A/N Special thanks to everyone who reviewed! That's:
WhatsALie
Maelynne Naveen
Dragostea
Norikoko
asuka02redeva
Remember, reviews make the world go 'round. As opposed to elliptical, that is.
The disclaimer: (Dun dun dunn) I didn't own it, don't own it, and polka-dotted pigs will fly while I 'Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei' Yondaime and Obito back to life using random minor villains, when I do own it, just to make up for giving Kakashi-sensei a boo-boo.
Shoot me now for putting Kakashi, polka-dotted, and booboo in the same sentence…
Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 1
Shit, I'm here again?
Yes, Hatake Kakashi, the Copy ninja was 'here', at the hospital, the sterilized, whitewashed building he'd come to loathe so much. He tried to get up, but noticed the pain in his right leg. No, not just noticed. It would be better described as a cross between a screech and a yelp, a silent one, at that. He looked around the room, searching for anyone or anything that could possibly provide an explanation or a way out. Nothing. Dismayed, he tried to get up, but cringed at the pain again.
It's not like I could walk, even if I could get up. God, I'm dizzy…must've been that damn dart. How the hell did it get through the armor? Well, guess I have to stay here. I wish Sakura was the nurse, and not some other third-rate medic shit trying to peek a look under my mask. Stupid excuse about my breathing, although again, if it was Sakura I wouldn't mind…
He mentally kicked himself. He was her team leader, if not her friend. He definitely did not need anything to distract him on missions, and yet…
If I'm starting to think that way, I'm probably suffering from fatigue, pain, or overall lack of Icha Icha, or a combination of the three. Or maybe it's too much Icha Icha. Idiot sennin just had to use the same name as Sakura for that particular…he'd be dead if Tsunade-sama ever reads volume 8, chapter 3. Common name, my ass, pink hair and green eyes are NOT common. Not that Sakura isn't constantly roaming around in my thoughts without the help…
He kicked himself again for being such a pervert; but then again, the village already called him one. He was a bit miffed about that. So what if he liked the books? It wasn't like he was Jiraiya or Genma. His perversion was limited to the smut, and except for that and the eternal tardiness, he was a perfect gentleman. The fixation was not unlike the other shinobi's obsessions; looking down the long list from alcohol to peeping into bathhouses, he wondered why the shinobi gods didn't strike Konoha down with a lightning bolt.
He was only sick-minded, and it wasn't like his thoughts weren't based on truth. The twelve-year-old genin kid with a hopeless crush whose life he had been entrusted with, had grown up into a 'hot little piece of kunoichi', as Genma had previously noted in a group mission, and the silver-haired jounin had to admit, he was right. That however, didn't stop him from beating up his so-called friend.
Fantasies about your student, no matter how former, aren't normal, he chastised himself, It's not normal. It's just wrong. Not allowed. Taboo.
He looked up at the ceiling and was reminded exactly why he hated hospitals, or at least one good reason; they never had any Icha Icha. The only literary item in the damn room was the workplace safety hazards manual and even that was on the other side of the room.
Not that I'd read it anyways. It probably doesn't apply to a shinobi's line of work. Hmm, that would be interesting. To work as a ninja with no use of any sharp and potentially dangerous objects. Interesting indeed…
He laughed quietly but realized the pain again. Admittedly, it was less agonizing than it was prior to whatever treatment he received last night, but the pain was still there, throbbing like a sore thumb.
No, more like a sore thumb with senbon stuck in it, after being drenched in some sort of acid. Damn those darts. He got my own ninken to bite me, the same ones I trained since I was a goddamn three-year-old, with a mediocre drug…
Indeed, he had been a child prodigy, and was a genius, but even genii had problems when they were severely injured. He wished that someone would come to clear things up. He could link together the facts and come up with a general idea of what happened, but he wanted the truth from someone who was there firsthand.
