Fourth Hokage and Son

Waiting

The exhaustion had crept into his body long before the sun went down. Days of traveling, being attacked and keeping vigil over his students had worn on Kakashi. His use of chakra in the last attack had left him useless to his students during the final portion of their journey, making him question his ability as a team leader. Now his team was staying at the bridge builder's home on a mission which was not their original assignment... Kakashi was not pleased....

...But Naruto was.

During the days Kakashi had spent resting and incapacitated, the boy had scouted the village area, helped with the bridge security, and managed to rile up the bridge builder's grandson. Sasuke and Sakura had primarily stayed with Tazuna or his family and out of Naruto's way. But now that Kakashi was back on his feet, he had the team training during their spare time and on security shifts during the day... which kept them wore out. 

Doing a security sweep of the house, Kakashi checked on the family and his sleeping students. Sakura slept soundly, Sasuke managed to sleep with one eye open, and Naurto was nowhere to be seen. But that was not totally unexpected for Kakashi.

Walking out to the front porch, Kakashi found the blonde sitting on the front steps. The boy was fully dressed and armed, keeping a vigil watch on the surrounding, silent, and dark landscape. His arms rested comfortably on his knees, the claws of his hands fully extended. His eyes were slits of deep but glowing blue with a bright crimson star surrounding his pupils. The balls of his feet were perched on the step, ready to spring up at any movement. Naruto was fully awake.

"Couldn't sleep?" Kakashi asked. He knew what the problem was before he'd even asked, the solution grasped in his hand.

"It's the salt smell, it's a bit overwhelming for me." Kakashi smiled to himself. Slowly lowering himself to sit down on the steps, Kakashi took the scarf and wrapped it around Naruto's neck loosely. He could see the immediate response as Naruto relaxed, the smell of his father overcoming the smell of the sea. Kakashi watched as the boy tightened the scarf around his neck and then brought it to cover his nose, slowly breathing it in. 

"Your father thought you might have that issue, I'm sorry I wasn't able to give it to you sooner."

"It's fine, I had other things I needed to be doing anyway."

Kakashi nodded but did not reply. Instead, he sat with his student, watched the night and waited. That was all that they were doing at this point, was waiting. They couldn't leave the bridge builder in danger, they weren't in the position to go after the mob boss, and they knew an attack was coming. It was a waiting game and it was driving Kakashi crazy. 

"How are you handling being away from the village?" He feared the answer. In all honesty, the boy seemed to be doing better away from the village, he was capable of much more when he was outside its confining walls. 

"I can breathe, I'm not on sensory overload, I can process quicker. I don't have people judging me, I can be myself and I don't have to 'pull my punches' because it's not my friends I'm fighting anymore." Naruto explained, he knew what he said would make Kakashi feel uncomfortable but he didn't want to lie either. "I miss my family and my friends but I think it would be a while before I actually missed the village."

"I don't have to tell you that this is not a vacation, right?"

"No you don't. I know we are going to be in some serious trouble if we are not ready when Gato and his gang show up."

That made Kakashi feel better but he still had one more question that he worried about. "So... what did you find out?"

"It's all business, if the bridge goes up Gato will be pushed out. He likes his hold here, there's no ninja to worry about interfering with him." Naruto explained, "His base wasn't difficult to find... he's just got it surrounded by goons, including the four we dealt with on the way here."

"Zabuza and his sidekick made an appearance?"

"Yes, so did those other two idiots. I couldn't get anything else from where I was watching... I could go back and-"

"No." Kakashi stated firmly, looking Naruto in the eye with a cold, commanding stare. "You are staying here, where I can keep an eye on you, just like I promised your father. Like YOU promised your father. Is that clear?"

"Yep, just laying out the options." Naruto agreed, nodding his head. 

They return to watching the landscape, listening to the nocturnal creatures of the woods and finding comfort in each other's presence. After some time, Kakashi was glad to find Naruto starting to nod off, unable to keep his head up and beginning to lean against the stair railing. When the boy's eyes finally closed, Kakashi sighed in relief. Standing, he gathered the blonde up and walked back into the house, deposited him on his sleeping bag and left him to sleep.

Returning to his station in the common area, watching the doors and checking on the current residents... the waiting game continued. 

A/: I am a horrible human being and I am terribly sorry, I said I would update. Sadly, I got sick, then went to visit family, lost my debit card, someone rear-ended me, then someone stole my phone... it's just been a bad couple of weeks. Please forgive me and let me know what you think about the update.