Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Sakura pulled further away from the man in front of her and watched as Kakashi sighed and glanced at his watch. He shook his head and then came after her arms waking her out of her stun. She jerked away and pulled back her fist throwing it at his body. Of course the man dodged her hand, she'd never laid a finger on her sensei.

"How?! How did you get away from the Akatsuki?" Her voice was like ice numbing her own ears. "Why are you after me?"

"I'm not after you Sakura," Kakashi backed away watching her with his one eye. He was scanning her body for absolutely any inclination of movement. He had no idea how strong she'd become over the years and had no desire to face her in his current condition. All the while he was cursing himself for letting the situation get out of hand. He should have ignored that look in her eye, he should've turned away from her lips and never kissed her.

That wasn't a part of the plan.

"Then why are you here?" She reached down for her kunai only to find herself weaponless. The ground beneath her swayed slightly and Sakura shook her head clearing her mind. It didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi or the fact that she continued to face him. He thanked whatever gods were out there that she hadn't decided to run and still considered him to much of a threat to give him her back.

"I'm here to apologize," Kakashi held out his hands and Sakura flinched despite the unguarded gesture.

"Apologize?" Sakura narrowed her eyes and reached beside her yanking off a metal bar from the trashcan beside her. This time Kakashi flinched, but Sakura missed the slight turn of his eye. "Tricking me and kissing me is your way of apologizing?"

"I didn't know how else to get you alllllonnne."

Sakura frowned trying to focus on his words as the last one drug out and sounded slanted. She could barely make out 'alone' from the sound of her beating heart and her quickened breathing. She paused to pay attention to her own body and growled out, "You drugged me!" Without waiting for response the konochi swung and this time caught Kakashi across the ribs with a satisfying crunch and he backwards grunting.

The exertion was to much for Sakura and she dropped the bar holding her head. "What did you drug me with?!" She felt she was screaming as the world tilted right and she fell to her knees. "What did you drug me with?" Sakura felt everything slow down and two hands catch her before she hit the ground. She knew it was Kakashi and she pushed back, but didn't have the strength to break his hold. She was convinced he'd killed her….and she was okay with that.

Kakashi grunted against her dead wait and put her aside so he could stand up and inspect himself. Over the course of his career he had broken his ribs three times and now he was sure this was the fourth. Touching it tenderly he shook his head before staring down at her lifeless form. Kneeling he reached out and picked her up in his arms groaning slightly in pain before walking down the street towards his hotel. A woman crossing his path was suspicious, but Kakashi had already slid on their disguise and made sure she saw the ring on his left hand before addressing the issue.

"My wife doesn't yet know her limit," he explained. "Sake always gets her like this. I beg her to stay home, but who am I to stop a woman from her gambling?" The old woman looked at Sakura's appearance and despite the fact that it was really conservative thought the worse of her black dress. The old hag nodded and walked off mumbling to herself about sleezy women, but Kakashi couldn't give a damn.

He was grateful to see his hotel room as he dropped the body onto the bed. He got her as comfortable as possible and then pulled the needles and IV drop over. Kakashi was no medical ninja and it had taken some time to figure out just how, but he found the vein easy enough and with three sticks managed to get the drop to stick.

Sighing he glanced at her chest as it rose up and down slowly. "You're beautiful," Kakashi heard himself in the quiet of the barely lit room. He reached out and ran a hand through her hair marveling at his uniqueness and smelled it's rich scent. Moving closer he touched her cheek and shook his head.

"Sakura, you are a wild flower. There's nothing tame about you." Kakashi's heart dropped to his stomach as he thought about what he had to do. "Go home Sakura, please be stronger than I am." He leaned over and kissed her soft lips strangling at her lack of response. Pulling back he placed his hands over his head and groaned. He wanted to kiss her so badly and feel her arms around him, but it was impossible. The dream that had kept him alive all those nights were beyond his reach.

Getting up Kakashi glanced back at her before focusing on his task at hand with the knowledge that it was going to take everything he had to complete it. Since he'd broken away from the Akakatsuki, Kakashi had meditated and focused on his chakra and now was the time to see if all his efforts paid off. Taking a breath, the jounin bit his thumb and leaned over with a wince drawing the necessary symbols for the summing jutsu. Standing up he took a piece of cloth from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth before taking a deep breath and very deliberately drew out the seals with his hands.

Throwing his body to the ground, Kakashi's bloody thumb struck the seals drawn on the floor and immediately he felt the cursemark on his back scream.

"NO!" Kakashi screamed as his hands started to shake and his focus was on keeping his dominate hand straight. "Don't black out. Keep it together! Damn it Pakkun!" Kakashi thought all this, but couldn't get it past his groans of pain. His head was throbbing, his heart pounding, sweat has built at the bottom of his back, his muscles were shaking in protest, and his body felt like it was on fire. Every pore and cell screamed out in protest as he did the one thing a shinobi was never supposed to do: force a jutsu.

