Once the Sims 2 decided that my 1.0 GHz wasn't good enough for its prissy system requirements of 1.2 GHz, I started working on this again. Plus my health is declining Hooray? But now I'm officially a KakaSaku person. Not that there will be incest here. That would be nasty. Oh, Kakashi and Sakura don't know much about the Ten Commandments.

Kakashi groaned, squinting against the blinding fluorescent light. Almost immediately, the strong smell of cleaning liquids and medicinal solutions filled his nostrils. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. Sterile environment… incessant beeping… white light burning through my eyelids… He groaned again, realizing that he was once more in the hospital.

Wondering what he had done to himself this time, he combed through various memories. Sitting on the couch reading… Sakura comes home… hmm, Sakura… Eyes still closed, he frowned. Hadn't I… fought with her about something? He struggled to remember, racking his brains until the familiar shouts and angry words drifted to the forefront of his mind. Ah, yes… she had been crying… and then… hmm… she left, didn't she? Yeah, and then she came home… His eyes widened as he registered how he had had come to find himself here in the first place. Flashes of plaster breaking and angry punches flew through his mind as the scene slowly pieced itself together. Sakura had beaten him into this condition only because he had, if memory served, flipped her off.

He gulped.

Nervously, he tested his extremities. He couldn't move the fingers on his right hand, let alone the rest of the arm; pain shot from his shoulder all the way down to the tip of his middle finger as he tried. His left arm seemed intact, or at least more so than its immobile counterpart. His legs gave only feeble responses to his attempts at moving them.

The worst came, however, when he tried to lift himself into a sitting position. His entire body seemed to scream in protest as pain seared through his chest, forcing him back down. His breath came in pants as the pain subsided, leaving him to lay flat lest it rear its ugly head again.

Dammit, Sakura…

He cracked open his right eye, muttering curses as it watered in response to the lights. Why on earth do they need those godforsaken things anyway? He shifted his gaze lazily from left to right, taking in as much as he could from his limited position on the bed. There was a window on his right, the curtain fluttering slightly in the breeze. He shivered; although the sky outside was sunny, the draft was cold. He tried to make himself more comfortable, but he couldn't turn onto his side or stretch out and there was nothing he could do about the itchy hospital gown and stiff blanket. Sighing irritably, he resigned himself to waiting patiently for something more exciting to happen.

In an effort to relax, he closed his eyes and tried to loosen his muscles. He did the best he could to push his shoulders down, wincing as his right arm resisted. He tried to wipe his mind blank, attempting to achieve a blissful state. The repetitive beeping of whatever machine was plugged into him wasn't doing much to help, however; he growled at the annoying sound. And people wonder why I hate hospitals…

His mental mantra was interrupted by the sound of the door creaking open. He opened his eye in interest; there wasn't much more he could do. His fatigue was too great for him to sense the chakra patterns, but judging by the imposing clack of stiletto on tile he could make some assumptions.

"Milady?" He looked up at the blonde woman standing at his bedside, hands on her hips; or rather, he tried to, but was a little distracted by her — ah — assets, which were dangling dangerously close to his face. She cleared her throat, feeling his gaze and finding herself thoroughly unamused by it. He let his gaze linger momentarily before re-directing it to her face. Her disapproving frown did not surprise him; out of all the things he had been hospitalized for, this one was probably the most ridiculous.

Tsunade clicked her tongue.

"What are we going to do with you, Hatake?" She sighed heavily and pulled out a clipboard, flipping lazily to a page. "Beaten up by your own daughter…" She chuckled. "Looks like I taught that girl well, huh?"

Kakashi did not join in on her laughter.

Tsunade's smile faded. "Lighten up, Hatake," she scoffed.

He cleared his throat.

"With all due respect, milady, you're not the one strapped to a hospital bed."

Tsunade let out a little "humph" and jotted something down on her paper.

"All right, then, you clever bastard, let's get this over with." She pointed the ballpoint at him accusingly before returning to her documents.

