I had some trouble writing this because I wasn't fully aware of the angsty implications of all of this when I wrote the first chapter. You can't really say I'm good at angst (or at anything that isn't fluff or hurt/comfort, for that matter) so I hope I didn't ruin this or anything.

But anyway, I tried, so (: I also hope this is not terribly out of character

sorry about the grammatical mistakes idk why but i feel like i made 120% more mistakes than i usually do omg i hope it's not too bad

Thank you so much to kanya96, Introvertingeverywhere and the three Guests for their reviews!

Kakashi was greeted by Guy's shiniest, most reassuring smile. The one he knew his friend reserved only for him when he knew he'd had the shittiest of days. Kakashi'd hated it when they were younger, but with the years he'd learned to appreciate it. Now he couldn't be more grateful for having the luck of having such a dork proclaiming himself as his best friend—and eternal rival.

"Did he behave?" Kakashi asked, not bothering into pretending he wasn't anxious while que took a peek over Guy's shoulder, in the room behind him. He'd already managed to stay serious and with a blank expression all day, but he knew he couldn't fool Guy into thinking the living hell hadn't been scared out of him that morning.

Guy chuckled.

"He was angelic," Guy said, looking back for a second. "Didn't give a single problem. Not that I would've expected any of that after you so effectively inspired him not to misbehave with that resounding love tap before you left. That must have stung."

"Well," Kakashi said, sheepishly. Sasuke would probably never forgive him for giving him that in front of Guy. "He's quite a well-educated kid, actually. Very polite. He only needs a little motivation from time to time to remember he isn't supposed to bite or snarl at the people that are trying to heal him. How's his arm?"

"The nurse said he would be okay. It's nothing serious," Guy explained, leaning back against the door frame. "It bled a lot, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked. They were more worried about the infection he could get from it. Water towers are not exactly clean, apparently, so they cleaned each wound very thoroughly before stitching it. And he's up to date with his vaccines, so there shouldn't be a problem."

That made Kakashi relax a little, though the knot in his gut tightened again as soon as he remembered the unashamed way in which Sasuke'd ignored his warnings and witlessly yanked his arm out of the metal, not caring about the sharp edges he'd created with his chidori. It'd taken all from him not to haul him over his lap in that very second.

Guy must have perceived he was thinking about unpleasant things, because he changed the topic.

"How're your other two ducklings? Did you talk to them?"

Kakashi took in a deep breath.

"Jiraiya told me he would take care of Naruto," He said. "And there was no point into having a conversation with Sakura when she was so distressed. I took her home."

"Then what took you so long?" Guy asked, eyebrows raised. "Not that I minded keeping an eye on Sasuke-kun in your absence. But he clearly needs you, I can tell you left him reflexing on something before leaving. I could see the internal battle taking place inside of these youthful eyes, but he wouldn't tell me a word about it. It's slowly eating him from inside."

"I'm really sorry about that, Guy. It really wasn't my intention to keep you away from Lee-kun for so long," Kakashi apologized. His friend hastily tried to tell him not to worry about it, but Kakashi didn't give him the chance to speak. "I went to Tsunade-sama to tell her I couldn't take the mission she'd assigned me this morning, and to explain her what'd happened. She wasn't pleased."

"I see," Guy's smile turned into a more sympathetic one. "I'm glad you did that. I'm sure dealing with Tsunade-sama's wrath must have been hard, but Sasuke-kun shouldn't be left unsupervised."

"She thought the same," Kakashi said. "Especially after someone reported her about five intruders that were sighted creepily stalking from a building that was suspiciously close from the tree area where I picked Sasuke up after his temper tantrum. They weren't caught, so they could be anywhere right now."

Guy evidently made his best to try and hide it, but that didn't stop Kakashi from noticing the way his shoulders shifted as he flinched.

"You don't think—"

"That's exactly what I think."

They both stared at each other for a few seconds, in silence, before Guy finally decided to move.

"I don't think I'll get any sleep tonight," Guy cheerfully informed, while he walked away, in the direction of Lee's room. "If you feel like making an eternal-rival-sleepover later, you know where to find me. I'm sure I could convince Neji of joining us."

