I was watching some older episodes of the anime, including my favorite Kakashi fight (team 10 vs. Akatski), so I guess now you know where the scene is set... :) R&R. It encourages me.


Chakra Magnet

At last, it was over. Team 10 was still marveling at Naruto's awesome power when Shikamaru, Sakura and Sai arrived to report the timely defeat of Hidan. After the extensive battles, the shinobi were left with a sense of relief and exhaustion—they ached to return home. They each congratulated each other, knowing in the back of their minds that the Akatsuki member's demise would not have been achieved if it were for geniuses Shikamaru Nara and Kakashi Hatake. Naruto capped off their amazing work. Chouji hoisted Naruto up by the shoulder and helped him forward, following Yamato's lead.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura, gazing around.

"He's finishing with that guy—Kakazu," Ino told her. Sakura didn't miss the tone of concern in her friend's voice. As if on cue, they watched the Jonin in question leap into view from the ditch where he finished off their fallen opponent. Sakura had never seen him in such a state, so she knew the battle had been intense. His jounin vest was missing—as well as his Leaf headband. Even his mask, to her fearful curiosity, had been torn a little to reveal more of his light-skinned cheek.

Kakashi began to join the group—but after just a few steps his hand flew to his chest and a pained sound escaped his throat. He stopped in his tracks, and fell to a crouching position on the hard ground.

"Kakashi-sensei!" the medics chorused, wasting no time in appearing at his side. Ino was there first, remembering her promise to heal his wounds after Kakazu's creepy tentacles dug into his chest with the intent of ripping out his heart. The Copy Nin had brushed off her attempt as rejoined the battle almost immediately after sustaining the wound. Now he was paying for it.

The blonde fell to her knees beside him.

"What's wrong? Sensei?" Sakura asked hurriedly..

Kakashi, breathing hard, cracked open an eye and glanced at the young women.

"I'll be fine," he said between labored breaths. It was just something in his chest, squirming, digging deeper… Sharp pain agitated his thoughts.

Ino knew better. "No, he's not "fine". It's those things the Akatski member used to try to take his heart. They got into his chest but he ripped them out earlier. There must be remnants left that are damaging his body! They can't go any further or…!" Kakashi winced, realizing that her analysis was probably right.

Take… Kakashi-sensei's heart? Sakura's brow furrowed; the battle was graver than she imagined.

"We have to heal him," Ino continued frantically, but there was hesitance laced in her voice. "I can give him emergency first aid but… These things are inside of him and I don't know if I can…" She wavered. There was something unsaid underlying the tone of her confession, and Sakura knew immediately how to ease her worries.

"Ino!"

The girl snapped her head back to meet Sakura's eyes. Understanding passed through their gaze.

"You haven't spent enough time with Tsunade-sama to learn this procedure in your medical practice just yet. This is at least a level six. Don't worry." She smiled congenially. "Go catch up to the group and finish healing Naruto. I'll can do this."

Ino didn't bother to hide her sigh of relief. Her best friend's command was in no way condescending. She almost hated to admit it, but Sakura's new maturity and expertise was impressive.

"Sure. Make sure you heal him thoroughly, okay? He was really incredible."

Sakura smiled knowingly at Ino's awe.

"Come on, he's my sensei, you know."

Kakashi hardly paid attention to their banter and might have injected his own, witty remark had not he been in so much pain. The two seemed to reach an agreement that Sakura's medical expertise was appropriate to handle his case.

Kakashi's hidden anxiety lessened when he felt his dependable student crouch beside him.

"I'm going to get those things out so stay still," he heard her say lightly. Without verbal warning she slipped a hand under his shirt and pressed his to his bare chest, over his heart.

Kakashi shuddered.

"S-s-sorry," Sakura stammered.

"Cold hands," Kakash muttered. It didn't seem convincing. She smiled nervously and went straight to work.

His student's chakra was soothing, he noticed, and on the other hand it was incredibly invasive. It was a wonder she could weave her chakra so delicately through his own network, grabbing and pulling away the foreign bodies. It took him a lot of willpower to keep from shivering.

