Author's Note: Hello, due to such a wonderful response I decided that I would give writing for this pairing another shot. So yeah, I lied when I said complete…a timeline just sounded like such a good idea! Please if you read, do review it gives me the desire to continue.
-
Sakura had her elbows propped up on her office desk, her chin was resting in the palms of her hands and her eyes were currently closed after having decided to take a break from the many surgeries that had needed her expertise. She had told Shizune to give her a couple hours and then she would come back and be of aid. Shizune had said not to worry, because she had more pressing matters to deal with at that time, Tsunade was out of sake…yes, pressing in deed…
She sighed as she heard Tsunade's voice bellowing behind the closed door for more sake or she can't work and Shizune pleading with her that they would find her some right away.
Sakura blinked as she felt a hand rest on top of her pink tresses, a smile quickly appeared on her face, "Ohayo…" she whispered, allowing her eyes to close once more.
"Yo," replied Kakashi as he stood behind her, "wouldn't you rather sleep on your couch?"
"The desk is fine, I have to return in a few hours anyways," she informed with a sigh.
"Rough morning?" he asked, ruffling her hair once more before sitting on the side of her desk.
She slowly opened her eyes, to find him next to her, "You don't know the half of it. There was some sort of accident and I've been in surgery all morning…except for when I first got here, I had the pleasure of healing some drunk who grabbed my ass…" she explained before glancing up at the clock, "he should be waking up from his coma any time now."
Kakashi sweatdropped, "Remind me never to touch your ass," he replied flatly, as he thought of the poor bastard who had dared to do so leaving with more injuries than he had come in with.
Sakura arched an eyebrow in his direction, "I didn't say you couldn't…"
Kakashi shot a happy eye crease in her direction, as she unexpectedly yawned in response. Sakura opened her eyes to find his hand on her cheek as she looked to him with a smile.
"Don't you want to take a nap on the couch Sakura? You look like you're half asleep," he commented, while gently rubbing her cheek with the side of his thumb.
"Mou, maybe a small nap would do me some good," she reasoned before pushing her chair out from her desk and standing up, "but before that," she walked around to the front of the desk and stopped in front of him before slowly wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him.
Kakashi smiled from underneath his mask before reaching his arms up and placing them on her back, while he rested his chin on her shoulder. Sakura gently rubbed the back of his head, her fingers lightly playing with his hair as she felt her eyes slowly closing…
He smiled as his fingers played with her pink locks; he turned another page of his book that was currently occupying his other hand— his kunoichi lying comfortably next to him, her head resting on a pillow in his lap having fallen asleep.
-
Team Kakashi were currently enjoying their break from a morning of rigorous training. As usual, Kakashi was currently sitting under a tree with his questionable choice of literature in his hand; next to him was Sakura who was reading something a little more educational—yet another report that Tsunade should be reading instead of herself—and next to her was Naruto who was currently slurping the noodles of his ramen, and the antisocial Sai who had decided that sitting under a different tree would be far more enjoyable after having the tendency to find his team a bit odd at times (looking up to find Naruto choking on ramen, Sakura smacking Naruto on the back to encourage him to 'cough it up', never taking her eyes off of the report on her lap, and their fearless leader Kakashi merely turn another page in his book with a perverse expression making its way to his one visible eye as a ramen noodle shot out of Naruto's mouth and landed a few feet away).
And their strange tendencies were only going to increase tenfold as Sai noticed a man clad in green spandex, with a black bowl hair cut, and spouting about youthfulness in the spring approach their team; he sweatdropped, as the brush he had been painting with ran off of the paper and onto his pant leg.
"Ah Kakashi, my youthful rival," exclaimed Gai as he stood before Kakashi and the two members of his team sitting under their designated tree.
Kakashi merely flipped the page in his book, as Naruto slurped up the rest of his ramen and Sakura arched an eyebrow at the material before her. Gai merely laughed which caused all three to sweatdrop.
"Kakashi, my greatest rival, allow me to even the score between you and I," remarked Gai with a classic pose as he pointed his index finger in Kakashi's direction and shot him a smile.
…10 Minutes Later…
"Gai Sensei is the greatest," cried Lee as he sat under the tree with Naruto and looked on with complete admiration for his sensei.
"Yeah right Fuzzy Brows…Kakashi is going to win this one no problem…" informed Naruto as he rummaged through Sakura's pack in hopes of finding some ramen, a candy bar, anything to ward off starvation as the challenge under went.
Sai looked at the two idiots sitting under the tree arguing about who was going to be the victor of this match, before looking back toward the other two members of his team to find Kakashi and Gai doing one handed push ups.
Sakura sighed and turned the page in her report, currently sitting cross legged on Kakashi's back. She looked up to find Tenten—sitting on Gai's back with the same bored expression on her face—while sharpening a kunai from her weapon pack.
"Ha! Getting tired yet Kakashi," asked Gai, looking over at his greatest rival.
