Kakashi-sensei was as still and stiff as he'd been when she'd slipped into sleep after her shift at watch. Only now, his cheeks were pale and he was clammy to the touch. Sakura swallowed hard. She watched sweat well up and join the dampness in his hairline.
His breathing was shallow but steady.
Sakura took his pulse. She confirmed that he didn't have a fever. She decided to ask Tsunami-san to help her pour some water down his throat later. He hadn't had a drink in over twelve hours, so he must need some, right?
'What do I do if he doesn't wake up? He has to eat still, right? And go to the bathroom and- and other stuff. Right?'
She wiped at her face with her sleeve. Contemplating it was terrifying. She wasn't trained in this.
'I don't know what to do.'
It was so stupid. Everything was stupid. If they'd just gone home when they'd found out their client was a dirty liar, none of this would have happened. Why hadn't they listened to the rules?
Naruto pushed open the door and slunk in, worrying at his lip like an idiot.
'He must have used up all his bravado shouting about continuing the mission yesterday.'
Sakura pressed her lips together tightly and didn't look at her teammate.
"When's sensei going to wake up?" Naruto sounded small and lost.
Resolutely, she held on to her bad mood, because it was better than admitting that she was scared too. "How would I know?" Sakura glared at Naruto.
He shrugged helplessly. "You know lots of stuff, Sakura-chan." Naruto showed her his palms. His voice softened. "I just hoped. That's all."
Sakura slumped. "Yeah."
She thought back to the fight. She'd examined everything she could remember at least twice before. Kakashi-sensei's fainting didn't make sense.
That could happen if someone was bleeding a lot, but Kakashi-sensei only had scratches. She'd considered heatstroke or shock- but no, the day hadn't been hot enough. Chakra exhaustion could cause a shinobi to get dizzy, or pass out and die if severe enough. But he'd only used a few jutsu. Surely an elite Jounin like Kakashi-sensei had bigger chakra reserves than that.
'But with the fever and pallour, and the fact that he won't wake up…'
Sakura swallowed her fear and the words, 'I'm scared that he was poisoned. I'm scared he's going to die and leave us alone far from home. I'm scared that we committed to this mission and so we have to do it without our sensei.'
Telling Naruto that wouldn't do any good. Her second theory- that he'd sustained serious head damage in the exchanges that were too fast for the genin to see- wouldn't be any more reassuring.
Naruto left the room. Sakura sat by her sensei for a while longer, until her legs fell asleep. Sasuke-kun was still resting after taking the second watch shift; the hardest shift.
The sun rose. Tazuna-san pattered around in the adjoining rooms and noisily prepared for work. Tsunami-san was much quieter in the kitchen, but the smell of tamagoyaki crept into the room. Sakura closed her eyes and heard the popping sound of pickled vegetables being opened. Her mouth watered.
Her stomach twisted painfully, rebelling against her ribs.
She went to the table before she could be called. She didn't want unnecessary noise making it harder for Kakashi-sensei to get the best rest possible. Maybe he just needed to sleep more.
Tsunami-san made a sympathetic noise as soon as she saw Sakura's face. "Is your teacher still not feeling well?"
Sakura nodded miserably.
Breakfast did make her feel somewhat better. Tsunami-san had offered an impressive spread. The civilized part of Sakura squirmed at the reminder that her hostess had been put out to feed so many people. Sakura hadn't even offered to help. She was toying with the idea of offering when Sasuke-kun slouched into the room. She eyed him, sucking on a bit of tamagoyaki. His hair was more ruffled than usual, except for the left side. It was completely flat.
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" She pitched her voice up and managed a smile.
He made a kind of acknowledging grunt. Her tummy flipped. Sasuke-kun sat down and stared blearily at his plate. He didn't blink until Tsunami-san encouragingly slid a pickle plate in his direction.
Sakura ate a pickle off her own plate. It was clearly homemade. She felt bad again about failing to offer her assistance in the kitchen.
Naruto joined them last, when Tazuna was on his third helping of fish. Sakura looked up at the right time to see him pause in the doorway with wide eyes.
'Hikari-san thought Naruto looked like he was suffering from malnutrition. Maybe he really hasn't seen a homemade meal like this before.'
She put down her chopsticks and tried not to feel queasy.
"Good morning, Naruto-san." Tsunami-san set down another small bowl filled with vegetables. "I hope you're hungry. I made a lot this morning." She gave a wide smile and turned back to the stove.
Sakura winced.
'She doesn't know we overheard that conversation.'
She eyed Naruto. He stood frozen for a moment , the same stark humiliation on his face that he'd shown last night. But then he forced on a smile, sat, and served himself a plate of food. It included considerably more vegetables than she'd ever seen him eat.
