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. I think I'm going to need to do more rewrites on the remaining chapters than in previous chapters so I can't make any guarantees.
Enjoy.
Chapter XIX
Kakashi set the heavy bag down before turning to close and lock the sliding glass door behind him.
"Sakura, I'm back!" he called out as he removed his sandals.
"Kakashi?" a groggy voice responded from the living room. After a long pause, she added, "I'm in the living room."
Curious, he went to check on her –she sounded as though she'd been asleep – unusual for her at this time of day. When he entered the living room, he found that he had been right, she had been sleeping. Impressive considering how uncomfortable her couch could be. Sakura had somehow wedged herself awkwardly into the corner of the couch. She had the TV on with the captions going and the volume turned down fairly low. Knowing she would not appreciate any interference from him he stayed put and waited to see what she would say.
Sakura glanced up from where she'd slumped inelegantly in her sleep and clumsily tried to shift herself up and into a more comfortable position without causing herself any additional pain.
"I fell asleep," she answered his unasked question, sounding faintly surprised that she had. "TV show must have been boring."
After a moment's unsuccessful cautious flailing she glanced up in entreaty at Kakashi, ready for him to help. Sakura had found that he would respect her desire to be as independent as possible until it became apparent that she was unable to do something on her own. She appreciated this to no end since it allowed her to make progress in her recovery. Others – namely Itsuki – would just do things for her without asking. Which, while seemingly nice, wasn't very helpful in the long run.
Kakashi nodded at her glance and moved to stand in front of her on the couch, trying to assess how he could help without inadvertently hurting her.
Sakura correctly read his moment of indecision and held her arms up to him.
"Take my hands and pull, please."
Kakashi did as she asked, pulling very gently, gradually increasing the amount of strength he used until Sakura was able to wiggle out from the corner of the couch. As soon as she was free he stopped pulling and somewhat reluctantly let her hands go. Since his return to the village, he'd had very few excuses to touch her. Consequently, he found himself making the best of it every chance he had, no matter how small.
She smiled up at him, pleased that he had only done as she'd asked and no more.
"Thanks."
"Happy to help." He glanced at the nearly silent TV. "What were you watching? It's unusual for you to have the TV on unless there was something you really want to watch."
Sakura shrugged and glanced away, not wanting to admit to the real reason she was attempting to watch TV.
"I dunno, nothing in particular I guess." She stealthily returned her attention to his face to see if he'd bought it.
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. Though Sakura had a TV, she rarely enjoyed watching it. She would much rather spend her time reading a good book than watching something she found uninteresting on the TV. He had to wonder at the closed captions – had she turned them on in the hopes of them somehow making her more interested in the show?
Sakura sighed, she'd known that he would see right through her.
"I ran out of books."
Startled, Kakashi chuckled.
She shot him an irritated glance. If he hadn't gotten her hooked on romance novels, she wouldn't be in this predicament!
Instead of responding, he turned and walked back into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with the bag he'd left by the sliding door. With a flourish, he carefully deposited it on the couch next to Sakura – placing it in such a way so that she could easily get at the books inside.
Wide-eyed, Sakura glanced at the very full bag of books, several of which were already spilling out onto the couch beside her, then up at Kakashi.
"You knew?" she asked incredulously, torn between being annoyed and delighted.
He shrugged and then gestured for her to investigate the bag of books.
"I had a feeling you might be needing more soon."
Unable to stay irritated with him she smiled and only just barely kept herself from clapping her hands together in pleasure – at this point, the appearance of a whole bagful of new books was almost like her birthday.
"Thank you!"
Sakura excitedly started picking up the books that had already fallen out of the bag, checking their backs and, then sorting them by some system known only to her.
With a half-smile, Kakashi turned to leave her to her books. He wanted to double-check the fridge and the rice cooker before he started on preparations for dinner.
Just as he was about to step out of the room, someone knocked on the apartment door.
Sakura glanced up from gleefully sorting the books with a puzzled frown.
"You expecting someone?" Kakashi asked before Sakura could say anything. That someone had made it to her apartment door without calling up first to get buzzed into the building wasn't unusual – the building was large enough that there was always someone coming or going to let people in. Not great safety practices but it was, unfortunately, the same nearly everywhere.
"No…" She shook her head, thinking. "You order dinner?"
Kakashi frowned and shook his head in response.
