Chapter Text
(We don't own any characters etc etc)
Obito frowned at a photograph and sighed heavily, just before Kakashi came and stole it from him.
“Hey! Give that back!” Obito yelled, standing up to try to take it back as the other man danced away.
“Ooh, is this Rin’s holiday card this year?” Kakashi asked. “She’s got a cute family.”
“That’s mine!” Obito reminded him. “Kakashi, cut it out!”
“What do you mean, ‘it’s yours’? She sends one to me too, where’s mine?”
“Maybe she doesn’t like you anymore, and this is her way of telling you that,” Obito said, finally taking it back and checking it wasn’t damaged.
Kakashi rolled his eyes. “She always sends one to me. Did the mail come today?”
“Yeah, Sergeant Inuzuka dropped it off. Nothing for you, you loser,” Obito teased him.
“Gee, thanks, I’m so glad we’re in the same unit again,” Kakashi sighed, shaking his head as he flopped onto his bunk next to the Uchiha’s in the small room they shared with two others. “Going through bootcamp with you way back when was more than enough for me.”
“Same here, baka,” Obito said, making a face at him as he sat on his own bunk. “Actually, Rin knew we’re together so she said this is for both of us. She took the picture early so we could get it well in advance of the holidays, I don’t think she’s sending them out for a while otherwise.”
“Oh, cool, that makes sense,” Kakashi admitted. “Though you still suck for lying initially. Can I see it again? I won’t mess it up, I promise,” he added, rolling his eyes at the other man’s clear reluctance.
“Fine,” Obito agreed, passing it.
“She’s lucky,” Kakashi said as he studied it. “Landed a good job at a base hospital back home, married to a handsome guy, got cute kids.”
“At least she kept it in the army,” Obito mused. “She always told us she would,” he laughed, recalling their time together in basic training when she went on and on about her long term plans.
“You still sore this isn’t you?” Kakashi asked, nodding at the picture. “That you’re not the one with her?”
Obito shook his head. “I gave it a shot way back when, the date was okay, we were better as friends. And then she hooked me up with that one guy, the soldier from Suna, he was hot,” Obito remembered fondly.
“I thought he was annoying,” Kakashi said, passing the picture back with a frown.
“You met him one time when we had a small reunion, don’t judge him for that,” the Uchiha said, shaking his head. “I hadn’t even seen you for like six months.”
“Six months of blessed peace,” Kakashi playfully sighed, crossing his arms underneath his head. “Those were the days.”
“Yeah, well, if you didn’t keep taking tours over here we wouldn’t have reunited,” Obito challenged as he carefully taped the picture up so both men could see it. “So who’s fault is that?”
“Blame the army, not me,” Kakashi told him. “I’m the grunt, they keep giving me work.”
“War isn’t work,” the other man sighed, shaking his head. “I mean, it is, but you know what I mean.”
“You always were good with your words,” his friend teased him. “No wonder you’re struggling with your promotion.”
“I’m not struggling! I’m…taking my time with it.”
“How many times?”
“We’re not all geniuses like you,” Obito sighed. “You’re going to go on and be a full colonel one day, running a base like this, admit it.”
Kakashi shrugged and rolled onto his side to look at him. “I don’t know, being a ranger on the front line is more than enough for me.”
“You can’t do that forever, Kakashi. Your body will get old and stop working one day.”
“I’ll be lucky to get to that point. And anyway, you’re one to talk, your body doesn’t work these days as is,” Kakashi challenged.
“What?!”
“You fall during PT all the time.”
“Once!” Obito snapped.
“Once a day,” Kakashi laughed. “You’re a bit clumsy, I don’t know how you’re a ranger but here you are.”
“I’m as qualified as you, baka,” Obito snapped. “I earned my spot!”
“I’m just messing with you,” Kakashi laughed. “Though you do trip a lot.”
“My boots get untied sometimes,” the other man pouted.
“Well, you better shape up,” Kakashi sighed. “These missions are getting rougher and rougher each time. You heard about the strike on Deidara’s unit?”
Obito nodded. “That was a secret operation, too. No one knows how they got them.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“You think Rin misses this?” Obito asked, looking at the picture.
