A/N: Another angst filled drama. I have been bored lately…I started the last chapter for Think Twice already…I'm just thinking of a way to finish it. March 28 is also my birthday, by the way. Cool, ne?

Disclaimer: I'm too tired to be funny. I do not own Naruto…I just wish Kishimoto would send me Kakashi wrapped up with a huge bow and lots of money…I can dream at least.

Pulling the Plug

March 28

Kakashi gazed at his pink haired student lying unconscious in a hospital bed attached to more tubes than he had been in his life. He had been her teacher since she'd turned twelve, and even though he hadn't trained her to the best of her abilities, she had excelled beyond his wildest dreams. She'd had the inner strength to ask the Godaime to apprentice her, and the stomach to withstand the harsh training. She was an excellent kunoichi.

Now though, she could barely breathe on her own and had celebrated her eighteenth birthday in a coma. Eighteen was an age where she should have been out with her friends and anticipating her next mission. But, he had ruined everything.

They had been on an Anbu mission. An S-ranked mission to Suna, where Sakura was needed to heal the Kazekage after another failed attempt by Akatsuki to capture him. He'd been severely wounded and Sakura had expended all her chakra to save Gaara. They had needed to return to Konoha right away though, and had left without gathering supplies or rest…they hadn't anticipated the hell that awaited them on the trip back.

"Sakura," Kakashi murmured, holding his head into his large hands, "I'm so sorry." There was no response from the kunoichi, he hadn't expected one, but Kakashi raised his head hopefully. It sank down as quickly as it rose.

"Hatake-san?" a timid voice near the doorway rang. He turned slowly, tired from the stress and guilt that was eating him from the inside.

"Yes?"

She looked surprised. He supposed she hadn't expected his face (what was showing of it) to be dirty with tears and the grief in his eye to be so apparent. She recovered, "Tsunade-sama would like to speak with you about the mission."

"Tell her I'll stop by later." He turned back to his wounded student, dismissing the poor nurse. She understood that he wanted to be alone with Sakura and nodded her head slightly as she slipped out of the room and down the hall. He knew that Tsunade would give him hell later, but this mess was his fault. Sakura was in a coma because of him. He just needed to be here until she was better.

June 6

"WHAT!" Kakashi roared.

Tsunade frowned. She knew he would be upset. He'd stayed by Sakura's bedside since he'd dragged her wounded form to the hospital, refusing to take missions or even sleep at home. "Kakashi, I know this is difficult. Trust me, I don't like the idea either. I hate that this has happened to her. But, this is not your fault."

"That's beside the point!" Kakashi snapped and the unusual sight of his eye filled to the brim with tears made her heart shatter.

"Look, I'm upset by this too! Do you even understand that she's like my own daughter? I would gladly trade my life for hers!" Tsunade's own eyes spilled over as she and Kakashi both looked away to the floor.

"It is and will always be my fault." Kakashi murmured.

"What exactly happened?" Tsunade raised a hand to wipe away some of the tears.

"We were heading back to Konoha. Her chakra was gone and her breathing was labored. I wanted to stop, but the order was that we waste no time getting back to the village. The Akatsuki had fled, so we thought they were out of the picture…we were wrong," Kakashi's tears returned once again, "so very wrong."

"They attacked?"

"One…a Hoshigake Kisame. His sword, Sameheda, eats chakra. I…saw her hit a tree and lost focus in my rage…I didn't even notice the gaping hole in my defense before Sakura threw herself in the path of one of his attacks. I grabbed her and fled." Kakashi turned his head to face her; "You know the rest."

She nodded solemnly, "Go back to the hospital, Kakashi. Talk to her."

"'Talk'?"

"Sometimes, hearing the voice of a loved one can trigger a response from a coma patient. Talk about anything and everything. Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, anyone." Tsunade dismissed him.

He didn't leave, "And the-"

"I won't give the order until she is completely beyond recovery." Tsunade frowned, "I hope I never ever have to make that decision."

He walked away.

- "Sakura, It's Kakashi. I…" he began awkwardly, "I want to talk." He scooted his chair as close to the bed where she lay as he could. "You know, Naruto and Ino are worried about you. They come to see you everyday. Naruto isn't even as loud as he normally is and hasn't eaten ramen since you went into your coma."

He didn't notice the small spike in brain activity that the machine showed. "I want you to wake up too. I don't want to stand at the memorial stone and see your name there." He began to break down, "I never want to see your name etched into that stone, I want you happy and healthy, beating the crap out of Naruto and lecturing the hell out of me. I want to see you smile and cry with joy at the sight of your firstborn child, and hear you coo to it with love and dedication. That should be your path, not death in a cold hospital room." He was sobbing by this point and Sakura's face tugged slightly into a frown.

