A/N: Late… once again. I should be fired. -sigh- I can't wait until summer…when I can write to my heart's content and not have to worry about things such as homework…tests…prom (yesh, I am girly enough to go to prom X3)…college…gah! Too much!

Warning: This chapter contains some fairly graphic anatomy stuffs. If you're extremely squeamish, then you might want to just skim read. But really, it's not that bad. You've been warned! XD

Another Warning: Haha! Tricked youuu. This isn't a warning…it's more of an announcement! Finally, some long-awaited romance! Slight romance. No smut yet. Pfft…you perverts; what were you thinking? -Gigglesnort-


Requiem of Despair: Chapter 8

Warmth

A knot began to twist in her stomach as Sakura silently entered Kakashi's bedroom. Healing the man was going to take every ounce of her concentration, so she made sure to close the blinds and lock all of the doors before proceeding to kneel next to the broken jounin.

Her hands shook slightly as she began peeling away the layers of blankets covering his pale, exposed chest. A small gasp escaped her lips as she traced a fingertip across an angry scar above his heart. The scar that Zabuza's gigantic sword had mercilessly carved into her sensei's flesh during team seven's first real mission. Back when she was only a weak nuisance pretending to guard the bridge builder. Both Tazuna and she had known all along that she would have been powerless to stop Zabuza from taking Tazuna's life if Kakashi had allowed him the opportunity.

She snapped out of her flashback with a jolt, realizing that her hands were now flush against his pectorals and beginning to roam lower on their own accord. After removing her hands quicker then if his flesh had been covered with flames, she eyed his face for any sign of his regaining consciousness. Luckily, she found none.

It's just that…this is the first time I've touched a man's naked chest before… Yeah…that's it…

Tucking away such thoughts into the dark recesses of her mind for reevaluation at a less crucial time, Sakura distracted herself by focusing chakra into her fingertips and methodically massaged the jounin's temples. After a minute or two, the painful look gracing his angular features receded, leaving him relaxed and in a much deeper state of unconsciousness. It would be potentially harmful- even lethal- for both of them if he were to wake up during the healing process.

That done, she glanced at her notes one last time before setting to work. Once again she placed her trembling hands over the pale flesh that hid his troubled lungs, but this time with a purpose. Gathering as much chakra as possible into her palms she began kneading circles against his chest while mentally mapping her chakra's path.

She slowly pushed small, alternating bursts of chakra through the thin layers of skin, through sinewy bands of muscles, past the rib cage, and finally into the infected area.

In her mind's eye she could see the swollen tissue saturated in fluids, making it nearly impossible for Kakashi to breathe. She began pulsing more chakra into him at a slightly faster pace before lifting a small cylindrical metal tube into one of her hands. About six inches in length with a three-millimeter diameter and one tapered, hypodermic needle-like end, the small cylinder was generally used for draining infected wounds. However, brutal as it seemed, she needed to get the fluid out of him somehow… and this was the fastest way she could think of.

Before she could begin, though, she needed him in a sitting position. Hooking her arms around his lithe form, she gently lifted him until his back rested against the wall conveniently adjacent to his futon. His head tilted lazily to one side and tousled, silvery hair fell down to cover an eye.

Sakura adjusted the cylinder between her thumb and index finger and after giving the unconscious jounin an apologetic look, slid the sharpened end through his chest and into his left lung at a about a thirty degree angle, pointing downward. Once satisfied with its position, she initiated the painstaking process of using her chakra to loosen the infinite number of crevices between air sacs just enough to let the contaminated liquid pool near the bottom.

Sweat accumulated at her brow as her face held the look of absolute concentration. The fluid, now fully removed from the surrounding lung tissue, began dripping from the end of the cylinder, only to be caught by a towel she had placed on his lap. Her chakra then gathered around the pool and slowly compressed until the drip flowed more freely.

Finally, one lung was completely drained.

As was she.

However, she still had a long way to go before rest was an option.

After removing the metal tube from his left lung and healing the hole it left behind, she readjusted herself to Kakashi's other side and began the entire process over again with his right lung.


Sakura swiped her damp forehead with an arm and sat back to admire her handiwork. With both lungs now freed from their aquatic burden, she noticed that his breaths came in deeper, more regular intervals.

If only she could catch her own breath. The loss of chakra was causing her to feel faint as she struggled to keep her eyes from drifting shut. But she wasn't done yet… she still had to calm his raging fever.

"What, you're going to give up now? Now that you've come this far? I think not!" Inner Sakura roared, causing her eyes to snap open.

She's right… I can't give up now! I'm almost done…

A sleepy smile graced her lips as she leaned closer to Kakashi and allowed her hands to cup his face. Perhaps it was just her current dream-like state, but had he always been this handsome? She really hadn't noticed before. It was probably due to the mask and hitai-ate that covered roughly eighty percent of his face at all times. It was still a mystery to her as to why he felt the need to hide himself from the world; his features were beautiful… just short of feminine.

She sighed deeply, breathing in his unique scent of spices and sandalwood before drawing her remaining chakra into her hands one last time. As she let her chakra flow past his skull to sooth his raging fever, she collapsed forward slightly, clinging to his body for support as their foreheads pressed together.


If he were to use one word to describe how he felt at that particular moment, it would have had to be warm. He drew in a deep breath of air, relishing in the greatly missed sensation... although, he could still feel a heavy weight on his chest.

With still weakened arms, he reached out and snaked them around the foreign object lying on top of him. As soon as his hands met with the smooth skin of Sakura's back, however, her body began twisting and writhing in pain as an anguished scream escaped from deep within her throat.

Now fully alert, the sight of Sakura's crumpled form lying helplessly in his lap left his mind reeling. Sakura…? He wondered briefly when she had returned, before lifting her trembling body against his chest.


The pain was… excruciating to say the least. She felt as if her skin was being torn from muscle, tendons from bone, soul from body. Her eyes, damp and blurred from tears, finally came into focus on a worried face hovering only inches from her own. Kakashi's face. His regaining consciousness while she was still healing him must have been the cause of the pain… not to mention she had used up practically every last ounce of her chakra.

Damn that impatient bastard… she thought while suppressing a groan.

Now I'm the weakling again! I've got to… I have to… let him know that I was the one… the one who healed him.Sleep was trying it's hardest to claim her.

Turning her head slightly to stare into his eyes, Sakura smiled sweetly and asked: "So how are you feeling now, Kakashi-san?" letting the honorific slip languidly off her tongue.

And with that, she drifted off into one of the soundest slumbers she'd ever had.


A/N: Heh… perhaps I went into more depth than I should have? Well at least I didn't use all of the scientific terms… X3 don't blame me, blame the super-fun anatomy physiology class I took last year!

Oh, and sorry if I ruined Kakashi's face for anyone… but this is MY story… and I say he looks slightly effeminate! -Huggles chibi Kakashi doll- Yesh you are beaufy, aren't you? See? This is why I don't drink coffee very often. It makes me crazy. XD

Once again, thank you Cari for being the best beta-reader ever! -Glomps-

And thank you to all of my loyal readers/reviewers! Because you guys pretty much rock meh socks! Wow… I really am hyper. O.o