“Being on the front lines? Nah. She never did it like this, being a medic out here. Fortunately for her, I mean. She still got the end result of our actions, just didn’t have to face it the same way,” Kakashi reflected. “She’s got her own wartime demons regardless.”
“At least she’s got the support for fighting them,” Obito sighed.
“Aww, Obito, are you lonely?” Kakashi teased. “Can’t find a hot boyfriend out here?”
“No, and I’m not looking,” Obito said, flipping him off.
“I know, you’re just waiting for me to ask you out, right?” Kakashi laughed. “Rin told me once you thought I was good looking.”
“I was drunk!” Obito sputtered. “That was years ago! I was drunk and it was like a one time, one moment in time thing!”
“Sharing a room with me must drive you crazy, being so close yet so far from all this,” Kakashi laughed again, running a hand down his olive green t-shirt. He reached into his shirt and pulled out his dog tags, spinning them and batting his eyes at the other man.
“Eww, gross!” Obito laughed. “Who wants your ugly mug, Kakashi?”
“I know, dating someone hotter, smarter, and overall a better soldier, it would be more than you could handle. I’m out of your league, I know. I’m not too sad about it, for what it’s worth.”
“I can’t believe we have to bunk together, much less ended up in the same unit again. Thought I’d never have to see you after bootcamp and I celebrated it,” Obito told him.
“Yeah, well, celebrate another successful mission tomorrow,” Kakashi said, putting his dog tags away again. “We’re out in the evening, you know those can be tricky.”
“Yeah,” Obito sighed. “Hey, let’s take a picture and send it to Rin, she’d love that!”
“Sure, in the morning, after chow,” Kakashi agreed, as Obito began to read some of a letter she had written to them aloud.
___
“Strap up, move out, the car is waiting, ladies!” Ibiki shouted. “Time waits for no one!”
“Your boot’s untied,” Kakashi said to Obito, who paused and looked down. “Ha, got you!”
“Can you stop for one minute?” Obito snapped, shaking his head.
“Gotta loosen up, it keeps your mind sharp,” Kakashi replied, pulling on his fingerless gloves. “Keeps everything nimble,” he said, wiggling his fingers at him.
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Obito sighed. “You guys believe him or what?” he asked their teammates.
“Man, whatever gets him through this,” Genma laughed, moving a toothpick around his mouth as he spoke. “His craziness is my craziness, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Who’s ready for another evening stroll?” Raidou asked, passing by and slapping Genma’s helmet as he walked.
“Obito said he wants to hold my hand under the stars if we’re out late enough,” Kakashi called out, making everyone but the Uchiha laugh.
“I wouldn’t hold it if you paid me,” Obito said, rolling his eyes.
“Well you’ll have your chance, you two are out together,” Ibiki said. “Shiranui, Namiashi, you two together with them. Mount up!”
“Roger!” Genma called, nodding at Raidou, who nodded back.
The four men moved to their own humvee, with Raidou getting behind the wheel. Genma sat in the passenger seat, Kakashi and Obito in the back, with the Uchiha above in the turret.
“Buckle up, everyone,” Raidou called out as he went through his checks. When they got the clear, they drove out, another team behind them. The two vehicles kept a significant distance between them to be safe, knowing they were moving targets as soon as they left the base.
Lights kept to a minimum, they talked in soft tones while keeping eyes out. They were headed to get some missile parts back that had detonated but left large shrapnel chunks. Not their usual mission, but it was expensive and important parts they had to get back. Really, the rangers were just the protection for the team in the other vehicle who were collecting the parts.
The rangers’ vehicle parked near the crash site and all got out as the other vehicle parked a distance away. The four rangers split into teams of two to fan out and keep watch while the other team moved to the missile parts.
“Silent night,” Genma said over their radio. “Anything on your end?”
“Negative,” Kakashi replied. The collection area was large enough that they were separated by a decent distance, about a quarter mile from each other.
“Hope it stays that way,” Obito commented.
“Maybe the enemy will think this is all just regular junk,” Raidou offered and the others agreed.
The other team did their work fast enough, all things considered, and the teams regrouped.
“We were told to split up after this,” one of the other members said, his helmet reading “Hagane.”
“What?” Kakashi asked.
“To keep things separate, just in case,” another, Kamizuki, said.
