Kakashi hadn't really felt like he was a horrible person, not to the extent that he had after he'd slept the night of meeting his daughter. There was just so much rolling around inside his head that he'd awoken four times in a cold sweat breathing heavily imagining the things Danzo probably had done to Akari. He didn't know her and yet a strange foreign piece of him felt like he'd already grown with her and known her on some level. She was so much like him that it scared him beyond belief. She was strongly introverted and bitter to the core about her past that he wondered if this was punishment for not saving Sasuke. He gripped the porcelain basin in the bathroom and sighed looking up at his gruff image. He was too old for this. What the hell did he think he was doing? This young woman deserved better than what he was going to offer, hell, he'd already fucked this up once. He let one student literally walk through hell, one mourn the what seemed imminent death of her teammate after she'd fallen in love with him, and let his best pupil lose all sight of his future and throw himself into a hopeless mission. Fortunately for him Sasuke had come back and defended the village and with hard work and many long nights of fighting and crying his team had made its way back from an unyielding edge…was it fair to do that to Akari? From what he could gather she had seen and been through so much, she drank pretty heavily, and she'd thought he was more worth value than herself. He wondered if he needed to put her through what he feared he would do if he started to bring her closer into his life. He laid down on the bed again staring up at the ceiling sighing heavily rubbing his fingers through his hair. Maybe the morning would bring about some changes…

Sasuke was concerned. There was a lot on his mind and he couldn't shake the feeling that there was much more to Akari than met the eye. He'd decided late that night to head over to the ANBU core unit's training grounds and check her out. He cloaked his chakra that morning and headed towards the unit building. When he arrived there were two squads on the grounds practicing maneuvers and running drills for upcoming missions. He stayed high enough in the trees that normally he wouldn't be seen but close enough that he could hear the conversations without straining too much. Akari wasn't hard to spot now with her silver hair which she'd yanked back into a ponytail except most of it was still puffing in spikes at the back. Unfortunately for her she'd inherited Kakashi's hair as well; untamed. She wore a cat ANBU mask with two hard red slashes through the eyes. Her squad was running a three man team against one who was attacking them relentlessly. The man attacking had a bird's mask and was pushing hard through the two man line guarding Akari. She was braced for a defensive maneuver a kunai tight in her grip dancing back and forth between the two guards. It was as if she were watching for an opening. There was something holding her back; something that she was waiting for. She stepped backwards as the bird ANBU threw the guard to the right past her and gunned it at her. She suddenly changed directions and pushed herself forward raising the kunai. The bird ANBU threw a hard punch into her jaw slamming her back against her teammate. She caught the back wind coming forward again and kicked him square in the chest before grabbing his shoulders flipping herself up and over his body. She swung herself around pulling him down twisting his body with the force and pinned him to the ground digging his body into the dirt. She put the kunai quickly against his throat and made to pull back and slice but tensed the muscles in her arm stopping.
"TIME!" she shouted breathing hard sweat beading against the nape of her neck.

"Very nice, Tosatsu." The male said from beneath her coughing as she kneeled back off his body sitting on her butt. She had her legs bent and her elbows resting on them taking a long ragged breath. Sasuke was more struck by the ANBU codename given to her. Tosatsu meant to slaughter…well he assumed now that she was a part of the assassination squadron.

"Not good enough…it took too much time." She coughed rubbing her throat. Sasuke could tell that she didn't feel well and she was fighting a much harder coughing fit.

"You took me down faster than anyone else has. You're on the team for this mission." The man stood up helping her up by extending his hand to her.

"This mission isn't very intelligent." She mumbled under her breath. He half turned eyeing her through the mask and straightened his shoulders.

"You want to say that louder Tosatsu?" she sighed ripping her hair down.

"I didn't say anything captain." She snapped as she turned to head around the side of the building.

"Meet at the gates at four this afternoon. We leave then." He called after her. She waved a hand over her head indicating the acceptance of his words.

