Chapter 2- Would You?

Tsunade watched her fingers gently roll the pencil in front of her face while her feet tapped rhythmically on the stone floor. The dark-headed kunoichi in front of her desk was pacing a damn hole into the floor while they waited for those who had been requested.

The blonde felt her last nerve snap and in response, she slammed both hands on the desk causing her partner to flinch and finally come to a stop. "Shizune, we are both worried but it was agreed that we will not pass that feeling to her team. If you continue to wear out my floor then they would know that this is much bigger than we are making it out to be. Calm. Down." Tsunade left no room for arguments and that was clear just by the tone of her voice.

Shizune huffed by complied to the demand. She quickly scuffled over to the window behind her Lady and watched the citizens far below them go about their daily business. There was a moment when she wondered what it would have been like it she had never wanted to be a ninja as a young child. What would her life be then?

The two women were alerted immediately of the arrival of their guests just by the loud footsteps of a running nineteen year-old boy. Naruto burst through the door like it was his right to do so and Tsunade could do nothing but drop her head to her hands.

The headache that she previously had was rapidly evolving into a migraine just by the obnoxious entrance. First Shizune had woken her up far too early this morning for her taste to inform her of her apprentice's deteriorating health and now she had to deal with this kid… She needed sake.

Three more figures filed in slowly after the first and all stood next to each other as the original puffed his chest out proudly. "Granny Tsunade, I beat Sai in a race on the way here! Teme says that he let me win but I know that it was a lie, right Kakashi-sensei?"

The hyperactive blonde was grinning widely but the silver-haired Jounin only gave him a look of boredom before turning back to the Hokage. "Please excuse Naruto, it seems that he got a… early start this morning and so decided that a few helpings of dango after his ramen would wake him up more."

Tsunade just nodded while muttering a few choice words under her breath. Naruto sniggered into the back of his hand while the infamous Uchiha just said 'hn' and turned to glare at the wall.

"Well," Naruto started, "Are we going on a mission? I've been itching to get out of this village forever now!" His whine pierced everyone's ears but no one commented on it this time.

Tsunade folded her hands over her desk and gave a small smile. "A mission of some sorts but it does not require you to leave the village." She ignored the depressed groans that came from the once-excited boy. "When was the last time any of you trained with Sakura?"

It was like watching starving dogs catching a scent of tender steak; all four men perked up instantaneously and gave the Godaime their full attention.

"The Hag?" Sai mentioned quietly before a thoughtful expression came to his face. "It's been months since we last sparred."

"I barely see Sakura-chan anymore. I always invite her to Ichiraku's but she always says that she's busy." Naruto looked to be deep in thought.

"I see her occasionally pass the Uchiha Compound on her way to a personal training ground. It's not normal though; she's always there for hours and hours at a time."

Kakashi remained silent at hearing his companion's words but turned back to the woman in front of him. "What are you getting at?" His eyes were narrowed as his efficient mind began putting the invisible puzzle pieces together as quick as they were appearing.

Tsunade sent him a small glare, obviously knowing what he was thinking, but turned back to the other boys whom all seemed to be concentrating. "Well, it had come to my attention that our little Blossom has been overworking herself and I think that it is our jobs to relieve her of such stress. Wouldn't you all agree?"

Naruto screamed a loud 'hell yeah!' and pumped his fist in the air at being given an opportunity to uplift the mood of his closer-than-siblings teammate. "Yes! Where is she?"

The Hokage rolled her eyes and ducked behind her desk only to pull out a rather large bottle of alcohol from a drawer and slam it down next to a glass. "She's in her office. There's something more to it though."

Naruto stopped himself from making a beeline for the door and turned to look at her again with confusion shining in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Tsunade uncorked the bottle and slowly poured herself a large glass that would be the first of many to come. "Sakura… I don't know what's gotten into her lately. She is not in the proper condition to train first of all; one look at her will be reason enough so I'd rather not waste my breath on something that you will figure out on your own. For today, just take her out to the training grounds and do regular stuff, whatever the hell is 'normal' for you guys; whatever will bring out the good ole' memories for the girl. She stays here for days at a time and honestly, she's more of a workaholic than Shizune."

A muted protest of 'hey!' could be heard but was promptly ignored just as Naruto's had been when he first entered.

