| [Nov. 19th, 2011|06:54 am] |
“So, anyway, there’s me and this princess and her usual guards, and this whole entourage of completely useless people following us around from town to town while she has parades and parties thrown in her honour, and all these wealthy woman trying to introduce their sons to her, and it’s basically one big security headache.” He tipped his head back on the pillow, fingers carding through Ryouma’s short hair. “Of course, if we’d known someone was actually planning to assassinate her, I’d have had more back up. Mostly her mother just wanted me around for the image, I think. ‘We’re rich enough to afford ANBU, isn’t he scary looking’.”
"Very scary,” Ryouma said, sounding drowsy but interested. “Even if disappointingly short. So there were assassins?"
“Second week,” Kakashi said. “In Kaidabae. We were staying at Funagi-jo Castle, taking a two-day break from the road, and the Lord was throwing this expensive feast in her honour.” He pulled a face at the ceiling. “Big hallway banquet, fancy guests, hired entertainment — the whole deal. But Milady gets bored, so she says I can be more entertaining, and then I’ve got three hundred people looking at me like they expect me to do ninja magic, or something.”
“Killing the guests is always entertaining,” Ryouma murmured.
“I was tempted,” said Kakashi, quieting his voice a little. “But she was the boss, so I got up and did a few sword-kata, threw some of genin-level jutsu around. Made a couple fire birds, I think. Next thing I know, there’s this giant lizard-thing in the middle of the room trying to eat me, and all I can think is: I didn’t make that.”
“Summons?”
“Gold star for you.” He ignored Ryouma’s rough, amused snort. “So the guards bolt for the princess, who thinks this is all part of the show, and I’m mostly taken up with not getting my head bitten off. Meanwhile, there’s a pack of missing-nin breaking out of the crowd, and the Lord is shouting about demons, and this stupid group of civilians decide I need rescuing, so they grab weapons off the walls and come charging in. That’s when I got the scars, knocking two of them out of the way.”
"From the lizard?” Ryouma said, spreading his fingers over Kakashi’s side as if he was trying to measure the spread of scars he couldn’t see. “Or the civilians?"
“Lizard. But there’s a nick under my chin from a naginata.” He rubbed his jawbone with his free hand, remembering teeth jarring together, and the rake of long claws over his ribs, buckling armour. “S’probably a miracle no one died. Well, except for the lizard, and the missing-nin. It took a couple clones — and a spear, actually — but they were mostly chuunin, maybe one jounin, and it wasn’t that hard a clean up. Y’know, once the civilians stopped trying to help.” He made a faintly amused sound. “Princess listened to me a lot better after that.”
Ryouma’s breath rasped on a low laugh. "I'll bet. Rippin' hearts out in public tends to have that effect..."
Kakashi smiled crookedly. “So I hear. Doesn’t make for much of a bedtime story, though. You’re still awake.”
“You were fighting giant monster lizards,” Ryouma protested. “How am I supposed to fall asleep during that?”
“You asked,” Kakashi said, but his voice stayed quiet. He scratched short-cut nails very gently against the nape of Ryouma’s neck, and had to smother a laugh when Ryouma shivered, stretched, and made himself comfortable again, just like any one of Kakashi’s pack. “I could tell you a real story, if you like. I know a couple.” |
|