Chapter 28: A Different Mind
KAKASHI'S POV
… Beep… Beep…
… Beep… Beep…
Agh... my head…
The pounding on my head, sweat on my body… and the nerve racking annoying sounds echoing in my ears was bothering me. Can someone turn that thing off?
"Kakashi?"
"A…kemi…?"
I opened one of my beady eyes. It was extremely heavy… but that was when I was tired, plus my eyelids were rather sore, for some strange reason. Actually, my whole body was sore.
The person I saw was Akemi, smiling gently on me… but my vision was too blurry. I blinked and the image I saw was actually Tsunade's face.
"Oh, it's you…"
"Thanks…" muttered Tsunade sarcastically.
I looked around myself and had made a very surprising reaction. My body was heavily bandaged; it even looked as though some my blood was actually leaking from the bandages, though not as much as the blood seemed dried and my wound had healed a little. My arms and legs were also heavily bandaged. I looked like a freakin' mummy.
The annoying beeping sounds came from my monitor.
"What happened to me?"
"The poison that Kisame had injected into you was very potent," explained Tsunade. "I had to perform a very graphic surgery to save your life."
"I managed to remove most of the poison by filtering your veins… however; you still need medication and a number of potions to sustain your normal body functions."
"You will have several treatments weekly… but it will be very painful, seeing how the poison had shut down some of your body functions."
I stared at my arms, trying to move them. They were hurting and felt very sore.
"What time is it?"
"You've been in recovery for 12 days… right now its 10:32 a.m."
"Ah…"
I lazily glimpsed at the window and saw the curtains pulled back. All I saw was the blue sky but I did hear a bit of chirping from the birds. Ah… I'm acting crazy.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm…"
I turned my head slowly and saw Akemi's unconscious body.
As a conditioned reflex I jerked my body upward, ignoring the searing pains all over my body.
"Calm down"
She forcefully slapped my chest and slammed my body on my bed when I tried to rise. The pain echoed on my skin… but still I felt fearful for Akemi's life.
"I asked how you are feeling," said Tsunade. "Are you just—."
"Is she alright?" I asked urgently. "I mean…"
"She's…"
Tsunade sadly looked over to Akemi.
"She's… in a… coma."
I continued to stare at Akemi and didn't believe what she had told me. Instead I faced Tsunade again, staring at her almost to see if I heard correctly. However, the proof was the monitor that was silently making noise. It appears as though she really was dependent on life support.
"What did you say?" I asked. "Sorry… I didn't catch that."
"Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto are already awake," said Tsunade, clearing her throat. "They wanted to see if you were okay. It's been nearly 2 weeks…"
"Please tell me…"
"What?"
Tell me that she's just asleep."
"…"
I glared at my fists that were closed in anger. I was supposed to protect her. Nothing should have happened to her… nothing…
"I'm sorry," said Tsunade sadly. "As much as I tried… this is the best of my ability."
I continued to glare at my hands.
"Do you want the kids to see you?"
"N-not… yet."
"Alright."
Tsunade walked slowly to the exit door, trying her best to sniff and avoid the urge to tear up.
"Hokage-sama…"
She stopped, facing me.
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
She smiled.
"Anytime."
She walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.
The room we were in was pure white. Nothing had actual color except Akemi's highlighted black hair. Her hair color seemed to change before she was kidnapped from the ship. It was turning grey… almost black grey. But her face was still young looking…
Akemi looked pale as ever. The curtains were open and the bright light was shining within the room. She was shining… as if she's actually entering into heaven…
I painfully sat to her on the bed and held her left hand, grasping it firmly on my sore hands.
"Don't… don't leave me. Please don't leave me."
I bowed my head on her heads, resisting the strange urge within my throat.
"Please…"
There was a hard knock on the door. After a few seconds it was followed by a numerous number of loud knocks.
"Naruto quit doing that!"
"I'm trying to check and see if they're okay!"
"Do you really think they can answer you in the condition they're in right now? Think before you act, which you never do, Dead last."
"Rgh… Sasuke you—."
"Naruto!" Followed by a large noise.
"OW! Sakura-chan that hurt!"
"Come in," I muttered, releasing Akemi's hand. Even though I asked Tsunade not to let them in, it appears that they didn't quite get the message in their heads.
