Chapter Two
Old Wounds

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Just because she still cared about him, didn't mean that she was going to allow him to get away with what he'd said, what he'd done. What he was doing.

No—she was going to give him a piece of her mind, even if it was the last thing she did.

"Sasuke, stop!"

She was furious. She was very, very furious. It didn't matter that they hadn't spoken to each other in months—it didn't even matter that she didn't want to talk to him yet, that she wasn't ready, that she didn't want to be caught up once more in emotions too complicated to understand at all. Her heart was beating too wildly, her mind focused on just one thing.

Naruto was important. She would never let him down.

"Sasuke, I said stop!"

He didn't stop.

When Sakura finally managed to catch up with the raven-haired Uchiha near one of the training grounds, she grabbed hold of his arm, and viciously pulled on. Because of her insane strength, there was nothing that Sasuke could do, except shrug her hand off, and pause.

He gave her a cold, cold look. "Sakura, go awa—"

Slap!

He staggered backwards, as the impact of her hand on his cheek hit hard.

"You stupid bastard! Is it that easy for you?!" She was yelling at the top of her lungs, her green eyes blazing with fury and disbelief. "You would just leave Naruto to suffer?!"

Sasuke glared at her angrily, rubbing his cheek. Then, the anger went off, as he went back to his usual emotionless expression.

"It's none of your busine—"

"The hell it's none of my business!" she snapped. "What is wrong with you?"

He regarded her coolly. Calmly. "Nothing's wrong with me. He's dead to me."

"He's not dead—dammit, Sasuke, he's our teammate!"

"Hn."

"And you're marrying his fiancé. The girl he loves—"

His onyx eyes narrowed. "She's my fiancé now."

"But that was when you thought he was dea—"

"I told you," he said sharply, "he's dead to me. Hinata's carrying my child, and—"

"Shut up!"

He stared at her, not finishing his sentence. She stared back, furiously.

"And that's all that's ever been important to you, isn't it? Your clan, your life—"

"It's something you cannot give me, Sakura."

Sakura staggered back, as if slapped. She paled for a moment, before regaining her composure once more. It hurt. Kami, it hurt so much, even after all this time.

Just because she was trying not to love him any longer, didn't mean that she had stopped altogether.

"I—"

"You're infertile. You cannot give me children."

It was the bitter truth.

"I did the right thing."

But that didn't mean the truth was always right.

Slowly, Sakura let herself feel, for one last time.

"You cheated on me," she whispered, softly. She closed her eyes, letting the memory wash over her. "You cheated on me, with the fiancé of our missing best friend, while she was grieving and drunk and out of her damn mind." She opened her eyes—green orbs pinning his, daring him to look away. He didn't. "You're going to leave your best friend, the guy who saved your life more times than you have ever deserved, to die and suffer—just because you want to revive your stupid clan. Just because you want to be selfish. Tell me how that is right, Sasuke."

Sasuke kept his gaze on her, unreadable. Untouchable.

Then he looked off into the distance.

"I don't love you, Sakura," he intoned, calmly.

Something in her cracked, and yearned to break free. She reeled it in, and held steady.

"Yes. You just fucked me countless times to try and knock me up," she murmured, just as calmly. "Too bad it didn't work, huh?"

Silence.

Something flickered in his eyes—but it was gone before she could fully comprehend it, or take notice.

"It doesn't matter," he said, voice cool. Dismissive. Like none of what she was saying mattered. She watched, with steady eyes, and a raging heart, as he prepared to leave. Prepared to walk away, because he couldn't be bothered with anything that had to do with her. With Naruto.

She didn't let him.

With all the force she could, without totally destroying the place they were in, Sakura molded chakra into her hand, and slammed her fist down on the ground. It shook at once, sending distinct tremors up to where he was. She straightened up afterwards, and still with fisted hands, shook with barely restrained fury.

"If you take one more step away, Uchiha, I swear I will—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, because the next instant, he was suddenly gone—only reappearing behind her, his warmth radiating in waves. Before she could turn around, he suddenly had her hands behind her, in a tight grip. He held on to her fists, so she would not be able to mold chakra at all. Sakura let out a breath, as he slammed her front against a large nearby wooden target practice—not hard, and not painful, but firm enough to keep her in place. He pressed his own body firmly behind her, making sure she would not be able to move at all.

