善狐・ZENKO

１２章・Chapter 12

"BWAH—!!"

"AAAH!!"

The joint screams of Naruto and Sakura had you jumping to your feet and racing from the kitchen to the living room. Sasuke, who had been loitering in one of the other rooms, joined you as you breezed through the hallway. In a matter of seconds the two of you had arrived in the open space of the living area, eyes alert for the threat.

Instead of an enemy ambush, all you found was your now awake superior tucked into a futon with Tsunami standing over him and Tazuna kneeling by his side. Naruto and Sakura had fallen on their backs a little bit aways from the futon, keeled over in shock.

"What's the matter?" You asked with furrowed eyebrows, stepping onto the raised floor to enter the room. Sasuke followed suit, eyeing his two peers curiously.

"N—Nothing!" They stammered simultaneously, righting themselves up and whistling innocently.

You raised both eyebrows at their suspicious behaviour, glancing towards your superior with a questioning look in your eye. He responded with a weary one, lethargically pointing to his mask in silent response. You huffed a laugh—this hadn't been the first time Naruto and Sakura attempted to take a peek under his mask, and it also hadn't been the first time Kakashi had woken up right before they could.

"Did you look at his face?" You playfully asked, enjoying the way your juniors' faces paled. "Did you scream because he's ugly?"

"Hey..." Kakashi weakly protested.

"Are you feeling alright, sensei?" Tsunami interrupted, placing her hands on her hips.

"Not really," he croaked, "I'm having trouble moving my body but I should recover in a week... also my knees are killing me for some reason."

You looked away, feigning ignorance.

"Sensei," Sakura crawled over to his side, tone stern, "Your Sharingan is cool and all, but if it puts that much strain on your body then is it really worth using?" Kakashi could only apologise weakly to her chides.

"But you know," Tazuna began as he wiped some sweat off his brow with a rag, still worn from the long journey. "He did take down a really powerful guy with that power! We can probably rest easy for a while thanks to him."

At his words Kakashi suddenly sat up, holding a hand to his face. He gazed down at the blankets covering his legs, deep in contemplation. His unusual silence caught the attention of his students.

"What's wrong, sensei?" Naruto shuffled closer to his teacher.

The older man hummed in thought mixed with a bit of dread, "Oinin typically dispose of the bodies they've hunted right on the spot."

Your eyes widened slightly at the unspoken implication, a small sense of dread bubbling in the pits of your stomach. To your right, Sakura still appeared confused.

"What about it?"

"Think back—what did that masked kid do with Zabuza's corpse?"

A hush fell over the group as they recalled the morning's events.

"Is it possible he took the body back to his organisation?" You proposed, eyebrows furrowing. "To dispose of it there... as well as to serve as some kind of proof?"

Kakashi ruffled his hair slightly, a habit he'd formed to indicate when he was troubled. "That's not an impossibility, but if he really needed proof that he'd killed Zabuza, then just cutting off the head and bringing that back would do. Not to mention, I'm concerned about the weapons that kid used..."