"The justifications of men who kill should always be heard with skepticism, said the monster." -Partrick Ness

Fiducia

They were slow to leave the inn, feet dragging and muttered complaints under sleep heavy voices as they packed away their things while munching on breakfast bars. Kakashi was up at dawn, his tardiness and general lazy attitude never present in a mission, and proceeded to try to rally the others into order to leave as quickly as possible.

The delays were…numerous.

Tazuna took nearly an hour to reach a level of consciousness where he could function as at least a semi-awake human being. Naruto and Sasuke got into an argument that led to a competition on whom could pack their bags faster which meant that they quickly had to unpack and do it over again as the messy state of their things left little room to actually pack anything at all.

Kakashi was unsure who won that little battle, but if he had to guess by Sasuke's smug look and Naruto's pouting one he would bet on the Uchiha. A genuine smile started to pull his lips up from behind his mask as he watched the two. Naruto, though exaggerating all of his interactions, appeared to actually be in a playful mood. Kakashi was not convinced it was all faked either.

Once he had gotten their room into order, the boys into behaving, and Tazuna into consciousness, they went to collect their last teammate. Sakura was, of course, taking another shower and had not packed any of her things at all as she needed quite a lot in order to get ready. Some of things she used looked remarkably similar to some of the torture devices he had seen laying around the Torture and Interrogation Department.

Kakashi thought he was better off not knowing what they were used for and left her to it.

By the time Sakura was finally presentable enough to leave her room it was lunch time. Having been outvoted, they stuck around the village for a meal, one in which he had ended up paying for -he still was not sure how that had happened- and then they were finally on their way once more.

Even with all the delays, the arguments and bickering, the chill in the air, and Tazuna's drunken ramblings, Kakashi found himself in a generally good mood. Sakura was up front with Sasuke talking…actually talking, like two people holding a conversation. If he strained his ears he could hear the sullen boy making taijutsu corrections to Sakura's faulty techniques and the girl was countering with suggestions on how he could improve his chakra control.

They were beginning to act like an actual team and it made something in his chest swell with pride and affection for his genin. The younger girl was finally over the hurt feelings that Sasuke had induced nearly a month ago on that rainy day. Her schoolgirl crush had been stamped out, but the bitterness that had followed it had stuck around for a long while. It was good to see them finally getting over the animosity it had left behind.

Tazuna was near the middle of the group, a bottle of sake -so fragrant that Kakashi could smell it even through his mask- in his loose fingers as he trudged along. Naruto was lagging behind him, trailing somewhere in between the two adults, close enough for conversation but far enough away that it was clear he did not actually want to engage in such. Kakashi would have been worried, but the boy seemed content for once, so the jounin let him be.

Last night had been…interesting.

He was not sure what had led up to his actions, but Naruto had been unusually pensive that night and Kakashi found he could not help himself. Did not want to, if he was being honest. After the initial shock at the suggestion of untoward affection towards Sakura-chan, Kakashi had realized that Naruto had been teasing him.

It was another one of those moments where the boy seemed to forget himself and a far too familiar tone would slip out with affectionate words, but this was the first-time Naruto had actually teased his sensei. It was also the first time that Naruto had given Kakashi enough time to tease back. The look on his face had been one that Kakashi knew he would cherish for a long while…just like the feel of his hair as Naruto relaxed beneath his hand.

His fingers still tingled from the sensation. The boy had slept through the whole night, neither tossing or turning, breathing deep and calm as he got actual sleep. Kakashi was actually starting to get worried. The first two nights camping with rotating guard duty revealed quite a lot about his youngest student.

The boy did not sleep…at all.

Resting would be too much of an exaggeration for what the jinchuuriki did. Meditating was closer. When he was not on watch, Naruto laid in his sleeping roll and pretended to be asleep, but Kakashi could tell he was not truly.

It was a combination of things that gave him away. Breathing pattern of one fully asleep was different then when one was just resting, eyes closed but not pulled under. His lack of movement was another. People moved when they slept, small twitches and slight shuffling, but Naruto laid there like he was dead, so still that when he had woken Sasuke for his shift he had panicked for half a heartbeat before he heard Naruto's soft breaths.

What truly gave him away though was his scent. People just smelled different when they were asleep, heavy somehow, though if pressed to explain it, Kakashi very much doubted he would be able to find the words. Last night was the first-time Naruto had that sleep smell on him.

From what he had observed, the boy desperately needed it. He was not sure how long Naruto had been going without sleep, but even with his pretending and over exaggerated excitement, Kakashi could tell that he had been tired…a bone deep type of weary that one would normally see from a shinobi on an extended mission. He also knew that he had not been the only one to notice as well.

