Hey hey. This chapter is a bit on the short side, this is only half of the originally planed chapter but since I'll be really busy for a while (and have been busy for quite some time now too) the rest of the chapter won't be finished for who knows how long... hopefully soon though :P I've already started writing it but it's going slowly.

This chapter here is not unfinished though! It is a whole chapter, just missing what I had planned to put at the end of it and therefore shorter.


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Genma was getting ready to take on the big ninja, who was running towards him, when he saw to his horror that Naruto had stopped running.

The last thing he saw before blacking out for a few minutes was Naruto reaching his hands up and screaming "Doggie!"

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Naruto ran as fast as he could. He really wanted to stay behind and help Genma but he was also scared. The only thing he could do now was do what Genma had begged him to do and go and get help. Naruto was running past the Ninja who was blocking his way just as he was hit by the senbons and fell towards him. Naruto dodged and was about to keep running when he felt a huge chakra presence getting closer. No, not just one but two big once. He'd recognize those signatures anywhere. He was there just when he needed him, just like he'd promised. When the signature was close enough Naruto reached his hands up and called for the person he knew would make it all right.

"Doggie!"

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"Kami, could you be any heavier? I'm sure I have a vertebrae somewhere that isn't being crushed."

"I think the only thing crushed about you is your manhood if you can't even support me properly."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean."

Kakashi and Iruka were slowly making their way over the rooftops towards the tower. Slowly because, unlike what he had told his partner, Kakashi was in fact feeling worse, but of course having worked together as long as they had Iruka was well aware of this as well and had therefore slowed down.

"It means your a complete girl if you can't hold me up without bitching about it."

"Well excuse me mister day-care but I'm sure you've put on a few extra pounds since you started mommy-ing Naruto."

They weren't really quarreling, they weren't even annoyed with each other. But like many good friends Kakashi and Iruka often made time pass with friendly banter. And like with many good friends their banter could, to other people, sometimes seem quite offensive. Kakashi had started it this time to distract himself away from the pain in his side.

"Jeez is that the best insult you could get, calling me fat? That's so girlie, and I'm not the one who's the mommy in this messed up family we have here. You're doing that job pretty well with your over protectiveness. You're pretty much coddling the kid."

"Yeah well at least I'm not sleeping with him!" Iruka shot back.

Kakashi and Iruka both paused awkwardly.

"I didn't mean of course.." Iruka began.

"It's not like it's..." Kakashi began.

There was another awkward pause but it was soon broken by the sound of commotion ahead.

"Maybe we should go around it." Iruka suggested.

"No wait! Isn't that..."

"Doggie!"

"..Naruto!"

Kakashi's lungs felt like they were collapsing. Something was happening to Naruto. He completely forgot all about his injury, let go off Iruka's shoulder and started running towards the alley.

"Kakashi, wait your wound! Let me take care of it, you have to be careful."

They both reached the top of the alley just in time to see Genma knocked out by the leader. The second ninja had managed to get to his feet again and was getting ready to strike Naruto. Without thinking Kakashi jumped down, landing on the guy just before he could finish the blow. The guy fell to the ground and when Kakashi got off of him he remained motionless. He didn't know if the guy was unconscious or dead and he didn't really care at the moment. All he cared about was the little kid standing in front of him scared and crying. Kakashi bent down on one knee and hugged Naruto tightly before pulling away a bit to check and see if he was alright.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Kakashi wiped away his tears. "Did they hurt you?"

Naruto shook his head "Th-they didn't hurt me. Th-they hurt Genma." Naruto started crying even harder. "Th-they hurt Genma because of me!" A small hand grabbed the front of Kakashi's Anbu armor. "G-Genma pr-protected me, so they hu-hurt him even more." Kakashi picked Naruto up and held him closer.

"Shhh, it's ok." He looked over to where he had seen Genma and saw that Iruka had taken care of the other guy. "It's ok, Iruka's taking care of Genma. He'll be ok." Kakashi started walking towards his partner. "He'll be ok." 'Please let him be ok.'

