I'm not going to pretend that this is the best chapter I've ever written, but I've been working on it all day and I think this is as good as it's gonna get.

Tenzou's capture comes back to haunt him, and Kakashi is having trouble looking at life objectively.

A soft rustling sound roused Kakashi from sleep. Shifting only slightly, the Sharingan user could just make out the outline of Tenzou rising from his bunk and quietly making his way out of the team's dormitory room. Smirking slightly, Kakashi waited a few minutes before he followed suit. Tenzou had been restless all night long, and the captain was pretty sure he knew what his kohai wanted.

In the four months since Tenzou had woken from his coma and recovered from his injuries, Kakashi's relationship with the Mokuton user had become… complicated. That first kiss had sparked something that neither Anbu had ever experienced before and they had become very clever about finding ways to remain close to each other. Kakashi had started to sleep in the Anbu dormitory more than in his own apartment in the village, and it wasn't uncommon for him to meet up with Tenzou in the locker room long after the rest of the compound had turned in for the night. A few weeks ago the two of them had been assigned a simple two man mission, and Kakashi didn't think he'd ever enjoyed going on a stealth assassination quite so much.

When Kakashi stepped out into the hallway, he was surprised to find that Tenzou was still there, crouched down and leaning against a wall slightly with one hand pressed firmly against his chest. Seeing more than slight discomfort in the lines of his kohai's face, Kakashi hurried over to him.

"Tenzou? What's wrong?"

Tenzou glanced up at his senpai, and his features immediately smoothed into an expression that eerily reminded Kakashi of when the Mokuton user had first transferred over from the Foundation. "Kakashi. Sorry I woke you up."

"Never mind me," Kakashi replied with a frown, crouching down to Tenzou's level. "Are you alright?"

Despite Tenzou's attempt at a neutral face, his hand was still working at his chest in a sort of massage. Tenzou had just opened his mouth, presumably to dismiss anything being wrong, when his breath hitched in a sudden gasp and he barely managed to keep from losing his balance and falling over. Kakashi reached forward to grab his kohai's shoulders and steady him, now on high alert.

"Tenzou?" Kakashi turned on his captain's glare, the look that barred no arguments. "What's going on?"

"Ngh," Tenzou ground out, taking a second to breathe through an apparent wave of pain. "I was- I need to…"

Not willing to waste time while his kohai tried to pull himself together, Kakashi hauled Tenzou to his feet and tucked himself under one of the Mokuton user's arms. It was a good thing too, because Tenzou staggered slightly at the sudden change in elevation. "The infirmary?"

Face screwed up in a grimace, Tenzou nodded.

Morning found Kakashi, hands clasped together behind his back and pacing impatiently in front of an infirmary room door for what felt like the millionth time since Tenzou had joined his team. The Anbu medics hadn't seemed surprised when Kakashi dragged the obviously suffering Mokuton user through their doors, leaving the captain with a sinking feeling in his stomach when Tenzou was whisked off to a private room. As he waited, Kakashi thought back to the handful of times Tenzou had seemed to simply disappear over the past month, and wondered how his kohai could have been sneaking off to the infirmary without the team noticing. Without Kakashi noticing.

Why did this always happen with Tenzou? What kind of captain did Kakashi think he was? What kind of lover… or whatever the hell they were.

"Kakashi!"

The silver haired shinobi looked up to see Raido and Genma striding swiftly toward him. As usual, Raido got to their captain first, his scarred face pinched with concern. "We heard that you've been here all night. What's going on?"

"How's Tenzou?" Genma pressed, trying and failing to shoulder his way around his taller friend.

Something in Genma's tone told Kakashi that the senbon-obsessed shinobi had known, or at least suspected about Tenzou's trips to the infirmary. Rather than berating his subordinate for not telling him, Kakashi bit down on the inside of his cheek, guilt at his own failure to notice throbbing sharply in his chest. He sighed.

"Medics have been with him off and on all night," Kakashi offered, scratching at his head in a nervous habit. "But nobody's been telling me anything."

