Shisui spends three hours in Michiko's room. He plops himself down on the windowsill and watches her resting form. He wants to hold her hand and caress her, but somehow, seeing her like that frightens him. He feels displaced.
He is guilty of using his sharingan to examine her chakra stream- and the damage he sees disturbs him even more than the sight of her unconscious form, hooked up to beeping machines.
Restless, he decides that he needs to talk to Itachi.
Sensing Shisui's departure, somewhere on the rooftop cafeteria, Kakashi drums his fingers on the table-top and wonders if he should go back to Michiko's room.
Or more specifically, go back to standing outside Michiko's room.
He doesn't have the courage to go in and see her; he has always hated the pungent, antibacterial smells, the sights of machinery and white sheets- they remind him more of death than his job does.
He doesn't mention this to Tsunade, but he has an inkling that she understands.
Kakashi has lost all the people he has ever loved, and while he doesn't love Team Ro, or his comrades (they are his teammates and friends but that's about it, he is sure), Michiko holds a connection to Obito that he finds himself valuing. Sometimes, her mannerisms are also reminiscent of the late Uchiha, and while it irked Kakashi when she joined Team Ro, he has now grown accustomed to it.
Accustomed? Rather, he needs her goofy, irritating behaviour. It brings a normalcy to his life that he has almost forgotten.
Tsunade stares sullenly over her empty mug at Kakashi, and then abruptly pushes back her chair and bounces onto her feet.
"I'll be back in about four hours. See ya."
Watching her departing form, Kakashi pushes back his chair and it makes a shrill 'eek' as he pushes himself onto his feet.
'Can't hurt to go check on Michiko.'
The cafeteria is nearly vacant now, but the few people scattered across it all seem to be watching him from the corner of their eyes. He suddenly feels conscious of his jounin uniform.
They probably think he looks too young to be in it, or they recognize him.
'Or they know my dad.'
Hands in his pockets, he trudges to the exit, nodding a thank you to the man at the till. As soon as he is out of sight, Kakashi uses a little chakra to transport himself quickly to Michiko's door.
Nobody is outside.
There is no sign of Gai, or Genma (who gets on Kakashi's nerves, so he's a bit relieved at his absence).
He slides open the door to her room and peers inside, pushing away the curtains that act as a secondary 'door'. While anxiety coils in his chest, he feels a burst of empathy for the girl- here she is, broken and injured, and all alone.
Sentimentality is a quality Kakashi is glad he hasn't lost yet.
As he slides the door shut gently behind him, he detects the faint bitter trail of tobacco. Surely enough, there is a bit of ash on the windowsill.
'Asuma must have been here.' Kakashi guesses that he has brought the flowers that are now sitting on the bedside, 'Or perhaps Kurenai was here too.'
He hasn't noticed them come and go, but he wasn't sensing for them- he was focused on Shisui and whatever faint traces of Michiko he can pick up. Thoughtfully, he probes the building for familiar chakra signatures; there is Tenzo somewhere close by, and Gai and Genma are with him.
Annoyed, Kakashi stands in the middle of the room, eyes set on Michiko. She looks deceptively like she is asleep, but Kakashi knows that she usually sleeps on her side, curled up, rather than on her back with her hands by her side. She suddenly looks like she might be dead, and he panics.
He stoops his head and listens to her breathing.
Satisfied, he picks up the chair Tsunade left in the centre of the room and carries it to the other side of Michiko's bed, sitting between her and the window.
"Maa, Michiko-chan. Don't you think you've worried us enough for the last couple of weeks?" Leaning forward, he brushes his fingers over her arm, gently thumbing her skin. Then, he sits back and turns his face away to stare out the window.
The longer he stares out into the bright, late afternoon, the more his eye pulses. He turns to watch the doorway, hearing the sound of Hiruzen's steps as he climbs up the stairs. A few minutes later, the old man is standing at the door as if he is afraid to come in.
The thing about hospitals that Kakashi despises most is the strange hovering between life and death. As he watches the Hokage looking apprehensive and pale, he realizes that these situations force people to confront mortality in a way that shinobi have learned to become immune to on the battlefield and during missions.
A risky job looks like a slice of cake next to a sick body ravaged by disease.
Kakashi has to shake himself from the dark trail of thought- Michiko isn't sick, she is hurt, and she is healing. Hiruzen wearily enters the room and sits at the edge of Michiko's bed.
"Thank you for staying with her, Kakashi."
The Hatake nods in response, he wishes he could tell Hiruzen that he isn't babysitting. He cares. He wants her to wake-up.
Of course, he keeps all of this to himself.
"Would you like me to leave, Sandaime-sama?"
"No, no." Hiruzen clears his throat and begins to cough. The sound is grizzly, and Kakashi glances at Michiko as if she would wake up and tell her uncle to stop being so loud. She doesn't.
"Stay. I imagine she will be very surprised to find you here if she wakes up."
