Starting to get back into the swing of things! Thank you for all of the story adds, reviews, and PMs! Some days it's what gets me through to the end of my day. LOVE!
Naruto pushed her slowly through the village back towards her makeshift apartment. Shizune had given him a bag full of fruit from the Hokage gardens for Sakura to take home. It was still early so Naruto decided to take a detour so his friend could take full advantage of all the outside time she could get. They headed towards the civilian area of the village.
"Naruto? Where are we going?" Sakura asked.
Naruto chuckled "It's a surprise Sakura-chan. You'll see in a few minutes." He answered.
They traveled through the civilian sector and towards a field until they were at the edge of the village. He stopped pushing her near a tree. He locked her chair in place, secured the bag of food to his waist and then stooped down in front of Sakura.
"Get on Sakura-chan, I'll carry you the rest of the way." Naruto requested.
Sakura didn't question him. It was obvious to her that he wanted to surprise her with something so she happily went along with it, appreciating the distraction from the mess her life currently was. She leaned forward in her chair and latched on around his neck as he gripped his arms around her legs and stood slowly.
They walked quietly into the woods, neither saying a word. She was enjoying being so surrounded by nature after being in her 'apartment' for so long. And she wasn't going to do anything to spoil the moment.
After a about a 10 minute walk they came to a clearing. She had her head resting on Naruto's shoulder with her eyes closed just enjoying the peacefulness. When she felt him stop she opened her eyes and looked up. She drew in a sharp breath as she saw the place Naruto brought her to. It was beautiful. They had come to a clearing on the edge of the village that had a small open field filled with flowers and wild life. It also had a natural hot spring past the field.
"Oh Naruto…..It's gorgeous!" Sakura said in disbelief as Naruto kneeled down to let her get off his back.
As soon as she hit the ground Naruto was back at her side ready to help her sit. Once he got her settled, he took the bag from his waist and sat down across from her. He opened the bag and handed her a container of strawberries and took some watermelon for himself.
"MMMMMMMMM" Sakura moaned as she bit into her first strawberry. "Naruto these are delicious. Thank you so much for bringing me here." She said with her mouth full.
Naruto chuckled at her. He was glad to finally have his best friend back. Even if she wasn't 100% recovered…..and pretty much a completely different person.
"Sakura-chan…." He said quietly. She looked up at him but didn't say anything. "…I'm really glad your alright."
She offered him a small smile. The boy that, as a child, she felt was always annoying and more than she could tolerate was actually the one that was the light in her life. The one for many years that gave her the strength to move forward. She reached over and grabbed his hand.
"Thank you for never losing faith in me." She whispered looking down at the ground.
"Can you talk about it?" Naruto asked her.
"About what?" Sakura asked, removing her hand from Naruto to reach for another delectable strawberry.
"Whatever you and Baa-chan talked about. Did you tell her about the whole struggling with Kakashi not being your husband thing?" Naruto asked, not really sure if he'd actually get an answer. But something was obviously bothering her so he thought he'd at least try.
"Yes I did." Sakura answered back, unsure of how to proceed with this kind of conversation.
"So what happened?" He pressed further. Sakura stayed silent as she tried to find the right words.
"It's obviously bothering you Sakura. You can tell me anything, you know that. So what's up?" He continued, determined to relieve her of whatever burden was bothering her.
There was silence. All they could hear was the birds chirping around them.
"When did you grow up so much Naruto. I don't remember you being this perceptive." Sakura said quietly.
He chuckled at her. He always considered her his best friend but there were parts of his life that he purposefully didn't talk about to anyone. He wanted to always think positive and focus on the future, not the past.
"I didn't exactly have the best childhood. Everyone basically hated me. I lived alone, went shopping alone, got made fun of and hit, shunned and worse….." He paused for a moment clenching his fist at the painful memories. "It makes you grow up fast, ya know? I had to be able to take care of myself. And when I finally made it into the academy and I was picked to be on your team, I…. I was so excited… so happy to just have anyone I could rely on. I could finally relax and be a kid so I probably acted out more than I should have….. But it helped me forget the past. You and Kakashi-sensei really got me through some tough times in my life. And now it's my turn to help you out Sakura-chan! Believe it!" Naruto ended with a giggle and his signature beaming smile.
