Author's Note: Okay, so part one is wrapping up (only two other chapters left) and part two will be beginning soon. : ) Also, I have started a companion story to this one about Kakashi and Akahana called The Steep and Thorny Way to Heaven. Check it out if you're interested :)

Chapter 8

Sunlight poured into the all white hospital room, making Kakashi stir. He remembered everything, but had hoped he was having some twisted dream. It wasn't though, so he just had to roll with life's waves.

Hiroshi looked a lot better compared to what he looked like that night. The back of his head was shaved down where the stitches had to be sewn and he still was very bruised looking, but his skin wasn't unnaturally pale. Now his rosy complexion had returned, bringing life back to his body and giving Kakashi some peace of mind. He hadn't been too late.

The jounin sat up, aching from not sleeping in the best position, but that was barely noticed by him. All he could think about was how close he came to losing the last member of his family, his only kid. If he had been five minutes later….No, he couldn't think that way. He wasn't five minutes later. Hiroshi was okay. That's all that mattered.

Kakashi pulled his mask back up to where it belonged on his face so he could walk out of the hospital room and find some coffee. He needed some kind of pick-me-up and it was way too early in the morning to drink, so coffee would have to do it.

"Kakashi!" Kurenai called, running over to her colleague. "I heard about what happened to Hiroshi. Is he alright?" Kakashi and Kurenai weren't particularly close and were more friends because Kakashi and Asuma are friends, but he didn't mind her.

"Yeah, I think so," Kakashi said, his exhaustion showing. Kurenai's face showed relief.

"That's good. I heard from the medics who'd been working the night shift last night that he wasn't in good shape. I'll have to let Iruka know that he's alright," Kurenai said, smiling because of the relief.

"Why do you all care so much?" Kakashi asked a little harsher than he'd intended. Kurenai didn't take offense though, assuming that his hostility was stemming from stress and exhaustion.

"Your son has become a little celebrity," she said, still smiling. "A lot of people saw him when you were here last to pick up missions and everyone thinks he's adorable… and that you're probably a great dad."

"Me?" Kakashi said, almost laughing at the thought of people thinking he'd be a good father. Hiroshi has only lived with him for a little over two weeks and he's already lost the boy twice and now he was in the hospital. Kakashi was definitely in the running for father of the year.

"Yes you. There's just something about you… You seem to care about the kids more than most of us do," Kurenai said. "It's hard to explain… You really need some coffee. You look like you're about to pass out."

"That's where I was on my way to," Kakashi said as he rubbed both of his eyes. He forgot his ninja headband in the hospital room. Woops…

"Can I trust you to get there on your own, or should I worry about you passing out?" she joked. Kakashi gave her an unamused face and walked away, waving goodbye.

After he had coffee in his system, he did feel a lot better. He decided to stop at home, shower, put on clean clothes, and bring Hiroshi a few things. Knowing the hospital, they would probably want to keep Hiroshi another night, just to make sure he's alright, so Kakashi grabbed him a pair of clothes, his notebook, and his panda. Looking at the boy's few possessions; he began making a mental checklist of what he needed. He only had two pairs of clothes and 2 pairs of pajamas, all of which were getting on the small side. That, he would worry about later though.

On his way back to the hospital, Kakashi decided to stop at the general store and buy Hiroshi some new crayons, just because his were all shells of their former selves and barely worked. He figured it was the least he could do for letting him almost be killed by a thief.

When Kakashi finally made his way back to Hiroshi's room, the boy was close to waking up, yawning and stretching out a bit. He touched the back of his head and ran his hand over where the stitches are.

"I wouldn't touch those," Kakashi warned, startling the boy. "If you pull them out, it'll really hurt. You shouldn't be sitting up anyways…"

Hiroshi looked at him with sleepy eyes, but then smiled when he saw his panda and notepad. There was no way he was going back to sleep now.

"Will you color with me?" he asked in a raspy voice. Kakashi never really colored before, not since he was really really young, but hey, why not?

