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Kakashi could take care of himself. He was 14 years old. He was Anbu. He went on missions several hundred kilometers from the village alone. He could fend for himself in any situation.

And with a wound 15cm long and 2cm deep on his right flank? Yes, of course he could take care of himself.

Of course he could stop the bleeding on his own. Of course he could bandage himself. Of course he could return to the village alone.

He just had to wait a little for the dizziness from blood loss to subside. He just had to wait until he was able to stand up without fainting immediately.

Everything was fine. He had the situation under control and everything was fine. He was alright.

Was he alright?

Seriously, who was he trying to convince?

Kakashi hadn't been alright since his father's death. Kakashi hadn't been alright for ten years. But as always, if he worked hard enough, if he drowned himself in his work, he'd get through it.

So everything was fine. He was doing fine, and he was doing just fine on his own. But apparently not everyone agreed with that, not even Pakkun, one of his Ninken who disagreed with him so much he'd just summoned himself.

"Why is it when I come you're always like this?" The dog asked with a sigh.

"And why do you always come when I haven't called you?" Kakashi replied, leaning his head against the trunk behind him and closing his eyes.

"I have my Kakashi-sense that goes off every time you do something stupid. And it happens a lot. Too often. You need to be more careful."

"I'm fine."

"Clearly." Pakkun rolled his eyes. "What happened this time?" He asked as he stood up, approaching the teenager.

"A stray kunai. But you should see its owner's state." Kakashi scoffed before wincing and hissing in pain.

"Tell me about it. Did you disinfect it at least?" The pug asked, coming over to sniff the bandage.

"No time. It was disinfect or bleed out."

Pakkun seemed to frown but said nothing. "Have you been drinking?"

"No more water in my rations and haven't had time to look for the river yet."

"Hm."

Pakkun took a step back and barked once. And the other 7 ninken appeared in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi sighed again. A sigh that soon turned into a coughing fit.

"Urushi, Shiba, Uhei, stand guard. Akino, I need the water bottles in your saddlebags. Bisuke, I need the ration bars. Guruko, come and help me, and Bull, get ready to carry Kakashi back to the village." Pakkun ordered, taking the lead as always.

"I can walk back to Konoha." Kakashi protested weakly.

"Says the kid with his flank split open." Pakkun retorted, the other ninken springing into action.

Akino, Bisuke, Guruko and Bull moved closer to Kakashi and Pakkun, while Urushi, Shiba and Uhei moved further away, forming a protective circle a few dozen meters from the wounded man.

Akino, Bisuke and Guruko then untied the saddlebags they were carrying, placing them right next to Kakashi, who opened them one by one under the watchful eye of his dogs. He first took out the water flask and drank a little, before biting into a ration bar. Once these two things were done, he turned his attention to the contents of Guruko's satchel, the medical equipment.

"Do you think you can remove that bandage, clean up and make a new one without bleeding to death?" Pakkun asked.

"That should do it." The ninja said simply.

After dropping their saddlebags, Akino moved to Kakashi's left, while Bisuke moved to the other side and Guruko stood two meters in front of the teenager, all three sitting upright and on the lookout. Bull, for his part, had gone to stand guard behind Kakashi's back, behind the tree he was leaning against.

With his guard firmly in place and Pakkun there to guide him, Kakashi took a deep breath and changed his bandages. It was far from pleasant, but at least the wound wasn't bleeding as much as before. The ninja wasn't sure if this was good news, but it made changing the bandages much easier.

Once this was done, he stowed everything he'd used in his ninken saddlebags and went to stand up. But Pakkun prevented him from getting up by planting himself in his lap.

"What now? I've cleaned my wound, I've eaten, I've drunk, what more do you want me to do? I can't stay here forever, we've got to get back to Konoha." Kakashi protested.

"Yes, but if you just stand up like that, you'll fall back immediately. Akino, Bull, help him."

Akino and Bull immediately moved to stand on either side of Kakashi, allowing the teenager to lean on them to get to his feet.

Once on his feet, his head began to spin a little and he put one hand on the tree and the other on Bull's back to keep himself upright.

"Are you sure you're up to walking?" Pakkun insisted, sitting in front of him.

"I’m fine, I was just a little lightheaded." Replied the ninja, straightening up completely.

