'This is going to be a long trip…' Aiko eyed Suigetsu warily. He was sort of freaking her out. That boy was way too pleased to see her when she'd met the group at the gate in the hideously early morning hour that Kakashi had broken into her apartment. A lesser woman might have strangled him for daring to look so smug and charming at an obscenely early time.
To be fair, her assessment of just how annoying he was could be off. She was still refilling her chakra stores and was probably more on-edge than usual because of it. It was hard to guess, but she must have slept about four hours or so. That estimation was based off the fact that about 32% of her chakra stores had trickled back in while she was asleep, adding to the approximately 15% low she'd been at when she crashed. Obviously, that made for a rather underwhelming state of slightly less than half of her full stores available. If this mission didn't absolutely require her in specific, she would have requested a personnel switch.
There was a reason why it was standard to give at least a day's notice for out-of-village missions like this: it took time for a body to recover from intense training or exertion, and the minimal but constant use of chakra augmentation for travel at shinobi speeds would eat up just enough of her reserves that she was barely accumulating any rejuvenation. At best, she'd be up to 60% of her full capacity by the time they stopped for the night. At least a night's rest should be enough to ensure that she was in a respectable state for their second day of travel as they actually ventured outside of friendly Fire Country territory.
She was strangely reluctant to share that weakness in front of Suigetsu. Perhaps Kakashi's paranoia about him from that morning had worn off on her. But she really should inform her captain that she wasn't operating at one-hundred percent capacity. Maybe there would be an opportunity for that later.
Kakashi had taken point in their loose traveling formation, which was both good and bad. It was nice not to have Suigetsu at her back, but it also meant that she couldn't help but notice every time that he turned to look at her. She wasn't sure if he was trying to hide it, or if he was intentionally doing it to mess with her head because it amused him to make her nervous. Either way, it was weird. He barely knew her.
Maybe he just wanted to get on her good side, and didn't know how to talk to her? A lot of shinobi were socially impaired, after all. Did he think that she would mediate for him with Kakashi? Suigetsu probably hadn't forgotten that Kakashi's impulse back when they'd met in Wind Country had been to kill him.
If that was what it was about, he really shouldn't worry. Kakashi was perfectly capable of killing someone in cold blood if it was required, but he wasn't the type of person who made that his first or even second choice. Even if he knew conflict was inevitable, he might let the other person make the first move. Sometimes she thought it was a coping mechanism, as if Kakashi was afraid that he would start enjoying making that decision if he did it too often.
She didn't get the same sense about Suigetsu. It… it was hard to be sure, because she wasn't sure she'd ever known much about him, except that he would have ended up one of Sasuke's companions. So he had to be a pretty good guy, right?
But he seemed like a bit of a creep. Oh sure, he was perfectly charming when he actually did speak (to her, at least). It was the long periods of time when he didn't say anything that were unnerving: he had a heavy-lidded way of staring at a person as if he was envisioning pulling them apart to see what made them tick before he opened his mouth.
'Don't make assumptions just because you have a bad feeling,' she scolded herself, shaking her hair out as if that would pull out the misgivings about her travel companion. 'I'm probably just projecting because the thought of going back to Mist is totally yuck. He seemed pretty gleeful the one time I saw him in a fight, but if I was fighting people who'd kept me in a glass tube, I might be vicious too.'
"I need a water break."
Kakashi turned to give their traveling companion an unimpressed look, but he obligingly halted. He didn't seem comfortable standing still or relaxing while Suigetsu obliviously sucked down two bottles of water in quick succession. The Mist-nin paced as he drank, languid and easy like a caged tiger. In comparison, Kakashi seemed tightly wound and stiff, carefully keeping Suigetsu in his peripheral but not actually looking at him. He didn't even twitch toward his supplies, as if to make the point that Suigetsu really should need a break so early into their trip. It had only been about three hours, after all.
