Thank you all for reviewing! So, last chapter, and a happy ending, if bit of a cheesy one. Kakashi's suffered enough on the show, don't you think? He deserves a happy ending. I'd love for him to somehow resolve things with Obito without either one of them dying, too... but don't see any way that can happen. Ah well. I can dream, can't I?

Chapter 5: Resolution

"Sasuke-kun, are you sure you should be up? I mean, you have surgery in an hour and-"

"I'm fine, Sakura."

"Yeah! Like Sasuke would let a little surgery keep him in bed." Naruto nudged Sasuke with his elbow and grinned broadly. "Besides, it's good training! Sneaking him around so the nurses don't catch sight of him to check on Kaka-sensei. Stealth training and all of-"

"Naruto, you're practically yelling this out to the entire hospital. That's not stealth. Also, the nurses are civilians. All I had to do was get up and walk out."

Naruto's face pulled into a pout and he rolled his eyes. "You make everything sound so easy, Sasuke-teme. I hope the nurses do catch you."

"Fine, dobe."

Naruto stuck his tongue out and Sasuke just groaned before Sakura hushed Naruto. "Stop picking on Sasuke-kun, Naruto. And, anyway, we're here. So be quiet or the nurses will find us and make us leave."

Naruto shot another glare at Sasuke but remained quiet, and, satisfied, Sakura stepped forward and opened the door to Kakashi's hospital room.

"-and she threatened to tie me down. I said that I hadn't been aware she was interested, nor had I known she liked it like that. Then she… well. You know what happened next, Gai."

"Oh, my rival! How endlessly cruel of you! She was merely interested in looking out for your precious well being and preserving the flowers of your youth and you took it upon yourself to embarrass her!"

There was a deep chuckle, and then, "Maa, it was unnecessary concern. I'm fine, I'm fine."

"She found you with your foot out the window! My rival, after the scare you gave us, she had every right to be so frightfully worried! Although, your blessed luck may have saved you, for if our esteemed Hokage had discovered you in such an incriminating position, she would have likely taken the initiative to imprison your restless youth, and all future escape attempts would have been halted before they began."

"…We'll see about that. And, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke? What are you three doing?"

Naruto and Sakura both jumped while Sasuke just gave an expectant nod. Neither Kakashi nor Gai had been able to see them while they lingered in the doorway, but it wasn't entirely surprising that the jounin had noticed their presence. "Eavesdropping," the Uchiha said truthfully, leading the way into the room.

Kakashi leaned forward in bed so he could see the trio while Gai turned so his back wasn't to them and could watch as well. "Now, that wasn't very polite, Sasuke," the silver-haired jounin admonished jokingly, his eye crinkled up into a smile. "You shouldn't try and sneak up on jounin. You never know what might happen."

"I think I'll take my chances."

Gai gave Kakashi a meaningful look as he took another step back, giving Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke a better view of their sensei. They moved forward eagerly- even though Sasuke tried to mask his worry, he did it rather poorly- and their relief was unmistakable when they found that Kakashi was not only alive, he was very clearly alive and well. In fact, he looked much better than the three of them did, with Sasuke's arm in a sling, Sakura listing to one side as if she barely had the strength to remain on her feet, and Naruto appearing as if he hadn't really slept in days. Kakashi seemed slightly tired, but nowhere near as exhausted as his three students, and his only sign of injury were the clean bandages wrapped around his Sharingan.

"You guys look terrible," Kakashi murmured with a frown. "What are you three doing here?"

"Wha- what are we doing here, Kaka-sensei?!" Naruto exclaimed. "You scared us half to death! What do you mean, what are-"

"Baka Naruto! Shut up!" Sakura elbowed him back with enough force to make him gasp and smiled sweetly as she stepped out in front of him. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. Naruto just meant that we were worried."

It was Kakashi's turn to shoot a meaningful look in Gai's direction. When the Blue Beast of Konoha didn't seem to get it, he asked pointedly, "Gai, did you hear that? Downstairs? It sounded like Lee. I think he's in trouble."

Gai was gone before the three genins had time to blink, arms flailing about and yelling all the way down the hall about his favorite cute little student. Kakashi grinned slightly at the man's flamboyant exit before he turned to his students. "Sorry about… him. He's an acquired taste and tends to scare people off before they get to know him."

"I'll say," Sakura muttered, finally dragging her gaze away from the doorway where the green and orange blur had flashed past in his hurry to get to Lee. "He's really weird. Oh! Not that that means anything about you, since you're friends with him. I just meant that- that-"

Kakashi chuckled, clearly amused. "Relax, Sakura. I've been insulted worse before than a student unwittingly implying that I'm weird."

