Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

Just gonna keep going! :D Thanks for everyone who is sticking around and reading!


Chapter 15:

Kakashi took a shower first. Hoping the time would be enough for Sakura to wake up. When he came out of the bathroom, she was still lying on the bed where he left her. But there were a couple towels on the counter along with two plates covered. Lifting up, Kakashi smelled the stew and covered it back up. He did take a bite of the bread before he did. He had dressed in his pants, which were relatively unharmed. A quick shake off out the window and Kakashi deemed them clean enough to wear again.

"Now…" Kakashi had found a couple of clothes in Sakura's bag, enough to keep her somewhat covered after the bath but he would need to clean her.

He wanted to just leave her dirty. But the bed was made and nice, she could also have a wound somewhere on her body. Maybe it would even wake her up, which was both a good and bad thing. Sighing, Kakashi picked up Sakura and took her into the bathroom. He rested her so that she was sitting on the sink and leaning against the front of him. From there, he started to strip her. Looking up the whole time, he tried not to dwell on the fact that this was the girl he had been ogling a day ago.

Kakashi placed her in the bath that he had drawn right after his shower. The water didn't wake her up which he was a little thankful for. He filled up a bucket of water and poured it over her head, keeping a hand over her forehead so she would still be able to breathe. Her hair covered the surface and swirled around in the water. Kakashi kept his eyes up as he took out the leaves from her hair. He chuckled at the twig that was curled in her hair.

"Sakura, you didn't need to go that far." Kakashi waited for a rebuttal but none came and he sighed.

He lifted her out of the bath and wrapped her in a towel. Drying her off, he pulled on the oversized shirt and boxers he found in her bag. Kakashi laid her back down in the bed, this time under the blankets. Checking her pulse, it was stronger but still not as strong as normal. The stew was still good cold and he finished off the rest of the bread. He sat next to Sakura on the bed and pulled out her Icha Icha book, activating Sharingan to read the work. He wished it was the special edition Sakura got but she didn't bring it on the trip. After an hour or so, he sighed.

"You owe me a Icha Icha Chaos. We won't get our bag of supplies back."

"Get it yourself old man."

Kakashi looked over at Sakura, who had her head turned towards him.

"Well, you're finally awake." He smiled but stopped mid-grin.

"I wasn't asleep Kakashi." She turned her body to the side.

Kakashi watched as she grimaced in pain. He hadn't put her bandage on her eyes back on, giving him a full view of her face.

"Are you hurt?" He put down the book.

She shook her head. "The amount of chakra I channel through my body burns my chakra pathways. It's not something I can heal like I can everything else. My body will slip into a state of coma when it happens."

Kakashi got up and got the plate of stew and bread off dresser. He set it down on the bed. "Can you eat?"

Sakura nodded. "Do you mind lifting me up?"

Kakashi leaned over and pulled her up into a sitting position against the backboard. She hissed but didn't say anything. He set the plate of food in her lap. Then watched as she slowly brought her left arm up and grabbed the spoon. Her arms were shaking as she slowly brought the spoon to her lips and ate the stew.

"Sakura, do you want me to…"

"The bath was humiliating enough Kakashi. Just go back to reading. I'm fine."

Kakashi cleared his throat and went back to his position, bringing the book up to his face. He tried concentrating on the word but after a few minutes the sound spoon clanging against the bowl made him look at her again. Sakura swore.

"Sakura, its okay if you want me to...I don't mind."

She stared at her food, her arms at her sides. "I went too far."

Kakashi chuckled. "You did. You created a desert in the middle of a forest. You also brought down the mountain."

The edges of her mouth curved up but she was trying to fight it. "Where are Naruto and Sasuke?"

"I sent them through the mountain and back to Konoha." Kakashi got up and walked around the bed and sat on the edge next to Sakura.

"Why? You should have just left me too."

"And have you in the state you are in now when the ninja come to investigate what the hell happened? No."

She looked at him. "You didn't know what would happen to me."

"No, but I was going by what happened when I found you at the compound. Someone also needed to stay behind to make sure everyone was dead." Kakashi got quiet, thinking about what happened to the people closer to Sakura.

"It's called Suna no Bakuhatsu Jutsu, Sand Explosion Jutsu. No one survives."

