In the woods around Konoha, late at night, two pairs of sandals thump onto the forest floor, splashing in the puddles of rainwater on the ground.
The sandals belong to a Konoha medical-nin and an ANBU shinobi; a small rescue squad. The two of them have been traveling for almost a full day, never slowing down. Their footsteps are quick and steady, despite their tiredness and the cold rain. They can't let themselves feel that tiredness, nor that cold. They have a mission.
Their mission is to meet up with Hatake Kakashi's team and bring them home.
The ANBU's cat-shaped mask shows no hints of the true expression on his face, of the tension in his jaw and the lines between his eyebrows. It's a look of worry, and the ANBU feels that that worry is entirely justified. After all, he's known Kakashi for nearly half of his life – and he knows that when Kakashi's missions go wrong, they go wrong spectacularly.
"Tenzou-taichou." The medical-nin's voice pulls him from his musings. She holds up the map at him. "We're almost there."
Tenzou gives her a curt nod as a reply. "Keep your guard up. We could be stepping into a dangerous situation at any time." Kakashi has always had a talent for attracting trouble. The request for backup said nothing about enemies, but it's been two days since Team Seven asked for help. A lot can happen in that time.
The medic nods back at him. "Yes, sir."
The knowledge that they're almost at their destination – almost at Team Seven's location – makes the knot in Tenzou's gut tighten. He has a bad feeling about this. He's had that bad feeling ever since yesterday, when one of Kakashi's ninken rushed into the Hokage's office with a request for backup and a medic.
Tenzou had been in the Hokage's office at that moment, reporting back from a mission that he'd just finished. He'd been there by chance, and he's glad about that; if he hadn't been there right then, it's likely that some other shinobi would've been sent out to help Team Seven. ANBU aren't usually sent on rescue missions. But Tenzou had offered to go, and he'd left Konoha ten minutes later with a medical-nin in tow.
That was almost twenty-four hours ago, now – which is a pretty long time to have to wait for backup. And it especially worries Tenzou that Kakashi had asked for a medic. The injury that Kakashi's ninken described didn't sound exceptionally serious, but Tenzou knows that Kakashi won't admit that he's injured unless it's bad. Considering that he's apparently so injured that he can't move, it's probably really bad. It takes a lot before Kakashi admits that he's at his limit.
Tenzou turns his focus back to his surroundings. It's no use worrying, and he knows that. He'll just have to hope that they'll reach him in time.
A glimmer in the corner of his eye draws his attention; wire shimmering in the scarce moonlight. The wire is part of a snare, half hidden underneath the mud on the ground. The trap is poorly concealed, but it's well-made, Tenzou notices. If he were to step into it, he would certainly break his leg.
"Keep an eye out for traps," he calls towards the medic, who nods in return. The traps will make their journey harder, but they're a good sign nonetheless. If Tenzou is correct, then these traps are the handiwork of Kakashi's students. Which means that they're getting closer.
More traps follow, ranging from mostly-harmless to straight-up deadly. The rain has washed away most of the mud that the traps were hidden underneath, but the darkness still makes the traps difficult to see. They could do some serious damage to an unprepared attacker. And if Konoha had sent out a chuunin to rescue Team Seven, they would've had a seriously difficult time getting through here.
Eventually, after they've zigzagged in between the traps for a while, a dark shape looms out of the darkness, and Tenzou and the medic pause. They've reached some sort of cabin. Vaguely, Tenzou can see a bit of light through the smudged windows.
A few meters to the side, someone small is standing in the shadow of a tree – a genin, Tenzou thinks, and he squashes his instinct to grab a kunai. If he pulled out a weapon, he might make the genin feel threatened, and that's not what he wants.
