Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Naruto or any characters in this story; it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 16: A training accident

Kakashi flipped from page number seventy-five to page seventy-six of his novel while he did his best to ignore the commotion Gai was causing. He had challenged him to a dango eating contest, but the copy ninja had bequeathed the honor to Anko, who was happy to take his place.

Kakashi internally sighed as he could not submerge entirely in the engaging plot of his favorite novel. Genma's loud voice, Hayate's constant coughs, and whatever mayhem Anko and Gai were causing while they competed made it quite impossible to enjoy his book. He was already regretting attending this monthly meeting between Jonin. He should have done as he always does. Come in extremely late when his fellow Jonin were too drunk, tired, or bored, but he had a reason to come here earlier than usual and ask something about two people in particular.

"I really hope you don't read that nasty book of yours around your students, but seeing how you carry it everywhere, I don't have much faith in you."

Kakashi drew his visible eye away from his book and followed the voice with his sight across the table, only to see Kurenai frowning at him with a severe look in her red eyes.

"It's good literature." Kakashi defended as usual. "Besides, it's harmless. In any case, I would be more worried that Asuma doesn't pass along his vice to one of his genin. Tobacco is bad for you and those around you, but you don't seem to care in particular due to the company you keep around you. Isn't that right, Asuma?" He said in a bored tone as he shifted his sight to the man seated next to Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma.

The man sent an annoyed glare at Kakashi as his right hand tapped the table impatiently, a clear sign of frustration due to not having a cigarette in said hand. Kakashi simply responded by giving Asuma an eye-smile to annoy his fellow Jonin further.

Kurenai's cheeks gained a slight pink undertone before she composed herself. "Believe me, I care." She answered before she sent a reproachful side glance at Asuma. "And I have warned Asuma not to do anything in front of his Genin that would cause any of them to follow him in his addiction."

"I'm not addicted." Murmured Asuma.

Kurenai ignored the lie and shifted her eyes back to the silver-haired man who sat across from her. "So, I heard your team went on a C-rank mission outside the village a few weeks ago. Everything went alright, I presume?"

Now Kakashi was slightly curious as to why she knew they had left on a C-rank mission, but by the way she spoke, she didn't seem to know any details on how the mission had unraveled. "How do you know we left on a mission?"

"Oh, I was walking with one of my students through the village when Naruto crashed into us." She smiled as she remembered the interaction between Hinata and Kakashi's student. "I just asked him why he was in a rush, and he told me about leaving the village for a C-rank mission. I admit I was surprised you would take your team outside the village so soon, but after training my team for the past few weeks, I have to say that this generation is quite talented.

"The reports from the academy did say that they were talented, but I have also been surprised with my team. I might have to take them on a C-rank mission soon." Said Asuma with a nod.

"So, how's having Naruto on your team?"

Kakashi lifted an eyebrow at Kurenai's question. "Why the interest in Naruto in particular?"

Kurenai pursed her lips as she came up with something. "When I went looking for my team on the day of their assignment, he was about to fight with one of my students. The boy seemed like he would be a headache to deal with."

Asuma chuckled. "You got that right. When I went to pick up my team and said my name, he asked me if I was related to the Hokage, but by his tone, it was more of an accusation. It's strange. I remember walking into the Hokage's office a couple of times when he was a kid, and I would find him smiling with Tou-san. They seemed to get along quite well," said Asuma as he crossed his arms and furrowed his brows in thought.

"Although the next time I met him, he was much more pleasant. He seemed like a good kid." Admitted Kurenai before she glared at Kakashi. "I really hope he doesn't pick up that book from being around you so much."

Kakashi doubted it since Naruto showed a strong desire to rip his book in half at every turn, but maybe with the right approach, he could get him to share his taste in literature. Just maybe. "I don't know, this book is quite useful. It might help him and Sasuke eventually, so I might have to have a talk with them in the future."

Asuma chuckled but quickly shut up after he received an elbow to the ribs courtesy of the woman beside him, who then turned to glare daggers at Kakashi.

Kakashi paid her no mind because he could already envision it. Sasuke and Naruto buried with only their heads coming out of the ground and tape over their mouth as he imparted the wisdom of his great novel onto the next generation. He almost chuckled at the mental image, but he knew that if there was such a thing as an afterlife, a certain redhead would be waiting to pummel him into oblivion.

