A few days later, Tsunade finally gave in to his pleas (which were more weak demands than pleas, and they were only weak because of his state of being) to go home and dejected him from the hospital. Kakashi, thankful as the grass is when it rains, overcame the strange feeling in his legs and walked home.

Kakashi never thought he'd be so happy to see his front door. He fumbled for his keys, opened the door, and breathed in the smell of his apartment. It wasn't the most delicious of scents, but it suited him and he didn't care otherwise. Besides, he didn't spend that much time at home anyway.

The first thing he did was enter his bedroom, intent on changing into a clean set of his normal attire. He examined the current state of his clothes and sighed again, knowing the blood stains and rips would never be remedied. Another pair thrown away.

Easily, he stripped off his shirt and went to unbutton his pants when he heard a noise from his bed. It sounded a lot like someone clearing their throat.

Kakashi spun around, on red alert, although his legs didn't comply as quickly as he would've liked. As soon as he registered who it was, he stood straight and simply stared at her.

"S-sakura? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the hospital."

Sakura smiled shyly and stood from the bed before falling back onto it with wobbly legs. She dismissed it easily and began to speak. "I could say the same for you, Kakashi."

"How did you even get in here?"

A deep red blush saturated her cheeks and neck as she pointed to the front room. "You left your window open in your hurry to come save me."

Memories of the past week rushed through his mind. Sakura attempted to stand again and succeeded. Slowly, she took step by step toward him. He met her in the middle and let her sink into his arms in a tight embrace.

"I wanted to thank you for rescuing me. My parents also want you to know their gratitude as well," Sakura murmured into his bare chest. Kakashi immediately thought they had never been this close, except for when he was carrying her back to Konoha a few days prior. He found he thoroughly enjoyed it, but he'd never voice such things.

"There is no need to thank me, Sakura. I just couldn't leave you like that. It was my duty to rescue you."

"I know. I'm the only one left, so ideally you'd want to preserve that. I suppose I'm not very shocked at your disobeying orders just to come get me." Sakura sighed then and situated her hands differently. "I miss them. Naruto and Sasuke. Sometimes I wish I could have taken their place that day. But I'm glad I didn't lose you, too. I don't know what I would have done then."

Kakashi's heart did a funny sort of pleasant acrobatic move in his chest.

"What do you mean, Sakura?"

She shrugged under his arms and suddenly he realized how long they had been standing there like that. He didn't make to break the embrace, though.

"I don't know if I could have survived, having just lost two of my closest friends and my mentor."

"You would still have your parents. And Ino."

Sakura sighed again and Kakashi thought he could get used to that noise. And also the feel of her breath across his chest.

"Yes, but that's not the same. Naruto and Sasuke were like brothers. Ino is just…Ino."

Without filtering, Kakashi murmured, "And what am I like to you?"

"I, well, you're my mentor, of course. I don't know, maybe like an uncle, or something…" Sakura stammered, turning her head so that he couldn't see the blush filling up her supple cheeks. She wasn't successful in hiding it from Kakashi, though.

His mind and body apparently weren't listening to each other because they started acting of their own accord. Kakashi placed a couple fingers beneath Sakura's chin and tilted her head up so he could gaze into her impossibly green eyes. She blinked up at him, curious but uncertain.

"You are much more than that to me. You are precious to me, Sakura." Am I really saying this? "I know I couldn't live with myself if I lost you." What the hell is all this? "Especially if it was in my power to create the difference between you living or dying."

Sakura continued to blink up at Kakashi. Before too long, a worried look overtook her delicate features and she reached a hand up to feel his forehead. "Are you feeling all right, Kakashi?"

Gingerly, he grabbed her wrist and placed her hand over his quick-beating heart. "I'm fine, Sakura. I don't know what got into me. It must be from the hospital or something Tsunade gave me…"

Sakura's face fell subtly and Kakashi wasn't sure if he imagined it or not. He was tempted to pinch himself just to make sure this wasn't another one of his crazy dreams. "So you didn't mean anything you said?" Sakura asked quietly.

Kakashi hesitated, backed into a corner, unsure of how to respond. Yes, he did mean what he said, but not if she didn't feel the same way. Should he lie and protect himself or confess the truth and see how things fell?

Without truly thinking about it, one of his hands rested on the back of Sakura's neck and the other on the small of her back, pulling her flush with him. His head tipped and his lips touched hers. After a few agonizing seconds of no response, Kakashi nearly pulled back to begin apologizing for his erratic and strange behavior, but Sakura held him in place and kissed him back. A feeling of warmth swept through him as she replied to him without saying a word. He felt her endless smile beneath his lips and couldn't help but mirror it.

I love you too, Kakashi.