Chapter Sixteen

Frame

Saku had just walked into the Hokage tower when she was she spotted Itachi walking towards her. His stride was swift and sure and he had that look in his eye. Something was on his mind--and whatever it was, it was something that he thought she could help him with.

So she stood there waiting for him--because why wouldn't she? There were no hard feelings between them. He wasn't her first failed relationship, but hopefully he'd be the last.

Kakashi.

His name floated through her mind and heart causing a fierce longing to envelop her.

"Haruno. How did you get there?"

Where?

The question was rather vague and it wasn't like Itachi not to be direct.

"Get where?" Saku asked tilting her head to her left side slightly curious.

The stare that he gave her let her know that he had been deliberately vague. Whatever he wanted of her he didn't want it to become public knowledge. She should have realized immediately what he wanted but her mind had been so Kakashi centered that she was a bit slow that day. However, once she did realize what Itachi wanted she didn't even hesitate to tell him. She trusted him. He would never do anything to put them at risk.

"There is a field of lilies near the Nara land. It's there. Why?"

But he didn't answer and he was gone before she had the opportunity to question him further.

This wasn't necessarily a bad thing because shortly after her ex-fiance's disappearance the person who mattered most to her in this world entered her line of sight. His hands were shoved deeply in his pockets and he scanned the room bored.

Soon his eyes landed on her. She started to smile in greeting but that smile quickly fell away when his eyes shifted away from hers. Saku sighed. This was by no means going to be easy.

He continued on to his destination no longer paying her any heed. She needed to follow him, really. She couldn't just let him the opportunity to smooth things out pass her by so she called out trying to gain his attention.

"Kakashi!"

He glanced over in her direction but didn't pause in his movements. If anything he moved faster. Saku hurriedly ran after him. She felt rather absurd chasing after him like this but this was mainly her fault so she was willing to put aside her pride for him.

"Kakashi, you can't avoid me forever."

"Who says I'm avoiding you?" His tone was uninterested and held not a hint of warmth in it. Not that this was unusual. Perhaps the time she had spent with that other Kakashi made her heart yearn for what she once had with hers. So even if it killed her she would forge some place in his heart even if it was as a friend. Even though she longed for more….

"Kakashi, will you please just talk to me?"

Kakashi stopped walking and turned and faced Saku. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

Saku chewed her bottom lip. She said nothing at first just stared at his face with his disdainfully raised brow that made her want to cry, to shake him, to kiss him….

"I want to fix this rift that has developed between us. I don't want to live my life without you in it."

Kakashi stared at her quietly. He hadn't walked away so Saku felt emboldened to continue. She took a small step closer and reached out to him imploringly, resting her hand lightly on his arm.

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi. I never meant for any of this to happen. You are the most important person in the world to me. I, I love you."

Saku stood there in an eternity of silence waiting for some kind of response. Anything would do. He stared at her hand seemingly frozen in spot. For one wild moment hope sprag eternal. Saku thought that she had reached him.

Of course she was wrong. She had not reached him.

She quickly changed her mind about that 'anything' once he finally did respond with his voice cold, and his eyes hard. He shrugged her hand off of him.

"You love a lot of people."

And with those final words he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Saku stared at the place where Kakashi had once been. Her heart was aching and her mind reeling. She was in a bit of a daze and her mind kept replaying his departing words.

A lot of people?

Surely, he wasn't saying what she thought he was saying. Saku's fists clenched at her sides. Her nails dug so deeply into her hands that she drew blood but she was oblivious to the pain and the crimson fluid that started to trickle down her palm and drip slowly onto the floor.

Her past with men was not exactly….

Okay, she thought she had fallen in love a few men. Well, she did love them in her way.

So maybe she deserved his parting remark.

But that didn't make it hurt any less.

Canon World:

The earthquakes came at regular intervals--every seven hours by Kakashi's count like clock work. However, on this day the seventh hour earthquake was late. The people of Konoha were scared and worried. Was this the calm before the storm? Or had a solution been found?