"No, there's a lot of leftovers in the fridge, thought I'd do a fried rice – if you put some rice on before your… ah, nap?"
Sakura nodded, ignoring his comment about her unexpected nap – he wasn't trying to pick a fight, he was giving her a reason not to have done as he'd asked. She wasn't allowed to cook yet – most things required her to stand in one place too long for her still healing internal injuries – but she was allowed to do some simple kitchen tasks. Kakashi always made sure to have at least one for her to do each day, usually, it was to wash the rice and set the rice cooker so they could have rice with dinner.
Without commenting, Kakashi changed direction and walked over to answer the door. If by some small strange chance it was some sort of an attack, she was in no shape to defend herself and she knew it.
Warily he opened the door to find an enormous floral arrangement presumably with attached delivery person, swaying gently in the hallway.
"Ms. Sakura Haruno?" a muffled voice asked from behind the floral tribute.
"Yes," Kakashi answered for Sakura as he automatically reached out for the vase he knew must be somewhere at the bottom of the explosion of flowers.
The delivery person sighed with relief and gladly handed the heavy flowers over.
"Thanks, have a nice night!"
Before either Kakashi or Sakura could say anything, the delivery person hastily turned on their heel and hurried off, glad to finally be rid of the largest floral arrangement the flower shop offered for delivery.
Unsurprised at the deliveryperson's hasty retreat, Kakashi shouldered the door shut behind him, safe in the knowledge that it would automatically lock itself, and turned to face Sakura with the massive bouquet.
"Who would send me something like that?" Sakura asked once she got a good look at the sheer size of the arrangement. She couldn't quite help but feel slightly in awe – she'd never seen an arrangement so large outside of a wedding or a funeral.
"Dunno," Kakashi responded, though he had a guess. "Let me set it down on the kitchen table so you can look for a card."
Putting action to words, he started slowly toward the kitchen, making sure Sakura was clear of his path before proceeding. Once at the kitchen table he gladly put the flowers down – they were heavier than they looked. It must have taken the delivery person quite some time to get the arrangement up all the flights of stairs, no wonder why they'd fled so quickly.
With some irritation, she didn't want any flowers, Sakura simply stared at the floral arrangement, a sinking feeling starting to settle in her stomach.
Kakashi noticed her hesitation with a slight frown – they were probably thinking the same thing.
"Don't you want to know who they're from?"
Sakura shook her head slightly.
"I have a feeling I already know…"
"Ah," Kakashi responded, knowing there really wasn't much else he could say.
Finally, with a frown in place, she started rummaging amongst the blooms for the card she was certain was there. After a moment's search, she was finally able to locate the card. Or, rather, she was able to locate the tightly folded piece of paper jammed into the cardholder. Clearly, the sender had more to say than what would fit on the small card that was standard for most deliveries.
Sakura groaned, it was as she'd thought. She turned her attention to Kakashi, holding the tightly folded paper between her thumb and forefinger as far away from herself as she could.
"I don't want it."
"You want me to see who it's from?" he asked doubtfully, unsure he wanted to see the contents of the note.
She shook her head, she'd recognized the handwriting on the folded paper.
"It's from Itsuki, I can recognize his handwriting." She extended her arm a little further away from herself in his direction.
Hesitantly he took the note from her and held it, unsure what to do with it.
"I don't want it," Sakura repeated.
"The note or the flowers?" he asked, a little confused.
"Both."
Kakashi nodded agreeably, aware that she needed him to do something though unsure just what.
"There's a senior center across the park… Could you bring the flowers there?"
Kakashi nodded, he didn't need to ask how she knew that they would take her flowers.
"I'll take care of it in the morning… unless, you want me to try and get rid of them tonight?"
Sakura shook her head, already feeling relieved just knowing that the flowers would likely be gone before she woke in the morning.
"No, tomorrow is fine… thank you."
Kakashi handed her the note and took the flowers out of sight, back into the living room where he placed them on the side table she kept by the door.
Sakura glanced down at the folded paper – she didn't want to read it.
When Kakashi returned, he found her still staring at it.
"You'll have to read it eventually but you don't have to do it now if you don't want to... don't think he's on the schedule until the day after tomorrow."
Sakura glanced up briefly before grimacing and returning her attention to the folded paper.
"It's just going to make me angry."
Kakashi sighed and refrained from commenting. She was right and she knew it. She didn't need him to tell her that.
