The Sushi Restaurant:
Kakashi clumsily tried to unlock the door to his apartment, fumbling with the keys. After several ungraceful attempts, he opened it with a click and staggered in, shutting it loudly behind himself.
He shuffled into his room, ready to lay low for a few hours. Bed, he thought, no questions asked.
After carelessly kicking off his shoes, he heavily flopped onto the mattress, face down, his arm hanging loosely off the side.
The walk home from the BBQ restaurant had tired him—scratch that—completely drained him. He didn't like it one bit; Kakashi hated that the meager journey to his apartment had exhausted him of most of his energy.
How pathetic...
To be fair, his headache from the morning never really had gone away, and had only worsened with time, so it made sense that he was so tired. However, even if it was reasonable, for Kakashi, his lack of strength that day was simply unacceptable.
Saying that he felt terrible would be an understatement; the pain that he was feeling at that moment was making him absolutely miserable. His current headache made all the other ones seem like a joke.
Kakashi tossed and turned on his bed, desperately trying to quench the excruciating fire within his skull. Completely forgetting that he shouldn't move too suddenly, he abruptly sat up, squinting his eyes in an effort to clear the blurring of his vision. This was not like the previous headaches he'd experienced, he knew that much.
He couldn't hear anything but a dull ringing, and the sound of blood roaring through his ears. In addition, he felt himself gasping and wheezing every time a sharp throb drilled even further into his head.
Kakashi didn't know what had triggered it. It could've been the walk home, to his utter chagrin. Or the fact that he'd actually socialized that day instead of immediately heading back to his apartment. Whatever it was, he knew it was just far too much for him to handle. He wished that he could have at least one normal day, without constantly being reminded of his persistent ailments.
Why is this happening to me?
With a muted groan, he pulled his mask down and regurgitated the heavy meal that he'd consumed earlier all over his covers, the urge to vomit too sudden for him to even scoot to the trash can by his bedside. After finishing, he cleared his throat and numbly pushed his disgusting, shuriken-patterned covers to the floor, his eyes watery with involuntary tears.
In the past few weeks, he had learned to shove the inevitable pain to the deepest parts of his subconscious, even when it gradually got more and more intense. But this—he just couldn't bear it for any longer than he already had.
He would die before he could even consider it as a normal part of his everyday life.
"I can't…do this…anymore…" Kakashi mumbled through labored breaths, his narrowed eyes focusing on his tremulous hands.
Whatever this was, it hadn't been showing any signs of going away at all. If anything, it had been getting much worse.
"I can't fight a genin…I can't eat a meal without bringing it back up…I can't even take a simple walk home without feeling exhausted…" he whispered darkly, deeply ashamed. It felt like he was losing an important aspect of himself, and he didn't know what to do.
"What the hell is wrong with me?!"
Kakashi slammed a fist into the hard wood of his headboard, creating a visible dent in its texture. The pain coursing up his arm went unnoticed in comparison to the overpowering migraine.
Kurenai, Asuma and Gai sat at a table in the small, but renowned sushi restaurant that they had arranged to meet up at that night. Their dishes and bottles of sake were neatly set out in front of them, but they had yet to put any food onto their empty plates.
They'd planned to start eating when everyone was there, so they were waiting for just one more person: The infamous Kakashi Hatake, who was notorious for always being late.
"There's fashionably late and then there's just plain old Kakashi late," Asuma mumbled under his breath, pulling out a new cigarette to light. Although they had anticipated his tardiness, it was getting slightly annoying after holding back for an hour.
"Shouldn't we go and check on him now? I mean, what if something happened…" Kurenai asked worriedly, imagining all the terrible things that could've occurred.
"Nah, I think he's probably just-"
"It is decided then! I will go and fetch my rival!" Gai declared zealously, abruptly getting up from his seat.
Geez, he didn't even let me finish, Asuma thought, unimpressed.
"We're coming too, then." Kurenai got up from her seat and tugged Asuma up by the wrist, not noticing the faint blush dusting across his tan cheeks at the firm physical contact.
"No, I'll go alone. Someone needs to watch the food," Gai told them without hesitation.
Kurenai nodded in understanding and plopped back into her seat. Glancing around awkwardly, with a pink flush still spread across his cheeks, Asuma cleared his throat and lowered himself back into a sitting position as well.
"Shunshin no jutsu!" Gai made the telltale hand signs and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Gai's sandaled feet tentatively touched the carpet underneath Kakashi's bedroom window. His position in the quaint space provided him with a perfect view of the bed.