Kurenai kept her glare on Kakashi. "So, how is he?"

"A little how you describe. He can be a headache at first, but he grows on you quite quickly. He is a bit brash but also quite ingenious and hardworking..." Kakashi's answer faltered as a cold feeling swept over him. It was as if a slight winter breeze had run through him, and it somehow felt familiar. It was strange, considering they were already in June, and they were currently indoors.

'What is this feeling?' Kakashi thought to himself as he forgot about his conversation.

"You alrig-" Asuma didn't get to finish his question.

"Did my eternal rival mention something about hard work?" Gai interrupted as he appeared in the empty seat at Kakashi's right and threw an arm over his shoulder that Kakashi wholly ignored.

"We were talking about one of Kakashi's students but..." Kurenai said as he studied Kakashi's expression. For someone whose face was almost completely covered, he could be pretty expressive, and it was clear that something was bothering him.

Kakashi suddenly stood up, shrugging off Gai's arm, and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Asked Asuma, a little put off by the change in Kakashi's behavior.

"I forgot to turn off my stove. I'd better head back and take care of that," Kakashi answered in his regular lazy tone, not bothering to look back at them.

Kakashi exited the small restaurant where he had just been and looked at the darkening sky. The sun seemed to have set a few minutes ago by the color in Konoha's sky. Without a reason, Kakashi started walking, but his destination wasn't his home. Instead, he started walking towards Naruto's apartment. He started walking slowly, but with each step, his speed seemed to increase, and before he knew it, he was running.

Kakashi arrived in no time at Naruto's apartment. There was an eerie silence that loomed over it that Kakashi wouldn't associate with a place where his student would live. The copy ninja jumped to the small balcony outside Naruto's room and looked through the glass door. Everything was pitch black, and there seemed to be no sign of his blonde student. Kakashi frowned at the empty apartment as worry began to creep up on him. There could be endless reasonable explanations as to why Naruto wasn't in his apartment at the moment, but if Kakashi had learned something from all his years being a shinobi, it was to trust his gut.

The copy ninja brought a kunai from his pouch and used its sharp point to draw enough blood from his left index finger. A few hand sings later, and his whole pack of ninken stood in attention.

"What's the matter, Kakashi? Why did you summon us inside the village?" asked Pakkun as he sat over the head of the enormous ninken.

"I have a hunch. Naruto is not in his house; search for his sent and signal me when you pick it up." Kakashi explained before he signaled his ninken to go. Kakashi now just waited to move at first howl that signaled that his ninken had found Naruto's scent.

Hinata looked towards the sky with a worried expression as she sat underneath a tree. She had left the small pond to let Naruto and his clones train since they occupied the small water source.

'It's getting late. Otou-san must expect me back soon.'

Hinata thought before a cold breeze blew over her, making her shudder even with her heavy jacket. It was then that Hinata realized that the clearing had gone awfully quiet except for the sound of rippling water. Hinata turned toward where Naruto and his clones were and saw that they weren't trying to cut the stone at all. Instead, they stood completely still with the stone between their hands. Hinata stood up and started walking to the legion of blondes, but something felt out of place to her, and she didn't know quite what it was. She walked towards who she remembered as the original Naruto and spoke.

"Ano, Naruto-kun. It is getting late, and I-I need to get home."

The blonde didn't respond, but his body seemed to want to move. Even though his eyes were closed, she could tell they were moving, and his body began to shake slightly.

"I-it's okay if you want to keep training on y-your own. I can get home by m-myself." She said with disappointment in her voice. She had expected Naruto to walk her back to her home as he had done in the past, but it seemed it wouldn't be the case. And it hurt her, and she hated that it hurt.

His tightly closed mouth opened, and she could see that he was practically crushing his teeth against each other. "Hi... ve... ow... un."

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I-I couldn't understand you?" she said and gave a hesitant step forward.

"Now..." He said between clenched teeth.

Hinata was confused as he stared at the blonde when she suddenly noticed a faint orange glow that appeared out of thin air and began to surround the blonde.

"Leave... Now..."

