Gai's eyes were fixed upon Kakashi's face, his steely gaze focused on his closed eyes, and the old bandages peeking out from under his overgrown silver locks of hair. It had been around 72 hours since he'd promised Jiraiya that he would stay by Kakashi's side to prevent them from unplugging him, and he had kept his word, not even stopping to take a nap.
In fact, it had been a while since he'd blinked.
He was hoping for some kind of miracle, some random instance where Kakashi would wake up, and suddenly gain brain activity. However, no such thing had happened, and the end was growing nearer and nearer, filling Gai with dread.
His eyes began to water with salty tears as he thought about how long it had been since he had seen his friend awake, heard his voice, and actually been able to talk to him. Gai leaned forward and grasped Kakashi's limp arm with both of his hands, his shoulders heaving with suppressed sobs.
He would give anything to be able to have a conversation with him, even if it was just once.
Hearing the door squeak open, Gai sat up and wiped the wetness from his face, his eyes narrowing when he saw Tsunade and Jiraiya enter the room. Immediately, he became stiff and guarded, holding the side of the bed, and protectively scooting closer to Kakashi, adrenaline coursing through his veins.
"Gai…" Tsunade began somberly, trudging over to him, and placing a hand on his shoulder, "I know this is hard, but it's time. I'm sure you know why we're here."
She knew that waiting any longer would be unfair to Kakashi, who'd made it very clear what he wanted before his surgery. Now that Jiraiya had officially signed the papers that made him the proxy to Kakashi's last request, all that was left to do was carry it out.
Gai jerked back from her touch, scooting further away from them both. He looked past the hokage and made fierce eye contact with Jiraiya, who was returning it with a tired, out of sorts gaze that made it clear that he didn't exactly like what was about to happen.
Jiraiya didn't even want to be Kakashi's proxy, but now that he was, he thought it was only right to finally do what the Hatake wanted, once and for all.
"You signed it…" Gai said in a dangerously low tone, his thick eyebrows scrunched together in disgust, "How could you?! Do you want Kakashi to die?"
At this, Jiraiya's eyes watered just the slightest, and he looked down, unable to respond to Gai out of fear that his voice would break. Of course he didn't want Kakashi to die. No one wanted that, not even Tsunade.
"I'm going to begin now," the hokage told him with an austere tone in her voice that hid her true pain, "After I take him off of life support, it could take a few minutes, or perhaps even several hours until he loses a heartbeat."
Gai stood up abruptly, and outstretched his arms so that they were covering Kakashi's form, and preventing the hokage from coming any closer. He stared at Tsunade with a look of pure anguish, his trembling lips pulled downward into a tight frown, tears flowing freely from his wide eyes. His heart was pounding against his ribcage, and he could hardly believe that this was really happening.
"N-no! Stop, you can't do this! You can't do this, Lady Tsunade!" he choked out, feeling as if someone was wringing his heart, "Please, I'm begging you! I-I'm begging you!"
He felt Jiraiya pull on his shoulder in an effort to remove him from Kakashi's side, but quickly rebelled, fighting against his strong grasp and desperately moving forward to hug his friend's still torso. Gai buried his face into Kakashi's shoulder with a strangled gasp, and clung to the cloth that was covering his bandaged chest, tears dripping down his nose and staining the thin, white fabric.
Tsunade's brows softened at the sight, as she'd never heard Gai cry so hopelessly before. Usually, the man's crying was obnoxious and exaggeratedly loud, but now, it was more raw and natural, with a large volume of tears that just kept coming, never stopping. She could tell that he was in an almost unbearable amount of distress.
"Kakashi…please, wake up…you need to wake up," Gai begged his rival intently, his breathing starting to become heavy and fast, "You can't die, Kakashi…after everything that has happened, you can't die!"
He gazed at Kakashi with a look of panic, pulling away from him and observing that he was completely motionless and just as unconscious as before.
"Wake up! WAKE UP!" Gai screamed hysterically, beginning to shake his shoulders forcefully, causing his toneless body to move loosely in response to the violent movement, "WAKE UP, KAKASHI!"
