Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There is laughter all around, echoing off the damp stone stone walls of the cave, that Konohas students and their teachers are exploring. It´s a class trip, held by the academy, it´s about getting to know the area around the village better.
The teachers, Iruka Gai and Kakashi that is, watch the kids on this occasion. No one would want one of the future generation to get lost or stuck in one of the many tight passage ways.
Iruka is shouting for them to slow down and not to get to far away, but no one listens. The kids are all way too excited. And Gai does provide his share of diversion by racing some of them through the tunnels.
Kakashi is watching the green-clad man and his younger combatants dashing away with an amused smile on his lips. Sometimes he muses to himself if Gai would ever stop being so childish. He envies him a bit for the ability to just forget about every burden for a few moments, for being so damn cheery even if the situation was grave. Of course, on some occasions Kakashi is bothered by it, especially when his friend comes running, the idea of a new challenge in mind, just when thee ex-ANBU decided to have a nice, quite evening all to himself.
But those times were getting rare as the years pass by. Nowadays Kakashi would rather participate in one of the ridiculous games Gai had invented, than being all alone. He had grown so fond of the lively jonin, that it was hard and painful to imagine a world in which Gai wasn´t his rival, in which Gai had given up on him like so many others.
But he does not live in a world like that and this makes him so very happy right now that his smile widens.

Iruka, who stops screaming for the time being, can feel the beginning of an especially menacing headache. No matter what class he was teaching, no one ever really listens to him and sometimes, in very rare moments he doubts his choice of becoming a teacher. In the hope to get some help at least from Kakashi, he turns to the man.
“Can´t you do something about that?”, he asks desperately. The copy nin laughs at that. “Gomen ne, Iruka-sensei, but I am not the shouty type. But if you want them incapable of moving or bound with some string to the next stalagmite, I certainly can be of service.”
Now Iruka wants to shout at the poor excuse of a teacher and begins to do so. “Just what kind of sadist are you?! Has no one told you how to handle students, before they appointed you genin instructor?!”
Kakashi laughs even harder at that. It dies in his throat when the earth suddenly begins to rumble.

Everyone stops dead in their tracks and then after Gai bellows :”OUT!”, turn on their heels and run back for the entrance. Iruka and Kakashi wait for the students and Gai to pass them and then follow suit. Boulders are crashing down now at a terrifying rate. They run as fast as possible, always keeping an eye out for the kids. Gai leading the way.
At last there is light in sight.
Iruka slows down in relief without noticing. `Finally`, he thinks. A fatal error, as a whole group of rocks are falling down just in that moment. The chuunin does not see them coming. Kakashi does.
He is not hesitating, not for one second as he makes a jump forward and pushes the other man out of the way.

The last thing he sees is the surprised face of the chuunin.
Then the world turn awfully dark and quit