"Not yet," stated Kakashi just as carefree as could be, as if doing one handed push ups with a girl on your back was a perfectly normal thing to be doing in the middle of the day.
Sai looked on in sheer amazement—or was it fear, one couldn't really tell—gaping at the scene in front of him; it was official, these people were not just not right…
"Kakashi is way better than Gai," informed Naruto with a Cheshire cat grin on his face after hitting the jack pot and finding a stash of candy bars in Sakura's pack.
"Take that back," yelled Lee, making a fist with his hand and showing the burning fires of passion in his eyes, "there is no man greater than Gai Sensei!"
"Yeah, mpm-crunch-mphm-chew-mph-swallow-right!"
Sakura arched an eyebrow in Naruto's direction, then came the twitch, "Naruto, are you eating MY candy?!"
Naruto shook his head and turned his back to the female of their group, in an effort to shove the remaining evidence into his mouth, "You are, aren't you?!"
"N-mhpmh-no-mmphm-Sakura-mhmph-Chan," struggled Naruto in between chewing, only to cry out "Itaiiiiiiii!" as her report made contact with his head.
"Fear not my beloved blossom for I shall replace it for you when you date me," cried Lee, as he winked sending a squishy pink heart flying in her direction.
Sakura sweatdropped and tapped Kakashi's shoulder, "Down please…" and he was happy to oblige as he pushed his arm down to avoid the heart that went sailing past them and stuck to the nearest tree.
Both sweatdropped as they watched the nasty little memento slide down the tree, "That could have been me…" muttered Sakura in a dead pan tone of voice.
"But it wasn't," reminded Kakashi, continuing on with the challenge, before sweatdropping once more but this time at Gai.
"That's right Lee! Be young and youthful; set a good example for the beautiful cherry blossom! Once your sensei beats his greatest rival, you shall have no problem wooing her off her feet!"
"Right Gai Sensei," yelled Lee with a salute toward his mentor.
Tenten merely sighed and shook her head before moving on to sharpening yet another useful weapon as she sat on Gai's back, finding the two males to be rather tiring.
"Give me a break, Kakashi is obviously going to win this match," Sakura chimed in, shrugging her shoulders for effect, "it's a given."
Lee's mouth dropped and he looked like a fish opening and closing its mouth, as Naruto sat up, rubbing the back of his head, "Ha! Told you!"
"Sakura…how…how could you?" cried Lee with floods pouring down his cheeks, "Gai sensei is the greatest man in the world!"
Sakura sweatdropped, "Yeah, whatever; Naruto and I are still standing behind Kakashi all the way. Besides, isn't the score in Kakashi's favor? Like he's going to let Gai even up the score."
Kakashi merely gave a happy eye crease in reply, yes there were some moments when he really did love his team, they were so good to him…
"Kakashi, if you lose we're going to burn Icha Icha," stated Naruto with a grin as he waved the latest novel around in his hand.
…But then of course those moments never lasted long…
-
It was Sunday morning; therefore, it was Sakura's favorite day of them all for it was her day off. She let out a sigh as the sun somehow managed to find its way into her room, she slowly opened an eye to find Kakashi sound asleep by her side and found a smile appear on her face.
Kakashi was oblivious to the fact that she was currently watching him sleep. She noted, as she always did, that when he slept his hair never ceased to change, and she always marveled at how innocent looking his face appeared to be.
She sighed, feeling that she might as well get up and let him sleep in. Her plans were foiled though for when she went to leave his side she felt an arm tighten around her waist and pull her right back.
Certainly this shouldn't pose as a problem for a woman who could break rock with her mere fist, right? Yes, well…after five minutes of almost making it to the edge of the bed, three minutes of holding on for dear life to the side of the bed, and two minutes of struggling to remove his arm, Sakura gave up—it was really his leg that sealed the deal as he hugged her to him like a five year old would a teddy bear. Yes, it was very kawaii…at first…that is until he started snoring…
"…Well…it's still not that bad…" she admitted, noticing that his chin had fallen onto her shoulder, she decided to relax and allow herself to fall back asleep in his embrace, "It could always be worse…"
A few minutes later it got worse, when she opened an eye to find…
"Dammit Kakashi, you're drooling!"
-
The only inn that had been available was rather run down and Naruto couldn't help but twitch at the way that every dirty bum in the establishment looked at Sakura.
"Kakashi, there's no way that Sakura-chan can stay by herself in a room," whined Naruto, obviously just looking out for his pink haired best friend.
Sai gave out a sigh, "For once I agree with Dickless, I mean, look at these guys they probably know what room she's already staying in."
Sakura smirked, "Sai, I didn't know you cared about the ugly old hag," she informed with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Don't worry, I know the perfect one to stay with Sakura…" began Kakashi, who sweatdropped as Naruto shook his finger in his direction and accused him of being a pervert, wanting to do Icha Icha things to Sakura in her sleep, which even Sakura had a hard time not laughing at.
