Hey all! Thanks for the amazing and in depth reviews! I want to address a few comments, to help clarify things that I don't really plan on addressing in the story:
1. No, Kakashi didn't get assigned the mission to allow Sakura to seduce him. He figured it out because every chunin goes through the mission, so the jounin are generally aware that it might happen to them. The intention is for the jounin to NOT find out, but we all know how smart jounin tend to be!
2. Sakura isn't necessarily surprised that Kakashi is a romantic, I think I worded that strangely in the last chapter. I meant to imply that she'd been surprised before she opened Icha Icha and realized that he was. Either way, knowing that he liked romantic novels and seeing him DO romantic things are very distinct; Sakura suspected that he was a romantic from his book, but hadn't been expecting him to act on those impulses because she's just never seen it up until then.
3. Yes, Kakashi is bad at emotions. And yes I also love cliffhangers hahaha sorry. I feel like they're the literary equivalent of blackmailing readers to come back, and I'm so not above blackmail lol
Please enioy this chapter! Not sure how I feel about this one, I might come back and touch it up, but I didn't want to sit on it for too long. Let me know what you think!
"You're a hard man to find." Tsunade frowned at him, not quite sure how to feel about everything that was going on. "I sent Shizune to get you yesterday afternoon." It was now much earlier than Tsunade would have preferred to be up, but the only guaranteed time and place on Kakashi's schedule was the Memorial Stone, every sunrise. So she'd sent Shizune there after her assistant had failed to find him at all the day prior.
"I was running some errands." What little she could see of Kakashi's face didn't flinch. Tsunade grimaced; clearly it was unlikely that she'd get anything that she needed out of him. While Sakura tended to wear her emotions on her sleeve, Hatake Kakashi was of an entirely different breed. How on earth did these two fall for each other?
"I need to talk to you. It's about Sakura." Tsunade figured that she might as well put her cards on the table. She could tell that Kakashi wouldn't respond if he sensed deception or sidestepping. Hell, she wasn't sure that he'd respond to anything, but she had to try. "And...well, it's about you too." His eyes narrowed slightly.
"I think this is between me and Sakura," he said quietly, expression guarded. His arms crossed over his chest, game face on, Kakashi was not going to give any information up. Anybody could see that.
"I actually agree with you. But apparently you're not talking to her, so I'm not sure what other routes we can take." Tsunade knew better than to force him to talk to her. But maybe he would give in and see Sakura after he knew a little bit more about what was going on. "Something happened, even I can see that. No, it's not ideal. She's a lot younger than you, she doesn't really know better. But I need you to make sure that she gets through this okay."
"I don't think that I'm the best person for the job," he replied after a long moment. "We're not able to maintain a professional relationship anymore. That's why I requested to change teams."
"Goddamnit, Hatake!" snarled Tsunade, her fist slamming on the table. "This isn't about professionalism or missions or all of that formal shit! She's hurt!" Tsunade's temper faded when Kakashi looked up, and she caught a rare glimpse under the metaphorical mask that the man constantly wore. Sakura hadn't been the only one hurt.
"You never should have assigned her to me," he said in a low, angry voice. He stood and bowed respectfully, but Tsunade could feel the rage in his motion. "Hokage-sama."
The doors shut behind him softly, but Tsunade flinched like it had been a slam.
Sakura rubbed her gritty eyes, unable to sleep a minute longer but wishing for the sweet release of it.
After talking with Tsunade, she'd gone home. She'd cried her eyes out, not sure whether she was betrayed or the betrayer, not sure what to think or feel. So in the privacy of her small apartment she'd allowed herself to cry openly.
The rest of that night had been on autopilot. She'd been too upset to eat, so Sakura had gone through the motions of things that made her feel better before. She'd taken a bath, despite having taken two showers. She'd painstakingly dried and combed her hair. After that, she'd nibbled at a cake from the box that Ino had left and rearranged her living room furniture.
And when all of that failed, Sakura fell into her bed and let her emotional exhaustion carry her to sleep. Even then, he plagued her dreams. He haunted her all night with his beautiful eyes, the gentleness of his hands, and dizzying kisses. She dreamed about that moment in the compound when he let her unmask him.
