Goodbyes:

"Wake up…"

"Kakashi, wake up."

Gai watched as his friend slowly arose from his deep slumber, grunting lightly and shifting his arm, which was wrapped tightly around a body pillow placed on his side.

"Huh?" he breathed out groggily, the ventilator making his confused noise sound like more of an indiscernible huff. Gai put a hand to his angular shoulder, rubbing it as he encouraged him to wake up—the man's eyes were fluttering in response to the stimuli, but never fully opening, probably due to how heavily drugged he was.

Although Gai would've usually let him stay asleep, he had to wake Kakashi up at that moment, as Tsunade needed to perform a chakra transfusion on him, and try to heal his chakra pathways as much as she could before the surgery.

"Kakashi," he tried again in a soft voice, placing his other hand on the Hatake's forehead, and tenderly brushing back his silver bangs, "I need you to wake up now…"

Kakashi grunted, closing his eyes and attempting to go back to sleep. He was just too tired.

On Gai's right, Lady Tsunade was setting up a seemingly complicated machine, which was composed of three different cylinders, the middle one being a centrifuge that had the function of separating his white chakra from blue.

"It's okay, Gai, he can take his time. He's on some strong sedatives right now," the hokage told him, her attention focused on adjusting the equipment to the left of the bed.

The man nodded glumly, a frown set on his tired visage at how dissociated and incoherent the copy nin seemed—it was as if he wasn't there anymore, especially since he could no longer even talk.

"Kakashi?" he tried again, continuing to brush his hair back.

This time, the Hatake's eyes opened completely, flitting around nervously as he took in his surroundings. Every time he woke up and realized he wasn't home, he was bombarded with a cold, crippling fear, hoping that it was all some kind of fever dream.

"Is he okay to do this, Lady Tsunade?" Gai asked tentatively, turning to face her, "He still has a fever, so isn't that a risk? I-I don't know, couldn't this be really dangerous for him?"

Tsunade sighed, glancing at the monitor and finding that his temperature was still 101 degrees, despite the fever reducers they'd been giving him. His fever was persistent, coming back several times after breaking.

"Well, there are risks…that's why we're not going to be draining all his chakra at once. He'll definitely be uncomfortable and immensely fatigued, but it's still important that we do this, so that we can cut off the supply of white chakra that his tumors are consuming."

Kakashi watched them with a furrowed brow, grabbing Gai's wrist and giving him an intent look once he had his attention, as if to say, "please explain what's happening".

"Kakashi, Lady Tsunade is doing a chakra centrifugation. Do you remember? She told you yesterday," he said gently, leaning forward intently and understanding the confused look on his gaunt face almost immediately.

Why did Kakashi not remember?

The man shook his head slightly, his eyes narrowing as he realized that he couldn't recall much of anything. Everything was a tantalizing blur.

"I'm going to start now, Kakashi," Tsunade told him acutely, coming forward with a needle attached to a tube. Ignoring how he was grasping Gai's wrist, she rubbed an alcohol swab on the space inside of his elbow and pushed the needle into his arm, almost wincing at how his arm jerked away from her touch.

Kakashi watched as she secured the tube with a piece of medical tape and moved to turn on the equipment that connected to it. A stream of thick blue liquid began to feed into the channel and fill up the first cylinder, creating an odd suction pressure at his elbow pit.

"After the chakra goes into this first container, it'll feed into the centrifuge, which will displace the white chakra and send it into another cylinder," The hokage started slowly, "Then, the filtered blue chakra will simultaneously go into a different container and back into your body, reducing your overall concentration of white chakra, which makes up about 30% of your chakra reserves."

"Throughout the procedure, this screen will display the concentration and levels of the chakra in your body, so that we know when to stop...You may feel notably fatigued afterward, and quite possibly during as well."

