They finally arrive...
Characters: Kakashi, Sakura, Lee, Anko
Setting: The rebel camp, about fifteen minutes after this log.
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Kakashi, Sakura, and Lee continue on to the camp and meet Anko, where Sakura's situation is debated. Again.
It took fifteen minutes of walking through the forest at their leisurely pace before they finally bumped into a nervous-looking scout. The man had been hiding in the trees when he spotted them. "Kakashi! Lee!" There was only a gentle rustle of branches before the brown-garbed figure dropped to the ground in front of their path. "Hey, guys," he said, looking warily at the pink-haired girl they were traveling with. "Uh, you're not supposed to bring, you know, strangers into camp..."
"I know that," Lee said dryly. "I was there when they wrote the rules, and I would never do anything of the sort, you know that. She's a new recruit." He jerked his head around and glared at Kakashi. "Kakashi's recruit. We trust her. Don't wake anyone up yet; we're just going to give her a little tour, and then she can be introduced to everyone."
The scout blushed. "Oh, uh, okay then. Ah, sorry miss - but you know, I have to make sure, that's my job. Well, I'm going to get back to my post. I'll meet you later!"
Without waiting for a reply, the scout disappeared back into the treetops.
Unfazed by the brief exchange, Kakashi watched the scout take off before turning to Lee, a little amused. For someone who was so against Sakura joining, Lee was certainly taking care to be active in her orientation. Of course, he could just be tagging along because he didn't entirely trust Kakashi to handle the matter alone, but that was just fine. Kakashi was tired, hungry, and hadn't had any decent time alone in days, and if Lee wanted to take the situation into his own hands for a bit, that was fine by him.
"Well," he proposed, "you seem to have things under control. And I imagine you two have a lot to catch up on after two years, so if it's no trouble, I'll leave you to take care of things, Lee." He took a step to the side. "I'll be around if you need me..."
Nodding with a little wave of good-bye, Sakura stepped closer to Lee, not sure what she should do at the camp. "Uhm..." she tugged on Lee's sleeve, "So what do we do now, Lee?" She looked around, the atmosphere was definitely a lot different than Konoha, that was certain. The pink-haired girl only hoped that she wouldn't get lost.
"First, we're going to make Kakashi come with us." So saying, Lee's arm shot out, grabbed the older man by his sleeve, and stopped him from moving any further. "Since he's the one who recruited you, Lady Sakura, he can explain your presence to anyone who asks. You'll also be taking his tent, until we find a spare or empty one." Now that he'd kept Kakashi from resting anytime soon, Lee was feeling a tiny bit better.
He stepped forward, brushed aside some overgrown greenery, and motioned for the two to follow. The main camp would be inside.
It was one of those mornings that Anko found herself waking up far too early. That alone was enough to warn people to run for the hills. Considering that most were still asleep (lucky, bastards), and she had nothing else to do, she decided to join the morning watch. She was a cranky watch person to be sure (was she ever not cranky in the morning? Probably not.), but that did not stop her from taking on the job herself.
Most were still asleep, the camp overly quiet, and while there appeared to be nothing amiss in the air, there was still something just... off about the whole morning. Even with hot tea in hand and dango waiting for her back in her tent (there were still fifteen sticks left!), the unease of the morning set a scowl on her face.
Something was off.
The moment her eyes swept over the three forms walking leisurely into the camp--one of which Kakashi (that spelled trouble right there), the other of which was Lee (that spelled "accidental" trouble right there), and some girl that she did not know (that spelled double trouble times ten right there)--she knew something awful was going to come from this exchange. Whether it just be Kakashi losing his manhood with help from her newly sharpened daggers or something worse was up to fate. Anko almost considered turning around and pretending that she did not see them, but there was just something... not too innocent about the bunch that made her (as cranky as she was) approach them.
A lethal glare in place (mostly pinned on Kakashi--it was most likely his fault anyway, whatever it was), she said, "This had better be good." And left it at that.
Kakashi met Anko's smouldering gaze in silence; he was used to it, so it wasn't as hard to hold as it had been at first. When it became obvious that she was most likely expecting an answer from him, he tilted his head, smiled as cheerfully as possible--vainly hoping to disperse some of the tension and using the motion as an excuse to close his right eye, shutting out her glare--and said warmly,
"Anko. You're as radiant as ever." Perhaps it was a long shot, but he paused, waiting to see if Lee would oblige and jump in for him.