Sakura woke a little after sunrise, feeling wrung out and numb. It was an improvement on despising herself, she guessed. She'd run through every possible scenario, every mistake. I should have told him. I should have given up. I should have chosen him over jounin testing. Would it have made a difference? If he knew, would he have chosen me too, or would have have told Tsunade, and I'd be left with nothing?
Tired of torturing herself over everything, she got up to make coffee. Shinobi rule number four: always put the mission first. Sakura pulled a large shirt over her head and made her way towards the kitchen. Rule number twenty five: a shinobi never shows their tears. She filled the water reservoir. Well, that rule was pretty much out the window. Sakura had always been a bit of an emotional cryer, ever since she was a child. She'd always struggled with hiding her feelings, and it was no different now.
While the water heated up, she dug out a small pan, dripping oil into it. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she knew that she should eat something.
Of course he knew. And you humiliated yourself, like an idiot. Sakura tried to push the thoughts down, tired of berating herself over them. She wasn't sure who she should be upset with, but Sakura had a tendency to always start with herself. She grimaced, wishing that she could have peace.
By the time she finished poured her first cup of coffee and cracked an egg onto the hot pan, somebody was knocking at her front door.
Sakura stared at the offending door, eyes narrow. It wasn't Kakashi; he would have simply broken in through her window. Although now that they weren't friends anymore, she doubted that he'd even do that. Regardless, she knew from the banging that it wasn't him. Shizune maybe, coming to get her for Tsunade. Well, her brief wasn't until this afternoon, so they'd just have to wait. She flipped the egg and proceeded to ignore the shaking door.
"Forehead, if you don't open this door we're going to knock it down!" howled a familiar voice. Sakura froze, eyes widening as she remembered that she'd left Ino alone on a bench by the food stalls with the vague promise of return. We?
She walked to the door hesitantly, peeking through the peephole. Ino and Naruto stood there, arms crossed and looking pissed. Well, Naruto looked a little more sleepy than pissed; Ino must have dragged him out of bed to come harass Sakura with her. Sakura groaned, in no mood to deal with people right now.
"I'm sorry guys. I can't do it today," she mumbled, turning away. "Or tomorrow. Maybe come back next week."
A loud crack had her whipping back around furiously. Did they just!?
"I swear we'll do it!"
Sakura marched back and yanked the door open, though not wide enough to let them in though. "I'm not in the mood, Pig. Go home." She tried to shut the door, but Ino caught it with her foot.
"Alright, I've had enough of this! First you're all moody yesterday, then you leave me sitting on a bench by myself for over an hour, then who do I find but this gremlin waiting for you at the ramen stand!" rattled off Ino, gesturing at a very pitiful looking Naruto. Sakura cringed, remembering that she'd promised dinner with him last night not once, but twice. "Something is going on, Forehead! Now let us in, your egg is burning."
Sakura gasped, turning to run back to the kitchen. Ino and Naruto slipped in, shutting the door behind them. She growled, flipping the egg onto a plate just as Ino walked into her kitchen.
"Mm, fried eggs! Go sit, I'll start the next one." She took the spatula from Sakura's hand, cracking a fresh egg into the oil. Sakura grumbled but did as she was told.
"Sakura, it's alright if you didn't want to get dinner with me," said Naruto as she sat down. His eyes squinted from sleepiness, and he leaned comfortably on her couch. He looked as though he'd fall asleep again at any second. "I was there anyways. But it would have been nice if you'd said something about changing your mind." Sakura sighed, wishing that she had it in her to kick people out of her apartment.
"I know. I'm sorry Naruto." That was about the best that she could manage right now. Naruto nodded, eyes still half open.
"So, what's going on with you and Kakashi-sensei?" asked Ino cheerfully from the arch leading into the small kitchen. Sakura thought her heart would stop. Naruto frowned, looking between Sakura and Ino in confusion.
"W-w-what are you talking about?" Sakura stammered, blood totally drained from her face.
"Yesterday? You freaked out when he came over and then ditched me. Are you guys on some secret squirrel mission that you don't want to tell us about? Or does this have to do with the last one?" Ino was watching Sakura carefully. Sakura realized that she'd definitely let on more than she'd intended to yesterday in conversation with Ino...but it didn't look like Ino had connected any dots yet. Regardless, it was only a matter of time before she figured it out, if Sakura couldn't get her feelings under control.
