Ikigai

Chapter 23: Motives

"Rashaan?" 

"Go to sleep," he mumbled, the shadows of his back offering no better solace to her trembling body beneath the cold and the blinking stars. 

The camp was small, but she could hear every beat of her heart, the sound of the blood rushing through Rashaan's body, and even the small insect making its way up the robe of the person next to her.  

She shuffled around a bit before returning to the previous position, moving slowly, and then turning a bit more as sand and dirt rustled with her. It didn't matter what Rashaan said, she couldn't sleep. 

Everything was too loud and her mind was too full to care about what another mind-numbing dream would bring to her. 

"Ki, go to sleep or you'll stay in your room for the rest of the week," Rashaan grunted. 

Kintsugi wondered if the stars above her had to go to sleep. If everything could be as quiet as it was up above or if everything, even the stars were liars with their own illusion of tranquility. 

----

PRESENT

"It's good to see you Kakashi Hatake. Age has been good to you I see."

The woman before them was deceivingly calm and collected. Even with the firm grip she held between her clasped hands, Kintsugi could tell that from the slight hunch of her shoulders and the way she would move in her seat every now and then in conversation, she obviously had back problems. 

"Lady Tsunade," he bowed, "thank you for-"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," she waved a hand dismissively.  "This must be my cash cow, hmm?" Her eyes moved hungrily up and down Kintsugi's body as if the universe had solved a great mystery just for her. 

"Tell me, Kintsugi," Tsunade stood, stretching slightly as the heels of her shoes tapped against the wooden floor, "are you a fan of gambling?"

Kintsugi thought about everything she'd done up to that point, her fragile alliance with the Akatsuki, her alliance with Konoha, with Kakashi, and now with this very conversation. 

"I...suppose."

Kakashi wasn't sure what he had expected her to answer, but as his eyebrows slightly raised, he turned to Kintsugi. 

"Why do you ask?"

"I've heard you've done a lot of good for the village after the old man died. You're a bit of a local hero-"

"I wouldn't say that..."

"Nonsense. Look, I'm very grateful for all you've done, the mine up in the mountains...is prosperous, right?" Tsunade hummed as she rested a hand against her hip. "Even the economy has improved a whopping .04 percent. And all because of the labor you've provided...and paid for."

Kintsugi didn't say anything, but she knew people, and she knew what the older woman before her was getting at, and from the sound of the black-haired woman and the pig in her arms, they did too. 

"I think the village has been playing nanny for far too long Kintsugi. Trust me, I know what it's like to have these people breathing down your neck."

Tsunade was now less than a foot away from her and the smell of the alcohol the older woman had gulped earlier was brushing against Kintsugi's nostrils.

"So, say what, how about you and me celebrate a bit? I know the perfect place, maybe bring some extra cash..."

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune protested.