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Chapter 4
Return
Something is wrong, Kakashi considers as he flashes quickly through several hand-seals and slams his palm onto the ground, an earth wall rising in front of him moments before a wave crashes against it. Something's wrong with me, he thinks.
His body seems a little off today, jumping away just a bit too easily and strangely reluctant to move. He wonders, even as he leaps away from a Fuuton, whether he is …afraid. He doesn't know what exactly it is like, hasn't allowed himself to feel fear for so long, but he supposes it does remind him vaguely – very vaguely – of the first time he'd been sent on a C-rank, still a kid, freshly-minted genin and all. But this mission definitely isn't challenging enough to scare him.
It's another assassination mission, as most ANBU ones are, but with probable engagement with a group of A- and B-rank missing-nin from Kiri recently reported to have been spotted in the area, hence why a team of three had been sent out instead of him alone. Thus far, nothing has been really out of their expectations; they've encountered the nuke-nin – battling it out right now, in fact – but that is within mission parameters and they've all been on high alert, anyway.
So why is he feeling so uneasy?
"What's wrong, brat?" The enemy sneers, an ugly grin twisting his features, "How are you in ANBU with only those defensive jutsu you're wielding? Bah, Konoha's standards are getting lower and lower." He launches forward with another Suiton forming on his fingers, though he's forced to dodge and abandon it when Kakashi shoots out two shuriken from his holster, covering them with just a slight crackling layer of lightning-based chakra.
He doesn't show any sign of having heard the missing-nin, no reaction aside from attacking more fiercely than before, but it does occur to him that the man might be partially right. His mind works furiously even as he consciously moulds his chakra for the attack the other had been preparing for just a moment ago, his Sharingan eye swirling as his hands switch from sign to sign effortlessly. He had been following his battle instincts, as he's done for a long time now, but never before had he used so much defensive jutsu. Why? he growls softly, frustrated with his own mind.
Kakashi almost pays for his moment of inattentiveness when a detached hand shoots out of the ground beneath him, and he flings himself out of the way just barely in time. Swearing under his breath, he turns and automatically lands in a position ready to take off again. There is a split-second during which he pauses, taking in the sudden increase in numbers – one of the new arrivals must have been the one who'd caught him unaware with the Doton –, because it appears that the missing-nin have back-up, lots of it, and his team certainly isn't ready for it.
It's obvious that they're awfully out-numbered, maybe a fifteen-to-three, and many of these ex-Kiri-ninja are at least upper-chuunin level. Experience and a quick mental calculation tell him that his chakra will be utterly depleted if he even manages to get his team out of this mess. Then, not allowing himself a moment more to think, he throws himself back into the fray almost frantically, jutsu mixing with chakra-enhanced kunai and his eye a bloody red.
A startled, cut-off curse pulls Kakashi's attention away from his own fight just in time to see ANBU Bear slam heavily against a tree trunk and drop to the ground with a muffled thump, crumpling unnaturally still against the tree roots with crimson life fluid seeping out of numerous puncture wounds on his body. The moment of silence that follows is deafeningly loud, and some kind of switch flips, pure animalistic rage taking over Kakashi's mind and his control of his body.
"Don't you dare," ANBU Captain Hound snarls as Chidori bursts into life, "hurt my team."
He lunges forward before anyone could properly react and pierces through an ex-Kiri-nin's chest like a hot knife through butter, chakra chirping intensely like a thousand little birds. He's all sharp edges and kill and dangerdangerdanger now, and almost involuntarily, the missing-nin flinch away from the smell of ozone permeating the air.
Hound growls, feral and deadly, as he shoots forward towards the bastard who had dealt that last blow to Bear. He's team Captain, dammit, and no one (never again) is going to die on his watch.
He'll damn well make sure of that.
Naruto has taken to hanging around the village gates considerably more than before. But it's not like he really has any place to go to, and the gate guards – often Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san – are quite a lot nicer to him than most of the villagers, anyway.
His real reason, of course, is not exactly that, though at the moment he's trying pretty hard not to think about it (Kakashi-nii, gone – forever?). He attempts to climb the not-exactly child-friendly gates, bounces around over-enthusiastically on the roof of the guardhouse, and plans and executes several pranks that often end with someone or other screaming at him (while he grins cheekily back, of course).
Still, nothing compares to the times when caravans full of trading goods roll in on squeaky wheels, often with a child or two carting on the back, and he always finds himself sniggering as he weaves between the spokes of the wheels, blatantly ignoring the gate guards' calls for him to go back and not cause any trouble. He loves how those travelling merchant kids are always willing to play with him, bringing tricks and games from all the different places they've been to. Someday he wants to travel around the world just like those kids – how cool would that be?
Of course, he has his fair share of fun scaring Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san half to death too, though he probably takes too much pride in stretching the two chuunin's nerves about as thin as they would go without plain snapping. They're always yelling things like Naruto, you're going to fall and break your neck! and Naruto, you're going to be skewered by a pole! but what can he say? Being paranoid is probably an occupational hazard. But sometimes there's also Naruto, have you had lunch? and he thinks he likes those questions more than anything else because it always gets him free ramen – or candy. Even if they insist sweets aren't good for his teeth.
