Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Naruto vs. Sasuke The Aftermath ❯ The Battle for Naruto's Soul: Kakashi vs Gai ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter 19 Summary: As Kakashi fights on in his battle to live, his resolve is beginning to crumble. However, Gai refuses to let that happen and provides a unique motivation for Kakashi to continue on. Unfortunately the motivation he gives will also more than likely end their friendship.

 

Naruto vs. Sasuke The Aftermath

 

Chapter 19 “The Battle for Naruto's Soul: Kakashi vs. Gai”

 

Kakashi strained against the straps holding his arms and legs to the bed, as another agony filled spasm shot through his being. It had been a little over 36 hours since his illness had reached stage 2, and according to Chouza's estimation Kakashi still had another 10 to 12 hours of intense pain to endure before he moved on to stage 3. Kakashi exhaled wearily and flopped back down onto the bed as his current spasm subsided. It had been an excruciating 36 hours for him to weather in more ways than one. Kakashi had nearly succumbed several times to the pain almost to the point of losing consciousness. The only thing that had prevented this was Gai' s incessant ramblings of flames of youth or about how great he and his Genin team are. Even worse, if Gai droning on and on hadn't been sufficient to keep Kakashi awake. The green clad Jounin was not opposed to giving a chakra filled slap across his rivals face to keep him alert, as the unseen welts on Kakashi's cheeks would attest to.

 

Unfortunately, this last spasm had sucked the remaining reserves of energy Kakashi had to fight with. His strength and will to continue on was gone and no amount talking or physical encouragement from Gai to remain awake would change that. Kakashi was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and rest, even if it meant he might never open his eyes again. He looked over to his comrade who was sitting in a chair staring at him intently. Even more unnerving to Kakashi than Gai's gaze was the fact he had been unusually quiet for the last hour. Unable to stand the look and silence Gai was projecting towards him, Kakashi let loose a heavy sigh and said with resignation in his voice.

 

"Gai, I don't think I can continue on, the pain is too much. I think you should go get Naruto and the others before it's too late."

 

"No." Gai replied in an icy tone surprising Kakashi before he stammered.

 

"Wh, what do you mean no?"

 

"Just what I said Kakashi! No, I will not bring Naruto and the others who care about you here just so they can watch you give up and die."

 

"That's not your choice to make Gai!" Kakashi fired back in annoyance at the Taijutsu Master.

 

"I don't care Kakashi. I already saw the hurt and disappointment in Naruto face yesterday when you refused to see him. And while I know you're not opposed to hurting him judging by your past actions, but I've no desire to see that boy in pain again because of you." Gai replied with disgust.

 

A blast of killing intent hit Gai, and he looked over to see Kakashi's lone visible eye glaring holes into him before Kakashi angrily said.

 

"You' re out of line Gai!"

 

Gai merely smirked at his friend's response before he slowly got up from his chair and moved over to Kakashi and looking at him square in the face said.

 

"No Kakashi, you're out of line with Naruto and have been since the very day he became your student."

 

"Shut up Gai! I care a great deal about Naruto! You don't know what you are talking about!" Kakashi furiously spat out.

 

"Whatever, if you care so much about him, then why do you want him here just to see you quit and die?" Gai stated before walking away from Kakashi to look out the window. Kakashi was unable to formulate a response before Gai spoke once more and said.

 

"Go ahead and give up Kakashi, we'll have a nice funeral for you. And don't worry about Naruto anymore. I've already put in a request with Lady Tsunade that Naruto be placed onto my team so I could train him should you not survive your current ordeal."

 

"Looking for Lee's replacement are we?" Kakashi replied with spite.

 

"There is no replacing Lee!" Gai shouted back as he glared at Kakashi who was now being bombarded with a massive amount of killing intent from his fellow Jounin comrade.

 

"You're right Gai, there is no replacing Lee with regards to you. Just like there is no replacing Naruto when it comes to me." Kakashi stated.

 

Gai only continued to glare at his long time rival before he replied sarcastically.

 

"Naruto huh, don't you mean Sasuke?"

 

Gai was then hit with such an incredible amount of killing intent it filled the entire room. Just then a nurse entered the room and immediately passed out, overwhelmed by the pressure of the intent both Jounin were producing. Gai turned his attention away from his fuming rival for a moment, and carried the nurse out of the room before returning and said to Kakashi who was still glaring daggers at him.