"So that's it? Just get her out of her office and drag her to training that she won't be able to participate in? What's the point of that?" Sasuke shot out one after another.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow in suite with her glass. "Full of questions today, are we?" she teased before growing serious again. "Don't get me wrong, Sakura is extremely powerful and would give any shinobi a run for their money. My apprentice is not one to be messed with; but that doesn't mean she's invincible which leads me to fear for her health if she does not sleep or relax or something. Just give her a good time. Now, get on with it; you all know where her office is. Drag her there if need be. Get out."

The last words were an obvious command yet all men but one filed out. The others did not notice how Kakashi did not follow them but instead stood before the Godaime with a wicked glare sported upon his old friend.

Tsunade sighed deeply upon realizing that he wasn't leaving until he heard what he thought he need to hear so she poured herself a healthy sized glass of sake and let it sway in her hand gently. She looked through his cold exterior after staring at him for a few moments but could see nothing but anger and maybe a little concern.

"I don't know what you want me to—

"The truth," he cut her off with a cold response that left her stunned for a moment.

She pursed her lips and averted her apprehensive expression down to her fingers once more. "Kakashi… Sakura, she…" The Hokage was utterly speechless, unable to think of an appropriate way to explain the delicate situation. She glanced up at him quickly and made up her mind. "Something is wrong with her, Hatake, and it's killing me to not know why she withdrawing into herself. I don't know what it is but I'm making this your mission to figure it the hell out. Do you understand?"

Tsunade never got a response since the second that she finished what she was saying, the man 'poofed' out of the room in a small cloud of smoke.

The blonde woman sighed deeply and threw her small glass across the room. Shizune jumped up at the sudden shatter and ran to clean it up but her Lady just grabbed the sake bottle by neck and tilted it to her lips, making sure to polish off every last drop she could get before demanding another one.

….

It had been such a long time since the scene in front of him had last pierced his eyes. Sai was underneath a large tree with a sketchbook propped up on his knee and demanding his undivided attention while Naruto and Sasuke were face to face and screaming to the heavens with anger and jealousy shining brightly in their eyes. The only thing that Kakashi recognized as being out of place was Sakura.

She was just standing there with her back to him and facing her teammates. It had taken so much to get her here (Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai restraining her with combined efforts) and it still didn't seem to make her feel any better.

Kakashi quietly walked forward until he was right next to her. He turned to the emotionless girl and smiled to reveal a happy eye-crease, the only indication of the action. "I know you can't train but would you like to help me with my pushups?" No matter how pitiful it was, that was the only thing he could think of to say.

Sakura looked at him for a long moment, eyes studying him carefully before giving a consenting nod of her head. Kakashi restrained a grin as he quickly fell forward into the appropriate position of balancing himself on his toes and pointer fingers. He waited patiently, happily, as Sakura slowly sprawled out on top of him. Just by the way that her arms fell on either side of him, he could tell that she was face up, staring at the cloudless, blue sky.

His smile quickly became a frown when he pushed himself down towards the ground and back up again. 'She's too light. She lost weight, a lot of weight.' It unnerved him further and an inkling of a bad feeling rose up in his gut. A kunoichi was made of nothing but muscle due to such a physically demanding lifestyle and losing even five pounds was a big deal; it could completely throw of the body's natural processes. Sakura had to have lost at least twenty pounds; for what?

He continued to lower and raise himself over and over, not even being able to count his pushups this time. His mind was too busy trying to decipher the kunoichi that lay on his back. Since when did she become the serious one? Since when did she become the power-driven one? Since when did she become the workaholic one?

He glanced up some time later to see Sai still sketching with his eyebrows crumpled with concentration. Naruto and Sasuke's yells of anger had turned into words of provocation as they chased after one another in swirls of fire and rasengans. He looked back down to the grass just as a drop of sweat slid off of his forehead and onto a blade of grass under him.

"Kakashi?" Sakura suddenly said, not moving an inch above him.

He grunted at her as an indication to continue and he waited for the question to come. It was a while longer, about ten minutes, when he finally heard her take a deep breath and clear her throat. "Would you cry if I died?"

His workout ended abruptly as he froze, becoming as rigid and still as a boulder. His heart began to pound in his chest almost painfully fast. Images flashed behind his eyes of the girl lying helpless and broken on the battlefield with a sad smile gracing her bloodied features. It hurt him, his chest constricting with the flashing picture of him leaning over the memorial stone for not three names, but four.

Kakashi suddenly slid out from underneath Sakura so that her back would hit the ground and he leaned over her with a hand on either side of her head. He was panicked and didn't even try to hide it from his features as he stared down at her expressionless, beautiful face.