"…I didn't mean me…" continued Kakashi with a sigh, as he proceeded to show Naruto who exactly he meant, a cloud of smoke appearing at his feet.
"The dog?" asked Naruto, with a sigh as he pointed his finger toward Pakkun who now sat at Kakashi's feet.
"Of course, Pakkun makes a reasonable substitute since none of us can watch over Sakura for the evening," informed Kakashi as he sweatdropped, finding an empty spot at his feet.
All three males looked toward the kunoichi of their group and the said dog. Sakura leaned down and picked up Pakkun who had been eagerly waiting at her feet.
"Ne Pakkun, long time no see," greeted Sakura as she held him in her arms and gave him a smile.
"Hai, tell me about it. Does this mean we can go for a late night dessert run like always?"asked Pakkun, grinning with excitement.
Kakashi sweatdropped, Sai excused himself with a silent wave, and Naruto's mouth nearly dropped open.
"Dessert run? Sakura-chan…and…the dog?!" he cried out to anyone who would listen.
Sakura and Pakkun looked up at Naruto and then sweatdropping, went back to their current discussion.
"Ne Pakkun, when we were out earlier guess what I found?" teased Sakura, as she held him out in front of her and grinned.
"Oh is it something good? You have really good taste when it comes to sweets," he commented, a grin on his face once more.
Kakashi and Naruto watched their odd exchange as the two stood in front of them in the hallway of the inn.
"Hai, it's really good. I found a crepe shop!"
"Oh, we haven't had crepes in forever!"
"I know!"
"…I thought that Pakkun was putting on a little weight," simply stated Kakashi, who really couldn't help but smile since Pakkun loved Sakura as much as he did.
"This is so unfair, Sakura-chan takes a dog out for desserts…but she won't take me?" Naruto cried, looking up at Kakashi for sympathy.
"…Well, she doesn't take me either…if it makes you feel any better…" he replied, with a shrug, as both watched their kunoichi walk down the hall, listening to their little comments about what kind of crepes they should get and if they should bring any back for Naruto who is probably still standing there like a dumb ass with his mouth hanging open…which Kakashi did happen to take notice that he was still doing just that, even after he had turned to walk toward his own room and left the blonde standing in the hallway.
He turned to smile at the retreating forms of his favorite kunoichi and his favorite furry companion before entering his room. She never ceased to amaze him, honestly, taking Pakkun for dessert runs while on missions…too kawaii…no wonder he loved her. Now if she remembered to bring him back a crepe, then he would remember to love her even more.
-
"Sakura," began Tsunade, as she sat behind her desk after calling Team Kakashi before her.
"Hai, Tsunade-Shishou?" asked Sakura, her hands behind her back as she stood between Kakashi and Naruto, while Sai stood on the other side of Naruto.
"We are in short supply of medic-nins as you currently are aware of," replied Tsunade, drumming her fingers lightly on the top of her desk, obviously wishing for a cup of sake to magically appear, "therefore, I need you to accompany a team for an A-Rank mission."
"Understood," informed Sakura, she could practically hear the wheels turning in Naruto's head and sweatdropped right before knowing that he was going to interrupt.
"Wait a minute, if Sakura-chan's going on an A-Rank mission, then who's going to be the fourth member for our mission? Plus, how can you break up our team on such short notice?!" cried—more like whined—Naruto as he looked from Sakura to Tsunade.
Tsunade sighed; she really did wish that she could will a cup of sake—no better yet, a bottle—to appear on her desk, "I haven't forgotten about your team Naruto, so quit yelling!"
All four sweatdropped and prayed that Naruto wouldn't open his mouth again; a pissed off Tsunade was not something that they wanted to deal with so early in the morning.
Tsunade rubbed her temples, "Now then, Sakura's my best student and her skills are necessary for this mission which may turn out to be an S-Rank before it's finished. (Insert Naruto opening mouth only to have Sai shove a sock in it, while Kakashi and Sakura sweatdrop) " As for Team Kakashi you will be assigned a medic-nin to take Sakura's place for the time being…meet back in my office at sundown to receive your mission scrolls and pick up the forth member of your team. Sakura, please meet here as well for your team will be here ready for departure. You are dismissed."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," came three replies, and a muffled reply from Naruto before bowing like good little children.
…At Sundown…
"Ne Sakura-chan, who do you think will be assigned to be our medic-nin?" questioned Naruto as he walked along side of her.
Both were carrying their packs on their backs and walking behind Kakashi—who was reading Icha Icha—and Sai who was just walking (how boring).
"Hmm…I don't know Naruto…whoever it is, I'm sure that they will take good care of you," replied Sakura, trying to think of who might be on her own team.
After entering Tsunade's office, Sakura couldn't help but smirk when she saw a familiar blonde standing before her.