 

"You can glare at me all you want Kakashi, but you and I both know that if the Uchiha brat hadn't betrayed the village. You would still be playing favorites and training him while you ignored Naruto. So don't even try to compare your relationship with Naruto to what I have fostered with Lee."

 

Kakashi turned his head away from Gai and stared out the window. As much as he wanted to refute what Gai had said, he realized his friend was probably correct. With this harsh realization to himself, Kakashi's killing intent began to lessen and he said with remorse.

 

"I made mistakes in my training methods for my team, I'll admit that. But at the time I thought I was keeping a promise to an old friend by concentrating more on Sasuke's training than in my training of Naruto and Sakura."

 

Gai stared stoically at Kakashi before saying with derision.

 

"What training of Naruto and Sakura, is that a joke? I remember countless times, I passed by your training sessions with your team and would see nothing more than you teaching a new jutsu or sparring with Sasuke yourself. Sakura didn't care; she was too busy swooning over the traitor while she would watch the two of you. Naruto on the other hand was another story. He would be off to the side, training by himself. But even from a distance I could see the fire of his youth and his determination to improve himself. It saddened me when I saw him make common mistakes that a Genin fresh out of the academy wouldn't make because their Sensei would have actually taken the time to teach them how to do it correctly. And for you to sit there and invoke Obito's name as a defense for your neglect of your other students, I find insulting to his memory. Tell me something Kakashi, do you honestly believe that Obito would approve of you favoring Sasuke over the rest of your team, if he were here today?"

 

Kakashi sat silently as his anger began to rise again. He didn't know if he was angrier with Gai or with himself, but he lashed out and said before grimacing in pain as another spasm rocked his body.

 

"No Gai he wouldn't, is that what you want to hear? I already know about the sins of my past Gai. I don't need you to stand there and list them all out for me! Arrrrrgh!"

 

Gai stood silently by and watched his friend writhe in agony through another spasm. He knew by the tone of Kakashi's response that his comrade was getting extremely upset and angry. His plan was working better than he could have hoped for Gai mused, as he looked at Kakashi. Gai had watched his friend's resolve slowly start to crumble over the last several hours as he battled through his pain. It had been a magnificent struggle, worthy of the strength of Kakashi's flames of youth. But he could see that this strength was waning and fatigue was beginning to take hold of Kakashi's mind and body. Gai realized that he needed to provide a reason for Kakashi to continue to fight on if he were to live through this ordeal. And though it pained him greatly to hurt his friend, Gai set forth to bring Kakashi's anger to a boil. He knew that great anger within the masked Jounin could provide a boost of energy and give him motivation to survive. Even if that motivation or goal was something as basic as killing Gai once this was over. Gai hoped it wouldn't come to that, but he did resign himself to the fact that he was probably ending their friendship by doing this. But Gai knew he had to press on with his verbal attack for his plan to succeed and said with sarcasm.

 

"I'm surprised Kakashi. You're actually being honest with yourself when it comes to Obito. Too bad you were never that honest with yourself when it came to Naruto."

 

"Shut the Hell up Gai! I'm sick of listening to you!" Kakashi spat with venom, as his anger and killing intent were rising by the second.

 

"Well too bad Kakashi, because I'm not done speaking yet. Do you want to know what sickens me the most about your actions or should I say lack thereof with Naruto?" Gai asked with contempt.

 

"No Gai I don't! In fact I never want to hear you speak again!" Kakashi shot back with fury.

 

"What disgust me the most is that you knew Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's legacy. Your very own Sensei's one and only child whom he sacrificed his life for, and the man you revered over all others after your father passed away. I would have thought you would move Heaven and Earth to take care of his son. I would have been honored to be Naruto's Sensei and try to teach him to become as great a man as the Yondaime was. You however were granted that honor and you chose to view it as an annoyance. Tell me, what do you think Minato would say to you today if he knew neglect was all you ever gave to his son?" Gai responded ignoring Kakashi's demand.

 

"Shut up! Shut up! I swear to Kami (God) if you don't shut up, I'm going to kill you Gai! I suspected Naruto might be Minato's child, but I never knew for sure!" Kakashi full of guilt shouted back with rage.