'Suit yourself.' Aiko turned her face away from either of them, sitting down cross-legged and taking the chance to work a rock out of her left boot. It was a pain, but eventually she dug it out and glared at the innocuous but vexing stone for a moment. Then she shrugged and tossed it into the dirt, giving a stretch and unscrewing the lid on her own water to sip through a quarter of her water canteen. Her attention was only drawn back to her companions when Suigetsu made an overly-satisfied yawn, stretching out his long torso and baring pointed teeth. A quick glance revealed that her team leader still looked tense. Odd.
Suigetsu sniffed casually and tapped his now-empty bottle against his thigh with a distracted air, as if he didn't even see that Kakashi was clearly interested in moving on as soon as possible. "Is there a water source nearby?"
"We'll pass by one in a few hours," Kakashi said tightly. Aiko reflexively rose at his tone of voice, ready to leave. She knew perfectly well that it meant he wasn't feeling patient.
If the Mist-nin heard the same thing she did, he was doing a fairly good job at acting oblivious. He pouted, lightly shaking his empty water bottle as if to emphasize the lack of sloshing. "Can I get a refill, then?" His tone was saccharine… probably mocking. She revised her hypothesis that he was unnerved by Kakashi. Or at least, if he was, he was dealing with it by resorting to bravado. Either way, he seemed to be subtly provoking the older man.
'He could just genuinely be obnoxious,' she allowed internally. It was hard to know if that was a kinder assessment or not.
"Aren't you a water type?" Kakashi's eyebrow couldn't get any higher. Of course, not even Suigetsu could fail to notice the irritation in that statement. He looked sharply at the older man, and gave a condescending sneer, one tooth poking out over his bottom lip.
"No. I have a water based bloodline ability. If I could actually generate water, I wouldn't need to drink all the time."
The 'you idiot' wasn't stated, but it was pretty easy to hear nonetheless.
'Good lord, who pissed in their porridge this morning?'
What a stupid argument. Either one of them could have backed down and gotten them moving faster—Kakashi could just fill the damn water bottle easily, or Suigetsu could wait a little while. He was obviously in good condition still and would be able to make the trip. It was just idiotic posturing. Suigetsu was definitely irritating Kakashi on purpose by acting demanding, and Kakashi was playing into his hands by letting him know that he disliked the younger man.
That was unusual in itself. Kakashi must really not want to be on this mission. When he cared to, he could tolerate any idiocy with detachment. Perhaps something about Suigetsu just got under his nerves, or he was feeling aggressive today. It could be old baggage about Mist in general: he certainly had years of bad experiences with Suigetsu's home village that could be stirring up resentment.
Either way, they were both acting with considerably less dignity than they should be.
Wordlessly, Aiko grabbed the bottle held loosely in Suigetsu's hand and used her right hand to flick through four half-signs, compensating for the lack of both hands by flooding the technique. She wasn't actually generating any water—that burnt through her reserves like nothing else. Instead, she reached out into the air to take control of water particles in the immediate vicinity. The area that they were in was damp enough that it wasn't a strain like it was in a dry climate. As soon as she had a grip on a good swathe of material, she made her free hand into a fist and gave a violent downwards pull, affecting a field above her hand and forcibly condensing moisture out of the air into what was essentially a localized rain. Suigetsu lurched forward with another open bottle to catch what he could before the rest splattered on the ground. Between them, they ended with each bottle about a third full.
"That'll have to do," she said shortly, shoving the bottle she held back at the slightly older boy. He took it with a purposeful drag of his fingertips over hers, making eye contact.
Normally she might have been more gracious, but it was hard to restrain her irritation at the moment. Everything about this trip so far was just so stupid. Wasting chakra to shut up her companion's impromptu dick-measuring contest was irritating, but not nearly as much as watching them growl and poke at each other.
After a short moment, Suigetsu slipped on a smile as if it was a second skin. "Thanks, sweet thing," he purred. Nimbly, he tucked away both containers into the front of his hip pouch. He didn't move to put distance between them after he'd encroached into her personal space to fill his bottle.
Aiko stiffened at the nickname. 'Excuse me? How condescending is that?' He seemed to mistake her incredulous glance for something else, because he looked amused.
"It's hard to believe what I've heard about you," he leered. She rolled her eyes reflexively. That tone was a familiar one. It usually preceded an idiotic joke about her age or inexperience. "You're too nice, kitten."
