.

.


"Hello? Earth to Sakura!" A hand waved back and forth in front of her face and Sakura blinked out of the daze she had fallen into. It took a moment for her brain to catch up and she cleared her throat as Ino scowled at her. "You alright? You've been kind of catatonic all morning."

"I'm fine."

She wasn't. She hadn't been anything remotely close to fine since Sunday afternoon. It had been three days since her attack in the Astronomy tower. Three days since Kakashi had been brought in, unconscious, bleeding and close to death. And she was supposed to just pretend like everything was alright?

Shizune had assured her that he would be fine, that there's nothing to worry about, but how could she believe that? Every time she tried to hold onto the tiny shred of hope those words gave her, the flash of his face, so ashen and pale, would race through her mind to remind her that there was plenty to worry about.

She couldn't shake the doubt and the fear and the gnawing feeling inside her stomach that made her appetite disappear. Of course, her friends noticed her absence in the Great Hall the last few days and Ino had mentioned sitting together at lunch earlier that morning, but Sakura couldn't bring herself to go. She couldn't sit there, knowing what she knew, and pretend for the sake of her friends and peers that one of their professors wasn't attacked, wasn't lying in the infirmary in a magically induced coma.

How was she supposed to smile and eat like nothing was wrong when the man she was almost certain she loved might not even make it through this alive? The horror of that thought ate at her like a plague, constantly waging war against her thoughts any time they tried to cling to the hope that Shizune had tried to give her.

And now she was expected to sit in her regular desk, at the front of his classroom, and pretend like things were alright? She didn't know who their substitute would be today and she honestly didn't care. It wasn't him and that's all she cared about.

But for now, she had to put on a brave face, had to play pretend because that's what she had promised Tsunade and Shizune. They had taken her to the headmistress' office immediately after pulling her away from the Hospital Ward and sat her down to explain things to her, though Sakura could tell they were obviously upset that she had seen as much as she had.

Tsunade had sat with her elbows on her desk, hands folded beneath her chin and her amber eyes narrowed with concern that night. Sakura had dried her tears and hysterics up quickly on the way up to the seventh floor. She had to. If they found out about her and Kakashi's secret, they'd-

"Sakura, I know you're concerned," the headmistress had said, giving her that infamous scowl from over her folded hands tucked beneath her chin. "But Professor Hatake is in the safest place right now. He's got both Hana, Shizune, and I looking after him."

Sakura had nodded, ducking her head to hide the fresh batch of tears that threatened. Though she wanted to fight back, to demand that they let her help, to let her know something real, she knew it was important that they not get suspicious. It would do her no good if Kakashi was healed, only to be fired for their relationship.

"I understand." Thankfully, her voice hadn't cracked and she lifted her eyes to the two women behind the headmistress' desk. "I'm sorry for my outburst. I was just shocked. He always seems so...indestructible in class."

At this, Tsunade had sighed and lowered her hands to her desk with a somber nod of her head. The pale blonde ponytail slipped over her shoulder and pooled along the length of her arm as she reached into the drawer of her desk. Sakura watched the light catch on the edge of the silver flask, no longer surprised to see the headmistress having a drink.

After the night she had, Sakura wished she had a stash of fire whiskey hidden away in a desk drawer. Tsunade took a swig and quickly twisted the cap back on the flask, glancing at the Ravenclaw across from her. "Yes. It was a shock to us all and I trust that we have your complete silence over this incident. We can't risk a panic amongst the rest of the students."

Again, Sakura nodded. "Of course."

It was Shizune who spoke next, leaning closer to the desk with a warm, reassuring smile on her face. "Professor Hatake will be alright. He'll be back to teach your lessons before you know it."

That was what Sakura wanted to believe. Every day since she had watched him being carted into the Infirmary, hanging from the arms of his friends, she had tried to believe those words. She'd repeated them over and over, but with each passing minute, each day she had to walk the halls of the castle and know he wouldn't be in his classroom or the Great Hall, the more difficult it became to hold onto that hope.

