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Tousaki Ryouma ([info]fallen_ryouma) wrote in [info]fallen_leaves,
@ 2009-04-19 16:29:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:kakashi, mission, ryouma

Stand Your Ground [closed to Kakashi and Ryouma]
[[Set on March 22nd, around two weeks after The Safest Place You've Found and Straighten Up, Face the Day]]

Kakashi was late to the briefing.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the Intel agent shuffling his files behind the desk wasn't forty, greying, married, and male. Ryouma rearranged all his conversational gambits, tried the safe ones and then the more edgy options, and still got nothing more than grunted monosyllables and, once, a flicker of a scowl. He wouldn't have even known it was Kakashi they were waiting for if the Intel agent hadn't unwisely asked him, just after he entered the tiny briefing room, whether he'd seen Hatake in the hall.

In retrospect, Ryouma probably shouldn't have pounced with questions. (He's back from his mission? When'd he get back? How come they're sending him out again? Who're we killing? Sure you're not setting me up for another ambush this time?) The briefer shut up tighter than any bank vault, and Ryouma eventually shoved the chairs aside and started doing one-handed push-ups just to keep himself awake.

He was on twenty-three when the door opened, and he counted twenty-four and twenty-five out of sheer stubbornness before he looked up. "Welcome back, genius. Got tired of running?" He rolled into a crouch, chest heaving as he caught his breath. The view was better, from here; he could actually see a narrow slice of Kakashi's pale face and a single grey eye between the mask and hitai'ate.

"Or'd you just miss my scintillating conversation an' supernatural good looks? I gotta warn you, I'm going masked this time."

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[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 05:39 pm UTC (link)
"Or gagged," Kakashi suggested, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe. "We could appreciate the quiet just for its rarity value." Behind Ryouma, there was the faintest flicker of agreement in the briefer's stern face. Kakashi levelled the man an I'm not on your side, either look. "Sorry I'm late," he added. "I got waylaid by a tea-room of charming bag ladies. They needed me to teach them various complicated jutsu, or demonstrate some explicit sexual favours. As you can imagine, it took some time."

The briefer blinked once, then shuffled his papers. "If you could focus, Hatake-san," he said sharply, "there's a mission awaiting your attention."

"Shocking," Kakashi drawled, rude because he could be. Because it was a lot better than thinking about tired of running and admitting that was true. He stepped away from the doorframe, letting the door swing closed behind him, and slouched back against the wall. His hands hooked into his pockets, bent loosely at the wrists. Ryouma still crouched, the faintest sheen of sweat catching fluorescent light over his shoulders.

The nice thing about ANBU uniforms, Kakashi reflected, besides their relative ability to help keep the wearer in one piece, was the wonderful things they did for showcasing well-muscled arms. And bitable necks. And hard chests...

And this was not helping him.

"There was cake, too," he added finally. "Did I miss anything fun?"

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 05:39 pm UTC (link)
"Only the bit where I did a striptease," Ryouma assured him, twisting to watch Kakashi lounge against the wall. The riveting tension that had wound every muscle two and a half weeks ago was gone; Kakashi looked calm, relaxed, almost content. Had something happened on his mission? Or had just two weeks' absence from Konoha--from broken/replaced doors and questions he couldn't answer and friends who wanted too much--been enough? "And...some stuff happened I'll catch you up with later. Did you bring me any cake?"

The Intel agent cleared his throat.

"Bastard," Ryouma told Kakashi. "You owe me cake."

"Tousaki-kun," the Intel agent said frigidly, "if you will take your seat, we can begin."

"I'm comfortable here," Ryouma snapped. He rested his forearms on his thighs and glared across the desk. He was tall enough that, even crouching, he was nearly eye-level with the old man. It didn't do much good; the briefer was already looking down at his notes.

"You have been assigned as a pair to a seduction and assassination mission," he read, quite as calmly as if he were reading the day's weather report. "The target, one Matsuda Kino, is a wealthy playboy well-known for his frequenting of notorious nightclubs and his preference for..." For the first time, he hesitated; his lip curled. "Pretty boys with tattoos," he quoted, enunciating precisely. "The target does not respond well to obvious attempts at seduction. Accordingly, the Mission Office--"

"Assigned me?" Ryouma broke in. He wrenched around again so fast that one knee thumped to the floor. "This isn't funny!"