Lee made no such decision. "Good morning, Lady Anko," he said pleasantly, all grins and happiness as he greeted her. Something about Lady Anko always made him want to smile.
Bowing slightly, Sakura met Anko's eyes, although hesitantly. Knowing the way Lee reacted, she only hoped this woman would be a little less rash. However, by the way both Lee and Kakashi seemed to treat her, things didn't look too good at the moment. Glancing at Kakashi, she frowned. He was taking a beating all because of her selfish desire to escape Konoha. "Uhm, hello," she merely choked out, not sure how to introduce herself without getting Kakashi scolded more so than she needed to be. Perhaps she could explain? No, chances are everything would be blurred together and made absolutely no sense. Oh, what to do... she contemplated to herself, and decided just to leave it for Kakashi to deal with for now. If he needed her help she would butt in willingly, but maybe she wouldn't rip his head of by chance? Was there a chance?
There were two things that Anko definitely was not. One of them was a "Lady". However, considering that Lee insisted on calling her that no matter what she said and no matter how much she threatened him, she had gotten quite used to the phrase (even if it made her cringe a little inside). The other thing was "radiant". That was one that would not be so easily ignored. For some strange and odd reason, all of the men of the camp seemed to think that complimenting her when she was thinking about ripping them apart would appease her. However, considering that this was Anko, and not some flimsy little "Lady", that was definitely not the case.
Not. At. All.
She spared a glance (just as a glance) over at the pink-haired girl. Anko knew that whatever was going on was rooted in this girl, whoever she was, but she also knew that it was only rooted in this girl because Kakashi was so obliged to allow it to even happen in the first place. Or even Lee. Either way, one of the males of the Rebellion were going to end up dead soon if somebody did not start explaining straight away.
"Thanks, Kakashi. You're as perverted as ever." She was not amused. "Now, explain." And she was not easily distracted.
Kakashi knew she wasn't much of a morning person. He also knew he wasn't one of her favorite people. That was why, as inclined as Kakashi was to drag things out, he knew better in this case. Doing so would just piss Anko off more.
He dropped the smile--he had known from the start that she wasn't the type to be bought off so easily, but it had been worth a try--and nodded in Sakura's direction.
"Anko, this is Haruno Sakura. Sakura, Mitarashi Anko." He pocketed his hands and let his eye wander, trying to downplay the matter as if this were something everyday. "Sakura's our new recruit. I'll be looking after her for the time being." He spoke firmly, without wavering. This was a decision he was making--that he had made--on his own, without input from the other rebels. Whatever Anko had to say, the deal was done. Nothing was going to change that.
"Hello, Miss Anko." Sakura nodded, a little worried that the woman may bite if spoken to incorrectly. She certainly hoped that this woman wouldn't drive Sakura away from the camp, telling her to go back home. Frowning, she stepped closer to Kakashi, finding him and Lee a sanctuary in this foreign environment.
"New... recruit?" Anko repeated, giving Kakashi a hard stare before turning her splintering gaze onto the pink-haired girl. She looked no older than twenty and looked as frail as could be. An upperclass girl to be sure; Anko was reminded of that other frail flower in the Rebellion--the one that tended to be annoying and loud and nothing more than much of a complainer. This was not going to turn out for the better.
"And tell me..." the older female of their little gathered group began, "...where did you find this new recruit?"
Anko was generally not one to be a sucker up on the rules. She usually did not care much bout what anyone did; however, living with the Rebellion had given her a sense of responsibility and while that responsibility was very much... diluted compared to some of the other much more mature members, she was still an older member and therefore slightly wiser. Kakashi was also supposed to be 'wise' when it came to this sort of thing, but putting 'wise' and 'Kakashi' in the same sentence always sounded a little odd.
Kakashi watched Anko's skeptical stare skip over Sakura, unsurprised. Criticism was another given, namely since even his recommendation alone wasn't always enough.
"Konoha," he said simply. "Surely you've guessed by now that's where she's from?" He just wasn't in the mood to unnecessarily elaborate; the basics were enough. At least, they were for him. Anko might have been another matter, but he didn't particularly care right then.