"Now… unfortunately, your head is fine… No concussions or any sign of mental damage." She harrumphed in annoyance. "Pity, I was hoping it would knock some sense into you." She frowned and bit her lip, looking over the rest of the report. "You've suffered several broken bones, most notably two in your rib cage and most of the bones in your right arm and legs…" She smirked over the top of her clipboard. Kakashi raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yes, milady?"

Tsunade's sadistic grin was replaced by a deceptive expression of hurt innocence.

"Oh, it's nothing…" she said absently, scribbling something down. "I'm just afraid that your middle finger will never be quite the same… you'll notice its future performances will be lacking." She flashed him another evil smile and made a dramatic tap on the clipboard.

Kakashi sighed.

"How long do I have to stay here?"

"Longer than you'd like."

Kakashi frowned.

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't be here at all."

Tsunade crossed her arms, exaggerating her cleavage even further and distracting Kakashi.

"Would you rather have me trust Sakura to heal your wounds?"

Kakashi snapped back into reality. He contemplated this before smiling at Tsunade.

"Thank you for your kind treatment."

Again, Tsunade merely let out a disgruntled sound before turning and walking away. Before she could exit, however, she ran into an incoming pink-haired visitor.

"Oh!" Both women let out cries of surprise. Tsunade immediately stepped back, bringing Sakura into plain view. The girl was rubbing her nose and biting her lip, looking up at her mentor apologetically.

"I'm so sorry, shishou," she said, stumbling over her words. Kakashi imagined the image of Tsunade standing there with her hands on her hips was pretty intimidating. "I didn't see you coming."

How could you not? Kakashi mused. She's not that difficult to miss. It occurred to him, however, that men might be more likely to notice Tsunade than women.

Tsunade waved her student's apology away.

"Doesn't matter," she said. "I did want to talk to you about this, though." She gestured with her clipboard at Kakashi's hospital bed. Sakura followed her movements and, when she made eye contact with Kakashi, adopted an even more apologetic look.

"Dad!" she exclaimed. "I—"

"Talk to him later," Tsunade snapped, and Sakura's eyes swiveled back onto Tsunade. The older woman sighed before regarding Sakura warily. "While I approve of your proactive approach to dealing with the aggressive or oppressive men in your life, I can't say I approve of this." Again she made a reference to the hardly conscious Kakashi. "This man has had enough damage to his body and, while he deserved every last injury, his performance as a shinobi is pretty important and we regrettably can't afford any unnecessary damage to his oh so fragile person." She tapped her foot impatiently. "In short, don't do it again." With a final warning look, she strutted past Sakura.

The swinging of the door gave way to silence. Kakashi closed his eyes, too tired to instigate any interaction. He heard footsteps as Sakura approached him and the scraping of wood on tile as she pulled up a chair on his left.

"So… how are you?"

Kakashi cracked an eye open to glare at her. To match her annoyingly peppy voice, she was sticking her tongue out playfully at him.

"Mmrmff." Sakura only giggled at his less than enthusiastic response.

"Well, at least now you know how to treat me with respect," she said, her innocent grin melting into a dark smirk. Now that Tsunade was gone, it seemed she had lost any pretense of feeling remorse over her actions.

Kakashi snorted incredulously.

"Respect?" he muttered, squinting angrily at his daughter. "What about respect for your parents? Isn't it a rule somewhere?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"No!" she said defiantly. "Of course not."

Kakashi frowned. "Oh." He paused. "Well, regardless, you don't think you might have overreacted?"

For a moment, it appeared that Sakura was actually seriously considering this suggestion. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, tilting her head and looking at the ceiling. With a snap of her fingers her gaze returned to him, a smile again plastered onto her face.

"Nope!" she said cheerfully. Kakashi scowled and turned his head away from her; it was about the biggest act of defiance he could perform. Sakura laughed at him, saying something about childishness. Kakashi deigned not to respond.

A loud yawn escaped Sakura as she stretched, rubbing her eyes. "Your room is kinda boring," she said, looking around. She sighed as she noticed the bare endtable. "Not even any flowers, huh?"

"Flowers?" Kakashi contemplated this. He hadn't had flowers in his hospital room since he was fifteen. "Hmm… no, I don't like them much." His tone was light and carried no hints of the underlying pang of sadness.

