As an afterthought Sakura had messaged Yamato from the hospital while Kakashi was being stitched up. She'd completely forgotten to let him know that Kakashi had been found, though she suspected that he already knew what was going on from his own resources. So the frosty attitude with which he greeted her and Kakashi at the door to her apartment was not unexpected.

"Sakura, you had me scared half to death, you didn't think to call?"

"Sorry, Yamato, things got a little out of hand…"

"Out of hand? All I heard was chatter about an officer down and you were suddenly not answering, what the hell was I meant to think? Oh, hi Kakashi, you look like shit."

Yamato stepped back and let them both enter the apartment. The ride over had been an odd cocktail of emotions, that hug had been fraught with an intense warmth that she couldn't explain, and it had lingered for far too long. Even now she could still feel the afterimage of that heat, and she knew that Kakashi had felt something too, the calculated silence on the way over here was a dead giveaway.

But they had a job to do, and now wasn't the time to be discussing something as trivial as 'feelings'. Being a woman in a male dominated profession for her entire career had certainly lead Sakura to believe that talks about thoughts and feelings should only happen as a last possible resort, even then it would be generally frowned upon. She should just write it off as the after effect of the turbulent 48 hours that had just come to pass.

"Thanks… Tenzou."

"It's Yamato, remember? I must admit, you had me really worried there, it's good to have you back-"

They were interrupted by Pakkun barreling towards Kakashi at a speed Sakura didn't realize the pug was capable of. While the dog was scooped up in his arms and examined the bandage across his master's face, Sakura dead bolted the door and put the chain across. Just because she'd snatched Kakashi from the clutches of the Kyuubi Killer didn't mean that they could afford to stop being careful now. Someone could be coming back to finish the job. Yamato continued undeterred.

"It's a shame about your eye, do they think you'll lose sight in it?"

"Didn't stick around the hospital long enough to find out. Besides, we've got bigger things to be concerned about right now." Kakashi put Pakkun back on the floor and he immediately sat himself down at the foot of Lady Katsuyu's chair, the cat appeared not to notice. "We just disrupted the pattern of a dangerous psychopath and there's still time on the clock for them to fix it. We've got to be prepared for the fallout. Yamato, I'm going to need to see every detail of the original murders."

"I knew you would say that. There's no point asking if he should be working in this state, is there, Sakura?"

"Hmm? Of course not, you know this stubborn ass. Besides, he's the only one of us cleared to work the case at the moment, surprisingly." She rolled her eyes for good measure.

"So we're going off the books again, alright. Just know that I can give you viewing access only, if there's any screenshots or file sharing we're going to alert..." Yamato seemed to sense the doom before he finished the question. "You didn't tell Tsunade how you got the information?"

"No, I did not. But she's a good cop, she'll work it out eventually..."

"Not if we're faster..." Yamato was already back on the laptop before she could blink.

Kakashi was soon pulling up a chair so that he could watch the screen, there was just a bit too much gusto about the way he was moving, he was overcompensating for pain. Sakura could tell, she was trained to spot such a thing, but also she'd seen her fair share of bulletproof males who tried to hide pain from their doctors.

"As your personal physician and caregiver, Hatake, I'm warning you. Ten minutes until the next vitals check, understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"He must have been hit in the head if he's complying so willingly..." Yamato comically raised a hand to his mouth so that Kakashi couldn't see his mouth while he was speaking.

"I got the same apprehensive feeling as when Tsunade makes an order, Yamato, there is only one answer you can give in that situation."

"Oh, yeah, you're right."

Sakura would have rolled her eyes if her head didn't suddenly hurt so much. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had anything to drink which was probably behind it. Sakura did what she always did in high pressure situations when there was a lot of work to do, she made a list in her mind and began ticking them off one by one. First of all, fluids, tea and something to eat. Kakashi would also need something to eat with his next round of medication and more fluids. Then she wanted to see if the glue had set properly before he took his next dose of pain relief.

"Sakura!"

Kakashi's voice shattered her inner minds workings.

"Hmm? What?" Sakura popped her head into the lounge from the kitchen.

"It's just occurred to me, the Akatsuki have my weapon..." Kakashi was holding Yamato's phone to his ear. "They also have my departmentally issued phone. Do you have..."

