"Sakura-san?" asks the timid voice of a young genin nurse. Her gold brown eyes look between the kunoichi's annoyed face and the ground, hesitating.
"Spit it out, Kiran."
The girl jumps at Sakura's tone and stammers. Sakura almost tries to apologize but knows there is no point. The trauma center has been busy today and everyone is snippy. It just comes with the job.
"He's doing it again," Kiran finally manages.
Sakura's nostrils flare as she snaps the file of Kagami Yoro, closed, placing it back in it's respectable plastic container at the foot of the patient's bed. Little Kiran scurries away to avoid the quarrel that she knows is about to come as Sakura marches up the hall to the patient that has been giving everyone too much trouble since he got here.
She enters and immediately, her eyes narrow at none other than the father of her child as he aggressively making a show of pushing around the medical ninjas trying to restrain him.
"All of you out," Sakura barks. They look at her with wide eyes.
"But-But Sakura-san, he's being unreasonable-"
"Go!"
They all scurry away, not wishing to provoke her wrath any further, shutting the door behind them. Just as they leave, Sakura can hear one of them mumble that just because he was her genin teacher, she doesn't get privilege over him.
This does nothing to help her mood.
She shoves Kakashi back down onto the bed when she sees him trying to unhook himself from the monitors and the IV now that the attention has been turned away from him. His eyes flash in anger.
"I want to leave."
"That's too bad," she retorts. "You haven't been given clearance yet." She takes his chart and starts glancing over it. Broken leg. Shallow wound from the right hand side. Dehydration and severe chakra depletion. Refuses to comply. Sakura sets her jaw angrily.
He's agitated, moody, and desperate to get out of the one place he loathes to be. She would almost take it personally if she didn't know that the man would rather die of gangrene than stay cooped up in a hospital.
He once told her that too many bad memories roam these halls.
But Sakura has decided to make him suffer a little by keeping him a little longer than necessary.
"I don't need anyone's clearance, I can sign myself out," he says, making it a point to slick his casual tone with annoyance.
"Do it and I'll report you to the Hokage for insubordination." She doesn't even spare him a glance, taking notes onto his chart about his vitals. Her voice is smooth and direct. It makes him freeze while tearing the monitors off his chest.
"Insubordination?" He spits the word like a profanity. Sakura's gaze snaps back up to him and she looks at him coldly.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," he flinches at the honorific, "because this is my hospital and when you're in my hospital, I outrank you."
"Sakura-" he warns between his teeth.
"So you have two options, lay down and stop behaving like a child or I'll sedate you for lack of compliance. Your choice."
The two stand off, neither of them daring to make the first move. Kakashi tries to slow his breathing as he nearly seethes, the growing stubble on his jawline more prominent as he clenches it.
Did Sakura seriously just give him an order and acted like it was the most natural thing in the world? That girl would be dead if it wasn't for-
He lets it go and sinks back against the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
When he doesn't show any more signs of attempting to flee, the kunoichi gets to work on setting up a new IV. She takes a fresh syringe, after hooking it up to the bag of fluids beside his bed, and grabs his hand.
Sakura pretends not to care when he winces at her touch.
Without warning she pushes the sharp point into his skin. His veins turn ice cold as fluids begin to drip into his blood once again. Kakashi tries not to shiver.
They don't look at each other as she gently pulls down the collar of his shirt to reattach the monitors to his chest. She doesn't let her fingers linger on his pale skin.
It appears she's fed up with him as she sets his chart back down and leaves the room.
Kakashi doesn't even convince himself as he gives a sigh of relief. He's already attempting to dig out the needle in his arm a few minutes later when she reappears, a stack of manila folders in her hands. She narrows her eyes at him and he instantly drops his hand from trying to slip the IV out.
He gives her an irritating eye crinkling smile.
"You're kidding me, right?"
She gives an exasperated sigh, and plops down into the chair next to his bedside, charts strewn across her lap.
They fall into silence and Kakashi tries not to be too uncomfortable at her presence.
It stops working after awhile.
"I don't need a babysitter."
"Obviously you do. You bit Daichi this morning."
"He deserved it."
"It's his job to help you go to the bathroom, Kakashi."
"Oh so it's just Kakashi now?"
"Are you even going to ask about your teammates?"
"You haven't said they're dead so there's no need."
"Why are you so irritating?"
"Why are you still here?"
The question lingers between them. Kakashi knows he's acting out but hospitals fill him with dread and he's taking it out on every possible living thing. Especially Sakura.
If he's teasing her and being mean, he can almost pretend that she's not carrying his child.
Almost.
"I went to the doctor yesterday."
"You see doctors everyday."
Her eyes snap up to meet his and he instantly regrets being too sarcastic. She could probably slip poison into that IV bag and he would never even know.
"To a gynecologist."
He raises one silver eyebrow. She doesn't say anything more.
Kakashi shouldn't ask about the baby. He should pretend that he doesn't care. His awful words from before come spinning back to him in the present. He knows it would be wrong to ask.
But that doesn't stop him.
"Everything is okay...right?"
Sakura had been staring at her charts, not really reading what she had been seeing. His question startles her and he watches her lovely jade eyes refocus on his face.
Kakashi suddenly wishes he had shaved.
"Yes, everything is fine. August 10th is the due date."
His heart clenches beneath his shirt, causing his monitor to quite literally skip a beat. The beeping alerts Sakura and she raises a pink eyebrow at him. He shrugs, nonchalantly as always, trying to play it off.
They fall into the void of their silence again. Kakashi's left hand gathers the white bed sheet into his palm tightly when it stretches on.
Why is she sitting here? Surely just to torture him and remind him of his own cowardice.
"Go back to Yamato, Sakura. Go back to the man that will actually want the thing."
Kakashi shuts his eyes tightly.
"She has feet."
The copy ninja starts, swiveling his gaze to her apprehensive face.
"Sorry?"
"The baby. She has feet already."
His heart monitor starts beeping quickly again. Fed up, Kakashi rips the thing off his chest but Sakura does nothing to stop him.
