- K -

Standing beside the rest of the rescue team, Kakashi was more than ready to start traveling. The last couple days had been tense at best and even his dreams had become plagued with visions of Sakura. Scenes in which she needed him and he wasn't there.

Kakashi quickly summoned Pakkun and notified the nin dog that Sakura was the desired target. The dog nodded sharply before leading the team into the forests of Konoha with Sound leaming in the distant days to come.

"I have her, boss."

Kakashi was startled at the voice of Pakkun and veered after the dog. Is she home? Were we stupid getting so rushed to send out a search party?

Every question was silenced when the stench of blood hit him like a wall. A stench that emanated from the direction Pakkun was leading them. Picking up his pace, Kakashi pushed Pakkun to do the same with the rest of the team taking on the break neck pace.

Copper scents of blood stabbed at his senses intensely the seconds before she came into his line of vision. A selfish, terrible part of him wished he'd never been assigned to the mission. Sakura was within miles of the village by the time he found her, anyone else could have done it just as well. And he wouldn't have had to see her.

Every inch of her body was covered in blood of some typed. Dried, fresh, or somewhere inbetween. Her pink hair was matted and looked brown in sections from the dried blood and dirt mixture it held. There were open wounds littering her body and, in some places, weapons remained sticking from her flesh. One senbon jutting out from the skin under her collarbone sent a rush of discomfort up his spine.

Sakura seemed to have no idea where she was or that they were nearby. Emerald eyes were glazed over with a thickness of exhaustion and blood loss. Kakashi still opted to slow his pace when he got within a few meters and called her name to alert her of his presence.

"Sakura – it's us, we're here to bring you home," he told her gently with raised, open palms to show he held no weapons.

" 'Kashi?" she asked quietly as if saying it out loud would make it not true.

"I'm right here. I'm going to get you home now, you don't look so good." Pink locks swayed slightly as she turned up her face to look into his before some clarity filtered into her eyes when their eyes locked.

"Kakashi, thank Kami," were the only words that escaped her mouth before she pitched forward. He was instantly at her side to cradle her body. As much as he hated to cause more blood loss, he needed to remove a few of the weapons so he could put her in his back.

"Neji, go back to the village to alert Tsunade we need her on standby, now." Neji nodded before disappearing into the foliage back towards the village. "Ino, pull out any weapons on her front and stop the blood as much as possible. She needs to be with Tsunade as soon as possible." The blonde nodded dumbly and Kakashi was reminded every ninja in the village knew and respected the pinkette, but Sakura and Ino had been lifelong friends. He wasn't the only one struggling with the turn of events and he couldn't be insensitive to the rest of the team. "Pakkun, follow her scent back as far as you can safely then report back to me."

Remaining crouched, Kakashi shuffled around behind her to prop her up so Ino could go about pulling the senbon below her collarbone and another in her right ankle. They produced lazy streams of blood that she quickly quelled with basic healing. Ino also had to remove a series of senbon in the back of Sakura's left thigh to ensure he could grip Sakura's thighs to carry her. Once the blood was stopped, Ino nodded to Kakashi and they collaborated to settle Sakura on his back.

Sticky blood began to press against and soak into the back of his vest. The group made fast work of returning to Konoha while forcing themselves to keep a reasonable pace so as to not hurt the injured woman.

Soft groans of pain and whines of…fear?...slipped out of the kunoichi's lips into his ear. Her head was propped on his shoulder, lolling to the side, so her lips were nearly pressed against his ear allowing him to hear every sigh of pain. Sakura hadn't seemed so vulnerable to him in years and his grip below her thighs tightened.

"Kiba – scout us the quietest path to the hospital. I don't want any disturbances getting her back. The man nodded and he led Akamura to the front in order to sniff out scents and detect chakra signatures. Kakashi was more than able to do so himself, but in the moment all his focus was on Sakura.

Ino pulled up the rear of the group and he could feel her eyes scanning Sakura intensely to figure out what injuries the kunoichi had. "Watch her ribs, at least a few are broken, and her breathing is off. The weapons are fine for now, we can treat her with her front down, but I have no idea how bad her internal injuries are."

