Chapter 2-A continuation of the Angst…

(A/N: Hiya…here's chap 2. The 1st part is in Kashi's POV, but somehow it changed to Kiba's…don't ask why…the 2nd longer part is in Shizune's POV…it was really hard to write because she's not a character with a lot of screen time and I've never written her before. Shizune's hard to figure out…but something about her seems to remind me of Kakashi and that's how I came up with the pairing…maybe its their sorrow. Please read and review! Thanks to all who have reviewed so far…responses are at the bottom.)

The next few moments were spent setting traps of all sorts. His nose caught the smell of humans in the wind. Amateurs. That boded well. If the enemy was no more than a pack of Chuunins…maybe he could come out of this alive after all.

But even Chuunins can do damage in great numbers as he found out later. His only comfort was that he was still alive, if barely, while they were all dead. He dragged himself to shelter, determined to get as far away from the site as possible. He was eventually reduced to crawling one-handed as his right foot gave way. He stopped for a moment, panting harshly as black spots overwhelmed his vision. Keep moving.

He listened and continued on, completely unaware of his surroundings. Action kept blood pumping. Action kept him alive. So he kept moving, inching a bloody trail south, toward home. Only sheer luck had maneuvered him the right way.

He lost it eventually, succumbing to seductive darkness. It was luck again that an Inuzuka happened to be on patrol on the south-east post that day. Kiba instantly recognized the silver-hair of Hatake Kakashi, one-time sensei of his batch mates Sakura and Naruto. He dragged the man to safety and sent for a medic.

They were in a lull now. Sound had been pushed back a few hours ago after timely warning from Kurenai and Asuma. Hidden Sound had not expected Hidden Leaf to be waiting in such large force and they had broken rank and scattered, allowing Konoha ninja to search and destroy them one by one. Leaf had dealt a great blow today and Sound had retreated all the way to their own borders to sit and lick their wounds.

So Kiba could afford to take the time to call for aid and make sure the jounin's wounds were staunched. The man was, after all, someone precious to friends of his. And Kurenai-sensei had once told him that Team seven's instructor was one of Konoha's respected warriors. It was only proper then for him to care for the other. Besides, an Inuzuka would never leave an injured comrade to fend for himself. Not even when his entire clan seemed to have some strange grudge against the comrade in question.

Kiba lifted the older man gently onto the loft bed he sometimes used on late nights when he was too lazy after shifts. Gah…the silver-haired jounin was heavier than he looked. Kiba's nose perked at the smell of fear suddenly roiling off the man. He frowned. The other shinobi was sweating heavily and his face was clenched in an unpleasant expression. Shock dreams than. Hah! Who ever said that he never listened to Hinata-chan!

So…what was he supposed to do if the patient was in shock? He drew a blank, Ok…so maybe he should have listened more to his medic friends. Or perhaps he should have at least attended field medicine lessons. Kiba sighed; while he was at it, he probably should not have slept through Iruka-sensei's lessons at the Academy as well. Oh man…why him?

He decided to just settle the man in and return to his duties. Akamaru whined uneasily but Kiba just petted the nin-dog's head. Kakashi-san would be fine…hopefully.

A few hours later….

Shizune glanced bounded over the treetops stealthily. She sighed…ah it felt so good to finally get out of the hospital. Normally, the chief medic would not be risked on a solo mission unaccompanied. But with the recent retreat of Sound, spirits were generally high. And besides, Shizune could handle most shinobi on her own. She smiled maliciously.

Her slim appearance had caused many a ninja to underestimate her. And one should never overlook the apprentice of a Sannin. Especially when the apprentice in question had spent many years tailing the aforementioned Sannin across the world. Yes, her knowledge had come at a huge price. Shizune had had to spend many years away from the only home she had ever known. It's not like there's anything here for you, a voice whispered.

Shizune quailed at the truthfulness of the statement. Konoha had had nothing attaching her to it at that time. In truth, the village still had little that appealed to her. Her family had all given their lives for this village, and while Shizune would no doubt lay her life down for Konoha, her loyalties lay in a different direction. Shizune, you see, had devoted her entire life to Tsunade, the current Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.

Sure, the woman was not without faults. Shizune, more than anybody else, was fully aware of Tsunade's faults. She shuddered at the memory of being constantly on the run for days, attempting to escape from loan sharks. It had been a tiring life but she had had companionship.

