Chapter 17: Broken Friendship

The next morning, Kohana woke to a pounding headache and a stuffy nose. She groaned loudly, mentally chiding herself for not wearing a jacket in yesterday's chilly weather. She shuffled -her legs had miraculously healed after she iced them, a remedy Kakashi apologetically suggested the night before - into the kitchen, banging silverware as she struggled to find her copper teapot. Her eyes watered and she had to stop her search every few minutes to wipe her snotty nose. Finally, she had the kettle boiling and was grinding ginger when a coughing fit overcame her. She wheezed uncontrollably, grasping the countertop for support. When the coughs subsided, she turned off the stove and went straight back to bed, no longer in the mood for tea.

More severe coughing episodes interrupted Kohana's "nap", if one could call it that. By midafternoon, her temperature was raging over a 100 degrees Fahrenheit. She began to suspect that whatever she had was more than a common flu, and wondered whether she should drag herself to the hospital. But, just as she decided to change her clothes, the doorbell rang.

It was Kakashi. He took in her bleary appearance and pushed her back inside effectively shielding her from the cold draft that swirled behind him.

He clicked his tounge, "I'll take you to Sakura. Go get dressed."

Kohana sniffled and said in a thick voice, "How did you know?"

"I heard you through the walls."

" Oh yeah.", Kohana muttered absentmindedly before traipsing back to her bedroom.

Sakura frowned, "I'll need you to spend the night."

"What for?", Kohana croaked.

"I'll need to run a blood sample, and monitor your temperature overnight. I'll know how to treat you when I have those results."

She called two nurses to help Kohana settle once more into a room. This time, Kohana made sure to ask for a painted room.

Then Sakura turned to Kakashi, "Kakashi-sensei, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Sakura led them into a quiet corridor before she said anxiously. "Her immune system is severely compromised. I'm pretty sure she just caught a common bout of flu, but her body is too weak to fight it alone; her chakra levels are alarmingly low. I'm surprised she hasn't collapsed of exhaustion."

"She looked ready to when I checked on her."

Sakura paced, "This might be the after-effect of the poison. I wasn't able to extract all of it when I treated her, but I thought her body would flush it out."

"How bad is it, Sakura?", he questioned, a twinge of worry lacing his voice.

"Tsunade-shisou will be able to cure her."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "She's not going to be happy about another extended stay."

Unfortunately, Kohana had once more become a familiar guest to the tiled floors and beeping monitors. The 5th Hokage had come to treat her and confirmed Sakura's prediction. Kohana was being daily administered with various shots and antibodies. Kakashi promised to offer some company, but had been deployed on missions that he barely found time to visit. However, Kurenai and Gai had stopped by and offered her flowers that were now soaking in fresh water.

Kohana was staring dully into the yellow petals when a someone briefly knocked her door. She turned to see Kakashi's team all dressed in heavy gear. She smiled at the three of them and sat up straight as they approached her bed.

"Kohana-san, please accept these roses as my token of sympathy", Sai said formally, a smile plastered over his face.

Kohana said thank you and turned to Naruto, who unlike Sai, shoved a bouquet of randomly picked carnations into her hand. He exclaimed, "Say, Kohana-nee-chan, why are you always in the hospital?"

Sakura bumped him on the head and hissed at him, "She's sick, Naruto baka."

Kohana giggled. "So, what brings all three of you here? It can't be just to see me at least not before a mission" , she said eyeing their kunai pouches.

Sakura answered, "Kakashi-sensei asked us to meet him here."

And as if on cue, Kakashi had appeared at her doorway casually leaning against the frame.

"Yo", he greeted his team.

Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi. "You're late, Sensei!"

Kakashi held up his hands in mock defense, "I'm sorry. I was saving –"

Naruto and Sakura interrupted him, "Liar!", before bursting out in laughter, remembering their genin days.

Kakashi chuckled, "Alright, guys. Kohana, how are you feeling?"

Kohana shrugged, "I'm recovering. What did you need from me?"

He set a file down before her and said gently, " This is a list of Kochi's citizens. Was there anyone that you spoke with frequently regarding trade and commerce?"

Kohana raised her eyebrow, "You think someone inside the village leaked information?" She harrumphed, clutching the file, "Oh, come off it Kakashi. Kochi had barely 100 citizens, of which majority were elderly women and children."

Kakashi pondered this deeply and Kohana frowned, "Did something happen?"

Before Kakashi could answer, Sai blurted, "We've been assigned a rescue mission to save those who have been captured. Jiraya sama pinpointed their location."

Kohana leapt down from her bed at this statement, her hands already rummaging through her black bag, "Alright. Wait for me, I'm just going to pack some clothes quickly. I have everything I need here."

Kakashi's voice was stern when he next spoke, "I don't think so, Kohana."

"What?"

"I can't take you with us."

"Why not?"

"You need to rest Kohana-nee san. I don't think Tsunade-shisou would allow it", Sakura said softly.

"I'll talk to Tsunade-sama!"

"It won't work, Kohana. Try to understand."

She let her bag fall down with a hard thump. Her eyes were blazing when she retaliated.

"Look, I know those people. And if either of you think you can stop me from coming, you're wrong. I'm not going to sit here knowing that I can save them."

"And if you think you can get past me, you're severely mistaken as well Kohana. You're not coming."

Kohana's lips quivered. "H-h-how can you do this? Do you have any idea what I've gone through? I see them in my dreams every night. They're dead and I'm alive and it's horrible because I couldn't do anything to help them. I hear them crying and –" she broke off.

She took a steady breath and returned to her packing, throwing in her toothbrush and toothpaste to the pile of clothes she had selected. Kakashi crossed over and grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me, Kakashi. They're my family. I've lived with them for 12 years." His grip tightened.

"Stop this, Kohana. It's too dangerous."

She snarled, her voice ringing with determination, as she wrenched her arm away, "If you stop me today Kakashi, I'll never talk to you again. I'll forget that these past few weeks ever happened and we'll go back to square one. And this time, we won't be moving forward. "

The room had gone suddenly silent and the air heavy with tension. All eyes were trained upon the former Anbu.

Kakashi had closed his eyes, and said in a tight voice, "Then, so be it."

The pin-drop silence faded when Kohana fell to the floor with a thud, her hands wrapped around her knees. Soon, her sobs filled the room. She cried, cried as if she never did before. Because she didn't know what hurt more. The fact she couldn't join the mission or that Kakashi had so easily broken their friendship.

And Naruto, Sakura and Sai could tell that she valued his friendship a lot.