Chapter 2: Steam and Smoke
by Paperclipped
Kakashi twisted the panels of the inn’s windows. The stretched animal skins came loose of the frame of bundled twigs as the bindings lost tension. They flapped for a moment, then fell to the side of the frame, letting in the cold winter air. Kakashi suppressed a shiver. Would it be more comfortable to unwind in a hot bath with hot and wet air or cold and dry air? Kakashi gave an afterthought for the idea that opening the window would give enemies sightlines into his room, but quickly dismissed it. He had scouted the inn carefully and approached it only after taking a four-hour meandering tour of the city and changing his disguise twice.
Compromise. He left the windows half open as he moved over to the bathtub. He giggled for a moment at the inn’s staff. After he had removed all his “possessions” from the bathtub, they thankfully had been competent enough to drag it upstairs for him after filling it with snow. He had watched them carefully to detect any subterfuge, but thankfully there was none. It was one of the pleasures of being in a land with no flowing water in the winter: no one tried to assassinate you by smearing poison on the inside of the well’s buckets. A quick fire ninjutsu heated the snow up to a nice steaming bath, and now the steam gently filtered out the windows, pale and hazy in the midday light. Hmm, perhaps he should close it before the staff started asking him interesting questions. Nah, too much trouble.
He had long since slipped off his heavy clothing and mask, and now his underclothes followed as he stepped into the warm bath. He felt his muscles relax, and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh. Kakashi had never been anywhere quite so cold as Snow in winter, and he half-believed that the frozen air in Snow was causing his blood to freeze in his veins. That would explain why he felt so stiff. Minato-sensei would probably have said something about how the adverse temperatures gave him a rare opportunity to explore a new mode of movement, but there was something to be said for actually feeling comfortable.
Minato-sensei…
Kakashi settled back in the bathtub, feeling the edges of the rim dig into the muscles of his back like some sort of Lightning-country massage. The journey north to the city in the snow leopard sleigh had been less than comfortable. He really needed to steal some techniques from Hidden Glacier. Faster snow-walking and stealthy clothing would be a good start...
He relaxed and thought. He had spent an awful lot of time convincing Takana to introduce him to the Oyabun, so he was hesitant to waste the opportunity. Though, if he decided he didn’t want to be introduced to the Oyabun as “Mr. Tominaga”, he had taken the liberty of scouting the city for yakuza safehouses. Breaking in and rearranging their furniture would at least give him something to do while waiting for Daimyo Kazahana to finish oiling his hair.
Sadly, though he had dug up all their hidey-holes and hidden bases, he hadn’t quite found out where the Oyabun had holed up. It might take slightly more effort than a casual stroll through the city to prank the godfather of a country-wide major criminal syndicate. Kakashi sighed. Life sometimes just wasn’t fair.
He had uncovered something intriguing in his search. Among the hideouts he had scouted, one was noticeably different. The people going in and out didn’t bear the normal pointed-mountain crest that Tanaka has so proudly displayed in his casino. Rather, they entered by flashing a smaller, more discreet emblem of a flower. The underworld in Shibetsu clearly had some tension. The presence of a new, smaller gang could provide Kakashi with opportunities to exploit. At the very least, he would have an easier time turning them into his patsies.
Apart from that, the city had seemed fairly mild. No missing-nin starting rooftop ninjutsu fights, no Hidden Glacier ninja chasing him down with power armor, only one Tailed Beast rampaging in the south end of the city… No, he had miscounted. No Tailed Beasts either.
He had done a cursory scout of Castle Kazahana too, at least as best as he could from the base of the mountain looking up. The beauty of the walls had been somewhat soured by the archers and spearmen patrolling atop it. Daimyo Kazahana clearly saw trouble in his near future. No surprise there, as he must surely have spent a tremendous amount to hire a jōnin from Leaf to protect him. Still, confirming one question raised several more. Why did the Daimyo send a message to Leaf for a mission, when the messenger and the down payment might well not have arrived through the winter waters of the Shattered Isles? Why didn’t he hire ninja from his own country for such a simple bodyguarding mission? Why break from Snow’s notoriously isolationist policies?
Kakashi relaxed slightly further into his bath, and formed a hand seal to stoke the flame that burned gently at the underside of the cauldron. Yet another benefit of being so far away from the heart of the Elemental Nations. He hardly had to worry about walking right into a trap.
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Midday had come and gone by the time that Kakashi finished his light jog up the side of the mountain. The guards on the castle’s walls had noticed him on his way up, but they had thankfully held themselves back from letting loose a wave of arrows. Roasting most of the Daimyo’s castle guard would do little to endear Kakashi to him. Kakashi grimaced. He had made worse introductions…
As he approached the gate, Kakashi had to hold in his breath. Castle Kazahana was truly a beautiful thing. The walls were tall and alabaster-white, engrained with horizontal lines stretching the wall’s entire width as if the rock had simply been painted into existence here by the Sage’s brush. The towers had clearly been constructed afterwards, and though they lacked that effortless natural elegance, they instead wove beauty with practicality as their roofed enclosures and arrow slits made of the same beautiful stone would surely have been a deterrent to ordinary armies. It hadn’t snowed the morning before, but the sun’s rays had melted the morning frost that had once clung to the walls, and the castle itself shone as ten thousand rays of sun from ten thousand dewdrops of water refracted across its white surface.