Sakura didn't quite understand that response. So she excused herself and double-checked that her equipment was ready to go. Sure, Kakashi-sensei had defeated all three missing nin, but she was still on a mission. She was on a mission far from home, with a lying client who had risked their lives, and with a sensei who might not wake up. But guarding Tazuna-san had been his last order. They had to do what they could.
Sakura made sure her lucky kunai was in the first position on her holster.
"But someone has to stay with sensei," Naruto pointed out uncomfortably when all three of them moved to follow Tazuna-san out the door. "He's still asleep."
"He's unconscious," Sasuke-kun corrected scathingly.
Naruto waved his hand irritably. "Fine, whatever. We can't leave the old guy alone- either old guy," Naruto amended glancing at Tazuna-san. "He's our mission, and sensei couldn't defend himself from a wet blanket right now."
"Fine," Sasuke-kun bit out. "Have any brilliant ideas, idiot?" The two scowled at each other. Sakura could feel a brawl building.
And she was so, so sick of being stuck between their bickering.
"You two go." Sakura dropped her pack. "You're the ones who wanted to continue the mission anyway. I'll stay with sensei."
'I wish he'd wake up. We won't get home without him.'
Sakura flung the door open and stomped back into the house. She stopped short in the kitchen.
Hikari-san was sitting at the table with Tsunami-san. She looked strange in Tsunami-san's little kitchen: the redheaded lady clearly had an eye for fine things and the means to acquire them. Hikari-san was wearing clear gems high around her throat and a fresh manicure instead of the kanzashi from yesterday.
No wonder Tazuna-san had had given Tsunami-san an odd look when she'd mentioned her friend had been over. She couldn't quite understand the friendship either.
Tsunami-san was a tired and prematurely frail young mother in a well-repaired house dress. In contrast Hikari-san looked collected and sharply pretty, clearly untroubled by maintaining a household or worrying about Kakashi-sensei's ailing upstairs.
Sakura swallowed envy.
'If I hadn't gone to the academy, I could have been like that. My parents have the means.'
Intentionally, Sakura scuffed her foot against the floor. It wasn't nice to sneak up on civilians.
Hikari-san turned her head, and a smile flooded her face.
'She smiles like she learned how from watching Naruto,' Sakura thought, and fought down an unladylike snort. It just didn't fit the rest of the polished image.
"Good morning, Sakura-san!" Hikari-san didn't notice her wince. "Are you staying to protect us today?"
Tsunami-san gave the door Sakura had almost left through a sharp look, but said nothing from behind her tea cup.
'I did need to ask about helping sensei…'
The presence of an extra person made things awkward. She really shouldn't be displaying weakness or risking a slip of private information.
But Naruto had already spilled the news that sensei was here. And what could it hurt? Hikari-san didn't care about what shinobi did.
Her heart jumped nervously. "I'm staying, yes. Tsunami-san, I was hoping you could help me get sensei a drink?" Sakura twisted one foot behind her. "I'm sure he needs to but I don't know how and-" She snapped her teeth together before she could babble anymore. She looked down. Tsunami-san must work very hard. Her floor was glossy and clean.
"Is there a problem?" Hikari-san sounded serious. "Sakura-san. I happen to have some medical training. I'm at your disposal."
'She does not look like a town doctor. Is the town big enough to merit a nurse?'
Sakura honestly did not know. What other kind of medical specialist would a tiny fishing town have? There was probably a midwife. And they'd have experience in treating injuries from nets or cold, probably.
She pushed the mystery aside. "T-thank you very much!" Sakura put her palms on her thighs and bowed. "How lucky. Would you mind taking a look at my sensei?"
She let Hikari-san go up the stairs first, and watched her back for any twitching. The offer of medical assistance was awfully convenient. Her heart was pounding all the way up in her throat but she couldn't pass up the offer. She wasn't likely to get another one.
Hikari-san didn't notice the danger she was in. She sat on her legs at Kakashi-sensei's side and leaned dangerously far into his personal space. Her eyes flicked closed. If Sakura hadn't known better, she would have said the civilian was smelling sensei's neck. That was too silly: she was probably listening to sensei's breathing.
Sakura shivered. She didn't feel entirely comfortable that close. If sensei startled awake because someone was in his personal space…
Hikari-san went through the same checks that Sakura had. Sakura sucked on her cheek and thought that the academy must have actually taught medical checks authentically. Sakura shifted uncomfortably on her heels when Hikari-san peeled up Kakashi-sensei's eyelid and peered at the grey iris below.
'Checking for eye movement?' Sakura guessed.
She straightened attentively when the woman leaned back on her heels and rubbed at her face with the back of her hand.
"He's exhausted." Hikari-san frowned. "As far as I can tell, he's not in mortal peril."