Kakashi Hatake knew that a solution had not been found rather something was going on that he didn't know about. He had a feeling that the earthquakes had subsided momentarily because someone had come through the portal. Someone that was not Sakura. If it had been Sakura she would have found him immediately.

He hadn't had the chance to talk to Tsunade about this sudden change because the Hokage was up to her neck in meetings with the council and Suna--because the earthquakes traveled that far. As far as they knew anyway. No other nation had mentioned any problems. Not that they would.

The tremors weren't as severe in Suna as they were in Konoha but still it was a cause of dread.

Tsunade was fighting with the council. They wanted to evacuate the whole country but Tsunade seemed to think it wasn't necessary. She asked for time. She told them all she had shinobi working diligently on the problem but she needed a little more time. When she was asked who it was that was working on a solution she informed that it was a Team Kakashi.

That itself had been an issue. The council felt that with their very lives at stake that at the very least Shikamaru should be working on this issue. Tsunade however, fought them on this. She assured them that Team Kakashi was perfectly capable of producing results. She also said she'd stake her life on it.

Kakashi had been forced to sit through these meetings--as well as Naruto. They were the only two present who knew about the Sakura switch and Tsunade had swore them both to secrecy. It was a matter of national security. Of course that was part of the reason why Sasuke was not allowed to sit in. Simply put, Tsunade still did not trust the Uchiha and Kakashi had also advised Tsunade that it would not be in their best interests to have Sasuke in a meeting with the council. They would all end up dead--and after seeing what the other dimension looked like he couldn't say that he blamed the young ninja. His life could have been so much more. It was times like this that Kakashi couldn't wait for Naruto to become the Hokage. The young ninja already had plans to form a new council one he could trust and who would trust him in return.

Darkness had fallen when Kakashi finally dragged himself home. He didn't bother to turn on the light switch. He had the position of every object in the room memorized so it was highly unlikely that he would run into anything. He collapsed on his bed and his eyes closed throwing him into a fitful sleep.

Kakashi didn't know whether or not it was the nightmare that he had been encased in that woke him up or the disturbing aura that had filled the room. Nevertheless, his hand automatically wrapped around the kunai under his pillow his body caught in a fight or flight mode.

"I am not here to harm you."

At the sound of the voice it did nothing to allievate the tension in Kakashi's body. If anything, it made it worse. His eyes slowly scanned the room looking for his visitor. He found him standing in the corner with his arms folded across his chest.

Itachi Uchiha.

"How did you get here?"

"It wasn't hard. I am the future Hokage. Saku wouldn't keep any information away from me that is deemed important."

Kakashi slowly sat up. He started to turn on the light but decided that it would probably be best if he didn't. Besides their was sufficient moonlight shining through his windows to provide adequate light. So Kakashi turned his head in the direction of Itachi Uchiha and instinctively avoided looking directly into his eyes. He knew then that Itachi's presence was the reason for the temporary cease in the earthquakes. Apparently, the Uchiha had been waiting for him to return home for quite some time.

"You shouldn't be here. Do you have any idea the trouble your presence could spark?"

"I have an idea."

"Then go. You have no business here."

"On the contrary. I believe I do."

End canon world

"I need your help." Saku looked imploringly at her pink haired counterpart as she was writing notes in a patient's chart she had in hand.

"Mmm." Sakura said holding up one finger while she finished her notes. "Okay, so what were you saying?"

"I need your help."

"With what?"

Saku just looked at Sakura who looked back expectantly. Both women were oblivious to the blatant stares and whispers that their were two Sakura Harunos in their midst. But later, much later they would realize that two Sakuras in one world would create problems that would need to be solved quickly.

"Kakashi."

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but a chuckle came out instead.

"I don't find anything amusing." Saku said folding her arms across her chest.

"You would if you were me."

Saku rolled her eyes. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Depends. Does this definitely mean that you and Itachi are over?"

"Yes."

Sakura shrugged and gave a small smile.

