A/N: I had debated on doing a story for Kakashi and Mei for a long time, but had lost interest in it a while back. I've recently reread pretty much all of tabjoy13's work and it had rekindled my desire to write this. To tabjoy (if you read this), thank you for your beautiful writings. I have taken some of your premises and used them for this. I hope you don't mind, but it's hard not too when you have 100 chapters :P and if you do, let me know so I can edit it!
I am currently rewatching the entire series as I'm sure I've forgotten a lot. So if you see holes in my plotline or characters, please let me know! And as always please leave reviews!
A trembling hand rubbed at her throbbing temples. The digits working in small circles to try to ease the tension that had built up there. Even the small movement of her arm and fingers caused her muscles to cringe in protest. Mei opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling with its single light illuminating the small space.
The room she was in was inside a large house that had been turned into a temporary hospital for all of the lucky survivors that had made it out with their lives. I suppose I was lucky, Mei thought to herself, despite her body not seeming to agree with that sentiment at the moment. The last few hours had been a blur of pain and fatigue. The last thing she had remembered after fighting Madara was her own wedding. A massive genjutsu that had ensnared the world she had been told. The knowledge did not make the vivid memories any less real in her mind.
She had been surrounded by her closest friends and the other kages as they celebrated her wedding day. Her hand had been in the crook of her husband arm her face smiling up at him. However, his face eluded her. As if a black space had been placed in her mind covering it. And then she had woken to a man's voice and a hand, wearing a black fingerless glove, outstretched in a silent offer of assistance.
Mei glanced to her left where a second hospital bed sat with the only other occupant of the room. The silver haired leaf shinobi slept peacefully still in his green flak vest and blue jonin uniform. Mei observed the slight rise and fall of his chest as he quietly breathed in and out. Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan. She had met him a few times in passing and brief exchanges before today.
A slight blush dusted Mei's face as she remembered her journey to the temporary hospital. Strong arms had been wrapped around her back and her legs as she was carried bridal style from the battlefield. Her own arms had been wrapped around his neck as her head rested against his chest listening to his heartbeat as they travelled. Mei recalled slipping in and out of consciousness during the trip before vaguely recalling their arrival here. Everything after that was a muddled mixture of concerned medical staff and prodding hands checking her for injuries.
Mei recalled a medical shinobi apologizing to her as they put the second bed in the room for Kakashi to use. But Mei had brushed aside the apologies as she was sure they needed all the space they could get and she did not need an entire room for herself.
Mei found herself returning to the grasp of sleep as she listened to the steady quiet breathing of her roommate.
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Mei awoke suddenly to the chiding tone of a nurse, "I am under strict orders to notify Lady Sakura if you attempt to leave before you have properly recovered."
Mei heard a loud sigh followed by a male's voice sounding defeated, "I am perfectly fine. I've had plenty…."
"If I need to I will have you strapped down to the bed."
Mei stole a glance over at Kakashi and the charge nurse as he waved his hands in surrender with his eyes smiling nervously, "There's no need for that, I'll stay here." Mei saw as his eyes looked over to stare at her, "Ahh, good evening Lady Mizukage."
The nurse, a brown haired stone ninja with a stern expression, quickly turned and bowed to Mei, "I'm very sorry we woke you, Lady Mizukage."
Mei gave a small smile back, "It's no trouble. All I've been doing is sleeping." Mei stole a glance at Kakashi who was smiling with his eyes. He just used me to get rid of the nurse's attention she realized.
"Is there anything I can get for you while you are up?"
"I should be fine, thank you."
"Very well," the nurse bowed again, "Let me know if that changes." She turned back to give a hard glare at Kakashi as she exited the room.
The man in question let out a sigh as he sank back into the bed from where he had been sitting with his legs over the side.
"Not a fan of hospitals?"
Kakashi's right eye slid over to look at Mei's slight smirk, "I wouldn't say I dislike hospitals. But I've spent more than my fair share inside of them."
"I can certainly understand that," Mei agreed, "Hospitals are like a shinobi's second home."