The genin spots him and jumps into a battle stance. "Hey!" he shouts. It's the Jinchuuriki's voice; this is Uzumaki Naruto. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
At his shout, the door to the cabin slams open and two more small forms come running outside. Tenzou recognizes the glow of Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan. He's doesn't know much about the third genin, but if he remembers correctly, her name is Haruno Sakura. Kakashi himself is noticeably missing from the picture. Too hurt to fight, then.
Tenzou steps towards them, holding his hands above his head. He's not here to hurt these kids, and he tries to make that as clear as possible. The medic follows his lead.
"We're the backup that you asked for," Tenzou says. "We've come to help." Tenzou makes sure that his tone is gentle; if Kakashi is as bad off as he fears, then these kids have been holed up in this cabin with their very hurt jounin-sensei for days. Their nerves are probably shot by now. If Tenzou wants this to go smoothly, he should try his best not to appear like a threat. "You're Hatake Kakashi's students, correct?" He already knows that these are Kakashi's genin, but maybe the easy question will help them calm down a little.
"Who's asking?" the Jinchuuriki – Uzumaki Naruto – demands.
Tenzou takes off his mask, revealing his face and Konoha forehead protector. "My name is Tenzou," he says. "I'm an ANBU shinobi from Konoha. I'm a friend of Kakashi's."
To his relief and surprise, recognition sparks in the kids' eyes. Kakashi must've told his students about him, then. Tenzou feels a pang of uneasiness when he tries to imagine what kinds of stories Kakashi could've told about him, but it doesn't matter anyway. If Kakashi told his students embarrassing stories about Tenzou like he fears, then that at least means that his students will see Tenzou as someone non-threatening.
Haruno Sakura narrows her eyes at him, not lowering her kunai. There are bandages around her hand, Tenzou notices. Her other arm is in a splint, held tightly against her chest. She's injured, but if she's in pain, she's hidden it well.
"Kakashi-sensei said that you're the only one in the world who can use Woodstyle ninjutsu," she says. "Can you show us? To prove that you really are who you say you are?"
It's smart; it's not something that most genin would think to ask. Tenzou nods. "Sure."
He holds out a hand and grows a branch from his palm, making a couple of leaves sprout from it. It's the most non-threatening use of his jutsu that he can think of – these kids are nervous, and rightfully so. If he'd used his Woodstyle to grow a weapon, then that would just make their mistrust grow.
Naruto takes a step forwards and inspects the miniature tree, bringing his hands together in a 'release' sign. He's checking whether this is a genjutsu or not. Once again, it's a smart move. Kakashi has taught these genin well.
When the attempt at breaking a genjutsu does nothing, Naruto bites down on his lower lip, hard. If Tenzou's Woodstyle had been a genjutsu, it would've definitely been broken by now. Naruto looks up at Tenzou, and then at the medical-nin, and then back to Tenzou.
"I think we can trust them," he tells his teammates.
"We should be careful, still," Sasuke replies. "But I think we can trust them, too."
Sakura immediately locks eyes with the medic. "Kakashi-sensei is inside," she tells her, her voice suddenly rising with urgency. Tenzou realizes abruptly that the genin hadn't shown the slightest hint of emotion until they knew for sure that they were safe. If Tenzou had been there to attack them, he never would've guessed that one of their teammates was down. They effectively hid their worry about Kakashi in order to protect him. "He's really sick- Please help him."
The medical-nin hurries into the cabin, not wasting any more time. Sakura follows her closely. Tenzou stays behind with the boys, who are still eyeing him somewhat suspiciously. He smiles at them, hoping that that'll help.
"I can stand guard, if you want to go inside," he tells them.
Naruto accepts his offer with a nod and quickly follows Sakura into the cabin. Sasuke stays outside. "I'm not about to trust you just like that," Sasuke says. There's a certain kind of carefulness in his words that even most ANBU recruits don't develop until later on in their careers. Tenzou remembers how Uchiha Itachi was when he first joined ANBU; he definitely didn't sound the same way that Sasuke sounds right now. Tenzou is sure that Sasuke wouldn't appreciate being compared to his brother, though.