They look at each other from across the room. Kakashi's mouth suddenly tastes like cotton.
"She?" he rasps after clearing his throat.
Then a smile graces the room and Kakashi has to look away, trying not to think of what old gossips always say about women who are with child. But apparently they were right.
Kakashi could turn off the lights and Sakura's face would glow.
"It's still way too early but I'd like to think it's a girl."
He rolls his eyes.
"Girls are dramatic. And needy."
"You're those things and you're a man."
Kakashi keeps himself from grinding his teeth. The kunoichi smiles down at her charts, trying not to chuckle. He narrows his gaze coldly.
"I'm sure Yamato wants a son instead."
Sakura goes rigid, her hand freezing in the middle of writing a word. He regrets his comment immediately as she starts packing up here paperwork to leave. Folders slam shut after individual documents get hastily thrown together, not seeming to care about order any longer.
Kakashi wants to take it back but it would be useless.
The copy ninja has to remind himself that this is what he wanted, not what he forfeited.
Even so, they still feel like one in the same.
He morphs his expression into one of uncaring, his head leaned back against the pillow as his one gray eye watches her get up. His hands lock behind his head casually, breathing slower than usual so he doesn't make any rash decisions.
Like call her back to him.
"Here," she says as she passes by his bed. Reflexes regained, he catches it easily. "The doctor gave me two."
The door slams behind her and Kakashi's stomach tightens. He drops his silver head into one hand and stares at the ultrasound picture in his fingers. They refuse to stop shaking.
Sakura was right. He can see the beginnings of hands and feet on this tiny life barely big enough to be captured in a photograph.
His thumb strokes the shape of what would be his son or daughter and sighs.
"You understand, don't you?" he gently asks, feeling foolish but unable to stop himself. Kakashi searches the picture, as if all the answers to his questions will be etched into the baby's nearly miniscule fingers. "I've shed blood for you."
His head snaps up when he senses someone's chakra presence coming his way. Kakashi instantly stashes the ultrasound picture into the waistband of his pants, a protective hand thrown over it casually, and slips his mask back over his face.
Daichi, the medic whom he sank his teeth into earlier, stands in the doorway.
Kakashi smirks and the man tries not to squirm away.
"You've been released to go home by Sakura-san. But you've been summoned to a War Council meeting in Hokage Tower immediately."
The copy ninja's lips fall back into a thin line. He nods.
When the medic leaves him to get dressed, a fresh standard jonin uniform laid out for him on the chair, Kakashi sighs and stands. His leg is still sore, giving him only a slight limp.
But he goes over to it and slips on his clothes, silently.
Commander of the Armed Shinobi Force of the Leaf.
The title makes his blood go cold.
He takes one last good look at the small life he helped create before folding the picture back up, placing it in the front chest pocket of his vest, and jumps out the window, sprinting off towards Hokage Tower.
When Yamato enters the war council room, it's chaos.
Shinobi lean over one another and shout, lesser men of rank run around frantically with stacks of scrolls and documents. Tsunade is in a heated argument with Choza Akimichi about why Inoichi and Shikaku were allowed to know that the Leaf may go to war and not him.
There's a resounding chorus of this same question, echoing off each other as valued members of Konoha's forces realize that they had been left in the dark. Ibiki Morino looks about to tear Anko's face off if she makes another pointed jab at his chest with her index finger.
Yamato goes to sit next to Shikamaru, pinching the bridge of his nose. To his surprise, Naruto has been invited to sit on the council as well. The jinchuuriki gives a sheepish grin and a wave from in between two special jonin that are arguing over his blonde head.
"You didn't know what was going on, huh?" says Shikamaru darkly, glancing sideways at the captain. Yamato chuckles in response.
"Sorry. It was classified." He smiles at the Nara boy who rolls his eyes. The lazy smirk follows soon after. Yamato nearly opens his mouth to say something else but Tsunade amplifies her voice with chakra and it booms over all of them, making both Shikamaru and the captain cringe in their chairs.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP AND GET TO YOUR SEATS!"
Deadly silence follows. The shinobi who had been on their feet, bickering, sullenly take their places around the tables that are formed in a U shape, the Hokage being seated in the center of the curve. To her left is Shizune but to her right, the seat is empty. Yamato furrows his brow.
"You better wipe that look off your face, Anko, or I'll make sure you don't see a single second of the battlefield," seethes the Hokage. The purple haired kunoichi gives her a glowering stare but resigns, settling back against her seat. Ibiki looks pleased.
"Listen to me, all of you-"
Yamato almost didn't notice. Sakura seats directly beside Shizune.
As if on command, the pink haired woman glances up at him. But he's the first to look away.
"I know that this war may have come as a bit of shock to you but it was imperative to the safety of the village that it be put on a 'need to know' basis."
"So you're implying it was in the interest of Konoha that nearly half our forces be left in the dark about not just an enemy, but an enemy alliance, for what purpose? So they could come knocking on our door and no one would have an inkling of what to do next?"
The Head of the Hyuuga Clan's pale eyes stare into Tsunade's, accusingly. But she doesn't step down.
"Letting every shinobi know of the growing hostility would have been a liability-"
"How is preparation a liability?" Choza growls.
"This isn't an ordinary enemy we are facing," she hisses back.
"All this time we have wasted thinking that the hostility of Jōmae had been ceased after the hostage situation, could've been properly spent creating an attack!" someone calls out from across the room.
"That time was not wasted," snaps Inoichi, defending the Intelligence Division's progress with the one or two captives that Konoha had been able to take from Jōmae.
"No, there is a plan already. Those of us who had clearance to know have been steadily working on it for at least a month now. We are not unprepared. We are exactly where we need to be in terms of how to deal with the Lock. But the recent alliance with Sound and Waterfall has created a bigger complication. It happened too swiftly for us to shut it down in time," the Hokage says calmly, almost slowly as she grips the edge of the table a little too tight. This is spinning out of control way too quickly.
