Week 1 – He Desperately Wanted to Breathe
Rating: T

It was a mission from hell. That was the only way Hatake Kakashi could describe it.

The rest of his squadron was dead – two of them had been taken out mere seconds into the infiltration, the Mist-nin killing them instantly. Sadly, the final member of his squadron was not given a quick death. He was made to suffer and no matter how hard Kakashi fought to get to him, to at least put the guy out of his misery, he couldn't do it. There were too many of them even for him, each one more determined than the last to take Kakashi down.

The shockwave of two attacks colliding threw him backwards, head smashing into a stone wall. His breath was viciously ripped from his lungs and every breath he took caused a great agony.

Gods, he'd taken too much damage. The battle was drawn out for too long and now his reserves were bone dry. Perhaps that was what he deserved. How long had it been since his last mission? And then to go on a mission with complete strangers, with people he'd never even seen before, let alone spoken with? It was like he was asking for trouble.

But…

It seemed his enemies were in the same position as himself, because finally, the attacks had stopped and Kakashi took advantage of the moment, reaching into his flak vest with a shaking hand. The paper was the only thing on his person that wasn't dirty, it wasn't folded repeatedly or barely holding together. Hopefully, it would forever remain that way – or at least for as long as he lived.

There was a horrible rasping sound, like water was filling his lungs as he breathed in deeply. Somehow, it was all he could hear, though not all he could focus on. Not when he flipped the paper and rested it on his thigh, eyes glued to the photograph of his beautiful family. It was a family he surely didn't deserve after all he'd done in his lifetime. Though, saying that, he wouldn't give them up for the world and maybe that was selfish of him. Wouldn't allow anyone to take them from him, for as much as he didn't deserve them, he needed them. Loved them with so much love that it felt as though he could never go without them. Kakashi didn't even care if it was out of character for him. They were his family. His.

"Sorry," he mumbled, though held himself back from stroking the photograph for fear of smearing his blood on it. It was a wasted attempt once he'd leaned forward, however. A drop of blood splattered on the picture and he felt a harsh pain in his chest in response. "Sorry."

The building around him shook violently and Kakashi looked up at the ceiling, noticing the cracks growing. He gave it two, maybe three minutes before it collapsed from a combination of constant attacks and the fire that was quickly spreading. Odd how such a thing wouldn't have bothered him ten years ago, but that was before that woman came into his life, bulldozing her way through all the barriers surrounding his heart, tearing everything down without a care in the world, all the while shouting that ridiculous cry of hers. Hell, if he thought back hard enough, he could almost hear it like she was with him.

"Shannaro!"

Kakashi smiled wearily, forcing himself to remain calm as his body responded to the lack of oxygen. Definitely a punctured lung. The smoke from the explosion wasn't helping matters.

If there was one thing he regretted more than anything, it was that he left for his mission early in the morning, before either of them had woken up. Too wrapped up in the thought of going on his first higher ranked mission in quite possibly a decade and a half, he hadn't thought to sit back and watch his beautiful wife as she slept peacefully, cradling the proof of their love close to her chest. After hearing about his father going on a serious mission, he'd had difficulty sleeping at night, only able to sleep through the night when in his parents' arms.

Whatever came up with his cough was held back by his mask – it was both a relief and sickening. Relieving because his photograph wasn't damaged further, but sickening because what wasn't smeared on his mask went straight back down his throat.

He was brought out of his self-pity as rough hands grabbed at him, yanking him down so that he was on his back. There was another shake of the building, but whatever was supposed to fall on him, didn't, because somebody was blocking it, taking the beating themselves and when Kakashi looked up, he was horrified to meet hard green eyes as they glared down at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded angrily.

Such a beautiful sight. His loving wife all but throttling him as he lay dying, gasping for air in his final moments.

"What about our son, huh?" she snarled, grip intensifying. "What about Hiroki? Would you really leave him behind? Leave me behind?"

Hiroki…

An innocent, cheerful face flashed to the front of his mind, standing alongside his mother who was equally as happy, welcoming him home after a long day.

Weakly, Kakashi grabbed the hand holding onto him, meeting the hard eyes of his love. He…

He desperately wanted to breathe.

He wanted more time with them both.

"S-Saku…"

She caught on instantly, continuing to shield him from a battle he hadn't even realised was ongoing with her own body while simultaneously healing him, flooding his body with her chakra. Faintly, he could hear her cursing under her breath as she surveyed the damage. The deafening booms and cracks to their left were too loud to hear her properly, even though they were so close together. He could recognise the loud yell of, "Rasengan", but that was all. Everything else was a blur.

"Stay with me, Kakashi," Sakura said in a softer tone, those stunning green eyes meeting his desperately.

At some point, when she was moving him, his photograph had slipped from his hand and blindly, he reached out, trying to find it before his strength left him completely. If these truly were his last moments, he didn't want them to be of the love of his life leaning over him and taking attacks meant for him, didn't want to see her heartbreaking expression when she came to realise the damage was too great. He wanted to see their smiling faces. Wanted to see his son one last time.

"He's waiting for you," she continued, voice shaking. "Hiroki, the ninken – they're all waiting for you back at home, so you need to come back with me, okay?"

There.

The feeling of paper meeting his fingertips had him shutting his eyes in a moment of relief.

"And when we get home, we're training, got it? I don't care if you were once my sensei, or that you're the Rokudaime Hokage. You've let yourself go, damn it." The hands once healing him clutched at his flak vest once more, yanking him into a seated position until one of those hands met his back, hitting him roughly. "Breathe, you idiot!"

She was so warm and when she pulled back to look at him, there were tears in her eyes. The anger was long gone now. Now, she was afraid. Terrified. There was a noticeable shake in her body, her lower lip quivering, but what truly stood out was the releasing of her seal as it travelled over her skin, as it travelled along his where their skin met, like it was binding them together.

He'd always known that his wife was a stubborn woman – it was one of the things he loved most about her – but in that moment, it truly hit him how wonderful she was. Her eyes were screaming their defiance even through the fear, warning him that he better not leave her unless he wanted her to bring him back just to suffer the consequences and while he usually enjoyed riling Hatake Sakura up, he had no intention of doing so at that moment.

He had to live.

He wanted to grow old with her.

He had to watch their son grow into a fine man.

"…Sōzō Saisei."

A/N - Usually I would've had this prompt posted the second the prompt month thing opened because of being so excited about it, but I've been really busy lately. It's a good thing we get a week for each prompt.