Chapter 21: Struggling with Perfection

"You'll be fine but you need rest. Actual rest, not just avoiding fights for the next few days," Hana informed Sakura. Her gaze flickered over to Sasuke suspiciously after a brief moment as her frown grew. "Both of you."

Naruto held back a snicker. The teme looked like he'd taken a bite out of a lemon and it felt okay to laugh now that he knew they'd be fine. No long-term effects, just a couple of faint burns because their wounds had been labelled minor when they arrived. Most people wouldn't even know they had burns unless they were told.

And getting them not to train in this place would be easy enough.

This portion of the exam wouldn't be over for another three days. That meant three whole days of sitting around and waiting for everyone to get their scrolls. Or not get their scrolls, for that matter. A few people here had been disqualified apparently. Even if Sakura and Sasuke wanted to train, there wasn't a big enough space to do it in.

Not that training in front of other people was a good idea anyways. Sakura thought that the next portion of the exam would be one-on-one fights, maybe in the village stadium or something. Showing them how awesome he was just wasn't worth losing the upper hand in a fight.

Don't act like you came to that conclusion yourself, the Kyuubi snapped, You only changed your mind because that girl said it was a bad idea.

Naruto mentally stuck his tongue out at the demon. His opinion didn't count, not when he'd been pacing all day, restless for the first time in Naruto's life. It made Naruto want to pace too. Or fight. Or do anything other than wait around this place.

Their conversation before the fight with Gaara had changed them. No way that Sakura and Sasuke had missed it by the looks they kept giving him. Or even just by how much he'd eaten for breakfast. The person handing out the food had denied him a fifth helping, no matter how much he begged. It all had something to do with chakra levels and seals and complicated things like that but that was just as easy to wave aside as the Kyuubi's comments about Rin were.

Sure, Rin was weird. But Rin also tried to teach him about seals and bought him breakfast and hadn't left once since he showed up.

It had been weird at first.

Really weird.

But not weird enough that Naruto thought it would be too bad if he lost their bet. Not that he would lose. All of them were going to make it to chunin, no doubt about it. It was just that the possible consequences didn't really feel bad. The idea of not living alone didn't feel bad.

"And you."

Naruto blinked. Hana was staring at him. That was weird. There had to be other people she was more worried about. But a glance around revealed that he was the person she could be talking to. Everyone else was on the other side of the room, waiting for their turn.

"Me?" he asked slowly. "I'm fine though."

Her eyebrows lifted dubiously. "Really? Because Sakura-chan said you fell the same way Sasuke-kun did."

"Plus some," Sasuke muttered.

Only there was a smirk playing at his lips, even as he avoided Naruto's eyes. One that said he knew exactly what he was doing.

Naruto scowled.

The teme was going to pay for this.

Later, though. If only because Hana was now looking at him like she was an angry mother bear. Or an overprotective dog guarding her puppies. A very overprotective, very angry dog.

"Uzumaki Naruto, get over here," she demanded.

Naruto paled. "I promise, I'm fine!"

"If you don't let me heal you of your own free will, I'm going to pin you to the ground and heal you anyways. Don't think I won't."

No wonder she was related to Kiba, he realized. He hadn't really noticed it before but that was probably just because she was a medic and Kiba was… well, Kiba. The similarities between them were a lot more difficult to miss when she was looking at him like that.

When he crossed the short distance to the futon she'd sanctioned off for medical use, it didn't even feel like he was giving up. Just doing what was inevitable. Or what was least likely to get him killed. Sakura and Sasuke were even kind enough to shift to the side, wordlessly. He was going to get back at them soon enough. They wouldn't even know what hit them.

The foreign chakra felt strange. It wasn't like the wild energy he felt sometimes that he now assumed belonged to the Kyuubi but then again, he'd always been around that in one form or another. No, Hana's chakra was like a warm salve spread across his bruises. It didn't do that much but it felt nice. Maybe all healing jutsu felt like this and he'd just never known because nobody had tried healing him before.

"You're… fine," Hana finally murmured, pulling her hand away.

Naruto grinned easily as the tension faded away. "Told you so! Heh, it kinda hurt back when it happened but I always heal fast."

"You always heal like this?" she asked faintly. "So, you've never actually been injured before."

"Nope, I've been hurt before! Like that fall made my shoulders hurt for a while but I usually only need to take a nap before it disappears again. Isn't it like that for you guys?"

All three of them were staring now.

Enough so that he wanted to take back the question. He'd known that it just wasn't one of those thing people talked about but it had always bothered him a bit. It felt like some people were hurt for weeks at a time back in the Academy. They were always so offended when he asked why they were still hurt.