"You are weird, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi's eye widened in mock surprise. "Ouch, Naruto. Where's your bedside manner? That one comment could've had a serious effect on my psyche, I'll have you know." He waved his finger at him and shook his head, and Naruto smirked.

"Yeah, right. I didn't damage your psyche… whatever that is."

Sasuke closed his eyes and smacked a hand to his forehead while Kakashi let his head thump back against the pillow and shook his head. Sakura just glared solidly at Naruto before elbowing him aside again, this time hard enough to make the blond wince. "So, how are you feeling, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, giving him a once over. "You look a lot better."

Kakashi shrugged. "Maa, I'm fine. You three, however…" He pointed at Sasuke and shook his head again. "You don't even look like you should be up. And, as for for you two, you look like you went out drinking with Tsunade last night. Haven't you heard of a good night's sleep?"

"We do not look that bad."

"Seen a mirror lately?"

Sakura rolled her eyes while Naruto threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "We come to check up on you after you almost died and this is the thanks we get? Jeez. Haven't you ever heard of gratitude?"

Kakashi grinned but shifted uncomfortably nevertheless. "I didn't almost die, Naruto. You've being over dramatic. And, anyway-"

Unfortunately, this seemed to be the last straw for poor, sleep-deprived Naruto, because the blond suddenly snapped. He stomped his foot in frustration and pointed his finger accusingly at Kakashi, still managing to make himself look rather foolish with his bedraggled appearance in a very sharp contrast with how he tried to take control of the situation. "You did too almost die! You gave us the antidote instead of using it on yourself, you idiot, and then your fever got so high you kept talking to us like we were some people we've never heard of and you scared the hell out of us, and then you went crazy and tried to take out your Sharing-"

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, rounding on him and looking like she wanted to strangle him. "Shut up!"

"But, Sakura-chan-"

"Naruto, you-"

"That's enough, both of you. You need to calm down." Kakashi's voice had fallen back on a slight edge of authority, and his grey eye was sharp and concerned as he looked between the three genins. "You both look exhausted and there's no use in getting into arguments just because you're tired. Besides… I have something I need to talk to all three of you about, which I can't do if two of you are constantly fighting."

Naruto looked at Kakashi like the jounin was about to assign him his first S-Rank mission while Sakura just nodded and blushed, glancing guiltily for a moment before moving to stand beside Sasuke. "Sorry, Sensei."

Kakashi's eye curved into an arc in what she supposed was meant to be a comforting smile. It was surprising how expressive he could be, considering all but one quarter of his face was almost always concealed, but it still made his expressions hard to read. "Don't worry about it. But, listen. Gai had… a few interesting things to tell me. According to him, you've been going about the village asking everyone you meet about a few names I apparently dropped while I was unconscious."

Sakura turned slowly to glower at Naruto, who was quick to shake his head and swear otherwise. "We are not, Sensei! I only asked Bushy-brow's-sensei and Tsunade-obaachan!"

"I didn't ask anyone."

"I've been here since yesterday."

Kakashi grimaced and rolled his eye to the ceiling. "That's Gai for you, then. Exaggerating, as always. But it doesn't change the situation much." He sighed heavily, his gaze moving slowly from each genin until it came to rest on Naruto. "Rin, Minato, and Obito, huh?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, his mouth dropping open in surprise. "How'd you know it was them?"

Kakashi laughed quietly without real humor. "Gai told me. And, even if he hadn't, it was rather obvious. You three are… a lot like them."

"We, um… figured out that they were… dead. Obito, at least," Sakura ventured hesitantly. "…Sorry, Sensei."

"Was your Sensei really the Fourth Hokage?" Naruto asked, his characteristically energetic voice and features now subdued. He seemed to grow even sadder when Kakashi confirmed it with a silent nod. "Oh. He is dead, then... you were right, Sakura-chan. ...I'm sorry, too, Kaka-sensei."

The jounin frowned. "Why are you two sorry? You didn't know them."

When both genins hesitated and stayed silent, it appeared that meant it was Sasuke's turn to question him. The Uchiha raised his dark, unreadable eyes to focus on him, cold voice flat and carefully unemotional. "Who were they to you? Why did Gai and the Hokage refuse to tell us about them?"

"Ah, that." Kakashi folded his hands in his lap and leaned back against the headboard, gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Well, I must be a scary person, because everybody assumes that I'll bite their heads off if they ask about them. I'm really not that bad of a guy; I just don't like talking about my old team very much. Hmm... why were you asking Tsunade and Gai about them, anyway?