"Then I'll help. Although I don't know how much help I can be."

"Why do say that?" Saku knew that Sakura's relationship with her Kakashi was certainly better than hers. Who better to help her win over Hatake Kakashi than the woman who knew him the best?

"I've never dealt with a Kakashi in love before…or rather a rejected Kakashi."

"I never rejected him!"

"You say potato I say potato." Sakura said using that old phrase.

"I didn't come here to argue with you."

"I know." Sakura sighed. "I'll stop by after my shift and we'll talk. That sound okay to you?"

"What time will you be done here?"

"In a couple of hours…hopefully." Both women shared an amused glance because they knew what a couple of hours could turn into in Kohona's hospital.

"Okay. I'll see you then."

Three knocks in quick succession pulled Saku from her thoughts. She glanced at the door and considered getting up to open it--but it wasn't locked.

"Come in."

Saku called and watched as Sakura walked in. She looked haggard and tired as she slowly walked inside and collapsed in an undignified heap on Naruto's sofa. Her back lay flat against the cushions and her legs were propped up on the arm of the chair. Sakura used her feet to slide her shoes off and wiggled her toes in relief from the constricting confines of the confounded apparatus.

Her eyes fluttered closed soon after. Saku stared at her from her position on the floor where she sat cross legged. Saku thought, for a moment, that she had fallen asleep but that was not the case because soon after Sakura's intense green gaze was focused on her.

"You needed help."

"Yes." Saku said quickly and with more confidence that she should have felt but she had somewhat decided on her course of action and she would follow through.

"Well, what have you done?"

"I've tried to talk to him a few times but in the end all he does is kick me out or disappear."

Sakura nodded.

"Well, what did you say?"

"I apologized. I told him I wanted him in my life. That I love him…."

Saku's voice trailed off. She was still staring in Sakura's direction but she no longer saw her. Her mind was replaying her conversations with Kakakshi thinking of things she could have said or should have said in order to win him over.

"Mmm. Well, I can automatically tell you what the problem is."

Saku's eyes immediately regained focus. How? How could she have possibly defined the problem when she hadn't even been here for ten minutes. She looked tired, and slow. Her mind couldn't be sharper than hers. For days she had been trying to--

Saku's thought process was broken when Sakura began to speak.

"Stop talking to that man. With everything that has happened between you two…words are not going to be enough. You're going to have to show him that all you see, all you want, all you desire is him. You hurt him, Saku. He lost you before he even had you and now he's angry. Angry at you. Angry at himself. And simply put he's probably not willing to put his heart out there again for you to trample all over. You're going to have to prove that you're in this for the long haul."

"So in essence you're saying I'm going to have to embark upon an endeavor to court a recalcitrant lover."

"Essentially, yes."

"But…that sounds so much like chasing after him and I really don't like the image that leaves in my mind."

"Well then ask yourself this…is he worth a chase?"

Saku bit the inside of her cheek and didn't reply verbally. Although inside her mind an answer formed.

Yes.

Kakashi is worth the chase.

Acknowledging that didn't help much. Because she had no idea how to woo a man. Especially one that wouldn't let her get near him.

It was a well known fact in Konoha that Kakashi Hatake didn't do relationships. It was more widely known that this was because he was already in love with the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It wasn't something that he had declared to anyone. One look at his face and women knew that he was too far gone for any other woman to bring him back from that line on love.

So naturally, it was a greatly celebrated thing when it was known that Saku was attached to Itachi. (At least to those women who preferred Kakashi to Itachi.) Because that meant that Kakashi would move on. Right?

Well, that wasn't the case. Although, Saku belonged to the super delicious Itachi Uchiha and even though it appeared that Kakashi had a strong distaste for Saku he never looked at another woman.

In fact, it was noted by several people that the only woman he ever looked at was the one he seemingly despised.

Love and Hate.

The line between it was so thin.

