For Now
Naruto is a fool and Sasuke is Sasuke, which means that he is invincible and stupid and everything else a teenager should be. Hanging between them is an understanding that grows thinner and thinner every day.
They speak with their fists, in a language Kakashi pretends he doesn't remember. –But sometimes pretending isn't enough because he was, after all, part of ANBU once, and he did, after all, kill quite a lot of people.
He listens to their feet hard against the pavement, hears their limbs speak in shattered syllables, and resists the urge to break them apart. They aren't serious today but they're going to kill eachother eventually. For now he has to sit back and watch them do it halfway.
Their bones crack and their muscles pop, but it's nothing new. He's seen much pain in his life, and very little of it was actually his. He watches Sasuke and Naruto and tries not to wince at all of theirs.
They are hurt and he is powerful—he could end their scuffle. But he won't. One day they will open their eyes to the rest of the world and see that there's more in it than what was laid before them.
One day, Naruto will see that there is more to life than respect.
One day, Sasuke will see that there is more to life than Itachi.
Kakashi can't deny them the chance to figure these things out on their own. –He just can't. Not forever.
(For now, though…for now he can deny them everything but eachother.)
Fin.