The Bank II

"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de La Fontaine

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.

A/N: Unbeta'd. I will attempt to post every other week, sooner if my work schedule permits.

Enjoy.

Chapter III

Tsunade wearily made her way to her former apprentice's office, certain that Sakura would still be in the hospital. There was no possible way she would leave without hearing how Kakashi had fared – if he had made or if he would make it. She had not missed the brief interaction between the two stubborn shinobi. And, while Tsunade couldn't be certain of what Kakashi had said, she knew for sure that it had been something monumentally stupid. At least, it would have to be if Sakura's expression was anything to go by.

Tsunade stopped at the office door, it was closed with the occupant status panel announcing that Sakura was 'Out' and there was no trace of light emanating from the crack at the bottom. But, she knew all the same that Sakura was still in. There could be no possible way that she would have left before learning if Kakashi had survived.

Tsunade knocked, meaning to make it firm but finding that her exhaustion made it sound weak and hesitant.

Sakura suddenly sat up straight in her chair, her heart pounding. She'd been sitting in the near dark – under the light of only her desk lamp – absently contemplating the medical journal in front of her. Fear suddenly flared up within her once again. By pretending to read the medical journal she'd managed to keep it to a low-level background emotion but now… now it would be time to face the music, whatever it was. Her possible future suddenly loomed large in front of her.

"C-come," she cleared her throat and tried again, "come in."

With a grimace of sympathy, Tsunade opened the door and entered the small cramped office. She could only imagine how Sakura was feeling. The poor woman clearly had very deep feelings for Kakashi, it was only too bad that the idiot had never seen fit to return those feelings. Tsunade knew very well that he could certainly have done so if only he set his mind to it – changed the way he thought about some things – but without some sort of drastic outside influence, it was unfortunately not to be. Kakashi had worked hard his entire life to be the perfect tool for the village. And, with a few small setbacks, he had achieved that goal. His only remaining open item on his to-do list was to earn his place on the Memorial.

The whole Hatake creed – serve the village honorably... until death places your name on the Memorial. Those are the two most important things in life, honor in life, and an honorable death preferably in service to the village. The only goals worth striving for. Fools.

Tsunade paused only to turn and close the door behind her before continuing to stand in front of Sakura. They were both exhausted, Tsunade from working on Kakashi and Sakura from worrying about him.

Anxiously, Sakura craned her neck, trying to read something into her boss's actions. Aside from the fact that she was obviously exhausted, Sakura could read nothing into the news Tsunade brought.

Wearily, Tsunade lowered herself into one of the chairs across from Sakura's desk. Too tired to speak she just took a moment to sit and enjoy the sensation of not being on her feet. She observed Sakura's clearly anxious and exhausted visage. Sakura was pale and the light of the desk lamp only served to accentuate the dark circles under her eyes, circles that had turned up not too long after Kakashi had left. Further inspection showed her that her former apprentice was also thinner. Tsunade hadn't realized that Sakura hadn't been eating. Or, rather, that she hadn't been eating well by the looks of it. She stifled a silent sigh. She'd have to do something about that. Sakura would probably need to be kept under watch for a little while if she didn't manage to pull herself out of it.

Sakura fidgeted, unable to do anything else aside from wait. Experience had taught her that it never paid to try and hurry Tsunade in anything, no matter how anxious she may be to hear the news. Tsunade would tell you when she was good and ready and not a minute sooner. Though the longer Tsunade took to impart her news, the more certain Sakura was that Kakashi had, in fact, died on the table and that her mentor was simply trying to find the right words to tell her.

After a moment's rest, Tsunade finally raised her gaze to meet that of her former apprentice. She couldn't help but sigh at how tightly wound Sakura appeared to be, her face also drawn with barely suppressed anxiety – clearly preparing for the worst.

"Kakashi is stable," she raised a hand to forestall any reaction, "for now."

Sakura's mouth fell open.

Tsunade chuckled. Clearly, Sakura had not had enough faith in either her Hokage's abilities or Kakashi's will to live. Granted, with Kakashi's actions as of late, Sakura could be forgiven for expecting him not to make it. Though, now that Tsunade thought of it, Kakashi hadn't made it back to the village on his own.