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[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 05:42 pm UTC (link)
"Do you see me laughing?" Kakashi pulled himself away from the wall, fingers hooking firmly into his pockets before they got any bright ideas about ruffling Ryouma's wild hair. Two weeks of tracking with nothing but dogs had left him with the reflex to sooth anxiety by petting it. That was his excuse and he was sticking to it.

The briefer leaned ever so-slightly-back as Kakashi reached the table and picked up the brief with his name on it. The folder was slim and plain, like every mission folder. He skimmed though it, finding target photograph, target's address, target's preferences...

Detailed accounts of three failed assassination attempts.

"You realize," he informed the Intel agent neutrally, as he memorized kanji, "that assigning an easily recognizable shinobi to a seduction mission is like painting a bullseye on him, right? Not to mention sending a rookie out for back up." Which was an unfair shot at Ryouma, but apologies could come after protests. Seduction was not for them, especially when their last conversation had ended with more crying than Kakashi wanted to remember, ever.

"I should hope a shinobi of your calibre would have at least a basic grasp of subterfuge," the briefer responded, tight-lipped. "Your names are on the mission. You've been specifically assigned. Are you refusing?"

Kakashi glanced up. A yes ran itself right into well-trained teeth that bit it in half before it ever met air. He tightened his jaw. "No."

"Good. You are both required to do whatever it takes to secure the target and eliminate him without revealing Konoha's hand in this." The man studied Kakashi for a long moment, then turned his gaze on Ryouma. "I trust I don't have to explain what that means?"

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 05:43 pm UTC (link)
"Screw him on the dance floor, if we have to?" Ryouma's lip curled in disgust. "Sure. Whatever gets you off. Wasn't there anyone else? I mean, Shiranui Genma does seduction missions, doesn't he? Or--"

"The target has a pronounced preference for a certain physical type." The Intel agent picked a file out of his stack and held it out. Ryouma didn't reach for it. After a moment the man set it down again. "Three trained seduction agents have attempted this assassination to the client's specifications in the past month," he said tightly. "None of them succeeded. If you do not, the client threatens to take his mission--and any future work--to another shinobi village. Konoha cannot afford your scruples, Tousaki-kun."

"Damn right it can't." Ryouma shoved himself to his feet. His hands flexed once and then jammed in his pockets. "You've bought my blood, not my-- Whatever. What else do I need to know?"

"The information is in the file--"

"Kakashi," Ryouma said. "What else do I need to know?"

(Reply to this)


[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 05:44 pm UTC (link)
The brief dangled from Kakashi's hand; one look had been enough. "The target's middle-aged and wealthy and bored, and he's had shinobi training. Possibly up to chuunin level." It was a struggle to keep his drawl even and unclipped. His gaze stayed fixed on the tabletop for a long moment, then his head came came around. The briefer became a nothing presence, ignored and forgotten. "He's well-guarded, aware he's being hunted, and likes to play with pretty young couples."

Which they weren't.

"And he frequents a number of high-class clubs in the Tanzuku district," he went on, quoting directly. Ryouma couldn't read the brief, but Kakashi could at least give him the identical information. "He has a noted predilection for open-minded homosexual male couples, particularly those involved in the edgier aspects of alternative lifestyles; tattoos, alcohol, body piercings, and drugs being the most obvious--"

He paused and hitched up an eyebrow. "Tattoos are edgy? Does that still count if they're the mark of a quasi-military group?"

The Intel briefer cleared his throat again.

"And there's a whole folder about sexual deviations here," Kakashi added, holding it up. "But I'd say we have to dress up, mingle, look edible, and cut the guy apart while he's got his hands down someone's pants. Preferably not mine."

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 05:45 pm UTC (link)
"Sure, throw me to the wolves," Ryouma growled. "I'm just the straight one." Well, mostly. So far as anyone else was concerned, at any rate. He bent a renewed glare across the table. "And I'll just bet the client's got some special requirements about getting things done exactly the way he wants. Roses on the bed, gold coins shoved down the target's throat? Because I can think of somewhere else I'd like to ram 'em..."

The Intel agent gave him what was probably supposed to be a quelling frown. "Discretion is of paramount importance. There must be no witnesses--not even dead ones. You may, if necessary, eliminate the bodyguards. The manner of the target's death is subject to the exigencies of the moment, but the body should be left in his private bar at the Club 69 and must still be recognizable."

Ryouma regretfully abandoned his fantasies of rotting the pervert's face off. Although presumably that didn't rule out rotting anything else off... "So what'd this guy do to deserve us? Stick his hand down the wrong pair of pants?"

