A quick note of thanks to my first follower for this story: EvilDemon1999

And my first favorite for this story: PeinVPuppy

As this is my first fan fiction, both of you guys have really given me something priceless: motivation.

If you like to have a musical theme to your stories, I would suggest "Trees" by Twenty One Pilots. It fits this story perfectly and is one I listen to often while writing.

Chapter 3

Kakashi ran a distance from their hidden camp and began to encircle the area with traps. Stopping along the perimeter, he would calm and focus himself to send out his chakra to scan for life. After sensing nothing of concern, he continued on his set path until he reached the point he had begun. The task had kept his mind occupied but now Kakashi was left alone, silent, among the tree tops. All the inner turmoil he had been battling rushed back demanding his attention. He tugged the hood of his suit off of his head and ran shaky fingers through his matted down silver hair. The need for a deep breath pushed him to tug down his trademark mask as well. Several deep gulps of air later, Kakashi leaned his back against the tree trunk and lowered his face into his hands. Oh how he needed her. This fierce desire to always be close to her, inhaling her scent, basking in the light of her smile. How many years had it been growing? This feeling began like a toothache, throbbing slightly and ignored due to more important duties and concerns. Over years, the unheeded feeling grew till, like a forgotten toothache, it stabbed him with pain and need that could no longer be dismissed. When had it gotten this bad? He couldn't hide his feelings from her much longer. He was already having trouble controlling his physical reactions to her nearness. Maybe when he got back he could request a nice, long solo mission to get his head together.

Pain lanced through Kakashi's chest. He grabbed the black, slick cloth on the front of his suit and gasped at the intense discomfort. The small ball of tight unknown chakra hidden deep in his core was swirling and pulsing as it tried to break out of the prison of Kakashi's own life force keeping it contained. Each expulsion of the foreign energy caused a coinciding wave of agony. He forced more of his chakra reserves to try and strengthen the internal barrier. The drain of the battle raging inside of him caused his body to weaken and sway. Sliding down the trunk to sit resting on the thick branch he had been standing on, he took deep, even breaths, focusing entirely on maintaining control.

Kakashi couldn't pinpoint when exactly he became aware of this chakra "tumor" residing in his core. It manifested first as a kind of itch that rested too deep to scratch. By the time it had grown enough to cause any real discomfort, he had already incased it in a sphere of his own life force to suppress it. He kept waiting on someone else to notice it: Sakura during one of their many healing sessions or Sasuke with his Sharingan, however, no one seemed to be aware of it at all. He even hinted to Sakura that he was having chest pains, causing an immediate check-up and followed with a smack to his arm with an added warning to "not scare her like that". So, he just decided to be wary of it but not worry. Now things were different. Now the chakra was churning and fighting its confinement, flares were breaking through the prison he had made for it. Those escaped traces of energy caused a visible blue glow to spread over his torso. The pain ramped up to a level that actually forced a cry from his lips. Black spots began to dance in his vision as his balanced seat on the limb wavered.

Not wanting to risk a fall from his perch, Kakashi leapt to ground, stumbling a few steps at the contact with hard earth. He turned in the direction of camp and began making his way on unsteady legs. His vision became darker by the second but he continued on determined to make it back. Following the faint sound of water, he made his way, stopping to lean against a sturdy tree on occasion for balance. 'Just a little bit farther. I must get back to her. I can hear the falls. I'm so close.' With the last remnants of his strength, Kakashi broke through the line of trees at the pool's edge as his legs finally gave out. He whispered out her name, "Sakura…" The roar of the waterfall was the only sound he heard before he succumbed to the black, emptiness of unconsciousness.

