Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of these characters. I only own the plotline.

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and especially GirlGeorge for her wonderful reply to my reply! You guys are my motivation hey!


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Talk About Eternity

Chapter 2: Scythe


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It was sunny when Sakura stepped into the hospital that morning. She was greeted by the younger and more cheery receptionist and was forced to plaster a smile on her face. She felt even more tired than usual. Her eyelids were drooping by the time she had reached her office. Sakura felt like she had been beaten up by Sasuke. Again. Kakashi had healed well, so she had prescribed some training to rehabilitate the newly repaired muscles and nerve endings. He'd solemnly promised to make it up to her despite her soft protests that he had saved her too many times to count.

If only he could give me what I need. Sakura felt like a zombie. She now ran solely on coffee and the occasional snack bar. The attacks on the village had become more frequent. She was almost constantly in the emergency room. The ones she couldn't save haunted her nightmares as well.

'I thought that you were good at this? You're utterly useless!'

Tsunade had often reminded her that if a patient was beyond help it was not her fault and that it mustn't stop her from trying her best to do as much as possible. Some people had no chance of recovery and in the life of a shinobi one must be prepared to move on. But Sakura seemed unable to do so.

After the war nearly everyone went for psych examinations. Naruto had several and Sasuke was forced to take three. Sakura on the other hand had been caught up in the destruction. The sheer decimation of Konohagakure's shinobi population. She went days without sleep while attending to people who sat on the cusp of death. The screams had been the worst. Each was ripped from the throats - already raw and bleeding - of the victims she tended to. Burn wounds were especially bad. Entire faces forever destroyed by the harshness of the flames. Jagged tears into the sides of victims leaving their innards spilling onto the medical table. One man had had his spinal cord ripped right out of his body. Yes, Sakura had even given psych exams but had never had one done for her.

All through this Sakura wondered who the people were that relished in this bloodshed. How could they condone ripping out the heart of a man and crushing it while it was still beating? Splitting a skull and then crushing it underfoot. It was all so very barbaric.

And all so very ingrained into the life she had chosen to lead.

It was in her blood to massacre. She knew a hundred different ways to snap a man's neck with varying degrees of pain and bloodshed. She could punch someone hard enough to turn their brain to mush if she felt like it. Blood had always fascinated her. As had the limits of the human body. Though she knew what she was doing would be terrifying to watch; the ways a man's body could be destroyed excited her. It had been a developing interest since her first chuunin exam. Seeing the way Gaara had crushed his enemies –literally – made her all the more inclined to know as much about it as possible.

She wondered how people would look at her if she informed them of her odd habits. They would most likely treat her with contempt. She would be locked away in a mental institution surely but her bloodlust was comforting. She's spent nearly her entire life surrounded by people who could cause destruction and fear with a glance. It was familiar.

But right now she had other things to be worrying about.

Like the strange letter she found on her desk that morning.

It had the Hokage's seal stamped onto it and that prompted Sakura to think urgent. She unfurled the letter and scanned her eyes down the page.

'Sakura' Blunt but very Tsunade.

'It has been brought to my attention that an ex-shinobi of this village was found by a team of anbu as they approached the village. The man's name was Itachi Uchiha.' Sakura froze up. Sasuke was the only Uchiha left. How had this happened? Itachi had died. She had seen him die. She skimmed the rest of the letter.

'Mentally unfit… being moved… will be in the hospital… entrusting you… take care of him… don't tell anyone… utmost importance…' So she would be the caretaker to a mentally unstable Uchiha who could kill her at any moment. How troublesome.

Still Sakura could not ignore a direct order from the Hokage and quickly pulled on her lab coat. She was rather well acquainted to the mental ward of this hospital. The staff this side took no notice of her and rather kept themselves quiet.

So they must know he is here. Hmm, I expected a guard or something.