 

"Even if that's the truth and not just another rationalization you're telling yourself. Rather than give the benefit of doubt of Naruto's heritage and train, teach, and take care of the boy. You chose instead to ignore him in favor of a spoiled Uchiha brat! Whose psychopathic nature by the way had been evident to everyone else but you. You even taught that little monster your most prized technique the Chidori. And look what he's done with it, almost killing our greatest hero's living legacy, you must be so proud." Gai stated with scorn.

 

The sound of metal creaking could be heard in the room, as Gai looked down and saw that Kakashi was exerting such force against the straps holding him, the steel bed frame they were attached to was beginning to bend. The killing intent Kakashi was exuding towards Gai had also reached epic proportions. Gai smirked at all of this and calmly said.

 

"Well you're right Kakashi, I should shut up. This is all a moot point since you say you can't continue on. So just go ahead and close your eyes, and be assured that once you are gone, Naruto will receive the proper care and training he's so desperately wanted and deserved these past few years. This I swear, yosh!"

 

Before Kakashi could respond, his hospital room door flew open and a very angry Hokage Tsunade entered the room followed closely behind by Shizune. Tsunade took a quick look at the two Jounin before yelling at them in annoyance.

 

"What the Hell is going on in here? I've got patients and medical personnel dropping like flies all over the hospital because of the killing intent pressure coming from this room”

 

"I apologize Hokage-Sama. My eternal rival and I were having a frank discussion about his training and care of his Genin team when things became overheated between the two of us." Gai politely replied while giving a bow to Tsunade.

 

Lady Tsunade looked over to Kakashi and could see his glare fixated on the green spandex wearing Jounin, while wave after wave of killing intent flowed out from him. Tsunade sighed at this and said.

 

"Well knock it off both of you! I've got enough crap to deal with and I really don't need dozens of people hospitalized because they were overcome by the two of you idiots not being able to play nice anymore. You got that?"

 

"Hai, Hokage-Sama." Both Gai and Kakashi said and grunted in unison.

 

Tsunade could feel the pressure in the room slowly begin to dissipate as she watched Kakashi sink back down into his bed. She took a quick look at his medical chart and sighed once more as she saw that Kakashi was still in the throes of stage 2 and realized there was still nothing she could do for him at that time. Tsunade then remembered that a young Chunin artist named Sai had dropped off a package earlier, and it was addressed for Gai. She sent Shizune out of the room to retrieve it, who quickly returned, and gave the wrapped package to Gai, whose eyes widened in enjoyment as he tore it open. Seeing the glint in Gai's eyes, Shizune asked what was in the package. As Gai finished unwrapping the item, he gazed upon it and he smiled from ear to ear before looking at the woman and replying with glee.

 

"This Shizune-San is my dream for the greatest three man Taijutsu specialty squad this village has ever seen. I commissioned a young artist yesterday to create this, and it is my fervent hope that one day this team will come to pass."

 

Gai then turned the item around to show everyone in the room. The item he was showing was a color drawing of himself, Rock Lee, and a third individual posing in "Nice Guy" stances with all of them giving thumbs up and with huge smiles on their faces. Both Shizune and Tsunade gazed upon the picture in shock, while Kakashi viewed the drawing with a look of absolute horror upon his face. For you see the third individual in the picture was Naruto dressed in the exact same fashion as the other two. Even more mortifying to everyone in the room save Gai was the fact that the artist had given the exact same haircut to Naruto as well as the excessive eyebrows both Gai and Lee wore proudly upon their heads. The only discernable difference in the picture of the three people was that the artist had maintained Naruto's blonde hair color. At the bottom of the picture, the title "The Green Beasts of Konoha" was emboldened in large letters. Both Tsunade and Shizune were at a loss about what to say in response to what they were seeing, before everyone heard a loud growl from Kakashi, and they all turned towards the masked Jounin as he said with conviction.

 

“You can hope and dream all you want Gai, because that is never going to happen! I won't let you do to Naruto what you did to Lee! Even if I have to physically kick your ass to stop you!"

 

Gai's face scowled slightly at rival's statement, before he turned around and took down a picture hanging on a wall across from Kakashi and hung up the drawing in its place. The drawing had been Gai's ace in the hole for driving Kakashi over the edge in anger, but he did not appreciate his rival's verbal response to him about it. He then turned back towards his friend and with some killing intent coming from him directed at Kakashi, he leant down and with his face a few inches from his, said in a voice dripping with malice.

 

"Who are you to judge what I did or didn't do with Lee? At least I did something with my student. Tell me Kakashi, just what the Hell did you ever do for Naruto, hmmm?"

