The Great Abyssal

"Life is a flimsy branch over an abyss."

Henning Mankell

Chapter 110

Smiles for friends and strangers alike as she filled her market basket with tempting food and colorful baubles.

Hatake Residence

Kakashi stood at his sink with his hands gripping the edge tightly. Gai had left almost half an hour ago and yet it felt like only seconds. If someone was to look in his window they would have seen a man in a trance-like state appearing to look out over the village from his high vantage point. His years of training in stealth allowed him to feel no discomfort as he stood perfectly still while time marched quickly forward; his heart rate and breathing was slow and steady while is mind was racing to multiple conclusions. He knew that he was not only at a proverbial cross-road, but more importantly he was getting ready to propel himself at high speed toward a point of both no return and no backing down. He felt neither trepidation nor hesitation, as this scenario was an old friend of his through his professional career. He did his best work while in constant mental motion. Many people thought him somnolent and even lazy at times, but the torpid persona was nothing but an act that he had perfected over the years. He sometimes even believed it himself at times such was the deep, undercover nature of the persona. But the shark inside him was never still, and was always moving and searching for something or someone. He knew that his disguise was solid when ANBU gave him his wolf mask. People thought him a lone wolf always on the midnight prowl or lazing the day away under the midday sun. But they were all wrong. A lone wolf never lasted for very long, and no matter what romantic vision people had of them. A pack animal never did well on their own; they either died from hunger or stronger predators, or they went mad. A shark however moved swiftly, strongly, and assuredly on their own. They did not need the assistance of others to exist, but instead they silently took what they wanted and when they wanted it.

At that thought Kakashi jerked back to the present. For a brief moment he almost thought that he was describing Morino, but he swiftly threw that thought aside with contempt. Morino was the wolf as he needed ANBU to fill out his pack role. Morino could do nothing on his own. He needed the strength of ANBU at his back to give him the power that he needed to bring his plans to fruition. Kakashi didn't think that Morino was a weakling as much as he was hemmed in by needing the combined strength of others. He, on the other hand, could work with or without a team. His strengths lay in the fact that he was flexible and able to subtly conform all situations to his benefit. Morino, on the other hand, was nothing more than a clumsy brute who used intimidation as his only weapon.

Pushing himself away from the sink he turned and walked back to his bedroom to get dressed. He now openly pondered Gai. He knew that Gai's appearance at his home was not as simple as it seemed: an appeal for Kakashi to be honorable and keep his distance from Ayumu. No, there was something much, much deeper there. Oh, he was genuinely concerned for Ayumu, but there was another angle that Gai was playing and he hadn't put all the pieces together yet. Just like himself, or any other good nin , Gai was a master at concealing his true motives. Ayumu might take up a large percentage of Gai's interest, but there was some other heavier matter that was behind his unannounced visit. A love-triangle was not cause for such concern. It happened much more frequently than people thought, as the life of a nin was generally uncertain and they tended to squeeze every drop of living out of their lives as they could, as no one ever knew when their time was up. He had even seriously contemplated seeing if Morino and Ayumu wanted a third in their relationship, as that too was not an uncommon occurrence. It was even enjoyable as both men had in the past participated in such relationships. But he knew that Ayumu would most probably not be comfortable with such an arraignment, but maybe not at first...

Like the land shark that he was he smelled the first drop of blood, and his senses suddenly came alive. Either Gai was being manipulated by Morino, or he was trying to manipulate Morino himself for some unknown (for now) reason. Gai might seem as shallow as a dry river bed, but still waters ran deep with that one, and more than once he had watch the Mighty Green Beast out-flank people without them ever having known it, and worse, that it was Gai himself who had performed the dirty deed. He knew for certain that Gai was up to something, and that whatever it was it would not be to his benefit.

A strange sensation bubbling across here lower abdomen caused her to stop what she was doing. Her eyebrows and mouth dropped in sudden concern.

Hokage Residence

Tsunade took a long pull from her sake bottle and sighed in consternation. She could handle threats against the village; that is what she was trained to do after all. She could handle political problems within the Academy or the Village; they weren't necessarily enjoyable but they came part and parcel with the job. She could even handle her own personal problems; no getting away from those. But what she could not handle was the personal problems of her employees, and Ibiki, Kakashi, and Gai were nothing more than that to her. Those three highly talented, aggressive, stubborn, and arrogant bastards were at the moment causing her great mental angst. She couldn't hate them any more than she did right now. If she didn't have such need of them she would send them to three different points far from each other and herself in a heart beat. She was mentally exhausted from trying to keep at least half a step a head of all three and whatever stupid man-game they were playing against each other.