To say that he was surprised to find his rival in it so early would be an understatement.
Why are you sleeping, Kakashi? It's only 7:00…And you said you would eat dinner with us!
Gai stepped over the crumpled blanket on the floor with furrowed brows, leaning in over the mattress to get a closer look at his friend.
The man was curled up in his bed in a strange, diagonal position, his knees practically brought up all the way to his chest. His parted lips made a slight indent in his mask with every slow, steady inhale that he took in.
Looking around, Gai caught sight of Kakashi's discarded sandals on the ground, and the way he was only sleeping on a fitted sheet, with no comforter. Sniffing, he caught a slight whiff of something stale and sour in the room, not quite able to tell what the putrid smell was.
Glancing at the comforter on the ground, he wondered what had possessed Kakashi to be so messy—he was usually very neat and meticulous.
rumble, rumble*
Gai placed a hand on his grumbling stomach, momentarily distracted from Kakashi's abnormal behavior. He was famished, and sushi was sounding terribly good at the moment.
I need to get him outta here quickly! I can't wait to eat any longer!
"KAKASHI, GET UP!" Gai shouted with a growing impatience. Kakashi completely ignored him, not even twitching a finger in response. The spandex-clad ninja's face fell in annoyance. How could his rival be so not youthful?
"Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!" Gai gripped one of Kakashi's shoulders and shook him violently, this time eliciting a displeased moan out of him.
"What has gotten into you, my rival?! This is the springtime of our youth! We need to stay up late! See the world! Enjoy food! Smell nice things!" Gai lectured loudly, his mouth right next to Kakashi's ear.
Kakashi curled into himself even further in protest, and gripped his empty stomach, groaning at the pain radiating from it. He'd passed out at some point after returning home, but had begun to gain consciousness around the time that Gai had decided to show up.
"AHHH, GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF—"
"Please...just leave me alone…" Kakashi muttered under his breath, shifting his position on the mattress so that he was facing the other direction. Gai's features scrunched up in frustration; he was vexed at how difficult his friend was being.
Ugh, I'm so hungry!
"If you don't get up now, I'll carry you there!" Gai threatened pointedly, tugging on Kakashi's arm in an attempt to forcefully pull him into a sitting position. Kakashi roughly shoved him away and sat up by himself, angrily squinting at the person who was so obnoxiously invading his personal space.
"What do you want!" he exclaimed in annoyance, rubbing his sleep-crusted eyes. His foggy head was still throbbing dully, even after the long nap, so he really didn't want to deal with Gai, too.
Why's he here? Kakashi thought obliviously, not remembering anything about his earlier conversation with Asuma. He quite literally had other things on his mind.
"You didn't seriously forget, did you? You were supposed to come eat sushi with us!" Gai admonished, his hands on his hips.
"Uh…"
Oh, shit. I forgot.
"Listen, Gai," He continued nervously, deciding to be honest about how he was feeling, "I really don't think I can handle—"
"You're coming!" Kakashi's "rival" grabbed him by the armpits and roughly jerked him into a standing position, ignoring his blatant protests.
"H-hey, wait! At least listen to me!" Kakashi cried out, trying to escape Gai's insanely tight grasp.
"Shunshin no jutsu!"
With one of his arms tightly locked around Kakashi's, Gai teleported them both to the restaurant where their friends were waiting, arriving outside of the place in a cloud of smoke.
Kakashi gasped audibly in response to the body flicker technique, which he'd been avoiding lately, as it almost always created a flare in his ever present headache. He doubled over with a muted groan, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. His breathing was visibly heavier, and he could almost feel the blood from his face draining to his feet.
Gai remained unaware of his predicament, however, as he was solely focused on getting into the restaurant, and not letting his rival escape. With an unintentional death-grip on Kakashi's arm, he flew inside, scanning the room for their table.
"Over here, guys!" Kurenai called out, waving at the two of them. Gai smiled brightly and headed over with Kakashi in tow, ignoring how much he was lagging behind, and how his thin eyebrows were deeply scrunched together, as if he was focusing hard on keeping himself upright.
Gai immediately plopped into a seat, practically drooling at the sight of the sushi. Kakashi slowly slid into an empty chair, gulping down the bile that had rushed up his throat at the fishy smell of the food.
Asuma observed him with a furrowed brow, noticing how alarmingly different he looked from just a few hours ago. His already fair visage was completely washed out, with little trickles of perspiration running down the rim of his nose. His normally poor posture was even worse; he was heavily slumped forward, as if it physically hurt to sit up straight.