Kakashi needed around fifteen complete minutes to gather enough courage to gently take Sasuke's chin in one of his hands and tilt his face up, so he would finally meet his eyes. He almost immediately regretted it, though. He had to make a real effort not to stand up and leave the room in the act, so he could beg Guy to go back there and make something about the large, terribly sad eyes in his student's face.

It did comfort him a little when the boy finally hissed at him, though. He could deal with a sulky Sasuke. Just, not with the tears that were so obviously swelling up behind his eyes. He never knew what to do with that. It felt pretty much like having an explosive tag in his hands, ready to go set everything on fire if he made the slightest mistake.

"So, did you think about it?" Kakashi asked, and almost let go of Sasuke's face when he saw something very similar to a grimace grace his tiny student's features. As if hearing that had caused him physical pain. "Is anything worth losing your teammates, Sasuke?"

This time Sasuke jerked away from his touch, roughly, almost as if he had given him an electrical shock. Kakashi reaffirmed his grip, squeezing his cheeks slightly, and reprimanded him with a whisper. Sasuke stopped struggling a few seconds after that, but he averted his eyes as if they were burning him.

"Just leave me alone,"

Hearing the small tremble in his voice almost killed Kakashi.

God, who had thought that giving him children was a good idea? There was a reason he had dogs. Puppies didn't hide their weaknesses and swallowed their tears. They only accepted his unconditional love and loved him back for that. It was so easy. Sasuke, on the other hand, was very determined to make him damn prove with actual actions and words that he would fucking give his life only to see him and his teammates smiling sweetly.

"It's okay," Kakashi muttered, trying to remember how humans used to comfort other humans. They'd certainly not taught them that in the jōnin training. "You don't have to hold back in front of me, Sasuke."

He didn't get any answer.

If he'd learned something from Guy, was that genin needed to cry when they felt like crying. They were starting to carry the burdens of a real shinobi, after all, but in a much smaller body. All that internal chemistry could result physically painful if it was not relieved. Naruto cried an awful lot and was the sunniest ball of sunshine Kakashi could think of, so it'd always seemed to him like that theory made sense.

"They love you so much, Sasuke," Kakashi started, cautiously, and heard Sasuke take in a deep and shaky breath. "Sakura, the most intelligent of you three, even did something stupid out of pure terror because of what you did. She was literally willing to give her life so you two wouldn't result hurt. Which was wrong, and for what she's going to get a very long lecture, of course, but she did it because she can't stand the idea of any of you two with a death injury."

Sasuke put his hand on Kakashi's arm this time, burying his fingers as he tried to push him away. Kakashi didn't move an inch.

"And Naruto," Kakashi continued. "He was so upset when he found out you'd been hurt, Sasuke. He wouldn't stop asking Guy-sensei about you when he went to meet him and Jiraiya-sama. He got himself in trouble for disobeying Jiraiya-sama and trying to confront Akatsuki only because he was furious about what they'd done to you. He should've been furious because they're persecuting him, but no. He could only think about you."

Kakashi started doubting his decision of mentioning Naruto when Sasuke bared his gritted he decided it'd been a good idea as soon as he noticed that his shoulders had started shaking a little. If it gets him closer to crying, then perfect.

He inhaled deeply and braced himself for what was coming.

"And I, Sasuke," Kakashi whispered. "This morning, I—I surely wanted to murder you, of course. That's why I tied you to that tree. I had to contain myself, but—."

Just say it, you coward.

"—I actually had that serious face on because I was trained to conceal how upset I was," He exhaled. "And I say this because, well, I—I don't— you worri—"

And then, boom. His tiny personal explosive tag finally set in flames.

But not in the way he'd expected.

The struggling turned into full-strength fighting. Kakashi felt Sasuke's teeth sinking into his hand before he could entirely register what was happening, and then he was suddenly dodging and blocking punches and kicks that were directly aimed for the most breakable parts of his body. He made it out of instinct and was so bewildered that he didn't realize there was also shouting and yelling in between until a few minutes later.

"Shut up, shut up,shut the fuck up!" Sasuke cried, while trying to force him out of the bed. "Get out of here! I don't need any of your shit! I don't need any of anyone's shit, okay? Leave me alone! I don't need anyone's concern or love or—"

His voice broke, but his face remained dry. The hits kept coming. Incoherent growling and snarling too.

It broke Kakashi's heart.

