Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.

A/N: Unbeta'd. This is not my usual fare. I'm glad this is finished. It makes me a bit sad though since I really enjoyed it when I first wrote it but coming back to it to revise etc. in order to post I found that I liked it less and less as I went along. In the future I'll think twice before undertaking another project like this from the depths of my hard drive. Oh well, live and learn I guess. ^^;;;

Chapter Four: Act IV

Shaking the disconcerting thoughts that Sakura might actually turn out to be worth all the trouble he'd just gone through to get her, Sasuke turned his attention back to the immediate situation at hand. Feeling a little irritated that his woman should still seem to be so utterly devastated by the death of an old has-been, the dark haired young man turned to close the gap between himself and his kunoichi. She was still grieving noisily over the lifeless body of their former sensei –it was almost as if what she'd said about him was really true – that she actually did love the older man. Again, his mind waved those thoughts away – Sakura loved him, always had, always would – anything else was too ridiculous to entertain even for a moment – end of story.

As he approached, she turned red-rimmed, fear-filled eyes up at him with tears still flowing down her cheeks. However, she didn't make a move to lash out at him or even make a run for it when he stopped in front of her. For a moment he thought that was a good sign, she was resigned to her fate and wasn't likely to try to fight it. She'd probably go along with him submissively now that Kakashi was dead. As he pondered the situation, he realized that he probably wouldn't have to do too much to her memory after all… he had to pause in mid-thought – that wasn't like the Sakura he'd once known. Only then did he realize that something wasn't quite right with the weeping woman huddled on the floor in front of him. For a moment he couldn't quite put a finger on what was bothering him. All of a sudden it hit him like a load of bricks – genjutsu.

Hastily he raised his hands and released it, his anger increased tenfold when the false images cleared and he found himself alone in the room with a gaping hole in the exterior wall.

Cursing at his own stupidity for underestimating the woman he leapt through the hole in the wall ready to kill the both of them.

Sakura saw her chance when Sasuke flung a double fistful of senbon at Kakashi. He was so confident of the outcome he hadn't even bothered to activate his Sharingan. She knew it was now or never and acted, using Kakashi's form to hide what she was doing from the Uchiha.

Just as the needles should have hit her former sensei she punched a hole in the wall and pulled Kakashi through with her, low enough to the floor to avoid either one of them getting hit with even one of the airborne needles. She knew she had bought them a minute or two at the very most and wanted to make the best use of their limited time and her remaining chakra as possible.

Once outside, she completed a quick chain of hand seals and sent an enormous fireball – one of Sasuke's favorite jutsu when they were younger, he'd be angry if he ever found out that she had used it against him – into the sky, hoping that someone would see it and send people to investigate.

Without another word she used another burst of chakra enhanced strength to pull the wounded and dazed man onto her back and a rapid succession of chakra enhanced bursts of strength to sprint for the village. Sakura guessed that she had probably less than a minute left and that Sasuke was sure to be enraged if, no when he finally caught up with them.

Kakashi braced himself for the pain of a dozen or so senbon perforating his skin; but, at the last minute, he was pulled out of the way and out of his father's study via a rather large hole courtesy of Sakura's fast thinking and monstrous strength.

Stunned, and in no real condition to react, he watched dumbly as she shot an enormous fireball into the sky. Rather absently he noted that it was one of Sasuke's family jutsu if he wasn't mistaken. He wanted to comment on it, but his brief surge of strength was flagging and no amount of adrenaline coursing through his system could keep him going.

He was, after all, still dying. All of the good the healing Sakura had poured into him over the previous days had been more than negated by the combination of his move to his family home and the brief bit of strength he'd used to stand up to Sasuke. He wanted to say something to Sakura, thank her for her concern but tell her to go on without him. He wanted her to live, live and be happy. But, he found that he lacked the strength to even stand on his own, never mind to open his mouth and put voice to his painful thoughts.

Just as he thought he was going to collapse, Sakura grabbed his hands and urged him onto her back. Quickly, and with more speed than he remembered her ever showing, she shot off into the woods, toward the village.

Sakura tripped and stumbled over another exposed root, only just barely managing to stay on her feet. Doggedly she kept going. She could tell by how limp Kakashi had become on her back that he was fading fast she needed to get him medical attention immediately. Unfortunately the almost constant drain on her chakra was taking its toll on her as well. She knew that she could only go on for a little longer before she would collapse and the probability of her being able to get back to her feet was slim.