In theory he should have died. In theory he should have collapsed right on the spot, but Kakashi knew the risk and knew his body. He'd done everything he could to keep his chakra at the bare minimum so that the curse mark wouldn't pick up on it and destroy it. His preparation paid off as he fell on his hands and knees in front of five dogs he hadn't seen in years-including Pakkun.

"KAKASHI!" Pakkun's voice of surprise and the whines of the other dogs made the jounin smile.

"Pakkun," Kakashi groaned laughing slightly, "Bull-the pack. It worked." Kakashi coughed the rag completely out of his mouth.

"Kakashi what the hell happened?" Pakkun was so small that Kakashi could actually see him fully from the position he was in without picking up his neck. "We don't hear from you and now this? What the hell happened? What the hell is this? Why is your ear bleeding? You stupid idiot! You forced a jutsu! Why I outta-"

Kakashi was thankful as a light brown nose came around and pushed Pakkun back shutting him up.

Trying to catch his breath Kakashi winced at the pain in his side. "Listen I don't have time to explain, but you have a mission to carry out. We have a mission to carry out. Three of you-including you Pakkun need to go the Hidden Leaf. Tell them were Sakura is while the other two stay and watch over her. Shouldn't take you more than a week at full speed." Kakashi coughed hard and glanced down at the hand he'd used to cover his mouth. It felt as if he'd coughed up a lung and it looked like it as the blood pooled in the center of his hand.

"Kakashi you forced a jutsu." Pakkun wasn't excited now, but even whined. Kakashi glanced up and saw the dogs looking at him solemnly.

"I know its been a while," Kakashi tried a light smile, "but I need you to save Sakura. Save her from Orachimaru. Save her from this life."

"Orachimaru?" Pakkun shook his head, "Kakashi you aren't going to make it after forcing the jutsu. Already you smell like-"

"Death?" Kakashi laughed wincing in pain. His left hand that was holding him up was shaking beneath his weight. The ears on the dog's fell and Bull had to look away from his former master. "Yes I'm dying. I can feel it, but she has to survive." Kakashi looked to the bed and stood up using the wall behind him to keep him steady on his feet.

"Kakashi maybe you should sit down," Pakkun glanced up at him. "She's a medic nin. We can get Sakura to save you."

"I don't want to be saved Pakkun," Kakashi answered him truthfully and this time Sano wasn't there to voice his opinion. Infact from the moment that Kakashi had met Sakura again the voice had died. "Find Naruto. That's an order, friend." Kakashi smiled at them and his head pounded causing him to grab it. "Find Naruto-he'll come for her." Kakashi looked at Sakura and walked her way.

He reached out and touched her again frowning as his hand left blood on her cheek. She shouldn't be like that, surrounded by blood and death. He couldn't die here.

Turning around he still saw all the dogs looking at him confused and whining. They could smell his body fade, he was sure of it. Even his vision was starting to fail him now and for once in his life Kakashi could honestly say he could hear himself breath like he was wheezing.

"I can't die without knowing that she's going to be taken care of. Go-please."

"You aren't going to die Kakashi," Pakkun shook his head, but couldn't hide the tear down his face. The dog knew Kakashi's feelings towards the female and to be honest with himself he wasn't surprised at the turn of events. Kakashi was a jounin, a shinob of a different caliber who would die for his friends at any cost. Especially for this female.

"You better have a good damn doggy treat for when we get back," Pakkun snorted and moved to the door with two others behind him.

"Thank you," Kakashi whispered and Pakkun only grunted before leaving his dying master behind. It went against every instinct the dogs had to do so, but they were loyal to their pack leader and loyalty sometimes demanded that you do the impossible.

Kakashi glanced at the others left in the room and smiled. "Watch her. No one should come at all and she shouldn't wake up as long as that IV lasts. Pakkun should be back long before then." Kakashi gave a weak smile and the light brown animals took their place to the side watching him as he walked to the bathroom of the hotel room. They understood in the core of their instincts that animals, even their master, go off to die alone. Pakkun didn't even make it to the end of the small village before stopping. The dogs in his company took his cue and waited for a decision to be made, but they were hoping for a miracle. A way to save their comrade, and as if reading their minds Pakkun growled, "Well running to Konoha isn't going to save him. Kakashi's going to die unless he gets medical attention now-what the hell are we out here for?" The pug looked at his other companions and without a word the animals raced back into the hotel room.

They were met with resigned and worried looks making Pakkun grumble. "Damn it," the dog knew exactly what had happened. The bastard really had given up! "Bull, help me up here will ya and someone get that damn sedative out of her!" Unceremoniously the i.v. in her arm was ripped out and Pakkun climbed up Bull's back to land on her stomach.