The third floor of the Infirmary had been closed off to all students with the excuse that the mattresses were being fumigated after an infestation of bed bugs. Not that anyone seemed to notice or give too much of a thought about it. No one but Sakura, anyway.

It was torture keeping herself from going to check on him every day. She had promised Tsunade that she wouldn't let anyone know about the incident and her sneaking away to the closed-off area might raise suspicions among her friends. With how closely Ino and Ten had been keeping an eye on her over the past few days, she knew they would notice.

But she was going crazy with worry, with not knowing if he was even awake yet or not. How long could a person be kept in a magically-induced coma? Annoyingly, none of her textbooks had the answers she was looking for. What if he didn't remember her when he came to? What if he had been hit with an Unforgivable Curse and would never be the same?

The burn of fresh tears prickled at the back of her eyelids and she took a deep breath, shaking them away as Ino continued to scowl at her. Sakura could practically see the thoughts swirling through her best friend's head, trying to piece together the puzzle of Sakura's strange mood.

"Alright," Ino said with a sigh. "If you say so."

Sakura raked her fingers through her hair and shook her head. She knew it wasn't fair to Ino for her to act so miserable. "I'm sorry. I just haven't been feeling well."

"Does that have something to do with the bruise on your nose?"

Instantly, Sakura's hand flew to her face and she touched the tender skin across the bridge of her nose. She had done as much as she could to conceal the purple and yellow color behind charms and makeup, but it must have worn off through the day. "No," she said in a hurry. "I just slipped and fell coming out of the Astronomy Tower Sunday night. It's not why I'm not feeling well though."

"Mm," was all Ino replied with. She didn't believe her story and honestly, who would? Sakura was a terrible liar.

More and more students filed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and Sakura sat back in her chair with a deep breath pulling at the knot in her throat. She put her hand to her neck and rubbed at it, hoping to relieve some of the tightness before it would lead to a fresh wave of tears.

From the classroom door, Professor Umino came in and seeing him stroll down the middle aisle felt like a knife being wedged into Sakura's chest. She sank further down her chair and clamped her teeth around the inside of her cheek, focusing on the pain there instead of the one in her heart.

As Professor Umino addressed the class with a friendly hello, Ino leaned closer to Sakura. "Look, I'm not going to bother you," she whispered. "But if something happened, you can tell me, alright?"

There was concern filling her blue eyes and for a moment, Sakura considered her offer. It would feel good to get everything off her chest, to tell someone about the attack, about all of the times her mind had been nearly invaded. Every instance ran through her mind like a horror movie playing out but she knew she couldn't bring Ino into this.

There was too much she couldn't explain.

But she nodded and forced a smile. "I know. Thank you."

"Girls," Professor Umino said from the chalkboard in front of their desks. Despite the warning tone of his voice, Sakura didn't bother looking up at him or apologizing. "Let's pay attention, okay?

"Yes, Professor." Ino risked a glance back to Sakura but she had already sat forward and opened her textbook.

She let her hair act as a curtain to hide behind and squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the burn of tears away. She resisted the urge to stand up and run from the classroom, to find a good hiding place and cry as hard as she wanted to, but she didn't. It would raise too many questions and bring her too much attention when all she wanted was to disappear.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. All she really wanted was to be with Kakashi. She wanted to fast-forward to a year from now when she would start working with the ministry, working alongside him and they could be together. She wanted him to be alright and happy and it was torture not knowing if he would ever wake up again.

"Professor Hatake has in his notes that he's been working with you on defenses, both physical and magical." The sound of his name was another sharp sting through her and she tried not to flinch at hearing it. "Let's pair up and see what all you've learned so far."

Sakura stood and helped Ino push the desk to the side of the room like they had done so many times before. They all paired up as usual and no one reminded Professor Umino that they'd been working with different partners lately. Ino moved to the opposite side of the line, facing Sakura.

With Kiba on one side and Shino on the other, Sakura lifted her head and faced the line of students across from her. The sight of one student in particular at the end of the line caught her eye and she turned to stare. Sasuke moved slowly with a grimace twisting his face. And the sight of him favoring his left leg, limping toward the line to stand beside Neji, made Sakura's mouth fall open in surprise.