But Sakura had never been one to be subdued so easily.

Without further ado, she began struggling.

"Damn you, Sasuke! Why the hell are you doing this? Why the hell—"

He pressed on tighter.

"Let me go! I—"

Tighter.

"—can't let you do this—"

"It's over, Sakura."

...tighter.

She stopped struggling at his words, and tried very hard not to tremble. To breathe. His voice was now soft, and very, very final. Somehow, she knew he wasn't talking about Naruto, but about something else altogether.

She couldn't breathe.

"I'm getting married," he said. "Stop it."

She didn't move—not because she physically couldn't. She just...couldn't. Sakura felt his grip on her softening, loosening. She felt him turn her around, until she was facing him, her back now the one on the jagged wood. He held her wrists to her sides, firmly.

Green eyes met onyx, and for a moment, nothing gave.

She spoke, in the lowest, lowest voice.

"Look me in the eye, Sasuke, and tell me you don't feel anything anymore," she said. She whispered. "Not for me. Not for Naruto."

Silence.

His grip on her wrists tightened, nearly to the point of pain. His eyes held on.

"Don't be annoying," he said.

"Look me in the eye, and tell me—"

"Don't be—"

"I said look me in the eye, and—"

Her breath came out in a whoosh, as his hands released her wrists now, and went to grip the back of her neck, her hair, and pull her closer. She put her palms out to prevent further contact with him, as his grip became tight once more. Nearly unforgiving. She wanted nothing more than to sink in a corner, and cry her heart out. To let her hurt and weaknesses just go away, and leave her all alone. To let herself find happiness, somewhere in her life.

Because she wasn't happy. She had never been, for a long time now.

She didn't know how to be again.

"Stop this," he intoned.

"Anything for Naruto," she hissed.

"I'm marrying her—"

"Anything for Naruto—" she repeated, more determinedly.

"You can't give me what I want."

Her heart cracked once more, but she ignored it, and ignored everything, as she stared at him with all the strength she could muster.

"Anything for Na—"

His hands let go of her hair, and went to her upper arms, yanking her even closer. She stopped her words, for a fraction of a second, as something flickered in his eyes—a hint of some fury, some emotion, she couldn't quite identify. Maybe it was resentment. Maybe it was something else. His hands, once again, tightened. So did hers, as she gripped his shirt front, with all intensity and firmness and inner, deeper confusion. She knew they were reflected in her eyes, knew he could read them.

Onyx met green, openly.

"Sakura."

He was going to get married, to someone else—the woman he cheated on her with. The one who now carried his child. The child she could never give him.

As her heart beat wildly, and her body nearly succumbed to its trembling, Sakura didn't do what she wanted. She didn't do what her heart screamed for her to do, screamed for her to take. Instead, she did the right thing.

She let go of his shirt.

And she let go of him.

"For Naruto," she whispered, her green eyes swirling with what she couldn't say. She backed away, away from him and the closeness that she couldn't stand.

I love you.

"Please," she said.

But it's over.

"For Naruto, Sasuke," she murmured.

It has to be over.

There was something unspeakable going on, as they stared at each other, not moving. The tension was in the air, just like before in the office—but it was a different kind of tension now. He kept his eyes unreadable, but even he, the great Uchiha Sasuke that he was, couldn't keep them unreadable forever.

He stepped forward.

But he was stopped by a very familiar voice.

"N—Naruto? Naruto's still alive?"

A hitching breath. A panicked cry.

And then Sakura could do nothing but stare in shock, and dread, as pearly-white eyes looked at them both, before rolling behind her head.

Hinata had fainted on the ground.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She was called from the intercom, by a very urgent voice—a slightly panicked, yet very controlled voice. Despite being in the middle of a very difficult operation, the Hokage raced off at once, to the front desk of the Konoha hospital.

"Sakura! What happened?!"

"Shishou, Hinata! Premature labor!"

She should have known this would happen.

Tsunade scanned the situation for a moment, looking at her pink-haired apprentice who had something like worry in her eyes, and the raven-haired Uchiha who was clearly trying to control his anger. Trying to remain calm. Then she nodded her head, and spoke clearly.

"Go attend to her. I have things to do."