"There's a spare revolver in my bedroom, don't get up I'll get it, don't lose this one or I'll slap you..." Sakura was pacing down the hallway while biting into an apple, her body was protesting at her to eat something substantial by the time she returned to the living room, and she was considering the unthinkable. Desperate times called for desperate measures."I'm going to order food, is there anything you guys feel like?"

Kakashi's jaw dropped in such a comical way she felt like slapping him before she even handed him the gun.

"You've changed since my kidnapping, Haruno, never thought I'd live to see the day that you'd order take-out. Pizza?"

"Ugh, fine, I'll order it. Wait, is this a good idea? There's a serial killer and a criminal organization gunning for you, should we really just be inviting strangers up to my apartment?" In response to Sakura's question both Yamato and Kakashi cocked their weapons, she wasn't even sure when Yamato had taken his out. "So you're both willing to risk your lives for pizza, good to know."

Knowing that food was on it's way was enough to soften the dull ache in her head but it would be only temporary.

"Okay, let's go over the facts we have." Yamato glanced over to Sakura as he spoke, she was depositing herself down on the sofa.

"I think we can now say definitively that Kisame Hoshigaki is involved with the Akatsuki. He could potentially be leading the entire organization. Do you think he could also be the Kyuubi Killer?" Sakura had asked Kakashi and she was immediately to her feet when she saw him fuss over the bandage across his eye.

"I haven't got enough evidence to rule him out at this point. If it isn't him, he knows the killer personally. Which is fact-the-second, we have confirmation now that the Kyuubi Killer is connected to the Akat- Sakura would you stop that, it hurts!" Kakashi swatted her hand away as she attempted to tighten the bandage.

"Following that logic we can also say that Itachi Uchiha has insider knowledge of the Kyuubi Killer and possibly the Akatsuki, he knew who the next victim of Orochimaru was, he didn't give away any details but all that information was sealed so... Stop being a baby, Kakashi, stay still so I can fix it..."

"You know that doesn't rule this Itachi out as the Kyuubi Killer either, it's a shame we can't bring him in or put him on surveillance..." Yamato was back to typing as he spoke.

"And why can't we do any of that?" Kakashi asked going suddenly still, and while Sakura could choose to believe that he was just doing as he was told, she knew Kakashi would never behave himself so well. Which meant something else entirely, he was on to something... And Sakura caught up instantly.

"I only promised to stay away from Sasuke Uchiha."

"Precisely..." Kakashi's working eye was locked onto hers, she was up close and personal trying to fix the bandage he had tampered with. It was strange to see how his entire countenance changed when he was having a break through, she could feel that energy coming from him, she could see it in his other eye. "One of the first things we should do is get a surveillance detail on him, we need to know everywhere he goes, what he eats for breakfast, who he is in contact with..."

"Itachi led us to this Orochimaru, the original killer, he has to know something."

"Right, here are the original case files in order, the majority of the information is sealed but if I bypass the security any further than this we're going to set off alarm bells."

Yamato turned the laptop to Kakashi, before he could reach for it Sakura grabbed his wrist to check his pulse, the frustrated grunt he made was probably more pleasing to her ears than it should be. He was able to manage scrolling with his other hand.

"This guy was prolific, even more so than the Knife Man, don't you think Kakashi?"

He didn't answer and Sakura wasn't sure if she was just imagining the slight tremor of his hand, the fluttering of his pulse. When he winced ever so slightly she determined that it was not her projecting, Kakashi was in pain and trying to hide it.

"Even down to the dates..." Kakashi cleared his throat but Sakura continued to check his vitals undeterred. "These all line up with victims of the Kyuubi Killer exactly, some of these names are familiar too. How did we not know that this guy existed? They made a goddamn task force to catch a copycat killer without even telling us there was an original." The anger in his voice was palpable but Sakura knew it had nothing to do with her tending to his bandages.

"Hiruzen Saratobi had all details sealed, not only was his son one of the victims, but this Orochimaru was the kind to... well, he was doing it for the glory, he wanted people to know that he was capable of, what he was doing. So the Chief took that satisfaction away from him. I can see why he did it, it's a fitting punishment for the creep, taking away the very thing he sought notoriety for..."

"Yeah but at what cost?" Kakashi spat back at Yamato, turning his head so quickly that Sakura was concerned the glue holding his face together would crack. "How many people have to die before he decides we're allowed to know the details? This could have been prevented, all of it, Hiruzen may have made the right decision at the time but we're continually suffering for it..."