Kakashi took the spoon and lifted it up close to Sakura's lips. "It's gruesome to behold."

She leaned forward and closed her mouth over the spoon. As she chewed, Kakashi dipped it back in the stew.

"It's not meant to be looked at. It's meant to make sure there is no one and nothing left. A Sand-nin at the compound taught me the jutsu. Of course, I tweaked it to my own personal style but the principal is the same."

Kakashi put another spoon to her lips. He didn't know what else to say. She had stunned him with such a devastating jutsu. Her power was incredible and here he was, feeding her stew because she couldn't even lift her arms. Sakura used her left arm and grabbed the roll. Slowly, she brought it up to her mouth and tore into it.

"I still don't regret not having ramen." She took another bite of bread.

"Sakura."

She looked at him, her grey stormy eyes looking into his.

"Do you think you could look at my eye?"

"Did you use it a lot?"

Kakashi nodded and then cleared his throat. "Not a lot. It's just a prickle. Of course after you have actually recovered."

Her hand rested on Kakashi's shoulder and he saw her take a breath.

"Sakura, don't…!"

She squeezed her eyes shut but Kakashi sighed from the feeling the healing chakra that wound through his body. First the wound he got from the kunai stopped hurting. He felt the slight scratches stop stinging and his muscles relax. Next he felt it make its way up to his eye. It eased the throbbing and he felt the swelling go down considerably. Sakura took a sharp breath and her arm dropped, cutting off her chakra from him.

"You know you shouldn't be using it." She slumped against the back and sighed. "Thank you. For not leaving me."

Kakashi moved the plate from her lap to the side table. "You didn't need to heal me. I could have waited a couple days."

"That kunai wound could have gotten infected. Then we would be here even longer. I'm not hauling your ass back to Konoha on my back." She smirked.

Getting up, he went back to his side of the bed and sat back on the bed, picking up the book again. Sakura huffed and then slid down into the blankets so she was lying down again. Within a few minutes, her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. Kakashi looked at her. Even in pain, she still had healed him. The whole trip to the inn must have been painful.

Kakashi picked up the book. He knew that Sakura had changed. The pure joy he saw when she had executed the jutsu. She lived for the fight. But at the same time, she was still Sakura, worried more about her teammates before herself. Kakashi scratched his head. She wasn't as hostile to him though, which was nice. He looked down at the blank pages of the book. Maybe he was getting through to her.

Sakura screamed and Kakashi jolted awake. He threw the covers off the bed and took Sakura by the arms. She was bleeding all over, her body covered in scratches. Holding down her arms made her thrash around against him. He straddled her, keeping her from kicking him or falling off the bed.

"Sakura! Sakura wake up!" Kakashi winced as she managed to scratch his arm. "Sakura it's just a dream! Wake up!"

Slowly, her body started to relax and Sakura opened her eyes. They were a much darker grey than normal. She blinked a couple times and he saw that tears were streaming down the sides of her face. Kakashi watched as her skin started stitching itself together again. His also healed but he didn't feel any chakra going through him.

"Kakashi?" She choked out his name.

"It was only a dream." He smiled, trying not to let his apprehension apparent.

"I'm sorry." She looked up, leaning her head back. Tears still streaming down the side of her face.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi was acutely aware he was straddling Sakura, holding her down and his eyes had drifted more than once down her neck to her collarbones. Her shirt was tightly wrapped around her, her breasts pressed against the material, leaving little to the imagination.

Sakura looked back at him. There was a long pause and then suddenly Kakashi was being pushed back. She was kissing him, her tongue dipping into his mouth. His eyes widened and his thoughts sputtered. He was only aware of the touch of her lips that were kissing him. The lips he was kissing back. The tongue he was entangling with his own. The breasts that were being pressed up against him. The wrists he was holding down against the bed. The warm body he was straddling that moved against him.

Kakashi watched as though he wasn't even in his body. He tried to speak but his voice was caught in his throat. The whole scene was surreal. Finally, Kakashi snapped back.

"Sakura." He detached himself from her and backed up all the way to the wall.

Sakura's eyes widened and she sat up in the bed. She put her hand over her mouth and he could tell she was shaking. "Kakashi…I…" Before she said anything else, Kakashi grabbed his clothes and disappeared out the window.