Beneath his pants leg, she could see a bulge of a brace, possibly a cast, and her mind instantly conjured memories of her attack. More specifically, of the moment she had kicked out and slammed the heel of her boot into the knee of the person who had attacked her.

She tried to remember if it was their right or left leg but couldn't remember. Did it matter? They had grunted in pain, had been slow to move afterward, and an injury like that would certainly still be felt a few days later. Especially if they hadn't gone to the Infirmary to report it.

Her heartbeat was pounding like a drum, drowning out the sound of Professor Umino giving them instruction, filling her ears until it was all she could hear. She swallowed, unable to stop herself from staring at Sasuke.

It had been him.

He had attacked her, tried to kill her. Or, well, not kill her but had certainly wanted to terrify her. And for what? Because she had an impure bloodline? All because she wasn't like him?

Fury gripped her with crushing fists and she felt it squeeze her insides until nothing else was left. The edges of her vision grew fuzzy and dark and she clenched her jaws so tight her teeth were starting to ache. She could hear Professor Umino instructing them to perform a proper punch and block but Sakura ignored it.

She stepped out of line and turned toward the back of the classroom, right where Sasuke had taken his place beside Neji. He didn't seem to be paying much attention, but Sakura was about to give him something to focus on. She was halfway down the line when her name was called from behind her.

All eyes turned toward her, some confused, others mocking her for being disruptive. She ignored the Slytherin girl's immediate whisperings and kept her focus on one person in particular. By now, Sasuke had lifted his head and was watching her, dark eyes narrowed and a sneer curling his top lip.

That sneer was what she focused on as she stepped up to him, pulled her arm back, and slammed her fist right into his mouth. The sound of her punch was satisfying and watching his head fly back from the force made her want to smile, but she was too driven by her adrenaline at that moment.

Sasuke stumbled back into one of the desks, his injured leg hindering his attempt to catch himself. With one hand catching himself on one of the desks and the other flying up to grip his bleeding and busted lip, he glared at her with fury. "What the fuck?"

Sakura snatched him by the robes and shoved him away from the desk. He hobbled once and fell backward between two chairs. She wasted no time, ignoring the shouts and screams behind her, and pounced. Twice her fist hit him in the face but he managed to block the rest of her blows with his arms.

Several hands snatched her by the back of her robe, one fist gripping her by the hair and wrenching her head back hard enough that she could hear several strands rip from her scalp. She stumbled back, managing to kick out once and connect with Sasuke's stomach with the heel of her shoe before his minions hauled her completely off of him.

A hand slapped across her face, nails raking her cheek, and Sakura put her hands up to block her face from any more attacks. Despite the crowd around her, screaming and hurling slurs down at her, Professor Umino managed to break through and push enough of the Slytherins back.

"Enough!" He shouted, holding Emi Saito back by her robes. Sakura peeked out from behind her arms and found the girl glaring down at her with a rage she'd never seen before.

"You dirty, fucking bitch !"

"Hey!" Again, Professor Umino screamed, pushing Emi back away from Sakura. "I said enough! Everyone back off!"

The circle of students took a step back and Sakura dropped her arms to the floor, pushing herself off the dusty stone. In the crowd, she could see Ino and the look of fear and bewilderment was painful to see.

"Mr. Uchiha, are you alright?"

" I'm fine," he spat. Karin and Neji were helping him to his feet but no one came forward to help Sakura. She stood on her own and held a palm to her cheek, grimacing at the warmth of blood that had started seeping from her cuts. She glanced back to look at Sasuke, to take in the sight of blood smeared across his mouth and chin and the bead dripping from his nose. It was satisfying, but the satisfaction was cut short as Professor Umino spun around to face her.

"What on earth were you thinking, Mrs. Haruno?"

"Why don't you ask him that? He attacked me Sunday night in the Astronomy Tower!"

Silence spread across the group and with a sigh, Professor Umino turned to look at Sasuke. "Is this true?"

"No! I wasn't even in the Astronomy Tower Sunday night."