A border patrol had found him, abandoned their route, and brought him in. It was just possible that Kakashi was trying to get far enough away from his kill so as not to be connected to it before he gave up and allowed death to claim him. It could have been just bad luck on his part that the border patrol had found him. And worse luck that they knew how valuable of an asset he was for the village – valuable enough for them to leave their patrol in order to try and save him. Absently Tsunade tucked that thought away for later perusal – she might want to speak to the shinobi in question before they went back out. See if Kakashi had resisted their help. That in and of itself would be very telling.

"I believe you once compared him to a cat. Seems as though he's still clinging to that last life."

Too surprised to say anything, especially after what Kakashi had said to her, Sakura only nodded. Her eyes were still wide and her mouth still partially open.

Tsunade snorted a little in disbelief at Sakura's reaction. Clearly, the woman was not quite as resigned to Kakashi's fate as she'd thought – that Kakashi would be given another chance never seemed to have occurred to her.

"He's not out of the woods yet. But, barring any major unforeseen catastrophes, he should pull through." She paused for a moment before adding thoughtfully, "so long as he keeps fighting, he'll pull through."

"I-I see. Thank you."

With a grunt, Tsunade pushed herself up from the chair, realizing that if she sat in it much longer she would likely fall asleep in it. "He's in room 404. Will be for the foreseeable future."

Still too surprised to respond properly Sakura nodded. "Thank you."

"I'm assigning you to the maternity ward for the next couple of months so he's not going to be your patient." She eyed Sakura before continuing. "You will need to make time to visit him."

"What?"

"You don't have a lot of experience in the maternity ward. Now's as good a time as any to learn."

Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly and cocked her head to the side before repeating her question. "What?"

Tsunade sighed. "It was worth a shot. You need a respite from all the death you've been dealing with lately. Take a break and deal with some life instead."

Still somewhat taken aback Sakura just shook her head, despite her lack of practical experience she was more than qualified to work in maternity, and they'd surely welcome her. Belatedly, she felt her cheeks heat a little as she realized that Tsunade was likely just taking pity on her and offering the temporary reassignment so she wouldn't have to see Kakashi until she was ready to do so.

As Tsunade made her way to the door, she turned around as though something had just occurred to her. "Oh, and Sakura?"

"Y-yes?"

"Don't let any stupid thing he may have said to you stop you from going to see him. He was in an incredible amount of pain – it was a wonder he was conscious, never mind semi-lucid."

"You... saw?" Sakura felt her cheeks burn even brighter.

Tsunade shrugged. "I don't think anyone else caught it. He was in terrible shape. Most people there probably assumed that you were reacting to his condition, not anything he may have said."

Sakura nodded again. "Thanks."

"He's an idiot. But, I think…" she trailed off, realizing that the rest of the sentence wouldn't be welcomed. Sakura was in no condition to realize that Kakashi was now almost certainly her idiot. Instead, she waved a negligent hand. "Never mind. He's an idiot. Don't forget that."

Puzzled, Sakura nodded in agreement once again before wishing the drained woman a good night.

With an exhausted sigh, Tsunade closed Sakura's door behind her and slowly made her way back to her apartment. It was a rare occasion, she wouldn't even need sake to help her sleep that night.

Sakura remained sitting in her darkened office for a long while, trying to figure out what her next course of action should be.

Slowly Kakashi felt pulled from the sure to be drug-induced sleep. Everything hurt. A brief crack of his eyes proved his suspicions. Unsurprisingly he was in the hospital, back in the village and everything hurt. He couldn't suppress a sigh. He hadn't intended on coming back.

Another quick crack of his eyes showed him that he was alone, in one of the private rooms, no one was standing vigil. He let his foggy mind drift a bit. If no one was sitting with him he was probably expected to make it. No such luck in adding himself to the Memorial this time around.

With a slight grunt, he tried to shift himself into a better, more comfortable position. Unfortunately, he found that his discomfort appeared to be rooted in the fact that everything hurt. Another crack of his eyes and a quick glance to his left showed him that he was indeed hooked up to an IV and while there were several bags hanging from the IV stand, he had no idea if any of them were for the pain. Squeezing his eyes tightly closed he resigned himself to the pain for the time being, not like it was the first time he had ever been in that much pain before. Eventually, someone would be along to check on him and probably re-up his pain meds.