All in all, he looked terrible.
Asuma made eye contact with Kurenai and then discreetly glanced back at Kakashi, silently asking her if she noticed how ill he seemed.
The kunoichi followed his line of sight and took in Kakashi's blatant state of indisposition, her lips turning into a deep frown at his distinctive pallor. She noticed how he was looking down at his hands, and kept swallowing, as if he were in danger of puking. There were dark shadows lining his downcast, glossy eyes, and he seemed almost unendurably exhausted.
"Hey, Kakashi…you alright?" she asked with obvious concern in her tone, placing a hand on one of his slumped shoulders. In response, he involuntarily jerked away from her touch, his bloodshot eyes widening, and dazedly locking with hers. Her gaze narrowed in puzzlement at the restrained, almost fearful look that he was giving her, which was brief, but spoke volumes about how he truly felt.
What has happened to you, Kakashi?
"I'm fine," he said numbly, choosing to ignore her scrutinizing stare, his voice gruff and quiet. "Let's eat."
He turned away from Kurenai with a sigh, not bothering to tell her the truth. He wanted to leave, but he doubted that they would let him; it almost felt like he was being held captive. The quicker he encouraged them to start, the earlier he could go back to his apartment.
"Yeah…I'm starving," Asuma admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"We shall eat, then! I must replenish all of my youthful energy!" Gai announced fervidly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Kurenai grinned and courteously served everyone, even though they could do so themselves, piling a generous serving of the different types of sushi onto each of their plates. After saying their thanks, Asuma and Gai immediately tucked into the meal, absolutely ravenous after waiting for so long.
Kakashi grimaced at their famished behavior and averted his eyes, feeling as if the sight of his own food would unleash the nausea that he'd so desperately been trying to contain.
"Why aren't you eating, Kakashi?" Kurenai asked worriedly, noticing how alarmingly distant he was.
She watched him stiffly look up at his meal and pick up a pair of wooden chopsticks. He blanched, his face twisting into a look of pure disgust.
I think I'm going to be…
His chopsticks clattered loudly as they made contact with the table, causing the rest of the jonin to snap their gazes toward him. Kakashi tightly clutched his abdomen with the same shaky hand that had dropped his eating utensils.
"What's wrong?" Asuma demanded sternly, his attention taken away from the plate in front of him. He observed the green tint in Kakashi's visage with a wide look, wondering if the man was going to throw up.
"Are you okay, Kakashi?" Gai said finally, putting down his own chopsticks, and starting to get up, his thick brows scrunching together in deep concern. He felt a burning guilt in his chest for not having realized that his rival was feeling unwell.
The Hatake's lone eye widened as acid rapidly climbed up his throat, his stomach churning relentlessly. He clumsily slid off of his dusty chair and stumbled to the bathroom, the door swinging closed after he bolted through it. Gai and Asuma got up swiftly and chased after him, leaving Kurenai to wonder what the hell was happening.
The two ninja ran into the bathroom, scanning the line of stalls to find Kakashi. The loud sounds of painful retching certainly didn't make it hard.
They found him pitifully hunched over a toilet, his hands clutching its sides so hard that his knuckles had taken on a pasty white color.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were sick?!" Gai exclaimed anxiously, getting onto his knees by his rival's side, and gently beginning to rub circles on his tensed, heaving back. It was quite literally the first time that he'd seen Kakashi vomit, and the sight was extremely disconcerting.
I tried, but you weren't listening… Kakashi thought miserably. He wasn't exactly able to talk at the moment; he was too busy violently spilling his stomach's contents into the porcelain toilet bowl.
Towards the end, instead of the bitter taste that usually overwhelmed his palate when he threw up, his mouth was stricken with a metallic, coppery liquid; one that he recognized too well as a ninja.
After vomiting all that he safely could, Kakashi was left dry heaving, clutching his sore midsection, and gasping in pain every time he gagged. His uncovered eye was wide and watery, and his throat literally felt like it was on fire.
"That's enough. You're done," Asuma uttered, putting a comforting hand on his friend's visibly trembling shoulder. It was obvious that he had nothing to bring up anymore.
Kakashi pulled his mask back on with a breathy groan of discontentment, and slowly brought his bowed head back up, tiredly leaning against the wall that was separating the small space from the other stall.
"Asuma! Look…" Gai cried uneasily, staring into the depths of the toilet. The Sarutobi leaned forward to peer in, his eyes widening considerably when he saw what Gai was gaping at. The vomit in the toilet bowl was mostly translucent, but dyed a slight pink color, and marred with dark, crimson streaks.