"Hey Forehead, I didn't know that I would be taking your place," commented Ino, a smirk appearing on her face.
"Hey Pig, looks like my skills are just far more advanced than your own, therefore, you need to take care of my team while I'm away," commented Sakura, with a shrug of her shoulders.
As the scrolls were being passed out Kakashi and Naruto were both sweatdropping at the idea of being stuck with Ino for the next two weeks, while they watched her hang all over Sai.
The door opened to reveal Tsunade, accompanied by Sakura's other two team members, Genma and Neji.
"Well, well, well, looks like my lucky day," stated Genma as he smiled at Sakura who was standing before him, holding a blue mission scroll the same as his own.
Sakura returned the smile, "Ne Genma, long time no see," she replied before walking over to meet him in the corner of the room. She looked over to find Neji with a bored look upon his face, "Hello Neji."
"Sakura," he stated rather flatly, his arms crossed over his chest.
Both Genma and Sakura sweatdropped, "Talkative as ever," they both mumbled at the same time and smirked.
Naruto was looking at the odd exchange in front of him and then back to Ino hanging off of Sai, "Kakashi this is SO wrong!"
Kakashi sweatdropped, watching Genma wrap his arm around Sakura's waist and mention that they could have a lot of fun on a three week mission together, and then looked back toward Ino who looked like a twelve year old version of Sakura pining over Sasuke, "…Hai…I know…" he informed in a dead pan voice, fearing that not even Icha Icha could save him.
…Three weeks later…
Team Kakashi's mission had run over by a week, much to the dismay of three out of four of its members. Naruto was dragging his tired body toward the gates of Konoha, Kakashi could barely hold Icha Icha up, and his shoulders were slouching, and Sai…he was not smiling, he couldn't bring himself to smile or think of anything past removing the growth—and quite possibly his ears if all else failed—from his arm that went by the name of Ino who was busy rambling on and on…
Naruto looked up to find the gates coming into view, "…Thank Kami…" he mumbled and then felt a little hope as something pink appeared in his line of vision, "Sakura-chan?" he asked, with so much hope in his voice.
Even Kakashi looked up, for it was true, his kunoichi was walking beside her group returning from the opposite direction and heading toward them.
"Ne Genma, are you sure your shoulder is alright? I could take a minute to heal you before we enter Konoha," came her voice which was music to her tired team's ears.
"Oh baby, you know I love your magic fingers," replied Genma with a grin, only to be follwed by a "Hn," from one Huuga.
All three suddenly stopped as they looked at the pitiful team coming into view…
"Sakura-chan!" cried Naruto, hobbling toward her, with an arm in a sling, and bandages wrapped loosely around his head.
Sakura blinked, "Naruto?" she questioned as the said boy wrapped his right arm around her and practically cried out of sheer joy.
Genma sweatdropped as he looked toward Kakashi who was dragging slowly behind Naruto, he could see the limp in his leg and could tell that his buddy had used the sharingan recently, "…So…the mission went well?"
Kakashi remained silent, feeling that Naruto would do the talking while he focused on not keeling over, while Sai and Ino brought up the rear.
"Sakura-chan, don't ever leave us again," cried Naruto, as he felt her pat his back in a reassuring manner, "it was horrible!"
"Naruto…what happened to you?" asked Sakura as she looked at his arm and the poorly tied bandages around his head, "…It looks like you tried to heal yourself you baka, why didn't you let Ino do it for you?"
Naruto looked up with his big blue eyes so full of happiness to have her before him, she almost fell victim to his expression, "I did!"
Sakura blinked and then turned to Ino, who was too busy rambling on and on while clinging to Sai, "Hey Pig?!"
Ino looked up and waved, "Oh hey Forehead, glad to see you're back and alive for that matter," she grinned, "didn't think you had it in you."
Sakura's eye twitched, "What the hell did you do to Naruto's arm?" She was currently examining his arm with a look of disbelief on her face, "It looks like you read the instruction manual upside down!" she concluded with a growl.
"Whatever," replied Ino, "He's alive isn't he?"
Sakura's eye was still twitching as she gently removed Naruto's arm from the sling and rubbed her hand over his arm applying her chakra, "Don't worry Naruto…it should feel better in just a few minutes…" She looked over to the remaining two members of her team, "What did you do to Kakashi?" she accused.
"What?" asked Ino, her hands balling into fists at her sides, "Why do you think that I did anything?!"
"Look at him, he can barely stand…" she stated through grit teeth trying not to pounce on the blonde in front of her, "Didn't you give him any chakra?"
"He said that he didn't need any," informed Ino, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away.
"That's probably because he watched you 'heal' Naruto and figured that he was better left dead then trying his luck with you…"
Kakashi let out a sigh which told her that she was right on the money and that poor Naruto had been the unfortunate guinea pig. Sakura finished with Naruto and walked over to Kakashi, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she lowered them both to a sitting position on the ground before turning and placing her hand on his chest and pouring her chakra into his body.
