Here For You - Kakashi Hatake x OC

Chapter 21: The Legendary Sannin

The next morning, we unceremoniously gathered our belongings and continued our journey to the Stone. We ran through the trees hand-in-hand, and smiled to each other, thinking of last night. I daydreamed as we neared the Stone. We jumped down from the trees when the forest ended. "I think we're close," Kakashi said, and we ran through stone-covered plains. We glanced into nearby caves and enclosures, because, to be honest, we we're exactly sure where we were supposed to find the Sannin.

After about an hour, I noticed a man with long, white hair perched up in a branch. I tugged at Kakashi's sleeve and gestured in the direction of one of the Sannin. "Jiraya-sama," Kakashi spoke, loud enough for him to hear. The large man opened one of his eyes and looked down. He grinned and jumped down. "Kakashi! It's nice to see you again! And who's your... friend?" He winked at me. It was a bit creepy. "This is Katsumi. She's... She's my girlfriend," He told him, making my heart pound a little faster. It felt amazing to hear that. "Oh," Jiraya laughed, "You have caught yourself quite a beauty, haven't you, Kakashi," Kakashi and I both blushed. Kakashi continued to speak, "Jiraya-sama, is Tsunade-sama with you by any chance? We really need to see her." Jiraya narrowed his eyes, "Why do you need to see her?" I spoke up, "I'm Katsumi Abe, of the Abe clan, and I turned 21 yesterday and I found out that I..." Jiraya finished my sentence, "Have a deadly blood disease? Yes, I am aware of the Abe clan's fate." He thought for a moment and finally said, "Tsunade is here with my. She's in that cave over there," He pointed us in the cave's direction, "But don't get your hopes up. Tsunade might not want to help, she might not even be able to. As far as I'm aware, the cure for your disease was never researched enough." I gulped. She might not want to help? I was a little nervous. "Thank you, Jiraya-sama. We'll go ask her," Kakashi said taking my hand. "Yes, Jiraya-sama, thank you for your help." We went over to the cave to find Tsunade.

We wandered around the cave for a bit before before we saw a beautiful, blonde woman kneeling over a table, apparently searching for something in a book. "Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said before I could. She looked up at us with narrowed eyes. "Who are you?" I was taken aback, "We are from Konoha," Kakashi gestured to our headbands, "I'm Kakashi Hatake, and this is Katsumi Abe. We were hoping you could help her out, Tsunade-sama." She straightened herself, crossing her arms over her huge chest. "An Abe, huh? Presumably the last one. What do you need?" She seemed a little angry. "Tsunade-sama, I'm sure you're aware of the fate Abe clan members are faced with once they turn twenty-one," I began. She nodded curtly. "I was hoping you could help me in finding a cure for the blood disease that comes with the Kazegan." I held my breath, waiting for her answer.

"No," She finally said. My heart dropped. "What? Why?" Kakashi worriedly said. "I said no. The risks are much too great. I do not want to have to take responsibility if the last Abe clan member died by my hands." I had to fight for this, "Tsunade-sama, you wouldn't have to take the blame. I am giving you my full consent! I have to try anything, please, you're the only person that can help me. You're the best medical nin! Please, Tsunade-sama, I really need your help," I pleaded. She sighed and closed her eyes for a second. Kakashi squeezed my hand, trying to comfort me.

"Alright, I will try to help you," Tsunade finally spoke up. "Oh thank you, thank you Tsunade-sama!" I felt a bit relieved. "I will need to take a blood sample, and you'll have to wait while I work on an antidote. I will try my best, but this could result in countless bad things, including death." She gestured to me to sit down into a chair next to her and went off to get a syringe and test tubes for my blood. I sat down and Kakashi stood by me. "I hope it all goes well," I sighed. He kissed my forehead, "You'll be alright."

Tsunade came back with her equipment and sat across from me, tightly wrapping an elastic band above my elbow. She stuck a needle into my vein and withdrew a syringe of blood, depositing in into a few test tubes. I pressed an alcohol-dosed cotton ball onto the new small hole in my skin and stood up. "I don't know how long it will take me to find something that might even moderately kill the disease," Tsunade said as I stood up, "But I'll try to be as fast and efficient as I can." I nodded appreciatively, "Thank you so much, Tsunade-sama. We'll wait around here." She set off to work as Kakashi and I walked deeper into the cave. It looked like a great hideout. We sat onto our backpacks, leaning onto the stone wall. Kakashi cuddled me and kissed me on the top of my head. I smiled into his chest. "Do you think it will work?" I asked him quietly. "I'm sure of it." I silently hoped he was right.