Sasuke watched her barely make it around the building and out of sight of the others before she doubled over. Her chest rattled violently as she coughed hard enough to make her wheeze in short panted breaths. It continued getting worse until finally he saw her body stiffen as something dark and sticky hit the ground at her feet. She quickly straightened taking a step back covering her mouth with the back of her hand shaking slightly. He couldn't see what was on the grass where she'd stood. She darted from the spot and took off her mask stuffing it in her pack as she ran towards the woods, he assumed heading home. Once she was absent he took leave from his tree and jumped down to the place where she'd ran from. On the ground beside the pale stone building's wall was a bright red liquid. Blood; a large amount of it too. She'd hacked up about a quart of blood from her lungs. Instantly Sasuke knew two things; one, that Akari needed medical attention, and two, that she was beyond just taking medications. If she didn't get medical treatment she would die. He also knew that if she were anything like Kakashi that she wouldn't ask for help.

Akari made it into the house before another wave of coughing battered her lungs. She slammed the door shut mentally cussing when the kitchen lights went out, she sighed rummaging blindly through drawers for her medicine. That had been the most blood she'd coughed up since she was thirteen when she'd first become ill. Her eyes were aching and her body was starting to slowly shut down. If she didn't get the medicine in her system she was going to pass out on the damn floor and wake up with Neeko licking her foot again. She made a face running her fingers through the drawers over silverware and letters. She couldn't find it. Groaning she tried to take in a long slow breath to calm the coughing but it didn't work. Instead, if anything, it propelled the coughs into a more dangerous fit. Her knees started to give and she used the cabinets to slid down to the floor her wrist still hanging in the drawer as she took in heavy laborious breaths. Her vision swam blurring out of focus and she felt a few wet sticky lines traveling down her cheeks. Oh hell…she was bleeding from her eyes now too. She had to be at that mission later…fuck…in the distance she heard a door open and shut. Assuming it was Neeko flicking his tail about by accident she leaned her head back against the wood behind herself sighing. Any second now she'd pass out.

"Shit, you idiot, where's your medicine?" a voice snapped coming closer to her. It belonged to a male but she couldn't really place who. "Where is your meds? Can you hear me?" he asked taking her slowly from the cabinets, peeling her body away from the floor and into his arms. She groaned feeling her head lay back against the man's arms which were strong.

"D-drawer…." She whispered the best that her voice would allow. It was weak and she tried harder to force her vision to work enough that she could see who was holding her. No go.

"Ok, hold on." She was laid on something soft and fluffy, her bed, she hoped. The person who'd been holding her was instantly gone leaving a cold wave rippling through her body.

"…ughn…."

"Shut up." The voice said in a firm tone. "How often do you freaking do this? You are ridiculous." He sighed popping the bottle open. She felt a viscous liquid go down her throat and she fought the disgusted feeling in her stomach. She hated the medicine but it was the only things helping her stay alive.

"I'm….f-fine…" were the last words slipping from her mouth before she passed out.

Sasuke felt his body release a heavy tension that had been passing over him as he watched Akari sleep. He leaned forward placing a rag in a bowl half filled with water letting it soak for a few seconds. He brought it out wringing it letting the drops fall gently. He sighed. Is this what Itachi had gone through for years without any help? Had he been this sick and trying to take care of himself? He was a mixture of pissed at Akari for letting herself get this sick and upset that she was fighting this alone. He reached forward washing the blood from her cheeks and rinsed the cloth once more before resting it on her forehead to cool the fever burning there. Her cheeks had flushed an hour ago and her skin was on fire although she shivered like she'd been dumped in a pile of ice. He'd searched the small apartment and only found her one blanket which he'd had to lay over her tucking it closer to her body to stop the chills. His inner self was having a hard time not calling Kakashi. He wanted too. He really wanted too. He wanted to tell his teacher and let him be there for her too, but…he knew that she wasn't ready for that. She wasn't ready to have her father wedged this far into her life. He'd keep this a secret for her but she'd have to let him help her. She could not do this alone and after what he'd just witnessed…he wasn't letting her. She wasn't getting a choice in this. The only thing he didn't know was that Akari hated being told what to do and she would fight him every step of the way.