"Kamakura, what is with you lately? That's the 7th time you've zoned out on me!" Jinx yelled, crossing her arms and scowling at her sparring partner, who was staring off into space, so out of focus his eyes were practically blurring. "Kamakura, earth to Kamakura! For the love of—SNAP OUT OF IT!" she yelled. Instantly, the other apprentice snapped out of his trance with a visible start. "Geeze, what kind of ninja are you?" she asked. Kamakura smiled apologetically behind his mask.

"Sorry, Jinx." he said. "I was...thinking about something. I got distracted. It won't happen again." he assured her.

"It's a good thing sensei isn't here. He'd be really disappointed in you for being so distracted during your training." she said, tossing aside the bo she'd been using for practice.

"Uh...yeah. Good thing." he mirrored, turning his gaze downward, examining the sweeping pattern left in the dirt after he dragged his foot through it. He then looked back up at her. "OK, let's go again. I'm ready now, I promise." he said. Jinx shook her head.

"No, I'm just about done for today." she replied. "It's getting late, the others will be expecting us back soon, and to be honest, I'm afraid I might hurt you because you're not paying attention." she explained. Kamakura turned slightly pink under his mask. She smiled at him. "Aw, don't be such a big baby. C'mon, let's head back to the R.O.C.C." she said, waving him off. He rolled his eyes as he followed her back in the general direction of the vehicle and home of Sigma 6.

Why did the one girl he logically had a chance with have to annoy him so much? Maybe if she didn't, he wouldn't be having this problem.

The R.O.C.C was rarely a quiet place, even when they were off-duty (which was very rarely, these days). With ten different people sharing it as both a working and occasionally a living space, and one of those people being Tunnel Rat, life was never boring—although not always in a good way. It was currently one of the times when they were forced to live in the R.O.C.C; normally they would stay in hotels, since they were convenient, but it wasn't uncommon for them to find themselves miles away from any sort of civilization while they were out on reconnaissance. When this happened, there were really only three options; you could claim one of the chairs to sleep in, you could crash on the floor, or you could sleep outside, provided the weather was nice enough wherever they were.

Normally, Kamakura loved living with all of his teammates; it meant that it was near impossible to be bored. However, that night, all he wanted was to be alone with his thoughts for a while, which was difficult when you bumped into someone with every alternate step. There was always the option of going off and hiding somewhere until he got his mind back on track, but sudden disappearances were rarely taken well (unless the person in question was Snake Eyes) by the team, and he didn't want to worry anyone.

He ended up sitting on the floor, in a corner, brooding over a bottle of water (no running water in the R.O.C.C, after all, so they kept it well stocked), ignoring people as they passed by him, sometimes stopping to talk with someone nearby, but everyone very clearly understanding the 'go away' vibe he was broadcasting at the moment.

Everyone except Tunnel Rat, of course, but that was to be expected.

His senses must really have been failing him, because he barely even noticed when the infiltration specialist quite literally dropped in front of him, sitting with his legs crossed and resting his head on his fist, looking as smug as usual.

"Hey, Kamakura. Why the long face?" he asked, flicking the younger man in the forehead. Kamakura looked up with a start.

"Oh, uh—Tunnel Rat. Hi. Long face? What do you mean?" he asked, setting his water bottle on the ground beside him (and not paying attention to it, which was a mistake).

"You look bummed." he replied. "Somethin' buggin' ya?" he asked, tilting his head in the opposite direction and resting it on his other fist.

"No, not really." the apprentice replied, avoiding eye contact, not so much because he feels the need to, but more because he was starting to zone out again. "I'm just...thinking." he explained.

"'bout what?" Tunnel Rat asked, leaning in a bit closer than Kamakura was comfortable with, which he responded to by leaning back against the wall and tilting his head upwards.

"...someone." he responded honestly, looking off to his left (and subsequently not noticing as Tunnel Rat reached over and dropped something in his drink, which dissolved quickly, leaving little trace of its existence).

"Oh yeah? Who?" he asked, leaning forward a bit more, which made Kamakura reach forward and push him back a little by his shoulder.

