Author's Note: Hey everyone! Wow, I can't believe the epic battle is over! Which means the story is almost finished. :(
Don't worry, this isn't the last chapter, haha. That would be just too sad.
Thanks to BlackRose723, Echo Uchiha, and A.W.P for the lovely reviews! You guys are great, as always! :D
I hope you all enjoy chapter twenty-three! It was a lot easier to write than the last few. :P
As always, reviews would be greatly appreciated!

Twenty-Three: The Morning After

When I awoke the next morning, I couldn't help but wonder if it had all been a dream. A crazy, messed up nightmare that somehow ended in my favor. My eyelids twitched as sleep abandoned me, the intense sunlight forcing them to squint until my eyes could adjust. The morning seemed calm enough for my suspicions to be plausible, but my entire body felt so incredibly fatigued that I just wasn't sure. Could a nightmare of that caliber be enough to exhaust me on its own? I raised my hands to my face to wipe the crust from the corners of my eyes, sighing tiredly as I did so. When I pulled them away, however, I noticed a light purplish tint to the skin around my wrists like handprints; a quick flashback was all it took to provide an answer to my dilemma.

So, I thought to myself, it wasn't a dream, after all.

Groaning as I tried to ignore my screaming muscles, I hoisted myself upright in my bed and pulled my knees to my chest. I could barely remember anything that had happened after my fight with Koji. The only thing that resurfaced as I thought back was bringing Toshiro to the hospital to have his wounds treated. Both Hana and Kakashi were also admitted for the injuries they had received, but Nikko, Mai, and I were all well enough to have been discharged after the nurses had monitored our vital organs and chakra levels. I was lucky enough to have escaped without any injuries at all, but that would have all been very different if Kakashi hadn't shown up when he did.

I was grateful that Kakashi had arrived in time to save me, but I couldn't help feeling bitter about the whole situation. I certainly hadn't handled the fight as well as I should have. If I had assessed the situation quicker, I wouldn't have gotten myself in such a situation. Not only was I irritated with my lacking deductive skills, but also I was sort of embarrassed that my students had seen my complete and utter failure out on the battlefield first hand. The fact that I even needed saving showed that I was incompetent, and I hated feeling incompetent.

"Don't worry so much,"

Gasping in shock, I shot my eyes toward the direction of the voice, which, not surprisingly, had come from my open window. I guess I should have known that it would have been Kakashi there, perched on the windowsill with his arms resting on his knees and his silvery hair falling over his face, but I still hadn't expected it. "What do you mean?" I asked him, instinctively covering my exposed legs with my comforter, "And what are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you be resting in the hospital?"

"First of all," he began, hopping into my room and shoving his hands into his pockets, "You should know by now that I can read you like a book. I can see the wheels turning in your head. You're thinking about what happened yesterday, and I'm telling you to quit worrying about it. It's all over now."

I glared into my lap, squeezing my sheets in my hands as they formed tight fists under the blanket. I guess I didn't really expect him to understand, being a genius and all, but it still bugged me that he didn't. "Yeah," I grumbled, "Well you weren't the one who looked like a helpless fool in front of your own students."

My eyes remained fixed on the fabric of my blanket, so I couldn't his reaction to what I had said. "Would you rather I let you die?" he asked me. It seemed like a genuine question, rather than a sarcastic one.

"No, that's not what I'm saying," I sighed, releasing the tension in my hands. I fought to come up with the words to explain exactly how I was feeling in a way that he would understand. "I guess I'm just frustrated with myself. I shouldn't have let Koji and his associates get to me like that…"

Suddenly, I felt my mattress shift as Kakashi took a seat next to me. He put a hand on my shoulder, and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. I peeked my eyes upward and noticed a smile in his visible black eye. "Kae," he said, "You are too hard on yourself. You focus on your one fault, and fail to remember all the good you did on that mission. After all, you were the one who organized the whole rescue mission in the first place. Even though Lady Tsunade told you not to go, you valued your student's life more than you valued the order of your superior. That alone was a great success for you, because if you hadn't followed your heart, then Toshiro might not be safe in the village right now."