“Rai, any word?” Kakashi asked, but the other man shook his head.”We don’t have time to waste, get everything in the two vehicles and we’ll head out. Obito and I will ride with these two just in case,” he said, and the others nodded and began to separate both men and machine.
“Come on, come on,” Obito muttered underneath his breath as Kamizuki and Hagane packed their humvee up.
“Heading out, see you back at base,” Raidou said over the radio, and they watched the other vehicle drive off.
“All good,” Hagane said, climbing into the driver’s seat. The others followed, Obito in the passenger seat, Kamizuki in the rear, and Kakashi above in the turret. They had driven about a third of their way back when gunfire rang out.
Kakashi cursed and turned his gun towards the direction of the shots. “Go, go, go!” he called out, jolting as Hagane quickly hit the gas.
Obito helped to provide coverage too as an enemy vehicle appeared to their five o’clock, firing on them.
“You guys okay?” Genma asked over the radio.
“Enemy vehicle on our ass,” Hagane replied.
“We’ve got a third patrol coming in to help,” Ibiki said, jumping in on the radio. “Get everyone back to base, we need those parts.”
They begrudgingly agreed, knowing the mission success was more important than anything else, and the first vehicle drove off faster.
The second vehicle continued to exchange fire, taking more shots than they wanted to
“Evade! Evade! Evade!” Kakashi called out.
“On it!” Hagane replied, jerking the wheel this way and that as they drove to try to reduce their exposure to the other car, more than he had been.
“I’ve got eyes on our patrol!” Obito called out, just as their vehicle was rocked by a back wheel getting taken out, then another. “Get out, take cover!” he shouted at the other two, who grabbed their boxes of parts and exited in a crouch to the opposite side of the vehicle. Obito and Kakashi provided coverage to keep the others safe but cursed at it all.
“We’re a sitting duck, get out of here!” Kakashi called out.
“Backup isn’t here yet!” Hagane replied.
“Keep your heads down and as soon as they get here haul ass to them!” Obito shouted, turning back to assist Kakashi. By now they had been able to stop the other vehicle but the enemy had gotten out to also move on foot.
“This doesn’t look good,” Kakashi said from his position above them in the turret.
“Get away from this!” Obito shouted, pulling the other two men to their feet and pushing them away from their vehicle. “Kakashi, get down –”
But before he could finish, a rocket was launched towards them, hitting a few feet from the vehicle and exploding, taking out some of the vehicle as well.
Kakashi dropped down from the turret, coughing, as Obito wiped dirt from his own face and leaned in to help.
“You okay?” he asked, hauling Kakashi out from the vehicle, which was now on fire.
“We gotta run for it,” Kakashi said, leaning on the other man.
“Let’s go,” Obito agreed, putting one of Kakashi’s arms over his shoulder and starting to move in a low stance.
They had only gotten a few feet when a telltale whistle was heard above their heads. Obito cursed and pulled Kakashi in front of him just as the vehicle was hit and exploded, the force propelling them forward onto the desert sand. Kakashi groaned as he landed, shaking his head and opening his eyes as he rolled over from his stomach. His vision was off, something was blocking part of his left eye, but that wasn’t important right now.
Instead, his focus was on Obito, who was laying a few feet away with part of the humvee on top of him. Kakashi cursed and moved on his elbows and knees to him, trying to pull it off.
“Obito, you with me?” he said, but received no response. “I gotta get this off you, stay with me!” Kakashi said as he pulled with all his strength, not that he had much left. He had already gotten thrown around from the first hit, and now he felt it in his ribs and knew he had blood running down a leg. He could hear in the background shouting and determined that the backup had arrived.
“I need help over here!” Kakashi called out as he tried again to get Obito freed. His own breathing felt shallower, and his head was woozy.
“Call base, tell them we need med support!” someone shouted as someone else joined Kakashi to pull.
Obito was freed, and Kakashi moved to his face, rolling him over, the other man limply doing so.
“Obito, wake up, man!” Kakashi said, slapping part of his face but still getting no response. He could already see burnt skin on the other side of the Uchiha’s face. “Help me get him up,” Kakashi said to the other soldier, who nodded.
The gunfire ceased, part of Kakashi’s brain registered, but as they moved Obito to the new vehicle, Kakashi’s legs gave out and he fell, nearly dropping the other man.