"Are you starting to feel better now?" she questioned, sitting beside him as both Neji and Genma thanked the Kami's that they had not gotten Ino on their team.
"…Much…thank you Sakura…" replied Kakashi, feeling his energy slowly returning to his body and trying not to be too obvious when taking in her features, having missed her those three weeks.
"You're welcome, gomen that I wasn't there with you guys," she apologized, "I had no idea your medic-nin would be so bad."
"Hey!" came a cry from the blonde, looking menacingly toward the pink haired kunoichi.
"Looks like we were the lucky ones," whispered Genma to Neji who replied with a "Hn. I should say so."
"Neither did we," flatly replied Kakashi, as he watched her rub his chest with her right hand over a bruised area and apply chakra.
"That should help…" she whispered, before reaching up with her free hand and gently pulling the hitai-ate down over his left eye to cover the sharingan. "There…better?"
"Hai…" Kakashi let out a sigh of relief, if he had anything to say about it, there was no way that Ino was going to be on his team ever again.
"So Kakashi," began Genma with a grin, "I can keep Sakura right?" he sweatdropped as he saw the Copy Nin glare and the aura around Naruto change, "…Well…you can think about it…"
She turned her attention to Sai, "And Sai…" she trailed off, he looked fine. Sakura blinked when Sai stopped in front of her and Kakashi.
"I will never call you a hag again," he stated with a tone that was far too serious.
Sakura's eyes widened, "What the hell did you do to Sai?!" she cried, pointing her index finger toward Ino and shaking with disbelief.
-
Naruto and Sakura had been separated from Kakashi and Sai after being ambushed by a group of renegade-nins. Their job had been simple, retrieve the daughter of a wealthy client who had promised a large sum of money. The daughter had been retrieved and it was not until the four had been making their way back to Konoha had they been separated.
When the kunai and shurikens had first appeared everyone had easily dodged them; however, once the battle progressed Sai and Kakashi had been lead one way and Naruto and Sakura in another.
Sakura panted as she looked around toward the darkness that was engulfing the woods; she had lost Naruto not long ago and she could no longer sense his chakra or any of her team members present. She leaned up against a tree and tried to catch her breath, while reaching down to her thigh and starting to heal herself, not having pulled a kunai from it long ago.
She knew she was taking a risk by letting her chakra be known, but if she continued to run on her leg without healing it properly it would only work as a hindrance to her later. Sakura took in a deep breath when she was satisfied and decided that finding Naruto was her best shot for regrouping. She had to make sure that he and Kakashi were alright, hell, even Sai had won her over in some respects.
She took off into the woods, leaping from branch to branch as quickly as possible and keeping her senses on high alert. She gasped as she heard the familiar sound of shuriken heading her way as she nimbly avoided further injuries and threw off a round of her own into the darkness.
Meanwhile…
Kakashi and Sai had somehow managed to stay together and were trying to pinpoint the location of their attackers, while at the same time, avoid being hit by the on going assault of shuriken and kunai.
Kakashi had revealed his sharingan not long ago, allowing him to tip Sai off on their attackers' locations. Their numbers were dwindling, this they knew, and things were going in their favor until they heard an explosion coming from the other side of the forest.
Both sweatdropped on cue, "Sakura," commented Kakashi and Sai merely smiled, "I believe so."
However, it wasn't until they heard Naruto's voice cry out her name that they knew something was wrong…
Everything had been going well, Sakura had her attackers' right where she wanted them and as her chakra enhanced fists altered the terrain and sucked up three at once she felt that she had finished them off. She took a deep breath and slowly regained her composure, but something triggered her senses and when she turned around the last thing she could make out was the figure of a man grinning wildly before spraying her face with some form of liquid.
"What did you do?!" she cried, stumbling backwards, the figure in front of her started to become distorted before her eyes, she could hear the sound of his laughter yet she could no longer pinpoint his direction.
"Poor little kunoichi, haven't you ever heard of Euphorbia?" he asked, while advancing the medic-nin before him who was trying to back away unsure of her surroundings.
"Euphorbia?" she questioned, her eyes were darting in all directions, as she slowly backed away. Her eyes widened in realization as she recalled her teachings.
"Ah, so you have…then you know what the effects are then," he informed with a grin, "well then, why don't I make things a lot easier for you, and I'll thank you for killing a good deal of my comrades!"
Sakura prepared herself for the worse…sensing his chakra increase before her…
"Sakura-chan!" came a voice, a voice that she knew all too well.
"Naruto?!" she cried, as she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. She could hear the fight between the two going on before her and Naruto's cries for her to do something. She could feel the presence of two other chakras advancing towards them; she would know them anywhere, her other two team members, and two maybe three more rouge ninja were approaching, no doubt, to aid their struggling member.
"Sakura-chan, look out!" cried Naruto, as he fought to hold back the ninja that he had saved her from.