"But shishou! You're needed!"

"I said I have things to do, Sakura."

The Uchiha stepped forward, his hands fisting. His eyes were cold depths of disapproval.

"My wife—"

"Wife-to-be, Uchiha," Tsunade interrupted sharply, narrowing her eyes. Then she whipped those eyes towards Sakura, and let them go hard. "Sakura, don't just stand there! Do your job! I still have to make sure your ex-sensei's gonna pull through."

For a moment, Sakura stilled. "Kakashi—?"

"SAKURA! I SAID GO! SHIZUNE, CONTACT THE HYUUGA LEADER AND TELL HIM THE NEWS!" Tsunade roared. Shizune, who was walking towards them with surgical utensils in hand, squeaked slightly at the loud, scary voice, before getting on the move, Ton-ton at her heels. Sakura snapped out of her seeming daze, and went on medic mode at once, her shocked green eyes blanking over, and her lips thinning in a firm line. She nodded her head.

"Hai!"

Then she sped off with the Hyuuga heiress, other medics in tow, not looking once at anybody—not even at him.

Tsunade glared at Sasuke once more, only to be met by calm eyes.

"And you—you are going on the damn mission. And that's final," she ordered.

He remained silent.

Cursing under her breath, she turned around and sped off, in the opposite direction. She didn't notice that there was still blood on her hands, now quietly dripping on the floor, making stains there. She didn't notice that she was automatically molding chakra again, even now, as she walked—no, nearly ran—the brightly-lit, empty hallways, towards her destination. She didn't notice these things, her mind only on one focus, one goal, one task.

But Sasuke did.

And he looked on for a while, before going his own way.

To his wife-to-be.

His child-to-be.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

An hour later, Hinata was sleeping, and safe—but only her.

It was over. It was done.

Sasuke had long gone.

Sakura stared, in a mix of emotions, a madness of conflicting turmoil. She trembled slightly and cried silently, in the corner chair of the room, in grief, in anger, in confusion, in overwhelming sadness.

Hinata had given birth, alright—to a still-born. A baby boy.

One with blond hair and pearly blue eyes.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Hatake Kakashi was sometimes a stupid man—he didn't know what was best for him, and he wasn't the keenest guy when it came to taking care of himself. Sometimes, because of this stupidity, he always got himself in the worst of situations, especially during missions—up to the point where his comrades ended up either too dead or too uninjured (or sometimes, too injured), while he himself was practically on the verge of knocking on death's door...again. It was always the extremes for him, never the middle point.

He knew, of course, what stupidity he had come across, time and time again. He was aware of them. After all, he was the one who put himself there. He also knew it was stupid to expect that the moment he woke up, things would be back to normal—just like in the past.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the white ceiling. At first, he had thought it was salvation—an end to the suffering he had endured himself and others. Then he began to notice the dirt and some cobwebs, and realized that heaven wouldn't have such things. Heaven was clean.

So I'm not exactly in heaven.

Well, at least he was still alive.

Then he saw, out of the corner of his eye, an all-too-familiar blur of pink.

Kakashi adjusted his eyes for a moment, before turning to where the pink was. He looked at her for a moment, drinking in the familiar, yet quite-strange sight. She had her back turned on him, her hands fluttering all over the table in brisk, quiet movements.

"Sakura."

He saw her hands still, her whole body almost freezing. Then, came the gradual vanishing of the rigidity of her shoulders, as she resumed moving her hands.

But she didn't relax.

"You're a bastard, you know that?"

He blinked. If he wasn't the ever-unfazed Copy ninja, he would have gaped, too.

"Vanishing for months and scaring us all like that," she muttered, slowly. "Making us think you fucked up your mission, and just died somewhere without us getting to bury you." Her voice had gotten louder. Angrier. "I know you've always been self-sacrificing, to the point of stupidity, but really...I've had enough deaths as it is."

Her voice was now low, and nearly tired.

"Don't add another one."

It was then that he suddenly remembered what he had been doing before he got to this hospital. He had been about to give the Hokage the heads-up, to let her know that he was indeed alive—not exactly kicking, but very much alive. It was a given, because knowing the blond Sannin and her temper, not reporting in on the day you came back pretty much meant getting punched in the face and therefore receiving more injuries.