And it also slowly started to make him angry. It wasn't until a few seconds later, when he realized that blood was dripping down Sasuke's arm and dampening the bandages because he'd ripped his stitches off, that he recovered his wits. It took him half a minute to manhandle his genin down, pinning his wrists behind his back and pressing his face tight against the mattress.

"Okay, okay Sasuke. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want," Kakashi said, and relaxed a little when he saw the boy stop jerking for a second to glare back at him. For instinct, Kakashi tightened his grip to the point of drawing out a whine from Sasuke when he realized the two swirling tomoes in his eyes.

Kakashi took his time examining Sasuke's once again bleeding arm. He didn't dare to take the bandages off, he didn't need to. He could tell he'd probably teared more skin than which had originally been teared by the irregular edges of the destroyed steel. When Sasuke dared to roll his eyes, he didn't hesitate into delivering a sound smack to his conveniently upturned backside.

"We're not talking about that, since you insist so much into behaving like an absolute brat" Kakashi calmly explained, blatantly ignoring the death intent coming from his genin. "But we do have another pendant conversation. Much more matching for the temper tantrum you're throwing."

He didn't give Sasuke time to process what he'd just said. Not really bothering into being gentle —he was sure Sasuke would take any chance he was given to break his nose—, he lifted his genin and laid him belly down over his lap in less than a second. He restrained Sasuke's legs with one of his and tilted him forwards, making the boy slide until his nose was barely a few inches from the floor.

"You moronically preposterous bastard!"

Kakashi would have snorted if he'd been in the mood.

He wasn't.

So, instead he rewarded that ingenious insult by hooking one of his fingers in the waistband of his student's thin hospital pants and tugging them down to the middle of his thighs. It wasn't like they would offer him any significant protection if they stayed on, after all.

The boy in his lap proved to have a lot more of insults in that little creative mind of his by saying them out loud of his while squirming and snapping his teeth at him.

"One more attempt at biting me, Sasuke," Kakashi warned, tugging his glove off one-handedly with the easiness of experience. "And there'll be nothing standing between my hand and your skin. Am I clear?"

That terrified Sasuke enough to convince him to stop moving. If Kakashi had to be honest, the idea terrified him just the same. He was good a threatening, but never good at delivering. He hated it when his genin were too hot-headed to save him that kind of situations. He was never good at enduring their sobbing and begging and at ignoring their promises for eternal behavior.

"I promised you that you'd regret it if you decided to fight Itachi, right?" Kakashi said and couldn't say he wasn't surprised when Sasuke's entire body tensed up like a bow string. Hadn't he known he'd earned a trip over his knee because of that? Though, to be fair, Kakashi hadn't known either at first. "If you don't want to talk about your feelings like a mature person, then allow me to talk about mine on this matter."

He usually tried to start with not-so-stinging slaps.

Mentioning Itachi's name, though, made his hand practically move by itself. He didn't realize he was being an asshole until he had Sasuke jerking in his lap and stifling a whimper against the pants of his uniform after the first slap.

Kakashi suppressed the need to rub to soothe the pain and let his hand fall another five times, though now measuring his strength. He wouldn't forgive himself if he gave Sasuke anything else than a well-reddened skin. Having him feeling uncomfortable while sitting the next day was what he was aiming for, having him hurting for days would be unacceptable.

"You could have died, Sasuke," Kakashi said, being quick at covering his genin entire behind twice. That was, after all, Sasuke's most grave misconduct so far. "If I tell you that you are not allowed to do something, I mean it in every context. It doesn't matter if I'm close to fainting, or if I'm unconscious, or dead. Rules concerning your wellbeing Have. No. Exceptions."

"That's just stupid!" Sasuke dared to say, the little shit, even though he was wincing and evidently swallowing every single whine that wanted to escape his lips. He'd always had very little appreciation for his physical integrity, after all. Kakashi allowed himself to give one more smack like the first one, deciding that Sasuke's skin should be warm enough to endure it now, and succeeded into making the boy jump and hiss. "I don't care about your damn allowances. I would have done the same even when you were conscious if you hadn't been so damn determined to bother me and hold me back when no one asked for your help."

The audacity.

