Jiraiya walked alongside Shizune as they worked down the busy streets to Kakashi's apartment. She had told him that Kakashi had something important to say, which confused, intrigued, and bothered him all at the same time. The kunoichi admitted already that she personally didn't know the topic of their upcoming conversation, so he couldn't exactly harass her for an answer. Hopefully the Hatake hadn't started writing his will, Jiraiya thought.

As they approached the apartment he noticed Shizune's shoulders tense. She turned back to look at him.

"Kakashi's still not feeling well…" she started meekly, twiddling her fingers. "So just be prepared to see some changes in how he looks and talks. Try not to react, because albeit some patients don't show it, they become very self conscious in the… later stages of their cancer."

She met his gaze and he straightened his posture, pondering on the piece of news with furrowed brows and nodding in hesitant acknowledgement of it. It wasn't solely that she thought Kakashi's condition reflected on how well she provided care to him that made her so anxious to have any visitors coming and seeing him; No, it was that she knew every look they gave him, he noticed, and it only ruined his moral, reminding him of a self proclaimed lost past.

Pity saddened him and she could tell.

Breathing deeply, Shizune opened the door to the apartment, holding it so Jiraiya could come in first. The sennin observed the familiar space upon entering it, noticing slight changes- the bowl of leftover pancake batter by the oven, a folded, deep purple blanket that lay on the loveseat like it belonged there, and a simple, yet elegant, white tablecloth that he knew Kakashi wouldn't have ever picked for himself.

It looked lived in for once.

"Um I'm sure you know where…" Shizune started, gesturing towards the direction of Kakashi's room.

"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled, starting towards it.

Upon entering, he saw no one, but noticed the small sliver of light coming from underneath the bathroom door.

He ambled over and knocked. "Kakashi? You in there? It's Jiraiya."

No response. The sennin started knocking more incessantly, getting increasingly worried. When he got nothing but a muffled groan he would never have picked up if he weren't trained to hear the slightest of sounds, he kicked the door open without hesitation.

He saw Kakashi hunched over the sink, gripping the edge so hard his knuckles were white. The Hatake's forehead was beaded with sweat and his arm was wrapped tightly around his abdomen, as if he were in intense pain.

"Kakashi?! What's wrong?" Jiraiya cried out worriedly, rushing to his side. The Hatake, still hunched over, put his hand on the old man's shoulder, chuckling deeply.

"What the fuck is so funny, kid?" he said bemusedly, grabbing Kakashi's arms and pulling him up into standing position, shocked because it had been a good while since he'd heard that laugh.

"Oh nothing," the copy nin replied breathlessly, "My stomach can't handle all this food Shizune's force feeding me. Either that or she's a shitty cook."

He started laughing again. Jiraiya sighed, shaking his head and helping him over to his bed, secretly ecstatic that he was eating again. To his surprise, the young man shrugged away from his touch, silently insisting on making the journey on his own.

"You should be thankful she's taking care of you, Kakashi," Jiraiya started, watching him start to lean back against his pillows with a sigh. He sat down at the foot of the bed.

"It's not everyday you find someone who's willing to do that much."

Kakashi nodded, face returning to its former seriousness. "I owe her a thousand favors for all she's done, I'm well aware. But Master Jiraiya, I called you here for another purpose. I have a favor to ask of you."

He looked up and made deliberate eye contact with the old man.

"What is it?" the sennin questioned curiously, shifting his posture and crossing his arms.

"It's about Naruto...I want you to take him under your wing. Get out of this village, make sure he's safe, and train him to be as good as Minato sensei. It was supposed to be my responsibility, but I can't fulfill it."

Jiraiya listened with astonishment, not having expected such a favor. Had Kakashi really given up on teaching Naruto on his own?

"I know that Yamato is a great teacher, and he can probably keep Sasuke and Sakura under control. But Master Jiraiya, you taught Naruto's father techniques like the rasengan, and I think it would only be right if you teach them to him too."

