Eight

Safest in the Rain

Maybe I thought I knew what it was like to not feel remorse at the deaths of the innocent.

But I'd always held that guilt.

:: ::

Tsunade's eyes never once wavered when Yuuhi gave her calm, steady report about what her and her students had done on their S-rank mission to help retrieve the Godaime Kazekage. There were a few nicks and bruises in the general account, but that was to be expected when working jointly with a team that included Konoha's #1 Knuckle-headed Shinobi.

But besides that? Besides being able to defeat that Hoshigaki clone? Besides the two encountered Akatsuki members? Besides the Akatsuki meeting space completely obliterated? Team Eight had once more delivered a flawless mission; one more clean file on the record.

"—after Chiyo-sama had given up her own life to revive the Kazekage, we made it back to Suna and stayed overnight before coming back here," Kurenai finished. Tsunade noticed there weren't any more bags under her eyes and she seemed to be back to taking care of herself, unlike back then when the loss of her genin team had struck her so deep in her core that she'd nearly become a walking corpse; at least she was making strides in her recovery.

The Hokage nodded and shuffled through a few papers on her desk. "I see. Was Sakura able to provide any additional intel from her fight against Akasuna no Sasori?"

"She learned the Akasuna no Sasori used to be partnered with Orochimaru in their organization, but nothing more than that. She made sure to destroy his heart as a preventative measure to any future occurrences and scavenged the battleground for anything useful, but nothing turned up," the jounin said. Her red eyes were bright and clear and her stance at attention was perfect for those of her standing. A model shinobi, if Tsunade could say so herself.

"Hm." The Akatsuki was still an unknown even though they were a bunch of slimy bastards. No surprise that nothing new had been found out about them. She leaned back into her seat. "Thank you for your report, Yuuhi. You and your team will be paid the standard for S-ranks including bonus recompense for the high political nature of the mission in the following seventy-two hours. Team Eight is assigned a mandatory recovery period of one week before being added back onto the mission roster." She nodded. "Dismissed."

Kurenai dipped into a respectful bow. "Hokage-sama."

As she left the office and stepped out into the hallway, she didn't close the door and Kakashi strolled in not a second after black hair swept out of Tsunade's vision. He shut the door behind him with a quiet click.

"Hokage-sama," he greeted politely, a smile under his mask and his exposed eye halfway crinkled. "You asked for me?"

Speaking of model shinobi, this man was a perfect example of a shinobi that wasn't. Procrastinating on reports, an insufferable cheek, little regard for decorum when it wasn't the utmost priority—if he wasn't such a damn good person she would have already punched him through a hundred different walls a hundred different times.

Minato did right by this one, but she couldn't say the same about her old sensei who stuffed him with genin where there were still fresh scars on his mind from the trauma and his time in ANBU.

"I want to talk about your most recent mission."

"Ah, hadn't I already given an oral report? Earlier this morning, if I remember correctly."

"Yes, yes." Tsunade waved a hand. "I brought you in again because I have a few questions on team member behavior."

Kakashi blinked. "For... Naruto? Because I stand by my assessment that he's not ready to take any more high-stakes missions, and if he does it should preferably be with me as his captain. He hasn't learned how to work well with others or listen to orders from an authority since his reinstatement as an active Konoha shinobi, and not to mention that he's still technically a genin regardless of his current skill set."