"Um...yeah, it was just something about th-the mission. I didn't get paid yet, wanted to know if he had." She wasn't a great liar, never had been. Ino snorted, but returned to the kitchen.
"I don't believe it, Forehead," she called behind her. "The two of you are up to something." Sakura cringed, wishing that she had Kakashi's cool composure.
"Ugh, she won't get off of you ditching her," griped Naruto, clearly peeved that he'd been dragged over. "She was going on about it last night. I ran into her and Sai on their date after she found me at the ramen place." He didn't look happy about that either.
"Yeah? What were you doing at the udon restaurant?" asked Sakura, her curiosity piqued. "I thought you were a ramen man." He scowled.
"Yeah, but Hinata said she was on her way there and asked me to walk her, you know to keep her safe. Said she'd treat me to dinner." He leaned back, hands behind his head, clearly considering that an easy trade. Sakura stifled a giggle; Hinata was pretty sneaky for somebody so sweet and shy. Naruto was going to end up married to that girl, and he'd have no idea what the hell hit him. "So, what's going on with you? Ino's right, you've been acting kind of weird."
Sakura sighed, folding her arms and leaning back into the other side of her couch. "I don't really want to talk about it right now."
He shrugged, not pursuing it. Naruto was clearly just here for the promise of food, which Sakura wouldn't complain about. Ino emerged with a plate of fried eggs and a fistful of forks.
"Doesn't work like that," she said shortly, dropping the forks on the table. "It's definitely boy trouble. I can tell." Sakura shot her a dirty look before grabbing a fork.
"Ino, I'm really not in he mood for this. It's not boy trouble. It's team trouble." She'd intended to throw Ino off of the scent, but the blonde girl's eyes lit up excitedly.
"Team trouble? Is it with Sai or Kakashi? Oh I bet it's Kakashi, that's why you followed him yesterday! I mean Sai can be annoying too, but the look on your face yesterday morning..." her eyes glittered wickedly. Sakura, not for the first time, desperately prayed for a better game face.
"It's neither, Pig! Eat your damn food!" Sakura grumbled, stuffing an entire egg in her mouth. "And then both of you can go home, this isn't a bed and breakfast."
"Sakura-chan, don't let them get under your skin," said Naruto sagely. Little hypocrite, you and Sasuke were ready to throw down twenty-four seven! Sakura glowered but didn't reply.
"Alright, well, a bunch of us are all meeting at the bathhouse today. I know you're being grumpy, but Hinata won't come unless you're coming, so we're here to drag you out again. Besides, I think you need a spa day more than any of us." Ino sipped at a glass of water delicately, her nonchalance not fooling Sakura in the least.
"No, Ino!" Sakura groaned loudly. "You just want to interrogate me because you want to be sure that Sai is cuter than whoever I'm involved with." Ino's offended look wasn't remotely convincing.
"Of all the mean-spirited," Ino gasped, crossing her arms. "I'm a good friend! I just wanted to get you out of your stuffy apartment!" Sakura glowered but didn't reply. "But...just to be clear, you're saying that you are involved with somebody?"
"Bye, Ino-chan," sighed Sakura, getting up and heading to the front door.
"No, wait! I'm sorry, okay? Come on Sakura, we're all worried about you. Please come with us? I swear I won't ask another question the whole time!" The words looked like they physically pained Ino...but her expression was genuine. Naruto rolled his eyes, stuffing the rest of the eggs into his mouth and standing up to stretch.
"Look, our treat, alright?" he said, hands tucked behind his head. "We really are kind of worried. Shizune said that you needed some company, but wouldn't tell us why. So here we are." Sakura sighed again. She'd hated Naruto as a child, but after the time that they had spent together, she did have a big fat soft spot for the guy. He looked away self consciously as she stared at the two of them.
"Alright, fine. I'll get dressed and we can go get Hinata." Sakura turned for her bedroom, ignoring Ino's cheer.
Ino had linked arms with Sakura again, her mood light and playful as they made their way towards the Hyuuga clan houses. It was the best side of Konoha, filled with well maintained stone paths and cool houses. Hinata, though she'd been somewhat disowned due to her mediocre skill level with the byakugan as a child, still had her own housing there. She never seemed upset about it; Sakura suspected that she knew she'd have an easier time dating Naruto without her overprotective family hovering, and that was why she was so relaxed about her standing in the clan.