Naruto spoke up to spare the others from Kakashi's gaze, mild, laid back, and piercing all at once. "It just seemed they were really important to you... we wanted to find them for you. Since you were hurt and everything... everyone should have a friend with them if they're hurt or sick."

Kakashi just stared at him. An astute observation, considering Naruto had had absolutely no one for years. The blond spoke of a luxury not afforded to most shinobi; of a luxury he hadn't had since Minato had died. Gai would try to be there when he could, and Kakashi for him- but they were both elite jounin, and were out of the village more often than they were in it. They were lucky to catch each other every other month.

But it didn't make any sense for Naruto to say what he had. It implied that he had no one there- but his team was right there, right now.

But, then, what were Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke to him, really? More than a team, certainly.

What was that word Naruto had used- friends?

Friends, what a novel idea. But, then, if Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke weren't what friends were, then what was?

Rin would be very happy to know that he had friends like those three. To know that he had a reason to stay alive now other than just for a tool for the village.

He looked to Naruto and, in that moment, saw nothing more than a ninja who had been born out of a sad child. A sad child who was always alone. Minato had asked him to take care of his son- to take care of this child still exploring just what friendship and teams and love were. And who was he to say no to his beloved sensei?

Kakashi glanced over at Sakura. Just a small girl, really, just a child who didn't understand what the word suffering was. Which was good; it was really far too cruel of the world to have tortured Naruto and Sasuke so much at such young ages; Sakura shouldn't have to know what the word pain meant. But that also meant she couldn't fully understand just how lucky she was to have her entire team alive and well; how easy it was for such a thing to be ripped apart and gone before she could blink. In that, Kakashi could almost see a bit of his childhood self; he hadn't realized how important was team was to him, not for lack of suffering, just for lack of caring- until it was too late, and Obito was dead. He hoped Sakura would realize how lucky she was before this perfect picture of a team was destroyed, and she was forced to grow up.

Then, Sasuke. There was no question that he knew what pain was. His sworn life's duty to kill his own brother, even if he died trying.

But that would bring him nothing. It wouldn't bring happiness and he wouldn't rest any easier at night when Itachi was dead. Whether Sasuke was disillusioned about that, Kakashi had no idea... but he knew one thing for sure. Sasuke was only so set on his goal because the stoic youth was absolutely convinced he had nothing else to live for.

But Sasuke had his teammates, didn't he? He did have something else to live for, even if he didn't realize it yet.

His gaze drifted from Sasuke to all three of his friends, who seemed to be getting rather nervous in the prolonged silence. His last moments with Obito in those fevered hallucinations had been, granted, less than ideal- but now that he was in his right mind, he realized that it had been simply a good dream turned nightmare due to fever. But what that nightmare had said was still true. Obito had given his life for him and Rin. And now Kakashi was living for both of his dead teammates, and living out a miserable life for them would be wrong. He had to try to be as happy as he could, for them... like they had asked him to.

And, with these new, dear friends of his, such a thing wasn't only possible... it seemed almost easy.

His old teammates had given him more than three very good reasons to stay alive. They had made him realize that living for the dead in accordance with guilt and regret was a waste when he could live for people who were still alive. A lesson he could teach to Sasuke, too.

You three, you know how much I love you and miss you. ...But thanks for making me realize that, just because I miss you doesn't mean I can't find new precious people to care about.

"You know, you guys, it's okay that they're not here. They haven't been in years," he said softly after a moment, and they all jumped at the break in the silence, as if he were going to scold them for asking around about his past. Well, Naruto and Sakura looked like that- Sasuke just looked at him, feigning indifference.

Naruto frowned when it became clear that such a scolding was not forthcoming. "But, Sensei, that doesn't mean that you-"

"And, you three are here," he interrupted smoothly, beaming at them all. He squeezed his eye into a happy arc of delight. "I don't really see how you think I'm so alone when you three are standing right here."

The three gave small exclamations of surprise and looked at each other, then slowly turned back to him, eyes alternating between him and the floor in awkward displays of pleasure. As Kakashi very much enjoyed being the causer of awkward silences, as he so often was, he enjoyed the moment before he mercifully continued on, allowing his favored awkwardness to dissipate.