Gai stands outside the cave they just escaped from, counting the students. All there, panting and terrified, but alive and unharmed. Slowly the earthquake subsides and Gai turns toward the entrance, looking for Iruka and Kakashi. Iruka is there, sitting in front of the now closed off cave. No sign of his rival though. He runs over to the still seated man. Worry starts to rise in him, but he stumps it down vehemently. He can start with that after having talked to Iruka.
“Where is Kakashi?!”, Gai wants to know. The chuunin doesn´t react. Gai watches his face. The man is deadly pale, His eyes are widened in terror. Gai grabs him by the shoulders and looks him directly in the eyes. “Iruka-kun.”, he starts again, softly.” Where is Kakashi?”
Finally the man comes back to his senses and gazes back at him. “He...I...The rocks. I didn´t see them. Kakashi pushed me out of the way. He´s still in there.”
Instantly the jonin is on his feet, running back to the cave. Thoughts of Kakashi lying dead under a pile of rubble, dead, blood everywhere, come to his mind unbidden.
`Let him be alright, oh please, please, please.`
He reaches the entrance and immediately begins pulling out rocks, never minding as the skin on his hands tears and as he starts bleeding. He doesn´t notice how long he is at work,doesn´t hear the voices of the reinforcement Iruka had sent for as soon as he had woken from his stupor somewhat.
They try to get him out of the way so they can get at work more effectively. Not even Tsunade, who had come running as soon as the news reached her, can get Gai to move. She tries it with shouting, soothing words and even pleading, but he keeps on digging like a madman.
He can only think of saving his rival, of reaching him in time. After countless rocks shoved aside, Gai stops for just a second. He found Kakashis left hand. Quickly, he checks for the pulse.
`Oh please, please, please.´
It´s there, faint but steady (thanks kami, what would I do without him). He wants to continue, but Tsunade intervenes by stepping between him and Kakashi. “ Let us do this. We have to be careful, or we might hurt him further.” Gai doesn´t move. “ You can stand right by the side, no one wants you to go. Let us help him. Trust us.”, she reassures him.
And Gai trust them. That is not the problem. Tsunade knows that, had experienced it herself. You want, no need, to do something, anything, just not standing by idle.
She knows all that, but she too knows that they have to work quickly. The sannin checks for the pulse too and then nods at the helpers on stand by. Gai finally moves to make way.
They begin their work carefully but fast, removing stone after stone, but for the jonin they are not working quickly enough.
Never in all his life had been so terrified like now, watching how others rescue his friend. He feels so weak, it´s like watching his father die for him all over again. But this time there is no enemy, no one to blame. And it drives him mad.
He sees how they remove one last stone before thy can get Kakashi out, but can´t catch a glimpse of him. A stretcher is brought forward, and now Gai sees him, lip in the hold of the medics. His silver hair is matted with blood (so much blood, far too much of it) and his right hand and left shoulder look cruched.
Tsunade is at his side as soon as they lay him down and Gai is there too , surveying his best friends state.
The most horrifying wound is at the copy nins head. It looks like there is a dent at the left side and Tsunades curses confirm the severity of it. Aside from that, his hand and shoulder, Kakashis legs have taken a lot of damage too, lying there in an unnatural, twisted angle to them.
The sannin examines the head wound more closely. “We have to bring him to the hospital. Be careful, his spine doesn´t seem to have taken too much damaged, but I am not taking chances here.”, she instructs and gets to the task of getting Kakashi ready for transport.
She yanks that stupid mask of him down and Gai winces at that. His rival really, really hates anyone seeing his face (doesn´t matter now). Even for him it is the first time he sees it. He´d rather not. Not for the sight itself, but for the circumstances. Secretly, mostly when he is lying in bed, Gai fantasizes about the moment when he discovers Kakashis face.

It is after a very demanding challenge, both of them lying panting next to each other, laughing. That´s when Gai turns onto his side, gently lowering the mask. And what he sees takes the rest of his breath away. He cups the side of that beautiful face, Kakashi turns to him, eyes wide and so innocent. Gai leans in and kisses those perfect lips. Gently at first, then getting more and more passionate.

He stops his train of thought right there. Now is not the time for this. Not when Kakashis life is on the line.
Gai sees Tsunade sliding a tube down Kakashis thorat and attaching some sort of balloon to the end of it. She promptly begins pumping it steadily. Some other medic places a ruff around the slender neck, stabilizing it.
“We are ready.”, Tsunade proclaims and the medics lift Kakashi with care, beginning the journey back to Konoha. Gai never leaves his side, taking a hand tenderly in his.

The progress they make through the woods is painstakingly slow, far to slow for Gai. Rationally he knows that they can´t go any faster or else they might hurt Kakashi even more. But another part of Gai, the part that wants to see his friend in a safe hospital bed, is impatient, would like to pick him up and speed with him there.
Tsunade seems to read his thoughts. “We will be there in time, the tube helps with his breathing.” Gai nods at that and takes a look back to where the students trot, heads downcast. Moegi sniffles, on the verge of crying, her team mates supporting her.
Iruka walks besides them, a blanket draped over his shoulders. He is still pale and is more stumbling than walking. His eyes are fixed on the ground. Not quite grasping what had happened only moments ago, he thinks about how fast Kakashi has been. If it weren´t for him, Iruka might be in the jounins place, or worse, dead. A shiver runs down his spine and an overpowering feeling of gratitude washes over him. The chunin desperately hopes that Kakashi will survive. If not he will blame himself for the rest of his life. And Naruto would be devastated. The boy looks up to his sensei and loves him dearly. Iruka sends a prayer to the gods.

Tsunade is still pumping oxygen into Kakahis lungs, her hand cramping up, but she ignores it. Tenderly she strokes the silvery hair with her other hand. She won´t allow the brat to die, that she promises to herself and to him. No matter how often she complains to Shizune about the antics of the man and his lateness, she cherishes him. Just like all of the villages shinobi. To her they are family. That was what her grandfather had always told her, when she complained about him having so little time. The village is family and you do everything you can to keep them safe.