Unless it was one of those things other people didn't experience again. That would explain a lot of things, actually. Like why it had taken Kakashi-sensei so long to recover back in Wave. He'd just assumed he'd been really, really hurt.

But that really didn't make him feel better about what was going on with Rin. It had been almost an entire day without any updates at this point. Not even a brief message saying Rin hadn't died. The only way it could make him feel better was if it was something he got from being an Uzumaki instead of from the Kyuubi. Like how all the Inuzukas had sharp teeth or how the Hyuugas had weird eyes. Naruto hoped his healing was like that.

"It isn't, dobe," Sasuke finally answered.

Naruto slumped back, pouting. So that really was the case then. Sasuke could have at least managed to say it a bit harsher than that, so he'd have a reason to be angry about it.

"You're joking, right, Naruto-kun?" Sakura spoke up. "I mean, you skipped class whenever a cold went around. Iruka-sensei always just assumed that you'd stayed home because you were sick."

Oh.

Right.

He rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. "I just stayed home, you know? Everyone's coughing got really annoying and it wasn't like I was going to learn anything anyways."

"You thought the coughing was… too annoying?" Sakura repeated back.

"Uh-huh."

Sasuke frowned at him, dubious. "That doesn't even make sense."

"What? Do you think I'm lying, teme-"

A hand roughly came into contact with the back of his head, pushing it down as his hair was mercilessly ruffled. "Don't worry, kid," Hana said, her smirk bleeding into her voice. "You should celebrate not getting sick rather than worry about it. You know what I'd do to not get sick like that?"

His anger at Sasuke faded as he looked over at Hana. "A lot?"

"That's right. And if anyone tells you they wouldn't do the same, they're lying. Especially if it's Kiba. Actually, if Kiba tells you anything of the sort, feel free to kick his ass, got it? His head needs to be adjusted every now and then."

Naruto couldn't stop his surprised laugh. It settled into his grin as he looked towards his teammates and that really wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. They looked a bit surprised, yeah, but not like they thought he was a freak. That was great. That was amazing. Like coming home to a fridge full of fresh food or - well, them. All of the times they worked together, every training session, every time one of them showed up at his apartment. Like that one time Kakashi-sensei brought over a basket of vegetables. Like Rin insisting on taking him out for breakfast.

There were actually a lot more comparisons than he'd thought there'd be. If this was what having a family was supposed to be like, he was going to do everything he could to keep it. He wouldn't let them leave now.

This was what Gaara was missing.

That realization came unbidden but that didn't take away from it. His teammates had abandoned him before a fight had even started. And if they were really anything alike then it probably wasn't the first time something like that had happened. Or the second, or even the third.

Convincing him that things weren't supposed to be that way was going to be difficult. Probably one of the most difficult things he'd ever done, even if Sasuke and Sakura helped him. At this point though, Naruto couldn't let something like that pass. It just wasn't right.

"You guys are good to go now. Come find me if you experience anything unusual in the next few days though." Hana narrowed her eyes as she focused her attention on Sasuke and Sakura. "Unusual includes pus leaking from your burns, popping blisters, or high levels of pain. If you can't go five minutes without thinking about it, then find me."

Sakura smiled at her. "Of course, thanks for the help."

Hana took that as her cue to wander over to the futon on the other side of the room, shooting one last amused look over her shoulder. At least she missed the annoyance that passed over Sasuke's face, Naruto noted to himself. She didn't seem like the type of person to ignore it.

Except now they were probably supposed to go back to their room. And the only thing they could really do there was stare at the ceiling and wait for everyone else to finish this section of the exam. Of course everyone else got to be out there, doing things, but they were stuck in here just because they were awesome enough to finish early.

It wasn't like they could even make the room to train. Not when Sasuke and Sakura weren't supposed to train for the next couple days.

"What are you upset about now?" Sasuke asked slowly.

Naruto shrugged as he got to his feet. "It just sucks that I'm going to have to train all by myself for the next couple days. It's going to be boring."

"But-"

"Don't. Asking is just going to encourage him."

Sakura gave up the point with an accepting sigh and they started down the hall, leaving the futon for the next team. It didn't matter anyways, Naruto reassured himself with a mental huff. They would have just gotten in his way or something like that. It didn't matter how fun it would have been to try sparring in their tiny room if they thought it was stupid in the first place.

An annoyed grumble in the back of his mind reminded him of just how little the Kyuubi cared about these things. Training really didn't seem to matter to him. But they were going to lose again if they didn't get stronger and Naruto was fairly certain the Kyuubi would only start shouting again if that happened.

It had been bad enough when Gaara defeated them.

