Kakashi tossed and turned in his sleep. His dream sending him on a roller coaster ride:
"Look out!" someone called from in front of him.
Giant explosions erupted all around him.
"Kakashi! Move it!" someone said tackling him before an explosion erupted where he had been standing. He looked up at the person who had tackled him. A wolf mask looked back at him.
"Are you ok Kakashi-sensei? The man behind the mask asked with concern.
"I'm alright." Kakashi said standing back up.
The man sighed in relief.
"That's good." He said, bright blue eyes shining. Turning he called over his shoulder, "Crow, Bear let's go."
"Right!" the other two ANBU ninja called, retreating.
Kakashi finally got a good look at the battle field. Blood covered everything.
"There's no more we can do here." Crow said. "What do we do Wolf?"
"We regroup." Wolf said.
Bear and Crow nodded.
"You ready Sensei?" Wolf asked, no it wasn't Wolf. Kakashi opened his eyes, he saw Naruto grinning at him. He smiled.
"Yeah just let me wake up a bit more." He said.
Naruto nodded then remembered the cup in his hand.
"Oh here Kakashi-sensei." He said handing the cup to Kakashi. "I had to guess at how you like your coffee."
Kakashi took it gladly.
"Thank you Wolf." Kakashi said absently, taking a drink.
Naruto tensed. Kakashi looked up when the basic atmosphere of the room changed.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"Sensei, w-what did you just call me?" Naruto asked.
"I called you by your name Naruto." Kakashi said blinking. "And thank you for the coffee, it's just the way I like it."
Naruto smiled.
"No problem Kakashi-sensei." He said, icy blue eyes shining.
Kakashi knew those eyes; he had seen them in his dream. He silently drank his coffee. Naruto looked around the big white room scowling. Kakashi laughed.
"You know, everyone on my ANBU team hated white too." He said.
"I bet." Naruto said tensing up again.
Kakashi noticed the change immediately and decided to continue on with what he was doing.
"It seems someone has taken over my favorite mask." He said with a sigh, "I miss my post as Wolf."
Naruto mentally flinched.
~How does he know? ~ Naruto thought to himself. ~I'll ask Lady Hokage later. ~
Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at the silence from the blonde boy. He slowly stood up.
"Well we should be off." Kakashi said. He stumbled forward slightly, feeling extremely dizzy all of a sudden. A strong slender arm caught him around the waist.
"Are you okay Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, concerned.
"I'm alright." Kakashi said.
Naruto smiled.
"Good. We should get going then." Naruto suggested. "Tsunade-sama has already signed your release forms."
Kakashi smiled and nodded. He went to walk out the door when he realized that Naruto's arm was still around his waist. Kakashi looked over his shoulder at Naruto and raised an eyebrow.
Naruto quickly released him.
"Sorry Kakashi-sensei." He said looking down at the floor. His face was extremely red.
Kakashi chuckled and ruffled his hair.
"No problem Naruto." He said quietly.
Naruto stayed silent and walked out of the room. Kakashi followed him down the quiet hallway. A young kunoichi in a bear mask ran up to Naruto.
"Good morning Uzumaki-san, Hatake-san." She said in a quiet voice.
"Morning." Kakashi said waving a hand lazily. Naruto nodded in response to her greeting.
"Uzumaki-san, Hokage-taicho wishes to see you." She said, "Hatake-san is to stay in the waiting room until your return."
Naruto nodded and turned to Kakashi.
"I'll be right back Sensei." He said bowing his head. He walked outside and made sure no one could see him before using a teleportation jutsu.
x-x-x
Tsunade looked out her office window, across her beautiful village.
"You wanted to see me ma'am?" Wolf asked appearing next to her in a cloud of smoke.
Tsunade smiled.
"You know you can drop the act around me little brother." She said quietly.
"I suppose so." Wolf said taking off his ANBU mask. Naruto smiled. "So what's up big sis?"
"I need your squad on a mission." Tsunade said with a sigh. "Some of our forces are being wiped out by an unknown enemy."
Naruto picked a scroll up off her desk and read it.
"Damn." He cursed under his breath. "What about Kakashi?"
Tsunade looked up at him sadly, guilt written across her face. Naruto realized what she wanted to do.
"Hell no! You're not sending him with us!" he yelled.
"I have no choice, he may have lost his memories but he's still the best shinobi in the village." She explained.
Naruto clenched his fists.
"You would send him on a suicide mission?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto…." Tsunade began.
Naruto put the wolf mask back on and held up a hand.
"We'll go." He said coldly. "But Kakashi dies and you'll be hearing from me again ma'am. It won't be a pleasant conversation."
He vanished in a cloud of smoke before she could say another word.
Tsunade sat back down in the chair behind her desk. Shizune walked in.
"Milady?" Shizune asked.