Tenzou shrugs and turns his gaze to the trees around them, showing that he's not watching Sasuke's every move; maybe that'll make him feel more at ease. "Nothing wrong with a healthy dose of mistrust."
Judging by the hum that Sasuke gives in return, he agrees. "Even if you are worthy of my trust," he replies, "you shouldn't ever expect me to trust you as much as I trust my teammates. No offense."
Kakashi really did teach them well. "None taken."
They lapse into silence. From inside the cabin, Tenzou can hear the faint hum of the medic's medical ninjutsu – probably diagnostic ninjutsu, to determine whether Kakashi can be healed here at all or needs to be taken to the hospital. Tenzou has seen this play out before. This isn't the first time he's seen Kakashi injured.
"His temperature's pretty high," the medic murmurs. "For how long has it been like this?"
"Sensei's wound got infected a week ago," Sakura replies quietly. "He's had a fever since then. Though it got really bad two days ago, when his soldier pill wore off, and then we-"
"Wait." The medic cuts her off, distracted by her medical-ninjutsu. Her voice sounds alarmed. "Your request for help mentioned a cut on Kakashi's leg," she says. "Would anyone care to explain why there's a large septic burn on his leg instead?"
"That's what I was about to say." Sakura's voice is tearful. "We got- We got attacked by a missing-nin right after we sent for backup. The fight opened Kakashi-sensei's wound again, and it- it wouldn't stop bleeding…"
"So he cauterized it," the medical-nin finishes her sentence with a sigh.
"No," Sakura replies faintly, "I did."
There's a moment of silence; the medical-nin's expression must've been something to behold, because when Naruto next speaks, his tone is defensive. "She saved sensei's life," he says. "We tried everything else. There was no other way to stop the bleeding." He pauses. "We really- We really wouldn't have put him through that if it wasn't necessary."
"We know it was risky," Sakura says quietly. "Please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad," the medical-nin replies. "I'm… honestly not even surprised. When Kakashi gets hurt, it always somehow evolves into the worst of the worst. He seriously would've been dead without you three. I don't want to imagine what would've happened if this had been a solo mission." There's the rustling of clothes; the medical-nin gets up from the floor. "At any rate, I can't heal him here. He needs blood and fluids, and that leg of his needs to be cleaned properly. We need to get him to the hospital as quickly as possible. Tenzou-taichou, would you mind giving me a hand?"
Tenzou turns and steps into the cabin, joining the medical-nin inside. The cabin is dimly lit; there are a few candles scattered around the room, but most of them have burned up. Kakashi is lying on a futon in the middle of the cabin, curled in on himself and lying alarmingly still. Tenzou can't see his chest move, but he can hear Kakashi breathe, the shallow breaths wheezing in his throat in rapid succession. His face is a dark red color, though it's difficult to see between the mask and the hair that's sticking to his forehead. The cabin smells profoundly of sweat and blood and something rotten.
He looks so terrible that Tenzou is almost surprised to notice that the bandages around his leg are clean, and that there are damp cloths on his forehead and around his wrists, the cloths not yet dry. Despite how hopeless things must've looked, the genin clearly tried their best to take care of Kakashi. Tenzou suddenly understands the medic's words from just now: Kakashi would've been dead without his students. Things must've been exceptionally dire for them, and Tenzou realizes with a jolt of alarm that backup arrived not a moment too soon.
"I'll Body-Flicker him to the hospital," Tenzou says. It'll be a great strain on his chakra – in any other situation, traveling such large distances with the Body Flicker Technique wouldn't be worth the effort, but Kakashi's life hangs in the balance here. They can't afford to waste any more time. He looks up at the genin; "I'm assuming that none of you know the Body Flicker Technique?"
"Do you think we'd still be here if we did?" Sasuke calls from outside.