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[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 05:47 pm UTC (link)
"That's need-to-know," the Intel agent said shortly, "and you don't need to know."

Kakashi stepped back from the table, tossing the brief back onto the lacquered wood; he'd memorized everything useful. "Which means you don't know," he returned, and judged by the angry spots of colour flaring on the man's cheeks that he'd guessed right. "Then we're done here."

The Intel agent half-rose out of his seat, hands flattening on the table. "You need to report to the--"

"Quartermaster. Yes, thank you." The automatic slip into soldier broke just enough for Kakashi flick an ironic salute, ruffling his own hair. "And thank you for your excellent briefing, it was a privilege and a delight to witness. I'm sure we feel wonderfully prepared and filled with the warm rosy glow of men about to risk life and gag-reflex for the sake of home and--" he slid a brief glance at Ryouma, and finished with a drawl. "Family."

The Intel agent stared at him. Kakashi shoved his hand back into his pocket. "For the sake of mom's apple pie, we won't let you down. Enjoy your day, I hope you sleep well at night."

He headed for the door before anyone could stop him, and fell back into soldier by the time he reached the hallway. If nothing else, it would make the mission easier--and if it didn't, he wouldn't care.

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 05:48 pm UTC (link)
"I hope the apple pie is freakin' worth it," Ryouma snarled, and slammed the door behind him. Childish, sure, but he felt kind of like being childish, right now. Better than whorish, that was for damn sure...

Kakashi didn't speak on the short trip down the hallway to the Quartermaster's supply room. That was fine by Ryouma. He was practicing new combinations of swear words under his breath when Kakashi pushed the door open and exchanged polite but wary nods with the Quartermaster. When Ryouma stepped in, the politeness fell away. "I issued you new armor a week ago," the Quartermaster said peevishly, slapping his magazine down on the counter. "Even you can't have ruined it already. I swear, boy, next one I really will start charging you--"

"It's not that," Ryouma said hastily. "This's my first mission back on active duty." He spread his arms, showing off his sleek new armor. "Look, not even chipped!"

"I give it a month," the Quartermaster muttered. "So what is it this time? Extra gloves? Soldier pills?" His steely blue eyes flicked back to Kakashi. "You really are going to lug this poor bastard home naked and bleeding again, aren't you?"

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[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 05:51 pm UTC (link)
"Because that was the highlight of my week last time," Kakashi said, dry as desert sand and just as emotional. He didn't need to think about Ryouma naked and bleeding, Ryouma didn't need to think about Ryouma naked and bleeding. Not when there was likely to be too much naked in the future anyway. "We need to look pretty enough to sex up a rock groupie." He leaned his elbows on the counter, visible eye drifting over the racks of armour and weapons on display. "Mission number 3629A, if you've got it on file."

The Quartermaster eyeballed him for a long moment, then leaned down and retrieved a folder from behind the counter without looking away--which was a neat trick, Kakashi had to admit. The man glanced at the brief once, then paused and re-read it carefully. It would be abbreviated, Kakashi knew. Everyone was on need-to-know, but it would tell the older shinobi enough.

"So I'm thinking something with chains..." Kakashi drawled into the literary silence. "Maybe a jacket. I think I'd suit a jacket. D'you have--"

"Shut up," said the Quartermaster tetchily, and shoved the folder back under the counter. He gave them both an appraising look. Then he stabbed a finger at Ryouma. "You'll be easy enough, stretch. We'll coat you out in jeans and leather, I'm thinking. Not too blatant, but sexy enough. You've got the tattoos already, but we can toss in a piercing or two to really make the look swing. And you aren't in the Bingo Book yet, so we don't need to mess with your face. Your hair's fine, shouldn't be an issue. But you--"

The finger swung towards Kakashi.

"Lose the mask, change the hair, we'll have to do something with that damn eye..." He was already turning away, heading back into dusty stacks, voice fading down into a mutter. "Not a rutting miracle worker..."

Kakashi stayed where he was, gaze fixed on the counter, and worked his way through a cold twist of emotion. Lose the mask. He could do that for a mission. Something with that damn eye. He could do that too. He just didn't have to like it.

At least he didn't care about the hair.

He slid a glance at Ryouma and found the man outlined by the doorframe, looking half like he wanted to run. "I think you should get your nose pierced," he said. "Like a bull. We could put a chain on it. You'd drive all the boys nuts."