A roll of the eyes dictated Anko's complete response. When had men grown so stupid? So clueless? Or perhaps they had just learned how to fake it very well (which was more than likely the case knowing Kakashi--and Anko did know Kakashi as much as she regretted to admit such knowledge). Somewhere between her time of being five to now, men had decided to stop taking the blame for stuff... or to at least put the blame off for as long as possible. She remembered the boys that she used to rough house with way back when... whenever their attendant would catch them breaking something or being far too roudy, none of the boys would back out of punishment. They would take it like men.
And yet, Kakashi was acting like a child.
How pathetic.
But Anko was not at all surprised. "I'm not that ignorant, Kakashi," his name came out of her mouth in harsh syllables, "but if you expect me to let you go with that little of information... then you must be highly mistaken."
He hardened his gaze a bit, fully aware that he was fighting a losing battle. Even so, irritating anyone--Anko especially--because they chose to pry particularly deep into his business was not something he made an effort to avoid. Kakashi didn't go out of his way to do it, but neither was he going to take constant disrespect without a little playful retribution. Like Anko, he was tired, and he was definitely not a morning person. He enjoyed this interrogation no more than she did.
"The slums," he answered, nonchalant. "I helped her out the other night and we've stuck together since. She wants to help her kingdom," he added after a pause, said more as an assertion of his decision than any attempt at provoking sympathy. Again, he knew better. "I figured I would give her that chance and see if she can do anything for it."
It was more to the fact that Anko tended to be rather hard on anybody that she did not know rather than on the fact that she did not trust this girl--Sakura, was it? In the back of her mind, Anko knew that Kakashi made good judgments on people just from looking at them, but that did not stop her from being suspicious and a bit of a bitch this early in the morning. Nobody, whether they were personally approved by the high and might Kakashi himself, was just let into the Rebellion without extensive background search.
Anko was never a woman of rules to be honest, but when it came to just blindly trusting people, she'd much rather beat them the hell up. It just made more sense that way. To her, anyway.
"Fine."
Her speech was crisp and sharp. She was not happy. And she was tired. And where the hell were one of the useless younger guys that doted on her when she needed one of them to fetch her a new cup of tea; this cup had grown cold unfortunately. Another reason why she was pissed. She bit off the rest of her dango (dango for breakfast, yum).
"But she better be well guarded at all times, Kakashi. I don't care how you know her--meeting her in the slums doesn't mean that you know what the hell her motives are. She'll need to be watched before she can be extensively questioned."
In the sidelines, Lee glanced sideways at Lady Sakura and smiled; it was small, but he hoped it would reassure her. Lady Anko could be a bit intimidating sometimes, and all of this was just standard procedure.
Closing his eye, Kakashi smiled again. "Thank you." He looked at her, more serious; he knew how much trust was required for Anko to let him off like this, and despite appearances, he really did appreciate it. But even if he were one to express such gratitude more openly, she wasn't one to accept it. No need to test what patience she had given him. "I assure you, I'll take care of it."
He turned towards Lee and Sakura, already tired of their little tour. What he wouldn't give to just sleep in until noon...
"Lee?" he said expectantly, wearily, signaling that they should be on their way.
"Kakashi," Lee acknowledged with what looked suspiciously like a smirk. "Since Lady Sakura has had such a long trip, we shall be escorting her to your tent to rest until she can be interrogated - is that alright?" His eyes flicked from Kakashi's, to Lady Sakura's, to Lady Anko's, in turn.
There was no doubt in Anko's mind that Kakashi would take care of it; however, she still found herself unwilling to just let Lee and Kakashi walk away with this stranger and be done with it. Perhaps Anko was just too curious for her own good (possible) or maybe she just wanted to make sure that Kakashi hadn't tuned out while she was talking and just said that he'd take care of it to get her off his case (also possible); either way, Anko found herself nodding at Lee.
"That sounds fine," and without even acknowledging the fact that she was inviting herself along, she followed after the odd trio, throwing the empty dango stick over her shoulder.
Lee smiled, and motioned Sakura through the pebbles and vegetation of the forest floor.
Kakashi almost sighed when he looked over his shoulder and saw Anko joining them. He didn't mind her presence, given how...docile she was being at the moment, but the more people present, the longer this would take. He considered trying to bail again, and then quickly decided against it; he'd at least see Sakura off first.