He had ended up listening in, and finding out things he knew he would not have been told under normal circumstances.

"How long?" he asked.

"You've been asleep around twelve hours now—"

"How long is Naruto missing?"

Her sentence faltered, and so did her voice. She still did not turn to look at him, but instead bent her head lower, as if concentrating on the task at hand. What she was doing, he had no idea.

"Too long," she murmured. She tilted her head to the side, and surveyed her work. Then, after a moment, she finally turned to him, holding out a long needle, a syringe, and a bottled medicine of some sort.

She looked like a mess.

Not ugly. Just...a mess.

Her eyes were a bit red, as if she had just cried herself to oblivion. Her skin was pale, paler than he had last seen it—and not of the healthy kind. She had bags under her eyes, so deep and so new-looking that he wondered for a moment if she had just acquired them recently, because of the crying.

Other than that, she looked quite the same. Same pink hair, same green eyes.

But no fire or sparkle in them.

Wordlessly, Sakura ventured forward, towards him, and silently gestured for him to raise his arm. He did, just as silently, and watched as she inserted the needle with the syringe in his upper arm, along with the deep purple liquid. He kept on watching, until the liquid all went inside his system—it was soothing, and he had no doubt in his mind she was the one who created it.

He turned his gaze to her.

"We'll rescue him," he confirmed.

"You're not coming," she stated. Slowly, she took the needle out, and dropped it and the other materials into a nearby metal tray.

"Sakura, you can't tell me what to do—" he began.

"Technically," she interrupted, "Since shishou made me your personal medic as of now...I can."

Silence.

"I'm coming. Don't stop me."

"You—"

"Naruto needs Team Seven."

Sakura stopped moving again, and slowly turned to look at him.

"There's no Team Seven anymore...sensei." Her voice was calm.

He didn't know why, but he was beginning to grow irritated with her supposed detachment and calmness. "Then we'll bring it back for the mission. Sasuke—"

"—is not coming," she intoned.

He froze, and met her stare again. For a moment, he saw something flicker in those green eyes, before being banked down.

Where was the sparkle? The happiness?

"...why?"

She closed her eyes, and turned back around.

"Because he's marrying Hinata. Restoring his clan. Of course he wouldn't have time to save his best friend."

The Hyuuga. Hinata. Naruto's one and only fiancé. And Sasuke. The Uchiha. Together.

Yes. If he wasn't the Copy ninja...he would definitely have gaped already. But since he was, Kakashi settled for a simple, unreadable stare.

What about you, Sakura?

Somehow, he knew that wasn't the right question to ask.

"There's still us, Sakura. To get Naruto," he said instead.

"Hmm," she merely replied.

"Sakura."

Sakura made a muffled noise in her throat, and turned back to face him, her eyes a bit angry again. "There's no us, Kakashi-sensei."

"Sa—"

"Not since you began running away. Again."

He shut his mouth. Found he couldn't defend himself—mostly because what she was saying had hit him, and hit him hard.

It was the truth, damn it. He had been running away. But he had his reasons, and it wasn't like she could comprehend them.

"You blame yourself for Genma's death, I know that," she said.

He closed his eyes, at the mention of his comrade's name.

Another fallen one, to add to the already growing list.

No, Sakura. That's not half the reason.

"But you can't keep running away. Don't be a coward," she continued, hands fisting now. "Don't be selfish."

Kakashi opened his eyes, and stared straight at her furious ones.

"I'm going on the mission," he murmured quietly. Firmly. "Don't stop me."

Silence.

Slowly, Sakura's fury started vanishing, replaced by weariness once more. He thought it looked somewhat like exasperation. Under normal circumstances, he would have laughed—but he knew this couldn't exactly be called a normal circumstance. No, not with so much already happening. Her hands had stopped fisting, and were now resting at her sides.

She sighed.

"Fine. I don't care," she murmured back.

He gave her his patented eye-crinkle. She ignored it, and quietly went for the door.

"Sakura."

She paused. She tilted her head, and turned to look at her side. She didn't speak, but he knew she was listening.

"What else changed?" he asked.

Silence.

"Everything," she replied.

Then she was out the door, before he could question her any further.

Kakashi sighed.