"Kakashi." Sakura put her palm to his forehead, it wasn't an accurate method to check a patient's temperature, but she wanted to pull him out of this spiral before he hurt himself and thought the gentle contact would suffice. "You can't change the past, let's just look out for each other and try to figure out where he'll strike next."

"We won't have to look far..." Kakashi's voice was low and soft, it held terrifying undertones that was magnified by the look in his eye.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at this..."

The cursor on the laptop was hovering over a name directly under that of Shisui Uchiha and for a moment Sakura wasn't sure if she was imagining what she was seeing. She leaned towards the screen and the closer she got the more familiar the words became the more fear began to claw at her heart.

"Captain Tobirama Senju..." Yamato said the name slowly and with reverence. "I remember him, wasn't he killed in the line of duty protecting a precinct from a pipe bomb?"

"According to this the explosion didn't kill him, he was just incapacitated which allowed Orochimaru to get to him, his remains were found... in the basement of the 7th precinct a day later... Kakashi, that's our precinct, that means..."

"The next target is Captain Tsunade Senju." There was a moment's pause before Kakashi stood abruptly, "We need to warn her, we need to warn everyone..."

This was when the effects of the blood loss, dehydration and the hangover of adrenaline finally kicked in. Kakashi was only standing for a few seconds before the dizziness forced him back into the chair, Sakura was holding onto his arm for good measure.

"Hatake, calm down, we have time."

"No we don't, according to this timeline we have 7 days, and that's not accounting for the pattern we disrupted, who knows what could happen next..."

"There is time, Kakashi." Sakura put a hand to his shoulder. "You're unable to think about this logically because you are in pain. You need to rest. We can't just bring this to Tsunade without a substantial argument, she's pissed at the two of us and would have us both suspended in an instant..."

"Not to mention what would happen to my federal access..." Yamato spoke up.

"All we can do now is get you better, build a case to bring to Tsunade, investigate the leads we have already. We need to be smart about this, not rash. You're always running in head first and we can't afford for you to get hurt again, alright?"

She'd tried to appeal to the logical part of his mind but she was starting to wonder if he was too exhausted and traumatized to recognize reality.

"You can't expect me to sit here and do nothing..."

"You're not doing nothing, you're recovering. Do you really think Tsunade will even pick up a call from either of us after today? I know her, give her time to cool off and sort out the fallout and she'll be thinking clearer too. Trust me..."

Something unspoken passed between them, something deeper than words can express. It went without saying that they trusted each other but it was more than that. Sakura had just gotten him back from the clutches of the Akatsuki, and while she cared and worried for her aunt, she was not about to let her partner walk back into the fire. Yamato broke the silence.

"I can't speak up without revealing your information source, I know it's a matter of grave importance but if we notify Tsunade now we will lose access to the information. And we need these facts to build a case and work out who this bastard is, once and for all..." Yamato's phone buzzed in his hand, he checked the screen without unlocking it. "My absence has been noticed, I need to get back to the lab."

When Yamato stood and made a grab to shut the laptop screen Kakashi stopped him with just one gesture.

"Leave it."

"That's not a good idea... but I guess I won't try to stop you. There's a time out if you leave it idle, and once you're out there's no way to get back in unless I'm here."

"You're not staying for pizza?" Sakura asked unsure, she didn't really want to have any leftovers contaminating her refrigerator.

"As much as I would love to bare witness to your torturing Kakashi into submission while I eat, my available time has run out."

"Yamato is a hot commodity, Haruno..." Kakashi smirked with his reply, but it was short, and the way his head dropped back revealed the exhaustion behind it.

"Rest up, Detective Hatake." Yamato smiled in a soft way before his eyes snapped to Sakura in an unnerving way. "Sakura, a private word..."

Though she didn't want to leave Kakashi on his own for long there was no way she could refuse the man who had just given his all to help her and her partner. They congregated by the door while Kakashi put a hand to his forehead and closed his visible eye.

"What's up?"

"Watch him like a hawk." Yamato enunciated each word. "I've seen him do this before, after Obito, he's waiting for you to drop your guard and then he's going to make a run for it to work behind your back."

"Don't underestimate me, Yamato. I know my partner, I can handle this"

"I know you can." His eyes narrowed towards Kakashi. "But he can't, not anymore, Sakura. I hope you realize that."