"And what makes you think that the Rock won't attack us as well?" asks Anko, her voice laced with fury. "They have been at our throats for years and now they have the opportunity to march straight across Waterfall country and into ours. Not to mention the fact that we have to worry about Sound across a different border!"
"I am aware of that, Anko! I have been delegating with the Tsuchikage to ensure that if he can't lend a hand, at least he can stay neutral. We have eyes on the Rock."
"And what of the Grass?" says Shibi Aburame quietly. Unlike most of the others in the room, he does not need to shout to be noticed. His voice carries like the slick buzz of an insect. Yamato's skin prickles lightly at the sound. "They would have much to gain to form an alliance with Jōmae."
"But they would also have much to lose against the Leaf and the Sand." Shikaku's face shows signs of impatience, a frown tugging down the corners of his lips. "The Kazekage has agreed, as of yesterday, to lend us troops and increase trade. Grass won't stand a chance." From beside Yamato, Shikamaru nods, supporting his father's conclusion. Others do as well.
But questions still burn their way through the crowd. Once again the War Council descends into chaos. Tsunade only sits back into her chair, eyebrow twitching as she waits for everyone to take all their anger out on each other. It goes on and on and on. Even Naruto has been unable to resist joining the fight, standing up on his feet to point at a lanky jonin two seats down from him. He shouts about respecting Tsunade's decisions and to shut his pessimistic mouth.
Yamato pinches the bridge of his nose again. This isn't going anywhere. One by one, their voices begin to pick away at his reserved expression. His nostrils flare and he clenches his hands into fists against his lap. Shikaku, sometimes the calmest of them all, is now also in a heated argument. His opponent, an old veteran from the Third Great War, sneers something and it makes Shikamaru get between the two men, sneering right back that it would be wise to not insult the intelligence of the Nara clan. Yamato didn't even notice he had left.
It's when an unwelcomed face of a jonin leers into Sakura's when she stands up for the honor of her shishou that Yamato gets officially ticked off. His words come back to the captain, slapping him awake until he's on his feet.
"Children have no place in war, Sakura-san."
Light blonde hair and lifeless pale eyes sear across his memory.
"Genma Shiranui and Akira Mori did not die for this!"
His voice carries across the room, booming powerfully into every corner until all eyes are on him. Sakura looks at him sadly but he pretends not to notice.
He punctuates the silence with a glare of his darkened features.
"Konoha is at war and you are all standing here bickering like a bunch of old fools."
He spits the last word and a few people's feathers get ruffled, about to bite back when one look at Tsunade tells them that their careers will suffer if they even take a too loud breath.
Yamato continues, calming his anger before it gets the best of him. His right hand gives a tremor in response.
"Genma gave his life to report the confirmed hostility of Jōmae when they took us captive, using his chance to escape on my command. To ensure that someone came looking for us. And I know that like me, some of you in here knew him well enough to call him friend. Most of you went to his funeral." He searches their faces and shame crosses the eyes of those who had seemingly forgotten about Yamato's capture.
And of Genma's death.
"Do not sit here in front of me and argue about the uselessness of waiting and secrecy. Akira Mori, barely 16 years old, died at the hands of Jōmae, literally a week after he was pronounced a jonin. The price of the information that I was able to bring home was paid for with that boy's life. So do not come into this room and argue like you have any kind of right to speak over the Hokage. She did what needed to be done." Yamato sits back down in his seat.
"It's time you all do the same."
He stares off into an occupied corner so that he doesn't have to look at anyone. Only briefly does he glance at Lady Tsunade. She nods appreciatively. From two seats beside her, Sakura watches Yamato try to settle the tick in his right hand.
The kunoichi chews on her bottom lip.
"Jōmae's espionage abilities are unparalleled," Tsunade begins. "If anyone else had been captured, knowing what only a handful of people do, it would have put the Leaf in grave danger. I apologize if I offended you but my primary concern is the welfare of this village. Not your personal feelings." A few shift uncomfortably in their seats. "Secrecy was our only option. So can we please begin the official meeting?"
"Umm, Lady Tsunade…" mumbles Shizune. She looks nervously around at all the ninja staring at her. "Kakashi Hatake isn't here yet."
The Hokage's eyebrow twitches in annoyance.
"Well where is he? Late as always, that stupid man," she snaps through her teeth. "Sakura! You released him, didn't you?"
The pink haired ninja jumps at the tense sound of Tsunade's voice. She gives a vigorous nod.
"Yes ma'am! He should've been here by now but his leg might be-"
At that very moment, the door to the War Council room creaks open. A head of silver hair and an apologetic eye crinkling smile leans in. He rubs the back of his neck nervously.
Yamato tries not to stiffen in his seat.
"Sorry I'm late."
Tsunade just gives a 'hmph' before turning back to the council, their eyebrows raised curiously when Kakashi takes his place to her right, still standing. Sakura looks confusedly at the two of them as they talk quietly to each other.
She notices the serious expression in Kakashi's eye and her stomach clenches.
The Hokage nods and sits. The silver haired jonin clears his throat and he turns to look at the soldiers gathered before him
His soldiers.
"As of today, I will be the Commander of the Leaf's Shinobi Forces for the duration of this war."
Once again, a murmur ripples through the crowd.
Yamato watches as Sakura's eyes, even though trained on her fidgeting hands in front of her, go wide with what looks like terror.
"You've got to be kidding me," calls out the old war veteran who had previously been cursing at Shikaku. "Kakashi Hatake is going to lead us all into war? He's not even 30 yet!"
Sakura sees the copy nin set his jaw. But he keeps his stoic appearance as always. His only visible eye crinkles in a smile but only his two pupils in the room can pinpoint the ingenuity behind it.
"Is there a problem, Takeru?"
The older man's thick black eyebrows furrow at the lack of a honorific at the end of his name. His scar, running across diagonally from his right temple to the left side of his jaw, ripples in what looks like anger. Large beefy hands curl into fists ontop of the table.
"My problem, boy, is that I'm not so sure that you're capable of such a thing. You couldn't even keep one of your own genin from going rogue, let alone command an entire Armed Force of shinobi."
