Chapter 33: Passionfruit

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Passionate from miles away. Passive with the things you say. Passin' up on my old ways, I can't blame you, no, no.

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She heard nothing about the new job for a while. In fact, it was almost three weeks until Hanako heard anything from her new job. Well, she did not 'hear' from it, per se. More like it kicked down the door to her office and dumped a load of work on top of her. It did not take long for Hanako to figure out why Utatane Koharu would have approached her, a civilian foreigner living in Hidden Leaves.

Education was rare here.

Literally.

To find someone literate above what would have been considered a fifth-grade level back home was rare. Most people were tradesmen, trained by their families in their crafts and their work was handed down to them. Even shinobi were tradesmen. They learned what was necessary for their trade and not much outside of it. Not many really got a choice in what they wanted to be, unless for some crazy reason they decided they wanted to be a shinobi before they were seven, and then they learned the shinobi trade.

She was not one of the smartest people around, by any means, but Hanako was one of the most well-educated. And when it came to things like calculating complex budgets and figuring out when high-dollar assets needed replacing, upgrading, and purchased – well, Hanako was a better fit than most.

Hanako had gone to the office on Monday morning, like usual. She was wearing a linen dress that she had bought from Morika, a designer that made clothes in the village. They weren't cheap clothes, but did they were above and beyond in both quality and looks of almost anything else Hanako could find in the limited markets. She was working as she normally did, looking over the documents that were delivered to her office on Friday afternoon by her clients and sipping coffee. She had started splurging on the luxury as her income had gone up, and a stall in the marketplace that specialized in more exotic foods had started buying more of it knowing that she would purchase it from them.

She wasn't even given the curtesy of a knock when a uniformed shinobi marched into her office, followed by three others carrying boxes. Hanako barely had time to give any sort of greeting before the three with boxes set up shop. One marched into Hanako's storage room and unfurled a scroll in the corner and with a blast of smoke a safe appeared from it.

"Watthufukh," escaped her lips without her realizing as she stared in dismay. "What is this?" One of the other shinobi, a kunoichi, started putting down what looked like tags with symbols and designs written on them around her windows and the doors. With each tag the kunoichi put down, she painted with a brush a symbol on the center and the tags would light up with a bright glow before fading back to normalcy.

The lead shinobi spoke. "I'm sorry, Yamada-san, but your office's security isn't quite up to the standards required to handle our financial documents. You've been keyed into these security seals, as well as any other authorized individuals. Your documents room is also now secured against any intruders. I'm afraid that if you need anyone to enter that room other than yourself and any authorized individuals, you will have to file a request with the Office of Personnel and have those individuals keyed into the security. If anyone tries to break into that room, they won't like what happens." He then started to detail what security protocols Hanako needed to follow as the same kunoichi who put down the tags started to freehand seals in the filing room. Hanako jotted down quick notes as he spoke, trying to take it all in.

The other two shinobi had what appeared to be binders in their boxes which they began to unload into the safe which had now been placed in her office. Hanako saw the labels on them. Expenditures, all of it.

This was not – well, it was technically in the fine text of the contract that Hanako had signed, that she agreed to do any analysis for capital expenditures and acquisitions as needed. Which only made sense, right? How could she go about trying to make large-scale purchases if she didn't really understand the requirements of them? But this? This was – they were making her a contracted budget analyst! This was way more than she ever agreed to.

This was going to be a rough Monday.

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Hanako's head was about to explode. For the last week, she had looked at pipes – nothing but pipes. She had been staring at datasheets comprising of information about bids, estimates, and plans made for pipes. She was putting in overtime at the office, not even going home until well in the evening as she tried to grapple with and get a handle on her new responsibilities as well as not fall down on her previously existing ones. Hanako had initially wondered why the contract pay Utatane Koharu had presented her with was so generous. Now with some perspective, she was beginning to wonder if it wasn't generous enough.

She was to act as a sort of acquisitions project manager. The administration of Hidden Leaves would decide on how much money was to be allocated to a project, send Hanako the information on it, and it would be her job to analyze it, approve or send back suggestions, and then acquire the necessary materials. In this case, Hidden Leaves was preparing to expand the water systems and sewage system. To do that, they needed pipes and a lot of them. Pipes that could handle the proper pressurization, the right volume, the right material, and cost the right amount. Thankfully, a list of approved suppliers was included as was a list of not-so-approved-but-acceptable suppliers. It was a starting point.