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Genma was drifting in and out of consciousness. His body felt heavy and his thoughts were clouded but he still managed to make out a presence hovering over him. 'Am I dreaming?' It was oddly familiar yet completely unknown. 'Am I dead?' In one of his more wakeful moments he managed to open his eyes and see a shape holding him, checking him over for injuries. 'Who?' Somehow he felt like he knew the person. He felt safe, like everything would be alright. 'Whait..' Before Genma slipped into the darkness again he reached out his hand and grabbed the persons shoulder.

"Iru..kah.."

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Iruka froze. There was no way in hell anyone would ever recognize him in this uniform. No way in hell anyone should ever recognize him. People thought of him as the innocent little chuunin school teacher, they even laughed and patted him on the back when he joked that he should be given jounin status for handling the difficult kids at school. No one should be good enough to see past all the precautions they took to conceal themselves and with Iruka's reputation no one in their right mind would think Iruka would ever reach Jounin status let alone higher than that.

Was Genma just being delusional due to the blow to the head or had he really known it was him?

Iruka looked up when Kakashi walked up to him with Naruto.

"How is he?" Kakashi asked.

"Knocked out at the moment although he seems to be drifting in and out. He's pretty beaten up but he should make it" Iruka's tone was uncertain.

Naruto peeked out from under Kakashi's chin. "I-is Genma really going to be ok?"

Iruka gently put Genma down on the ground and got up. He walked up to Kakashi and ruffled Naruto's head. "Yeah Genma-San is going to be just fine. Don't worry about him, he's a tough guy just like you. Are you hurt anywhere?"

Naruto shook his head and nuzzled Kakashi's neck again, still sobbing a little.

Kakashi rubbed his back soothingly. "He's just pretty shaken up."

Iruka crouched down next to Genma again and started making him more comfortable. "We should call a medic nin and some Anbu to take care of this.."

"No." Kakashi interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Take him with us." Kakashi indicated Genma.

"Take him..? Are you mad! We can't..."

"We can and we will. We'll take him to Base and call our medic nin and the Hokage there."

"You can't be serious? Must I remind you Ryouken that he's an outsider. This could be a threat to our work. He said my name before he passed out for Kami's sake! The situation is bad enough as it is!"

"You don't have to remind me of anything. I think I should be the one to remind you, Kuroneko, of what the first thing you taught me about was. What you are teaching to your students now. Ninja's are and never should be emotionless tools. One of your best friends is seriously hurt. Stop panicking about the job and take care of him. I know you'll feel a lot worse about yourself if you leave him behind than if he finds out about us. You never were the kind of guy who'd leave his comrades behind."

"You.. You're right." Iruka looked down at Genma. He had been worrying so much about being recognized so shortly after being discovered on his mission that he wasn't even thinking about his friends well being. He bent down and picked Genma up as gently as he could. "Will you be alright on the way? How's your injury?"

Kakashi could feel his wound bleeding again and was feeling a bit weak. "I'll make it, we've made it through a lot worse before haven't we?"

"That's true. Never hurts to make sure though does it."

Kakashi looked at his friend. Even with the masks they knew what the other one was feeling. "No, it doesn't hurt." Kakashi sighed.

They made their way up to the rooftops again and changed the course to their base house. "It doesn't hurt but it's annoying as hell." Kakashi remarked.

"Oh really look who's talking. I'm not the one who stripped my partner completely naked because I wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt."

"I was making sure you weren't hurt!"

"Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that you perv, I know you just wanted to see me.." Iruka looked at the little kid in Kakashi's arms. Maybe he should save the pervert jokes to a time when little ears weren't around.

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Kakashi was sitting on a sofa in the library. One arm holding Naruto, who was clinging to his right side, the other arm draped over the back of the sofa, giving the medic nin easier access to his wound. He'd told him to take a look at Genma first but the medic nin wouldn't hear of it. Said his injury was much worse than Genma's. Kakashi supposed he should believe him, the guy was a Hyuga after all, and his wound had started bleeding again. Kakashi inhaled sharply in pain and squirmed a little when the medic started cleaning his wound. This caused Naruto to tighten his hold on him, Kakashi pulled him closer and focused on the child while the medic nin finished healing the wound. He noticed the Hyuga eyeing the kid with mild curiosity but nothing else. 'Typical Hyuga' He thought. 'If it doesn't concern the clan directly they just don't care.'