Sakura kept her hand pressed firmly against Kakashi, trying to ignore her own embarrassment about how she was touching his body. It was purely medical and for his benefit, of course! Still, she couldn't help but be hypersensitive to everything in this position, not just the healing process. For example, the way his pulse was quickening beneath her touch…

Why was Kakashi-sensei's heart beating faster and faster? In fact, his pulse quickened considerably after she applied her chakra to his body.

"S-Sensei, are you…?"

"Just fine," he grunted and flashed her a smile with his eyes. He opened them both to peer back at her and she nearly gasped—it had been a long time since she saw Kakashi without all of his Jonin gear. Without the headband, both mismatched eyes caught her gaze. One—the emboldened scarlet Sharingan, and the other—a cool, unreadable black orb.

Kakashi jumped just after she began oogling at his eye. His reaction startled her even more and she realized that she had pumped a short burst of her chakra into him while she was distracted. It must have been a shock, because his bare hand flew up and covered hers on the outside his shirt. For a split moment, she was frozen.

"Sorry!" she proclaimed hastily.

"Yeah…" he was still startled, getting used to the feeling.

Sakura turned a violent shade og red. Not only was his hand still covering hers, but…

Wait, his hands… they're twitching?

Kakashi avoided his gaze and withdrew his hand, just noticing the contact. His expression was so mixed she could hardly register it.

"Sakura…"

"Almost done…. there!"

"Do you think you could… remove all of your chakra?" the pinkette raised an eyebrow coolly at his request. Was hers that unpleasant? Well, it was obviously necessary for her medical practice. Plus, he had never complained before… although she had never healed him so deeply before.

With a slow inhale Sakura removed her hands and her chakra. She leaned back to survey him, pleased at her work. It only took about ten minutes, and then they could catch up to the group in no time. Her eyes returned to his face, looking for approval and satisfaction.

But Kakashi still looked disturbed. "I mean… all of it," he told her calmly. "I can feel residual chakra left."

"You can feel it?" she questioned. "Well… all that's left, that's supposed to be there. It's holding together your abrasions and broken blood vessels until we can get you into the hospital."

"Ah, I see."

Suddenly she felt very self-conscious.

"I'm still kind of new at below-tissue healing, and I'm told it's really invasive to the reciever. I'm sorry if it's weird." She rubbed the back of her neck and resisted the blush that threatened to spill across her cheeks. When he returned a small smile, she nearly melted.

What was it about Kakashi that was making her feel so…. compelled?

Was it his mop of untamed, silvery white hair that nearly reached his breathtaking mismatched eyes? Was it the way that sweat and hard work plastered his black shirt to his fit body, nix the bulky vest? Or the way his toned muscle had felt under her hands?

Stop, this is Kakashi-sensei, she ordered herself. Stay professional and quit oogling him!

But still, maybe it was the way his strong chakra felt when she touched it. Or the look on his face when he felt hers. In fact, it was almost as if she could still feel his pleasant chakra as it grew hotter inside her, fueling her random attract—

"Kakashi-sensei! I think I have some of your chakra, too. I must have pulled it out by mistake! I'm such a rookie," she lamented. Now Kakashi sat up straighter, interested in her confession.

"Stealing chakra won't make you stronger," he joked lightly after seeing her distress.

"It feels… odd. It kind of burns," she admitted with a frown.

"Hm, well, I am a lightening-type. If our chakra natures are incompatible, then it is probably causing discomfort."

"As in your case," she said. "Can I give it back?" Now, he looked more wary.

"It won't work if you try to just put it back. You'll only pull some back out,"
he said. He put his head down, appearing to think some more. "The way to do this is to exchange it at the same time. Our own bodies should attracts our chakras back"

"Okay," Sakura nodded. Kakashi seemed at least a bit bemused at her fidgeting, but wouldn't admit himself that her chakra caused him to have a similar reaction. She reached out, a bit awkwardly, and then retracted her hand.

"Um, how…?" It was easy for her to reach out and heal him, but she wondered how they should make contact together, at the same time. Kakashi's blank stare plainly said that he didn't have an answer and was not as willing as her to find one. She winced.

"It really burns. Kakashi-sensei, you're chakra is so hot."

"… Thanks?" She rolled her eyes and squirmed more. She wanted to get this over with! Clearly the Copy Ninja was in a state of benign exhaustion from the harsh battle, and here she was stalling for time. With each second that passed, not only did the group get farther away but his agitating chakra-nature was burning a hole through her chakra network!

