sunshineverse | [Closed] We have to stop meeting like this.

Kakashi settled back in his booth, calm eyes regarding Tenzou with a muted smile tucked away under his mask.

"No?" he shook his head, his voice and visible eye tag-teaming to successfully feign innocence. "What happened, was it fun?"

Tenzou didn't buy Kakashi's act for a second and he levelled his most unimpressed look at him in response.

"Is your memory failing in your old age, Kakashi-san?" He dead panned the words, setting aside the menu as he leant back in the booth, arms folded and eyebrow raised in question.

Kakashi deflated at that, shoulders sagging a little under the harsh coldness of Tenzou's tone.

"Ah, Tenzou, you didn't have to be mean about it..." he almost sulked, not far off looking like a kicked puppy as he flopped his head forward. Earlier he'd been quietly brimming with pride over how far his meek little kouhai had come, but now he was seeing the repercussions in full force. Did he not respect him anymore? Had Kakashi grown so disillusioned that people saw him as soft and old? Would he have to face an enforced retirement soon? He slumped. It was a dark, dark day indeed when even Tenzou lost respect for you.

Tenzou blanched at Kakashi's reaction. He'd expected a return in banter or a swift kick under the table as had been the usual fair in their ANBU days, but a hang dog expression was nowhere on his list.

The serious expression dropped from his face, replaced by an awkward smile and waving hands, as if he could shoo the mood away from them with a gesture.

"A-ah Come now, Senpai! I didn't mean it like that, there's no need to look so glum!"

"Aaah, Tenzooouuu-" he whined in his own quietly dramatic way, throwing his head to the side to cast a hurt look toward the floor.

He was about to berate his companion with further sulking mumbles when a server appeared, polite and a little awkward, beside their table. He turned to her, his previous dark cloud seeming to dissipate as quickly as it had come, and ordered their respective meals without letting Tenzou get a word in edgeways. He did, however, make sure the smile under his mask was all too obvious when he ordered the sake.

Once the server had left, Kakashi rounded on Tenzou.

"Sorry, what were we talking about?"

Tenzou spluttered at the sudden mood flip, gaping open mouthed as Kakashi steam rolled their order and slid right back to his nonchalant self.
His mouth closed with a click of teeth, a pout threatening his features as he eyed his old captain with a stormy look.

"You could have at least let me order tea as well, Senpai.."

It was a weak protest, he knew and turned his gaze to their elevated view of the street, chin propped on his palm.
Tenzou struggled to maintain the sulk though, smile tugging at his lips at how easily they both fell back into old habits and he voiced his thoughts to banish the mood.

"How has life been outside of ANBU anyway?"

He wafted a hand at Tenzou's complaint, brushing it off with a casual shrug. Maybe he was being a little harsh, but Tenzou looked like he could use the opportunity to let loose a little - sake would do just the trick.. He'd just have to be careful not to let him get too carried away. As much as he avoided admitting to it, he remembered all to clear the last time they'd been drunk together. The last thing he needed was Tenzou storming through the village giving everyone a piece of his mind.

"Quiet," he said eventually. "Though I suppose anything would seem quiet compared to that."

"Hmn, you'd be surprised.." Tenzou mused in reply.

He regarded the bustling street below them, expression turning strangely wistful as he continued.
"Everything seems so bright and loud village side and.." His tone dropped in light of next words "..mission frequency's been stepped up. HQ felt like a ghost town, even with the increase in agents."

Tenzou found himself lost in thought for a moment, before he shook his head and offered Kakashi a bashful smile "Ah, but how did you of all people get used to this? I don't know what to do with myself!"

Kakashi raised his eyebrows in mild interest at that. He hadn't taken much notice of ANBU affairs, though he'd had plenty of opportunities to become acquainted with them again since he'd left.. It was much easier and much safer to keep his distance, he found. He didn't miss it, and for all he knew ANBU didn't miss him.

He watched Tenzou space out, and again found himself wondering how the hell a man such as Tenzou had managed to stay in ANBU as long as he had without becoming at least a little hard hearted. Even in his youth he'd never looked as warped as the others had before they were stifled and stiffened, ready to create soldiers for the leaf.

"Hah, like I said before.. You just get used to it." he smiled, thankful for a change of subject. "It seems loud, but we're quite a quiet village on the whole. You just have to find your place and settle into it."

At that Tenzou frowned. A place..He'd had one of those, one he was good at, one where he could serve his village the most and he voiced exactly that.

"I had a place, Kakashi-senpai. I know Obito-sama thinks I will be of more use here but, that was my home.."

He dropped his head, hands settling flat on the table before him and regarded the surface below them critically. The roots keep the tree steady in a storm - Lord Danzo's words bubbled up from the archives of his memory and it made Tenzou feel strangely sick, longing for something he couldn't put his finger on.

Pursing his lips, he realised his behaviour could be interpreted as ungrateful, almost bratty, but Tenzou had no other way of putting across the disquiet he felt at the change.