 

The sound of creaking metal filled the room once again as Kakashi strained against the straps holding him down with all of his might. At that moment, Kakashi wanted nothing more than to get his hands on Gai and wipe that smirk off of his face. Finally relenting against the straps keeping him at bay, Kakashi stated with malevolence.

 

"I suggest you get used to this hospital Gai. Because as soon as I get out of here, I'm putting you back in here, and I promise after I'm done with you. You will be in here a longtime!"

 

Gai's response to this was to stand upright and laugh at his rival's threat before he looked at him once more and said.

 

"Talk is cheap is Kakashi, I'm not hard to find. I'll be waiting for you to see if you can back up what you say. That is of course if you survive the next 12 hours?"

 

"I'll be around Gai, don't you worry. Just make sure you are once I get out of here!" Kakashi quickly responded.

 

Oh I will be, don't concern yourself about that! You just make sure are my eternal rival!” Gai quickly shot back.

 

Kakashi was about to reply once again to Gai, when Tsunade shouted out to the both them.

 

"Will the both of you shut the Hell up! My God, you could choke a horse on the amount of testosterone in this room right now. You men always puffing your chests out and bragging about how tough you are! Neither one of you is as tough as me, but you don't see me bragging about it. You two are both idiots if you ask me!"

 

Upon hearing what Tsunade had just stated, the perverted side of Kakashi came to life for a moment. Kakashi knew what he was about to say was probably a mistake, but he couldn't let what Tsunade just said go without a response and he replied.

 

"I apologize Lady Tsunade, but aren't you being a bit hypocritical? I mean the only person in this room with their chest puffed out and talking about how tough they are is you.”

 

Both Shizune and Gai giggled and chuckled at what Kakashi had just said, before an intense wave of killing intent erupted from Tsunade, as strong and possibly even stronger than the intent Kakashi and Gai had been exuding a few minutes earlier. Tsunade turned her head to glare at her assistant and Gai, both of whom covered their mouths in an attempt to stifle their laughter. The Hokage then turned her attention towards Kakashi and leveled an icy gaze to him before saying in a sweetly sickening voice and with a smile that would scare the Devil himself.

 

"Gai, why don't you take a break from watching over Kakashi, I'm sure you could use it. In fact Shizune, why don't you take Gai upstairs to visit Rock Lee, I'm sure he would like some company. I'll be happy to watch over Kakashi for the next few minutes while you're away."

 

Shizune agreed and Gai bowed to Tsunade and thanked her for the kind offer of assistance before he and Shizune shot Kakashi a nervous look, as if telling the masked Jounin he was on his own before they exited the room.

 

As soon as they were gone, Tsunade began cracking her knuckles before she grabbed a chair and sat down next to Kakashi. She still bore that evil looking smile and her voice still maintained its sweetened tone as she said.

 

"Now that they're gone Kakashi, why don't you and I discuss some things shall we?"

 

Kakashi uttered a small groan before another spasm took hold once more within him. However, as fought through the pain, he was sure of only one thing at that moment. As excruciating as what he was going through is, he was positive it wouldn't be as painful as what Tsunade was going to do to him in the next few minutes.

 

Tsunade watched intently as Kakashi battled through the torment of his spasm. It was difficult to watch as she could see he was in intense pain, but even more amazing to her was the fact that he hardly made a sound as he fought through it. After a minute, Kakashi's body began to relax, as the spasm relented. Kakashi then gazed at Tsunade with a look of concern on his face, a tad afraid of what may come. Tsunade saw the fearful look in Kakashi's eye and smirked slightly. She decided she would let slide for the moment Kakashi's perverted observation given what he's had to go through, and said with sincerity.

 

"Not to worry Kakashi, as much as I may want to knock you out for that comment you made. It would defeat the purpose of keeping you awake and alive the past 36 hours or so, don't you think?"

 

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say something, when Gai appeared back in the room in a swirl of leaves and with a panicked look on his face. He immediately picked Tsunade up and flung the surprised Hokage over his shoulder and shouted.

 

“You need to come with me immediately Lady Tsunade, it's Lee!”

 

Gai and Tsunade then disappeared in another swirl of leaves, leaving a bewildered Kakashi to ponder the look of terror he had seen on Gai's face. It was a look Kakashi could not recall ever seeing before on his jovial comrade. And that worried Kakashi, because he couldn't even begin to imagine what would cause Gai to be that afraid.