Sakura unlocked the door and watched Yamato leave before she put the dead bolts back. By the time she turned around to face Kakashi he was leaning forward and hovering over the laptop screen again. There may not be a huge risk in him pottering around while he sat there but she knew this was a slippery slope into overdoing it. A few hours ago he'd been chained to that pipe and bleeding profusely, he needed to rest and she would force him if she had to. Sakura left him there and retreated to the kitchen for the moment, lulling him into a false sense of security before she returned.

"Here."

"What is this... a glass of milk? Am I that pathetic I need to be treated like a toddler."

"No, jackass, it's time for your pain relief and you haven't eaten. So you need an extra coating for your stomach."

"I don't want it."

Kakashi tried to wave her off and continue scrolling through the case details.

"Well if you're not going to have milk at least have tea or something with it, otherwise you'll damage the lining of your stomach and it won't absorb properly..."

"I don't want anything, Haruno. Pain relief is just going to make me even more fuzzy and I have work to do."

Something began to bubble in Sakura's chest, it had started as a tepid annoyance and general discomfort from her pounding head, but now it was at a boiling point of rage. There was no way she would put up with this kind of behavior from a patient, and perhaps she would use more tact and professionalism in that situation. As it stood this was Kakashi Hatake, her partner and her responsibility. The thumping pain in her head pushed her next movements, storming around to force herself between the laptop and Kakashi's chair. Looking him dead in the eye she slammed the lid down.

"What makes you think you have any options, Hatake."

"Don't... just don't, if this screen goes idle then we'll have to wait for Yamato to be free again to log back in..."

"Consider yourself lucky that I haven't taken the damn thing off you." She leaned closer. "Take the medicine and I might let you get back to it. The more time you waste the more likely it is to time out..."

"Why does it feel like I've been taken hostage again..."

Sakura held up the glass for him to take, he reached for it at a glacial pace while maintaining eye contact. As soon as it was safely in his hand she withdrew the bottle of pain relief from her pocket. She'd checked the dosages before they'd left the hospital so she didn't bother reading it again, she just took out two pills and held her hand out for Kakashi to take them. He stalled and the last of her patience dissipated.

"So help me, Kakashi, I will shove these down your throat if that's what it takes. Don't think I'm above using force for an unruly patient."

"Fine."

Without breaking that unsettling eye contact he took the pills from the palm of her hand, threw them in his mouth and downed the entire glass of milk. It felt like a stand off and for some reason even after he'd done as she'd asked she was still simmering with rage.

"Open your mouth."

"Seriously, you're going to go that far..."

"Lift up your tongue too, jackass."

Kakashi complied but the look in his eye was enough to terrify small children and animals. As he leaned forward ever so slightly Sakura grabbed his chin and took a proper look inside his mouth. Some of the worst patients she'd had were known to hide their medication in their cheeks or under their tongues, and she wouldn't put Kakashi past it. It would take approximately 10 to 20 minutes for the pain relief to kick in, and in that time she needed to check his temperature again and make sure the wound hadn't reopened.

"Can I get back to work now? Or did you want to explore my mouth a little further."

"You can get back to it as soon as I've taken your temperature and checked the wound. Your face was sliced open, Kakashi."

He sighed and appeared to shake the irritation from his shoulders physically.

"You're right... I just..."

"You're in pain, people don't act like themselves when they're in pain. Just let me help, I don't want to have to handcuff you to the bed..."

"Yamato tell you that story, huh."

"No he didn't, Tsunade did, and I'm not sure I want to hear any specific details to be honest."

He smiled, it was the first smile she had seen in a little while, maybe the pain was subsiding already. Sakura took extra care with taking his temperature, she then took his blood pressure properly before making certain the stitches and glue were holding.

"Do you think I'll lose sight in that eye?"

She was so close to his face when he spoke, she could hear the hushed worried timbre of his voice that he had done well to hide until now.

"It is hard to tell at this point, you can't open it until that wound has started to heal, what was it like before it got stitched? Could you see?"

"All I could see was blood."

