When Sakura woke the next morning she felt restless and exhausted all at once. She couldn't stop think about her conversation with Naruto the previous night. He was absolutely right about giving Kabuto that list of jutsu. She knew she needed to renegotiate with him, but she was hesitant to do so.

They were still on somewhat treacherous ground and she worried that renegotiating terms might push him away and cause him to back out. In spite of how they were barely tolerating one another, she could see that Kabuto was doing good work and she didn't want to do anything that might jeopardize that. At the same time, she knew the longer she waited, the less likely he was to accept a new agreement.

These thoughts weighed heavy on her mind all day as she went through her rounds, silent and listless. The pressure felt like too much and she wanted more than anything to pass these responsibilities onto someone else, someone who was wiser and had more experience. She felt inadequately prepared for this political side of things. She had never been in a position before where she had to be diplomatic and firm.

She liked to think that after this whole mess was over that she would come out of it a better person, but in the thick of it, it seemed impossible that she could get through without cracking under the pressure.

She was tense as she entered Kabuto's lab, dreading having to have this conversation with him. Though it hadn't occurred to her until that very moment, she realized that if negotiations went south, he could easily try to attack her, and in her condition, with their position in the hospital where casualties would be high if she used her strength, she was destined to lose.

"Ah, Sakura-san," Kabuto greeted as she entered. He had arranged the plants she had gathered the night before on his worktable with notes placed in front of each one. "I see you've got a bit more chakra today. If you're eager to help you can spend what you saved on gathering the rest of the herbs I asked for."

Sakura blinked as she found herself unsure of what to say. She had forgotten about the herbs, and her brain was unprepared for the hostility in his tone.

"Right," she answered, feeling rather stupid. Kabuto turned to look at her over his shoulder and he seemed surprised by her quiet acquiescence.

"You've got nothing to say?" he asked, a wry grin spreading over his face. "I must say, Sakura-san, I'm surprised by your lack of attitude. From what I remember of you as a genin, you had a short temper and a big mouth."

"I am not a genin," she insisted wearily.

Kabuto laughed. "Not anymore, anyway," he said.

The felt sick to her stomach, sensing something foreboding about Kabuto's dark expression. She glared at him with a scathing, searing look she had always found to be rather effective on men.

Kabuto's grin widened, and though she first thought he was amused by her misfortune, it seemed that he was actually amused by her antics instead. It was a good sign that he was in a good mood. Hopefully it meant she would have more success with negotiations.

"Umm, Kabuto-san?" she asked hesitantly. "I think maybe it would be good for you to work in the greenhouse with me today. It's been a while since you've been out in the sunshine and you need the fresh air.

Kabuto raised a brow at her. "It's so like you Konoha nin to be so empathetic, but I assure you that my health is not a concern for you."

"Your health is everyone's concern," Sakura snapped. "We're all depending on you."

"Nothing's going to happen if I get a little low on vitamin D," he argued. "You're just being soft. Don't you see what an inane weakness that is?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. His emotionless bravado bullshit had been getting on her nerves for a while now. While she had sympathy for him and whatever fucked up situation he had with Orochimaru, she couldn't bite her tongue anymore.

"You only think that because no one is ever concerned about you."

Kabuto visibly recoiled and Sakura took a step backwards, feeling a whirlpool of dread form in her stomach. It had been a while

"I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have said that."

Kabuto scoffed, turning his back to her as he returned his attention back to his worktable. "Just go get the damn plants."

Afraid of making the situation worse, Sakura left.

/

Sakura was quick down in the greenhouse – not because she was eager to get back to Kabuto, but because she didn't want to waste any of the precious waking hours she had.

She gritted her teeth as she made her way back to Kabuto's lab, determined not to screw things up this time. Kabuto was sitting on his cot when she arrived. Glancing down at the seal on his wrist, she realized that he was lethargic. His heartbeat was slower than usual and there was a heaviness to his eyelids as he looked in her direction.

"Are you tired?" she asked softly, clicked the door shut behind her. "If you need to delegate more tasks to me, I can handle it. You need to be properly rested."

"Don't patronize me, Sakura," he said. "Just arrange the rest of those plants on the table so we can get started."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, but began to do as she was told nonetheless. It appeared she was not forgiven for her indiscretion just yet, but that was okay. She would figure something out.

Kabuto joined her beside the table and watched as she placed the last plant and scribbled down its information on a sticky note. "I have an idea for a plausible vaccine," he said. Sakura's ears perked up immediately, surprised by how quickly he was able to come up with something. "It involves what you told me Tsunade-sama was working on before – a liquid chakra that can be injected into chakra points."

"Where do the plants factor in?"