"That's true, Lady Mizukage."
This earned Kakashi a frown, "I don't need the formalities here. Just call me Mei while were stuck here together."
Kakashi turned his head to stare at her with both black eyes, "Alright…. Mei." Mei had to smile as he seemed to have trouble forcing out such an informal address for a kage. Years of being a shinobi after all she reasoned.
Mei hesitated for a few seconds before asking a question that had been bothering her, "This may be a bit forward of me," Kakashi's held a glimmer of curiosity at her words, "But what happened to your Sharingan?"
There was a few seconds of hesitation causing Mei to look over to see Kakashi staring into the distance as he held a hand over his left eye. "Madara took it during the fight." His reply was simple but there was a lot more beneath the reply that he was not saying.
"I'm sorry. And I apologize for prying."
Kakashi turned to stare at her and smiled at her with his eyes again, "Don't be. It was never mine to begin with anyways."
The pair settled into a few minutes of silence before Mei spoke again, "You told me the war ended earlier but could you tell me how exactly?"
Kakashi rubbed his head and said, "Well that's a long story…."
After thirty minutes of going over the extended fight after the five kages were defeated Kakashi caught Mei up with the ending of the war. Kakashi sat on the side of the bed, one leg underneath him while the other hung over the edge. Ending the story with Team Seven's triumph over Kaguya, Kakashi looked up to meet the solitary emerald eye that stared at him intently from under auburn bangs. Kakashi suddenly felt as if he had been speaking far too much despite the story being more of a mission debriefing than anything.
"Wow." Was the Mizukage's lone reply after his detailed analysis.
"Yeah…" Kakashi again rubbed the back of his head, feeling as if his words were being mulled over and analyzed by the formidable woman, "I don't think I would believe most of it if I hadn't witnessed it myself."
"The members of Team Seven certainly seem amazing."
The faces of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura popped into his head, "They definitely are."
Kakashi noticed a slight frown crease the Mizukage's face briefly before vanishing. He rubbed his eyes feeling some strain and fatigue building within them. "I'm going to get some rest, La…Mei."
Kakashi settled into the bed sheets as he let sleep claim him.
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Blood pouring from open wounds. Bodies lying mangled on the ground. Images of her past and even some that she had never witnessed of her friends and comrades dying flashed through her mind in a whirlwind of horror and despair. Each image was more graphic and terrible than the last as they pushed through her mind at an increasingly dizzying rate. Chojuro, Ao, Mina, Haruto, Ryota. With a suddenness that gave her mental whiplash, the flashing images stopped with the sight of a rinnegan eye burning into her brain.
Mei felt despair and agony course through her body. Her eyes moved rapidly behind closed eyelids. Her breathing hitched as her chest seized. Each nerve ending felt as it was being pricked felt intense pressure on her shoulder causing the sensitive nerves to feel as if they were being stabbed. Mei reached up and grabbed at the source of pressure and wrenched at it.
"L— Miz—ge!" Mei vaguely heard a voice as if at the end of a long tunnel.
The rinnegan grew in size as if approaching her. It's piercing gaze seemingly stripping the very fabric of her mind.
"Mei!" The same voice called again, closer now.
Mei's eyes sprang open. She instantly sat straight up in bed, panting heavily as her eyes widened trying to take in as much information as possible as her body believed her to be under attack. Mei tried to calm her breathing and racing heartbeat as she realized where she was. Mei felt a presence standing to her side.
She glanced up and saw two black eyes staring at her with concern from over a mask. Mei panted, "I'm fine," as she waved a hand to dismiss his pitying expression. She could not allow someone to see her so weak.
"Should I get a nurse?"
"No!" Mei almost yelled. One person seeing her like this was already more than she would like. "No," she said again, softer this time, "Like I said, I'm fine."
The man only nodded in acknowledgement as he moved toward the door. Mei watched as Kakashi cracked open the door and peered into the hallway. "It looks like no one heard anything."
"Heard anything?"