"Oh..." Those two words felt like two Kunai that had been buried through Hinata's chest right into her heart. The beginning of tears began appearing in Hinata's eyes as she processed everything. "I-I'm s-sorry to be such a b-bother." She said in a strangled voice as she lowered her head.

She looked at her reflection in the water as tears began to pour from her lavender eyes. 'I'm such a bother.' She thought, but then she heard the sound of something being crushed and saw the fragments of stone hitting the water she was looking at. The water rippled at the contact, but then it began to bubble. A terrible feeling began to surround her, and she looked up, and what she saw terrified her. She locked eyes with Naruto, but those weren't the sky-blue eyes she loved to see and lost herself in. No. Instead of the sky-blue ones that she was fond of and accustomed to, she saw wild, blood-red eyes with slits. She then became aware that whisker marks that she found cute were now dark and much deeper. The golden hair that remained her of sunflower was now more spiked than ever, and his canine had grown and become fangs.

"N-Naruto-kun?" She took an instinctive step back as her body began to shake in fear.

"Leave." He said again between clenched teeth in a voice much deeper than the one she knew.

She saw how Naruto brought his hands to his head and noted that his nails now resembled more claws than actual nails. "Leave now!"

Her mind screamed for her to listen to him, to run as fast as she could. She gave another step back and began to turn her body when suddenly she felt a crushing force hit her body, and she was sent flying as she screamed out in pain.

Hinata landed painfully on her side and felt her head bounce off the ground. She might have passed out if not for the pain. Her left arm felt like it was on fire, and her face stung with an excruciating pain. She painfully managed to get up on one knee as her vision focused. She saw a cloud of white smoke where she had just been. All the clones that had surrounded them seemed to have been destroyed by the same force that hit her. She stared at it in complete horror, not knowing what would happen.

"AGHHHH!"

She heard a brutal, guttural, rabid, and pain-fueled scream coming out from the curtain of smoke that was quickly vanishing. Behind the vanishing cloud of smoke, she saw how something orange began to swirl around wildly. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she debated whether it was chakra. But it couldn't be, right? She shouldn't be able to see any chakra unless she had her Byakugan active, and no chakra could be so horrible. It filled the air with heat and seemed to take all the oxygen away.

The smoke cleared, and she saw Naruto on his knees as he grabbed his head and continued screaming while surrounded by the orange chakra that swirled around him.

"Naruto-kun..." she murmured in horror as her body trembled from both the pain and the fear, and the world around her seemed to spin. Her attention was divided when she heard multiple barks, and suddenly, she was surrounded by a pack of ninken she had never seen, and in front of her appeared a tall man with Konoha's standard vest and silver hair.

"Pakkun, watch over her, and do not let Naruto get anywhere close to her." He commanded in a serious tone.

"Understood." A deep voice answered, and the small brown dog walked over to her. "Hey, little girl, I'm Pakkun. Are you okay?"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she wasn't imagining the talking dog, even though she felt dazed. Hinata tried to answer but cringed in pain before he could do so.

"You aren't," Pakkun answered as he frowned. "Kakashi, she is injured."

He didn't turn to inspect the situation as the copy ninja had his eyes set on Naruto, who seemed to be wrestling with himself as he grunted and thrashed around wildly.

"Shiba." He called, and a ninken with light grey fur barked, signaling he was ready to execute any command. "Go and look for backup." The dog then barked in confirmation before he jumped into the woods.

'What should I do? He seems to be fighting to contain the Kyūbi's chakra, but he isn't in control of himself.' Kakashi thought as he tried to keep a clear mind. It felt similar to how it had been that day. Although it wasn't as overwhelming, he could still feel the bloodlust and hatred that seemed to flood the area.

"Naruto, can you hear me?" He asked.

The blonde continued to thrash around, but for a brief second, he seemed to have locked eyes with Kakashi before his movements became even more erratic.

"What... you... doing he... leave!" The blonde screamed back. Even through the deep and struggling voice, Kakashi could recognize the urgency in his tone.

'Okay, he is at least aware of who we are.' Though Kakashi before he spoke. "I'm not leaving you, Naruto," Kakashi answered back as he tried to keep a calm façade, but in reality, his heart was racing, and his worry grew by the second.

