"There!" Naruto gripped Sakura's shoulder and pointed excitedly towards the form of their sleeping sensei, "See, he did it again!"
"Sshh!" Sakura hissed angrily and Naruto barely ducked the fist swinging towards his head, "People are sleeping!" She knocked him under his unguarded chin as she said the last word for emphasis. His seat lifted an inch off of the cave floor in an impressive display of Sakura's easily provoked temper. He crashed back to the earth, limbs flailing from the jarring impact. The Jinchuriki started laughing giddily, clutching his stomach and rolling from side to side. Sakura's brow ticked.
Sai readied himself for an explosion, snatching up his pad and paintbrush just in case he would need to fly away at short notice.
He had learned that whenever the team medic's face got that twitchy, constipated look objects would start flying. That, or she would exclaim passionately about the terrible service in the restaurant. Seeing as they were currently hiding out in a damp cave along Konoha's border for the night and there were no pimply waiters nearby... it was only safe to assume that her reaction would be the former...
"C'mon, Sakura-chan!" Naruto whispered excitedly as he raised his blanket to shield himself from the flying ball of dirty socks aimed at his grinning face, "Just look at him!"
She seemed to pause at this, thermos held high over her head in a threatening gesture, and tilted her head to peer curiously at her sensei. Sai contemplated informing her that her hot cocoa was spilling out of the container and onto the corner of Shikamaru's blanket behind her. However, after a thorough evaluation of Shikamaru's slothful character, he determined that the Shadow-user might appreciate a relaxing, warm soak before going to sleep.
Kakashi growled.
It was a deep, rumbling sound that lost it's ire halfway through, fading into a soft moan that echoed loudly in the quiet night. Lying on his side with his back to the pockmarked stone wall, the Copy-ninja was curled in on himself. His blanket had been pushed up during his fitful sleep to tangle around his neck and shoulders, partially covering the side of his masked face not resting on his pack. There was a barely recognizable frown, a small furrowing of his only visible eyebrow and a gentle pouting of his lips. Kakashi's lean legs, bent and blanketless, quivered slightly and made weak, half-hearted kicking movements.
For some reason Sai felt a deep, calming warmth waft through his chest at the sight. He blinked a couple of times, realizing that he was feeling something but not really knowing what it was.
"Aww," Sakura cooed in a noticeably softer tone than normal, "He looks like a little puppy!" She giggled, setting down the newly emptied thermos beside her, and lifted a hand to cover her smiling lips. Sai stared at Kakashi's face, unguarded in sleep, and wondered if he were to impersonate an animal would Sakura look at him like that. He was always trying to bond with his teammates, and he had just recently become aware of how important facial expressions were for human interaction.
But while he was pondering the possible consequences of lifting his lips like a horse at the unpredictable female, his two teammates had already formed a plan of sorts.
"Shh! Hahaha." Naruto laughed over his female teammate's protests as he leaned over his sensei's slumbering form, fingers waggling in anticipation as they neared the masked face, "Watch this."
"Naruto..." Sakura growled threateningly, fisting her hand in the back of the Jinchuriki's jacket. But she didn't look away and she didn't pull him back. He stretched further forwards, lips pressed together in a devious, excited smile. His fingertips brushed the soft material of the mask.
Kakashi grunted sleepily, slowly tilting his head back away from the touch until the movement was halted by the wall behind him. His felt-tipped nose scrunched and he shook his head minutely, spilling glossy slivers of feathery white hair into his face. There was a tense moment where nobody moved. The Copy-ninja's breathing evened out into soft snores once again.
Naruto let out the breath he had been holding and, with a painstaking carefulness that Sai hadn't known his teammate was capable of, started to roll down the edge of the thin fabric. Sakura leaned forward over his shoulder, eyes comically wide and transfixed on the face of her former sensei.
The dark material slid slowly down and Sai could just make out the beginnings of high cheekbones and the straight, thin bridge of Kakashi's nose in the dim moonlight.
But before the mask could be lowered another millimeter, the quiet, steady rhythm of snores hitched. A split second passed before Kakashi's eye snapped open, animalistic and intense. His gloved hand lunged forwards with a speed that was nearly impossible to track and wrapped around Naruto's neck in a death grip. Sakura screamed.
There was a sudden shuffling of blankets as the rest of their teammates were jolted into awareness. But, just as Yamato shot up quickly into a sitting position, head whipping around in search of the danger, Kakashi seemed to come back to himself.
The Copy-ninja gasped, grey eye widening in realization as he took in the sight of Naruto's red, grimacing face. He yanked his hand back as if he had been burned, a loud curse spilling from his lips. Naruto fell to his knees, breathing hard. Sakura was beside him in a second, rubbing a soothing hand over his hunched back, but unable to tear her gaze from Kakashi. Sai found his jaw clenching as a tense silence filled the suddenly stuffy cave air.