As if actively trying to negate Kakashi's words, the door to Tenzou's room slid open and a medic stepped out. Kakashi recognized the man as one of the medics who had overseen Tenzou's care while the Mokuton user had been in a coma, but he couldn't quite remember his name.

The members of Team Hound practically pounced on the poor medic. "How is he?"

"We're not quite sure," the medic answered tiredly, rubbing a hand over his face. "Tenzou is in a decent amount of pain, though we're having a hard time establishing a cause. In fact, he's been in here several times his month, complaining of the same chest pains. Has he been having trouble in the field?"

Kakashi frowned, thinking. The past month hadn't been a particularly difficult one; Team Hound had only been assigned a handful of missions and instead had been focusing on refining their team dynamics. Tenzou had been focusing on reconditioning his body, which still wasn't quite back to one hundred percent after the severity of his injuries.

"Actually," Raido spoke up, as though he had just remembered something. "Tenzou's been having a few problems with his Mokuton lately. His control's been shaky and everything he used be able to do in a matter of seconds has been taking a lot longer."

Genma nodded in agreement. "We didn't really think much of it. He was hurt so badly before that, well, I guess we just figured it would take him a while to get back to full strength."

Now that they mentioned it, Kakashi had also noticed that using his Mokuton seemed to be taking a lot out of Tenzou lately. The younger shinobi had seemed more tired than usual after their training sessions, and had been making little mistakes that he hadn't made since first transferring out of the Foundation. Kakashi hadn't mentioned it to his kohai because he could see how hard Tenzou was working to get back to full strength and knew that the younger shinobi was harder on himself than Kakashi would ever be. Now, though, Kakashi kicked himself for failing to even mention his observations to Tenzou.

The medic seemed to perk up slightly at Raido and Genma's words. He distractedly took his leave before he could answer any of the team's questions, rushing off after hurriedly giving them permission to see the Mokuton user.

The rest of Team Hound entered Tenzou's room, a feeling of deja vu sweeping over the older shinobi. Tenzou was propped up in bed, staring out the window with a blank gaze. But Kakashi could tell by the tense lines of his body that the Mokuton user was still in a significant amount of pain. His breathing was shallower than normal, his mouth pinched into a flat line.

Raido was the first one to break the silence. "Tenzou! Are you okay?"

Tenzou tried to have a reassuring smile, but it didn't extend up to his eyes and the way one hand strayed upward to press against his chest betrayed discomfort. Genma noted the motion carefully. "Can't they give you something for the pain?"

Tenzou shook his head shortly. "I don't want it. It makes me feel fuzzy."

Kakashi could understand his kohai's distaste for the medic's pain medication. He himself would rather suffer through an injury without the drugs that made him feel out of control and distorted his perceptions. Stifling his desire to pull Tenzou into a his arms and do what he could to relieve some of the pain, Kakashi satisfied himself with stepping closer to the bed. "Do they have any idea what's causing this?"

If possible, Tenzou's expression seemed to shut down further. He spoke hesitatingly, as though to say it out loud would make it true. "The medics think my body is starting to reject the Shodai's cells."

Tenzou's teammates all flinched; they didn't know exactly what that entailed, but it couldn't be good. Genma was the only one willing to press for more information. "And rejecting Hashirama's cells would be bad, right?"

Tenzou nodded, gaze falling to the floor. "Because they are technically implanted in my DNA, by rejecting the cells my body will begin to attack itself. I will weaken and my organs will begin to deteriorate."

Kakashi's eyes went straight to the calloused hand massaging Tenzou's chest. Is that why his kohai had been having chest pains? Because his heart and lungs were starting to go out on him?

"Back then…" Tenzou trailed off, obviously trying to think of the best way to continue. "It was what killed the Others when I was with Orochimaru."

Before any of his teammates could respond, the door slid open with a sharp snap and the medic strode through. He looked somewhat relieved, though Kakashi wouldn't describe his expression has happy. "It's not the cells."

Tenzou frowned, not comprehending. Taking a breath, the medic approached the bed. "I'm sorry, I should explain. May I?"