Finally the Hidden Leafs gates come into view. Gai looks at the unconscious form of his best friend.´Just hold on for a bit longer, we´re nearly there.´
News of the incident must have spread fast, for the kids worried parents are standing there, anxiously awaiting their return. As soon as the children catch sight of their families, they start to run into the arms spread wide open. A collective sigh of relief is breathed as all of them can hug their child safely to their chests. Hastily they make way for the convoy of Tsunade, Gai and the medics. Whispering rises as the see Sharingan no Kakahi on the stretcher, badly injured. Instantly they hoard around Iruka, bombarding him with all kinds of questions, which the still shocked teacher struggles to answer. Two of the medical nin come to his rescue telling the parents that Iruka is in shock and needs medical treatment. They step back, apologizing. Iruka knows that once he is out of hospital they´ll all want answers and thinks about calling in a meeting at the academy, so he has to tell the story only once.

All the way to the hospital, villagers are standing on the sidelines, gasping ant pointing at Kakashi. Tsunade is furious. “Don´t you have anything better to do than trying to catch a glimpse of an injured man?!”, she bellows at them, never once stopping the rhythmical pumping. They recoil and most of them hurry away.
At the hospital Tsunade once again looks at Gai. “I am sorry, but you can´t come in with us to the operation theatre.” She fears he´ll try to be persistent, but the arrival of Asuma, Kurenai, Sakura and Naruto prevent him from trying to stay at Kakashis side. Naruto starts to run to his sensei, but Asuma stops him. He wants to ask why he is doing that, but decides against it when he sees the serious and sad look on the smoking mans face. Sakura goes to to him, hugging him firmly. Tears a staining her cheeks. First the pain of loosing Sasuke to Orochimaru and now the probability of loosing her sensei forever, are too much to bear for the girl. Naruto hugs her back tightly.

Kurenai pries Gai away from Kakshi, who lets go reluctantly. “You know she is right. We will wait with you in front of the operating room.” Her voice is soft, nearly breaking on the words.
“He´ll be alright.”, he tells her, but it comes out more like a question. She nods and puts an arm around him. Together with Asuma and the remaining team seven they enter the hospital, following Tsunade.
“Let Shizune treat your hands, Gai.”, she instructs and indicates to the woman in question.
Gai firmly shakes his head. “When I know he´ll live. Not one second earlier.”, he states.
Shizune just nods, not wanting to force the man. She can clearly see the distraught written on his face.

They take a seat on one of the benches in the hallway leading to the operating area.
The waiting has begun.

Chapter Text

There aren´t many things Maito Gai hates. All his life he tried to honour everything and anything. But waiting is, besides getting old (not that he plans on doing that anytime), one of those things.
Especially in a sterile room like the one he was currently in.
Hospitals always depressed the Green Beast (another rare occasion) and now here he is, sitting at his best friends bedside. Waiting. Waiting for Kakashi to wake up, to come back to him and things to go back like they had been before that accident. (He might not be who he was if he will be at all, Tsunade had said, three long month ago, but Gai pushed that thought as far away as possible.)

In all the time Gai had been sitting there, barely leaving his rivals side, the man had given no indication of being alive at all. Yes his chest is rising with every in- and outtake of breath, but that´s the machine working, pumping air into lungs. And yes the constant beeping of the heart monitor tells Gai that his rivals heart is still beating, but again that is due to forced breathing, circulating the blood in Kakashis veins. But no eye-movement, no twitching of fingers indicating that the jounin is fighting to wake up.
But Gai is sure (hopes) that he is. He hates his own inability to do anything other than sitting here and waiting. If it were enemy ninjas he would know exactly what to do and help, but in this is he is up against something invisible , something that can´t be hurt by fists and kicks.

The jounin sighs heavily, leaning back his head and staring at the ceiling for a moment. For three months he was sitting here, everyday as soon as he had finished training with his team.
They are worried, all of them, Gai can see it in the looks they throw each other whenever he lets the opportunity slide to give them a thumbs-up or break down in manly tears. He just can´t bring up the energy that this kind of behaviour efforts, hell he can´t even bring himself to do his morning jogs anymore or train until late into the night. Whenever he resolves to give it a try (Kakashi would want him to keep up the training, so Gai would still make a worthy opponent, right) fear creeps into his minnd.
The fear of not being there when Kakashi wakes up (or worse: getting to the hospital only to for them to tell him his rival had passed away while he was busy).
So no, Gai is not doing any of his usual routine. Nowadays it looks like this: Wake up early in the morning, have a quick shower and something to eat, rush to the hospital, sit at his best friends side until his team appears in the door frame and asking if he is going to go on missions with them today, reassure them that of course he will, reluctantly leave and do your job, then back to the hospital, wait some more and then drag yourself home, try to find some sleep and then it starts all over again.