"Why in the hell would you ask that?" He demanded harshly. "What is going on that you would even have to worry about that, huh?"

Sakura seemed to be at loss for words as her sensei hovered over her in anger. She didn't see the concern, she didn't see his yearning to know if she was okay; she saw his displeasure at her. She saw what led to her pain every night at home and even though she tried to hide it, she knows that he saw the fear in her eyes.

"Kakashi, I…" she couldn't even form the right words as she watched him gaze at her with such intensity.

There was a short cough to their right and the silver-haired Jounin quickly turned to see Sai staring at them before glancing back at his paper. Contrary to what Sakura thought, Kakashi didn't remove himself right away. He turned back to her with his stern expression and spoke low enough for only them to hear but with enough strength that it promised no bluff.

"I never want to hear any shit like that from you again. I swear you will regret it if you do." He gently grabbed her left shoulder with his hand and shook once. "Never!"

His eyes pierced her and she feared that he could see everything that she hid inside of her. The way that his warm fingers sunk into her skin and drained the very tension that was built up from so much emotional turmoil made her feel weak and see-through. Could he see what happened when she went home? Could he see how broken she was becoming without help and love?

It took a long moment for her to realize that he was waiting for her to respond and was adamant on not moving until she did so. With a stiff neck, she tilted her head up and then down again, a gentle nod that was still too pronounced to escape his studying eyes. His gaze intensified for just a second before he was standing straight on his feet again and the breath that she didn't know she was holding whooshed out of her lungs.

….

"So, how was it?"

The blonde received glares in return. Even Naruto managed to hold onto his angry look as the Hokage heaved a deep sigh. She glanced at the three empty bottles on her desk with longing since Shizune had cut her off well over two hours ago. She sure needed it now.

"Alright, let me hear it," she murmured.

Both at once, Naruto and Sasuke started raging on about how difficult it was to get her out of her office and to the training fields and how completely at fault the Hokage was for their bruises since it was her that had taught Sakura how to accurately use her strength.

The Godaime didn't miss the look that Sai gave Kakashi nor did she miss the acute narrowing of said man's eyes. She allowed the other two to ramble on about how dreadful their old teammate was and how Tsunade should just let her go on vacation to get rest but she really focused on the others, the ones who obviously knew something.

She eventually held her hands up and silence ensued. "So, where is she now?"

Sasuke and Naruto stopped talking on the dime as Sai rubbed the side of his head gently. "She disappeared halfway through training and headed this way but we couldn't find her so we just came here to see if she started working again but there is still no sign of her."

Before Tsunade could even begin to grow angry, Shizune gave a small cough, drawing the attention to her. "She did go back to her office but I had to deliver a letter to her from Kai. She told me that he wasn't feeling well and just wanted to see if she could return home to help him."

The reaction was instantaneous; the groans and eye squints and muted glares and grumbles and sighs and dirty insults. None of them tried to hide their displeasure towards the man and none of them held the opinion against another because it was all mutual. They all hated Kai.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "That bastard is always screwing shit up for us. Whenever we try and train with Sakura-chan, he has to do with the reason that she declines."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "He is quite an ass."

Kakashi remained quiet, but not because he didn't have anything to say about the young man. No, if anything, there weren't enough words to explain the hatred that he held for Kai. He was arrogant and power hungry; always the first one to put another down in order to maintain happiness or feeling of superiority.

What he hated the most; the way that he looked at Sakura. From day one when Team Seven was first introduced to him, Kakashi loathed him because of the way that his eyes held no shame when staring upon Sakura's body. He would always talk to her chest or her legs or her ass, never her face. He would always wear a sly grin that held so much trouble in the curve of his lips that it almost made him sick to see it. How Sakura fell for him, he would never know nor understand.

"Kakashi," a voice spoke sternly, drawing him out of his hateful thoughts. He looked up to Tsunade blankly as she took a deep breath. "As I was saying," she magnified the words, "Just try to keep an eye out for her. If you see her, try and keep her out of here. I swear, trying to get her away from the hospital is like trying to keep the sun from rising; it's impossible and after a while, you'll get burned."

Sasuke's smirk slipped back into place and Naruto began yelling about something as Sai followed them out of the room. Kakashi tuned them all out; opting for imagining what it would be like if Kai never existed.

Tsunade watched the Jounin's head lower further and further with his deteriorating mood until he performed a silent jutsu and disappeared into a puff of smoke. She shook her head while smiling at the same time. She knew what was going through his head, it was painfully obvious.

She only wished that there was an asshole standing in the way.