'Wait. What would he have heard about me?' That troubling thought settled into her mind for a moment. He seemed like a guy with a rather one-track mind. Wasn't he supposed to be obsessed with—ohhh.
'He heard that I killed Zabuza.'
She gave him a cheery smile, which appeared to thoroughly unnerve the boy who'd been waiting for her miffed response. He recoiled.
'Oh, thank god. It makes sense now. He's trying to get on my good side because he wants Zabuza's sword. If he had it, he'd be carrying it. But doesn't that mean… that the Mizukage is intentionally keeping it from him? I probably shouldn't undermine her. Then again, she's not my Kage, and it'd get him off my back.'
"We're moving out."
Both teens straightened at Kakashi's tone. When Suigetsu realized what he'd done—instinctively obeyed orders from a foreigner—he gave a dark scowl at Kakashi's back. He probably sensed it, but he just started running.
'You know, come to think of it, Suigetsu might not be entirely wrong to get irritated when Kakashi gives him orders,' she realized, carefully not looking at either subject of her thoughts. 'He's an asshole, that's for sure. But he isn't under Kakashi's authority. I suppose he's just so used to assuming command that he fell into the role here.' Her mind drifted to her recently revised assessment of their Mist companion. 'Well, he could be doing it on purpose because he thinks Suigetsu is an idiot and he just wants to get this over with,' she allowed.
If that was the case, Kakashi had a point. If Suigetsu were to set the pace, it'd be an extra half of a day until they got to Mist. He appeared to be in no hurry.
At least Kakashi was mature enough not to appear irritated at all by the pointed comments that Suigetsu made over the course of the day, when they stopped twice more for breaks. There was no point in acknowledging the brat's attempts to rile him up. His silver hair had inspired asinine jokes about his apparent age since he was a teenager, and he was immune to much more clever taunts.
For all his faults, the run demonstrated that the pointy-toothed Mist nin was at least in excellent condition. Even better, he shut up when he was running, probably so that he could control his breathing. Gradually, Kakashi pushed the pace, just to see where the kid would plateau. Aiko had clearly been keeping up on her runs, because she didn't demonstrate any strain at all, but the boy started to falter about fifteen miles after he started playing with the pace.
Satisfied, Kakashi settled down into a steady ground-eating lope just as they broke through the tree cover and into the open plains. The open space let the unhindered wind whip against the uncovered portions of his face, sending his hair fluttering back and pressing his mask flatly against his lips. Almost immediately, he sensed the relief in the Mist boy and the tension in Aiko.
She always had been more comfortable in the near-tropical forest environments where she had trained. He couldn't blame her exactly—woods were excellent tactical cover—but she really should get over that preference.
'Hypocritical, considering I'm doing a rather poor job of freeing myself of preference,' he noted sardonically. He wasn't nearly as on-edge as Aiko seemed to be (she was outright crabby today) but he was far from content with this mission.
First of all, the idea of exposing Aiko to the Mizukage was just a stupid idea. She was a dangerous woman, and far too interested in one specific soldier. Who was to say that her next need for sealing expertise would be negotiated?
Besides, the Hiraishin was a double-edged sword. It was true that it required a considerable amount of trust for Terumi Mei to allow a foreigner to put a seal on her person, as it gave Konoha a sizable advantage if they ever decided to turn on Mist.
He wasn't about to deny the considerable tactical and diplomatic benefits of such an innovation. Any critical information could be communicated instantly, and Aiko could instantly move small groups of people in emergency situations whether it was to evacuate or bring reinforcements.
Their alliance would be all-but unbreakable as long as Konoha had constant access to the Mizukage. It was hard to believe that Terumi could have really considered the full ramifications of that, but if she had, it was a sign that their villages would be bound together in the long term. That was a breath of fresh air, making it considerably more likely that Konoha's interests would be protected as long as Mist was strong.
But giving the Mizukage a seal also introduced a proportionate amount of risk. It put more stress on Aiko long-term by adding to her responsibilities and increased the likelihood that she would be exposed to dangerous information and situations. It also meant that if Mist ever turned on them, it would be painfully simple for them to set a trap for Aiko by sparking chakra against her seal. They would almost have to kill her early on—it would be a waste to just destroy the seal, but giving her access to their village would mean that she could grab allies and flash in whenever she wanted. No one sane would allow an enemy that possibility.