It hit him with a jolt that only caused his physical agony to increase as his body twitched in response. The person who came by would most likely be Sakura. Because of their close relationship, and his usual aversion to hospitals as a patient (he clearly had no issues spending time with Sakura in her office when he was uninjured,) he was nearly always assigned to her whenever he found himself in the hospital. For a puzzled moment, he found the thought that Sakura would be the one to come treat him disconcerting, though he just couldn't quite put a finger on why.

Suddenly, her face, the stricken expression on her face as she recoiled from him, the last thing he had seen before passing out, appeared before him. He closed his eyes again in the hopes of dismissing the deeply troubling image. Unfortunately, the image would not be so easily shaken from his mind. All he could see, on a continuous loop, was her anxious face drawing near to him, concern and fear writ large on her expression, focused mostly in her eyes. She wanted to hear what she had feared might be his last words. And then, suddenly reeling back away from him with her expression full of such extraordinary pain and something else he couldn't quite identify. A moment's unhappy thought brought it into sharper focus, betrayal.

Obviously, he had said the wrong thing. Though why it should be the wrong thing he couldn't guess. Didn't she want to have his children? Didn't she want his name on the Memorial so she could? He had thought that he was giving her everything she wanted. Everything she needed. Once he died Sakura would have everything she had ever wanted. So… why?

He lay pondering the confusing situation, his brain still foggy with the sedatives and Sakura's expression continuing to turn up to haunt him at regular intervals. The door opened and a short red-headed nurse walked in, his attention entirely focused on the clipboard in his hand. Kakashi had only a moment to decide if he wanted to feign continued sleep or if he wanted to present himself as awake. A flare of pain decided him.

The nurse finally lifted his eyes from the notes on the file and realized that Kakashi was awake, far sooner than expected.

"Ah! Mr. Hatake, you're awake. My name is Atsushi, I've been assigned to you while you're here on the fourth floor." He smiled happily at Kakashi. "So, how are you feeling?" he asked, already clicking his pen and starting to add notes to the clipboard.

"Not great," Kakashi grunted as he shifted a little, once again trying to find a more comfortable position in the hospital bed. "What do you have me on?" he nodded shallowly at the IV.

Atsushi checked the clipboard in his hands. "Ah, it would appear that we don't currently have you on anything to help with the pain." He frowned and flipped a few of the pages, looking for the reasoning. "I don't see why. I'll check with the supervisor for the reason – according to your file you haven't demonstrated any signs of addiction to pain meds. With injuries as extensive as yours, I can't imagine why they'd leave you off painkillers." With another quick flip through the pages on the clipboard, he turned his attention back to Kakashi. "Aside from the pain, is there anything else?"

Kakashi bit back a snappy retort about the agony being more than enough, knowing that it wasn't the nurse's fault that someone had likely forgotten to put him on some sort of pain management drip in addition to whatever else they had him on. "Not sure. The pain is pretty much all I am noticing right now."

"Oh!" Atsushi exclaimed as he realized that his patient would be better off if he went to find the supervisor to square away Kakashi's pain before trying to sort anything else out. Just because he was an elite and likely had experienced that sort of pain before did not mean that he would welcome it when immediate relief was available. "Right. I'll go find that supervisor now. I'll be right back."

Kakashi exhaled a long slow breath and closed his eyes. No painkillers… that was unheard of for someone in his position. He had to wonder if maybe Tsunade had had something to do with it. As upset as Sakura was with him, Kakashi was unable to imagine her specifying no pain medication for him. Tsunade on the other hand, if she had seen Sakura's expression – he felt his chest tighten, nothing to do with all of his other aches and pains – then it could be possible that she might be feeling a little vindictive…

A few moments later his door opened again and the woman in question walked in with what was presumably his clipboard in hand.