At Tenzou's nod, the medic hovered his hands just over the Mokuton user's chest, eyes closed in concentration. After a minute of tense silence, the medic removed his hands and nodded in satisfaction. "Just as I thought. The problem isn't that your body is rejecting the Shodai's cells. The problem is with your chakra network."

Whatever hopes Tenzou and his teammates had entertained at the medic's first claim were dashed by his second. Tenzou's face blanched even further. With a damaged chakra network, he wouldn't be able to perform the Mokuton, and without the Mokuton, he was useless. "What-what's wrong with my chakra network?"

"One of the delivery lines has been pinched, right here," the medic answered, gently tapping the same spot on Tenzou's chest that he had been massaging just minutes earlier. "It must have been damaged when your Mokuton overreacted and exploded during your capture. Every time you draw on your chakra, it's unable to pass properly through the pinched line and the energy builds up. The chest pain you've been having is coming from the energy buildup putting pressure on the surrounding organs. The pinch needs to be corrected so that you can properly access your chakra and to prevent putting any further strain on your heart."

Tenzou let out a slow breath, color returning slightly to his face. Kakashi felt his own pulse begin to slow back to normal. "But you can fix this?"

The medic shook his head. "Oh, not me. There's only one medical shinobi with enough skill to fix a damaged chakra network."

"If you don't mind me asking, Lord Hokage," Kakashi spoke mildly. "Where did you find her?"

Hiruzen didn't answer at first, instead standing silently as he watched his former pupil through the glass observation window of the Anbu operating room. "Tsunade may have lost her path a bit, but she will always come home if her old sensei asks her correctly."

Kakashi snorted softly. Tsunade had long since left the Leaf, and was rumored to split her time between good drinks and bad bets. Most of people didn't understand how she could waste her unmatched talent in medical ninjutsu by living life as a wanderer, but it all made sense to Kakashi. He imagined he felt similarly on the days when he wanted to just hide away with his Icha-Icha Paradise books and let someone else handle all his responsibilities. "Let me guess, you told her the Leaf was under attack?"

Hiruzen neither confirmed nor denied, though his sly expression told Kakashi all he needed to know. "It wouldn't have been a lie. Tenzou is very important to the future survival of this village, Hatake. Surely you've realized the potential consequences should we ever lose the Mokuton, to death or otherwise."

Sobering slightly, Kakashi nodded. He'd always known that Tenzou was one of the Leaf's most prized possessions, both an unmatched weapon and instrument of defense. The moment Orochimaru had implanted Hashirama's cells into Tenzou, the almond-eyed boy had been cursed in more ways than one. His life was to be one in the shadows, away from the prying eyes of outsiders, hungry for the Mokuton. Yet, as one of the Leaf's most competent and skilled shinobi, Tenzou was constantly risking exposing himself to discovery and, as they had far too recently learned, capture and experimentation. With every mission the Mokuton user walked a fine line between serving his village and suicide.

"You are a good friend, Kakashi. Tenzou is lucky to have you." The Hokage's voice dropped slightly to a gentle murmur, the change in tone sounding alarm bells in Kakashi's mind. "But it is important that you always remember what Tenzou is, and where his priorities must lie."

Confused and concerned by the Hokage's demeanor, Kakashi inclined his head slightly. "Sir?"

Hiruzen fixed his favorite Anbu with a sad stare. "You have already lost so much, Hatake. I do not wish to see you hurt further."

Thrown by the Hokage's words, Kakashi chose not to respond, turning instead to watch as Tsunade eased more of her healing chakra into Tenzou's chest, strong figures moving purposefully as she eased the pinched chakra passage. What did the Lord Third mean? He couldn't possibly know of Kakashi and Tenzou's… relationship? Is that what they were doing? Kakashi didn't see the relevance. They were both dedicated Anbu of the Leaf, both bound by the duty to serve their village to the last breath. Kakashi and his kohai worked so well together that, theoretically, they never needed to be separated again.

So why did the Hokage's words strike such foreboding into Kakashi's heart?