It looked to her like the village was planning on expanding, planning for the future. At least Lord Third understood that proper infrastructure was essential for a long-lasting city-state. The deadline on this one was a month to analyze and submit either a concurrence of the project cost or suggested changes. Then she would need to go out and find suppliers to purchase all of this from. That second phase was what Hanako had thought she was agreeing to when she took the job, not the first part, which looked like it would be at least fifty percent of the work.

Goddamn that woman, Hanako thought. And goddamn herself, too because it was Hanako who had put ink to paper and agreed. Besides, the civilian didn't want to find out what would happen to her if she didn't play ball and crossed the much more powerful kunoichi. All the favor of the Hidden Leaves' ANBU corps wouldn't be able to save her from whatever retaliation would come.

She leaned forward and rubbed her temples, hard. She was only in the first week of this new project and she was already swamped. If things continued like this – if this became her new normal – she would have to hire someone to help, even if it were for things as simple as running documents to and from the bank and her clients. Hell, it was only Thursday, and she was still at work far past when the sun had gone down. If Hanako did not have bodyguards, she would have already gone home, reluctant to walk the streets alone in the dark. But she did, and it imbued her with a confidence that only a kunoichi could have that no one would harm her in the dimly lit streets.

It was entirely too late and Hanako put a hand up weakly to cover her moth as a yawn split her jaws apart. She was tired and hungry and knew that she did not have the energy to make food when she got home. There were, luckily, a few stands that stayed open late into the evening on her way. She gathered up her belongings and started straightening up the office. The documents she was working with, she carefully ordered, marking where she had left off, and put them all into the secured safe that the village had provided. The rest was put away into either her own safe or the locking filing cabinets. The door to the room was then locked behind her.

Hanako did her best to rub the tiredness from her eyes but only succeeded in smudging her eyeliner. It made her look just as tired as she felt. A slight detour that added maybe another five minutes to her walk took Hanako down a main street lit brightly with red and yellow paper lanterns. The savory smell of noodles and broth wafted toward her, and Hanako made a beeline for the noodle shop. Ramen, yakisoba, and several soups. There were already a few patrons inside when she entered. A genin team ate in the corner, not a one of them over the age of fourteen. The trio looked tired and bedraggled, speaking to one another in low voices, but they also looked satisfied in one another's company, their gestures and faces warm and affectionate. Two Nara ate at the bar, both brighter and more energetic than anyone had a right to be at eleven at night, chatting with one another about family matters.

The civilian had a running theory that the Nara, whose clan symbols and lore was all to do with shadows and the dark of night if any of the gossip she had heard was to be believed, that the Nara were like third shift workers. They were only sleep deprived and tired all the time because their schedules were inverted for whatever reason. Any time she saw a Nara at nighttime, they looked like they were in the middle of their day, energy-wise. And anytime she saw them in the day, they were as tired as she was in the late evening. It was only reinforced every time she saw one like this. Although it could have been confirmation bias, and she was only really seeing the evidence that agreed with the theory.

So far it had not been proven wrong, though.

She ordered a bowl of miso soup and some yakisoba and turned to find a place to sit. A shock of white hair caught her eye in the corner. Storm grey eyes raised to meet hers. His body language was open and the expression on his face looked welcoming. The food in front of him was steaming and had only just been touched. He had not been there long. Not wanting to eat alone at the end of a long day, Hanako pulled out the chair across from him and sat down.

The shinobi looked her over quickly. "You look like shit," he said before filling his mouth with noodles.

"Gee, thanks," Hanako said back, sarcastically. "You look beautiful today, too." He really did not. Dust caked him, along with what looked like ashes in his hair and covered his flak in a fine dusting of grey, casting him in a pallid light like a ghost. Like he had been standing around a bonfire for too long and was now covered in the ashes. The smell of woodsmoke wafted from him, along with sweat. Lines ran down his temples here and there, evidence of where sweat had dripped.

His mouth quirked up in a smile. "Long day?"

Hanako just nodded tiredly. "Lots of papers. I did not know what was getting – on? Putting on?"