"Sure," he said, handing Hiroshi his panda and pulling over the rolling table. Kakashi got into bed next to Hiroshi and adjusted the table so the little boy could reach. He watched as Hiroshi stared at his new pack of crayons in awe.

"Did you get these for me?" he asked as he opened the top and looked at all the new colors he had to choose from. Kakashi nodded. "Thank you so much! Look, there's pink and burgundy, for Sakura and Granny!"

A whole other wave of relief shot through Kakashi's core. Hiroshi's memory seemed to be perfectly okay after whatever happened. The last thing he'd want is the poor boy to suffer some extreme brain damage.

"Hiroshi," Kakashi started carefully, afraid to disrupt the balance that his son had found. "Are you alright… after what happened?" Hiroshi's smile drifted off as his eyes slowly filled up with tears. Right away, Kakashi thought that he must've felt some guilt for killing the man, even though he had pulled a knife on him. "Hiroshi, it's okay. You were just-"

"I killed a fishy!" Hiroshi said through sobs, confusing Kakashi even more.

"Wait, you did what?" Kakashi asked, trying not to laugh.

"I… I saw this lady at the market who looked like Mommy and I thought it was her but then I found out it wasn't so I got sad and ran to the pond and was watching the water move around when I poke it with a stick but then this fishy came over and started sucking on the stick and I told it not to but I was mad so I hit it too and then it started bleeding so I put it in a bucket to bring to you but then this big mean man came over and was being mean and scary so I kicked him and then he hurt me and then I can't remember much else. But I killed the fishy!" Hiroshi said, gasping for air after saying all of that without taking a breath. Kakashi just let out probably the loudest laugh he's ever produced in his life. "It isn't funny!"

"No, I'm not laughing about that… just forget it," he said with a smile. He figured he could explain everything that happened to Hiroshi later, after he was feeling better and over the "trauma" of killing a fish. The boy's mind must have blocked out some of it, in order to protect him. Hiroshi crossed his arms and pouted for a few second, but then realized that Kakashi wasn't going to apologize.

"Do you know how to draw pandas?" Hiroshi asked as he pulled out some of the crayons.

"No, but you could teach me," Kakashi said, smiling at his son.

"Room 213," the receptionist told Iruka. He smiled and thanked her as he walked to find Hiroshi's room. There was an urgent scroll from the sand village for him and he needed to deliver it now, or they may never know what it said.

Iruka pulled open the door to 213, only to find Hiroshi and Kakashi napping. Kakashi was leaned back in the bed, practically snoring and Hiroshi was curled up in his lap, his head resting on his father's chest. Iruka knew he shouldn't be in here. Kakashi didn't want anyone seeing this side of him, especially not him. But, it was his job to deliver this scroll.

"Kakashi Sensei?" Iruka said, making Kakashi jump awake. Hiroshi was still asleep. "Sorry to wake you but… this scroll was given to us, for Hiroshi from the Sand Village. It's marked urgent, so-"

"I'll take it," Kakashi said, not quite awake yet. Iruka handed it to him and dashed to the door, not wanting to invade anymore. Kakashi broke the seal on the scroll and unraveled it, reading the words to himself.

To Hiroshi Hayashi-Hatake:

We are sending this letter to inform you that the body of your relative Akahana Hayashi has been discovered. All of the personal belongings on the person can be given to you if you so choose, or can be sold and used for the village. You have 24 hours to respond to this message, or it shall be assumed that you have chosen the later.

-Village of the Sand.

Kakashi read the scroll a few more times, deciding for Hiroshi that they could send Akahana's belongings to them. He figured it would only be her uniform and weapons, but that may mean something to Hiroshi. He quickly wrote a reply and gave it to the receptionist, so she could give it to the messenger when he came at noon.

There was something about them finding Akahana's body that really solidified everything in Kakashi's head. When Akira had explained to him that the body had never been found, but since the likelihood of her being alive was under 20 percent, she was considered dead; there was always that tinge of hope. She could still be alive. He was sure that's what Hiroshi had thought for a while too, but now it was official. She was dead. Her story was over.