Sakura smiled at this. "We are a family Naruto. Me, you, Kakashi-sensei and Sai. We're stuck with each other forever I suppose, aren't we." Sakura laughed and Naruto joined in.
"What I tell you is strictly confidential." Sakura suddenly said very quietly.
"I can keep a secret." Naruto scrunched his face at her.
"I'm serious Naruto. The implications of what I tell you have the potential to be disastrous. No one can know about this unless Shishou says they can. Do you understand?" Sakura looked at him with very serious eyes.
"Ok, Ok." Naruto said, waving his hand in front of his face. "I get it Sakura-chan. Top-secret information. Got it."
Sakura took in a deep breath. "I am leaving the village."
"WHAT!" He screamed. " You're not ready to go on missions yet! Baa-chan can't send you out yet! What was she thinking! She must be goin-" Naruto was interrupted with a soft punch to the shoulder.
"Naruto I am NOT going on a mission. Let me finish." She paused to make sure her loud mouth friend would let her continue uninterrupted. "I can't focus on my recovery here. Honestly, it's too hard to be near Kakashi like this. I keep putting him in situations that I shouldn't be because of the genjutsu. And as much as being in this time of your life is normal for you, it's a time jump for me and I'm having issues adjusting." She paused, wiping a hand down her face in frustration with herself.
"I asked to go to the ANBU training grounds right outside the village. No one is going to know I am there except a handful of people that have the proper security clearance. Gai is going to be with me and Shizune is going to check on me constantly. I will also have ANBU guards based there. So don't worry, I will be safe."
"I still don't like it….." Naruto said pouting and crossing his arms.
"There's something else Naruto….. I really shouldn't even be telling you this part but… you're my family and I think you deserve to know about a potential risk like this."
Suddenly Naruto was concerned. He loved Sakura, but only really like a sister. They had discussed a while ago his feelings after he discovered Hinata liked him…finally.
"What is it Sakura." He said in a very serious tone.
"Its…" She let out a loud breath "Its…how can I explain it." She struggled to find a way to explain that Naruto would understand.
"The coma I was in was induced by genjutsu, remember when we discussed that?" She asked him
"Ya but we didn't know who would be able to do something like that, where you lived a long time while you were actually sleeping." Naruto answered confidently, very proud of himself for understanding the conversation they had had. He knows he isn't the brightest with these kinds of things.
"Exactly. Well, we know who could do something like that now." Sakura waited a moment for him to process that information. Naruto nodded at her to continue.
"Do you remember when we were genin and Kakashi fought Itachi and ended up in the hospital for days because of the torture he went through." She asked him just as her mentor had asked her.
"Uuummm. Yeah. But I remember being really confused because he wasn't injured that I could see." He replied deep in thought as he tried to remember.
"Exactly. Itachi put him under something similar to a genjutsu, only Kakashi actually experienced all of that torture. Just like I really experienced living 9 years of my life. It was all very real for me." She was very happy he was catching on, but was very sad at the same time. She knew he would catch on to where she was leading him.
"Ok so your saying even though your body didn't really experience that time when you were in your coma, but your mind definitely did. So you what? Like 9 years older in your mind? And that's like….why you're so different now. You're grown up but not." He was starting to get confused.
"Yes. Exactly!" She clapped her hands together.
"But I don't understand how that could happen. I mean…Itachi is dead. Unless…." Naruto pause to think. This made Sakura very hopeful, he was leading himself to the conversation.
"Unless he didn't really die and he is plotting against us!" He suddenly said in an outburst.
Sakura visibly deflated. But then came to the conclusion that they probably didn't even tell Naruto that Sasuke had brought her back to the village. Now that she thought about it, he hadn't even mentioned the last surviving Uchiha.
"No Naruto. Did anyone tell you how I came back to the village?" she asked him. He shook his head no.
She scooted a little closer to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Naruto….Sasuke brought me back."
Naruto's brow furrowed. "Sasuke?" he whispered to himself. "I don't understand Sakura-chan." He had that look in his eyes. The same look when they finally gave up on bringing Sasuke back to the village.