Ino knocked on Hinata's door, waiting expectantly.
The shy girl opened the door slowly, her pale lilac eyes widening when they landed on Naruto. She blushed, but didn't close the door.
"See? We got Sakura. Now we have to take her out, Naruto and I promised. Come on, Hinata! You said you'd come!" Ino's loud, accusatory tone rang through the area, hand planted jauntily on her hip. Hinata squeaked and made a hushing motion before stepping out and shutting the door behind her.
"Ino-chan! Please, keep it down, let's go!" Hinata said softly, grabbing her arm and dragging them down the stone path. Sakura was surprised; even for a naturally introverted girl, Hinata was acting sort of strange. Almost as though she were scared of something.
"Told you we'd get Sakura," Ino laughed, letting Hinata drag them. "She's such a sucker for the spa." When Hinata turned, they all jumped to see that her byakugan was active.
"Hinata," gasped Sakura, jerking backwards in shock. Hinata released her sleeve, eyebrows knit together in worry. The group slowed to a stop, about a hundred meters from the main road. "What's going on!?"
"S-Sakura-chan," the girl stammered, hands flying self consciously to her jacket. She reached for them again, but none of them moved. "Please, we have to go...I can't talk about it here." Her voice was softer than usual, hardly a whisper. Ino and Sakura exchanged concerned looks before nodding and following Hinata towards the more populated part of he village.
"Hinata, who is it?" Sakura murmured quietly as they ran. They were almost at the road. "Who's following you?" Hinata shook her head sharply.
"M-Mimori," she breathed, head turning slightly. She slid to a stop, turning and raising her hands. "And she's not following me, she's-"
The strike was almost too fast for them to follow. Sakura, Ino, and Naruto cried out in shock as the woman threw Hinata into a building, not hard enough to seriously hurt her, but definitely getting her out of the way for a few minutes.
She turned, face contorted with rage and contempt. The three of them bunched together, hands raised and prepared to fight. She didn't attack them immediately, instead turning and slowly walking towards them before stopping a few dozen feet away.
Sakura had seen this woman before, in passing; she was a Hyuuga, tall and incredibly beautiful with long, dark hair and lilac eyes. Her expensive gown brushed the stone path, but none of them were fooled by her finery; she had easily the skill and strength of a jounin. Mimori was a few years older than Sakura, maybe twenty one. Sakura didn't know much about her besides that.
"Hyuuga Mimori," breathed Ino, tightening her defensive stance. "What are you doing!? We're Leaf Shinobi!"
"I'm not here for you," growled the woman in an elegant voice turned harsh with aggression. Her fingers bunched, and she took the gentle fist fighting stance unique to her clan. "Haruno Sakura; fight me."
Ino and Naruto slowly turned to face Sakura, who looked just as confused as they did. How does she know my name!? Sakura shrugged helplessly, and they all turned back to their challenger.
"What do you want with Sakura?" snarled Naruto, glancing towards the area where Hinata had fallen. The girl was on her feet, but shaking badly. "And why did you throw Hinata? What kind of person just does crap like that?! If you want to kill her, you're going to have to go through us!"
Mimori sneered, somehow making it look refined. "I'm not interested in fighting either of you. Get out of my way." Her order rang with the power of somebody that was accustomed to being obeyed. Naruto and Ino held their ground.
"M-Mimori-ne-san!" cried Hinata, regaining her strength and running towards them. "Please, don't! She doesn't know...none of them know! You don't have to do this!" Mimori's intense eyes didn't leave the group, nor did she relax her stance.
"I don't care," she hissed, eyes narrowing. Sakura braced herself, prepared for a fight; adrenaline began to course through her. Honestly, this was better than sitting around and moping all day, maybe even better than going to the bathhouse with Ino. "You're going to pay, little girl. Now move, you two. I'm challenging her."
Sakura stepped forward, but Ino and Naruto followed close behind her. Mimori didn't look pleased at the interference.
"What do you want from me?" asked Sakura angrily, raising her fists. "I'm having a pretty shitty week, so if you want to spar I'll do it. But I'm warning you, I'm not in the mood to play around." Mimori lunged forward, too fast for Sakura to defend with her hands. She saved herself with an instinctive leap backwards, out of her range. Gentle fist is close range...my specialty is also close range. This might get nasty.
