A/N: To answer a startling review by anonymous user Jessy, no, this is not going to be a SakuraYamatoKakashi story. I'm sure they had orgies in the fourteen-hundreds, but not in this story, my friend. A threesome is out of the question.

I hopefully succeeded in freaking out my mom in the last chapter, though I'm pretty sure she's resigned to the fact that some of the things I write are less than appropriate.

Anyway, in this chapter, Kakashi shocks everyone! I hope you enjoy seeing him change.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Shifting Life
A Torn Limb Tears His Heart

Captain Yamato was not a practiced liar. Asuma had known him for years, and there were always telltale signs. A scratching of the nose here, a hitched breath there, a frown there, an incomplete story there. This time, Yamato was lying. He wasn't telling Asuma the whole story, and he'd frowned plenty of times during the meeting.

He'd called Kakashi a Shade. But it was quite obvious that Kakashi wasn't—red blood, the repeated references to Shifter culture as opposed to Shade—and for a while, Asuma wondered whether Yamato just really hated shape changers and so categorized them all the same.

But no. He was much too defensive. If he really hated shape changers, it wouldn't have mattered to him what Kakashi was, and he wouldn't have been so protective of the thing. So while they all slept before taking Kakashi to the castle, Asuma held a private conference with Gai, and they discussed exactly what to do.

--

It was Gai's turn to watch over Kakashi and Rin. It was his turn to stoke the fires between them, knowing that one was a Shifter and the other a true Shade. It was his turn to taunt them both with food and lash them both with harsh words.

But as he rounded the corner, thinking over what he might say to them to get them both irritated, Captain Yamato ran smack into his chest, Lady Sakura and Kakashi right behind him.

Kakashi looked nothing short of murderous. Before Gai could draw his sword, the great wolf had leaped upon him and knocked him to the ground, baring long white fangs the length of a man's forearm into his face. And before Gai could call for help or remember that he had a Shadebane knife in his pocket, those fangs were in his neck.

--

Just as soon as Kakashi felled Gai, he leaped up and away, following Yamato and Sakura down another corridor. Blood dripped from his fangs and jaws, and worried about the trail that it lay down on the stone floor as they ran, he changed into a human, covering his face with his mask. They would be gone long before Gai's shift was over, but Kakashi had smelled Shadebane on him, and was disconcerted.

"That was good and quick," Yamato said, sounding pleased.

"I thought he was your friend," Kakashi said in response.

"He was," Yamato said curtly.

"Where are we going?" Kakashi asked.

"The stables. I have a horse tacked, and then we can get out of here," Yamato replied.

The corridors began to slope upward and then out into a small alleyway that Kakashi didn't recognize. As Yamato led him and Sakura down the narrow passage, Kakashi said, "Do you think anyone will find out?"

"Almost certainly," Yamato replied, "which is why we have to move fast. We have approximately six hours to get as much distance between us and this place as possible, maybe less."

The stables were just around the corner, and Kakashi noted with some respect that Yamato had chosen an enduring-looking brown stallion for his steed. Kakashi changed himself into his horse form and quickly got Sakura up onto his back just as Yamato leaped into his own saddle.

With a few swift kicks, the earth was churning beneath powerful hooves as they dashed off into the mist that was beginning to choke the air.

--

Kakashi could not run for six hours. He had never really run very far after he was bound to Sakura. His heart was weak for it, and after about thirty minutes, his muscles began to burn. His heart was pounding and steam rolled off of his body in wet, sticky waves into the surrounding mist. The other horse was no better off, and Yamato seemed to notice this. He called for a halt, and the three looked about them, Kakashi sucking in great gulps of air.

The mist was thicker now than it was when they had left. It was difficult to see beyond a few feet in front of them.

"Let's rest here awhile," Kakashi suggested. "No one will see us."

Yamato nodded warily, and Sakura climbed off of Kakashi's back. He turned into a bare-chested human and rubbed his face and neck with the towel that appeared wrapped around his arm while Yamato tended his own horse. Sakura watched with avid fascination as Kakashi rubbed his mouth free of dried blood, spitting into the dirt and crouching to grab some grass and scrub his mouth free of anything lingering. Then she turned away and sat down.

"Can you smell anything, Kakashi?" Yamato asked.