Kakashi needed air. No, he needed to run until his lungs felt like they would collapse. He left the hospital, starting at a brisk run and then sprinted to the training field. All of these pent up feelings and he had no idea what to do with them. So, he resorted to punching trees.

A normal person punching a tree isn't such a big deal, and generally no one would really notice, but as soon as Kakashi's fist made contact with the tree, a crack rang through the training grounds. A hole a little bit bigger than Kakashi's fist was left in the tree as it struggled to remain standing up. Kakashi went to deliver another punch but he was interrupted.

"Arch rival! I finally found you," Guy said, running up to Kakashi and wrapping his arm around his neck. "It's challenge time."

"Guy, please," Kakashi said under his breath. He really really wasn't in the mood. "I really don't want to do any-"
"No backing out of this one," he said, grabbing Kakashi by the arm and bringing him over to the memorial stone. Guy sat down cross-legged and waiting for Kakashi to sit across from him. With a sigh, Kakashi finally sat down as well.

"What's the challenge this time?" he asked, bringing back his bored tone.

"Rock paper scissors," Guy said. "But, there's a twist. The loser has to reveal a secret."

"A secret?" Kakashi asked, confused to why Guy would want to do such a dumb challenge. Was he running out of ideas or something? "Fine."

"No sharingan," he warned as he put his fist out. Kakashi closed his sharingan eye, since his headband was still in Hiroshi's room.

"Rock Paper Scissors shoot," they both said. Guy held out rock and Kakashi paper. Guy half heartedly stomped his foot, which confused Kakashi even more. Normally he had tantrums when he lost.

"Looks like I have to reveal a secret," Guy said with mock disappointment. "My secret is that I know your secret."

"What?" Kakashi asked, now completely confused. Guy wasn't one to be vague. "What secret?"

"You can tell me when you lose!" Guy said, putting his fist back out for another game. Kakashi sighed and did another round, this time losing. "So, what's your secret?"

"Um…" Kakashi tried to think. He had way too many secrets to know exactly which Guy was talking about, so he threw one out there. "I'm terrified of being a father."

"Ha! That's no secret!" Guy laughed, putting his fist out again. "And that's not the secret I know. Try again Arch Rival."

They did another round and this time Kakashi was focusing on losing, which he did. Now he was racking his brain. What would Guy know about him that was a secret?

"Can't you at least give me a clue?" Kakashi asked.

"But then it isn't a challenge!" Guy said enthusiastically. "Now what's your secret?"

"I'm afraid that Sasuke is going turn against the village one day," Kakashi answered after some thought.

"…Definitely a secret, but not my secret," Guy said, sounding a little less enthusiastic and a little more concerned. They went through round after round of rock paper scissors, Kakashi losing each round on purpose only to reveal another part of his innermost thoughts to his "arch rival", trying to discover what he could possibly know about him until he'd reached near the end of his secrets.

"This is my last guess," Kakashi said, actually not minding confiding all of this in Guy. The jounin may be annoying, but he was trustworthy and loyal. He wouldn't go around telling people things you don't want them knowing. "I wish I'd never left Akahana."

"Wow…" Guy said, stopping his silliness for one second.

"So, what was the secret of mine that you knew?" Kakashi asked as he stood up off the ground. He offered a hand to Guy and helped him up too.

"I… I didn't really know one. I just wanted to have a ton of wins against you," Guy said with a thumbs up. "And, you also seemed like you had some pent up emotions! Those destroy the power of your youth you know!"

"Oh, okay," Kakashi said, not quite sure what to say to that. He turned around and decided that he'd better walk back to the hospital. He had to have been playing this 'challenge' with Guy for several hours.

"Kakashi," Guy said, making the jounin stop in his tracks. "Take your own advice."

"My own advice?" Kakashi asked.

"Don't let yourself be eaten alive," Guy said, tearing up in his overdramatic manor. "If you die of sadness, I won't have anyone to challenge anymore!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes and walked away, strangely feeling lighter than he did when he arrived. Maybe this challenge wasn't as dumb as he thought.