After a moment Sakura sighed and unfolded the paper. Better to get it over with quickly. Once she'd read the note, Sakura groaned, it was worse than she'd thought.
"That bad?"
"Ugh. He wants to take me out to celebrate my promotion – once I'm well enough to go, of course."
"Ah…" Kakashi had no real response to that – he'd already said his piece on Itsuki, it would do no good to reiterate it now.
"I'll tell him the date all the medics go out for dinner, Minako has already told me they were planning something for when I'm better. Maybe then he'll get the hint."
Kakashi refrained from commenting. He didn't think Itsuki was going to give up any time soon. At least, not unless she explicitly told him to… and even then… he couldn't be certain Itsuki would. Regardless, he was well aware that anything he may have to say on the subject would be most unwelcome.
Sakura shook her head in disbelief not only at Itsuki's continued persistence but also that he'd thought to get into her good graces with flowers. After she lost her baby, she'd surprised quite a few people by immediately donating all the flowers she received while recovering. Consequently, everyone knew she didn't care for them. Because people had found it to be such an odd thing, the whole hospital had talked about it for weeks.
"I just don't get it – what possessed him to send flowers? I don't even like flowers! Everyone knows that! They make a mess and they smell! I'd much prefer a stack of books – odorless and hours of entertainment..."
"She donated my flowers!" Itsuki exclaimed before Kumiko could even register his presence.
Sensing that it would be best to make a run for it, Kumiko's friends hastily gathered their coffees and bolted from the table, giving an irritated Kumiko quick waves as they hurried out of the cafeteria.
Annoyed, she'd been in the middle of a juicy gossip session with her friends, Kumiko shifted her attention to the nearly irate man in front of her.
"Who did what now?"
"Sakura! She went and donated the flowers I sent to her!" Itsuki exclaimed as he plopped himself down in one of the vacated chairs. Shoving one of the hazelnut croissants that he knew Kumiko liked across the table to her.
Kumiko rolled her eyes, somehow unsurprised. Itsuki never listened. He even brought her a hazelnut croissant – one of her least favorite pastries. She'd tried gently telling him a few times that she didn't really care for them – would much prefer a cheese danish… no luck. Absently she wondered if it was Ms. Haruno who liked hazelnut croissants, or if she too had the same problem.
"And?" she asked as she took the last sip of her nearly cold coffee and eyed the croissant with distaste.
"What do you mean, and?!" He nearly spit out his wad of gum in his irritation.
"Why did you send her flowers?" Kumiko asked idly as she contemplated her now empty mug, resisting the urge to be polite and eat the croissant.
"For her promotion! What do you mean, and?!"
"Everyone knows Ms. Haruno doesn't care for flowers. Coffee, tea, an occasional sweet… or, lately, I hear books are what you want to give her. Definitely not flowers."
"What?!"
Kumiko eyed him wearily, wondering if he was actually listening this time.
"Everyone at the hospital knows by now that Ms. Haruno doesn't care for flowers – she donated all the flowers she got after her last accident. It was a bit of a big deal – people talked about it for ages after." She shrugged, glanced at her watch and, pushed herself to her feet. "Whoops, got to go – my break was over five minutes ago! If I don't hurry, the front desk will be left unattended! See you later!"
Hastily Kumiko rushed off, fighting the very real urge to get a refill on her mug as she went past the coffee on her way out of the cafeteria – leaving her croissant behind on the table, untouched.
Kakashi took his seat across from Sakura and started in on his breakfast once he made sure she was, mostly, consuming hers. They sat eating in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
Finally, Kakashi felt compelled to speak.
"So, what's the plan for today?"
"Plan?" she asked, looking up from pushing a bit of extra fluffy scrambled egg around on her plate.
He nodded, noticing that she wasn't eating as much as she should be but unable to scold her for it. Not on that day, anyway.
"For the Memorial Service and Name Ceremony. Are they sending someone to come get you?"
Surprised, she sat for a moment staring at him.
"Um, I'm not entirely certain. I just said I wanted to go when Minako brought it up on her last visit. She said that arrangements would be made for me. I didn't think to ask any further."
He nodded meditatively.
"They're probably sending someone for you then." He thought for another few moments. "I'm guessing, at the very least, they'll have a wheelchair waiting downstairs for you. I don't think you can make it the whole way to the Memorial from here and still be in any kind of condition to handle the actual Memorial Service and Name Ceremony."