Discomfort rolled off Tenzou like waves, and Kakashi couldn't help but give him a sympathetic look, however patronizing it might have seemed.

Kakashi had never thought of ANBU as his home. Despite spending ten years in its ranks he'd managed to never get attached, which made his eventual transition back an easy one. Returning to Konoha was like greeting an old friend... and that thought gave him an idea.

"I know, and it always will be," he smiled. "Nothing will change that. But it won't be an injustice to it's memory to find a home here too, with your friends."

Tenzou looked up, giving Kakashi an abashed look at the comment.
"Friends, Senpai? I think that you're the only person I can apply that title to at the moment.."

His mouth twisted in thought at his own words, unsure if he was expressing his point correctly "..that is to say, I know many people. I'm just not particularly close with any of them."

Tenzou looked a little lost at the conclusion and silently wrestled with his thoughts.
Being close made a job like ANBU difficult. Every agent he had worked with, he trusted, talked to, even laughed with on downtime, but never went that extra mile to let them in. It was just easier that way.

Village life seemed so..personal in comparison and he found himself oddly floundering.

"It only takes one," Kakashi shrugged, every cryptic. It was then that the server returned, laying out their drinks first and then placing the luscious meat servings by the grill in the middle of the table. He muttered his gratitude as his lidded eyes went wide, immediately laying out a few chunks of meat to cook.

"You're acting as if ANBU will never be your home again, Tenzou." he continued conversationally as he sat back to inspect the sake bottle. "But it will. You aren't like me; you didn't have to leave for your own good. Instead you're taking a break for the good of the village. Isn't that what ANBU is all about? Don't think of this as a punishment for enjoying your job. Think of this as a mission, to help Neji avoid the misunderstandings that come with being in ANBU. You know as well as I do that those can be many."

Tenzou regarded Kakashi with a thoughtful look, mulling over his words even as their meal was spread out temptingly before them.

As always, the Jounin was right. His removal from active duty, had not been a complete stripping of his rank; no doubt he would be needed in the field again, especially for Neji's first missions. The pitfalls of Special Ops were also many and he could see that experience being of the most use to what he had read as a very competent Shinobi otherwise.

He sighed and finally, a small smile touched his lips.
"It seems I can't fight your logic, Senpai.. For the good of the village then, I'll give it time."

Tenzou reached for his chopsticks, eyeing the sake warily as he did so and began picking over the selection of food, feeling considerably happier than he had that morning. Idly he voiced a final worry, eyes trained on the slice of beef he had chosen to grill.

"I just hope this time out doesn't affect my effectiveness in the field.."

He rolled his eye at that, his own chopsticks already snapped and poised in his hand as he leant on the table, chin resting in his palm.

"You're training a young hopeful for the very job you're afraid of becoming alienated from..." He shook his head incredulously. "But if you're that afraid of these two lives mixing and becoming murky, why don't you separate them?"

Kakashi spoke as if his solution were the simplest, most obvious approach, and that Tenzou was dense for not thinking of it sooner. He flipped the chunks of meat he'd arranged in a little line on the grill before reaching for the sake and serving them two hearty tumblers full.

He raised his with a mirthful glint in his eye. "So? What should I call you?"

Tenzou blinked at Kakashi as the question sank in, almost sacrificing the pieces of meat he'd been tending to over cooking, before he could formulate an answer.

"..Call me? Wh-" He cut himself off and frowned, mind playing catch up with what the Jounin was suggesting.

Eyebrow raised in question, Tenzou levelled an incredulous look at his former captain. "..You think I should choose a new name?"

Kakashi let his tumbler rest on the table, not rude enough to take the toast without its intended purpose fulfilled.

"You remember your transition from ROOT to ANBU, don't you?" the silver-haired shinobi asked, poking his food with his chopsticks again before deeming a chunk ready and shoving it across to the cooler side of the grill. "You had the same problem then - separating one life from the other."

"If you think you'll find it hard to adjust, help yourself by separating yourself from Tenzou the ANBU Captain." Obviously he could only give Tenzou advice from his own personal experience, but.. When all was said and done, his recovery hadn't turned him out too bad, right? This way he could still embrace his old names and take Tenzou out of the box when he was needed for ANBU whilst allowing himself a life in the village.

"It worked for Kinoe and it worked for me," He looked up into Tenzou's face then, a gentle smile evident in the way his mask contorted over his nose. "I'm sure it could work for Tenzou, if that's what you want."

Tenzou felt himself flooded with an unexpected warmth of feeling at the smile and the words it accompanied. It was an expression he'd almost given up on seeing again, given their separate paths and it struck him then, just how much the depth of Kakashi's understanding meant.

There was no one else that knew how he had battled with the change in environments then and no one but his former captain could quite grasp his current distress now. He wanted nothing more than to fulfil the Hokage's wishes, but his first request had felt like an almost insurmountable task, until now.

Tenzou found himself suddenly very grateful for running into Kakashi after all..

