Thank you all for reviewing! This takes place during the Land of Waves arc. Scene one is for the first fight with Zabuza, Scene two is for after the second fight.

Before Team Seven's mission to the Land of Waves, Naruto had never been more afraid than when Mizuki had hurt Iruka and advanced on him. He'd never been more scared of anything than he had been of Mizuki in that moment.

He'd also never hated anyone more in his entire life when Mizuki had stepped on Iruka, thrown that shuriken into his back, and laughed. He'd hurt Iruka and Naruto had wanted to hurt him right back.

But all that fear, all that hate- it paled in comparison to what he felt in the moment that Zabuza trapped Kakashi, his Kakashi, in that orb of water and turned on them.

Ever since Kakashi had saved him and Iruka from Mizuki, Kakashi had seemed like this surely invincible, unstoppable force of nature. No one could hurt him and he would always be there to protect him. But now, it was Naruto's turn to protect Kakashi- and he couldn't. He couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't do it. Whatever demonic force was strong enough to take down Kakashi, it was surely far too much for Naruto to take on by himself.

"Take Tazuna and run! Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura- take Tazuna and run, damn it!"

Take Tazuna and run? But that would leave Kakashi behind. Naruto didn't understand. Surely Kakashi had a plan- but what kind of plan would involve them just leaving him behind?

Unless…

Run, Naruto! You don't stand a chance against Mizuki! Get out of here?!

Could it be? Just like with Iruka…

Kakashi had no plan. His 'plan' was for his team to run and save themselves and leave him to die.

Naruto's anger rose hotly, and he found himself wanting to scream. That wasn't a plan! That wasn't fair! Kakashi couldn't die- Kakashi just couldn't, couldn't die.

This is all my fault for begging for a C-rank… I should've just kept my mouth shut… Niisan, niisan, niisan, I'm so sorry!

"No!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi opened his mouth to order them away again. "No! I won't leave you behind, Kakashi-niisan!"

Zabuza chuckled quietly. "You should listen to your sensei, brat. If you run now, and leave Tazuna and Kakashi with me, I"ll spare your lives."

"I don't care! I won't let you hurt him!"

Kakashi's eyes widened in fury, and he gestured erratically, screaming at them from behind his mask. "Naruto, this fight was decided the moment I got caught! Run! Get back to Konoha; keep Tazuna safe! He's your mission! Not me!"

It was Sasuke who replied, his voice as calm and cold as usual, but this time hovering on the very edge of panic and tainted with urgency. "Weren't you the one, Kakashi, who told us to put our teammates above the mission?"

Kakashi's eyes, if possible, grew even wider before he shook his head vigorously. "If you stay, you'll die! You can't fight Zabuza! You guys need to run! You can't die here!"

Zabuza scowled and spoke, his eyes dark. "As much as I enjoy the family feud, it's drawing out too long. You kids going to run, or not?"

"Not a chance in hell, you bastard!"

Sasuke simply nodded in confirmation on the heels of Naruto's yell, while Sakura trembled for a moment before she tightened her grip on her weapon and said nothing. Zabuza rolled his eyes. "You're too stupid to live. Come on, then. Have fun."

Naruto looked between Kakashi and Zabuza, the terror that was making his knees shake climaxing when the man hefted his monstrous sword over his shoulder and met eyes with him. He had taken down Kakashi. What the hell was he supposed to do?!

Sasuke was the one who moved forward first. He ran without fear or even hesitation, a battle cry emerging from his lips as he pulled out a weapon and prepared to leap on Zabuza.

Zabuza countered quickly and easily, and before Naruto knew it, Sasuke was on the ground, Zabuza's foot planted on his ribcage. "Pathetic," he sneered, and Sakura screamed.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Zabuza kicked down, and Sasuke coughed violently, spraying blood.

Just like with Mizuki and Iruka…

"It's a pity I've got to kill you now, though. Sasuke, is it? You've got potential. Your head could be worth a lot in the bingo book someday. You sure you want to do this? You can still run."

Sasuke's glare merely darkened, still trapped under Zabuza's foot. When he spoke, his voice was low and frigid as ice, and it bespoke of more pain and darkness than Naruto could even fathom. "My purpose is to kill a certain man- a man's whose head is worth a lot more than yours. If I can't kill you, then I have no right to face him."