His ear twitched and he could hear noises coming from the bathroom, but Pakkun ignored them and went back to the woman underneath him. She was his only hope right now and he was going to make sure that she did her job and saved his life. If she wanted to kill him afterwards then fine she had every right to try, but right now he needed to save Kakashi.

Crawling up to her chest Pakkun reached out and slapped her with a paw, "Sakura wake the hell up!" Pakkun growled and slapped her again, "Konouchi wake up!"

Sakura was aware of a weight on her chest first and then a sting on her cheek. She could hear a voice, but it sounded fuzzy so she shook her head to clear her mind. Waking up to a dog sitting on her chest was enough to give Sakura a shock, but she was a konouchi and her mind quickly raced up the facts and what she remembered. She remembered Sano and she remembered Kakashi-the last thing that she'd seen. Putting two and two together she pushed Pakkun off of her and jumped off the bed. She crouched in a fighting stance and saw the group of dogs around the room, but Kakashi was nowhere.

"Sakuara calm down."

"Pakkun ," Sakura was unsure of how she felt towards the animal. He'd never done anything wrong to her, but his master had. "Where's Kakashi?" Her eyes darted from left to right searching for any sign of a threat.

"Dying," Pakkun was blunt stepping towards her. "Dying if you don't help him."

"Dying?" Sakura's shoulders fell out of her defensive stance as the world fell apart around her. Dying? The concept of Kakashi Hatake, her ex-sensei, torment of her life, the infallible man who had yet to meet his equal was dying? Still she didn't see him and years with Orachimaru made her weary of what she couldn't decide for herself. "Dying how? Where?"

"Sakura I don't have time to explain. Please, you're a medic ninja right? You trained under Tsunade."

"I trained under Kabuto-san," Sakura was quick to correct, "I want to see him."

"You'll help him?"

Sakura didn't answer immediately and stared at the floor instead of the animals around her. They all seemed to be on the same page and wanted her help, wanted something from her, but what they wanted was something from Sakura Haruno and she didn't exist anymore.

"No, I want to watch him die."

"You want to watch him die?!" One of the dogs from the side nearly shrilled. It was a female and she seemed more than distraught. "You want to watch the man that loves you die? How heartless are you? I can't believe that! Kakashi knew that he was going to die protecting you-"

"That's enough," Pakkun barked back and shut her up. Despite his size, Kakashi had chosen the pug as his closest companion and when it came to circumstances involving Kakashi the other dogs fell into a group following Pakkun's orders. "Sakura please I know you're angry, but can you put that aside. Please just take a look at him," Pakkun pleaded, "He's not the man that you know and he's suffered for his crimes at the hands of the Akatsuki. Sakura I haven't heard from him since the day we went looking to bring you back. I don't know what he's suffered, but it hasn't been pleasant. He going to die because he summoned us to protect you."

Sakura shook her head fighting against the images, against what she knew. Her sensei, once a proud and outstanding man forced to kneel in a field-beaten, battered, and bruised. "Sakura," Pakkun pleaded, "He forced a jutsu. You might not even be able to save him, but take a look-How many times has he saved your life?"

Sakura growled this time and clenched her fist knowing that the pug was right. But she didn't owe him anything! He'd killed her and that crossed out ever save, but looking at the dogs she could see the love in their eyes for him. It was a hopeless battle, she was going to try.

"Where is he?"

"Bathroom," Pakkun sighed in relief and ran towards the door which Sakura opened. Kakashi was sprawled on his stomach near the toilet completely still. And Sakura rushed to his side sure he was dead, but as she turned him over she found a slight pulse-weak, but there.

"He's fading fast," Sakura spoke up picking him up with ease. Bull came beside her and helped lift Kakashi's legs and she nodded at him. She could smell the scent of his body and wondered how he ever fooled her in the first place that night pretending to be Sano. "See if he brought anything with him. I need to know what happened, find me a kunai at least."

Sakura placed him on the bed and started to rip off his clothes to get direct access to his skin-reaching for the i.v. she sniffed it and then tossed it aside as useless. "Damn it," Sakura growled racing her hands down his body with a seeking chakra, "What happened to him?"

"No idea, " Pakkun was at her side as another dog popped up with a kunai, "he summoned us and then fainted."

"Forced a jutsu," another animal added and Sakura shook her head. She wasn't a Hyuga and she couldn't see the chakra channels, but she could feel how low his chakra was and how it was fighting against something-something cancerous.

"That makes no sense, he has more chakra than that. He wasn't fatigued when I was with him tonight. If it was chakra depletion he shouldn't have had a problem with it. " She forced open his eyelids and looked at them before shaking her head and feeling how faint his heart beat was. "He should have had enough."