"Then how did you get that injury, Sasuke? You tried to throw me out of the tower and I kicked you!" Sakura moved toward him but was stopped by Professor Umino pressing a hand to her shoulder. "He's limping! He and his little minions have been targeting me all year and they wanted to kill me!"

Immediately, voices from behind her spoke up in their defense and even some of her friends were trying to talk sense into her. Naruto stepped forward and put a hand to her shoulder, which she promptly jerked away from. "Sakura, you can't fall out of the Astronomy Tower."

"I know that! But he attacked me! He punched me in the nose-"

"Are you psychotic? I was at Quidditch practice Sunday night!" Sasuke shouted, wrenching his arm out of Karin's grip. He stomped forward, the best he could with his injured leg, and pointed to Neji and another Slytherin student. "Ask anyone who was there! I took a bludger to the bloody knee!"

Together, the group of students turned to look at Sakura and she felt her stomach hit the floor. All of the stares at her, all of the faces, started to blend together and made her head swim with dizziness. It felt as if the walls of the classroom were slowly moving closer, pressing in on her at every angle.

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut tight. "No, that's not...You..."

"Mrs. Haruno," Professor Umino stepped up to her and she felt his hand on her shoulder. "I think it would be best if you saw Headmistress Senju about this."

"I-I'm not crazy, Professor."

"No one's saying that. But you need to speak to the headmistress. Do you need someone to take you?"

Her throat clamped tight around any words she wanted to speak and she was only able to shake her head. She left her books behind, knowing Ino would collect them for her, and turned to make her way out of the classroom. She could feel the burn of everyone's stares on her back as she went. It was suffocating and with every step she took, she struggled to take a deep breath.

How was she going to explain this to Tsunade? The woman already stuck her neck out for her enough but what could she do to help her now? Sakura had attacked an Uchiha unprovoked, had accused him of some pretty bad things, and if his family found out, they wouldn't be too happy about it. They would more than likely go to the ministry with their complaints and then...

Sakura didn't try to hold the tears back any longer. She let them streak down her face as she made her way to the stairwell. But when she reached it, she didn't go up to the seventh floor, didn't go to see the headmistress as she'd promised. There would be plenty of time to get her punishment later.

For now, all she wanted was to be alone and think, to try to figure out what in the world she had been thinking and what she would do now.

.

.

It was never easy being reprimanded by the one woman she respected most in Hogwarts, but Sakura had sat there and explained everything the best she could to the headmistress without giving too much away. She had told her about the attack but downplayed the severity, told her that she had tripped and nearly fell out of the window.

Whether she bought her story or not, Sakura didn't know. All she could do was tell Tsunade that someone had tried to pull a prank on her, to scare her, and she assumed it was Sasuke. And for the second time that week, the woman had stared at Sakura over the top of her fingers folded just beneath her pursed lips.

The silence was brutal, with only the sound of the soft rain spattering the windows in the tower of her office. After a moment, she sighed and lowered her palms to her desk. "Mrs. Haruno-" it was never good when she spoke to Sakura with such authority. "-this is the second time you've been in my office this semester for attacking your fellow students."

"I didn't attack Emi that day. I was standing up for myself after she attacked me."

Tsunade held up a hand to silence her and Sakura pursed her lips shut, glancing away from the headmistress. "I know, which is why I let you go with such a lenient punishment last time. But this," she paused with a sigh and rubbed at her temples. "You punched Sasuke Uchiha in the face. Repeatedly."

"I know. As I said, I thought he had been the one to-"

"Sakura," Tsunade's tone cut her words off and Sakura looked at the woman once more. "If something is going on, I need to know. I can't help you if I don't know."

The sound of the raindrops pecking at the glass panels of the windows filled the sudden quiet between them and Sakura sat as still as a statue. She stared at the woman and though she didn't know why, she knew she couldn't tell her. It would reveal far too much and if there was one thing she wanted, it was to hold onto what she and Kakashi had. Just for a little while longer.

She couldn't risk exposing their relationship. She couldn't risk losing him in more ways than one.