He tried valiantly to suppress the feeling from showing in his face, but his cheeks flushed lightly all the same and Tenzou ducked his head to the task of saving his meal, a helpless chuckle bubbling in his throat.

"Ah, stop making sense, Senpai! You're putting me to shame.."

He couldn't meet the other man's eye yet and fussed with the selection of vegetables before replying in a softer tone.

"I do though, I want that very much.."

As Tenzou dipped his head and blushed, Kakashi was suddenly bowled over with the nostalgic memory of the same-faced but much smaller boy Tenzou had once been - large eyes full of admiration and bashful shyness in the glow of praise. It made Kakashi smile too, and he reached out to temptingly swirl his sake.

"Soooo~?"

Edited 2014-09-09 21:59 (UTC)

Tenzou sighed in mock exasperation at Kakashi's insistence, but matched his smile all the same and set aside his chopsticks in favour of taking up his sake cup. Holding it aloft he considered it with a pleased, if thoughtful look as he met the other Shinobi's gaze.

"I guess I better start thinking up a new name.."

His mind drew a help blank for the time being, including exactly what they should be toasting, but Tenzou still offered his cup across the space between them, punctuating it with an awkward smile.

"To a fresh start, then?"

"To a fresh start!" Kakashi nodded and gladly clinked their tumblers together across the table. He probably could have drank through his mask - he wasn't above that, after all - but instead he waited till Tenzou dipped his head and looked away before slipping his mask down to bring the sake to his lips.

He took that moment to tend to his meal, deeming a few cuts acceptably grilled before popping them into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully.
Typically, he would have felt the need to play a furious game of peekaboo with his mask, but Tenzou had never been one to stare and had therefore acquired Kakashi's trust in this - his most self-conscious - regard.

He wouldn't push the name thing for the time being. It had to come naturally.

Tenzou made a face as the sake burnt across his tongue, drinking slightly more than anticipated in his haste to have it done with and set the glass aside to focus on eating again.

His eyes tracked a path between the grill and his bowl, to the world outside again; falling easily back into the habit of respectful ignorance when it came to sharing a meal with Kakashi. Of course he'd been curious in the early days, but privacy was hoarded for a reason and Tenzou respected that more than anything and it had served their friendship well.

He ate with the mild disinterest and automation of someone who was used to ignoring the taste of their meals and finally relaxed as they settled into the kind of companionable silence he hadn't known he'd missed. The sake helped as well of course; his susceptibility to the substance practically legendary at that point, but Tenzou wasn't fool enough to think that being able to voice his concerns hadn't lifted its own burden too.

Kakashi's eyebrow twitched, glancing at Tenzou's now half-empty tumbler and finding himself quite impressed with the pace at which the other man could put it away. That, or Tenzou was trying to stave off the effects by pushing it through his system as fast as possible. Hahaha, rookie mistake.

Kakashi tipped his own sake clean down his throat, his tolerance proving as always to be sturdy and reliable. He outstretched a hand to pour himself another and top Tenzou up while he wasn't looking, then covered his lower face with the curve of his hand so that Tenzou was free to look at him as he spoke.

"You don't have plans tomorrow, do you?" he asked, only the slightest lilt of a challenge in his voice.

Edited 2014-09-11 18:13 (UTC)

Mid chew, Tenzou reached out unthinkingly for his glass, taking a sip, but gave it a suspicious once over at Kakashi's tone. There was definitely more there than before and the other Shinobi was already on his second helping...This could only end badly.

Tenzou turned his gaze on Kakashi, trying to judge the likely hood that his former captain would actually push the matter and eventually heaved an internal sigh. Perhaps accepting his fate and making a damn good show of it was the better choice after all, though he had the distinct impression that his sixteen year old self was face-palming somewhere in his subconscious at the idea.

So without another thought, he drained the rest of his glass and set it aside as nonchalantly as possible; Tenzou hadn't exercised this particular brand of stupid in a very long time, but then again, no one /but/ Kakashi would turn this into a challenge...

His reply was surprisingly even, mouth turning up at the corners impishly.
"Not especially, Senpai."

That was what he'd been waiting for. If Tenzou wasn't interested in this kind of challenge then Kakashi would have dropped it there, kept the younger man sober and sated and not said another word about it - but as he caught the little smirk and the controlled, even tone of Tenzou's voice, he knew he had a competitor on his hands.

Kakashi's full glass didn't last long after he'd finished off the next row of beef, adding more cuts to the grill with steady hands despite the burn trickling down his throat and pooling in his belly. He knew his limit, knew exactly where he should stop before things took a turn for the worst - and his advantage here was that Tenzou didn't. When they'd last drank together Kakashi had been much younger and much more virgin to the effects of alcohol... Now, many years and lonely sake bottles later, Kakashi was almost certain he would be the last man standing.

"A good thing, too," he muttered as he pushed his empty glass toward Tenzou for a refill. "The way you're headed."

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