I listened intently as he explained it all to me, and, though my pessimism told me that he was just trying to make me feel better, a small part of me noted the sincere tone of his voice, reassuring me that he was telling me the honest truth, or at least how he viewed it. "Not to mention your amazing analytical skills," he continued, "You were the only one, out of all of us, who managed to uncover the secret behind Koji's jutsu. If you hadn't figured it out when you did, we all could have got seriously injured, or even killed. So, in a way, you were the real hero, Kae."

I hadn't thought of it that way, but, then again, that was expected considering I had always been extremely negative. It was just like Kakashi to pick me up when I was feeling down. His words of encouragement had given me just the amount of assurance that I needed to shove away enough of my negativity to allow a smile to find its way onto my lips. "Thanks, Kakashi," I whispered, leaning backward to rest my head on his shoulder as I let my eyes fall close, "I can always count on you."

Wrapping his arms around my middle, he replied, "Anytime."

His body was so warm and comfortable that I almost felt like falling back to sleep right then and there, but I knew that I had to get up and about so I could visit Toshiro and Hana at the hospital. As I slid out of his arms and off of my bed, I remembered my original question. "By the way," I groaned as I stretched my aching body, "You never told me why you're here and not in the hospital."

I listened to his response as I traveled to my closet in search of clean clothes. "My injuries were mild. Even though I only needed some stitches and bandages, they kept me overnight because they insisted that they needed to be completely sure that I was stable before they could release me. I was discharged this morning."

Pulling out a simple black t-shirt and some faded jean shorts, I closed my closet door and asked, "And you came straight here?"

"Well, I had nothing better to do," was his reply.

"I see," I laughed, heading toward the bathroom, "I'm going to take a quick shower. Make yourself comfortable, but behave."

"Aw," he pouted, and I laughed even though I fully expected that exact response.

I tossed my clothes to the ground as I entered the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind me. I then turned on the water, allowing it to warm up before I finally decided to jump in. Sighing against the sensation of the steam against my skin, I began lathering my body with soap, anxious to remember what cleanliness had felt like. My mind instantly began to wander in its relaxed state, and I closed my eyes as I leaned against the wall of the shower for support. Hazy scenes of yesterday's battle replayed like a movie inside my head, playing backward from the later occurrences, like killing Koji, to the more earlier ones, like packing my things in my room.

I was just rinsing the shampoo from my long hair as I remembered what I had done in my room before I had left, causing my eyes to burst open and the soapy liquid to flow right into them. Inhaling sharply as I felt the stinging sensation, I began furiously rubbing my tightly closed eyes with the backs of my hands and splashing water into them, cursing myself for being such an idiot. After about a minute of this, the pain finally began to subside, so I slowly lifted my eyelids and rested my forehead against the wall of the shower in front of me, my previous thoughts instantly crashing back into my mind.

That night, before I left… I kissed Kakashi.

I couldn't believe that I had forgotten, but I wasn't exactly grateful to have remembered. Now that I was conscious of what I had done, I knew that it was only going to cause me to feel extremely awkward around him, and what made the whole situation worse was the fact that Kakashi was in my bedroom, so it wasn't like I could avoid him. How could he act so calm and cool around me after what had happened, while I was so worried about it? Could it be that he had forgotten? A part of me wished that he had, for it would mean that I wouldn't have to worry about it ever being brought up in conversation, however another part of me hoped that he hadn't, for I'd like to think that kissing me would have been memorable for him. In fact, I hoped that the kiss wasn't just memorable, but good.

Turning off the water, I forced myself back to reality. "What am I thinking?" I whispered to myself as I grabbed a towel and began drying off, "Where is this all coming from?"

Slipping into my clean clothes, I walked to the sink and peered back at my reflection in the mirror. I noticed that the skin of the entire left side of my face was a light bluish-purple, and I instantly remembered getting kicked by Koji in that exact spot. I traced my fingers along the bruised area, flinching slightly against the pain, and decided against trying to cover it up. As I ran a comb through my long locks, my original question resurfaced to the front of my mind, and I tried to come up with an answer to it. Why was I so fixated on this kiss? It really shouldn't have been this big of a deal, but I just couldn't help but make it a big deal. What had even possessed me to kiss him in the first place?

Suddenly, as if my subconscious was responding to my question, my dying thoughts from yesterday flooded back into my mind.