Sakura had come down to the lobby freshly washed and perfectly presentable, a skip in her step and smile on her face. She greeted everyone cheerfully, ignoring their grumblings of how much time had been wasted waiting on her, and being genuinely happy. Her green eyes had slid over to the blonde, a curious look crossing her features, and then a tightness that Kakashi was ashamed to say he had not noticed before, released from her shoulders and she just seemed so much more at ease.

It was there, in that lobby of the little inn in the fishing village so tiny that did not have a name where Kakashi swore that he would do more. Whether it was just being more observant, or being there to help someone sleep…even being quick enough to throw in a little teasing wit at Naruto's unintentional snark, he would do more.

Something caught his attention and Kakashi pulled his focus back into the moment, tucking his book -he had not actually been reading- away into his pocket as his one grey eye swept the area. It slid from one side to the other, landing on each of his genin before he realized it was Naruto that had pulled him from his thoughts. At first, Kakashi did not know what it was that had drawn him so, but there was something off about the boy…something in the way he was moving perhaps.

Quickening his strides, Kakashi closed the space between them in a non-obvious but quick manner. Once abreast with the boy, he slowed his pace to fall in step with the blonde, but Naruto did not even seem to notice that he was there.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked softly, pitching his voice low to not draw attention from the rest of the group. Naruto started next to him, jerking suddenly as his head whipped around to look at him and the boy stumbled. Darting a hand out, Kakashi wrapped his fingers around the boy's bicep, feeling the coarse orange material of the jacked on his fingertips as he pulled Naruto upright.

Naruto steadied himself and froze at the restricting touch, feet stuttering to a halt, but Kakashi did not let him. The hand released his bicep, darting up and around so quickly that Naruto had no way to avoid it as Kakashi grabbed him where the shoulder met the neck and pulled him forward. He wanted to go unnoticed by the rest of the group, and stopping would only draw attention to them.

The boy startled beneath him, but kept moving. One of his steps slid to the side as he tried to put distance between them, but Kakashi let his fingers trail to the nape of his neck, cupping it in his hand as he squeezed sharply in warning. The jounin had not intended to do that, had not meant to grab his student in such a way, but his sudden frustration at Naruto's attempted evasion made him react without thinking.

Some days he just wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into the boy until he understood that Kakashi only wanted to help, but he always held himself back, afraid that he would scare him. And Kakashi fully expected for Naruto to throw himself from his hold, not that it was much of one anymore, but to his complete and utter surprise, the boy just settled next to him. And he continued to stay there, shoulders relaxed and posture loose as Kakashi drew his hand up to ruffle the blonde hair in apology before letting it fall to his side.

They walked in silence for a while longer, Kakashi letting his eye sweep the group but no one seemed to have noticed their bizarre interaction. With every step, Naruto seemed to relax more at his side and Kakashi felt something in his chest release at the sight, but that brought him back to why he had approached the genin in the first place.

"What's wrong?" He asked after a long moment, fingers twitching for his Icha Icha but he resisted the urge to pull it out. Naruto was silent next to him, blue eyes darting up to him before fixing back to the road. After a long pause, one small shoulder rose and fell in what could only halfheartedly be called a shrug. "Naruto," Kakashi sighed the word, exasperation coloring his tone without his permission. The blonde flinched next to him, and then Kakashi had a different urge, fingers twitching for a different reason. To come back up and ruffle his hair…or grab him by the nape again he did not know, so he forced himself to do neither.

"It's just-" Naruto cut himself off, voice so quiet the wind could carry it away. Kakashi made a vague gesture with his hand to prompt him to continue. The jinchuuriki shifted awkwardly next to him, and Kakashi was surprised when Naruto actually leaned closer. "I feel like we're being watched," he whispered and Kakashi felt his spine tingle as goose bumps raced up his arms.

"Have you seen anything?" Kakashi asked him just as quietly, trepidation making his heart begin to race. Perhaps it was simply Kakashi himself that Naruto had felt watching him, but he did not think that so.

"No," Naruto murmured back, fingers coming up to play with the leather bracelet on his wrist. "It's just a feeling."

Kakashi hummed quietly to himself, one hand reaching up to pull out the orange book while the other shifted his hitai-ate inconspicuously. Naruto glanced up curiously, the newly uncovered eye cracking open to glance around and Kakashi noticed that Naruto was not surprised at all to see the red eye with the three tomoe twirling within. After one quick glance at it, Naruto was back to gazing at the road disinterested, and Kakashi felt a little miffed at that.

