Sakura! My, what are you doing here?"

"I'm a medical ninja, Kakashi sensei. It's my duty to treat the ill and wounded."

"So you're just here in place of Tsunade, then. She really does trust you."

"Yes, she does" she said with a smile.

That's good. It is important to keep trust, especially in times like these."

"Well, sensei, I must change the subject. Your vitals appear to be fairly normal, yet you seem incapacitated."

"Too harsh, Sakura."

"I'm a doctor. It's my duty to study the facts."

"Hm" said Kakashi, his eyes perking a bit. "I had always wondered when I'd have to start taking orders from you."

"You don't need to take orders from me. I just need you to tell me what's wrong."

"You haven't figured it out already?"

"Perhaps I have. Why don't you confirm my hypothesis then?"

"So cunning!" he said with a smile.

"Please, Kakashi. You aren't yourself."

"How would you know such a thing?"

"Um, because I spent years working with you!?"

"How do you know that I didn't change my behavior when I started working with you?"

"I don't, Kakashi! Sometimes people have gut feelings. I've decided to follow mine. Didn't you always tell me I needed to be more assertive?"

"Yes, and I'm glad to see how much you've grown. It makes a sensei proud. Now spill. What's your verdict?"

"Fine! I think you have been psychologically disturbed."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

"After all, you fought against your former rival and friend, Obito, somebody who meant a lot to you. You had to fight to the death, and you came out on top. Now you're full of inner turmoil as you try to decide whether you did the right thing or not. Well?"

"Well done, Sakura. However, you are only half right."

"Half right? Which half?"

"The psychologically disturbed part."

"Okay, then you need to tell me the rest. Psychological issues can only be fixed if we both understand what's going on in your mind."

"If only I could tell."

"You can! What's stopping you?"

"It's...well..."

"Kakashi...please."

"Keep thinking, Sakura! I know you'll come up with it. Think about what happened during the war a little more."

"I'm trying! Ugh, you're so lucky that Tsunade's not here."

"I don't think that Tsunade and I would have made nearly as much progress. Unveiling the truth is something she's never been good at."

"Oh! You must be embarrassed that Guy had to carry you off the field because you were injured. He is another one of your rivals after all."

"Think a little further back..."

"Okay, you decided to attack Madara head on, and then...he attacked you, and...wait. Wait a minute. Are you serious right now? That's why you're such an emotional wreck? Seriously?"

"...maybe."

"Oh, come on! That's not a big deal. You are such a wimp, honestly. Wow. This officially qualifies as more embarrassing than the time Naruto and I grabbed those bells from you by threatening to reveal the end of your book. Well then. Now that that's off your chest, how do you feel?"

"I...will let you know tomorrow."

"Okay, seriously, we have a lot of patients to tend to. If we can release you, it will make our jobs a lot easier and we will be able to work more efficiently."

"Okay, okay, I'm fine. Just don't let anyone get ahead of me in terms of cumulative hospital time" he said with a wink.

"Will do, Kakashi. So, all of your stuff is in this room...somewhere...I'll see you later!"

Kakashi let out a sigh as Sakura left the room. It was true. He'd been there long enough. He hopped out his hospital bed, feeling only slightly better. After assembling his usual attire, he signed out of his room and exited the hospital.

"What a pansy I've been", he told a squirrel sitting on a tree branch.

Kakashi turned his head and saw a large shape enter the main entrance of the hospital. His eyes widened, as he knew it could only be Garra of the sand. Kakashi dashed over to the main entrance and entered the hospital once again.

"Kazekage?"

Garra turned his head and offered a small, rare, half-smile upon seeing Kakashi.

"How are you, Hatake Kakashi?"

"Well enough. I've just been, uh, let out. What brought you to Konoha?"

"I'm here to speak with Tsunade."

"Ah, I was wondering when the kages would get together again."

"It's just the two of us today. I contacted her about initiating a collaborative effort for restoration of all of our villages and people. She had had the same idea in mind, so we decided to meet."

"Really? I'd never thought you were really the collaborative sort of person before. It's good to know that people can change."

"I can't lie to you, Kakashi. There are other reasons why I'm meeting with her. This doesn't even involve Sasuke's trial, either."

"More trouble already?"

"It's possible. This war really took a toll on the world. Some people think that many of them are unfixable."