"It's not important." he replied, picking up his water bottle but not taking a drink from it. "So, uh...what's been going on with you?" he asked. They may have lived together on a regular basis, but Kamakura liked to stay out of Tunnel Rat's business, maybe more so than with anyone else.

"Oh, not much, just been hangin' around, you know. Killin' time, waitin' for Cobra to show up." he said. "And you? I know you've been doin' a lotta trainin' with Jinx. Have you been up to anythin' else?" he asked, changing position yet again, now sitting with the flats of his feet together and his hands behind him, allowing him to lean back. Kamakura was grateful for the extra room it put between them; Tunnel Rat really didn't understand the concept of personal space.

"No, not really." he replied. "And to be honest with you, I haven't been doing much of that, either. She gets fed up with me so easily these days." he said. "She always gets so angry about my lack of concentration."

"'cause you're thinkin' about someone." Tunnel Rat said, stating it as more of a fact than a guess. Kamakura wondered if he was really that obvious.

"Well, uh—yes, actually." he admitted. "Normally it wouldn't be such a big deal, but it's been kind of...distracting lately, and it's starting to affect my training." He stared down into the bottle, watching with interest the way the water swirled as he shifted it in his hand, and sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Tunnel Rat. If this keeps up, when sensei gets back..." He trailed off, bringing the bottle up to his lips, but not taking a drink. Had he been looking up, he would have seen Tunnel Rat growing increasingly annoyed.

"Yeah, I hear ya'." he said, masking his impatience and pulling out a flask, popping the cover off and taking a swig. Kamakura looked up, scrunching his face in disgust at the strong alcoholic scent emanating from the cannister. "Snake Eyes can be pretty—"

"Are you drinking?" he asked, cutting Tunnel Rat off mid-sentence. The explosives specialist frowned, then grinned.

"Relax, kid." he said, swirling the flask so that Kamakura could hear the liquid sloshing around inside. "It's not like I'm on the clock right now. Duke won't care. Want a sip?" he asked, holding out the cannister as an offering.

"I don't drink." Kamakura replied, not necessarily coldly, but with less friendliness than he normally spoke with. "Alcohol dims the senses and impairs judgment." Tunnel Rat's grin turned to a smaller, but no less amused smile.

"Just like one of Snake Eyes' kids to say somethin' like that." he said with a chuckle, taking another swig. Kamakura flinched subconsciously at being referred to as 'one of Snake Eyes' kids', but it seemed to escape Tunnel Rat's notice. "He 'said' it a lot differently, though."

"What'd he do?" Kamakura asked, genuinely curious.

"Took my flask, poured it out all over the ground, and set it on fire." he replied. "He may not be real wordy, but he gets the job done." Kamakura nodded in agreement.

"Sensei doesn't really...need words." he said.

"Yeah, but he'd be a lot less creepy if he just spoke every now and again." he said, licking his lips.

"But he—"

"Can't, I know." Tunnel Rat said, shrugging. "I'm just sayin'. Maybe he wouldn't scare so many people. Then again, I guess that's what he's goin' for."

"I don't think he's frightening." Kamakura said. "I think he's...mysterious." His chest swelled visibly, out of pride, which made Tunnel Rat force himself to hold back a giggle.

"But you're a lot more used to him than we are. How d'ya think the rest of us feel when we're around him?" he asked. "All that not talkin' makes ya feel like you've done somethin' wrong. And then, 'ah course, there's the fact that he can throw ya across the room without breakin' a sweat." he explained, as he watched Kamakura take a drink of his water, trying to suppress a grin. "He's intimidatin'."

"Yeah, he, uh...he is." Kamakura replied, holding up his water bottle and regarding it suspiciously. "This tastes funny." he said. Tunnel Rat took the bottle and poured a little into the cap, knowing how most (although definitely not all) of his teammates didn't want to know what he'd eaten for breakfast, then tossed it back.

"Tastes fine to me." he said, returning the bottle to Kamakura, still fighting off a grin.

"You're sure?" Kamakura asked. Tunnel Rat nodded. "Well...alright then." he said, taking another drink. Tunnel Rat stood and relocated himself to be sitting beside the ninja apprentice, rather than in front of.