Kakashi gasped, panting hard, and looked down at his slightly shaking hands, pale in the moonlight. He swallowed audibly before looking up into Naruto's shocked face, grey eye wide and frightened. But before anyone could make a move towards them or say anything he stood up stiffly.
He turned rigidly on his heel so that he was facing the entrance to the cave, head tilted slightly downwards and shoulders in a tense, half-shrug. He stood there for a couple of strained seconds before forcing out a gruff, "Sorry."
Team Seven and Team Ten could only watch as the Copy-ninja quickly stepped out of the cave and into the chilly night.
"He's okay, isn't he Yamato-taichou?" Ino asked, scooting over and leaning over his crossed legs to pull out a low-calorie bar from her bag, which was next to him. He really needed to talk to her about her diet. It simply wasn't logical to go into potential life and death situations when you're body wasn't getting the proper nutrition it needs. She carefully stripped the food of it's wrapper, artlessly dropping the trash into his lap after she had peeled off the plastic.
Maybe while he was addressing her poor eating habits he would explain the matter of respecting other's space.
"Yamato-taichou?"
Tenzou looked up to see Sakura and Chouji's worried expressions, Naruto's wide blue eyes, Shikamaru's calculating stare, Sai's blank face, and Ino's raised eyebrow. He coughed.
"Of course," Tenzou forced a smile and nodded, "Kakashi-senpai is fine. You should all go back to sleep."
Before any questions could be asked, the wood-user flipped over onto his side and pulled his blanket up to his chin, facing the darkness of the cave. He stared straight ahead, listening to the sounds of his team as they reluctantly returned to bed. They whispered loudly between themselves. Tenzou frowned.
They knew nothing.
It shouldn't have rankled him so, but he just couldn't stamp out a spark of anger at their behavior. Kakashi was their leader, they should have enough sense to politely ignore what just happened.
The Copy-ninja was a complicated man with a lot of strange mannerisms and a roundabout way of handling people, he knew that. But, underneath the practiced defense mechanisms and prickly exterior was one of the purest souls he had ever encountered. Didn't they know that Kakashi had no limits when it came to them? There was nothing that man wouldn't do or endure for their sakes, and he would do it without complaint-beg to do it even. And to hear them whispering about him, giggling behind their hands as if he had just done something childishly embarrassing... it made him downright angry!
Tenzou sighed. No doubt the man was outside right now, beating himself up and choking with shame. He knew Kakashi, he'd known him since ANBU, and he knew that the man wasn't nearly as emotionless as he would like others to think. When the Copy-ninja had secretly rejoined ANBU, during the time when both Naruto and Sakura had found other teachers, Tenzou had been given the task of reading over the man's application.
Now, as he lay wrapped tightly in his blanket, facing the darkness, he couldn't help but remember some of the things that he had stumbled upon in the perusal of his medical files.
At age seven and three months the famed Copy-ninja had been diagnosed with a severe case of attachment disorder and a milder case of obsessive compulsive disorder.
From ages nine to twelve there were repeated examinations regarding the suspicion that he was struggling with anorexia nervosa. The symptoms picked up again at seventeen years of age and he was issued with a doctor-approved meal plan that lasted for the next three months.
He was diagnosed with dissociation disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder at the age of seventeen, shortly before he left ANBU.
Tenzou didn't kid himself. He didn't fully understand the enigmatic Sharingan-user, and he probably never really would. But, he pursed his lips at the thought, he clearly understood him better than any of the younger jounin did. Kakashi wasn't nearly as bulletproof as he seemed.
He took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled slowly, forcing his shoulders to relax. Really, medical ninjutsu was a miracle life-saver. But it didn't keep his wounded shoulder from throbbing hotly. He just needed to relax. There was nothing he could do about the situation without making Kakashi exceedingly uncomfortable or making the former ANBU look weak in front of his old students. Tenzou's eyes drifted closed and he began to doze off... Only to be jolted awake again by Shikamaru's exasperated yell.
"Chouji! Why is my blanket wet and smell like hot chocolate?!"
Ah! It's good to be back!
Poor Kakashi, he's so adorable that he can't get a wink of sleep without some knuckle-head trying to see under his mask. And Naruto's already seen his face too! I don't know, I just have the feeling that after he sees Kakashi's face he wouldn't stop trying to get his mask off. (If anything his efforts have doubled!)
I'm a little anxious to see what you all think about this chapter because this was my first step in revealing Kakashi's character. I didn't want him to seem too wimpy (hence Naruto's near death by strangulation) but I'm slowly tearing down that invincible image of his and making it a little more human. I don't want to rewrite or change his character, I just want to add a little depth that's only really just been touched on in the manga. Please review and tell me what you think!
Can I just say that Penn Relays was the most intense, amazing experience of my life?! Usain Bolt ran a 8.79 split in his 4x100 and (OhMyGod!) he was running in the same lane that I did! He was the same leg too (anchor)! :'] Our feet touched the same orangey track particles...
Thanks!
~Flintyminty25