He blinked in understanding, wondering if she'd come up with the mechanism herself—It was honestly quite impressive. Despite his recognition of her talent, Kakashi soon began to feel as if his energy was being drained from him, his skin becoming hot and flushed as his body dealt with the growing lack of chakra.

Moaning quietly in discomfort, he tightened his grasp on Gai's hand without really realizing that he was still holding it, his visage covered in little beads of perspiration. He shut his eyes tightly, a searing pain beginning to accompany the pressure near the site of the needle. Writhing on the bed, he tried to deal with the vehement sensation as best as he could, producing tiny sniveling noises that proved just how out of character his behavior was.

"Kakashi?" Gai began with a worried look on his face, cupping his face with his free hand to try and get him to turn back towards him, "It's okay, my rival. It's okay, almost done."

He glanced back at the machine, his eyes widening when he saw how the white chakra was slowly splattering into a separate container, having a strange, thick glue-like consistency to it. So this was what was killing Kakashi.

The screen on the monitor read that his chakra was now composed of only 25% of the white substance. Though it made Gai happy that the procedure was working, he wondered how much longer it would take, because Kakashi was clearly suffering, and he'd just lied to him that they were almost done.

The Hatake shook his head with a pained grunt, his cheeks flushing, and his whole body beginning to quiver violently. Grabbing the tube that was going down his throat, he began to tug on it, feeling as if he couldn't breathe properly. Kakashi needed it off—the pain combined with the anxiety of the ventilator had sent him into a panic, exacerbating his already present nervousness to a point where he simply felt like he couldn't handle it anymore.

He yanked on it a little harder this time, gagging at the choking sensation he was experiencing as a result of the tube rising up his windpipe.

"Stop, Kakashi," Tsunade said sternly, immediately coming forward and pulling his hand away from his throat. He struggled against her hold, crying out unintelligibly. His heart began to race and tears started to well in his eyes. This was too much for him to handle.

Kakashi turned his wide-eyed gaze to Gai, who looked immensely worried at his strange behavior. Since he couldn't speak, he urged his friend to understand him through just his stare, gripping his wrist so tightly that it was sure to bruise later. His arm was trembling violently, as were his shoulders, and he had a strained, desperate look on his face.

Please, Gai, make it stop…I've had enough…

Gai just looked back at him sorrowfully, knowing that there was nothing he could do. His heart clenched at the feeling that he was personally inflicting pain on his friend.

He let go of the man's wrist when he realized that he wasn't going to do anything, immediately going back for the suffocating tube in his throat, and pulling on it with a dangerous amount of force. Gagging at the painful sensation, he continued to tug on it, feeling the tube's sides scratching the inside of his throat.

Tsunade tore his hand away from his mouth, shocked at his sudden act of defiance. It wasn't hard to get him to stop, and he barely fought her—he didn't have the strength, especially since his chakra was literally being drained from his body.

Kakashi coughed harshly, the dislodged tube at an awkward position in his throat. He felt wetness gather at the corners of his mouth as he hacked, the pain in his throat causing his eyes to water.

"Lady Tsunade, can you please take the tube out?" Gai started hesitantly, feeling that his friend just needed to breathe, "It seems like it's halfway out anyway..."

"No, Gai…" Tsunade began, already moving to put it back in place, "He needs it."

He grabbed her arm suddenly, making her look back at him in shock.

"He's having his surgery tomorrow anyway, i-it doesn't even matter! Please…just take it out!"

"Absolutely not, Gai! Kakashi can't breathe on his own right now! Do you want him to—"

"I don't care," he interrupted, "You can put it back in later if that's really what you think you need to do, but right now, he needs to breathe! He deserves that simple right- how can you not see that he's suffocating?"

Staring at him dangerously, Tsunade sighed and turned her attention to Kakashi completely, grasping his chin and carefully pulling out the endotracheal tube. The Hatake's eyes widened in pain, his hand moving to grasp the side of the bed.

