Tenzou wants to cut his hair, Kakashi's not sure, and Yugao saves the day.

"Tenzou, are you sure you want to do this?" Kakashi hovered nervously behind his kohai, sharp kunai in one hand and an apprehensive look on his face.

Tenzou gave a sigh, but he nodded. "It can't be helped. Let's get this over with."

Kakashi stepped closer, adjusted his grip on the kunai, and then stepped back again, shaking his head. "I can't."

"Senpai," Tenzou rolled his eyes, his voice the closest to whining that it had ever come. "It's just hair! It'll grow back. Besides, it's already ruined."

Kakashi lightly brushed the uneven, charred ends of Tenzou's once long hair. In his mind's eye, he could still see Tenzou bursting through the wall of the burning building, disregarding his own safety entirely to rescue his captain from burning alive. Given that the building collapsed merely seconds after the two Anbu made it out, Kakashi supposed he should be glad that Tenzou's hair was the only thing to catch fire. Still, it did seem a shame...

Snorting at his Senpai, Tenzou snatched the kunai from his hands. "Fine, if it bothers you that much, I'll do it."

Kakashi actually found himself looking away as Tenzou gasped a handful of hair and, faced screwed up in concentration, placed the kunai behind it.

"What are you to doing?!"

Yugao's horrified cry at the door of the locker room startled both both shinobi, who jumped and looked up at her guiltily. Tenzou, who'd been so concentrated on his hair, nearly took his own eye out with the kunai. Looking nervously at the purple haired konouichi, Tenzou tried a smile that looked to Kakashi more like a poorly contained wince.

"Uh, I was just cutting my hair," Tenzou explained. "It got a little, um, charred on our last mission so-"

"So you just thought you'd do it yourself?" Yugao scoffed, walking toward the younger shinobi and taking the kunai from him. She sent a glare at Kakashi. "And Kakashi, you were just going to stand there and let him hack his hair to shreds?"

"Uh, no, no, I-" Kakashi stammered, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Tenzou laughed, amused to see his normally cool and collected captain so flustered. Then he yelped as Yugao yanked on his hair, pulling it back into a tie at the back of his head. "Ow! What're you doing?"

"If you insist on chopping off your beautiful hair, then least I can do is make sure that you do it properly," Yugao answered with a slight shake of her head. "Alright, you ready?"

Tenzou didn't actually have time to answer before Yugao gripped his pulled back hair, held it taught, and ran the kunai through it with one swift slice. Shocked, Tenzou stood frozen, though he was pretty such that he heard Kakashi make a little noise of protest. Yugao walked around the front of the younger shinobi, offering him the thick ponytail now separated from his head.

"Well, there you go!" Yugao said, breaking the sudden silence and ducking back around Tenzou to pull the band she'd used off his remaining hair. "I must say, now you look so manly, Tenzou."

Tenzou blushed, the length of hair still clutched in his fist. "Thank you, Yugao."

"No problem, kiddo," she smiled, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Wouldn't want to trust something as beautiful as your hair to someone like Kakashi."

Waving, the konouichi left the locker room, mentioning something about a meeting of the medical core. That left Kakashi reclining against one of the lockers and watching Tenzou stand in the middle of the room, holding his freshly cut hair. After several minutes of silence, Kakashi spoke.

"Ne, what's going on in that head of yours, Tenzou? Do you want us to have a funeral for your hair or something?" The Mokuton user didn't respond. "Tenzou?"

"T-This is it."

Kakashi glanced at his young friend. "Hm?"

"This is the last piece of my time in the Foundation." Tenzou elaborated, his voice soft.

Ah. Now Kakashi saw the problem. Tenzou had transferred into the Hokage's Anbu during a time of extreme tension between the Hokage and Danzo's Foundation. As a result, they had stripped the young boy of everything that he had owned during his time in the secret organization, from his uniform and weapons to his signature cat mask. Of course, they had replaced all those with identical objects issued directly from the Hokage, but as far as Kakashi knew, the only thing Tenzou had been allowed to keep was his metal face mask and long hair. Although the Foundation was not known for being a particularly warm and caring organization, it was the only life Tenzou had ever known. It was only understandable that he would have a hard time completely letting go.

"Tenzou," Kakashi said, walking forward to grab his kohai's shoulder and lead him into the communal bathroom. He directed him to one of the sinks and the mirror above it. "And that is your future in Anbu."

Tenzou's eyes widened slightly as as he took in his new appearance. His hair now fell just below his ears, revealing a broader neck that he had expected and lightly muscled shoulders from years of training. He found his jaw beginning to round out and and his features generally more masculine than the last time he was had bothered looking in a mirror. Tenzou was growing up and he looked... No, he was stronger than when he first joined the Hokage's Anbu, just those few months ago.

And, looking back in the mirror at Kakashi standing behind him, Tenzou decided the new bonds he was forming would only make him even stronger.