But hey, he's not known as a prankster for nothing. He's earned his title and all, you know. He's gotta live up to it too, sometimes. Offering him candy isn't going to stop him at all. Nu-uh.
It's about his second week in now (forty-four days and still counting), and it's a hot, hot, hot, hot, hot afternoon. There is little conversation exchanged among the trio sheltering in the little guard booth – even Naruto has retreated after nearly scalding every part of his body when he attempted to lie down on the roof earlier – just a muttered curse now and then, accompanied by complaints of the Land of Fire taking its name too seriously, and why there are even guards posted out here when it's sweltering and no one in his right mind would infiltrate a hidden village on such a day.
But then again, shinobi aren't exactly known for being 'in their right mind'.
Naruto, for one, is truly doubting their collective sanity: guard duty! When it's so hot! He can't believe it. He flops onto the cooler (not cool, not by a far stretch) concrete ground, his orange jacket long since abandoned. He doesn't even have the energy to learn the no doubt five-year-old-unhealthy cuss words the two chuunin are exchanging right now, and all he can do is groan. Just groan and wait for summer to pass.
He's probably not going to notice it even if he melts into a strangely-colored puddle of human on the ground right now. He's pretty close to it anyway, isn't he? In fact, he's on the very verge of hallucinating big fluffy orange toads croaking loudly on lily pads floating idly on top of him. He's a puddle now, he thinks. Maybe. Are puddles supposed to be all swirly like lollipops?
He doesn't know anymore. Honestly. And- what's that saying again? Ah. It could be that he's finally been dropped on his head too many times.
Has he been dropped on his head? He's pretty sure he's been lying on something all along.
...Squishy?
Ah, it's so hot. Not squishy, he reminds himself. Hot.
…
Are those two words even remotely related?
No, he hears Izumo say, but he doesn't know whether the teen is speaking to him. Whatever, it'll do as an answer, he supposes.
Then sharply, Naruto, get up.
He moans and buries his face into the weirdly squishy concrete ground, listening to Izumo and Kotetsu's suddenly agitated chatter through a very thick haze.
Naruto, along with a bit of shaking, something's happened. You have to get out of the way.
Naruto blinks blearily and stares up into Kotetsu-san's urgent expression. Has he fallen asleep? Could this all be a dream? He is very tempted to drop his head onto the ground again because he really doesn't want to move, but suddenly he's lifted up rather roughly, and he's yelping and flailing in the air.
"Naruto," the spiky-haired teen says, his tone clipped and all business, seeming to forget for a moment that the blond is five and doesn't get quite a bit of what he's trying to say, "there's an injured squad approaching Konoha rapidly – critical condition. They've sent a message ahead and we need this place cleared for the medics. You can go back to town on your own, can't you?"
The boy nods hesitantly in response to the question, still a little in a stupor, but Kotetsu-san has moved on quickly, leaving him blinking in bafflement as people in white coats rush about in preparation for something that he doesn't understand. After a while, he manages to process enough to realize that it's something serious, and decides to stay behind to watch. It doesn't matter if he doesn't get in the way, right? So he clambers back onto the roof of the guardhouse, crouching down and taking special care not to touch any metal.
In all the confusion and mess, it seems like an eternity and yet only moments before there is suddenly a rise in the din and several of the people hurry out of the gates, expressions panicked. He catches a few phrases here and there – 'worse than we thought' and 'this hasn't happened… long while…' – and follows curiously behind, far away enough for none of the harried medical staff to notice.
He squints ahead to see where the medics are heading, craning his neck this way and that to spy what all this hustle and bustle is about. He raises his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, and spots a …black bundle?
Whazzat? he wonders. Is that – what had Kotetsu-san called it again? Aha! – a squad? He immediately runs ahead of the medic-nin to get a closer look.
It soon becomes apparent that the black bundle is not in fact a black bundle but several people bundled in black, hoods pulled up over their hair and masks covering their facial features. His heart skips a beat for a moment in excitement – new people are always interesting – at the same time that it clenches. The man in the middle reminds him so sharply of Kakashi-nii, what with the white breastplate and arm guards he's wearing underneath his partially-opened cloak, that Naruto jolts and misses a step.
He barely manages to catch himself, but the moment he straightens again his blood freezes. He stops right in the middle of the dirt road, eyes wide and bile rising up his throat, just a few yards away from the man limping slowly along the path with a ninja – not a black bundle – strapped across his shoulders and another leaning heavily on him.
A few medic-nin seemed to have noticed his sudden appearance, for he thinks that there are shouts in the background – are there? Are they really shouting at him? He doesn't know, and honestly he can't hear them, because these men are splattered, no, covered in red -he doesn't know what blood looks like but maybe it's like this- and reeking of copper-acid. He can taste it at the back of his throat and the smell clogs his nose, his mind, a sea of red filling up his vision and drowning his senses in it.
He draws a big shuddering breath and takes a wary step backward, suddenly acutely aware of the danger he's landed in. He doesn't even know who these men are, but they can't be good, can they? They're drenched in blood. Everything in him is screaming at him to run, they're coming closer, but his legs can't move and instead decide to give out underneath him, plopping his small body on the ground.