“Get him up!” the other soldier yelled as someone came to Kakashi’s aid. His head was swimming and he couldn’t quite make out what was happening, or who was where.
“I’ve got you,” someone said to him, hoisting him up. “Can you walk?”
Kakashi sluggishly nodded and could just barely see two soldiers carrying an unconscious Obito to their own humvee. He followed, staggering into the back of it.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” someone shouted and the vehicle quickly took off.
Kakashi slowly blinked, trying to fix his darkening vision, noting again that his left eye was darker than his right one . He watched as two soldiers began to apply basic medical support to his friend before someone pulled his head gently but firmly to them.
“You okay? Can you hear me?” a more familiar voice said, and Kakashi barely recognized Hagane from earlier.
“Dark, can’t see well,” Kakashi slurred. “Obito…”
“We’ve gotta stop your bleeding,” Hagane said, applying pressure to Kakashi’s leg with his own med gear.
“Medics on stand by back at base, hang on just a little longer!” someone shouted and Kakashi tried to nod, his helmet feeling very heavy on his head.
He opened his mouth to say something, but as darkness overcame him, and as he passed out the last thing he saw was Obito’s burnt face again.
____
Images flashed through Kakashi’s brain.
Childhood scenes, his father smiling and laughing as he chased him in a game of tag.
Pictures of his mother, who he had never met. Celebrating her birthday, and his father making her favorite foods for them.
His first dog, good old Pakkun.
Meeting Gai, his long time friend. Competitions, challenges, they had over the years. Getting sick from their food ones, and sometimes trying to cheat to win, not that Gai noticed.
High school graduation. College courses, accelerated because he was a genius. College graduation.
His father’s death, sudden and unexpected.
Joining the military, something he had discussed with his father. Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, to make him prouder than he already was. Wanting to do something big with his life, to help those in need. There was time to decide what to do after. Make it a career? Go back to school? He had time to figure it out.
He was jolted out of those thoughts by pressure on his chest. It was there, then it wasn’t, in a steady but quick rhythm just as wide rubber was placed around his mouth and nose.
“Stand by!” someone called out, and the pressure stopped.
“Clear!”
A shock ran through his body and something was inserted into his mouth. He wanted to gag, but had no physical response. That was strange, he thought. Why didn’t that hurt more? And who was even doing that to him? Had he been captured?
“Get the morphine on stand by,” someone said, and as his head swam, he wondered why the enemy would care if he was in pain?
More thoughts came back. Bootcamp, where Gai wrote him lots of letters and sent care packages, even though he himself had entered the Marines. Army versus marines, there was a whole new competition for them, forever!
Meeting a range of new people from all over, and finding a new home with Rin and Obito. Rin had a wide smile and was cheerful, and had dreams of being a medic, maybe a doctor one day, and felt the army was the best way to be able to do that. Cheapest, too.
Obito’s younger face swam into view. He had been assigned the bunk next to Kakashi, so they had naturally begun to fall into conversation. Obito came from a line of military people as Kakashi did, with some of the Uchiha also working as law enforcement. Obito had a good heart, and was motivated to be better day by day, even if he had more to work at than some others. He was just as stubborn as Kakashi, and Rin often found herself in the middle of them, rolling her eyes and keeping the peace. Or sometimes letting themselves go at each other, whichever was most needed.
“Clear!” a voice shouted again, and another jolt ran through his body, brushing his bootcamp days away.
His life skipped forward, and their three paths changed, intertwined, moved away and came back. Rin moved into the medical field as expected, Kakashi and Obito stayed as boots on the ground. Or in the air from time to time, whichever the mission needed. After their initial ranger training, the two were sent to separate units, and all three were stationed abroad at different bases in active areas.
Kakashi’s brain mixed the past with the more recent present, conversations about Obito and Rin’s date swimming around. The two had been stationed near each other, closer than Kakashi was to either one, and had gone out to see if there was anything there. Obito had admitted to Kakashi that he accepted they were better as friends, as it had been awkward to move past that on a date and he had no desire to lose her friendship. Rin had separately confessed to Kakashi that there had not been a spark, and she too didn’t want to lose him as a friend.
“He likes you, you know,” Rin’s words floated through Kakashi’s mind as background noise started to seep through. “Thinks you’re ‘super hot,’ his words,” she said, and he could hear her giggle, clear as day.
