Sakura haruno was starting to get worried. Team 7's leader, Kakashi Hatake, was habitually late, but he had never been this late before. add to that the fact that he had been coughing during training yesterday, and it was enough to make one worry, she thought. she turned to the rest of her team, to Sasuke Uchiha first, who looked unruffled as ever. in fact, he looked bored. Naruto Uzumaki, the third member of the team, had worn that expression over an hour ago, and now had a mischevious look as he searched for a way to entertain himself- or, as most people thought, a way to be annoying. finally, it was he who broke the silence.

'aww, where is he, anyway? he said 6, and it's past 9!'

sakura rubbed her forehead, grumbling under her breath about having to deal with such an annoying person. but the worry made itself known again, and she cleared her throat, making the two boys look at her. 'you don't think, maybe, he's sick, do you?' she suggested. 'he was coughing yesterday.'

Naruto only laughed at the thought. 'Kakashi-sensei sick? no germ would even get near him! I bet he'd see them coming and blast them with a jutsu before they even got close!'

sasuke scoffed. what an idiot, he thought. 'maybe we should go see where he is,' he suggested aloud. 'we could practice our stealth training that way, and we aren't doing anything just waiting here.' Sakura nodded eagerly at the idea, and led the trio from the training grounds to a spot near kakashi's apartment, where they could see through an open window.

kakashi was sitting on the side of his bed, tying on one of his sandals, when the three genin stopped on the roof opposite to observe. he was almost finished tying the laces when a violent coughing fit made him double over, fists clenched, one in front of his mouth, the other clutching a handful of bedsheet. not only is he sick, sakura thought in alarm, he looks like he's in a lot of pain! after a few moments, he straightened up, finishing the laces of both sandals. he moved to stand up and swayed slightly, catching himself on the wall for a moment before straightening and heading for the door. naruto was a bit frightened at this sight. kakashi-sensei can walk on a telephone cable as easily as a floor, but he's off balance. that can't be good. the three debated whether to head back to the training ground or head for their mentor's door, but three became two as sasuke jumped down from the roof, ending their bickering. 'morning, sensei,' he greeted as kakashi opened the door.

'ah, sorry everyone, I guess I must have really slept in today,' the jonin commented, his one visible eye scrunching shut with amusement. naruto supposed he must be smiling, but how could you tell with three-quarters of his face covered up? 'how long have you been waiting? I didn't know you were here,' he continued, looking about at the faces of his students.

'only a little while,' sakura said. 'should we get going? I can't wait to see what we'll be practicing today!' naruto blurted, turning around, ready to head back to the training grounds.

it became apparent something was wrong as the day wore on. all three of the students surreptitiously watched their mentor through the rest of the morning. sakura was right, he was coughing regularly and more frequently, and chose to sit during much of the practice. when it came time to break for lunch, he moved away from them, on the pretense of reading his book, and headed for the tree line, jumping for a low branch, as he did quite frequently. both sasuke and sakura were turned toward him, and both saw he had been off-balance when he'd jumped, missing the branch completely and having to quickly grab a kunai and shove it into the tree trunk to keep himself from falling. it was only a small falter, but they both saw it, and by now even sasuke was starting to be concerned about their teacher.

the three students sat down to eat their lunch, every so often taking turns keeping an eye on their teacher, and it was naruto who shot suddenly to his feet, darting for the foot of the tree kakashi was in- or rather, had been in. he didn't have enough warning though, and was only able to break his mentor's fall instead of catch him properly. the other two were at his side in an instant. 'he's out cold!' sakura wailed in fright.

'calm down,' sasuke said, checking his pulse. 'he's still alive. we need to get him to the hospital.'

naruto quickly ran off, grabbing a pair of staves and one of the flags they'd been using for practice, lashing them together into a stretcher and bringing it back. the other two team members had flipped kakashi over and straightened him up and naruto stopped short, dropping the stretcher beside his teacher's still form. 'is that...blood?' he asked, nodding at the face mask their sensei always wore. it was covered in patches of dark reddish brown, hard to see against the black- had it been there, and they hadn't noticed?

the two boys quickly loaded kakashi onto the stretcher, carrying him to the hospital in their village, konoha, while sakura followed along behind, fists covering her mouth as she worried. when they got to the hospital, the matron took one look at kakashi and fetched two orderlies to take him to a room, shooing the three genin out again with a worried look on her face.