However, it seemed that Kakashi hadn't crossed it like many had hoped. In fact, Kakashi had never stopped loving the obtuse, pink haired, kunoichi. It wasn't for a lack of trying however. He tried. He tried. But, even watching her on the arm of another man wasn't enough to kill that ever present, persistant emotion.

He tried to hate her. But how could he hold on to that hate when she looked at him with such care, such concern?

So, he made her hate him. And it worked. He drove her away so he wouldn't have to deal with her anymore.

From time to time he'd see her in the village and he'd stop and stare and wish.

As time passed he'd only stop and stare.

And as more time passed…he still loved her.

Now, Kakashi wasn't one to pat himself on the back but could honestly admit that he was a patient man. It was one of the few redeemable qualities that he had and he knew it.

However, even the most patient of men can be pushed to their limits.

There was no escaping Sakura Haruno. It didn't matter which way he turned or where he went to hide one of the two were always there. Whether they were barging into his home or cornering him in the Hokage tower--there was no peace for him. He didn't ask for much. All he wanted was for every single emotion that he felt for the woman to die. Was it too much to ask?

All he really wanted to do was bury the remainder of his feelings he had for the woman and pretend they never existed in the first place. But he had a sinking suspicion that it wasn't going to happen.

He had been certain that he had pushed Saku far enough that she would leave well enough alone. He had accepted that they weren't going to have the realtionship that he wanted. Perhaps he hadn't quite let go but that was something he assumed it was going to take time and effort.

"I, I love you."

A pang went through his heart as he remembered her words. How long had he waited to hear those words? How long had his heart ached because he knew he would never hear them? How long had he watched her in the arms of other men? Watched quietly as she smiled sweetly at them? As she gave her love to everyone but the one who loved her the most?

Kakashi was patient man but he was by no means a foolish one. So no matter how the ache in his heart eased when he heard those sweet words he would not give in. He couldn't. He couldn't accept her into his heart only to have her walk away.

Kakashi was a patient man but how often did patience help when it came to love?

It certainly hadn't helped him.

Not one bit.

So it didn't matter if he constantly saw Saku's face in his home or heard her voice softly pleading with him. He would remain alone and he would get over her and he would let her go because that was the best course of action because Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake just weren't meant to be.

And as Kakashi looked down on the ground from the tree that he had been 'reading' in and saw her sitting at the base of the tree looking up at him hopefully, expectantly. Something inside him wavered briefly. But only briefly because he was a man determined.

He could tell them apart now. It was all in how they looked at him. Sakura generally looked at him with the exuberance of a child looking at their father or maybe a sister at her older brother. Saku, on the other hand, her eyes were always sad and solemn. He recognized that she was hurting but he was hurting too and had been for so long.

Kakashi jumped down from the tree landing without a sound by her side and walking away with the intent to go home.

"Kakashi."

Her arm reached out and grabbed his. Her grip was firm and he knew that she had no intention of letting him go until he heard her out. So he waited and said nothing which was becoming something of a habit between the two of them.

"I love you." She said again, more firmly than she had the previous time. And that ache that ever persistent ache….

Kakashi scoffed. "Loving someone isn't enough."

"Maybe not. All I know is that for me you're the perfect picture of what love should look like and if I can't be in your picture I'll settle for being your frame."*

She smiled at him then. A smile that was so familiar yet currently so foreign that he couldn't move. He didn't move at all when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a hug that was more fulfilling than the most luscious banquet. And then she pulled away slightly arms still around him loosely and looked up into his face and suddenly Saku found that the man in her arms was now a log.

A/N: Again many apologies for the delay in this chapter.

Cutecrazyice thanks for the looking over this chapter even though I wasn't able to post it. :(

And also thank you to another of my favorite authors selandora for agreeing to look over this for me when she has the time. You should check out her stuff. She's awesome.

*You may have recognized this. Then again you may not. It's not mine. The orignal quote went: "It's only been an hour since you left me. I wish I had somebody to blame. But you're the perfect picture of what love should look like and I want to be your frame. It's only been an hour but it feels like a million days." It came from the song A Million Days.