"Getting into – what you were getting yourself into."

"Ah, yes," she accepted the correction. "What I was getting self into. Wish I hadn't taken job."

"That hard?" He asked before taking another bite.

She glanced up as the waiter set her noodles and broth in front of her, waiting until he left to continue. "Is just a lot," she admitted. "I might need someone to help soon. I can do this for some time, but not for too long. I am working until late night every day now." She blew on her soup to cool it down. The fragrance that wafted up at her was mouthwatering. "And how are you?" she asked before taking a sip.

"Training, taking missions, the same," he shrugged. "I spent most of the day with my clan. The rest of the day working with fire techniques." That would explain the ashes.

"You mean with your sister and your son?" He nodded. Shinobi could be so indirect with even saying that they spent time with their immediate family. "How are they?"

"Little Kakashi is a growing boy. Walking all over the place. He's talking now, even if his attempts are any more than babble. He's a smart child." His tone was warm, proud. "Just wish he hadn't learned the word 'no.' That's all I ever hear when I see him nowadays. 'Do you want milk?' 'No.' 'Do you want juice?' 'No.' He only ever drinks milk or juice but if you ask him what he wants, no matter what, the answer is 'no.' 'Do you want to play?' 'No,' even though he's jumping up and down with joy to play." The two chatted about his son and the little boy's progress. If Hanako knew anything, it was that parents were always proud to talk about their children and their developments, especially when they were little. She let his words blur, washing over her, listening more to the sound of his voice and the cadence and tone more than the words he was speaking.

After eating they stood to pay at the counter. Sakumo leaned against the counter casually, lessening the height difference between the two of them.

"I'll walk you home," Sakumo offered, and Hanako found herself accepting.

The stars above them were bright, if not dimmed by the lights of the city. Above them, a few clouds rolled overhead, illuminated, and glowing with the reflection of the city lights below. Hanako could smell rain in the distance and heard the crackles and groans of faraway thunder.

Along the way they chatted. Hanako talked about her work, her frustrations, and her successes. Sakumo listened quietly, offering polite responses to show that he was listening and to encourage her to continue. Hanako spoke of how she was worried that she wouldn't be able to consistently keep up the standard that she had created for her regular clients. She was afraid of failure, of making mistakes because she was stretching herself too thin – she was afraid of a lot of things.

"Do you regret taking the job?" Sakumo queried when Hanako had about finished venting about the amount of work.

Hanako slowed her pace. Did she regret it? "I – um – I don't know. I think yes, now, I regret. But later? Maybe not? I don't know, right now I am just stressed out. It is much more than I realized when I agreed," she finally settled on.

Sakumo hummed.

Hanako continued. "I can't keep doing one job forever." By this point they had slowed down to a very slow walk. Her home was just a few blocks away. The giant trees of her neighborhood loomed around and above them, casting long shadows broken here and there by lights from the walled in houses. Fireflies flickered here and there in the dark, flashing their lights to one another.

He might have quirked an eyebrow at her, but in the darkness she couldn't tell. He did tilt his head though, from the silhouette of his body. "Is boring to do one thing for all of life, and how will you know pay is good for what you do? You must get much of –" she hesitated, searching for the word, "experience. Yes, experience, so that you can know what is good rate and be paid good for work." She blathered a bit, somewhat nervous and feeling like she had to explain herself.

The answer must have been adequate because they resumed walking at a normal pace again.

The house was dark. Asuka was gone on a mission. The rules for entering the house of a shinobi and the house of a civilian were evidently very different. Now that the two women were roommates, there were never any guests at the house while Hanako was gone. Instead, the shinobi now waited for one of them to return home and politely knock and ask to be let in. Hanako was very happy about the change. She should have asked Asuka to move in ages ago.

Hanako turned they key in the lock and opened the door before entering, holding the door open behind her. He hesitated on the doorstep. On a whim, Hanako made a split-second decision.

"Come in," she invited, gesturing with her head.

"Sorry for intruding," he said, and Hanako realized that she was supposed to say something to him in invitation.

"Err – welcome back?" She tried, using the phrase that she did with Asuka all the time.

Sakumo chuckled as he pulled off his sandals and put on one of the many pairs of house slippers. "Close enough."