"Don't you dare talk to him like that!" calls Naruto from across the room, standing up to his feet.
"Sit down, Naruto."
The blonde looks at Yamato with a hint of betrayal in his eyes. But Kakashi nods to him and the boy does as he's told, unwillingly.
Takeru makes a smug noise in the back of his throat.
"Teaching brats has made you soft, hasn't it? One is rogue and the other petulant."
Sakura sees it, the shiver that goes up through Kakashi's spine at the subtle mention of Sasuke. One of Kakashi's deepest failures. If it wouldn't make him look even worse, Sakura would go strangle that old bag of bones right now.
"And don't you forget that I was your battalion leader in the Third Great Shinobi War, Hatake. I know what kind of soldier you are. That eye of yours is proof enough."
There's an appalled whisper at his words. Kakashi's lungs tighten in his chest at the mention of Obito's gift. His right hand curls into a fist. Shikaku glares the man down and speaks out in his low, raspy voice.
"That's enough, Takeru. Lady Tsunade has made her choice. And if I recall correctly, it was Kakashi Hatake who was almost made the Rokudaime Hokage. Not Takeru Yuuta." The Head of the Nara's clan scarred mouth turns up in a dangerous smirk. "You're also forgetting that Kakashi is the student of Minato, who was also not yet 30 when he took the title of Hokage."
There's a collective mumble in the crowd. A few grins.
"And as one of his genin brats, I think it would be wise of Takeru-san to listen to what Kakashi sensei has to say," Sakura says in a deceptively sweet voice, giving the war veteran a bright smile. "Because as of right now, my genin teacher outranks you."
There's a collective laugh amongst the shinobi in the room. Tsunade tries not not to smile behind her intertwined hands as Takeru gives the pink haired kunoichi an ugly stare before crossing his arms over his noticeable paunch, staring moodily at the wall behind Yamato's head.
The captain would grin if the sound of her voice didn't strike him so hard. He takes note of the worried expression on her face when her eyes swivel back to Kakashi's hardened expression.
"As I was saying," Kakashi begins, "I am the Commander. And I have been working on a plan with Shikaku, the best strategist in the village as you all know, since Yamato and Raido's return home from their captivity in Jōmae." He looks out at all of them pointedly. "Despite what some of you may think, we are not unprepared." The copy nin glances at Naruto and jerks his head for the boy to come over to him.
The blonde gets up eagerly as Kakashi bites his fingertip and smears it across the tabletop.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
There's a cloud of smoke and the unmistakable sound of the transportation jutsu as Kakashi's ninken settle themselves on top of the table. Lady Tsunade leans back, a dog's tail wagging in her face, and glares up at him. He gives her a sheepish smile before tugging a scroll out of Bull's jaw.
The sensei hands it to his student to hold up for the council to see. Naruto makes a face at the slobber dripping down his knuckles as he does so. Kakashi steps in front of the large map and motions to it with a gloved hand.
"The Anbu's reconnaissance has detected Jōmae rendezvous points between themselves and their allies here, here and here. Our main and primary target is the Lock Village itself. Once it is taken, the alliance will crumble." He hands Naruto a second map from Shiba's mouth who opens it up without a word, displaying travel routes for troops. "These are the ways in and out of the Land of Keys. We could sweep into their land and take them out immediately but as you can all see, the congregation of troops at these three points keeps us from doing so." He looks out at the crowd seriously. "But that also means that they have several vantage points to attack us from."
Aoba raises his hand. Kakashi nods for him to speak.
"Do you really think that they will attack the Leaf?"
People shift in their seats when Kakashi takes a few moments to answer. Tsunade watches him carefully from the corner of her eye as she waits for the commander to chew his answer over.
"It's a possibility. With the strength of three villages behind them, they might."
The attitude in the room becomes palpably tense. It weighs on them all like humidity, heavy and insistent.
"However, if they do decide to take us head on, our intel division has gathered that they will either march all three armies from the three camps together at once or not at all. It isn't a wise plan on their part but we have numbers that they do not to go one-on-one. It seems like their only option if they even stand a chance."
"And the offensive?" asks Yamato smoothly, leaning back in his chair.
Kakashi nearly jolts at the cold look in Tenzou's eye as he waits for his reply. He pushes unrelated thoughts out of his mind, willing himself to not turn and look at Sakura.
The picture hiding in the pocket of his flak jacket feels like it's burning into his skin.
"There is no way we can get to Jōmae without taking out the camps first. They form a barrier between us and reaching the Land of Keys."
Kakashi takes the scrolls from his student and nods for him to go sit down. The commander rolls them up and sets them aside, now taking the document strapped to Pakkun's back. His fingers linger on the dog's head as a comforting gesture as the ninken looks worryingly up at his master.
"I've divided the shinobi force into four divisions after the initial stealth infiltrations into each camp led by Ibiki Morino with the anbu to capture prisoners. There are three battalions, all equipped with a medical team that will set up their station 15 kilometers from the designated battlefields." There's a nod of approval and agreement at that last bit, no doubt Tsunade's hand in his plan. "The fourth will be the division to stay behind and defend the village." Kakashi starts to read off his scroll.
"The first battalion will be led by Shikaku Nara, his second being Inoichi Yamanaka. They will be attacking the camp between the Fire Nation and the southern most border of Waterfall. The second battalion will be led by Might Guy, his second being Hiashi Hyuuga, for the invasion of the rendezvous point between the northeastern border between us and the Sound. The third battalion will be led by attacking the biggest concentration of soldiers between us and Jōmae." He hesitates for only half a moment. "My second will be Yamato."
Sakura goes completely rigid in her seat. Her forehead breaks out in a cold sweat.
Nausea rises up like bile in her throat but she forces it down, staring at a point in the floor, refusing to look at either of them. Yamato simply raises an eyebrow.
"Anko Mitarashi will lead the defense division here at home under the command of Lady Hokage."
Kakashi rolls up the scroll and the mood in the room worsens. This is no longer a surprise, an unanticipated turn of events. This has become more concrete and real than it was an hour ago when the news first officially broke.
