Yamato struggled to wake up. He couldn't remember what exactly had happened right away, only that something definitely happened. As he drowsily rose his head, blinking his eyes as a single light bulb swayed gently above him, he realized he was in the middle of a empty room- well, almost empty. He tried to move, only to be caught by the bindings around his wrists, torso, and ankles, keeping him strapped down to the chair he was in. Gathering more information about his surroundings, he realized he was also hooked up to something that looked like an I.V., but instead of there being a bag of saline connected to the tubing, the tubing led directly to some sort of medical contraption that hissed quietly.

Then it hit him.

He desperately lunged forward with all his might upon remembering that he had been taken from Kakashi's very hands. Thrashing about in a sudden rage, he tried to escape, only to hear a loud POP! And he couldn't keep the scream of pain from escaping his lips as his right shoulder flew out of it's socket.

The pain he felt was enough to make him jolt to the side so hard, that he managed to tip himself over, still bound to the chair, hitting the ground hard on his left side, leaving his dislocated shoulder exposed, and ripping the tubing out of his forearm, causing blood to seep from his skin.

He was thankful when he heard a door being unlatched and thrown open, despite his circumstances. He had ended up facing away from the door, and therefore could not see who had come in.

Groaning through gritted teeth, he hissed, "Pop it back in! Pop it back!"

He heard the footsteps behind him approach, and then felt two hands grab his arm: one hand on his shoulder and the other on his upper arm. He immediately squeezed his eyes shut, bearing his teeth, and prepared for the pain that was about to come.

His scream echoed through the room.

IN THE VILLAGE

"Clear!"

A doctor hovering over Kakashi's body, with nurses close by, waiting for instructions, pressed her chakra-induced palms against his skin. In sync with the sound of the discharge of chakra, Kakashi's body jolted up against gravity, trembling along with the electricity only slightly so, and then fell back against the table. The monotone flat line on the heart rate monitor had not deceased.

"Clear!" Tsunade heaved again, the sound of the charge up of chakra once again ringing throughout the room. One of the nurses shifted an uneasy look to his partner, whom returned the same glance. Kakashi's body heaved into the air again, and thudded back against the gurney.

After immediately being sent into surgery, during which the anesthetics seemed to have no use for, as he woke up in distress multiple times, his heart finally gave out. His abdomen still cut open and having been in the middle of desperate repair, they had no time to waste. Tsunade had been trying to revive him for just under five full minutes now.

Itachi demanded he be able to take part in the surgery, and Tsunade graced him with the opportunity to assist her. Now, he was watching as this woman, the Hokage, who was glorified in all of Konaha as the best medical nin and strongest kunoichi, hysterically tried to save a dead man.

"Clear!" she nearly sobbed. Itachi winced upon hearing her torment, knowing that she, too, had lost many, and didn't want to lose Kakashi, either. Itachi placed his hand on her shoulder, gravely looking down and to the side, unable to look upon his former mentor any longer. He felt her tremble under his fingers, having only been an inch away from Kakashi's bare chest.

"Tsunade..." he had difficulty keeping his own voice under control, which resulted in a hoarse whisper.

"We need to let him go..."

She struggled to keep her sobs quiet, unable to move her arms from the position they had been paralyzed in. Quivering, she slowly moved her bloody hands up to Kakashi's face, cupping his still-warm flesh in her hand, leaving traces of blood along his skin. Tears dripping down her face and onto his chest, she moved her hand farther up, brushing aside his unusual, ivory white hair, staining it with red.

Violently, she collapsed atop of him, wailing. Itachi did his best to soothe her, but seeing her in such a state had him on the verge of losing himself, as well. He couldn't imagine, if this was her reaction to Kakashi, how her reaction to Dan's death must have been...

"Kakashi..." She whispered quietly through her broken sobs, pounding his chest in anguish, her forehead brushing against his collarbone, "please come back..."

Suddenly, the flat line disappeared.

A beat.

Tsunade's head flew up, her makeup running down her face, as she stared in disbelief at the monitor. No one made a sound.

Another beat.

Tsunade looked down at the man beneath her and couldn't help the choked sound of pure euphoria as she saw his chest raise up and down, even if it was only slight...

Itachi couldn't believe what he had just seen. Did Tsunade's break down actually save him? He gaped in joy, as well as disbelief, unable to say anything at all. Tsunade wiped her eyes and jolted back up, reactivating her chakra control, moving her attention back towards the gashes across his torso.

"Alright," she sniffed. "Time to finish putting him back together."

OUTSIDE OF THE HOSPITAL

The four adolescents walked around grimly. The rest of the village didn't seem to be changed at all. Couples walked arm in arm together, laughing and merrily chit-chatting with others around them. Children ran around in the morning sun, being scolded by their parents. Shops had been opening up and people emerging from their homes, like nothing had even happened.

But that was because to them, nothing happened. It was just another day for the citizens of Konoha. Only the ninja and the people affiliated with them knew about the incident, and aside from that, the civilians didn't really care about what those who protected them were going through until something drastic happened.

Have I really been going through so much training for people to not give a damn? Sasuke thought bitterly. He looked at those accompanying him and wondered if they felt the same way he did. So many of the adults who served in this town started from a very young age, in fact that tended to be the norm. Anyone who wanted to serve the Hokage went to the academy, while the other children went to the public schools across the land.

He didn't know what he was more upset about. The fact that the people didn't seem to care about Kakashi's condition? Or the fact that Kakashi had ended up in need of critical care in the first place?

He couldn't help but feel uneasy when he thought about it. Somehow, he just knew that those two had something to do with it. Even though they spoke of restoring peace, or whatever bullshit he figured they probably had fabricated to persuade him to their side, he just knew. Because of his intuition, he couldn't help but feel guilty, either. He wondered if telling Itachi about his encounter could have prevented this from happening, but at the same time, he was unwilling to risk punishment for leaving the camp. Not that it mattered anymore anyways, as they shut down the camp and sent everyone back home. He decided he wouldn't go back to meet them after all.

Sai was the first one to speak out of all of them.

"Sakura, didn't you spend some time with the medical corps?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Do you have any idea what Kakashi's chances for survival are?"

Sakura remained quiet for some time. She didn't know all of the details, but judging from what she had heard when they were packing up earlier that morning, she knew that his chances weren't big.

"Slim, if any," she spoke softly.

Upon hearing this, Naruto almost exploded.

"Ah, come on! Kakashi is strong! He won't die!"

"Naruto," Sakura was careful with her words. "The fact that Kakashi was even still alive by the time he was found is extraordinary in itself..." She trailed off, unable to think of anything else to say that would provide comfort.

He grunted, and came to a stop behind the rest of them. Balling his fists, he looked down at the ground, attempting to control his anger.

"I just don't understand... Who would do something like that..." He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stop.

Guilt ridden, Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"It'll be alright..."