"Don't play stupid, Sakura-chan," mocked the woman. Sakura bared her teeth, keeping a close eye on Mimori's careful steps towards her. "You know what this is about." She lunged again, but Sakura was ready this time. She dodged effectively, striking the ground just before Mimori landed, rending the ground beneath her feet. Mimori fell into the rift, but her hand shot out to catch her fall before she could hurt herself. She leapt out neatly.
"I really don't, but I guess it doesn't matter to you," said Sakura, her mind already formulating a plan. She didn't know what kind of fighter Mimori was, but she knew already that she was going to be proficient in gentle fist technique. "I'm in the mood to throw down today, so lucky for you I'm a medic."
"Ino-chan, they're going to hurt each other!" gasped Hinata, her hands tight on Ino's arm. "Mimori is one of the best in my family, she spars with Neji! We have to do something!" Ino whipped around, grabbing Hinata's shoulders.
"What is going on?! Why is she attacking Sakura? You know, don't you!" she said, shaking Hinata slightly. Hinata turned bright red and shook her head.
"I-I-I can't say!" she squeaked. "It's not our business! I...I'll be back, I have to go get somebody!" Hinata broke free of Ino's grasp and started to run. "Please, make sure they don't hurt each other!" She disappeared quickly, with Ino and Naruto staring dumbfounded after her.
"We have to help Sakura!" barked Naruto, jumping forward. The two women were still fighting, maintaining their distance for the moment. Ino knew that when they finally faced off close combat, it would get very ugly very quickly. Mimori could seriously wound Sakura with gentle fist, but the same could be said the other way around; Sakura's chakra enhanced strikes were nothing to laugh at.
Sakura panted, feeling invigorated by the fight. They'd just been testing the waters up until now, both trying to gauge the strength of the other. Mimori was faster than Sakura, but she didn't strike with accuracy. Her byakugan wasn't active yet, and Sakura suspected that she was saving it for when the fight became serious. Mimori lunged at her again, but Sakura threw her off with several well-aimed shuriken.
"I'm going to kill you," said Mimori ferociously, working her way closer to Sakura. "I'm going to rip your heart out! You don't deserve him!" Her eyes flamed as she bore down on Sakura.
"Wait- seriously!?" burst Sakura, freezing. It was an unfortunate reaction; Mimori struck her in her collarbone, her other hand coming up to strike at Sakura's shoulder. Sakura jerked out of the way at the last moment, saving her chakra path from being shut down, but she still stared aghast at Mimori. "Are you kidding me? This is over him!?"
Ino and Naruto exchanged a look before leaping forward, blocking Mimori's next strike. She hissed, jumping back out of range.
"No, no. Get out of my way." Sakura pushed through the two, feeling her temper begin to flare and not bothering to stop it. "If you have beef with him, then what do you want with me? Naruto, Ino, stay out of this." She advanced on Mimori, her chakra funneling into her hands.
"You, you bewitched him, you little whore," screamed Mimori, striking at Sakura. Her byakugan activated, veins swelling around her eyes, the lilac lightening into smokey gray. "He forgot me...I'll kill you!" Sakura could only dodge the attacks, knowing that if her opponent shut off her chakra paths, she would be all but helpless. It took every ounce of her speed and stamina; Mimori was easily as fast as Sakura, and showed no signs of slowing down. Sakura, meanwhile, knew that she needed to strike while she had enough chakra to incapacitate her. Her window was beginning to close.
"It was a mission!" hissed Sakura, swinging at Mimori's face, missing by a hair as the woman dodged her blow. "If he doesn't like you, it's not my problem, and it's not my fault!" She punctuated her words with deadly swings, each one enhanced with enough chakra to knock Mimori out. Mimori could see the gathered energy with her byakugan, and evaded like her life was on the line.
"It is your fault," said Mimori, her voice low as she stood a safe distance from Sakura. "It was more than a mission. You know that." Sakura's eyes dropped, unable to hold Mimori's hate filled gaze.
"What is she talking about!?" burst Ino, unable to contain her curiosity anymore. "Sakura! I know what I said earlier but you're killing me!"