Yesterday morning they were at peace. Today, they prepare for war.
An unspoken grief passes through the room as the shinobi remember their own times in battle. Only the younger ones such as Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru sit silently. Dread claws at their insides while their older superiors dwell on things that they cannot know until they take their first steps onto the battlefield themselves.
The Invasion of Pein was different. That was a terrorist attack.
This is a full on clash of ninja that could escalate into a Great Shinobi War in the blink of an eye.
It makes Sakura's hands tremble.
Lady Tsunade nods at Kakashi to continue, handing him a scroll of her own. He clears his throat and reads again.
"The medical team assigned to each battalion will be as follows: The first battalion, Taisuke Odaka. The second battalion, Shizune who will also oversee all medical preparations. And the third battalion-" Kakashi stutters. His one gray eye loses it's nonchalance for only a moment before it reverts back to it's normal stoic expression.
He's sure that the picture in his flak jacket is trying to burn it's way to his heart.
Kakashi recovers by faking a dry cough.
"The third battalion's medical encampment will be left to Sakura Haruno."
He scrolls up the document and with a little too much force, sets it down in front of him. Tsunade watches with a raised eyebrow as he refuses to let it go for a few seconds.
"The rosters for each battalion will be posted outside of Hokage Tower tomorrow morning after we include the additions of Suna's rosters from the Kazakage." He gives a nod to his ninken and they vanish, taking Kakashi's scrolls and documents with them.
The lone copy nin stands before them all and he can't help but panic beneath his hard expression.
He's accountable for so many lives and yet, it's the one that has yet to take it's first breath that worries him sick. Kakashi nearly breaks a sweat beneath their expectant gazes.
"I suggest you all get some sleep tonight. Preparations and battalion trainings begin at sunrise. You're dismissed."
Kakashi turns on his heels and walks out, followed by Lady Hokage and Shizune as the room erupts back into a loud rumble of war talk and worries.
He pays no attention to Tenzou's eyes drilling holes into the back of his silver head.
The copy ninja lays in bed, one knee propped up as he tries to read Icha Icha. But the scrolls and maps littering his apartment weigh too heavy on his mind, calling for attention that he does not have the energy to give.
He leans back against the headboard and rubs his face tiredly, afraid to close his eyes because of what he will see when he does.
Obito's body half hidden beneath the weight of a boulder as Rin silently cries over him, taking the Sharingan from his skull. All Kakashi can do is watch, his fists clenched and a chill in his bones that he hadn't felt since his father's death.
He hears the chatter of chidori as he watches the life fade from Rin's eyes. Kakashi grows nauseous as he remembers the feel of her heart beating it's last pulse beneath his hand. The mangekyo awakens in his eye like a red alarm flashing 'murderer, murderer'.
Throwing the covers off of him, he gets up and turns on the light at his desk. He pours over the rosters and maps, crossing out names and formations while making corrections with a pen. His silver hair falls in his eyes as he writes swiftly, almost illegibly, a note about an Ino-Shika-Cho formation with both sets of generations before he shakes his head and tosses it out.
Putting children and their parents to fight in close combat together is a mistake, a distraction.
He reaches over to pull up the file on Ino when he knocks it over.
The scroll from Tsunade sits ominously on the surface now, uncovered.
He sinks down into his chair and opens it up, sighing. Lightly, barely leaving any ink marks, he traces Sakura's name with the tip of his pen. He tried not to separate teams as much as he could but some were needed elsewhere.
Yet somehow, with Shikaku's advising, all of Team Kakashi ended up in the same battalion. He had purposely left Sakura off that roster. Nara said nothing about this and it gave the copy nin hope that he could get away with it.
Play it off like he had no use for her.
Even if she's not on the front lines, her presence so close to the battlefield grips him with fear. She wasn't supposed to be on the active duty list. According to the law, she should be required to stay here in Konoha and-
Knock knock.
Kakashi sighs and puts down his pen. Maybe if he becomes absolutely still, no one will think he's home. He masks his chakra and hopes for the best.
Knock knock knock.
Goddammit.
The copy ninja gets up from his desk and pads into the hallway. He turns on the kitchen light before going to his door, slipping his mask back over his face.
It swings open and he's prepared to face Guy who will him to go out and drink with their friends. It's a tradition. Kakashi isn't really in the mood to deal with anyone though.
But to his surprise, jade eyes stare up at him. Angrily.
He leans against the doorway and crosses his arms, dropping his face back into it's stoic expression.
"Haruno," he says with a nod.
"Oh shut up," she growls after a moment, shoving him into his apartment. A pink and red blur passes by him and heads into the apartment. Kakashi shakes his head, shutting the door quietly, and goes after her. When he finds her in the living room, she's standing there, hands on her hips, lips pursed in annoyance and her foot tapping impatiently.
It nearly makes him smile.
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't recall inviting you inside."
"Answer my question."
"I don't know what you're asking me about so how can I answer?"
She throws her hands up and then jabs a finger into his chest. He raises an eyebrow, now growing slightly irritated.
What else does he have to say to her?
How clear does he have to be to get her to stop coming into his life when he has no business being in it? What else does he have to do to make it obvious that she is better off thinking that he wants nothing to do with her?
It makes him clench his jaw.
"Why did you stumble on my name?" No response. "In the war council meeting, Kakashi, why did you hesitate on my name?"
"My eyes were tired."
"God, you're such a liar."
"Yeah, I'm a liar. Now please leave?"
"Why did you stumble on my name?" she asks again, jutting her chin out in determination. Kakashi rubs the back of his neck exasperatedly with a sigh.
"Sakura, really, this is pointless-"
"Answer the question, Kakashi."
"I was about to sneeze."
"Wrong, try again."
"Tsunade's handwriting is shitty."
"Seriously, Kakashi, stop-"
His eyes get that stormy look in them again but Sakura does not flinch, she keeps pushing.
"Answer the goddamn question. Why did you hesitate on my name? Because you think I'm not good enough of a medic to lead the team? Because you still think I'm an innocent, small weakling genin who will only get hurt? Answer me!"
