BURDEN OF LEGACY

Disclaimer: ... yadda... yadda... yadda... not mine.

A/N:This is my 'I'm still alive' fic; unfortunately, quite literally. Hope it lives up to the standard I established with my previous work.

"And then the lady grabbed my hand, and I swear... she had no face! Like it melted or something!"

"Yeah-yeah."

"Don't yeah-yeah me! It so did happen!"

"It might happen, sure, tonight in someone's nightmares, because that story is so obviously nothing more than rookie scare stuff."

"A yurei grabbed my hand and then slipped back into the corridor's darkness! I saw her as clearly as I see you right now! It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen!"

"Thanks for sharing the amusing tale but I'll retain suspicion that the only thing you've seen is the bottom of your cup. Want a refill?" The unimpressed bartender glanced Tenzo's way and winked. The man must have grown tired of hearing similar tall tales every night, but Tenzo was mesmerized. He finished off his own cup, and wondered whether to order another one. A fleeting memory of the brownhaired bird-masked ANBU's voice helped him decide to take up the fourth one. He needed to make those words disappear.

"Have you heard? The Orochimaru-sensei's lab-baby was pulled into the rank, as well."

Lab-baby. The name itself didn't hurt him, but the fact that he was reduced to it sure did. He had been a lab-baby but also so much more, and yet that was the only aspect his new comrades seemed to notice. A First Hokage's imperfect replica – period.

The new gulp burned his throat, making him wonder why anyone would bother with the drink if not to erase painful memories. Or use it to play cover while giving him an entry into the bar, which was his primary goal.

The bar was where the tales sprouted. And tall or not, they were so... so... distracting.

And full of weird. Full of the impossible, and scary, and strange. Even stranger than Orochimaru's lab-baby pulled into the rank.

He needed that. He needed to believe in such stories that spoke of ghost-infected passages, half-scorpion ninja clans buried in the desert depths behind Sunagakure, fire-spitting birds inhabiting distant mountains, impossible clans with impossible jutsus...

Because, having joined the Hokage's ANBU, he might happen upon something as bizarre on his own missions, and it was certainly better to be prepared, even for the impossible. But even more than that – he liked hearing such stories. They gave him hope – hope that the world was full of strange wonders, and that those who witness them on a daily basis would be able to cope with his own personal impossibility. That they might, just might, recognize him as Tenzo. Tenzo, who – yes – was Orochimaru-sensei's lab-baby, but also something more.

And to blend in, he was even prepared to drink. This foul-smelling and foul-tasting, burning, wicked concoction that held absolutely no appeal. Tenzo brought the cup to his lips and braved another gulp, forcing his facial muscles not to show disgust.

That was the reason why his expression remained fortunately composed when a new customer entered the joint, and Tenzo recognized his reflection in the numerous bottles lined against the wall behind the bar.

A face just a few years older than himself, although you couldn't be sure with the mask.

Hatake Kakashi.

Tenzo looked down at the nearly empty cup of alcohol lying next to his oh-so-underaged hand, and noticed his fingers twitch. He glanced up at the mirror-like bottles again and was relieved to see his falsely composed face was still in order. After all, if Hatake Kakashi himself could enjoy a night cup, then he couldn't...

The young senpai moved towards him and Tenzo straightened up. Kakashi chose a stool left to Tenzo, and Tenzo nervously obscured the cup with his elbow. He leaned his head on his hand, going for the pose of heedless boredom.

"Well, this is rather unexpected", Kakashi said.

Tenzo remained silent. What exactly was there to say in such a situation?

"Anyways...", thankfully, Kakashi overlooked it. "I came to find you, cause a mission popped up. Tomorrow... or should I say today... 10:30 a.m., the main gate, Team Ro. I'll fill you all on the details then."

The awkward silence continued.

"So... You might get back and hit the sack. A couple of hours of sleep are better than none, and it'll be a long trip."

"Sure, I'll just... pay..." Tenzo awkwardly gestured with his hands and awkwardly pocketed the change which the bartender had pushed his way, followed by a meaningful see-ya-later-kid nod.

Tenzo quickly slid off the stool and saw, not without exasperation, that Kakashi fully intended to chaperon him back to the HQ dormitory. 'An awkward walk, it is'.

Of all the members of ANBU's Team Ro, why did it have to be this guy, the guy he had nearly killed on Danzo's command a few months back, and the guy who – following some twisted, warped Sandaime-logic – decided to forgive him and helped him transfer to Hokage's personal unit, this guy the one who found him engaged in such an imprudent activity?