"Didn't we talk to that guy before the exam started?" Sakura said suddenly, her voice low.

Naruto stopped in his tracks, his head craned over his shoulder to try and get a good look at the guy they'd just passed. A hand gripped the back of his jacket, tugging him back into place. "Hey, what was that for!"

Sasuke scowled at him. "You can't just stare at people like that."

"Says who?"

"Everyone, dobe. Unless you skipped that lesson at the Academy?"

"Can't you guys just get along for once?" Sakura asked and she sounded a bit like when Sasuke turned her down. Which was weird. Nothing else usually made her sound like that. "Everyone's going to know how badly you get along."

"Only for you, Sakura-chan!"

She stared at him blankly before she continued down the hall, ignoring both of them. Naruto wavered. Harsh. Next time he'd have to do something else, like give her flowers or something like that, and then maybe she'd see how much better he was than the teme.

But the brief moment gave him the opportunity to glance back over his shoulder again. The guy from before was a bit further away but not entirely out of sight, grey hair tied back. They had talked to a guy like that before, hadn't they? It was difficult to remember now. That felt like a long time ago and they could really only see the back of the guy's head right now. What was really weird was that he was walking towards the medical station alone instead of with his teammates.

Sasuke's hand grabbed his arm and started to drag him down the hall again before Naruto had the chance to give it much more thought. The guy's teammates were probably just waiting for him back at their room anyways.

Kakashi stared at the unconscious body.

It had been over sixteen hours now. Sixteen hours since Rin collapsed in front of him without any signs of something going wrong beforehand. None of the medics seemed to know what was wrong. Sure, they'd answered his questions but the answers themselves had been hurried and overly complicated, all amounting to the same thing. They didn't know anymore than he did.

Things couldn't end this way. That was what he'd been telling himself for hours now. It had seemed easier for some reason to tell himself that there were still things he needed to ask Rin than to actually ask why he thought that way. Or perhaps it wasn't such a mystery.

It had just become easier to focus once one of the medics had brought him a meal, easier to look past the mystery of what was going on with Rin. That didn't include looking at his own feelings. He had simply made it impossible for himself to let things stay the way they were.

Kakashi wanted things to stay the way they were. At some point he had grown satisfied with having someone by his side, if only a friendly capacity. Dealing with Team Seven was simpler with someone at his side, treating them for meals didn't drain his wallet quite so dramatically. So he'd allowed himself not to look too deeply at why he'd allowed Rin to do these things, to get so close to him. No one else had achieved that in a long time.

Longer than he particularly cared to admit.

His panic grew alongside his discomfort but he forced himself to stay rooted in place. If he gave himself a little bit of leeway in this matter, then he would be back at the Memorial Stone within minutes. Back to thinking about the people he'd lost. That wasn't so bad in itself but it would come at the cost of something that had come more important to him.

Kakashi stood, closing the few feet of distance between them, and placed his hand on Rin's chest. A confirmation. That was all this was. A physical confirmation of what he could already see, that Rin was still alive regardless of what the issue was. They would make it through so long as Rin stayed alive.

Closing his eyes, he attempted to grapple with his emotions for the umpteenth time. They, that was a new one. Beyond referring to Rin without an honorific, beyond letting the other man help him with Naruto, with Sakura and Sasuke by extension. If only he could find some solid footing. The rest would likely come a bit easier from there but everything was in tandem, shifting around him with no explanations. No point in attempting to push everything off to the side, to focus in on the one thing that needed his attention the most.

That clearly wasn't working anymore.

"Why is it you, Rin?" he murmured.

"And here I was hoping you would have some insight on that, Kakashi."

Kakashi drew his hand away as if it were aflame, centering himself. Whatever was going on, it was between him and Rin. "Jiraiya-san."

Jiraiya stepped into the room with a slight nod, easily situating himself on the other side of Rin's bed. "I guess I shouldn't expect a warm welcome after stay away for so long."

Kakashi stared.

It had been a long time.

But he hadn't thought Jiraiya would acknowledge such a thing without a joking tone to his voice. Perhaps it was the situation as a whole that was changing things. Orochimaru on a rampage through the village, dim memories of Minato and Kushina's funeral, and years of silence between them. For some reason though, Kakashi doubted that was really the case.

Jiraiya hadn't technically owed him anything after Minato died. Even though it had only been a couple years since the war and everything it brought, even though Kakashi had struggled through finding his place in the world from that point onwards. The Sannin had every right to leave the day after the funeral without so much as a word to anyone. But to see him here, suspiciously looking at Rin, was similar to a punch to the gut.

"Welcome back," he said quietly.

