All the characters (C) Kishi the man. This is from Kakashi's mind, about when he first met Tenzou, and the next chapter is about when he met him again after leaving the ANBU. There in the hospital you know. Very well, enjoy!

You remember how it was when you first met.
The first sight.
The first bond.

He was new in your team, and even though he tried to stay away from the others from a beginning you noticed him at the same moment as he took his first step into the camp.
His hair was darker then, his face younger and his body not as muscular. He was more pale, more monotone, more… Empty. A little like yourself.

He introduced himself as Mokuton no Tenzou. From a beginning it was hard to believe that a kid like him could possess the power of the mokuton - the wood element, but as soon as someone questioned it, he silently pressed his hands together, formed a few seals and backed off.

The ground split in two right in front of your feet, and three mighty roots crawled up from the darkness. They twinned themselves together and started to point up towards the sky as they grew taller and taller, every living cell in that those roots imbibed the energy, the air and the nature around them. Branches popped out on the sides, leafs formed big and green and created a mighty tree crown that cast big shadows all over the ground you were standing on, and meters beyond that.

As soon as it had stopped growing and everyone was finished staring at the mighty tree, they looked back at the boy with a lot more respect than before, and no one ever questioned his strength again.
Not even you who were the captain, and always pointed out what needed to be better.

He was always on your side, asked the right question, held the right arguments. It didn't take long until he had become your best friend. There were a lot of other people there who were nice, friendly and smart but no one was like him. He actually respected you for who you were, and not what you had done. And he always listened, whatever you said, whatever you wanted him to do, he nod silently and answered shortly; "Yes, senpai."

To watch him grow stronger and stronger for every day made you proud and interested, and - even though you didn't realize it from a beginning – attracted.
You were drawn to him, in some kind of way. And he was drawn to you. You fought long on each other's sides, you had the best combos and the best team work, you could read each other's movement long before the others in the team even could blink.
A teamwork like that could not be wasted. You were both moved to the highest ranked squad that existed in the ANBU Black Ops foundation.
Young men grew older.

To ignore the immediate attraction that kept showing up almost every time you exchanged looks was more than hard. Training, talking, sleeping was almost impossible in each other's presences, and trying to keep it a secret from the others didn't make it better.

Tenzou made the first move.
One night he showed up in the tent opening, silent, which was pretty unusual to be him.
Crawling in on all four, he came closer and closer. You weren't surprised. You weren't nervous. You just sat there and let him come to you, crawl up to your body and lift his head in height with your own.
Seconds of silence, looks and small small clouds of steam that came out from your half opened mouths, passed by. You didn't count them, but they felt like hours, maybe even years.
There were so much unsaid things in the air, but none of were able to form words with your half opened mouths...
Noses touched, hearts were beating.

And you kissed. It was a little clumsy, damp kiss, but still filled with so many emotions it almost made you dizzy. All the years of emptiness, of loneliness and regret – the death's of the people you truly had loved, and now all these feelings.

You tried again, and this time it was more soft, more passionate. You almost lost it out there, in a tent with a young man's lips pressed against your own.
Your body shivered and you felt how all these sparkling feelings started to take over your stomach completely as tongues met, curiously and lustfully, arms wrapped around each other and bodies smashed together.

And like that, something was formed. People could call it a relationship, a bond, but you didn't want it to be put down in words. It was more like something that just existed, that was there all the time. Something that mattered and grew stronger for every time you were with each other.

It happened in secret. None of you said it our loud, some people might suspected something, but you just let them be. It didn't matter any more, since you both had each other.
Fighting on each other's sides, surviving, growing really left deep marks, but it didn't feel like it was all about obeying orders any more. It was more.

They day came when they gave you a mission. You simply couldn't say no, you had to take it, and if you did you would never be able to return to the ANBU again. You were back in the village.
Admitting that it almost was exciting coming back, not being forced to hide your identity or having strict times to pass was a little hard from a beginning, but you were also so tired of doing nothing but fight and train. A normal life wasn't on anyone's radar in the camp. Except on yours. You wantedto go back.

You kept it a secret until the big day, when you gathered the team and told everyone what you were going to do. You told them the truth, that you wouldn't come back and that you would fit better with working for the third, seeing your old friends and have your own team. Everyone accepted it, said "thank you" or "bye", nodded and then walked away. You knew that they would discuss it later – whether he had been a good captain or not, his faults and mistakes and his glory moments.

Everyone had left, everyone except for one tall young man with a porcelain mask that was painted to look like a cat. As soon as you saw that mask your head got filled with flashbacks and memories. Cat and dog. You were called that. A fitting nickname for a couple like you.

He stood on the exact same spot as when you had seen him for the first time. There were a few differences – he had light brown hair now, he was stronger and more secure, and he had managed to control the power of the mokuton to the edge on what his body could handle – but in some way he still looked almost just like then, just like that day.
A cough, eyes that met.
You started.

"Tenzou."

"Captain."

"I hope they'll choose you as the next captain for the team. You deserve that. I've already nominated you to the elders, they'll think over it this evening."

And they liked that idea almost as much as you.

"Thank you, senpai. Although it won't be the same without you. Good luck in the future, I hope I'll see you later some time. If I ever get out of here."

You nod. You really hoped the same. Actually, you had wanted him to quit the ANBU with you, and leave the place right there, but that was probably something he'd never do. His home was the ANBU, he'd been there since he was a child.
But you knew something else, something beyond the boring gray walls of the foundation.

"We'll see each other eventually. That's why I'm not going to say good bye now."

"It's better this way."

And with a silent last look at each other, you turned around and started to walk away. The only moment of happiness you had ever felt the last years was gone, and he walked away right behind you.
Questions that never would be answered about you two circled around in your head, things you never got to do or say were now pointless. Whatever had been between you were now nothing but emptiness.
But you were ready to fill that emptiness with new feelings whenever you came out to the real world again. Feelings of freedom, happiness, hard work, an interest, some time by yourself and new people, the new generation.

With that in mind, a tired shinobi took of his mask and stepped out from an ANBU camp for good. You didn't plan on returning, and you never did. Yet the hope about seeing an old friend never really left your mind.