Chapter 9: (mentions of blood from self harm)

Kakashi woke up with the feeling of something licking his hand. He sat up with a jolt and immediately regretted it. His head was pounding, raising a hand to check the damage he felt bandaging cloth wrapped around his head. It was fairly late into the morning, the blinding sun and heat making his headache worse. He looked down into the eyes of Pakkun who was apparently the one to wake him up. "How are you feeling, Kakashi?" the pug inquired. "Fucking awful, if I'm honest." He took in his surroundings and tried to remember what happened. Naruto. In his lap laid his ANBU mask, now split completely in two. To his left a few pain pills and a canteen. He looked back at Pakkun in question. "Naruto was the one to bandage you up. He also wanted me to relay a message. He apologized because he didn't know it was you. He was really upset. He reaffirmed that he would not willingly go back to Konoha and asked us to protect you while you were unconscious. He also.." Pakkun hesitated before continuing, "He also said that he missed you and wished things were different." A pang of guilt ripped through Kakashi. Of course the young man didn't recognise him with his mask on, but would it really have made that much of a difference? He had abandoned Naruto years ago, he doubted the young man had any room left for him in his heart. Grabbing the pain pills and swallowing them back with the water in the canteen, Kakashi tried to decide on his next steps. He should probably send some sort of progress report to the Sandaime, he would keep it vague. He hastily wrote out a report and sent it back to the village with one of his ninken.

Kakashi was starting to remember more of the previous day, the look of paralyzing fear on Naruto's face that shifted quickly to venomous rage. He remembered those beautiful baby blue eyes suddenly turning hateful, the strange flash of red behind them. The force behind his punch was astounding, it was clear that Naruto had managed to control some of the Kyuubi's power. He smiled to himself again, Naruto sure did never cease to amaze. Gingerly making his way to his feet he gauges his overall strength. He felt a little woozy but overall okay. He quickly drank some more of the canteen's water and ate a small portion of food, trying not to further upset his stomach. He rallied his ninken and started heading back out in the direction of Naruto's scent. He wasn't giving up, he would never give up. He had to track down Naruto and talk to him, heal him, and protect him. He owed him everything for the hell he had been put through.
Kakashi and his ninken continued along at a steady pace, it appeared that Naruto had made an attempt to conceal his movements but with the trail being so fresh it was all in vain. Night was quickly starting to fall but Kakashi decided they were going to travel through it, they would continue to travel until they caught up. They reached the edge of a lake, the first smell that hit him was that of a campfire. Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief, they had to be close to where Naruto had set up camp for the night. Following the edge of the lake he could see the faint glow of a flickering, dying out fire. Pakkun was at his side and let out a low whine. "What, what is it, Pakkun?". "I smell blood Kakashi, a lot of blood".

Kakashi's heart stopped, blood, he set off in a mad dash in the direction of the dying campfire. "Naruto! NARUTO!" He couldn't stop himself from screaming out his name as he drew nearer to the campsite. Night had completely fallen but the low light from the fire illuminated enough for Kakashi to see the young man crumpled on the ground. He was laying face down in a large pool of his own blood. Kakashi dropped to his knees and quickly checked for a pulse. Naruto's pulse was weak but steady, with the amount of blood on the ground Kakashi had assumed the worst. He should be dead but he's not. Thank Kami he's not. Kakashi called out to Pakkun, "I need you to search the area, find a cave or something similar, we need a safe, dry and hidden place to set up camp." Pakkun nodded and dashed out into the darkness with the rest of the pack. Kakashi pulled his first aid kit from his pouch and went to work cleaning up the fresh wound on Naruto's wrist, noting the heartbreaking number of scars across his forearm. The wound was no longer bleeding, which was odd but he was grateful, if the young man had lost any more blood he would have surely died. He disinfected the cut and wrapped it tightly with a bandage. Pakkun reappeared a short time later, "We found a spot Kakashi, just on the other end of the lake. There is a cave near the water, it's not overly deep but it should provide adequate shelter. It's about a ten minute walk from here." Kakashi struggled to keep his voice steady, holding the unconscious young man in his arms, he stood up. "Let's go." Kakashi had his ninken bring his and Naruto's gear as they set out toward the cave. They arrived quickly, Kakashi nodded his approval at Pakkun, the site was exactly what he needed. Kakashi directed the dogs to collect some tinder as he carefully laid Naruto on the ground at the back of the cave. His skin was dreadfully cold, clothing and hair soaked through with blood. Kakashi opened his rucksack, pulling out a fresh shirt, slacks and a towel. He walked to the lake's edge and collected some water in his cooking pot. The dogs came back quickly with plenty of dry tinder. He started a fire and set the pot nearby to heat. Waiting for the water to heat, he fed his ninken and directed them to scout the area. When the water was warm enough, he retreated back into the cave. Naruto was still unconscious, his body slightly trembling from the cold. Kakashi pulled the blood soaked clothing off of him until he was left only in his underwear. He dipped the towel into the warm water and started washing the young man clean of blood. There was so much blood, especially soaked into his hair. Tears were falling from Kakashi's eyes as he cleaned the poor, broken soul. "It's all my fault…" he whispered to himself. "I'm so sorry, Naruto, I'm so, so sorry." Finally satisfied that the majority of the blood had been cleaned away, he redressed him, surprised to find that his clothing mostly fit Naruto. He spread out a bed roll and carefully laid the blonde down on it, covering him with extra layers of clothing. Kakashi sighed and headed back to the opening of the cave, he could keep watch over Naruto and the area from there. He was not going to be able to sleep until he knew Naruto was safe. He couldn't take the chance of him waking up and taking off again, or worse.