Kabuto reached across the table and picked up the list of herbs that Sakura had been making the day before. "Chakra can burn off infection, but it can't keep it at bay," he explained. "However, I believe the right combination of these plants can do just that. Alone, all they can do is prevent new bacteria from accumulating, but coupled with the chakra engineered power boosts from these plants and a liquidized chakra for easy injection, we could have ourselves a viable solution."

Stunned, Sakura looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"So you want to test different combinations of these plants to see which ones are successful at preventing bacteria growth?" she asked.

"Eventually, yes," he explained. His tone was less cold now, but clinical and dry. "For now, though, we just need to see which plants are able to withstand a drastic change in state of matter while maintaining its antibacterial properties."

"Okay," Sakura said, beginning to see where this was going. "So you need me to use chakra to convert the plant matter into something that could both be injected and withstand pressure from a high volume of liquid chakra?"

"Precisely," he said, giving her a tight lipped smile, but somewhat reassuring smile. She thought maybe he might have been enjoying himself. "But if you are able to extract essential oils or other relevant liquids from the plants, try doing that first. We wouldn't want to waste hours and chakra on something for no reason. It shouldn't take up too much of your chakra, which is good because you don't seem to have a lot."

Sakura twisted her lips up in an effort to keep herself from saying something she shouldn't. At least he didn't seem angry with her, and now she had something productive she could do.

They stood side by side, each delving into their work in silence. Sakura found the work to be quite easy, even in her exhaustion. She knew exactly what she was doing, exactly what results she was looking for, so even though it was tedious, she also found comfort in the motions. It was nice to be doing something other than healing or cleaning or arguing with someone, even if she did have to be doing it next to Kabuto.

Kabuto was quiet as they worked, but she could see by his demeanor that he also seemed to be enjoying the work. She was suddenly very curious about him and what other things a man like him would like. He had an affinity for medical nin jutsu, and an insatiable curiosity, but what else was there to know about a guy like Kabuto? How had he ended up with Orochimaru?

She almost caught herself asking him those things aloud, but instead she refocused her attention on the flowering plant in front of her. The work may have been monotonous, but she still needed to pay careful attention to what she was doing. Besides, she knew curiosity about Kabuto was a fruitless venture anyway. They were definitely not friends and she couldn't just ask him about his past.

After a little over an hour, Sakura's feet began to hurt, and after two, she felt her eyelids begin to droop. Her chakra reserves were well past low and now into dangerously low territory. There was only one plant left, though, and after she finished that she could lug herself back to her apartment to sleep.

She reached for the last plant at the back corner of the table, stretching her arm out as far as it could reach. She faltered a bit, feeling her legs wobble beneath her. She waited for the inevitable crash of her falling face first into the table, but instead she felt Kabuto's fingers snake around her bicep and push her back into an upright position.

"I think you're done for the night," he said admonishingly.

"There's just one plant left," she argued. "I can finish it."

"I'll finish it," he insisted.

"You don't have any more chakra left than I do," she retorted, but secretly she was grateful that he seemed so persistent. She didn't think she could handle even one more task tonight.

"I have enough. Now go home," he ordered. Then he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and turned to look at her. "Unless you need someone to carry you there."

Sakura couldn't tell whether he was teasing or not, but she knew for damn sure that he wasn't offering to carry her himself, which was a shame because she might have actually taken him up on that offer.

"Okay, Kabuto-san," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," he echoed.

/

The next morning when Sakura entered Kakashi's room, she found him slumped against his headboard with his sheets thrown onto the floor. He was drenched in sweat and appeared weaker than usual, judging by the way his head lolled from side to side on his shoulders when she nudged him awake.

"Kakashi-sensei, you have a high fever," she said, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. "Are you feeling worse?"

He locked eyes with her, his eyes pleading while his mouth remained shut. She sent a surge of chakra into him, trying to see if there had been any change to his vitals, but from what she could see the only difference was his high temperature.

"Can you speak?" she asked, tempted to pull his mask down to take a look at his throat.

He did not answer, but there was a desperation in his eyes that she found very concerning. She hadn't noticed any change in Ino's condition – she had seemed very much like herself when Sakura had checked on her earlier that morning. Looking at Kakashi now, all she could do was hope that whatever was worsening with his condition would not follow everyone else in Konoha.

Gently, she probed his throat over his mask with her fingers. She sent more chakra into his throat, looking for any sign of anything wrong. With her chakra she was able to feel polyps along the length of his throat. Startled, she blinked and pressed more chakra into him to sooth any irritation they were causing. Usually a polyp on the vocal chords would cause discomfort or hoarseness, but they didn't cause someone to lose their voice completely. They were also caused by shouting or other force on the vocal chords that she knew for a fact had not been something Kakashi was doing – at least not since he had been sick.