Kakashi turned towards her again, his expression once more conveying a sense of concern for her, "You were…yelling. It looked like you were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you…" Mei stared down at Kakashi's right hand where two of his fingers were bent at an odd angle before he hurriedly shoved his hands in his pockets.
Mei recalled the pressure on her shoulder, "Oh god, I did that, didn't I?" She gestured at his broken fingers hiding in his clothing.
"Oh…. well…" Kakashi fumbled over his words, "I'm sorry. I should not have touched you without your permission, Lady Mizukage."
Mei frowned at the man's apology, "I broke your fingers and you're apologizing to me?"
"It wasn't your fault."
Mei placed a hand over a face and gently shook her head, "I am very sorry. I don't know what came over me. It was….surreal."
Mei looked up as Kakashi spoke again, his face turned to the door where the rest of the temporary hospital residents were, "It's not just you. Many people have been screaming all night."
The image of the rinnegan flashed back into her mind, "Is it a side effect of the genjutsu Madara used?"
Kakashi gently shook his head at the question, "I don't know. I've never seen a jutsu of that scale before. There's no telling what kind of consequences it will have."
"Madara, damn him." Mei gritted her teeth in frustration. She had tried to push back the thoughts of all of the destruction wrought while she recovered but this brought it all back to her. The lives lost, the damage, the reconstruction and rebuilding of the survivors and their families. All of it was an impossibly heavy burden to bear. Her thoughts turned ever darker as her own mind began crushing her.
"Mei," Mei looked back up at the silver haired man, "We have lost a lot in this war. But I think we have also gained a lot. The villages have never had such a harmonious relationship. We have a real chance to build a foundation of peace and prosperity for all villages and all people."
Mei's fists slowly unclenched as she eased the tension, "You're right." She let out a loud sigh and pushed her bangs away from her face before they bounced back into place, "The war has brought all nations closer to one another and will hopefully lead us all on a better path."
Kakashi gave her another of his eye smiles, "Then let's get some rest. For tomorrow will be a much busier day."
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Kakashi was wrong about the next day. Mei was visited by Ao and Chojuro for a brief period in the early morning where they caught her up on a small portion of village and ninja statuses, but the hospital staff strictly managed visitors for patients and made it clear the pair would not be there long.
Chojuro and especially Ao kept shooting glances at Kakashi as he quietly lounged with his face in a bright colored book, a single arm propped behind his head while he read. Mei could tell talking about their village in front of the leaf ninja made the pair uncomfortable but there was no classified information in what they were telling her.
Chojuro handed Mei a large stack of papers before he left. Ao gave one last hard glare at her roommate and whispered to Mei, "Be careful my lady. Not all leaf ninja are to be trusted." It would seem some grudges and mistrust would be harder to dispel than others.
Mei grinned and whispered back, "We're only ten feet away. He can hear you."
Mei glanced at Kakashi as he thumbed a page over in the book, giving no indication of confirming her statement. With a final huff, Ao strode out of the room, leaving two two alone once more.
As the door closed, Mei began sifting through the pile of documents she had been left with. Scanning through the first few pages she frowned. Kirigakure had never been the most populous village with the largest roster of employed shinobi. Much of which had to do with the Bloody Mist days. Days which she was trying hard to push past, both for her village and for herself. However, she glanced down at casualty and missing figures, this was an entirely new low for the village. It was better than she had feared but worse than she hoped.
She absentmindedly bit the tip of her thumb as she ran through the numbers of remaining available ninjas and the probably backlogged and massive new stack of requested missions waiting at the Mizukage Tower back at the village. Mei rubbed her temples with one hand as she debated trying to be like her like the jonin in the other bed and escaping the facility to try and get a head start on the paperwork. She let out a heavy sigh as she set the documents off to the side. No use in stewing over it now, she reasoned, it would be waiting for her when she returned anyway.
Feeling a gaze upon her, she slid her eyes over to see Kakashi's black eyes half-lidded facing her, "I don't envy the burden you and the other kages will have to shoulder with picking up the pieces of all this."