 

A few hours later, a group of four young Shinobi is walking towards the hospital to visit their friend Rock Lee. Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru, and Temari had just finished having a nice lunch at Ichiraku Ramen paid for by Neji, courtesy of losing his sparring match against Naruto that morning much to his annoyance. While at the restaurant Tenten thought it would be nice to bring some takeout to Lee, as she had heard from Naruto how terrible the hospital food is. She had invited Naruto and Hinata to join them, but they politely declined. Apparently neither one of them had a particularly good visit at the hospital the day before, but they wouldn't elaborate as to what had happened. As the group got closer to the hospital, Neji was still grumbling about his empty wallet and his loss to Naruto when Shikamaru finally spoke up and said.

 

“Geez Neji would you give it a rest already. I mean did you think you were going to kick Naruto's ass as badly as you did Kiba's yesterday?”

 

Neji smirked a little as he thought back to his spar with Kiba the day before. He had followed Kurenai's orders to the letter and thrashed Kiba pretty good. Although, he hated to admit it, the Inuzuka heir put up a better fight than he had been expecting. But in the end, the superior Hyuga genes had prevailed, and had left Kiba nursing several injuries hence why he was not there at today's training session. Unfortunately, today's outcome had been far different in his match with Naruto. Snapping out of his thoughts Neji replied.

 

“No, I didn't think I would kick Naruto's ass as badly as what I did to Kiba as you so eloquently put it. But I also didn't think he would take me down in under a minute either. I can't understand what happened? I mean it wasn't that long ago that Naruto and I sparred to a draw. But today, his Rasengan cut through my Kaiten defense like a hot knife through butter.”

 

“Yeah, well Naruto wasn't using his full strength back then. Actually, he wasn't using his full strength today either, but it was stronger than what he had in that previous spar.” Shikamaru stated.

 

“Of course he was at full strength. You don't know what you're talking about Nara.” Neji replied with irritation.

 

“Umm, it's true Neji-Kun. That little orange toad friend of Naruto's said he was only at one quarter strength when you guys fought to a draw, I'm sorry.” Tenten sheepishly said.

 

“What! That's impossible!” Neji exclaimed.

 

“Nothings impossible for that knucklehead, you should know that by now Neji.” Shikamaru said with amusement.

 

A look of astonishment spread across Neji's face, as he couldn't believe what he had just heard. He knew that Naruto was powerful and that his Shinobi skills had increased significantly over the last year. But Neji always believed that he was on equal ground with Naruto. Now to hear that he was actually behind Naruto was definitely a blow to his pride. Right then and there he silently vowed to himself to train even harder and eradicate that gap between them. Neji gave a sigh as if signaling to the others his acceptance of what he heard before he complained.

 

“Well, even if that's the case, he still didn't have to humiliate me by defeating me so quickly.”

 

“What, you mean like the humiliating defeat you gave to Kiba yesterday. Hinata was pretty upset with you doing that to her teammate. I'm sure she probably asked Naruto to take you down a peg today because of it. You should just be thankful that Naruto isn't vindictive and did take you down so quickly and not drag it out like a certain Hyuga did to an Inuzuka yesterday.” Shikamaru commented.

 

“That was pretty mean what you did to Kiba yesterday Neji-Kun. I know you were upset with him hitting on me, but he's harmless and actually a good guy when you get to know him. You should apologize to him, I know Hinata would feel better if you did, and so would I. Because I don't want to spar with Hinata again when she's upset about something.” Tenten sternly said to her boyfriend.

 

“What does this have to do with you?” Neji asked.

 

“Are you kidding, did you not watch our Taijutsu match this morning. I figured with all the Taijutsu training I've gotten from you, Lee, and Gai Sensei, I thought that Hinata and I would be equal when it came to a Taijutsu fight. Boy was I wrong. Hinata may not have taken me down in under a minute, but it was pretty clear that she's way ahead of me in Taijutsu. I use to be the best kunoichi Taijutsu fighter in our age group, but after what I experienced today, not anymore and I've got the bruises to prove it.” Tenten stated regretfully.

 

“Her Taijutsu skills were impressive. I don't know of any kunoichi in Suna including myself who could match up with her in a Taijutsu battle.” Temari added to the conversation.