Sakura frowned, she hadn't really stopped to consider the logistics. Her brain was foggy with medication. Never mind the fact that Kakashi's nearly constant presence was beginning to throw her more than a little off-balance. Sakura couldn't imagine what he was doing but she wasn't going to complain.
He was nearly always around or close at hand these days. Though he would leave whenever she had a medical appointment, wanted time to herself, or if her friends were due to stop by but, more often than not, he'd turn up again later when the coast was clear. And, sometimes she found, that if she really wanted him to turn up again, all it would take would be for her to step out on her balcony and admire the view. If he didn't have a meeting or wasn't running errands he would generally materialize sooner rather than later. If she had to guess, she'd have to say he must have a comfortable loitering location somewhere nearby where he spent his time outside of her apartment. Though she couldn't really say where it was exactly since she'd never managed to spot him. Granted, she hadn't tried too hard – letting him keep his secret seemed like a good way of keeping him around – if only for a little bit longer.
Sakura also found that even when he wasn't there when she went to bed at night, he was always there in the morning to make her breakfast. She knew he was spending the night – he only rarely returned to his own apartment, usually for clothes or more books for her – but couldn't quite pin down if he was spending the night in bed with her or if he had somehow managed to deal with her lumpy couch. Either way, he had pretty much moved in and taken over the holes in her schedule where she didn't have anyone on hand for long stretches of time. Whether he'd been asked to do this or was doing it of his own volition, she wasn't sure and didn't want to ask.
She shook her head slightly and returned her attention to the issue at hand, realizing that he'd been patiently waiting for her response while she was wool-gathering – something that happened more often than Sakura would like to admit. At least she could blame the medications she was taking for that though – as recommended by both Tsunade and Dr. Kikuchi she'd taken much higher doses that morning since she knew it would be very difficult both physically and emotionally.
"I-I honestly hadn't thought any more about it." She grimaced a little, she'd not wanted to think much about the Memorial Service and Name Ceremony. It somehow made things – like her loss of friends and her promotion – more real, harder to handle. "A wheelchair though?"
Kakashi observed her knitted eyebrows and faint frown.
"I take it that you don't like the idea?"
She shook her head, flushing a little – well aware she was being silly.
"Not really – I guess it's just my pride getting in the way." Sakura sighed. "You're right, of course. I can't make it all the way there on my own." She paused as another thought hit her. "This building doesn't have an elevator… I can't even make it down the stairs on my own."
He raised an eyebrow and didn't bother to hide a slight smile. She was missing the obvious.
Sakura caught his expression and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"What?"
Unable to prevent himself, Kakashi chuckled.
"Aren't you missing an obvious solution to your problem?"
She looked at him blankly – her brain foggy and unable to see what she was missing.
He shook his head slightly, blaming the medications for Sakura being so slow on the uptake that morning.
"I'm going to be going to the Memorial Service and Name Ceremony you know."
"Yes?" Sakura started before pausing once again. "Oh… I see... "
Though these days Kakashi was always underfoot, Sakura knew that she couldn't take his presence for granted. The moment she did…
Cats always disappeared the moment you assumed that they would be there.
He chuckled at her surprise.
"Just tell me what works best for you and I'm sure I can get you to the Memorial in one piece."
"Kakashi… are you sure?"
He nodded and continued eating, hoping she'd let it drop.
She stared at him for a moment, their going together would only further link them together in the minds of the general population. It was bad enough that the Council had gotten wind of his hanging around and whatever else they'd heard but if they were to start turning up in public together again…
He frowned slightly, wanting to end the conversation. His actions since his return had already irrevocably linked them together in the eyes of the village. Hell, his return alone had done that – never mind everything else he'd been doing lately.
"Eat your breakfast before it gets cold," he gently prompted her, hoping it would be enough to get her to drop the subject.
Sakura opened her mouth to protest.
He sighed.
"It will be a long and difficult morning, you're going to need a good breakfast to help get you through."
She closed her mouth, he was right. The medications she'd taken before breakfast needed a good deal of food in the stomach otherwise they'd cause problems. With a sigh Sakura returned her attention to the breakfast that Kakashi had thoughtfully prepared for her, noticing for the first time that he had made her all small and easily digestible foods – things that weren't likely to upset her stomach during what was going to be an emotional morning.