"Neither do I," Mei grimaced and quickly changed the subject, "What are you reading?"
"Oh this?" Kakashi held the obvious book up slightly, "A book."
Mei stared blankly at the man and swore she could almost see a smirk underneath that mask. "Are all leaf shinobi this intentionally dull?"
Kakashi eye smiled at her, "No, it's probably just me." To which Mei rolled her eyes in exasperation. Kakashi closed the book and stood from the bed. He pushed the book out towards her.
Mei inspected the novel and read the title aloud, "Icha Icha Paradise." Mei's emerald eyes slowly widened as she continued inspecting the synopsis.
Her incredulous eyes turned to the book's owner, "You've been reading smut this whole time?"
"Simple smut?" Kakashi feigned being hurt, "This is a flawless rendition of a new couple's discovery of true love."
Mei ever ready with empty banter, "Flawless rendition? Are you a subject matter expert?"
Mei grinned as Kakashi's body froze momentarily before he was able to speak again, "Oh, well I wouldn't say that exactly."
Mei smirked at seeing the silver haired ninja squirm but before she could continue teasing him the nurse came bustling in. Mei quickly hid the book underneath her pillow so as to not give the wrong impression of her reading material.
"Lady Sakura said she would be by tonight," the nurse said, "She wants you both to continue resting until then. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?"
Kakashi waved his broken fingers in an loose wave, "Could I get these mended?" Mei's eyes widened before she looked away in shame as she had completely forgotten about the injury she caused.
The nurse rushed over to grab Kakashi's wrist, "How did this happen?"
Mei panicked slightly as she would have to explain her actions and her reasons to the nurse.
Kakashi gave a large eye smile to the nurse and shrugged his shoulders, "I was going to jump out the window but I guess I was still feeling out of it, so I slipped and caught my hand on the windowsill." He gave an overly enthusiastic chuckle at the end as the nurse just stared in disbelief at him.
The nurse's intense gaze turned to Mei, "Did you see this happen, Lady Mizukage?"
Mei blanched for a second, "Oh…uh… yes. The windowsill…did that."
The nurse stared at her trying to discern the truth for several seconds before sighing and turning back to Kakashi, "Sit on the bed. I'll get these back into place."
A short time later, the jonin lay back on the bed, his fingers straightened out and held together by a splint. The bones had already been mostly fixed, but they would finish healing quicker if they stayed immobile.
Between reading village reports, Mei spent much of the day talking to her hospital companion about a wide variety of topics ranging from food to battle tactics. It was now early in the evening and Kakashi had made the obviously invalid claim that he had spent more time in hospitals than her.
"Three weeks." His sleeve was rolled up exposing a thin line spanning half the length of his forearm.
Mei smirked as she lifted the bottom of her pant leg, showcasing a two inch scar with a curve to it, "A month."
Upping the ante, Kakashi lifted his shirt slightly to expose his toned midsection where a dark almost perfect circle scar was, "Three months." Despite the limited exposure, Mei could tell how lean the man's body was.
However, not to be outdone, Mei shifted her long auburn locks to her right shoulder and bent down to expose the top of her collarbone where a jagged scar ran from the top of her shoulder to continue underneath her clothing, "Four months."
"Hmmm." Kakashi said aloud as he mentally went through a checklist of his various injuries over the years.
Mei grinned in triumph, "Just admit defeat."
Kakashi chuckled briefly before pointing at his scarred left eye, "Fourteen months in total."
"In total?" Mei retorted, "That's cheating!" The pair broke off into mild laughter when suddenly the door opened with a pink haired kunoichi walking in.
The kunoichi bowed to Mei and introduced herself as Sakura Haruna before addressing the pair, "You both seem to be enjoying yourselves." Her eyebrows had a slight elevation added to them.
"Well we are trapped in a room together. We may as well try to get along," Mei shrugged her shoulders.
"Of course, Lady Mizukage." Sakura said respectfully before turning her attention to Kakashi, "And what is this I hear of you injuring yourself while on bed rest, sensei?"