One year and six months was a long time to be gone. It was a given that everything would change. Heck, the moment Genma had died, while under his command...everything had already changed from then on. He couldn't have people leaning on him anymore—people trusting him too much.

They ended up dead.

One year and six months ago, she had leaned on him, too. Had trusted him, with her whole heart. He couldn't have that. She deserved someone who could keep her safe, who would keep her out of harm's way.

Obviously, that wasn't Sasuke.

Obviously, even Naruto had failed, in some way.

His head hurting from thinking too much, his body still weary from the toll it had taken, Kakashi did what he thought stupid men always did, anyway, to let go of problems, and to will painful memories away.

He closed his eyes.

And he slept like a baby.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She didn't know why she had come here, of all places—but she knew it was instinct and heart that had driven her to do so right now. It couldn't be her mind, because even her mind at the moment was protesting, too loudly and too annoying for its own good.

She hadn't come here in more than seven months.

Not since Naruto had disappeared from their lives.

"One miso ramen, please," she said softly.

The owner of Ichiraku was staring at her in surprise, to say the least. Actually...he was quite bug-eyed, to be more precise. Going to where she was seated at once, he gave her a friendly smile—the one he usually reserved for people he considered special, or friends of people he considered special.

It always, always came back to Naruto.

"Haruno-san!" he exclaimed, face alighting with excitement. "It's lovely to see you again! I haven't seen you in a long time!"

Sakura smiled truly, for the first time since being in the Hokage's office. It felt like years, to be honest.

"It's nice seeing you too, Teuchi-san," she said, warmly.

"Just one miso ramen?" the owner, Teuchi, asked. Sakura nodded her head.

The moment he was gone, Sakura let the smile slip off her face. She sighed, and stared at the linoleum countertop that was worn out and slightly dirty already. Not caring, she put her elbows there, and put her head on her hands. She closed her eyes.

Seven months ago, and she could still remember everything. Every single detail.

She remembered going to the hospital to see to a very wounded and nearly-dying Shino, Hinata crying quietly at his side. She remembered asking them where Naruto was, and seeing the Hyuuga going pale and nearly hysterical at the question. She remembered knowing then, at first thought (and just by looking at such a painful expression), that he had died. He had let himself be left behind, in order to save his teammates on that mission.

It had hurt like hell.

Of course, it wasn't to say that they didn't dispatch shinobi for search and rescue. She had been among them, on more than one occasion. They did search, in every possible place and corner they could—for about two weeks.

It was like he had vanished without a trace.

She remembered what a mess Hinata had been afterwards. Crying and stuttering and generally locking herself up, refusing to see anyone. Sakura knew that under any circumstance, she would have been persistent, and would have helped the girl get back on her two feet—but she remembered, that it was also during that time, that her own life had started taking its downward toll.

Sasuke had just found out she couldn't give him what he needed the most.

A child.

A future.

He had been there, always with her. They had always been together, ever since he'd come back from his quest for revenge. It had always been Sasuke and Sakura, Sakura and Sasuke—a fact that most of Konoha knew, and accepted, in a way. A fact that made her heart swell, and treasure every moment, because she loved him, and was proud and happy and simply overwhelmed that this time, he was finally loving her back.

Until the news. Until the sad, bitter truth.

She remembered the huge disappointment, the tension between them growing, growing. The distance. He had began becoming cold, colder than before.

Untouchable.

Unreachable.

She remembered crying over it. Crying over it, and cursing herself for being so lacking, so...weak. She had picked up on herself, eventually—telling herself that she was stronger than this, and that she would make it work. They would make it work. Sakura remembered going to the Uchiha mansion one night, intent on making things right. If there was one thing Sakura was, it was determined—and very, very stubborn. She would make this a happy ending, and then go on and finally do her part in making sure Hinata was fine—because that girl needed comfort, and Sakura couldn't just dwell on her own selfishness any longer when it all came down to it.

She found them in bed, together.

The man she loved. And the woman who was supposed to be in love with one of her best friends. Both drunk, and asleep beyond oblivion.

It had broken her heart beyond recognition, to witness something she had never expected.

She remembered him opening his eyes, at the sound of her footsteps faltering. Nearly stumbling. Even drunk, the Uchiha was a very, very keen man. She remembered both their gazes silently locking on each other—one unemotional, while the other full of disbelief and despair and confusion. He had broken the gaze, and had quietly gotten up, from the bed (where they used to make love in, time and time again), and into the kitchen downstairs. She had followed him.