Pakkun didn't answer, but he wasn't satisfied. Kakashi was far too pale for his taste, and he honestly didn't think he'd be able to walk several hours all the way back to Konoha, but he also knew how stubborn the silver-haired one was.

So he didn't add anything verbally and stood up, ready to set off.

Seeing that his mama dog had nothing more to say, Kakashi whistled, calling his ninken back to him.

Bull stayed just to his left and Akino to his right, while the others moved into position. Bisuke positioned himself a few meters behind Kakashi, Guruko a few meters in front, with Pakkun riding on Bull's back. Kakashi could only catch a glimpse of them, but he also knew that Shiba, Uhei and Urushi had moved a little, positioning themselves in an arc about 30 meters ahead of the others.

And so the little troupe set off. And although he probably wouldn't admit it out loud, Kakashi was relieved to have his ninken with him. With Pakkun leading them, Bull supporting him and the other 6 keeping an eye on the surroundings, the teenager could concentrate on his walk.

And it was a complicated enough task in itself, because with every step, his wound moved a little and was impossible to ignore. And it's a good thing his ninken had summoned themselves and weren't relying on Kakashi's chakra to stay by his side, because the Anbu was feeling his reserves running dangerously low.

Despite this, Kakashi managed to walk for a good 3 hours before tripping over a large root and falling to the ground on all fours, despite the presence of Akino and Bull at his side.

"Kakashi!" Pakkun exclaimed as he jumped to the ground, heading for the young shinobi. "How about you stop being a stubborn idiot and let Bull carry you?"

"No... We've done more than half. I can hold on." the youngster persisted.

"We've been going like this for over three hours now and you can't take it anymore. You're hurt, exhausted, and it's getting dark. Let us help you." Pakkun almost implored.

Kakashi didn't listen to him and stood up, only to fall back a step later, his head spinning too much and his legs shaking too much to carry him.

"Stop being a mule. We're here for you, let us help." The pug lectured.

Okay, Kakashi thought, maybe Pakkun is right he thought, as his vision became so blurred he couldn't even make out Pakkun, who was barely a meter away.

"Okay..." He relented, panting slightly. "Okay, Bull can you-"

Kakashi didn't have time to say anything else before he passed out, slumping to the ground.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, it wasn't the first time Kakashi had lost consciousness like that, leaving it to his ninken to carry him back to Konoha alive. So, inevitably, it was less easy to hoist the teenager onto Bull's back when he was unconscious, but it wasn't impossible and less than 10 minutes after stopping, the 8 dogs set off again, Kakashi unconscious on Bull's back, who was carrying him.

With Kakashi unconscious and therefore no longer slowing them down, the ninken were able to accelerate and it took them just two more hours to reach the gates of Konoha.

There, Kakashi was immediately taken to hospital, and fortunately for them, no one tried to stop the ninken from following, or to wait in the shinobi's room for him to wake up.

The first few times they'd brought Kakashi back unconscious, the hospital staff had tried to keep them out. Let's just say that these people had new scars. Teeth-shaped scars.

Never get between a ninken and their master, that was a basic rule.

Fortunately, this time there was no problem, and as soon as Kakashi was settled in his room, his ninken were at his side, standing guard.

It was in this environment that Kakashi regained consciousness.

He was confused for a moment, but immediately recognized the ceiling of the Konoha hospital. It also felt like weights on his legs. He looked around slightly and saw that his dogs were still there.

Pakkun was curled up in a ball on his chest, Uhei in the same position at the end of his bed, Bisuke was stretched out beside him, Shiba spread out on his legs and Urushi pinned down his left arm. Bull was lying on the floor, just to the right of the bed, Guruko was a little further away, lying on the window sill and Akino in the same position at the door.

They all seemed to be fast asleep, but Kakashi knew that at the slightest intrusion, they were all ready to pounce to protect him.

The young shinobi passed a loving glance over all his dogs, telling himself that even if he was alone, he was very lucky to have them by his side.

And it was with this thought that he closed his eyes, listening to his body for once and deciding to sleep a little longer.

And pinned like he was by his ninken, he had no choice but to go back to sleep. So he accepted his fate and drifted off to sleep, lulled by the slow, steady breathing of his dogs.