An hour or so later, after Sakura had finished eating and changed into her formal medic's uniform and Kakashi into his formal ANBU uniform, the two stood staring at each other in her living area.
"So," Kakashi started, eyeing Sakura speculatively, "how do you want to do this?"
She frowned and shook her head.
"I don't know… I suspect that no matter how we do it, it's going to be uncomfortable for me."
He grimaced in response, Sakura was likely right.
"I'm guessing it's either piggyback or cradle-carry since I don't think you can actually do stairs, even if I support you, and trying to let you hop down one stair at a time seems like a terrible idea."
She nodded, he was right. Tsunade had already warned her that stairs were not an option for some time to come. Choices narrowed down to two, she eyed his back encased in hard ANBU armor along with the short sword strapped diagonally across, before baring her teeth in a cross between a grimace and an open-mouthed frown.
Kakashi, seeing her unspoken concerns, chuckled.
"Cradle-carry it is."
Sakura swallowed and nodded slowly, no matter what he did, it was going to be awkward and likely unpleasant. Just standing for more than a few minutes was enough to cause some faint discomfort. She couldn't even begin to imagine how painful having him pick her up would be. Granted, she'd much rather that he was the one to do it rather than whoever was sent to collect her from the hospital – especially since she was fairly certain that Itsuki would ensure that he was the one sent to collect her. He hadn't taken the fact that she'd donated his flowers very well and she wasn't looking forward to facing him again, especially on a day that was likely to be as tough as this one was likely to be.
Kakashi allowed his expression to soften as he imagined her concerns.
"I'll go slowly and will stop any time you ask me to, okay?"
Feeling slightly better about it she nodded again – she knew Kakashi would never intentionally cause her any pain.
"Thanks."
Ever so carefully, he crouched down to gently scoop her up – allowing her to sort of lower herself down into his arms and then doing his best to keep his actions smooth and slow and avoid compressing her midsection unnecessarily as he stood up. Once he had her up and cradled against his chest, he focused on her face once again, she'd lost some color but wasn't deathly pale… yet.
"You okay, Sakura?" he couldn't help but ask with genuine concern.
She closed her eyes and swallowed, waiting for the flare of pain to subside – impressive considering how much pain medication she'd taken.
"Yes, I think so."
"Okay." He eyed her for a moment, looking for some sign that she was telling a fib, finding none he continued – against his better judgment.
"Let's go."
Slowly and carefully, they made their way down the stairs. Finally, outside Sakura's apartment building, Kakashi surveyed the area. Upon finding no one waiting for them, he made his way across the street to the little park and settled Sakura down on one of the benches.
Once seated, Sakura let out a long slow breath. The trip down the stairs alone had taken a lot more out of her than she'd expected.
Concerned, Kakashi leaned in to take a closer look at her.
"Are you okay?"
She inhaled slowly and exhaled equally slowly before responding. "I think so… thanks." After a moment's hesitation, she admitted, "that was worse than I was expecting though."
Kakashi frowned and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"Are you sure you're up for this? I can bring you back upstairs and you can spend the rest of the day just recovering comfortably in bed."
She shook her head.
"No, I need to go."
Not liking it but understanding, he sighed.
"Okay. But, you tell me the moment you think you can't handle it any longer or just plain want or need to go home."
She smiled weakly.
"Deal."
Sakura stood in a small group with the four other surviving medics. The Memorial Service and Name Ceremony had been as painful and emotionally draining of an experience as she had been expecting. Survivor's guilt was real.
Now that the event was complete, only her pride was keeping her standing. Upon arriving in a wheelchair pushed by Itsuki, a watchful Kakashi trailing behind, Sakura had insisted upon standing through the event with her fellow medics – much to Itsuki's vocal disapproval and Kakashi's silent dismay. However, Kakashi sided with her in the argument, causing Itsuki to stomp off in a huff, effectively abandoning her there with Kakashi.
Just as Sakura wrapped up a bit of small talk with her surviving medic teammate, the pain practically demanding that she collapse, she sensed Kakashi's silent presence next to her. An arm stealthily slipped under her long medic's coat and around her back to support her without being obvious about what he was doing. Since Kakashi was in full ANBU gear, his porcelain mask in place, the already thinning crowd parted a little for them – an assumption made by all that Sakura's presence had probably been requested elsewhere. As they headed back toward Sakura's apartment, the remaining people started to drift away, back to their homes, or to resume their interrupted days.