"Not now Shizune."
x-x-x
Wolf appeared in the hospital waiting room a few minutes after his conversation with Tsunade. He looked at Kakashi.
"Come with me." He commanded.
Bear walked out of the shadows.
"He's supposed to wait for Uzumaki-san, commander." She said.
"We have our orders." Wolf growled. "Go find Crow and meet us by the gate in an hour."
Bear nodded and vanished.
"What's going on?" Kakashi asked.
"Lady Tsunade wants us to investigate the disappearances and murders of many of our spread out forces and allies." Wolf said viciously, handing Kakashi the scroll he'd gotten off Tsunade's desk. "This is not a good idea."
Kakashi read over the scroll and nodded.
"Let's go, we need to gather some supplies." Wolf said walking out the door followed closely behind by Kakashi. "Do you think you can keep up without falling?"
"I think so." Kakashi said.
"Good then follow me." Wolf said taking to the rooftops and running across them. Kakashi followed his lead and took to the rooftops. He followed the ANBU ninja closely until they reached their destination. They stood outside one of the many Jounin flats of the village.
"Search your pockets." The ANBU instructed.
Kakashi dug in his pockets and found a key. Wolf took the key and unlocked the door.
"Welcome home Kakashi." He said solemnly.
Kakashi walked into the slightly messy house. He ran his fingers over the table, books, and walls slowly making his way towards the back. Wolf followed him silently through the house.
"Do you remember this place?" he asked at barely a whisper.
Kakashi nodded.
"I've lived here since I was in the Black Ops with Obito and Rin." Kakashi said stopping suddenly and gripping the doorframe in front of him.
"I-I'm sorry." Wolf said reaching out and lightly squeezing his shoulder.
"It's fine." Kakashi said opening the door to the bedroom in front of him. He walked inside and grabbed a bag off the stand next to his bed.
Wolf looked inside and noticed that it was the cleanest room in the small house. He watched Kakashi carefully; he noticed a strong determination in the man's eyes. Kakashi pulled two uniforms out of the closet, one a Jounin uniform and the other a….
"You still have an ANBU uniform?" Wolf asked.
Kakashi nodded, his eyes briefly showing sheer sadness that was quickly replaced by the determination again.
"I know I really have no right to, but it's going to feel strange being the only non-ANBU ninja in our little expedition team." Kakashi said reaching up onto the shelf and pulling down a wolf mask similar to that of Wolf.
Wolf stared at the mask.
"The White Fang." He said quietly.
The Jounin nodded.
"I'm surprised you know about that." Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head. "I haven't touched this mask since my father died, he was the best there was."
Wolf chuckled.
"There are many in the corp. who would argue that with you." He said.
"Who do they think is better?" Kakashi asked putting the uniforms and mask into the bag and grabbing a small pouch to hook onto his belt.
"You."
Kakashi stopped.
"I'm not near as good as my father was, if he hadn't killed himself he'd still be the top ninja in Konaha." He said quietly.
~Why are you beating yourself up like this Sensei? ~ Naruto wondered behind his mask.
Kakashi stumbled forward again. Wolf quickly reached out and caught him. Somehow he ended up knocking his mask off.
Kakashi smiled.
"Thank you Naruto." He said quietly.
"No problem Sensei." Naruto said, not caring if Kakashi knew or not. He pulled Kakashi back up on his feet. Kakashi crouched down and picked up the mask that had fallen to the floor. He smiled running his thumb across the scratches made on the cheeks.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head.
"Can you believe that's the third one that Tsunade has had to give me?" he asked.
Kakashi chuckled.
"Yeah they get destroyed pretty easily in the heat of battle." Kakashi said handing the mask to Naruto.
"Thanks." Naruto said putting the mask back on. "I'll let you do what you need to and meet you outside."
He went to walk out the door.
"Naruto?" Kakashi said quietly.
"Yes Sensei?" Naruto asked stopping in the doorway.
Two long slender arms wrapped around her shoulders.
"Thank you." Kakashi said burying his face in the blonde's hair.
Naruto was silent for a few minutes.
"F-for what Sensei?" Naruto asked, thanking Kami he had put the mask back on already.
"For helping me." He said quietly.
"With what?"
Kakashi released him and smiled at the boy when he turned around.
"You'll find out later." The silver-haired Jounin said mysteriously. "Come on, we've only got a few minutes to get to the gate."
"Right." Naruto said. He looked at the older man and his black uniform. ~Black? ~ "Kakashi-Sensei, when did you change into the ANBU outfit?"
Kakashi grinned.
"Oh yeah… he he, Yondaime's yellow flash technique comes in handy."
Naruto froze again.
"M-m… never mind. Let's go!" Naruto said.
"Teleportation jutsu?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto nodded.
"See you there. Kakashi said vanishing.
Naruto smiled.
"Crazy Sensei." He said. Naruto looked once more around the room and vanished.