"You three should hang on to me, then," the medical-nin says. "I'll Body-Flicker us back to Konoha. Tenzou-taichou can carry Kakashi."
"Sounds like a plan." Tenzou crouches next to Kakashi, putting one arm underneath his shoulders and one underneath his knees. He lifts Kakashi off the futon as carefully as he can. The genin start forwards briefly, a reminder of the fact that their trust in him is very fragile. He readjusts Kakashi in his arms, showing the genin that he won't drop him. Kakashi's head rests limply against Tenzou's shoulder.
Once he has a secure grip on Kakashi, Tenzou straightens up and looks around the room. Sasuke has joined them inside the cabin, not saying anything. Both he and Naruto are holding on to the medic's wrists, and Naruto is holding Sakura's wrist in his other hand. They've got their backpacks on, though it doesn't look like there's much left inside the backpacks, and Sasuke is holding Kakashi's weapons pouch and headband. They're all ready to go.
Tenzou gives them a smile and brings his hands together in a sign; the movement is a bit awkward because he's carrying Kakashi in his arms, but he manages. The medical-nin follows his lead. They both focus their chakra at the same time.
In a few more seconds, Team Seven will be home.
Body-Flickering is weird.
One moment, Team Seven is standing in the cabin, clinging to the medical-nin. The next moment, they're rushing through the woods at incredible speed. It's like nothing Naruto has ever experienced before; they're going so fast that he can barely focus his eyes, the forest around him turning into a blur of green. The air pulls at his clothes and his hair, and it would've been uncomfortable if it had lasted longer.
The moment after that, they've stopped. Naruto stumbles, surprised at the fact that they're not moving anymore. Sakura's hand on his shoulder steadies him.
He blinks, trying to make his eyes stop feeling so dry. It takes him a second before he thinks to look around – and he realizes that he knows where they are.
They're standing at the entrance of the hospital. Konoha's hospital.
Naruto reflexively bites his tongue, trying to make sure that this is real. The image of the hospital's entrance doesn't disappear.
"We're home," Sakura whispers next to him. Naruto can only nod mutely. He sees in the corner of his eye that Sasuke does the same thing. The three of them can barely bring themselves to move, irrationally scared that any unexpected movements will break the spell, will make home disappear again.
In contrast to Team Seven's dazed stillness, the medical-nin and the ANBU shinobi continue to hurry. Tenzou follows the medical-nin into the hospital, taking Kakashi with him. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are instructed to find a waiting room and wait there. They can't come with Kakashi. Naruto doesn't argue, no matter how badly he wants to. He knows that arguing will just waste time; time that is better spent healing Kakashi.
The three of them end up in a quiet waiting room; it's late in the evening, so there aren't many people around. They're the only ones in the waiting room. Strangely enough, it calms Naruto down that they're alone here. He finds that other people stress him out.
It's weird to be here, in this waiting room, in the hospital, in Konoha. They're home. It hasn't really sunk in yet; it doesn't feel like they've returned yet. Their sandals are still caked with the mud from the forest. They're all covered in grime and old blood. Sakura's hair is tangled and dirty, and Naruto is pretty sure that his teammates' faces are a bit thinner than they were before. They're home, but they definitely don't look like they're home. It probably won't feel like they're home until they've had a bath and a meal and a good long nap.
Not to mention that their team is incomplete. Naruto frowns at the absence of their sensei in their immediate sight. It probably won't truly feel like they're at home until Kakashi is all better.
They sit in silence, waiting quietly. Tenzou returns to them at some point, sitting down on one of the chairs across from them. The medical-nin are treating Kakashi now, he says. They'll give Team Seven updates on his status whenever they can. The statement makes Naruto's hope grow a little stronger. It'd been so difficult to hold on to his hope for the past few days, as Kakashi grew weaker and weaker right before his eyes, but it's starting to get easier to believe that things will be okay, now.
