Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's affiliates.
M
The Henge
Chapter Two
xox
"Are you two ok?"
The duo shifted uncomfortably next to one another in the face of the woman that could rip them limb from limb, heal them – and do it again.
"Yes, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura confirmed, her hands were clasped together behind her back, wrung together in fear that the short-tempered woman would catch onto something, but contrary to her face that held a newfound blush —her teacher merely remained quiet before the two-man team.
Tsunade narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"We were able to gather the scroll at the hand-off point with little resistance, however a group of Sound nin followed us and we had to engage, Hokage-" Kakashi cut in, primarily to divert any unnecessary attention from their rigid figures.
"Did they say what they wanted?"
Kakashi shook his head, "there were three that attacked us, I was able to disable one while Sakura handled two of them herself – quite well may I add."
The compliment made Sakura visibly perk, the memories of their battle that had been a prelude to…her cherry faced look towards her sensei caste a delighted smile to cling to her lips.
"I told you, Hatake," Tsunade huffed, but the confident and proud jut of her shoulders commended all suspicions she previously held. "It seems you two did ok, although I will have to promote the mission to B rank seeing as this could possibly have something to do with Orochimaru."
The room stilled between the trio, Sakura bit her lip in silent anticipation whereas Kakashi casually glanced out the window, their team had once stood together in these walls and due to the inability of him being able to be the glue that they needed – now he stood beside his female student, the weight of this failure unsettled both of them — for different reasons.
"Why would Orochimaru be involved?" Sakura inquired first.
Tsunade sighed, her former teammate continued to be a reason for her perpetual aging, "we have reason to believe that the information contained in that scroll involves the warring factions within different villages – primarily due to the Akatsuki's sudden emergence."
Sakura furrowed her brows in confusion, but Kakashi's hindsight had always been his forte', "and Orochimaru wants to know what villages he can plant his men in," the copy-nin concluded.
Sakura – still confused, glanced between her shishou and sensei with a renewed, acute annoyance. "Who are the Akatsuki?" the name didn't seem to hold any viable importance – at least to her knowledge, but she knew this was classified information their Hokage was telling them.
The two adults ignored her question.
"Exactly," Tsunade explained, "it seems that multiple reports have been coming out of Amegakure that there have been sightings of different members, and now the Fire Daimyo is concerned since the Earth Daimyo was killed three days ago."
The words hung thickly in the air, if not because of the implications of what was happening then possibly could happen.
"And you're thinking Orochimaru is concerning himself with the Akatsuki and ordered that kill on the Earth Daimyo-?" Kakashi hoped that he was wrong, for the sake of his two student's welfare.
"From the information we have, it seems so. If not to have a hand in whatever is happening, then at the very least with some ulterior motive pertaining to this village and the Fire Daimyo. What makes the situation more suspicious is that the Daimyo had been surrounded by ANBU from different villages highly trained in genjutsu, only someone with astounding genjutsu abilities could have dismantled their henge," Tsunade concluded.
Sakura's eyes fell downcast; she knew what this could possibly mean – although they hadn't outwardly spoken it "So those people that attacked us were sent by Orochimaru, which means that Sasuke-kun could have himself implicated since he left with him…"
Her hands clasped together in front of her chest, she held the feeling there - that hard, horrible pain.
Pity fell on the pink haired kunoichi, "we're not going to make any assumptions on Sasuke's knowledge of what is going on," Tsunade attempted to comfort, but found no use in sugar coating the severity of the situation, "however, taking the Earth Daimyo's life means a direct threat to this village since it's only been a few years that Orochimaru attacked Konoha during your chunin exams – those sound ninja attacking you only confirmed what the council and I have been suspecting."
Kakashi could see how the words hung before them, as intuitive as he was. If Sasuke found himself involved in this at all – there would be nothing that Sakura, Naruto, and he could do to help prevent the sure death of their befallen member of Team Seven.
"But Sasuke wouldn't do that-!" Sakura defended, against her better judgement old habits and her belief that he wouldn't do that still held validity in her heart.
"He wants to avenge his family, he wanted to kill his brother – he wouldn't go as far as become Orochimaru's subordinate to involve himself in killing the Earth or Fire Daimyo, it just doesn't make sense…" her voice held little restraint, she wanted to believe her words – and she did, but the forlorn looks that her respective teachers gave her made her chest clench.