"So, what did you want to…" Kakashi began uncertainly with his student, but Sakura couldn't wait any longer.

"Ugh! Ow! I can't take this anymore at all!" He had no idea his chakra was that unbearable. He was about to suggest something when suddenly, with eyes squeezed shut in what he presumed to be pain, she threw herself at him.

Sakura…!

She wasn't doing his sore back and strained shoulders any favors by hugging him so tightly, with her arms around his neck and head past his shoulder. Both of his hands were planted on the ground and he leaned back under the weight of the girl who desperately crushed him. Not only did his body ache, but his sense of reservation was really dissipating fast.

Before he could even protest a new chakra invaded him. His entire body tensed, partly in shock—didn't she know how intrusive this was? Still, it was clear she was overeager to dispel his chakra.

In return, he pushed hers to the forefront of his core, trying his best to ignore the way their bodies pressed together. Ah, finally… once their chakra collided, they would be able to exchange.

But that wasn't the way it happened. Once their chakras brushed, a kidnapping occurred. His swore he hadn't meant to reel even more of her chakra in. what was going on? It was as if his body wanted more of her soothing, calm chakra. After all, her chakra had healing abilities and he could certainly use more of that.

Her grit his teeth under his mask, trying to stop the transaction.

What's going on? Kakashi-sensei's chakra… I feel like my body is pulling it back in. It's electrifying! Every ounce of his chakra gave her a rush of exciting adrenaline, and she didn't know why. Maybe it was its nature. Either way, she could tell that her body was now acting as a magnet and attracted even more of his raw energy! She had to stop the exchange, she…

The Jonin pulled through and did this for her. She felt him grab her shoulders and shove her back, causing her to stumble and land on her rear.

For some reason, Sakura's body was smoking! Both shinobi found it hard to summon words.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked, finally, but hurriedly. The smoke rising from her red vest was nothing he had ever seen. It was some reaction.

"Y-Yes," she said. "I don't know what's going on." They were both panting, locked in a staring contest, until Kakashi finally averted his gaze. The words that came from the back of his throat sounded like he forced them out.

"It seems as if our chakras, instead of returning back to their origins, preferred to swap…"

"A vague way of saying they're attracted to each other," Sakura dared to say bluntly, earning her a fleeting look of surprise. "I've seen this before, but it's rare. Each body acts as a magnet to another chakra that it believes can benefit it…" She stared off into the skyline, pondering what the hell this could mean.

Kakashi rose to his feet, ignorning the fact that a pool of his student's energy swished around inside him.

"You did say my chakra was 'hot'," he pointed out. She glared. Embarrassment stained her cheeks at his implication, but he succeeded in lightening the mood. She rose to her feet.

"It's not funny. In the cases I've studied what ends up happening is the two matches get addicted to each other's chakra!" That shut the Jonin up, but she thought it was because he found her silly and dramatic. He muttered something about catching up with the group so they started walking. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the medic cross her arms and move about restlessly.

He struggled to keep his own restlessness contrained.


When she arrived at Konoha, there were no breaks for Sakura. She was stuck on hospital duty just houts after she came back and Tsunade discovered she had no serious injuries. Sighing, she snatched a clipboard and walked into her next patient's hospital room without so much as giving it a glance.

She opened the door and the clipboard nearly dropped from her hands when she found Hatake Kakashi sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting to be treated from the mission they just had. He glanced up at her with a guilty black eye. Before words came out she looked down at her papers to make sure she had the right room.

Yes, it listed Hatake Kakashi as her next patient. And it noted that she was specially requested to be the healer.

So it made sense now. She couldn't erase the shock outlined on her face.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I, uh, hoped you could finish healing me," he said with an innocent smile and rubbed the back of his head.

He wants my chakra. Kakashi could only pretend not to notice the smug smiled that unfurled on her soft little lips. He had an air of aloofness to maintain, after all. But as of late, Sakura became talented as shredding it.

He stiffened when his former student approached and sat next to him on his hospital bed.

"I couldn't stop thinking of you, sensei," her voice reached his ear quietly. "That is... your chakra."


Okay, please review. Still taking any requests, or even just suggestions. Whatcha wanna see next?