Speak in a roudabout way

Chapter 2: A time of scolding, bad memories and anxiety

"So," by now Kakashi was hanging from your shoulder and rubbed his furry cheek against yours, "he was stupid enough to jump into an unknown jutsu from an enemy to protect Raidou's ass, not knowing what kind of jutsu he would encounter and it came out as the same jutsu as last year?"

"Pretty much." At least Raidou had the decency to look ashamed.

You swallowed your anger once more and restrained your emotions the best you could, but you knew that you had to calm down by the time you would go home, otherwise this would be a bad day for the first person who crossed your path and was stupid enough to piss you off.

"What was the mission anyway?" you asked instead and hoped the answer would distract you.

This time Tsunade answered, still with a smug tone in her voice which made you want to strangle the woman. "One of our outposts near Kumogakure was ambushed. I needed a fast team who would be able to rescue any survivors and fight possibly any kind of shinobi they would encounter. If you're interested, there's-!"

"I'm not," you interrupted sharply, what made Kakashi stop his affections and the others look surprised at you, "Interested in anything else. I don't care. The only thing I want is that Kakashi gets his own body back, Hokage-sama. Did you already perform the First's jutsu to change him back?"

Suddenly Tsunade's mood visibly dropped. "Yes," she growled and threw an annoyed glance at the far too happy cat, "but apparently he needs the right trigger. I don't know what happened last time, but it had something to do with you."

At the memory what exactly happened last time the blood still creeped up to your cheeks. Weakly you nodded, all the while Tsunade continued talking, her tone changed to the one of a leader and political, not longer amused by the situation. "We need the copy ninja. The village still needs the money for the last repairs Orochimaru caused last year and he's one of our most profitable incomes."

Hearing that, you nearly hissed at your superior. Only barely you managed to stuff those feelings into a box and put a tight lid on it, but it was a close call.

Too close.

"Hokage-sama, may I speak to you for a moment alone?" you asked and thankfully your voice wasn't shaking like before. The cold anger made your tongue like steel, ready to be a sword, a spear or a shield for Kakashi and you were more than ready to defend him with everything you got. That your motive wasn't entirely pure and altruistic wasn't counting. It was about the physical and mental health of the man you loved.

Behind you the feet of the present persons shuffled, followed by the sound of the door getting opened and closed silently. Apparently the other ninjas had noticed the slowly rising tension in the room and preferred to vanish fastly before ending up in between the battlefield which would enfold. Kakashi jumped down from your shoulder into your lap, purring and nosing your tightly clasped hands until you started to automatically stroke through his thick fur.

"Do you have any idea," you started coldly, "do you have any idea how much he suffered from the last mission you send him to?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "No. He didn't go to the hospital, so I had and have no clue about his state."

You threw a glare at the cat. We're going to talk about this later, my friend.

He understood the message and stiffened under your hands.

With a low sigh you went on, busying your hands by massaging the stiffness out of the lithe cat body purring in your lap. "He was devastated. Someone with his history always is when someone of his team dies. It's cruel to send him right afterwards on a mission without time to properly mourn, with all respect, Hokage-sama."