"So, uh...why don't ya tell me about your little problem?" he suggested. Kamakura looked over at him, and Tunnel Rat could already tell there was an effect; there was a certain quality to the droop of his eyes that gave him away. He wondered if maybe he'd given him too much; if he was already looking out of it after the first couple of mouthfuls, who knew what was going to happen when he'd downed the entire bottle. Assuring himself that it wouldn't be a problem, he took another swig from his flask, and sagged against the wall behind him.

"My...problem?" Kamakura asked.

"Yeah, yeah, you know, the whole not bein' able to concentrate thing." he explained. "Maybe I can help." At this, Kamakura couldn't help but laugh a little, before he took another drink.

"I'm sorry, Tunnel Rat, it's just—" He paused to take a second in rapid succession. "I don't think this is really your area of expertise." he explained. "No offense or anything."

"Aw, c'mon. Give me a chance. Couldn't hurt, right?" he said. Kamakura's face sank.

"Actually...it could." he replied. Tunnel Rat's smile faltered slightly at his tone of voice.

"Oh, so it's onna those kinda problems." he said. "Well, I guess ya did say you were thinkin' about someone." Kamakura turned a slight shade of red, staring down into his now half empty bottle, wondering how it had gotten so empty so quickly. "Guess I hit the nail right on the head, huh. So is it anyone I know?" he asked.

"Uh...yeah." Kamakura replied, taking another long swig of his water, until there was only about a quarter of the bottle left. "Yeah. You know them." he said more confidently.

"So it's gotta be someone on the team, then." Tunnel Rat said contemplatively. "Huh. Let me just take a wild guess and say Jinx?" he said. Kamakura shook his head.

"No, it's not Jinx." he said. "Although, sometimes I wish it was." He sighed, polishing off the last of his water. Tunnel Rat tentatively offered him the flask a second time, and this time, Kamakura hesitated only a moment before taking a small sip. He coughed when the alcohol hit the back of his throat and produced a burning sensation, but took a full swig none the less, before handing it back to Tunnel Rat. "It would make everything so much easier, you know? I mean, we're the same age, we're both apprentices of the same master, we're both members of Sigma 6...she's beautiful, and really nice, when you don't get on her nerves, which is easy to do because she almost never gets angry...it would just be so much easier if I'd fallen for her." he explained, with another sigh. "Instead, I had to go and fall for someone that, not only can I never have, but who I can't even tell. It's killing me!" he said, letting his head hit the wall with a quiet clunk. Tunnel Rat looked up; while they'd been talking, the room had become mysteriously empty.

"Sounds pretty bad." he agreed, handing the younger man the flask again. Kamakura didn't even hesitate before taking his second swig, then his third; when he handed it back to Tunnel Rat, it was nearly empty. "Well, if ya can't tell them, why not tell me about it? Ya know ya can trust me, don'tcha?" he asked. "No use lettin' it eatcha up inside."

"I don't think I should..." Kamakura said, his eyes slightly glazed, his voice noticeably slurred.

"Why not?" Tunnel Rat asked.

"If it got out, there could be some serious repercussions." he replied. "And...I don't want to screw anything up." he replied. Tunnel Rat frowned; what was the point of going through all this trouble if he wasn't even going to tell him what was wrong?

"So since it's not Jinx, it's gotta be someone older...already a problem right there...and you already said it was someone on the team..." he said. "Is it Scarlett? 'Cause if it is, I don't think she'd be too uptight if ya told her—she'd probably think it was cute—"

"No, Tunnel Rat, it's not Scarlett." Kamakura said, cutting him off and resting his forehead on one knee, his other leg outstretched. "It's..." He hesitated, inhaling sharply, wondering, even through his thick haze, if this was a horrible idea. But his mouth was moving faster than his brain at the moment. "It's sensei." he muttered.

Before Tunnel Rat could say or do anything in response to the sudden revelation, Kamakura leaned over and puked.

"Aw, man, and those were new boots, too!"

When Kamakura woke up, the first thing he did, much like the last thing he did before passing out, was vomit.

This time there was a bucket, at least, rather than someone's shoes, but it was still glaringly obvious that he was hungover and sick and just generally miserable.

"—and believe me, Tunnel Rat is going to be punished accordingly, but I don't think you need to—oh, hey, he's awake."