"Hmph. Have it your way, then." Zabuza raised his sword, preparing to let it fall down and slice through Sasuke's neck-

Iruka, about to be killed by Mizuki-

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Just as it had before, his rage poured itself out into the technique, his anger forming clone after clone after clone. Kakashi was not going to be killed by Zabuza. He wasn't going to let his Kakashi die, he wasn't going to let his Sasuke die- he wasn't going to let anyone die!

It was when Naruto caught a glimpse a shuriken in one of his clone's hand that he was hit by an idea- an idea that just could work.

It would have to work, because he wasn't going to let anyone die.

The fight continued on, Naruto being blasted back but allowing Sasuke to get himself free. And when Naruto saw Sasuke worm himself away from Zabuza and stand, drawing out a weapon with the fiercest glare he had ever seen in his dark eyes, Naruto remembered one of the most important lessons that Kakashi had ever taught him.

Teamwork was not just important. Teamwork was everything.

Teamwork to save a friend over accomplishing the mission. Complete Kakashi-style.

He worked with the young, broody, annoying, self-righteous, stuck up Uchiha, and decided he wasn't quite so annoying, self-righteous, or stuck up and was a bit more in the terms of smart and prodigious and… well… good. Talented. Perhaps, later, Naruto would feel a bit slighted that Sakura's crush was really as good as he made himself out to be, but now he was just glad his friend was good enough to help Kakashi.

Kakashi screamed one more time for him to run and save himself, the most terrified look Naruto had ever seen taken over his eyes, and then Sasuke threw the two shurikens.

When Naruto saw the shuriken flying toward Zabuza just before he hit the water, he locked eyes with Kakashi in a silent prayer that he got out of this alive.

Naruto crashed into the river and immediately turned to scramble and fight his way up towards the sunlight, his arms working frantically and his legs kicking, because Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi-

He finally broke the surface, and the relief was so intense he almost couldn't breathe when he saw that Kakashi was free. He was free and crouched on the surface of the water, arm extended, the shuriken Zabuza had been about to throw in a rage blocked by his armored glove.

"Niisan," he breathed, the terrified tension seeping out of his shoulders as Zabuza and Kakashi turned to face either other, Kakashi moving so his back was to him- so Zabuza would have to go through Kakashi to get to him.

"I'm warning you, the same trick won't work on me twice."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed in a dark fury, and then his massive sword was out and Kakashi had blocked it with nothing more than a tiny kunai. The two struggled in an utter standoff, Kakashi holding his own against the six foot blade that was only a few inches shorter than him and almost as wide, and then they jumped apart, and Naruto could breathe again.

Kakashi was safe.

And with Kakashi safe came a certainty that he was safe as well, that he and Sakura and Sasuke were safe. Because Kakashi would never let anyone hurt them.

If saving Kakashi was like an antidote for his terror, watching him fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes certainly riled it up again.

"Kakashi-niisan, Kakashi-niisan!" he cried, shaking him by the shoulder over and over again. "Kakashi-niisan, wake up! Are you okay?! Niisan!"

"Naruto! Baka Naruto, get off of him!" Sakura pushed his hands roughly aside and leaned over Kakashi as well, and Naruto noticed the slightest hint of reproach in Sasuke's eyes at the kunoichi's actions before he turned back to Kakashi again, panic rising in his throat.

"What's wrong with him?! He just passed out- did Zabuza do something? Is he hurt? Is he-"

"Dobe, you sound more like a five year old girl than a ninja."

Sasuke's offhand insult somehow had the affect of cooling Naruto's panic. His breaths slowed, because Sasuke was right. Kakashi was going to be fine, he was going to be fine and it was just a little fight; Kakashi could handle it, whatever it was. Kakashi was going. To. Be. Fine.

Finally, Sakura slumped in relief, and it was only then that he realized how scared she had been as well. "He's going to be okay. I think. I don't know, I've never seen it before, but-"

"What?! What is it?! Why'd he pass out, Sakura-chan?!"

Sakura glared at him. "Shut up and let me talk, baka!" She looked a hair's breath away from slapping him over the back of the head and turned back to Kakashi. "I think it's, um… Chakra exhaustion?"

Naruto frowned. "Cha-k-ra exhaustion?" he asked, sounding out the word. "…What's that?"