The two still conscious wearily lift their gazes from where they had been focused on the next step, the next 20-centimeters-ahead that seemed more like a mile, a telltale two seconds too slow for an active-duty shinobi. But Naruto, with dilating pupils still fixed on the crimson substance that blends in almost too well with the dark fabric from afar, is sure that he's as good as dead.
Between one second and the next – to the boy, an eternity instead – Hound's eyes land on a head of bright yellow hair and cerulean blue eyes, and a flicker of surprise somehow dredges up the energy for him to blurt out the name,
"N-naruto?"
Naruto's wide, fearful gaze snaps up to the ANBU struggling underneath the weight of two of his men, because he knows that voice it's, "Kakas-"
He is cut off abruptly when, without warning, the man collapses onto the ground with scarcely a grunt, the hood of his cloak fluttering up to reveal silver hair dyed in places by a deep, dirty brown. The ANBU whom he'd been supporting falls atop him and tries vainly to get back up, or at least roll off Hound so he could breathe or something, and god damn it Captain you went too far again.
Naruto's alarmed and distressed cry follows him as he leaps to his feet and practically flies to the other's side, floundering about. He is so desperate to help, to do something, but he doesn't know how to. He's just a kid, and he really doesn't even know what's wrong, much less what to do to right it. What if he ends up making it worse instead and hurting him even more?
Out of the blue, the five-year-old bursts into tears, confused and helpless and so, so scared. Kakashi-nii is –injuredbleedingdying- hurt, but what is he supposed to do?!
"Naruto," a harsh, trembling whisper cuts through his panic, but it's so very strange because Kakashi-nii never sounds so vulnerable, "D-don't cry, kid, it'll be alright."
The blond can somehow hear the tired smile hanging in the ragged breaths and soft words, and a sob wrecks his small frame, "Y-you're back, you're back-" He swipes frantically at his eyes, trying to wipe the wetness off his cheeks but failing as saline globules continue to fall uncontrollably. He attempts to offer a grin, but it's wobbly and tear-stained, merely a paltry imitation of his usual one.
"You promised," he chants, "You promised you promised you promised you promised." And you kept it.
It strikes Kakashi suddenly, the reason why he had felt so odd during the mission – he'd been holding back a little, hadn't he? He'd actually wanted to get out of the whole mess alive. He had had something – someone – to return to, and that had made all the difference. It is why he's the one half-carrying his whole team back and not lying somewhere far, far away from Konoha, chakra-exhausted and unconscious and half-wishing he would just die on some mission already.
A shaky breath cum chuckle rattles Kakashi's whole form, but he's not entirely sure what he's laughing at anymore. Instead he murmurs, words half-slurred and incoherent-sounding to his own ears, "I promised."
He knows that's important but he can't quite remember why, because his mind is feverishly hot and sluggish and it's all he can do to force out one last sentence before he loses his battle against unconsciousness – he needs to get this out though, needs to let Naruto know he hasn't been lying, not like he always does –,
He tries to lift this head off the ground and smile back at his little bundle of sunshine, and though it's reasonable enough to assume that he hasn't been successful with that, he makes sure that Naruto hears him when he layers another oath onto his promise, "I don't intend to break it."
A kind of fulfillment and comfort spreads slowly throughout his body, sweet as honey and just as precious, because it's been so long since he's kept a promise that he honestly didn't think himself capable anymore. But... it's something to hold on to as well, right?
Maybe the kid might just be able to set him right.
(He's never had a brother or a sister and he's never wanted one, but he recalls, faintly and abstractedly, that there might have been a time when he wasn't even in the Academy yet, when he'd been missing Father's company and had wished- he had wished.)
Then he wonders, mind hazy and already more than half asleep, if he's dreaming when he hears Naruto choke out a soft, quiet 'thank you', and half a beat later, 'Kakashi-nii'.
He is burning up with exhaustion and buried too far underneath the veil of sleep to know much, but he does know that when he falls into the embrace of an inky darkness, it is velvety and light, reminiscent of soft breaths and gentle murmurings in his ear.
It has been so long since he's felt so very, very safe.
A/N: Sorry to the reviewers who wanted to see Naruto caring for Kakashi (that's a brilliant idea by the way), but that'll come in the next chapter. :) Also, I don't actually know if you can coat shuriken/kunai with chakra but hey it seems cool to me, plus the pointy thingies are made of metal and Kakashi's chakra is electricity, so I was like 'meh why not'.
Oh, could someone please explain to me how the Academy system works in canon? Since Naruto took the graduation exam thrice, did he enter the Academy two years earlier than his year mates? And if so, doesn't that mean that he was only in the same class as the Genin nine for one year, as he was held back twice? Also, how long is the standard Academy curriculum? I'm under the impression that it's four years long (meaning that the standard admission age is nine while Naruto entered at seven), but I'm not sure so please correct me if I'm wrong. :) This whole thing is messing up the already very vague timeline that I sort of have.
Thanks and sorry for the long A/N!