"I'm just stressed. Between school work and trying to figure out my future beyond Hogwarts, I'm not handling it well."

There was a brief moment where Tsunade continued to stare at her, trying to gauge her expression and read between the lines, but when it was clear that Sakura wouldn't reveal anything else, the woman sighed and nodded her head. "Well, I understand that, especially with everything that has recently happened. These things can be intimidating and I know you're under a lot of pressure. I just-If another student is bothering you, you need to come to me."

Sakura nodded and looked away from her, trying not to purse her lips so tightly. "I know. I should have come to you." She met her gaze again and swallowed, not sure how to say the words she wanted to say to the woman. "But I can't come to you every time I have a problem. I can't hide behind you forever."

"Sakura, as long as you're in this castle, your problems are my problems. I will work with you to find a solution that isn't punching your peers in the face."

She nodded and she truly understood where Tsunade was coming from in her position but the time to run to her professors and tattle on her bullies was over. She was an adult and after May, she would have to handle her own problems. It was better for her to be able to do that for herself now than to wait until her problems got worse.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now, about your punishment."

Sakura wasn't surprised by the month-long detention sentence she had received. In fact, she expected more. What she wasn't particularly in agreement with was having to spend her detentions in the library, assisting Madame Utatane shelving books every Saturday for the next month.

She still wasn't speaking to the woman after she had been so nasty to her following the altercation she'd had with Emi and her posse. Thinking back to that night was strange for Sakura. The night she and Kakashi had ventured into the Restricted Section together, barely acquaintances and still wary of each other.

It felt like years ago and thinking back to the way he had talked so animatedly about books on Occlumency, recommending this and that to her, left her feeling so bittersweet. Her chest filled with so much warmth and yet, so much misery that it left very little room for much else. She rubbed at it and rolled onto her back.

She'd been in her bed for the past few hours, listening to the rain peck at the windows and the distant thunder rumble closer and closer. It had been two days since she had attacked Sasuke in class, two days since her discussion with Tsunade, and five days since she had watched Kakashi being carried into the Infirmary.

Every day was more torturous than the last and she was stuck in a perpetual state of unknowing. So often, she found herself turning toward that third-floor wing of the Infirmary and each time, she'd have to stop herself from running to him.

Everything that had happened in the past week, her attack in the Astronomy Tower, the fight she had with Sasuke, and being handed a month of detentions...it all paled in comparison to the worry she had for Kakashi. She felt utterly helpless.

And even if they did let her help him, what could she do? She was still a student, still so naive and useless.

Feeling that same tightness in her throat, Sakura hugged her pillow closer to her chest and rolled onto her side. It was nearing midnight and she knew she was going to be sorry if she stayed up all night crying. Not like Madame Utante would care about her puffy eyes or sniffles, but she knew Ino would notice at breakfast.

Though the past few days, they hadn't had much of a chance to speak. Whether that was because of Sakura's outburst on Wednesday or not, she didn't know. And honestly, she had too much to care about at the moment to worry about what her friends, or the rest of the students, thought about her.

But even though she told herself that, it still stung to know that they may be distancing themselves from her. Had she gone too far this time? Was she too far in the deep end to reach them anymore?

She buried her face in her pillow and squeezed the tears from her eyes. What could she even tell them? Telling them the truth was out of the question. She had promised Shizune and Tsunade that she wouldn't tell anyone about the third-floor ward and she'd more or less promised Kakashi that this would be their secret.

Just thinking his name was torture. Oh, how she wished she could just see him for herself, to know if he was even still alive. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and choked back a sob. If she could just see him for herself, if she could just know, then maybe she could-

Sakura's eyes snapped open with a gasp and she sat up in her bed. She let the pillow fall away from her, ignoring it as it slumped to the floor beside her bed. Her thoughts had been in such a tangled knot the past week, she hadn't even thought about going to the Infirmary after curfew. But it could work. It wasn't like she hadn't ever been out of bed after hours before, or sneaking around the halls late at night.

And what would they do if they did catch her? Give her more detention?