"—Besides, isn't his brother still alive? He also has the sharingan, and since he defected from the village isn't it more likely that he could be involved?" her voice broke a little under her resolve, the words could have been convincing if he hadn't taken such a dark path.
"Sakura…Thank you…."
The words still touched a place deep within her.
"Sakura," Tsunade's thick voice held no room for grief-stricken emotion, "you need to understand what is happening. The only reason I'm telling you two this highly classified information is because Sasuke was apart of Team Seven-"
"Is-" she tried to correct, but Kakashi cut her off this time. He could see his student unraveling at the news, because although she had claimed that her feelings were disconnected from the Uchiha's in the face of losing her virginity, he should have known better than to think that she had been mature enough to face something like this
"What are you expecting us to do?" Kakashi's voice was raspy and grim, at this point Sasuke's involvement was mere speculation, and it would do nothing but hinder her progress as a kunoichi to worry over Sasuke once again.
"I may need to send you both on an extended mission near sound to help track Sasuke, I would tell Naruto…" she paused, the decision of becoming Hokage creased her brow, "but he's training under Jiraiya still and I don't want him running back here under prepared, especially where the Akatsuki can easily find him."
"Have there been any reports?" Kakashi questioned, his visible eye gave Sakura a sideways glance — she had sunk into herself, the face that had twisted so generously for him the night before remained stoic, although she had never been adept in concealing how she truly felt.
"Not yet, and under normal circumstances I wouldn't have bothered to think about putting this on your shoulders or assign you this mission – but with Akatsuki gaining momentum, our ANBU and jounin are spread throughout different villages, but I felt you both had a right to know."
"Thank you, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura's voice quivered, but Kakashi couldn't help but notice a new, renewed vigor of energy within her.
"When will we be dispatched?"
"Not yet, and maybe you won't if we get accurate reports on Orochimaru's involvement with the homicide, but I'll let you know. Go get some rest—" the duo moved to say their goodbyes until the authoritative voice of their Hokage stopped them.
"Sakura – hospital training tomorrow at dawn, and get that wound patched up at the hospital, Hatake. I don't want to see you training or running around the village with Gai unless you're completely healed."
Kakashi feigned ignorance, "you forget I have my own personal medic, no need for a hospital now."
Sakura's face burned at her sensei's callous appreciation of her — and fortunately her back had been turned to the hokage so she could hide her embarrassment.
That pervert…!
xox
"Do you think Sasuke-kun did it?" Sakura asked the man that she had spent the night prior curled up against. She could remember the distinct smell of his masculinity, the way he had made her — her memories were consumed by him.
Their trip back the next morning had been pleasant, any sign of awkward behavior had escaped the mood between them, but the moment they entered the village the fruitful pop! of his henge being released made Sakura realize what had just happened.
She knew, yet the man that had worked her body now towered over her, and the outline of his entirely adult body stuck out beneath the familiar jounin outfit she had seen for years. Their stark difference in size made her tilt her head back, and she had remained mute when they made the walk to the Hokage's office, face as red as a ripe tomato.
Her mind had been consumed by the thoughts of her sensei, and she had stood rigid in front of the Hokage — afraid, more than anything.
Until the mention of Sasuke reared itself.
Kakashi could see this, what had been a young woman last night seemed to dwindle within their village. He didn't know what to say that could possibly ease the fright she held for their former teammate.
"I'm not going to lie and say I believe he's completely innocent," Kakashi premised, because in their world, it would be better for her to learn the hard truth of what happened to those you loved dearly that chose a path that you couldn't save them from. "He could have been involved, but it wouldn't make sense for him to implicate himself like that."
Her eyes remained settled in the distance, beyond them — no matter that the day was beautiful, the fresh showers from the storm the night before had hit their village and everything held a newfound glitter to it when the sun caressed the scenery.
"If Orochimaru gave him a good offer, maybe information on his brother's whereabouts — then it's likely that he may have done it."
Sakura stopped walking, the sun hung sourly in the sky now — Kakashi wanted to reach forward and comfort her, but her confident nod and sparkle in her eyes prevented him - among other things.
"We still have to believe in him," she reached forward and grasped his gloved hand within her own, a fresh smile on her face, "I know Naruto isn't here, but we have to have faith — for both of them."