She knew that she had no one else to blame but herself. She had far indulged all three, and for many years. They were very important assets to their profession and the Village. So many times they had helped save Konoha and her people, and most times with no public or even professional recognition. It was unfair, but it was a part of the job. One did not become a nin to become a public figure of adoration. If they did it never ended well for them. The general life of a nin was one of quiet and unacknowledged strength and despair far from the public's eye. Even within their guild many times things though acknowledged went unsaid. Everyone knew that Morino was a scary but talented bastard whose covert information was always invaluable, but no one ever said anything , and even to close friends as no one ever really knew who was reporting back to him. No one could dispute Kakashi's brilliance as a fighter, but his personality left much to be desired so he too never received the accolades from his peers that he deserved. Even Gai, who truly was a Beast, and in more ways than one, ever got the verbal laurels that he deserved from all his hard work due to his ever increasing obnoxious personality. When he came to visit her the other day she could barely stand to be in his presence for more than the fifteen minutes that she gave him.

Just the thought of their recent private visits to her caused her teeth to grind together. After each visit she had a tension headache that lasted the rest of the day. Their soap opera drama wasn't the cause of her vexation, as she honestly found the whole thing amusing. Three men trying to out-wit and out-maneuver each other, and all over the supposed premise of a woman was exceedingly diverting. She was even a little jealous if truth be told. Who wouldn't want three of the strongest nin in Konoha fighting over her? She could not think of any woman that would put a stop to something like that. However, she knew for a fact that the woman in question had no idea that such machinations were going on in her name. Having known the young woman personally she knew for a fact that such attentions would not be welcome.

No, what really infuriated her was that all three of the rat bastards tried to flex their muscle against her in order to manipulate her to do their bidding. What the fuck were they thinking?! Who did they think they were?! She was their Hokage, for fuck's sake! No one tried to top her. But as soon as the anger surfaced it was dulled by a bit of humorous respect. Only that triumvirate (and they were a triumvirate whether they knew it or not) would have the balls to come to her office and try to get her to do what they wanted in such a way.

Morino had a long history of having very little regard for what others thought or wanted. He always had an agenda, and he rarely let others dictate their wants or desires to him. He would accommodate only if it fit in to his plans. She knew that many times when he would seemingly bow to her rule it was only because that was what he wanted or needed. More than once he had left her office with a smug look in his eyes. Many times she had to vociferously fight , threaten, and even cajole him in to doing as she wanted. It wasn't that he was going against her wishes or orders, it was just that he wanted to do it his way and not hers. He usually had something else that was piggy-backing the plans, and somehow what she wanted would screw with it. In the end they both knew that as long as her plans were carried out anything else peripherally would have a blind eye turned to it and as such be unofficially sanctioned. One time in frustration she accused Morino of wanting to take over her job and the response that he gave was immediate and genuine: pure disgust. He had told her in no uncertain terms that her job held absolutely no appeal to him. Too many ass-hats that he would have to deal with. She knew that he was telling the truth as he held much more power and influence behind the throne then he would ever have on it.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was prime Hokage material. And again, if truth be told he would make an excellent one. Unfortunately he lacked the drive and discipline needed, or at least the steady momentum that the office required. Kakashi was too unreliable in that area. He would run hot or cold, or full-bore or sedentary. There was no in-between with the man. He gave you everything or nothing, and you rarely knew what you were going to get at any given moment. It was what made the man both so alluring and yet so frustrating to people. His unpredictability was like cat nip to men and women alike, and most times he treated them with barely concealed contempt. He never wanted hanger-ons or groupies as they cut too much in to his private time. He would drink with them or fuck them until they were both blind, but after the first flush of fun or an orgasm or two he would get bored and quietly turn his back on them and walk away. It wasn't that he was a bad person or plain incompetent, but Kakashi was jut too much in to Kakashi and what he wanted. The needs of Konoha would not necessarily always come first.

That left Gai...His visit was the most annoying and the most disturbing. When she had been told that he was in her anteroom waiting to see her every muscle in her body had tightened in response to the ebullient tsunami that would come crashing in to her office once she opened the door and let him in. Being around him was something that she had to build up to. She had to prepare. Otherwise, she would have to brace herself with such force that it inevitably left her feeling like she had been beat up. Gai was like a motivational speaker (for himself) from Hell. No wonder Morino and Hatake couldn't stand him on a regular basis. They could occasionally work with him, but even those moments had to be carefully planned and orchestrated, otherwise the men spent too much time annoying each other on purpose. But the Gai who had walked into her office was a disturbingly subdued version of the man that she had expected. His demeanor and attitude was solemnity at its most serious. She was taken aback for a moment. Then, when he stated his reason for being there she started to slowly burn with rage. Just like other two he was trying to both openly and covertly manipulate her, and he over the other two almost succeeded. He almost had her, but in a poorly calculated move he had started to lecture her, and that had been his undoing. No one lectured her. No. One.

She had given each of them a piece of her mind and had the last word, and in a way befitting the attitude that they had each given her: Morino with ice, Kakashi with fire, and Maito with condescension. Those bastards... They still stoked her fire, and that had been days ago...Well, all three had something coming to them, and it was the last thing that they would ever expect. She would show the three of them who really ran things around here. They might be three of Konoha's finest and strongest, but she was The Hokage and she would not be dictated to.

