Chapter 22:
Kakashi sat at the side of his bed, rubbing cold fingers over his temples. He wasn't in a huge amount of pain—or maybe he was just used to it by now. Sighing, he stood up, and ambled to the bathroom to get ready, a bit glad and simultaneously forlorn that Shizune had finally deemed him able to live alone.
She'd been gone for two weeks, but she visited all the time, bringing warm soups and fresh meals to help him out. Kakashi blushed slightly, not really knowing why.
Shaking off the feeling, he proceeded with his morning routine, as he had somewhere to go. Naruto was leaving today with Master Jiraiya, and probably wouldn't be back in years. Kakashi felt it necessary to bid him goodbye looking his best, appearing as though he didn't have cancer. He felt like he'd wasted a great amount of time of his remaining life alone, and definitely wanted his people around him. He wished Naruto could stay to see him before he died, which, seeing how he felt, would not be too far into the future. He had a year left at most.
At the same time, he knew this training would be crucial for Naruto. The tailed beast would soon become too problematic for him to control.
Done getting ready, Kakashi threw on his coat, grabbed his keys, and headed out the door, locking it behind him. Shivering against the sudden frigid cold, and blinking as the raw sunlight hit his eyes in the fresh hours of the morning, he walked to the gates of Konoha where everyone else was waiting.
The journey was long and obnoxious, as he'd been banned from using the teleportation jutsu, but soon enough he made it.
Looking out into the vast clearing, he saw Tsunade, Jiraiya, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Hearing the languid shuffling of his footsteps, everyone turned around at the same time.
"Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura called, immediately tackling him into a hug. He retracted his arms, eyes wide, as he'd never get used to her energy. Naruto immediately followed suit.
"I'm SO happy you made it, sensei! WHERE have you been?! You've been MIA for—"
With two relatively strong children squeezing his torso, Kakashi was finding it kind of hard to breathe, and suddenly felt a sharp ache near his rib.
He let out a shaky, pained exhale, and everyone heard. Naruto and Sakura immediately let go, the guilt apparent on their faces.
Tsunade stepped forward, confused and concerned. Kakashi held out a hand to stop her, shrugging it off. "Don't worry. These two are just really strong."
He patted their heads and ruffled their hair with a crescent eyed smile. Sasuke stood next to Jiraiya, uninvolved as always, too prideful to admit his worry.
"Okay Kakashi, but if you feel any kind of pain, tell me immediately," Tsunade told him seriously, "Understood?"
"Understood."
Jiraiya came over with Sasuke. "I think it's time we leave, Naruto," he said, "If we want to get to the inn by nightfall we must start traveling right now."
There was a long silence before Naruto turned to Kakashi, his eyes obviously watery. He knew that him leaving could mean that he'd never see his sensei again. His chest ached with nostalgia, and maybe even heartbreak at the thought of losing somebody so dear to him.
Kakashi let himself lock eyes with the same intensity of emotions for a mere second before regaining his composure. "Naruto, it's time to go."
The kid didn't move, and no one else did either, understanding the implications of leaving the village.
"Fuck it," Kakashi thought, "if this is the last time I'm seeing him, I want it to be right."
The copy nin knelt down and scooped Naruto into a tight hug. The Uzumaki returned it wholeheartedly, feeling at home in that infinite moment.
"I'll miss you, Kakashi-sensei."
"I'll miss you, too. Do well."
There was so much that needed to be said, that simply couldn't be said so soon.
Jiraiya coughed, and Naruto leaped up, wiping a tear from his eyes. There was a huge lump in his throat, and if he said one more word, he knew he'd end up sobbing.
The sennin gave Kakashi a hefty pat on the shoulder, saying "I'll take good care of him."
Kakashi gave a single nod in response.
After saying his goodbyes to the rest that were there, Naruto exited the gates, Jiraiya at his side. His walk was a trudge— somber and all knowing.
"Well, we better start heading back," Tsunade said solemnly, walking back into the village. Everyone started following after her.
Suddenly, Kakashi felt the pain by his rib flash hard and hot. He stopped in his tracks and cried out, knowing something was actually wrong.
The hokage quickly turned around at the noise, her blonde brows furrowing. She started walking towards him.
"Kakashi?" she said, "Kakashi what's wrong?"
He felt the blood drain from his face and down to his legs, his body becoming progressively numb with its flow. Putting a shaky hand to his forehead and bringing it back to his eyes, he saw that his fingers glistened with fresh sweat, even in the frigid winter weather. Kakashi's breathing accelerated, making rapid puffs in the air, his vision slowly blurring more and more with each passing second.
Sakura stepped forward. "Sensei, are you okay?!"
Kakashi felt his body falling back, suddenly coming into contact with the numbingly cold snow. Tsunade was at his side immediately.
"Kakashi? Kakasi!"
Everything faded to black.
About three hours had passed since Kakashi had fainted, and he had since been transported to a hospital bed to be administered IV fluids.
"He collapsed randomly? Does this mean he's getting worse?"
I need to get up.
"I don't know for sure what it means but with a cancer as aggressive as his he doesn't even have much time left in the first place."
To wake up and be strong.
"We have to look on the positive side! Kakashi will pull through this. He will!"
He opened his eyes and got up with a pained grunt, the same fire in his upper right torso burning at the movement.
Asuma, Gai and Tsunade snapped around to look at him. The hokage stepped forward to take his vitals, greeting him with a smile. After all these months of taking care of him, he'd turned into something akin of a son to her.
Asuma and Gai stood uncharacteristically quiet in the back, watching her do her work. It was still hard for them to see him all shriveled up and and swallowed by a hospital bed.
"I see you're awake, Kakashi. How are you feeling?" She asked.
"How are Sakura and Sasuke? Are they upset?" He asked immediately.