"Sakura he hasn't summoned us in years. If he was in trouble he would have summoned us."

"Which means he couldn't," Sakura voiced grabbing the kunai and cutting off his shirt completely. She had an idea of what was wrong and as soon as she looked at the middle of his back she found it. A complex system of symbols directed on the body that was shaking on his back. It was curse mark and one that she wasn't familiar with. She turned him over and ran a hand through her hair taking a closer look.

"What the hell?!" Pakkun shouted, "The sons of bitches couldn't even take him hand to hand."

"Not the problem now," Sakura cut him off. "I need to figure this out."

"You can break it?"

"It's not about breaking it, it's about breaking it in time." Sakura voiced. "Finding out the right code and putting the chakra in the right places before his body gives out." After a year she started working side by side with Kabuto and studied all she could on curse marks. She was hoping to find information to release Saskue from his gift from Orachimaru, but it never happened. Kabuto was good at keeping her at a distance.

Her finger followed a pattern down his back and she tested putting a small amount of her own chakra towards the seal when his body started to convulse. Spreading out her hands she snuck around stopping it, but his muscles still shivered in protest. "I've seen this before," She muttered to herself, "Come on Sakura you've seen this before. It's a standard curse mark, nothing like Orachimaru's personal. She placed a hand on the middle of his back and his body stopped shivering-along with his heart.

"You stupid son of a bitch," Sakura growled sending chakra to his heart immediately. "Pakkun I need you to take over here."

"I'm not a medic," Pakkun protested, but Sakura gave him a look, "Congrats you are one. Just push your chakra to his heart with me. As soon as I get a pulse I'm going to stop, but you have to keep going. I'll guide your chakra to the right part, but you'll be the only thing keeping him alive. The second you stop he's dead. Got it? I have to figure out this seal."

Pakkun nodded unsure but put his paws beside hers and Sakura could feel a surge of his chakra flow into Kakashi's body. "Right, to the left-"She ordered the dog. "Follow my stream of chakra can you feel it? Medical chakra is about teamwork Pakkun. Got it?"

"I got it," Pakkun grumbled concentrating as sweat poured down his head. "There we go," Sakura was relieved when the dog finally pinpointed her own chakra strain. Giving a massive wave of her chakra once, twice, three times, four-she finally shocked his heart into a steady beat. "Good," Sakura muttered, "I'm pulling away Pakkun, but he needs a steady flow. Keep it up."

She pulled off and focused on his back this time running a finger down the seal with just a finger. "Five notch seal: tiger- rooster- dragon- tiger- horse -ox -rooster. The code for that-the right release…." Sakura backed up and concentrated. She had to try and balance her chakra without over doing it. This could kill him, would probably kill him, but he was dead already.

Making the hand signs herself she was sure she was correct, "Dog-tiger-hare-ram!" She spread her right hand in the middle of his back. Her finger tips lit with chakra as they touched the fight notches and Kakashi jerked in her hands. Pakkun backed off and Sakura could feel the chakra start to spread within his body and flow.

She pulled back and turned him over quickly looking for a breath or a pulse and realized that there was none. He had enough chakra, but his body had stopped. She needed to restart his heart, but risking another chakra burst to the heart would do more damage than good.

Tilting his head back she started to pump his chest and perform simple cpr. "Alright this is it," she pounded his chest thirty times before turning to his mouth and performing mouth to mouth. His chest rose and fell, but it wasn't by his volition. "Come on Kakashi," She started to pump again and was glad to see his throat pull back on his own accord and his heart start again. It wasn't as weak as it was before, but it wasn't as strong as it needed to be.

She stopped and put her hands the table seeing the iv out of the corner of her eye. It was so tempting to just use an i.v. and so much easier, but he had nothing for her to use and sedating him now would be to risky.

"Sakura?" Pakkun was on the floor now at her feet and looking up with raised eyebrows. "It's up to him now," Sakura voiced to the dog. "He'll decide if he lives or dies." She glance back up at the body and for the first time saw the scars adorning his chest and leading down to his navel. They went further down and she assumed they curved around his legs.

He was with the Akatsuki and they could do no less.

He was a prisoner of the Akatsuki and it was all her fault. That thought no longer made her feel satisified like it had so many years ago. Lately she'd been trying to just keep that out of her mind even before she saw him with Itachi. Turning she went back to the bathroom and threw up what she'd eaten on her fake date with 'Sano'.

And for the first time in a long time Sakura just sat there on the cold floor, drew up her knees and cried.

See things in life are never easy. Yes Kakashi is an ass, but even Sakura feels sorry for destroying him. Its just…. Complicated. To bad it's not going to ease up anytime soon.