Show me the way

XXXVII: Home Again

Shizuka was lying on Kakashi's couch, exhausted from everything that had happened. He finally found some rest in the form of a shallow nap he needed dearly. Kakashi had been in the hospital for a few weeks and was now home, asleep as well. In that time Shizuka and Jiraya had been working on fixing the damage he had done to Naruto is his fit of selfishness. It had been complicated and had been exhausting both physically and mentally. The fact that Naruto's seal had been completely erased meant they were dealing with the Kyuubi at full power, and still full of hatred towards the concept of humanity.

Jiraya's plan was to divide the Kyuubi once again, but now between Naruto and Shizuka, which meant that he had, at least in some part, his long time friend back again. Maybe in due time, they could become friends again.

What they did was, at its core, expand the seal to encompass both him and Naruto, which was only possible because they were effectively the same person. Both he and Jiraya had been near Chakra exhausted after that, but Naruto would survive and continue to grow under Jiraya's guidance. Jiraya mentioned the final exams were coming up soon and that he was glad Naruto would be better before then.

Shizuka's shallow nap was carefully interrupted by a finger gently poking his cheek. He opened his eyes to find Kakashi crouched next to him and smiling. "Hi." He said dryly. Shizuka smiled back at him and turned to his side, half-expecting Kakashi to kiss him, and felt slightly disappointed when he didn't. "I need you to do something for me." Kakashi said, standing back up with difficulty. Shizuka immediately moved to help him. Kakashi was still fairly wrapped in bandages and advice was for him to not move around too much yet. "I'm fine, don't worry." Kakashi said when he saw Shizuka getting up. "But I need you to come with me to the hospital." Shizuka was surprised by the request but nodded nonetheless. Kakashi had to be at the hospital every day, yet hadn't asked once before for Shizuka to come with him. Not that he minded. It was just something noticeable.

The walk to the hospital had the same tranquillity as it had always had, albeit a bit slower because of Kakashi's injuries. Kakashi's healing ribs were still preventing him from breathing properly. Kakashi was walking closer next to him than he did before. Ever since they got back, Shizuka had noticed this. Kakashi stayed closer and watched him more. It made Shizuka think Kakashi might feel anxious when he wasn't near him, but Shizuka wasn't sure if that was true, or just him reflecting his own feelings onto Kakashi. As they walked, Shizuka kept letting their hands touch a little and he would smile when he saw Kakashi smile at the touch. It was an ease between them that had become very precious to both of them. He loved it.

When they arrived at the hospital, a rather nervous looking nurse greeted them a little too enthusiastically. "Hi, welcome! Are you here for your appointment?" She was all smiles as she looked between the both of them. "Yes, we are." Kakashi confirmed and the nurse looked over to Shizuka. "Well, follow me then." She said more to Shizuka than to Kakashi, confusing Shizuka a bit. She gave a big smile again and Shizuka narrowed his eyes at both of them. Something was off. Why would a nurse at the reception guide them to a routine check-up appointment? Usually, it's just follow-the-signs until you were where you needed to be. Kakashi was keeping a straight face, but the nurse giggled and tried to contain her excitement. "It's this way." She said, and guiding them through the hall to an examination room. Shizuka recognised the area as the surgical wing of the hospital, raising his suspicion a little more. He stopped walking when he saw Jiraya and a blond-haired woman talking near the end of the hall, right where the nurse was leading them.

Shizuka was about to turn tail and run away, but Kakashi grabbed his hand and stopped him. "Nope, you're coming with me. This is for you. Trust me, you'll want this." Kakashi pulled him towards Jiraya and Tsunade and casually stepped aside once he delivered Shizuka there, leaving a slightly awkward silence and a suddenly very nervous Shizuka to fend for himself against Tsunade and the overly excited nurse who was almost staring at Tsunade. Kakashi just sat down on a nearby chair and pulled out his damned orange book.

Shizuka glared at him for a moment, but then Jiraya pulled his attention back to this new and sudden situation. "I'll be going then. Naruto is free to go home as of today, so I'm taking him to Ichiraku's to celebrate." With that, Shizuka's last support was gone.

Tsunade looked him over once and seemed to reach some kind of conclusion. "Follow me." She said, turning to walk into an examination room. Shizuka glanced back at Kakashi, but Kakashi was still reading, so he followed silently.

Shizune was already in the room and gave a small smile as a greeting. Tsunade turned to face Shizuka. "You know, I was quite happy thinking I was never going to return here." Tsunade started, crossing her arms and staring down at Shizuka. Shizuka nodded, knowing how true those words were. "My life was perfectly fine between gambling and drinking. But then Kakashi showed up, practically begging me to come back. Or at least to see you, even if it wasn't here in town. It seemed Sarutobi-sensei agreed with it as well." Shizuka nodded again, this time more to acknowledge the new information. "Then for all the persistence Kakashi showed, he didn't show up at the meeting we agreed to. I should have just walked away, go back to what I was doing but I didn't."

Shizuka blinked a few times at the small rant that was directed at him. "Both Sarutobi-sensei and Kakashi seem strangely attached to you and indebted for some reason. Both of them didn't want to tell me much, and just now I met Jiraya and he too seemed strangely attached to you." She stopped to take a deep breath. "So who are you and why does everyone seem like that?"

Shizuka didn't answer. Didn't really know how to since he wasn't expecting any of this. After a moment of silence, Tsunade sighed. "I guess it's not going to be that easy to get answers from you..." She pondered for a moment. "Take off your top. I'll look you over." It took a moment for Shizuka to register what she meant, and he looked between the three women that were crowding him. He sighed and did as he was told. After all, this was a hospital and apparently, Kakashi and Sarutobi-sama thought it really necessary for him to get checked out, by Tsunade no less.

This was a big change, though. Now two of the Sanin were back in Konoha way before their time and Shizuka shortly contemplated the possible repercussions of this change. He'd need to talk this over with Sarutobi-sama after this.

"Alright, sit on the table and we'll get started." Shizuka sat down and all three women approached him and crowded him. He subconsciously leaned back a little at the approach of the prying fingers and dread was written all over his face. If he had a voice, he would have probably yelped. If it wasn't for Tsunade, he would have probably run away...

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Kakashi was still sitting on the bench, but he had put away his book the moment Shizuka disappeared behind the doors of the examination room. He had his own appointment right about now but wasn't able to pull himself away from where he was. Nerves were swirling in his stomach, mixed with hope and a little dread. Hope that Shizuka would regain his voice and dread that it might not be possible or that Shizuka might be opposed to it for some reason. After all, they never asked Shizuka if he actually wanted to be treated.

The nerves in the pit if his stomach only tightened when the surgery sign above the door lit up an hour or so after Shizuka had gone into the room. He let out a nervous breath. Like so many times before, Kakashi wondered how Shizuka's voice would sound. He couldn't wait to hear it for the first time.

A nurse approached Kakashi, interrupting his focus on the light. "Ah, I thought I might find you here. Your appointment was half an hour ago, but I have time right now too. Let's go get it done right now. They'll be a few hours." She said, pointing at the burning light. "Trust me, you'll be back long before they are done."

Reluctantly, Kakashi stood up an follows the nurse. He glanced back one last time before he rounded the corner. He sighed. This didn't do anything for his nerves. He just felt a lot worse now.

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