Sakura nodded, staying close to Lee, hoping she didn't get the two in too much trouble for appearing. However, no matter how bad she felt, she was happy to get this far away from Konoha. Maybe things would change for the better now. "Lee...I'm sorry to cause you both so much trouble. I never meant to..." she trailed off, not sure how to deal with the given situation.
Looking around the camp she became lost, taking refuge in Lee's closeness due to the foreign surroundings. Hopefully she would grow used to the situation soon.
"It's... it's fine, Lady Sakura," Lee found himself saying. No it isn't, his mind tiredly ground out. He would have said something more to boost her confidence, but he still didn't approve of this arrangement, and he didn't want to mislead her.
After a few minutes of tromping through underbrush, Lee grasped and gently bent away a small sapling to reveal a rumpled, dark tent pitched by the roots of a towering oak. "Is this one yours, or am I mistaken?" he asked, throwing Kakashi a glance over his right shoulder.
Kakashi gave a nod, and without stopping moved ahead of the group to pull the tent's flap back. Stepping in, he crouched and groped along the entrance for the lantern, found it, and lit it with a wave of his hand as he stood up. Once it was hanging from the middle of the tent's low ceiling, shedding some light in the almost pitch blackness, he bent over again to clear off his sleeping mat, tossing the few pieces of clothing that littered the ground into a dark corner and kicking aside a dark bundle that gave off a distinctly metallic sound as it went.
His laid-back cleanup completed, Kakashi retreated back outside to allow Sakura room to enter.
Lee made a small disapproving noise in the back of his throat. He was starting to think that revenge on Kakashi ala taking over his tent wasn't such a good idea... but even if it was messy, it seemed safe enough, as long as Lady Sakura didn't move around too much or touch anything.
Sakura raised a brow when she entered Kakashi's tent, but decided it was expected. After all, it was a camp. Looking around she couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable in sleeping in someone else's designated living quarters. She hoped she wasn't much of an intrusion, although the thought never occurred to the young woman when nearly pleading to the silver-haired man that she direly needed to leave Konoha. "Uhm...Kakashi? Where will you be sleeping tonight?" She certainly hoped she wasn't sharing a sleeping bag with him as well...
Catching the insinuation in her voice, he was more than happy to dispel it by replying, "I'll manage. And I'll be close by in case you need anything." Although Kakashi was used to sleeping outside during his travels, he didn't point out that he would likely do so tonight. Sakura was a compassionate person, and he didn't want to burden her with any guilt for temporarily relocating him.
"Oh, okay...Sorry to intrude." She bit her lip slightly, nodding. Thankful that he would stick nearby, but not too close by, her chills disappeared, allowing her to grow more comfortable in the situation. "So, is everything alright? Your...superior didn't seem to happy with me being here." She frowned.
"Anko?" Kakashi made a surprised look pass over his face, as if he hadn't noticed the woman's less-than-welcoming behavior. Fully aware that the two outside could hear them, he assured Sakura, "Don't worry about her. We all have our reasons to be suspicious of strangers; my trust, however firm, cannot change that." He smiled, hoping to lighten the mood. "Just bear with us a bit longer. This process will be over soon."
Meanwhile, Lee was talking quietly with Anko about who would do the interrogations. "Have you seen Neji around? He's usually very good at these things." Lee thought Neji was sometimes a little intense in his questionings, but he was sure Lady Sakura could handle him, being a politician of sorts.
Anko knew that sooner or later they were just going to get tired of her presence and just send her away. However, for now, she planned on enjoying the entire spectacle. She gave Lee a small look, a little perturbed that they had been left outside, and nodded.
"I'll go find him. We should probably wait till later today to do anything though... you look like you could use a little sleep." And he did. With bags under his eyes and his enthusiasm practically being eaten away from the sleepiness of his gaze, Anko did not have to be perceptive to see that. "I'll catch him up to speed on what's going on and then we'll get back here and finally settle everything. For now, though. You go sleep. No arguments."
At times, the purple-haired woman could be as overbearing and crude as any leader. But hold responsibility for people was not her style, so she'd rather stay in the background. Walking away from the tent to find the stoic Hyuuga, Anko decided that if Lee had not followed her 'order' by the time she returned, she would replace all of his clothing with a different color. Perhaps blue. Or red. Either way, the idea made her grin.