"I know. Neither do I. But Kakashi and Shishou seem to think that since he brought me back to the village, and the Uchiha are the only ones that they know of that could do that kind of thing, that he did it and that he has an agenda. Though at this time, we aren't sure what he wants. She said he keeps asking for me. And that they want me to help figure out what his motives are. But my recovery comes first so that's why I am leaving." She rubbed his shoulders comfortingly.
"He's in the village?" He asked her. His heart beat rapidly increasing.
Sakura nodded. "He's being held right now for everyone's safety, including his own. But Naruto…" She noticed he was starting to space out in thought. She shook him, bringing his attention back to her.
"Naruto, this is really important that you keep this information top-secret. No one can know ok?" She looked sternly at her best friend as he grappled with his feelings.
"Ya, I understand Sakura-chan." He said rather glumly. "But what about Sensei?"
"From what I understand, he is the one who told Shishou about Itachi's genjutsu. So I'm sure he knows everything already." Sakura confirmed, releasing her grip from him.
"No, that's not what I mean." He replied back, the confusion was visible on her face. "Don't play dumb with me Sakura. I could see the tension between you and Kakashi-sensei earlier. What happened between the two of you? I mean, you're leaving because your feelings for him are distracting you from your recovery. Something big had to have happened for you to feel that way."
"Ugh!" Sakura grunted and let herself fall back into the grass, stretching her legs. "We need to head back, I'll explain on the way."
Naruto nodded, and moved to clean up their picnic. Once he had everything together, he lifted her to her feet, turned and leaned down, allowing her easy access to climbing on this back. He started the walk towards the village.
"We kissed." Sakura said suddenly breaking the silence.
"You and Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked very shocked.
Sakura sighed. "Yes. Although technically he kissed me, I put him into the situation that led it to happen. I can't do this anymore to him. I'm forcing my feelings on to him. I don't want to ruin our relationship by confusing my feelings with the wrong Kakashi." She squeezed him a little tighter.
"Can I help with your training when you come back?" Naruto asked happily changing the subject. He wasn't really good with girls and their emotions yet. He hasn't had to deal with this kind of stuff with Hinata yet. Hopefully he would never have to.
"Of course you can. I wouldn't have it any other way." Sakura let her cheek rest on his shoulder as he finished his walk back.
Naruto dropped her off in front of the hospital, giving her one last hug and wishing her luck. She pushed herself through the door and towards her temporary home. This thought made her smile. When she came back to Konoha, she could go back to her apartment. She would need to make sure to tell Ami to have someone stop by and clean it up for her. Goodness only knows what it looks like now that no one has been in it for months.
As Sakura approached her hallway, she noticed Ami wasn't at her desk, so she grabbed a pen and paper and left Ami a note to get a hold of Ino for her and to contact the Hokage if she hasn't already today. With that she continued into her apartment. When she opened her door she was hit in the face with a delicious smell of cooking food.
"Kakashi?" Sakura yelled out. She wasn't expecting him to be there already.
He walked into view and she smiled at the picture in front of her. He had shed his vest and shirt and was standing in front of her in his normal baggy pants and his sleeveless undershirt/mask combo that clung to his muscles.
He noticed her staring at his mid section. "I hope you don't mind. I sort of made a mess and needed to use your washer." He explained, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"It's fine. What are you making?" She asked, pushing herself towards the dining room table.
"Well, I thought we would have dango because that was your favorite before. But when I ran into Ino at the grocery store, she indicated it was now dumplings." Kakashi said, preparing the food.
"Hm. I guess I'm not sure. I do remember liking dango but I grew out of it as I got older. In the genjutsu, your dumplings were to die for and were for special occasions only. So I guess I will have to see if they are still my favorite in real life." Sakura said with a chuckle.
"Hopefully. It's the Hatake secret recipe. It's going to be about another half hour if you wanted to get showered and changed." He said turning away from her to stir the food.
"Sounds wonderful. I'll be back out then." Sakura said rolling herself towards her room to get more comfortable cloths and get into the shower.
She rolled into the large bathroom and close to the shower area. Since she was strong enough to get in and out of the chair alone she didn't often shower in the chair, she didn't like having to sit in a partially wet chair after she tried to dry it off.
