Gravity

Learning and Healing

The news just kept getting worse. First Lee had been poisoned, and now Hayate had been found dead. Kakashi grimaced, tried to meet Yugao's eyes who remained in the shadows of the room meeting room, but they were sharp and burned with murderous fury.

"This must be Orochimaru's doing," Anko growled.

"As likely as that may be, let's not jump to conclusions just yet," Kakashi said, grimacing. "Hayate was on the trail of a Sound village spy named Kabuto, so Orochimaru will have something to do with this, no doubt, but we don't know for sure-"

"I say we cancel the exams and deal with Orochimaru." Raido scowled. "Hayate has been murdered and one of the genin have been poisoned."

"Lee's in a coma..." Guy whispered.

The news hadn't been good. Kakashi had stayed by Guy's side the entire time as they waited for someone to come back and tell them how Lee was. Tenten had curled up against Guy's side, whimpering worriedly, while Neji leaned against the wall, face shut off from all emotion.

But Kakashi could smell the anger.

It was hours before a doctor stumbled back through, pale and tired, his hands shaking from over use of his chakra. Guy had looked hopeful, but then slumped at the doctor's tired look.

That was when the doctor told them that Lee was in a coma. Some kind of controlled coma they had put him in to keep him stable? Kakashi didn't really know, but the doctor said Lee would recover easier in this state. Guy had broken down sobbing, asking when Lee would wake up. The doctor said it was up to Lee's recovery. If he healed enough, they could wake him up, but until then Lee would only suffer in agony if left awake. Then he had said they had no idea how to cure the poison, and that it would take time to find a cure. Lee could be out for weeks, even months, and that was bad. Guy's sobs had grown louder and Tenten had burst into tears too. Neji asked if there was any leads on who did it, then stormed out when he had been told 'no'.

Kakashi reached back and patted Guy's knee, trying to reassure him. "He's a strong pup," Kakashi tried. "He'll be alright."

"Yeah... Just if I had been sooner..."

"See?" Raido insisted. "Our genin are under attack, and even worse, it's our Omegas. First Sasuke Uchiha with that curse mark, now Rock Lee. We need to end this-"

"No! I should think not," Lord Hokage snapped. "Orochimaru already revealed himself to Anko and sent a warning not to cancel the exams. Besides that point, there are many other villages here-"

"Lord Hokage, you can't possibly believe one of the other villages would aide Orochimaru with our treaties in place-" Raido protested.

Kakashi scoffed. He felt a little drowsy, but even then he could pick out how naïve that statement was. "We found out how well those treaties worked during the last war," Kakashi said spitefully. "It's barely been a over decade when Kumo, while signing a treaty with us, tried to kidnap Hinata Hyuga, remember? And they murdered several of our ANBUs to get to me not that long ago."

Raido winced, and again when the Hyuga's in the meeting all began growling.

"Thieves trying to steal my rival..." Guy said, but it wasn't with his usual enthusiasm.

"We have sent ANBU agents to each of the villages involved here to try gain more information," Koharu said. "We will not make the mistake of acting too hastily."

Kakashi smothered a yawn, frowning deeply. His eyes felt heavy...

"Besides." Lord Third smiled warmly. "I have complete trust in every one of you. When and if the time comes, we will gather the strength of the Hidden Leaf and fight if we must."