Kakashi and Sai leapt onto the scene, wondering why their kunoichi was merely sitting on the ground frantically fumbling through the pack on her back, searching for her canteen of water.
"Sakura, get up!" commanded Kakashi, taking complete control of the situation at hand, and acting as no other than their leader.
Sakura's breathing was ragged as her eyes darting in every direction before her, trying to pinpoint where Kakashi's voice had come from; however, the clashing of metal and the sounds of her teammates battling their enemies was clouding her senses.
She wanted to cry 'I can't!' but she already knew that with her current condition she was already a hindrance. She slowly made it to her feet and stood quite unsteady. She could make out Sai's voice telling her to move it, and Kakashi's orders for her to assist them before more arrived.
'What's wrong with you Sakura?' thought Kakashi as he watched his kunoichi out of the corner of his eye, who was standing on the sideline of the battle with a dazed expression. 'Are you caught in some form of genjutsu? …No…you're a master at releasing…'
Their voices were ringing through her mind as she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself; Sakura took a deep breath to clear her thoughts and focus her mind on pinpointing her teammates locations.
The clashing of kunai to her left, she could hear Naruto's heavy breathing, to her right she could hear the sound of fists connecting with the enemy, indicating Kakashi…and a little ways past him she could hear brushing on paper to inform her of Sai's whereabouts…
Sakura couldn't stand it anymore their voices were swarming her senses and as she took a deep breath and focused her chakra into her fist she prayed that she was correct, "Naruto, Kakashi, Sai…" she knew they could hear her voice, as she continued in complete seriousness, her eyes still closed, "…don't move!" She slammed her fist into the ground and felt her chakra course through the splitting ground, as she viewed the scene in her mind's eye, allowing her to control the route of destruction. She could hear Kakashi stop, she had missed him…Sai's chakra was unfazed, indicating that he was calm…but Naruto's gasp told her she was too close, and diverted the attack with all of her might as she heard his opponent cry out in pain.
Sakura dropped to her knees and panted heavily after hearing Naruto cheer "Alright Sakura-chan!" and the sounds of the battle cease all together. She could hear them approach her and felt Kakashi's hand on her head ruffling her pink locks.
"Nice job," complimented Sai as he stood to the right of Kakashi with a genuine smile.
"Sakura-chan that was amazing! I almost wet myself when the ground cracked so close to me!" he exclaimed with a nervous laugh.
"That's our Sakura," commented Kakashi, his hand still in her hair, "but what took you so long?"
The three stood before their kunoichi and then silence fell, as well as, their smiles as they noticed that her head was down and she hadn't spoken a word to them.
Naruto crouched down before her and smiled, "Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" Her silence only caused him to worry more and the fact that she couldn't even raise her head to look up at him; he shot the other two members of his team a questionable glance.
Kakashi followed suit and crouched in front of Sakura, patting her head like he used to when she was a genin, "Yo Sakura, what's with the silent treatment? I'm not angry with you that you took so long."
"…I know…" she whispered, not moving from her current position, she wanted nothing more than to embrace him in front of her teammates and have him tell her that everything would be alright…but she couldn't allow herself to be an even larger hindrance. That fact alone had always made her feel inferior since her genin days.
"We should really get going," reminded Sai as he looked around nervously, in case of any more attackers catching them off guard.
Both Naruto and Kakashi knew what Sai had said to be true, but neither could pull themselves away from their pink haired kunoichi who was currently unknowingly tugging at both of their heart strings.
"Ne, Sakura-chan…don't worry about back there…I knew you could have taken that guy without my help…" whispered Naruto, "Hell, you took out all of them and saved us a lot of work, right Kakashi?" he looked over to his former sensei with a grin.
"Hai," replied Kakashi, "your chakra control never ceases to amaze me, and you did it with your eyes closed…which I was a little afraid of, I'll admit…"
"…It was the only way…" again she whispered, "…I couldn't focus with all of the noise…"
Now Naruto was truly confused, this was worse than the time when he couldn't decide what ramen to order. He nervously placed a hand on her shoulder and heard her light gasp when she unsurely reached her hand toward his own.
"Come on Sakura…do you want Naruto and I…" he paused when he heard a light cough come from his right, "…and Sai as well to worry about you?" asked Kakashi, before gently lifting her chin with his hand.
Sakura let out a long sigh before slowly opening her eyes to confirm what she already knew, "…The ninja that I fought," she began, swallowing the lump in her throat, she tried to consciously steady her eyes, "he threw Euphorbia in my face…"
She could tell that the meaning of her words were Greek to her teammates and slowly continued, "Naruto?"
"Hai, Sakura-chan?" he replied, happy that she was at least talking.
"Do something, make a gesture of some sort," she informed, feeling their tension and confusion falling around her.
"I don't think that we really have time for charades, Sakura," commented Sai as he continued to watch their surroundings, shifting his weight from one side to the other.