Suddenly a rather sharp blade was pressed against her throat from behind and Sakura stopped moving. Anbu huh? She quickly held up Tsunade's letter and the Ancu's partner inspected it for a moment. He then motioned for the blade to be removed and Sakura was able to breathe again. She opened the door that the Anbu had been guarding and let herself in.

The room was bright though it lacked windows. The door – she noted – had a deadbolt that could be fastened only from the outside. The Uchiha lay in a plain cot. He was curled into a ball currently and resembled a starvation victim far too much. He obviously acknowledged her presence as there was a slight flutter of chakra. Sakura saw the physical damage done was mainly supplementary. Though his eyes may have been past saving.

The scream was all too sudden and it shattered the relative calm of the room. Sakura rushed to the Uchiha's side and placed her palm on either side of his head before sending a small burst of chakra through her hands. This knocked him out quickly and the shrill sound cut off immediately. The man became limp and his head leaned against her hands. She wondered what had caused the outburst.

After a quick physical she concluded that his eyes were in a state of ruin. It was the overuse of his Sharigan that had messed with his nerves in the area. It was fixable, in theory, but it could take months to fully heal and that was just the skin deep problems. Tsunade had said 'mentally unstable'. It was obvious that the Uchiha suffered from memory relapse and night terrors. Sakura wasn't at all surprised. After all the man had worked in close conjunction with the Akatsuki for years. There was no telling what kinds of things he had seen through his journeys. What gruesome sights were now tormenting his malnourished mind.

In some ways Sakura was curious. She wanted to know all about his experiences but through her brief brushes with the Akatsuki in the past she knew that what they did was not something you wanted done to you. Her own village's interrogative squad was vicious and unrelenting. She had been in the bowls of their workplace. Seen the poor souls being tormented and tortured until they broke before finally receiving the mercy of death.

No person was safe. Sakura had learned that the hard way.

And for the next few weeks she was tasked with bringing this man to his senses, so the interrogation team could tear him down again.


Kakashi Hatake was not a particularly needy person. He didn't want much, other than his Icha Icha paradise books and the occasional bowl of ramen. But one thing he did need was to see his teammates in good condition.

And one Sakura Haruno was not, by all intents and purposes, in good condition.

That was how he found himself at a bar, in conversation with one Ino Yamanaka. Ino was by no means a subtle person. She reminded Kakashi of Naruto in a way with her wide gestures and general rude outtake on life. She wasn't a bad person. He knew of her relationship with Sakura as well as the slowly developing one the Yamanaka had with Sai. The blonde had invited him here on the pretense that she was worried about Sakura's current health situation. Unfortunately with his late streak byt the time he arrived she was always downing her second bottle of sake and shouting profanities to the people on the dance floor.

"Yamanaka-san? Are we not here to discuss Miss Haruno?" Ino looked up from her conversation with the bartender.

"Yes but you should really have some sake first it's amazing." She was slightly tipsy now but not completely out of it.

"No thank you. Now, you said you had a plan?" Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow.

"'Course I've got a plan. She's been so cooped up in that hospital of hers I bet she can't even remember how to throw a kunai anymore. Personally she looks miserable. I thought that getting her to do some training again might make her happier. As far as I know she's been itching to get out of that hospital. If we get her to apply now maybe she can get a few days off from Tsunade-sama."

Kakashi had to admit the idea did sound good. And reasonable. Though he doubted Tsunade would agree to give her best medic time off straight away he was sure that she would allow it in the interests of her apprentices health. They weren't the only ones who had started to notice Sakura's lack of food and sleep. Even Naruto who's eyes were nearly constantly on Hinata noticed the subtle shift in the girl's disposition. She was not herself.

"Very well then. I'll take her lunch tomorrow and suggest it to her." Ino huffed and pouted.

"Why can't I take her food? She is my best friend you know."

"Yes but you don't have an all access pass to the hospital and they only tolerate so much irritation." Ino looked shocked at his words but simply turned away and sipped her sake.