naruto was pacing on top of a roof with his teammates a couple of hours later. in fact, it was the same rooftop they'd been on just that very morning. he paused and said, 'you know what, I bet it's just the flu or something- he'll be fine by tomorrow, dattebayo!' sakura just let out a sigh and sank a little deeper, mouth covered by fists. sasuke was frowning, concerned- he knew it wasn't just the flu, though he didn't know what it really was.

the three were interrupted by the appearance of an orderly. 'matron says you're allowed to see-' he stopped talking as the three youngsters had already disappeared. 'you're not going to like what she has to tell you,' he sighed, turning to head back to the hospital himself.

naruto barged into the hospital's main room, demanding to see his sensei. 'this way, young man,' the matron said, coming through a door to their left. she motioned them through, taking the lead to a large room with a single bed. 'he's resting now, and I've tried to make him comfortable,' she said, looking sad.

'what is it, matron? what does he have?' sakura asked, eyes glistening with tears.

'something I'd only ever read about, and never actually seen,' the matron replied. 'it's called "sand fever", and almost all reported cases have occurred in that ninja village. it's rare, and difficult to get, which is a good thing.'

'well, it's not a good thing for him- he's already got it!' naruto pointed out heatedly. 'so how do you fix sand fever?' the matron looked down sadly, not replying. 'well?' he demanded as she stayed silent. 'matron, you can tell us,' sasuke added.

the matron swallowed and reluctantly replied, 'the scrolls talk of a cure- it's made from a certain herb that only grows near the sand village. but it's nearly impossible to obtain!' she said as naruto's eyes lit with hope.

'well, you can just doctor him and he'll get better on his own, won't he?' sakura asked timidly. wasn't that usually how diseases worked? but the matron shook her head. 'I'm afraid not. without the cure, the mortality rate is 100%.' sakura gasped, tears welling in her eyes. sasuke and naruto were likewise taken aback. 'you-you mean-' naruto stammered, unable to finish the thought. sasuke did it for him. 'he's going to die?'

'almost undoubtedly, without that herb, and there's no way for me to get it with such short notice,' the matron said, hanging her head in dismay and regret. 'in any case, you can see him now, though he probably won't wake up for a little while yet- keeping him sedated is the only way to slow the disease's progress.' she turned and left the room, leaving their view of their teacher unimpeded.

in just a few hours kakashi had changed rapidly, and not for the better. he had been a little flushed this morning, probably with a fever; now he was pale as death. the matron had taken away all the clothes he'd been wearing when he'd come in, as well as his headband, to be sanitized or burned if they had blood on them. noting his permanent sharingan, a nurse had put a bandage over his eye to cover it, and kakashi had at some point pulled the blanket up over his nose to cover his face, so you still couldn't see it. there was sweat beaded on his face and his hair looked extra-spiky with it. a damp cloth lay on his brow in an effort to keep him cool.

the three sat with him for a time, keeping vigil until near sundown, when a nurse came in and shooed them away, carrying something to keep their teacher sedated. they headed out, regrouping at sakura's house, where naruto began pacing again. 'we can't just let him die!' he said, footsteps rapid across the floor. 'matron said there's a cure. we have to go and get it and bring it back to her, and then he'll get better.'

'but naruto,' sakura objected. 'we're only genin. we can't just go off by ourselves, especially to another ninja village! it's dangerous. kakashi-sensei wouldn't want us to risk our lives for his like that. don't be stupid.'

'where'd he even get sand fever from anyway?' naruto demanded. 'she said it's only found in the sand village, and he hasn't been there in ages!'

'you know, naruto actually has a point,' sasuke said reluctantly. 'where could he have gotten it when we haven't been anywhere near the sand village? it could be someone gave him sand fever deliberately- it's just as effective as a poison and is difficult to cure.'

'EXACTLY!' naruto yelled, jabbing his finger at sasuke. 'that makes this a mission, and you never leave a team member to die! we have to get that cure for him, dattebayo!'

'well,' sasuke said, 'like sakura pointed out, we're only genin, and not authorized to travel to another land outside of official business, like missions. real missions,' he added as naruto opened his mouth to argue. 'there's no way they'd ever let us go.' he let out a sigh. 'you have to accept this is something you can't win, naruto.'

'we'll just have to make his last few days good ones, and show him how hard we can work,' sakura said, voice quavering as she wanted to cry.

'you can do that,' naruto blurted angrily. he jabbed a thumb at his chest. 'I'm going to save him, dattebayo!' he stormed out, heading to his own house.

'I don't like the sound of that,' sasuke muttered, standing up and nodding to sakura. 'I'll see you tomorrow for training.' sakura nodded, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. 'six oclock,' she said, letting out a sad laugh. 'don't be late.'