Kakashi's first realization upon awakening was that his mask was still down when face planted into the forest floor. The pieces of crumbled leaves he had to spit out of his mouth were a pretty strong clue. The star-filled sky indicated that he had not been out long because there were no traces of dawn to lighten the black night. The second thing he noticed was the fact that the pain in his chest was gone and the ball of foreign chakra calmly rested in its prison of Kakashi's own. He warily stood, dusting debris off the front of his suit. Immediately, he took off to the waterfall hideout, his teammate's welfare being his first priority. Upon entering the cave, the smell of ozone was strong in the confined space. Kakashi's gaze searched for the pink-haired kunoichi and found her squatting down in front of the fire pit, nursing a new flame. She sprang up at his entrance.

"Kakashi! Did you see it too?" Sakura ran right up to him. She was obviously excited about something, but seemed unharmed. Her glittering green eyes stared into his uncovered gray orb. Her body slightly bounced in place with her eagerness for his answer.

"See what? Did something happen while I was gone?" Kakashi grabbed her by the upper arms, his brows drawn together with worry. He pulled her closer to him and ran his gaze over her again, more intensely this time. She responded to his tighten embrace by gripping his arms in her small, delicate hands.

"Oh, Kakashi, it was amazing! Well, intimidating but amazing. Wild, natural chakra, Kakashi! It was able to manifest a form…with eyes! I need to make some notes." Sakura pulled out of his grip and rushed over to her bag. Digging around for a few seconds, she withdrew a small notebook and pen. Sakura set down on the edge of the cot, opening the notebook onto her lap and scribbling furiously. She continued her excited description, "It started like a thick, grey fog with little lightning strikes all in it. It seemed to be conscious because it followed me in here and it was touching me, almost like it was checking me out." She paused a second in her speech and writing. Her hands absentmindedly rubbed her arms, her eyes distant with deep thoughts. She looked back up at Kakashi continuing, "And the form it made, I couldn't make out a lot of details because, well, because it put out the fire. However, I could see its eyes. They were like an animal's; a wolf's eyes and they glowed blue. I mean really glowed like the moon. I have never seen anything like it."

"This was inside the cave?" Kakashi scanned the space for any traces left behind by the phenomenon. Other than the ozone smell and the diminished fire, nothing was out of place. "What did it do exactly?"

"Well, it was kind of touching me with the fog, like it was curious about me. Something else seemed to catch its attention because it looked back towards the entrance and growled. After that it left." Sakura shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal.

"It growled? How could wild chakra, even with a primitive form, growl?"

"That's just one of the questions I would love to answer. I can't wait to ask Tsunade what she thinks." Sakura finished the notes she was writing with a flourish and packed away the book and pen. She stood and walked back over to stand in front of him. She looked up at him, a look of wonder on her face. He couldn't help but sigh to himself, reflecting on how beautiful she was at that moment. Sakura, with a sound of awe in her lowered voice, confided, "It was like being in the presence of the Kyubi, only it wasn't so immense and frightening. It just seemed curious, like it was a child inspecting a shiny stone or a new type of bug." With that confession, the excitement of the mission and the unexpected encounter caught up with her and a yawn slipped out of her mouth.

Kakashi noticed this and reached to pull her tired body back into his embrace. "Whatever it was, it's gone now, so we should take some time to rest. If we leave early enough, we could make it home by early afternoon tomorrow." Sakura nodded her agreement and crossed the space towards the cot, pulling Kakashi by the hand with her. The two were so close that there was no question about sharing the sleeping space. In the low light of the fire, they both lay spooned together on the bed. Sakura snuggled with her back up to his chest and Kakashi encircled her waist with his arms. It took no time for her to fall into a restful sleep. Trust and familiarity allowed her to drift off quickly while he stayed awake for a while just watching her breaths become soft and regular. Kakashi lower his face into her hair, inhaling her scent deeply. The peace and contentment of the close contact with his most beloved person eased all the pain and confusion he had felt. Sleep made his eyes heavy, and as he too drifted off, he repeated to himself, 'I can never lose this woman. I won't survive without her.' Then, with the sound of a waterfall in the background, both fell into a deep rest.