Kakashi spat out the grass in his mouth and sniffed. "No," he said. "But then again, my body's burning up and all I can smell right now is my sweat. Give me a minute to cool down and ask me again later." He rubbed his stomach sourly. "I'll be surprised if I don't colic from all that running. Do you have anything for that, Sakura?"

She turned to him slowly, as though shocked he was asking her for anything. When he cleared his throat, she started and began rummaging through her bag, blushing furiously.

"I'm sure I have something," she murmured. "Here it is. I can make some dogwood tea."

"We can't risk lighting a fire," Yamato said. "Kakashi, just walk yourself out." He jerked his thumb toward his own horse, who was pacing back and forth rather smartly. Was he trained to do that?

Slightly impressed and slightly annoyed that a horse had more sense than he did, Kakashi turned back into a horse and paced. He snorted.

"I need a bath," he grunted.

"So do we," Sakura said. "We're all dirty and smelly, but I can't even see three feet in front of me. There's no way we can find a river in all of this fog."

After Kakashi had finished walking himself out, he lay down as a thin-coated wolf, stretched out from nose to tail. His chest rose and fell with great heaving sighs, breathing in the cold air and expelling the heat from his body. He twitched slightly when he felt Sakura's hand alight on his side, but relaxed soon afterward when she began sending her pulsing healing energy into his heart and lungs. She was strengthening them for the future, and Kakashi could only feel grateful as the incessant burning in his body began to die away and his heart beat more assuredly and sent needed blood throughout his system.

Then Yamato stooped down and ruffled the fur between his ears.

"How does it feel to be unbound?" he asked, his voice soft lest someone else be in the vicinity.

"Weird," Kakashi said. He sat up and allowed both of the humans to continue whatever they were doing. Whether it was buttering him up or just trying to comfort him, it felt so incredibly good that all the wolf could do was lean into it. The humans laughed.

"It's a far cry from being kicked, isn't it?" Sakura asked, and Kakashi looked at her. "Much more preferable."

"You could say that," he said, "though I'm not used to it or being unbound. I can feel my own sensations again. It's... different."

Sakura drew her hand away, though Yamato kept scratching Kakashi right between his ears. Kakashi had a wolfish grin on his face and his eyes were closed. It seemed as though the escape had brought them all closer together, even if it felt odd and somewhat wrong.

"Sorry," Sakura said.

"For what?" Kakashi asked, his eyes snapping open as he looked at Sakura again. Yamato pulled away and rolled into a sit from his crouch, looking expectantly at his love.

"For making you live like that for twenty years." Sakura rubbed her hands along her arms. "It wasn't my choice, you know, and I always wished I could reverse it. Sometimes when you were sleeping I'd ask Grandmother if she could do something, but she said she couldn't."

"I got used to it after a while," Kakashi said, eyes now downcast. "Now I'll have to get used to this. I'm going to go hunt." And he dashed off into the mist.

Yamato crept toward Sakura and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he said, kissing her forehead. "Everything's going to be fine. He's grateful to the both of us for releasing him and getting him out. He actually let us pet him without protest. I thought he would have gnawed off my arm." He smiled slightly and sat down beside her.

"He hates me," Sakura whispered. "He'll never stop."

Yamato cooed softly to her, whispering little nothings into her ear, sounds of love and kindness and calm, and when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, she leaned in to him.

"He'll come around," Yamato said, rubbing her shoulder as he rocked her back and forth. "He doesn't really hate you."

But Sakura only began to cry, her choked off sobs heaving her shoulders as she clutched at Yamato's vest, and he could only hold her closer and rest his cheek on the top of her head.

--

They waited until Kakashi and Yamato's mount had rested, and then they plodded on more slowly. It was early evening now, and the thick mist that had aided their escape had cleared. They had descended a southern slope and were now out of sight of the castle, heading towards one of the Fire Country's thick forests that lay just beyond the farmland.

More than once, Kakashi was hungrily tempted by the sheep and cattle that they passed, and Sakura had to jerk on the reins to hold him steady and keep him in line.

What they had to do now was find a small trading village where no one knew their names or faces, and buy long cloaks to wear. Sakura, it had been decided, eventually would need a bow and arrow. Yamato needed to discard his knight's clothing and cheek protectors to give him a different appearance. Sakura, with her bright hair, especially needed a hood. They had to look like hunters, nothing more.