Selfish couldn't begin to encompass his behavior when he caught himself wishing Ino hadn't told him all of that. He needed to know all of that so he could handle the kunoichi with the best care. Tensing at the knowledge of how extensive her injuries were, Kakashi softened his grip on her thighs and adjusted his stance slightly so there was a small gap between their bodies. Hopefully it would prevent her from absorbing every jerk of his body as he moved from tree to tree.

Worse than knowing, however, was not knowing. They didn't know anything really. Beyond her internal injuries, they had no idea what had happened on that mission or how she had managed to struggle her way back to Konoha. Alone, injured, and confused.

Tsunade met them at the hospital entrance with a gurney prepared and the blonde woman lifted Sakura from his back by her underarms before laying her face down on the sheet strewn across the gurney. "I need blood, a stitches kit, and I want her apprentice in here now."

Ino quickly jumped into her report. "At least several broken ribs, likely a punctured lung, and a multitude of external injuries from stab wounds to bruises." Now that Sakura was no longer in his hold, Kakashi was able to hear the shaking in Ino's voice as she recited what she'd gathered on Sakura's status. The girl was managing to hold a relatively calm exterior, but a rapid glance her way spoke volumes to her emotional state.

Tsunade didn't offer any response, but it was obvious she had heard Ino. "I don't want anyone breathing a word that she'd back, I don't know what the fuck happened and until I do it will remain a secret she's back in the village." No room was left to argue as the Hokage rushed off beside her student with a select number of assistants around her. Not that Kakashi had any argument to make, it was for the best that Sakura be stabilized and ideally wake up before anyone know of her return.

Tsunade began to ramble out a medical summary as she did a preliminary scan of Sakura's body, one Kakashi wished he hadn't heard. " She has a of senbon in the back of her left thigh, senbon in her right ankle, a gash on her right temple, bruising alone her entire body, 6 broken ribs, a potential punctured lung, and a broken left wrist crudely healed..." The description faded as Sakura was taken away.

Neji and Kiba had come to join he and Ino in the fluorescent lit hallway. "Lay low, stay in your homes. In the next 48 hours I will send scrolls with further instruction. For now we are to act as if we are still out on the search mission so our being here doesn't raise any questions." Kakashi received swift nods of acknowledgement.

Though all shinobi and villagers alike held Sakura at the highest level of respect, these weren't just any individuals. These were her friends who had grown up around her. Ino had been by her side since childhood, Kiba had worked many missions with her, and Neji had been by her side as she transitioned to Jonin life. No question of his order was to be had, Sakura's well being and recovery were the top priority here.

Each shinobi departed quietly in their own way and Kakashi was left standing alone. While the idea of sitting in the waiting room seemed appropriate to an extent, he knew Sakura wouldn't be awake or up for visitors for at least hours to come. Hospitals were his most hated environment, more so than a dangerous S-ranked mission, so he allowed himself to depart for his home with only slight guilt scraping at his consciousness.

Appearing in his living room, Kakashi immediately summoned his nin dogs. A cloud of smoke gave way to his loyal animals and Kakashi didn't hesitate to give out orders. "Report."

"Her trail died a few miles back, even the blood trail disappeared. She must have put a lot of effort into hiding her tracks." Seeming to sense their master's mood, the dogs disappeared knowing they didn't have any more information to give.

Shedding his bloodied vest, he found himself snapping into a tantrum for a moment when he threw it to the floor. It felt as if the blood of his student was all over him, choking him in the copper scent that often preceded death. Roughly pulling down his mask, he took in a deep breath before continuing to strip away his clothes. He didn't even feel the motivation to pull his Icha Icha copy from the pocket of the offending vest.

Hot showers were becoming common in his days.

Maybe the gods had been listening when he had questioned his failure of his female student and cruelly decided to show him just how much he failed her.

While she suffered unknown torture at the hands of a nameless enemy, he had been in walls of Konoha complaining at the responsibilities she had left him.

I should have been there.

No, that too was a prideful thought. It assumed her mission had gone wrong because she failed somewhere that he could have succeeded. Sakura had made a name for herself of her own volition and he didn't deserve to be listed as someone who taught her. When she'd shown incredible skill for chakra control, he had only used her accomplishment as a jab at the boys on the team to make them focus more. He couldn't remember if he'd ever properly congratulated her.