"Hai," replied Kakashi, "Sakura, can't you play charades with Naruto a little later?" he chuckled, before slowly standing up, there were times when even he found Naruto's and Sakura's relationship to be a bit odd.
"Wait," she pleaded, holding out her hand toward thin air, "please wait…Naruto do something…"
Kakashi stood perfectly still and reached out to take her hand, really they didn't have time for this. Naruto merely shrugged and hmmm'd for a moment before grinning and complying by pulling down his hitai-ate over one eye and holding up a book, while the other two males on his team let out sighs.
"Ne, Sakura-chan," began Naruto with a laugh, "look familiar?" He knew that she wouldn't be able to resist grinning, but his smile fell when he received no response and for the first time he noticed how unfocused her emerald eyes were. "…Oh…Sakura-chan…" he whispered, letting out a deep sigh as he looked to Kakashi.
Kakashi blinked with his one visible eye, as his line of thought went back to Sakura's first bit of information, he hesitantly crouched down in front of her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, "Sakura…"
She slowly turned toward him with her unfocused eyes and the sad expression on her face as she tried to smile was truly heartbreaking, "…Hai, Kakashi…" she began, looking straight past him, "Euphorbia is a type of plant where the liquid causes blindness," she stated in a calm manner as if she were informing one of her med students.
"Oh Kami…" began Kakashi as he quickly helped her to stand, "gomen, I didn't know…" he apologized as he looked down at his kunoichi standing before him.
She shook her head and smiled, "No reason to apologize, you couldn't possibly have known…I mean, when was there time for you to stop and realize why I was sitting on the ground instead of fighting?"
"Is there an antidote?" asked Sai, getting right to the chase; he could hear the baited breaths from the other two males of his team.
Sakura slowly nodded her head before letting out a sigh and getting right down to being the fountain of knowledge that she always was, "Hai," she could hear Kakashi and Naruto release their breath and felt Kakashi's hands gently squeeze her shoulders in a reassuring manner, "the first forty eight hour are alright if left unattended but anything after that is risky. Right now the blindness is temporary and if we get back to Konoha within the next day or so, I'm sure that Tsunade-Shishou can treat me," she tilted her head down, her hair falling to hide her face, "…However, if we aren't able to make it, then I suppose worse case scenario is—
Naruto's voice cut her off, "No way Sakura-chan! You can't even think of it!" he cried, his hands opening and closing at his sides, trying to not lose it, "I'll never let anything like that happen to you!"
Sakura turned toward where she heard his voice and smiled, it didn't matter if she couldn't see him, she knew his face, "…Thank you, Naruto…"
"Let's get going before night falls," ordered Kakashi, trying to get them one step closer to Konoha before having to set up camp for the night.
"Right! We're going to have Sakura-chan back in Konoha as soon as possible, right guys?!" cheered Naruto, punching his fist in the air for effect.
"Hai," came a quiet reply from Sai, "there's no way we're losing Sakura…that would only leave Ino…"
All three males mentally cringed, remembering the last time they were without Sakura, they'd be keeping her 'magic fingers' within their team, thank you very much.
Sakura blinked as she felt her arms being wrapped around Kakashi's neck before he picked her up in order to carry her on his back. She gently wrapped her arms a little tighter around his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder before closing her eyes as she felt him leap from one tree branch to the next…
It was late when their camp had been set up; Naruto put up Sakura's tent for her and then sighed when he found her sitting next to the fire, completely unaware of her surroundings other than their presences.
"Ne, Sakura-chan…do you want to sleep in your tent tonight?" he tried to start a conversation with his best friend; deep down he even still loved her.
She let out a sigh and shook her head, "I'll be fine right here Naruto…It's all the same anyways…plus I'd probably lose track of where the zipper was and end up taking the entire thing down on myself anyways…" she made an attempt at a joke, in order to clear the tension, she could hear the leaves rustling beneath his feet as he stopped in front of her.
"…Sakura-chan…it's cold out tonight…um…" he paused trying to think of how to continue, before scratching his head nervously, "…you can sleep in my tent…" he watched her eyes widen and then quickly continued, "just so you don't…um…well…get lost ya know? I could help you…and uh…yeah…"
Sakura observed how he laughed nervously and couldn't help but smile, "Naruto?"
He looked down upon her, "Hai, Sakura-chan?"
"…You're a good friend…" she whispered, "but I need to be alone tonight so here is just fine…"
Naruto smiled, "I figured as much…" he gently placed his hand on her shoulder and his smile widened when he felt her hand upon his own. "Good night Sakura-chan…"
"Good night Naruto…" she replied, slowly removing her hand from his and listening as he made his way back to his own tent followed by the sound of the zipper closing up the tent.
