orders. All of them. Got it?”
“Certainly, senpai," Tenzo agrees in a familiar promise, still smiling.
Kakashi exits the hallway and gestures for Tenzo to follow with a flick of his wrist. He continues walking just slightly ahead, but turns to peek at him from over his shoulder.
“You know, taking the time to rest doesn’t make you weak. You have nothing to prove.”
“Uh—” Tenzo tries to argue, but quickly clamps his mouth shut. He thinks there’s no use lying to his Captain at this point. If he could read him well enough to know why he’d gone to spar despite his orders, then surely he’d know if he were lying, too.
It's Tenzo’s next thought that almost stops him in his tracks. When did Kakashi learn to read him so well? They’ve only had a handful of run-ins, granted, run-ins being high-stakes missions where they’ve both saved each other’s lives. But, still, Tenzo only joined Anbu a few weeks ago. Considering all the transition logistics and paperwork, he hasn’t spent significant time with Kakashi or joined him on an official team mission yet to have clued him into any predictable behaviors…
As Tenzo continues to overanalyze the situation, mouth and brows turning down in thought, he realizes he’s been scowling up at his Captain the entire time. What he doesn't realize is that Kakashi's painfully aware, as for the last few minutes, he’s felt Tenzo’s eyes burning into the back of his head.
He spins on his heel and faces him directly, the movement so quick that Tenzo almost crashes into him. He hinges his body forward to meet them eye to eye.
“Is there a problem, kohai?”
Tenzo's quick to fix the furrow on his face. “N-no, of course not.”
“Good. Because it almost sounded like you were about to lie to me back there.”
Tenzo blanches and wonders if the sharingan can read minds, too. He can't say yes, and he definitely can't say no, so he decides that a diversion is better than an answer and swiftly changes the subject.
“Did you find my file?”
“Ugh,” Kakashi stands up straight, remembering his exchange with Hiruzen, and wipes an exhausted hand down his face. “No. Keep following me. We’ll need to try something else.”
The moment he turns back around, Tenzo hesitantly taps his arm. Kakashi doesn’t turn to face him, but he acknowledges the poke. "Yes?"
“Um, can we stop at my room first? I need to replace my shoe...”
It's the absurdity of the statement that gets Kakashi to turn again. He looks down to see Tenzo lifting his foot to show a square, wooden beam-sized hole at the bottom of his sandal.