With Naruto on his left, it was easy to let his sharingan slide to look at the boy. He looked no different with his transplanted eye than it did his normal one. Naruto shifted uncomfortably next to him, aware of the scrutiny but unwilling to voice it as his fingers twirled the bracelet around and around his pale thin wrist. The movement drew the sharingan down and Kakashi's eyes narrowed on the small object.

That looks like…but it couldn't be.

He felt the air displace behind him, the drawn swish as something cut through the slight breeze and Kakashi was turning even as he yelled for everyone to get down. Seizing the orange jacket in his fist, he pulled Naruto under him as he ducked beneath the giant blade, pressing himself flat upon the boy. The body beneath his was warm and faintly trembling, but Kakashi could scent little fear and he knew that it was more than likely adrenaline that made the Naruto's muscles twitch.

One hand was pressed to the ground, propping his upper torso up while the other held tightly the genin. His eyes darted to the rest of the group, unharmed and prone on the ground like he, even as his hand twisted in Naruto's jacket, forcing the struggling boy further beneath him. Naruto was trying to wiggle out from underneath, and something in Kakashi twisted darkly, a primal part of his brain snarled lowly at the thought, and he growled at the boy to be still. And Naruto did, much to his surprise.

He had no time to think about it though, as the next second a bandaged covered man stood on the sword that had been embedded half a foot in a thick tree trunk. In that moment Kakashi knew that this was definitely no longer a C-rank mission.

0~Page_Break~0

Naruto lay gasping on the edge of the lake, still half in the water. He could feel the dying waves licking up over his back as the water began to settle once more now that the last of the A-class jutsus had died off. He felt half drowned as he lay there, panting for breath and coughing water out of his lungs as he shook his head to get the fluid out of his ears. Fingers gripping fistfuls of sand, he forced himself into a kneeling position, pulling his tired legs under him as his arms shook from his own weight.

His eyes were drawn to his wrist and he sighed in relief when he saw the bracelet still there, still in place, still steadily feeding his henge chakra. Though he doubted Kakashi would be able to do much of anything even if the henge had slipped. Gaze drawn to his sensei, he could see exhausted form of the man leaning down to help Sakura to her feet. He had overused the sharingan, again…just like he always did when he had to finish a fight quickly while protecting those who could barely protect themselves.

Scowling, Naruto drew himself to his feet and he swayed slightly before he began to walk over. He hated that he was now one of the ones that Kakashi needed to go to such lengths to keep safe, but there was no helping it. This body of his was just too weak, his brain was constantly getting in the way, telling his limbs that they had longer reach, convinced he had muscle memory when he barely had muscle at all. He would need to up his training, this fight with Zabuza just reiterated that fact.

Naruto could not remember exactly how that fight had gone before, but he remembered the water prison and the henge that Sasuke had thrown like a weapon. So, Naruto had used his disjointed memories of the original fight along with other memories of many other fights and somehow, they won…again. Though Naruto was certain that it had not been entirely in the same fashion.

Zabuza had used water clones, his killing intent filling the small area and freezing his teammates with fear, but it just seemed to enrage Naruto. He snarled at the man…or perhaps the clone of the man, throwing himself in front of his team and getting under Kakashi's foot on more than one occasion, but Sakura and Sasuke had snapped out of it and had even taken down their own water clone together as Naruto dispatched his second.

Then the Demon of the Mist trapped Kakashi-sensei in the water prison and Sasuke had thrown the overly large stars, along with Naruto who was under a henge on top of the one he was already wearing -the fine control for that left him exhausted- and then Kakashi was free. And for half a second, as Naruto shouted obscenities at the missing nin, he had forgotten that he was not actually supposed to have enough chakra control to walk and water and Naruto had landed on the lake before he remembered and then plummeted into its dark depths.

Kakashi had seen that precious second though, when Naruto had stood atop the water just like Zabuza and himself, and the blonde fought not to panic. Seconds later he was fighting not to drown. One of Kakashi's jutsus grabbed him as he was forced under again, and the next thing he knew he was on the lake edge, gasping for breath and it was over.

The mist was beginning to disappear as Naruto finally joined the group, watching as Kakashi took a few hesitant steps after the hunter-nin that collected Zabuza's body, legs trembling and hands clenched before he turned back to the team. His sharingan flashed over each of them, checking them for injuries, and Naruto fought not to flinch or duck or…anything really as the three tomoe spun and trapped his gaze. But it was over before Naruto could even blink and then Kakashi was collapsing in the sand and Sakura was shrieking next to him.