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 05:52 pm UTC (link)
"Because I don't have enough holes in my hide already?" Ryouma folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the doorframe in a semi-effective compromise between standing his ground and getting the hell out of there. He didn't do seduction missions, dammit. He killed people messily and nastily and in large quantities, and he'd never even kissed a girl he didn't already like.

Or a guy, but he'd only ever kissed one guy anyway. And that had been nothing like enough experience for this.

"Ear cuff," he said firmly, dragging his own attention back, or at least away. "I'd been thinking about getting one anyway." He'd actually been vaguely contemplating a nipple ring, but that was out of the question now. An ear cuff wouldn't need a hole or a healing period. And if it got ripped off, at least it wouldn't mess up his face.

"We should get you a couple tattoos, though," he suggested. That was an even better idea. Black ink on creamy skin... He swallowed, hard.

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[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 05:54 pm UTC (link)
Kakashi felt his eyebrows arch as Ryouma's scent cut right from awkward crossed with angry to--something very different. He glanced over his shoulder again and found himself caught in the crosshairs of a look that definitely wasn't focused on the mission. Or anything near the mission. There was an edge of lowering storm in the air...

Before he could comment on Ryouma's apparent ink fetish, or figure out what, exactly, that look was doing to his mission focus (two weeks away was supposed to have left him detached), the Quartermaster came stamping back and dropped a heavy armful of things on the counter. A spiked collar rolled away from the heap and landed by Kakashi's elbow. He stared at it.

"Right," said the Quartermaster, and began to split things into two piles. "Hair dye for you, genius boy. And a set of brown contacts, one with a mirror-coated inside for your red-eye issue. I'm thinking make up'll do fine to cover the scar--here." He slapped a couple of boxes down next to the dog collar. "And for you--" he jerked a hand at Ryouma. "Stop malingering by the door and get over here. I've got torn jeans that should fit, a nice set of boots with all the buckles you could ever want, and you can dress yourself up in black with holes, or regular mesh." He held up two shirts. "Take your pick."

"Not mesh," said Kakashi, before Ryouma could answer. He took the black shirt with its strategic rips that wouldn't showcase a wounded dragon tattoo, and tossed it at his mission partner. "That one's better. Pair it with a jacket--"

"Something leather," the Quartermaster put in.

"--and you'll be golden." Kakashi picked up one of the boxes and turned it over, glancing at the instructions printed on the back. It was brown hair dye. He twitched one very casual shoulder, breathing Ryouma's scent still warm on the air, and asked: "And I'll need a fake tattoo, or two."

Anything for the mission, after all.

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 05:56 pm UTC (link)
"Which we won't get here," Ryouma said, holding the torn black shirt up to the dingy fluorescent light. It looked as if someone had taken a knife to it. It also looked about two sizes too small. Well, if it ripped across his shoulders, no one would be able to tell the new hole from the old ones...

He tossed the shirt over his arm and shoved away from the door at last to join Kakashi against the counter. "My tattoo artist has a place down by the pawnshop on Fifth Street. He never made it past genin, but he can do stuff with jutsu no one else can. S'how he got those colors on the dragon. I'm pretty sure he can manage a temporary tattoo you can't wash off, and it'll look damn good." Better than anything the official ANBU tattoo artist could manage, at any rate. Ryouma had obediently headed over to the shop HQ directed him to, browsed through a book of sample designs while the artist was busy with another customer, glanced at the work in progress, and left without a word.

Risking your life on a mission was one thing. Risking your skin in a mediocre tattoo artist's shop was quite another.

"Might even figure out something with the dragon," he said, as he picked up the folded jeans on the counter. They looked fairly similar to the ancient, battered jeans he'd left crumpled on the floor up in his room, except that the new pair were a few shades darker and his own were probably in better shape. These had either been recently worn in a running fight with a rock-slide, or else they had cost half his monthly salary. No bloodstains, which was slightly reassuring. Slim-cut, which wasn't. He kicked off his sandals, fought his way out of his armor, shucked his own pants and shirt, and tried the new ones on.

"Are the rips more obscene?" he asked after a long, thoughtful moment, staring down at one tear which ran dangerously close to his inner thigh. The bloody dagger tattoo above his hipbone gleamed red where his shirt didn't quite meet the low waist-band. "Or the fit? At least I won't need a belt. You'd have to peel these off."

He twisted, crouched, and found, to his surprise, that he could still move. Maybe even fight. They weren't really much tighter than the ANBU uniform, and the fabric had almost as much give. Still...

