Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the song I Know One by Garth Brooks. I only own the summary and the story save for the names.
This is dedicated to: Inulover4eva.
Enjoy.
When all your friends have flown
Who'll be around to want you
When all your loves have gone
The news crushed her. It crushed her mind, her body, her soul and her spirit.
She lost all reason to go attend to the daily ritual called life. She lost all of her emotions that made her the vivid kunoichi everyone in Konoha knew. She lost all passion in her work and found no time to tend to her medical duties. She lost the ability to be herself as she floated into a dark void that she called comfort and others called despair. She lost everything and everyone who cared for her as closely as she needed it.
She lost them.
They were her family. They were her friends. They were her comrades. Yes, she was selfish for thinking that way but none of it mattered because they weren't hers anymore. They belonged to that ruthless emotion called revenge. Revenge owned their lives and they used it to get to where they were now. She hated that...thing called revenge but she was powerless against it. She couldn't see it or sense it but she always knew when it stuck its ugly face out.
It hid in their eyes. It appeared and their eyes changed into a different colour and it frightened her. She couldn't bear to be around that colour and anything reminiscent of it sent her into the spiralling world that she enjoyed to float in although it ate away at her essence.
But she didn't care anymore. She didn't care because caring was pointless at that point. It had no meaning and that meant that there was no need to do it. No need to have such petty emotions. No need to love others or love herself.
It was low, it was dramatic, it was her. At first, people had given her comforting embraces and touched her with fake words but she was through with all that. The people whom she trusted all her life turned on her. They tried too hard to put a smile on her face. They told her lies and made her believe that everything was going to be alright.
But it wasn't going to be alright.
She had figured this out a long time ago but chose to ignore it. The voice in the crevices of her mind told her that one day they'd be gone but she willingly blocked it out, feeling that the voice was just a nuisance. But she was wrong. She was wrong on so many levels and it hurt her. It pained her to know that she was wrong...that they were gone. How foolish could she have been? How dumb could she have seemed? Why had she let herself be so ignorant?
It was just another flaw. It was just something that couldn't be changed or altered in any way. She had to accept the simple fact that stood on hind legs before her. She could accept it once her wounds healed but she knew that she couldn't live with that acceptance. She couldn't live a regular life anymore because she had to become to dependant. She had wanted to be in the company of her comrades so much that her view had become clouded.
But the clouds were gone now and what was left was a horrible sight. A beautiful village without them.
She cursed the world the first day after the incident. She cried loudly and let the whole village know of her misfortune. She destroyed anything in her path and spoke to no one. Everyone had kept their distance from her and for good reasons too. She was destructive and couldn't keep her hands to herself. But she couldn't help it. Rage had consumed her and let itself ravage everything surrounding it.
But damn, why her and why now?
She had learned to be dependant a long time ago from her shishou but she needed interdependence survive. But now her source of that interdependence was gone. In the end, they were gone no matter how she described it.
A soft knock at the door was the only source of reason for Sakura to leave her room. She got up slowly and went to the door, slumping there for a moment before grunting.
"Who is it?" She asked, her voice coming out pained and tired.
"Your friend," the voice replied. Sakura sneered at the door and turned around, taking a step towards the kitchen. She half expected the voice to go away and it did--just to be replaced by more incessant knocking. Sakura sat at the table for a moment, sipping the cold coffee without sparing a glance at the door. To her annoyance, the knocking continued despite her efforts to ignore it.
She got up and walked groggily back to the door, the bottom of her pants sliding ungracefully under her feet. She would have slipped on the tiled ground if she didn't be more careful but she didn't care. She didn't mind being a hospital that much anyway. At least someone would take care of her without reluctance.
"Have you brought them back to me?" She simply asked, her back leaning against the door frame. When she heard nothing behind the barrier, a single tear rolled down her cheek. She stood upright again and walked away from the door and into her room. She slammed the door with tremendous strength, just to prove to her visitor that she was in no mood to talk.
She didn't need more lies.
The banging stopped and Sakura sighed, turning herself onto her stomach on the bed. She slammed her face against the pillow and her hair fanned itself around her dirty form. Her hair was bright in contrast to the white silky sheets that she cried on but her mind was elsewhere as the tears began to fall.
Sakura fell into the dark abyss known as sleep to her, hoping that she would never have to wake up.