He grabbed the front of Kakashi's hospital gown into a fist and yanked up his torso, staring deeply into his bruised, shut eyelids and silently pleading to God, if he existed, to just miraculously fix his friend.
The Hatake's head tilted back lifelessly, his masked chin pointing upwards toward the ceiling, and then loosely shifting to the side. His arms passively remained at his sides, hands bent into an awkward position from how his body had suddenly been jerked up from the front.
"Stop, Gai," Jiraiya said softly, moving forward to pull him away, as he was clearly at his breaking point, "That's enough…"
The distraught man was forced to let go of Kakashi's shirt, watching helplessly as his back flopped onto the mattress with an audible thud, the visible portion of his visage remaining expressionless.
"LET GO! LET GO OF ME!" Gai wailed despairingly, fighting against the tight hold that Jiraiya's arms had around his chest and his torso, "KAKASHI! PLEASE WAKE UP!"
Breathing laboriously, Gai went somewhat limp in Jiraiya's grasp, collapsing into himself as he broke down into a series of heart wrenching sobs, his hands grasping the front of his green jumpsuit. His tearful, red rimmed eyes were shut tightly, and his thick eyebrows were brought together intensely as he failed to cope with the present reality that his best friend was about to die.
Although he was holding him back, Jiraiya couldn't help but squeeze him with a firm tenderness, as if he were giving him a hug. The old man slowly shut his eyes, his tear ducts becoming damp with sorrow as Gai's despairing cries sliced through him.
Suddenly, the door opened and all of Kakashi's students entered, looking around in shock as they collectively observed the dramatic scene in front of them.
Naruto's eyes widened considerably, his mouth parting as he took in how hard Gai-sensei was crying, and how he had to be physically held up by Jiraiya-sensei, as if he couldn't stand on his own.
Sakura stepped forward tentatively with her hands nervously wrung together, Sasuke and Naruto trailing behind her.
"What's going on?" she asked the hokage seriously, a grim expression lining her delicate features. In the background, she could hear Gai's wails and sniffles, which hadn't stopped, or lessened in volume since they'd entered the room.
"We know about Kakashi-sensei's last request," Naruto continued firmly, his voice low and scratchy with dangerously hidden anger, "We also know how you were going to unplug him without even telling any of us…"
Tsunade sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering how they had found out. This wasn't exactly easy for her either, and somehow she always ended up being painted as the bad guy. For once, she was trying to do something good, something that Kakashi would approve of.
"It's true. He's been on life support for a few weeks now…And this is what he wanted, if after 21 days, nothing changed," she told them despondently with a quiet, solemn tone, unable to look at any of their faces, "His kidneys are failing, and he can't breathe on his own. His brain has inflammation that likely can't be reversed."
At this, Sakura gasped lightly, covering her mouth with her hand, her jade eyes pooling with tears. Sasuke uncrossed his arms and shifted his weight, his brows raising in shock, and his face paling ever so slightly.
Naruto glanced at Kakashi with parted lips, his gaze glistening with regret and hidden grief. Turning back to Tsunade, he crossed his arms, anger quickly obscuring his rampant heartache.
"Why didn't you tell us?!" he cried out in frustration, bringing his arms to his sides, and balling his hands into compact fists, "Were you guys just going to wait until after to tell us that…s-sensei was dead? I don't understand how you could be so cruel…"
The Uzumaki went silent after that, closing his glossy eyes and clenching his teeth, his head tilting downward as the sounds of Gai's heartbroken sobs and Sakura's muffled weeping filled his ears.
"N-Naruto…" Tsunade brought out unsteadily, feeling an unignorable lump in her throat. Hearing the pained nature of her voice, the blonde looked up confusedly, finding that her hazel eyes were filled with tears.
"Do you think I wanted this? To take him off of life support, and not even tell you guys, his most cherished students?" she continued shakily, fighting against the tightness in her neck, "Kakashi didn't want you guys to know. He didn't want you to have to witness something so painful…"
Kakashi's students processed the hokage's words in silence, none of them really knowing what to say. Any lingering outrage or frustration that they had at Tsunade and Jiraiya left them at that moment, and all that remained were memories of their time with their sensei, and the sorrow that came with the prospect of him having to leave so soon.
