The kunoichi's reflection quivered dramatically like a distorted circus mirror as the rain hit the pond's surface, one drop at a time. She looked up and blinked, a few spots of water landing on her pale cheeks. Finally. The only time she felt true peace was when the rain came. It had been expected all day, but had chosen now to bring its arrival upon the village, surely bringing a wave of grumbles and unhappy sighs from the locals who seemed to dislike the precipitation more than most. Which of course was good news to her, for now no one was bound to stumble across her little grove, as many often did, and disturb her.
As the rain began to fall harder, erupting a low rumble from the impact on the leaves and dirt that only some people could appreciate, she scooted under the nearest large tree in fear that her beloved book might get ruined.
After taking a final glimpse around at the dripping trees and falling water, she heaved a sigh and flipped open her much abused copy of Death Before Betrayal to her marked page. It was a story of lost romance in which the main character, Sel, is kidnapped by the emperor of her enemy country and is held prisoner so that she will have no choice but to bear that lord's child. Though as much as she wishes, she cannot return to her country and to her loved one, Aman, who believes her to be dead, in fear that it will be looked upon as treachery, and start a new war between the countries, so she takes her own life, killing her unborn with her. Twisted as it may be, it was by far her favorite book.
'Lord, grant me the wishes of my tears, for I fear that my dear Aman has found someone anew. A thought that I cannot bear to fathom.' I clawed at the window sill as I looked out into the dark sky, gritting my teeth together. 'And that scum that has taken my life from my hands: take from him his most precious value so that he can feel even a sliver of the sorrow that has engulfed me since my arrival upon this dreaded castle.' Hot tears fell down my cheeks, a notion so familiar now that I didn't even seem to notice. 'I will find-
"Sakura," she closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Nothing irritated her more than an interruption during a good book. After inwardly calming herself, the pink haired girl looked up to see where the voice had come from. It sounded relieved, like they had searched and finally found. Though after further examination, her eyebrows shot up in surprise as the figure emerged from the thick rain and into the cover of the tree. "I'm glad I found you. Tsunade's been asking for you for hours now." the kunoichi closed her book and returned her gaze to the shinobi.
"Kiba," Sakura regarded him with a small smile, the grimace still tugging at the corners of her lips, threatening to pull down at any minute. "I came down here because I thought all of the missions had been assigned. Is everything all right?" she stood up, her pink hair skimming one of the lower branches. There was a smile in place of his usual smirk, which made her suspicious, but let him continue on anyway.
"Yeah, she just needs another helping hand at the hospital, we just got another group of wounded Anbu Black Ops in over there." he jutted his thumb out behind him as if the hospital were right there. Though she wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying, instead, the pink haired jounin took the opportunity to inspect him, for she had never been this close to Kiba before. His spiky brown locks clung to his face, and forced little water droplets to roll down his cheeks and onto the cool ground below. But his purple marks were ever-present and did not fade even with the heavy wetness. And Sakura didn't even notice Akamaru until he walked over beside the boy and shook himself off, spraying both her and his owner. "Hey, Earth to Sakura!" he absent-mindedly waved a hand in front of her face and sighed when she was so suddenly jolted out of her momentary reverie.
"Sorry, why did Tsunade want my help?" the kunoichi blushed slightly at her lack of concentration and locked her gaze with his. Kiba closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, just nodding in agreement when his little dog barked several times.
"We have more patients at the hospital and she needs some help tending to them." the boy's smile had disappeared. Now he only looked irate. Sakura's blush deepened from the knowledge that she had annoyed him, and averted her emerald gaze to the damp forest grass beneath her feet, her pink locks forming a curtain around her embarrassed face. Kiba straightened uneasily at her notion, and stood cautiously. He was used to this kind of reaction out of Hinata, but never from Sakura.
"My apologies Kiba-kun," she raised her head slightly to look at him, a timid smile on her full lips, her cheeks still rosy. "I'm not myself today." he twitched slightly and his hard features melted into a smirk. The shinobi removed a hand from his pocket and wiped a lock of his wet hair to the side of his handsome face.
"Don't worry about it Sakura." he said before jerking his head to the side, a signal for her to get going. The kunoichi nodded quickly and stuffed her book into the bag that was positioned against the large weeping willow that was currently shielding them from the hammering rain. She slung it over her shoulder, and braced herself for the elements. Kiba turned on his heel and darted out from beneath the tree, Sakura soon on his tail, eyes squinted against the heavy downpour. Puddles disintegrated under the quick movement, the water flying around their feet, staining their already soaked pants with a fair helping of mud.