Only a fool would do it
After the way you've done
And how many fools would have you
...I know one
The next day was the same. She got up and skipped breakfast, slipping into the washroom to clean herself up. She looked at the person in the mirror and sneered, disgusted by the reflected picture.
It was ugly and held no emotion. Its eyes held no colour and its face was as pale as the snow that fell rarely in Konoha during a winter night. Its cheeks were stained with tears and its eyes were surrounded by crow's feet and tangled eyelashes. It was a sight for sore eyes and it was her.
She stared at the image in the mirror for a few more moments, basking in the hatred and vanity that seamed to permeate around it. The face stared back at her with equal trepidation and she felt the regret that poured from it. She saw the crimson backdrop that implied inevitable death.
The reality struck her hard and she was too far gone to return to her regular life. Emotions were useless and she had let them get the best of her and know she was wallowing in her own self-pity. Those same raw emotions that had been her golden wings and had been her support through the years were now her downfall.
She let the cold water splash onto her face and sighed when she felt the tears of hate slowly be cleansed. She took the nearest towel and wiped her face, not bothering to apply make up. There was no one to impress and so she would go outside looking like a ghost, not caring about other's opinions.
Their thoughts weighed her down and she didn't need to depend on them to find comfort. She didn't need their comfort, hope, love. She didn't need the villagers.
All she truly wanted was for them to return to her arms.
Another knock was heard and Sakura hissed. She stepped towards the door and chose not to answer, but instead asked that monotonous question that everyone seemed to find appealing.
"Who is it?"
The knocking stopped and all was quiet until a soft voice flowed to her ears.
"A person who has gone through the same experiences as you..."
Sakura's voice suddenly didn't feel like retaliating and her heart seemed to stop. How dare they say that? They absolutely had no idea what she was going through. They had no right to compare their lives to hers and she felt obliged to punch them with the most chakra she could exert in her horrid state.
She flung the door open and the first thing that shattered the barrier between the two people was her fist. It connected with the hard cover of a book and luckily she hadn't put any chakra into the blow. She stepped back, staring daggers at her clearly amused sensei.
"What do you want?" She asked, her voice coming out as a threatening hiss.
Kakashi's hands flew up in a defensive position and he shook them gently, implying that he didn't do anything wrong. Sakura rolled her eyes and reached for the door handle when a hand shot out, grasping her wrist tightly.
"I need to talk to you," Kakashi said and he let go of her wrist slowly, stepping inside at the same time. Sakura looked at him and huffed, walking over to the couch and sitting down. He followed suite on the other couch and watched her braid her hair. Her fingers clawed through her pink locks and Kakashi wondered for a brief moment if she owned a brush.
She didn't direct her gaze at him. She didn't want to. There was always a reason Kakashi came by her house and her intuition told her that this wasn't a very good reason. So, as a good student would do, she ignored his obvious stares. She didn't want to be the one to start the potentially deadly conversation because she didn't want to blame herself for being the one who let the news fall upon herself.
So they sat there for a few more moments, staring at different inanimate objects as their way of conversing. No one budged save the savage destruction on Sakura's hair by her crude looking fingernails. The silence was overwhelming but Sakura welcomed it because she knew Kakashi didn't want to start with unnecessary tidbits of information.
But she felt Kakashi's nervousness and she knew that he was probably sweating underneath his mask. The path she would take depended on the information he'd have to tell her and she knew for a fact that her sensei wasn't one to lie. She tore her gaze away from the dust ball that rolled across the carpeted floor and looked into his lone eye. His gaze found hers and they sat there for a few more seconds before he let out a strained cough.
This fool keeps wondering
Why he fell in love at all
But you might need this fool around
In case you fall
Sakura blinked once and smiled lightly before continuing her attack on her hair. Kakashi inspected that smile and he found that it was much the same as his one. It was false and out of place and she used it when she felt that she had no permission to tell anyone the truth behind it. She had become so cold to everyone around her and Kakashi was no exception. He didn't mind though since Kakashi knew how she was feeling.
Although she'd never realize, he was exactly like her. They shared the same pain and sorrow of lost comrades and they knew about the dark spot that provided them comfort. They both knew that emotions would eat away at them and they both felt that those emotions were a luxury; not a necessity. If Sakura had known of his past she may have pitied him and felt remorse and he would have none of that.