"Not like flowers?" Sakura scoffed. "Don't be silly. Everyone likes flowers." She crossed her arms and fixed the back of his head with a hard stare. He felt her gaze but didn't respond, letting his mind wander. After a long silence, she put her foot against his bed and leaned back in her chair.

"You're terrible," she concluded.

Kakashi smiled into his blanket. "I try," he said dryly.

Sakura wrinkled her nose again but said nothing; the door clicking open interrupted their banter.

"Hey Sakura! Hey Sensei!" Kakashi groaned as Sakura lit up; both of them immediately recognized that loud voice.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, the legs of her chair meeting the floor with a thud. She straightened up, beaming. "Hi!"

Naruto grinned goofily as he walked over. "I heard Kakashi-sensei was in the hospital and so I decided to drop by and say hello!" As he spotted the bedridden Kakashi, however, he scrunched his face up in confusion. "Why are you in the hospital, anyway?"

More muttering escaped Kakashi as Sakura smiled sheepishly. Naruto looked between the two of them, struggling to put two and two together.

"Ne… You didn't do this to him, did you, Sakura-chan?" His voice was small and his eyes were wide. Sakura nodded and Naruto's mouth shrunk into a tiny "oh". Beads of sweat ran down his face.

"Eh… I see…" He gulped, tugging at the collar of his jumpsuit. "Er… why?" It was more of a frightened squeak than an actual question.

Sakura's grin was priceless.

"He flipped me off."

Naruto stood frozen, gaping silently. He was sweating profusely now and looking nervously between Kakashi's still figure and Sakura's smiling face. On numerous occasions he had come dangerously close to giving Sakura the bird. He was now thanking the heavens he had always reconsidered.

"Oh… Ha… ha…" he laughed shakily, rubbing the back of his neck. How can someone so pretty be so dangerous…?

Sakura continued to shine her smile at him. "I know, it's funny how carried away I can get sometimes." Her tinkling laugh sent shivers down Naruto's spine. Inside, Sakura rejoiced at his fright. Heh, Naruto's so easy to scare. She watched the sweat roll down his tanned cheeks, following the trail of the moisture as it changed direction and speed to match the curves of his face. Come to think of it, he looks kinda cute when he's nervous…

She blinked the thought away and looked instead at the clock above his head. Her eyes got wide as she realized the time.

"Damn!" She jumped to her feet. Both Naruto and Kakashi looked at her with surprise.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"I'm late!" She adjusted the straps of her boots hurriedly, fumbling with the fastenings.

"For what?"

"I have to give Shizune a report on some medical research," she explained, grabbing some papers she had set down. "I was supposed to meet her fifteen minutes ago but it slipped my mind because I was coming here…" She shuffled through her papers, her desperation apparent.

"Nn, I'm sure Shizune will understand," Kakashi reassured her, peeking out over his blanket.

"Tch, she's been really moody lately," Sakura said, sliding the papers into an envelope and stuffing it into her bag. "Anyway, I have to go! Bye!" She waved and bounded out of the room.

Naruto seemed to deflate as she left. "Eh… well… I have to go too, then," he said. He looked over at Kakashi only to be met with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

"Convenient timing," Kakashi commented.

Naruto scrunched his face up again. "What?"

"Nothing," Kakashi said. "Just go and do… whatever it is you do, I guess."

Naruto snickered.

"Now that I think of it," he said, "this is pretty funny… You getting beaten up by Sakura and all…"

Kakashi flashed him a warning glare and Naruto twitched, watching the tomoe in his sensei's Sharingan swirl menacingly.

"All right! I'm out, I'm out!" He scampered out of the room and in the space of a few seconds Kakashi couldn't even sense his chakra anymore.

Satisfied, Kakashi relaxed. He did his best to settle in his bed, hoping to fall asleep before the pain medication started wearing off. He could already feel its effects ebbing away, but it wasn't that hard to pass into unconsciousness. After all, compared to the noise Naruto and Sakura had made, the beeping didn't seem that bad.

(…)

"Damn!"