Sakura choked on her own spit.
'What doctor talks like that?'
"I don't know what he did, but I'd say he overextended. He could be unconscious for days. This isn't a coma, however." Hikari-san patted sensei's chest absently. Sakura was too wound-up to even wince. "He'll wake up. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar enough with these symptoms to judge whether or not there will be long-term repercussions."
At the inquisitive look, Sakura mastered herself. "I thought about chakra exhaustion," she admitted, willing to volunteer any information that could help Kakashi-sensei. "But I don't know how he could have used that much chakra without my noticing!"
Hikari-san tugged on the end of her braid. "Aa…" A crease formed between her brows. "So, you mean that he didn't do any flashy ninja things?" She punctuated the question with- was that an attempt to mime shooting lasers from her eyes?
Sakura nodded uncertainly. Was that how civilians thought of jutsu?
"Aren't there passive ninja things?" Hikari-san tilted her head. "Not the earth and ice things. But ninja things that augment the body?" She rubbed her palm across the back of her eyelids, smearing away nonexistent perspiration.
'The weird Sharingan thing that he and Zabuza were talking about?' Sakura's mouth hung open. 'Of course! That makes sense. He covers the eye because it uses a lot of chakra. That explains why I've never seen it before, even in training.'
With that in mind, she re-examined what she remembered about chakra exhaustion. Sensei must be experiencing severe exhaustion, beyond what the textbooks had mentioned as symptoms to be aware of. Her lessons had been intended to alert shinobi to the early signs. Shinobi were meant to recognize those and stop whatever they were doing.
'Did sensei not have that lesson?'
The thought was ridiculous. She discarded it.
No, sensei had known exactly what was happening to him. He'd judged it was an acceptable trade off for the benefit the team had received. So he'd known he was going to crash as soon as adrenaline stopped propping him up. Then why hadn't he told anyone?
Sakura bit her lower lip. He hadn't had time.
"-kura-san?" Hikari-san sounded as though she was repeating herself.
"Hai?"
The woman frowned. "Please go get a pot of tea from Tsunami-chan?"
"Oh! R-right!" Sakura stumbled to her feet and hastened out of the room.
Tsunami-san already had a hot pot waiting. She managed a weak smile up at the woman. Tsunami-san and Hikari-san were really in tune, weren't they? Sakura brought the drink upstairs-
And stopped in the doorway, face hot. Hikari-san had pulled down sensei's mask. Hikari-san's eyes were soft. Her hand was at sensei's jaw, still tangled in his mask.
It felt strangely intimate.
"He doesn't like people seeing his face!" Sakura shrilled. But still she couldn't help but stare. Sensei- sensei was prettier than Sasuke-kun even! He had pink lips and a cute nose and oh my god, was that a beauty mark? Naruto and Sasuke-kun were going to-
"Sakura-san."
The stark disapproval in Hikari-san's voice shocked her to the real world.
The redhead's black eyes were hard. "If you are going to be immature about this, you may be excused."
Sakura recoiled back for reasons she didn't understand.
"This is not the time for you to ogle or score one-up points on your teammates. Do you understand me?"
'Ne, Hikari-san is a lot scarier than I thought.'
She nodded meekly.
And the moment passed. Hikari-san smiled again. Thankfully, it wasn't the toothy Naruto smile this time. "You're strong, right Sakura-san?" She nodded to sensei. "Could you hold him up so I can give him a drink?"
Oh. Right. Sakura eyed Hikari-san. The redhead wasn't a particularly large woman. If Sakura had to guess, the heaviest thing Hikari-san ever lifted was new clothes to try on. "Right." It took some doing, but Sakura wrestled sensei up by his shoulders and propped him up from behind. "Good thing he's not a big fat guy, or this would be really difficult," Sakura grumbled to herself.
Not quietly enough, though. Hikari-san snorted unbecomingly.
Sakura gave her an embarrassed smile and became very preoccupied with the back of Kakashi-sensei's fluffy head. He had terrible bedhead and several leaves tangled behind his ears. Oops. She levered his weight on her shoulder enough that she could pluck out the brambles and forest detritus she found.
Hikari-san was pouring liquid into sensei's mouth in short, controlled intervals. Occasionally, she rubbed at his throat.
Sakura focused her attention back on the tangles in sensei's hair. It was surprisingly soft, considering that it looked like the bottom of a broom. He definitely needed to find a good conditioner, though.
"He needs to be washed next."
Her eyes felt as wide as dinner plates. She- that- no-
Hikari-san made eye contact, mischief pulling the corners of her mouth up. "What, do you want him to marinate in his own filth until he wakes up?"
Sakura nearly let her teacher fall. "You could ask Tsunami-san for help," she suggested desperately.