But now it was the exact opposite. Everyone in Konoha pitied her and filled her mind with lies and a false sense of hope. Now she was buried under tons of whispered words and physical actions. He knew she hated it. He knew that she hated their sympathy. He knew that she hated everyone for caring.
He looked up at her again and his eye creased slightly. Even he felt bad for her although he could relate. He wanted to tell her about his past and how they shared the same thing but he couldn't. He didn't want to burden her with his troubles and problems--she didn't need it.
That was why he was so secretive and collected. He considered his life a burden to others and now Sakura was walking down the same path. He wanted to be the one to pull her out. He wanted to be the one to help her.
"Sakura, I have to tell you something," Kakashi calmly whispered, scratching his thin thoughtfully. Sakura quickly figured out that he was trying to phrase his next sentence.
"No shit, Sherlock. Get on with it," she deadpanned, tugging on her hair in frustration when she felt the lop-sided braid.
"Sasuke and Naruto--" Kakashi abruptly stopped his explanation when a kunai went flying at his foot. Using his quick reflexes, he grasped the couch's side and jumped up, flipping over the back of the couch and landing behind it. He looked at her incredulously and watched as the kunai was pulled back to her.
One silver eyebrow curved upwards but it went straight as he felt a very concentrated amount of chakra form a line. He looked at the kunai's circular grip and saw the blue and pulsing string. He followed its winding path and noticed it hitch around Sakura's knuckles.
"I see. When you were staring at the ground you were actually measuring the distance between your hand and my foot. Then you made a chakra string with chakra that I couldn't detect before launching the kunai at me. You knew it wouldn't hit because you shortened the distance. Now, why would you do that?" The last part he asked mainly to himself but he instantly looked at her when she slowly stood up.
"Don't mention their names," she hissed and Kakashi sat back down.
Kakashi sighed and said what she semi-wanted to hear.
"They've found them."
After the party's over
And you've had your fill of fun
If you need a fool to forgive you
...I know one
Sakura tore her gaze away from him and stared out the window behind her, suddenly finding the birds hovering above the thermals fascinating. Her eyes were glazed but still held no emotion and no tears fell. Her hair was curly but they were hardly noticeable and her fingers were stained with blood. Kakashi's gaze looked at her head of hair and noticed the blood stains on it.
He wondered what exactly she was doing while he was fighting the temptation to just hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright.
She continued to stare out the window and looked over to the hospital. It was tattered and old but was still used to heal villagers and ninja. She had stopped her medical duties roughly one month ago so she didn't know how it was holding up inside. She missed her subordinates and colleagues but that feeling left as soon as the thought of Sasuke and Naruto arose.
To have her teacher come in and tell her that they were found devastated her. She had thought of that happening before but dismissed it, knowing that it would be Naruto and Sasuke who told her.
But it wasn't. Sakura didn't even know if they were alive. She didn't know where they were or what they were doing. All she knew what they were found.
She didn't dare ask. She decided to wait until he felt ready to tell her their fate. She needed to know but she knew that the news may have destroyed Kakashi's heart too. The air around the two thickened severely and Sakura never tored her gaze away from that lone bird who circled above.
When the bird swooped down and circled the hospital, Sakura nearly let out a sigh of relief. She didn't believe in signs but she found the bird quite intriguing and she decided to believe in them for once. She watched the bird closely. Its wing span was large and when its wing expanded, Sakura's mouth curved upwards slightly. She paid no heed to her change in mood and just looked at the bird.
Brown and black fought for the dominant colour of the bird and it created swirls of the two colours. The colours became blurry as the bird changed directions, heading towards a large tree. For a short moment, Sakura vaguely thought that the bird was going to die and she bit her tongue in worry.
Kakashi quickly caught on to what she was doing and he strained his lone eye to see the bird. Its body was blurry and Kakashi had no choice but to use his other eye. He gently pulled down his mask and let the bird's outline come into clear view. He let his sharingan swirl and memorized every miniscule movement it made.
The bird flew past the tree and Sakura gently smiled. It soared for a couple more seconds before landing gracefully...
On a gravestone.
