The cool evening breeze blew through Kakashi's hair as he walked silently down the campground's main road and towards the village, his hands in his pockets. Around him, the camp was full of life. Outside of their cabins, kids played and talked to one another. Laughter and playful shrieks could be heard, although to him the sounds seemed muffled. He was only subconsciously aware of what was going on around him. There was something else occupying his mind.

After finally talking about the past with Yamato, he felt... different. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but he knew that there was something off. Was it him? Was it Yamato? He couldn't shake the feeling that began to well in his gut. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He stopped and looked to see who it was.

It was Yamato, leaning his head slightly to the side and smiling.

Relief.

Kakashi couldn't help the almost overwhelming warmth that replaced the bitter feeling he had at this sight of the man standing before him. He could feel his pupils dilate and then recede back to normal from the rush of dopamine flooding his brain. What is this? Kakashi couldn't help a small smile from appearing on his lips.

"Yo," was all he could stupidly muster. This isn't normal. Be cool. Kakashi exhaled sharply, attempting to change the pace of his increasing heart rate.

"Itachi told me that we are partnering up for watch."

"I see." The corner of Kakashi's lip twitched..

"Yeah," Yamato entertained, "it's been a while since I've been assigned anything other than being a body guard for Danzo. I'm a little disappointed though; this isn't much different."

Kakashi wasn't really paying attention. Under no circumstances did he want to admit that he actually cared about this guy. However, he didn't understand why he felt this way. It could have simply been a matter of pride, but he didn't want to admit that he had a problem with his ego, either. Instead of risking a response that would give him away, he simply turned and began walking again.

As a response to this, Yamato became irritated. What the fuck. I was fucking talking to him. He began to grind his teeth. Fucking asshole. He exhaled through his nose sharply, not being very cautious to hide the fact he was annoyed.

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder to look back at the steaming tea pot behind him. In an effort to see what he had done without giving himself away, he said,

"You alright there, buddy?"

Buddy?

Yamato lost it.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Buddy? Are you serious?" He slapped Kakashi on the back of the head hard.

"Ow, fuck!" Kakashi immediately placed his hand where the stinging sensation was coming from and turned around, furious.

"What the hell! Why would you do that?" Kakashi hissed. Is this guy nuts? He glared at Yamato, who was now staring intensely at the ground, his fists balled up, trembling. Kakashi had never seen a grown man get so emotional. After realizing the state Yamato was in, he began to feel bad. Perhaps there was something else going on that he didn't realize. He knew he had been being an asshole, anyways.

"I have spent all this time, regardless of your behavior towards me, being nothing but kind to you, dealing with you being a jerk, and you pop off with a smart ass, careless remark like 'buddy?' You don't even have the decency to address me with a proper title," he accused.

Kakashi was pained upon hearing this. "Yamato..."

Yamato looked up, grief in his eyes. "I just want to be respected by you. I wanted to compare to you. Growing up in The Foundation and then meeting you and hearing your story, that's all I ever wanted. Even though you're only a few years older than me, everyone treated you like..." he trailed off, trying to think of the right word. Unable to find it, he continued anyways.

"Everyone in this town knows your name. And now that I have the chance here to work with you... I realize that it was fucking stupid to ever want to be like you."

Yamato's words were like stabs to Kakashi's soul. He had not even stopped to take into consideration how his actions in this life would have affected other people. He hadn't ever before dreamed that he would be someone anyone looked up to. He began to feel a pain that he was well acquainted with.

Guilt.

Yamato felt incredibly stupid for being so emotional over something so small. There's starving children in the world, he thought to himself, trying to make himself feel guilty for getting so worked up. Don't be such a bitch. A tear formed without his consent down his cheek, and dripped onto the ground. He looked back down, more angry with himself now than at Kakashi. Fuck, pull yourself together!

Kakashi couldn't bear to see anyone, let alone Yamato, in so much inner turmoil. He stepped towards Yamato's quivering body, and placed his hand on his shoulder. Yamato looked up in shock, tears streaming down his face. He had no idea what to do, and instinctively attempted to pull away, only for Kakashi to pull him in to his chest and wrap his arms around him tightly.

Yamato felt his heart skip a beat. Kakashi, not realizing that he was taller than Yamato until just then, leaned his chin on top of his soft, chestnut colored hair.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi's voice was sincere.

Yamato did his best to stifle the sobs that were wanting to escape from his throat, however he could not control the stream of tears now falling down his face and onto the fabric covering Kakashi's chest. His heart was racing, and he began to feel his face burning as the blood rose to his cheeks. He could smell a faint scent of cologne on Kakashi's skin, perhaps from his shower soap? Or maybe his laundry detergent. Whichever it was, he liked it. Slowly he relaxed his muscled from trembling, feeling his body grow warm with comfort, and he loosely wrapped his arms around Kakashi's mid torso.

Kakashi held the position for only a few moments longer, not wanting to break away right as Yamato got comfortable in fear of another break down. However, after a few seconds, he cleared his throat, leaned down, and gently said,

"We should get going."

"Oh," Yamato realized they were still standing where they could be seen, and had somewhere to be. He pulled away and straightened up, but not before getting one last whiff of Kakashi's scent. "Right." He cleared his throat, and wiped away the remaining tears from his face.

What have I gotten myself into? Kakashi knew this probably was not going to lead anywhere good and he should turn back right then and there, but there was a side of him that was curious to see what would happen now. He didn't like not having things planned out, but he couldn't help but feel differently around Yamato. Together they continued to walk towards the post they had been assigned to.

IN THE CAMPGROUND

"Uhh, Sakura..?" Naruto hesitated, not wanting to ruin the moment he was having with Sakura, but also worried about where Sasuke had gone.

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't Sasuke have been back by now?"

Sakura looked around, realizing that it had been quite some time now since Sasuke said he was going to be "right back." She had gotten carried away watching Sai paint the setting sun on the easel he had set up out front of the cabin. Naruto had no idea that's what had actually been captivating her.

"Oh," she quickly stood up from her sitting position, and began to walk down the porch steps of the cabin, where they had been resting, enjoying the summer evening. "You're right." She looked at her watch, realizing it had been hours since Sasuke left. She was immediately furious with herself for not noticing until now.

Sai, having heard the conversation, stopped painting and turned around. "Should we go look for him? He's not allowed out of the camp ground without one of the instructors, right?"

"What'll happened if they find out?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know," Sai admitted. Naruto closed in on the group, folding his arms thoughtfully.

"We should just go look for him around here. He couldn't have gotten far."

"Actually-" Sai was about to pop off with a smart ass remark.

"Shut up," Naruto cut him off, already knowing he was going to say something contradictory to what he had just suggested.

"What if we don't find him?" Sakura asked, beginning to pick at her nails anxiously, already fearing the worst.

"Don't worry, Sakura," Naruto smiled at her reassuringly. "If anything did happen, Sasuke's tough."

Sakura nodded.

"If we don't find him, we should go to Itachi. He may know where he is, or at least how to find him, since they're brothers," Sai proposed.

The three agreed, and set out around the camp to find Sasuke.