After he's given them that news about Kakashi, Tenzou asks Team Seven to tell him what happened during their mission. So they tell him. They tell him about the bandits that ambushed them on their way back home, and about how Sakura protected her teammates, and about how Kakashi hurt his leg. They tell him about the civilians that tried to rob them after that, and about how Sasuke was almost killed during that encounter.
They talk about how difficult it was to travel, especially at first when everyone was still recovering from that initial fight, and especially when Kakashi's wound got infected. They talk about the fact that their food almost ran out a couple of times, and that they had to ration their water some days.
And finally, they tell Tenzou about that final fight against the missing-nin, when they'd already started celebrating that safety was within their reach. They'd already given Tenzou and the medic a short summary of that fight earlier, and Naruto is glad that they don't have to repeat what they'd already said. That fight, and the moments after that, were too filled with despair to properly put into words.
There are tears; summing up their experiences like this really drives home the point that this entire mission was messed up. They tell their story with breaking voices, finishing one another's sentences when one of them starts crying too hard to speak. By the time they get to talking about their time in the cabin, none of them are able to speak without sobbing. Sakura cries into Naruto's shoulder and Sasuke wipes stubbornly at his eyes with the back of his hand, and Naruto himself doesn't realize that he's started crying until he feels warm tears slip down his face.
Talking about everything helps, though, no matter how difficult it is. It's nice to talk about this mission in the past tense. It's over, even though that hasn't fully sunk in yet. Their mission is over. They're home.
Once they finish talking and their tears have dried, Tenzou gets up and nods once. "I'll go report to the Hokage for you," he says. "You can stay here. A medical-nin could be here at any moment with news; you should be here for that."
Naruto nods, wiping at his nose with his hand. "Thanks."
"It's no problem." Tenzou pulls his ANBU mask over his face again. "Best of luck, you three," he says, and then he's gone.
Not long after that, Sakura is whisked away by a medical-nin. When she returns a few minutes later, the splint around her arm is gone, and the burn on her other hand has disappeared as well. The persistent frown on her face seems a lot less intense, all of a sudden.
"How's your arm?" Naruto asks as she closes the door to the waiting room behind her. She seems to be moving a lot more easily than before.
"Healed," she replies simply. "The medical-nin said that the splint held the broken bone in place well, so it was easy to heal." She sits down in between Naruto and Sasuke. "It'll probably be a little hard to move my arm again at first, because I haven't moved it in so long. Other than that, I should be fine." She stretches her arms above her head. "That's what the medical-nin said, at least."
Sasuke hums an approving noise. He seems calmer; Naruto suspects that secretly, Sasuke had still been feeling guilty about the fact that Sakura broke her arm. Naruto had been feeling the same kind of anxiety – Sakura had broken her arm while trying to protect him and Sasuke, after all. It's a relief to know that she's going to be okay.
"Also, the medical-nin said that we should all try to eat a lot during the next couple of weeks," Sakura continues. "Because we haven't really had enough to eat during our mission. So we should try our best to get ourselves back to a healthy weight as soon as we can."
"Sounds good to me," Naruto replies with an enthousiastic nod. It's been a long time since he was last able to eat as much as he wanted. The idea of it makes his stomach grumble, but he doesn't give in to the feeling of hunger. He needs to know that Kakashi is okay, first.
"Yeah," Sakura agrees. She huffs a laugh. "I've never been this thin before, and I absolutely hate it. Dieting is a sham. Next time we go out for food, I'm going to eat as much as I want. I'm going to gain as much weight as I want."
She's interrupted by a knock on the door, and the entirety of Team Seven immediately freezes. Naruto's hand automatically moves towards his weapons pouch before he stops himself. When did people start startling him so bad?
"Come in," Sasuke calls – Naruto notices that his hand is in his weapons pouch, no doubt holding a kunai inside. The knocking startled him, too.
