Chapter 23:
They climbed their way back out of the gully, making the now familiar trek back to the forest. The first two traps didn't yield any catches, so they quickly re-baited them and moved along to check the remaining two. The last two were set along the edge of a clearing in the middle of the forest, a clearing that Kakashi realized too late was not empty. Naruto was still oblivious of their predicament when Kakashi grabbed him harshly by the wrist and tucked him behind him. Kakashi counted five men in the clearing, they weren't wearing any Shinobi insignia so were more likely just travelers or bandits. The biggest of the five was clearly the leader, approaching Kakashi and Naruto without hesitation. "My, my, what do we have here? I wasn't expecting to come across anyone this far out in the woods. It appears it's our lucky day. Hand over any valuables you have if you value your lives." So just bandits then, Kakashi surmised. "We don't have anything of value to you, we are just traveling through with minimal gear." The leader scoffed, "I'll be the judge of that…" His eyes met the blonde partially hidden behind Kakashi, "...Yes, I see something I quite like actually. I'm sure I could have plenty of fun with you blondie." Kakashi's anger flared, he stepped entirely in front of Naruto, meeting the eyes of the leader. Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan activated, capturing the thug in a genjutsu, leaving him paralyzed unable to move or even blink. Kakashi launched himself in the direction of the other four men, cutting one down before he had a chance to move. Two of the men rushed him, the third charging at Naruto. Kakashi engaged the other two while keeping a close eye on Naruto. The young man was holding his own against his assailant, his taijutsu impressive for someone with no formal training. Kakashi cut down his two assailants with relative ease. He turned in time to see the final bandit running head long at Naruto brandishing a kunai. Knowing he didn't have the time to prevent the attack, Kakashi Body Flickered in front of Naruto, the attacker's kunai blade plunging into his left shoulder. Kakashi's sudden appearance had stunned the attacker, affording Kakashi the opportunity to grab him tightly by the throat. Rage blazing, Kakashi's hand sparked with lightning, "Chidori", he drove his fist through the chest of the man he had by the throat. He pulled his lightning wrapped arm free from the dead man and walked to their leader who was still standing paralyed, driving his fist through his chest as well. Deeming all the threats neutralized, Kakashi turned to check on Naruto.
Naruto's entire body was enveloped in a red aura, his lips pulled back in a sneer, eyes blazing crimson. Kakashi gripped him by the shoulders wincing as he could feel his hands burning on contact. Naruto's skin under the red cloak was burning as well, peeling back painfully. "Naruto, calm down, everythings okay… Naruto." Kakashi tried calling and shaking the young man lightly to snap him out of it. Realizing this was probably the work of the Kyuubi trying to protect Naruto, Kakashi tried a different approach. Covering his Sharingan eye with one hand to try and ease the nine-tails, "Kurama, everythings okay now, Naruto is safe, you are safe. It's okay, calm down. Please." Kakashi watched as the red aura around Naruto slowly pulled back, mesmerized as he watched Naruto's burnt skin being quickly healed right before his eyes. Naruto blinked, eyes returning to their normal colour. He was slightly trembling, Kakashi pulled him in tight to him, mindful of the kunai still buried in his shoulder. "You okay, love?" Naruto nodded, hugging Kakashi tightly. Kakashi couldn't help the grunt that escaped him as Naruto's embrace tugged harshly at the knife in shoulder. Naruto pulled back, finally noticing the blade, eyes widening in fear. "No, no, I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm leaving the blade there for now to keep from bleeding out. I don't have a medkit on me at the moment." Kakashi gave Naruto a reassuring smile but his blonde love had turned ghost white. Kakashi quickly summoned his ninken, directing them to dispose of the dead men as far from their camp as possible. Naruto was violently shaking now, looking over the bodies of the men on the ground. "I'm sorry Naruto, you shouldn't have had to see that. That man threatening to harm you drove me into a frenzy. I should have teleported you away to spare you having to watch me kill them." Naruto gulped heavily, finally meeting Kakashi's eyes, "Can… can you teach me how to fight?…I want to be able to help if this happens again." Kakashi regarded him carefully. "Of course, if that's what you want, I can teach you." Kakashi steered Naruto away from the grim site, "Come on, let's leave that to the hounds. We still need to check your last two traps before we head back to camp." "But your shoulder…" "Mahh, I'll be fine for a while longer." The traps were a short distance away, one of which had captured a hare. Naruto retrieved the kill and quickly reset the trap.
