Will of Fire: Kakashi Hatake

Chapter 23

She found Kakashi down the hall in another room. This one was a study, and had shelves full of books lining every wall. He was shuffling through papers on the desk that stood in the middle of the room. He glanced up as she entered.

"Start looking for intel on the operation. Gather as much as you can."

"Yes sir." Akira snapped. Kakashi paused what he was doing and looked up at her again. He still was not wearing his mask, so she could see the snarl on his face that hardened his jawline and furrowed his eyebrows.

"If you don't drop the attitude, I'll send you back to the leaf village right now. If you have a problem with your superiors, you can voice it to Lord Third. I will not have you jeopardizing the mission because you can't control your emotions."

Akira stood as still as a board, staring at Kakashi. He glared back at her, unwavering. After a moment of standstill, Akira dropped her eyes.

"My apologies, captain." She said in a low voice.

"Go search the other rooms."

"Yes captain." She turned and made her way out the door, careful to keep her posture in check. She didn't doubt his words. Part of her knew he was right, that she needed to get her emotions under control. Part of her didn't care.

Akira walked down the hall, opening every door she came across and giving the room a look over. There was nothing in them that had any significance, so she made her way back upstairs. She had seen another study on the third floor that had been connected to a bedroom she assumed belonged to the dead noble.

She stepped over the bodies in the hallway on the second floor, her sandals squelching on the blood soaked carpet. She jumped up the staircase that lead to the third floor in one leap and crossed the hall to the study. When she entered, she was greeted with a site that was similar to the one she had seen downstairs. The brick walls were lined with bookshelves full of books, and a table was in the middle of the room with four chairs around it. Papers and scrolls were spread out across it. There was another door at the other end of the study that lead into the bedroom.

Akira started rifling through the papers on the table, looking for any information related to the drug operation that they were running. She found some, but the majority of the information was regarding various businesses around town, their taxes and such. Nothing that was incredibly meaningful to her. She threw those away across the table, sending papers flying everywhere. She pulled an closed scroll toward herself and opened it.

She balled up her fists, glaring down at the scroll she had just unrolled. It detailed operations for the organization's secondary operation. The operation that their intel had briefly mentioned but had not focused on.

A human trafficking ring.

Akira's breath came out in shallow pants. She clenched her jaw so tight the muscles in her cheeks began to ache almost immediately.

She spun and threw her right fist into the brick wall behind her. A snap echoed around the room and pain flared in Akira's right hand, racing along the back of it and up her wrist. She was about to throw her fist into the wall again when she was stopped cold.

Kakashi had grabbed her wrist. Akira glared at the wall, a snarl twisting her lips back over her teeth. She panted, pain still rushing through her hand.

"Enough," he said quietly. He glanced at the scroll on the table. "That's enough, Akira."

"Yes captain." She said through her gritted teeth. She straightened upright, but Kakashi didn't let go of her wrist. He reached up and removed her mask. Akira immediately turned her head away from him, hiding her face. Hiding the tears that had started to crawl down her cheeks.