Once she pulled it out completely, he gasped loudly, his breaths heavy and fast. Though he was coughing and gagging in response to the pain, and his throat was scratchy and swollen, he still felt deeply relieved to be able to control his respiration on his own.

Kakashi relaxed backward with a hand on his burning throat, glancing at Gai, who was looking at him intently, with concern practically leaking out of his pores.

"Thank you," he rasped quietly, putting a hand on Gai's arm, and giving him a genuinely grateful look.

Kakashi realized at that moment that Gai was probably his closest friend—Now that he thought about it, it was quite ironic that the eccentric, annoying child, who'd stalked him and relentlessly begged to compete with him, was now the one person who knew him the best.

Without Gai, Kakashi didn't know what he would've done.

Kakashi groggily opened his eyes, looking around blearily and finding that he was alone, and that it was dark outside. He must've passed out at some point during his chakra filtration procedure, because Gai was no longer by his side.

He slowly sat up in bed, feeling more fatigued than usual, probably as a consequence of 30% of his chakra being drained from his body. Even if it was defective chakra, it was still chakra, and losing it still made a notable difference in his energy levels.

Hunching forward with a sigh, he rubbed his face to try and make himself more awake, feeling as if he wasn't fully present—his head was spinning, and everything around him was blurry and dim, fuzzy around the edges.

In addition to that, for once, he had to admit that he felt profoundly lonely, something he didn't usually have a problem with. Perhaps he'd gotten used to Gai's near constant presence, or maybe he was just anxious that they were operating on him tomorrow, and needed some reassurance. Either way, he wanted someone by his side.

It was strange to think that if things went south, this could be his last night alive. Kakashi hadn't really planned what to do, or what to give away, rather, in the event of his death. He didn't really have much, besides his sharingan, which was going with him to the grave, and his dogs that were passed down to him by his dad.

If he had to think about it, Kakashi figured that he would hand them off to Naruto— the kid had always been his favorite, if he was being completely honest. His passionate, stubborn attitude was refreshing, and reminded him of Obito.

Speaking of giving his dogs away, Kakashi definitely wanted to see Pakkun one last time.

Smiling sadly, he bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood, and quickly made the hand signs to summon him, slapping his trembling palms onto the mattress, and watching as a familiar circular pattern etched itself onto the soft surface. He immediately felt a notable drop in his already low chakra levels, groaning lightly at the acute lightheadedness he felt, and leaning back as the blood drained from his face.

Tsunade had told him not to use any of his chakra after the procedure, but Kakashi couldn't care less—to him, it was worth it.

Within a few moments, the brown pug appeared with a small popping sound, looking around and sniffing his surroundings to understand where he was. Pakkun immediately smelled the overwhelming antiseptic and caught sight of Kakashi, who was leaning back into his pillows with a half-lidded gaze, his shoulders rising up and down with his visibly labored breathing.

"Hey…Pakkun," Kakashi said weakly, his voice sounding pained and hoarse from the recent trauma his throat had suffered. It hurt to speak.

"Kakashi?" Pakkun replied with a demanding tone, jumping up onto his heaving chest, and placing his paws on his bony shoulders, giving him a stern look, "Where have you been? Why do you look even worse?"

The dog sniffed him relentlessly, taking note of his deep, reddish-purple eyebags, and the unignorable gray, ashen tone of his skin. In addition to that, due to his sensitive ears, Pakkun was actually able to hear the wetness in Kakashi's chest, and the bubbling wheezing sounds his lungs made every time he tried to inhale—the man's breathing sounded truly worrisome, so much so that Pakkun wasn't even angry that he had been kept out of the loop.

When the pug didn't get a response, he looked up to see that the Hatake had nodded off, with his eyes shut, and his head tilting loosely to the side. Pakkun's furry brow wrinkled in concern, and he brought his face closer to Kakashi's, his nose twitching. He wasn't used to seeing him in such a tired state—the copy nin definitely looked much more unwell than before.

