Post/based off chapter 333. Complete.
He sat quietly for her now – not that he was ever really talkative – against one of the recently downed trees from their previous battle. The fire crackled quietly behind her, her own body and senses dulling its loud pops as she sat kneeling before him, his arm limp in her hand as she began tending to it. He wouldn't look at her, instead staring blankly at the dirtied earth and thinking those dark thoughts she was sure he always thought. She sighed mentally to herself, steadily and carefully unwinding the bloodied wrappings from around that right arm.
Her back-up team had arrived only over an hour ago to find the situation already taken care of…for now. The one was dead – they'd made sure of that – and the other…well, had somehow managed to be vaporized by a stunning and remarkable combination of Shikamaru's Wind and Kakashi's Lightning, she'd been relayed. But she wondered at these bandages. He'd said it wasn't his blood. It wasn't even the guy's who he'd rammed it through with, the Chidori having burned off all the organic matter, he'd said.
Even when his hand lay turned over in hers as she uncovered it, she wondered; about the blood, about his arm, about his entire general behavior right then. Her breath left her as charred and burned skin met her eyes. And then she knew. Chakra burn. She looked up at his down-turned face, still staring blankly at the ground. His eyes didn't meet hers.
"You've been experimenting with Chidori, haven't you?" He didn't even impart her his distinctive nondiscriminatory hum.
She shook her head and removed the rest of the wrappings, pushing his sleeve up out of the way to access the rest. Her lips pressed together as she eyed the definitive mark just before his elbow where the darkened skin spoke of the reach of his technique. She wondered how much more improved it was; how much more power he'd beaten into his body in this; how much more flesh he'd stretched to get there. Was he really where he wanted to be yet?
"I would've helped," she said into the quiet, not expecting anything in response. And nothing was given. He simply held still and she worked on him. Her hand floated above his palm, the warm glow engulfing it as she began her repairs, floating the length of his arm before turning it to continue on the other sides. "You may have some scarring. At this point, the skin has already begun to heal itself. I'll minimize what I can."
He didn't move. She sighed. Her insides twisted its several year knot tighter still. "You've gotten so strong, Kakashi-sensei. You always have been, but now… You've all gotten so much stronger," she shook her head. One day, that knot would explode.
"I can't keep up." Maybe someday soon.
His lone eye – the Sharingan safely tucked away again - blinked at her whisper.
"I never could."
"You have your own strength."
A power none of them could hope to duplicate.
His voice was quieter than hers, but his unexpected interaction had caused her pause and she looked up only to find him unmoved. She gazed vacantly as his arm as her hand closed in on itself and the glow faded from it as she finished up. She let her supportive hand slowly fall away from his. He withdrew and pulled his sleeve back into place, the recently missing twin produced from a pocket and tugged snugly on, fingers wiggling slightly to set the glove before fastening it tight. Her peripheral vision registered his head turning and they both shifted to greet Shikamaru's approach with their attention.
Shikamaru's sharp eyes were focused on the sitting man, face more intense than his normally lax disposition allowed. His voice and eyes, however, were noticeably tenser. He nodded at the elder shinobi to indicate his subject of choice. "Is it true?"
Kakashi sighed with a slow closing of his eye and unhurriedly brought his gaze to once more land on the younger tactical genius. "In a way," he audibly exhaled, eye falling to the ground for a moment. "The White Fang was my father."
"Hm," Shikamaru nodded. It all added up correctly in his mind given what he knew of Konoha's history. Kakashi-sensei could probably do all of what the legends say but he didn't match up with the time frame of the White Fang. Being his son made much more sense. His old man's words resonated brutally in his head. "I see."
"Is that what this is about, then? Just a large-scale bounty hunt?" he asked, clearly incredulous although his monotone voice barely managed to convey that. There was anger there; anger over the absurdity, the needless fighting, the completely unnecessary death of his captain, teacher, and greatest confident.
Kakashi let his eye fall hooded. Asuma would be a very sore spot for many years. However…
"Unlikely," he said, turning to face Sakura again to expressionlessly gaze at her legs as she kneeled across from him. "This is probably just some side adventure for them, judging by their general lack of concern for any objectives."
He pushed up from the ground, using the movement to disrupt the questions he could see forming on both of their faces. He didn't like talking about himself and regretted answering that much already. It was time they moved on. There were even more suspicions to be squared away now with that meeting.
He ran his hand over the newly tended forearm and looked past Shikamaru to the two beyond, both Chouji and Ino peering out the sides of eyes at them. They all got his hint and quickly snuffed their activities and fire, picking up their belongings. Sakura scuffled quietly beside him as she got up, pausing to brush her tunic and shorts off before moving over near Ino to grab her own small pack.
He discreetly pulled back his sleeve to sneak a quick glance at his arm. There was only a small squiggling line that wound up the underside of his forearm, lingering to mark the progression of his training. Hm. She did a good job. As always, he knew. For her to have only left such a small mark from such a large scar area was…remarkable. Yes, her skills were quite good.
Pulling the sleeve back down he bent and retrieved the bloodied bandages, quickly disposing of them with a weak fire jutsu. Pocketing his hands, he sauntered over to the group as Shikamaru flashed a hand signal to bring Naruto back from scouting in the trees. Whole once more, the team briefly went over travel arrangements and broke off, splintering into a vicious net of intelligence gathering and vengeance.
Akatsuki, no matter how trivial or baffling their activities, could not be taken lightly.
There was much to be done.