She took in a shaky breath, trying to determine the next thing to do. If the polyps were benign, she could rest a little easier, but she needed to take a look at one to be sure. She glanced back up at Kakashi's eyes to find he was giving her a curious, but also terrified look. He was in pain, which made it all that much harder to ask what she knew she had to ask.

"Kakashi-sensei, I need to take a look at your throat," she said. "You have polyps forming along the back of your throat and vocal chords, which are the cause of your lack of voice. I need to take a sample to make sure they're benign."

He immediately began to shake his head, shrinking away from her. She sighed impatiently, though she understood why he didn't want to allow her to do this. Still, she had hoped that in this dire circumstance he trusted her enough to see his face. It was his own life at stake here. What if the polyps weren't benign?

He pointed to the clipboard hanging near the foot of his bed. Sakura passed it over to him and watched him rip off a scrap of paper and scribble on it. She glanced down at what he had written.

'Can't you take a sample from someone else?'

"You're the only person I've seen with these polyps, Kakashi," she explained. "I'm worried that something bad will happen to you."

He began to scribble again.

'Make your rounds today. Come back tonight if no one else has them.'

She gave him an exasperated look. "What if it's too late by then?" she demanded. "Are you willing to die just so I won't see your face? Don't you trust me?"

He gave her an empathetic look, but it seemed like he wasn't willing to budge on the issue. Sakura sighed again before launching herself into his chest and squeezing him tightly. "Fine," she muttered. "I'll come back later tonight."

She couldn't see his face anymore, but she could tell by his rigid posture that he had been surprised by her embrace. She clung to him for a second longer before she felt him return her hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. She could hear his heartbeat in his chest, steady and strong in spite of his ailments. Sakura found comfort in the sound. She pulled away from him and gave him a weak smile before she turned to leave.

She stopped when she felt his fingers grip the fabric of her sleeve and pull her back toward the bed. He reached for the scrap of paper again and began to scribble.

'How are things going with Kabuto?'

"As well as can be expected," she said, tossing the scrap of paper back to him. She wasn't really in the mood for chitchat now – she wanted to burst into tears.

She turned to leave again, but Kakashi grabbed onto her arm and forced her to turn back around to look at him. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a slow breath. He was looking at her with a mixture of concern, curiosity, and what Sakura suspected was a little bit of irritation. She clenched her teeth together and shook her head firmly.

"I'll be back tonight, Kakashi."

He released her arm.

/

It was neither lucky or unlucky that Sakura found no polyps on anyone else that day. She had even gone back to Ino in the hopes (well, perhaps that wasn't the right word) that she had developed the same polyps.

She had yet to speak to Kabuto about the polyps, deciding it was probably best to bring him a sample before she mentioned it to him. Besides, she wouldn't be seeing him until later that night, after she had finished her rounds and spoken with Tsunade.

For the first time since Kabuto had arrived, Sakura was looking forward to seeing her mentor. Surely Tsunade would have some sound advice for her regarding Kakashi. If nothing else, perhaps she would be able to temper Sakura's emotions a bit. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that she had her emotions under control – even before the whole mess with the infection Sakura had never had a good grip on dealing with her emotions. Unfortunately, this new development with the disease only seemed to amplify things and she knew she needed a cool, levelheaded person to balance her out.

Unfortunately for Sakura, Tsunade was not that person, but she would have to do. At least Tsunade excelled in medical ninjustsu, which was exactly the kind of help Sakura needed right now.

Tsunade seemed to be in a better mood today. Sakura watched a grin spread across her face as she shut the door and though that would usually make her feel uneasy, today she was grateful for a smile.

"Your little helper came to visit me this morning," she said.

Sakura blinked. Kabuto had come to see her? Sakura could hardly believe that was the case given her mentor's good mood.

"He was asking about liquefied chakra," she continued. "Seems he wants to utilize that technique for the vaccine. He was very curious."

"Yes, he mentioned he thought it would be something he could use for the cure," Sakura explained. "He's gotten a lot farther than I thought we would be at this stage."

"I'm aware," Tsunade said, "He showed me his progress so far and I'm quite pleased. I think what he's proposed might actually work. You know I doubted that this business with Kabuto would pay off, but you were right, Sakura. It was a good idea to recruit him."

Stunned, Sakura gaped, waiting for some kind of admonishment to follow that praise. It wasn't like her mentor to admit when she was wrong.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Tsunade snapped. "I'm doing the best I can here. I'm sick, you know."

"I know," Sakura said softly, "and I'm sorry. But I actually came here to ask for some help again. This morning when I checked in on Kakashi, I noticed that he had developed polyps in his throat and his voice is gone."