The voice Kamakura heard when the ringing in his ears stopped was Duke's, and it was followed swiftly by a hand rubbing his back gently and someone taking the bucket from him and handing it off to Duke, who then handed it off to somebody outside the room who was clearly not content with bucket duty, judging by the volume of their complaints, which really did not help his headache at all.

"Why do I have to—"

"You caused this mess, so you get to do the cleaning up." Duke responded, before the thick Brooklyn accent could even finish the question. "Next time, think before you do something that stupid. You're lucky I don't let Snake think of the punishment like he wants to, so stop complaining." The hand on his back stopped rubbing and tensed for a moment. "Don't even think about it, Snake Eyes. I know you're angry, but just let Scarlett and I handle him." he warned, handing his silent caretaker another bucket, which was quickly shoved into his hands.

Kamakura blinked a couple of times, trying to banish the bleary, ringing, hangover induced haze he was in, and looked over his shoulder at the person trying to help him banish the nausea, and though he'd been expecting it based on the conversation going on around him, he was still shocked to see Snake Eyes sitting there.

"Sensei, I—" He paused and turned back towards the bucket, sure he was going to throw up again, but the feeling quickly passed. "I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me..."

Snake Eyes placed a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed, a reassuring gesture. It was the first time he'd ever done so, but Kamakura knew it meant something along the lines of "Don't worry about it." Snake Eyes could be easy to read, if you knew what you were looking for.

"Snake Eyes, can I talk to you for a minute?" Duke asked. Snake Eyes nodded, and followed him out the door; even through his hangover haze, Kamakura could still hear what they were saying, quite clearly. His training was evidently paying off. "Look, about what Tunnel Rat told me—I know it's a big deal to you, but...he's just a kid. Go easy on him." Duke said. The silence that followed was not a normal Snake Eyes silent—it hung thick in the air, almost awkwardly.

He heard Duke's footsteps retreat a moment later, and then Snake Eyes reentered the room, audible only by the sound of the door opening and closing. He returned to sitting next to his hungover apprentice, rubbing his back again now that he had returned to diligently leaning over the bucket, and was looking more green than he had when he'd left him.

"Tunnel Rat told you...?"

Again, the silence was awkward—no, more than awkward, it was making Kamakura's already sore stomach churn violently. Snake Eyes looked towards the door, almost as though hoping for some sort of assistance in dealing with the matter, but when none came, he turned back towards the younger man and shook his head. He nodded in the general direction that Duke had gone, saying, without words, that he'd heard it from Duke. Kamakura's face turned a brilliant shade of red and he closed his eyes and let his head fall forwards, his forehead hitting the rim of the bucket with a resounding clunk.

"I'm sorry, sensei, I don't know what I was...I mean, I shouldn't have...I...I shouldn't have told Tunnel Rat. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he hissed, reinforcing the word each time by hitting his head on the bucket again. "I mean...I know it's...it's just that I..." Before he could complete his broken explanation, Snake Eyes squeezed his shoulder again, although not quite so gently this time, as though reminding him that it was probably in his best interest to not finish what he was going to say. Kamakura acknowledged and swallowed the words in his throat, staying almost as silent as his master as the ninja in question rose and exited the room again, without so much as a glance back at his miserable apprentice.

Kamakura waited until he was sure Snake Eyes was long gone before he let even a single tear roll down his face.

"Wait, wait, wait, what?"

Jinx rubbed her temple, closing her eyes, trying to process what, exactly, Tunnel Rat had just told her.

"Run that by me again, please?" she said.

"Uh...I'm not so sure I should...you know, I'm not 'sposed to tell anyone, but I figured you'd find out eventually anyway, right, and since you're with them all the time, you deserve to know." Tunnel Rat explained, his rambling a sure sign that he was afraid of getting in trouble. "I'm in deep enough as it is, OK? If Duke finds out I'm telling' ya..."

"You deserve to be in deep trouble, after what you did." Jinx said, poking him in the chest. She then looked away, her hand returning to her temple. "But you're really serious? This isn't some joke where I'm going to believe you and then someone's going to jump out and say, 'ha ha, you believed him, stupid Jinx', is it?" she asked.