Once they got beyond the forest's southern border, they would be safe in an isolated part of the country where knights hardly dared to tread and only the strongest of peoples survived. In that community, Yamato knew, Shifters and chimeras worked alongside humans and beasts. That community was untouched by Sarutobi's regime, though it still lay within his territory.

The only problem was that this community was nearly a six month's ride away. It was doubtful that the three of them could survive that long in a forest as dense as Fire's south. Besides the fact that Yamato wasn't quite sure where that community lay. They were extremely secretive, after all. He scarcely remembered his last visit.

But Yamato also knew that the warning horns would blow soon. Their six-hour head start was almost up, and they needed to find new identities before then.

--

The warning blows never came. Either they didn't reach Yamato's ears, or they just weren't blown, which seemed suspicious in and of itself.

For several days, they traveled until they came to a little fishing village on the edge of a rushing river. Yamato, having buried his cheek protectors, vest, and gloves, asked an old man if there was any place where he and his wife could barter for some clothing.

The old man was quite helpful, obviously having not heard any warning of any sort either, and pointed out that down the road, there was a tailor's shop that would do Yamato and his lovely wife fine.

Kakashi was quiet. He had to be. But he seemed dim and distant, and every time a crow called, he started and Sakura had to kick or pull him back into line. He tossed his mane against the reins, the red surrounding his irises speaking of how weary he was, but Yamato knew that stopping now meant certain death.

The tailor's shop was small and drab, but the clothes the woman offered where thick and warm. Yamato had some coin, and thankfully, the thick woolen, hooded cloaks were not expensive enough so that he had to barter. But there would be no bow and arrow to be found for Sakura here, so before Kakashi's itch sprung upon him, they left the village far behind and continued south, hidden safely under their new clothing. Sakura's hood was so low over her brow that Yamato couldn't see her eyes, and not even a sliver of her hair escaped the tight plaiting Kakashi did for her.

Yamato watched with a weary fascination the night after they'd bought the cloaks and Sakura asked her former protector to help her do up her hair. Yamato thought Kakashi would refuse—he himself would gladly help his love in any sort of way—but the Shifter shocked him by crouching down behind her and braiding her long pink locks tightly enough to stay wrapped but loosely enough so that she wouldn't scratch or pull at it. He did it with such tenderness, too. Yamato was surprised Kakashi had that kind of softness in him, for all of the brutality he'd shown so far.

And as he watched that night, a lazy smile spread its way across Yamato's face, and he found himself just beginning to respect the creature before him.

--

He hadn't been asked to do up her hair since she was very young. When she was young, he resented it, but felt resigned to do it, and was careful not to cause her pain only because it would make him uncomfortable as well. But now, unbound from her, Kakashi found himself quite willing to be close to her, to reestablish the connection that they once shared. It was an odd feeling, having her in his saddle during the day and watching her sleep next to Yamato at night, but pleasurable.

Kakashi almost felt... happy for her.

So when she asked him to plait her hair while she stared into the flames of the fire, he feared that refusing would drain the last bit of happiness from her face. He'd done so much to hurt her already, that face was already wan with bitterness and silence. He doubted he could bear to hurt her any more than he'd already had. So he did what he was asked, tenderly, and could not stop his human hand afterwards from brushing across her shoulder and nape, and could not stop his human head to dip forward ever so slightly to smell the smell of travel that clung to her.

He was thankful that with his human eyes, blinded by the contrast of bright fire and dark night, Yamato wouldn't be able to see the details of what Kakashi was doing.

But he felt Sakura shiver beneath his touch.

Kakashi woke with a stomach that was growling painfully. He rolled over and groaned before sitting up.

"Where's the river?" he asked to no one in particular, for no one was awake yet.

He glanced around. Dew had beaded on the trampled grass and the char that clung to the fire pit. It had collected on Kakashi's mask (he didn't know why he still wore it, and summoned it away) and his skin. It had collected on the fur of his cloak and in his hair, and when he turned to look at Yamato and Sakura, who were curled tightly together to keep away the cold, he saw that it had even collected on the woolen clothing they had bought several days ago.