Sakura could feel the warmth radiating from the fire before her and even though she should be terrified at that very moment, instead, she felt complete comfort knowing that her team would never let her down…she would get back to Konoha in time…
She blinked, a forced habit, feeling a blanket drape around her shoulders; no words were needed for she already knew who it was. She could feel him sit down in back of her, his back resting up against the tree and his legs open as he gently pulled her backwards toward him. She slowly leaned back; her back gently met the front of his body as she rested her head against his chest.
"You're going to be fine," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath trickling through his mask, as he casually wrapped one arm around her shoulders causing her to lean completely into his embrace. No one would think anything of their position for he had spoiled her since she had been a genin. While Sasuke and Naruto had been forced to rely on their own body heat in a storm, he had always favored their kunoichi and allowed her to lean up against him while he read the latest copy of Icha Icha, for it had been a long time since he had allowed himself to hold anyone, and if he had left her in the care of the Uchiha prodigy she'd have been found frozen by morning, or suffocated by the ramen loving would-be Hokage…so he had always taken great pride in being the one to keep her warm while she slept, and in part she returned the favor by bringing her hands up to hold his arm and share her blanket with him while he kept a watchful eye over their team.
She nodded, "I know…" and just as always, she brought her hands up to rest on his arm, "but if…"
"Don't say ifs Sakura…" he mumbled, resting his chin on her shoulder as he lazily closed his eye, not wanting to think that far ahead.
"Even so…I want you to know that you're off the hook…" she spoke so softly that if his hearing wasn't that of a dog's he would have missed it.
"Off the hook, how so?" he was far too tired to open his eye, yet his arm unconsciously tightened around her shoulders.
"…If for some reason we don't make it back…I don't expect you to stay with me…" again her tone was the same, so soft yet so serious. She could only imagine his face; there was no sense to open her eyes as she lay in his embrace.
"You think too much Sakura-chan…" he mumbled, "I won't let anything happen to a member of my team…"
"…And you don't think enough, do you really want to be stuck with a blind woman?" she had to watch her words in case Sai or Naruto were awake, however, she doubted that even their hearing was that good.
Kakashi opened his eye before lifting his chin from her shoulder, he heard her breath hitch as if she were awaiting an answer that she already knew, "Hai," he stated, completely serious.
Her eyes opened another frequent habit when she was surprised, "Why?"
"Because," he informed with a shrug that she could feel, "you're the only kunoichi I've ever had the pleasure of caring for and since you were a little girl you became part of my family…now…go to sleep…"
She couldn't bring herself to argue, she knew how hard it was for him to mention bonds of any kind, let alone family, and hearing him voice that she was part of his family and that he was pleased to be with her spoke more than any actions ever would. She nodded and slowly closed her eyes, smiling when she felt his hand turn her face to his side and his masked lips kiss her forehead.
The gates of Konoha had come into sight about an hour ago and team Kakashi had soon after dropped Sakura off at the hospital after notifying Tsunade of her condition…the first night wasn't very hopeful after Tsunade informed them that her eyes only had a fifty/fifty shot of recovering from the effects. They would soon know…
By the fifth day of treatment, Sakura had been allowed to go home, Shizune made Sakura her top priority—that and she got tired of her bitching about the horrid hospital food, the terrible night gown, and the perverted old man whose wheelchair could be heard squeaking into her hospital room at odd hours—and had decided to let her go home.
One week since the mission gone wrong, Kakashi stood in her living room doorway and gently knocked on the frame to announce his arrival.
"Yo, Sakura," he greeted, it was hard to see her like this, and he wondered if it would always be this way, he also wondered if she had lied to him and Naruto trying to have spared them at the time with the real effects of the plant.
"Ohayo," she greeted, keeping her head down low as she heard him approaching, "how was your day?"
He smiled and sat down in front of her, "Well, I was late this morning to meet with Tsunade-sama because on my way to the tower I saw an old woman trying to get her cat down from a tree…" he explained while rubbing the back of his head.
She sighed and shook her head before looking up, "you always rub the back of your head when you're lying."
Kakashi grinned behind his mask, "I guess you know me too well…" his one visible eye widened as he looked to see her smiling face and her eyes locked on his own.
Sakura's smile widened as she waited for his words to form, "…Sakura…can you…"
"Hai!" she exclaimed with an excited nod of her head before wrapping her arms around his neck and nearly knocking him backwards.
Kakashi gave a happy eye crease in response before embracing her, "When?"
"This morning," she replied, resting her chin on his shoulder as she held him close and moved her fingers casually through the silver mess he called his hair.
"And you didn't even bother to tell me? You waited until this evening?" he sounded a little hurt.
"Well I couldn't Kakashi," she began and heard the unsaid 'Why' forming on the tip of his tongue, "Well because you were helping that old woman who was trying to get her cat down from the tree."
Kakashi sweatdropped as Sakura mentally added another tally mark on the 'Why Sakura's smarter than Kakashi' sheet.
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Alright that's Part 2 in their timeline! No worries, because if you enjoyed this one Part 3 is in the works…