She had slapped him.

Once. Twice. Countless, countless times.

In the end, she had cried—silent tears that she didn't want spilling, but still spilled anyway.

He had retaliated by saying one thing: that she, Haruno Sakura wasn't the woman for him. That she would never be. That it was all a stupid, useless mistake, wasting his time with her for that long. Even in drunkenness, she knew it was the hard truth.

He had calmly, quietly gone back upstairs after that.

She remembered letting him.

The following week, they had found out about Hinata's pregnancy.

He didn't officially break up with Sakura (because really, there was simply no need), but it was already clear it was over—and it didn't exactly take a genius to put the pieces together and figure out just who the father was. Especially after the announcement of the wedding. The Hyuuga clan, it seemed, accepted Sasuke with open arms. It was politics.

After all, they had never approved of Naruto.

And it wasn't like Sasuke had regret in his eyes whenever they saw each other.

No. He had still been calm. Emotionless.

Cold.

But Naruto's the father, isn't he? Everybody was wrong. They were all wrong.

She had no idea if Hinata had known about this—she doubted the girl did. Truth be told, no one ever asked. Everybody just assumed.

Now, everyone's lives were messing up.

"There's still us, Sakura."

And now, he had come back. Kakashi had come back, when she had needed him not now, but months ago. He never even said goodbye—never even let her or anyone else know that he going on a suicide mission to right his wrongs, and to run away from what she was sure the grief that being in Konoha was giving him. She understood, she really did—but she knew, however much she feared it, that sooner or later, he really was just trying to kill himself. To end his life.

Stupid, stupid man.

Sakura was cut off her reverie, and her memories—and dear Kami, her painful, painful thoughts—when she heard quiet footsteps saunter behind her. Pause. She opened her eyes, fixed them straight ahead. The chakra signature was unmistakable.

Unwanted.

She remained silent, and so did he. But after a moment, he finally spoke.

"I'm still marrying her," he said.

Politics.

Or maybe it was becoming love. It happens.

Sakura closed her eyes back, ignoring the twist in her heart, the awful, awful churning in her gut. She locked them away, determined not to unveil them anymore.

It was over.

"I know," she murmured, calmly. Softly.

A pause.

"But I'm going on the mission."

Unable to help it, or herself, she trembled a bit, and fisted her hands near her face. She steadied herself, and told herself it was needed. She had to be strong, for the people around her. For those who counted.

For Naruto.

"Why?" she asked, simply.

Silence.

Then he uttered the words that she somehow knew was the truth.

Finally.

"...for Naruto."

He walked away soon afterwards, leaving her back in her thoughts, as her miso ramen was served. She looked at it for a while, before grabbing her chopsticks, and tearing them apart. In two. Inhaling the scent, the ever-so-familiar scent, even after this long. Along with the scent, came images. Of a blond-haired, blue-eyed, ramen-loving boy—no, man now—who knew nothing but love, and how to give it unconditionally. Who dreamed of becoming the future leader of the village he treasured the most. Who vowed to protect his precious people, no matter what—because he would rather die than have them die in his hands.

She smiled.

And slowly, she ate, and let those once-happy images and memories stay.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

a/n: Here goes chapter two. Just to be clear, this is a KakaSakuSasu. Not just a KakaSaku, or a SasuSaku. It's not a threesome, though.

Yes, things are already clearer than last chapter. Sasuke and Sakura used to be lovers. Naruto and Hinata used to be engaged (and they either made the baby before or during the mission). As for Kakashi and Sakura, well, they used to be friends. And yes - Genma died on a mission, because of Kakashi. More on that later. Lastly, no...Temari and Naruto didn't vanish at the same time. Temari vanished three years ago, while Naruto only vanished seven months ago.

Why did Sasuke sleep w/Hinata, of all people? Hmm. Again, more on that later.

Guys, I apologize if this fic sounds rushed or something, but this is really supposed to be fast-paced. Hehe. So, some things will be happening quickly. Next chapter, the mission starts. I'd like to thank you all for the warm reviews...you're the best!

Happy reading. Review if you can. :)