The pink haired kunoichi was beginning to become numb from the icy rain. She had failed to bring a jacket or even a sweater along with her, and now the water droplets felt like needles against her bare arms. When they slowed to a walking pace as Konoha gates came into view, she examined her fingers, which were now an unusual shade of purple, and brought her hand up to her trembling lips. Ice cold. Water ran down her face like streams of tears, and she followed briskly behind Kiba into the village.
No one was in sight. Even the Anbu gate guard had run for shelter from the storm. Sakura looked up into the now blackened sky, and thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Sakura! Let's go!" she hadn't realized that she had stopped, and Kiba was a few yards ahead of her, beckoning her to continue the short journey to Hokage tower. After a last fleeting glance at the menacing sky, she rocked forward and sprinted to the brown haired shinobi in front of her, a feeling of unease suddenly tugging wildly at her stomach. This wasn't an ordinary storm. Something was wrong.
Hokage tower didn't seem to get any closer as they raced down the dirt streets of the village, the mud squishing grotesquely under their light footsteps. After what seemed to be longer than necessary, the two shinobi were jogging up the stairs to the upper level of the building. Sakura sighed in relief as the warmth engulfed them, the door closing quickly behind her. Shizune was waiting worriedly by the entrance, three towels at the ready; one for Sakura, and two for Kiba and Akamaru.
"T-Thanks Shizune." the kunoichi realized then that her teeth were chattering. She would have to bring warmer clothes next time she left. The brown haired woman looked uneasily over at Kiba who was currently drying off his dog, and then back to the shivering jounin in front of her. She took the two strides to the sopping pink haired medic and helped dry her off, whispering in her ear as she went.
"I need to speak with you...alone." The subtlety was useless, for Kiba would be able to hear her anyway. Even if he couldn't, in the slight off chance that would happen, his trusty dog would be sure to tell him what the two women were whispering about later. Sakura looked over at the shinobi and smiled apologetically as Shizune towed her off to a secluded part of the building. She seemed nervous, almost jumpy when time came to explain to Tsunade's apprentice about what was going on.
"Is everything okay?" the medic never made eye contact with the pink haired girl, but continued to stare hopelessly into the white linoleum. The worry that Sakura had felt earlier had doubled since Shizune had told her they needed to speak. This spelled awful news. For she had only done this to Sakura once before; when she was ordered to tell her that their search for Sasuke was coming to an end, and that he would be ranked from then on out as an S ranked criminal in all of the nations.
"When the group of Anbu returned from tracking down the Akatsuki, well......One of them was very badly injured. We don't know if he can make it." Shizune bit her lip, and a wave of nausea rolled through Sakura's body. She had to swallow down the oncoming vile before she could speak again.
"Who?" she asked though she already knew the answer. Just to hear any other name would calm her erratically beating heart. But not his. Finally the brown haired woman looked at her. Sadness filled her eyes.
"Kakashi." tears welled in Sakura's eyes and she turned quickly to run down to the special ward for wounded shinobi, throwing her towel behind her as she flew on. She reached the door in record time and wrenched it open, nearly breaking it off of its hinges. Panting, the pink haired medic looked around the room until she spotted the bed that her sensei was occupying. The other ninja were asleep, some with pained expressions on their faces from the invisible pain that they were enduring. Then she saw him, eyes tight in anguish, arms bandaged and stained red. Sakura took long, slow steps to reach his bed, and kneeled beside him.
Through the silence of the room, she could hear his raspy breaths coming in short takes. The affect of a punctured lung and cracked ribs no doubt. The Akatsuki had gotten stronger. Much, much more powerful than her last encounter with them she was sure. Not many could do damage like this to someone such as Kakashi. She stroked the back of his exposed hand, and was grateful when he didn't cringe from the touch. But as she gently rested her hand on his, the copy ninja stirred and cracked open his eyes. He didn't look at her right away, as if he had to remember how to move. Hesitantly, he rolled his head to his right to stare at her, and a glimmer of wistfulness crept across his expression when he saw who was beside him.
"Hi," Sakura's voice cracked, but a small, relieved smile appeared on her lips when she knew that at least he was awake now. The silver haired Anbu slowly moved his hand so that their fingers were entwined, and kept his eyes locked with her shimmering emerald ones. She inched forward ever so slightly, needing to be closer to him in fear that if she were to make one wrong move or look away, he would disappear.