Tsunade blinked, taken aback by the concern in his voice.
"Oh no, they're fine. I told them you were just exhausted of your energy."
Asuma took two steps closer to Kakashi's bed and crossed his arms. "How are you feeling, Kakashi? And no one ever answered my question. Why did that happen?"
"Well, I do have cancer Asuma," Kakashi replied sarcastically, adjusting his blankets with a smirk.
Asuma rolled his eyes and sighed, shifting his weight to the other foot. He felt as if the Hatake wasn't as serious as he should be about his health, and it annoyed the living hell out of him.
"I think Kakashi might've overworked himself, but we're keeping him overnight to watch his progress and run some tests to see if the chemo is working," Tsunade said, frowning in distaste at the Hatake's joke.
Gai adjusted his posture, standing straighter than he already was and lifting his index finger into the air.
"Kakashi will be fine! I refuse to believe he's weak!" The vibrant man exclaimed, "In two weeks I will have another battle with my rival, I bet my life on it!"
Asuma and Tsunade cringed in secondhand embarrassment, because Kakashi had clearly fallen asleep, his quiet snores filling the room's awkward silence.
Sakura dabbed a moist cloth on Kakashi's forehead, clearing away the rapidly forming droplets of perspiration. After being visited by Gai and Asuma, his condition had progressed for the worse over a span of three hours, as he'd gradually developed a fever.
A scarlet blush spanned over his pale cheeks, and his mask had been discarded because one of the nurses had deemed it regressive towards his erratic breathing.
The door opened and Shizune came in, her visage ashen with worry.
"Sakura, you need to leave," she said, "There's a chance that Kakashi's immune system is weakened to the point that you could be giving him an infection just by being here. I honestly have no idea why no one has already told you this."
Sakura's eyes widened and she immediately took a few steps back from Kakashi's bedside. "What? You can't be serious…"
"I'm afraid I am. His condition is far from well, however I am glad that we caught it at the hospital."
Sakura blinked, shaking her head. "But his fever isn't even that bad. And he just got it too."
"We can't take any chances," Shizune told her stonily.
The Haruno sighed and headed to the door, pausing by it to ask for updates on his condition, and then leaving entirely.
As soon as she was gone, Shizune's shoulders dropped, her brows furrowing with stress. She took a seat on the chair of Kakashi's bedside and stared at his motionless, sleeping form.
His teeth chattered as if he were naked in the midst of Konoha's winter, but in truth he had two blankets lying over him. This was his first lapse into any serious sickness since the clinical trial, and she couldn't help but wonder if her leaving as a caretaker had anything to do with it.
With shaky fingers, Shizune gingerly took one of Kakashi's pale hands in her own, grasping it tight. He was sleeping, so he probably wouldn't remember her coming to check up on him at all.
Her other hand grazed over his spiky, silver bangs, pushing them back to reveal a perfectly shaped hairline, and an adorable, although quite warm, forehead. Being by his bedside and giving him attention made her chest feel pleasantly warm with a foreign emotion.
The door opened.
Kurenai walked in. Her eyes widened at the sight of a very distracted Shizune staring intently at Kakashi's forehead and holding his hand with a surprising, heartwarming tenderness. The kunoichi's lips turned up into a smug smile.
It looked like the hokage's apprentice had a crush!
Struggling to contain her excitement, Kurenai gushed, "Oh. My. GOSH! You guys would look perfect together!"
Shizune shot up, and immediately let go of Kakashi's hand, her face slowly turning into the color of a tomato. She leaped forward and grabbed her friend's wrist, pulling her outside of the room.
"Are you serious, Kurenai! He could've heard!" Shizune said, beyond embarrassed .
Kurenai giggled. "I couldn't help it, I'm sorry! I've just never seen you look so...interested."
Shizune sighed, giving up. "But you can't tell anyone, got it? Can this please stay between us?"
With a smile and a nod in response, the two stepped back into the room, putting the situation behind them.
But the sight they were met with contrasted greatly with the one they'd seen just a few minutes ago.
Kakashi was curled up into the shape of a fetus, his arms wrapped tightly around his torso. His neck glistened with sweat, breaths coming in agonized gasps and sputters.
It felt as if someone were stabbing him in his liver, over and over again, without relent. As delusional and incoherent as he was, he thought he was on the battlefield amongst many other warriors, dying with dignity.
Kurenai felt bile rise in her throat as she watched Shizune hurry towards Kakashi's bed. Following suit, she exclaimed, "What's wrong with him? W-what's going on!"
"I don't know," Shizune answered without hesitation, all her attention focused on the Hatake, "Kakashi? Kakashi, where's the pain?"
He pointed weakly to his upper right abdomen, suddenly paling even further.
"I-I need to...throw up," he whispered, barely able to speak, sweat dripping down his brows. Registering his words, Shizune quickly handed him the vomit bucket by his bed. Eyes dull, he heaved into the container, his lips tinted bright red with blood.
Kurenai gasped, "H-he just vomited blood! Now would be the time to tell me what's going on!"
Shizune's brows furrowed in confusion. She didn't understand why Kakashi was going into full blown organ failure.
Unless...
Her memory flashed back to a point in time in which Tsunade had told her about Kakashi's mother going into acute liver failure after having tried Temodar as a chemotherapy treatment.
He coughed and gagged, leaving bloody sputum trailing down his lips and onto his hospital gown. Leaning back into his pillows as he got progressively more and more dizzy, Kakashi croaked through a haze of sleepy confusion, "I think I...wet the bed."
Shizune's eyes widened. "That's fine. Don't worry about it. It's okay."
She pulled back the blankets, immediately noticing the pool of crimson liquid staining the back of his gown and the sheets.
Kakashi's eyes rolled back back into his head. The erratic beeping of the heart monitor droned throughout the room.