She pushed herself up and grabbed the handicap rail to help keep her steady as she walked on the slick tile floor into the shower. She turned on the hot water and steam started filling the room. She leaned her back against the wall and slid down to the floor, letting the hot water rain down on her, relaxing her overworked muscles.
'I can't wait until my strength is back to normal.' She thought to herself
The hot water felt so good. She found herself feeling very tired suddenly, her eyelids getting heavier by the minute. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her knees, letting the water pounding on her skin lull her into sleep.
Kakashi was just finishing up their dinner when he checked the time. It had been 25 minutes since Sakura went to grab a shower. He walked back the hallway and could hear the water still running. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't concerned.
He knocked on the door, with no response. He knocked harder "Sakura" he called out to her loudly, still no response.
He turned the door knob slowly. She had left the door unlocked thank goodness. He opened the door, walking in to the steam filled room to see the pink haired girl curled into a ball, resting her head on her knees. He grabbed a towel and walked over to the shower, turning off the water. He moved towards her, unfolding the towel. He knelt down and wrapped the towel around her and shook her gently.
She sucked a deep breath in and her head shot up. Their eyes locked.
"Oh god Kakashi I am so sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep." She said, grabbing the towel and wrapping it closer around her.
"It's alright. You looked tired when you came in." He said standing up. He held out his hands to her. "I'll help you to your chair. Then you can get changed before you come to the table. The food is done."
He grabbed her hands as she reached out for him, and pulled her up from the floor into his chest. He waited until she had a good grip on her towel before helping her over to her chair. Once she was settled in he pushed her towards her room, opened the door and gave her a push in.
"If you need help let me know." Kakashi said patting her on the head.
Sakura's face flushed red as she remembered what happened earlier in the day. She got dressed and threw her hair up in a damp messy ponytail and headed out to the dinner table. Kakashi already had the table set and the food out for her.
"Thanks for cooking Kakashi. I don't think I would have been able to with how tired I am." Sakura said starting to dig into her food.
"MMMMM" She said through her chewing. She paused to swallow. "This is delicious Kakashi." She said digging into the rest of her food.
Kakashi chuckled at her. "I suppose this means it's still your favorite then." You could hear the happiness in his voice.
Sakura looked up at him and smiled. "I think favorite is an understatement."
They ate the rest of their dinner in silence, only occasionally interrupted by a small moan from Sakura as she fully appreciated the food he made her.
As she finished up her food, Kakashi began cleaning up the table and washing dishes.
"Why don't you go ahead and sit on the couch. I'll finish cleaning up in here." Kakashi said with his back to her, his hands already in the sink washing dishes.
Who was she to argue? She was exhausted and now with a full belly, she wasn't even going to attempt to pretend she wasn't ready to finish the nap she started in the shower.
"Thank you" She said quietly, and rolled herself out to the couch. She slowly and wobbly got out of her wheelchair and onto the couch, plopping down loudly, as she laid back she draped her arm over her eyes.
She heard his steps coming closer a while later, even felt him sit down by her legs but she didn't acknowledge it.
"Well, I will let you rest. Do you want help getting to bed?" Kakashi asked her.
"MM, not yet. We need to talk." Sakura said back followed quickly with a yawn. She felt him get up from his seat.
"I'll come by tomorrow, we can talk then." He replied, thinking she wanted to talk about what happened earlier that day.
"I'll be gone tomorrow." She said, removing her arm from her eyes.
"Then we can discuss it the next day. It's obvious that you need sleep." He said more forcefully.
"No Kakashi. You don't understand. I will be gone. I'm leaving the village." She gave him a very stern look.
"What do you mean leaving?" He said confused.
"Sit and calm down, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Sakura said sternly, lifting her legs back up as much as she could so Kakashi could sit.
He sat down begrudgingly turned himself towards Sakura, sitting with his legs crossed. Once she felt him stop moving she gently placed her tired legs on him.
"You can't leave the village Sakura. You can't even handle a day with Naruto without coming back looking like you just fought a war. How do you expect to be able to do anything out of the village?" He said with a hint of frustration in his voice.
