To Tenzou, the mission is of the utmost importance. Kakashi disagrees.

[Tenzou is 15 y/o]

Lightning lit up the night sky as the silver-haired captain finally called his team to a halt. Kakashi surveyed his team as they perched, Anbu masks pushed to the side and breathing heavily, on the branch of a tall tree. They had been running for hours and he could clearly see that they couldn't keep it up any longer. Ever the stoic, Genma had yet to complain, but Kakashi could clearly see by the way that he held his arm close to his body that his hurriedly relocated shoulder was giving him some trouble. Raido was likewise silent, blood already starting to seep through the thick layer of bandages wrapped around his thigh. Kakashi himself could barely see straight, his head throbbing rhythmically from the strain of using his Sharingan, the sound of his own breaths stabbing through his skull. Only Tenzou, the youngest shinobi on the team, appeared unscathed.

That the mission had gone badly was a serious understatement. Their intel had been inaccurate, and the four man squad had found themselves attempting to complete a mission that should have been handled by three squads acting in conjunction. They'd managed to secure the intel but, wounded and severely outnumbered, had been forced to retreat rather than finish off the enemy ninja.

"Alright," Kakashi decided out loud, grabbing the branch above him as a gust of wind threw off his balance. "This is as good a place as any to stop."

"Are you kidding me?" Genma managed, wincing slightly as he brushed his injured shoulder against the trunk of the tree. He squinted against the rain that was coming down in sheets from the sky. "The storm is only getting worse. We need to take shelter."

Raido snorted. "And where do you propose we do that, genius? We're still too far from the border of the Land of Fire, and I honestly don't think my leg will carry me another step."

Kakashi didn't say anything, instead looking around to consider their options. Maybe if they took to the ground, they would be more sheltered from the rain.

"Hey kid, you haven't managed to pull that jutsu off yet, have you?" Genma asked Tenzou, who'd remained unsurprisingly quiet throughout the older shinobi's exchange.

Tenzou, who had yet to remove his mask, started slightly. "Uh, well-"

"It doesn't have to be a big house, you know," Raido encouraged. "Just a single room cottage or something like that. Nothing fancy."

"I haven't quite mastered it yet," came Tenzou's quiet, slightly embarrassed reply. He glanced at his senpai for help.

Kakashi shrugged. As much as he preferred not to push the kid, they were all injured and in this storm, they were out of options. "Couldn't hurt to at least try, Tenzou."

"Alright." The younger boy nodded, hands quickly forming a series of hand signs as he focused his attention on the ground just beneath their tree. "Mokuton, Four Pillar House Jutsu!"

Below them, wooden pillars sprung up from the ground, getting taller and weaving together. Tenzou was right to say he hadn't mastered the technique yet; the jutsu took much longer than it should have and the team could clearly watch each portion of the building being stitched together, from the floor to the walls and finally the slightly slanted roof. The finished building sat solidly in the ground among a light coating of splinters, about the size of a small one story house. Genma and Raido couldn't hold back their appreciative cries.

"You did it!" Raido exclaimed. He'd been watching Tenzou attempt this jutsu for weeks and while the house below wasn't much from a design perspective, at least it seemed to be holding.

Twirling the senbon in his mouth with his tongue, Genma shoved Tenzou lightly on the shoulder. "Nice work, kid."

Tenzou, for his part, didn't respond. His hands fell slackly out of their jutsu position and his legs seemed to buckle underneath him. Before any of the older shinobi could grab him, he slipped off the branch in a dead faint.

"Tenzou!" Kakashi shouted after his falling kohai, jumping down after the falling boy, even though he knew he wouldn't reach him in time. He cursed his Sharingan-induced daze and slow reaction time. If he had known that this jutsu took so much out of Tenzou, he never would have suggested he attempt it.

Kakashi was still too far away when Tenzou's limp body crashed onto the roof of the little house he'd managed to grow. He hit the wooden roof with a loud slamming sound, the force of the impact knocking his cat mask clean off his face. Calling his kohai's name again, Kakashi landed on the end of the roof and rushed to the still figure, immediately pressing an ear to the small chest to check his vitals.

"Kakashi!" Genma and Raido landed on the roof a second later, Raido staggering slightly at the force of the jump on his injured leg. "How is he?"

Kakashi raised his head and moved to hoist the younger boy onto his back. "Alive. I think he just passed out from exhaustion. Let's get inside. We all need to tend to our wounds."

Once inside, the team discovered that the house was a basic square with one thin hallway dividing two rooms. Genma and Raido took the room of the left while Kakashi laid down his still burden in the one on the right. The house was barren of any furniture, but it was relatively warm and dry, and Kakashi was just grateful to have a roof over his head. Setting both their Anbu masks aside, the captain frowned slightly at Tenzou before checking him over for injuries.

He found a small gash on the back of Tenzou's head, just under the band for his ridiculous face mask that was no doubt from the fall to the roof. Kakashi cleaned it thoroughly with the contents of his medkit before sewing the edges of the wound shut with a few quick stitches. It wasn't a particularly deep or worrying wound, but unless he wanted to wrap the young man's entire head in bandages, stitching it was easier. Moving on, Kakashi's sharp gaze went straight to a small tear in Tenzou's Anbu tactical vest, right above his hip.

"Kakashi," Raido murmured quietly, limping through the door. The bloody bandage around his leg had been replaced. "How's Tenzou?"

Kakashi eyed the scarred shinobi. "You should be resting that leg."

"Eh, I'll live," Raido said dismissively, resting a rather guilty gaze on the unconscious shinobi laid out before them. "I shouldn't have pushed Tenzou. I knew he hadn't finished working on that jutsu."

