Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own Junko, who I have decided will be in the fic again at some point.

A/N: Thanks again for all of my reviews, awesome readers I really appreciate your support. Not much of a message this time, which you may be relieved to know lol. Anyway, here is another one for you guys, so once again, please read and review!

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Chapter 7: Why Does Life Have to Kick You in the Teeth?

What has come over me, why do I feel like this? Have I always loved you and never known it? Do I just need someone to bounce me back into the dating scene? I have never felt this way about you before, so why do I do so now? Just please…I don't know what I will do without you, please…live, Kakashi. I'm confused…no, you can't just be a rebound, I'm not like that anyway.

She thought this as she watched the Hokage and a team of medic nin try and stop the blood that was quickly draining from Kakashi's body. Kurenai could not see a thing, but she knew that Tsunade was a powerful medic nin, the best, and that she would be able to save her friend's life.

After what seemed like an agonising few hours, Tsunade finally stepped away and wiped her brow. The glow of green healing chakra had now died down, and one of the medic nin began to clean up the blood. Kurenai stood up, ready to address the Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama, will he—" The crimson eyed woman got cut off by the blonde holding up a hand.

"With rest, Kakashi will be fine. Judging by the state he was in, the mission did not go according to plan, by the looks of things. We need to talk though, Kurenai. Why did Kakashi and Asuma end up fighting? If something is going on then I need to know, this could have all been avoided." She said sternly. The woman knew that something had scared Kurenai into not talking, and she needed to know what. Tsunade was not trying to scare the woman, but she had to lay down the facts.

"I need to know, Kurenai, Kakashi could have died, and not only would he be missed, but we would be without a valuable ninja. What happened?" the blonde said, and watched as Kurenai took a deep breath, looked over at the unconscious shinobi, and looked back at the Hokage.

"Asuma and I have been having some trouble for a few weeks now. I would rather not go into what happened, but basically, Kakashi came to my rescue, and managed to stop what was going on, though Asuma had to be restrained by the dogs. Well, when Kakashi went on his mission, no…I can't…" she said and broke down. Kurenai did not want to say, she was too scared, what if Asuma was still around, what if he heard? Tsunade let out a sigh and placed two fingers under the distressed jounin's chin, lifting her head to look properly into the crimson eyes, tears spilling once again.



"He beat you, didn't he? While Kakashi was away?" was all she said, and the suspicions were confirmed when Kurenai nodded to say he did.

"He came to apologise, not exactly sober, and well, said it was all my fault he was in the situation he was, and went to strike me. Kakashi got here and well, that's when the fight started." The woman explained, and watched as a frown found it's way onto Tsunade's features once again. This was not a good situation, and Asuma would need to be brought in. What the punishment would be, even the Hokage didn't know. Kakashi had not been killed, so it wasn't treason, so therefore Asuma could not be put to death. With a heavy sigh, Tsunade stood up and placed a hand on Kurenai's shoulder.

"This will be dealt with. Rest, and I will keep you up to date on what is happening." She said, and walked out of the room before the jounin could reply.

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Sakura was trying to focus on her paperwork, but she found it impossible to do so. Nobody had come back into reception, and it worried her. She knew that Tsunade would be ok, but what was going on with Kakashi and Asuma. Just as she was going to head to the hospital room herself, Tsunade walked into reception.

"Tsunade-sama, what's going on?" she asked, looking up at her master with emerald eyes full of questions. The Hokage sighed and took a seat, the first thing she would do when she got back to the tower was to have some sake, there was a hell of a mess laid out before her and she was needed to untangle it.

"Make sure Kakashi does not leave this hospital." She said, and wasn't surprised to hear Sakura ask why.

"I won't lie to you Sakura, Kakashi nearly died today. He suffered from severe bleeding from wounds he sustained during the mission. Under no circumstances is he to leave, not unless I give permission, do you understand?" she said, and was pleased to see Sakura nod. No words were needed to confirm that the girl understood.

"Good girl, Sakura. I will be in the Hokage tower if you need me." She said and walked out of the door. Sakura sighed and began to get on with her work, making a mental note to check on Kakashi later in her shift.