Smart. Get the sun in the enemy’s eyes to keep them from seeing the arrow-fire. Kakashi could appreciate the elegance of the combination. Hyena would have appreciated it more...
Kakashi strode up to the gate, a tall, ugly wooden thing, supported by a portcullis made of the same ugly iron that tipped their spears and arrows. He could almost smell their fear as a guardswoman approached him.
“I’m the ninja your Daimyo hired. You’re the captain here?” said Kakashi.
She nodded. “We’ve been expecting you. You have the letter he sent?”
Kakashi held it up, and she looked at the seal on it for a moment before he said, “I’m quite busy, as ninja often are. Will there be a problem? I am eager to meet Daimyo Kazahana.”
She looked up for a moment, and he tensed momentarily, a slight motion just enough to hint at the power behind the slouched stance and the sagging headband. Her eyes widened slightly as she took a step back and turned the motion into a gesture at the door. “Right this way, sir,” she said with a bow, before turning and yelling to raise the gates.
Kakashi waited just long enough to stoop under the rising portcullis before continuing his quick stride towards the castle. Ahead of him, he saw the tracks of messengers hastily sent to the Daimyo from when they noticed his arrival. If there was a trap waiting here for him to spring face-first, they would have had at least a minute to prepare. More than enough for any ninja. He itched to pull down his mask and analyze the castle with Obito’s eye, but he held himself back. Not now. Not yet.
The interior of the castle lacked some of the grandeur of the outside. Coming from the Land of Fire, Kakashi could have expected that. For all its glory, Castle Kazahana could not hold a candle to the monument of crass avarice that was the Fire Daimyo’s palace in Keishi. Castle Kazahana’s grand sweeping arches and periodic braziers created a perfectly nice atmosphere that almost staved off the ever-present cold, but it wasn’t the lacquered wood and silver trim and beautiful, enameled mosaics that Kakashi associated with the truly wealthy (or at least, the ways that those few wealthy civilians chose to spend their ryō).
Kakashi continued in a straight line, head swivelling to take in every crevice and entryway. There were servants in the reception hall making dignified exits. It took a simple glare to convince them to exit faster. He didn’t let his eyes linger on the grand mural to the right, which seemed to depict some scene of the Sage and an ancient dragon. He could always return here once any adversaries had been removed.
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A set of double doors marked the entrance to the Daimyo’s chamber; too heavy for a normal push to open them quickly and he didn’t want to burn chakra to kick them off their hinges. Instead, he tossed a low-power explosive tag at the door as he walked without breaking his stride. The blast of explosive force slammed the door open and sent a rush of wind through his hair. He didn’t pause as he scanned the room. Whether by accident or by design, the Daimyo had left no polished surfaces facing the entrance with which to check for traps or assailants around the doorway. Kakashi cursed silently, but he continued forward.
He entered the throne room, a circular room smaller than the reception hall but noticeably warmer, and carved from the same smooth white stone that everything else in this castle was made of. The stone was still unmarred, Kakashi noted. Most likely, Castle Kazahana had never seen serious combat.
A moment’s glance around the room revealed no attackers. The austere room left few places to hide, and Kakashi could detect nothing wrong with the pair of braziers, the rug, or the simple throne. There would have been no better place to do it, as Kakashi had no intention of probing deeper into the castle on this journey. Not a trap.
Kakashi didn’t relax just yet as he turned his focus to the Daimyo. The man sat upon a throne made out of some sort of dull gray metal, and wore a multi-layered kimono of red and white. He was flanked by more pike-wielding guards, and they seemed to be quickly pulling themselves together after the shock of Kakashi blasting their doors open. They all held their nerves as Kakashi allowed his stride to become a little less predatory before he came to a stop.
“Hatake Kakashi. You hired a Leaf jōnin to protect you during the solstice festival,” he said, producing the Daimyo’s letter once more, “Leaf chose to send me.”
The Daimyo slowly leaned forward in his throne. The man seemed to be in his mid-thirties, yet his hair already held bundles of gray amidst the dark brown. “Do my eyes deceive me, or is it the Copy Ninja, Kakashi of the Sharingan, that stands before me?”
Kakashi silently nodded.
The Daimyo’s lined face seemed to split into a glowing smile. “Well, that is excellent news! I am certain that one as skilled as you will have no difficulty protecting me and my family through the solstice festival.”
Translation, Kakashi thought, your reputation will scare off anyone who even thinks about it. Efficient.
“Apart from the incredible pleasure that having you by my side for the celebration will bring, I am incredibly gladdened to see that the ninja of Hidden Leaf hold the Sage’s Six Virtues so dear to their hearts. Your punctuality, no, your willingness to go beyond punctuality and spend extra time on this mission by arriving early shows me that your conscientiousness is well worth every ryō I spent to hire you.”