"Nope." Hikari-san popped the p sound. "She would agree, so no one is going to ask her to do more work. We're not putting her out. Taking care of someone is degrading, hard, and thankless. Tsunami-chan is already housing and feeding four ninja in addition to her family." Her voice was light, but it was enough to make Sakura feel ashamed.
"Right." Sakura swallowed. "You're right. Thank you for helping me, Hikari-san."
"You're welcome." The older woman nodded sharply. "It should be your teammates. They haven't even thought about this, have they? If no one helps him, he'll have bedsores and probably an infection. He has to stay clean and hydrated and fed whatever we can manage. If he was left like this for long, he'd be in terrible shape."
Sakura made a face. She couldn't see Sasuke-kun or Naruto-baka taking care of their ailing sensei.
"I know what you're thinking," Hikari-san said. She was looking at Sakura sideways, eyelashes low. "Don't. If you take it upon yourself to be the caretaker, they'll always expect it from you and never understand what a sacrifice it is. You'll be stuck doing it forever."
She hesitated. Would… would that really be so terrible? After all, Naruto and Sasuke-kun… Her heart sunk. They seemed to work together so well, even though they bickered constantly. Neither of them had so much as looked at her when they had come up with a plan to free sensei from Zabuza. She…
Sakura bit her lip. She felt her shoulders curl in.
'I don't like looking at their backs. Is Hikari-san right? Will that only get worse if I don't push?'
She didn't have the mental energy to squeal or squirm too much about helping Hikari-san give sensei a sponge bath. She did note that Hikari-san's upper lip was curled in distaste the whole time.
'She really doesn't like caretaking either.' Sakura mulled that over. 'So why is she doing it? Just because she has medical training and no one else does?'
That… That didn't seem wrong, exactly. It made sense to use the skills she had to help out.
But what if that was always happening to her? What if this wasn't a one time thing, and Naruto and Sasuke-kun just got stronger and stronger while she stayed behind smoothing over problems with clients or disinfecting wounds that they could learn how to take care of?
Sakura recoiled from the thought. She didn't like the taste it left in her mouth.
'I have a responsibility to sensei as his teammate,' Sakura tested. 'But… Naruto and Sasuke-kun have the same responsibility.'
And they were boys anyway. They could be the ones to bathe sensei. They wouldn't be so-
Sakura blushed bright pink and did not think about anything, especially not the unfortunate glimpse of her teacher's butt she'd gotten when he was flipped over.
Yeah, caretaking work sucked. It was humiliating. Being unconscious didn't mean sensei was immune from bodily functions. She was never, ever going to forget the sound of liquid rushing gently against the floor when his bladder decided it had endured enough.
'I need bleach. For my brain. But also the floor.'
"Well, what'd you expect?" Hikari-san had her nose pinched shut. She was carefully tossing cleaning cloth at the problem as if making a pile of fabric would help.
Sakura didn't have a better idea.
"You know who would be great at this?" Sakura asked, feeling her voice scrape ominously. "Naruto and Sasuke-kun." She pulled the blankets that had replaced his filthy clothes up, all the way to sensei's chin.
Sensei had to poop at some time, after all. That sounded suspiciously like someone else's problem.
Hikari-san shot her an approving smile. "That's the spirit. Smart girl. Don't let them get out of doing their share." She tossed the sponge back into the tub of soapy water and stood to stretch her back. She braced her hands against her hips, and then there was an audible crack. "In fact, if you can, force them to do it all. If you're firm and authoritative enough, they'll do what you want."
Sakura perked up a bit under the genuine quality of the woman's voice.
"Hikari-san?" she tried, tilting her head. "Thank you, again. Are you going to stay the night?" She followed the woman out and watched her wash her hands, then claimed the hot water faucet after.
The redhead hissed a breath in through her teeth and indecision flew over her face. "Not likely. I think I'm going to go look for myself for a while."
Sakura cracked a smile. "Hikari-san, you're weird."
Hikari-san looked tired, but she did smile in response. "The best people always are." When she went to ruffle Sakura's hair, Sakura didn't duck away.
She stood for a moment, imagining she could still feel a warm, approving touch on her scalp. Then she followed Hikari-san out and dumped the pile of dirty clothes in a plastic basket gratefully.
"Tsunami-san, I need to wash some laundry," Sakura asked. "Is there-"
"Aa." Tsunami-san glanced over at the back hall. "My washer is out there, but it's full right now. I'll put that load in after I'm done with Hikari-chan's load."
Hikari-san didn't look like the kind of woman who did a lot of housework. Still, that seemed really strange.
"Does she not know how to do her own laundry?" Sakura asked uncertainly.
Tsunami-san laughed. She didn't answer.
'So is that a no?'