Extraction
Waking up in the morning, Naruto stretched. As he was about to get up, he heard voices.
"Inoichi and Shikaku explained the situation on the way over." Naruto recognized that as Jii's voice.
"Yes, I was reactivated to retrieve Naruto so Gaara can get that jutsu from Naruto's head. After the information is retrieved...oof." Naruto heard Kakashi take a sharp intake of breath and then a loud thud. Rolling over, Naruto was met with the sight of Kakashi on his knees, a hand out, holding off the brown haired male, a blonde, and a black haired Bruce Lee wannabe. Jiraiya stood over Kakashi, his hands balled into fists.
"He was 17, you asshole!" Jiraiya said, arms taut with anger.
"I know." Kakashi gasped out.
Giving two swift punches to Kakashi's head, Naruto jumped up as Jiraiya yelled, "He was a child!"
Kakashi saw Naruto stand and moved a hand to stop him as well. "I know." Kakashi repeated. "I didn't mean for this to happen. But I will protect him with my dying breath. Just like you have been, by moving him around to protect him."
Jiraiya's arms slackened, his head dropping. Nodding, he reached out a hand to help Kakashi up. "You hurt him…" Jiraiya tapped Kakashi hard in the chest, "and the whole Allied Shinobi Forces won't be able to save you." Kakashi nodded, standing. Naruto came over, hugging Kakashi as he looked balefully at Jiraiya.
"Jii, I love him. If you can't accept that, then I can't see you. But I hope you can." Naruto said.
"Kid,…ah, fuck." Jiraiya just walked outside. The other three men just went back to what they were doing.
Kakashi looked at Naruto as he glared at him. "I'm not fighting him. I deserve what I got." Kakashi said simply. Anger flared up in Naruto, but he nodded. Looking at the squad, Kakashi said, "Let's get moving; we need to get Naruto back to Gaara."
\/\/\/
The trip was not as difficult as Naruto expected. He had to ride on Kakashi's back to keep up with the shinobi. Surprisingly enough, Jiraiya was able to keep up. Naruto thought that perhaps Jiraiya was an undercover shinobi…he would have to ask him about that later.
Upon reaching Gaara's headquarters, the redhead nodded at the squad. Standing, he walked over to the blonde. Naruto gaped in surprise. "You're the same age as me!" he explained.
Gaara smirked. "Please, I presume the squad told you what happened?" Gaara asked. As Naruto nodded, Gaara motioned for Naruto to go over to a gurney. "We will extract the information. We have a … friend, who will be able to report this to the Akatsuki. You will be released back to your home once this is done. Jiraiya, you will have to move again." Jiraiya nodded in agreement.
Naruto hopped up on the gurney, getting comfortable. As Naruto was wheeled away, the last thing he saw was Kakashi watching him.
\/\/\/
Waking up, Naruto's head was spinning. He hurt. Looking around, Jiraiya was there. "Hey, kiddo. How ya feel?"
Naruto grimaced. "Like horseshit."
Jiraiya nodded. "That's to be expected. Rest up; we'll be heading for home in a couple days."
"Where's Kakashi?" Naruto asked.
"On a mission. I promise you'll see him before we leave. Now sleep." Jiraiya smoothed Naruto's hair, kissing his forehead. Nodding, Naruto laid down, too tired and in pain to ask any questions. As he fell asleep, he figured he would ask later.
\/\/\/
Naruto spent three days in the hospital, before being ready to go home. He still had not seen Kakashi. As he was getting ready to leave, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." he called out. Looking up, he saw the copycat standing there in battle garb.
"Hey." Kakashi said. Naruto ran over, hugging him.
"Hey. I've missed you." Naruto admitted.
"Missed you, too." Kakashi said, kissing Naruto on the forehead through the mask. "I had to come say goodbye. I heard you were going home today."
Naruto looked up, his blue eyes darker with confusion. "Aren't you taking me home? I mean, Gaara got the stuff out of my head he wanted…what else is there?"
Kakashi sighed. "The mission isn't over with. We have to … eliminate the threat." Pulling down his mask, Kakashi leaned over, kissing Naruto. "Don't worry, I'll find you when I'm done." Slipping his mask back up, he ran his fingers down Naruto's face. Naruto's bottom lip quivered, but he nodded, pulling Kakashi into a hug. Jiraiya came in about then, clearing his throat.
"They are ready to take us, Naruto." Nodding, the teen pulled away from Kakashi. As Naruto left, he refused to look back, as he didn't know if he could leave. So far, leaving Kakashi behind was the hardest thing he had ever had to do.
