Discalimer: Masashi Kishimoto is the rightful owner of "Naruto".

A Chance

Chapter One, Hard Feelings.

She could feel her heart beating in quick rhythm as she picked up her speed and raced down the branches of trees. She could see the smoke right ahead and her ears picked up the sound of clashing metal. She knew that she had to make it in time or else he would be gone; everything will be over. She briefly looked at the four other nins below her, all elite and ranked ANBU status. She could see the fear in their eyes that they might not make it in time. Her heart dropped at the thought of losing the most important people in her life.

Brushing the negative thoughts from her head, she heard her squad captain yell out an order behind her. "Genma! Get Kakashi from Haru as quickly as you can and take him back to base camp. Sakura, assist Genma and Haru on the journey back just in case they get ambushed. We can handle it from here and assist Naruto in fighting off those jackasses."

Anko's voice was stern but Sakura could hear a hint of fear in them. She didn't need to be told twice. All she wanted to do was get Kakashi the hell out of there and back to safety. Of course, she hadn't forgotten about Naruto but after the quick static on the radio and heard his voice boom into her earpiece, she knew he was holding fine on his own trying to protect their former team leader. She had enough trust in his power to have a little confidence that this mission wouldn't result to a fail.

But still … She knew the sight of him would affect her in every way.

The sounds of clanking metal got louder and the fight finally came into view. She scanned the area surrounded by Naruto and his bunshins trying to fight off four enemy nins. She saw his bloodstained ANBU uniform and noticed his heavy panting. He must've been in that fight much longer than she expected.

The glow of green chakra to the corner of her eye attracted her vision and she saw him. The sight of him laying unconscious on the ground with Haru hovering above him made her stomach drop. Haru was kneeling on his side with her arms stretched out above his bare chest producing light green chakra trying to heal his open wound. His mask, shirt, vest, and headband were discarded on the ground beside his body. Haru and Kakashi's body were protected by a forcefield produced from Haru's chakra. Sakura mentally thanked the young woman's ability to create forcefields because it protected them from the enemy nins and gave Haru a chance to keep Kakashi alive.

"Sakura, Let's go!" Genma shouted dropping down from the branches below her. She followed quickly and hurried towards Haru and Kakashi's unconscious body. As they neared them, Haru released the forcefield and let her body go limp on the ground as relief flooded though her to see aid coming along. Her chakra was depleted and she was using the last bit of it to protect herself and keep her lieutenant's heart beating.

Genma and Sakura finally reached the pair lying on the ground. Genma hoisted Kakashi over his shoulder while Sakura grabbed Kakashi's things from the floor and helped Haru get on her feet. "Come on Haru, work with me now. We need to leave before the enemy nins turn their attention on us."

"I … I can't. No … chakra …" The weak medic said in what little energy she had. Sakura grunted and copied Genma's move to carry Kakashi. She hoisted the medic on her shoulders and with one look behind her, she prayed to the Gods above that they will keep her bestfriend and her teammates safe as they continued to battle each other. Wasting no time, she darted off into the trees following quickly behind Genma.

For what seemed like hours, they finally reached the base camp and she could see the rest of the camp scampering towards them. As Ibiki approached the two elites carrying unconscious bodies, he knew he had to send in more reinforcements. If the enemy nins could do this to the great Copy ninja, he dared to know what they could do to the Uzumaki boy. But then again, the boy's unstoppable. He was pretty sure reinforcements weren't really necessary but he might as well take the safe road. The boy's no superhero, he has his limits.

Yes, reinforcements are good. "Send the rest of the ANBU team to Naruto's location now and make sure to come back alive!"

The group of men who heard his orders scattered around the area and within seconds, a mass of ninjas sporting ANBU attires surrounded the clearing. After hearing brief instructions from Ibiki, they scattered and was on their way to Naruto's location.

Ibiki turned his attention towards Sakura and Genma, concern filling his eyes as he focused on the unconscious body of the Copy Ninja and one of his rookie medics.

"Damn it, Kakashi." He gruntled to himself as he neared Genma. "Bring him to the med tent. Sakura! Work on him for God's sake. I'll have another medic work on Haru."

Sakura could feel the fear in his tone. She knew everyone was just as surprised as she was to see Kakashi defeated. She nodded once and they rushed towards the only tent that had a red cross on its front flap.