"I feared this would happen. What are they planning to do? They can't possibly want to start another war. That would only cause more harm."

"That is something that I don't know. There have merely been some strange reports recently. Now, I need to go meet with Tsunade. I will see you later, Kakashi."

"Good luck, Kazekage."

Garra climbed up the nearest staircase while Kakashi left the hospital for his apartment. Upon entering the empty dwelling, he couldn't help but feel sad. He often wondered why he'd never decided to marry. He was, after all, of proper age. The truth was that he'd never really found someone he'd really liked besides Rin. Kakashi felt himself fighting tears for the first time in his adulthood. So much had transpired. He couldn't believe he'd been fighting Obito for months before he realized who it was. Kakashi was also embarrassed at the spectacle he had made during the war. Why couldn't he have just gone after Obito mercilessly? The answer was obvious to him. Rin was standing between the two of them, just as she always had in the old days. He crawled into his shower and let the water run. He was suddenly overcome with laughter, something that rarely happened to him. He began to see how silly he had been. He had been extremely worked up about the dumbest of things. He was especially grateful that Sakura had come to see him. If she hadn't, he would likely have never come to face the reason for the disturbance in his mind. He continued laughing at the reason. During the battle with Madara, his mask had been torn off from an attack, allowing everyone to catch their first glimpse of his face.

The days began passing more quickly, to Naruto's delight. He viewed each passing day as another wound that had healed. He hoped that soon, all of the patchwork would be complete. The list of those who had been dismissed from the hospital was growing. It now included Sai, Chouji, Shikamaru, and various other people that Naruto knew less well. Even so, Sakura, Ino, and Tsunade were as busy as ever. Those with less severe injuries were being permitted to the hospital to heal faster, so most of the wards remained largely populated. He had heard that Kakashi was released, and he wanted to see him very badly. Unfortunately, he and his other friends had no idea where Kakashi lived. Tsunade probably knew, as well as Guy, but Tsunade was far too busy to give directions, and Guy was still unconscious. Thus, Naruto decided to go on a small adventure around the village to try to seek him out. Surely Kakashi came outside at some point?

"So how exactly do you expect to find him? Kakashi is a high level jounin; if he doesn't want to be found, he won't be."

"Come on, Shikamaru. I'm sure he'd like to see us."

"Perhaps you, but not me. I hardly know him. All I know is that he really likes those trashy novels."

"Oh, that's a great idea!"

"I didn't suggest an idea."

"I'll bring him the next book in his favorite series. I'm sure that would brighten his day a bit."

"If you don't think that you'll be able to brighten his day yourself, that probably means you shouldn't go looking for him."

"No. I'm going. Besides, maybe he'll have a job for me to do. I'm tired of being useless."

"Are you all prepared for the trial tomorrow, then?"

"Of course I am. Are you going?"

"I'm going, but I'm not speaking."

"Why not? Don't you think that you could help?"

"Not really. They all know how much my dad hated him. They'd just view me as a malicious, lying, traitor. That wouldn't help his case at all."

"I still don't see why you can't help."

"I am going to help. I'm in the jury. I'm a jounin, remember? Kakashi is in the jury as well."

"Oh, wow! Now we can definitely win. You will vote for his release, right?"

"I doubt that even a favorable vote would result in his complete release. He will still be kept under close surveillance, and he will probably lose many of his privileges."

"Well...I just don't want him in a jail cell for the rest of his life, and I especially don't want him to be killed."

"You're going to need to work hard, then. Many people in Konoha are against Sasuke."

"I know, but I can convince them otherwise. They will have to see that Sasuke actually helped us."

"You're going to have to say more than that."

"What do you mean?"

"Even if Sasuke helped at the end, he can still be badly punished for the things he did years ago. You will have to convince them that Sasuke did all of this so he could help us in the end, and that his only intention was to defeat Madara and bring peace."

"But I don't think that was the case."

"Then you can sit there and watch while Sasuke is executed. The leaders of this village don't take these things lightly."

"But why can't they see what we see? They keep saying that it's not because they weren't on the battlefield."

"They are seeing the effects the war has had on their village. That is all they are using to judge him right now. It is your job to help them see beyond the Konoha."

"Right. Okay, I'm off. I'm gonna find Kakashi!"

"Good luck."