The mismatched gaze was looking up into the trees in confusion as if trying to process how the scenery had changed so fast and Naruto darted forwards before he could think about it. His fingers closed over his teacher's hitai-ate, pulling at it until it covered the sharingan and trying not to flinch as the grey eye slid over to him in confusion.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted, falling into the sand next to him as the eye finally closed and their teacher passed out. Her hands fluttered over him as if to check for injuries but doing nothing more than trailing from one part of his body to the next without cataloguing anything.

"He's fine, Sakura-chan," Naruto told her softly, brushing her fluttering hands aside in order to unzip their teacher's flak jacket. "Look for any blood," he instructed as he reached for his own bag to find bandages if they needed any. When he turned back, Sakura was more calm, her fingers no longer hovering but pressing into Kakashi's cold skin as her other hand yanked his shirt out of the way.

There was a determined tilt to her lips as she worked, and it was so much like his Sakura that he paused for a moment, mind reeling as the world seemed to tilt with vertigo before it righted itself again and instead he saw a young girl trying to help in any way she can and not a hard woman that was determined but had lost reason to hope long ago. With Sasuke's help they were able to wiggle Kakashi-sensei out of his vest and bandage the few wounds that they found. The two on his chest were superficial, bleeding sluggishly and not deep enough to even scar. The wound on his thigh though was another deal altogether.

"I don't think it's fatal," Sakura declared after she used a kunai to cut a larger hole over the one already in the pants to get a better view. Naruto confirmed with his own eyes as Sakura ordered Sasuke to bring her more bandages. She was right of course. The wound was deep but it was nowhere near any major artery, and while it would pain him, Naruto was fairly certain that it would heal quickly and with no complications as long as they could keep it clean.

Sakura frowned as she wrapped it, cajoling Sasuke to keep the leg still from where he was propping it up. "This will have to do," she said softly, wiping her brow with the back of her hand and smearing blood across her forehead. "I would like to sew it shut, but not until we can clean it out properly."

She sounded so much like a proper medical-nin that Naruto had to blink again in order to see her.

"Where did you learn this?" Sasuke questioned her quietly as the worked out the logistics of carrying someone much larger than the three children.

"It was Naruto actually," Sakura smiled softly, helping the boys position Kakashi on the makeshift stretcher made from tree branches and ninja wire. "He mentioned Tsunade-hime of the Sannin to me one day and I was so curious I looked her up. One book led to another and the next thing you know, I've got three medical books in my room that I read before bed." She frowned again, her pink lips turning down and her eyes crinkled in frustration. "I should have brought them…"

"You couldn't have known," Naruto said, trying to comfort and falling short as he lifted one end of the stretcher while Sasuke crouched to grab the other.

Her steely green gaze flashed to him in a glare, eyes hot with tears. "We are on a mission, Naruto. I should have. How many times have we heard about a simple mission that went sideways because of one reason or the other…I didn't think." Her voice was sharp and self-deprecating. "I almost grabbed them. They were right there…but I couldn't pack the books and my beauty products," she laughed softly, the usually joyous sound was nearly hysterical and cutting. "I made the wrong choice."

They walked in silence for a long while, the sun beginning to set behind the mountains in the distance. Still they walked, even as the road became harder to see and the shadows from the forest stretched to darken ground.

"Well," Sasuke said after a while as Tazuna led them on. "Next time you'll make the right choice."

They walked through the night, stopping neither for rest or food. Desperation and fear kept them moving. Twice they had been attacked, twice they had won…but Kakashi was unconscious, chakra depletion so bad that Naruto knew he would not wake for several days. They could not be attacked a third time, the fear that they would not survive it kept them moving.

-"We need to go faster Naruto," mumble, slurred.

"Easy for you to say, senpai," panting, exhausted, aggravated. "I'm the one hauling your fat ass through the fucking jungle."

Laughter, coughing, amusement. "Watch your mouth, chibi. And you're not the one bleeding all over the fucking forest." Shouting, their getting closer. Faster, can't stop.-

The sun was barely passed dawn when they reached the outskirts of the village and Naruto felt his trembling limbs sigh in relief as they set the stretcher down in front of a tiny two story house. He was too tired than to do more than twitch when the door was thrown open and a woman screamed in happiness, throwing herself down the steps and into Tazuna's arms.

"Thank you," she said after a moment, pulling herself from her father to bow to them. Sasuke shifted uneasily next to them and Sakura smiled brightly at the boys before she stepped forward herself to deal with any formalities. "Thank you for saving my father and bringing him home safe."

Introductions were a long affair, Tsunami turning what should have been a short exchanging of names into a formal appreciation with a lot of bowing and every sentence punctuated by another offering of thanks. Naruto was nearly asleep on his feet before they were finally invited inside.