Kakashi very serenely raised Sasuke's hips and pulled his underwear down, just below his rear. He heard his genin's breath hitch, but he didn't wait for his cussing before giving him six, slow, particularly smart smacks. He made sure to distribute the time adequately, so each slap could be clearly heard, and hoped there wasn't anyone standing outside the door. Then put the boxers back to their place, making Sasuke wriggle at the sensation of the fabric sliding over his sore skin.

He didn't let Sasuke brace himself before raining down with more smacks.

"I don't give a damn about your superiority complex Sasuke," Kakashi said, while deciding it was time to switch to Sasuke's thighs. He pulled his pants a little lower for that. "Not hurting your pride will never be my priority. You are my priority. Your life, your wellbeing. If that means interfering with your stubborn, egocentric ideas, then good. You can hate me all you want. I'll stand between you and unnecessary danger as many times as I need."

Sasuke was starting to let his breath out in small puffs of air. His ears were starting to get red as well. That'd usually be Kakashi's signal to start slowing down. But that day he actually paced up.

"A genin," He said, gritting his teeth. "Is. Not. Allowed. To. Fight. An. S. Ranked. Criminal. Never."

These words, accompanied by their respective smacks, actually managed to draw out a sob from Sasuke. The boy somehow stifled it, though he didn't have his face pressed against anything. His shoulders started shaking. Determined to finish that conversation for once, Kakashi started to pepper Sasuke's undercurve with swifter swats.

"I don't care who's the moron. Your brother, your lost uncle or the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire," Kakashi said. "And I don't care if you're the genius of your generation. As long as there's the option of someone protecting you, stupidly involving yourself in that kind of battles. Is. Out. Of. The. Question!"

He still had one more sentence to lecture Sasuke in mind, he was sure.

But he absolutely forgot about it when the boy in his lap started authentically choking on his tears. Kakashi felt so distressed by the sound of Sasuke coughing and sobbing between heaves that he automatically threw his lecture out of the window and pulled his genin up into a sitting position so fast he almost gave him whiplash. He started firmly patting his back then, as Sasuke retched once, but luckily didn't throw up.

Only then Kakashi was conscious of the worrying amount of tears that were running down the boy's face, at such a rhythm that they were dripping from his chin. He didn't understand anything until he noticed the small trail of blood coming from Sasuke's mouth. He gently took the chin of his abruptly grief-stricken student and carefully examined his busted lip, cursing himself.

So, he'd actually been crying for a while now. He'd just been stifling it by murdering his lip with his teeth.

"For Lord First's sake, Sasuke," Kakashi muttered, through gritted teeth. Then he readjusted the boy on his lap, trying to find a position that wouldn't bother his sore behind, and pressed the kid's face against his neck, cradling his head. "I need to know when you start crying. If not, I can't decide when to stop. And it becomes too much."

Sasuke babbled something, and his crying voice was so heart-wrenching that Kakashi just shushed him while caressing the back of his neck. Idiot. Moron. Asshole. Asinine bastard. Moronic imbecile. Kakashi just couldn't find enough words to mentally insult himself.

That was just one more reason why she shouldn't have been given a handful of children.

He pressed Sasuke against himself as tightly as he could, whishing he could just absorb his misery. After the first minute of non-stop crying Kakashi realized, with a little bit of relief, that that couldn't possibly be provoked from hitting too hard. Sasuke wasn't shifting in his lap, or whining in pain, or demanding to be left alone.

So, it'd been something Kakashi'd said what had made him so upset.

"Why?" Sasuke hiccupped, after some good five minutes of draining himself. Kakashi wasn't sure if he'd managed to stop crying or if he'd finally ran out of his tear reserves. Uchihas didn't seem to have a lot of that. He patiently waited for the boy for continue, but the next seconds were filled only by his agitated breath and dry sobbing.

"Why what, Sasuke?" Kakashi patiently asked, threading his fingers through Sasuke's hair. It'd gotten very long. He'd need a cut soon.

"Why care?" Sasuke asked, burying his face deeper into the crook of Kakashi's neck. "It's a weakness. Having a genin group makes you an easy target, makes you vulnerable, but it's an obligation. Worrying about genin even while out of duty doesn't make sense."

Kakashi clicked his tongue softly in disapproval.

