The Moon Room

Author's Note: This story takes place between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. It's Kakashi-centric and I don't own anything but my own twisted ideas so please don't sue me. Really, trust me, it's just not worth it as I own nothing anyone else would want.

Prologue:

The air was still with a chill in it that dug deep into your bones and took refuge there; leaving both the body and the mind sluggish and unresponsive. In the best of conditions a shinobi would have a hard time keeping his body moving and his mind alert but in the worst of conditions this weather could kill if it so chose to. Unfortunately for Kakashi he had been in considerably better condition in the past than he currently was now but he would not stop for he knew any time spent resting could potentially mean his death. He still had far more to make up for to be able to let himself succumb to the promise of freedom that death would bring with it.

So he trudged on. Feet dragged in the muddy ground from the previous day's rainfall. He tripped more times than he felt he should have and each time it grew increasingly harder for him to catch himself as his left arm hung dislocated, burnt and useless at his side. If he ended up being required too he was sure that he would be able to use it but for the time being he was content to let it rest, limp, at his side as he cut a ragged path through thick underbrush. A couple days ago he had still had the strength to travel through the trees but now lack of food, exhaustion, and the frigid cold of nearby winter had sucked his strength from him. If it was not for his determination and the Will of Fire that burned within him he would have laid down on the cold forest floor days earlier and let the endless sleep overtake him.

A headache, situated right behind his Sharingan eye, throbbed continuously; growing in strength with each passing minute. He would rub at that eye every so often, finding that the pressure of his fingers against the stolen eye relieved the headache for at least a moment or two.

"Stolen eye?" he muttered, chastising himself for his own choice of words. He found his thoughts distracted of late and unfocused. Flying across his mind in jumbled messes that were difficult for him to process and act on. He was unsure if this was due to his exhaustion and the cold or something much more sinister hiding just beneath the surface. However, he had not the time nor the energy to think too much on the matter and he knew he had to stay focused on moving forward.

Time passed by but he paid little heed to it. He began to talk in quiet whispers to himself without realizing it as the cold penetrated his body and mind even more. His left side ached, from his ribs down to his hip and he couldn't seem to recall why. As the minutes turned to hours and the hours into days he began to come, although slowly, to the realization that he did not think he would make it back to Konoha.

He began to doubt that he would see his home ever again. As the thoughts of his comrades and his friends that remained there crossed through his mind he began to let the despair drag him deeper into the abyss and deeper into the cold that threatened his life. Yet still he walked though his path was now less than direct and barely brought him closer to his destination. He noticed a knot in the pit of his stomach that began to grow to a level that was difficult for him to ignore. If he had been more aware at the time he would have realized that it was simply hunger that had taken residence there, in the bottom of his stomach, and refused to leave until it was heard and dealt with but Kakashi had no strength to deal with such minute details as hunger. So he ignored it, along with the rest of his injuries, the best as he could and kept walking.

As the sun began to rise on whatever day it might have been he froze as the sound of something that was not nature reached his ears. As he raised his eyes from the ground and focused on something other than just walking he realized, for the first time, how his ears seemed to be dominated by the sound of his heartbeat and his vision was blurred and hazy. He cursed himself for his drop in defenses but he knew why he had slipped up. As he stood there, deep within the heart of the forest and far from any path a civilian may travel, he took stock of his own physical health for the first time in a very, very long time and realized how bad off it was. If the sound he had heard was in fact an enemy as he feared it was then he was as good as dead. His body was surviving on nothing but his own determination not to die and any true physical exertion would be the end of his miserable existence. Simply walking was a physical exertion that his body had, so far, barely been able to keep up with. A fight in his condition now was a death sentence so he did the only thing he could think to do.

He did nothing, knowing full well that the enemy had most likely already spotted him so hiding would be of no help, and he closed his eyes for a moment or two. He knew that this was his end.

He had failed. A small sighed escaped his mouth as he raised his right hand and shifted his hitai-ate up as he opened his mismatched eyes to greet his enemy. His Sharingan burned a duller red than normal and if one were to look at it closely they would see that it was fading, ever so slightly, from red to its inactivated black state and back to red and so forth. It was a clear sign as to how close to death he was and he knew, no matter who he ended up fighting, that in mere minutes he would be dead. Determination and the Will of Fire can only keep someone alive for so long and Kakashi, unfortunately, had long pushed his body past its breaking point and there was no more left for him to rely on. This was it, this was the end, and he knew he had to come to terms with that now because he would soon have no more time left to dwell on any of it anymore.