They'd passed the river yesterday, and had bathed and fished, but the fish was gone now, and Kakashi had expended energy carrying Sakura all day yesterday.

He reached over and shook Yamato by the shoulder. Yamato cracked an eye to look up at him, then rolled over, disentangling himself from Sakura and sitting up.

"Morning," Kakashi said cheerily.

Yamato looked at Kakashi again, and his eyes widened. "Your mask!" he gasped.

"There's no need to wear it anymore," Kakashi said. "I trust you."

The expression Yamato gave him then was something like being blessed, as though Kakashi had just given him the entire world on a silver platter. It was an awkward feeling, so Kakashi stood up and away with a strange little smile. No one had ever given him that look before, like they were grateful.

Be grateful.

His fists clenched slightly underneath the shelter of his cloak as he said, "We have to hunt today. The grass is trampled here, meaning that there should be a herd of something somewhere. I'm going to go and scout. If I'm not back in two hours, come and get me."

Then, as a wolf, he was off into the tall grass beyond the campsite like a bowshot.

--

Chimera deer! Half caribou, half horse, they were quite intelligent, and very territorial. Kakashi could only vaguely smell wolf in the area. The wolves that had tried hunting this herd must have vacated by now to seek easier pickings. Even if chimera deer got sick often, they could still fight like chimera.

The only thing was, that if they were to hunt these beasts, Yamato would need to use his thicker arrows, maybe even his sword, and Kakashi would need to be the strongest, fastest form he had, which unfortunately, was a wolf only slightly larger than his scouting form.

Sakura, for safety's sake, would have to be kept out of the way at the campsite. Yamato and Kakashi could direct the inevitable stampede along the ditch about half a mile down the valley.

Easy targets.

--

Yamato and Sakura were up and dressed when Kakashi returned from his scouting trip. Shaking the dew from his shoulders, he relayed what he'd seen to Yamato, stressing the slight amount of danger involved with intelligent, strategic beasts like chimera deer.

"I've seen the leader," Kakashi said, standing as a human. "His antlers are sharp, and he scented me just as I was leaving, so be careful of him. He'll have scouts prepared."

"Don't you think you're giving them too much credit?" Yamato asked. "They're just deer."

"Don't you think I'd know enough about my own cousins?" Kakashi snapped as a reply. "They're chimera." He turned to Sakura. "Can you have dressings prepared for when we get back, just in case?"

"Of course!" she said. She knew better than to argue. As Yamato swung up onto his horse, she continued, "Be safe, you two."

They gave her fleeting smiles before going off.

--

Dammit! I can't see the damned flea bag anywhere! As Yamato stood downwind behind a boulder on his horse, looking at the fantastic herd before him, he could not see Kakashi on the other side. It had taken them an hour to reach this place at a steady trot, and now they were going on a hunt.

Wait for the howl...

He readied his bow.

When the call came, long and high and crisp, Yamato kicked his horse into action, steering it with his toes and heels as he began to race after the now thundering herd. After a few seconds of running, Kakashi came loping up beside him.

"There's a young one within a bowshot over there!" he panted, nodding his head toward a young male that was just beginning to sprout its horns for the first time. "I'll push it towards you so you can get its neck!" Then he veered away.

Once the young deer was in sight, Yamato drew back his bowstring so that the fletching rested on his cheek, then fired straight into the deer's throat. It fell and skidded to a halt, Kakashi skidding to a halt beside it.

The rest of the herd cantered on, no longer worried about their own lives, and Yamato grinned at the wolf with their success.

Kakashi did not grin back.

--

There was an air of haughtiness about them. As a mature female passed, Kakashi heard her bleat, "Yes, yes! Get them! Make them pay for killing my son, Leader!"

When he heard that, Kakashi whipped his head around, not noticing Yamato's grin, and stared, mouth agape, at the huge chimera that was running directly toward his comrade at a blinding speed, his head lowered.

"Yamato!" Kakashi barked, running towards the lead deer with all the speed he could muster.

No... He was too far away...!

That huge rack hit the horse and dug deeply into its side and heart, killing it instantly. When the leader jerked away, he was quick enough and strong enough so that the horse snapped from his antlers, its spine broken. Yamato rolled down the steep incline leading to the grassy ditch the herd had been chased alongside, and Kakashi, ignoring the danger of the chimera king, darted after him.