Before she could talk herself out of it, she threw the sheets off of her legs and hurried to where her tennis shoes were laying at the foot of her bed. She slipped her feet into them and snatched a sweater from the overflowing pile of clothes she'd been neglecting for far too long. Once she was warm and prepared to venture two stories down in a dark castle, Sakura opened her bedroom door just enough to peek out into the common room.

It was dark, with the last remaining embers of the fire glowing in the hearth, and Sakura hurried out, shutting her door quietly behind her. She glanced quickly at Shikamaru's bedroom door. Thankfully, he was a rather heavy sleeper, though he did tend to stay up late. She just hoped tonight wasn't one of those nights for him. Not that he would turn her in or write her up with a curfew violation.

She slipped easily out into the fifth-floor hall and pulled her sweater tighter around her waist. There was very little moonlight reaching the windows to guide her way, but it was enough that she could find her way to the stairs. Snow still clung to the windows, gathering around the panes and edges of the glass, though the freezing rain was still falling outside. It was warm in the hallways, but Sakura couldn't help the shiver that raced down her spine.

Just in case, she kept her wand in her hand and her grip tight around it. The last thing she wanted was to be caught off guard again.

She crept along, cautiously peeking around every corner and keeping the light of her wand as dim as she could stand it. A few times, a voice from the portraits hanging along the walls snapped at her with a snarky comment and each time, she ignored them. There wouldn't be many professors out of bed on a night like this, and she knew for a fact that the head students ducked out of their duties before midnight.

As she descended onto the third floor, turning the corner to face the long stretch leading to the closed-off, double doors of the Infirmary, the gnawing sensation returned to her stomach. She put her hands to her midsection and rubbed at the ache, willing her feet to carry her forward. Behind those doors, Kakashi was lying in a bed, possibly comatose and knowing she was only seconds away from seeing him, made the horror and dread from that night resurface.

By the time she reached the doors of the hospital ward, she was ready to throw up. Maybe she should stop by the supply closet for some ginger root. No. She didn't want to waste any time.

She pulled at the door but the lock held tightly and she frowned. Risking a glance around, Sakura pointed her wand to the lock and whispered, ' alohomora' . It clicked free and with a gentle push, the door opened just a crack.

A soft, dim light poured out around her feet and Sakura bit her lip as she leaned closer to the crack to see inside. Hana's desk was cluttered as always, but her chair was empty. That didn't necessarily mean she wasn't inside and Sakura quickly tried to think up an excuse as to why she was trespassing. When nothing good enough sprang to mind, she figured she would just wing it.

Once inside the Infirmary, Sakura held the door until it shut silently behind her and waited for several moments, straining her ears to listen for any sound of movement from inside. There was nothing but the low howl of the wind against the castle walls and the tick-tock of a clock behind Hana's desk.

A single lamp, sitting in the corner of the room, was on to provide the light that Sakura used to make her way down the rows of beds. At the very end, with privacy curtains surrounding it, was the one that held Kakashi. Her heartbeat tripled in her chest and she had to keep herself from running to him.

Her sneakers were quiet over the stone floor and she came to a stop just outside the curtains to calm herself down. There was a tremble in her fingers that she could feel down into her knees and she cautiously peeked around the standing curtain. The chair beside the bed was empty and was pushed away from it as if whoever had been sitting there had definitely gone to bed and wouldn't be returning for the night.

Sakura's eyes followed the white sheets up the length of Kakashi's body and put her hands to her mouth, covering it to muffle the sound of her gasp. He was shirtless and across his chest, there was a criss-cross of gauze covering his wounds. They looked fresh and Sakura hoped that it didn't mean that whoever had applied them would return anytime soon. She moved further into the curtained off area and ran her fingers up Kakashi's bare arm.

She'd seen him shirtless before, but not like this. He looked so different, so much more vulnerable like this.

He faced away from her as he slept, but she could see a yellowing bruise that ran along the length of his cheekbone. Across his other arm, on the opposite side of the bed that she stood on, there was another stretch of gauze covering a scrape that extended up to the bend of his elbow. A part of her wanted to inspect the rest of him, to know the extent of the damage he had endured, but all she could do was lower herself to the floor.

