Nervous habits were things that Maito Gai usually frowned upon. Needless to say because of his obvious "all-out" attitude towards life and just about every situation he was in, he never developed anything like that. However, sitting in the emergency ward of Konoha's Hospital waiting for a diagnosis on a close friend of his that he was already sure wasn't going to be good, Gai couldn't help but twiddle his thumbs anxiously.

Every now and then he would glance up at the clock on the wall opposite of him and sigh, wondering how much longer it would take for the medics to finish their job. He also tended to glance at the door with the bright red light lit up at the top, waiting impatiently for it to go off, though a part of him didn't want it to. He didn't want to hear about Kakashi's mark; Orochimaru had undoubtedly told him everything he needed to know about it. He just wanted to know that Kakashi was alive. That he was breathing.

What worried him almost more than the time limit that had been put on his friend's life was what Orochimaru had said before he fled:

"Kakashi belongs to me."

Gai shuddered as he remembered the tone of almost pleasure that the Sannin had held when saying that last gruesome phrase. He couldn't imagine a more awful torture than "belonging" to a snake like Orochimaru. He swore that as long as he lived, he wouldn't let that creep touch Kakashi.

………………………………………..

Sasuke let out a shaky sigh as the pain in his neck subsided. He opened his eyes slowly and took his hand off his mark.

"Sasuke…" Sakura's voice held the utmost concern as she put a hand on his back.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked worriedly, crouching down by his friend.

"Fine," He replied, shrugging off Sakura's hand and standing up, "I'm fine…" He started walking ahead at a quicker pace than before, as if he were concentrating on something.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out, "Are you sure tha-"

"Give it a rest, Naruto. I told you I'm fine," The Uchiha interrupted in a mildly annoyed tone, not even glancing around to reassure his worried teammates.

He didn't care though. Even if he did admit that he wasn't fine, which he wasn't, they wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. Besides, the last thing that Sasuke wanted to have happen was Naruto to find out about his curse mark. The loser wouldn't leave him alone about it if he knew. He'd probably just go running off to that snake bastard. Sasuke stopped himself at that thought, not even wanting to think about what would happen to Naruto then.

"Sasuke…" Sakura muttered worriedly, looking at him desolately. What could she do for him? "He must be in such pain…" She thought. She looked over at Naruto, clearly seeing the confusion and worry on his face. The best thing she could do would be to just act as if nothing really was wrong.

"Come on Naruto. Sasuke knows what he feels," She said quickly, catching Naruto's attention before he raced ahead to catch his friend. She smiled at him- doing the best she could to, at least – "Don't worry. If he says he's fine, I think we should trust his judgment."

Slowly Naruto nodded, smiling –albeit nervously- at Sakura, "Yeah, guess you're right." With one last look at Sasuke, Naruto sighed, trying to dismiss the worries that still lingered in his mind.

"Come on," Sakura said encouragingly, "We should go home."

"… Yeah…"

But Naruto wasn't an idiot, contrary to popular belief. There was definitely something wrong with Sasuke, and Sakura knew what. He would too, soon. There was no shaking off this apprehensive feeling he had, so he decided to take care of it once and for all.

Tonight he would go to Sasuke's and get some answers.

……………………………………….

Gai shot up from his seat on the Hospital bench as the light above Kakashi's room went out and Tsunade stepped out, looking forlorn and exhausted.

"Well?" He asked, almost desperately, "Can you do anything?"

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. Her words made Gai's face fall: "No. We can't… At least not right now…" She looked back up at him, "We can't get rid of curse marks, and this is a brand new one. We don't really know what's its capable of besides what you've told us. And by what you said, it sounds like it's quite capable of killing Kakashi."

Gai cast his eyes down, scrutinizing the situation for any possible loopholes. Unfortunately, he found none… Orochimaru's plan was completely black and white: he lived or he died. And the way Gai saw it, either option was not a winning one for Kakashi. If the curse mark was too strong, he would die. If he out-did the mark, Orochimaru would claim him as his own. It was a lose-lose situation.

"Now we can only hope that Kakashi finds the strength to overcome this," Tsunade said, looking down at the floor, almost looking through it, "And please God, let him find it…"

Looking at the double doors that led into Kakashi's room, Gai knew: for the next 24 hours, Kakashi would be in complete hell.

……………………………………….

Kakashi writhed in pain on his Hospital bed, gripping the white sheets until his knuckles matched their color almost flawlessly. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. It had only been five hours since the damned mark was put on him, and yet the pain was already beyond anything he had ever endured before.

Just barely, he could make out the blurry figures clad in white standing amidst the room, murmuring to each other. They might have been talking at a normal volume, but Kakashi couldn't judge anything correctly at this point. Nor did he care to.

Tsunade had probably put them in the room with him just in case… Well... When he started to take a turn for the worst. But Kakashi didn't even want to comprehend what agony he was to go through.

Hour 10…

He felt beads of sweat roll down his face as the mark continued to pulse on his neck, sending shockwaves of pain throughout his body until he started to become numb from it. His own heart was not heard through this pain, but felt. It was beating heavily, trying to outmatch the opposing force. Kakashi was almost jerking in his bed with every beat.

Hour 20…

Every beat of his throbbing heart caused Kakashi to feel like the world's gravity was crushing him, and the rhythm of the curse mark did not stop. It grew faster and faster. Soon Kakashi found that his lungs weren't taking in enough air. He started gasping for breath, desperately searching for air that seemed to be leaving him.

Doctors were flying around the room, fussing over Kakashi and hooking up machines to pump oxygen back into his system. The clatter of medical equipment and hum of machinery was loud to the Jounin. Too loud. He moaned audibly, though he had no air for it, which made the noise just increase.

Make it stop…

"Hurry! Get the oxygen flowing, now!!"

"He's not taking it in!!"

Please…

"Patient is not responding!"

"Turn up the oxygen!! Put it up as high as it will go!"

No more… Pain…

"Pulse fading!!"

"Get the Hokage in here, NOW!!"

I can't… Take it…

"We're losing him!! Hurry!!!"

Author's Note:

Sorry, this update took longer than expected!

I was really happy with all of the reviews I've gotten so far! Thank you very much everyone! I hope this story is living up to your expectations! :)