It hardly seemed like Aiko was prepared for this in any case. He had no idea what Tsunade had her doing in the village, but she was tired and disheveled beyond what a few rounds on patrol could justify. Irritated, he clenched his jaw.
'It's not my place to question what Tsunade has her working on.' Unfortunately, telling himself that didn't help him forget the topic. Nor did reminding himself that Aiko was perfectly qualified to assess when she was in over her head, precisely because she never seemed to use that sense. She had a tendency to get caught up in a situation and treat it like an intellectual exercise—like it wasn't really her life, and she could just try again if it went badly.
It was a miracle that she hadn't gotten badly burnt with that nonchalance so far. You can only trust so many dangerous people and volunteer so much of yourself until you have nothing left. That was exactly what she had done by giving the Kazekage that seal. A spontaneous act of kindness to protect against an unlikely outcome had turned into a massive addition to her already increased duties.
To his eye, it was plain that she was in over her head and had yet to realize it. It was thoroughly unlike her to allow herself to become emotionally compromised on a mission. When he would use faux nonchalance and disdain, Aiko tended to use false cheer to disarm outsiders on missions. Clashing with Suigetsu was a bit petty of him, but it was much more uncharacteristic for Aiko.
The oddity wasn't just restricted to today. Her relationship with Naruto had been suffering, and she didn't even seem to notice. Two years ago, she would never have allowed herself to forget a promise to come to a team practice if Naruto asked her.
'Then again, they're growing up. They could just be growing apart.'
If that was the case, it wasn't mutual. Naruto had not been pleased by the slip, but Aiko really didn't seem to have even noticed. That implied either shifted priorities or a pronounced distraction.
Perhaps she was ill. If that was the case, she shouldn't be on this mission in any case.
They set up camp the first night at the edge of Fire Country territory, prepared to go through the checkpoint in the morning. Suigetsu looked unpleasantly surprised when their leader tossed two ration bars at him instead of suggesting that they acquire something fresher.
"You serious?" he skeptically pinched the green plastic-wrapped bars between two fingers and held them out from his body as if afraid to touch them.
"If you want meat, go get it yourself," Kakashi said shortly, before taking a deep breath and breathing a little spout of flames out to start their smokeless fire.
The boy grumbled, but he stalked off into the thin tree cover.
Aiko waited a few minutes to say anything, going about the regular motions of setting up camp until she was sure Suigetsu was out of earshot. "Any particular reason you drove him off, or is it just that he's irritating?"
Her captain didn't even look up at her from his slumped position on the ground. "Does it have to be one or the other?"
She leaned over to swipe at his ridiculous hair, making a rude 'pfft' sound. He caught her hand, and twisted to pin her with a serious look. "I don't trust this mission in general, or him in specific." His eye was unwavering, so dark that the grey almost looked black in the dim lighting. "He's too interested in you. He wants something."
"Remember when you told Mist that fib about me killing Zabuza?"
It had sort of been a fib, anyways. Technically it was true, but in the spirit of full disclosure… the outcome had been a total fluke because Zabuza had put himself in a tactically untenable situation. In a real fight, he would have stomped her flat in a few seconds. She'd just been lucky that he'd made the arrogant mistake of completely dismissing everyone but Kakashi as possible threats.
Kakashi looked baffled enough by the topic change to let her pull her hand away. She folded her legs to sit beside him and laced her fingers in her lap. "That's what this is about. He fancies himself a swordsman. Either he wants to fight me to see how he'd match up, or he wants information about the fight with Zabuza. Probably wants to know where the sword ended up. He has a real fetish for weapons, if the way that he went back to that Sound base just to pick one up is any indication."
'I'm really sure it's the last bit, but I can't definitively say that without any proof.'