But as the person who stood before him became discernable through his blurred vision and as his sluggish mind was finally able to place a name to his attacker's face he let a small smile appear, hidden beneath his mask, and closed his Sharingan eye as he realized he would not need it. Not today, not for this fight.

"Neji," he began. His voice was rough and his laboured breathing cut through his words and made it difficult for him to speak. "This is a surprise. Am I closer to home than I thought?"

Neji raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise for he had never heard Kakashi call Konoha home before. His thoughts were quickly distracted to other matters as the first thing Neji took any notice of was the blood that had dried under the Sharingan eye and stained the Copy Nin's face in a single, thick path until it reached the absorbing fabric of the black mask that always covered the Jounin's face. As he activated his Byakugan his eyes widened in both concern and a small twinge of fear. Kakashi's chakra was nearly impossible to discern and as he took stock of the Jounin standing before him he began to realize how close to death the man was.

"How long have you been out here?" Neji asked, trying to determine how long the cold and the rain had been affecting Kakashi. His eyes were drawn down to Kakashi's left side as he waited for a response and he felt his heart skip a beat as he saw how dark the torn clothing of Kakashi's shirt was, how dark it was due to the blood that had stained it.

"I… I do not know," Kakashi finally answered, pulling Neji out from his thoughts, "time has… become hard to follow lately."

"Konoha is still nearly a three weeks' worth of travel from here, can you–" Neji's words were cut short as the man before him, the great Copy Nin Kakashi, simply collapsed.

Neji was at his side before the Jounin even hit the ground and caught him gracefully, lowering him to the ground but letting Kakashi's head rest on his own lap as he kneeled on the damp foliage. It took him only a moment or two to see the infection that had settled underneath poorly healing scabs down both Kakashi's entire left arm and left side. The wound to his side was deep but had clotted long ago although the dirt and the infection that had been trapped in there was clearly what was causing the heat that Neji felt radiating from Kakashi's body as he held him. But despite the heat Kakashi's breath was chillingly cold and as Neji stood up, cradling the now unconscious Kakashi in his arms, he noticed how little the man weighed and how pale his skin was but it was the blue-tinge that laid just underneath the skin tone that worried Neji even more so than the infection. Infection, wounds, and burns could all be healed by a skilled medic-nin but hyperthermia was something that could kill in a moment – especially when the affected shinobi had slipped into unconsciousness.

As Neji leapt into action he let his mind ponder over the man he held as he jumped through the trees in search of the rest of his team. The more he thought over all he had come to know over the last few minutes he figured that Kakashi had been wondering aimlessly through this thick forest for at least a week, if not even longer. The fact that he was still alive was a testament to his determination to simply survive. He was sure Kakashi had pushed his body past the point of death long ago and it was not until he had come into contact with someone that he knew and could trust did his mind finally let him stop his will to survive and to instead just rest – as he so clearly needed.

Neji's thoughts were cut short as he spotted his team through the treetops and pushed himself to move even faster to reach them and as he came to their side he quickly got ahead of them and dropped down to the ground knowing that they would've spotted him and followed his lead to the forest floor. As soon as his two other team members and his sensei stood before him Neji saw the shock that registered in their faces. Without a word he turned his attention to Gai and handed the still form of Kakashi to him. As Gai looked at his weakened and injured eternal rival in his arms he closed his eyes for just a brief moment as he registered the awful truth that even though they were lucky enough to find Kakashi when they did there was still no guarantee that they could return him to Konoha in time to save his life.

"I believe that our current mission will have to be delayed." Gai spoke with a solemn tone and a small hint of fear. "Our main concern is returning Kakashi to Konoha as quickly as possible. Let's head out!"

With those words the four shinobi, with their unconscious comrade, took to the treetops again but this time they were retracing their steps and moving at a much faster pace than before. Urgency pushed them as no one wanted to watch the famed Hatake Kakashi die within their care.