 

“She always had the skills, just not the confidence in herself to use them. It took Naruto to unlock Hinata's true potential.” Shikamaru chimed in.

 

“Well whatever the reason for Hinata's sudden improvement, I'm going to try and get back my unofficial title from her. I plan on asking Lee for some help today in devising a Taijutsu strategy to beat her. Nobody is better than Lee in coming up with a battle plan against an opponent in a Taijutsu fight.” Tenten proclaimed with pride about her teammate.

 

“I still don't see what I've done that I have to apologize to Kiba for?” Neji asked.

 

“Because Neji, it's one thing to beat fellow comrade in a spar, it's another to purposely humiliate a comrade in spar. That's something I would expect from Sasuke, not you.” Shikamaru replied with disgust.

 

Neji stopped walking and spun around to glare at his comrade and let loose some killing intent. Shikamaru to his credit didn't flinch or move, but merely cocked his eyebrow to the Hyuga prodigy as if silently saying, tell me I'm wrong. After a moment, Neji realized that the Nara heir was indeed correct. Turning back around, he and the others began walking again and Neji spoke up and said.

 

“I'll stop by the Inuzuka compound later on today.”

 

Tenten kissed her boyfriend on the cheek and smiled as the group came around a corner and saw the hospital just up ahead. As they were about to enter, Gai came storming out of the hospital nearly knocking them down. Both Neji and Tenten looked at their Sensei and saw an expression on his face they had never seen before. The only way the two of them could describe that expression was that it seemed to be a cross between great anger and great pain. Their thoughts vanished when they heard the icy tone of their Sensei ask.

 

“What are you two doing here?”

 

“Hai, Gai Sensei, we came to visit Lee and bring him some lunch.” Tenten nervously answered.

 

“Lee isn't taking visitors today, nor will he be for the next several days. So you best turn around and go home.” Gai coldly stated.

 

“But, but why Gai Sensei? Did something happen to Lee?” Tenten stammered.

 

“Nothing either one of you should be concerned with. In fact I'm considering putting in a request with the Hokage to get a new member for our team to replace Lee.” Gai informed them.

 

“We don't want a new member for our team Gai Sensei.” Neji stated with Tenten nodding her head in agreement.

 

“I don't care what you two want! This is my Genin team and I will choose who is or who isn't on that team! Do you understand?” Gai angrily shouts to his two pupils.

 

“Hai, Gai Sensei.” Both Neji and Tenten softly say in unison.

 

“Good, now go home!” Gai orders with authority before storming off away from the hospital.

 

As Neji and Tenten watch their Sensei walk away, neither one knew what to say. After a moment, Shikamaru spoke up and asked.

 

“Has Gai-San ever acted like that before?”

 

“No, I've never seen Gai Sensei talk or act like that before in my life.” Tenten answered, the hurt evident in her voice.

 

“I agree, something must have happened with Lee for Gai Sensei to be behaving this way. But with him in such a state, we would be foolish to go against his orders right now. We'll wait until he cools down to find out what is going on. If we cannot visit Lee today, we'll try again tomorrow.” Neji says with frustration.

 

Tenten nods her head in agreement before she takes Neji's hand into her own and they silently begin walking away from the hospital followed closely behind by Shikamaru and Temari.

 

As Tsunade flopped into her office chair, she exhaled a heavy sigh as the day's events had drained her energy. Turning her gaze towards the clock on the wall, she saw it read 10:03pm and shook her head in displeasure. She had been up and on the move for over 16 hours that day, but felt she had little to show for it in terms of accomplishing anything. Frustrated about that and many other things, she opened her desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of sake with a cup and set them down on her desk. Pouring herself a drink and downing it quickly, she thought about the day's events with disappointment. It seemed the day had been nothing more than a series of catastrophes, one after another all day long.

 

First there was that inept conflict between Kakashi and Gai. Tsunade thought to herself that she should have known right then that her day would be long and tiresome after dealing with those two morons first thing in the morning. Because once she got those two relatively settled down, the crisis with Rock Lee came to the forefront. Even now she did not know what to do about that situation, Tsunade pondered to herself as she took another drink. After taking care of Lee, then had come another failed attempt to awaken Sakura from her medically induced coma. Once again Tsunade was forced to put Sakura back under for fear the girl would injure herself further, as she once again seemed to be reliving her attack in her mind while crying out for Naruto to be her savior. After that, the rest of the day and into the evening had degenerated into nothing more than continuous battles with the Konoha Council, hospital patients, Shinobi's, citizens, and paperwork. Tsunade couldn't remember the last time she had felt as defeated as this.