"I don't like you." Her words were garbled but hear-able. Kakashi snorted.

"You certainly aren't the first person to tell me that."


It was a few days later when an exhausted Sakura Haruno - who had previously taken an impromptu nap on her desk - was startled awake by knocking on her door. She gasped and sat straight up in her chair.

"I'm awake!" The person merely scoffed and put down a small box on her desk.

"Sure you were. That's why your head was on a desk that you drooled all over." Sakura grumbled and wiped at the side of her mouth.

"What do you want Kakashi-sensei?"

"Sakura-san, when was the last time you had a proper sleep?" He sat down on the edge of her desk and stared at her. His gaze was unnerving, to say the least.

"I sleep every night. There's nothing to worry ab-"

"Don't lie to me Sakura." The way he said her name shocked her. Kakashi never dropped the honorific in her name.

"I-I'm not lying, I-" His hand slammed down on her desk.

"Sakura-san! Your mother says that you haven't eaten a proper meal in a week. You haven't even been home for three days. I understand that you have a lot of work but that is no excuse to start neglecting your health. You of all people should understand th-"

"No," her voice was cold and distant, "I don't think you do understand. Now please leave my office and make sure to have an appointment before you barge in here again."

Kakashi was taken aback. Sakura had never spoken to him like that before. She always treated everyone with the utmost respect and if she wasn't actually happy underneath she at least put up a front. For that brief moment she sounded like Sasuke; whenever he used to talk about his brother.

Kakashi stood up and shook his head. Sakura needed to get out of this place even more than he'd realised.

"I brought you some umeboshi. Please just eat something." He got up to leave when she grabbed his wrist. Her natural strength still amazed him sometimes. She sighed and rubbed her head.

"I'm sorry okay. I've just been having a hard time lately. Thanks for the meal."

"No. You shouldn't apologise. I should. I deserved that. I'm sorry for always paying you the least attention in the past Sakura. I'm the worst sensei in Konoha, if not the whole shinobi world." She allowed a slight smile to cross her face.

"No you aren't. Besides, the past is in the past. Dwelling on the past is what drives most shinobi to self-harm in any case. By the way, how did you know I loved umeboshi?"

"A good shinobi never reveals his secrets." Sakura scoffed and let go of his wrist.

"That's magicians you baka." Kakashi winked.

"How do you know I'm not a magician?" Sakura did smile this time.

"Because Ino probably told you." He put his hands up.

"Well you caught me. She also told me that you barely get out of this office anymore, although I already knew that."

"Well you can tell her to stop spreading rumours. I get out often enough." It was Kakashi's turn to scoff.

"Oh really? When was the last time you set foot in the training grounds Sakura-san?" She looked slightly nervous.

"Um, does during the war count?"

"No it doesn't."

"Then before the war."

Kakashi had half a mind to slap her upside the head.

The sight of that seal of hers stopped him though. Who knew what she would do to him?

"Okay. You are going to apply for a few days of leave tomorrow and we're going to kick you back into shape. Seriously that is just sad Sakura-san."

"Ok fine. But knowing Tsunade and my newest patient I won't be cleared for official leave for at least a month."

"New patient huh? Who are they?" Sakura suddenly realised just how much of a hole she'd dug herself into.

"Um, just an ex-Anbu member."

"Do I know him."

"Yes."

"Care to elaborate?" She just shook her head.

He simply dropped the issue and moved to leave the room.

"Goodbye Kakashi-sensei."

"Bye Sakura-chan."

It was the first time he had ever called her –chan. It was oddly heart-warming. To tell the truth she had considered calling him Kakashi-kun on multiple occasions but the age difference had always stopped her. He may no longer be her sensei but he still deserved some measure of respect. Still he had called her Sakura, no honorific at all. Twice. She stared down at the box of fresh umeboshi and frowned.

When had they gotten so close?