Once they were out of sight, he felt Sakura slump into him. Unsurprised, he tightened his grip on her as carefully as he could and continued for another few steps, looking for the wheelchair they had left in an alley, before coming to an irritated halt. It was not where they'd left it – Itsuki had probably brought it back to the hospital in a fit of pique.
Suddenly breathing heavily, no longer able to keep her feet under herself, Sakura felt her legs start to give out from under her.
"Sakura?" he asked, though he had expected her to fade as soon as they were out of sight, Kakashi had not expected quite such a dramatic change.
Quickly, Kakashi managed to scoop her up once again before she fully collapsed, wincing as he imagined the flare of additional pain the motion likely caused her.
"Sakura?" he asked again, this time urgently.
"Something's... not right…" she gasped around a sudden wave of incredible pain.
Eyes wide, Kakashi stood stock still for a moment, trying to decide on his course of action. There might still be a medic at the Memorial behind them but those who had remained after the Memorial Service and Name Ceremony were still in pretty rough shape. And, not one of them had been cleared to return to active duty yet. The other medics who had attended the Memorial Service and Name Ceremony had immediately returned to work as soon as the event was complete – that was at least half an hour ago, probably longer. He had two other options.
"The hospital?" he asked.
Sakura shook her head. "No…" she paused. "Maybe…" She gritted her teeth as a wave of pain rolled over her. "Dunno… might be too far..."
Needing no other urging, Kakashi took off toward the hospital. Sakura's apartment was on the way. If she needed to stop, he could stop there before either continuing on to the hospital or remaining there and summoning help.
"'Kashi… stop," Sakura grunted as they approached her apartment.
Obligingly, Kakashi paused in front of her building.
"Sakura?" he asked, afraid to look down at her.
"Need… down…" she gasped. "Can't…"
He glanced at the small park, there were benches where he could settle Sakura while he summoned help. She'd probably have immediate relief from some of her pain but would be something of a spectacle while they waited for someone to come and help. On the other hand, Sakura would likely need to be kept in a cleaner more contained environment such as her own bedroom. Her apartment was just up a few flights of stairs. If he hurried…
Steeling himself, he shifted his gaze down at her to pose the question.
"Park or apartment?" he asked tersely, doing his best to hide the rising fear, she did not look good.
"'part'ment. Hurry." she gasped around the pain – knowing that she would likely be in agony by the time Kakashi was able to put her down but that she would rather be there than out in the open.
"Okay, hang on. I'm going to try and take the stairs a few at a time."
"T'nks," she murmured, in a pain-induced fog, only half-conscious.
Adrenaline surging, Kakashi practically flew up the stairs and faster than he'd thought possible found himself shifting Sakura so he could unlock her apartment door. She didn't even stir at the movement that likely caused her more agony. Full of fresh concern, he glanced down – having been unable to do so on the panic-fueled climb up the stairs – and found that her eyes were closed and her face had lost all color. He couldn't tell if she was still conscious.
Not panicking – yet – he quickly brought Sakura to her room, laid her down on her bed, and removed her shoes. He knew that just putting her down would have to have some sort of positive effect on her. Remove the pain he was causing her at the very least.
For a moment Kakashi stood, adrenaline still pumping and making him jittery, uncertain how he should proceed. He had made contingency plans but was now uncertain if they were enough.
Before he could try to rouse Sakura to see what she wanted him to do, Sakura's eyes fluttered half-open.
"'Kashi – where my 'mergency button?" she asked, clearly in incredible pain.
"What? Aren't you wearing it?" he asked feeling the panic he was desperately trying to keep at bay begin to close in on him.
She groaned, her head rolling from one side to the other.
"Noooo… at medic cer'mony… din't t'ink need it. Not...wi'you there..."
Before Kakashi could respond someone knocked on the front door before opening and entering the apartment.
"Wha?" Sakura asked blearily.
Kakashi smiled faintly, her faith in him not at all misplaced.
"I expected you to overdo it."
Sakura knit her brows in confusion and tried to make sense of Kakashi's statement.
"I arranged for someone to come and check you out after the Memorial Service and Name Ceremony – I just didn't expect you to be this badly off…"
Before Sakura could respond, Minako entered the bedroom, all the color draining from her face upon seeing Sakura.