His words seemed to do anything but calm the blond as his thrashing increased. Between the grunting and struggling noise, Kakashi heard a new and distinctive sound. A chuckle; It was dark and mocking. "No... You... ever... do... that." He hissed between clenched teeth.

The change in tone puzzled Kakashi, but he didn't have the time to dwell on it. Naruto seemed to be fighting a losing battle for control of his own body, and Kakashi seemed he would have to intervene. But what could he do to restrain him? His ninken would probably be massacred if they tried holding Naruto at this point, and engaging him in combat wasn't an idea Kakashi was particularly thrilled to implement. He didn't know how strong Naruto was in this state. It was clear that whatever measure he would have used to subdue a regular ninja was off the table, and it might only push him to retaliate. But if he engaged Naruto, he would have to cause some real damage to subdue him, and he wanted to avoid causing any lasting damage to his student. He would bruise them during training and whatnot, but at the moment, it looked like Naruto would need more than bumps and bruises to go out. He had an idea, but it was risky, and he wasn't entirely sure he could pull it off.

"Leave!" Naruto screamed again, but it was different this time. His tone wasn't sarcastic or had any sense of friendly urgency. It was raw, rageful, and filled with venom. He wasn't telling him to leave for his own safety; he didn't want him there.

The change in tone made Kakashi get on guard. It was clear Naruto wouldn't be able to snap himself out of this by himself.

"AGH!" Naruto gave another ear-piercing roar as his own clawed hands started to dig themselves into his flesh.

'Shit!' Kakashi screamed in his mind as he saw how the blonde began to claw into himself. Naruto wasn't going to come out unharmed, no matter what, and the longer he took to act, the worse it would be for his student.

"Naruto!" He screamed, but the blonde didn't respond as his struggle continued.

"Naruto!" He tried again, and this time, his voice seemed to reach him, and the thrashing came to a sudden stop. The blonde was now in a fetal position, and he slowly lifted his head to look up in Kakashi's direction.

Kakashi locked eyes with his wild student and got a proper look at him for the first time. His body was covered with scratches and wounds that bled but, at the same time, were trying to heal themselves. Everything seemed out of order, but what preoccupied Kakashi the most were the eyes. Those red eyes looked at him with so much hatred and bloodlust as they glinted with malice. He moved while his body shook erratically, but instead of standing, he used his hand as his legs and adopted a quadrupedal position. It was then that Kakashi knew Naruto was no longer battling to keep the Kyūbi from gaining control... at best, the blonde was fighting to get his body back.

'This better work.' thought Kakashi as he quickly lifted his headband to uncover his Sharingan.

Just as Naruto seemed to see the Sharingan, he roared wildly at Kakashi as if he perceived the crimson eye as a threat.

He remembered the rumors from his days as an ANBU that had driven the higher-ups of the village to keep a watchful eye on the Uchiha clan. It was said that the Sharingan could be used to control the Kyūbi, and that rumor had cast a dark cloud on the Uchiha clan ever since the day of the Kyūbi attack.

Kakashi stared down Naruto as he tried to build up as much chakra as possible in his left eye. However, before he could finish the wild, Naruto rushed at Kakashi. To the naked, it would have been a simple orange blur, but thanks to the enhanced perceptive abilities of the eye he was gifted all those years ago, Kakashi managed to follow his movements. He saw how his students charged at him as he pulled his right arm back to swing his clawed hand at him, but before he could strike him, Kakashi managed to grab his wrist and held it as tightly as he could. The sheer physical strength behind Naruto's attack was remarkable, and Kakashi might have been moved off his spot if he hadn't channeled the chakra at the bottom of his feet.

Naruto bared his fangs at Kakashi and used his left arm to try to rip Kakashi's mid-section, but the copy ninja stuck his arm to grab Naruto's forearm. Before Naruto could try anything else, Kakashi yanked Naruto as the tomoe in his Sharingan began to spin, and he made sure to look Naruto straight in the eyes as he pushed as much chakra as he could.

Kakashi could instantly tell that this wouldn't be how it usually went when he used his Sharingan to put people into a genjutsu. The world around him drifted out of focus before his vision completely obscured.

Kakashi looked around as he analyzed and wondered about his current surroundings. It was a dimly lighted corridor with multiple detours on each side, water that seemed to reach him up to his ankle, and several pipes running along the ceiling. Overall, Kakashi would say that it looked like an old sewer system with an ominous aura in which the only sound he could hear was that of dripping water.