Well, it would have been clear as day if there wasn’t loud beeping.
“He’s back and pulse and resp are getting more stable, I want him good to go for a CT scan,” someone demanded.
“Yes, Dr Senju!” another voice replied.
Oh, okay, he was definitely back on base, he thought, knowing the head doctor’s name. But for Tsunade to be working on him, well, that wasn’t good. She didn’t clean up skinned knees and asthma attacks. No, she was brought on for the big ones…
“How’s the other one?” Tsunade asked. “And make sure transport is set up, once they’re stable enough to get out of here we need them heading out.”
Other one, Kakashi wondered?
“He took more of it, he’s in worse shape,” someone said, and Kakashi heard Tsunade’s familiar string of curses.
“Dammit Obito, how many times am I going to have to stitch you back up?!” she snapped, referencing having been at another base with the Uchiha.
A memory of doing a facetime call with Obito when he was in the hospital a year ago came to Kakashi. It hadn’t been bad, some messy shrapnel more than anything, and Tsunade had entered the room as Kakashi was on the call, telling them both in no uncertain terms how much she dug out of the Uchiha. She had suggested he think about heading back, or at least getting stationed somewhere quieter. Maybe on the ocean, or a base in Europe, even though there was always the possibility of unrest there. Anywhere but the desert?
Obito had adamantly refused, crossing his arms and telling them both he was a ranger, through and through, and had worked too hard to go home for this injury.
“I don’t want to see your face again, then,” Tsunade had declared, and Kakashi had laughed.
“Me too!” he agreed, making Obito grumble at them both, before he was cheered up by some of his favorite hospital foods being sent in, courtesy of Rin pulling some strings. What was the list? She sent it to Kakashi, so they could both get a kick out of Obito’s preferred taste.
Green jello…cheeseburgers…iced tea…plain cheesecake…caesar salad…grilled chicken…corn…
Obito’s grin at the lunch grew large in Kakashi’s mind, but as Kakashi felt people doing…something…at his leg, and dabbing at his left eye, the man’s face was replaced by a far different one.
Smoke, fire, loud noises, sand, burning. Lots of burning. The transport, debris around them, Obito’s face.
Obito’s face…
Obito’s face!
Part of it was burnt, Kakashi could see it through vision from his right eye as he slapped the other side to try to wake Obito up.
He had to see Obito, he realized!
Kakashi’s eyelids felt like they weighed as much as his rucksack, and he was just barely able to open them. His vision swam as it tried to adjust to the bright lighting, and his left eye still couldn’t form a full picture, but there, on a gurney near him, was Obito.
People in medical scrubs swarmed him, and Kakashi caught glimpses here and there. He was motionless, a tube in his mouth, eyes closed, but there was steady, unhurried beeping coming from a machine near him, and Kakashi thought that that was probably a good sign.
Obito was here, Tsunade would take care of him, everything would be okay.
And they had to take a picture to send Rin in exchange for her holiday card. After chow, Kakashi recalled, they would do that.
And with that, his eyes closed again, and he slipped back into unconsciousness.
____
When Kakashi next woke up, he was in a hospital bed, in a hospital. Not the base medical center, he realized. An honest to goodness hospital.
That was unsurprising, and a pit formed in his stomach. Going from the field to a proper hospital meant that he had sustained injuries, and bad ones at that.
He blinked to try to take more of his surroundings in, but was startled to see that he, well, couldn’t.
“That’s not good,” Kakashi groaned inwardly, trying to look around with his right eye. His body protested even that, so he didn’t dare really try to sit up, but he wondered what was up with his eye?
Sure, he had more hair than most soldiers did, that was true. And yes, there could be times he let it flop in his eyes, when he wasn’t in the field. Higher ups looked the other way, uncaring about his appearance and lack of adherence to grooming standards when he was one of their best and brightest.
But…his hair had never obstructed his vision like this before…
He winced as he moved his left arm from where it lay on top of what felt like a blanket to his face, gingerly running his fingers up his chin along the left side of his face. Up his cheek, where he felt bandages running diagonally. He followed them with his fingertips, finding that they went all the way up to his hairline.
“That’s definitely not good,” he said, before sleep took over once more.