The road they were on was empty, but Kakashi couldn't help but feel uneasy that someone would come across them, he snapped his hand away from hers — "we can't do this here, Sakura."
It had been an innocent touch of his fingers, something that could have been shared between a teacher and student, and he hadn't meant to snap at her — but he remembered why he never touched virgins - let alone his student. The memory of their night displayed itself before him, but today he felt insurmountable guilt — he should have been the one to say no.
The words made her perceptibly still, and they stung — because somewhere she thought that maybe their bond would improve, that they could rely on each other.
"Oh, right." She grasped her offending hand in her other, and she bit back the urge to ask why. Of course — she knew they wouldn't be able to display open affection in the village, but she hadn't expected him to be so curt.
He tucked his hands in his pockets; the news of Sasuke, his deflowering of a certain kunoichi, and what uncertain future lay before them made him clench his jaw — suddenly he felt much tired than he had been when they arrived.
"Do you need me to walk you home?" he asked her — to be courteous, they both knew she could walk herself home, if not by pummeling anybody that threatened her.
"No, it's ok. Do you need me to finish healing your wound?" her eyes scanned over her handiwork and she reached forward to get one last glance until the jounin took a firm step back out of her finger's nimble reach.
"No," he said abruptly.
"But—"
"I'll go to the hospital. You better get home and let your parents know you're ok."
Well that effectively doused ice on his impure thoughts.
Sakura gave him a hard stare, although he could see a refined wetness in her eyes. She tugged on her lower lip, overcome with his brusque, clipped attitude towards her. It hurt, but the young girl knew somewhere that he was struggling with what happened. She had to expect this, but it still hurt.
The news had affected her, too.
She had asked him to help her, but she didn't expect him to brush her off once they returned home — she had to keep a level head about this.
They were still on the same team.
"Get some sleep, Kaka-sensei." She turned on her heel and disappeared in the direction of her home. He couldn't avoid her, and she couldn't avoid him — what they did would remain in the deep shadows of the forest within that cave.
The faint scent of tears infiltrated his nostrils.
She left him on an old bridge, frustrated with himself and alone — where she stood bright, pink painted and present. He remained alone, a lack of color in his life dulled his senses — grey had always suited him.
Solitude had always been a grey color, he presumed.
xox
He did not get some sleep.
Quite the opposite, actually.
"Hell, I've had missions where it sent me balls deep into the next woman I saw—" the small howl of laughter shared between Genma and Anko echoed around the grey ninja in the corner of the bar they occupied.
"Right, like I'm supposed to believe that it's that easy for you when you come crawling back to me," Anko purred relentlessly in Genma's ear. Her arms draped over the brown haired male and nipped at his ear, a snide smirk settled on his friend's face.
What should have normally been a normal display of talk between these two that Kakashi had gotten used to currently grated on his nerves.
He shot back his beer, hopefully he could get horridly drunk and forget that he had slept with his student, then he could wake up with an incurable hangover and figure out what to do.
In the meantime, he wanted to forget.
"What pissed in your rocker?" Anko griped to the copy-nin, she settled back into her seat which meant that now her attention was directed towards him — like a spider with a web filled with struggling flies, no one was safe.
"I already told you, tough mission—"
They both snorted, "what? Did your little female tire you? Make you realize we're getting old?"
Not entirely wrong.
"Something like that," he offered, but the vague nature of their friend only made them more curious, and these two as a team were as good as Ibiki in extracting information when they wanted to - especially pertaining to gossip among their peers.
Anko pressed herself to his side, effectively squashing her mesh covered breasts against his arm. A rather good tactic on her part, his eyes lingered casually before he took another sip of beer.
"I'll tell you what makes me feel old —" Genma sighed pitifully, "the fact that Inoichi's girl is shaping up to be goddamn beautiful and she's underage."
"He would kill you if he heard you say that," Kakashi scolded, "in fact, I think Asuma would love to hear what you have to say—"
"Are either of them here?" the sly smirk that filtered onto his face made him reminisce, "that under age bullshit is ridiculous," he stated finally and waved at the waitress — "a round of shots, please!"
At least someone agreed with him, but the trail of this conversation made Kakashi uneasy, "I'm alright—"
"You're taking it," Anko reprimanded tightly, "how long has it been since we've gotten piss face drunk?"