'Where am I?' Thought Kakashi as he looked around.

"Thanks Inu!" A childish voice called out from one of the connecting corridors up ahead. The voice evidently belonged to Naruto; however, it sounded like a much younger version of his student.

A perplexed Kakashi walked with a bit of hesitation to the corridor from where the voice had come from. He looked into the connecting corridor but could only see a few meters away, and then everything was covered in darkness.

"I don't have anyone, but I never cry. Never!" The same voice spoke as he stared into the dark corridor. He was about to take a step forward but stopped.

"What happened to my parents?" Naruto's voice sounded again, but this time, it came from another corridor farther ahead.

"I already told you before." An old voice replied, and Kakashi instantly recognized that it belonged to the Hokage.

'Are these Naruto's memories?' Kakashi asked himself. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was almost like he was the one in a genjutsu. He had heard about how the Yamanaka clan could explore and navigate through someone's mind and look at their memories, so he concluded that this must be similar.

"Agh!" A pained scream tore through his thoughts. Kakashi had the feeling this scream came from his actual students and not from a memory.

"Naruto?!" Kakashi shouted as he turned in the direction he thought the scream came from.

"Naruto?!" Kakashi shouted again and started running to where the scream had come from.

"I think I twisted my ankle when I fell."

"Inu! Yeah, I'll be the greatest Hokage ever, so I can't stop dattebayo."

"My name means maelstrom baka!"

He heard Naruto's voice coming out of every single connecting corridor as he passed by them and did his best to ignore them. He was getting close. He could feel it. You didn't have to be a sensor to sense the Kyūbi's chakra. The sheer density, size, and evilness of the foul chakra made you highly aware of its presence, and he could feel it getting stronger the more he ran.

"True... but it's alright to cry when you are happy since it won't change what you are happy about."

A new voice invaded Kakashi's ears, a female's voice. Kakashi froze in his tracks and stared wide-eyed as he turned to the corridor to his right. It was beautiful and melodic... just like he remembered.

"He believed in you blindly." The voice echoed again.

'No. It can't be.' Kakashi said to himself instantly and willed himself to turn and run faster than before. Almost as if he was trying to get as far away as possible from the beautiful voice.

Kakashi continued to run, and with each step he took, he could feel the Kyūbi's chakra getting stronger and stronger until, out of pure instinct, he took a left turn into one of the corridors. He continued until he saw the end of the corridor open up into a bigger room, and he spotted Naruto.

The Kyūbi's orange chakra had formed itself into a large pool with a ferocious tide, and in the middle of it, a blonde was being rag-dolled from side to side as he struggled to keep his head above it.

Kakashi didn't hesitate for a second and rushed to his student's aid. He jumped straight into the wild current of malefic chakra and instantly felt his skin light up in pain as the Kyūbi's chakra burned him. Still, he bit down on his lip and ignored the excruciating pain that ran through all of his being and just kept thinking of reaching the boy who had been put on his charge. He continued to swim until Naruto was within reach, and he extended his arm, managed to get a hold of Naruto's jacket collar, and held on to him for dear life. With the blonde in tow, Kakashi did his best to get to the end of the pool and climbed out of it as he breathed heavily. His muscles felt like they were made out of jelly, and every nerve in his body stung heavily as he tried to catch his breath.

Kakashi turned towards Naruto to examine him. The blonde had a pulse, and his breathing was controlled while his eyes were shut tight. Overall, it looked like the boy was asleep and didn't have any injuries or wasn't experiencing any sort of pain, but the copy ninja knew better. He was no Iryō-nin, but he had been in the same position as his student, and he felt the furthest thing away from fine at the moment.

He turned his head to the pool of chakra he had just been in and saw it dissipating and flowing in one direction. He followed the stream of chakra as it receded, and for the first time, Kakashi noticed the massive cage and the creature it contained.

The Kyūbi, in all his might, stared down at him with a malevolent glint in his eyes, and Kakashi had never felt smaller than he was feeling now. Being dwarfed by the legendary Kyūbi no kitsune as he eyed you with a twisted amusement.

