Lost and Found - Book 1

Chapter 13

Mik and Kakashi sat outside of Tsunade's office. Iruka went in first, as he had to go to work afterwards. Kakashi didn't seem to be anxious at all anymore. They had rehearsed their stories a second time and he was convinced that there was nothing for him to worry about. Mik was nervous, though. She hadn't actually spoken to Tsunade directly yet. And she hated interviews on top of that.

Mik closed her eyes, trying to hear what was going on in the office while also trying to calm down. If she went in there looking nervous, Tsunade might immediately take advantage of that and get the truth out of her.

Kakashi's hand slipped over hers. He squeezed and warmth ran through her. She squeezed back.

His hand pulled away when Tsunade's door opened. Iruka walked out, nodding to his friends, then continued on down the hallway. Kakashi stood up.

"Not you." Tsunade was in the doorway now. "The girl."

Kakashi looked down at Mik, skillfully concealing his surprise. He hadn't expected that.

She took a deep breath and walked into Tsunade's office. She glanced back once, and saw Kakashi with his hand down by his thigh, hiding a thumbs-up just for her to see.

She sat down in front of Tsunade's desk. Tsunade stayed quiet as she organized a few things on her desk. Her presence grew more intimidating with each second of silence. She didn't acknowledge Mik until she was ready.

"How has your stay with Kakashi been?"

Mik's throat dried right up, although she did not swallow, as everyone knows that's a dead giveaway for a liar. Her voice cracked a little when she spoke. "Pretty boring."

Tsunade nodded slowly. "How are your burns doing?"

Mik looked down at her arms and legs, freshly bandaged just a couple of hours ago. The pinkness and swelling had gone away completely by now, but a slight trace of tenderness remained, so she kept the bandages on. It would likely be her last day wearing them. "Almost healed up."

"That's good," Tsunade smiled. "How has Kakashi been treating you?"

Mik shrugged. "Alright, I guess. He's been mostly gone during the days anyway, though."

"Ah, that's right. What about Iruka then? Treating you good I hope?"

"Sure, he's been nice," Mik fidgeted in her seat a little. Tsunade's eyes followed it. "He brought me some books to read."

The interview went on like that for a little while, with just some mundane questions, like small talk. Then Tsunade asked Mik to go over the story that had been passed on by Kakashi about the events leading up to her being found outside of Konoha. She told her the revised version, where she definitely did not remember the riddle. Then Tsunade asked if anything significant had happened since she'd arrived, whether she'd remembered anything new, for instance. The answer was a firm no.

As soon as they were outside and on their way back home, Mik questioned Kakashi on what Tsunade had said to him.

"I think I did pretty good? But what did she say to you?"

Kakashi chuckled, sighing. "She knows we're hiding something. She said if she finds out anything really bad, I'm going to be loaded with D-rank missions and you'll likely be imprisoned for real."

Mik shuddered. "Will the things we left out qualify as really bad in her eyes?"

"I didn't ask," Kakashi said. "She wasn't set on imprisonment though. She also suggested sending you to a non-ninja village, if time showed you weren't dangerous."