Sown

fifty

[As y'all can probably tell, this book is coming to an end - in fact this will probably be the second to last chapter. Lucky for y'all, I have a sequel ready to go, so I hope you look forward to it!]

-

Since visiting, Kakashi had hardly left. Not that anyone was complaining.The only time he had received any grief was when Natsuo chastised him for trying to sleep in the waiting room once visiting hours had ended.

"That's horrible for your spine," she cooed in a surprisingly threatening way. Tadou laughed aloud as Kakashi stood from the stiff seat.

"He's a lovesick young man, my Natsuo. Reason is the last thing on his mind. Trust me, I've felt the same way for three decades now."

She stroked her husband's beard before gripping a handful of the wavy burgundy strands, pulling just enough to put pressure on his chin and produce a small yelp from the much larger man. "Don't listen to this one, that's no reason to make yourself sick. Sleep well, eat well, and come back healthy in the morning. Hanae won't be going anywhere soon."

It was true. The healing had begun but there was still some work to be done before she could leave the hospital for good. Hanae's stab wound had been stitched and even begun to scar over but the tear in her abdominal wall was closing much slower. It didn't help that it had to be reopened at least twice to drain the blood that had pooled in her peritoneal cavity. The surgeons were perplexed ; the depth of the stab wound hadn't been enough to pierce her abdominal wall, and the rough texture of the opening proved as much. Hanae, upon being questioned, gave her thoughts on the mystery.

"I sneezed," she explained sheepishly. The puncture had thinned her flesh enough that the force of the sneeze had finished tearing the wound through. Hanae's allergies had caused the hemoperitoneum that nearly ended her life, the amount of blood pooling around her organs causing them to shut down and depleting her brain of oxygen, ultimately leading to the stroke that put her in a coma. In the middle of a war, she would have been killed by ragweed. To say she was embarrassed would be an understatement.

As such, Kakashi made sure to be there every day until she would be well enough to leave, much to Tsunade's mild vexation. Some days he would join her for physical therapy, watching alongside her family as she regained the strength in her limbs. Other days he would help her make her way around to different parts of the hospital, pushing her wheelchair as they chatted about everything and nothing. Gai had challenged them to a race once ; Hanae had been more than excited about the proposition but an attentive nurse quickly put a stop to the sport before it could begin. He congratulated her vigorously when she began to walk on her own, noting that the offer was still on the table were she ever to change her mind.

Hanae asked for a favor a week into her treatment. "There's somewhere I want to go," she mentioned to Kakashi. They strolled through the hospital's garden, one of her arms twined with his for support while the other cradled the young potted Century Plant she had received from Gaara.

"Where would that be?" He quizzed, glancing down to her with his newly healed left eye. Tatsui walked with them on her left side, their parents having returned to the Land of Iron shortly to share the good news with everyone not yet made aware.

"The cemetery."

Tatsui looked over Hanae's head to Kakashi. He had been able to let go of his annoyance through a handful of late night waiting room chats, if not for his own sake then for his family's, though everyone had a feeling his protectiveness would never fade. "Where is that?"

"It's past the stadium near the Inuzuka clan compound and river." Hanae elbowed him after a moment of silence, nodding her head towards her clearly confused brother. "It's a couple of miles from here," he offered more simply. Kakashi turned his attention back to Hanae, "do you think you'd be able to go that far? We could push you there if you'd prefer." She had been given permission to leave the hospital for short periods of time as long as she returned before visiting hours were over.