He hated the hospital and how it made him so vulnerable. He was damn pissed, more so to himself for being that vulnerable in the first place, although he knew that he was within Konoha walls in one of the safest buildings in the village, and that unless Orochimaru decided to revive himself somehow, and start up another war, he was quite safe. He yawned and wondered about the little shit that brought him here.
Damn it, I'd kill him, whoever it was. Unless it was Sakura, of course. Then I'd…
He was running out of punishments for his mind. He decided that since there wasn't anything that he could do, other than stare at the ceiling, he'd let himself sleep.
ЖЖЖ
Outside, Tsunade was reprimanding her 18-year-old apprentice. It was definitely not the first time that the pink-haired jounin had used up all her chakra while healing a patient, despite the numerous warnings.
Even her recovery rate is a lot faster than normal. This, she kept from her trainee for fear of encouraging her, although discouragement evidently didn't work on her anyways.
Still, chakra was the lifeblood of a shinobi, and unlike a certain would-be Hokage, Sakura never had an endless supply of it. This, however, did not stop her from acting like him, recklessly trying to save the ones close to her and never relenting before she was finished.
"How many times must I tell you this? A dead medic is a-"
"Liability to the team, I know, shishou. I just…Can I go see him?" Sakura didn't see why her teacher had to be so strict with the particular rule this time. She was within Konoha gates, not anywhere near dead, and with the knowledge that her mentor, still by far the best medic in town, was coming soon. She had broken other rules before, but she stopped herself from revealing them in her non-existent argument before she shot herself in the foot with things better left hidden. Things better left hidden, that is, if she wanted to live without murderous intents from those people involved, and with said people all being capable shinobi, Sakura wouldn't stand a chicken's chance on a battlefield if they were to gang up on her. They wouldn't kill her, at least if they had a head over their shoulders, what with the last Uchiha and the Kyuubi by her side no matter what. More like they couldn't. Sakura just wanted to love and be loved by everyone, regardless of the rules.
Tsunade sighed. She knew that Sakura tried to protect everyone close to her, more so after her parents' sudden death.
She also knew that the copy-nin had refused to receive treatment from any medic other than Sakura and herself, at least not when he was conscious. It wouldn't be abnormal, as they were the two best medics, if he wasn't so horrible to the other medics. He could render almost everyone in the damn village speechless, literally, just with a death glare. Of course, the Sharingan and its abilities may have helped, but he managed to make Ibiki flinch, a feat in and of itself. Seriously, the guy really had to lighten up and learn to trust others, but ever since that mask incident…well, to some extent, she felt sorry for the poor guy, Hotarou, who was assigned to help in the operation, key word being 'was'.
In the end, Sakura had to heal both of them, and even then, the poor chap had to be hospitalized longer than the infamous jounin. In the asylum for the mentally unstable, that is…
He had a goddamn punctured lung! He wasn't even supposed to be able to breathe, let alone move!
Hotarou did say that he was trying to remove the mask to allow for an open airway, but evidently, the copy-nin decided that it was an implausible excuse.
Somewhere in the village, Hotarou sneezed.
A loud exhale escaped her mouth again. "You're going to be healing him until his recovery anyways. I trust you will refrain from using up your chakra. Remember, there's the afternoon training and I won't heal you after that, so save it."
"Yes, shishou. Thank you!"
She was used to getting no healing after training and knew, from experience, to avoid all attacks that she wouldn't be able to heal during the battle. In other words, she had to avoid almost everything, from taijutsu to the rare ninjutsu and genjutsu that the Fifth used. The evasion training was working; she could last at least five minutes without a hit, in a serious spar with the slug princess, with little chakra to her feet to aid her speed. She wasn't worried; the Fifth never used an attack during sparring that she could not heal. If the injury was life threatening, she would get healed by the best of the best, regardless of what was said and done. No, she had better things to worry about. She hoped for the best for her former teacher, as she ran towards room 145, ward 3.
A/N: Sorry about the late update . Seems like Good Friday's being good to me and I can finally upload something. Stupid school project…