She sat on her knees beside the bed, raking one hand through her hair while the other clutched his fingers tightly. Tears burned at her eyes and her throat tightened around any word she wanted to say to him. What would she say anyway? He couldn't hear her.

Sakura lowered her head onto the mattress beside him and pressed her cheek against his arm. The warmth spreading from his skin to hers filled her with so much emotion she couldn't hold the tears back any longer. They seeped out from beneath her eyelids and rolled down the curve of her cheek.

"Please, don't leave me, Kakashi. I don't think I can do this without you." Sakura reached up to wipe the tears from her face and hugged his arm closer to her, careful not to pull at any of his wounds. "I miss you so much. I just want to talk to you again. Everything is so fucked up right now and I don't know what to do. If you die-"

"I don't plan on dying tonight."

The sound of Kakashi's voice, barely a whisper and quite hoarse, sent Sakura's head jerking up with a gasp. She blinked up into his smiling face and couldn't keep her tears back any longer. Sobbing hard, Sakura let go of the dam holding her emotions back and let them flow free. The silence of the Infirmary was interrupted by her gasps and breath and she only cried harder as Kakashi shifted on the bed and wrapped his uninjured arm around her shoulders.

"Please don't cry. I'm going to be fine." He whispered through her sobs and somehow, she managed to let him pull her onto the mattress with him. Every touch of his hands on her made more tears fall and she laid against his shoulder, crying against his chest.

"I thought you had died," she finally croaked, hating how her voice cracked around each word. "I was so scared."

"Why on earth did they tell you I was even here?"

Sakura sat up and blinked down at him, swiping at her face with the back of her hands. "I saw them bring you in. I saw them carry your body and you looked so pale and so-"

" Merlin," he whispered, reaching up to bring her back down against him. With a press of his lips to her forehead, he smoothed the hair away from her face and she muffled another sob against his chest. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I would have sent you an owl or something if I had known."

Sakura nodded, unable to find her voice, and for the moment, just let him hold her. Several times she had to squeeze her eyes shut and convince herself she wasn't dreaming, that this was real and he was actually beside her. Each time her eyes opened to his chest against her, and his arms around her, she wanted to cry all over again.

Eventually, her tears started to dry up and she sniffed, reaching up to wipe the moisture from her face. Kakashi's arms loosened around her shoulders and he leaned back on the thin pillow behind his head to look down at her. The light from the lamp at the other end of the room didn't quite reach this far into the hospital ward, and though the moonlight was scarce, she could still make out the features of his face.

And as she stared up at him, her heart was filled so suddenly with the realization that she loved him, that the words nearly slipped from her lips. She clamped them shut before they could and swallowed them back. Clearing her throat, and hopefully clearing those thoughts from her mind, Sakura sat up and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"H-how long have you been awake?"

Kakashi let out a sigh and let his head fall back against the pillow. "Two days. They've ordered me to stay in bed until Sunday at least. I'm going to go stir crazy."

"You need to rest." She looked down at the bandages around his chest and gingerly placed her hands over the X shape, right over his heart. Her hair fell around her face and she hoped it hid the flush of her cheeks. "I would have ordered you to stay in bed much longer than that."

"Well, it's a good thing you're not my nurse." He reached up and brushed the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Though I can't say I wouldn't enjoy that much more. I've missed you."

Oh, it was so hard to keep her composure when he said things like that. Despite the rush of warmth flooding through her chest, leaving her dizzy and blushing, she smiled at him. "I missed you too. Even before all of this," she said, gesturing to his wounds. "Can I ask what happened?"

Again, he sighed and looked down at himself with an expression of annoyance. "I was careless and walked right into a trap. I barely managed to apparate to Hogsmeade and tell them to bring me to the castle before I passed out." When he lifted his head and met her gaze, she caught sight of something pass over his face, something like a realization, as if he were seeing her for the first time. It was only a split second, but it made her breath freeze in her lungs. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and Kakashi reached up to cup the side of her face gently.

