A Hole in One's Heart [Kakashi Hatake]

Chapter 48: The Mask

The picture is from Google, of course. The story is going to be a bit happier for the most part for the next couple chapters and I am supper excited for what I have planned in two updates... I don't want to spoil anything, but I'm really excited to write it!!!! Well, until then, enjoy!

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     I hate it when people wake me up... And Asuma barging in with his whole team did just that. Furthermore, it was super embarrassing. I was using Kakashi as a pillow and couldn't find the strength to move into a less awkward position. Even if I had the strength to move, I don't know if I could have; Kakashi's left arm was wrapped around me so tightly. He was also wearing that damn, tight-fitting, sleeveless shirt that showed off how ripped he was, and I was wearing a thin t-shirt; my cheeks had started to turn an unhealthy shade of crimson at our proximity. Thank god I'm pretty flat-chested or it would have been even more awkward.

     Asuma started talking to Kakashi about the Akatsuki, and Shikamaru came back to join them. Glaring at them angered that my sleep had been disrupted, I curled back up into Kakashi's chest and fell asleep again muttering, "Wake me up when the room is quiet again, until then I just want to sleep." It was that darn Nine-tail's chakra. Wounds caused by it just took longer to heal and it had wounded my chakra network and my mind. It was just going to take me a while to get back to my old self again, but in the meantime I was going to sleep as much as I could, damn it.

     I woke up because Kakashi was pushing me off him.

     "Wha-uhhh," my first attempt at talking just turned into a yawn so I tried again. "What are you doing?"

     "I just really need to sit in a different position for a bit; I was getting super stiff." He whispered and sat me down next to him gingerly while I felt the entire hospital bed move as he shifted his weight around. It really was too narrow for two people, but I didn't mind that he wasn't moving back over to his bed just yet. "Are you feeling any better today?"

     It took me a moment to register the fact that he had asked me a question. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm feeling better today, thanks. How long ago did the people finally leave?"

     "About twenty minutes."

     "Thank goodness, I usually don't mind people, but my head has been hurting so much lately that visitors are such a pain."

     At that moment, the door slid open and black-haired head poked inside, "So does that mean that I should come back another day?"

     I smiled and recognized that voice, "It's fine so long as you promise to be quiet." And Hansuke Chisai walked into my hospital room. I had met him while he had been one of Lord Asari's guards during the Chunin Exam almost three years ago. Unlike the gaudy red and gold that he had been forced to wear then, now he was wearing the standard Leaf Ninja uniform with his headband holding his wavy black hair out of his eyes. With the color of his flak jacket, they looked almost impossibly green. "Hi Hansuke, how've you been?"

     "Oh fine, Iruka said that with the next batch of new ninjas I'll get my own class, but other than that really no change since I last visited. More importantly, how are you feeling?" His eyes were looking at Kakashi and I sitting side-by-side in tiny hospital bed reading. They glinted with excitement; he has always been a bit of a meddler.

     I groaned a little as I sat up farther in bed, "Oh just wonderful, I've really never felt this full of youth." Hansuke laughed at my reference to Guy and Kakashi just glared at me. He never liked it when I channeled my inner Might Guy because he said that it scared him for some reason.