A while later they were safely back at camp. Naruto quickly set about starting a fire and gutting the hare. Kakashi stripped himself of his blood drenched clothing, carefully lifting his shirt away, around the kunai. He lowered himself into the river and set about cleaning his blood soaked hand and arm, picking out bits of bone that were embedded in his skin. His palms were badly burned from the Kyuubi's cloak, already beginning to peel. Rinsed of blood, Kakashi collected some water in the cook pot, setting it near the fire to heat. He also found a relatively flat rock and set it in the fire as well, hoping he wouldn't need it. He quickly bandaged his arm and palms, hoping to hide the burn damage from Naruto. Kakashi located the shabbiest of their towels and started tearing it into strips, putting them into the pot of heated water. "Naruto, I hate to ask but would you be able to give me a hand." Naruto was quickly at his side, "I need you to pull the kunai out, I don't want to cause any more damage attempting to pull it out myself." Naruto's face turned ashen but he nodded slowly. "I need you to pull it out as straight and quickly as you can." Naruto nodded again, brow furrowing. Kakashi pulled the pot from the fire, setting it near his side. He removed a now steaming strip of cloth from the pot ringing it out. "Ok, whenever you're ready." Kakashi closed his eyes. Naruto brought a shaking hand to the hilt of the blade, grabbing onto it firmly. He sucked in a quick breath, yanking the knife swiftly from Kakashi's shoulder. Kakashi suppressed a wince, keeping his face neutral amidst the pain. More ANBU experience coming in handy in such a silly situation. Kakashi quickly pressed the hot cloth to the wound, applying pressure. He gave the blonde a reassuring smile, "Thank you." Naruto was watching him appraisingly. Kakashi lifted back the cloth to survey the damage, the wound was still bleeding heavily, deeper then he had anticipated. He pressed the cloth back to the wound, "Can you grab me another cloth out of the pot please?" The blonde retrieved it and rang it out. Kakashi quickly swapped the blood soaked cloth for the fresh one, pressing firmly. Kakashi waited a few moments, willing the bleeding to stop, Naruto still eyeing him carefully. Kakashi lifted the cloth and sighed, the wound was still bleeding heavily. "Well, this is going to get a bit messy. I am going to need you to hold the cloth in place, Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened, bringing his hand up to press the, now blood drench, cloth in place. "It seems the cut was a bit deeper than I was hoping…I am going to have to seal the wound. I'm going to be honest with you, this is not going to be pretty but I don't think I can do it without your help." Kakashi started tearing another fresh strip of cloth from the towel in his lap. "I am going to ask you to close your eyes, I don't want you to have to watch this. When I say the word, I want you to remove the cloth from my wound and move away, okay?" Naruto nodded, hands slightly trembling. "Okay, close your eyes." Kakashi wrapped the strip of towel around his fingers and thumb, then checked to make sure Naruto's eyes were closed. Confirming they were, he reached into the fire with his cloth wrapped fingers, retrieving the previously deposited flat stone. "Okay, remove the cloth and back away, Naruto." The blonde pulled the cloth away and slid back from Kakashi, eyes still closed. Kakashi hurriedly pushed the red hot rock onto the bleeding wound, stifling back a scream that was threatening to rip from his throat. His eyes snapped shut, wincing at the pain. The smell of burning flesh and the sizzle of his skin cauterizing assaulted his senses. Kakashi's head swam, free hand gripping roughly at his thigh. Fighting through a small wave of nausea, he opened his eye. Naruto was still seated on the ground in front of him, but his eyes were open, a steady stream of tears falling down his cheeks. Kakashi watched as the blonde was fighting back the urge to retch. Kakashi felt exceedingly guilty, "I told you to keep your eyes closed, Naruto. It's not as bad as it looks. Believe me I have had to deal with far worse." Kakashi grunted softly as he pulled the stone from his skin. The searing hot stone had done the job, the majority of the wound was now burned shut. Tossing the stone back in the fire, he grabbed another fresh cloth out of the pot using it to clean the remaining blood off of himself. He quickly bandaged himself up and looked over at Naruto, "There good as new." The young man crawled over to him and buried his head in his lap sobbing. Kakashi ran his fingers through Naruto's hair with one hand and gently rubbed his back with the other. "I'm fine, Naruto, I promise… I'm hungry and I bet you are too, let's go turn that hare you caught into something delicious."
While they were finishing up making dinner, Kakashi's ninken pack entered camp. Pakkun informed Kakashi that everything was taken care of. Kakashi thanked the hounds, giving them each a quick pat, reverse summoning them back home. They ate in silence, Kakashi appraising Naruto while he ate. The young man had a far away look in his eyes, Kakashi wasn't sure if it was because he was thinking or if he was communicating with the Kyuubi. "Naruto?" It took a second before Naruto looked at him. "I'm sorry you had to see… all of that…everything. Are you okay?" Another moment passed before Naruto finally spoke, "You could have died, Kakashi. For what? I don't want you to die because of me… I… I don't want you to die. I don't want to be alone anymore." Kakashi's heart clenched, Naruto was only worried about him, nothing else. Kakashi pulled his love into a tight hug replying, "I would happily die to protect you in an instant, Naruto, but know that I will do everything in my power to stay alive to be with you. Those men got lucky catching me off guard. I had become too lax in the surroundings and will just have to be more attentive. I promise you I was nowhere near dying and took a calculated risk to spare you injury. I'm sorry that I worried you and that you had to witness all of that today." Naruto was clutching onto him tightly, "Just…promise me you will be careful. I finally feel like I am happy for the first time in my life and I don't know what I would do if I lost you now." Kakashi hugged him tight, "I promise."
"Oh by the way, Kurama says thank you and he's sorry…during the fight earlier he kind of shut me out so I didn't know what was happening for a bit." Kakashi chuckled, "Tell him I say thank you too and to not worry about it. Now, I don't know about you, but I am exhausted. Ready for bed?" Naruto had an inquisitive look on his face but agreed he was ready for bed as well. They quickly cleaned up camp and climbed into their tent. Kakashi laid out on his back, not wanting to put any pressure on his shoulder. Kakashi could sense the young man's hesitancy to pull in close to him, probably fearful of hurting him. Kakashi chuckled softly, "I am fine Naruto, like you said earlier, I'm not made of glass. Come here." Naruto carefully curled up against his side, gingerly resting his head on Kakashi's chest. "Better, now get some sleep my little fox. I love you." Kakashi placed a soft kiss on the blonde's head, "I love you too." Kakashi had his eyes closed, waiting to hear the rhythmic sounds of Naruto falling asleep, but it seemed his love was having a difficult time of it. "Kashi…" Naruto whispered in the darkness. "Yes, love?" "You will teach me how to fight… right?" Kakashi hummed and squeezed the blonde closer to him, "Oh course love… Now go to sleep." Kakashi didn't have to wait much longer, Naruto falling quickly to sleep. Kakashi let sleep capture him too, his body shoulder throbbing.