The pad of his thumb traced the last remnants of the cuts she'd received two days earlier from Emi's fingernails. She watched his eyebrows furrow and knew what was coming next. "What happened here?"

"I was careless."

"Sakura," Kakashi said, his tone turning serious. With a sigh, she put a hand to the back of his and met his eyes.

"I got into a fight."

"What?" He sat up and winced from the sudden movement.

"You need to rest." Sakura tried to guide him back down to the bed, but even injured, he was stubborn and oddly strong. He took her wrist and gently pulled her hand away from his shoulder, making her shift in the bed so she was facing him on the mattress. The look in his eyes, mirroring the concern she'd seen on Tsunade's earlier that week, made her duck her head.

"Who were you in a fight with?"

"Sasuke...at first. Then Emi did this." She didn't look up at him, didn't exactly need to. She could feel the look in his eyes burning through her and she felt retched for even mentioning it to him. He didn't need this stress on top of what he was already dealing with. "But I'm fine and I have detention for a month with Madame Utatane."

His silence was unnerving and Sakura slowly risked a peek up at him through her hair. That look, the one from before, was on his face and she felt as if she were shrinking before him. On their own, her eyes moved back down to the sheets covering his lower body and she struggled to take a deep breath that didn't make her entire body tremble.

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you when you get better."

"Sakura-"

"Please?" She lifted her head and met his gaze, hoping he could see the pleading in her eyes. "I just want to forget it happened. I just want to be here with you and enjoy the fact that you're not dead."

Kakashi reached for her and touched her face, the uninjured side, and pushed the hair away from her eyes. The sound of his sigh, soft but so full of things he didn't say, made her close her eyes and she crawled up the length of his bed once more.

He shifted to the side to give her room and pulled the sheets back so she could slip her legs beneath them. She could feel his warmth along the backs of her legs and it made her close her eyes in relief. When his arm circled around her waist and he laid his head beside hers, Sakura let herself pretend, for just a short moment, that everything that had happened the past week hadn't happened at all.

There was nothing but the both of them, laying together in the safety of each other's arms, and Sakura swallowed back the need to tell him how she felt about him. It wasn't time just yet, no matter how right it felt.

"We're being careless," Kakashi whispered against the back of her ear. The warmth of his breath made her shiver and she turned onto her back to look at him.

"I know. You'd think we'd have learned our lesson by now with being careless."

His smile warmed her insides and he looked out at the curtains surrounding his bed. "Hana's been making her rounds every few hours and I'm not sure how long we have."

"Then we should probably make the best of the time we have now."

Kakashi laughed quietly and curled his finger around her hair, right behind her ear and another wave of shivers rolled over her. "I'm flattered that you think I'm much tougher than I am but I don't know if I could make your time worthwhile at the moment."

Is that what he thought she wanted from him? Surely he could see that this was much more than flirting and sex. Sakura frowned up at him. "Just knowing you're alright is worth my while, Kakashi. As much as I want to do-" She wracked her brain for the right word. "- it with you, that doesn't mean that's all I want."

"It?" He chuckled, making her cheeks flush with heat. "You're adorable when you're blushing."

"Shut up," she grumbled playfully. "I just want to spend the night with you. The whole night."

"I know. But once you graduate-"

Sakura shook her head, cutting off his words. "I don't want to wait for graduation. All I'm asking for is one night. In our secret room, or...I don't know. There has to be somewhere."

For a moment, Kakashi was quiet, staring down at her, but not meeting her eyes. He glanced from her hair to her lips and down to her throat before shaking his head. She could see that there was something in his mind, that he knew something she didn't. Sakura sat up on her elbows and frowned at him.

"You know somewhere, don't you?"

This time, his gaze met hers and he took a breath, darting his tongue out to wet his lips. He searched her eyes for a moment before sighing. "The room on the seventh floor is too dangerous. It's too close to Tsunade. But...there's another place we could possibly stay."

Sakura blinked in surprise, the warmth flooding through her entirely different than the relief she had felt earlier. It spread slowly, sinking through her veins and filling every corner of her body like the summer humidity. Her voice was quiet when she managed to reply. "Where?"