"HEY, SOMEONE SAID 'COME IN'!"
"NOT SO LOUD DUMBASS!"
WHAM!
"Ack…"
The door opened and the trio of my students appeared.
Sasuke, heavily bandaged, looked as though he had exited from a bloody battle. His lip was cut and his eyes looked stressed. However, he appeared well enough.
Naruto also appeared in bandages, but was more heavily bandaged than Sasuke from head to foot. He was wearing a cast and grinned my way. It looked as though huge large bumps appeared on the side of his head. I couldn't tell if that was from his previous wounds or Sakura.
Sakura suffered minor injuries. I wonder if the reason was because the two boys had protected her.
"Kakashi-sensei!" said Naruto worriedly, rushing towards me and staring at my bandages. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," I lied.
"And Akemi?" asked Sakura.
I gritted my teeth to stop my arm's pain to escape my throat. Good thing my mask wasn't removed…
"She's…"
"Sleeping…" said Sasuke. "From the looks of it."
"You can say that."
"But she looks so… pale," said Naruto. "Almost as if she's…"
"She'll be fine," I lied again, clenching my fists. "She's… still in deep sleep."
"Kakashi-sensei."
"Hmm…?"
"She wasn't acting right," said Naruto. "Is there something you need to tell us?"
For a moment I was surprised seeing how Naruto was the first to ask a question involving Akemi. I was more surprised how Naruto asked a smart question.
"She was acting strange, but someone was impersonating her," I said. "Nothing to worry about, this is the real Akemi."
The three students looked down on Akemi.
"Then why did he want her?" asked Sasuke. "I thought it was Naruto."
Assuming he meant his brother Itachi, I answered without asking.
"As bait for Naruto," I lied again.
Lying so much to these kids is giving me more headaches and pain. I clenched one of my sore bandaged arms.
"Guys I need some rest… you should get some too."
The looks Sasuke and Sakura gave me were suspicious. I'm guessing they know what I had told them was not the truth at all. Naruto, on the other hand, was worriedly staring upon Akemi's deathly face.
"Guys…" I repeated, when they didn't leave.
"Right… feel better Kakashi-sensei!" said Naruto.
I sighed as the three left. The repetitive annoying sounds coming from the monitor was echoing in my ears and head. If the sound had stopped…
I shook my head and stared at Akemi's face. She looked as if she jumped into a pool of iced water and was frozen within it for many years. I placed a finger on her cheek and it was, as expected, very cold.
My hands were pretty warm so I took both my hands and warmed both her cheeks.
"Usually you would blush or something…" I said.
But she didn't blush. She didn't smile. All she did was lie there… on her bed.
I didn't know why I did… or what I had in my mind… because I assumed I was crazy. I knelt down beside Akemi, wrapping my bandaged sore but warm arm on her arm. I was trying to warm her up, like she was actually asleep.
I felt that I was in permanent denial… even though I knew it was a chance she might die I didn't think that.
"If you don't like it, just say so," I said, grinning.
I covered Akemi's body with more blankets and continued to hug her until I fell asleep.
The next morning was a pain because of the physical therapy I was going through. Gai kept going to my room, slapping my aching back and telling me I'm not tough enough to be a man. Maybe he's the real cause of my pain… a real pain in the ass.
Everyday I visited Akemi in the hospital, hoping that maybe… just maybe… I would see her awake and smiling. But all I ended up seeing is her closed-eyed pale face.
The kids had more horrid things going on in their lives. They, like me, did not accept the fact that Akemi was dying. Well… only Naruto and me.
Sakura sent her flowers everyday and kept telling me that she won't water them… because Akemi will wake up and water them herself. However, everyday when she returned to place new flowers on the vase, the previous ones withered and died from getting too dried up. She sobbed every time she saw those dried flowers.
I told her it's best to at least not expect anything bad and better to think on the bright side. She agreed with me but still had that daily routine of her flower business.
Naruto had tried making Akemi's famous rice omelet. He thought that maybe Akemi will soon appear and scold him for making such a crappy meal. But she never did come… and Naruto was forced to consume his own pitiful creations.