"Kakashi?" the dog started confusedly, "Oi, Boss! Are you dead? Wake up!"

His eyes narrowed when there was no movement from the man, and he felt inclined to bite him to elicit a response. Although he would've in any other circumstance, he didn't want to make Kakashi go through any more pain, so he decided upon vigorously licking the visible portion of his face.

Kakashi groaned in annoyance, his eyes fluttering open.

"Pakkun…'s my only…clean mask," he mumbled exhaustedly, barely hanging on to consciousness. Using his chakra definitely hadn't been the best idea.

Shivering acutely with a weary sigh, he brought his thin arms up to his face and shakily pulled pakkun off of him, setting him down on his lap, and hardly noticing how worried he looked.

He attempted to inhale deeply, but his breath ended up catching on the phlegm at the back of his throat, causing him to hunch forward and cover his mouth as he was afflicted by a series of wet, raucous coughs.

He held one finger up to tell Pakkun he was almost done and that he was okay, even though his other body language betrayed him. His brows were furrowed deeply, a hand clutching the cloth covering his aching chest as he gasped for a proper breath.

Pakkun whimpered at the alarming sight, his small body moving involuntarily in Kakashi's lap with each violent expulsion of air. Shifting his paws toward the door, the pug glanced behind himself and wondered if he needed to get someone to help the man. However, before he could, the Hatake's coughing ceased, and he fell back against the pillows, a sheen of sweat coating his forehead and staining the front of his shirt.

Kakashi clumsily reached for the oxygen mask beside him and brought it up to his face, tightly closing his eyes and taking in shaky, deep breaths of fresh air. It felt as if the incident had pushed all of the remaining oxygen out of his lungs.

He stayed like that for a few moments, just focusing on breathing, before realizing that he'd completely forgotten that Pakkun was there. Quickly opening his eyes, he found that the dog was observing him curiously, a pitiful, almost fearful look in his wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, Pakkun…I'll be fine," he told him with guilt lining his scratchy, muffled voice, "I'm sorry…"

Shaking his head, Pakkun hopped onto the space on the mattress beside him, coming to terms with the fact that Kakashi was dying, just like he'd said he was the last time they had met. When he'd seen the Hatake several weeks ago, he'd said that he had only one or two months left, which meant that now, his time was practically up.

"No, Boss…Don't apologize when you didn't do anything wrong. You never do that, and you shouldn't start now," Pakkun said gruffly, looking up at him and finding that he was fighting sleep.

His red-rimmed eyes were drifting shut, but then snapping right back open, as if he was purposely trying to hang on to his consciousness.

"It's okay, Kakashi, you can go to sleep," the pug reassured him when he didn't get a response.

"Hmm…thanks…Pakkun."

The nin ken dug his teeth into the blankets and pulled them up over Kakashi's trembling form, wondering if the man was cold. Sighing in some semblance of contentment, the Hatake shifted into his side and let his burning eyes close, almost immediately feeling better.

"Wait…I have to tell you something," Kakashi mumbled suddenly after a few moments of silence, his eyes still closed, "I'm about to go into surgery tomorrow, and…if i don't make it…I want you to be Naruto's nin-ken."

Pakkun blinked repeatedly, a scowl forming in his face. "Seriously? That brat?! No…He's too annoying, Kakashi."

Kakashi smiled wistfully, a tired chuckle escaping his lips. "He…definitely is. But you'll warm up to him."

With that, he let himself doze off, his smile fading, and his breathing becoming soft and steady.

Pakkun stared at his sleeping form in silence for a few seconds, before deciding to curl up underneath his limp, lanky arm, carefully avoiding the IV needle that was attached to his hand.

The two of them slept peacefully through the night, both of them glad that they were able to see each other one last time.

At that moment, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were anxiously waiting on one of the many benches that were recessed against the walls adjacent to the OR doors, quiet as they dealt with the stress that Kakashi's impending operation brought them.