"Kakashi, you're awake." Tsunade glanced at the papers and then back up to him. "You should have slept for another day at the very least." She tapped her chin with the end of her pen in irritated thought. "Looks like you may be building up a tolerance for the sedatives." She glanced at him pointedly, "not many shinobi manage to do that without trying, you know." Tsunade raised an eyebrow in annoyance.

He shrugged, realizing that she didn't particularly want an actual answer from him and flinched at the flare of pain the simple motion caused him.

She shook her head and sighed. "I've ordered another bag of sedative for you, we need you staying quiet and I don't trust you to comply. I've also ordered a bag of painkillers for you – not sure why it wasn't replaced when your initial one ran out."

Kakashi wanted to protest being sedated again but knew it wouldn't do him any good. Instead, he simply nodded. So far Sakura hadn't turned up and since Tsunade had, he had to wonder if Sakura would. Had she requested not to be assigned to him? Or, had they pulled her from him, citing some sort of conflict of interest now that he'd filled out his bank paperwork with Sakura as the obvious beneficiary?

Sensing that Kakashi was keeping his questions regarding Sakura to himself, Tsunade decided to partially answer his unasked inquiry. "Sakura has temporarily been assigned to the maternity ward. We've been short-staffed for some time now." She shrugged. "So much so that I'm pitching in and taking on regular patients." She eyed Kakashi for a moment before adding almost under her breath, "Besides, I had to give her a reminder as to why she puts up with you."

Kakashi suppressed a flinch as he nodded again, knowing that there was no correct response, but satisfied with what Tsunade had told him. Though, now that he knew Sakura wasn't likely to walk through his door to treat him, he still couldn't be certain if she would come by at all. At least if she had been assigned to him then she would have been forced to come by on her rounds. Now, with her having been placed elsewhere, there was no way of telling if Sakura would stop by to visit. He'd unwittingly hurt her, deeply. How? Kakashi still wasn't sure. But, it was clearly something that he had done, and since he didn't know what, he couldn't guess if she would actively avoid him because of it.

While he pondered the likelihood of Sakura coming by – and what on earth he would say to her if she did – Tsunade took her leave, satisfied with the seeds of thought she had managed to plant in Kakashi's mind.

Kakashi found himself slowly regaining consciousness once again. He'd completely lost track of time and had no idea how long he'd been in the hospital, never mind what time it was. As he was slowly drifting back, he inhaled deeply, hoping to catch the telltale sign that Sakura had visited him.

His lips twitched into a faint smile. It was there, the faint traces of the scent of the hand lotion he knew she used mixed with the scent of her shampoo, and that of her laundry detergent. It was a unique mix of scents that he had always managed to associate with her. Though, when his eyes finally focused enough to make out the chair next to his bed he was unsurprised to find it, as always, empty. Sakura had come by while he was sedated and stayed with him for some time, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to make out the traces of her scent.

Kakashi still didn't know what he had done wrong. But, the fact that Sakura had kept as far away from him as possible while he was conscious told him that whatever he had done, he would need to fix. He missed her. Kakashi would never have believed it but he really and truly missed her. In the past, whenever he had been unlucky enough to land himself in the hospital, she had always made time to stop by and chat with him at least once or twice a day depending on her schedule. Not having that constant in his life was more than a little disconcerting.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes, knowing that the sedatives would once again take hold before long. As he drifted off back to sleep, Sakura's face appeared again, haunting him and likely haunting his dreams. He really needed to figure out what he had said, he didn't think he could handle that expression for much longer. Her intense pain was just killing him – he just could no longer cope with it. Maybe the next time Tsunade came by he'd swallow his pride and ask about Sakura. And maybe, just maybe, the Hokage would take pity on him and give him a clue.

Slowly, with her feet nearly dragging on the floor as she walked, Sakura made her way to the hospital room. She'd been stopping by every evening after her late shift ended and long after he was expected to be asleep. Without really noticing the action, she stifled a yawn. Her shift had gone even later than she'd expected. The staff shortage would need to be dealt with soon, otherwise, they would be short even more medical staff as those who were left were slowly overworked.

Upon reaching room 404, she paused, and as always, reached out for his chart. Though he wasn't her patient at the moment, professional curiosity and the fact that he would once again be her patient in the future, demanded that she take a look. And, if she were to be honest with herself, he had been too good of a friend for her not to want to make sure he was doing well and being treated as she would treat him herself.