Kakashi couldn't argue with that.
"Speaking of underage bullshit," Anko began once the clear, short stem glasses were delivered, "that Hyuga girl has a massive rack already, it's a shame she covers herself up."
"What? And she should take your wardrobe tips?" Genma eyed her chest appreciatively, "I don't think her clan would be happy about a mesh body suit — some women have class."
That comment earned him a sharp punch to the ribs, "class my ass, as if you wouldn't ogle her if she walked down the street with that jacket unzipped."
Genma shrugged sheepishly, "I appreciate the female anatomy in general."
The three members of Konoha's jounin raised their shot glasses in unison, "to a quick death and years over thirty," Anko led, they cheered one another before knocking back the bitter substance.
Kakashi still remained rather quiet, not that he was ever the most talkative person within the group, but he normally provided more source of entertainment — "your little kunoichi is going to break hearts," Genma trailed off, "legs and ass to-"
The sharp glare from Kakashi silenced Genma, "discuss who you want, but don't talk about my female student."
"Is she still?" Anko questioned genuinely, although the words stung.
"I thought she was mentoring under the Hokage?"
"She is — I still have a team, we're just down two members," he replied, he didn't want to tread on this subject, the alcohol was beginning to make his head warm and his lips tended to become loose in regards to things he held closely.
"That's why I didn't bother with signing up, taking care of kids? No less try and teach them to not die—" Genma took another heavy swig of his beer.
"Your team would be dead in less than a month," Anko shot at the senbon user who gave her a snide look in return.
"It's not so bad," Kakashi admitted, "aside from when they defect from the village."
The duo remained quiet, contrary to their character. They knew it was a sore spot for their friend, and even Anko dislodged herself from his arm, their idle memories of the Uchiha didn't compare to what Kakashi remembered of the kid, but they both glanced at each other warily — time to direct the conversation elsewhere.
"Another round!" Genma motioned towards the waitress.
By the time midnight rolled around, the trio were laughing merrily in the corner — each of their cheeks were shadowed by a blush and haze in their eyes.
Kakashi more so, and he had to wonder if Genma had been slipping him extra drinks — he hadn't requested a refill but his beer seemed to magically refill itself to the brim without him noticing.
"Kakashi-senpai!" the warm voice of Yamato idled into their jovial laughter.
Yamato arrived to the table alone, almond eyes lit with respect for the three people in the corner.
"Tenzo!" Anko reached over the table and forced him to sit down. For the snake woman, the more men in her corner the better.
Kakashi pat his ANBU partner on the back, "were you in the area?" again, he tipped his beer back.
"Well— I could hear you guys laughing from the street, but I just ran into Ino—"
"She wearing that cut off shirt?" Genma interrupted, senbon twisting pleasurably in his mouth.
Tenzo blinked slowly at Genma, unsure how to handle the question, "uhm…Yeah, she was."
Genma whistled, "I'm telling you guys, it's a damn shame."
"What is?" the wood user questioned curiously.
"The fact that the village hangs onto archaic laws!" Anko complained, although the two men looked at her, unable to remember if she had mentioned any one of importance.
"Well, the law is there for a reason, isn't there?" leave it to him to dampen their moods on the subject.
"Whatever," Genma waved him off before ordering another round, "and two here for this guy!"
"It's ok to send these kids out to kill a civilian, but sleeping with one of us — jail time," Anko chewed on an empty dango stick.
"You haven't even brought anyone up in the Konoha twelve," Genma barked unhappily.
"I'm positive Hana's little brother is something else in bed," Anko sighed with a small hiss of pleasure, "what those fangs could do." She winked at the three men sitting before her, who by now were accustomed to her outward statements.
"Well," Tenzo reasoned, "that would be like Kakashi-senpai sleeping with Sakura-chan, that's weird — isn't it?'
His heart race increased under the scrutiny and truth of his words.
If not for an extremely trained eye, they wouldn't have seen Kakashi visibly still, and the question was directed at him. He swirled his beer in his cup, faking a grimace — "I've known her since she was a genin, I don't want to think about that," Kakashi paused, keen to their piercing eyes, "aren't there dozens of men and women that we could be talking about, not students I've been privy to for years?"
"See? Not everyone thinks like you two," Tenzo headed to the sour commands of Anko and Genma when his shots appeared and downed them just as quickly, "besides," he mumbled when his throat began to burn, "— it won't be long until they come of age, might as well wait."
