A/N: slight trigger warning. please note that the first part of this chapter depicts panic attack. if anybody is uncomfortable with it, please skip all the italicized part, which is mostly on the first part. thank you.
Shizune rushed to her office without informing any of her colleagues. Once she's inside the privacy of her room, she locked the door behind her and landed heavily on the couch, chest heaving as her breathing turned erratic. One shaky hand clutched the fabric of her yukata above her chest and she can almost feel the pounding of her heart on the knuckles of her tightly closed fist. Her mouth and lips felt dry and her eyes closed tightly, involuntarily, her body bending forward, her forehead almost resting itself on her knees and her other hand gripped the edge of the coffee table in front of her, her fingertips turning white as she grasped the wooden furniture tightly. She started to feel lightheaded and she desperately tried to control her breathing by inhaling deeply through her mouth.
Now's not the time for you to have a panic attack, Shizune! She reprimanded herself. Come on! Come on, get it together!
She opened her eyes with difficulty and focused them on the coffee table.
What do you see? Coffee table.
What color is it? Brown. No, it's dark mahogany, making it look brown.
What is it made of? Hard wood.
How big is it? About a meter in length and 15 inches in height.
How does it look like? It's rectangular.It's plain looking on the surface.
After five minutes of focusing her eyes and energy on the table, she finally had her breathing under control. She unclenched her hands from their deathly grips on her clothing and the table and pressed her palms to her eyes, leaning back on the couch as she continued to take deep, steadying breaths, letting her lungs expand and fill with the precious air.
She removed her hands from her head, letting them fall on her lap as she stared at the ceiling. Her inner turmoil is not yet over as her mind replayed the 15-minute talk that she had with Kakashi a few moments earlier. Worry, concern, fear, love, elation, fright. All of then are now a jumbled mess of emotions going around her head and she doesn't know how to really feel, all because of a simple phone call.
She was brimming with fear and anxiety. If Kakashi goes through with his plan of being in the frontlines of the battle, there could be a high chance that he will be injured gravely again, maybe even –
Stop! Her mind ordered. Nothing's going to happen to him. He wouldn't leave me alone in this world.
She knows that Kakashi is not a weak ninja – far from it, in fact. He's a renowned shinobi in all the lands for his accomplishments and bravery in the battlefield, reason why he was best suited for the role of Hokage. But he's only human. He was almost killed just a few months ago because of these criminals and it cost him his memories.
But even Shizune can recognize the danger that he will be facing. They are shinobi, after all; they have an unspoken pledge of giving up their lives in the service of their village and protecting the weak. And she knows that Kakashi will uphold such promise to protect the village that he loves.
However, she didn't expect Kakashi's heartfelt confession and proposal over the phone. He poured his heart out to her, telling her how much he loves her and asking her permission to be her husband and spend their lives together.
She was stunned at first and was unable to give an answer right away. She knows in herself that she loves him so much and she'd be lying if she said that she hadn't imagined a married life with Kakashi. Shizune was silent for a long time, mulling over her answer and it came to her that she couldn't imagine the rest of her life without him by her side. And, if her answer gives him the fire and motivation to come back to her alive, she'd gladly answer him again and again.
When he spoke again, she can hear the way his voice crack at the end of his sentence, can practically hear the emotions flowing through him with the way he replied and Shizune's overcome with emotions, as well. When he hung up the call, she was suddenly hit with the reality that she can lose him out there, that he can be incapacitated again, that there's a high possibility that he'll forget – again – the time that they had together.
When her train of thought veered in that direction, she rushed out of the Emergency Room and fled into her office.
Now that she had calmed down a little bit, Shizune's thoughts are now clearer. What she can do now is maintain her faith in him and hope that he'll come back to her in one piece.
It may be a selfish thought, but it's the one thing that's holding her together right now.
Frantic knocks jostled her out of her musing. She jumped up from her seat and rushed towards the door. Sakura's face greeted her from the other side. She looked tired but there's a sense of urgency in her face when Shizune opened the door.
"Shizune-san," the pink-haired kunoichi said, her voice tensed, "Yamato-taichou's team is here. We need your help in the Emergency Room."
"How many?" Kakashi asked as a way of greeting.
Ibiki made a small gesture with his hand, waving at the general direction of the assembled ninjas, "We have at least 38 able bodied ones who can fight on the field: 10 ANBUs, 11 Jounins, and 17 Chuunins. At least 43 ninjas are evacuating the villagers and some of them volunteered to join. A good size of our ninjas are stationed at the perimeter of the hospital and the building beside it. From the report that I received, Tsunade-sama had instructed that the patients that were already treated to be moved to that building since the main hospital may overflow with injured ninjas once this is over," he explained lengthily.