Jiraiya glanced up momentarily, his surprise only lasting a moment. "Thanks. What can you tell me about your mysterious Uzumaki then?"

"I wouldn't call Rin-kun mysterious," he shot back, fake cheer seeped into his voice. "Clumsily evasive is much more accurate."

"Look, I get it. Hiruzen trusts him, you trust him. That's what happens when someone with a name like his shows up. And looking like that, I wouldn't question his story of being an Uzumaki myself. But you're too close to this and even then, I didn't think you were naive enough to just accept his word."

Kakashi considered it briefly. It wasn't as if he hadn't thought the same thing but- "Rin-kun is."

"What?" Jiraiya said, caught off guard.

Good.

Surprise would make this easier.

"Rin-kun is that naive," he continued. "He was closed off when he first arrived but he trusted almost everyone he came across. I don't know what really brought him here. A lot of things would be my guess. But none of it has stopped him from letting us support him, which is more than many can claim."

That hadn't always been true but that wasn't the point.

The point of it was that Jiraiya hadn't let any of them support him throughout the years, regardless of what was troubling him. There had been a distance between Jiraiya and the village for as long as Kakashi could remember. Yet Jiraiya hadn't hesitated to jump to its defence. Even when it was against an imaginary threat instead of the very real one still roaming through the village with unclear objectives.

"You really don't think he's capable of pulling the wool over your eyes?" Jiraiya asked lowly. "We still don't know how Orochimaru got in here. For all you know, this man could have let him in past the defences. The timing fits."

"It does. That does not make it any more likely that Rin-kun is part of some plot to let your former teammate into the village."

The fight drained out of Jiraiya. "Guess I don't have a leg to stand on here, do I? Just… don't get too upset when things don't end up working in your favour."

Kakashi stood there, watching, but Jiraiya simply looked at him one last time and then left the room. Likely to go report back to the Hokage on Kakashi's presence here, if not to ask more questions about Rin as he hadn't managed to get his answers now. Or perhaps not. That was likely the strangest interaction he'd ever had with the Sannin throughout the years, one of the few time they'd actually acknowledged the people they had in common.

But he wasn't about to let Orochimaru cloud Jiraiya's judgement of Rin, whether it be good or bad. These two situations were much farther apart than Jiraiya seemed to believe. Had it just been Rin's name, Kakashi wouldn't have allowed himself to get as close as he already had. There was too much working in Rin's favour.

It seemed this would be a good point to leave however. If the Hokage found him here instead of at the compound, there would be a lecture in his future. Any other time and he likely would have gotten away with it.

Any other time and this situation wouldn't have happened in the first place.

Kakashi glanced down at Rin for the umpteenth time that day. "It seems you'll have a lot of questions to answer when you wake up. Please don't fool yourself into thinking I'll shield you from all of them."

Just as he'd expected, there wasn't an answer.

Now he just had a team to either wait for or congratulate. Hopefully they weren't subjected to Gai for too long,otherwise they would ever let him hear the end of it. Ah, it would work well for futurethreats though.

Orochimaru carefully considered the cliffside as a chunin led another genin team towards it. They disappeared only moments later, his attention abruptly drawn to the side.

A genjutsu, just as he'd thought.

The precautions would be a necessity now that his cover had been blown. Perhaps seals could have done the same work but it had been a long time since Konoha had that knowledge. Kushina would have been the last and as far as he was aware, she had never taught anyone. That was unless Uzumaki Rin had held onto some of Uzushio's seals as Kabuto's report on the man seemed to suggest.

Of course, even that required preparation they hadn't had the time for. Sarutobi likely hadn't even considered the possibility.

Either way, his approach wouldn't change. It would only be a matter of minutes before his summon was in position and his assault on the compound would begin. His side ached from the wound left on him the day before but he had gone into battle with worse and would do so again in the future.

If he delayed any longer, the purpose of invading Konoha would be moot. They would eventually secure the genin in a different location with better guards and getting to Sasuke-kun would be nearly impossible without calling on Suna's forces. A trump card he'd prefer to keep until later. And then there was the question of Kabuto. As if he wouldn't have noticed the spy wandering towards this direction with only a chunin escort.

There were few explanations for why he would have deviated from the plan.

Perhaps Orochimaru should have expected this. It had only been a few months since Sasori's jutsu had unraveled and the balance of power had tipped at some point. The fault of the Akatsuki, no doubt, as much as he hated to admit it. Perhaps his decision to invade Konoha would be invalidated regardless of what he did. Luckily, to a scientist, failure was just as useful as success.

He just needed to get to the young Uchiha first. And then he wouldn't even have to have a chat with his old sensei, in order to prove that the world wasn't cut into black and white. At least, not personally.