"Hmm." His heel scraped against the dirt, leaving a shallow gouge when he bent one leg up and rested his elbow on his knee. It was a familiar posture. Generally, it meant he was thinking. "The idea that he wants to fight you is less than reassuring, but if he just wants the sword…" he trailed off with a shrug, lifting his chin to stare contemplatively at the few stars dotting the dimming skyline. "That can be tested easily enough. Tell him that the Mizukage has it."
"Bet he'll be pissed," Aiko added noncommittally. He could leave her alone once he knew that, or lash out in irritation.
Either way, she wasn't too worried. Suigetsu was dangerous, but so was she.
She got her chance to work the information she wanted to drop into a conversation the next day, as they were waiting for the boat that would take them to the first of Mist's outlying islands. Her captain was keeping a moderate distance—it had become clear that Suigetsu didn't want to talk to Aiko when he was around, instead preferring to make snarky jabs at the older shinobi. They were fantastically ineffectual, of course, but still an annoyance.
"Here." A small loaf of freshly-baked bread from the market came sailing into Suigetsu's personal space in a light underhand toss. He picked it out of the air without even looking.
"Thanks, sweetheart."
'Ugh, what a charmer.' The muscle under her eye twitched. Was he trying to provoke her, or was he really just that terrible at buttering a girl up? He talked like he was trying to get in her pants, not get information.
Maybe she'd been wrong about his motives?
"Actually, I should thank you in general," he mused with a pointed look back into the crowd at Kakashi, who was making his way towards them in a leisurely slouch. He ran his tongue along his lower lip. "Your grumpy old man friend would probably have tried to kill me with those Sound fucks. Pretty good break for me, huh?" The laugh he forced out was ugly. "I had no way of knowing we'd reconciled with Leaf, so I might have gotten in trouble for killing him."
'He's delusional,' she thought flatly. 'That is not how that fight would have gone. Kakashi would have left him a twitching, electrified puddle.'
That probably wasn't the diplomatic response. Not that Suigetsu was aiming for a diplomatic response. He was purposefully provoking Kakashi for some idiotic reason. Did he really think that she would take his side? Had he convinced himself that his status as Mist's liaison meant that he was safe from them? He was probably right, if that was the case. They would be in rather of a lot of trouble if he ended up dead.
"I think you know as well as I do that you don't owe me thanks for that. If the situation had been different, we would have killed you. It wasn't for your personal benefit." She shrugged with a noncommittal grunt. "It was a tactical assessment that you weren't a threat. I've fought Mist swordsmen before, and Zabuza was more of a challenge."
Okay, so she probably should have left the snub out. But he was acting like a tool, and she didn't appreciate the lack of professionalism. They weren't friends. He had no right to talk to her like that.
Suigetsu's fingers twitched as if they were around the handle of his sword. With exaggerated calm, he blinked heavy-lidded eyes at her and took a step closer. "Still," he purred. "You didn't have to vouch for me. Can't you take my gratitude?"
'Let's go with no, pretty boy.'
"I don't know why you're flirting with me," Aiko said bluntly, pushing past him to stand between him and Kakashi. It would be best to head this off as early as possible. "In fact, go flirt with him. He's much cuter." She jerked her head at Kakashi, who suddenly looked less than pleased by that turn in conversation. Defiantly, she met his eye with a stubborn posture. He looked away first.
'Cute? I most certainly am not cute.' Kakashi gave his subordinate an evil eye, wishing she would have the decency to look even a little bit scolded to assuage his wounded ego.
Honestly. Cute.
Aiko looked unapologetic, all confrontational stiffness in the tilt of her chin and poorly hidden vexation in her eyes. Ironically, the effect was somewhat cute itself. It was much harder to take her seriously when she lost her emotional detachment. She looked like she might put her hands to her hips and puff her cheeks out at any moment like she did when scolding Naruto.
'I swear she used to respect me,' he thought a little glumly, abandoning his attempt to cow her with a glare. That strategy would only backfire with the contrary mood she was in.
Said mood was 'confusing', as far as he could tell. She'd initially started bristling when Suigetsu made jabs at him, but then she'd made her own prod at him.
'Women,' he acknowledged dolefully, 'are mystifying. Or maybe it's a teenager characteristic and not a gendered trait? Perhaps it's just Aiko in general. Kurenai doesn't act like this. Then again, Aiko didn't used to either.'
