Just a snippet I dreamed up this eve lol and just because I miss playing with KakaSaku whilst they're not tied to Storm Cloud lol hope you enjoy ^_^
Five Weeks And Six Days
She was going to be brave, because that's who Sakura was. Brave. Unflappable. A competent, excellent ninja.
(…and a terrified one.) But no one needed to know that part.
She'd been back in the village almost two months already; she should have been over it by now. But…everything still felt so fresh and raw and clawing. Kami-sama she had never felt so pathetic in her life. She could rationalise it perfectly – her medic-mind knew everything, all of the therapy techniques and comforting words she'd spoken to others under her care and in a similar position, but honestly, logic was lost on emotion.
Capture. The word every ninja hates the most – even more than 'death' or 'defeat', because 'capture' was a maybe, it wasn't a definite 'thing' to anyone – even the victim. Her last mission had been the worst of her life, one that had stolen every inch of her carefully built confidence, self-assurance and pride as a shinobi and in return had thrown her back her old self and left her to pick up the pieces.
For six weeks she'd been held captive by enemy ninja, tortured and brutalised by them, all the while doing her best to cling to hope and her training – both for that someone (Team Kakashi) would come and rescue her but just as much to keep an eye out for any openings or opportunities that she might use to her advantage and escape. But for five weeks and six days, no one and nothing had come to her rescue and no opportunity presented itself.
In between the spare moments she found for rational thought, other than scared! I'm scared! And I'm weak! She'd been used, hurt and violated – she'd been kept alive when the rest of her team had been killed was for two reasons – the first, that she was a medical ninja – and therefore of immense value. The second reason was that she was female, and aside from that making her obviously weak and no threat to her enemies (a lot of disgusting words and chakra suppressant had had that drilled into her), it also gave them a bargaining chip over Konoha.
Those she'd been with were excellent men and close friends of hers – she hadn't worked with them often, but in them she found another family, outside of Team 7, and a sense of stability that her Genin team could never have competed with.
Over the course of those five weeks and six days, she'd learnt to envy those brave men who'd died so quickly…at least they were no longer capable of feeling suffering.
It had taken Sakura a full two days to muster the courage to leave her apartment without the company of anyone else; when she'd finally returned, Kakashi and Naruto were the first to rally around her and nearly suffocated her with their eternal presence, fussing over her as apparently that illogical sort of guilt had ensnared them – believing that no matter what the circumstances were, they still should have been there through everything, to help her and save her.
(They had been, in true Team-seven-style grandeur on the first day of the sixth week.)
Shaking her head, she pulled closed her apartment door and counted to ten, taking a single step in time with her mental counting, she repeated this a handful of times and before she knew it, she was outside the block and half way down the street. She'd stopped counting by her surprise and it took almost a full three minutes for her to quell the urge to panic, a slow, deep breath whilst she steeled her eyes to look slowly and deliberately around her.
She calmed and relief filled her veins as she realised that normality was possible and that the feelings were on their way out.
"Sakura-chan!" A sudden exclamation had her heart racing again and her spinning around to face the noise when she was swooped up and twirled around by two strong arms. The abruptness of it all had a sob escape her before she could crush it and Naruto had set her back down and taken a step away in a flash,
"Oh my god, Sakura-chan!" He started, and upon seeing the tears on her cheeks couldn't help but begin to gush, "Oh gosh, Sakura, I'm so sorry! It was too soon, wasn't it? Kami-sama, I'm so stupid, it's just you were outside on your own and I thought – I'm sorry Sakura, it's okay, only idiot me-" He still held his arms out, though not touching her, as a gesture of unobtrusive comfort,
"No, it's okay," She gasped, her hands finding their way to his outstretched forearms, "Naruto, it's okay…I was just caught off guard, but really, I'm not scared," She met his eyes – that were filled with concern and anxiety,
"Are…you sure? You look…"
"I know, but I've just…really missed you, Naruto," It wasn't even a fraction of what she really wanted to stay for all his generosity and time and support he'd offered over the past few months, but he seemed to understand, returning a warm smile and his signature happy giggle,
"Ahah, I was bringing you lunch, Sakura-chan, we haven't had shrimp-ramen in a while, eh?"
"Sakura? Are you alright?" The voice of Kakashi brought another breath of laughter from her – these two were like the common house spider – she couldn't seem to ever be more than two meters from one or the other at any given time, and always seemed to have their webs ready to catch anyone or anything that she wasn't ready to face.
"Hai, Kakashi, I'm fine," She looked back to Naruto, smiling, "I think I just want to walk for a bit more," She stepped away from the blonde, taking a deep breath as she wiped away the remnants of tears quickly, missing the gesture Kakashi made for Naruto to leave them,
"Ah, well, I'll leave you be then, Sakura-chan…we'll have lunch tomorrow, though, right?"
"Hai," She grinned, they'd had lunch together every day since her return, but the constancy and simplicity of it had made her more at home than anything. Naruto waved a cheery goodbye and left the two alone; they fell into step and as soon as they were on the quiet outskirts of the village, Kakashi pulled his hand from his pocket and held it as a subtle, silent offering to her.
Without a fraction of hesitation on her part, she slipped her hand into his large, secure one; Sakura relished the feel of it – it was large, strong, gentle and above all, the epitome of trustworthiness. The worn, soft leather and warmth of his curling fingers was such a familiarity that it had become the rock she needed, even without knowing it herself. From day one, Kakashi had offered his hand, just a card put on the table for her to consider and it took a long while for her to accept, but now it had become something that they did whenever the opportunity arose.
It was weird, she supposed, holding hands with her ex-sensei, but it was so needed – it was such a kind, gentle gesture that was uninvasive but warm and comforting and personal that it gave so much more strength and security than seemed logical to belong to Kakashi-sensei's hand.
And somehow, it made everything that happening during those five weeks and six days just a bit more like okay.
..
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