"We are tools, Naruto," Kakashi said, "and tools must be content to be used." He hoped Naruto would let it drop, that for once he would keep his mouth shut when he could accidentally cause more pain.

It wasn't the first time he'd said that to Naruto. The first time had been after Haku had died and Naruto in his innocence discovered some of the uglier facts about ninja life. Kakashi had never been sure what shocked Naruto more, Haku's devotion to a man who saw him as only a disposable tool, or Zabuza's heartless actions toward his own village and student. That Naruto identified with Haku was understandable, but Kakashi suspected that Naruto simply couldn't fathom the idea of someone not loving their village - not at that age anyway. It took him a long time to learn that lesson. He'd rejected the idea until he was far too old for such idealism, and it was Sasuke who finally convinced him that some people have nothing in their hearts to give.

Of course he knew that they were enemies, but Naruto had shared his heart with Sasuke.

Kakashi looked down at the broken body on the torn ground, where Sakura moved quickly to try to hold back death. The battle-damaged area was vast and ruined, with a burning forest from Naruto's jutsus, great mounds of earth from Sakura's earth shattering jutsus, and the thick smell of ozone that followed Kakashi's Chidori. Ink from Sai's jutsus splattered the landscape.

It crossed Kakashi's mind briefly how much collateral damage would have occurred if they had fought in a populated area, but he disregarded that thought as irrelevant. At least they had been spared that nightmare.

Failure, he thought, and not for the first time. It didn't matter what Gai said, or even Sandaime or Tsunade, he knew that somehow he'd missed a chance, a brief moment when he could have saved Sasuke.

It ached, and it had burned at him like acid for years, and now he looked down at the final proof.

"A ninja must keep his emotions in check," he said to Naruto, but keeping his eyes on the ground. It was so easy to slip back into a teaching mode.

"We must keep ourselves from betraying our inner thoughts," he said, staring at what he suspected was a corpse, even though Sakura still worked frantically. She had started as soon as he fell, closing the hole left by Kakashi's Chidori and the massive chakra burns left by Naruto's demon.

She hadn't begun to heal the damage she had caused yet. She was a genjutsu type, but she tended toward physical attacks as well, and the shattered bones, broken jaw, and disfigured face were nothing compared to what Kakashi and Naruto had done to him.

Sai stood by, quietly watching. Sakura had her work, and Kakashi and Naruto stood close to each other, but Sai stood further away, alone as usual.

Sai's jutsus had been largely ineffectual, and he'd stuck to trying to distract Sasuke. He was watching Sakura intently, and Kakashi wondered what the psychotic young man was thinking.

His bruised mind refused any attempt at a challenging question, and he turned away from Sai, unwilling to lose the last few minutes he'd probably have with Sasuke.

He couldn't bring himself to look at Naruto. Sakura had the intense scowl she always had when she put herself entirely into her work, and Sai was looking at her with...

Not love, but something softer than his usual blank face. Who knew with him? Kakashi didn't think he'd ever seen tears on that stone face before.

But he couldn't bear to see Naruto's face screwed up in pain, probably emotionally and physically. So he didn't look at him.

"The Shinobi rules don't help much at times like this, do they, Sensei?" Naruto asked quietly.

Kakashi finally looked at him, and he realized that Naruto was the only one with dry eyes. They looked tired and empty. He would have expected such a reaction from Sai, not Naruto. Even Sai shed a few tears, although probably for his friends' pain and not Sasuke's death. Naruto's long cloak whipped around him in the wind, and Naruto looked at Sasuke stoically.

When did we trade places? Kakashi wondered, remembering the times he'd waited in embarrassed silence while Naruto cried.

Kakashi wiped away tears that he couldn't will away. "I guess I was talking to myself," he said. It had only been a few short minutes since the end of the battle, but if it wasn't for the position of the sun he would have sworn it had been hours.

"I failed you all," Kakashi said. "I'm sorry."

Naruto turned on him. "Don't say things like that. He chose his own way."

There was no passion or even anger in Naruto's voice, only an exhausted acceptance. I was bitter and hard like Sasuke, Kakashi thought. Why did he choose this? He had every advantage.

He had once had Obito to bring him some truth about life, and Sasuke had Naruto. But he couldn't deny that he'd never had the drive for vengeance that permeated Sasuke's life.

But they both had eyes that were cursed; there was that.