"Hmm...How do I put this? My first impression of this group...You're a bunch of idiots!"
"I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? Never really thought about that. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies."
"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."
"We want to stay, then, Lady Tsunade," Sakura said with a sense of finality in her voice, speaking for all of them, "I know it's not what Kakashi-sensei wants, but we deserve to be here for his final moments."
Naruto tentatively walked up to Kakashi's side, no longer feeling the urge to stop him from dying. Now that he knew how everything that was going on was what his sensei wanted, he felt that stopping it would be deeply disrespectful to him.
He finally understood that there was no point in keeping the man on life support, and that it would only serve to prolong his suffering.
Nodding, as if to show Kakashi that he understood, and that it was okay, Naruto tightly grasped his cold, lifeless hand, tears falling freely from his eyes and leaving dark splotches on the fuzzy blanket that was covering his motionless form.
"You don't have to protect us anymore, sensei…We understand," Naruto whispered, staring at his shadowed, closed eyes, and his relaxed silver eyebrows.
Strangely, it looked like the man was finally at peace, after having to experience several months of agony.
With a restrained sob, the Uzumaki bent down and embraced him firmly, burying his face into Kakashi's chest, his blonde hair poking the underside of the unconscious man's sharp jawline. Slowly, Sakura moved to his other side, her lip trembling as she knelt forward and gently placed her head into the crook of his bony shoulder, dampening his hospital gown with her ever flowing stream of tears.
Sasuke stood stiffly at the foot of his bed, feeling numb as he stared at how his teammates were embracing Kakashi. Perhaps crying felt better than being frozen still, unable to do anything, or find an outlet for very real grief.
The Uchiha shuffled forward and wrapped his hand around Kakashi's ankle, gripping it tightly, and closing his eyes with a deep exhale. He'd known in his heart that this day was coming, but now that it was here, it felt like it was a dream, like it couldn't really be happening.
Observing the emotional scene with raised eyebrows, Tsunade glanced sadly at Jiraiya, who returned the eye contact and gave her a firm nod, his arms still wrapped around Gai, who was just staring at his rival with tears continuously dripping from his unblinking eyes, his lips slightly parted.
It looked as if the man was paralyzed with misery, and not fully present, his behavior contrasting greatly with his hysterical display from before.
"I'm going to unplug him now," Tsunade let them know, turning towards the array of machines at Kakashi's bedside. Before she could do anything, the woman looked back to see if anyone was going to protest, but all she was met with was the sight of them cherishing their last moments with the great copy nin, save for Gai, who seemed to be lost in his own world.
She was somewhat surprised at the gutsy man's silence, as he'd been so adamant about not letting her continue before.
Sighing, she rested her hand on the knob that powered his dialysis machine, hesitating for a moment, before slowly turning it off, a low whirring sound filling the quiet atmosphere as the machine shut down. The rest of them watched as she readily powered off the remaining equipment, and then moved towards Kakashi's side to take out his endotracheal tube.
Naruto and Sakura reluctantly stood up to let her through, looking away respectfully as she tugged down the surgical mask that was covering his mouth. Suppressing her sadness, she gently began to pull out the tube that was going down his throat, a thin line becoming apparent between her eyebrows as she tried her best to remain strong.
After setting the equipment down on the side table next to his bed, she pulled his mask back up and took a step back, feeling the sudden urge to sit down, as she was finally hit with the depth of what she had just done.
As Kakashi's lungs attempted to breathe on their own for the first time in a while, small, breathy sounds of strain became apparent as he audibly struggled to inhale and exhale.
At first his respiration was fast and somewhat labored, but gradually it started to slow down, becoming more shallow and quiet.
Watching the scene, Jiraiya subconsciously loosened his grip on Gai, inhaling sharply at the sight of Kakashi being completely taken off of the machines that were basically the only reason he was alive.
Now free from Jiraiya's tight hold, Gai felt his knees buckle, and hardly noticed when they made sudden contact with the hard ground. His face was ashen, and his shoulders were heaving, his body overwhelmed with the intense array of emotions that he was suddenly experiencing.