The very next day Sakura was informed that an old friend of hers had an appointment. She wondered if Kakashi had taken her advice to heart; but when an angry Ino Yamanaka stormed into her office she was not at all surprised.

"Ino-chan! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Sakura did not bother looking up from the tower of paperwork. Ino marched up to her desk and slammed her hands down in front of the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Okay, you've been ignoring me for weeks. When was the last time you went out? And I mean to a bar or a restaurant or anywhere other than this hospital?" Sakura looked up at her friend and smiled tiredly.

"Ino, you know I have a lot of work to do. I did ask Tsunade-sama for a few days off but she says only in August. I have a special patient to take care of and she doesn't particularly trust the other staff to handle him properly. The only other person who can manage him is Shizune-san and she is busy in Sunagakure trying to tie up some loose ends with our peace treaty. She'll only be back in August."

"Sakura you are 19 years old. You haven't ever gone on a date, much less half the things people our age have done. Sometimes you need to take a break, stop being an adult for a day and come out with your old bestie for some sake and loud music." Sakura drooped at Ino's words. She knew that none of them had ever gotten the chance to experience the life of normal teenagers but such was the life of all shinobi. Still, it couldn't hurt to go out for one night could it?

"Fine. Where do you suggest we go?" Ino squealed and clapped her hands together.

"It's a secret!" The blonde grabbed her bag and stepped towards the door.

"Pick you up at eight!"

Somehow Sakura was already regretting her decision.


Sakura paused in her dressing as she heard an incessant banging against her door.

"I'll get it!" Sakura hurried down the stairs to intercept her mother before she caught what Ino would be wearing. Ino wasn't the most subtle of dressers. If Mebuki knew where they were inevitably going she would ask who was escorting them and if they said no one… Her father was fortunately away on official Clan business but her mother would probably call Naruto or Sai to come watch over them. Neither of them would do diddly squat to stop them from drinking.

"Sakura-chan! Let's see what you're wearing? Oh no. That won't do at all." Sakura found herself being dragged back upstairs and was told to sit on her bed and Ino searching through her wardrobe.

"Ooh, what about this?" Ino held up a red dress with slits on the side, very similar to her usual outfit. It had a neat white trim and cherry blossom patterns swirling up from the hemline. It was pretty but rather tight and bit short for her liking.

"Um, maybe-" But Ino cut her off and started undoing her kimono at once. Two minutes later and she was in this ridiculously short dress and a pair of low heels. Ino had done her hair up into an elaborate bun this time. Now they had to sneak past Mebuki.

Now Sakura wasn't part of any sort of advanced bloodline type clan. Most of her family were civilians. None of them had any sort of kekkei genkai hidden up their sleeves or special moves passed down through the generations. Well, none that she knew of. But her family wasn't utterly useless either. Her mother was an ex-Jonin. Her father was still an active ANBU squad leader. The only thing her clan was known for was chakra control.

And the uncanny ability to be able to discern when someone was lying.

This made it impossible for Sakura's kaa-san to not know what she was busy doing at all times.

Ino simply traipsed downstairs and out of the front door but the moment Sakura dipped her toe across the threshold Mebuki's head popped around the doorway. The Haruno death stare was very well known around the village. Sakura used it to keep Naruto out of trouble all the time. But now Sakura stared it down defiantly. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a woman in her own right and thus deserved to be treated as such.

Mebuki harrumphed and turned back to her kitchen.

"Send a message if you aren't coming home. And you're only allowed to stay at the Yamanaka's, okay?" Sakura smiled at the reluctant yes and followed Ino into town.

The air was warm, as was the general atmosphere of the village. Summer nights in Konoha were the one of the things Sakura loved about the Hidden Leaf village. Many of the small sushi bars and shops were still open and lantern light spilled onto the cobblestone paths, lighting the way and putting Sakura at ease. Any man that happened to pass her would have been able to tell her that she looked beautiful in the soft glow. The warm breeze tickled her senses and made her giggle.