\/\/\/
Naruto sighed. It was Christmas. He hadn't seen Kakashi since that day he left Gaara's headquarters. True to his word, Jiraiya had moved Naruto to the United States. Naruto hated it here. He was in a small town in the middle of nowhere. He talked to Sasuke via Facebook, so that helped, but he missed Kakashi immensely. The only thing that helped was that Kakashi wrote letters to Naruto and Naruto was able to write him back. Naruto didn't know what to call the black, cartoonish birds that brought him letters, but he didn't care…he was just glad to be able to talk to Kakashi. However, the letters weren't very often; maybe once every three weeks. Something about security concerns.
Sighing, Naruto opened his eyes. Sitting up, he looked out the window. Snow. It was snowing. It was pretty, but all it reminded Naruto of was Kakashi's hair. Frowning, he got up, going downstairs to have breakfast. Sitting on the table was a box…blue, with a snow-white ribbon.
Sitting down, he looked at the tree in the living room. The presents from Jii were there, and his to Jii were there as well. Looking at the tag, it was written in block letters: Naruto. Shrugging, Naruto opened the box. Inside was a hitai-ate with Kakashi's family crest on it. Naruto swallowed hard, holding it to his heart. From that day forward, he wore it on his wrist.
\/\/\/
The New Year came and went with a letter from Kakashi, talking about generalities and how much he missed Naruto. Naruto loved getting the letters, but missed Kakashi terribly. He went to school. Some people, both girls and guys, actually flirted with him, but he was in no mood to deal with them. He wanted Kakashi back, desperately.
\/\/\/
Looking at the calendar, Naruto frowned. February 14. He did not want to go to school today. If this would have been in Japan and Kakashi would have been there, Naruto would have made some homemade chocolates to present to Kakashi. But since neither of those things were happening, Naruto just got up, putting on a black turtleneck, jeans, boots and grabbed his jacket, heading to school.
Naruto wanted to vomit. Love was in the air, it seemed. People were giving flowers and gifts to each other…both the guys and the girls. Shrugging, Naruto guessed it was just different in the United States. Sitting through class, he wanted to vomit. When lunchtime came around, he sat with his friends. Neji was single, but Hinata, his cousin, was googling over her girlfriend Temari while Tenten was exchanging spit with her boyfriend Rock. Naruto frowned, looking at Neji who just shook his head as well.
"So, Naruto, you going to the Valentine's dance tonight at the community center?" Temari asked as she slung an arm around Hinata. Hinata blushed, but snuggled into the taller blonde-haired woman's touch.
"Nah, I don't think so." Naruto shrugged. "That's more for couples."
"Awww, c'mon…" Temari urged.
Neji sighed. "I have to go, why don't you come and keep me company?"
Naruto looked at Neji. "Why do you have to go?"
Neji frowned. "I'm working the concession stand. My martial arts class volunteers to help every year." Neji didn't appear to be pleased.
Naruto thought about it, finally nodding. Maybe he could hang out with Neji. Neji seemed cool.
"Great! Make sure to wear nice clothes…there is a dress code." Hinata stated quietly, smiling at Naruto.
\/\/\/
Throwing his book bag aside, he told Jii what he was doing. Jii thought that was a fine idea and good for him to socialize. Rolling his eyes, Naruto went upstairs to shower and change. Coming down closer to seven, Naruto was in dress pants and a white dress shirt. "Do I look okay?" he asked Jiraiya. Jiraiya turned around and whistled. Rolling his eyes again, Naruto grabbed his wallet and put his watch on. Wrapping his hitai-ate around his other wrist, he waved at Jiraiya as he left.
\/\/\/
Upon arriving at the community center, he saw a bunch of couples going in, dressed nicely. Stepping into line, he was grateful for the tip from Hinata so he didn't feel out of place. Frowning at the slow song he could hear coming out of the building, along with the decorations of red and pink and white and hearts everywhere, Naruto questioned his decision. Nevertheless, he was at the front of the line by then, so he didn't have much choice. Pulling out his wallet and paying, he entered the facility.
The lights were low as another slow song came on. Naruto hated this one. It was "500 Miles" by Sleeping at Last. It reminded him of Kakashi. Shaking his head, he looked around the room. There were plenty of tables, some of which held people making out, others with people talking, while others were empty, cell phones, purses, or cups sitting in the spaces, the patrons of said chairs presumably on the dance floor. Naruto had just seen a seat with nothing around it, so he was betting it was empty. Just as he was about to go sit in it he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he heard that familiar voice ask, "Care to dance?" as he saw the shock of white hair.