While everyone had made some semblance of peace with the idea of Kakashi dying, Gai felt as if he would never, ever be able to do so.
"Kakashi…" he brought out numbly, reaching for the railing of his bedside from his position on the ground. He slowly brought himself up onto his feet, unsure of what to do.
Gai didn't know why he'd frozen up like that–he had vowed to not let them unplug Kakashi, but when it came down to it, he'd done nothing to prevent that from happening. He didn't know if he would be able to deal with his complacent actions.
While Gai knew that he could still fight for Kakashi, and probably get him placed back on the machines, a more rational part of him felt that it would be selfish, and wrong to do so, even if it was possible. Looking at how his students were huddled around him, trying to make the most of the last moments of their time together as a team, Maito Gai realized that maybe what was happening was for the best.
Eventually, even if he was on life support, Kakashi would die anyway, so maybe, just maybe, it was better that it happened on his own terms, while he was surrounded by all the people that he deeply cared about.
Gai closed his eyes with a shaky sigh, unraveling his hand from the metal side of the bed, and letting it fall loosely to his side, as he finally acknowledged that this is exactly what Kakashi would've wanted. He thought back to all of the times that they'd returned him to the hospital after he'd escaped, and how they'd practically coerced him into going through with a major surgery.
Perhaps forcing him to stay on life support would be yet another cruel way of undermining what he really wanted.
For once in his life, Gai didn't stop himself from giving up, realizing with a heavy heart that sometimes it was easier for him to stubbornly keep persevering, as compared to stopping at the right time.
Maybe the time was right for Kakashi.
Opening his eyes, he gazed at his rival with a sad, watery smile, reaching for his hand and squeezing it firmly. He caught sight of the way Kakashi's mask was subtly moving with every small puff of air that he drew in, and how slowly his chest was rising and falling, a wheezing sound becoming frighteningly apparent with each one of his pained breaths.
"It'll be alright, Kakashi…" Gai told him quietly, finally accepting his friend's wishes, "You'll always be my eternal rival…No one will ever take your place…"
He wiped a lone tear from his face, feeling Jiraiya wrap an arm around his shoulder. The old man knew that coming to terms with what was happening definitely must not have been easy for someone like Gai.
Suddenly, at what could not have been a worse time, the door flew open, and all of them collectively turned to look towards it, finding that Shizune had entered the room. Her hands were full with several sheets of paper, and she looked distinctly sleep deprived, her eyes shadowed with dark circles,
"Shizune?" Tsunade said in shock, furrowing her brow and folding her arms as she approached the kunoichi.
She ignored the hokage and looked towards Kakashi's bed, her gaze widening as she noticed that his endotracheal tube had been taken out. It was clear by how everyone was surrounding his bed, and looking down at him so sorrowfully, that something significant had happened.
"W-what's going? Did you unplug him?" Shizune brought out anxiously, hoping that she wasn't too late, "Please tell me you didn't, Lady Tsunade…"
Shizune rushed forward and gaped at the monitor placed by his bedside, relieved that she could still hear the fast, but even beating of his heart.
By the bed, Team 7 was staring at her confusedly, wondering why she seemed so on edge, as if she strongly disagreed with the hokage, and didn't want Kakashi to be taken off of life support. They were too stunned to speak, practically getting emotional whiplash from the small ounce of hope they'd just gained.
"What is it, Shizune?"
"Lady Tsunade, I…I know what caused his coma," she told the hokage nervously, walking closer, and holding out the papers in her hands, "I-It was my fault. My jutsu did this."
"No, it's not," Tsunade replied sternly, completely disregarding her, and making no move to even read the extensive notes that she was offering up, "Shizune, you're not even supposed to be here as a doctor. You're off this case, remember?"
Shizune shook her head furiously, grabbing her hair in frustration, in a way that made some of her notes scatter to the ground. Sighing, she quickly ducked down to pick them up, visibly shaking, as if she were grossly over caffeinated.
"My jutsu was designed to specifically kill his mutant chakra cells, which it did successfully…but I never took into account that by destroying them, I was releasing dangerous toxins into his bloodstream," Shizune said, standing up after having picked up her papers, and getting straight to the point.