She suddenly felt very young again, remembering how she used to sit atop her father's shoulders during the festivals and wave around her own lantern. Her mother was young again and carried herself with a breath-taking air of grace and sophistication. Sakura herself was solely focused on the sights and sounds. She only ever had one thing on her mind as a child, dango; the sweeter and stickier the better. Her father never once complained about her getting her sticky finger in his air and instead swung her around and laughed with her. Her mother would brush her candy-floss coloured strands out of her face and hug her daughter to her chest, whispering over and over again how beautiful she was.

But Sakura Haruno was no longer a child. She was an adult. And as such had to deal with being scorned and thought of as useless. She hadn't been called beautiful by anyone other than Naruto and Kakashi in a very long time. She wasn't very womanly. She lacked curves in all the right places. Her chest was only a C-cup and on principle she always tightly bound her chest so that it was easier to move. Her hips were average and her stomach flat. Her only notable feature was her legs, though they were often bound when she was on missions and otherwise covered by her modest choices of attire. She looked like a child next to Ino and Hinata. She had changed very little since she was a child.

She was jerked back to the present as Ino yanked on her wrist and tugged her towards a little black door on the side of a building. People were lined up to go in but Ino pulled them to the front of the line and winked at the man guarding the door. He let them in without another word. She heard the people behind them groaning.

"Um, Ino? Shouldn't we be, I don't know, waiting in line?" She was honestly a little sceptical of this place.

"Not when you have connections Forehead. Now, let's get our party on!" Ino pulled her through another door and she was assaulted by sound and light. The whole place reeked of alcohol. The stench nearly knocked Sakura over. Ino led them over to the bar where she started to chat heartily with the bartender and Sakura realised just how few people she actually knew. Of the one hundred people in this room she only knew the name of one. Maybe it was time to start expanding her social networks.

"Hi there." Just as the thought crossed her mind a man came and sat down next to her. He was relatively good-looking, she noted. Short, cropped brown hair and blue eyes. He was tanned and tall and judging by what she could see he was pretty toned.

"Hi."

"Can I buy you a drink?" Sakura bit her lip softly.

"Sure. I'm Sakura, and you are?" The man smiled.

"Masaru. I love your hair by the way. Is it just the light or is it actually pink?" Sakura laughed. Of course he would ask about her hair.

"It's pink. But I don't dye it. Now is it just the light or are you being oddly nice?" He chuckled at her odd attempt at flirting.

"Well you're a very beautiful woman, Sakura." Her face heated up at his comment and she heard Ino giggle behind her. Her friend had obviously been listening in on the conversation.

"Well you aren't half bad yourself, Masaru-san." The bartender came and took their order before handing them the drinks. Sakura sipped hers slowly before leaning on the bar counter.

"So Sakura, what brings a fine lady such as yourself to a place like this?"

"My friend Ino. She's obsessed with getting me a boyfriend. And my other friends see it the same way."

"You're single? I didn't expect it. You're so pretty I kind of assumed that you were taken." Sakura felt her heart clench a little at the comment.

"Oh no. I've never been in a steady relationship." He seemed genuinely surprised at this.

"Really? Well I guess we're both useless at dating then. Neither have I." His smile became more friendly.

"Want another drink?" Sakura looked up at the bartender and smiled.

"Yes please. On me this time." Sakura turned to Masaru with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure." They spend the rest of the evening talking and just generally having a good time.

"And then Naruto tried to catch sensei from behind with his clone but ended up punching himself in the face. It was priceless."

"Woah, your old team sounds hilarious." His words were slightly slurred now but so were Sakura's. She honestly felt a little light-headed. Ino had disappeared into the crowd with a straight-faced Sai half an hour ago. When Sai had appeared was anyone's guess but his narrowed eyes conveyed nothing but contempt towards the man Sakura was talking to. Her boys always made a point of watching out for her. It was mildly endearing and entirely annoying.

