Kakashi's eyes opened blurrily. Trying to take in his surroundings, he found that he couldn't because of an unknown numbness that seemed to occupy every fiber of his being. Exhaustion. That was there too. Definitely. The Copy Ninja made to moan from the soreness of his body, but found that he was too tired to do even that. Instead, he settled for sighing mentally, wondering if the hell he had been through was over yet…
Probably not, he wagered.
Knowing Orochimaru, the fight had just begun. Especially since Kakashi had actually lived through that whole ordeal. He had no doubt that the unbearable pain was something the snake bastard wanted to have happen. He closed his eyes momentarily, though it was probably a bad idea. His lids still felt heavy enough to just stay down and make him fall asleep.
Suddenly, Kakashi noticed something out of place… Was… There a draft in the room? No. There couldn't be; there were no windows! But then… Why was his face so cold? …Wait… When Kakashi finally came to the correct realization, he unfortunately couldn't even do anything to fix it. His arms still didn't have any strength to move to his face.
"Well… It's all water under the bridge now…" He thought dully after he recognized that his mask was pulled down to his chin, and thereby not occupying the spot on his face that it usually did.
Though somehow, the fact that the doctors- and the Hokage –must have seen his face bothered him some… He didn't know why. It must have been because nobody saw him with that thing off. His students- especially Naruto –had even tried numerous times to de-mask him, and failed miserably each time.
Kakashi had to admit that their attempts amused him. They were certainly trying. And it wouldn't be any fun if he just let them out the easy way by showing them his actual face.
Kakashi's thoughts came back to his current situation as he wondered about his squad. Had they already been notified of his… Current situation? He hoped not. If there was one thing that Kakashi Hatake hated, it was having the people he cared about worried about him. He already felt bad enough for Gai, having seeing him like that.
Kakashi could only imagine the enormous stress this mark of his would bring to Squad Seven; especially Sasuke. His eyes- well, eye –narrowed at that thought. Sasuke had already been through the pain of a curse mark, so the Jounin's current situation would definitely bother him a lot.
His stomach tightened as he thought of the utter agony that he had been through the previous night. Is that what Sasuke had to go through when he got his?? God, how did he survive? He was strong, that kid…
Nevertheless, Kakashi felt a low wrench of guilt for the boy's mark. That pain should never be brought upon anyone. He wouldn't have been to do anything, since it was during the Chuunin Exams, and he couldn't interfere, but… He felt irritated that the only thing he could do for Sasuke was seal up his mark and hope for the best.
Kakashi sighed, surprised to have enough energy to even do that. All this thinking was wearing him out…
Suddenly he heard doors open, followed by a pair of footsteps. He made to turn his head, but then settled just for shifting his eyes when he remembered that he couldn't move well.
Tsunade walked up to him solemn-faced, "Kakashi, I'm glad to see you're-" She stopped midsentence, staring at him with her mouth still open, a light shade of pink crossing her features.
It took him a moment to process why she was staring, but then smiled, chuckling, though it was quiet. Tsunade noticed this and cleared her throat, the pink on her face turning to red as she snapped her mouth shut and pried her eyes away from him for a moment, though she had to admit; it was hard.
"Something… Wrong, Lady Hokage?" He croaked out in a whisper of a voice.
She crossed her arms, looking angry. But Kakashi couldn't take her seriously; she was still blushing. He chuckled some more. She let out some breath in a puff.
"Really, Kakashi…" She said, "You've just recovered from a life-threatening ordeal and you're already being a smart ass?" She smirked, "You must be feeling better."
"I'm still… Pretty sore…" He said.
"Yes, I didn't doubt that. You're probably still going to be sore like that for a few days. But, knowing you, you'll be up and walking tomorrow," She smiled at him.
He smiled back, which made the blush come back to her cheeks. For the third time, Kakashi chuckled, "That bad, huh?"
Tsunade grimaced, "Yeah…"
"Could you, uh… Pull my mask up?"
Tsunade looked surprised for a moment, and then nodded confusedly, "Sure… But, could I ask you something?"
"Hm?" Kakashi glanced up at her after she'd done as he asked.
"Why DO you wear that mask?" She asked curiously, "I mean… It's not like…" She hated to admit this to one of her top ninjas, especially one that would probably never let her live it down, "It's not like you need it…"
Kakashi would've shrugged if he could. He smiled, "Force of habit, I guess."
The Hokage shook her head, smiling. Truthfully, she was extremely relieved that he was awake and able to talk. She was afraid that somehow, even though they'd made sure he lived, he would lapse back into the horrible state he was in earlier. She was extremely distraught after getting the call from the doctors in his room; she'd never seen someone in so much sheer pain before.