A slight wave of dizziness followed by a stronger wave of panic and nausea caused her to first lean up against a wall and then slide down it until she was sitting on the ground.

ANBU

Ibiki threw the blade away from him in disgust. The room though occupied was as silent as a tomb. His subject had just let out his last death rattle and spasm, and his team was watching him with wary silence. He had just broken one of his biggest rules, and he had done so in pure anger and frustration. He had killed his subject not in mercy or because he was no longer a viable option, but purely out of sadistic pleasure. He had drawn the final moments out like taking the last sips from a fine wine. It had been almost orgasmic...until he had come back to himself and seen the varying looks from his team. They had all appeared frightened and even slightly suspicious of him. He expected that from everyone else, but not his own team mates. Well, it couldn't be helped. He could understand it. This wasn't The Band of the Hand, his unsanctioned deep undercover team from Cafe Chit Chat, but instead his sanctioned covert team from ANBU. There was a subtle but very significant difference between the two, and it appeared that he had momentarily forgotten that.

"I need to clean up, get rid of this piece of shit," he said as he brushed past them. "Meet me in my office in one hour for further instructions."

As he walked the hallways back to his office he tried to get a handle on the feelings that had been niggling him in the back of his mind all day. For the entire day he had just felt 'off'. It was a hard state to distill; he didn't feel anxious, or sense any danger, but something was percolating around him that he couldn't quite put a finger on. The nebulous sensation would come and go. It would hit him at odd times, and just as he was trying to process it the sensation would leave as quickly as it had arrived. It was frustrating, to say the least. After he showered he would take a few moments to try and meditate on the issue. If he could open himself fully then maybe an opportunity would arise where he could catch and hold on to whatever this was. He was never fully comfortable with the intangible, but he knew enough to know that one never ignored that sixth sense. It was there for a reason, and more often than not the reason was a good one. It had even saved his life a time or two, but his extra sense was more prehistoric rather than clairvoyant. His sixth sense had to do with the lizard part of the brain; self preservation. He did not have the ability to predict anything other than possible physical dangers. He knew how people would react only through years of practice watching people in every kind of situation, and not through far-seeing.

Walking past his secretary's empty desk he entered his office and locked the door. Disrobing and getting in to the shower he finally allowed himself a long sigh of relief. The boiling hot water pounding his flesh helped ease his tension. He braced both hands against the wall and just let the hydrotherapy do its job. He began to mentally drift, and with each passing second under the water he let go of anything corporeal. He let his mind relax and expand as everything that occupied it was cast away. After a few moments his mind was empty and silent. Not even the sound of the water could be heard or felt. He could almost feel his body becoming lighter than air as he let himself drift like a leaf on the wind.

There! That sensation was creeping up on him. In order to open himself fully to it Ibiki just let himself flow with whatever tide he was riding on. Something like smoke was carefully drifting toward him, and he knew that if he exerted any sort of energy then he would loose the tenuous connection that he had. He let whatever it was that was trying to connect to him be the dominant as he submissively let whatever was going to happen happen. Seconds felt like hours as he just passively waited like a an empty vessel to be filled. With soft patience he held his ground, and it wasn't long before his expertise was rewarded. Suddenly, it all became clear. As quickly as the epiphany came the sensation was gone and Ibiki was standing back in his shower. The clarity was such that a shiver of pure fear ran down his back even though the water was scalding. His fists clenched and a long, deep growl came from a mouth that was curled in a vicious snarl. Turning off the hot water he walked out and stood shaking in the center of his office. For the first time in his life he had no idea what to do.

Hiraku Market

He was running full-out toward toward the commotion. He just knew it had to be her... He felt it from balls to bone. And just like he knew it was her, he knew that time was of the essence. He used everything in his power to close the distance between them, and when he did get there he roughly threw people aside. When those trying to help her looked at the sudden intruder any remonstrance that was about to be said quickly died on their lips, and surprised looks and unasked questions silently passed between the people standing around her.

It was him... He must know her...Who was she that he would show such possessiveness...

"Step aside, now!" He said vehemently as he went down next to her, and with such tenderness held her in his arms. "Back off and giver her some air! I have you, Ayumu," he said lowly. "Don't worry, I will make this right."

She looked up and blinked in confusion. Had she passed out? What had happened? She felt totally discombobulated. As things came in to focus she gasped when she saw who was looking down at her. Well, she thought wryly, if I have to collapse in the middle of the market at least someone familiar was there to rescue her...

A.N: Well, it has been a while, hasn't it?! Like I said: Never fear, this fic might be a bit behind on updates, but there are many chapters that have been sketched out. Honestly, I thought that I had painted myself in to a corner (and not in the corner that you might think...) but I think I might have found a way to get out of it, but we shall see...Anyway, shenanigans for all, to be sure... Lol! Sorry for any mishaps, misspellings, etc. All my fault, to be sure.

Amy ;)