A medical-nin enters the room; the one from before. If she's here, then that means that she's stopped treating Kakashi. Naruto's eyes flicker over her face, trying to read her expression. If she stopped treating Kakashi because he's dead, surely she would look sadder, right?
"How is Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke demands. "Is he alive?" There's a dangerous undertone to his voice that implies that this medical-nin won't leave this room alive if she let Kakashi die.
Finally, the medical-nin's expression becomes easier to read; she smiles reassuringly. "He's alive," she replies, "and he's going to be fine. He's still asleep, but he should wake up soon. We've given him antibiotics, painkillers, extra fluids and a blood transfusion. He'll need to stay in the hospital for a while longer so that he can recover from his chakra exhaustion and the sepsis, but we expect that he'll make a full recovery."
It feels like the air in the waiting room suddenly becomes a lot less stifling; Naruto suddenly feels like he can breathe again, finally. Sasuke exhales a long sigh, his shoulders sagging in relief. Sakura smiles, her bottom lip wobbling again.
At Team Seven's relieved expressions, the medical-nin continues, "We cleaned the burn on his leg as well, and it healed pretty nicely, all things considered. There was barely any nerve damage, and the damage that was there should heal by itself. He'll have some trouble moving his leg at first, but he'll be back to normal within a month or two." She sighs. "He'll recover faster if he goes to physical therapy, but he's infamously stubborn about that, so… yeah."
Sasuke shares a look with his teammates. "We could threaten him into going," he says.
The medical-nin laughs. "You could try that. Maybe it'll work."
"What about his hearing?" Sakura asks. "An explosive tag went off next to his head – were you able to heal his hearing as well?"
"We couldn't heal the damage to his hearing with medical ninjutsu," the medical-nin replies, "so we'll just have to wait and see if it gets better with time. It probably won't stay as bad as it is right now, but he might permanently have tinnitus, though. We see it a lot when explosions go off near someone's ears."
"What's tinnitus?" Naruto whispers to Sakura.
"It means that there's ringing in your ears," Sakura replies, also whispering. "It's pretty common."
"This tinnitus thing," Naruto asks the medical-nin, "it's not so serious that Kakashi-sensei has to quit being a shinobi, right? Or the fact that he's going to have trouble walking for a while?"
The medical-nin shakes her head and laughs. "No. He'll be on sick leave for a while, but he'll be back to doing missions soon."
"Oh. That's good, 'cause we're not ready for him to stop being our sensei any time soon." Naruto shuffles in his seat, suddenly impatient. "Hey, can we go see him? We want to be there when he wakes up." Naruto himself would definitely freak out if he woke up and all of his teammates were gone. He wants to spare Kakashi that moment of panic.
The medical-nin takes them to the door of Kakashi's hospital room. She tells them that they need to alert a medical-nin when Kakashi wakes up, and then she leaves them alone. Naruto remembers just in time to thank her; she did save Kakashi's life, after all. This day has been so weird that he'd almost forgotten to thank her at all.
The genin of Team Seven pool into the hospital room. It's a large room; there's multiple beds here, though only one of them is occupied. Naruto is glad about that. He's still not used to other people.
Kakashi is lying in the bed in the middle of the room, propped half upright with a pillow behind his back. His face looks relaxed; his eyes are closed, but they're not squeezed shut, and he's not frowning for the first time in days. He's tucked in underneath blankets, though one arm lies on top of the blankets, an IV needle taped to his forearm. His uniform has been replaced by pale blue hospital pajamas, and a simple medical mask covers his face. There's a little bit of red peeking out above the mask, a remainder of his fever, but his face isn't nearly as red as it was earlier today. Whatever medicine they gave him, it seems to be working.
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke drag some chairs over to the bed, and they sit in a circle around the bed. Naruto feels light, for the first time in days. That heavy despair in his chest is finally gone.
They're home. They made it, and their team is still complete. They all made it home alive, finally.
In contented silence, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke watch as their fourth teammate slowly opens his eyes.