The Kyūbi let out a snarl that echoed throughout the room. "So that's how you managed to find your way in here. That cursed eye... yet you don't belong to that clan." The Kyūbi spoke with hatred and distaste. "You are nothing but a lousy imitation." Right after finishing his sentence, the Kyūbi charged against the bars of his prison with such force that it seemed to shake everything.

"If I were to get out of this prison, there is nothing you could do about it." He said as its features contorted into a sick and twisted grin. "You barely managed to suppress but a glimpse of my power. One day, I'll escape this meat prison, and I'll raze all of you into dust, and no one can stop me." After finishing his sentence, Kyūbi's evil cackle filled the room.

Kakashi had been at a loss for words as he listened to the beast speak, and with each word, Kakashi's worry and doubt grew exponentially. He had felt the burning sensation of the Kyūbi's chakra, and that had been just an insignificant amount of its power. How could Naruto contain all of this power by himself? What could they do to stop the Kyūbi once it broke the seal? How could the village survive another attack by the Kyūbi now that Minato was dead?

Kakashi's thoughts became progressively more pessimistic as the dark possibilities flooded his mind. He lowered his head and found himself looking at Naruto. He looked peaceful, like a child without a burden, worry, or trauma... as he should have been.

As Kakashi looked at Naruto, the resemblance between his new student and his old master struck him. It was as if his vision blurred, and all the slight differences between Naruto and Minato ceased to exist. It was like he was seeing Minato once again.

'He believed in you blindly.' The beautiful voice he had heard not long ago now echoed in his mind as he looked at Naruto.

"No..." Kakashi muttered as he finally found his voice and lifted his head to look back at the Kyūbi with an unflinching gaze.

"Naruto fought you for control and did his best. And even if he failed, I was here to help him... and I will always be there for him. You will never break out of this seal because Naruto will never let you." Kakashi spoke with a voice full of confidence.

The Kyūbi stared back at Kakashi before he let out a dark chuckle.

"You give the brat too much credit. There is nothing he can hide from me, even the darkest thoughts he hides from himself. It's Ironic that you would believe so highly in someone who resents you so deeply." The Kyūbi said cryptically with a vicious and sick grin before it began laughing mockingly.

Before Kakashi could react to the words the Kyūbi had uttered, the room around him began to dissolve into darkness.

Hinata watched with confusion how Naruto and his Sensei seemed locked in place as they stared at each other, and her vision began to steady itself. The world that had seemed to be spinning was starting to slow down. It was like both had frozen in place and were currently staring into each other souls ever since Kakashi griped both of Naruto's arms. Hinata noted that the blonde still held that feral appearance and that murderous look in his eyes. However, the unnerving presence that seemed to have saturated the air not so long ago began to lessen, although it was still present.

"Hinata!" She heard her name being called, and she turned on instinct but flinched when she felt a sharp pain run through the right side of her body.

An instant later, Hinata was looking into a new set of red eyes, but these weren't wild or filled with bloodlust. They were warm and full of worry. Kurenai inspected Hinata briefly. Her right eye was swollen and close to being shut, and her porcelain skin was painfully red while she clutched her right arm.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Kurenai quickly asked as she knelt in front of Hinata, not stopping to wonder what her student was doing here. Behind the red-eyed Jonin, Asuma, Gai, Genma, Hayate, and Anko were all in a battle-ready stance as they eyed Kakashi and Naruto with grim faces.

"What the hell happened here?" Asuma asked as he channeled chakra into his blades and stood at the ready.

"We don't know." Answered Pakkun as he left Hinata's side and approached Asuma. "When we arrived, its chakra was already leaking out. We found him in here with the girl."

Kurenai watched as Hinata's confused eyes saw past her and tried to follow the conversation between Asuma and Pakkun.

"Hinata." Kurenai tried again. "I'm going to need you to concentrate. Are you alright?" She asked, and Hinata seemed to register to voice and locked eyes with her again. Her vision seemed lost and confused at first glance. It looked like she had a concussion.

"She is injured, but we don't know to what extent," Pakkun answered.

"I can see that!" Kurenai snapped suddenly as she momentarily turned her head back towards Pakkun.

"Kurenai, take your student out of here so she can be examined at the hospital. We will handle things here." Asuma said.