Sakura's eyes returned to that emotionless state and her blood stained fingers clenched the leather of the couch harder. The bird let out a cry that Sakura was unable to hear in the confines of her apartment but she knew it was eerie when a kid that passed by jumped back. The bird flew off and Sakura only caught a glimpse of it through her peripheral vision before it escaped out of sight.
She turned around and saw Kakashi's fingers trail his mask to see if it was on properly. He looked at her and that tense silence returned causing the two to slump over on their respective seats slightly. Kakashi was about to say something when Sakura's mouth opened quickly. She sucked in a breath and drawled,
"They're dead, aren't they?"
Kakashi turned his head away in shame and didn't say anything. She watched him with accusing eyes as he slowly got up and made his way to the door. His response told Sakura what she didn't want to hear and she smashed her fists against the couch. The leather peeled and Sakura got up, stomping over to where Kakashi stood.
"Answer my question!" She yelled, her eyes piercing through his.
Kakashi sighed and turned to face her before bending down to whisper in her ear.
"Don't ask the question if you're not ready for the answer."
Sakura's face contorted and scrunched up. She took a step back and searched for something in his expression. She found nothing and it pissed her off. He couldn't say such things. Wasn't he the one who told her that he was her friend? Friends don't taunt other friends with words of wisdom during such rough times.
Sakura knew of that first hand because Sasuke was the victim of her incessant nagging. She finally found out how annoying it was but it was too late to say sorry. It was too late for everything.
Sakura's expression remained one devoid of any emotion and she looked up at Kakashi. "Take me to where they are," She demanded although it came out as more of a question than a demand.
Kakashi nodded and took her wrist, gently pulling her outside. She grabbed her shoes and hastily slipped them on, letting him guide her through the dark hallways. They exited the building and jumped from the ledges, landing gracefully onto the platform below.
Kakashi was still holding her hand as they walked slowly down the street.
He led her along the path and Sakura followed. She shuffled her feet slightly to get along stride him, the sun beaming down on her. She hadn't seen it in a while so the sudden heat felt quite foreign to her. She looked like ghost, that she knew for sure but she was happy that Kakashi persuaded her to go outside.
That temporary bliss disappeared quickly as they passed the bend towards the hospital. She noticed that his grasp on her arm had tightened but decided not to let him know. Her gaze traveled to the villagers who stood outside, selling their items in the heat. They smiled and she returned it although it was false like always.
She knew the reasons behind their smiles. They didn't care that her teacher was holding her hand like a child but they were happy for her. They probably thought that she had wanted to come outside and roam around like a normal person again. Unfortunately, they were wrong. But she didn't want them to stop smiling so she simply smiled back as they passed.
They came up to the entrance and Kakashi halted. He let go of Sakura's hand and motioned for her to follow him. With a quivering step, she entered the hospital. All eyes turned to her but Kakashi kept walking. She acknowledged her colleagues with a small nod and quickly ran after him. The people merely nodded back and bowed their heads. Their eyes also held no emotion and that was when Sakura figured that they must of saw her comrades.
She stepped into stride with Kakashi and they walked into silence until they saw a door with the number nineteen on it. Sakura let out a forced laugh at the coincidence. All of team seven was nineteen now and Sakura remembered when they had celebrated her birthday.
Those months were great but the joy that coincided with them didn't last long. All her beautiful memories had been destroyed the day that Naruto left. Their last confrontation had gone similairly to the one with Sasuke save for the knocking out. After Naruto whispered thank you, he had given her a bowl of ramen and told her not to eat it until he came back with Sasuke.
She laughed at him and told him that she wouldn't and he smiled, leaving her there...at the same path.
You never know you might be lonely
When all your loves have missed
It wouldn't hurt to keep
An extra fool on your list
Those memories flooded Sakura's mind as Kakashi opened the door, revealing two beds that were seperated by a chained fence. Sakura's eyes widened and she would of laughed at the complications to ensure that the hospital wasn't destroyed by the two but she didn't.
She just stood there and watched Naruto's chest slowly rise and fall. He was on the bed to her far right and she ran towards it and looked him up and down. His body was mangled and severly burned and he had bruises all over his face; a tell tale sign that he had fought someone. She inspected his burns more closely and a tear rimmed her eyes as Kakashi approached.