_____
Kakashi woke on and off for the next two days, then fully woke on the third day, not that he knew how much time had passed. No, it wasn’t until he was sitting in an upright bed sipping water that he learned from a nurse more of his timeline - when the mission had been, when he arrived at this hospital, what day today was. All in all, more time had passed than he would have either expected or wanted. They had been stabilized at base by Tsunade, then driven to the nearest air base, and flown two hours to this base and its hospital.
“Obito?” he croaked out after learning all that. “How is he?”
“Who?” the nurse asked, cocking his head.
“Uchiha, we were on patrol that night together.”
The nurse frowned slightly. “I don’t know, I’m not assigned to him but I can look into it?” he gently offered.
Kakashi nodded and the nurse left once they had updated his chart. He sighed and leaned his head back against the pillow, trying to take it all in.
He still couldn’t see out of his left eye, it remained bandaged. And his body still protested much movement. His leg, the one he recalled having been bloodied, throbbed slightly, but he didn’t want to ask for more pain medicine than he was probably already on. His body felt like a wreck overall, but as he vaguely recalled being flung about that night, he figured it was par for the course.
Glancing about, he saw he was in basic hospital pajamas - a plain t-shirt, what felt like shorts, and a hospital band around one wrist. Classy, he sighed. His room was plain and boring as well, but at least he was by himself. A window was to his left, with the blind pulled down low, and he wondered what the view was like outside. He had a moderate idea of where the hospital was in Europe, having never been before but hearing that it was in its own town. Or maybe it was that it made up its own town, since it served a range of international troops, as well as their families, and the families of those that worked there. Kakashi had heard that there was a full community there, with its own main street, shops, gardens, even a vineyard, and he wanted to laugh at the thought that he was there now.
It was a bitter laugh, due to what had brought him to this place so far from the dirt, dust, and grime he had been stationed at for the last few months. No, just months at this last deployment, years otherwise. As Obito had reminded him before the mission, he kept taking tours over here. It wasn’t his fault he got restless if he was on home soil too much, Kakashi liked to tell himself. He wasn’t running from anything, either, he just liked being where he belonged.
And, he thought, it wasn’t like Obito was any better, for hadn’t they been reunited by both taking this tour?
Kakashi sighed as he thought about Obito, wondering when the nurse would have word on him. Was Obito at this hospital? He had to be, Kakashi decided, for where else would he be? After all, if one’s injuries were too bad for the area they were stationed at, they came here. Sure, he remembered seeing Obito also being worked on, but the man couldn’t be that bad, right?
Right?
Surely he was here and not….
No, Kakashi didn’t want to think about that.
He closed his eye, feeling a headache coming on. He tried to use grounding skills to help calm his mind, for there was no point in worrying about anything until he had information, evidence.
Still, what was taking the nurse so long?
He must have fallen asleep, somehow, for the next thing he knew, the sun was setting through the shade, and his nurse was coming in with a tray of food.
“Hey, you’re awake!” they said, grinning. “How are you feeling?”
“Like crap,” Kakashi replied, rubbing sleep out of his right eye as he watched them place the tray on a table and move to his right side to raise his bed up; when had it been laid flat again? He studied the nurse, who looked to be a few years younger than him, give or take. He was wearing green scrubs with the shirt tucked in, a tattoo peeking out from under one short sleeve and two orange pens clipped onto his collar.
“I don’t know if you remember from earlier, I’m Iruka,” Iruka re-introduced himself. “Lieutenant Umino, formally, if you prefer, captain.”
Kakashi shook his head, both at feeling slightly embarrassed to have forgotten the man’s name, and at his rank being used for what felt like the first time in ages.
“Just Kakashi, no need for ranks when I’m at your mercy,” he told the nurse, who smiled and nodded, passing him water.
“Nice to meet you Kakashi,” Iruka said, then frowning. “Or, you know, as nice as it can be given why you’re here.”
“Agreed,” Kakashi sighed. “Any word on –”
“Lieutenant Uchiha is in our ICU but stable and doing well,” Iruka interrupted him, and Kakashi exhaled loudly, feeling relieved but also tired from that stress leaving him. “I didn’t want to wake you up to tell you that earlier, since you need to get your rest.”
“I appreciate that. When can I see him?”
