A/N: Aaaannd part two! Enjoy!

Grace

Kakashi was furious.

The instant they stepped a single foot in the village – as soon as toe was in range – they were going to have a long and serious talk about obedience. About insubordination. About orders, and why they were to be followed.

He'd known they'd wanted to go, that Sakura and Naruto were half-packed by the time the letter from Gaara had arrived requesting Naruto's presence. He'd calmly explained that the hospital needed Sakura available, that to send more than Naruto when Shikamaru and Sasuke were already present was to trespass unnecessarily on Gaara's hospitality. And they'd nodded. Sakura had agreed. He'd thought all was well.

And then he'd gotten a furious visit from a medic demanding to know why he'd sent Sakura on a mission when he had to know that she had shifts to work at the hospital.

Kakashi figured maybe this was really his fault, when it came down to it. "Enough with the bell test," he mumbled to himself and the sky. "Genin teams need to learn some damn independence."

He'd quickly sent a letter to Shikamaru, hoping that the strategist would be able to impress the importance of their immediate return. He'd gotten back something very disappointing: troublesome, and then, below it, I'll see what I can do.

It had taken him a moment to realize what was off about it, but when he'd realized – damn it all to hell, that was Temari's handwriting, that second part, which meant Shikamaru had no intention of rushing out.

Kakashi was starting to feel like he'd completely lost control of the situation.

And okay, fine, so he'd been pleasantly surprised when a couple of the younger medics had stepped up to fill Sakura's shoes and done remarkably well; and okay, so maybe Naruto's absence had forced him to strategize differently with the shinobi he did have and created some new team combinations that would prove quite useful – none of that had stopped from holding his breath and hoping that each crisis would be easily resolved without them and that they wouldn't cause any new crises to arise in Suna.

Damnit, he'd told them not to let their comrades die – not to rush off against orders to another village simply because they were sick.

And to top it all off, they'd gotten back over an hour ago – he'd heard rumors that even Sasuke was in town – and although Sakura had visited the hospital to make her apologies, none of them had so much as set a foot in Hokage Tower.

Kakashi was pissed.

"Going to have a talk about obedience," he said again, to nothing but the sky that was already dark as he made his quiet way home. They had to understand. Actions had consequences, and they had to trust his decisions. He didn't make them arbitrarily. And he had to be able to trust them to listen, too.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice his apartment was occupied until he was nearly a foot outside of it.

And they weren't being subtle. He could hear shouting, and it smelled like something might be burning –

Kakashi opened the door.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura and Naruto chorused, beaming. Sakura grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside, closing the door behind him. "You're finally home!"

He was pretty sure that was his line, but before he could say so –

"We thought you'd be back ages ago, Sensei! The food got cold and I got hungry and we had to start all over!" Naruto whined.

Kakashi let Sakura drag him over to the table. "We have to have a talk," he said, trying for anger and sternness and all the frustration that had plagued him for the last week.

"About what, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

He stared at them. Sakura stood frozen, one hand on tongs and the other on a bowl full of a salad that he was sure had more than a reasonable number of tomatoes. Naruto had also paused, and he was – to Kakashi's great amusement – wearing an apron and two oven mitts and holding something that smelled remarkably delicious and looked only a little burnt on the edges. And against the wall, Sasuke leaned, hand in his pocket, eyes calm and remarkably warm, a soft smirk on his face.

Obedience, his brain supplied, trying to answer Sakura's question. Insubordination. Following orders. Trust.

"Boundaries," he said with a sigh, admitting defeat as he slid into the chair. "We need to talk about boundaries."

Sakura laughed, and Naruto beamed, and Sasuke said, "If the food's bad, it's Naruto's fault. He added too much salt."

"Hey – asshole! You're the one who burnt it!"

"How is that my fault?"

"Oh, like you're not the fire expert here –"

"That's not on a stove, moron, it's completely different –"

Sakura opened the sake and poured a little more than was necessary into Kakashi's glass, catching his eye while the two bickered. "Sorry," she whispered.

He patted her hand.

Maybe the bell test could stay after all.

A/N: I had so much fun writing this one! I hope you guys enjoyed it just as much. I also wanted to say thank you to all of you who took the time to review and respond to "Eternal"; I really, sincerely appreciated all the feedback so very much! It made my day to see it get a positive response. I hope this two-parter was worth the wait! Please let me know what you think!

-MN