"Your friends don't know?" asked Mimori with poisonous sweetness. Sakura took her shot, but Mimori was faster; before she could evade, two fingers shut down the chakra channel in her left forearm. "Are you ashamed, Sakura? That's rich. I'd give everything up to have him in my life, and you don't even want to admit what you've been doing in your spare time." Sakura cried out in pain, leaping back. She glared at Mimori.
"Don't pretend that you know anything that's been going on," she growled. "I don't even know who you are. He's my friend; how important do you think you can be to him if he never even told me?"
"He doesn't tell you a lot of things." Mimori circled closer, like a cat honing in on prey. But Sakura was nobody's prey. "And I know more than enough. I saw him last night, in the graveyard. He looked weak, and I knew it was because of you." She struck, aiming for Sakura's right arm. Sakura blocked with a kick, knocking Mimori's hand aside and putting distance between them. She might not be able to punch with her left hand, but she should be able to balance enough chakra to perform ninjutsu. She sealed quickly, creating three shadow clones, spreading her chakra among them. They ran, creating a wide circle around Mimori.
"He's not weak," snapped Sakura, not entirely sure why she was defending him, but feeling the need to regardless. Now; you need to move now. She closed in with her clones. Mimori prepared to fight them off, her hands raised. "And...and you're wrong. He doesn't care about me."
She left the bait. One clone held back, to draw Mimori's attention to her. Sakura charged with the other two, letting Mimori dissipate them, and taking two severe blows. One was to her right arm and the other to her sternum, nearly collapsing a lung, but Sakura had anticipated the strikes. Mimori was already turning to the clone that she suspected to be the real Sakura, but the real Sakura was behind her now, all of her chakra pooled into her right foot. Mimori, realizing her mistake, whipped back around...but it was too late.
Sakura's foot swung forward, making contact. Mimori went flying into a building, taking down the wall with her, a cloud as the stones tumbled down. Sakura had a few moments to feel victorious before her lung began to collapse, and she crumpled to her knee.
As she struggled to draw breath, Ino and Naruto closed in around her, deciding that the fight was over. Mimori was struggling to get to her feet, beautiful black hair in tangles around her, clothes ripped to shreds from the rubble. She was stumbling, limping...but she regained her footing and began to run towards Sakura, her expression murderous. Sakura felt her breath failing from the strike, but she rose too, pushing Ino and Naruto away from her.
"Get away from me," she rasped, coughing. "I'm going to knock this bitch out." Her fingers clenched; even without chakra, Sakura's punch was a force to be reckoned with.
She arched her fist, ready to take the blow-
A hand closed tightly around her wrist, and Mimori was flying through the air again. Sakura blinked in surprise, her legs shaking hard, and turned slightly. Kakashi was there, eyes angry, crouched in a defensive stance. Sakura's fist slowly relaxed as she realized that the fight was over.
"Sakura," he murmured. "Let's go." Sakura quailed. She hadn't heard him sound so stern in years. But Hinata immediately came to her defense from his side, moving around to stand between him and Sakura.
"Sakura didn't start this," she said fiercely. "M-Mimori told me that she was going to challenge Sakura...I tried to keep her away, but...I'm not..." her voice faded shyly. Kakashi stared at her for a long moment before Sakura coughed again.
"Also I think my heart is stopping," wheezed Sakura helpfully. "Can you take me to my...m-apartment?" Her head pounded, breath growing short. She didn't think that it was fatal; she just needed to lie down and wait for the tension in her chest to ease. But her vision was starting to become blurry, and before she knew it she was leaning heavily on Kakashi's arm, legs beginning to fail her as weakness flooded through her body.
"Kakashi-kun," whispered Mimori, pushing shakily to her feet. Her byakygan had deactivated, and her pale lilac eyes were soft. "I'm sorry..."
"Not the time," he said shortly. "Go to your family healer, Mimori. We'll talk later." As Sakura fainted, he pulled her limp body into his arms. "Ino, Naruto, Hinata...don't worry. I'll make sure Sakura gets seen to. Go on to the bathhouse." He sounded cheerful, but his visible eye looked very serious. The three exchanged concerned looks before nodding and slowly heading towards the main road.
Once out of earshot, Ino immediately rounded on Hinata.