Sasuke, in the other hand, trained harder and faster than the other two kids. I visited Sasuke after a small mission of trimming and watering many flower beds. We both sat on a nearby bench. I asked him if he even missed her, seeing how he was the only person not really affected by Akemi's absence.
"I… don't miss her," said Sasuke.
"Then why did you hesitate to answer?"
He glared at the dirt ground and picked up a shovel.
"She would be here if I killed him."
"And I really did see that intent to kill."
Sasuke snorted
"I'm only concerned for my boredom," said Sasuke stubbornly." She's only useful for using my new fighting skills on."
Sasuke turned his back on me and continued his work.
"She's going to be okay," I whispered near Sasuke, who started pulling on his gloves over his hands.
"Are you sure?" asked Sasuke.
I grinned.
After a week I was almost healed. My arms were still sore but at least I got through all of my physical therapy. Our difficult missions continued… and everyday I kept thinking to myself that she was going to be fine… she'll wake up and I'll get to see her brown eyes one more time.
But will she really?
"Kakashi, you okay?" asked Tsunade.
I blinked and I found myself in Tsunade's office. That's right… I came to talk to her about my mission. I wanted to take a small break, the pain and sore arms were killing me. She was sitting before her desk, examining the usually numerous scrolls of missions she had to give to.
"Yeah, I… kind of spaced out," I said. "Sorry."
"It's alright, and you are excused from this week's mission," said Tsunade, reading some of the scrolls on her desk. "You need lots of rest; your recovery has still a long way to go."
Tsunade took a second and looked at me very hard. I stared straight back and hoped she didn't suspect me of any type of sadness.
"You know…" said Tsunade. "I wasn't going to tell you this, but…"
"But what?"
"Akemi…"
"What about her?"
I would've guessed it. The sadness in her eyes indicated me already.
"Wait, don't tell me…"
"She…"
"Don't."
She bowed her head, almost as if she was in prayer.
"There wasn't enough time."
I stared at my bandaged covered feet and cussed. Of all the things that have been going through my mind… why does this happen? The cheerfulness that had explored through my brain became agitated. This day… would mark me forever.
"You can see her if you like."
I looked at Tsunade, who was grinning.
Why was she grinning?
She placed her hand over her mouth. Oh… crap.
"I'm so sorry," she said, laughing her heart out. "I just had to do it."
"You're the devil!" I said, my eyebrows furrowed as Tsunade wheezed for breath. "You scared the hell out of me!"
"I'm really sorry… you looked so blank that I…"
She stopped and smiled brightly once more.
"I saw movement in my charts of her condition," sad Tsunade. "I think it'll be better if she saw you first."
She was awake? My heart almost leaped from my chest.
"Thank you—."
"I know, I know," said Tsunade, closing her eyes and waving a hand at me. "I'm good… now go through that hospital door; I think she'll be conscious in a minute."
I rushed into the hospital as fast as I can, ignoring all startled remarks or waves of welcome. All I wanted to see was her face… then I can finally tell her that I'm truly sorry.
"This time she won't disappear from my sight again."
I finally approached Akemi's door. It was plain white just as I had seen it. Nothing seemed to change… it was odd. But it was just a door anyway, and I slowly opened the door and let myself in.
Inside was just the way I saw it before I left this morning. Sakura added new flowers in the vase and I saw Naruto's get well card near one of the tables next to Akemi's bed. I saw Akemi… still in slumber.
She looked exactly the same weeks before. However she looked paler, thinner and her hair became more silver-ish grey that regular black with highlights. I had seen her face and it looked as though she was lifeless…
I sat on her bed next to her and gazed her face. Soon she'll be awake and soon I'll see her walking again. I gently grabbed her hand and squeezed it a little. It was surprisingly warm.
She stirred and my heart skipped a beat.
My hands held her left hand tighter… and I stared at her closed eyelids. Her fingers twitched and so did her mouth. She was beginning to feel warmer.
"Akemi please wake up…"
Akemi twitched again.
"Please open your eyes and look at me."
She uttered a soft groan
"I want to hold you again… your warmth makes me happy."
Akemi's eyelids were starting to open.
"Please… stay with me."
She opened her eyes and stared right into mines.
"A-Akemi…?"
I grinned at her but she looked at me strangely.
"Who… are you?"
To be continued…