The body on her back suddenly went entirely slack and she felt fear slam into her and another burst of adrenaline pushed her on, helping her find reserves of strength she didn't know she had.

"Please hang in there Kakashi, please…" she whispered, though she knew the man she loved was beyond hearing her now.

A continuous stream of curses slipped from his mouth as he followed the determined kunoichi and, not all of them were directed at her. She was heading back to the village through the woods surrounding the old Hatake estate, rather than going back directly through the abandoned Uchiha compound. He couldn't believe that he had been so stupid as to fall for such a simple – though, he had to admit, excellently executed – genjutsu. He, an Uchiha, had been bested by second rate, of course second rate when compared to his own Sharingan, jutsu.

His blood boiled just thinking about it. But, the calmer part of him, the more rational part, couldn't help but admire her for it. And, as much as his anger demanded for him to kill her, he knew he couldn't – she was far, far more valuable than he had imagined, it would be pure folly to destroy such an asset. No, instead, he'd just settle for making her his – for real. Though, first he would enjoy killing Kakashi while she watched – he realized now that he wouldn't truly be able to make her his until Kakashi was no longer in the picture. Annoying, but, since he already intended on killing his former sensei it wouldn't particularly change his existing plan. And, the pain and anguish she would experience at seeing Kakashi die in front of her eyes while she was unable to do anything to prevent it would make up for the fool she had made of him. After that he would break her – if Kakashi's death didn't already do the trick – selectively fix her memory and take her back to Sound.

Quickly he pushed on, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he caught up to her and that the ending of their story was already written, a foregone conclusion. The beast would die and he would get the girl – just how all good fairy tales ended.

Sakura felt her adrenaline finally starting to wear off despite the fact that her mind was still in full-blown panic mode with the knowledge that they were not yet out of the woods, literally.

Just when she thought the forest would go on forever she saw the clearing that held the memorial just up ahead. Unbidden a little cry of joy escaped from her lips, where it promptly died.

Standing just inside the ring of trees, between her and the clearing with the memorial, stood Sasuke. He smirked as the expression of relief slipped from her face.

"Found you," he said with clear triumph in his voice – enjoying how her expression had changed from hope to something akin to despair. He was going to enjoy this.

Sakura wanted to scream in frustration as she was pulled to a halt but, found that she lacked the energy. And, now that she was standing still, she found that the weight of her former sensei was much more than she could easily carry without augmenting her strength. Against her will Sakura sagged down to her knees, a couple of tears of frustration streaked down her cheeks as the pink haired kunoichi realized that though she had played a good game, and given Sasuke a good run for his money, she had finally lost. She had been so close. So close, and yet, so far.

"No," she finally managed to whisper. Her energy waned and she felt Kakashi's legs slipping from her hands, and his limp form sliding from her back. She had nothing left. No chakra, no strength, no energy… nothing.

The Uchiha sauntered closer, taking his time to prolong the pink haired woman's fear and pain – after all, she'd made a right fool of him with her little genjutsu, served her right to feel a bit of real fear.

"Sasuke, please. Please, don't…" she started once he was within hearing range of her weak voice. "I'll, I'll go with you… do, do whatever you want…Just… please… don't…"

He chuckled, not having expected to hear her beg, but enjoying it nonetheless. He stopped before her, taking in her entirely drained state.

Exhausted, she felt herself sag all the way down to the ground and was unable to even glance back up at her former teammate, lacking the strength to even hold her head up.

Wanting to drive his point home, Sasuke bent over, grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked her head back up so he could look her in the eye – a little more roughly than strictly necessary but, she would just have to get used to it..

"I'll do as I please. And, right now, it pleases me to kill Kakashi and take you – whether you're willing or not." His eyes flashed red as he activated his Sharingan, more to scare and remind her that he was more than capable of doing whatever he pleased with her, than anything else. The Uchiha didn't want to knock her out just yet; after all, he wanted her to watch as he killed their former sensei.

Sakura found the strength to flinch at seeing his family trait appear and fought the realization that he would kill Kakashi and take her and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Regardless, she still knew it was all over now. Nothing could save them short of a miracle.

Feeling as though he had made his point Sasuke pulled the unresisting kunoichi up and deposited her out of the way – making sure she was positioned in such a way that she could not miss what he was about to do next. "This time I finish this."