Although Naruto and Sakura shared a more similar, openly fearful sentiment, that blatantly showed on their facial expressions, Sasuke was careful to disguise his own feelings, which he didn't completely understand—he wore a blank, cold look that didn't do justice to his inner turmoil.

He had mixed feelings about the surgery; on one hand, he hoped, like everyone else, that the procedure would somehow cure his former sensei and allow him another chance at life. However, a more realistic part of him knew that it probably wouldn't work, and he felt as if Kakashi should've been granted the opportunity to die in whichever way he wanted to.

Sasuke knew that if Kakashi was given the choice, he wouldn't want to go through with any treatment—that much was fairly obvious.

Across from Team 7, Gai, Kurenai and Asuma were waiting as well, sharing a similar, somber demeanor. Kurenai was resting her head on Asuma's shoulder with a glazed, tired look in her eyes, while the Sarutobi himself was sitting upright with a steely, rigid stare that was focused ahead of him. Gai was hunched forward, his hands clasped together, and his thick brows deeply furrowed.

A gurney began to approach and make its way down the hallway, being pushed by Tsunade, Shizune and another nurse, who'd probably helped to prep Kakashi for the surgery. The sight quickly got their attention, and they collectively looked up, their gazes searching for him.

As it came closer, they all stood up and began to walk toward it, catching sight of the Hatake, who was staring intently at the ceiling, and wearing a blue, paper thin hospital gown. A medical mask was strapped onto his face, and a generous section of his hair had been shaved off, covered with a surgical cap.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said with a solemn quietness to his tone, stepping forward and grasping the side of the bed, which had come to a halt.

The others followed suit, gathering around him and practically overwhelming him with their collective air of concern.

The man looked at them with a feeling of appreciation welling up in his chest and clouding his rampant fear—he could sense that they all seriously cared for him, and shared a common desire to see him live. Although he was deeply anxious and almost resentful at the fact that he was being operated on, he was grateful to have so many genuine comrades surrounding him, showing up for him when he needed them most.

He never thought that so many people would want to see him alive.

"You guys…" Kakashi croaked, his throat burning from the recent trauma that being on a ventilator had inflicted on him, "You came."

"Of course we did, sensei," Sakura told him with a watery smile, placing her hand atop his, feeling relieved to actually hear his voice.

"Thank you…"

"Kakashi…" Gai said suddenly, sniffling back the tears, "Y-you have to come out of this alive, okay?! I can't lose you…you're my best friend!"

His eyes were watery and his brows were deeply furrowed in pain as he looked at his friend, who was staring back at him with an empathetic gaze.

"Thank you, Gai…for everything," Kakashi began softly, placing a hand over the man's trembling ones, "You're my closest friend, too. The best one I could ever ask for."

Gai sobbed with a smile on his face, squeezing Kakashi's hand as tears openly streamed down his cheeks. He knew that it was possible that he wouldn't see Kakashi again after the surgery, and for the life of him, he couldn't cope with it. It broke his heart that his favorite person had only a 35% chance of survival.

Even so, he wiped the wetness on his face and gave him a tight smile that did a bad job of hiding his inner feelings.

"Sensei…" Naruto began shakily, "I'm sorry for those things I said the other day…I didn't mean to be so harsh. I just…want you to keep being our sensei."

The Uzumaki blinked rapidly and wiped his burning eyes, sniffling violently.

"It's okay, Naruto. Sometimes people need to be harsh to knock some sense into their comrades," Kakashi told him weakly, the corners of his lips rising behind his mask as he gave him a small smile.

At that, Naruto came forward and abruptly wrapped his arms around Kakashi, squeezing him tightly, and making a mental note to always remember him, and especially his ninja way.

"You're a splendid shinobi…and you'll make a fine hokage one day," Kakashi whispered genuinely with pride swelling in his chest, patting his back, and feeling truly confident that his student was going to achieve great things.

