He staggers through the trees towards the village still trying to control his breathing. If he didn't slow down his breathing, he would bleed even more. He was just returning after a very important secret mission. As he was getting closer to the village he sees the lone figure of a girl in the distance. He squints and realizes that it's the love of his life Haruhi! "Haruhi!" He calls out to her carefully making sure he stays in the shadows so that she wouldn't be alarmed when she saw him scratched and bloodied. She turned and responded,
"Kakashi? Is that you?" When she looked more closely she recognized him instantly even though she could only see the outline of his body in the darkness. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Kakashi! I missed you..." He flinched a little and she knew right away that he was hurt? "Oh no! What happenned"
"I was..ambushed.." He said pausing in between as if he was trying hide the pain in his voice. "Ugh.." He falls over clutching his bleeding abdomen. Haruhi gasps in horror then immediately kneels down next to him and rests his head gently on her knees. He opens his eyes and smiles up at her. "Haruhi..." "How can you smile when you're like this..?" She looked to the side indignantly. He reached up slowly with his free hand to touch her soft cheek, wincing but fighting the pain.
"Because I'm.. here with you.. of course.." He grinned weakly at her.
"Oh Kakashi!" She hugged him forgetting about his wounds until he hissed gently and reminded her that his side was hurt really bad. "You need to go to the hospital, now!" He hugs her tenderly and shakes his head. "I'll be fine.. I just need to rest here for a bit.." He closed his eyes again. Haruhi bit her lip. "Are you sure?" She asked with indesicion in her voice. She was debating wether she should just take him to the hostpital or believe him and let him rest. He just nodded. A moment passed when he growled softly and put his hand over his wound that was still bleeding. Haruhi creased her eyebrows as she carefully examined his wound. "Kakashi.. that certainly does not look so good"
"There were a lot of them.. I got careless." He sighed and closed his eyes again.
"How could you?!" Haruhi cried with a tear sliding down her cheek.
"I'm sorry Haruhi.. I made you worry.. and I left you alone..." He said in a worried tone. She hugged him but was much more careful to not hurt him this time. "No, don't worry about that, I don't care okay? I'm just happy that I'm with you now." She looked into his eyes with her big wet brown eyes. "Does it hurt"
"A little.. It's not so bad now." He replied as he traced his eyes back to her tear-
stained face. "Oh no Haruhi.." He wipes away the tears that are falling without her even realizing it. "Please don't.. not because of me." He pleaded. She laid her head down on his chest breathing in the scent of him. It was always so wonderful to her except that today it was drowned in the scent of blood. He struggled to say her name, stressing the last syllable as if he had used up all his strength just in time to get it out. She gasped and got up quickly. "Im so sorry! Oh no, did I hurt you?" She blurted apologetically.
"No no." He smiled and exteded his arm towards her. She took his arm and was about to tell him to be more careful and not move so much when he leaned in and planted a kiss on her soft lips. She was confused and surprised but she kissed him back feeling relieved. She hadn't kissed him in so long. It felt so good to feel his lips against hers again but it would have been even better if he had kissed her without his mask. He gently caressed her check and she smiled swiping the hair from his face. "I.. love you.. Haruhi." He slowly peeled his mask of his neck so that he could break easier. "I like it better when you take off your mask." "I know.." He laughed softly and whispered to her, "You can take it off whenever you want okay?" Then he kissed her forehead. He laughed amusedly as the blood rushed to her cheeks.
"We need to get you treated right now!" She said determined this time. He was in too much pain and she didn't think that she could bear seeing him like that any longer. He nodded and slowly and painfully rose to his feet. "Ah! What are you doing?!" She yelled at him.
"I'm getting up." He cringed. She quickly got on her feet and put his arm around her shoulder. She thought she wasn't going to be much help for supporting his weight anyways because she was so short and small compared to him but he needed medical attention badly so she stepped on any doubts. She loved him too much to care. He tore the wrapping on his leg off and tried to tie it around his side unsuccefully but Haruhi takes it from him and tries to help him. "Wait." He said and takes off his jacket, then his shirt and tosses them over his shoulder to inspect the wound. Haruhi was embarassed but in awe to see him half naked like that. She admired his perfectly chiseled muscles for a second before it was too much and she looked away quickly looked away ashamed. "Hmm.. It's a clean cut. Must have been a katana Kakashi said to himself.
"It looks painful.." Haruhi made a face. She has never seen a wound that serious before. She was so mad at him for getting hurt like that. He started to wipe the blood gingerly grimacing in pain. "Okay enough! I'm going to wrap it!" She yelled. When she finished wrapping his wound, he patted his abdomen and she put her arm around his waist as he slightly leaned on her for support. "Arigatou Haruhi" He mumbled. He thought "She's so small..but she's doing all of this.. what a strong girl.. I should be more careful, I don't like seeing her upset like this"
"The hospital is really far from here, why don't we go to my house? My neighbor is a nurse, she'll know what to do." She suggested. They walked about ten minutes to her house. When they arrived, Haruhi helped Kakashi onto a matrss and went to get her neighbor. Moments later, she came back with an older woman with disheveled white hair carrying a suitcase. He nodded at the older woman and said he was sorry for the trouble but she just laughed and told him that it was her job. As the nurse worked on Kakashi's wound, Haruhi held on to his hand and accidentally fell asleep next to him. When she woke up she was in his arms and smiled at his peaceful face. It was nice to have him back.