All eyes glanced curiously at the rather stoic ANBU, "what?" Anko gleamed, her smile tilted like a cat toying with a trapped rat, "does our little Tenzo have a crush on a younger woman?"
Kakashi sucked air between his teeth, if he had been sober — this conversation would have left him ill of heart. Possibly cardiac arrest, but the other two were belligerent enough to forget parts of this conversation — but with Tenzo around he had to be careful with what he said — or didn't say.
"N-no! Of course not!" the wood user blushed suddenly. Genma slapped him hard on the back before swinging an arm around his shoulder.
"Welcome to the club-!"
"Don't include me in your club," Kakashi defended himself from this onslaught of conversation, although curiously he wanted to know who Tenzo could possibly be thinking of.
Tenzo remained quiet, but the guilty flick of his eyes in Kakashi's direction spoke volumes and he had to clench his jaw in an attempt to reign himself in.
Genma caught on, the alcohol unwavering in his naturally obtrusive personality, "ah, so exotic colors are more of your thing, eh Tenzo?" all eyes peered at Kakashi curiously expecting a reaction, because Genma and Anko could thrive on the thought that something made the aloof Kakashi uncomfortable.
"That's your jail cell, not mine," he concluded, brushing off the admission although it made his stomach coil tightly in reserved…anger?
Genma and Anko released breaths they hadn't realized they had been holding, "how lame. Just dismissing your student like that," she huffed, disappointed in his usual lax attitude.
Kakashi finished his last beer, he had to step away from them — his reserve would break, and alcohol was supposed to inhibit his thought process, not make him more confused. "Well, I'll leave you guys to your fantasies, I on the other hand have the sensibility to chase after women fully developed," the words felt thick and dry in his mouth, but seamlessly he lied through practiced lips.
Anko gripped his arm, that sly-sultry grin enveloped her and she teasingly brushed her hand against the hem of his pants, "I could join you, leave the boys here to fondle each other."
Tenzo remained stoic, unsure of himself in front of his previous ANBU captain while Genma glared through his fog.
"I'm ok, I have a body waiting for me back at my apartment."
Which really meant Pakkun, but no need to explain the details.
Anko pouted, and with a woman such as herself it was better to dislodge yourself and move away so her attention could be invested elsewhere versus fighting her outright — she thrived on the innocent, and the maddening blush on Tenzo's cheeks were her bed and breakfast.
"Tenzo," she purred suddenly, slinking herself closer to him once Kakashi left the booth.
He dropped cash on the table and bid his goodbyes, thoroughly drunk. In the haze of this, he shot his hand up to dismiss himself in his typical lazy wave and left the dim light of the bar to the moon decorated in the night sky.
Somewhere between consciousness and self-inhibited, masochistic habits, he found himself on Sakura's street. Her home peered into view, and he saw the proud house that her and her parents were probably sleeping in and got upset with himself.
What was he thinking?
If she lived by herself, sure — understandable. However, the barrier of her childhood here and his years of lived experience of being alone forced him to turn on his heel.
It had been a mistake.
He would need to tell her it couldn't happen again.
But drunkenly, all of his senses simply yearned for her responsive body, and he hated the tightening of his pants. Traitor, he thought vehemently at himself. It wouldn't work, even casually sleeping with each other, they would have to remain on a team, they had to remain as a glue for their broken members.
He hadn't missed the hurt shadows in her expressive eyes when she left him on the bridge earlier that day.
That night, pink invaded his dreams in a room of grey.
xox
He was avoiding her.
A week of relative silence from her sensei wasn't unusual, but she had at least expected him to be in the places she normally found him — but nothing. She searched the ANBU headquarters, the training grounds, and began to ask people where her sensei had disappeared to. After three days of coming up empty on his whereabouts, she took advantage of her apprentice position and asked Tsunade if she had assigned Kakashi on a mission during her medical ninjutsu practice.
"No, I have you and him on reserve — but you should check the cenotaph if you can't find him, he usually spends his time there."
Four mornings now she arrived at dawn to see if her sensei had planted himself at the memorial, and arrived in the evenings at his apartment timidly knocking on his door — but still nothing.