It did not take long for her to have water brewing for tea, and she excused herself to go and change out of her work clothes. The dress she wore was comfortable and light, but she never felt great wearing her work clothes at home. It didn't feel right. She went to put on some a loose, soft cotton shirt and some leggings. By the time she returned, the water was boiling and Sakumo had shed some of his equipment, placing his forehead guard and tanto blade on the table in front of him. His flak jacket remained on.

Hanako poured the cups of tea and led Sakumo out onto the inner porch of the courtyard. Needing light, she started searching for matches to light a few candles, rummaging around in a few drawers. She was still new enough to the house that she had not quite settled in to where she knew the locations of all her odds and ends at all times.

With a quick gesture and a flicker of light, Sakumo solved the problem. At the tip of his index finger danced a small flickering flame which he used to light the candles on the porch. Hanako gave a small disbelieving laugh at the sight.

"I still have difficulty to believe what I see, sometimes," she admitted, grabbing her cup, and sitting down.

"You said before that this was like magic to you." It was a statement but felt like a question, like a request for her to elaborate.

Hanako vaguely recalled having a similar conversation but not with Sakumo. A different shinobi. Her description of her former world must have gotten around. Not all that surprising. "Yes." She tilted her head back, gazing up at the night sky through the branches of the beech and oak trees in the courtyard. "Where I come from, there is no chakra. It, um, it doesn't exist. Anything you do with chakra here is pure magic to me. All I can do is maybe stick paper to hand. Even that is magic to me."

"It's almost impossible to access your chakra after the age of eleven," mussed Sakumo. "But maybe it shouldn't be so surprising that you could, considering the nature of your chakra." He shrugged. "It's just rare, is all."

She took a small sip of her tea. It was still too hot. "This world is full of excitement," she said, leaning back to prop herself up on her elbows, face lifted to the sky. All around them cicadas chirruped, and an occasional frog croaked. "Magic, and wonder. I never felt like this at home."

"Like what?" He shifted beside her.

"That there is so much potential. I hear story of chakra monster. Spirits made of magic. People who use magic all of time. But in some way is still same as where I come from. People are good. People are bad. People are same no matter where, just the – ah, surroundings? Viron – iron – not trees, is wrong word, like surroundings but with plant and tree and – "

"Environment," the shinobi helpfully supplied.

"Yes! Envirionments. Envirionments change. Not people." Sakumo let her mispronunciation stand without correction. The rumbling of the sky grew louder and large fat droplets of water began to fall here and there, plinking through the leaves of the trees. "You can be anything here. Just need will of steel to do it."

The smell of woodsmoke and sweat. Sakumo was fully prone next to her, his hands acting as a cushion for his head. He looked different without the forehead guard framing his face. Unguarded. Unheeding of the water droplets that were falling around them. He did not look vulnerable. Hanako was unsure that a shinobi of his level could ever look vulnerable. But he did look open. Not like the first time they had met. When they first met, he was closed off, territorial, angry. The other ANBU had acted just as much to protect her from their own comrade, as if they were afraid that he might snap. His wife had just recently died at that time, if Hanako remembered correctly. Later, he was abrasive. Callous, like he was ready to hurt anything or anyone else if they tried to hurt him first. But now – now he was open. Receptive.

They stayed in comfortable silence for a while, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain quicken until it was a light pour. The droplets misted down on them from above, their descent broken by leaves and branches. "It's late," she murmured, half to herself.

"Ah," Sakumo said, hauling himself up to a sitting position. "I should be going, then."

Hanako put a hand on his, his leather and steel gloves blocking most actual contact. "You don't have to leave if you don't want," she said hesitantly, not sure if he would actually accept the offer.

He gazed down at her with stormy grey eyes and an undecipherable expression. Finally, he grunted. "You don't have a shower I can use, do you?" He was filthy and Hanako had already decided that she would have to clean off the chairs where he had sat down.

She nodded. "You can use mine; I'll get you some clean spare clothes." There was a stock of clean standard issue jounin clothing always kept on hand. Asuka's team used the house as a rendezvous point for their missions and training, and she and her teammates kept a stock available for other teams as well.