"Wanna go dance?" She pouted up at him and he agreed. She led him onto the dance floor and started swinging her hips in time with the music.

Never had she felt so much like a regular 19 year old.

The feeling agreed with her.


Kakashi Hatake liked routine.

Routine meant getting up every day for training. Eating lunch at home. Doing some menial work for Tsunade and then going out for a few drinks.

Sakura Haruno didn't fit into the last part of this routine. So when he spotted her dancing atop a table at his usual haunt he was more than a little surprised. His first instinct was to pull her off the table and take her back home but then he spotted the man she was dancing with and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

He literally flew up to the table and pushed the guy into the crowd before grabbing Sakura and pulling her towards the door.

"Kaka-sensei what are you doing?" She was barely able to stand up. She kept tripping over her ridiculous shoes.

"Taking you home." The girl paled considerably at his words.

"No! You can't do that! If my mother sees me in this state she'll have my head! Please Kakashi-kun. Don't take me home." The kun she tacked on was probably his mind imagining things.

He sighed, defeated and dragged her out of the club. She was going to fall over if she continued trying to walk.

"Okay, climb on. I won't take you home." Sakura was bewildered for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck so he could lift her up onto his back. She snuggled into his shoulder blades defiantly and he was pretty sure that she would sleep right then and there if she had the choice.


Sakura felt very warm. A little too warm if you asked her but still fairly comfortable. She was snuggled into the thick cotton bed sheets of-. Wait a minute. Since when do I own cotton bed sheets? Sakura opened her eyes but quickly regretted it. The bright sunlight assaulted her eyes and made her head throb. She groaned and turned over, accidentally pressing herself into someone's chest. Sakura froze and mentally tried to reconstruct last night as the questions, 'who, where, why and what the fuck?' flashed through her mind. The person shifted themselves and sat up, pulling her up with her. She squeaked at the sudden movement and turned to see - slowly, owing to her obvious hangover - to see who it was.

"Morning sleeping beauty. I'm assuming you want to know what the heck you're doing here." Kakashi's smug voice drifted towards her and if her head wasn't as sore as it was she would have screamed at him by now. At that precise moment in time however all she did was fall backwards into the pillows and groan.

"Kakashi-sensei what am I doing here? In your bed nonetheless?" She could practically hear his smirk.

"Well you were dancing atop a table at this club so I tried to take you home but you didn't want your parents to see you so I gave you a piggyback ride to my house instead." Sakura's mind flashed with blurred images.

"What happened to Ino?" And Masaru.

"She went home with Sai. You were completely drunk so she left you to me. I still can't believe she took you there though." Sakura bristled at this.

"I'm legally an adult Kakashi-sensei. I had as much right to be there as you did." She couldn't believe he was treating her like a child.

"I know that Sakura-chan. I just didn't want you to get hurt. I worry, you know?" His tone made her feel slightly guilty for snapping at him earlier.

"It's okay. Now help me up so that I can get rid of this hangover. I think I have enough chakra for it." Kakashi tsked and stopped her.

"Uh uh. You are going to stay right there and I'm going to treat this like a normal person. Water and food. No healing jutsu. She gaped at him.

"But sensei-"

"Nope. No buts about it. I already called Tsunade-sama and she gave you the day off." Sakura gave up protesting and spread herself across the bed. She was dimly aware that she was no longer wearing her dress. Instead she was in a loose shirt and was sans pants. Luckily she was still in her underwear and chest bindings from the previous night.

"Okay then slave. Get started." Kakashi laughed but conceded to her wishes.

Sometimes his cherry-blossom made him smile.


N/A: Okay short authors note. I hope to update this story once a week (every Sunday) until I reach the epilogue (which should be chapter 21, depending on how things go) and I'll always finish the next chapter before posting one. That way I build up a buffer. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Please Review! :)