Genma set Kakashi down on one of the hospital beds. He grabbed his wrist and checked for a pulse making sure that his friend was still alive. Slow beats pulsating from Kakashi's wrist assured him enough. He had the utmost confidence that Sakura could bring him back to normal.

Sakura set Haru down gently on the bed next to Kakashi and almost immediately, another medic had come in to aid her.

"Haru …"

Sakura turned her head to see a small young woman standing beside her. She had long brown hair and wore her medic gown above her ANBU uniform. Her golden brown eyes scanned the unconscious body of the young medic. Sakura forgot they were close friends and it must be hard for her to see Haru in this kind of state. As if breaking the trance from Kaiyo, Sakura calmly gave her orders.

"Her chakra is depleted and she has wounds all around her body. None of them are fatal which is good so I just need you to work on her wounds and give her some pain medication so she can rest and gain her strength back."

Kaiyo nodded and with one swift movement, green chakra glowed from her delicate hands.

"Don't worry, Haru. You're safe now." She whispered to her friend.

"Sakura! Come on, he's dying!" Genma yelled behind her. Sakura made her way to Kakashi's body and stood on the opposite side of the bed.

"Calm down, Shiranui. Haru did a good job of keeping him alive. " She said in a strained voice as she produced her own chakra to work on Kakashi's open wounds.

"I don't supposed you expect me to believe that you don't care about him." The senbon sucking shinobi spat out.

She whipped her eyes at him, glaring daggers. "What the fuck are you talking about? I never said I didn't care about him. Please, Genma. Get out of here. Stop stressing me out. I'm trying to work."

Genma knew he had lost some of his sanity when he saw his friend unconscious. It took awhile for him to digest Sakura's words but he could see clearly now that Kakashi is in good hands. Without any other spoken word, he left the med tent just as Sakura requested.

The light breeze outside her med tent creeped in through the flaps and made her shiver. The lack of light shining in through the door was enough to tell her it was nearing sun down. She sat on a wooden chair, tired and exhausted. After working on Kakashi all afternoon, she managed to bring his color back and close all his wounds. She was thankful that not much damaged was done to his body but she knew that the sharingan would give him the most pain once he woke up.

The thought of him safe and alive made her feel well … and drained. All she wanted to do was sit down and relax but that thought became impossible when more medics stormed into the med tent carrying Naruto. He wasn't unconscious or dead, she knew from one look that his wounds managed to heal themselves. He was simply drained and needed some rest. She silently thanked the Kyuubi inside of him for the healing powers. As more medics rushed in with other injured nins, she knew it would be a restless day. But none of their wounds looked fatal so it should be easy to heal.

That was some hours ago. Now, there was nothing but silence in the med tent. It was a bit deafening, actually. She couldn't even here one rummage from the camp. Expected, she thought. Today's agenda did really get them worked up.

Sakura gazed on all the bodies resting soundly on the medic beds. Some of them had been sent out, one of them being Naruto. He's always been a strong man and didn't need a lot of tending to. She was impressed with her bestfriend's energy and she believed that nothing could compare to his healing abilities.

Her eyes flickered to a mess of shiny, silver hair on the corner of the room. Kakashi, she thought. The thought of him running away for a year and taking unranked missions got her blood pumping. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel sympathetic over his bruised body or angry and frustrated over his carelessness. She settled for hovering above him while giving him eye daggers.

"Stupid." She mumbled under her breath. "How could you do this to yourself?"

Kakashi's body didn't move aside from the rising of his chest indicating that he's breathing fine. "You could've gotten yourself killed. What if Haru wasn't there to save you?" She said a little more loudly. As the tears formed in the corner of her eyes, she knew she was breaking down. Holding herself together, she grabbed the railing on the side of his bed and hung her head low.

"I need you …" She whispered to him, fully aware he can't respond to that. "God damn it, Kakashi! I fucking need you in my life and you go and take unranked missions and - "

"You know, I don't think loud rants and harsh lectures are healthy for his unconscious state." Sakura was cut off by the smooth voice of Genma Shiranui. Her head whipped towards him and her hands quickly wiped her tears. She gave him a dejected look and sat down on the chair next to Kakashi's bed.