"Because of this, Sakura." Kakashi digs into the pocket of his jonin pants and pulls out the ultrasound picture and holds it up for her to see. "Because of that tiny human being growing inside of you. You have no business being on active duty."
"How dare you! I have a duty to-"
"To that child." His voice drops to the one that he used with her when she was younger. It used to get her to shut up quickly and to follow orders, the stern tone startling her into reconsidering her next words carefully. But lately, it hasn't seemed to work.
Her wrath only increases.
"Do not talk to me about duty to this child when you backed out of it. Don't you dare, Kakashi Hatake."
He stops in his tracks. His one charcoal eye simmers dangerously. The copy ninja clenches his jaw and puts the picture back in his pocket.
"That may be true. But this is just reckless."
"Since when do you care?"
His eyes snap to hers and he gives a cold chuckle. It makes her shiver.
"If you really have to ask that, maybe you aren't as smart as I thought you were, Sakura-chan. You still have alot to learn."
"Don't patronize me," she spits out, brushing the pink hair from her face angrily.
"Maybe you need to be sat down and talked to like a child," he retorts back cooly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because you obviously don't understand that refusing to report your pregnancy to the Hokage is against the law, for one, and completely and utterly stupid. You're endangering both your lives," he adds matter-of-factly as if he's answering a question about chakra control.
His stoicness makes her grit her teeth. She liked it better when he was angry.
"I have a duty to Konoha. I have a duty to our men and to protect your reputation while you command the entire armed shinobi force of the village!"
His pupil dilates for only a second as he realizes the truth of her statement. He hates to admit it but she's right. No one would follow him after a stunt like this.
No one would even be able to look at him.
But the fear of what looms ahead, especially with Sakura in the mix, makes him not care.
He shoves his hands in his pockets and clutches the photograph in his fist.
Annoying her, his eye crinkles in a smile.
"I appreciate your concern, Sakura. But I would appreciate it even more if you admitted to yourself that you just don't want the village to know that that isn't Yamato's baby. Because if it was-" he says with a lecturing point of his finger like he used to do as a sensei, "I bet the first person you would've told was Lady Tsunade. You would be so proud, wouldn't you? How does he feel about you not telling her? I'm sure he'd agree with me."
Sakura wants to be sick. She wants to smack that fake smile right off of his unfeeling face.
That act used to work on her as a kid. She never failed to believe that Kakashi was always this unresponsive, slightly weird sensei that liked to ruffle her hair from time to time and be late for everything until it drove her mad.
But that was before. She recognizes the tightness around his mouth, even through his mask, letting her know that he's forcing it.
That does nothing to make her feel better.
"I left Yamato two weeks ago. He doesn't know."
Kakashi's smile falters. This wasn't part of the plan.
"But you would know that if you had decided to stop being such a coward and raise your child like a man, wouldn't you, Kakashi-sensei?" She takes a step toward him and tilts her face up to look at him, nearly chest to chest now. He stares blankly down at her but his hands tremble at the urge to reach out.
Her jade eyes try to be angry. They try to be menacing and strong despite the fact that she just admitted to him that she was indeed going to have this child alone. But they quiver beneath his uncaring expression.
"You forfeited all rights to what I can and cannot do concerning this baby. I am going to war, Commander. I will save lives and make it out in one piece so that I can see the face of my son or daughter." She reaches up to caress his cheek the way she used to. A smile turns up the corners of her lips but it is not welcoming like he has always known it to be.
It's the smile she used on Takeru in the War Room. Deceptively sweet, twinged with a temper and viciousness to rival that of Lady Tsunade.
Her hand burns where she touches him.
"I know you won't tell on me because you've already given your child up, Kakashi. What else do you have left besides this war?"
Her lips drop back into a hard line and she turns on her heels.
The copy ninja waits until the front door slams shut before his knees give out and he sits on the edge of the couch. His hands tremble against his face and he rubs it tiredly.
She left him. Sakura didn't ask Yamato for forgiveness like he thought she would.
Now she really is going to raise that baby alone.
And she really is going to war.
After a few moments of silence, he gets up and goes to pull the rest of his uniform back on.
Maybe he will go have that drink.
"Kiba," says Hinata hesitantly as he pulls her by the sleeve of her jacket up to the entrance to a pub. "This is a jonin bar. We can't go in there!"
He flashes his sharp canines at her in a grin. "Says who?"
"They aren't going to like it!" she squeaks back, the rest of the Konoha 11 plus Sai in tow behind her.
"Hinata-chan, we have Neji with us, remember? He's a jonin." The jinchuuriki wiggles his eyebrows at her, making the pale eyed girl blush. "They won't mind as long as we're with him! Right, Neji?"
The Hyuuga male crosses his arms over his chest and gives a 'hmph'. Even he isn't comfortable with this idea.
"Seriously, Kiba, let's just go back to the Moon Fish. This place is rough," Choji adds in an apprehensive voice as he stares up at the sign. The Fire Shadow gleams in red, orange and black neon lights, staring down at them ominously.
"What're you, scared?" sneers Shikamaru with an elbow in his best friend's ribs.
"Yeah, come onnn!" Naruto calls to them. "We're all war soldiers now. Stop being a bunch of babies."
In one of the only times, except on the battlefield, that Naruto and Kiba have combined forces is now. The two of them stroll into the Fire Shadow, heads high, and grins on their faces. Sakura and Ino look at each other and sigh, falling into step behind them.
Soon enough, all of the Konoha 11, now 12 with Sai, walk into the bar and find the largest table in the right hand corner. Older shinobi turn to look at them, sizing them up for only a second before going back to their own conversations. Kiba wasn't kidding when he said this was a rough crowd. Some of the highest level ninja of Konoha sit at the bar or in smaller groups, drinks in hand.
But surprisingly, Naruto was right. The air is thick and heavy with the looming of war. Normally, someone would have told them to get lost by now. They simply give them a look over, some even nod, and they go on, leaving their clique to their own devices.
