"I need two more workers, over here!" she roughly shouted.
She was drained and she was hungry.
Hours of earthbending and a few crumbling walls later, a hectic mess had ensued from the rather large holes she had created.
"Th-the southern wall is falling!" someone's voice echoed in the distance.
"Cho-san, tell them to get out of there. I'm about to close it down."
"On it, K-hoss."
"And tell them to hurry, cause' I'm not going to be able to hold it forever."
Perhaps she should have waited before she decided to pull out multiple stones from the side walls at the same time.
Perhaps.
But, she found out the hard way that it was even harder to earthbend around other people who clearly couldn't bend the rocks away themselves.
She was left with having to carefully reinforce walls and manage to preserve what precious stones she had already gathered in a pile.
No one said she couldn't multitask.
"Ma'am!"
"Finally! What took you both so long?"
The grimy workers fidgeted before Kintsugi, their frantic eyes watching her hands as she seemed to move erratically in an effort to keep up with the falling walls.
"I need you two to get me more lumber, pipes, anything you can find."
"Yes, ma'am!"
As they shuffled off into the darkness of the tunnel, Kintsugi was once again left to the mess she had created.
"K-hoss!"
The older woman came running along with the southern crew, dirt, and dust covering their bodies like a second skin.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
A low rumbling could suddenly be felt and heard from the southern tunnel as she collapsed it, bending the oncoming wave of dust back so that they didn't suffocate from the fallout.
They held their breath's as the added strain on the rest of the supporting beams could be heard with a creak and moan.
"I have a solution," she said, turning to look at Cho once the sounds seemed to settle.
Crash.
A rather large, rather sharp rock had fallen a foot short from where they were standing.
"Did you see that?"
"Um..."
"The correct answer is no Cho-san, no you didn't. Now let's get going."
"This is all your fault."
"It wouldn't be the first time I hear that phrase and I can assure you it won't be the last."
Despite the near annihilation of her whole crew, Cho was feeling rather calm and collected.
Sure, Kintsugi offered no words of encouragement, no promises of safety, no sign of regret for her actions, and yet her spirit was inspiring.
There was no doubt that this was Kintsugi's fault, but in those moments of panic and imminent danger, she pushed forward, she corrected it, she kept everyone safe, and she would be better.
It reminded her of her late husband really.
"Ma'am, we found the leftover lumber and pipes you needed."
"Ah, good. Start bracing supports every 5 feet with the lumber you found-"
"-and the pipes?"
"-stick the pipes wherever you find a hole large enough to fit them. I'll take care of the rest."
"-and Cho-san, get me the numbers on those last two nuggets, I have a feeling they're going to be good," Kintsugi said as she turned to her again.
Cho had been staring. Kintsugi was a good leader but that only served to make her feel slightly alarmed.
Here was a madwoman and she called her a leader.
Kintsugi walked up to another section of the now smaller mine, and in one swing dug the whole end of the pickaxe into the wall.
"Cho-san, I do believe we've done it."
She was smiling like crazy, eyes bright and excited, sweaty even from all the work they'd done in the past few hours.
"Not bad for my first day at work, huh?"
"Kintsugi,...I do like money...but I would also very much like to keep my life, thank you very much."
"I hope so. I'm going to need you to stick around more."
"Why does that sound like it's going to be dangerous for me?"
"Don't worry, I have bodyguards."
"I didn't see any of them try to rush in here to help," Cho grumbled.
Kintsugi's eyes crinkled in amusement, walking towards the entrance with a slight skip in her step.
"Oh, could you tell the workers I need to meet with them outside?"
"Outside?"
"Like I said. I have a solution," Kintsugi said with a wink.
----
"Same time tomorrow?"
It was the end of the day and they had finally cleaned up her mess. It was also the end of a very long disaster for Cho.
"For my sanity's sake, I hope you don't end up killing us."
"Don't worry Cho-chan...can I call you Cho? With my plan and your workers. We'll have the system up and running in no time."
"Uh-huh," Cho nodded, her forehead creasing in doubt.
"Oh look, there's my nanny!"
It was the end of the day and a grey pineapple head could be seen in the distance.
"Thank goodness," Cho said jokingly.
"Or at least one of them. It gives a new meaning to the whole 'woods have ears and fields have eyes' kind of thing," Kintsugi said as she waved her hand around.
They were well aware that they were still being watched.
At least with Kakashi, they wouldn't have as many eyes or ears present.
"Well, you tell him that the next time you have a mental idea, he's covering medical."
"On his tab. Got it."
Kintsugi gave a small wave goodbye as she turned to walk towards the waiting shinobi.
"How'd it go?"
He handed her a brown bag knowing full well she hadn't gotten a chance to eat since that morning.
"Oh, the usual," she said as she shook the bag in curiosity.
"Is the usual another close brush with death?"
"They told you about that, huh," she crinkled her eyes in amusement as they headed back to the apartments.
"You do know the phrase 'break a leg' isn't supposed to be taken literally."
"Peace was never an option," she quipped smelling the delicious meaty contents. "Hmm, kindness doesn't suit you Kakashi-sensei."
She pulled out a pork kebab and started chewing slowly, making sure to savor each spice the cook had used to produce such heavenly manna.
"I thought you said I was caring."
"Towards others. But not to me," she said cringing internally, "I don't want that, no thank you."
Sticking a hand out for the bag, Kintsugi slapped his hand back.
"I never said I didn't want the food."
He chuckled silently, sticking his hands in his pockets as they finally made their way onto more level ground.
The walk back was quiet and the occasional sound of Kintsugi's chewing made up for the lack of conversation.
If Obito and Rin were still alive, would this be their life? Quiet walks at the end of a long day?
Because of what he'd done to them, he'd never know now.
His previous calm demeanor slowly turned somber and as they reached Kintsugi's door he was back to his usual self. Closed off with a plastic smile on top.
"Well, thanks I guess. But don't do it again weirdo."
"I'll make sure to put it in my notes."
Kintsugi walked inside the small apartment standing by the entrance as Kakashi did his typical eye smile.
"Are you going to escort me tomorrow?" she said in a mocking tone.
"I have to. But I'll be off later in the day after I finish my rounds to check up on you," he warned.
"Care to share the details of those rounds?"
"Nope. I'm not the one on trial."
"Yet," she mumbled waving him goodbye as she closed the door.
It's not like she couldn't find out, but there was no fun in that. Better to gain his trust now than have him find out her plans too soon.
Tap, tap, tap.
Not again, she thought.
She opened the window to find a small rolled-up paper on her sill.
She tried sensing around the area but as far as she could tell the only presence was an alley cat and a couple of distracted nannies.
Alone again. Not lonely, she reminded herself.
Taking the paper in hand, she sat down on the stiff couch, unrolling it to find a handwritten message.
Tenshi has informed us of your timeline. We agree with the four days. Expect another package.
That bird!
She would choke that bird the next time she saw her.
You are not my favorite person today, she wrote down on the back of the small piece of paper with her own blood.
Opening the window she left it where she had found it hearing a quick, small caw fade in and out as it carried her message away as soon as Kintsugi stood back.
Someplace far away, as her message was opened, Itachi was slightly confused.
"What's that?" Kisame asked.
"...a bloody letter."
-----
What I listened to on a loop while writing this:
Music Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwXJrMhbi-s
Artist: Lilypichu
Picture Credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/296393219234616732/
A/N: Thank you to everyone that's been adding this to their reading list and taking the time to vote. It means a lot and encourages me to continue. [^-^]