"What do you want, Genma?" She said in defeat. She watched the coffee haired elite make his way towards Kakashi, his ever present senbon stuck in between his lips.

"I feel like I should apologize to you." He said calmly, his tone serious.

Sakura scoffed at his comment. She knew Genma liked to mess around but when it comes down to business, he gets serious. "Hm," Sakura grunted. "Why did you snap at me earlier?"

Genma twisted his body around so his gaze lingered on the pink haired kunoichi in front of him. "I … I don't know. I was afraid I was going to lose another comrade."

"Are you sure that's the reason?" She prodded. "It sure didn't seem like that was your reason."

"What do you think my reason was then?" He snapped back.

"I don't know, you tell me!" She shouted as she stood and met him face to face. "Are you sure that it had nothing to do with personal reasons? How you're so overprotective of your friend so you choose to feel hate towards me because of what has happened between me and Kakashi?"

"The man fucking loved you, Sakura!" He yelled loud enough to scare the birds resting near the med tent. They listened as the birds flapped their wings in a hurry, obviously disturbed by their loud argument.

Sakura took a step back, realizing what he just had said.

"Sakura …" Genma continued. His voice much calmer this time.

"Don't." She held a hand up between them. "I don't want to hear anymore."

"It's unfair to him." He continued, ignoring her plead to end the conversation. "You can't say things like you need him and when he wakes up, completely ignore him and forget that you even cared about him or needed him."

In an instant, her hand flew and slapped him on the cheek. "You can't fucking say things like that to me, Genma." Her tears streaming down her face. "You don't even know half of the story!"

"And he obviously doesn't either." He said indifferently, her slap not taking any effect on his handsome features.

Sakura was disgusted with how personal the conversation had gotten. She intended to end it now. "I thought you came here to apologize to me?"

Genma ran a tired hand though his hair. His backwards head cap was discarded. "I did. But you struck a nerve in my system that I didn't know I even had."

"Hn," Sakura said, not much of a reply. "I think you should go. It's getting late."

The senbon sucking elite nodded his head once and steered himself towards the door. Without looking back at her, Sakura heard one last comment from him.

"You don't need to explain anything to me. But, as a favor to my friend and to your former lover, you should think about giving him some answers."

With that said, he left the med tent leaving Sakura with heavy decisions. Former lover, she thought.

It was definitely going to be a restless night tonight.

Kakashi's tired eyes failed to open when he woke up. He tried once more, opening his good eye first.

Fail. It was too much for him to handle. His body felt weak to the point where he can't even open his own eyes. He winced at the pain his sharingan caused the moment he felt it throb and pulsate against his eye lids. He painfully groaned at the unpleasant feeling in his left eye.

But almost as soon as it had come, the pain subsided. He felt a cool tingle in his eye and relaxed under the chakra Sakura was producing to make the pain disappear. He knew it was her. He knows her scent and chakra as if it was part of his own body. He relaxed under her power and let the cool soothing feeling take over his left eye as well as his contused body. The feeling was so good that he felt as if he was going to fall into a deep slumber again.

But in a second, it was gone. He groaned in disappointment and as if in desperate need for her healing touch, he called out her name in what breath he could muster.

"Saku…" He didn't get to finish as Sakura's cool finger tips touched his lips.

"Get some rest, Kakashi. You need it."

Kakashi felt her body move away from his bed and using the little energy he had, he grabbed Sakura's wrist before she completely left his side.

"Kakashi, what are you doing?"

Her voice was low and peaceful. She calmly stared at his wounded hand clasped on her wrist. She closed her eyes at the small contact. How long has it been since their bodies last touched each other?

"Please … Stay."

His words came out as a whisper and his hand slowly fell away from her wrist. Sakura didn't need any explanation. She knew that this was one of those moments where no words of exchange is needed.

Sakura pulled a chair towards the side of the hospital bed and reached over to hold Kakashi's hand. Her other hand stroked his silver hair gently as Kakashi's eye lids closed ready to fall asleep again.

"Thank you." He whispered to her.

Sakura's heart ached at the sight of her former lover. Why did it have to come to this? Her tears unwillingly fell from eyes as Sakura rested her forehead over his chest.

I miss you so much.

A/N: Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Come back & see more KakaSaku goodness on the next chapter. Will be updated soon (:

Thanks again for reading!

Love, discover-hikari