Chapter one.
Yamato ran his fingers through his short, brown hair. Rebuilding their village was not going to be an easy task. It could take months, even with help from their neighboring allies. With Tsunade in a coma-like state, the Hidden Leaf Village was left without a Hokage, making them extremely vulnerable for the time being. This was a dangerous situation to be in, and all the higher-ups knew it. Regardless, Yamato was most valuable at the village thanks to his unique Wood Style Jutsu. They had him working whenever he could, which was often.
Yamato spotted Kakashi a little farther off. Waving, Yamato jogged up to him.
"Kakashi-sensei! How are you?" Yamato smiled at his gray-haired friend, who was reading a sensual book as always. "Reading, hmm?" Kakashi looked up for a split second before returning his attention to his book, probably finishing his paragraph.
After a moment of agonizing silence, Kakashi snapped his book shut with one hand and stood from his crouched position.
"Yamato," Kakashi greeted, nodding subtly. "I am good. How is the village?"
Yamato screwed up his face for a second at Kakashi's question.
"The village is well - rebuilding will take weeks at the earliest." Yamato bit his lip thinking of all the work that had to be done. He was dreading using so much chakra so often, as he had only really used so much chakra on B ranked missions or higher.
"I had imagined as so," Kakashi replied, distantly staring past Yamato's head. "Pein had really hurt us where it mattered."
Yamato closed his eyes and nodded knowingly. He opened his eyes to Kakashi's hand on his shoulder.
"Hang in there, Yamato." The hand lingered for a moment longer than was expected, making Yamato awkward momentarily. The older ninja's hand dropped to his side before he turned and disappeared among the trees.