Gai feels drained like never before in his life. When his father died it had been tragic and it took a lot of time and challenges with Kakashi to somehow get through this, but at least it had been quick.
No worries if his father will be alright once he wakes up, no uncertainties if he will ever wake up.
This was somehow worse.

With tears in his eyes he grabs hold of Kakashis relativity uninjured hand and holds it to his forehead. “Please...”, he chokes.”Come back. Wake up.” Tears of desperation roll down his face, his shoulders shaking with the effort to hold in the sobs.

Kurenai and Asuma make it their habbit to drop by at the hospital every Friday. After their workouts with their respective teams they meet at the entrance to the complex, making their way to that one room. Most times Gai is already there staring at the unmoving form of their friend. Kurenai straightens the bed sheet out of habit, softly brushing Kakashis hair out of his face. Asuma takes a seat next to Gai (he doesn´t react, he never does). They don´t stay for long, the atmosphere of it all far too depressing.

But that doesn´t keep them from coming. Without fail they are there.

Sakura, now the only member of Team 7 still remaining in Konoha, can´t take a step in the direction of her senseis room. She wants to she really does, feels like she owes it to the man, but every time she tries, she freezes up. Shizune had found her like that on one occasion and had just wrapped her arms arround her gently guiding the girl to the room she is studying in with Tsunade.

Shizune herself checks up on Kakashi mostly when Gai isn´t there. She stands in the doorway with concerned eyes. She still can´t believe what happened. To think that the boy who once had been so arrogant and cold would sacrifice his life on a mission like that is hard fr her to grasp.
Yes she knows that he had changed, but with her spending so much time away from the village, she still thought of Kakashi as the boy he once was. Somehow she feels guilty now.

Almost as regularly as Gai is at the hospital, Iruka is, driven by guilt. After all, if he had given his surroundings more attention none of this would have happened. After work he sits in the chair usually occupied by Gai and talk to Kakashi. He knows that he canßt hear him, but makes him feel better. In the beginning of his visit s he would apologize and promise that he would hep taking care of the jounin. Now it is mostly about his students and his day at work.

Three weeks into Kakashis stay at the hospital Iruka brings a card with him, made by the children that were part of the visit to the cave. He puts it up on the bedside table, beside the flowers no one quite knows who put them there.

Tsunade reads the report of Kakashis state daily. As a medical who has worked so long in her field, she has no illusions about the jounins recovery. His brain has taken far too much damage, even if he wakes up one day, he will be most likely have to depend on others for the rest of his life. Due to the damage the rest of his body has taken, he won´t be able to do a thing on his own.
She quickly takes a sip of her sake. Sometimes she hopes that Kakashi won´t wake up. Seeing the intelligent and strong man like that might drive her to the alcoholism Shizune always accuses her of.

Half a year after the disastrous events on a perfectly harmless field trip, Gai, Iruka, Kurenai and Asuma are all gathered at Kakashis bedside. No one says a word. The air is heavy with sadness and after some time it gets too much for Kurenai. She breaks down in tears, wailing into her hands. Asuma puts an arm around her shaking shoulders and guides her out into the hallway. Iruka watches them go, he understands her reaction. Granted he and Kakashi never were close, but after all the jounin had done for Naruto Iruka couldn´t help but be fond of the man.
Even more so now he saved his life.

Gai doesn´t acknowledge any of that, he keeps on staring at Kakashi. Iruka finds that worrisome. After all the Green Beast has a reputation among the villagers and none of that behaviour matches it. Iruka suspects that the two of them are far closer then they let on.
So he decides to give Gai more time alone with his rival and stands up, throwing Gai a sympathetic look. “Goodbye, Gai-san.”, he quietly states and walks over to the door.

Just as he reaches for the door-handle a surprised gasp makes him turn arround. Gais whole face is split into a hopeful grin. “Iruka! Get a nurse quick!”
Dumbfonded the chuunin stands there, not quite understanding why Gai is requesting a nurses presence. That is until he takes a closer look at Kakashi.

The jounins eyelids flutter.