Okay, this is part one of two!
Let me know what you think. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Only Sayane and the plot belong to me.
Always. She'd always been there. Through some of the hardest times in his life. When Rin died and all he'd been able to see was her blood on his hands. Even before that when Obito had died. When his sensei had died.
~X~
"Kakashi-kun?" A soft voice spoke.
The silver haired young man did not look up, too buried within his own mind for it to register that someone had spoken. All he could do was stare at his left hand, holding his wrist with his right hand as he trembled.
"Kakashi-kun..." The same voice, only this time it had softened. And it was accompanied by a hand resting on his shoulder.
Kakashi jolted when he felt the sudden hand on his shoulder, his head snapping up to look at who the hand belonged to. What he found were a pair of kind, but concerned, light green eyes staring at him. The eyes belonged to a young woman with light skin and long, dark brown hair. Her bangs swept across her forehead, resting just above her eyes across her eyebrows.
"Sa... Sayane..." He whispered out brokenly as he gazed up at her. "Red... It won't go away... So red..." His gaze settled back on his hand as he continued to tremble.
"Oh... Kakashi-kun..." Sayane whispered, pain in her eyes for him. She took a seat beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, causing him to slump against her chest. He continued to tremble and shake, not taking his eyes off of his hand.
~X~
"Kakashi-kun!" Sayane called out, waving an arm in the air as she rushed over to greet the returning team. There was a smile on her face as she skidded to a stop in front of him.
All he did was stare at her, a bandage covering his left eye.
"Hello, Rin-san!" She beamed, turning her attention to her fellow kunoichi.
Rin said nothing, biting her lip as she dropped her gaze to the ground.
"Minato-sensei!" She grinned up at the Jounin. Her grin was returned with a weak smile.
"Hello, Sayane-chan." He softly returned her greeting.
She blinked a couple of times, looking between all three of them and noticing that someone was missing. "Where's Obito-kun?"
Kakashi clenched his fists, not saying anything. And Rin had to bite her bottom lip to keep more tears from flowing.
"Where is he?" Sayane asked again, looking rather confused by his absence.
"He didn't make it." Minato told her gently.
"Wh... What?" Her eyes widened considerably as she pressed a hand to her mouth. "Th... That can't be!"
"I'm afraid it is." His voice stayed gentle as he walked by her, giving her hair a small ruffle.
She looked up at him when she felt his hand on her hair. The look in his eyes told her that it, in fact, was the truth. The sorrow that was held within those normally happy blue orbs.
Rin was quick to follow after Minato, keeping her eyes on the ground as she followed after her sensei.
With Minato and Rin having gone on ahead, that left Sayane's gaze to fall on Kakashi. His fists were still clenched as he moved to walk by her as well.
"Kakashi-kun?" Sayane softly asked, chewing on her bottom lip.
He glanced up at her with his right eye, pausing for a moment.
"I'm so sorry." Tears were welling up in her eyes as she looked at him. If Minato's look was that filled with sorrow, then the look in Kakashi's one visible eye was heartbreak. And before he had a chance to answer, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
His eyes widened at the contact, merely frozen in her embrace.
~X~
"The Fourth Hokage has passed. He gave his life to protect the village by sealing the Nine Tails." Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, spoke grimly.
"What?" A gasp left Sayane's mouth when she'd received the news. When the nine tails had attacked the village, she'd been out of the village as the medical nin of a four man squad. She'd come to give her mission report to the Fourth Hokage, only to find the Third Hokage there.
"It's a tragic loss." Hizuren's words were soft, sorrow-filled. The loss of Minato, as well as Kushina and the other lives that had been lost to the Kyuubi, shook him to his very core.
"This... This is terrible news..." She murmured, gently placing her mission report on the desk in front of him. Her heart broke for Hiruzen and for the village. Minato had been such a good Hokage. And the ninja that had been lost as well...They'd been good people. "I'm very sorry."
Hiruzen nodded his head, smiling just a touch at her. "Thank you, Sayane."
"Of course, Hokage-sama." She bowed her head to him, before turning to leave his office.
Immediately after leaving the Hokage's office, she raced to the Memorial Stone. And she wasn't surprised to find Kakashi there, gazing at the stone. His eyes were no doubt on Rin and Obito's names.
She approached the stone, stopping once she was next to him. Nothing was said as she stood beside him. After a couple of minutes, she turned to him, looking up at him.
He turned his head to look down at her. A broken look in his eye. He'd lost his entire team. His teammates, his sensei. Nearly everyone.
"Oh, Kakashi-kun..." She whispered as she reached her arms out and pulled him into a tight hug.
His arms wound around her, clutching her to him as he pressed his face into her shoulder. His body shook, and she could have sworn she even felt something wet on her shoulder.
~X~
Ever since the beginning, she'd always been there for him. When he'd first met her, he hadn't thought much of her. She was just another kunoichi with average skills. Her only talent had been her medical ninjutsu. Her other skills has improved as the years went on, but her medical ninjutsu was the one thing she had always excelled at. So, when she decided to become a full-fledged medical nin, it wasn't a surprise to anyone.
~X~
"I've decided to become a medical nin." Sayane stated as she looked at Kakashi.
"It is what you're good at." Kakashi gave a nod of his head, hands shoved in his pockets as he glanced at her.
"Well, it's not just that." She softly smiled as she turned her head to look up at the sky. "I want to be able to save people's lives, Kakashi-kun. Not destroy them. So, if I can save even one life, that's enough for me."
~X~
That had always been just how she was. Only thinking of others, and never thinking of herself. She'd always been one to always put other people before herself. If she could do something to help or save someone, she did it. She had one of the kindest hearts he'd ever known. And that was why she never should have been on the battlefield in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"Sayane!" He cried out, his eyes widened as he stared at her.
She stood in front of him, her back to him. But he didn't need to see her front to see how bad her injuries were. She had jumped in front of an attack that had been aimed at him. He had been so focused on taking out the white Zetsus that had been attacking him that he didn't see the attack incoming attack until it had been too late for him to dodge.
She had been pierced in the abdomen, shoulder and arms since she'd used them to shield her face. Blood dripped from the corners of her mouth as blood seeped from her wounds.
"K... K... Kakashi-san..." She stammered out, looking over her shoulder at him with a bloodied smile. Then she fell backwards towards the ground. Only she didn't hit the ground. Kakashi had jumped forward to catch her before she collapsed, holding her under her back and knees in his arms against his chest.
"Sa... Sayane..." He whispered, looking down at her pale face with great pain in his eyes. He couldn't... He couldn't lose her too. Not her. "Why?"
"To save you..." The smile was still on her face as she gazed up at him. Slowly, she reached a hand up, placing it on his masked cheek. "I'd do anything... To save you..."
He shook his head, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. "You shouldn't have done that..."
"I... I'd rather die... Than let you die..." She whispered, her eyes fluttering closed.
"No... No..." He clutched her to his chest as he held her. He couldn't lose her. He just couldn't.
"Kakashi." A voice came from his side. A voice that he wasn't used to hearing sound so... Serious.
He glanced up to find Gai standing there beside him. "Gai..."
"I'll handle this." Gai turned his head to look down at Kakashi with a grin, giving him a thumbs up.
Understanding what Gai meant by this, Kakashi instantly took off with Sayane in his arms, racing to where the medical tents were located. On the way he dodged white Zetsu after white Zetsu, but he made it to the tent, placing her on one of the beds in there. And now, all he could do was leave her in there, as much as he wanted to stay with her. There was a war going on that he had to fight in. Not to mention the new anger that flowed through him. For hurting her... There would be hell to pay.