Kurenai stopped and steadied herself against a wall, breathing in and out slowly. A hand immediately flew to her stomach as she fingered her belly softly, trying to soothe the kicking baby within. "Dammit," she growled through gritted teeth, bracing herself against the pain. "Would you calm down already?" A passing man gave her an odd look, but the venomous glare she shot him in return sent him hobbling down the street, muttering something about hormones.

After the kicking had subsided, Kurenai started walking again. She tried her best to appreciate the warm and sunny weather, but it wasn't enough to distract her from all the happy people walking by. They seemed to follow her, haunting her every step like a shadow; arms locked and stepping in sync, lovers seemed to be everywhere. It was strange; when Asuma had been around, she had thought there was a strange lack of romantic activity on the streets of Konoha. At first she had felt conspicuous, walking down the streets hand in hand with Asuma, but now she felt like she stood out for being alone. The bulge in her belly wasn't helping matters.

"Men," she muttered spitefully. Something squirmed in her lower abdomen. "I know," she assured the baby. "They have terrible timing." She patted her belly consolingly.

She froze, suddenly conscious of what she was doing. Her arms dropped to her sides. Oh, look at me, she sighed. I'm talking to someone who can't even hear me… Slumping her shoulders, she started walking again. So focused was she on her depressing state that she almost didn't hear someone calling out to her.

"Kurenai!" Someone shouted. "Hey, Kurenai!"

Snapping back into reality, Kurenai stopped. She turned her head towards the source of the voice, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Shizune?" She faced the approaching woman fully, crossing her arms in surprise.

"Hi," Shizune said, waving. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "I saw you walking, and I… I was worried about—"

Kurenai dismissed her with a wave of the hand.

"You're always worried, Shizune," she said, putting a hand on her hip. Shizune noticed the sunlight glinting off of the ring on Kurenai's finger. Her spacey smile was replaced by a small frown. She straightened, looking up into her friend's face. There were deep circles under Kurenai's eyes, which were outlined by red and puffy skin. Her face was pale and framed by a frizzy mess of black hair.

"I have every right to be," she said. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned forward, balancing on the balls of her feet. "Have you been eating okay, Kurenai? You don't look well, and you have to be extra careful because of the baby."

Kurenai sighed. "I've been eating fine, Shizune," she assured her, shaking her head. "I'm just tired, that's all." She allowed herself a small chuckle. "You would be too if you were pregnant."

A blush rose in Shizune's face. Her eyes darted nervously from side to side before she squeezed them shut, hunching her shoulders. Kurenai gasped.

"Shizune, you're not—?"

Shizune nodded hastily. Almost immediately, she found herself wrapped in the arms of her friend.

"That's fantastic, Shizune!" she exclaimed. She rocked back and forth a little before releasing her friend. Beaming, she stepped back, holding onto both of Shizune's hands. A little bemused, Shizune smiled back.

"I'm pretty excited," she admitted. Kurenai laughed, swinging their arms a little. "Of course you are!" Shizune giggled sheepishly.

"Say…" Kurenai whispered, looking around as if checking for eavesdroppers. "It is Genma's, right?"

Shizune blushed furiously. "Of course it is!" she whispered, scandalized. "I don't sleep around!" She turned her nose up at the thought.

"I know you don't," Kurenai said, sticking her tongue out. She let their hands drop and yawned.

"Well, we should definitely get together later," she said. "Then we can talk all about this!"

Shizune blinked, looking a little confused.

"Where are you going now?" she asked.

"I have to visit someone in the hospital," Kurenai explained hurriedly. "But don't worry, it's just a quick visit and when I'm done, I'm coming straight over to your place!"

Shizune laughed nervously. "I don't know if that's such a good idea… er…"

"Why not?"

"Um… well… Genma's not in the best condition right now, you see… he's a little…"

"Shaken up?" Kurenai finished for her, ending with a small laugh. "Asuma was the same way." Her excited expression gave way to a fond smile. She looked as if she were staring off into some faraway land beyond her reach as she said quietly, "He was so excited, though. He couldn't believe we had actually made a baby."