Jiraiya shook his head.

"Kakashi, you know damn well that Yamato is equipped to handle the nine tails better than most people. He's a fine teacher and there's no need for me to-"

"Please. There are some things that only you can teach him. You may not understand now, but someday you will. Minato-sensei would've wanted this."

He stared at the Hatake incredulously, dumbfounded, not sure whether he really had a choice. Staring at a dying man, a ninja who was half of who he used to be, Jiraiya concluded that he really didn't have a say.

"Fine. But I swear if he shows me attitude, I won't put up with it," he grumbled.

Kakashi's chapped lips curved up into a smile behind his mask.

"That's what I said too."

It was about 6 or 7 in the evening, and instead of staying cooped up in his room, Kakashi walked outside into the rest of his apartment, trudging over to the kitchen where he both saw and smelled Shizune making teriyaki for their dinner.

"Going all out now, are we?" he chuckled, standing right behind her and staring into the pan, a little too close for comfort.

She felt his breath on her ear, hearing the sudden rich, baritone quality of his voice, and her first reaction was to yelp. Her hand, holding onto the side of the wok, went up in self defense. Now, in an actual situation with an actual enemy, such a reflex would be praised, but at that moment, it just sent seasoned snow peas and chicken flying everywhere.

They both stared at each other for a few silent seconds, before Kakashi burst out laughing, his eyes closed in that crescent moon shape, head thrown back.

"I told you not to sneak up on me!" she cried out, completely flushed, bending down and starting to pick up all of the food with her bare hands.

Still chuckling to himself, Kakashi bent down and started helping her. She looked over in bewilderment, not wanting nor expecting the assistance.

"Kakashi, you really shouldn't be stressing your body. In fact you shouldn't even be out of bed!" She told him, her eyes going wide as she looked into his. He sighed, brushing a hand through his unruly, silver hair.

"I'm doing better. I promise," he reassured her, cleaning up the rest of the mess. "Now go put on a coat. We're going out."

She furrowed her brows in confusion, still stuck in the mentality of a caretaker. "What? Why?"

"Maybe because you decided to fling our dinner onto the ground," he replied snidely, the thought nearly sending him into another laughing fit.

Her face turned red as a tomato. "H-hey, that was your fau-"

Kakashi pushed her out of the kitchen. "Go! Get ready."

And so, with a great amount of reluctance from Shizune, they left the apartment together, both donning coats to ward off the sharp cold of the winter night.

Per Kakashi's insistence, they headed towards Ichiraku Ramen. It held great memories for him, and there was also the possibility that he'd see his team there. He had not spoken to them in too long, and that was doing them injustice.

"Two miso ramen with extra pork, please," Kakashi said smoothly, sliding into one of the seats in front of the booth, Shizune right next to him. He looked over at her, wondering why she was quiet, and why she hadn't ordered herself.

"Well, what are you waiting for," he asked, "Are you not going to order?"

She blinked. "Oh I thought you ordered for both...Never mind."

It was both strange and exciting for her that he ordered two servings of ramen for himself; maybe there was a growing hope inside of him for recovery.

Ichiraku glanced at Kakashi, noticing the thinner face, his sunken eyes, the ashen tone of his visage. For a split second, concern flickered through his eyes, but just as quickly it passed. He didn't need to be treating anyone differently.

"That'll be right up!"

Soon enough they got their food. Kakashi dug in, trying his absolute hardest to eat it all. He hoped Shizune was looking and noticing his progress—it was strange, but he wanted her to be proud of him.

He quickly ravished through it, starting his second bowl at a speed even Naruto would have to compete with.

The kunoichi looked over and smiled, but suddenly remembered a hugely important piece of news she had to tell the Hatake. She put down her chopsticks and took a deep breath.

"Kakashi?"