 

About the only bright spot to the day Tsunade mused was that Kakashi had survived stage 2 of his Akimichi Food Pill overdose a couple of hours ago. By doing so, the danger to his life had passed and he would make a full recovery in about 24 hours according to Chouza. Although, while it appeared Kakashi would physically live, Tsunade did wonder about his mental state from the ordeal. Chouza, who had come to watch over Kakashi the last few hours after Tsunade had sent Gai home had told her. Kakashi had been in almost a catatonic state of mind as all he did the final few hours of his withdrawal was stare at Gai's drawing hanging on the wall and would mutter over and over again.

 

“Must stop Gai. Must save Naruto.”

 

Tsunade took another drink as she thought about this and shook her head in frustration. She really didn't need another one of her elite Jounin going off the deep end mentally. In fact, Tsunade was beginning to question the mental stability of all of her elite Jounin. Even Kurenai had surprised her today by requesting a D ranked delivery mission that was well below her talents. When Tsunade questioned the red-eyed kunoichi about why she would want such a low level and low paying mission? Kurenai's only reply was that she wished to get out of the village for a few days. Tsunade could tell that the young woman was upset about something, no matter how well she tried to hide it. But Kurenai refused to divulge anything more and Tsunade decided not to press the issue. However, Tsunade hoped that whatever was bothering Kurenai would work itself out with this trip. Because as far as Tsunade was concerned, Kurenai was one of the few people she knew whose sanity was never a problem she would have to deal with.

 

As Tsunade downed another drink, she looked at the label on the bottle and sighed to herself. It was a very good vintage and Tsunade hated to drink it alone. She immediately thought of Jiraiya and wished he were there to share this sake with. He might be a lay about and a pervert, but he was also a close friend who always made her feel better about herself. And he was one of the few people Tsunade felt she could honestly talk to. And Tsunade really needed someone to talk to after the past few days she's had. But Jiraiya had not returned to the village since he left the night she had assigned the Sakura retrieval mission, much to Tsunade's regret. The image of the look on his face as he left that night still haunted Tsunade days later, and it brought a tear to her eye as she thought about it. She never realized how much she missed that old fool's smiling face and the sound of his voice and laughter, until he had been gone these past few days. She didn't even know when he might be returning, and this saddened her deeply. He had sent word through a messenger toad that he found nothing to indicate an invasion force from Orochimaru was poised to strike Konoha. However, he would widen his search area to cover the borders of the Fire nation and would contact Tsunade if he discovered anything. But he made no mention of how long this might take. All Tsunade could do was pray that he was safe and would return to her soon, as she took one more drink then put the bottle away. Stretching her arms and yawning, Tsunade leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes. The fatigue of the day finally taking its final toll on her on she began to drift off to sleep. But not before vowing to herself that anymore days like the past few, and she would install Naruto as Hokage, kill the Council, and raid the Konoha Treasury and Brewery before disappearing to some remote land far, far away.

 

 

Authors Note: Wow, two chapters released in 3 weeks from me. What's going on? Well, needless to say, the job hunt could be going better. But I won't depress any of you with that. However, I do have some important news as I have learned that the Naruto Fanfiction Readers Choice Awards presented by Jesse Briceno continues on. So, I humbly ask all my readers if you enjoy my story please go to Jesse Briceno's profile page and vote for “Naruto vs Sasuke The Aftermath” and“Kingkakashi” in the categories they are listed in. You may vote more than once according to Jesse. I thank you all in advance for your support and votes, and the links to vote and the categories I have been nominated in are listed below.

 

http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1362644/

or

Email - www.eddie_guerrero_legend@yahoo.com

 

 

Rookie Author of the Year - KingKakashi

 

Most Underrated Naruto Fanfiction - Naruto vs. Sasuke The Aftermath

 

Fanfiction of the Year - Naruto vs. Sasuke The Aftermath

 

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and once again, thank you for all the great reviews both from the old and new fans of the story. I'll try as always to update again ASAP. If anyone wants to discuss the story in greater detail, just shoot me a PM. I enjoy talking about the story with the readers who really have an interest in it. I'll try to respond back to you as quickly as I can. To everyone, take it easy!

 

Kingkakashi