"The surgery itself released toxins, too, because for some parts that were difficult to resect, you used a heated chakra needle, instead of fully removing that part of the tumor," Shizune continued breathlessly, stumbling over her words, her eyes wide and bloodshot, "That by itself would've been fine, but my jutsu was the tip of the iceberg..."
"Shizune, what are you talking about?" Tsunade asked her with a perplexed expression, unable to keep up with her apprentice's panicked rambling. At this point, everyone was looking over at them expectantly, wondering if there was still a chance, but at the same time, not really understanding what Shizune was saying.
Gai, in particular, was completely baffled that someone like Shizune, a medical professional, disagreed about taking off the life support. Her words made him feel a heavy guilt, as he'd just come to terms with Kakashi being unplugged.
Those former feelings of acceptance were quickly leaving him as he heard Shizune speak, and he regretted ever even thinking about letting Kakashi die.
"He has hypermagnesemia, or elevated levels of serum magnesium in the blood," she brought out surely, as she had done extensive research to prove that she was right. The kunoichi moved to Kakashi's side, and observed his shallow, almost nonexistent breathing with a feeling of nauseating dread.
"It's rare to have such severe symptoms from excessive magnesium, so it would make sense that we didn't notice," Shizune continued, placing a tender hand on Kakashi's shoulder, and not making eye contact with the rest of them, "At very high levels, it can cause nausea, confusion, seizures, cardiac arrest, and even coma."
Tsunade's eyes widened, but then narrowed just as quickly, as doubts began to take over her thoughts.
"But we have him on dialysis…Why didn't it work?"
Glancing at the oxygen saturation levels on the screen, Shizune found that they were becoming worryingly low, and that Kakashi's blood pressure was starting to increase in response, as a last ditch effort to pump his limited amount of oxygenated blood throughout his body.
"Dialysis only filters out ultrafilterable magnesium, but the ionized form is ignored," she responded distractedly, feeling that Kakashi was slipping away with every second that she spent explaining herself, "A big part of the magnesium in his blood was probably uptaken by the cells of his muscles and bones, and as a consequence, wouldn't be easily filtered with dialysis."
"Lady Tsunade," Shizune continued with a pleading expression on her face, gulping deeply in response to her rampant anxiety, "We need to act now, or else—"
The heart monitor began to blare obnoxiously before she could finish her sentence, an alarm going off to indicate that Kakashi's heart was no longer functioning as it should be. On the screen, his ECG activity presented as indiscernible scribbles, as his tired heart fired random electrical impulses– It seemed as if the delicate organ was ready to give up.
Without a thought, Shizune threw off the blankets that were covering his form, and placed her clasped hands onto his chest, glancing momentarily at the monitor, before beginning to apply consistent, firm pressure.
Her breath caught in her throat when she heard a familiar, drawn out beep, one that sounded frighteningly different than the panicked alarm she had heard just a few moments ago. She glanced to her right in trepidation, paling when she saw that there was a continuous flatline on the monitor. Shizune looked down at Kakashi, and saw that he was no longer breathing at all.
Nonetheless, she couldn't pause to process the sight in front of her, and dutifully continued her compressions, gritting her teeth and looking over at Tsunade, who was just staring blankly at the lack of cardiac activity on the monitor.
"Lady Tsunade, I need your help! Get a crash cart!"
"Shizune, there's nothing we can—"
"Just look at him," Shizune told her frustratedly, angry at how Tsunade wasn't doing anything, "Help me, damn it!"
The rest of them watched in shock as she directly went against the hokage, acting on her own terms, and refusing to let Kakashi die as planned. They had never seen her act so headstrong and gutsy, but watching how she was gazing at the Hatake, with a strong look that refused to lose heart, they grew inspired, their chests warming with growing hope.
"Save him, Shizune," Gai brought out with raised brows, new tears forming in his ashamed eyes as he looked at the asystolic rhythm on the monitor, "Please save Kakashi!"