Kakashi's most recent stint had added multiple pages to his permanent file. He would likely need some serious rehabilitation before he would be mission ready again. Sakura sighed, he would probably chafe at the delay and start stalking her and any other medical professional he thought could hurry the process along as soon as he was able.

Unbidden, Kakashi's gasped confession replayed in her mind. ""Sa-kura… sor-ry. 'M sor-ry I came back-" She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment, trying to clear the simple phrase that had been haunting her from her mind. Never in all her years of dealing with her stoic friend, had she expected to hear something so terrible pass through his lips. It had taken her breath away. It was still taking her breath away.

If ever she needed proof of his dedication to the village, that simple confession would be it. Though why he had felt it necessary to tell her, she could only imagine. She saw no reason for him to feel that way. Or, for him to apologize to her about it. It simply made no sense.

Shaking her head to clear the unwanted thoughts, the same thoughts that she'd been having for the past several weeks, she flipped to the newest notes on the chart, looking for his medications. Checking the notation she verified what she expected to see, he had been fed dinner and then been given both painkillers and sedatives to help him sleep. The pain must still be incredible if they were still giving him those. Still, that suited her purposes. If he was indeed sedated, then he should be sleeping.

Cautiously, she opened his door as silently as she could and peered in, covering an inopportunely timed yawn. Everything was as expected, he was there in his bed, fast asleep. Sakura watched for a moment to verify this – leave it to Kakashi to feign sleep in order to get her inside.

Once she was satisfied that he was indeed asleep, she stepped in and carefully closed the door behind her. Silently she made her way to his bedside. Sakura knew that if she attempted a scan or any other jutsu that he would be alerted to her presence and wide awake within seconds. Regardless of what the staff may think about Kakashi, he was still an elite and his survival skills were so deeply ingrained that any flash of jutsu would alert him instantly – no matter what his condition. Though, if she were to stop and think about it a bit more, there was always the possibility that her jutsu might not trigger his sense of self-preservation. But, that still wasn't a risk that she would be willing to take.

Her chair was right where she'd left it. Quietly, Sakura lifted and placed it a little closer to the bed. With a silent sigh of relief, she settled herself into the chair. Once comfortable, she realized just how tired she was and how good it felt to be off her feet. As Sakura enjoyed the luxury of sitting down she took a moment to absently regard the man in front of her. Kakashi didn't look much better than he did the day before, but then again, she didn't expect that he would. Not for another few weeks at the very least.

Truly it was a miracle that he'd managed to come back alive. She had asked Tsunade about the circumstances surrounding his return but had been put off – a clear indication that she didn't want Sakura to know. Sakura took a deep breath and let it out slowly, doing her best to ignore the slight hitch as she did so. It was clear to her, even with Tsunade's refusal to confirm it, Kakashi had not intended to return.

Without her conscious direction, one of her hands started to reach out to hold one of Kakashi's. Sternly she stifled the action. Touching him would also cause him to wake – something she didn't want. Sakura wasn't certain if she could deal with him just then. She was still doing her best to process his return – she'd absolutely not expected him to – and to cope with his apology. No, she didn't want to deal with a conscious Kakashi until she'd managed to accept and come to terms with his actions.

Sakura had thought that she had long ago made peace with Kakashi's inevitable demise. As Tsunade had rightly pointed out, he had returned from far worse missions with less of a chance for survival and it had never hit her this hard before. What had changed? Her mind skittered away from the question – she knew the answer. Kakashi's late-night visit had happened. Though Sakura didn't like to admit it, that visit had irrevocably changed their relationship.

He now knew that she cared far more for him than as a simple friend – and come to find out, far more than she'd suspected when they'd had that relationship altering late-night conversation. She also now knew the baffling nature of his biggest regret. It was no wonder that Kakashi's most recent brush with death was hitting her harder than expected – the stakes had been irreversibly raised. When he died...

With another yawn, her eyes feeling heavier than she'd realized, Sakura settled herself a little more comfortably in the chair. She'd stay another ten minutes or so and then make her way home and to her own bed.