Setting: The rebel camp, about fifteen minutes after this log.
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Kakashi, Sakura, and Lee continue on to the camp and meet Anko, where Sakura's situation is debated. Again.
It took fifteen minutes of walking through the forest at their leisurely pace before they finally bumped into a nervous-looking scout. The man had been hiding in the trees when he spotted them. "Kakashi! Lee!" There was only a gentle rustle of branches before the brown-garbed figure dropped to the ground in front of their path. "Hey, guys," he said, looking warily at the pink-haired girl they were traveling with. "Uh, you're not supposed to bring, you know, strangers into camp..."
"I know that," Lee said dryly. "I was there when they wrote the rules, and I would never do anything of the sort, you know that. She's a new recruit." He jerked his head around and glared at Kakashi. "Kakashi's recruit. We trust her. Don't wake anyone up yet; we're just going to give her a little tour, and then she can be introduced to everyone."
The scout blushed. "Oh, uh, okay then. Ah, sorry miss - but you know, I have to make sure, that's my job. Well, I'm going to get back to my post. I'll meet you later!"
Without waiting for a reply, the scout disappeared back into the treetops.
Unfazed by the brief exchange, Kakashi watched the scout take off before turning to Lee, a little amused. For someone who was so against Sakura joining, Lee was certainly taking care to be active in her orientation. Of course, he could just be tagging along because he didn't entirely trust Kakashi to handle the matter alone, but that was just fine. Kakashi was tired, hungry, and hadn't had any decent time alone in days, and if Lee wanted to take the situation into his own hands for a bit, that was fine by him.
"Well," he proposed, "you seem to have things under control. And I imagine you two have a lot to catch up on after two years, so if it's no trouble, I'll leave you to take care of things, Lee." He took a step to the side. "I'll be around if you need me..."
Nodding with a little wave of good-bye, Sakura stepped closer to Lee, not sure what she should do at the camp. "Uhm..." she tugged on Lee's sleeve, "So what do we do now, Lee?" She looked around, the atmosphere was definitely a lot different than Konoha, that was certain. The pink-haired girl only hoped that she wouldn't get lost.
"First, we're going to make Kakashi come with us." So saying, Lee's arm shot out, grabbed the older man by his sleeve, and stopped him from moving any further. "Since he's the one who recruited you, Lady Sakura, he can explain your presence to anyone who asks. You'll also be taking his tent, until we find a spare or empty one." Now that he'd kept Kakashi from resting anytime soon, Lee was feeling a tiny bit better.
He stepped forward, brushed aside some overgrown greenery, and motioned for the two to follow. The main camp would be inside.
It was one of those mornings that Anko found herself waking up far too early. That alone was enough to warn people to run for the hills. Considering that most were still asleep (lucky, bastards), and she had nothing else to do, she decided to join the morning watch. She was a cranky watch person to be sure (was she ever not cranky in the morning? Probably not.), but that did not stop her from taking on the job herself.
Most were still asleep, the camp overly quiet, and while there appeared to be nothing amiss in the air, there was still something just... off about the whole morning. Even with hot tea in hand and dango waiting for her back in her tent (there were still fifteen sticks left!), the unease of the morning set a scowl on her face.
Something was off.
The moment her eyes swept over the three forms walking leisurely into the camp--one of which Kakashi (that spelled trouble right there), the other of which was Lee (that spelled "accidental" trouble right there), and some girl that she did not know (that spelled double trouble times ten right there)--she knew something awful was going to come from this exchange. Whether it just be Kakashi losing his manhood with help from her newly sharpened daggers or something worse was up to fate. Anko almost considered turning around and pretending that she did not see them, but there was just something... not too innocent about the bunch that made her (as cranky as she was) approach them.
A lethal glare in place (mostly pinned on Kakashi--it was most likely his fault anyway, whatever it was), she said, "This had better be good." And left it at that.
Kakashi met Anko's smouldering gaze in silence; he was used to it, so it wasn't as hard to hold as it had been at first. When it became obvious that she was most likely expecting an answer from him, he tilted his head, smiled as cheerfully as possible--vainly hoping to disperse some of the tension and using the motion as an excuse to close his right eye, shutting out her glare--and said warmly,
"Anko. You're as radiant as ever." Perhaps it was a long shot, but he paused, waiting to see if Lee would oblige and jump in for him.