"Ms. Haruno!" Minako exclaimed in tones of shocked horror as she rushed over to Sakura's side.
Hastily, Kakashi backed away, allowing Minako to do her work.
Restlessly Kakashi found himself pacing back and forth in Sakura's living room. To give Sakura her privacy, he had left the room once Minako had started her exam. If she needed him for anything, he was certain she wouldn't hesitate to call. Now, he found himself unable to settle down.
Several minutes later found Kakashi in the kitchen putting a kettle on to boil. He didn't feel like tea but thought it would be hospitable to offer some to Minako when she emerged from Sakura's room. Anxiously he went back to prowling around Sakura's living room – too unsettled for even one of his beloved orange companions.
His wanderings slowly brought him to the hall and down it, idly he stopped at her little desk, automatically glancing down to where Sakura had been keeping the filled out forms he'd given her when she was pregnant. He felt a deeper pang of unease upon noticing once again that they were missing. He hadn't been able to bring up their absence with Sakura… but he did wonder what had happened to them. A small part of him queried if she had filed them anyway. Though he honestly couldn't imagine her doing so, a small part of him couldn't help but question how he would feel about it if that was indeed the case.
In the papers' place, he found Sakura's emergency button, unable to stop himself, he picked it up, wondering if he should press it even though Minako was there. Indecisively he fingered the button for a moment before pocketing it – he should have more faith in Minako. She'd gotten him patched up and back to the village in one piece after all. Shaking his head he resolutely walked back to the living room where he resumed his pacing.
Maybe twenty minutes later, Kakashi heard Sakura's door open and Minako emerge. Doing his best not to appear as anxious as he felt, he stopped his pacing and returned to the kitchen to meet the young medic.
Minako carefully closed the door behind herself as she exited Sakura's bedroom. She slowly made her way down the hall. A small part of her wondering if Mr. Hatake would be waiting.
Kakashi met Minako where the hall met the kitchen, right next to Sakura's desk.
Before Kakashi could ask, Minako decided to put his immediate concerns to rest.
"Ms. Haruno is going to be just fine. I've done what I could for her, administered a strong painkiller and a sedative. She should sleep soundly and painlessly through tomorrow morning."
He exhaled slowly, unaware that he had been holding his breath.
"What happened?"
Minako shook her head slightly, this was beyond her expertise.
"I'm not entirely certain but it looks to be that her extended time standing caused a lot of strain on her still-healing injuries. She has had extensive work done in her abdominopelvic cavity and from what I can see things weren't ready to be in an upright position for an extended period of time." She paused, suddenly thinking of a second possible mitigating factor, before continuing, "I wouldn't be surprised if she also locked her knees at some point – the pain must have been excruciating." Minako waved a hand wearily. "Regardless, she's going to need some serious rehab to come back from this."
Kakashi's eyes widened as the low level of panic he'd been feeling suddenly roared back to life.
"I thought you said she was okay?" he asked, a hint of fear entering his voice.
Minako hurried to assure him. "She is!" She paused before adding, "Well, she will be."
"Will be?"
"I've done everything for her that I can do – managed to shift things back to where they need to be. She will still need to be seen by a more senior medic than myself to make sure everything is as it should be – and will stay that way."
Kakashi nodded. Guessing that he would need to spend some time picking up that evening as Tsunade was sure to put in an appearance in the morning. He wasn't certain how obvious he should make it that he had more or less moved in – leaving only when there were others present or Sakura was having a good day.
"In the meantime, Ms. Haruno will need to stay on bed rest – absolutely no moving about on her own for the few times she does have to get up."
He nodded again. This was not unexpected.
Not really thinking that Kakashi was planning on staying with Sakura for the entire duration, Minako continued on, "I'll have her care schedule updated so that there are fewer long periods during which Ms. Haruno will be alone during the day." She shot him a sideways glance. "That won't help with the overnight shifts though."
Kakashi knew that Minako knew damn well that he would be taking the overnight shifts with Sakura as he had been since his return to the village.
"Tea?" he asked, gesturing for Minako to take a seat at the table, knowing from her posture that she would need a bit of a rest before she could head back to the hospital.
Suddenly realizing that she was very tired, Minako nodded, knowing that he had gotten her less-than-subtle message.
"Yes, please."