All she wanted was to explain how he wouldn't have to worry, she wouldn't push herself on him like that so they didn't have to watch over their shoulders, but even finding him to relay this information was proving to be difficult.
On her fifth morning searching for him — she found him standing idly in front of the cenotaph, hands stuffed in his pockets, his shoulders were hunched forward and she paused in her steps to witness the forlorn man that had lost friends and family.
She walked up to him tentatively, still unsure of how she was going to tell him — silence seemed to be the best option. She faced the cenotaph and inscribed the hundreds of names through her mind — until her eyes fell on Uchiha, Obito.
The name caught her attention.
"What are you doing here, Sakura?" his voice held a weariness that made her tilt her body towards him.
"I've been looking for you," she responded, a tinge of sadness laced itself in her voice. "You've been avoiding me. I'm not an idiot, sensei."
He sighed dully, he had been talking with Obito for the past hour and found little sense of clarity since the beginning of their conversation. "Clever girl," he commented off-handedly.
"This isn't funny," she remarked, her anger sparking under the frustration that bubbled dangerously within her, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."
He paused and turned to face her smaller frame, "sorry?"
"Yeah," she bit her lip, unsure of herself and what she had been preparing to say all week, "I know that I pushed you to…make love to me — but I wasn't thinking straight." Her hands clasped with one another again - force of habit that revealed her ultimate tell in how she felt.
"I don't want you to regret it, and I don't either — but I don't want you to think you have to avoid me to chase me away, I understand this isn't something you want. I shouldn't have touched you so easily the other day on the bridge, I never thought about the trouble I could get you in — and if anything happened to you because of me I don't know what I would do—" she was rambling, he knew this must have been eating at her like it had him.
He had stolen her virginity.
And here she was apologizing for something he should have had the strength to stop, "Sakura, stop."
She immediately shut her mouth.
"Why are you apologizing?" he stared back at the names of lost shinobi that sacrificed themselves for the people within this village, "I should have put a stop to it, I'm the adult between us." He paused, drained and the deafening roar of his conscience ate at the pits of his chest.
"-So I apologize, I took something from you that you weren't ready for."
Pretty eyes glinted at him, "that I wasn't ready for? I knew what I was doing, and I would do it over again if I had the chance."
He stared down at the confident medical ninja in front of him, and he couldn't help but wonder why of all men, she chose him. He hated to think she was a woman that liked to fix broken things, broken men — until it stole the youth from her.
"It seems between us two you're the one that wasn't ready, Kaka-sensei," she reprimanded him. Sakura - his dutiful, normally cute student was scolding him for his life decisions while she stood there with an air of insignificance to what happened.
"It was a mistake," he had to put an end to this here. It was wrong, although the small tilt of her lips and fire behind her eyes made his body hum with her proximity. "You think Naruto or Sasuke would approve of this? If we get caught, — I got to jail and what's left of Team Seven?"
"Tsunade-shishou wouldn't put you in a jail cell," she shot back, more determined to convince her unusually stubborn sensei.
"And what about the council? They've been wanting to see me rot for years, you don't think they would gladly put one of us — if not both of us in jail for breaking the law?"
A bull met a donkey, both stubborn animals that would refuse to move aside for the other.
"She wouldn't allow that, I chose to sleep with you — henge or not."
"Right," he bit back, "because I'm sure what happened in that cave would have happened if I had been my normal age."
This made her falter over a sharp response, but the bull in her refused to relent her argument. "I don't regret it," she repeated, her hands gripped her hips defensively, "I would gladly do it again, too. I care about you, sensei. But unlike you, I have the maturity to handle what happened between us."
Few things could make the normally calm, reserved and jovial Hatake Kakashi angry, but his underage student claiming to be more mature about a situation where she would be seen as the innocent victim and he the defiling pervert made his anger tick.
"Maturity?" he repeated, a small scoff caught in his throat, "what girl throws herself at her teacher, then? I don't see Ino doing that to Asuma, and if you had any sense of maturity then you would take the hint that I don't want you—" the words left him carelessly, and he should have stopped himself - stopped before tears sprung to striking eyes under the kiss of the sunlight that peaked over their mountains.
"At least I'm trying to fix things," her voice cracked under his harsh words, "but it's always been this way. You ignored me for Naruto and Sasuke-kun, I've always looked up to you, even putting that aside. What do the boys get? Your undivided time and devotion. What do I get? Tossed aside because I'm not inherently strong like Naruto or come from a recognized clan—" her words tumbled from pink lips, because her heart hurt — her second family had been utterly destroyed now.