He rubbed gently at the sore flesh under the Sharingan eye, ignoring the growing weakness associated with chakra exhaustion. Slick blood still leaked from his bottom eyelid, and he hoped he hadn't permanently damaged it.

I'm overreacting. It isn't that bad, he thought. He'd definitely had worse. His legs felt numb, but he wasn't having trouble standing, yet. He tried to calculate how much chakra he'd used, but he was too tired for the math involved.

He felt blood trickling down his leg, and the dull pain of a minor wound, but he couldn't pull his eyes off that ruined face below him, and when Sakura pushed Sasuke's jaw together with a snap and a grinding sound he almost felt it in his own jaw, and he heard Naruto gasp. He could have tended to his own wound while Sakura worked on Sasuke, but he stared transfixed. He'd killed more people than he could count, but none of them had been his own student, his responsibility.

"He'll live then?" Naruto asked calmly, making Sai and Kakashi slip him sideways, suspicious glances. Naruto didn't do things calmly.

"The book said it's normal for friends to grieve for the loss of another," Sai said.

"What does the book say about traitors?" Naruto asked. Kakashi had rarely heard such coldness in his voice.

"The book doesn't cover every subject," Sai said. "It's about building and maintaining friendships, not dealing with how they end."

If Sakura was dealing with injuries that were not life-threatening it meant Sasuke was out of danger for the moment, and a great relief swept over Kakashi as he realized that he hadn't helped to kill his student.

Sakura sat back and wiped her eyes with the back of one hand.

"You shouldn't use more chakra than is necessary," Sai said. "We have a long trip home."

"I'm not finished yet," Sakura said. She leaned her head on her hand, unknowingly leaving a long red stain of Sasuke's blood in her hair.

"He isn't worth your tears," Naruto said.

Sakura was obviously shocked. "Do you think I'm crying for him?" she asked. "I was thinking about everything he'd cost us - our childhood, all those Konoha ninjas, Ino, Gai Sensei."

"Gai isn't dead," Kakashi said. "With his energy he'll probably be out of the hospital when we get back."

The pity in Sakura's face almost made him give up hope at the memory of Gai lying still and bloody from Sasuke's initial attack. If only he hadn't been caught unaware.

"You don't owe him anything," Naruto said.

"I owe him for Ino," Sakura said.

"Then why did you try so hard to save him?" Sai asked.

"Because I want to drag that bastard back to Konoha to pay for what he did. I want to see that dammed Uchiha line end forever. I want Ino's parents to watch him die."

Thunder sounded in the distance, and they could see dark clouds coming their way.

"We need to find shelter," Sakura said. "If he gets soaked he really will die."

"I saw a cave over there," Sai said, pointing behind them. "It's not close though."

As Kakashi turned to look he placed his full weight on his left leg, and he felt it give under him. Several things seemed to happen at once. To his surprise he looked down and saw that there was far too much blood for a cut (even a deep one), and he collapsed with an undignified "ulp!"

Naruto caught him by the left arm, breaking his fall but also twisting the arm painfully, and Kakashi heard a loud snap as an upper arm bone broke.

He still hit the ground hard enough to jar his new injury. In a detached sort of way he realized he could feel the broken arm much more than the leg wound.

"Oh god Kakashi, I'm sorry!" Naruto said, the first emotion showing since the battle.

Sakura was by Kakashi almost as soon as he hit the ground, checking his vitals. Her fingers felt warm against his neck as she checked his pulse.

"Naruto, Sai, go keep an eye on Sasuke for me," she said.

"You don't need both of us," Naruto said.

"One for Sasuke, and one to stand guard, now go!"

"Is it chakra exhaustion again?" she asked as she pushed chakra through Kakashi's arm in a diagnostic jutsu.

Kakashi had to hold his breath and wait for a wave of pain to pass before he could speak.

"My leg..."

Sakura saw the area below one knee that was stained much darker than the olive drab fabric around it. She pulled a kunai and used it to cut away his pants leg below the knee, giving him a smoldering glare afterwards.

"Baka Sensei. Why didn't you say something?" she asked. "You've lost a lot of blood."

Kakashi followed her gaze to see a surprising amount of blood spreading slowly around his leg.

"It happened just before Sasuke went down, but I can barely feel it," he said. "I thought it was a cut. My legs are tingling like I used too much chakra. That must be why I didn't notice the wound."