Kakashi poured her a mug of tea from the pot he had been keeping warm and slid it in front of the drained woman. Adding a sugar pot and creamer before taking the seat across from her. Assuming that she would need energy, he had made black tea so she could fortify it with sugar and cream if she was so inclined.
"Thank you for coming," he started while she added some sugar and, after hesitating for a moment, some cream to her tea.
Startled at the genuine tone of appreciation in Kakashi's voice, she glanced up from the fortifying liquid before her to take in his slightly strained expression.
"You saved my life."
He shrugged.
"It was a mission."
"But, you didn't have to-"
He waved a hand.
"You got me back to the village – call it even."
With a frown, she nodded, not liking it but still seeing his logic. Instead of disagreeing, she changed the subject slightly.
"Ms. Haruno saved my child's life."
Kakashi nodded.
"She saves a lot of people's lives."
Minako shook her head, determinedly.
"No."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
Minako averted her eyes.
"She saved my child at the expense of her own."
Kakashi froze in place for a moment, tea lifted to his masked lips, before continuing on to take a belated sip. He saw no reason to deny it, but also no reason to confirm it either.
Upon receiving no response she glanced up to find his impassive expression. She knew she was right.
"She saved my child at the expense of her child, your child."
Again, he froze, uncertain how he should respond. Minako was a medic and likely one who was in a position to know that Sakura had indeed been pregnant.
"I saw the paperwork," she continued, well aware that he was not going to confirm anything. "I saw it the first time I came by to check on Ms. Haruno." She glanced down at her tea. "It didn't seem like something that should be left out like that." She glanced back up at him. "So, I filed it all for her."
Just barely able to prevent himself from spraying the inside of his mask with a mouthful of lukewarm tea he managed to quickly swallow it instead.
"Excuse me?"
Uncertain why he had reacted so oddly, she nodded.
"Sure. Everything's in the top drawer of her desk – I didn't think I should go digging around her personal papers so I figured she could file them properly later when she's up to dealing with paperwork."
Kakashi nodded, feeling both relieved and disappointed and uncertain as to why.
"Thank you. I'm sure Sakura appreciates that."
"Yes, her private papers are none of anyone's business."
They sat in mostly comfortable silence for a while, drinking the now cooling tea.
"I'm sorry about Genji and Kenji," Kakashi offered once the silence started to become strained.
Minako inhaled sharply and glanced away, knowing how hard it must be for him to say it.
"Thank you. They-" she cut herself off to get a better hold of her emotions. "Those two idiots never did have any common sense… or listen to orders."
Kakashi nodded, knowing that he didn't really have anything nice to add – anyone who knew the two shinobi in question knew there was a lot more to it than that.
Minako caught his lack of comment and chuckled sadly.
"We both know they didn't run in to try and help. They probably thought they would save the day somehow. Idiots. I-I can only hope that investigators are right and whatever Genji and Kenji did, didn't contribute to… to what happened." She stopped, unable to continue for a few moments.
Minako found herself intently studying her tea. Deep down she knew, as did anyone who knew Genji and Kenji, that it was just possible that the two misguided shinobi may have thought they were somehow helping by rushing in before the second wave of first responders entered the wing. Though official investigations had ruled the possibility as unlikely, she couldn't help but worry that their actions may well have triggered that second explosion. After a few moments, and a silent vow to start going to the grief counselor again, she cleared her throat and picked up the awkwardly abandoned conversation.
"It was kind of the higher-ups to give those two the benefit of the doubt and use what they decided to interpret as Genji and Kenji's final selfless act as a mitigating factor to… to what they did to Ms. Haruno." She stopped again, realizing that she was phrasing it badly. "It still doesn't even begin to make up for what they did… Though their families were able to collect death benefits, I don't think anyone argued the decision to exclude them from the Memorial..."
Kakashi nodded again, knowing that it would do no good for him to voice an opinion on the matter. That those two idiots had been killed in the second blast had likely solved any number of problems and neatly removed a source of ire from him. His self-control had been sorely tested each and every time he ran into them. They were lucky that they never challenged him to another sparring session – he was fairly certain he wouldn't have been able to control himself a second time around. Kakashi had no idea how Sakura could possibly have been dealing with it – as she had been coping far better than he had – and had to attribute it to her counseling sessions. A part of him still wondered at what could have been… and a smaller part of him wondered if Sakura did too.