"Sasuke, please no!" she cried again with her remaining strength as she watched the dark haired man advance on their former sensei. She knew it wouldn't sway their dark haired former teammate but, she couldn't just sit there and watch, she had to do something. Unfortunately, all she could do, she had already done – to no avail.

He chuckled at her weak protests. "Don't worry, you'll forget about him soon enough. I'll make sure of that."

"NO!" she cried again with as much strength as she could, the shout much louder than she would have thought she was capable of in that state, her hand reaching out weakly toward Kakashi.

"Hey! Who's out there?!"

A new voice interrupted before Sasuke could advance any further, causing the Uchiha to freeze in indecision; Naruto had been on his to-kill list for a long time and now he might finally have his chance. Kakashi and Sakura clearly weren't going anywhere any time soon – he could afford to take the time and kill his former rival before finishing up with them. He'd have plenty of time to deal with the older man and his kunoichi later.

"Sakura?! Is that you in there? Finally! Is Kakashi okay?" the disembodied voice called from the memorial clearing.

Hope suddenly flooded the desperate kunoichi, as Naruto landed lightly next to her. The blonde man quickly assessed the situation. He'd only just returned to the village to learn that Sasuke was out to kill Kakashi. Immediately, he'd joined in the search for the Uchiha heir – starting out at the memorial where he'd heard the ANBU teams had been strategizing. Unfortunately, they'd already split up and moved out by the time he'd gotten there. However, it would appear that he was still just in time to confront his childhood rival after all.

Exhausted, Sakura tried to explain the situation to Naruto, concerned that he might misunderstand what was happening. "Sasuke's back – rogue. Wants t'kill K'ashi." She managed to weakly reach out to the blue eyed shinobi. "Please, save him."

Gently the blonde man patted Sakura's shoulder. "It's okay, Sakura. I know." Naruto turned his gaze to Sasuke and narrowed his eyes. He had been ready to forgive the Uchiha when he finally returned to the village. But, what Sasuke was apparently trying to do was unforgivable. He would end this now.

Sakura watched, feeling helpless to do anything to help either her former sensei or Naruto, and silently prayed that Naruto would come out on top and that it wasn't too late to save Kakashi.

Weeks later Sakura found herself still in the hospital but, no longer as a patient, rather she was still at Kakashi's side – holding his hand when she could, in the hopes that the contact was something he could somehow sense. The elite shinobi was still listed as in critical condition. He had awakened only briefly after Naruto's fight with Sasuke. The older man was cognizant just long enough to inquire about Sakura's safety before slipping into a coma once he heard that she would be fine.

The pink haired medic had been beside herself after finding out that the one time she had left his side – to make a mandatory report to Tsunade – he had regained consciousness without her being there, where she felt she belonged, by his side. Consequently, she absolutely refused to leave his side again – making things difficult the first few times someone tried to assign her to a mission or wanted her medical services. She'd since been temporarily removed from the mission rolls and was handling patients when necessary from a room attached to Kakashi's hospital room.

The damage Kakashi had suffered combined with the damage he had inflicted upon himself seemed to be too much for his battered body – while not ancient, he wasn't exactly young either. Yet, she still stayed by his side, immediately dealing with emergencies as they arose, and occasionally calling on the Hokage and several other medics when things became too much for her. They'd almost lost him a dozen or so times but, quick thinking and as many medics as it took on hand had been enough to bring him back on each occasion. The silver lining of the situation seemed to be that at least Kakashi no longer appeared to be fighting the healing process as he had been when he'd first been brought back to the village. He now seemed to be fighting to live – fighting just as hard as the medics trying to save his life.

Sakura knew that most of the hospital staff – those who had not had a hand in helping her try and save him – had pretty much given up on Kakashi as a lost cause but, she refused to do the same. As long as he was still breathing she clung to the hope that he would pull through. And, as far as she could see, he was still fighting. Besides, Naruto had suffered far worse than Kakashi at the hands of Sasuke before finally putting the Uchiha down for good, and he was up and about once again… Granted, Naruto had the advantage of being 14 years younger than the Copy Ninja and the added bonus of the kyuubi inside him, but still… Sakura couldn't quite help but assume that Kakashi would pull through too. She had to – there were no other acceptable outcomes.