While Hanako cleaned up the cups and got everything ready for her next day, preparing a lunch to take to work. She could hear the water running in the other room but tried not to imagine what was going on. Well, she didn't try very hard if she was being honest with herself. Once her lunch was made and set aside in the refrigerator, Hanako realized that she also needed to shower before she went to bed. The next morning would be Friday, Hanako had already resolved that she would make it a late easy day. She had already done the bulk of her week's work, and Friday was usually the day that she reserved for her independent clients – the ones that usually needed help with their finances, whether due to family members that had fallen in the line of duty, or family members needed help lining out their finances so that their families wouldn't have to deal with it. In a military city-state, there was no shortage of either.

She heard the water stop running and gave it a few more minutes for Sakumo to emerge. She had already laid some clothes out for him and assumed it would take a little bit for him to change. When he did come out, she brushed past him on her way to shower herself, shyly avoiding his eyes.

Stepping into the steaming water, Hanako lathered up her hair and began her regular routine. The hot water felt like a blessing against her back and legs which had been kept sitting in a chair all day and felt the soreness from it. She tried to keep physically active outside of her work but the more she worked the harder it got to do that. Gardening was her primary physical activity now; she just simply did not have much time for anything else since she had gotten busy trying to carve out a place for herself.

Finally, all clean, she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel to dry off, and then a house robe. Ready to say goodnight, she emerged from her room, damp hair falling around her face, to find Sakumo cleaning his armor, tools produced from somewhere. The smell of acetone was strong.

The rain was now pounding outside, a dull roar in the background. It was relaxing though, despite the loud cracks of thunder that accompanied it and flashes of lightning.

Sakumo's hair was loose, let back from its bindings. For once, he was not wearing his flak jacket. It lay instead on the table along with the rest of his equipment. His hands worked quickly,

"Can I get you anything?" She questioned, filling a glass of water for herself from the kitchen.

"So which bed should I be taking?" He joked lightly in his deep voice.

Hanako sputtered and coughed on the water, caught by surprise. Truth be told, one of the spare bedrooms was being converted into an office, and the other two were empty of furniture. The futons and cot were put away in a closet somewhere.

"I – uh," she fumbled.

"Don't worry, it was a joke," reassured Sakumo.

Hanako bit at her lip. He leaned back in his chair, abandoning his instruments.

"At a loss for words?"

Hanako smiled and glanced away. She couldn't form an appropriately witty response. Unexpectedly, she felt girlish and nervous. Out of her depth but refusing to back down. "Well," she started, "I can't expect guest to sleep on floor." She took a step forward, feeling bold. "Guest is important in my culture. I could never do such thing."

"I can think of a few things that would make me feel more welcome." He smiled.

"Can you, now?" Sakumo rose languidly. Hanako continued, "And what would that be?"

He was taller than her. Larger, his shoulders so much broader. The loose navy-blue clothes disguised the exact shape of his body, but Hanako could easily imagine what lay underneath the fabric. It flexed and bunched as he moved closer. His scent was cleaner now, the heavy woodsmoke and sweat gone now and replaced by a clean masculine scent. She put a hand on his chest, feeling the solidness of his body, the realness that it was really him. Here and now.

Instead of another teasing response, he kissed her. Gently at first and then harder when she rose up on her tiptoes to meet him. His arms were as large as she imagined they were, and they wrapped around her waist as he lifted her up into the air and onto the countertop.

She ran her fingers through his damp hair, taking care not to pull too hard. Sakumo's hands pushed against her hips and ran up and down her back as he pressed forward, his body between her legs. His lips were not soft, they were chapped and rough, and his beard was stubbly. Hanako found that she didn't really care all that much and kissed him even the more deeply.

Her house robe split apart to expose more than what she had originally intended and Sakumo's wandering hands with their solid, rough fingers explored the shape of her thighs. She gasped as his lips left hers and he pressed his face into her neck and began to tease her with his fingers. She moaned.

"Now," she gasped softly. "About that bed."

His response was to pick her up once more. Hanako wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her down the hall.

She slept very well until the next morning.

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A/N:

I mean, I feel guilty for taking this damn long to get these two to kiss... Sakumo had to work through some shit of his own in the background though, okay?

Also, Hanako got in over her head on this one. She completely didn't realize what she was getting herself into when she agreed to become an independent contractor. Like most of us realize after our first contracting job, we should have asked for a lot more money.