"You're just a whiny crybaby! Heroes are real and I'm gonna be one of the best! You'll see, I'm gonna beat Gato and all his stinkin' men to a pulp and save the bridge Dattebayo."
Naruto shouted to Inari, who had already started to cry from the blonde's last outburst. The small black haired boy stuck out his tongue at Naruto, who nearly climbed over the table in anger trying to get at the boy. He was held back by Sasuke and Sakura, the latter giving him a swift smack to the head for being such a dolt. Inari just sniffled, tromping back to his room upstairs, leaving his empty dinner plate on the small wooden table. Naruto was still seething, his arms crossed one over another, and was no mood to apologize to the 'spoiled brat'. He walked out onto the deck of the house, his feet dangling over the water, the full moon's reflection bright on the small lake.
"Stupid little...I'll show him! I'll show all of you!"
Gritting his teeth, Naruto ran off of the deck, into the marshland where two days previously they had come out of. Going to the place where Asuma had taken them tree climbing earlier, he focused his chakra, dashing up to the top of the tree. Jumping down every branch, the blonde grunted as his feet landed on the soft grass. He went up a different tree, this one taller then the other, and sped down it as well. Kakashi watched the boy run up tree after tree, his broken blade in his hands. Taking a small salve from his pocket, he quickly affixed it to the part that Zabuza had torn off in their earlier fight. Attaching that to the remains of his blade, Kakashi slid it back in his sheath, about ready to fly down ad confront Naruto about his reckless behavior. He couldn't climbing trees all night; He'd catch pneumonia sleeping on the ground or something else Kakashi didn't need to worry about.
Even more so since they had found out Zabuza was alive and well, and well on his way to recovery by the looks of things. They had not yet been attacked when paroling the bridge, but the genin were still wary. Asuma had healed up quite nicely in the past two days, though he was still in no shape to be out fighting. Still, they had no idea when trouble would strike and Asuma had left them with a rigorous training regimen while he was busy recovering. Naruto, being the knucklehead that he was ,had decided to push himself further than necessary these past few days. He felt like he had to prove something to little Inari, and show him that heroes really do exist. Kakashi admired the boy's spirit and determination, but at the rate he was going,he'd likely get himself killed or at least overworked.
"Naruto, you really shouldn't push yourself like this!"
The boy turned to him looking up at the base of the tree he was preparing to climb, his whiskered face smiling even though beads of sweat were dripping down his forehead. Kakashi quickly touched down on the soft grass next to Naruto, leading him over to shade underneath the trees. Of course the blonde tried to protest, but the angelic Anbu would hear none of it. Scowling, Naruto didn't even face Kakashi, who was grinning slightly. He knew the boy would be stubborn after interrupting his training. He sighed, pulling out something from his pouch and giving it to the young boy. Naruto stared at it quizzically, wondering why in the world his foster parent would give him a book. He wasn't a very avid reader, though he honestly didn't mind burying his head in a book every now and then if it was good enough.
Curious, he flipped the first page and saw the title, The Legend of the Gusty Ninja. Smirking, he turned to Kakashi, who was as unreadable as ever. Guessing that this meant to keep reading, Naruto turned to the first page and started from there, his eyes widening as he saw the main character's name: Naruto, just like his own. The blonde genin grinned even wider, this was going to be an interesting read...
A few hours later...
Naruto's eyes opened slowly, to be obscured by something sliver. His nose tickled and he had to force himself to hold in a sneeze as strands of hair went into his nose. Getting up in a sitting position, trying not to disturb his sleeping companion, Naruto grinned at the content look on his tousan's face. Well, the parts of his face the boy could see anyways. He must have fallen asleep listening to me read out loud. How cute, and good blackmail too. If only I had a camera..Wait, can cameras take dead people's pictures? I forgot he was a ghost! Darn... Naruto blinked, sunlight streaming in through the trees branches and hitting him n the face.
Kakashi groaned on top of him, his eyes blearily opening to the sharp rays of sun. He let out a quiet curse, then turned over into Naruto's jacket, wrapping one of his arms around the boy's torso. Naruto ruffled the Anbu's hair, remembering how Kakashi did it to him when he was little. Another small moan and more shuffling ensued, the teen's one eye lazily staring upward at the smirking blonde.
"How long are you going to be sleeping on top of me? I can't feel my legs."
"Sorry...I used more chakra than I thought using all those jutsu. Even though its been a few days, I still feel kinda tired. It takes me longer to recover chakra, not having any physical energy, you know."
Naruto helped pull the half-asleep Anbu to a sitting position, the two watching dawn break through the gaps in the trees. Naruto sighed, prompting an odd look from his mentor/father figure.
"I just...have a feeling...what if we won't be able to spend time like this anymore? What if something happens to one of us? What will we do?"
Kakashi stared at Naruto, draping one hand over the boy's shoulder, his face grinning and yet serious at the same time.
"I'll make sure nothing like that happens. I'll protect you with my life, I swear it. Well, I'm not really...alive but you get what I mean! Not like I can die twice anyways. Trust me, everything'll be fine. You're worrying too much."
"...Fine, but I'm gonna hold you to that!"
"Promise of a lifetime, Naruto-kun. Promise of a lifetime."
A/N: Short and cute. Zabuza, Haku vs Team 7 and Kakashi will be next.