Kakashi nodded and, from the corner of his eye, he saw Shikamaru running towards them. In theory, the workforce that they have right now may not be enough to hold-off the number of, they presume, 30 S-rank criminals but he's putting his faith in his ninjas.
"Shikamaru," he said once the young advisor was beside him, "Divide the ninjas into groups. Each group will be stationed on every possible entry of the village. I'll allow Naruto to join the fray but be sure to station him by the east gate; I have a hunch that, if we put him on the front lines, he'll rush to them, head-on, and blast them with Rasengan. Instruct him of what he needs to do. If we can capture at least three of them – including Miho – that we can interrogate, that would be good but the lives of our ninjas are more important. If it's a life and death situation, then proceed to kill."
"Right away, Hokage-sama," Shikamaru nodded and immediately moved to carry out the instructions given to him.
"Kakashi-sensei!" a familiar voice called out. He turned his head and saw the blond man making his way to where the Hokage stood.
Naruto glanced at the assembly, "What's going on?" he asked simply.
Kakashi glanced at Ibiki for a fleeting moment, "We spotted an evidence of an explosion about three kilometers from our walls and we think it was caused by the group of the rouge ninjas that we're hunting."
Naruto's blue eyes widened and he began to look around, "Where's Yamato-taichou? Sai and Ko? The others?"
Ibiki anwered, "He's not answering any of our calls, his number now unable to reach and we presume that he's dead due to the explosion."
Naruto's face contorted in anger and his hands clenched into fists by his side, "I don't care what you say, Kakashi-sensei, but I'm going to join the fight!"
"Good," Kakashi replied in agreement, "Because, right now, we need all the hands that we can gather. We'll meet them here, right outside the village and you will follow Shikamaru as to what group he will put you. Hinata knows basic medical ninjutsu, am I correct? Then send her to the hospital. They need all the hands who can help, as well."
For a moment, Naruto looked stunned by the Hokage's statement, as if he expected Kakashi to argue and forbid him from fighting. Sighing, Kakashi put a hand on the younger man's shoulder, and he can't help but wonder: When did he get so tall?
"You take care of yourself out there, Naruto. Hinata will be waiting for you," Kakashi told him fondly. Naruto blinked, obviously startled with the fatherly gesture that he initiated. The blond then nodded and gave him a confident grin, the one that Kakashi was all too familiar with.
"Trust me, Kakashi-sensei!" he exclaimed and he turned around to join Shikamaru.
"He grew up so fast, didn't he?" Ibiki commented beside him.
Kakashi nodded, a fond smile behind his mask, "He certainly did. Now, he's –!"
"Medic!" someone shouted from the gate, interrupting his statement. The two of them ran towards the commotion pushed the shinobi out of the way. There, Tenzo was being guided by one of the Inuzuka Jounin, as he was obviously unconscious. He had severe burns on his arms, legs and some parts of his face, his forehead protector was missing and his vest was charred in places. Behind him, Sai and Ko were being carried by one of the Akimichi in an enlarged hand, both of them also had severe burns. Along with then are the other members of the search team, including the Yuki ninjas. But Miho was missing.
"Take them to the hospital, now!" he ordered, "The others, stay here. Especially the Yuki shinobi."
The Inuzuka and Akimichi immediately heed his orders, quickly but carefully maneuvering their comrades. Kakashi shifted his attention to the Yuki shinobi, Daisuke and Setsuko, pinning them under his cold stare.
"Where's Sota Miho?" he asked, his voice cold and stern. The two of them visibly flinched under his intense gaze.
"W-we don't know, Hokage-sama, we swear! He just ran off and Yamato-san, Sai and Ko followed him and we were all shocked when there's an explosion from the direction that they ran in!" Setsuko explained hastily, her voice quivering. Kakashi looked at the others, silently asking for their confirmation.
"It's true, Hokage-sama," Hoheto answered, "We were taking a break and Miho suddenly broke away from our camp. These two tried to call him back but he wouldn't listen and Yamato, Sai and Ko pursued him. It was not long before the explosion happened."
The Hokage nodded in understanding. However…
"Believe us, Hokage-sama!" Setsuko interjected, voice pleading and eyes shining with unshed tears as she knelt on the ground in front of Kakashi, "We had nothing to do with it! Whatever actions Miho took, we, and the Land of Snow, had no knowledge of it!"
He studied at the woman in front of him with a cool visage. Even if she's telling the truth, Kakashi wouldn't allow himself to let his guard down again. He already made that mistake by trusting Miho; he's sure as hell wouldn't do the same mistake again. He turned to Ibiki.
"Take these two into custody," he instructed firmly, "Apprehend the other two who's still inside the village. We'll interrogate them thoroughly once this is over."