His amazing recovery just reassured Tsunade of how amazing Kakashi was. Definitely Sakumo's son…
"Well, I have to go back to my office," She announced, "But I want you to just focus on resting, alright? You already look tired anyway."
"… I was just thinking a lot… Made me tired…"
Tsunade noticed the subliminal messages in his words with a frown, "… Well, just think about resting only, okay? You don't have the strength to think about other things yet," With that, she turned to leave, but not without one last word to Kakashi to make sure he followed through with her instructions, "And that's an order!"
She heard a raspy, "Yes ma'am" from his bed and left the room, shaking her head.
"That Kakashi…!" She grumbled under her breath, "Even staring death straight in the face, he never worries about himself!" She looked down at the floor unhappily as she walked down the hall of the emergency care unit, "He can't let his feelings for those kids hinder his own recover… He can't afford that now…"
……………………………………
Naruto sat at the Ichiraku Noodle Bar deep in thought, letting a noodle hang from his lip as he tapped the side of his bowl with his chopsticks.
"Something wrong, Naruto?" Teuchi asked from behind the counter as he washed dishes, "That's only your first bowl. Usually you'd be at number three by now," The man smiled good-humoredly.
Naruto sighed, slurping up the noodle still uneaten on his mouth, and looked up at the old man with a perplexed look on his face, "It's just… Well…" He looked back down at his ramen bowl, "The other day, there was something wrong with Sasuke, but he wouldn't tell me anything about it…"
"Sasuke…" Teuchi pondered, "Oh, you mean your Uchiha friend."
Naruto nodded, "And then… I went to his place to find out what was wrong, and he told me not to get involved in it because it was dangerous. But that only made me want to help more!" Teuchi let seriousness settle on his face, "Then, we heard that Kakashi-sensei was in critical condition in the Hospital… Granny Tsunade told us that he was attacked by an enemy ninja…"
"Kakashi?" Teuchi was surprised by this, "Good heavens… What could have happened?"
Naruto slammed his fist down on the counter, gritting his teeth together, "It's not fair… Why do they have to suffer? Why can't I do anything??"
"There's nothing you can do right now, Naruto," A voice came from behind him.
Naruto turned around to see Gai step into the Bar, taking a seat next to Naruto, "… Super Bushy-Brow-senei?" He looked at Gai with confusion for a moment, noticing that something was off about him. He seemed… Less 'pumped' than usual. Much less.
"Would you care for anything, Gai?" Teuchi asked.
"No, thank you," The Jounin shook his head.
"… Do you know what happened to Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked seriously, nervous that Gai's energy was so much lower than usual.
Gai glanced at Naruto momentarily, and then focused back on the counter, "… I can't say."
Naruto started to get angry, "What do you mean you can't say?! He's my sensei, isn't he?!"
Gai sighed, "Kakashi wouldn't want me to tell you anyway. He doesn't like his students to worry about him like that."
"Well then tell him he shouldn't go and almost get himself killed!" Naruto said in a frustrated voice, "Doesn't he think that worries us??"
Gai's face showed empathy for the boy, "Naruto, I know what you mean. But it's actually better for Kakashi if I don't tell you," Naruto looked confused, but Gai continued, "… I can tell you that you shouldn't dwell on this longer than you have to. Don't bring his problems onto yourself."
"But he's always bringing our problems onto himself," Naruto said through gnashed teeth, "He's always thinking of us."
Gai looked surprised for a second, and then laughed without humor, "That's true. But that's just the way Kakashi is. We can't change that."
"… Yeah…"
"Naruto."
"Huh?"
"You know, I think he might be awake now…"
"W-What?!"
Gai smiled at the boy, giving his famous wink and thumbs up, "Yup. You should probably run though. He's gonna be tired, and the Hokage might not let you in."
"Like hell she won't!!" Naruto shot up from the stool he was on and slapped twelve ryo on the counter. He booked it outside, yelling back, "Thanks, Super-Bushy-Brow-sensei!!"
Gai and Teuchi smiled, Gai chuckling a little, "Kakashi will hate me for that."
"How do you figure?" Teuchi asked.
"Oh, I just know…" He stood up from the bar stool and walked outside, feeling much better than he had been feeling for a while.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys! Sorry this update took so long! I was preoccupied with other story-writing ish that didn't apply to FanFiction! But I'm glad I started continuing this. I'm really beginning to like this story!
I hope you all liked how I snuck in Kakashi-sensei's beautiful face! :)
Oh, and if Gai seems a little OOC…. I am ashamed. I don't think it's too bad, but it's kind of hard to write for a somber Gai-sensei! (XD)
I hope you're all still enjoying this! I appreciate your reviews very much!