"Baka Sensei," Sakura muttered again. "I used so much chakra on Sasuke that I can't do much for you right now except to stop the bleeding. You should have said something."

"Here," she said, pushing a small red pill into his mouth - a little roughly, in his opinion. "Chew."

Liquid burst from the pill as he bit down, and he recognized the coppery taste of a blood pill.

"That will speed up your body's ability to produce blood," Sakura said, "but it's hard on the body, especially with the chakra problems. You'll need to eat more than usual for a couple of days."

"I've had them before," Kakashi said. "I know what to expect." He knew when the chakra-enhanced pill began to take effect when an all-over weakness came over him, and sudden nausea almost made him vomit. He barely managed to hold it back, gagging loudly.

Sakura wrapped the leg wound efficiently and quickly.

He shivered, and Sakura wiped a blood-stained hand on her dress before placing a large palm across his forehead and passing a small amount of chakra through him. As many times as she had worked on him during missions he knew the feel of her chakra, and when he felt the weak flow he knew she had used too much. It actually faded once, and with her superb chakra control he never would have believed it could happen.

When she pulled her bloodstained hand away Kakashi wondered, my blood or Sasuke's?

"I felt your chakra slip," he whispered so Sai and Naruto couldn't hear. "Don't use any more until you've had time to recover."

"I know my own limits," she said.

Kakashi lay still as Sakura pulled his jacket open and slit his shirt with a kunai, slicing away his sleeve.

This is going to hurt," she said, and then she cut her own arm below the elbow - not deeply, but enough to provide her with enough blood for a seal. She used it to draw a seal on his shoulder, and then she performed a few hand signs Kakashi hadn't seen before. She put her hands above the break but below the seal, and she released chakra as she pulled and twisted, realigning the bones.

Kakashi managed not to faint, but his head swam from the pain. He closed his eyes and focused on controlling his breathing and meditation, trying to dominate the pain.

She began breathing heavily and closed her eyes.

"Are you dizzy?" Kakashi asked.

"It will pass," she said. "Don't say more about it or Naruto might find out, and you know how he gets."

Sai and Naruto had stepped away, but they were watching.

"I need your bedrolls," Sakura called to them. "We need to get him warm."

"Is he in shock?" Naruto asked.

"No," Sakura said, "but that much blood loss..." She trailed off for a few seconds.

"I think he lost about half of his blood," she said. "Not good. We're both type O, but there's no way to do a transfusion this far away from civilization."

Kakashi dry-heaved as the blood pill pushed his body to the limits. When he finished she put his arm in a makeshift sling.

"It's healed, somewhat," she said, speaking quietly so that only Kakashi could hear her, "but it's still fragile. I can't do much for it until I get some chakra back."

Thunder drew their attention back to the sky. "I'll stay here with Kakashi," she said. "We'll have to build a shelter over him. I guess with all these trees we wrecked we can get more than enough wood."

"What about him?" Sai asked, pointing at Sasuke.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. "What about him?" she asked. She turned back to Kakashi. "Build the shelter. We'll just have to move Sasuke here."

"That doesn't seem right," Sai said. "Won't moving him be dangerous?"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sai," Sakura said. "I guess I should have consulted you first since you obviously know more than the onsite medic."

"I don't have a degree," Sai said. "What made you think I do?"

"What?" Sakura asked. "It was sarcasm, Sai."

"Ah. A way to cope with stress. I understand, but if you went to the trouble to save Sasuke it would make sense to continue preserving his life, especially if you want to exact your vengeance for what happened to Ino."

"I can't believe he killed Ino," Sakura said.

Naruto put down his bedroll for Kakashi and pulled Kakashi's out of his pack. He helped Kakashi onto the bedroll, noticing that he moved his legs oddly, as if he had little control over them.

"This should be enough," Kakashi said. "Save the others for Sasuke."

"No," Sakura said. "You get what you need first. He'll live without one."

"You want to leave him on the cold ground?" Kakashi asked.

"I want to do much worse than that," she said.

"You had your chance to kill him," Kakashi said. "If you want to get him back to Konoha you need to put aside your personal feelings and treat him properly. You had a good idea. He collaborated with some of our worst enemies, and he has valuable intell."

"So he will be tortured?" Sakura asked. She leaned forward, intent and focused. Kakashi hated that Sasuke had put the ugly look of joy on her face at the thought of his torture.