"Sakura?" but this was not Kakashi's voice that had said her name. It was Naruto. She did not turn to look at him, but instead kept her gaze steady with her sensei's. She heard his footsteps come towards them, and he placed a hand on her back, then her hair, but pulled it back quickly. "Why are you all wet? Did you just get here?" reluctantly, she turned her head to face him.
"Hi, Naruto," the medic meant for her voice to be cheerful, but it came out sullen and dry. "Yeah, Kiba and I ran here from the grove. I don't like the looks of that storm out there." his lips pulled down into a frown.
"Why were you with," his voice sounded almost like a snarl. "Kiba?" Sakura looked at him in astonishment. Since when did he act like this? Upon closer inspection, she noticed that his hands were clenched into tight fists, his knuckles becoming white.
"Calm down Naruto," her pink locks still clung wetly to her face, hiding all evidence of her tears with drops from the rain outside. "He came to find me to tell me that Tsunade needed my help here at the hospital." he nodded once, sighed, and unclenched his fists before returning his cerulean eyes to the wounded man in front of them. Kakashi groaned and Sakura whipped her head to him, looking frantically for the source of his pain. "Kakashi?" she asked quietly, leaning in closer to her sensei.
"Sakura," he managed to say. "It...hurts." the Anbu whispered hoarsely, making her eyes blur with more oncoming tears. She wiped them away with the back of her hand before they could fall, and took a deep breath before looking back to Naruto who was staring at Kakashi with a hurt expression on his face.
"What hurts, sensei?" she slowly focused her blurring green eyes on the sliver haired man. His face crumpled in pain before he spoke. When she lifted her hand to wipe away the tears once more, Naruto grabbed it and held it gently within his own and smiled down at her, though it didn't reach his agonized eyes. The only thing that was keeping Sakura in one piece was the heart-monitor that was beeping at a normal pace beside the Anbu.
"Everything," he croaked, pain evident in his voice. The pink haired jounin let go of both of the boys' hands and stood up so that she could lean over Kakashi and try to work her medical magic without breaking down. Her green chakra flickered around her trembling hands, and she ran them slowly over his body, stopping to take extra time around his ribs and arms. Several tears dropped onto his bed sheet while she worked, so Naruto put a hand on the small of her back, and she stopped, put her hands down on the side of Kakashi's bed, and let the sobs take over her body. When she looked back up at him, his eyes were closed and the monitor was slowing at an alarming rate. She gasped.
"Stay with me Kakashi," the kunoichi whispered while putting a chakra enhanced hand over his heart. "Please," she choked out through the newest sobs that overtook her body. Slowly, she inhaled a deep breath and tried again, but let out a strangled cry when his heart stopped completely. "No, no! Kakashi! Stay with me!" hot tears flooded down her cheeks, and she tried again and again, with no avail, to bring him back to her. Naruto put a hand over hers.
"Stop," she looked up at him. Wet streaks stained his cheeks, and more tears were forming in his blue eyes. "He's gone." her expression was torn in agony, and she crumpled down onto the floor, face in her hands, legs sprawled out underneath her shaking figure. Broken cries ripped from her chest, filling the silent room with an atmosphere of anguish. Naruto kneeled beside her and embraced her, fighting his own urge to cry. He looked behind him when a pair of soft footsteps were heard coming into the room. When he met Shizune's puzzled gaze, her eyebrows shot up and she slapped a hand to her mouth, silent tears falling from her tormented eyes. Tsunade shook her head and had to turn her back to them, afraid for them to see her vulnerable side. Sakura's loud cries made him turn his attention back to her and embrace her tightly. She flung her arms around his neck and buried her head into his chest.
"Why couldn't I save him?" she wept. Just then, Tsunade approached her.
"He was suffering from internal bleeding from the stomach and aorta. Four of his ribs were broken, and he had a punctured lung. There was no hope, I'm sorry, Sakura." the blond motioned for Naruto to take Sakura out of the room, so he lifted her up, and carried her to Tsunade's office, her whimpers echoing in the vast hallways.
"Shh, shh," Naruto hushed her softly and set her down on one of the chairs in the room. He used a calloused thumb and wiped the remaining tears from her pretty face, pressed his forehead gently against hers, and took her face in his hands. "Sakura," she moved her agonized emerald eyes to meet his brilliant azure ones. "It's over now. So please...don't cry." he said pleadingly, as if her tears were more torture to him than the death of their teacher. She sniffed and nodded before looking down at her hands.
He was really gone. Forever.