The medic nin finished bandaging him up, a difficult feat considering Naruto was clinging to his side with all his might. Just before leaving the room he turned around and focused his Byakugan on Naruto one more time. "His chakra's not stable."

Kakashi looked up from the kid. "Hmm? Well it's understandable he's pretty upset." he remarked defensively.

"Maybe that's exactly why I'm seeing it. Normally you might not notice it, not with your Sharingan and probably not even with the Byakugan, but since he's upset and not consciously focusing his chakra it's more obvious. His chakra usage isn't normal, it's coming from two sources. I think you know what that means"

Kakashi lifted his headband and studied Naruto with his Sharingan. At first he saw nothing out of the ordinary, Naruto's chakra was spiking and a little out of control like it often did when ninjas were stressed. But then he saw it. Another chakra entirely mixing in with Naruto's own. The chakra was red and, although there wasn't much of it, it was giving the kids chakra a purple color.

"It's not damaging him in any way." The medic nin stated. "But if this is happening all the time it might affect his jutsu performance. I advice you to keep an eye on it, Kami only knows what will happen if he loses control of that. And while we are on the subject of losing control. That wound you got was pretty deep and you weren't helping it at all by fighting. You'll have to make sure you don't put any strain on it for at least a week but knowing you I really beg you to at least make it through four days. It's just about as fun for me to come back here and patch you up as it is for you, so do us both a favor and listen to my advice at least once."

When the medic nin was gone Kakashi sat there a little bit longer studying Naruto and his swirling purple chakra. After doing so for a few minutes he had to admit that the Hyuga was right about one thing. If this was happening continuously it might affect Naruto's jutsu performance, but as Kakashi watched on in fascination he saw something the medic nin hadn't. Every blue spike of chakra was quickly surrounded with the red one. If it flowed in the wrong direction the red one would move it to the right one. Like a parent calming down a child throwing a tantrum the chakra was soothingly easing away the hurt and anger. Kyuubi's way of taking care of Naruto he supposed.

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When Kakashi walked into Iruka's room, carrying an almost sleeping Naruto, the Hokage had arrived. Iruka was hunched over in a chair holding his head in his hands. His hair was down, covering his face, but by the shaking of his shoulders Kakashi could see he was crying. Sarutobi was sitting in a chair next to him, patting his shoulder and smoking his pipe, eyes focused intently on the unmoving form of one of his ninjas. The air in the room was heavy and silent. Kakashi didn't even have to look at the medic nin, now working on saving Genma's life, to realize he'd lied. It wasn't that his injuries had been worse than Genma's. His life had just been considered more important and therefore he'd been worked on first.

Kakashi clenched his teeth and took a deep breath to try to calm himself down. This was what he hated the most about being considered one of the best. It was the sad truth in the ninja world, a Jounin's life had more value than a Chuunin's and an Anbu's life had more value than a Jounin's. Kakashi and Iruka were right behind the Hokage and the Sannins on the social ladder.

He felt like breaking something. He felt like grabbing the medic nin and screaming his head off. But he knew he couldn't do that. Kakashi was the responsible one. The one who held it all together. The one who they always relied on if something went wrong. Right now he had more important things to do, a more important person to focus on than himself. He walked over to his partner and his old sensei, catching the Thirds eye for the first time. When he tried to hand Naruto over to Sarutobi the boy stirred and tried to hold on to him once more. Kakashi broke Naruto's grip on him, took his head in his hands and kissed him on the forehead.

"Shh, it's ok. I'm not going far. I'll be right over here with Iruka. See? Iruka isn't feeling well either so he needs me to comfort him ok? Can you stay with Jijii now?"

Naruto nodded his head and buried his head in the Hokage's robes.