There was a pause, Sakura remembering just how close she had come to losing her partner, frustration aside she should be grateful to have him at all. She had been sitting on the chair that Yamato had vacated, but shifted it around to tend to Kakashi's eye. They were sitting close to one another, so close that she could feel his warmth, so close that she could count the individual lashes of his working eye. She tried her darnedest to concentrate on the task at hand, maybe her motives had originally been to distract him long enough for the meds to kick in and stop him from working... but now the lines were blurred. Or perhaps his exhaustion was just contagious and had spread to her through the contact alone.

Even she couldn't tell how much time had passed in silence while she tended to his eye. By the time she was finished she had slowed herself, her fingers drifting from making sure the bandages were on firmly enough to simply caressing the lines on his face. Things she'd never noticed before but now that they were close she could see clearly, details that she would have never known if she hadn't gotten to that pipe in time.

"Sakura..."

Kakashi's voice was steady and unwavering, but his working eye was half lidded and dropping with tiredness. The pills had finally kicked in.

"Yes, Kakashi..."

There was something written on his face, something dark and urgent that Sakura didn't recognize until he spoke. She was glad that the pain was ebbing finally and he seemed to be getting some relief, her hand continued to caress along his cheek. His breathing was warm and steady as it fanned across her face. They had moved even closer to each other but she couldn't have told you when it had happened.

"Sakura, I don't... I don't think I can wait to go undercover again to kiss you.. It's all I can think about right now..."

The revelation didn't shock her as much as it should, purely because she had been thinking similarly, she could practically taste his lips being this close to him. That kiss in the alleyway had been fraught with panic and adrenaline, she couldn't help but wonder if it would be the same right here, right now. Maybe it would help them both overcome what had happened in the last 24 hours.

"Why wait then..."

They both drew involuntary breaths, they both began to close the remaining inch of space between them. It was madness but it would have been like trying to stop a solar eclipse, just as they weren't responsible for the lunar event they could not control or push aside the force that was bringing them together.

Until a sharp rapping on the door startled them both apart.

"That'll be the pizza..." She cleared her throat sheepishly and stood. Kakashi's expression hadn't changed, he was watching her like she was the only thing he ever wanted to see and it tugged at her heart.

"Go get it then... I'm starving."

Sakura was unwilling to break her eye contact with Kakashi but finally relented to get to the door. Maybe it was a good thing they had been interrupted, what kind of doctor would make out with their patient after all… Sakura knew that it was a good thing, they had almost done something very stupid…

But gods it would be so satisfying.

All of Sakura's thoughts were shattered when she opened that door, her smile broken to pieces on the floor. She'd expected a pizza delivery kid, she had not expected to find Captain Tsunade Senju on the other side. Looking every bit as furious and deadly as the last time they had spoken.

"Sakura, you going to invite me in or leave me standing out in the hall?"

"Oh, yes, sorry Ma'am, please come in."

"No need to put on airs, Sakura, I'm the one intruding into your own home. But imagine my surprise when I called into the hospital to check on my best detective, to find that he'd discharged himself against doctors orders, and into the care of his private physician no less." Her voice wasn't tinged with that malicious boom that usually accompanied her bad moods so Sakura figured they weren't in any more trouble at least. "I'm even more surprised to find that you two aren't working on the case behind my back, though you look in no fit state to even be sitting at the moment, Hatake."

"He's just taken pain relief Ma'am, I'm waiting on some food to be delivered before I administer the antibiotics."

"I see. It only takes one kiss in an alleyway before you're playing private nurse for Hatake."

The rage in Sakura's chest was quelled by the guilt of what would have happened if the Captain hadn't interrupted them. At least that anxious feeling allowed her a few moments to think on her words before she reacted. Sakura had a fragile reputation with the Konoha PD, and this was potentially damning, career ending if she wasn't careful… or worse. It could spell the end of their partnership.

"We were undercover, Captain, it meant nothing."

"I know, I know, Sakura. I'm just messing with you, you're still a rookie detective after all." Tsunade averted her gaze and Kakashi tried to stand.

"You're not here just to check up on your favorite detective… are you…"

"Astute as always, even when you're drugged up to your eyeballs. How much did you give him, Sakura? He can barely stand…" Kakashi made a futile attempt to wave the women off, but they managed to coax him onto the sofa, as if to make sure he didn't try to go anywhere Pakkun immediately moved to his master's lap. Tsunade sighed and for some reason it made Sakura feel apprehensive as hell. "There's no use beating around the bush about it, I'm here because of an unsettling phone call I received from the former Chief of Detectives, Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Sakura tried to catch Kakashi's gaze but his one working eye was focussed intently on Tsunade.