Sakura actually did hit him over the back of the head this time. "Didn't you ever listen in the Academy?!" she cried in despair. "Chakra exhaustion is when a shinobi uses too much Chakra! Duh!"

"Hn." Sasuke clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth in a sound between contempt and disappointment. "Kakashi'll be fine, dobe."

Naruto ignored the insult, for once, since Sasuke's words meant that Kakashi would be okay. Even as he slipped his hand into Kakashi's cold and clammy one, so still he could've been dead, he knew that Kakashi was going to be all right, and that was all that mattered.

"Eh… I'm really sorry about this, you guys," Tazuna began hesitantly, giving a nervous chuckle. "Your sensei, he can rest at my house, right?"

Sakura nodded slightly. "He should be fine with some sleep. I think. I- I really don't know… I've never sent his happen before, I-"

"That would be helpful, Tazuna." Sasuke cut off Sakura's nervous ramblings, easily taking charge without a second thought. "Dobe, make four shadow clones to carry Kakashi. I need you with your hands free in case we're attacked again."

"Eh?!"

Sasuke glanced down at him without even a flicker of emotion. "It's a precaution, dobe. We've already been attacked twice today. Don't want to leave us open for a third."

And so Naruto did as Sasuke asked, creating four clones to carry Kakashi. Because Sasuke was smart, and Kakashi always did say that teamwork and friends were everything. So he'd do what Kakashi would like and work Sasuke; let him take charge of the team…

Because, as much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke's skills were greater than his own.

Naruto just wasn't content to let that stay true for long.

"How many times have I told you not to fall asleep while on watch?"

Naruto jumped. His jolted open and his head jerked off of Kakashi's chest, and he sat bolt upright to see that Kakashi was wide awake and watching him with one definitely amused eye. "Kakashi-niisan!" he cried, moving off of Kakashi and crawling closer to his head. "You're awake!"

"So it would seem."

Naruto grinned wildly, Kakashi's usual bland manner only exciting him further. "You scared me so much, Niisan!"

"Only you?" Kakashi teased. "What about the others? Didn't I scare them, at least a little?"

Naruto laughed. "Sakura-chan was freaking out, and Sasuke-teme, he was trying to act all cool, but it was obvious he was sacred, too! Gosh, you were such a jerk, Niisan! You shouldn't scare us like that!"

WIth a slight, tired shrug, Kakashi's eye curved up into a smile. "But, scaring you is my speciality. What would I do if I couldn't scare you?" As he said this, Kakashi slowly tried to work himself into a sitting position, leaning on his elbows, but he only managed a couple of inches before his expression contorted in pain and he hung his head, one arm shifting under the blanket to grip his stomach.

"Ah, Niisan!" Naruto exclaimed, a bit flustered. "Quit that!"

Kakashi slowly let his head fall back onto the pillow with a tired groan, his arms moving back to lie limply by his sides. "Don't… worry, Naruto," he murmured, his eye slipping shut for a brief moment. "I just overused my Sharingan again. I'll be fine in a few days."

Naruto bit his lip and averted his eyes. Now that Kakashi was awake and talking, it was much, much easier to believe that he would, in fact, be fine in a few days. He still looked exhausted, with his eye drooping closed and his skin dawn and pale in the low light, but… his tired eye crinkle was very reassuring, and he was no longer frightened that Kakashi wouldn't be okay.

"Where are we, anyway?" Kakashi muttered, casting a sleepy look around the room. "Tazuna's?"

Naruto nodded. "Yep. He said we can rest here until you're better… we've been here a day already."

Kakashi groaned quietly. "Sorry, Naruto. This is a bit inconvenient… we're going to end up here for a week, at least. I won't be able to move for a while…"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he shifted back a bit, suddenly nervous, wary of hurting him. "Oh… I didn't realize that you were that hurt, I-"

"I'm not, I'm not." Kakashi gave another reassuring smile, shifting a bit uncomfortably under the blanket. "Just… a little tired. I'll be fine, I promise. …What about Sasuke and Sakura? They weren't injured, were they?"

He shook his head. "Nope. They're fine. Well… Sakura-chan's been really worried, and Sasuke-teme's been as broody as usual. But they weren't hurt."

"Good." Kakashi let the tension seep out of his stiff form in relief, then slowly roamed his eye around the dim room before his gaze came back to rest on Naruto. "By the way, Naruto… that was a very good plan you came up with back there. And to bring in Sasuke instead of trying to do it all by yourself… I'm proud of you."