Tsunade's face darkened and she sat up a little straighter. "Are they benign?"

"I don't know," Sakura answered. "He wouldn't let me take off his mask to get a sample."

Tsunade tsked, irritated.

"I'm going back there as soon as I'm done here," Sakura quickly explained. "He asked that I check everyone else to make sure they don't have any polyps before I take a sample from him. I checked everyone I healed today and no one had anything like the polyps I found in his throat."

"Do you think they're related to the disease or something completely different?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm not sure. My instinct is to believe that they are. The only way he could have gotten them otherwise is if he was yelling or screaming a lot, which I know he hasn't been doing," Sakura explained. "But no one else in the village has them as of right now, so I can't be sure. What do you think?"

Tsunade frowned, tapping her lips with her finger as she mulled it over. "Tonight when you go back to him, make sure you get a sample," she commanded. "I don't care how badly he doesn't want to take his mask off – you get that sample. And keep a close eye on Ino as well. If this is the next stage of progression in this disease, we'll need to be vigilant about staying on top of it. Have you talked to Kabuto about this yet?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Take a sample to him tonight after you've seen Kakashi and ask him what he thinks," Tsunade continued. "He might be a right bastard, but at least he knows what he's doing when it comes to this medical stuff."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

/

Kakashi was out cold when Sakura came back to his room. His skin was nearly white and sweat covered him, matting his clothes to his skin, his hair to his face. Softly, Sakura checked his pulse and found it faint. She jostled him awake, her eyes filled with concern as she watched him struggle to find consciousness.

Blearily, he opened his eye and sighed with relief at the sight of her.

"You're in bad shape, Kakashi-sensei," she said, using a cloth to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Do you feel worse than you did this morning?"

He nodded and she could see the immense effort it took. She placed her hands on his chest and funneled her chakra into him again. She would have to sacrifice a bit of her research with Kabuto in order to spare enough chakra to heal him, but she couldn't bear the sight of him in so much pain. His hand came up to rest on hers and he closed his eye, leaning back against his pillow. She could feel his whole body trembling and it broke her heart.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei, but no one else in the village has those polyps," she said. "I'm going to have to take a sample from you. If this is the next stage of progression with this disease, it's crucial that I stay on top of it.

This time, Kakashi put up no fight. He merely nodded with resignation. It was a real testament to how poorly he must have been feeling for him to so readily agree. Again, Sakura felt a pang in her heart, wishing there was more she could do to make him feel better.

Sakura reached into her pouch and pulled out a pair of forceps. It was going to be unpleasant, but at least she had chakra to help ease his discomfort a little bit. Kakashi's eyes were wide when she turned back to face him, and she didn't miss the fear that blossomed in those irises. Any other time she would have laughed at the absurdity of it. He was one of the most skilled shinobi she knew and yet he was afraid of a simple procedure that Sakura would have been able to do in her sleep. It was definitely not something he should have been afraid of, but Sakura worried that he was more afraid of letting her see his face. She wanted to believe that he trusted her, that it wasn't so big a deal.

But somehow she got the feeling that this was about to change their relationship drastically. Just what was he hiding under that mask?

Hesitantly, she reached for his mask, her own fingers trembling too.

Before she had a chance to, Kakashi reached up and pulled his mask down, revealing to her for the first time his face in its entirety. For a moment, Sakura was stunned. She wasn't exactly sure what she had expected, but two thoughts immediately registered in her mind. One, there was nothing abnormal about him – no buckteeth or harelip. Two, Kakashi was kind of… cute.

Impatiently, Kakashi flicked her arm, his eyes dark and heated. She realized she had been staring and felt her cheeks heat up.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I didn't realize you were such a fox. That's what you've been hiding under that mask this whole time?"

He let out a huff of amused breath and the corner of mouth quirked into a smile – one Sakura could actually see. She grinned, unable to help it.

"Okay, okay, sorry," she said, averting her eyes quickly. "I'll make this as quick as possible."

True to her word, Sakura made the procedure as quick as she could. She took a swab from his throat first, and then used her forceps and chakra to remove a polyp, collecting it in a dish to bring to Kabuto later.

It was an intimate thing to have her hand down someone's throat, and she felt her ears burning as she set aside the samples and turned back to Kakashi. She didn't know quite what to say to him, and since he couldn't say anything to her, the burden was on her to make this not awkward.

"So, umm, I won't tell anyone you showed me your face," she explained. "Not even Naruto."

Kakashi rolled his eyes as he pulled his mask back up over his mouth.

"I'm going to make you better, Kakashi-sensei. I promise."

Kakashi nodded and she could tell without his words that he believed her.