Lee made no such decision. "Good morning, Lady Anko," he said pleasantly, all grins and happiness as he greeted her. Something about Lady Anko always made him want to smile.
Bowing slightly, Sakura met Anko's eyes, although hesitantly. Knowing the way Lee reacted, she only hoped this woman would be a little less rash. However, by the way both Lee and Kakashi seemed to treat her, things didn't look too good at the moment. Glancing at Kakashi, she frowned. He was taking a beating all because of her selfish desire to escape Konoha. "Uhm, hello," she merely choked out, not sure how to introduce herself without getting Kakashi scolded more so than she needed to be. Perhaps she could explain? No, chances are everything would be blurred together and made absolutely no sense. Oh, what to do... she contemplated to herself, and decided just to leave it for Kakashi to deal with for now. If he needed her help she would butt in willingly, but maybe she wouldn't rip his head of by chance? Was there a chance?
There were two things that Anko definitely was not. One of them was a "Lady". However, considering that Lee insisted on calling her that no matter what she said and no matter how much she threatened him, she had gotten quite used to the phrase (even if it made her cringe a little inside). The other thing was "radiant". That was one that would not be so easily ignored. For some strange and odd reason, all of the men of the camp seemed to think that complimenting her when she was thinking about ripping them apart would appease her. However, considering that this was Anko, and not some flimsy little "Lady", that was definitely not the case.
Not. At. All.
She spared a glance (just as a glance) over at the pink-haired girl. Anko knew that whatever was going on was rooted in this girl, whoever she was, but she also knew that it was only rooted in this girl because Kakashi was so obliged to allow it to even happen in the first place. Or even Lee. Either way, one of the males of the Rebellion were going to end up dead soon if somebody did not start explaining straight away.
"Thanks, Kakashi. You're as perverted as ever." She was not amused. "Now, explain." And she was not easily distracted.
Kakashi knew she wasn't much of a morning person. He also knew he wasn't one of her favorite people. That was why, as inclined as Kakashi was to drag things out, he knew better in this case. Doing so would just piss Anko off more.
He dropped the smile--he had known from the start that she wasn't the type to be bought off so easily, but it had been worth a try--and nodded in Sakura's direction.
"Anko, this is Haruno Sakura. Sakura, Mitarashi Anko." He pocketed his hands and let his eye wander, trying to downplay the matter as if this were something everyday. "Sakura's our new recruit. I'll be looking after her for the time being." He spoke firmly, without wavering. This was a decision he was making--that he had made--on his own, without input from the other rebels. Whatever Anko had to say, the deal was done. Nothing was going to change that.
"Hello, Miss Anko." Sakura nodded, a little worried that the woman may bite if spoken to incorrectly. She certainly hoped that this woman wouldn't drive Sakura away from the camp, telling her to go back home. Frowning, she stepped closer to Kakashi, finding him and Lee a sanctuary in this foreign environment.
"New... recruit?" Anko repeated, giving Kakashi a hard stare before turning her splintering gaze onto the pink-haired girl. She looked no older than twenty and looked as frail as could be. An upperclass girl to be sure; Anko was reminded of that other frail flower in the Rebellion--the one that tended to be annoying and loud and nothing more than much of a complainer. This was not going to turn out for the better.
"And tell me..." the older female of their little gathered group began, "...where did you find this new recruit?"
Anko was generally not one to be a sucker up on the rules. She usually did not care much bout what anyone did; however, living with the Rebellion had given her a sense of responsibility and while that responsibility was very much... diluted compared to some of the other much more mature members, she was still an older member and therefore slightly wiser. Kakashi was also supposed to be 'wise' when it came to this sort of thing, but putting 'wise' and 'Kakashi' in the same sentence always sounded a little odd.
Kakashi watched Anko's skeptical stare skip over Sakura, unsurprised. Criticism was another given, namely since even his recommendation alone wasn't always enough.
"Konoha," he said simply. "Surely you've guessed by now that's where she's from?" He just wasn't in the mood to unnecessarily elaborate; the basics were enough. At least, they were for him. Anko might have been another matter, but he didn't particularly care right then.