-In Sakura's head-

She heard Kakashi's voice. That voice that she had heard since she was a young girl that had always been comforting and soothing. But, it was strained and full of torment this time. "Kakashi!" She cried, knowing that he couldn't hear her. She clawed at the recesses of her mind, looking for any type of gap that would let her escape. "Let me out!" she screamed.

'We'll get to him soon.' Her inner Sakura was there. 'I'll look over here.'

They began the search. Sakura could still catch bits and pieces of Kakashi's voice. "…cry with joy at the sight of your firstborn child, and hear you coo to it…love and devotion…not death in a cold hospital room." Sakura collapsed, she was killing him. He was tormented by her injury because she'd gotten hurt protecting him.

"NOOOOOOO!" She screamed, but someone had heard her this time…

-The Hospital room-

"Kakashi!" Sakura yelled.

His hand was on hers in an instant. "Yes?"

She felt tears slide down her cheeks, but couldn't speak. She grasped his hand and pulled it up to her mouth, kissing it with the passion of being cared about. "Kakashi!" she sobbed quietly. "I didn't want you to be hurt."

He pulled her into a hug, "I was more hurt seeing you like this than if Sameheda had hit me."

She let herself be held, hugging him back with her frail strength. "You would've died."

"You…" tears slid down his face as well, "You've been in a coma for nearly three months."
"But I'm here now, shh…" she pulled him closer to her heart.

A nurse chose that moment to pass by the door. "Hatake-san, how long has it been since you've eaten?" She asked before she looked in to see the scene before her. "I'll get Tsunade-sama!"

"Sakura, you don't understand…they were considering pulling the plug on you." Kakashi mumbled into the nape of her neck.

She gasped, "When?"

"Tsunade told me today. She had delayed the order. She thought if I talked to you, you'd be better." Kakashi felt like a five-year-old crying into his mother's neck, but didn't care.

"Sakura!" Tsunade ran through the door huffing, tears streaming down her face with a smile plastered across her face.

"Shishou!" Sakura yelled as the older woman neared the bed.

"I'm glad your awake, Kakashi was the picture of depression." The older woman composed herself. "Kakashi, I need to check Sakura's body…can you move for a second?" He obliged and Tsunade quickly activated her chakra, scanning and probing with the green mass of energy. Tsunade closed off the stream of chakra and began plucking tubes from Sakura's body. "Can I see if you're able to walk?"

Sakura nodded and moved the blankets; her legs were thin, a little too thin. She swiveled to set her feet on the ground and raised her hand to rest on Tsunade's shoulder. She applied pressure and raised her slight weight to rest on her two feet. Since she was a medic ninja, she instantly knew that she could walk, if only slightly. Tsunade nodded and let Sakura sit back down. "A little R&R and I should be fine, Shishou."

"Yep." Tsunade smiled at her daughter.

"How's Naruto?" Sakura smiled.

"He knows you're awake, but is forbidden to come near you until you're recovered, same for Ino." Tsunade smiled brightly at the image of Naruto's stunned face. "But I'd say you're ahead of the normal coma patient! You could probably go stay with a responsible friend who could take care of you instead of staying at the hospital. If I were you, I'd want out of here." Tsunade smiled.

"I don't know. I would be a lot of trouble." Sakura chuckled uncertainly, mentally going through the list of available friends: Naruto, off. Ino, living with Choji, off. Sasuke was still Sasuke, so no way in hell.

"I'll do it." Kakashi's confident voice rang.

"Kakashi…" Sakura smiled.

"I'll do it." He neared the bed again to wrap her in a hug.

-o-

-o-

-o-

How was that?

I'm so tired…

Anyway, I might end up continuing this if I get any reviews. I don't get many reviews on any of my other stories…so I get a little depressed sometimes.

I enjoy writing, so if you think I should continue this, review. This is an ultimatum!

I have so many ideas as to where this could go…but I need some form of encouragement.

:3

AJlovesKakashi

:3

Dedicated to my boring life and Bloody Diamond, who has been a constant source of help and encouragement.

Random (cause I do that sometimes):

I said this to Bloody Diamond one time on yahoo messenger and you can quote me:

"...soooo we fangirls/boys dissect [small interactions between characters] and corrupt the author's original intentions to fit our own delusions."

(about crack pairings…but I support them wholeheartedly)

heheh…needless to say, she was amused.