Kakashi turned over to his best friend. He crouched down in front of him and took both of his hands in his. Iruka looked at him with tear stained eyes.

"How bad is it?"

Iruka's eyes shot over to Genma before they focused on Kakashi again.

"He's got 3 broken ribs, one of them pierced his right lung. Some internal bleeding, a ripped muscle in his shoulder, 2 broken fingers, a fractured vertebrae along with a lot of bruises. The blow he took to the head is the worst though, along with the fractured vertebrae, we don't know how much damage it has done and we won't find out until he wakes up." Iruka didn't need to say it, the words if he wakes up were written all over his face. "He stopped breathing earlier but the medic nin got it started quickly again so it shouldn't have done any damage."

"Well that's good at least right? That means his lung is better now."

"Oh yeah, that's just great! At least now he's going to be a breathing vegetable."

Kakashi tightened his hold on Iruka to prevent him from pulling away.

"Hey don't.."

"I was going to leave him! He would have died out there waiting for a medic nin." Iruka stopped trying to pull away and put his head on Kakashi's shoulder. "I was.. I was going to just leave him there."

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Sarutobi settled Naruto down on his lap, taking the front of his long coat and wrapping him up in it.

"Jijii?"

The Hokage looked down into the little face peeking up at him with sleep filled eyes.

"Hmm?"

"Genma's really hurt isn't he?"

Sarutobi looked over to the medic nin who was working as quickly as he could to heal Genma's more severe wounds. Genma didn't look good at all, his face was pale, his body looked broken and bruised and the life and power he radiated had disappeared. He looked lifeless.

"Yes he is." The Hokage had learned long ago that lying to Naruto was pretty much useless. He was really good at seeing through them.

"He's going to be alright."

Sarutobi looked at the little boy again.

"You think so."

"Yep, he's going to be fine. Believe it! If you believe it and believe in him he'll make it."

The third hokage of the leaf laughed. The words sounded so innocent and childlike but coming from this kid he knew they were serious as well.

The Hokage looked over to Iruka again. Despite the situation he couldn't help but feel a bit happy. All of the lonely boy's he'd taken in were coming together and forming a strong whole. Kakashi, Iruka, Genma and Naruto. Kakashi and Iruka were a given, they'd been there for each other for almost as long as they'd needed anyone else. They'd had someone to support them, to fight for and to cry for when things went bad. Now Genma and Naruto had those too. Not because of duty but because of bonds.

Sarutobi was about to reach out a hand to put on Iruka's shoulder but a much smaller one beat him to it.

"You have to believe it too. He's counting on you to help him through now."

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Kakashi sat on the rooftop of the base house, one eye staring at the stars without really seeing them. His hands were shaking.

The Hokage had gone home shortly after the medic nin had finished treating Genma. It was all just a waiting game now. Would he wake up. Would he be paralyzed. Brain damaged. Would he not wake up at all. He'd finally managed to get Iruka to sleep after giving him some calming herbs. The guy had a tendency to blame himself for trivial stuff and to bottle things up inside. Kakashi knew he'd have to look out for that and deal with it in the next few days.

Naruto had fallen asleep at some point and Kakashi had left him in their room. He'd looked fine so he wasn't really worried about the fight leaving any lasting scars on the kid but he'd still have to keep an eye on him. They were pretty close but Kakashi still had a hard time reading him sometimes. The kid really could keep things from you if he wanted to. Kakashi just hoped that Naruto would someday trust him well enough to confide in him completely.

Kakashi slowly came out of his thoughts some time later. He kept telling himself that things would work out well. He'd fix everything. Make it all better like he was supposed to. He was the rock. He had to be strong for everyone.

His hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Unlike usual the stars held no comfort for him now, there was no one there to help him stand strong for his friends. Not anymore. He was slowly realizing that they hadn't been there for a long time now. So he went back to his room and looked at the only thing that seemed to give him any hope these days.

He didn't touch him the whole night though. His hands were still shaking.

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Well hope you liked it and sorry for the long wait. -Bows down-