Kakashi hid his hands inside his pockets and shrugged his shoulders with an eye smile at Sakura, "Oh just being clumsy is all."
Sakura sighed with clear annoyance, "I don't even know why I bother with you sometimes." Her looked turned quizzical, "Although I am surprised you haven't escaped already."
"Well you did order me to stay."
Sakura scoffed, "That's never stopped you before."
Kakashi eyes maintained that half-lidded look, "True. I guess I do have good company this time around."
Mei was glad neither of their attention was on her as she was sure a blush popped onto her face before she quickly calmed herself. It had just been an honest answer, nothing more. And truth be told, she was glad for the company as well.
Sakura turned her attention back to Mei, "Thank you then Lady Mizukage. Sensei can be difficult when it comes to letting his injuries get properly treated."
"Of course," Mei smiled at the younger woman, "It was an honor getting to know the sensei of the famous Team Seven."
"Hopefully," Sakura sent a hard look at Kakashi, "He was respectful and courteous to such an esteemed kage."
Mei let out a small laugh, "He has been the epitome of a gentleman."
Sakura huffed and looked at Mei, "I'm glad to hear it." She turned towards the door, "Sensei you will be discharged tomorrow. Lady Mizukage, I would recommend at least another day to finish your recovery. I will be back tomorrow to check on you."
Kakashi smiled towards his former student as she stepped out the door, "Thank you, Sakura."
Mei stretched her still sore and tense muscles trying to ease the stiffness as she sat back onto the bed. She looked out the window to the darkening sky and wondered when it got so late. Mei stifled a yawn as she lay back onto the bed. She saw out of the corner of her eye as Kakashi also lay back in his own bed. Mei's hand bumped into a hard object. Pulling it out she realized it was Kakashi's book. Mei was about to return it to him but held herself back. She could give it back to him tomorrow, she reasoned. In the meantime, she wanted to see what his obsession with this book was. Mei carefully positioned herself facing the door with her back to Kakashi while she opened the book to the first page.
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Mei's eyes slowly opened to the filtering of sunlight coming through the window. She blinked her eyes slowly as she pushed the grogginess away. With a small groan she sat up and stretched her arms high above her head as she loosened her body. Sensing movement to her left, she turned her head to look over and was surprised to see a small dog curled up on the made bed. The dog was wearing a blue cape and a Konoha headband with intelligent eyes peering up at her.
The dog grunted and got up onto its paws as it too stretched. "Good morning, Lady Mizukage," the dog bowed its head in respect. Mei was taken aback by the dog suddenly speaking but quickly realized it must be a summon, "My name is Pakkun. I'm a contract summon of Kakashi's."
Mei smiled in greeting, "It's a pleasure, Pakkun."
"Kakashi wanted me to pass a message along as he had to leave early." Mei could not help the small crestfallen frown that crossed her face. Only because it would be boring in the room alone she rationalized. Pushing past that, she nodded her head for Pakkun to continue.
His gravely voice continued, "He was glad to see that no more side effects of the Tsukiyomi appeared last night." Mei felt solace in the fact that the leaf ninja had been watching out for her during the night. "He also wanted to thank you for making this hospital stay less miserable than the others." Mei could not help but agree with the statement as she let out a small upturn to the corner of her lips.
"Oh, one last thing," Mei met Pakkun's dark eyes as he gestured to the bedside stand, "He said you can borrow that until it's finished. But he did stress he wants it back after that." Mei chuckled as she spotted the orange banded book sitting there.
"I will be sure to return it as soon as I can." She gave a small bow to the dog, "Besides I'd rather not be caught with it." Satisfied with her response, Pakkun nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Mei looked at the folded and empty bed next to her, and to her surprise, felt a pang of loneliness at the vacancy. Mei tossed the feeling aside and mentally forced herself to focus on the impending mountain of paperwork awaiting her. Slipping back into her Mizukage mindset, she started cataloging and assigning the urgency of upcoming tasks. It would be a difficult job, but one she was ready for. With a sigh, Mei prepared herself for the coming days.