"Blood..." Asuma whispered, silently closing the lid and flushing the toilet.
The two riveted their eyes on Kakashi in intense worry, correctly deducing that instead of food, he had brought up blood.
He was still sitting on the ground, with his legs splayed out in front of him, his head leaning loosely against the wall of the stall. His eyelids were shut, and he was unnervingly motionless.
"We need to get him to the hospital," Asuma stated grimly. Gai nodded vigorously, without any hesitation, wholeheartedly agreeing that Kakashi needed some kind of medical attention, and quickly.
"Can you stand, Kakashi?" Gai asked in a panic, practically boring a hole into his unmoving, slumped figure. There was no answer in return.
Frowning deeply, Gai began to gather Kakashi's limp body in his arms, but before he could fully scoop him up, the man opened his eyes with a grunt, blinking repeatedly as he pulled away from his hold.
"I-It's fine…I can walk myself home," Kakashi said dryly, looking intently at his feet as he attempted to bring himself into a standing position. He exhaled deeply, grasping the metal bar next to the toilet paper and leaning on it with all of his weight to push himself up. For some reason, his legs felt numb and heavy, and simply standing seemed to be a dauntingly hard task.
"Are you kidding me, Kakashi? You can't go home!" Gai started in disbelief, wrapping an arm around Kakashi's waist to help him, upon noticing how difficult it was for him to even get up on his own, "You just threw up blood—We're taking you to the hospital!"
"N-no..." Kakashi disagreed nervously once they'd exited the stall, feeling uncomfortable at how Gai was holding onto him so tightly to keep him upright.
The Hatake withdrew his arm from Gai's shoulders and forcibly removed himself from the persistent man's hold, turning his feet so that he was facing both of them.
"I'm fine, guys," he lied, chuckling nervously as he felt his unsteady legs waver below him, his knees buckling momentarily, "There's no need to go to the hospital over a little throw up…"
"Kakashi," Asuma told him firmly, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, "We're going. That's final."
The guy's obviously sick, Asuma thought to himself, crossing his arms, Why doesn't he want to get help?
"Come on, we shouldn't waste any time. This could be serious," The Sarutobi commanded sternly, stepping out of the small bathroom, and holding the door open to let them through.
"I agree, Kakashi..." Gai added hastily when he saw that Kakashi hadn't moved, placing his hands on his hips adamantly, "I feel like something is wrong...It's not safe for you to go home right now."
"No...No...no hospital," he spat out stubbornly, breaking into a light sweat, and unconsciously taking a few steps backwards, until he made rough contact with the wall behind him. He looked at them with a distraught, bleary-eyed gaze, hoping that they would leave him alone, and ignore the fact that he'd just thrown up blood.
Kakashi made intent eye contact with Gai, silently pleading for him to just drop it- he knew that if anyone would understand his intense hate of hospitals, Gai would.
"You don't seem well, please, just come with us!...I'll be by your side the whole time," Gai reassured him gently, then added, with a twinge of curiosity, "How long have you been sick, my rival?"
Failing to respond, Kakashi furrowed his brows in both panic and confusion, feeling his lips going numb underneath his mask. His vision blurred dangerously, until he could barely make out the two men standing in front of him. With a silent, defeated exhale, he felt his wobbly legs give out, and fell forward like a lifeless rag doll, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
"Kakashi!" Gai cried out in a panic, jolting towards him and quickly grabbing a hold of his collapsing body, before he could hit the hard tile. He gathered Kakashi in his arms, and protectively cradled him into his chest, finding that he was surprisingly light.
"Let's go," Asuma prompted, a renewed sense of urgency in his tone.
The two Jonin, along with the unconscious copy ninja, hurried out of the bathroom, rushing to get to the hospital, as the situation abruptly seemed much more serious than before. Gai received many strange looks when he came out with a grown man in his arms, but with one glare from Asuma, everyone went back to eating.
"What the hell? What happened?!" Kurenai exclaimed, shooting out of her seat when they passed by the table. The Kunoichi had been waiting impatiently for them to come out of the bathroom, and when they did, it was with an unconscious Kakashi.
"I'll explain on the way. He needs medical attention," Asuma told her hurriedly, his eyes not leaving the Hatake's prone form.
"O-okay, I'm coming, too!"
The three rushed to the hospital as fast as they could, running through the crowded streets and jumping over rooftops. Their sushi was left cold and forgotten.