It's inspiring and sad all at the same time. Unity in the face of death.
A waitress comes by and takes their drink orders. Already, Kiba and Naruto argue about what the best kind of sake is when the Inuzuka accuses Naruto about getting a cheap brand and knowing nothing about alcohol.
Lee's about to place his order when Neji puts his hand out, stopping him.
"He'll have a shochu," the Hyuuga says smoothly after ordering himself a beer.
"But Nejiiii," Lee whines, his eyes glancing over to Sakura as he turns a shade of crimson, "That's a girly drink."
"I don't care," he retorts, pale eyes staring coldly at his teammate. "I'm not carrying you home again." Tenten snorts from beside him.
Shikamaru yawns, putting his arm around Ino as he does so. The waitress waits, a little impatiently, for Sakura to answer her. The chunin follows her gaze andtakes a look over his shoulder to the booth across the bar from them, all their senseis and their friends occupying the large corner booth. He kicks Sakura lightly in the ankle beneath the table.
"Cherry, what're you drinking?"
She quits staring at Kakashi and his silver hair after he knocks back a bowl of sake through his mask. Startled at his touch, she jumps and the Nara boy raises an eyebrow at her.
"Oh, sorry! I'm not drinking tonight." She gives a sheepish grin. Everyone stops their talk at the table and glances at her. Alot of eyebrows raise at her answer.
Shit.
"What do you mean you aren't drinking tonight?" whines Ino. She usually doesn't like getting drunk if Sakura doesn't.
"Well, Lady Tsunade has me trying out a new soldier pill she's been working on and it will have some bad side effects if I mix it with alcohol." She tries to give a nonchalant wave of her hand. "You go ahead and order, Ino."
The blonde, and Shikamaru, eye her suspiciously but go ahead and request their drinks. Everyone resumes their talking, seeming to forget that Sakura, for once, is not drinking with them. Naruto and Kiba start arm wrestling on the tabletop while Choji chows down on the free snacks.
Yet they aren't as loud as they usually are once the drinks start flowing. Sure, they chatter and muse over who they think will be in their battalion. But the talk mostly steers to the war. It makes the alcohol in their hands feel even heavier than usual.
Sakura goes rigid in her seat when she realizes that according to shinobi statistics, 2 in 10 ninja die in warfare. She looks around at the faces of her friends sitting around her and her chest tightens with dread. Who will it be?
Her eyes fall on each of their faces but Sakura can only bite her lip, not willing herself to guess. She doesn't know how she would be able to get through it if any of them did die on the battlefield. Her eyes flicker to Sai and Naruto towards the opposite end of the table and her heart sinks.
No, those are terrible thoughts to have.
Sakura wishes she could have a drink.
"I think we should make a toast!" slurs Lee as he stands to his feet. Neji puts a hand to his face, annoyed. "Oh come on, Neji, it's our last night before we prepare for war! A toast to our health and our youth should not be discouraged!"
"Unless of course, by toasting to our health and as you like to put it, 'our brilliantly burning lives', you jinx us and we all die," Sai says with one of his creepy, concentrated smiles.
There's a chorus of 'Shut up, Sai' amongst all of them. They lean back into their seats now, a little sullen. Sakura watches them begin to flicker their eyes to each other the way she did only moments ago.
It's inevitable now.
"I still think Bushy Brow is right. We're not just anybody anymore," he says, staring into his bowl of sake in his fingers, "We're soldiers now. And we should make a promise to each other."
Everyone shifts uncomfortably in their seats. Sakura can see from the corner of her eye Shikamaru's arm tightening around Ino's shoulders.
Will they say goodbye? Or will they just simply count on coming home to see each other again?
Shinobi don't make promises when it comes to warfare because anything can happen.
Anyone can die.
Naruto raises his bowl up. And despite their slight reluctance, every single one of them follows. Even Sakura who lifts her glass of water.
"No matter what happens, we will always be friends," he says, climbing to his feet. Lee;s eyes water as Naruto helps him in making the toast. "And even though times may get tough and we may get separated, that we, the Konoha 12," he smiles at Sai, "will try our best to come back to each other. And just like someone said on his birthday not too long ago," his eyes find Shikamaru who smirks back, "We honor our fallen. But most of all, we honor each other."
Naruto looks at Sakura now.
"Not even death will keep us apart." He raises his glass higher. "To Konoha. To us."
And there he goes again. Inspiring even the worst of them into smiling, repeating his final words and putting their drinks to their lips.
Leave it to Naruto to make the burn of alcohol feel like the burn of the Will of Fire.
"I can't even look at them," Kurenai says, tearing her crimson eyes away from their students who clutter around a table across the bar, laughing and drinking. "They still look like children to me."
"I'm glad I wasn't picked to become a genin teacher," says Aoba from beside Kurenai, turning back around to face his fellow jonin. He knocks back a bowl of sake, giving a hiss as it singes his throat on the way down. "I don't think I could handle sending my kids off to battle."
"Stop coddling them, all of you." Raido glowers into his drink. "They're shinobi. They know the risks."
"You wouldn't understand, Raido," says Iruka softly, an arm tossed over the back of the booth as he sits next to Kotetsu, both of them unable to stop looking at their juniors because they happened to sit facing them. The two best friends and Iruka also on this night get to cross the lines between chunin and jonin and join them at their claimed booth in the back.
"You watch them grow up," he continues, his eyes especially trained on Naruto, "protecting them and guiding them as best you can. But then you send them to be slaughtered," he broods which is uncharacteristic of him but since he's drunk, since most of them are, they don't hold back.
"I was 6 when I went to war," Kakashi says, a little coldly, tearing his away from Sakura sipping out of her water. "We should just be thankful that they are ninja of substance now in the face of their first battlefield and not children."
"Kakashi, are you sending genin out...to the front lines?" Izumo asks quietly, twirling his beer nervously in his hands.
The copy ninja knocks back a bowl into his mouth and swallows. He shakes his head.