"Let me guess, you've finally caught on now and want to apologize to Sakura for treating her like shit." Kakashi usually pulled punches around Tsunade but the pain medication must have bolstered his confidence.

"How I treat my detective is none of your damn business, Hatake. She went into a highly dangerous situation with no back up, completely ignoring protocol, with no one even knowing where she was. Not only that, she got her hands on classified information and god knows how… I stand by my word, she needed to be reprimanded for her actions."

"It is my damn business and you know it. You don't call someone out in public, Tsunade, let alone a goddamn hospital they used to work in..."

"Just calm down, the both of you." Sakura wanted this to stop now before it escalated any further. "I'm a big girl I can deal with the consequences of my actions, more importantly, what did Hiruzen have to say? Did he confirm our copycat theory?"

The question seemed to interrupt the Mexican standoff between the two of them.

"He not only confirmed it, he seems to suspect who the next target of the Kyuubi Killer may be, but you two already know that, don't you?" Tsunade didn't wait for an answer, Kakashi and Sakura exchanged a quick glance. "I have never been more disappointed in my entire career. Hiruzen, Chief Sarutobi, he was my mentor. The very idea that he sealed those records and didn't think of even telling me."

"I can see why he did it." Sakura had found her voice. "This guy got off on the infamy, Hirzuen was taking away the only thing of any value to Orochimaru. Not to mention his own son was a victim."

"You make a logical argument there, Sakura, and I can see why he did it as well. But answer me this, why did he choose to cover for Orochimaru all this time, I had asked for Hiruzen's help to catch the Kyuubi Killer before and given him the files after Obito was killed… Why did he choose to keep that information to himself? We could have potentially caught this psycho…"

"His reasons are inconsequential." Kakashi sounded matter-of-fact despite looking very limp while draped over the sofa. "He made a tough call at the time, while I don't condone his secrecy at least we now know more than we did before. What's important is that we protect you… Captain. I also have concerns that they may come for Sakura at some point."

Tsunade's attention snapped to him but Sakura wasn't overly phased for the moment. Not until she heard the reasons why.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, we know that the next victim in the order was a Captain, and a Senju no less…."

"My uncle… yes."

"Well, you're Sakura's aunt. That doesn't rule her out as a potential next victim. On top of that they spoke at length during my captivity about what they were planning to do to her. It might have just been to goad me but we can't be certain. You both need 24 hour security detail, it would be safer to leave Konoha all together but I doubt you'll listen to reason." Kakashi tried to straighten himself into a sitting position but it was short lived. "Jesus, Sakura, is the room meant to be spinning?"

Rolling her eyes she approached him and pushed him gently to lie down on the cushions. He gave no resistance which meant that the sedatives were in full force now.

"Just lie down until the pizza gets here, Jackass. What do you think, Captain? Having extra security detailing us could not only hamper the investigation, but it exposes the both of us to more people, more potential for someone in the Akatsuki employ to get to us."

"We'll take extra precautions. Work in pairs at all times. The Akatsuki seem to wait until someone is alone before striking, so we'll make it harder for them, and limit our exposure. What's most concerning at this moment is the possibility of a mole within the Konoha PD, within our very precinct."

"That reminds me, Ma'am, what happened with the raids?"

"We found evidence of criminal activity, nothing substantial, and no explosives."

"Kakashi, you said-" Sakura turned to question him, but he had finally succumbed, his hair sticking out at that unruly angle even as he slept. "He heard them talking about explosives, the next victim of Orochimaru was incapacitated by a bomb before his death. Do you think they are preparing for the copycat kill?" She reached under the sofa for the wicker basket that contained the fluffy blankets, casually grabbing one and carefully flicking it over Kakashi. Pakkun obliging her by shifting himself until she was finished in her task.

"Who knows, it's certainly a possibility. If you were both of sound mind I would send you to the Suna border to check for potential smuggling reports that haven't been sent through to Konoha PD yet."

Sakura knew her Captain was talking and she should be paying attention, but since tucking that blanket around her peacefully sleeping partner he was all her eyes wanted to look at and they were acting of their own accord.

"There's always tomorrow…" The words were laced with a positivity and relief that was only felt because of the presence of Kakashi and Pakkun on her couch. Safe and where she could look after them.