Uncomfortable with the silence that followed and starting to feel sick to the stomach again, Shizune gave Kurenai another hug. "I'll calm Genma down if he hasn't gone out already," she said, and it seemed like she was trying to reassure herself more than Kurenai. "Knowing him, though, he's probably gone off drinking." She was relieved to see that Kurenai laughed along with her, although it was a little shaky. "You hang in there, okay?"

Kurenai nodded distractedly. "Mm-hm," she said. "I'll see you in a couple of minutes!" She waved as Shizune hurried out of sight. Her hand remained half-heartedly raised into the air as she watched her friend scurry home, eager to share the confirmed news with her boyfriend.

Memories of Kurenai's own life-changing visit to the hospital surfaced in her mind. She remembered throwing up all over Asuma's couch and mumbling apologetically as Asuma scrubbed it up, simultaneously cursing and forgiving her. "Dammit, Kurenai, it's kind of a bitchy thing to do but it's not your fault, I guess… Maybe you should go to the hospital?" Go to the hospital she had, although he preferred to visit Kakashi rather than sit with her and find out what was wrong. "I thought it was a woman thing, you know? And besides, I needed a man to talk to." Kurenai found it slightly ironic that now she was going to visit Kakashi when she had thought it such an insensitive thing for Asuma to do. At least I'm not bringing my entire team, she reminded herself, remembering how Asuma had felt it necessary to drag the whole ensemble around whenever he needed moral support.

Kurenai sighed, rubbing at her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she bent her knees and squatted, picking a flower off of the side of the road. She straightened up and exhaled slowly, stroking the petals of the daisy she had claimed.

"You're cute, aren't you?" she said, observing it. "Innocent, too." She squinted and looked ahead of her, staking out the hospital. She was only a street or two away.

"All right, you ready?" She patted her belly encouragingly and kept walking.

(…)

The hospital was mostly deserted at this time of day. Afternoons were never lazy for the staff because there were always people who needed assistance, but even a medical ninja couldn't even entertain the idea of being busy when the clouds were so fluffy and the sky was so blue. There also weren't many visitors, and so Kurenai found herself almost completely alone as she walked through the eerily sterile hallways.

Counting the room numbers under her breath, she stopped outside Kakashi's door. She flattened her hair, wondering dimly how long it had been since she had even seen a comb. Shrugging the notion off, she pushed open the door.

Kakashi was, unsurprisingly, asleep. If he had been awake, it was fairly certain that he would already be trying to slip out the window, broken bones or not. He had never been one for hospitals, Kurenai remembered, and she could quite clearly recall some of the wilder stories Asuma had told her about Kakashi's "escape missions", as he called them. Kakashi had denied most of these had ever happened, but even he couldn't hide his smirk.

Slowly, Kurenai walked towards the bed. She was glad this hadn't been the room he was in when Asuma had visited before… Well, Kurenai didn't like to think about it. All that mattered was that this wasn't it. She folded her arms across her chest, observing Kakashi carefully. It wasn't that often that she got the chance to see him sleep; whenever she encountered him, he was usually slouching with his nose in that smut of his. Now, while the blanket was still covering most of his face, he seemed less to be hiding and more to be… Kurenai couldn't put her finger on it. After some careful observation, however, she decided that she liked him better this way.

Her eyes wandered to the endtable beside his bed, bare but for an empty vase. She was all of a sudden very aware of the flower she was holding loosely. Tilting her head to the side, she considered putting the flower in the vase and its possible repercussions. Sure, she thought, it seemed like a nice gesture and all, but if it were to be misconstrued…

Kurenai shook her head. She leaned forward and dropped the daisy in the vase. It slid a little, the face drooping down over the side. With a little tap, though, it was beautiful as it could have been in the ground. After pouring a little water in the vase to keep the flower fresh, Kurenai stepped back to admire her work. She figured that it would be a pleasant surprise for Kakashi when he woke up. After all, Kakashi never got flowers. Not anymore.

She turned and started to leave, catching herself in the doorway and looking back. It was calming to see Kakashi lying there, breathing slowly and accompanied by a single daisy. It seemed right, somehow. Kurenai smiled and left, closing the door quietly behind her.

Sometimes it was best not to over-think things.