"I doubt that he'll give us information voluntarily," Kakashi said. "Don't be too quick to enjoy this. It's a corrupting emotion."

"He killed Ino," Sakura said. "I wish I could do it myself."

"You'll end up like me," Sai said. "I don't want that."

"I don't care," Sakura said.

"Uh, guys?" Naruto asked, pointing at the clouds. "If we're going to build a shelter we'd better get started."

"You two go," Sakura said. "Get enough wood for two shelters."

She watched them head north, and she sat by Kakashi with a grunt.

"If you don't need to tend to Sasuke you could lay down," Kakashi said. "You look worn out."

"You old perv," she said. "You just want to get me under the blanket."

"A warm body next to me would be nice about now," he said. "I wouldn't be much fun for some time anyway."

Sakura glanced back at Sasuke and crawled under the blanket near Kakashi. "I need to rest and build up my chakra so I can treat you."

She was soon snoring, leaving Kakashi alone with his thoughts. He was injured and exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. He lay there trying to shift into a more comfortable position without waking Sakura, and he waited for his teammates to return. He hoped they would get back before the rain hit.

They beat the rain and built rudimentary shelters over Kakashi and Sasuke, accidentally waking Sakura.

"You should stay with Sasuke tonight," Kakashi said. "My injuries aren't that bad."

"Oh so now you're the medic?" Sakura asked. "Everyone had medical training here, apparently."

"I'm just being logical. Naruto can stay here, and Sai can take first watch."

Sai nodded, and Sakura scowled. "Fine," she said, "but only if you promise to send Naruto for me if you need me."

"I'm not going to need you," Kakashi said.

Fat droplets began to fall outside their shelters, turning dusk to night immediately.

"Ok. Just keep an eye out for the side effects of that pill."

Sakura and Sai left.

"Do you think she'll kill him?" Naruto asked.

"She might," Kakashi said. I hope not. She'll regret it."

"She'll regret not doing it too," Naruto said. He pulled the blanket over him, but he left enough space between them to keep him from having enough blanket to even half cover himself.

"You can move closer," Kakashi said. "I'm not going to bite unless asked."

Naruto blushed, but he moved closer laying next to Kakashi in an awkward way.

Kakashi pulled his arm back. "There isn't enough room to be prudish. Just put your head on my shoulder."

Naruto spluttered, blushed, and protested.

"I'm cold," Kakashi said. "Get closer."

Naruto put his head on Kakashi's shoulder. "This is weird," he said.

"I think it's nice," Kakashi said. "I'm warm now at least, and if I have to be injured this is better than being alone. I hate waking up in the hospital alone."

"I try to be there whenever one of my precious people is hurt," Naruto said.

"I hope Gai has someone with him," Kakashi said.

"Probably," Naruto said, "if he's still alive. I mean... that's not what I meant."

"Gai is strong," Kakashi said. "He'll be fine."

"You care a lot about Gai Sensei, don't you?"

"Hai," Kakashi said quietly. "Life wouldn't be the same without him."

Naruto shifted awkwardly. "Are you sure this is ok?"

"I'm used to sleeping in a pile of dogs when I'm cold on missions, but I can't spare the chakra to summon them. I'd call this comfortable."

"You know I'm not gay, right?" Naruto said.

Kakashi didn't quite manage to stifle an exasperated grunt. "No one said you are."

"But you are, aren't you?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, how many women have you seen me with?"

"A few," Naruto said, "but I saw you with Gai Sensei a few weeks ago, too."

Kakashi searched his memory for Naruto's reference, but he couldn't think of anything, and then...

"I know what you're talking about," Kakashi said. "You got the wrong idea."

"But you were kissing!" Naruto said. "Jiraiya and Asuma Sensei were there. I saw it!"

"Did you also see everyone laughing at the joke?"

"But...kissing!" Naruto insisted.

"Gai was complaining that we're running out of creative challenges, and Jiraiya said, "who has the guts to kiss the other one?" Gai grabbed me, and you saw the rest. It wasn't even a real kiss. My mask was on."

"Who won?" Naruto asked.

"Gai," Kakashi said. "I was too shocked to do anything." Kakashi said.

"So it's Gai Sensei who's gay?" Naruto asked.

"What's with the obsession about being gay?" Kakashi asked. "This is new."

"So is cuddling with my Sensei," Naruto said dryly. "I was just wondering..."

"Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"Go to sleep."