"Why would I lie about this sort of thing?" he asked. "I'm a troublemaker, I'm not heartless." he pointed out. She sighed.

"I know." she said. "And that makes it worse, because if you were, I could just pretend you were lying." She sighed as she leaned back against the nearest tree; Tunnel Rat hadn't wanted anyone to overhear him telling her, since the first thing Duke did after lecturing him was tell him to keep it to himself, so they'd gone outside to talk, where he was much less likely to get caught. (Honestly, it was a wonder Duke even bothered to try and get Tunnel Rat to keep secrets anymore—everybody always ended up finding out eventually, no matter how 'secret' he tried to keep it.) "And sensei knows about this?" she asked. Tunnel Rat nodded. "Why'd you tell him? That just makes everything worse!" she said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't shoot the messenger." Tunnel Rat pleaded. "I didn't tell 'im, I told Duke, 'cause Duke made me promise that if anyone told me somethin' that I thought would mess up the team dynamics, I had to tell 'im. Then Duke told Snake Eyes." he explained.

"This is bad." Jinx sighed. Tunnel Rat shrugged.

"Personally, I don't see what the problem is. Could just be me, though." he admitted. "I mean, I know the whole student and teacher thing is kinda taboo, and Kamakura is kinda young, but it's just a crush, right? Happens all the time." he said. "And even if it's more than that, 's not like he's just gonna jump Snake randomly. So what's the big deal?" he asked.

"Well, for one, they're both men, although I'd hardly call Kamakura a man." she replied. Tunnel Rat tilted his head one way, then the next.

"You grew up in the middle of the mountains, right?" he asked.

"Uh...yeah." she replied.

"It shows." he said. "You know, for a ninja, you're awfully unobservant."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. Tunnel Rat grinned.

"Oh, nothin', I just thought you might've started wonderin' why none of us hit on Scarlett, that's all." he replied. Jinx turned slightly pink.

"Tunnel Rat, that's a horrible thing to say." she said.

"What, the truth? You think the truth is horrible?" he asked. "And I thought I was weird." he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, s'not important." he said, waving his hand in dismissal. "What is important is that the truth's out now, and there's nothin' we can do about it. So we might as well just deal with it. Hey, I'm getting' hungry. You wanna head back to the R.O.C.C and grab somethin' to eat?" he asked. Jinx shook her head.

"No thanks." she said. "I'm not all that hungry, and even if I was, watching you eat would probably make me lose my appetite." She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"Well, whatever ya want." he said as he turned to head back to the R.O.C.C. He stopped mid step and turned back towards her. "Oh, and by the way? It's not like he's the first. I'd be willin' to bet'cha any money that everyone on the team, including you, went through the same thing at some point. Snake just does that to people. So don't be too harsh on the poor guy."

Jinx didn't normally have this much free time. Normally she wanted to have this much free time, but Snake Eyes insisted that they train instead. But now that she had the free time, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted it.

For one, she had very little to do with it. And she really didn't enjoy the circumstances surrounding how she'd come about that free time.

Snake Eyes had left almost immediately after he'd 'spoken' with Kamakura, and hadn't returned since. Everybody kept saying not to worry, that it was just Snake Eyes, he always disappeared, there was nothing to be worrying about, but everyone was also worried; not because they thought Snake Eyes was in any sort of danger, but because they all knew that the longer he put off having to deal with Kamakura, the worse the situation was going to get. (Really, it was no surprise that they all already knew about what had happened—as soon as Tunnel Rat knew, it was inevitable that everyone else would find out eventually.) And it was pretty bad already.

He'd acted like he was fine, like nothing had changed, for the first couple of days, and everyone had gone along with him, ignoring the fact that they were one team member short and none of them could really look at Kamakura anymore without their faces betraying some measure of pity, which he found tremendously annoying. After a few days, he snapped and told them all that, although a lot less eloquently. The next day he was gone.

It didn't take Jinx long to find him at all; he hadn't really run off, he'd just gone far enough to be able to avoid the others unless they came looking for him. And it was pretty obvious that he wanted to be left alone, so she was the only one who did.

