The Last Namikaze

Chapter 55) A Change of Heart

The three were traveling as fast as was possible. Thankfully the bird understood where the Rain village was because neither of the men were paying attention to the flight. Kakashi was continually monitoring her heart rate, his fingers pressed every few seconds to her jugular. Naruto was hovering over his shoulder, terrified. Just before they arrived in the rain her pulse faltered and stopped. Of course Kakashi knew basic first aid and began cpr. Hands on her chest he pumped over and over, forcing her heart to push blood through the rest of her body. He administered respirations without any other thought than Let her live. Naruto was a complete mess, shaking and on the verge of tears.

Landing in front of the Rain it was to find wolves surrounding them. Fumi, the black haired girl they'd met before and the current leader Ryuu were waiting for them.

"Lord Hokage, I'll take her from here." Ryuu said commandingly. Kakashi didn't so much as think about handing her over.

"I'll take her."

Ryuu was clearly annoyed but didn't object - after all, she didn't have the time for an argument.  This win was short lived anyways. Kakashi didn't have a choice once the medics demanded that he place her on a gurney so he complied, one of them focusing chakra over her chest. Thankfully her heart began beating again almost right away and she took a sharp intake of breath, her breathing erratic but becoming normal after a few minutes of healing. He and Naruto followed them to a room. It had one bed and a few nice reclining chairs, private and top of the line. She was laid in the bed with needles inserted into her veins and continual chakra repletion to her chest and head. Finally after nearly an hour she was stable enough for the medics to leave her be, only fluids running now. Naruto had finally passed out in one of the chairs and Kaashi had brought the other over to her bed, holding her hand as she lay unconscious. In the quiet of the room Kakashi began to drift into sleep.

"Kashi" she mumbled once, rousing him from his sleep, but she didn't say anything more. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed hearing her say his name until that moment, even if she wasn't conscious of doing so. He sat by her through the day and into the night. At one point she began shivering so he let go of her hand and went to find more blankets. When he again took her hand in his she twitched slightly. He wasn't sure how she'd take him being there when she woke up but he didn't care - he needed to be there. Looking at her face he didn't miss it as with the twitch in her hand her eyes opened slowly.

Unlike the other times when she'd looked at him with distrust pain and anger this time the blue eyes were soft. Slightly confused.

"Kashi?" She asked quietly, her voice hoarse. As she said his name her face flushed slightly.  Hearing her purposely say his name after so long of only called Hatake made his chest warm, hoping that something had changed in her. At this instant he didn't even mind the nickname he'd used to hate. "What are you doing here?" She didn't sound accusatory but rather genuinely concerned. He handed her a glass of water which she sipped gratefully as he answered.

"You passed out fighting a volcano." He frowned at her. "Why didn't you get out out of there? You could have teleported."

"I didn't want my home to be destroyed." Awkward silence. "My other home, I mean. And by the end I didn't have the chakra to teleport far."

He squeezed her hand slightly and she didn't pull away.

"That was incredibly stupid."

She grinned guiltily.

"I'm sorry Kakashi... I've been a bit um... self absorbed?"

"Maybe a little." He couldn't believe that she'd just apologized. She was carefully not looking at him, her eyes finding Naruto sleeping in the chair instead as she smiled slightly.