Congratulations to sureasdawn for winning third prize in the KakaSaku Tarot Art Contest. Known on FFN as EosDawnAurora, she is a great writer, friend, and artist! There is a link to her beautiful collage on my profile; her entry was an interpretation of the Minor Arcana card Nine of Wands. I would recommend reading a little about the card online if you want to know more, but even without knowledge of the card there is a beautiful artwork, and I hope that I can do it justice. Everyone, I hope you enjoy, and especially dawn!
Ghosts of colors swam across Kakashi's vision as the afterimage of the explosion faded away. Somewhere it was terminating, blasting a hole in an unknown desert, but Kakashi could only hear the ringing in his ears.
The eye was not bleeding, which was a good thing, but fatigue bleached his vision with spinning white spots. He swayed dangerously on the spot, forcing himself to keep the eye open to look for Sakura.
Sakura… Sakura… where was she? He had made the explosion disappear in time, hadn't he? He was still here, standing in the clearing. But Sakura…?
The name escaped his lips in a whisper, muffled by the wet mask clinging to his face. He tried to walk forward, stumbled, and then fell against a tree.
Sakura had been about to run out of the forest clearing to confront the remaining enemies, but she caught the movement in the corner of her eye. The flicker of silver whipped her head around, and with a fearful lurch of her stomach she saw her former sensei slumped against a dark trunk.
"Kakashi!"
She ran to him at once, her long tresses of pink hair whirling behind her like bright ribbons. Sandals squelched against the muddy forest floor as the sprinkling rain died around them.
When she reached him she put a hand out to touch him. There was no blood staining his clothing, but he was clammy and shaking. Gently, she smoothed back his pale bangs, stroking his forehead with her palm.
"Kakashi," she breathed. "Kakashi, are you awake?"
She saw a slit of red on his face— it was not blood but his twitching eye. She swallowed. "Kakashi," she said, more firmly this time. "Can you hear me?"
A dusty sound cracked as it left his throat; he trembled harder underneath her fingers.
"Okay," she said, forcing a blunt edge of calmness into her voice. Blinking away pearly droplets of rain, she pressed her palm against his skin and summoned a cool green glow that hummed along her fingers.
"It's okay," she crooned, as the glow seeped past her hand to permeate his skin. "You've had worse. We just need to…"
Her voice trailed off as her chakra entered his head, leaving her no room to concentrate on anything but healing him. They only had one more round of enemies, and then they would be done. Then they would be done. She hoped to communicate some of her resolve to him through her glowing fingers.
It seemed to work. He coughed, screwing shut his crimson eye. Having staved off the worst of the Mangekyou's side effects for now, Sakura withdrew her chakra and it retreated to its invisible home beneath her skin.
"There," she said. "Can you stand?"
It seemed a foolish ambition, but she could not handle the rest of the enemies without him. She needed him. There were only a few more.
His hand found her sleeve and he twisted it hard, the red fabric wrinkling beneath his fingers. "Help me up," he croaked weakly.
Sakura gripped both of his arms and helped pull him up so that he was standing with his back against the tree. His weight was difficult to support but she could not spare much more chakra to help hold him.
"There," she said again. His hand was still holding her sleeve. She looked down at his chipped fingernails and the pruned skin around them.
He mumbled something, but even as close as they were she could not hear him. She leaned her head forward, closing her eyes so as to hear him better.
"What did you say?" she asked him softly.
He looked down, fighting against the exhaustion soaking his bones to focus on her. Her roseate hair cascaded down her back in tranquil locks. In contrast his hair was messy and ragged, drooping from the earlier rain.
Serenity emanated from her palpably. With her hands holding him in place, it was easy to imagine that they were not in a short respite from a battle but in a calm place, with smooth waters and open sky.
He let his eyes fall closed. "I said," he whispered, "that I should have worn gloves."
Sakura smiled, a little laugh bubbling against her lips. "We'll be fine," she assured him. "Only one more group to go and then we go home."
Kakashi took one deep breath and then they let go.