OK, while I work on my poor SakuDei story, here's a pathetic little thing to say Never-Land is not dead, only writer's-blocked. My plot hates me.
Kakashi: This is not funny!
Never-Land: No, it is VERY funny (death glare)
Kakashi: You friggin paired me with a nineteen-year-old Sand ninja! And you left the few readers who have read this with a cliffy!
Never-Land: So? The Kazekage's sister is practically begging for a Leaf boyfriend, and
since Shika's mine, you get her. And my fingers were tired from typing. I HAD to stop.
Kakashi: But—
Never-Land: No buts!
Disclaimer: Leave me alone, lawer-monsters. Kishimoto-san owns Naruto and you know it. So put a sock in it, 'k? *growls and eats the closest lawer*
P.S. I'm going to walk to the bakery with my family later, so this may also be a cliffy.
Tide Over
Chapter Two: Wake Up!
The nurse turned and shut the worn sliding door. "It's alright, folks. You can breathe now," she addressed the anxious crowd. She meant it literally. Gai was holding his breath as a challenge with Kakashi. His relieved sigh could be heard halfway across the village.
"Tsunade-sama should wake up in maybe fifteen minutes, but it's the Sand shinobi that I'm worried about," she continued. "She was standing right in front of the open door. When the windows shattered, all the flying glass and wind went towards the exit, but hit her instead."
"So how badly is she hurt?" called out somebody from the back of the crowd.
"She might not be able to feed herself, let alone walk, for months." stated the nurse, her face darkening. "We have to wait for the Godaime to wake before we can really know for sure."
The crowd of snow-covered ninja dispersed to other parts of the hospital. They had all braved the blizzard for their Hokage, and for the popular, sharp-tongued Sand kunoichi. Each and every one of them would remain at the hospital until they knew Tsunade was safe.
Kakashi remained in the hallway across from the operating room's double doors, his back to the boarded-over windows. Gai lay gasping for air beside him.
"Really, Gai," said Kakashi dully. "That was a little bit much."
"NEVER!" roared Gai, having finally regained control of his rebelling lungs. "The power of youth and my rivalry with you, Hatake Kakashi, shall always keep me ready for any new challenge! The score is now fifty to fifty-three!"
A red-nosed Genma wandered down the hall towards the two friends/rivals. "Hi, guys," he said, his voice rough.
"You've been drinking, Genma?" asked Kakashi. He raised one visible eyebrow. "How did you even get enough booze to get drunk? You have the highest tolerance for alcohol that I've ever seen. And in this weather, all the bars should be closed."
Genma smirked. "Sub of us actually have ad use a house, Kagashi…" He slumped against the wall. Gai took his shoulder and lifted the inebriated shinobi upright.
"And what happened to you to make you imbibe this much…?" asked Gai. "You rarely drink…"
"Oh, I was just feeling a little guilty, 'cause I was deh last one to see Temawi-sad before she got hut. I should have waned her abou' deh widows!"
A/N: No, I did not suddenly start misspelling every other word accidentally. Hold your nose and say what Genma's saying, and you'll understand. He's DRUNK!)
"It wasn't your fault, Genma," said Kakashi firmly. "Everybody thought that the windows were strong enough. Nobody's seen weather this violent here, ever. Not one person could have known the windows would shatter and almost kill the Hokage and the Sand's ambassador…" He trailed off as Genma covered his ears and pulled a bottle of Dragonfire sake from his pouch.
Gai pulled away from the wall and took the bottle from Genma's slack hand. He sniffed at the bottle mouth. "Woo, that's some heavy stuff, Genma. You got this at a regular bar, hm?"
Genma took a woozy swipe at his bottle. "Nope."
Kakashi quite suddenly paled. "Um…Genma…." he began, haltingly. "Where… exactly… did you get that sake?"
Genma considered Kakashi for a moment. "Well, as a mattah of fact—"
"Because that's my sake."
Gai dropped the bottle. It smashed on the floor, splattering the white-tiled floor with cloudy liquid.
"Your sake?" he wailed, rounding on Kakashi. His eyes were streaming with tears. "Kakashi, you are an alcoholic! How else could you know the difference between sake bottles! Drinking is terrible for ninjas! How will you complete any challenges now?"
Kakashi rolled his eyes (Eye? One visible eye? LOL). "I make my own sake, Gai. Once I got very sick off a bottle of Moonstone from the bar, so I just make a few bottles every year. That bottle was marked with my handwriting. Duh."
Gai's red face began to go back to normal. "Yeah…"
Genma was on the floor, trying to pick up the pieces of the bottle. He was obviously flustered. "No, I didn't steal it. No way…You gave be this, webeber? New Year's present last year."
The red light above the operating room turned off and a small buzzer sounded. The double doors swung open. Through the portal came the Godaime, heavily bandaged and conscious.
Half the hospital came running down the corridor, shouting. First were all the ninjas, of course. They surrounded the wheeled hospital bed, laughing with relief and joy.
They quieted down when a pink-haired healer came out of the room, scowling. "ALL RIGHT, PEOPLE, WHAT IS THIS, A FESTIVAL?" she shouted. "I DIDN'T SPEND TWO HOURS PICKING GLASS OUT OF TSUNADE'S NECK JUST TO HAVE HER GO CATATONIC FROM SHOCK! CLEAR OUT!"
The abashed throng quickly shut their mouths and ran, none wanting the infamous Haruno Sakura to become any more apoplectic. They knew Tsunade was safe, and that was enough.
Sakura caught her former sensei's elbow before he left with the others. "Kakashi-sensei, could you come with us, please?"
He looked at her. "Because…"
"Oh, I just have a feeling we'll need you. And you should always trust a healer's instinct!"
They made their way through the hospital, weaving around the corners and jubilant patients. Everybody greeted them with vigor, especially their Hokage.
Soon, Sakura, Kakashi, and Tsunade arrived at a small sliding door. Kakashi tugged it open, and all three proceeded inside.
Temari lay, covered only in a sheet, on a high bed in the middle of the small white room. An oxygen mask encased he mouth and nose, and her hair was bloody and wet. From the little Kakashi could see under the sheet, she was even more heavily bandaged than the Hokage. It was a pathetic sight.
Tsunade spoke. "All right, guys," she addressed the healers standing in the corner. "What have you done so far?"
A young man, wearing standard healer's uniform (all-white jumpsuit, apron, and cap strapped under his chin) stepped forward. "Well, we removed most of the glass from her, and closed up all the arteries and veins the glass hit. However, there are still a lot of shards buried near her spine and brain. This isn't too different from what happened with Rock Lee, you see, so we didn't remove them. You are the specialist in delicate surgery."
Tsunade nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks." She turned to Kakashi. "Get me a wheelchair. I'm going to operate."