Several weeks later Sakura still remained at Kakashi's side, as always, holding his hand in both of her own. He was past the critical stage but, still hadn't come out of his coma. She now stayed by his side to thwart the intermittent attempts of some of the medical staff to pull the plugs on his life support machines. The majority of them were convinced that he wouldn't make it – he'd remain asleep indefinitely. He was too old and the trauma too great for him to ever recover consciousness. And, they were concerned that Sakura would slowly waste away with him while she waited for something that would, in their opinion, never happen.

She looked at him again. Aside from the coma he was still in pretty rough shape, even after a couple of months of intensive healing. If, no when she corrected herself, he woke up he would need a lot of physical therapy before he would be mission ready again. Still, nothing was unsurmountable – she could envision no issues arising that they couldn't handle together. All he had to do now was to wake up. It seemed so simple and, yet…

Frustration broke through her calm façade for a moment and she removed one of her hands from his to slam it down hard on the little bedside table. It was so unfair. Just after finally figuring out her feelings for him, and realizing that he returned those feelings, she had nearly lost him… was still close to losing him. Sakura hit the table again ignoring the fact that it shattered easily under her fist (it was maybe the sixth or seventh to die under her fist in that room) and several tears fell unheeded onto Kakashi's hand. The first she had shed for him since he had been removed from the critical condition list. She'd, irrationally, not wanted to cry in front of him in the hopes that he was still in there, listening to her. If he was, and for whatever reason, he couldn't force himself awake, she didn't want him to worry unnecessarily over her. Instead she tried to put a brave face on it, just in case. But, it was hard. So hard.

She cracked, just a little, and let some of the anguish leak out. "It's not fair for you to be asleep like this when I only just realized that I love you..." she murmured to the unconscious man.

Talking to him while he was asleep had become a natural thing for her to do to pass the time and prevent herself from going a little crazy during her self-imposed vigil. Sakura also liked to imagine that he could hear her and would someday wake up and respond to her one-sided conversations. Though, she had tried to avoid discussing his situation. Rather, she usually tried to keep him apprised of current gossip and how things were going with their friends. Several of whom still came by to visit on occasion. Granted, unbeknownst to her, they usually turned up more to give her a break and make sure she was staying sane, than to sit with their comatose friend.

Slowly the dark eye opened upon feeling the warm drops of liquid on his hand. He knew almost immediately whose tears they were and why she was shedding them, though she hadn't noticed that he was awake yet. He'd heard all of her rather long-winded monologues and had wanted more than anything to give her some sort of sign that he was there listening to her, unfortunately he had never before been able to respond. But, for some strange reason, this time was different – he was finally able to open his eye to look at her. She looked awful, exhausted, pale, thin and crying; but, she was still lovely to his somewhat biased eye.

"Hey," he started with a weak and cracked voice. "What's with the tears?"

Sakura's head snapped up to look at the now awake man with wide tear filled eyes. "Kakashi!" She stared at him for a moment, uncertain if her mind was playing a cruel trick on her. Hastily she put her hands together and performed the genjutsu release just to be sure. When she established that Kakashi really had just opened his eye and spoken to her she heedlessly threw her arms around him and was unable to prevent more tears from flowing.

"Hey, easy there," he chided gently as she jostled him a bit and the dull aches he was somewhat accustomed to flared into full-fledged pains.

She pulled her face from his chest, where she had buried it to hide her fresh bout of tears from him, to look up into his dark eye. "Kakashi…" she started, but found herself unable to say anything else. She had spent the past few months dreaming how things would go when he finally woke up and suddenly she couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Weakly and without his usual coordination he raised a hand to wipe away some of her tears. "What's with these tears?" he asked again with a faint smile, both happy and relieved to finally be in control of his body once again. "Did you just realize that you're stuck with a stubborn old beast of a man who loves you?"

She stared at him for a moment before smacking him very, very lightly. "You're not a beast, Kakashi…" she paused thoughtfully. "But, even if you were, I'd love still you anyway."

A/N: Two things, before anyone thinks to ask: in my mind, if Sasuke needs to be killed, Naruto is the one who needs to do it. I think it's the childhood rivalry that makes this idea stick in my head – teacher has two students, one turns bad and the other ends up needing to deal with the situation type of thing. The second is that I've always been very careful to avoid having either Kakashi or Sakura kill for the other. In my mind that can have serious ramifications on a relationship and though they are shinobi and killing can be seen as something they do regularly, I'd rather not have the fallout around to spoil my fluff, thank you very much. My story, my rules. ;-D