"Hinata, what is going on!? Why did Mimori attack Sakura? Why did you get Kakashi-sensei? What did Mimori say to you?" Her piecing blue eyes made Hinata shake; the shy Hyuuga girl covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head.
"It's...private," she said softly, her expression begging Ino to drop it. Naruto looked totally lost, but quickly threw his weight behind the smaller girl.
"She probably got Kakashi-sensei because he was the closest jounin," he said, annoyed. "What the heck are you harassing her for? And the Hyuuga clan is touchy about everything, no offense Hinata." Hinata didn't seem offended, but rather blushed deeply at his support.
"Maybe she is dating Neji?" mused Ino out loud. "But no, that doesn't quite fit either. Mimori seemed...jealous, and she's related to Neji."
"L-let's just go to the bathhouse, we can ask Sakura later," said Hinata, turning to watch Mimori limp to the Hyuuga clan's private medical building. Ino nodded, but her thoughts were clearly still on Sakura.
Sakura woke slowly and painfully. Her head was pounding, and her shoulders ached horribly. She moaned, unable to move her hands to touch her head; she managed shallow breaths, trying to orient herself. It was very dark, no hint of sunlight or artificial light against her closed eyes.
Focus, Sakura. Heal yourself. She forced herself to draw her breath more deeply, altering her chakra to flow to her head and shoulders, repairing the damaged muscle tissue. It was a long process; healing herself wasn't difficult, but when she couldn't use her hands it took time to focus the chakra. Regardless, she felt the headache slowly recede and her shoulders begin to relax. She was still in massive pain, which concerned her, but she didn't have the wherewithal to address it.
It took several minutes for her to feel somewhat close to normal. She stretched slightly, wondering why she'd been in such pain.
With a painful gasp, she jerked upright. Mimori! Ino...they'd been going to the bathhouse! She was supposed to meet with Tsunade later! Sakura froze when she realized that she wasn't in her apartment. She recognized this room.
"You're awake." Sakura blinked a few times before turning to the door, her breath leaving when she saw Kakashi leaning against the frame. He was in his black long sleeve shirt and pants, green vest hanging on a chair. His hitae-ate was hanging with it, but he kept his Sharingan closed. His mask was back up, physically and metaphorically. She drew the blanket up slightly; he felt cold.
"What time is it?" asked Sakura, looking around for a clock. "I have to meet with Tsunade, I was supposed to debrief her!" Kakashi walked towards her, his hands in his pockets. He turned his desk chair and sat down next to her in his bed.
"Shizune changed your appointment to tomorrow," he said, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "But don't worry. You can debrief me." His arms crossed, and she felt very small all of a sudden.
"I...I'm..." she murmured, then winced in pain. Kakashi's eyes followed her flinch, tracing it to where it originated in her sternum. His hard gaze softened, and he gently pushed her back down by her shoulders.
"We can talk later," he said quietly, turning and grabbing a hot towel. He folded it carefully, pressing it against her sternum. She sighed as the heat leached into her skin, soothing the pain there. "I can't believe she'd do something like this," he murmured, anger simmering under his words. After a moment, Sakura realized that he'd been talking about Mimori.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, breath still short. "I didn't know you were together." That much was true. She didn't even know he dated. Kakashi sighed.
"We're not. It was supposed to be a casual thing, but she got too serious so we ended it." His voice was clipped, clearly warding off any questions. Sakura decided not to pry.
"Why didn't you take me to the hospital?" she asked, feeling shy in the too-familiar room. His gray eye flicked up to meet hers, and he looked humorous for the first time in several days.
"Did you want Tsunade to finish you off?" he asked lightly, putting pressure on the towel. "I pulled a favor with Shizune and asked her to come make sure you were stable. She reinforced the muscles around your heart, but the chakra paths are going to be blocked for a little while, so you need to stay still and recover."
"Thank you." Sakura felt terrible, but she didn't have the energy to try to fix things now.
"You need to go back to sleep. Come here," he said quietly, his hand moving to cup her face. Her breath seemed to stop in her chest as his eyes met hers, Sharingan opening. They both froze, acutely remembering the last time that she was in here and he'd locked her in a genjutsu. Sakura felt a deep blush overcoming her, and was surprised to see a light tinge reflect hers just above his mask.
But before she could process that, or what it meant, his Sharingan did a lazy spin and she was unconscious again.