Kurenai shifted her sight and locked eyes with Asuma, who nodded. Kurenai turned back towards Hinata once again before she picked her up in a fireman's carry.

"I want to know what happened here," Kurenai stated as she adjusted Hinata's body so she wouldn't fall on the way back. Without bothering to look back at her comrades, she jumped and headed towards the hospital.

Asuma released a breath he was holding as he stared down Kakashi and Naruto, who continued to be frozen in place. He frowned at the absence of smoke when he breathed out. He wanted a cigarette badly now that Kurenai was gone, but now it wasn't an appropriate time either. He momentarily shifted his eyes to all the other shinobi that were now surrounding Kakashi and Naruto. Genma, Gai, Anko, Hayate, and himself surrounded Naruto and Kakashi, looking for any sign of movement.

"What the fuck do we do?" Anko asked out loud as she looked straight into Naruto's red-slitted eyes. It unnerved her how those eyes held a similarity to her old Sensei. Yet the feeling they both gave it was completely different. One was cold, twisted, and sent a chill through your spine, while the Kyūbi's chakra was scorching, harrowing, and overwhelming.

"Pakkun, what did Kakashi do?" Gai asked entirely seriously; any trace of his usual exuberant and bigger-than-life personality was gone.

Pakkun frowned, and his skin got even more wrinkled. "I'm not sure to be honest."

"Kakashi is not the type to jump in without a plan. Whatever he did, I say we trust him and just waited it out." Genma said as he griped a kunai and moved a senbon between his teeth.

They all looked around at each other briefly and seemed to come to a consensus. They would let it play out. It was as if time stood still as they watched the unmoving duo. The only indication that time hadn't frozen was the sound of rippling water in the background.

Kakashi's eyes opened suddenly, and he found himself back in the real world, looking straight into his student's wide eyes. He saw how the crimson began to recede from them, leaving the usual sky blue filled with fear.

"Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto murmured with fear and confusion before his eyes rolled into the back of his head. His body fell forward, and Kakashi caught him.

"Kakashi?!"

He heard his name being called again, and he lifted his eyes from his student and saw that he was surrounded by his peers.

"Is it under control?" He saw it was Genma, the one who spoke.

Kakashi gave him a nod, figuring that they were the ones that Shiba had gone looking for backup. They approached him, and Kakashi realized how badly his whole body ached. He felt as if he bathed in a river made out of fire. He kneeled and lowered the blonde's body so it rested on the cool grass.

"What the hell happened here?" Anko asked.

'That's a good question.' That was Kakashi's first thought because, in all honesty, he didn't know either. Hell, he was still confused about everything that happened after he casted the genjutsu on Naruto.

Kakashi didn't answer immediately, and he looked down at his unconscious student. His whiskers had returned to their usual appearance, his claws had disappeared, and his hair was back to its normal spikiness. The influence of the Kyūbi's chakra seemed to be gone entirely.

"I need to talk to Hokage-Sama." He answered, ignoring the question as he tried to get Naruto back into his arms and prepared to head towards the Hokage's office.

"What happened, Kakashi?" Asuma repeated the question.

The copy ninja didn't answer immediately. "It's not your concern. Naruto is my student, and I've already dealt with what happened." He said, not bothering to look at Asuma.

Asuma squinted his eyes at Kakashi before taking a cigarette and a lighter out. He lighted up the cigarette and took a good hit. He knew Kakashi was bullshitting. As a jinchuriki, Naruto concerned the village as a whole. They both knew it, but there was no reason to antagonize Kakashi. After all, he was selected as Naruto's Sensei, and as for how many gripes he had with his father, he knew that he never did anything without reason but...

"It sure concerns Kurenai since it was her student that Naruto injured."

Kakashi's eyes widened a fraction, but he didn't say anything.

"She seemed to have a concussion, Kakashi." Pakkun interrupted.

There was no hostility, but a little tension could be felt as Kakashi and Asuma stared at each other.

"It's not the moment to discuss this. We have to report this to Hokage-Sama and have the seal inspected." Genma chipped in as he twirled a senbon between his teeth.

Kakashi let out a tired sigh as he tried to ignore his aching body. He picked Naruto up and headed towards to talk with the Hokage.

Author's notes:

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