“Not for a while,” Iruka said, shaking his head as he moved the bedside table to stand over Kakashi’s lap. “You need to be more stable here before you can even think about leaving your room, doctor’s orders.”
“Dr Senju?”
“No, she’s back at your base but in touch with us here. You’ve got Dr Shizune.”
“They good?” Kakashi asked, as he picked up a fork and poked around his plate once Iruka uncovered it.
“She’s one of our best,” Iruka assured him. “Our top one is assigned to your friend.”
“Really?” Kakashi eagerly asked, and Iruka grinned widely and nodded. “I’m glad,” he sighed.
“Mind you, if you meet Dr Chiyo, don’t get on her bad side,” Iruka told him, making notes about a machine near Kakashi’s bed. He dropped his voice down to a conspiratorial whisper. “She may look like somebody’s grandmother, and she is, but she’s not that sweet if you piss her off.”
Kakashi snorted, then regretted doing so as pain coursed through him. “I’ll try to remember that. For the record, Obito’s the troublemaker, not me.”
“Well, I’ll find out soon enough,” Iruka said. “You’re stuck with me for a bit. while, so let’s get to know each other some more,” he said, smiling.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. “Uh…what?” he asked, unsure of what the man was implying.
“Well, I already know your medical information, but I like to know my patients’ preferences for food, at the very least,” Iruka said, nodding at the tray. “Tomorrow I’ll start to bring you a menu so you can choose your own food each day, but if there’s things that aren’t listed, I can sometimes swing the kitchen into getting it.”
“Thanks,” Kakashi laughed. “I’m on bases more often than not so I’m pretty flexible. I don’t eat too much dessert though,” he admitted, nodding at the slice of pie on his tray.
“None?”
“Only a little. Uh, ice cream would probably be my preference. Fruit, too.”
“Ice cream and fruit, got it,” Iruka repeated, nodding. “I’ll be here a good chunk of your day, popping in for vitals and to check up on you. You’ve got the call button there,” he said, pointing to the mentioned item. “Doctor’s orders, you call if you want to go to the bathroom. You might be able to shower tomorrow, otherwise we’ll be getting friendlier than expected,” Iruka told him, and Kakashi rolled his eye.
“Great.”
“You have some meds to take throughout the day, and we’ll keep everything redressed daily and as needed until we get orders otherwise. Your night nurse will be in later to introduce themselves if you’re awake. You don’t need meds overnight, so they’ll just be in and out here and there for vitals, they shouldn’t have to wake you. Television is working, you have the remote. We can talk tomorrow about what else you might want while you’re here, books, that sort of thing. Though, reading might not be ideal while this is happening,” Iruka commented, gesturing to his own face. “And we’ll get you a phone or tablet if you want for calls, email, whatever, though that might be limited too while your vision is as it is. I think the television, being some distance away from you, will be okay, let’s not have you do too much up close. How’s all that sound?”
“Like a lot, but good,” Kakashi told him.
“We’ve also reached out to your second emergency contact, since your first one is another guest here,” Iruka told him, referencing Obito as his primary.
“Who?” Kakashi asked, trying to recall who he had selected. He didn’t have family, and all his friends were in the military.
“I don’t remember off the top of my head, Dr Senju called them but gave us the information if they call,” Iruka said. “I’ll keep you posted though.”
“Thanks. I have to admit, I don’t feel too hungry,” Kakashi sighed, moving the pasta dish around his plate.
“I don’t blame you, but see what you can do,” Iruka replied. “I’ll bring in a protein shake and gatorade when I come back to pick it up, just in case. Any flavor preferences?”
“Not really.”
“I’ll bring my favorites then,” Iruka said, smiling again. “I’ll leave you to it, give me a ring if you need me sooner, okay?”
Kakashi agreed and watched him leave, closing the door behind him. He sighed heavily and looked down at the tray of food, his mind again going to Obito’s list Rin had sent him.
A thought hit him - Rin! She must be his second emergency contact, listed so long ago, most likely.
He shrugged, figuring that if it wasn’t her, he’d get in touch as soon as he could, to update her on both men’s conditions. Though, maybe he should know how Obito was before reaching out?
“I wonder if they have any of his favorites here, and if Iruka can help if they don’t,” Kakashi sighed, starting to eat.