He turned to face her, suddenly noticing the mesmerizing way in which her ebony hair shined in the light. Looking into her eyes to match the contact she was initiating, he found that he couldn't tell whether they were black or grey. Perhaps they were a mixture of both, an icy combination that accurately presented her wisdom and extent of knowledge.

"Kakashi?"

The copy nin looked at the way her lips moved. They were a rosy red without any lipstick, plump and soft.

"Kakashi!"

He shook his head, knocked out of his stupor by the loud noise. "Sorry, what? Zoned out for a bit."

She sighed, shaking her head. "I have something to tell you."

Kakashi sat up a bit straighter, gulping quietly.

"What is it?"

"Well, you had to be taken off the clinical trial, right? Since it quite literally could have taken your life," she started grimly. "Now, you're going about life without any treatment. That isn't sustainable, Kakashi. Before, we couldn't put you on anything, because you weren't strong enough, but now you are. You've made progress."

She gestured toward the two empty bowls as if to prove her point.

"We had a plan B all along, and I'm sure you were well aware of this," Shizune continued, noticing the way his shoulders slouched a little at her words. "To help you survive, we're going to have to put you on Temodar. And before you rule it out, it's a pill, and has a relatively high rate of working with limited side effects. I can guarantee that. The clinical trial was a stretch for your body but this isn't."

She stared at him, waiting for a response. He seemed to be staring into space, thinking hard.

"What do you think I should do?" Kakashi questioned finally with a shaky exhale, watching the cold fog escape from his mouth.

Shizune shifted in her seat, surprised that he was actually consulting her. "I think you should do it."

"Then I will."

Kakashi lay drenched in sweat, his stomach churning, lips turned down in discomfort. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to eat not one, but two bowls of ramen. What made it worse was that he was due to start temodar before bed—Shizune was going to come in and give it to him, and he really didn't want her to notice his obvious state of sickness.

He cursed under his breath, really questioning what demon had persuaded him to eat that much when his stomach was still sensitive to even normal amounts of food. Oh, right. He wanted to impress Shizune.

But why?

Suddenly, he felt hot bile rising up his throat and quickly got up, stumbling to the bathroom and clumsily opening the door. Without warning, he violently emptied his stomach, thankfully having enough time to kneel down over the toilet. His knees buckled, and his legs splayed on the floor clumsily.

As all the energy drained out of him and into the toilet, he felt cool hands pull his hair out of his face, one of them rubbing his back soothingly. He hadn't even heard anyone come in.

"Shizune," Kakashi murmured, coughing and sputtering, absolutely hating that he was losing his dinner in front of her. It didn't take long for him to stop, however, and soon he was just left leaning against the wall.

"It's okay," she reassured him, methodically checking his vitals as he lay there, coming to the conclusion that he was fine, and had just pushed his body with the extra food.

She slung one of his arms over her shoulders and helped him up, keeping a close eye on him as he brushed his teeth and hastily splashed water on his face to clean the perspiration. Exhausted from the act of throwing up, Kakashi went straight to bed, Shizune following behind him with a glass of water and a small blue pill.

"I know you don't feel great," the kunoichi started, handing him the pill, "But you have to take it."

He quickly gulped it down, with the water because his throat was on fire, laying his head down on the pillow right afterward. Shizune stood there for a few seconds, sensing his sudden shift in mood.

Truth be told, Kakashi felt embarrassed, absolutely terrible for ruining such a great night.

She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it with a slight shake of her head, turning to leave.

However, she stopped in her tracks, feeling the anxious need to watch Kakashi overnight. It was true that the most likely cause for his vomiting spell was just a bowel that wasn't used to digesting normal amounts of food, however there was always a possibility that it was connected to his cancer, and she wanted to be as meticulous as she could.

Sighing, Shizune went to the kitchen to put away the glass, returning with a chair, settling on checking his vitals every hour.

Soon enough, she felt fatigue began to take over.

Kakashi watched as her eyes closed and her breathing evened out, laughing to himself.