"You know what, you guys? I just decided something. You three did such a good job keeping me alive out in the field, I was thinking that I should treat you. Should I bother asking what you want or-"

"Ichiraku ramen!" Naruto yelled, so loud that Kakashi wouldn't have been surprised if he had woken up half the hospital. He grinned at his two teammates and clapped his hands together. "Yes! Sensei's finally gonna treat us! I thought you were a cheap bastard, Kaka-sensei! Aww, man, I can't wait until you and Sasuke get out of here- free ramen!"

"Hmm?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head to the side. "Who said anything about waiting? We can go right now."

The three stared at him in confusion. "Umm... Kaka-sensei, it's no fun if you treat but just give us your wallet and you're not actually there. You and Sasuke have to be there, too!" Naruto explained as if he were talking to a three year old.

Kakashi chuckled. "This, children, is one of my favorite activities: escaping from the hospital ahead of schedule. I can't believe I haven't taught this to you guys yet. Ah, I knew there was a reason to become a jounin sensei; if you guys listen to me, the medic nins will hate you just as much as they hate me."

"Wha... that's not something to aspire to, Kakashi-sensei! And why are the only things you seem to teach stupid things like this?!"

Kakashi shrugged happily. "Now, now, this is not stupid, Sakura. It's a very important lesson crucial to a shinobi's well being. So? Are you guys going to come?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at her sensei's typically ridiculous explanation before biting her lip and looking to Sasuke, who did seem rather interested at checking out of the hospital ahead of schedule. "Well, Sasuke-kun is supposed to have surgery on his arm-"

"Maa, I've seen worse injuries than his. He'll be fine. We can just sneak out and get him back here in plenty of time." Kakashi smiled convincingly as he threw the blankets back and stood. "I'm leaving, anyway, whether you three come with me or not."

"Come on, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pleaded, reaching out to snag her hand eagerly. "It'll be so cool! Plus, he said he'll treat us! He, like, never does that! You can't miss it, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura bit her lip, still worried, but Sasuke just shrugged and slipped his good hand into the pocket of his hospital pajamas. "I'm in, too. I'm hungry."

Sakura groaned loudly and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine! I'm coming. Someone has to keep you three from running off and killing yourselves, anyway. I can't believe I'm going with this, though... Kakashi-sensei, you're just as irresponsible as Naruto."

"Ow. Talk about over the top. Now, come on." Kakashi led his friends toward the window and opened it, then pointed outside. "There's a nice tree out here that I usually use in situations like these. Sakura, you go first, so you can make sure Sasuke doesn't hurt himself in the jump."

Sakura scrambled to comply while Sasuke turned to fix him with a murderous glare. There was a distant call from below of, "Sasuke-kun, I'll catch you!" and the Uchiha looked like he positively wanted to strangle him.

"Thanks for that, Kakashi."

He beamed. "Don't mention it."

With a resigned sigh, Sasuke turned and jumped lightly out the window, catching onto the tree Kakashi had mentioned with one hand and quickly climbing down, ignoring his pink-haired teammate's anxious squeals of fright when he almost slipped.

Kakashi stepped back and gestured for Naruto to go forward. "Your turn. Out you go."

Naruto nodded eagerly and prepared to jump, then froze. He looked over his shoulder to glare at him in suspicion. "Wait a minute... you're not doing this so you'll be alone and get a chance to escape, are you?"

"No, no!" he exclaimed, his eye wide. "I have no ill intentions, Naruto! I swear, ninja's honor!"

The blond eyed him for another moment then stepped back and pushed Kakashi to the window first. "No way. I don't trust you, Kakashi-sensei; you'll run off if I go first."

"Ah, wait a minute, Naruto-"

"Are you two coming or not?!"

"Yeah!" Naruto bellowed down to an annoyed Sakura, still trying to push Kakashi out the window. "Just as soon as baka-sensei jumps I'll go, too!"

Kakashi sighed and willingly took a step towards the window, rolling his eye skyward. "I can't believe you don't trust me, Naruto," he said, but it was with an eye crinkle. "That really hurts, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. Now get down there!"

"Yes, sir." Kakashi gave a lazy, joking two finger salute before resting one foot on the window sill, preparing to jump. "See you do- unh!"

Naruto's arms wrapped around him from behind in a tight- almost painful, really- bear hug, his head burying in his back. His eye widened in surprise and he looked over his shoulder to see nothing but a spiky blond mop. "Naruto?"

"…I'm glad you're okay, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi stared at him for a moment before he softened, allowing his surprised expression to fall into a small smile. "Yeah. Me, too."

And he really was okay. More okay than he had been in a long time. After all, Team Minato had given him something he hadn't had since the day Kyuubi had attacked; a reason to live. Three of them, actually. And as long as they were okay, so was he.