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I never meant to hurt you, I never meant for this to happen. This is my fault, I should not be so weak. I don't know how I feel, I'm so confused. Do I love you, do I not love you? You seem to be able to work out everything, can you work out my feelings? Can you help me decide what I want? I should never have let you get involved, I should have been strong, and dealt with it myself, I should have confronted Asuma, I should have told you to go. Why did I put you in danger? I'm awful, nobody could love me, I deserved what Asuma did to me…stop protecting me, don't get yourself hurt anymore, don't be involved with me…even if you DID love me…I am not worthy…I'm not good enough…I'm too weak…a shinobi should be in control of their emotions…I have been just the opposite these past few weeks…you should have let him strike me, you don't know me as well as you could do…how deep IS our friendship? Don't hurt yourself anymore, not for the sake of weak scum like me…

Her mentality was shot to pieces. The events of the last few weeks were really testing her, physically and mentally. Kurenai was slowly becoming a wreck, and she felt that there was nothing that she could do about it. Right now, she wanted to curl up and die, but that was not an option. Was she really responsible for Asuma's suspected alcoholism? She felt responsible for what had happened to Kakashi, that was for sure.

Kurenai felt the tears coming again, and cursed herself more than once for being so weak. She should be able to hide her emotions, but everything was just overwhelming her. She stood up from her own bed and went to sit on Kakashi's, the thoughts were keeping her awake. The woman tried to tell herself that she was only thinking this way because she was tired, but wouldn't believe it.

As she sat down, she noticed the hospital covers had been pulled up to cover the parts of Kakashi's face that the mask usually kept hidden, and a few seconds later she noticed said mask on the table next to the bed, spotted with blood. It had been bad, bad enough that the Copy Nin's mask had to be removed. A lone tear trickled down her face, thinking about all the trouble she had caused. Her shoulders started to shake as more tears fell, which annoyed her even further.

"I am so sorry, Kakashi. It's my fault this has happened to you, I am an awful friend. I am too weak, I should be dealing with this myself. Please, forgive me for putting you in the situation you are now in. I'm an awful person, an awful shinobi, I can't even keep my emotions in check…I'm so sorry…" she said and began to sob harder. A few minutes later and she was draped over Kakashi's legs, having cried herself to sleep.

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It was four in the morning when Kakashi woke up to awful pins and needles in his legs, not to mention something pressing down on them. Slowly, he sat up, wincing at the pain shooting across his torso, yet relieved that the wounds did not re-open. Slowly, the Copy Nin sat up and ran a hand down his face.

Hold on a minute…where's my mask?

Kakashi began to feel around in the dark until he found it on the table, but it was in no condition to be worn.

Oh dear…that is quite the inconvenience.

The jounin tried to slide back down under the covers, but couldn't because his legs were trapped, but at least he could see what was weighing him down. Kurenai, who normally had a nice, healthy complexion, with well done makeup, but now was pale, and had black streaks down her face where her mascara had run. She looked terrible, and it didn't look like she was having a comfortable sleep either. With a sigh, Kakashi placed his arms around her waist, and biting back against the pain in his sides, pulled the woman up so she would at least be able to rest her head on the pillow. The bed was just about big enough for the pair of them, he'd just have to keep a hold of her so that she didn't fall out of the bed.

Once her legs had been moved up, the shinobi placed the covers so that it would cover both of them evenly, and lay back down himself. Wrapping an arm around the distressed woman, it took him by surprise when she leaned closer to him, seeking the warmth and comfort.

You stupid, stupid woman, don't you dare blame yourself. We all have free will, and I chose to stand up for you so don't you dare blame yourself for what happened to me. There was no way you could protect yourself and not show emotion after what Asuma did to you, he didn't attack your body, he attacked your heart. That is unforgivable, he is scum, he had no right to treat you that way he did. Please, don't beat yourself up over this. We all have times where we can't cope, and our emotions get the better of us, but we all come out stronger. I got involved of my own free will, I could not allow him to hurt you…definitely not you…you mean too much to me…I only wish I had the courage to tell you how much I love you, Kurenai, I won't allow him to hurt you…I promise. I'd give my life for you, my only fear is that I will never be able to tell you…I love you, and as long as I am around, I will not let anyone harm you.

That's a promise.

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With these thoughts in mind, Kakashi rested his chin on top of the woman's head, beyond caring he was without his mask, and fell asleep within minutes, even though the sun was now starting to show it's face. Tomorrow would be an interesting day.

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A/N: Well, what's going to happen the next day, I wonder…I don't even know yet XD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading and please review!