Tenzo opened the door and stepped on the street, noting with surprise that indeed today had already begun. He had no watch, but the meek scraps of bluish sunlight informed him that it couldn't have been earlier than 4:30, 5 a.m. A perfect occasion for setting up a personal record in staying up. But the yurei-story had been so captivating!

Kakashi turned his back to him to close the bar door, and Tenzo used the opportunity to try standing on one leg. Huh. Apparently, he could hold his liquor well, because his balance was perfectly sustained. That was good to know.

He quickly straightened up before Kakashi fell into step beside him.

An uncomfortable early morning silence prolonged, and Tenzo almost gave in to the need to quicken the pace and make it end sooner. Kakashi was not better off. He cleared his throat and begun with hesitation.

"Look, it's no business of mine, but that stuff... it just won't help you with the mission. Muddles your reflexes, reaction-time... It's a habit worth kicking."

"It's not a habit."

"Oh?" Kakashi added after a moment of strained silence.

"It's a... cover." Might as well spill it, since he obviously lacked the guts to maintain a bad image in front of a respected senpai.

"Okaaay?" Kakashi drawled to wheedle out an elaboration.

Tenzo sighed.

"It gives me an excuse to spend time around colleagues. So that they can get to know me."

Not exactly the truth, but close enough, and innocent enough.

"Alright. But missions are better for that in our line of work, don't you think?"

"Not in my case." Tenzo dejectedly glanced down at his hands. "On missions too much of my abilities gets in the way." He clenched his fists and stubbornly refused to meet Kakashi's gaze.

"I... see", Kakashi said, but not with confidence. "It's a legacy thing, right? Well, I know a bit about that", he pointed at his hitai-ate, or rather at the shiny, crimson thing lying beneath it.

'It's not the same', Tenzo wanted to say, but he only thought it, because despite being a Root operative for quite some time, he still got the hang of people's emotions... and loss. But it wasn't the same. Kakashi might have ended up with a Sharingan eye, but he wasn't the only one with it. There was an entire clan of Sharingan users, alive and well, and Kakashi wasn't some sad, lonely relic of a glorious history.

Whether because he managed to read some of Tenzo's thoughts from his face or not, Kakashi broke the silence again.

"It's not all bad."

"Huh?"

"I know it must feel exhausting to be measured up against Shodaime all the time, but if you look at it from the point of view of the rest of us, it's not a bad thing at all."

Tenzo blinked.

"I know it sounds selfish, and it probably is, but... it also brings hope. Like having the Will of Fire incarnate on your side. It's not fair towards you, and I apologize, but... Your presence reminds us what we are fighting for, and it helps us not to lose perspective in the midst of ANBU-missions, which can be tricky, don't you think?"

Kakashi awkwardly scratched his head, ruffling the silver shock of hair.

Tenzo kept his gaze away, on the carved mountain in the front.

"Yeah... okay", he said, not entirely sure he meant it.

"Hey... At least I don't look like him", he added, in a timid attempt to shift the subject, if ever so slightly.

Both he and Kakashi looked up at the First Hokage's bust, keeping guard over the sleeping village in the meek sunlight, and Tenzo reminded himself to visit the barber. His hair touched upon his shoulders, and why risk it?

He glanced Kakashi's way, and registered Kakashi glancing at his own reflection in the shop-window to Kakashi's right. It was difficult to deduce anything from the mere scrap of skin visible on the young prodigy's masked face, but Tenzo was willing to bet he had detected a frown, as small and temporary as it was.

A frown? Why frown? And then it dawned on him, and he wished to bite his tongue off.

Of course he had heard of the White Fang of Konoha, a disgraced former hero, and he knew Kakashi was the legend's son. He had seen the man's picture, and knew his son took after him in more ways than just shinobi skills.

Suddenly, 'legacy' took another meaning.

Oops! 'Okay, fix it! Fix it! Fix it!'

"Yeah, I get it. It's like having missions with you." Kakashi looked at him, but Tenzo didn't return the gaze, wondering whether he was fixing it or fixating it.

"I mean... It's reassuring to have a team captain who'll do everything in his power to ensure you return safely. To know you won't be left behind, no matter what. It's a good legacy, yeah." He hazarded a smile and a look, and nearly gulped when he saw the unreadable expression on Kakashi's face.

"So, 10:30, main gate, right? See ya, taicho!" He ran down the HQ secret staircase, waving along the way.

Kakashi kept standing in the morning dusk, in a deserted narrow street, above a nearly invisible hole in the ground. He glanced up at the Senju Hashirama's carved bust, and then right into the dim glass of a low window. His father's face glanced back, and Kakashi scratched the silver shock of hair, before stepping away.

Yup. 10:30, main gate. He might catch up on some sleep, as well. If he wanted to live up to his legacy.