Many long hours passed, and Tsunade came up to us. "I think I've figured it out," She said, "Come with me." I looked up at Kakashi happily and he gave me his closed-eye smile. We approached the table that was cluttered with dozens of flasks filled with colorful liquids, various dried herbs and seeds and a microscope. I stood in front of the table as Tsunade picked up a flask with a clear, dense liquid in it, "This is it." I looked at it, "What's in it?" She chuckled, "It's much too complicated to explain. But I'd like to show you how it works." I walked around the table over to her, "Look into the microscope," She instructed and I did. I watched her place a drop of my blood onto the microscope slide. I could see red cells infested with blackness, which I presumed to be my disease. It made me shiver. I watched as Tsunade placed a drop of the clear liquid onto the blood. The blackness shriveled and died, leaving the red cells healthy and unaffected, the black pieces floating around aimlessly. I looked up from the lens and at Tsunade, "So it works?" She hesitated to answer, "Yes, but there's still a lot of risks. Unfortunately, I can't just give you the antidote like I'd want to. Since the disease only separated from the blood cells, but doesn't dissolve or deteriorate, I'm going to have to focus the black mass into one spot with my chakra and extract it from you. The process could result in a very high blood pressure, which could ultimately lead to a coma, mental disorders . I really don't want to think about the worst possible consequences, I'm sure you're aware of them yourself." I gulped. "How are you going to extract the disease from me after you've used the antidote?" She stared at the antidote. "I'm going to get it out my extracting your blood. It could be a lot, though, because I can't be certain exactly how much of the black mass will pile up. We're probably going to have to find a blood donor, though, what is your blood type?" "I understand. Blood type A," I answered. "I'll do it," Kakashi stepped in. Tsunade looked at him, "You'll do what?" She crossed her arms. "I'll be the blood donor. My blood type is O, which makes me a universal donor, and I'll do anything to help." Tsunade nodded, "Alright, but we should travel back to Konoha. You will have to be hospitalized and I must put you into a medically induced coma for the procedure. It's our safest bet. Jiraya and I were supposed to return to the Leaf, anyway." I bowed my head, "Thank you, Tsunade-sama, we will be waiting for you and Jiraya-sama to tell us when we are to return to the village." Kakashi agreed. "I think tonight will be good, I will talk to Jiraya right now," She said and left the cave.

Kakashi turned to me and hugged me, "See? Everything is going to be okay." I frowned a bit, "Yeah, but there are so many possible side effects. And I could still die," Kakashi cut me off, "Katsi, you're not dying on me. I'll be right there, next to you, the whole time. We'll get through this together." He leaned down and softly kissed me. "I believe you, Kashi. I'll be okay." The thoughts of possible mental disorders and death still ran through my mind. I couldn't stop them. I smiled at Kakashi, though I wasn't fully sincere. I think he saw it, but he said nothing. I knew he didn't want me to be upset. His love and support was more than I could have asked for. "I love you," He said, breaking the silence. I buried my face into the crane of his neck. "I love you, Kashi," I mumbled against his skin.

Tsunade and Jiraya returned. Tsunade walked around, packing a backpack as she did, while Jiraya spoke, "We're leaving for Konoha soon, I presume you know this. We just have to pack all of our things, and we'll be on our way," He flashed a grin at me and went to pack his backpack as well. Kakashi and I took this chance to retrieve our bags from further in the cave.

Everybody was ready to leave for Konoha in an hour. We stood at the cave entrance, everybody double-checking their belongings. "Everybody ready?" Jiraya asked us. The rest of us nodded. "Then we're off!" And  we were off, running back to the forest, jumping through the trees. Kakashi was at my side the whole time as we rushed back to Konoha. He gave me a closed-eye smile, and I grinned back sincerely.

I believed that it would all turn out alright.