A roll of the eyes dictated Anko's complete response. When had men grown so stupid? So clueless? Or perhaps they had just learned how to fake it very well (which was more than likely the case knowing Kakashi--and Anko did know Kakashi as much as she regretted to admit such knowledge). Somewhere between her time of being five to now, men had decided to stop taking the blame for stuff... or to at least put the blame off for as long as possible. She remembered the boys that she used to rough house with way back when... whenever their attendant would catch them breaking something or being far too roudy, none of the boys would back out of punishment. They would take it like men.
And yet, Kakashi was acting like a child.
How pathetic.
But Anko was not at all surprised. "I'm not that ignorant, Kakashi," his name came out of her mouth in harsh syllables, "but if you expect me to let you go with that little of information... then you must be highly mistaken."
He hardened his gaze a bit, fully aware that he was fighting a losing battle. Even so, irritating anyone--Anko especially--because they chose to pry particularly deep into his business was not something he made an effort to avoid. Kakashi didn't go out of his way to do it, but neither was he going to take constant disrespect without a little playful retribution. Like Anko, he was tired, and he was definitely not a morning person. He enjoyed this interrogation no more than she did.
"The slums," he answered, nonchalant. "I helped her out the other night and we've stuck together since. She wants to help her kingdom," he added after a pause, said more as an assertion of his decision than any attempt at provoking sympathy. Again, he knew better. "I figured I would give her that chance and see if she can do anything for it."
It was more to the fact that Anko tended to be rather hard on anybody that she did not know rather than on the fact that she did not trust this girl--Sakura, was it? In the back of her mind, Anko knew that Kakashi made good judgments on people just from looking at them, but that did not stop her from being suspicious and a bit of a bitch this early in the morning. Nobody, whether they were personally approved by the high and might Kakashi himself, was just let into the Rebellion without extensive background search.
Anko was never a woman of rules to be honest, but when it came to just blindly trusting people, she'd much rather beat them the hell up. It just made more sense that way. To her, anyway.
"Fine."
Her speech was crisp and sharp. She was not happy. And she was tired. And where the hell were one of the useless younger guys that doted on her when she needed one of them to fetch her a new cup of tea; this cup had grown cold unfortunately. Another reason why she was pissed. She bit off the rest of her dango (dango for breakfast, yum).
"But she better be well guarded at all times, Kakashi. I don't care how you know her--meeting her in the slums doesn't mean that you know what the hell her motives are. She'll need to be watched before she can be extensively questioned."
In the sidelines, Lee glanced sideways at Lady Sakura and smiled; it was small, but he hoped it would reassure her. Lady Anko could be a bit intimidating sometimes, and all of this was just standard procedure.
Closing his eye, Kakashi smiled again. "Thank you." He looked at her, more serious; he knew how much trust was required for Anko to let him off like this, and despite appearances, he really did appreciate it. But even if he were one to express such gratitude more openly, she wasn't one to accept it. No need to test what patience she had given him. "I assure you, I'll take care of it."
He turned towards Lee and Sakura, already tired of their little tour. What he wouldn't give to just sleep in until noon...
"Lee?" he said expectantly, wearily, signaling that they should be on their way.
"Kakashi," Lee acknowledged with what looked suspiciously like a smirk. "Since Lady Sakura has had such a long trip, we shall be escorting her to your tent to rest until she can be interrogated - is that alright?" His eyes flicked from Kakashi's, to Lady Sakura's, to Lady Anko's, in turn.
There was no doubt in Anko's mind that Kakashi would take care of it; however, she still found herself unwilling to just let Lee and Kakashi walk away with this stranger and be done with it. Perhaps Anko was just too curious for her own good (possible) or maybe she just wanted to make sure that Kakashi hadn't tuned out while she was talking and just said that he'd take care of it to get her off his case (also possible); either way, Anko found herself nodding at Lee.
"That sounds fine," and without even acknowledging the fact that she was inviting herself along, she followed after the odd trio, throwing the empty dango stick over her shoulder.
Lee smiled, and motioned Sakura through the pebbles and vegetation of the forest floor.
Kakashi almost sighed when he looked over his shoulder and saw Anko joining them. He didn't mind her presence, given how...docile she was being at the moment, but the more people present, the longer this would take. He considered trying to bail again, and then quickly decided against it; he'd at least see Sakura off first.