Aiko stifled a grin at the put-out expression on her captain's masked face. It was amazing that he could be so expressive with three-quarters of his face covered. She'd probably pay for that in practice later, but it was totally true. Besides, if he was so concerned about Suigetsu creeping on her, then he could take one for the team and redirect some of that obnoxious attention.
Suigetsu didn't seem to know whether he wanted to laugh or scowl at being rejected. He settled for following up on her 'humblebrag' about Zabuza while they were on board a while later, leaning against the railing. "So, Zabuza, huh? What did you think of him?"
"Badly dressed and crazy," Aiko said shortly, cracking her neck and wishing for a sucker. She was in a mood for candy. Sugar in general sounded amazing, but she didn't think anyone would give her a packet of sweetener to lick up. "He was ridiculously strong, though. Shizune-san was the only person who could actually carry his sword. I had to seal it up to get it anywhere."
That wasn't strictly true, of course. Kakashi could have carried it. But Suigetsu would take that as implicit flattery because he was proud of being trained to wield swords like it. People believed and would dwell on what they wanted to hear.
Suigetsu gave a decidedly unsubtle smirk, leaning in. "Really? What happened to it? Are you going to use it, princess?"
Aiko took a step away. "No," she said shortly. "Of course not. We gave it back to Mist when the initial alliance was negotiated."
The boy at her side froze, muscles tense. Suddenly, she was unpleasantly aware of just how close and how physically strong he was. In close combat, he had a definite advantage, since she couldn't rely on a precision strike to take him down. He would just reform. No, in order for her to beat him, she'd have to either wear out his chakra reserves or get enough distance to use her slightly unwieldy lightning nature transformation. He was weak against lightning, right?
Out of his line of sight, she curled her left hand into a fist. If he tried to strike, she would Hiraishin to Kakashi.
Her caution was unnecessary, however. "I see." His face smoothed into a condescending sneer. He walked away without another word, slamming the door to his cabin behind them.
'I am glad we aren't sharing space with him.'
It was infinitely preferable to share a one-bed cabin with Kakashi than with Suigetsu, in no small part because Kakashi didn't trust the other teen. That lack of trust unfortunately meant that they slept in four hour shifts and she was quickly getting wearier every day. When left to its own devices, her body would sleep about six hours, and the missing time was wearing on her body. Her captain didn't seem even a little affected by the adverse conditions, but it was hard to tell what was going on in his head sometimes. Kakashi wasn't particularly open about his weaknesses.
Telling Suigetsu about Zabuza's sword had both good and bad outcomes. He did back off of Aiko, proving that he wasn't really that interested in her as a person. On the other hand, his attitude became even worse. They had to make trips between three different islands in order to get to the main village, but Suigetsu stalked off as soon as they were off their first ship and didn't come back until they'd missed their planned voyage.
Aiko might have asked him what the hell he'd been doing, if it weren't for the fact that he came back infinitely calmer and reeking of blood.
Mildly queasy, she exchanged an uneasy look with Kakashi and inched a bit closer. He didn't let on to his thoughts at all. Actually, he didn't even seem cranky about having been ditched for half a day. The sleepy slouch was one of his defense mechanisms for when another human being might have openly had an emotional reaction.
So he was probably unnerved as well.
'I take back all the slack I gave Suigetsu. There is something very wrong with him. I don't know if it's baggage from his time with Orochimaru or that he's a psychopath on his own merits, but either way, that is not the mark of a stable individual.'
She swallowed over the lump in her throat, trying to ignore the cloying stench of blood. It took a moment to cut off all the chakra circulation to her olfactory system. Handicapping her senses wasn't a particularly appealing concept, but there was a good chance that she'd throw up if she had to stand in close quarters with Suigetsu for hours otherwise.
If they had been in Fire Country, they would have killed him on the spot for hunting civilians for sport. But in his home country they couldn't legally do anything but report him to the Mizukage. They might, but it probably wouldn't go anywhere. Not on the word of two foreigners.
It wasn't a particularly auspicious re-introduction to Water Country.