She didn't respond, but just continued to try and bring him back, working with a ferocity and focus that told Gai that he could trust her, as she would clearly do anything to save his friend's life.
"Stop, Shizune. There's no point now: his kidneys can't come back from this…" Tsunade said quietly, making no move to help, "This is not what Kakashi would've wanted."
"No!" Shizune cried out breathlessly, continuing to perform CPR, with her eyes fixed intensely on the heart monitor, "If there's even a 1% chance that Kakashi will be able to survive, would you be able to live with yourself if you didn't at least try to take it?"
Tsunade stared at her in surprise, her lips parting slightly as her apprentice's words resonated within her. She was right– If there was even a slight chance that Kakashi could come back from this, it was imperative that they try their best to take the steps to make that happen.
She hurried over to the other side of the bed and assessed the situation, scrunching her thin, blonde eyebrows together as she observed how hard Shizune was working, and just how much she'd changed in the past few months.
Tsunade realized that the young woman was definitely going to surpass her as a doctor one day, if she hadn't already done so. Her mind was clearer, and it wasn't the first time that she had caught something that Tsunade hadn't been able to see.
"Let me take over, you're getting tired," Tsunade told her authoritatively, eyeing the copious amounts of sweat on her brow, "After we get his heart rhythm back, we'll put him back on the ventilator, and find a way to get the extra magnesium out of his body."
Shizune's head snapped up to look at her, her eyes wide and watery at how the hokage was suddenly believing in her. She nodded quickly, biting her lip and turning her gaze downward to prevent herself from crying.
Exhaling deeply, she hesitantly retracted her hands from Kakashi's chest and let Tsunade continue the compressions, finding it difficult to breathe, as if there was a blockage in her throat that was preventing the air from coming in or out.
"A-Administering epinephrine," she brought out shakily, her voice in danger of breaking. Shizune pulled out a conveniently placed syringe from the pocket of her white coat, carefully inserting it into one of the tubes going into Kakashi's arms.
She looked over at the heart monitor to see if there was any change, making brief eye contact with Gai, who was leaning heavily on the railing at the foot of Kakashi's bed, and seemed as if he were quite possibly on the brink of passing out from all of the stress and suspense.
At this point, with the flatline still droning monotonously in the background, Sakura turned to hug Naruto, who paused for a moment, before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her trembling form closer. His eyes glossed over as he heard Sakura's heartbroken sobs, and watched Tsunade perform vigorous CPR on his dying sensei to try and bring him back to life.
Naruto simply felt drained. He didn't know what to hope for anymore.
Sasuke observed the scene with an unblinking stare, wondering how likely it was for them to resuscitate him, now that most of his body was failing him. It felt somewhat relieving that Shizune had come in and interrupted their heavy mourning with a last minute solution, but it made the situation all the more confusing.
Nevertheless, not knowing what was to come next felt better than actually having to accept and deal with the fact that the leader of their team was going to die right in front of them.
Gai stood at the foot of Kakashi's bed with his tightly clasped hands brought to his face– now that he knew there was a possibility that his rival could live, there was no way that he would ever be able to go back to the mentality that was okay with him dying.
Kakashi's life was more important to Gai than honoring his last words, and he was immensely guilt-ridden at the fact that he'd even thought about giving up so soon. He vowed to himself at that moment, that he would never make the same mistake again– he would never give up on his eternal rival, no matter what anyone else believed.
Suddenly, the tense room was filled with the sounds of steady beeping, and everyone collectively looked up, releasing breaths that they'd been holding ever since Shizune had started CPR.
Tsunade pulled her hands away from Kakashi's chest when she heard his heartbeat, her eyes becoming misty with relief. There had been no need for a crash cart after all, as the compressions, along with the administration of epinephrine, had managed to bring the Hatake back.
Naruto leapt forward and tackled Shizune into a tight embrace, his face stuffed into her torso. She retracted her hands in shock, her focused gaze widening at the sudden intrusion of her personal space. As she looked down at Naruto's shivering arms, and heard his loud sniffles, the look in her eyes softened, and she gently returned the hug, comfortingly rubbing his heaving back.