"—And since they both left? You haven't even tried to visit me or see how I'm doing." Her shoulders began to shake — and she hated crying, hated it because it seemed like it was all she could do to express herself — it made her feel weak.
"Sakura…" he reached forward to bring her close to him, to stop the pain that she had obviously harbored with her, but she recoiled away from him.
"It just hurts to know you never really cared about me," she left in a spell of tears and silent shakes, and Kakashi remained at the memorial, stoned into a customary silence.
He was alone, again.
He glanced at the name of his friend and teammate, the name stared back at him resolutely. "I'm sure you heard all of this," he sighed and ran a tired hand through his mop of hair, "…I guess I haven't really grown," he murmured more to himself than his dead friend.
"…Oh right, and I slept with my student — if you didn't catch that already."
He could envision Obito's reaction, but he couldn't picture what advice he would be given. Those answers were for him to figure out, if the silence of the cenotaph had been any indication.
xox
Sakura had been working in the hospital aimlessly the following day, thoughts lingering on her team — but primarily the face of her sensei kept diluting her focus from her tasks. It had been unusually busy that day, so Shizune had her working as a temporary aid in the emergency room.
"Sakura-!" Shizune's soft voice echoed through the hallways where Sakura was transporting blood samples from the patient outpost to the lab. She stopped mid-step to see the brown haired woman arrive with a stack of folders.
"Shizune-san?" Sakura inquired curiously.
"Sorry, but I need you to run these to Tsunade-sama, she requested these this morning about the sickness that's been running through the village — it looks like it came from a bordering village and two people passed away yesterday, so we're going to need to find out the cause before anyone else is affected," the woman spun her words so quickly Sakura nearly got lost but smiled and grasped the folders from her.
"Sure. I was just taking these samples to the lab, so I'll do that then go to the Hokage's office."
The look of pure relief washed over the respectable medic-ninja, "thank you so much. She would throw a fit if these aren't delivered on time."
Sakura placed the folders on the bottom tray of the cart, "no problem. It's the least I can do since it's so busy today," a smile lit her face, but internally she wanted to curl herself in her bed and lug herself around for the next week - her heated discussion with Kakashi left her exhausted.
And hurt, mostly hurt.
"Thank you again, after delivering those you can go ahead and take the day off, you've been here since this morning."
With a faint look to the clock to her right, Sakura saw that dusk would be settling over the village — these double shifts were killer, but the experience gained only reminded her that she still had a long way to go before she caught up to either of her teammates.
"Alright, thank you Shizune-san."
They said their goodbyes and Sakura trailed her way through the hospital to the labs. Once she delivered the samples a distinct noise on the upper floor where the emergency room was caught her attention. The noise became deafening as the thumping of feet and yelling echoed throughout the halls.
Something stilled within her chest.
Sakura ran to see what was going on, the authoritative voice of her shishou and a gang of ANBU were on stretchers being sent to the operating room. Blood stained the white floors of the hospital and she moved forward to see if she could help — but Shizune and Tsunade surged forward amongst the trained medical ninjas.
She took a step back, unsure of what to do to help.
"Sakura- leave!" Tsunade commanded when she moved by with another ANBU being carted on a stretcher.
Confusion filtered through her.
Until her eyes landed on a body that hung from another stretcher down the hall surrounded by a team of specialists.
Her heart froze, time catapulted her to a standstill at the body that remained limp in the care of doctors. Dark, onyx hair caked with blood and pale, ivory skin that she had stood by for years made her breath catch in the back of her throat.
The face that belonged the body broke through the barrier of doctors when one stepped aside. The serene face that had caused her more pain and sleepless nights remembering her futile attempt of admitting her love would bring him back - was here.
"Sasuke…kun."
Author's Note: Whew, sorry to do that to you guys, short- but I had to end it there for this chapter.
I've wanted to read a scene between Genma, Anko, and Kakashi for years but haven't found one - so that scene was a pleasure to write.
Thank you to everyone who did review and left a story alert, I really really appreciate it!
If you enjoy this story don't forget to leave a review/favorite/follow - it takes only a second but serves as huge inspiration for us authors.