Naruto flushed. He averted his eyes as the corners of his lips pulled up into a proud smile, and he raised his hand to rub the back of his neck awkwardly, seeming a bit unaccustomed to praise. "Really?"

"Yeah. Not the kind of strategy you would expect to see from a genin, that's for sure. You really surprised Zabuza. And I'm glad you worked as a team with Sasuke."

"I wasn't- I mean, when I saw Zabuza get you, and then he got Sasuke… well, I got really angry at him. I didn't want him to hurt you and decided I'd even work with that teme if it would help. Plus, that's what you taught us, right? Never put a mission over a teammate!"

Kakashi watched him for a moment, his expression unreadable. His grey eye was narrowed in what could've been annoyance, suspicion, anger, confusion- Naruto still wasn't adept at reading expressions through a single eye. He shifted uneasily until it crinkled in a smile. "Well, I suppose I can't be upset with you. I did tell you that, after all. Just didn't expect for you to use that philosophy on me. Maa, it can't be helped."

"Huh?"

Kakashi shrugged sleepily. "Nothing, Naruto. I just wasn't too happy when you and the others decided to stay and fight Zabuza. …But, I guess I made the same mistake he did- I underestimated you three. Just, try not to scare me like that in the future. There's only so much your dear old sensei can take."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're not so old, Niisan."

At that moment, Sakura and Sasuke walked into the room, Tazuna trailing behind. Sakura's eyes were focused entirely on Sasuke, but when she saw him halt, she looked towards Kakashi before moving past Sasuke and crossing her arms in a huff. "Sensei!" she scolded, much to Kakashi's obvious amusement. "You scared us!"

Naruto scooted back a bit, allowing his team to move closer as Kakashi beamed. "'Us'? So, I did scare Sasuke!"

"Hn." Sasuke sat on his knees a bit behind Naruto and Sakura and crossed his arms stubbornly, dark gaze fixated on Kakashi's covered right eye. Kakashi straightened up a little and glanced from Sasuke to Sakura, eye still curved in an arc of delight.

"Well, Sasuke's being his usual moody self, and that's no fun. I guess I'll just settle for needling you and Naruto, huh, Sakura?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Quit being so nonchalant, Kakashi-sensei. You really worried us!"

"No, no." Kakashi waved her off with a slightly shaking hand and continued to smile. "It was a test, you see. A test to see how well my dear little genins would handle their sensei would being injured on a mission, and you passed with flying colors! Your response was definitely ninja-like."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, clearly not amused, while Sakura gave a definitely un-ninja-like giggle and Naruto poked Kakashi in the shoulder. "You're so lying, Niisan. And you won't get to needle me or Sakura-chan! But, um… why would you want to poke us with needles? That seems kinda stupid…"

"Baka Naruto!"

"Seriously, dobe…"

When Kakashi let his head thump back against the pillow, his body shaking with laughter, Naruto looked between him and his teammates in confusion, wondering just what was wrong about what he'd said.

- Scene Two -

Team Seven turned their backs on Wave Country as they walked away from Zabuza's and Haku's graves. Sasuke and Sakura led the way- well, Sasuke led the way and Sakura hurried along beside him like a lost puppy, which left Naruto and Kakashi in the rear.

It wasn't long before a good ten feet or so separated the two pairs, and it was only when the others were out of earshot that Naruto glanced up at Kakashi and spoke. "Hey, Niisan?"

"Yeah?"

Naruto paused, then glanced over his shoulder at the rapidly fading sight of the graves. "Um… not all missions are going to be like this one, right? Fighting the good guys? I mean, at first, I thought Zabuza and Haku were the bad guys. They worked with Gato and were trying to kill Tazuna, but then, later, at the bridge… they ended up being good."

Kakashi frowned and looked away. Unlike Naruto, he had not grown up with any such illusions about the life of a ninja. He had grown up to being taught to kill his best friend if the mission required it; that being a ninja was more about causing pain and death than stopping it.

But Naruto had grown up thinking that if he could just graduate, just become a ninja, then he could finally do some good and finally prove that he wasn't worthless. That he could ride in, save the day- liberate the villagers, release the prisoners, kill the evil monster- and make everyone happy.