"Kyuubi," Kakashi mumbled as he watched Naruto's mouth open and close. Sakura looked at him deeply and walked past him. She disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the fence. Walking over to Sasuke, she stopped when she noticed his headband lying on the ground. She picked it up and placed it on the desk. She then let her face hover over his as she inspected him.
He had nearly twice as many bruises but he was nowhere near burned. He also breathed in and out slowly as the chords attached to him shook. She sighed and moved a lock of hair away from his face before reappearing beside Kakashi again.
Sakura knew that they were about to cross that thin line that seperated life and death. She could just feel it. She knew that Kakashi also knew and it pained her. She didn't want to see her comrades die in front of her.
A tear fell down her cheek and a small cloth wiped it away. Surprised, Sakura looked up to find Tsunade looked down at her, a smile planted on her lips. She handed Sakura the cloth and walked over to Naruto.
"When ANBU had found them, one of the hunters picked up Naruto. He had jumped out of his arms and punched the hunter in his face. The hunter was about to kill him but someone stopped the hunter." Tsunade sat at the chair beside him and hooked a chord back into his arm properly.
Sakura glanced at Kakashi before her attention was changed back to the Hokage.
"Who stopped it?" Sakura asked.
"Kakashi of course," Tsunade happily replied. Sakura's face took on one of confusion and she looked back at Kakashi. He looked at her and a part of his mask creased upwards.
"What was he doing with ANBU?" Sakura wondered, not even bothering to ask Kakashi himself.
Tsunade looked up at the two and grinned. "He had asked for the retrieval mission. He had said 'I have to do this for a certain someone who needs the closure. Her pain is my pain and right now it's killing me inside.'"
Sakura's eyes widened and she took a sharp intake of breath. She looked beside her to find Kakashi nowhere to be seen. Frowning, she looked back at Tsunade.
"Are they going to be alright?" Sakura asked with high hopes. Tsunade patted Naruto's forehead and looked over at Sasuke's side before replying.
"Yes, they're just going in and out of comatose. They'll be alright though. Now go and find Kakashi."
Sakura bowed her head in respect and a flurry of cherry blossoms floated around her previous spot. Tsunade smiled and continued to hook back up the chords that kept Naruto breathing properly.
Sakura appeared outside the hospital and to her luck Kakashi was leaning against a large pole reading his book. Sakura walked up to him and he ignored her until she grabbed the book. He questioned her way of gaining his attention but it was too late as he found himself running after her.
She jumped onto a roof and he followed, grabbing her leg before she could run any further. She fell bcakwards and off the roof but Kakashi caught her inches before she hit the ground. He hoisted her up to the upright position and she handed him his book back.
"I've got your attention now," Sakura smiled and Kakashi just stared back. "S-so, you did this for me?"
Kakashi's reply was merely a shrug and he waved it off dismissively. He then patted her head and, in a puff of smoke, he was gone.
Sakura looked into the sky and gasped when she saw that same bird from before, perching itself on the ledge of the window. She smiled when she realized that the window was that of room nineteen where Naruto and Sasuke was.
She took a seat at the nearest bench and watched the bird with hidden admiration. It flapped its wings and closed them every few seconds and she laughed when it stared at her as though she was strange. Everything went quiet as the bird stretched out its wings and flew away. Sakura watched its form slowly become a small dot heading towards the horizon and she smiled when a thought struck her.
Kakashi was the scarecrow. Birds hated scarecrows. They were opposites and would inevitably stay opposites for the rest of their lives. But they were also the same. They protected things that were important to them and never faltered in the face of danger. Although misleading, the bird led Sakura down the right path...and so did the scarecrow.
Naruto was blue. Sasuke was red. They were also opposites and would inevitable stay opposites for the rest of their lives. But they were also the same. They protected people that were important to them although it seems as though they did it for the sake of something else. And as cliche as it may seem, they both led each other down the right path.
The path that led them all to the same destination: each other.
Sakura smiled at Kakashi's true intentions and stood up, running off in the direction she saw him leave in. She said to herself, "Kakashi, my path led me to you. We're together and we'll always be...you fool!"
She ignored the strange looks people gave her as she ran in a fast sprint towards his house.
After your heart's been broken
And you need a place to run
If you'll take a fool who loves you
...I know one...I know one
End. I hope you enjoyed.
--BakaKunoichi