"T-Thank you, Shizune!" the Uzumaki brought out with difficulty, feeling extremely grateful that she'd never given up on his sensei, when everyone else around him had, "Thank you…"
She pulled him off of her by his shoulders with a little more force than she'd thought she would need, smiling as she looked down at the tears streaming down his whiskered cheeks, and the snot dripping from his nose. When he finally managed to look up at her, she gave him a small nod, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.
Shizune herself felt that she couldn't really say anything, as her throat was painfully tight– she had a feeling that if she spoke, she would unleash the vehement emotions that were weighing heavily on her chest.
She wished she could just go to the bathroom, or her lab, and let herself cry, but at the same time, she wasn't satisfied with leaving Kakashi that soon. After all, he had just flatlined.
Feeling immensely relieved, Sakura threw herself into Sasuke's open chest, not really caring that they didn't have the best track record, as she really just needed to hug someone after such a deeply cathartic moment.
The Uchiha's eyes widened in shock at the sudden action, and he almost flinched at the way she was wetting his freshly washed shirt with her tears, and how she was crying so loudly right next to his ear. Nonetheless, he reluctantly let her hold him, blushing slightly, but never returning the hug.
Sasuke had to admit that it felt nice to be embraced–It was as if the tight pressure was allowing him to finally breathe, and let go of the build up of emotions that had been collecting inside of him.
In the same instance, Gai had gone towards his rival's side, forcefully lifting his torso off of the bed so that he was in a sitting position, and wrapping his limp body tightly in his arms. He ran his hand through Kakashi's silver hair, having to physically hold the position of his head in place so that it stayed in the crook of his shoulder.
"Kakashi…" Gai breathed out through tears, closing his eyes and taking in the unconscious man's scent, his free hand tenderly rubbing across his broad, bony back, "I'll never give up on you again, my rival…Never again…"
"Gai," Tsunade prompted quietly, not exactly wanting to interrupt the deeply sentimental moment, "I have to put him back on the ventilator."
Nodding, he slowly lowered Kakashi's body back onto the mattress, gently placing him down, and bringing the blankets back up to his shoulders. Gai gazed down at the silver lashes lining his closed eyes, and the way his spiky bangs were obscuring most of his forehead, sniffing furiously, and wiping the wetness from his face.
As Tsunade moved forward to intubate him, covering his face so that no one else would see it, Gai caught sight of his prominent collarbones, and the sharp angles of his shoulders. The Hatake had lost a considerable amount of weight in the two months after the surgery, to the point where even his wrists were worrying thin, his veins popping out prominently from the lack of fat on his arms.
At that moment, however, even as he realized that Kakashi was the skinniest he'd ever been, Gai was just grateful that he was alive.
Tsunade stepped back after she'd finished, locking eyes with Jiraiya, who was looking back at her and smiling, his arms crossed over his broad chest. The man was clearly glad that the evening hadn't ended with Sakumo's son dying.
With Shizune's dedicated efforts and research, Jiraiya finally had hope that Kakashi might actually live, unlike his mother, who'd passed away much too soon.
"Lady Tsunade," Shizune started readily, seeing how the hokage had placed the endotracheal tube back down Kakashi's throat, "We need to get rid of the excess magnesium as soon as possible. I think we should remove it with the same jutsu that we use to remove poisons and toxins– that should work."
"You're right, Shizune," Tsunade agreed with a smile, pride welling up in her chest, "After that, his kidneys should be fine…and the inflammation in his brain should hopefully go down with time."
It was an unspoken, but obvious truth that Shizune was back on Kakashi's case– without her, he wouldn't even be alive.
While the rest of them could have left the Hatake's hospital room after he'd stabilized, the intense events of the day made it hard for them to pull themselves away from him. They spent the rest of the night by his side, cherishing his presence, and feeling eternally grateful that his heart was still beating.
A/N: This is basically over, probably like one or two more chaps to sum up the ending and show Kakashi's recovery. Will have them posted this week probably. I just have to say, that I'm very grateful to everyone who's read and left reviews- I will be very sad once this story is over, because it followed me throughout high school and college. Anyways, enjoy, and as always, leave reviews! Thank you for reading my story for all these years.