Kakashi couldn't really blame Iruka and the Academy for teaching him that, because if they taught children what it was really like to be a ninja, no one would want to sign up.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Naruto. Yes. All missions are going to be like this one. In fact, we were lucky- we were really fighting to liberate Wave Country from Gato. That makes us the 'good guys'." He made air quotes around the words and forced an uneasy smile. "Most of the time, we won't even have that. I once returned a runaway slave to his owner just because the village needed the money. The truth is, us ninja, we're the bad guys."

Naruto shook his head slowly, as if trying to deny it. "But, I… come on, Kakashi-niisan, that doesn't make any sense! We help people! How can we be the bad guys?!"

Kakashi shrugged. "You haven't been assigned anything more than a D-rank… and this cockamamie C-rank turned A-rank. The more experience you get, you'll eventually understand. Little things like finding someone's lost cat are going to turn into spy missions, into killing someone just because they're a threat to Konoha or, worse, there's a paycheck in it for the Hokage. We don't help people, we just help the village. And that often means doing bad things."

Naruto frowned in confusion. "I don't get it, though… if it helps the village, how come it has to hurt other people? I mean, hurting a criminal, that makes sense, but you're describing hurting innocent people! Like Zabuza and Haku."

"Zabuza and Haku weren't innocent," Kakashi said mildly. "There's a difference between good and innocent. I'm not innocent. Soon enough, you won't be either. It's just part of being a ninja." He glanced down at Naruto, then paused guiltily at his upset expression. "I'm not trying to… look, what we do does make people happy. It helps keep people in Konoha safe."

"But at the expense of others." Naruto's voice was small yet firm, and his small fists were clenched in determination. He looked up at Kakashi, and the jounin saw the same look in his blue eyes that he'd seen when he stabbed his own hand to let the poison out, when he'd refused to back down after Zabuza had trapped him in his water prison, when he'd screamed at Zabuza that Haku had died for him, didn't he even care…?

"That's not right, Kakashi-niisan. I'll find a way to change that. I'll become Hokage and I'll make that change. We shouldn't take our safety and happiness by hurting everybody else."

Kakashi had no idea why, but he believed him. What Naruto was claiming to be able to change was the entire existence of shinobi, of the five great hidden villages. It was the same thing many hopeful little genins claimed before they were beaten down by life, every last optimistic thought forced out of their little heads.

Perhaps it was because Naruto looked so much like Minato, or maybe that he acted so much like Kushina.

Or like Obito…

If abandoning my friends makes me be trash in our world, then I'll change that about being a shinobi.

Obito had died for his belief, and he had sure managed to convince Kakashi.

Obito's eye lived through in him, but maybe his spirit had lived on through Naruto.

So Kakashi curved his eye into a smile and nodded, his voice sincere. "I hope you do, Naruto."

The two walked together in a comfortable silence, then, watching as Sakura flipped her hair over her shoulder and winked and giggled and Sasuke stared stoically ahead. As they came up upon the river where they had first fought Zabuza, Sakura didn't seem to notice, and Sasuke didn't slow, but Naruto paused again and looked back at Kakashi. "Kakashi-niisan, when we get back to Konoha, can you teach me the Sharingan?"

"Hmm? What now? No, I'm afraid not."

Naruto's lips slipped into a pout. "What? But why? I can totally learn it! I'm good enough, I-"

"It's not that, Naruto," Kakashi cut him off quickly, before he could launch into a tirade about how he was a super great ninja who could learn absolutely anything. "You can't just 'learn' the Sharingan. Either you have it or you don't."

"But Sasuke did!" he exclaimed, pointing ahead at their silent teammate. "We were fighting Haku and he just- used it! His eyes turned red and he used it to defeat him!"

Kakashi chuckled nervously as Naruto turned to glare at him. His excuses sounded a bit flimsy, even though they were the truth. "Well, that's because Sasuke awakened his Sharingan. And, before you say that I don't know, you could be able to awaken the Sharingan, too- no, you can't. You have to be born with it, and I happen to know that you weren't."

Naruto crossed his arms in anger and shifted his glare to Sasuke's back. "That's stupid, though. I wanna use it. And why is your Sharingan so different from Sasuke's, anyway? His was in both eyes and yours is only in that one, plus he turned his off and even when you passed out earlier, yours was still there."