'If?' Kakashi keeps his eye rested on Hiruzen's form, the man's shoulders droop and he looks like age is catching up with him at last.
"She'll be up soon, according to Tsunade-sama."
"She spoke to you?"
"Yes."
Kakashi is always curt with his responses, but then again, he does not wish to overstep his boundaries around the Hokage.
A few moments later, Shisui has appeared through the window. If he is surprised to see the other two in the room, he does not show it.
"Hello, Sandaime-sama." He bows his head respectfully and then turns his attention to Kakashi, "Yo."
"Looks like we have a party in here." Hiruzen says dryly, watching Shisui as he leans against the wall in front of the bed. "Tsunade will be sure to throw us all out when she is back."
Shisui laughs, "I'm sure of it. I wouldn't want to annoy her."
"Maa, isn't there a belief that people in a coma can still hear you?"
"Yeah, I've heard something of the sort." Shisui says carefully, glancing between Hiruzen and Michiko, "You think she can hear us?"
"Maybe." Hiruzen speaks up, "Michiko, just so you know. I am considering that Hyuuga proposal- he's a nice, handsome boy and once you're 18 you'll be hitched."
As Hiruzen speaks, he narrows his eyes and leans closer to Michiko and waits for a reaction. Shisui looks very concerned and confused, he furrows his eyebrows and his lips part comically.
Kakashi leans back in his chair and closes his eye.
Hiruzen sighs audibly and shakes his head, "Usually that gets quiet the reaction out of her." And then, he laughs shakily. "I imagine she'll demand answers once she wakes up." Cheekily, Hiruzen gives Shisui an appraising glance, and the boy seems to shrivel under his stare.
The Uchiha nearly shrinks into the wall. Mildly amused, Kakashi stands up from the chair.
"Shisui-san, please take a seat. I'll be taking my leave."
"Oh, so soon?" Hiruzen asks disinterestedly, fishing his pipe from his coat pocket.
Of course, nobody is allowed to smoke indoor-, but he is the Hokage and he doesn't give two shits about the smoking policy in a room he won't leave until his niece wakes up.
"Actually," He lights a match and proceeds to burn the tobacco, taking a slow drag as the younger boys turn their attention to him, "Both of you are dismissed. Don't come back here until tomorrow."
'How cruel.' Kakashi nods and turns to leave, eyeing Shisui who looks like he wants to say something- the poor boy is rooted in his spot, pale and twitchy. Kakashi places a hand on his shoulder and gestures with his head, 'Lets go. Leave them be.'
Hesitantly, the Uchiha complies. He glances at Michiko over his shoulder as he follows Kakashi out of the window.
The next morning, Michiko is gone.
Her room has been vacated, and instead an old, fat man snores loudly on the bed. A young woman who has been sitting by him pales when Shisui climbs onto the window sill.
Before she can scream or question his identity, he lets go of the sill and free falls back onto the dusty street, thoroughly annoyed.
'That old man has some tricks up his sleeve.'
Just as he shoves his hands in his pockets, Kakashi finds him.
"Yo." He calls, from a few feet away, both men walk up to each other, hands in pockets, nonchalant expression and all that. Really, neither of the two knows why they bother retaining and hiding their feelings when they both know they are frustrated at the Sandaime's actions.
"Do you know where she is?" Shisui asks, eyes glancing behind Kakashi to spot Itachi approaching them, dressed casually with some flowers in hand. He raises a hand and waves.
Shisui nods in acknowledgment, his mood gradually souring. It seems like everyone wants to see Michiko and he can't get close to her without a billion people in their space. He knows it's a mean thought to have- she has other friends and family, and colleagues that care about her.
"No, I don't." Kakashi responds.
"What's going on?" Itachi has caught up to them and hears snippets of Kakashi's response. The white-haired, mildly sleepy jounin replies before Shisui can answer, "Michiko isn't in her room. I haven't seen Tsunade-sama around either so I suspect that Sandaime-sama has taken her home."
Itachi shifts his gaze from Kakashi to Shisui, who looks strangely bitter, then back to Kakashi, "Which home?" He asks gently.
"Not sure."
Shisui crosses his arms, lower lip protruding slightly as he tilts his head and looks thoughtful- upset but thoughtful, "Probably went back to the family home."
Itachi notes that Shisui sounds gloomy- a moment later, he begins to visibly sulk, his hands back in his pockets. Kakashi would look amused, if the Uchihas could see his expression.
"Well…I'm not allowed to go around there so, I'll just…" Shisui trails off, kicking a rock as he moves to walk away.
"Why aren't you allowed?"
Shisui stills and Itachi looks uncomfortable. Kakashi glances between the two, "Is it because…?"
"It's because the council elders haven't permitted Police Force personnel to enter official family or clan property until the political situation is stable."
"But you're Michiko's boyfriend, you're not going as a policeman." Kakashi tilts his head, guessing that Danzo is responsible for such an infraction and disrespect of the Uchiha clan. He can never understand where the enmity comes from.