It was almost as if he was telling Obito that he was going to succeed, despite his struggles in training. Kakashi was sure that if Obito had lived, he certainly would've become the hokage—And If Naruto was anything like him, which he was, then he had a good chance, too.

Naruto pulled away and nodded fervently, squinting his teary eyes and wiping the boogers under his nose.

Thank you for believing in me, Kakashi-sensei. I'll never abandon my comrades, just like you taught us.

"S-Sensei…" Sakura spoke solemnly, pursing her lips and inching closer, "You're the best teacher I could have ever asked for…please make it out of there alive. We need you."

She moved to hug him, a lone tear running down her cheek. Her chest heaved with a withheld sob, and she pulled back abruptly, gulping down the painful lump in her throat, because she knew if she started to cry, she wouldn't be able to stop.

Kakashi closed his eyes into small crescents and placed his hand on top of her head, playfully ruffling her short, pink hair, and choosing to take no notice of the pain in her eyes. It was hard for him to fathom that he might not be able to ever see his students again, however he made sure that his heartache was entirely hidden.

Sasuke stared at him from behind Sakura, blinking uncomfortably, and then coming forward with a deep sigh, his arms crossed. Kakashi caught sight of him moving closer, and gave him a small smile, knowing that things like this were never Sasuke's strong suit. He knew the Uchiha probably didn't know how to act at all, however, he could still see the smallest bit of worry shining through his onyx gaze.

"Good luck, Kakashi," he said finally, stuffing his hands into his pockets, a slight crease becoming apparent between his brows. It was hard for him to admit it, but he too didn't like to see his sensei in such a fragile state; he wanted the man to survive the surgery, just like everyone else. But he was scared that it wasn't likely anymore.

Kakashi gave him a firm nod in response, as if to say thank you.

The three students gazed at the copy nin with fearful, anxiety-ridden looks, their worry almost palpable as they thought about what hand he would be dealt by fate. There was no way they could predict what would happen, so all they could do was wait, all the while knowing that they also needed to prepare for the worst and say their goodbyes.

"Ok guys, wrap it up, we have to get going," Tsunade told them swiftly, checking her watch for the time. Although she knew it was important that they all send him off, she couldn't help but feel intensely stressed at the gravity of the surgery she was about to perform.

Kurenai nodded, placing both of her hands over Kakashi's and tightly grasping his fingers. "Don't be scared, Kakashi… I know in my heart that you'll be okay."

She let go of his hand and bent down to give him a kiss on the forehead, wiping a stray tear away from her face as she pulled back. The truth was that she didn't know anything, and her words were empty and embellished with positivity.

Latching onto Asuma's arm, the kunoichi rested her head on his shoulder, her visage painted with a sadness and dread that betrayed her words of encouragement.

"You better make it out of there alive, Hatake," Asuma started gruffly, unable to look into Kakashi's eyes, "I'll be mad if you don't."

"I see you're dating now," Kakashi mumbled bluntly upon eyeing their subtle PDA, making Asuma blush furiously, "You guys look good together."

Before the pair could respond, their mouths parted in shock at how he'd called them out, Tsunade began to roll the gurney towards the OR, gulping deeply to counter the anxiety that was rising up her throat.

Shifting his gaze from the lights passing him by on the ceiling, Kakashi glanced behind the doctors and caught sight of Gai, who was giving him a teary thumbs up with a grin that went from ear to ear. Chuckling underneath his oxygen mask, the Hatake felt quite happy to see his familiar smile at that moment, for what could possibly be the last time ever.

He'd never really believed in the afterlife, or being able to peer down on the living, so he supposed that he'd basically just spoken his final words with his comrades—Kakashi knew that he might not make it, but at that point, he was simply appreciative to have been able to see his students and close friends.

Soon, the gurney was pushed through the doors, and he steadily grew further apart from them, their faces disappearing from his sight and being replaced with the cold interior of the operating room.