Sakura nodded, staying close to Lee, hoping she didn't get the two in too much trouble for appearing. However, no matter how bad she felt, she was happy to get this far away from Konoha. Maybe things would change for the better now. "Lee...I'm sorry to cause you both so much trouble. I never meant to..." she trailed off, not sure how to deal with the given situation.
Looking around the camp she became lost, taking refuge in Lee's closeness due to the foreign surroundings. Hopefully she would grow used to the situation soon.
"It's... it's fine, Lady Sakura," Lee found himself saying. No it isn't, his mind tiredly ground out. He would have said something more to boost her confidence, but he still didn't approve of this arrangement, and he didn't want to mislead her.
After a few minutes of tromping through underbrush, Lee grasped and gently bent away a small sapling to reveal a rumpled, dark tent pitched by the roots of a towering oak. "Is this one yours, or am I mistaken?" he asked, throwing Kakashi a glance over his right shoulder.
Kakashi gave a nod, and without stopping moved ahead of the group to pull the tent's flap back. Stepping in, he crouched and groped along the entrance for the lantern, found it, and lit it with a wave of his hand as he stood up. Once it was hanging from the middle of the tent's low ceiling, shedding some light in the almost pitch blackness, he bent over again to clear off his sleeping mat, tossing the few pieces of clothing that littered the ground into a dark corner and kicking aside a dark bundle that gave off a distinctly metallic sound as it went.
His laid-back cleanup completed, Kakashi retreated back outside to allow Sakura room to enter.
Lee made a small disapproving noise in the back of his throat. He was starting to think that revenge on Kakashi ala taking over his tent wasn't such a good idea... but even if it was messy, it seemed safe enough, as long as Lady Sakura didn't move around too much or touch anything.
Sakura raised a brow when she entered Kakashi's tent, but decided it was expected. After all, it was a camp. Looking around she couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable in sleeping in someone else's designated living quarters. She hoped she wasn't much of an intrusion, although the thought never occurred to the young woman when nearly pleading to the silver-haired man that she direly needed to leave Konoha. "Uhm...Kakashi? Where will you be sleeping tonight?" She certainly hoped she wasn't sharing a sleeping bag with him as well...
Catching the insinuation in her voice, he was more than happy to dispel it by replying, "I'll manage. And I'll be close by in case you need anything." Although Kakashi was used to sleeping outside during his travels, he didn't point out that he would likely do so tonight. Sakura was a compassionate person, and he didn't want to burden her with any guilt for temporarily relocating him.
"Oh, okay...Sorry to intrude." She bit her lip slightly, nodding. Thankful that he would stick nearby, but not too close by, her chills disappeared, allowing her to grow more comfortable in the situation. "So, is everything alright? Your...superior didn't seem to happy with me being here." She frowned.
"Anko?" Kakashi made a surprised look pass over his face, as if he hadn't noticed the woman's less-than-welcoming behavior. Fully aware that the two outside could hear them, he assured Sakura, "Don't worry about her. We all have our reasons to be suspicious of strangers; my trust, however firm, cannot change that." He smiled, hoping to lighten the mood. "Just bear with us a bit longer. This process will be over soon."
Meanwhile, Lee was talking quietly with Anko about who would do the interrogations. "Have you seen Neji around? He's usually very good at these things." Lee thought Neji was sometimes a little intense in his questionings, but he was sure Lady Sakura could handle him, being a politician of sorts.
Anko knew that sooner or later they were just going to get tired of her presence and just send her away. However, for now, she planned on enjoying the entire spectacle. She gave Lee a small look, a little perturbed that they had been left outside, and nodded.
"I'll go find him. We should probably wait till later today to do anything though... you look like you could use a little sleep." And he did. With bags under his eyes and his enthusiasm practically being eaten away from the sleepiness of his gaze, Anko did not have to be perceptive to see that. "I'll catch him up to speed on what's going on and then we'll get back here and finally settle everything. For now, though. You go sleep. No arguments."
At times, the purple-haired woman could be as overbearing and crude as any leader. But hold responsibility for people was not her style, so she'd rather stay in the background. Walking away from the tent to find the stoic Hyuuga, Anko decided that if Lee had not followed her 'order' by the time she returned, she would replace all of his clothing with a different color. Perhaps blue. Or red. Either way, the idea made her grin.