Author's Note: This chapter is a pretty short one. Sorry... It was the best place to leave off plot-wise to fit the prompt. Let me know what you think.
Also, this will probably be the last update until Monday. I've got kids, so the weekends get a bit crazy for me.
Prompt: Lost in Paradise by Evanescence/ Either POV
Word Count: 829
Warnings: some language, possible spoilers through chapter 636
A special thank you to my impromptu sort-of-beta, Naeryna! She has not seen the written chapters - so any mistakes you see are mine! - but she helped talk me through my outline to make sure I wasn't working some plot-hole-no-jutsu.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. I am merely playing in the sandbox he has created. I am most definitely not receiving any monetary compensation for my child's play.
ooOoo
I have nothing left
And all I feel is this cruel wanting
- Evanescence –
ooOoo
It had worked, or at least it had seemed to.
Pain trickled up his legs, like a multitude of tiny needle pokes. He had been on his knees for a long time, the man realized, motionless in the shock of his success. Kakashi shifted back, pulling his limbs forward to unwind and stretch, and sat on his rump.
Sakura had seen him, however fleetingly, and had responded. His name had fallen from her lips while her face reflected a myriad of expressions. Shock, surprise, recognition, happiness – they had all been there, written as plainly as ink on parchment. The image she presented, whether due to his lack of stimulus or her natural beauty, was the most welcome sight he had ever seen.
And it was all too brief.
Kakashi wasn't completely sure what had broken their connection. It could have been any number of things, from Sakura's state of shock to an unsteady flow of chakra. But his preeminent theory was that she had simply woken up, breaking the link between their subconscious minds. They were exploring new territory and with that came some uncertainty, but he believed that he had reached her in her sleep when her mind's defenses were down.
In addition, there was the difference in the flow of chakra to consider. From the instant it returned and throughout the encounter, he could feel it move back and forth in waves. There had been a reciprocity in the movement, a balance that had swirled about his mind with a soothing warmth. But now it felt blocked, like a river flowing into a dam. Kakashi hoped to feel the return of the current soon so he could try to reach her again.
The man was tired of being alone tired.
The darkness had crept back in.
And dammit, he just wanted to see a friendly face - any face - other than his own.
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He wanted to see her.
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ooOoo
"My answer hasn't changed."
"I know what I saw," Sakura insisted, squaring her shoulders and digging in for a fight. Her hands tightened around the flimsy material of her hospital gown. With a stubborn uplift of her chin, the girl faced her mentor. "It was him."
"Sakura," the woman admonished with a fed up scowl, "it was just a dream. A combination of the trauma of the incident and the lingering effects of the anesthesia. You of all people should know this."
"And that's why you should believe me! I know the difference!" Sakura's chest heaved as volume filled her voice, rising and crashing with her frustration. "This isn't post traumatic stress and this isn't a drug induced fancy. It was him, Shishou. It was Kakashi!"
"It's been over a year!" Tsunade fist shook the frame of her desk. "Why can't you let him go?"
The air fled from Sakura's lungs. Weakness entered her legs making them unsteady and she suddenly felt very vulnerable, exposed. She lifted her gaze, taking in the sympathy wrapped in fiery gold, and was honest. "I don't know."
The Hokage stood, her heeled shoes breaking the silence with a clipped rhythm, and made her way to her protégé. Her hands, warm and calloused, gently gripped Sakura by her shoulders. After a few short seconds of searching the girl's eyes - her face, her expression – for an unnamed something, the blonde cleared her throat. "There'll be time to talk about this later. I'm ordering you to two full days of bed rest. Is that clear, Sakura?"
"Yes, Shishou. But…" The girl paused, watching a blonde brow raise in warning. After a breath to gather her resolve, Sakura plowed ahead. "I already have the eye and I need to learn how to use it no matter what. Please… just don't make a final decision yet. Let me show you that I'm capable."
"I'll take it under consideration. If you get back in your bed and stay there."
The girl allowed herself to be lead back to her room. Tsunade saw to her personally, checking all her vitals and adjusting her medications. And, Sakura realized with a smile, the woman must have felt a twinge of guilt because she even fluffed the pillows.
Settling back as she was ordered to, the heaviness of fatigue overcame her. Her Shishou had been right in one respect. Her body needed the repose. Sakura found Tsunade's hand where it was pressing into her bed, the woman bracing herself on it as she fiddled with various monitors, and gave it a light squeeze. "Thank you, Shishou."
And then she drifted off, lost to the darkness.
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"Kakashi?"
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"Where the hell are you?"
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"Stupid, lazy-ass Sensei."