"You'd better be ready to deal with the target, Kakashi. 'Cause I'm pretty sure no one could fit his hand down these pants without more effort than it's worth."

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[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 06:01 pm UTC (link)
For the first time, Kakashi was glad Ryouma didn't share his ability to detect changes in scent, because he was pretty sure his own had just peaked in a noticeable way. Clothes shouldn't make that much difference, but...

Two weeks on a mission and he'd apparently come back in-crush. What?

He pulled his eye away from the slice of brown skin now visible above Ryouma's low-slung waistband and refocused on the Quartermaster--who was looking thoroughly satisfied, in a smug sort of way. Kakashi cleared his throat. "Congratulations, you did the impossible and made him look almost acceptable. Now what about me?"

Mistake, whispered a little internal voice when the Quartermaster swung around with a sharp grin that wasn't any kind of reassuring.

"Keep your pants on, genius boy," he said, then snorted at his own wit. "Actually, scratch that and lose them." He pulled a few sets of clothes aside, shifting through denim and things with too many buckles, before tossing something soft and flexible at Kakashi's head. "Seeing as we went almost subtle with your partner, I reckon we'll amp it up for you. Try those."

They were leather pants. Kakashi untangled himself and stared at them as they hung in oddly supple folds from his hands. He lifted his eyebrows, and glanced back at Ryouma. Subtle? "Are you kidding?"

"No. And you can add this on top, seeing as you wouldn't let your buddy wear it." Kakashi managed to catch the mesh shirt before it hit him in the face. "C'mon, we haven't got all day. Change and see if they fit. And lose the mask while you're at it."

Mission, Kakashi reminded himself, but he still turned his back before he stripped off his gear. His armour--put on in preparation for what he'd hoped would be a normal assignment--landed on the counter with a series of dull clunks. He pulled the pants on first, dragging them up to his hips where they settled and clung, and then yanked the mesh shirt down over his head. It caught on his hitai-ate, thin threads snagging against the metal plate, and brought him up short. He growled to himself--then the Quartermaster leaned over the counter, jerked him around by the shoulder, and untangled him.

"Good," said the older man, hiding the amusement Kakashi could smell under a business-like tone. "Now the mask. And the headband. And don't make me ask again, kid. We're on a schedule here."

Kakashi pulled the shirt down and glanced at himself, ignoring the man for half a second. Then he twisted as Ryouma had, testing his range of motion. The clothes were tight--more than tight, the shirt was see through--but he could still move easily. The leather pants flared out just a little down his calves. If Kakashi had known anything about clothes, he would have called them a boot cut.

But he didn't, so mostly he felt ridiculous.

He felt even more ridiculous when he slipped off both mask and hitai-ate--the former more reluctantly than the latter--and set them down on the counter. He kept the sharingan eye closed and resisted the urge to put his hand over his mouth. "Done?" he asked shortly.

"Not even close," the Quartermaster assured him. "I'm an artist, kid. I'm not sending out you little masterpieces half-finished. Stretch," he looked back at Ryouma, "try this."

A leather duster got tossed at Ryouma's head.

"And you--" Kakashi found himself fixed with an appraising eye that made him deeply uncomfortable, "--put this on." The Quartermaster threw something small and heavy at him.

It was the dog collar.

Kakashi blinked. "No."

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 06:02 pm UTC (link)
"Oh, yes," Ryouma crowed. He dropped the long leather coat back on the counter and dodged into Kakashi's glare, grabbing at the spiked collar. Kakashi's fingers tightened instinctively, tugging it back. They wrestled over it for half a moment before Kakashi seemed to realize the stupidity of it all. His hands opened, his shoulders loosened, and before he could even manage a cutting remark, Ryouma was buckling the collar around the taut, pale throat. Kakashi made a curiously aborted movement, and then stood still.

"It works," Ryouma decided, leaning back to judge the effect with a critical eye. It better-than-worked, really. The collar with its gleaming spikes threw up a defensive shield that even Kakashi's mask couldn't match. Behind it, the sharp lines of clavicles winging between collar and neckline and the slim column of throat rising up from the black and silver band to meet the clean angles of the jaw cut a strange image of vulnerable strength. Ryouma swallowed again, and stepped further back.

"Shirt, jacket, boots, and we're good." He mounded the clothes quickly into a bundle, scooped up his own discarded gear, and stood awkwardly, caught halfway between the counter and the door. "Anything else? When do we need to leave for this thing? Do we have time to go see my artist? If we're not doing the real deal, it shouldn't take more than an hour."