The Jounin nodded and took some of his subordinates to quickly carry out the Hokage's orders. The two Yuki ninjas were restrained with handcuffs behind their backs, which they didn't resist, and proceeded to bring them to the Interrogation Corps building. Ibiki instructed the others to arrest the other two, who was apparently staying at their assigned house. Once this is over, Kakashi will personally question these shinobi.
Shizune watched with concern as Yamato began to stir, his eyes slowly opening to the harsh light of the Emergency Room. She had just finished treating the burns on his face and was about to start with the ones on his arms. Beside his bed and separated with a white curtain was Sai, who was being treated by Sakura while Hyūga Ko was being handled by one of the medics. Sai's burns were far worse than his other two companions; he must've been running ahead of the two them and had taken the brunt of the explosion and sustaining second-degree burns on some parts of his face, neck, entire torso and both arms. Once he woke up, Sakura had to sedate him since Sai began to writhe and cry out in pain. Sai was already asleep when Yamato opened his eyes.
"How's Sai and Ko? My entire team?" Yamato croaked, his voice weak and his breathing had turned into small pants of pain.
Shizune moved to treat his arms, hands glowing with iryo chakra and answered his question without breaking concentration, "Sai and Ko are being treated right now. Akimichi Maruten and Inuzuka Hana brought you here and they both seemed fine. The rest of your team hadn't come yet, so I'd assume that they're doing fine. Don't worry about them."
Yamato's fingers twitched and he hissed, obviously surprised with the pain that shot up from the small movement.
"Careful," Shizune warned as her hands hovered over the burns on his forearms, "Please try to keep still, Yamato-san. I know you're uncomfortable right now but your movements must be limited until I'm finished treating you."
The Jounin nodded, "I know, I know, sorry. But I had to report something to Hokage-sama."
Shizune hummed, unfazed, as she continued her job, "I'll make sure to pass the message along. What is it?"
"Sota Miho," he gasped as he tried to move again, "Miho's part of the rogue group, I'm sure of it. Ko and Sai were a witness to it."
Shizune chanced a glance to the man's face before turning back to the man's hand, "Elaborate, Yamato-san."
Yamato grimaced, "Miho broke rank and went into the forest. The three of us went after him and he didn't stop until he met someone. Ko said that the person was wearing a blank mask and a white cloak. They're part of the rogue group, I'm sure of it!"
Yamato fell back on the pillow, as if the explanation had exhausted him. Shizune moved on to treat his leg.
"What about Setsuko and Daisuke?" she asked.
Yamato paused for a moment and Shizune patiently waited, watching the skin close up underneath her fingers.
"No," he finally answered, "They might be suspicious but I'm pretty sure they're not part of Miho's scheme. They tried to call after him when he ran away but he didn't listen."
Shizune nodded and moved to start treating Yamato's right side.
"Hoheto was here earlier," Shizune began to explain, "He had to be here for a while to check on Ko. He said that he already reported what happened in the forest to Hokage-sama. Setsuko and Daisuke, however, had to be taken into custody."
Yamato sighed in relief and closed his eyes, "That's good."
Shizune let a smile small grace her lips, "So stop fretting here, Yamato-san. I'm sure they can handle what's coming."
Yamato smile, albeit with a hint of pain and tiredness.
Though she managed to sound cheerful, Shizune still couldn't shake away the feeling of worry that's rearing its head in her brain.
Kakashi stared ahead, his eyes focused on the horizon as the sun slowly started its descent. They will soon be covered in darkness and he knew all to well the risks of having a fight at night. He tensed, fingers clenching into fists as his eyes started to dart around the wide expanse of outside the main gate of the village. For the first time, he began to loathe the trees surrounding the Konoha; it provides their enemies the perfect hiding place for a sneak attack, especially once night fell.
"Close?" he whispered to the Hyūga beside him.
"10 meters from the west. Seven of them heading in this direction," he replied readily, his Byakugan activated as he followed the movements.
Kakashi nodded, "Alright. Everyone, get ready for combat."
They all nodded grimly. He was given a team of nine ninjas: three ANBUs, two Jounins and four Chuunins. They're number might be concerning but they are skilled shinobi and they're veterans from the Fourth Great Ninja War – Kakashi can personally vouch for their abilities in combat.
"3 meters," the Hyūga said again. Kakashi turned his attention to their left. He squinted his eyes and saw movement from the patch of trees.
"2 meters."
Kakashi reached for his pouch and pulled a kunai out, his fingers tight around the handle as, one by one, cloaked figures wearing masks began to emerge from the forest. Kakashi tensed, bringing his kunai up in a defensive position in front of him. The apparent leader spoke, his voice somewhat muffled by the mask.
"Good evening, Hokage-sama. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."