"It's just how it is." Shisui shrugs, and then his lips quirk into a smile that spreads across his face and lights up his eyes, "She'll be awake soon, I know it."
Itachi nods, "Kakashi and I can go see her and then let you know how she is doing."
Shisui places a hand on Itachi's head and ruffles his neat hair, "You do that for me."
And with a flash, he disappears.
"He's upset." Kakashi observes, flatly. Itachi hums in agreement, "I would be too, if I was banned from seeing my girlfriend."
"You have a girlfriend?"
Kakashi doesn't need to hear Itachi's response- his cheeks are flushed and he has his answer. He laughs, a rare chuckle that makes Itachi smile too, although he hides it.
Groaning and squirming under the thick blanket laid over her, Michiko tries to sit up. Her body aches from the bed sores that have developed and her limbs feel thick and heavy- the blanket really doesn't help.
"Ah…" Breaking free and rubbing her eyes, she squints at the room. The curtains have been pulled shut, but the scent of lavender in the air tells her that she is home.
On her bedside, there is a clear jug of water and a glass.
She kicks the blanket off her body slowly and attempts to pick up the jug. Her hands quiver and shake and she spills a bit of water on the table top.
"Oops…"
"MICHIKO!"
Flinching, she turns to look over her shoulder at the doorway to find Itsuko-san, the old housekeeper, staring at her teary-eyed.
"Asuma-sama! Hiruzen-sama!" He begins to shout for the other two, scurrying off somewhere and then rushing back to her bedroom door to address her calmly, "Just a moment Michiko-sama."
He disappears again, leaving Michiko with a bewildered but comical expression as she hears him practically shout down the house for his two other masters.
She can hear Asuma thundering down the corridor upstairs- but Hiruzen is already at her door. Flustered from the onslaught of excited attention, Michiko smiles weakly.
"Hello, ojii-san."
Hiruzen chews the end of the pipe in his mouth, and then reaches up with his hand to take it from his lips, blowing a ring of smoke in the air, "Hello, mei."
Red-faced and teary eyed, Asuma appears behind his father and peers over his shoulder to look at Michiko.
"Thank Kami you're up!"
Michiko looks a little bewildered. Hiruzen glides into the room and seats himself on one of the fancy wrought-iron chairs in front of the large windows. Asuma shuffles at his ankles and then scoops his cousin into a big hug. He holds her for a little while, the side of his face pressed over Michiko's head.
"Ah, baka-itoko you scared me. You scared us all."
Michiko chuckles, "You're overreacting Asuma, I've been gone for missions before."
Her cousin doesn't release her, and it's only when she wriggles her head to grin at her uncle that she realises from his somber expression, that something is wrong.
"What is it?"
Asuma lets her go, looking uneasily from her to his feet and then wiping his nose with the back of his hand.
"What?" She tilts her head and tries to make eye-contact, but he evades her.
Luckily for Hiruzen and Asuma, Itsuko-san has returned with a tray of broth and tea, and Tsunade in tow.
"Michiko, my girl!" She claps a heavy, strong hand on the younger one's shoulder and Michiko flinches- remembering that the same shoulder had been dislocated earlier.
Earlier…? What happened earlier?
Just as quickly as she remembers dislocating her shoulder, she forgets- and then she can't figure out why her shoulder aches and what she is forgetting. It becomes an itch in her brain.
"Sit down, Michiko-chan. Let me check you up." Tsunade instructs, firmly.
She takes Michiko by the elbow and nudges her back to the bed. The girl sits slowly and peers curiously at Tsunade. The medic first checks her eyes with a little penlight.
"Okay Michiko, how old are you?"
"Uh… 15…?" She trails off, uncertain because she doesn't understand why she is being asked this.
"Okay, good girl. Can you tell me where you are?"
"In my house."
"Where?"
"The Sarutobi estate," She clarifies, "In Konoha."
"Okay. And do you remember when you left Konoha?"
"Yeah, when…I was…" Michiko's eyes seem to flit left to right as she stares at the empty space between her and Tsunade. "I was… At the Fire Temple."
And then she remembers a fight and rushing to Konoha. "I went to the Uchiha compound after that."
"What did you do there?"
"I…" She looks at Hiruzen, confused. "I went to look for someone."
"Someone?" Tsunade probes.
"I couldn't find anyone, so I… I went to search for Shisui."
"Did you find him?"
Hiruzen has sat forward in his seat, tobacco burning slowly in the pipe in his mouth. He is concerned, mildly frightened and a little upset. These feelings are concealed behind his eyes.
"I didn't." Michiko says firmly, but her expression is troubled. "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, I don't remember what happened there. I was… staring into the gate and I thought- I thought someone was behind me, and I don't remember what I saw. I…" She panics and her pupils dilate, "I can't remember anything."
Tsunade nods casually, and takes Michiko's tea from the tray, "Here, drink up."
The herbal brew is bitter, but the taste is comforting. Michiko takes several sips before speaking up again.
"Where is oba-san?"