Shizune had been glad to return to Konoha, if only for the fact that they could finally stay in the same place. As the years passed by though, Shizune found that she felt slightly stifled by the role of Hokage-sama's assistant. She much preferred working in the hospital to doing administrative work. Occasionally though, she would stare out of the window and feel stirrings of wanderlust. One did not simply go from moving around constantly to suddenly staying in one place for long periods of time. It was disorientating.

Then, there was also the fact that she and Godaime had been growing apart. During their travels together, they had been close, very close. Tsunade-sama had become more than someone she idolized; more than just the fiancée of her dead brother. She had become like family to Shizune. Lately though, Shizune felt disconnected from her. She felt aloof of everything around her. She…She felt…lonely. The woman finally found the word to describe her feelings.

But no…why was she lonely? She had made friends, met kouhai like Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan who were all wonderful people. And she had her pig. She saw other shinobi like Kotetsu and Izumo at the office everyday. It wasn't like she was a recluse, right? Besides, with the war going on, nobody really socialized much…there simply was no time anymore.

Shizune sighed and continued on her way, silently praying that whoever she was supposed to help was still alive.

Kiba lifted a hand in greeting of the medic-nin that had answered his summons. "Hey! Up here!"

Shizune scowled at his greeting. Really! "You! Chuunin! You should be more respectful of your senpai!"

"Huh?" Kiba frowned. What had crawled up this woman's ass and died?

"Ano…the patient is in the loft at the back of the tower…I'll be continuing my duties then. Ja!" He said, showing her the loft before taking his leave briskly. He had no patience to be around such a prickly personality; especially not when he recognized her as the Hokage's assistant.

Shizune glared at his hastily departing form. Such manners! Hmph! She decided to get started. The stupid Inuzuka had not even told her what was wrong with the man she was supposed to treat!

She stepped into the loft irritably and began taking out her instruments calmly. General check-up first then. She walked over to the man and spotted his wounds. Gash to the lower abdomen, inflamed, possibly poisoned wound along his swollen right leg, numerous light cuts and abrasions upon the rest of his body. The man was a mess and his grey pallor indicated that he was suffering the effects of poison. Time to get to work. She focused chakra in her hands first, intent on healing the gash on his abdomen.

There was no sense on letting the man bleed to death while she worked after all. She watched as the wound close itself before binding it with cloth to ward off infection. Shizune closed her eyes as she moved on to the trickier part. Poison was always hard to deal with, no matter the manner of treatment.

Hours trickled by as she worked on him diligently. Eventually, Shizune felt fatigue overcome her; even an experienced medic like her could not hope to heal all of his injuries – not while neutralizing two different types of poisons as well. She stood up to get a glass of water. The rest of it was up to the patient.

Will, more importantly the will to live, was very important in her profession. That was something Shizune had learned long ago. The problem was, many shinobi, for all their death-defying stunts and measures they pulled to complete missions, lacked that will. Many of them felt they were not living truly in the first place. Death was something they knew well. And ninjas were, on the whole, unafraid of death.

Shizune knew many of her comrades would welcome the Grim Reaper with open arms. And she didn't know if she would do otherwise. Eventually, a ninja began to despise herself for the things she had seen and done; eventually, she would lose the will to live; eventually, she would believe she deserved to die.

And it got worse the longer a shinobi lived. Her patient had had grey hair too. And he had a Jounin's patch on his sleeve. Her heart sank. Shizune's eyes blurred for a second as weariness engulfed her. She had gone beyond her limits for the day. All for a man who was going to die.

She shook her head at the realization and sagged down in the chair beside her patient's bed. All that power and effort expanded, for nothing. Just like everything else she did. Sometimes, it was just too much.

She drifted off into sleep slowly. She wished – she wished he would live.

(A/N: ok, had this chapter typed a long time ago…if Shizune seems OOC its because she's really tired and she's in a state where her focus is really narrow…you know…the kind where you pick out tiny details but your brain isn't able to connect them…oh yea…she hasn't realized Kakashi is Kakashi yet…she spends all her time healing…he spend all this time on field…so other than the Naruto connection they don't have anything yet…)

Reviewer Response:

Krows Scared: hee…the plot bunny bit again…thank you for the review! And how can anyone not be a Kashi fan? As for the romance…yeps its high time he had some…but this is my first time even attempting to write romance…so be kind…hahaz…

feifiefofum: Thanks for reviewing! And Kakashi is cool…so I have to write him that way…LoL…and yeps, I type too fast…normally I check stuff over…but most times I just update the moment I finish typing…oops…

Polaris: Thank you! And its not a fic yet…jus crazy bursts of writing…I don't even have a plot mapped out yet…sad, ne?