Thankfully, Kakashi would never directly harm a client.
“I am grateful that you honor me as such, Hatake,” said Daimyo Kazahana. He gestured around the room, “I would have you take up residence in this castle as soon as you can. I have arranged a room for you near mine. Come the 21st, Shibetsu will begin its solstice festival, which will last six days. For the duration, I ask that you provide me and my family with protection on the way up and down the mountainside, as well as during the festival itself, which will happen within the town and consequently may have many more people potentially moving about.”
“Describe the threat profile,” Kakashi said, noticing the brief confusion on their faces before rephrasing, “I mean, what sort of dangers to your safety do you expect?”
The Daimyo nodded, last traces of his smile fading away. “Many warlords have sought to take my castle and my holdings in the past. Beyond that, I am told that certain gang members in the city have some animosity towards my eldest daughter.”
Kakashi let his words hang in the air for a moment. “That explains why you might want guards, but even these,” he said, gesturing dismissively at the men at the Daimyo’s side, “would suffice for that. Hiring a genin team from Glacier would be overkill for your needs. Explain to me why you didn’t do that.”
The Daimyo bristled, clearly unused to being given an order such as this. He opened his mouth as if to correct Kakashi, but caught himself. “Hidden Glacier… has been unstable, recently. I am not the best informed of the events in the lives of ninja, and Glacier has always been loath to allow non-ninja to leave, for the fear of losing their veil of secrecy. Nonetheless, from the few ninja that have communicated with the ordinary citizens of Snow near Shibetsu, I am taken to believe that their hierarchy has changed substantially in recent months. Their ability to fulfill requested missions has been erratic, to say the least, so I consequently believed Leaf’s ninja able to provide a surer way to protect myself and my family in such a time.”
That doesn’t answer why you needed a jōnin, thought Kakashi. Wait, I don’t respect him enough to be polite.
“That doesn’t answer why you needed a jōnin.”
“Well, on the one hand, I had money to spare from a profitable trading year. On the other, I have only heard tales of what life is like in the Land of Fire, and the countries that adjoin it. I am unaware of the true skill level of ninja that hail from those lands, and, with all respect, the ninja who I am most familiar with from Hidden Glacier would have led me to believe that you were less competent than they, rank for rank.” He leaned forward, curiosity playing in his eyes. “Perhaps sometime while you are here, you could provide a demonstration of your skills?”
For a second, Kakashi imagined what could have happened if he had instead scorched the walls with his Fire Dragon Bullet and torn down the legions of soldiers. A moment later, his mind flicked through the seals for Volt Whip. Twitch the wrist to lash through the spear and belly of the guard on the left, and before the right can react, stomp to break his foot and root him in place for the elbow under the jaw.
The Daimyo seemed to realize how Kakashi had started thinking about his suggestion, because he raised his hands as he said, “I meant at the festival, not here. A show of your abilities could prove an easy way to dissuade potential attackers, as well as spread the legend of the Copy Ninja even in as remote a place as this one.”
You’re pushing awfully hard for me to be flashy. What’s the angle? Why not ask outright? thought Kakashi. This time, he didn’t speak his concerns aloud. Better to find out the hidden motives behind the Daimyo’s words on his own time. People rarely appreciated being directly asked about their secrets.
Kakashi nodded. “I see. I don’t think that would be a good idea. The spectacle might prove an opportunity for someone to make an attack while I’m distracted.”
“Then perhaps you would prefer to keep a low profile?” Daimyo Kazahana seemed genuinely concerned, yet Kakashi could detect a sly insincerity in his voice. “While I understand you might prefer to use your reputation as part of your means of protection, I could also keep it quiet from others that the ninja guarding me was so talented and famed.”
Kakashi didn’t respond immediately, so the Daimyo continued, “I shall leave the choice to you. In the end, what I care about most is that you see your mission through to its end; that my family and I are unharmed and that my town has a celebration that uplifts their spirits and prepares them for the coming year.
“So, shall I instruct the servants to prepare your room for you?”
Kakashi shook his head. “I’m going to prepare for the solstice, and I can’t do it from in here. I’ll contact you.”
In a sudden flash of motion, he thrust his hand at the floor as if throwing a smoke bomb. He held the position for an instant, then dispelled himself.
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Kakashi folded up his copy of Icha Icha: The Passion of the Ice Queen (for research purposes only!) when he felt the Shadow Clone dispel itself. He slipped further into the hot tub and closed his eyes. The memories streamed in, and he allowed his nose and mouth to dip beneath the surface, only to inhale water when the floor shook. In an instant, he was out of the tub, lightning speed thrumming in his veins. The floor shook again. No, it was just the sound of a broom hitting the floor. Through it, he could hear the innkeeper’s muffled voice.
“You lit up a fire there to warm up your water, bathtub guy?”
Kakashi looked at the fire that he had lit underneath the bathtub to warm up his water.
“Noooo, I would never.”
“Then tell me why the ceiling’s hot!”