In the next days, Kakashi's condition did not improve, but it did not worsen. A week had passed since Team Seven had returned. Iruka saw Naruto a few times in the interim, but his days were filled with teaching at the academy, and with working at the mission's desk, and so he did not have a decent chance to ask Naruto what exactly had happened to Kakashi. He was not sure if Naruto would tell him even if he asked.

Personally, Iruka thought very little about that man. Beyond what he could do for his students, the incident no longer concerned him. Of course, Iruka did not hope that Kakashi would die. Simply put, he was indifferent.

However, every so often, at quiet moments when he would rest his eyes, he remembered the coldness of hospital rooms, and the lonliness of uncertainty. Yet he pushed this aside. The copy-nin had brought this on himself, and so when he thought on him at all, wavering in those unfeeling rooms, it was with measured bitterness and impassiveness.

The following week, Tsunade sent Naruto on a mission with Gai's team, to distract him - for if there was ever a source of perpetual distraction, it was Gai. The green-clad man was under strict instructions not to mention his eternal rival. Iruka wondered when they would be back.

On his way home from work, he found the boy completely by chance. He had walked past the training grounds to relax after such a stressful week, when he saw a small orange figure laying in the grass. It was Naruto, and he was breathing hard. It was clear that he had been training. Iruka went to him.

"That's dedication," he said, leaning over his former student. Naruto sprang into the air.

"Iruka-sensei!" he shouted excited to see the man. He had been gone all week, and so a friendly face was more than welcome. Especially the one of his old sensei. Iruka mussed his hair; he was happy to see that Naruto was not as disheartened as when he had found him in the hospital two weeks prior. Apparently, Gai had done his job. Although there still remained a distinct mellowness to him that could not be credited to exhaustion.

"How was the mission?"

Naruto stuck out his lip.

"Iruka-sensei, you know I'm not allowed to say. . . "

Iruka laughed. So the rascal was learning a thing or two. That was good. After hundreds of reminders to be less revealing about what were supposed to be confidential missions, it was about time he had taken the lesson to heart. The tough facade did not last long.

"Ah, but it was sooo cool." He folded his arms, morose almost. "Gai-sensei is so weird." He narrowed his eyes, glancing around. "But he's SO strong!"

Iruka laughed again.

"Is that why you were training so hard? Right after a mission, even."

The boy shuffled, twisting the ball of his foot into the dirt.

"No. . . "

"Just training?"

"No. . . "

"Huh, what for then?" Naruto had obviously worn himself out. A quick glance at his clothes was proof enough of that; there were tears and stains everywhere. His fists were bruised, and his shoulders slumped with tiredness.

Naruto shrugged, rubbing the back of his head, and averting his eyes.

"No reason."

Iruka frowned. Naruto was not a secretive person. There was something wrong. He patted him on the back.

"You know, you can tell me if you want to." He put a hand on either of the boy's shoulders. Naruto stared at the ground.

"I just. . . have to be stronger."

Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think that's the whole story." The academy teacher leaned in close, coming down to the same eye level as his old student. He had guessed what it was that was bothering Naruto so. "I know that you're worried about Kakashi-sensei. But you can't blame yourself for these things --"

"But sensei," Naruto paused, biting his lip, "it was my fault."

Iruka smiled kindly.

"Naruto, you're a compassionate person, so of course you feel responsible. But Kakashi set out on this mission knowing the risks --"

"No, sensei, you don't understand. It really was my fault."

"How do you mean, Naruto? I don't think that your having been stronger could have prevented this. You are more capable than you know."

"Iruka-sensei," said Naruto with an air of finality. "He jumped in front of the enemy because I wasn't paying attention. He did it to save me and Sakura."

Iruka blinked. He had assumed that Kakashi had been reckless - as he always was in Iruka's eyes - and had been injured on his own. He had not known that Kakashi had sacrificed himself for his students. In fact, Iruka had accused him of not caring for his students.

"Naruto, will you tell me how it happened?"

The boy nodded somewhat hesitantly, and they sat down together in the grass. Naruto explained how he had tried to use the rasengan, and how it had failed. He explained how the enemy had went after Sakura and himself after that, and how the two of them had not dodged in time to avoid the attack. Naruto remembered looking up to see the hulking Earth-nin plummeting towards him and how, when he had looked next, it was to his sensei standing above him. Kakashi had used chidori, and Naruto had thought that his sensei had beaten the enemy; he had not understood the look of defeat that had flashed in Kakashi's eyes. Sakura had, and gasped, 'he's too close.' Yet there had been no other way for him to protect them but to get close. The enemy had grabbed his arm and trapped him in place, and the punch that had been meant to destroy Naruto and Sakura was dealt to him.

"I think that he knew that the punch would hurt him. . . a lot. . . that's why when he hit the Earth-nin with Chidori, he had an exploding tag in his hand that he left in the enemy's wound. That way, he could stop the enemy even if he got knocked out. . . and we wouldn't get hurt.

He knew that the Earth-nin would go after him, after he did that. He only blew up the seal once the enemy had him, because that way me and Sakura would be far enough away that the explosion would not reach us."

Iruka was silent. While he had never doubted Kakashi's prowess, he had always doubted his reliability. The man was constantly late, constantly indulging in questionable reading material, and constantly putting his students at risk - or so Iruka had believed. Hearing this made him rethink everything. He felt guilty, for having had so little faith in the other, and for thinking ill of him. And he felt guilty for having wished that Kakashi would be injured instead of those he cared for. In fact, he had even been angry with the jounin, that his dying was upsetting so many people around him. Most poignantly, however, he remembered the day the three had set out for Grass Country, and the last thing Kakashi had said to him - 'I protect my precious people.'

"Have you told this to Tsunade-sama?" asked Iruka. Naruto nodded.

"That's why she had Sakura help her, because she needed someone who had seen what had happened." Naruto looked at his feet, and became quiet. "Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei is going to die because of me."

Iruka turned to Naruto in surprise.

"No, Naruto," he said, looking the boy in the eyes. "If he dies, it will not be because of you. It will be for you. There is a difference. You should be honored that he cares so much for you, that he is willing to die for you." Iruka spoke from experience. There had been a time many years ago when he had done the same thing. He had been willing to die for Naruto, too.

"That dumb old man." Naruto sniffed. "Sensei, do you think he's going to die?"

"I don't know, Naruto." Iruka put an arm around Naruto's shoulder. "But I know that Kakashi is a strong ninja, and that Tsunade-sama is a strong healer. So anything is possible."

"That's what Gai-sensei said, too," said the boy, rubbing his nose.

Iruka stood and pulled Naruto to his feet.

"Well, great minds think alike." Iruka stopped himself from cringing; he realized he had just compared himself to Gai. He shrugged it off. It was not such a bad thing to be compared to him. At least Gai had had the heart to visit his rival. Iruka had not even done that for the man who had saved his students. He had hardly given him a passing thought. "Let's get you home."

Naruto smiled weakly.

"Thank you, sensei."

Iruka mussed the boy's yellow hair.

"No problem."

Iruka walked Naruto home, and arrived back at his own apartment.

He sat at his kitchen table, with a cup of tea that he let go cold, and realized that he had been entirely wrong about Kakashi. The full weight of the situation fell upon his shoulders, and now when he closed his eyes, it was to the image of a tired man, left alone in a white bed. It was to a man undeserved of his harsh assumptions.

He would have to do something about it.