Groaning with the effort it took to lift Kakashi from the stretcher and carry him into the house, Naruto was nearly at the end of what his body could handle. Tsunami led them to the back of the house, up a flight of stairs that left Naruto's thighs trembling, and down another hallway before opening a door and bowing them inside. After they got a place set for Kakashi-sensei, she bowed some more as she left the room and Sakura was left giggling at the ridiculousness of it all.

"She certainly does love her formalities," Sakura commented softly as Naruto and Sasuke started to pull off the rest of Kakashi's travel stained and bloodied clothes. The Uchiha just grunted in annoyance as Sakura left to get disinfectant and something to sew the leg wound up with.

Naruto was pulling off Kakashi's gloves when fingers started to reach for his mask and before he knew exactly what he was doing, Naruto had slapped the back of the other boy's hand with the gloves that were now in his. Sasuke grunted in surprise, dark eyes darting to his. "Leave it," Naruto murmured softly even as the gaze turned to a glare.

"Aren't you curious?" Sasuke finally asked after a long moment of staring.

"No," Naruto answered honestly, moving to the shirt and pulling it over Kakashi's head as he made sure the mask stayed in place.

"Curious about what?" Sakura questioned as she entered the room, arms ladened full of supplies as she pushed the door shut with her foot.

"Kakashi-sensei's mask," Sasuke replied, gaze still fixed on Naruto's. "He'd never know, dobe."

Naruto hissed in frustration as he finally got the last arm out of the skin-tight shirt and threw it into the pile of dirty clothes that was growing. "It doesn't matter. He wears a mask for a reason." He fought to keep his eyes on Sasuke and not the impressively defined chest that now lay bare. "I would know, you would know, but he wouldn't. It isn't right. Everyone has their secrets."

Sakura kneeled down next to them, carefully setting out the supplies as she shoved Sasuke lightly aside in order to get to Kakashi's leg. "He's right," she said after a minute and Naruto turned his glare to her before she continued and he realized that she was siding with him and not her once schoolgirl crush. "It isn't right…now sterilize this needle while Sasuke gets me some boiling water." And just like that the conversation was done.

Sasuke grunted in annoyance even as he did as he was told. Naruto felt a small smile cross his lips, genuine and real, as he watched her work. It helped ease some of the discomfort in his own chest as he watched her tend to their teacher. A maddening part of his brain had been whispering dark possibilities when he watched Kakashi and Zabuza fighting. He worried he had changed too much, or not enough, and that the outcome would be different…worse.

When his mind drew to what happed before the fight though, his cheeks went red with embarrassment. He did not know how he felt about it -either instance- both when Kakashi grabbed him by the back of the neck and when the man pulled Naruto beneath him. He was purposefully not thinking about the night before when Kakashi's soothing motions had eased him into sleep…though his reaction to the other two events left him just a puzzled and disturbed.

Kakashi's fingers had tightened on his nape as a warning or rebuke he did not know…but Naruto had just settled meekly next to him after, like a chastised kit who had wondered away from their parent. He felt his cheeks go hot with the thought of it. But the one thing that truly disturbed him was Kakashi's growl…or more accurately, Naruto's reaction to Kakashi's growl.

He had been under the older man, a position he had actually been fairly used to as it had happened on more than one occasion when Kakashi had to pull him out of harms way during one mission or another. But when he had tried to shuffle his way from beneath the man Kakashi had growled at him. Honest to gods growled.

Sakura was deeply focused on her work, Sasuke had yet to return, and Naruto had never been more thankful as just the thought of it turned his cheeks red with mortification.

Kakashi growling was not a new thing, Naruto had heard it hundreds of times before. But Kakashi growling at him…that was new. And Naruto…he just…he obeyed. Just like that, without prompt or words or enforcement. Kakashi had tightened his grip and growled, and Naruto…

Something had clenched low in his stomach at the animalistic sound and Naruto had had the sudden urge to lower his ears back, press his nose into the underside of Kakashi's jaw in a supplicatory manner, and whimper. Thank gods they were in danger and Kakashi was immediately engaged in a fight because Naruto was not sure that he would have had the willpower to stop himself if Kakashi had remained atop of him for a moment longer.

He got the distinct impression that Kurama was entirely amused by his reaction. Naruto made a note to talk to the beast later that night…his reactions were worrisome and definitely not on the side of normal. Hopefully the fox was not feeling coy, because then Naruto knew he would just be on the receiving end of joke that he was not privy to.

Footsteps could be heard approaching the room and Naruto fought down the blush still present in his cheeks as Sasuke returned. From the quirked eyebrow sent his way, he did not think he was very successful.

Gods just take him now.