"That's exactly why I have to go." She replied quietly back.
"That doesn't even make any sense and you know it." He bit back angrily
"I don't understand what you are getting worked up about Kakashi. I need to get away so I can focus on training. I'm getting too distracted here." She said very tiredly.
"Distracted? So this is about this morning." Kakashi said with a very angry tone to his voice.
"No" She left out a frustrated growl and sat up quickly, well as quickly as she could. "Yes but not in the way you are thinking." She gripped her legs, pulling them away from him and scooted her way to lean back against the arm of the chair.
"God damn it Sakura will you just tell me what the hell is going on?" He yelled, stood up and turned away from her.
"I'm in love Kakashi….." She said quietly.
He turned to look at her and saw she had rested her head against the back of the couch.
He sighed loudly and ran his hand through his hair "What does that have to do with anything?"
She opened her eyes and looked right at him. "It has everything to do with everything." She turned herself so her back was on the back of the couch and began to stand up.
"What are you doing?" He yelled at her and rushed to steady her.
She swatted his hands away and stood tall. She settled her "I am in love with Kakashi, Kakashi."
"I'm not him Sakura and what happened this morning should never had happened and I'-" He was interrupted.
"Kakashi shut up. Just shut up for one minute so I can explain properly." She said calmly, bringing her hands up to his face and offering a small smile.
He violently swatted away her hands from his face at strode away from her.
"I know you're not him…. But that doesn't mean I don't see you in him every second I am with you. Do you know how hard that is?" She ran a hand down her face. "I loved him with every part of my being and telling me that life wasn't real doesn't just make that feeling magically disappear. No one has given me a chance to mourn my loss. And because of th-"
"Mourn the loss of a life you didn't have? That makes very little sense." Kakashi interrupted her, turning back to face her.
"Fine Kakashi. If you don't want to let me finish explaining, then I'll give you the short version. You are distracting. Ok? Are you happy? I am projecting the feelings I have for my husband on you and it is putting us in akward situations that are confusing me and distracting me from fully dedicating myself to my recovery." She said turning away from him and walking slowly away from the couch and Kakashi.
"Well if that's how you feel then you don't have to worry about me being a 'distraction' " he said that very sarcastically. "I won't bother you anymore." He said sternly walking towards the door.
"Kakashi" Sakura called back to him.
He turned around and screamed "What!"
She flinched and the loud intrusion. She turned and looked back at him, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Goodnight" she said quietly and entered the hallway, making her way back to her room.
He stormed out of her apartment, slamming the door. He quickly made his escape from the hospital and to his apartment.
Mean while, Sakura sat down on her bed as many more tears rolled down her face. She picked up the phone next to her bed and dialed.
"Hello"
"Shizune" She said through a sudden sob.
"Sakura? Are you ok sweetie" Her friend sounded very worried.
"No" She sobbed again. "I know it's late but can you get Shishou, and Ino and come to my place please?"
"Sure thing. We'll be right there, you just hand tight"
"Thank you." She hung up and let the sadness over take her.
She didn't know how much time lapsed when she heard the door open and voices filled her apartment.
"Sakura?" She heard Ino call out to her.
"I'm in my room." She yelled back
The three girls entered her room and Ino rushed to comfort her friend.
"Oh Forehead, what happened, tell us everything." Ino wiped the hair out of her face and handed her a tissue.
"I can't do this. Not right now. I need to leave now, I can't wait for Gai." Her voice was shakey.
"Let's talk about this." Shizune said, trying to be rational.
"No, please. Just pack my things and take me.Send Choji to meet Gai and redirect him before he gets back to the village. Ino and Shizune can stay with me until they arrive." Sakura looked to Tsunade, pleading. "Please Shishou."
Tsunade ached for the girl. She could see how broken she was. They obviously weren't going to get anything out of her for now, and didn't want to see her get any worse.
"Alright, let's get everything together and get moving." Tsunade said walking towards her closet and grabbing handfuls of cloths.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." Sakura said breaking down again.
Merry Christmas everyone! I know this took me forever to post, honestly it took me forever to write. Sometimes it's hard to get my creative mind going but this is about the size of 2 chapters for me! Until next time!