Something Precious

Chapter Twenty

Naruto slammed the door of his apartment shut behind him. He barely made it to his bed where he collapsed, sobs raking over his now completely vulnerable form. The face of his mother ran through his mind, then his father, then Kakashi's.

Kakashi. A tear slid down his face as he remembered just how he had died, and how Naruto had been unable to save him. The words he had spoken as he did so, the soft smile he offered in thanks for all he believed his students had given him. And finally, the unspeakable pain he had left in his absence.

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"Don't worry so much Naruto, Kakashi will be fine." Sasuke promised the worried boy. Naruto nodded but the worry that creased his features never lessened.

"Yeah. . . yeah I know. I just have a bad feeling." he said.

"He wasn't named Hokage for being weak. Besides it's just a scouting mission, nothing he can't handle." the Uchiha reassured.

Naruto didn't feel reassured in the least, but he didn't want Sasuke to worry for him. He forced his face to smooth out into a wary smile. Always a smile. "I'm sure you're right, I just need to clear my head." he walked off in the direction of a private clearing not far into the woods where he liked to train. It had just rained and the forest floor was all muddy but Naruto paid it no mind as he cleared the small distance in no more than five minutes. He picked a rather dry patch of ground under a tree and settled down there.

In the silence without even meaning to, Naruto slipped into Sage Mode, collecting the gentle energy of nature into himself out of nothing less than habit. Suddenly his senses were enhanced and was like he could hear and feel everything. It was like nothing was out of his reach. The birds sang for him as they nested in his hair and the deer by his feet. He enjoyed the calm sense of awareness he got while in this state. To pass the time he counted off each shinobi that resided at the camp he had been left in charge of by his Hokage and teacher. He took peace from their temporary safety.

But then he noticed something; a small flicker just on the edge of his senses lessened before it completely disappeared. It was Kakashi's chakra. He knew it as well as he knew his own.

Alarm blossomed in his belly like a morbidly colored flower. He tried to reach further but it was simply not there anymore. Without a moment of thought, Naruto rushed back to their camp, not even taking caution for the slippery mud that coated the ground. He spotted Sasuke and Sakura talking to the medical unit outside a tent near the edge of the camp and rushed to them. They both took a step back in surprise. Sakura waved the medical team off before looking to Naruto questioningly.

The blonde was nearly hyperventilating as he tried to tell them what was happening before they even asked. "I was - the clearing - then Sage Mode - Kakashi-Sensei." he rushed to get it out, the morbid, blossoming panic not allowing full sentences past his lips.

"Naruto slow down. What happened?" asked Sakura.

Naruto took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. "It's Kakashi-Sensei. I was in Sage Mode when I noticed his chakra disappear."

"What do you mean disappear?"

"I mean it's gone! I can't sense him anymore and that only happens when someone dies or their chakra is near depletion making their signature too weak to pick up. We have to go now!" Naruto rushed urgently. Without waiting for approval from his friends he turned around and searched the faces of the watching crowd before settling on one.