I love him more than anything else in the world.

Putting my hair into a low ponytail, I whispered to my reflection, "Am I really in love with him?"

"Hey," I heard a muffled voice call from behind the bathroom door, "Did you die in there, Kae?"

My heart raced. Kakashi.

"Um, n-no," I forced myself to reply, "I'll be out in a second!"

Taking one last look in the mirror to make sure I looked acceptable, I heaved a large sigh before turning on my heel and exiting the bathroom. My eyes caught sight of his, and I quickly averted them away, instantly cursing myself for doing so. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, so I turned my head away to hide from his view. "I'm going to go visit Toshiro and Hana at the hospital," I promptly explained, rushing past him to step into my shoes.

"I'll go with you," he offered.

"No, that's ok," I shot back, "I-I'll just talk to you later." And without looking back, I leapt from my bedroom window to the streets below.

All the way to the hospital, I fought endlessly with my own mind as I tried to forget about what had just happened, but my inner dialogue was persistent in reminding me of how much of a fool I must have looked. I decided to sprint to my destination, not as a training exercise, but rather a desperate attempt to clear my mind. Luckily my burning muscles gave me something else to think about, and I wasn't bothered with thoughts of Kakashi or my own stupidity for the duration of the trip.

In five minutes, I had arrived at the hospital. The woman at the front desk told me that my students were sharing a room on the third floor, room 310, and when I asked how they were doing, she happily replied that they were both in stable condition and that they would be discharged by tomorrow morning. I was relieved. Thanking the woman, I spun around to begin heading for the elevator.

Room 310 wasn't too far from the elevator, so I arrived rather quickly. As I placed my hand on the doorknob, I wondered if either Hana or Toshiro would even be awake at this time. I wouldn't have been surprised if they were still sleeping, seeing as their injuries were pretty bad. I twisted the handle and pushed the door open anyway, deciding that I would just make this a quick visit either way. When I entered the room, I noticed that all of the lights were turned off and the blinds were closed, allowing only a few beams of sunshine to peak through the spaces. The only sounds filling the room were the soft beeps coming from the machines that monitored both Hana's and Toshiro's vitals. I stepped further into the room to see that they were both fast asleep. I couldn't help but smile at how peaceful they looked despite the tubes emerging from their nostrils and the needles poking into their arms. For the first time since meeting them, I could actually see their youth in their faces, and realizing just how small they really were was eye opening to me. For being so young, they certainly were strong and capable shinobi, and I was extremely proud of them.

I knelt in between the two beds, turning toward the right to face Hana's sleeping form. I gently placed my hand on hers and smiled. "Hana," I whispered, "You handled yourself well out there. Even though you got injured, you didn't give up, just like in our training exercise a while back. If it wasn't for your noticing Koji's reflection in my sword, I wouldn't have been able to figure out his jutsu, and our mission might not have been a success. You've grown into an excellent kunoichi, and I am proud to be able to call you my student."

The girl, still asleep, didn't respond, yet, even though I knew she probably didn't hear a word I had said, I swore I saw a slight hint of a smile appear on her lips.

I then turned to Toshiro and brushed a strand of hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ear. "Toshiro, you are such a talented shinobi," I said softly, "I always knew that you were strong and intelligent just by watching you train, but yesterday, I really got to see it first hand in a real-life situation. I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I am with you. There's no doubt in my mind that you are a great asset to Konoha's shinobi forces. I'm so proud of you, and I only wish that I could be able to say that I taught you even a quarter of what you know now. But, in reality, you haven't needed much of my help at all to become as amazing as you are."

Just as I was about to stand up and leave my students to their rest, I heard a weak voice murmur, "Thank you, Kaeda Sensei."

I turned my head to see the white-haired boy gazing back at me through tired eyes, a small smile on his lips.

"You don't have to thank me," I smiled, "Every word that I just said to you is the truth."

"No," he said, "I mean… thank you for saving my life."

"Toshiro," I sighed, furrowing my eyebrows, "don't you remember? It was because of you that I was even able to counter his attacks. In reality, it was you who saved my life. I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"You don't understand," he argued, his weak voice barely above a whisper, "I used every bit of strength I had to drain away his chakra, and it still took me as long as it did. If you hadn't come along when you did, that guy… he probably would have killed me. It was because you stalled him by fighting that I was able to finish the job."