But the chimera deer seemed satisfied, and trotted after his herd.

--

Yamato's grin faded as soon as Kakashi whirled around. His eyes widened when the wolf yelled out his warning, but all thought was slammed from his mind when those fearsome antlers gored the flesh of his horse, narrowly missing his right leg.

It all happened so fast that Yamato didn't even have time to hear the snap of his horse's spine or notice that he was suddenly flying through the air. He landed with a harsh thud on a steep incline and then began a swift roll down the side of the ditch Kakashi had warned him about. The earth was loose and pulled away with his dragging fingers, and the slope was so steep anyone would snap their leg trying to run down.

Indeed, as he tumbled, Yamato suddenly felt wild with pain. He let out a shout as he landed on his back, clutching his shin while trying to assess if there was any other damage.

His left leg was bleeding badly. The pant leg was torn, and Yamato could see the fractured bone.

Through his suddenly hazed vision, he could see a silver shock of hair as Kakashi carefully slid down the slope on his back, hopping up on two legs before falling on his hands and knees at Yamato's side. His mask was back up—a sign of fear?—and there was intense worry in his eyes.

"Yamato!" Kakashi said.

Yamato had stopped clutching his leg by now. His vision was growing hazier.

Kakashi grimaced and growled. "Tenzou!" he said.

Yamato grunted his surprise before slipping into unconsciousness.

--

Kakashi felt his body begin to tremble. No. No! This couldn't be happening! Yamato was not lying there with a wound that was potentially lethal! Not Yamato. Not... Tenzou!

Kakashi looked at the wound. There was dirt in it, and it was still bleeding. He panicked for a moment before falling on it as a wolf, tearing away the bits of cloth and licking away the blood and grime in a frantic effort to keep his comrade from gaining any sort of infection.

Get him off the ground, his mind demanded, and Kakashi stood as a human, his mask on to hide his frightened face. He curled his arms beneath Tenzou's shoulders and knees and stood up, then went as fast as he could back to where Sakura was. It would take three hours at least.

Kakashi howled out her name and hoped that she would hear it.

--

She dropped the pan of water she was scrubbing when she heard the faint, "Sakura!" on the wind, and recognized Kakashi's voice. Then, fearing the worst, she grabbed the rucksack full of the dressings she had prepared and raced towards where the two said they would be. South-southwest.

--

When she saw them, she couldn't believe her eyes. Kakashi was staggering under a weight that quite probably equaled his own. He looked exhausted and worried and heartsick, and blood was dripping down the leg of the body he held in his arms...

Tears sprang to her eyes.

Tenzou.

"What happened?" she asked, as Kakashi set him down, turned into a wolf, and began licking at his leg.

"The leader of the herd gored his horse and sent him flying down the ditch we were trying to run alongside," Kakashi said, pulling away as a human once more and allowing Sakura to begin her work. "I saw his leg slice open on some shale and pulled out what slivers I could see, but he fractured his shin."

The leg was red with blood and swelling slightly, but not so much as to be overly worrisome. The fracture was a thin crack along the shin, and with some medication, would take only three weeks to heal, at the most. Tenzou would need stitches before he lost any more blood, because the sick grayness of his skin was not reassuring.

"You did a good thing licking his wound like that," Sakura said as she prepared her needle with a sulfur match. "You probably saved his life."

But Kakashi looked anything but grateful for the praise. He began pacing as a wolf, whimpering every so often when he saw Sakura's needle pull together flesh that she poured wine over to keep infection away. Finally, she grew tired of it, her old ardor returned in light of the moment.

"Make yourself useful and go get the carcasses."

It wasn't a question. It was an order. And even if they were unbound, old habits die hard, and he would no doubt follow her command.

"I want to stay here," he ground out, startling her, "with you. And him."

For a moment, Sakura froze. She looked up into those bicolored eyes that were human again now, seeing nothing in the red and fear behind the black. Then she swallowed and whispered, "It's not a request. It's an order. Please go, Kakashi."

And then he shocked her. Of his own free well, he leaned across Yamato and pressed his masked lips to her forehead for a second before drawing away and leaping into the air as a falcon.

He'd whispered against her skin, "Please don't let him die."