"I'm trying as hard as I can not to. But if our numbers get depleted in the first wave...we won't have a choice. And I can't send just chunin and jonin. Some of them have to stay behind and defend the village."
Once again, his eyes slip over to the table where his two pupils sit with their friends. Sakura laughs at something Shikamaru says, her jade eyes lighting up in a way that they used to when he made her laugh like that.
Kakashi irritatedly pours himself another round as he reminds himself that she's playing dirty and going to war despite his warnings. He drinks it down quickly.
"Let's stop with the sullen faces and take a leaf out of our beloved pupil's book and make a toast to our health and to our eternal friendships!" Guy jumps to his feet and gives a sparkling smile, raising his bowl of sake. "We might not live to see the petals of our youth begin to wither but the flame of our spirits will never go out, we will-"
"Shut up, Guy," they all whine in unison, knocking back the drink they would've saved for the toast. The Beast of Konoha sinks back down into his seat on the outside of the booth, frowning that they rained on his parade.
Silence falls over them and they keep watching the Konoha 12, being rowdy and loud as always. Kakashi grips the ultrasound picture in his pocket both out of panic and comfort.
"We should toast to Genma," Raido suddenly says. Their eyes snap to their friend and his now even more scarred face as he looks up sadly from his drink. "He gave his life and we're still sitting here, drinking without him." The jonin starts pouring everyone a round of genshu, the strong thick liquid that can make a grown man's eyes water. "We should honor his memory." Raido tries to smile. "He's probably angry that he won't get a piece of the action."
Unlike Guy's frilly speech, no one questions this suggestion. They wait until the drinks are poured before lifting them up into the air. No one has the courage to say it though.
His death is still fresh in their hearts.
"To Genma," Guy finally says sadly. "May the afterlife be filled with all the senbons that he could ever want." The ghost of his former teammate's memory haunts his eyes. Kakashi would grip his shoulder from across the table if he could reach.
They sip down their drinks slowly.
"Hey," Kotetsu says after a few moments of silence, nudging Izumo in the ribs with a smirk. "Look who finally showed up."
Yamato enters the Fire Shadow bar, ducking beneath the banners dangling from the door. Guy waves him over and the captain gives a small smile.
That is, until he sees Kakashi.
"Yo, taichou!" Naruto calls out, a little drunkenly. Yamato only gives him a nod before weaving in and out of tables to get to his friends in the back.
Sakura watches him as he goes to join his peers.
As per tradition, Kakashi slides out of his end seat in the large booth to let Yamato slip in between him and Kurenai. He gives an eye crinkling smile when his teammate approaches.
"Hey Yama-"
Kakashi gets layed out as Tenzou's fist connects with the copy ninja's jaw.
He never even saw it coming.
His silver head snaps back onto the hardwood floor and he winces. Guy immediately puts himself between Yamato and Kakashi who is too startled to get back up. He stares up at Yamato's almond eyes and can't bring himself to move. The entire bar goes silent.
From somewhere across the room, he hears a chair scrape back against the floor. He knows it's Sakura, debating if she should go over there or not.
But his primary concern is a seething Yamato, his hands clenched into fists as everyone ceases conversation and watches as he stands over his superior after right hooking him in the face. He tries to take calming breaths, opening his mouth every once in awhile to say something as Kakashi slowly rises to his feet. He rubs his face where Tenzou's fist slammed into it and everyone flinches at the copy ninja pops his own jaw back into place.
"It's alright, Guy," Kakashi says slowly, putting his arm out to stop the man from taking a step towards Yamato. Kurenai raises her eyebrow at them.
"What's the problem here, Yamato?" she asks sharply.
Kakashi and Tenzou face off, the air shifting around them until it makes the entire bar uncomfortable.
He can see it in the man's face. Kakashi can see the accusation in Yamato's eyes as he clenches and unclenches his fists. The silver haired man begins to slide his one charcoal orb to glance at Sakura.
"Don't," growls Tenzou. "This is about you and me, brother."
Internally, Kakashi flinches at the use of the word. And he panics at the fact that as of now, the copy nin knows that Tenzou knows.
His betrayal has been found out.
However, externally, Kakashi gives an eye crinkling smile.
"Surely this can be settled somewhere privately, don't you think?"
"Why? Because you don't want our friends to know that-"
Yamato stops himself, his rationality returning to him as he sees Raido's face. Something in it, something in the way that he's looking at him after Tenzou sees him in his dreams every night, makes him stop.
This is no longer just Kakashi standing in front of him.
This is the Commander of the Armed Shinobi Force of Konoha.
"Let's take this outside, hmm?" Yamato suggest, his face reverting back to it's usual calm expression. He gives a smile but it's tight, not reaching his almond eyes.
Naruto stands but Sakura glares at him not to interfere.
"What do you say, senpai? For old time's sake."
Kakashi lets his eyes slide to Sakura's now. She stands on her toes, ready to take flight if one of them attacks the other. Her jade gaze swerves back and forth between the two men.
And it pisses him off.
"Alright," Kakashi says almost cheerfully, still smiling. He doesn't completely mask the sharp edge in his tone. "We'll do this the old fashion way, huh? No weapons, no jutsu. Just fist to fist. What do you say, Tenzou?"
The captain narrows his eyes viciously at the use of his real name. He recovers quickly and Yamato chuckles darkly, gesturing with his arm. "After you."
"Stop, you guys are friends," hisses Kurenai. "This is inappropriate right now."
"No, Kurenai," responds Kakashi as he steps in front of Yamato, the two men ducking beneath the banners dangling from the doorway of the Fire Shadow. "This is perfect timing."
Sakura is the first to run out and follow them.
The two men walk out into the chilled night air, heading towards the nearest training ground, the moon elongating their shadows behind them.
"She went home early, huh?" the captain says after a while, shaking his head with a bitter chuckle. "Should've know it was you, senpai. It's always you, isn't it?"
Kakashi gives another one of his mocking smiles.
"Jealousy isn't very flattering on you, Tenzou."
Both Yamato and Kakashi take off their gloves slowly and stow them away into their weapons pouches.