For a minute, she just stood there, unsure of what to say, as he purposely ignored her. Then she sighed and dropped her hands to her sides, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"OK, I give, and I know somebody's going to smite me for saying this, but Tunnel Rat is right." she admitted. Shocked by the words themselves, although not entirely sure of what she meant by them, Kamakura turned towards her.

"About what?" he asked.

"The other day, when he told me about...about what happened, he said that it wasn't a big deal—and he was right, it isn't." she said. "Sensei's just blowing things a little out of proportion—and, I mean, you can't really blame him, he isn't exactly used to this sort of thing. He's strong and silent and intimidating but not really all that good with people, you know? So...it's logical that he'd be a little confused and a little shocked and maybe more than a little freaked out, but yeah, it's really not a big deal, I mean, this sort of thing happens all the time, not in this context, obviously, but it does, and you can't really do anything about it, and I know you're probably more than a little confused and shocked and freaked out, too, because it's only logical, and, um, yeah. I think things just got a little...out of hand. So, um, I was hoping you would come back...that's kind of random, but I know what you get like sometimes, and I think you'd be better off with all of us than you would be out here alone, because you like to be around people...and I'll make sure they leave you alone about it and stop looking at you like that, OK?"

Kamakura stared at her for a few moments after she finished her speech, then smiled.

"I guess I can't argue with that. OK, I'll come back."

When they arrived back at the R.O.C.C, Snake Eyes was there.

He didn't notice them at first—well, he noticed them, obviously, before they even walked in the door, but he didn't acknowledge them until Duke looked up at them and cleared his throat. Immediately, everyone else in the room found a reason to excuse themselves, leaving only the three ninjas. The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife, and soon, Jinx found herself excusing herself as well, just to get away from the crushing tension mounting between her partner and her teacher.

She didn't go far, of course—just into the next room, far away enough to give them privacy, close enough to be able to hear anything that went on. She told herself it was because she wanted to be around in case Kamakura did something stupid, but honestly, it was more so the fault of her curiosity.

It was the same curiosity that lead her to follow them silently (although she was certain Snake Eyes was well aware of her presence the entire time) when they left, and to follow them as they walked through the forest, eventually ending up at the top of a somewhat jagged escarpment. The moon and the stars were painfully clear, with no light pollution to hinder them, and the entire scene reminded her of some sort of cheesy romantic movie (although she quickly banished the thought).

There wasn't a word said for quite some time, even on Kamakura's part, but she continued to watch them intently; every muscle switch or weight shift was like an entire book, to someone who knew them as well as she did. And the longer she watched them, the more uncomfortable she felt doing so.

It wasn't until Snake Eyes walked up beside Kamakura and put a hand on his shoulder that she excused herself, knowing that this was no longer something she should be spying on.

"Sensei, I—" Kamakura was cut off by Snake Eyes putting his other hand over his mouth and shaking his head; talking wasn't necessary right now, not that it was ever necessary for him. Kamakura slowly blinked, once, twice, three times, unsure of what to make of the whole situation; it was clear that Snake Eyes was no longer angry at him, but he wasn't entirely sure what he was feeling.

He turned a bright shade of red when he felt Snake Eyes' knuckle brush across his cheek, and hoped that his sensei didn't notice, until he realized the contact was intentional. He looked up at him, and Snake Eyes nodded.

Neither of them said or did anything more, and simply returned to the R.O.C.C in complete, yet comfortable, silence.

The atmosphere was considerably less tense the next day.

"So, I guess all's well that ends well, huh?"

Tunnel Rat shifted his gaze from the clouds rolling lazily past to the man sitting next to him, with one over-sized arm around his comparatively small shoulders, then laughed.

"Yeah, I'd say so." he replied. No one was quite sure what had happened, but the mood between Snake Eyes and Kamakura had lightened considerably, and so things were mostly back to normal. Heavy Duty grinned and shook his head.

"Even some of your stupidest schemes can have a silver lining, I guess." he said. "Hey, did you say anything about me to Jinx? 'Cause she keeps looking at me weird now." Tunnel Rat grinned.

"Not really." he replied.

"Whaddya mean, 'not really'? Tunnel Rat, what did you say to her?"

"Nothin' about you, not directly at least, I swear!"

"If you told her something weird..."

"Aww, c'mon, don't you trust me?"

"No."