"Hmm… well, see, my eye was a gift. And, before you ask, there's no one left who you can get a Sharingan as a gift from." When Naruto's disappointment only seemed to escalate, Kakashi reached down to jokingly ruffle his hair and smiled at him. "What are you so sad for? You can be a great ninja without a Sharingan. Your Iruka-sensei doesn't have one, Sandainme doesn't have one- in fact, only I and Sasuke have one." Kakashi didn't see any reason to mention Itachi; that would only make things worse. "It's a bit of a dying art, you see."

Naruto sighed and straightened out the hair that Kakashi had mussed. He looked upset, though Kakashi couldn't fathom why. Where had these sudden questions about the Sharingan come from? "Oh… well, I just wanted to get to be a really good ninja now. Like, right now. I mean, you beat Zabuza, and Sasuke's really the one who beat Haku… I can't remember what happened after he passed out but I didn't do anything. And you two both have the Sharingan and, well… I wanted to be that good, too."

Oh. So that's what this was about… Sasuke's victory- and his loss- against Haku. He narrowed his eye in confusion. Naruto wasn't really that shallow or obsessed with beating Sasuke. This couldn't be the only reason he was upset. "You will be, someday. Having this eye isn't what made me a skilled ninja; I was a jounin before I got it. Come on, Naruto. What's this really about? You don't need to get really good, right now."

"Yes I do!"

Kakashi blinked at Naruto's abrupt exclamation. The blond looked from his teammates back to him for a moment before he returned his gaze to Sasuke, his expression a curious mix of determination and pain. "I have to, Kakashi-niisan! Haku… Haku could've killed Sasuke. He put him in a near-death state and I thought he was dead, I really did- all because of me. All because I wasn't strong enough. When we won against Zabuza before… you were right, he just underestimated us. I'm just not good enough. What if next time it's Sakura-chan, or you? No!" Naruto shook his head angrily and clenched his fists again. "When I thought Sasuke was dead… I don't want to feel like that again, Kakashi-niisan. I finally have people who care about me and have to be strong enough to protect them. RIght now."

Kakashi softened. He reached down to mess with his hair again, but somehow his hand ended up on Naruto's shoulder. He smiled down at him and allowed his thumb to start moving in small, soothing circles. "There's a reason your jounin-sensei comes along with you on every mission. Well, multiple reasons. The point is, so I can protect you three. And if this hadn't turned A-rank on us, I would've been able to. In the future, I'll make sure we don't take on any missions like this agin until we're ready. You've got time to train and get strong; you don't have to right now."

Kakashi frowned when he saw that Naruto was still focused entirely on Sasuke. But, then, he couldn't really blame him. He remembered how terrible he had felt when Obito had died because he'd tried to protect him… hell, terrible was an understatement. Just because Sasuke had ended up not being dead didn't mean Naruto felt any less responsible or haunted by the memory of Sasuke dying in his arms. He sighed, deciding to try a different tactic. "Hey. Remember what I said when we first fought Zabuza? I told you three that I would never let a teammate die. I meant that. Whether it's just a little D-rank or a dangerous S-rank, if you three are with me, I won't let you die. I promise."

It was relieving to see the tension ease from Naruto's stance, and when the blond glanced up at him, his gaze was a little less miserable and a little more confident than before. "You promise to train us when we get back home? Like, to show me something really cool and strong, like your Chidori, or maybe those eight dogs you made show up out of nowhere?"

Kakashi's eye crinkled in a smile. "I promise to train you guys. Chidori or my dogs… well, we'll see."

"That doesn't work on me anymore, Kakashi-niisan! I know that when you say 'we'll see' you really just mean no!"

"Now, Naruto, that's not true-"

"You two are slow. Kakashi, dobe, hurry up or we'll leave you behind."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke and hurried to catch up to him, snapping, "You won't leave us behind! We'll leave you behind, teme! Come on, Niisan, let's show him!"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, sneaking his hand into his weapon's pouch to feel around for his book. "Maa, now that you mention it, I've got this leg cramp… why don't you go around without me?"

"Come on, Sasuke-teme! I bet I can go faster than you!"

"No one cares-"

"You can not! Sasuke-kun is faster than you!"

"Wha, Sakura-chan, why…"

Kakashi's smile broadened as he watched his team bicker. They sure were a lot of trouble, but he wouldn't trade them for anyone in the world.