Kakashi shrugged, turning back to the task at hand. "What's done is done."

"What the-?"

Raido took the words right out of Kakashi's mouth. The captain lifted Tenzou's vest higher, revealing a large gash going diagonally across the top of the young man's hip bone. The single gauze patch that Tenzou had apparently placed hastily over the wound was completely saturated with blood, the red liquid seeping through even his black shirt to stain the inside of his tactical vest. Cursing quietly, Kakashi removed the vest and shirt all together and gently pulled off the saturated bandage.

Tenzou stirred in obvious pain, his eyes opening slightly. "Ngh… S-senpai?"

"Don't move, Tenzou," Kakashi ordered firmly, putting the old bandage to the side and dousing the wound in a generous amount of disinfectant. Tenzou went rigid at the stinging sensation, gasping sharply, but nevertheless obeyed and remained still. Kakashi prodded the wound gently. "This is deep and needs a medic's care. The best I can do for now is try to stop the bleeding. You still with us, Tenzou?"

Tenzou's eyelids were fluttered as he danced just beyond the grasp of unconsciousness. "Hhng… Y-yeah."

Kakashi went to work, pressing two thick gauze pads over the gaping wound before grabbing a roll of bandages. Raido moved to help, holding the younger shinobi upright so their captain could wrap the bandages around his middle. The scarred man clenched his jaw in frustration. "You little idiot. Why didn't you say something?"

"It d-didn't seem that bad at the t-time-" Tenzou cut himself off with a hitch of breath as Kakashi pulled the bandage tight.

"Liar," Raido growled.

Tenzou took a deeper breath this time, his face screwed up as he worked through the pain. "After the explosion… both you and Genma were pinned. It just seemed more important to get t-to you."

The angry look on Raido's face melted into one of affectionate shock. "Tenzou…"

"Raido." Kakashi stood, wiping the blood from his hands on the remaining length of bandage. "You should rest while we can and have Genma take first watch. As soon as the storm lets up, we'll have to move out and get Tenzou to medical treatment. Make sure Genma is aware of the situation."

Kakashi walked the scarred shinobi to the door of the room, placing one hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'll talk to him."

Sliding the door shut quietly, Kakashi turned back to look at Tenzou. The younger shinobi lay, upper body bare, on the wood floor shivering slightly from shock and blood loss. Shaking his head, Kakashi retrieved Tenzou's sleep roll from his pack and after laying it out on the floor, transferred his injured charge onto it. Finally alone with his senpai, Tenzou left out a soft moan of pain at the movement. Placing the injured shinobi down on the mat before pulling the thin regulation blanket over him, Kakashi sighed. How had the young man managed to keep moving with such an injury?

Not for the first time, Kakashi silently cursed those damned Anbu masks. Tenzou had been able to hide his now clearly pale face behind that impassive cat mask and with his Foundation training any other bodily manifestation of pain or fatigue. Damn that Danzo and his brainwashing techniques.

But if Kakashi was truly honest with himself, he should also curse his own lack of attention. Sure, the younger shinobi had seemed quiet, maybe even quieter than usual, but Kakashi was the great Copy Ninja of the Leaf, able to see through deceit in an instant. Had he really been so blind to his own comrade's farce, to the point that he almost let a young man push himself and bleed to death in front of him?

In an attempt to shake off these dark thoughts, Kakashi rolled out his own sleep mat directly beside Tenzou and lay down on his side, watching the younger shinobi breathe. He knew it was slightly ridiculous, given that they had an entire room in which they could spread out, but he wanted to be near his kohai, to make sure that he didn't die and leave him sometime during the night.

"A-are you going to watch me all night, S-Senpai?" Tenzou asked softly, a faint tone of amusement coloring his voice.

Kakashi ignored the question, instead countering with a disappointed statement. "You should have told me."

Tenzou closed his eyes briefly. "I know."

"As your captain, I should have known something was up. But if for some reason this happens again, and I don't notice, I have to be able to trust you to speak up for yourself and tell me something is wrong." Kakashi fixed his young companion with a pointed stare. "Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, Senpai." Tenzou gave a minute nod. "But the m-mission-"

"Screw the mission," Kakashi growled passionately, causing the other boy to start and look questioningly at him. "I mean it, Tenzou. You're not in the Foundation any more, not just another nameless body to be sacrificed for Danzo's twisted goals. You're the Hokage's Anbu, a member of my team, and my friend. And damn it, I'm not losing any more friends!"

Friends. Yes, Tenzou supposed he felt that too, supposed that was why he had been so frantic to get to Genma and Raido. Tenzou gave a small smile as his eyes slid shut in exhaustion. He was quiet and for a moment Kakashi though he'd fallen asleep. But then he spoke up, turning his head to look seriously into his senpai's visible eye. "Then as my friend, you c-cannot lie to me either. You need sleep, S-senpai."

Sleep. The word sounded like heaven, hanging heavily over his tired body. But Kakashi shook his head. "No, I need to watch you."

Forcing his arm to move, Tenzou gripped Kakashi's left hand and brought it to rest on his own chest, right over his heart. Kakashi could feel the slight heat of Tenzou's body radiating out from under the blanket, could feel the rise and fall of his chest with his breath and the fast but steady beating of his heart. Tenzou's eyes slid shut once more, his pain-pinched face relaxing somewhat.

"Sleep, Senpai. I will not g-go anywhere."

Fight it as he might, Kakashi did fall asleep, reassurred by the living warm under his hand. Despite the storm raging outside and the fear of losing his kohai, Hatake Kakashi managed to sleep until Raido roused him gently for his watch.

And, true to his promise, Tenzou did not go anywhere.