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[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 06:04 pm UTC (link)
"We have time," Kakashi said, slipping two fingers under the leather collar and tugging, trying to settle it comfortably on his throat. On one hand, having nothing around his neck felt just plain weird; on the other hand, it was a collar. "The target's not likely to go anywhere. We can afford at least a few hours--maybe longer. He's in his home town. The only one getting impatient is our client."

A collar that had made Ryouma's scent spike again. He tugged at it once more, feeling stuck somewhere between completely exposed and heavily guarded, and decided he might be able to live with it--just for the mission.

He was hopeless.

The Quartermaster slammed another pair of boots down on the counter, loud enough that Ryouma twitched. Kakashi glanced at him, yanked from his train of thought. Since when did Ryouma twitch?

"Last thing for you, Hatake. And don't forget your hair dye." The older man grinned without any real humour. Kakashi leveled the glare-equivalent of a middle finger salute at him, and gathered his things off the counter. The boots sat on top, arrayed with far too many buckles; he turned and padded after Ryouma barefoot, eyeing the way the man seemed almost ready to run.

Maybe it was just mission jitters. This was Ryouma's first mission back since the fiasco with Tsume, and it wasn't exactly a typical mission. You couldn't really fault him for being twitchy.

Besides...

Kakashi tilted his head very slightly to the right, lips quirking as Ryouma's shirt rode up another inch and his pants slipped down.

"You should try a hip swing," he suggested, fully prepared to needle the man right out of any nerves. "You can practice it on the way to your artist. In fact, make it a full body swing. With any luck you'll fall right out of your shirt."

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 06:05 pm UTC (link)
"Or fall gracefully flat on my face," Ryouma muttered. There was enough of a gap between the low-riding waistband of his jeans and the hem of his shirt, now, that all but the very tip of the dagger tattoo was visible. That one was supposed to be private, dammit! Or at least visible only to those he chose to show it to.

Given that he was showing off pretty much everything else, though, the tattoo probably shouldn't be his biggest concern.

"Look," he hissed, as they reached the door to the stairs. "Do we really--I mean, we could just abduct this guy somehow, kill him, stash his body, make it look like we did the job the way the client wants, right? I dunno about you, but I can think of about one thing I'd like less than getting pawed over by some drunk pervert, and I already did that and lost about half my skin to it."

He'd done the getting pawed over by some drunk pervert already, too, and he was pretty sure those nightmares would last longer than the torture ones.

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[info]fallen_kakashi
2009-04-19 06:09 pm UTC (link)
Kakashi yanked on his collar again, and then sat down on the bottom step to pull his new boots on. Ryouma kept going for a pace, then paused when he realized his mission partner wasn't following him. Kakashi ducked his head as he bent over his feet, hiding behind his hair in lieu of a mask while he thought. Apparently it wasn't doing a mission that had Ryouma's feathers ruffled, it was doing this mission. So--what? He didn't like sex? Kakashi had to stop himself from snorting quietly. Ryouma didn't like sex with men, maybe? But Kakashi knew that wasn't true either. Older men? Or he just didn't like sex on a mission?

That could be it. Ryouma had talked about getting a girl killed once, outside of Konoha. But this was a target, not a teammate.

Drunk pervert. Kakashi frowned, mind ticking over. That meant something. He pulled on his second boot, tightening the ridiculous amount of laces--and tripped over a memory when he was halfway to standing up.

On the hospital roof, Ryouma had broken off talking about his grandfather. Running away from his grandfather after--

But he hadn't said what after.

Well, yeah, too much attention from a boozy relative would definitely do it. Kakashi's all-too-visible face darkened for a moment, but Ryouma had said the man was dead, and Kakashi had already run through this set of anger-acceptance-moving on. He couldn't do anything about the grandfather, he could just look after what was his.

He straightened up again, feeling slightly like he'd just attached lead slabs to his feet, and looked at his unhappy mission partner. "If they thought a straight assassination would do it, they'd have assigned us that from the start. The target's guarded, remember? And not by stupid men." And orders were orders, even if you didn't like them.

He brushed past Ryouma, patting him once on the shoulder as he started up the stairs. "But if you're worried, we can let the pervert paw at me while you figure out clever rescue strategies. I'm the pretty one, anyway."

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[info]fallen_ryouma
2009-04-19 06:15 pm UTC (link)
[[Continued in Watch Me Burn.]]

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