"I see," I replied, averting my gaze to my lap.

"I guess I'm not so strong anymore, huh…"

I shot my eyes upward to meet his, furrowing my brows in confusion. "Of course you're strong," I told him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "A weak person would have just given up in your situation. A weak person wouldn't have fought as hard as you did. You, on the other hand, kept going even when the odds were against you. You didn't give up, and, in the end, you came out victorious. So don't you ever say that you aren't strong, because it just isn't true."

The life in his eyes returned as he smiled back at me. Ruffling his hair with my right hand, I stood up and returned the smile. "Get some rest, Toshiro," I finally told him while turning on my heel.

"Thank you, Kaeda Sensei," the boy repeated.

Looking over my shoulder, I replied, "You're welcome."

As I exited the room, my eyes widened as I came face-to-face with someone that I really wasn't looking forward to seeing. No, it wasn't Kakashi. Think opposite sex, blonde hair, brown eyes, high heels, and a quick temper. "Kaeda," she said.

"Lady Hokage," I sighed, preparing myself for the punishment that I was sure to come.

"You disobeyed a direct order," she stated in a voice so calm that it scared me, "You left the village when I specifically told you to stay behind."

"Yes, Ma'am," I admitted, shoving my hands in my pockets in an attempt to appear nonchalant, when, in reality, I was terrified beyond all belief. What was she going to do to me? When was she going to start yelling?

"What were you thinking?" She snapped, placing her hands angrily on her hips.

I already missed the calm before the storm.

"You could have gotten yourself killed, or worse, you could have gotten your students killed! Do you know how much trouble I could have gotten into if those Genin had died out there? Regardless of how strong you view them to be, they are still too young to be taking on such high-ranking missions! I will not tolerate such irresponsible and irrational thinking, and as long as I am Hokage, you will listen and obey my orders from now on! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Lady Hokage," I responded quietly, "I take full responsibility."

"You're damned right, you do! I ought to suspend you—no, I ought to revoke your shinobi privileges for what you have done!"

I was dreading this moment, but I knew the moment I left Konoha that I would be punished. It was time for me to suffer the consequences for my actions. I had to remind myself, though, that no matter what happened, I had brought Toshiro safely back to the village, and that was all that really mattered.

Tsunade sighed, letting her eyes close and her hands to fall limp at her sides. "Well done, Kaeda."

My eyes snapped open. What did she just say?

The expression on my face must have been enough of an answer, for she resumed speaking even after I had said nothing. "You found Toshiro before the ANBU teams I had sent out could. It was because you chose to follow your instincts that Toshiro is safe, and even though you disobeyed me, I can't help but overlook that in recognition of that fact. I should have known that you, having trained Toshiro since he graduated from the Academy, would have been the best person to send out to search for him. But you have to understand, I had already sent out the ANBU teams before you had even returned from your previous mission, and I didn't want to risk losing any more valuable shinobi than absolutely necessary."

I was still shocked that she was actually praising me for what I had done when, a mere moment ago, she had been yelling at me and threatening punishment. In fact, was still bracing for the impact of having my shinobi privileges revoked.

"You can relax," she finally laughed, breaking a bit of the tension in the air, "I'm not going to punish you."

"Really?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Really," she confirmed, "but I promise you that the next time you disobey me, I won't be so forgiving."

The stern look on her face told me that she was being completely serious, so I fought back the urge to smile and chuckle in response. Instead, I choked out a "thank you" before I bowed graciously and turned on my heel to depart. I could hear the door to Toshiro and Hana's room being opened, and without turning back to look, I assumed that Lady Tsunade had come to the hospital to check on my Genin.

When I was reunited with Konoha's fresh outdoor air, I was finally able to relax my body, which had been tensed since I had first spotted Lady Hokage. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the realization had finally occurred to me that I was not going to be punished for my actions. I still couldn't believe it, even though I had heard Lady Tsunade say it to me herself. I just couldn't believe that she could be so forgiving. Deciding against pinching myself to test whether or not I was dreaming, I realized that, even if I was dreaming, I would rather not wake up.

Dream or not, it was too good to risk ending so soon.