"I don't worry about you because you're a genin," Kakashi said, inhaling deeply. Doing that usually helped Naruto to regularize his breathing. Maybe it would work for Sasuke too. "I worry about that because you're my genin. One of my important people. Family. To be fair, I don't think I'll ever be okay with you getting hurt, even when you become a jōnin. But then I'll just have to force myself to swallow my worry. For now, though, I'll take advantage of my position as your superior to keep you safe."

Another wet sob. Oh, so he still had some water in him.

"But it's stupid," Sasuke protested.

"Naruto is stupid," Kakashi said, shrugging. "But we still love him. Don't we?"

Sasuke grunted. Kakashi chuckled and rubbed his back.

"He's getting strong," Sasuke said. "And I'm too weak. Couldn't even fight Itachi. How am I supposed to protect them when their friendship is actually what's hindering me this much?"

Kakashi took a deep breath. So, they'd finally reached the dreaded conversation.

He waited a few seconds before gently persuading Sasuke of pulling away from him, so he could see his face. Kakashi'd never seen the skin around his eyes that red. And he'd never seen him cry enough to have his eyes puffy. It made him want to tuck him into bed with six blankets.

"I don't know if you realized this, Sasuke," Kakashi said, using his thumb to wipe away the trace of the tears on Sasuke's cheeks. The boy scrunched up his nose, trying to look annoyed, but it was just adorable. "But your brother pretty much managed to take three jōnin down at once. Asuma and Kurenai couldn't even fight him, because of his sharingan. And he escaped a Legendary Sannin. You did learn in the Academy who's Jiraiya-sama, right?"

Sasuke pouted while frowning. He was evidently making his best to glare, but that wasn't really an option for his face in that moment. He didn't exactly look happy to become aware of that. Kakashi wasn't surprised, Sasuke'd always hated not being right. And telling him that not even one of the strongest, wisest persons in the Land of Fire couldn't beat Itachi was proving him wrong.

"But none of you have the sharingan," Sasuke said. Then he corrected himself. "Well, none of you are Uchiha with a sharingan. It's obvious it has to be me. But I'm not advancing fast enough, and that man, Orochi—"

Kakashi'd tilted Sasuke and given him a smart smack before he could even finish that name. Sasuke didn't make an effort to suppress a whimper.

"Orochimaru has been trying to have Itachi ever since Itachi was just a little older than you, Sasuke," Kakashi said, narrowing his eyes. "That's one of the many reasons why the Third Hokage started having a bad feeling about him. That's why he explicitly went to the chunin exams looking for you."

He landed another smack for good measure, to make sure the message had been well delivered, and then he rubbed softly.

"Because for many years he's been trying to get Itachi, and he hasn't achieved it. So, he thought it would be easier to go for someone younger, you," Kakashi explained. "But he wouldn't have even done as little as look at you any longer after fighting you if he had determined that you didn't have the potential to surpass your brother, some day. Orochimaru is not the kind of man who gets conformed."

Sasuke looked at his eyes with something glinting behind his. Not tears anymore. Not overwhelming sadness. No thirstiness for revenge either.

It was hope. And it looked so right in his face, like it belonged, because it was something kids his age should have in their eyes. It was one of the things that made Naruto and Sakura so easily lovable. And Kakashi's chest filled with warmth at realizing that it looked just as endearing in Sasuke.

"Now, Sasuke," He said, shifting the boy in his lap. He was heavy. His legs were starting to cramp. Sasuke didn't seem to mind at all, though. "Would you really like to be trained by some creepy, pathetic bastard? Be submitted to a lot of weird tests, like a lab rat? Or do you want to stay here and train along the people who love you so much they'd literally give their lives for yours?"

"I would, too," Sasuke hastily clarified, almost choking in his own breath. "—Give it My life."

Then he averted his gaze, pink softly painting his cheeks. He was a mess, with his red eyes and swollen and bloodied lip and his also bloodied bandages. But, for the first time in days, he finally looked truly happy. He didn't really answer Kakashi's question, but he didn't need to.

Feeling like his lungs filled with the first real breath he'd taken in months now, Kakashi allowed himself to smile and pull the tiny bastard in his lap back into his arms. Sasuke relaxed against him, and only hissed at him twice when he pressed his mask covered lips against his temple.

"You're still in trouble, in case you wondered," Kakashi whispered. "For acting up the entire day."

Sasuke cursed.