- S -

Deep in the shroud of sleep and wrapped in her blankets that night, Sakura was awoken by the terrifying sound of feet coming into contact with her wooden bedroom floors. The sounds were obviously attempting to be muted meaning it was a ninja or someone with the skills of one. Pale fingers wrapped around the kunai tucked under her pillow before she launched from her bed with a sudden burst.

Swinging out with the kunai in her left hand, she enhanced her right fist with chakra to land a follow up blow. The intruder sidestepped her attack and fell into a fighting stance. Sakura brought a chakra charged kick to swing out at the attacked while pulling her torso low and propping herself up with a palm pressed against the floor. Barely dodging her attack, the intruder seemed confused by her attacks. Underestimating me can be fatal.

Aligning herself after throwing her weight into the kick, Sakura moved to the offensive and the intruder produced a kunai to clash against hers.

"Sakura?"

Naruto's hesitant voice cut through her focus and she dropped the kunai held so tightly in her grasp that it was marking her skin. I had intent to kill. My god I was ready to kill.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I? I didn't think I landed anything but –" Naruto grabbed her shoulders to steady her and only then did she realize she was shaking. "You scared the shit out of me."

"I can tell. I came by to see if you're okay after today. Did something else happen?"

Sakura took a deep breath to center herself before responding. "Naruto, you dropped into my room in the middle of the night trying to be quiet about it – I thought the worst." He offered her a disappointed look.

"You're home, Sakura-chan. No one is going to hurt you." If you only knew.

"I'm fine, Sasuke just needed to blow off steam. He'll be back tomorrow and be calmer."

Whiskered cheeks pulled down as he frowned at her. "I talked to him about it."

It was Sakura's turn to frown. "I don't need you scolding him for me, Naruto. I can take care of myself."

"Sakura-chan….." Naruto released her to sit on the edge of her bed and bury his face in his hands. "I don't know what's going on and you don't have to tell me, but sometimes you need to let me help. I'm one of your best friends, but that doesn't mean anything if you keep everything inside."

An unspoken thought floated between them. Like Sasuke did.

Suddenly, the weight of keeping secrets seemed like it was physically pulling her down – Sakura was sinking. However, in reality she was standing in her room with one of her best friends. The circumstance was possibly the safest that could exist. She was in Konoha next to the Kyuubi holder with friends who would fight for her life within miles. Despite that, she was still afraid. She still dreamt of her torture and the threats it left behind. Ninja life was not easy, and she had come to peace with killing for the greater good of her village. But having someone probe her deepest fears wasn't something one could properly prepare for.

Being in contract with the village meant she was at the disposal of the village's needs and she had always known it, but she couldn't deny any longer that she wasn't able to shut down her emotions as well as other shinobi. It made her an amazing medic, but in this instance it was her greatest weakness.

So, she let it out.

Into the hours of day she told Naruto everything about the mission and attack, every grueling detail she had kept private even from Tsunade, Ino, and even Kakashi. Tsunade and Ino…she had always struggled hearing about the difficulties Sakura faced as a ninja. Ino had chosen to pursue lower rank missions and work in her family flower shop after a particularly rough mission so hearing Sakura's full tale would destroy her. Kakashi….I've already asked too much of him. I don't even know what he'd do. Ruffle my hair and say he's sorry I'm upset?

Naruto cried, raged, and was in shock. They moved through the ranges of emotion in sync so the next day found her nestled in his lap with their eyes swollen from crying.

"Sakura-chan, I'm so sorry." He clutched her tighter to his body as he apologized.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I took a mission for my village and it needed to be done, but I'm tired of this secret. Especially keeping it from you." Pink hair was nestled under his chin and they both breathed deeply. "Sasuke can't know, I don't care what happened out there. He's already so cautious about coming back, I don't need him to have a reason to leave again." Naruto sniffled in response.

"As much as I want to go find those bastards, I know that's not what you want or you'd have asked me to do that months ago and I'm so proud of you for still training us. Tell me if you need something though, okay?"

Sakura nodded, her hair tickling his chin as she moved. "Want breakfast?"

"Pancakes?"

"Okay."

- S -

The next week passed without incident. Similar to when they had fought early into his return, there was tense silence between Sakura and Sasuke. She prescribed the day's activity and after that few words were exchanged. Naruto had attempted to talk to both individuals separately, but Sasuke refused to even discuss the topic and Sakura told him she'd already forgiven the Uchiha male's behavior. In light of her awkwardness about taking advantage of Kakashi's kindness, Sakura had resisted visiting him that entire week. She felt hopelessly setback at how rapidly, and intensely, the nightmares had turned.

Sunshine began to fade from the sky as the team, Kakashi included, gathered at Ichiraku for a post-training meal. Each ninja ate quietly as they all were dragged down by the exhaustion of the day. "Ne, Sakura-chan. How's your research going?"

Sakura put down her chopsticks to pause and reply to him. "I haven't been able to isolate the poison I'm looking for so I'm getting frustrated. Not to mention I haven't been at the hospital very often so it's a slow process."

"You'll get it, I know it! If it's never been seen you shouldn't get mad at yourself you can't find something thousands of other medics don't know," Naruto encouraged.

"You do seem to accomplish your medical goals, Hag."

Rolling her eyes at the two men, Sakura flashed them a hopeful smile. "Between Tsunade and I we should be able to isolate the compounds." Making brief eye contact, Sakura stiffened at finding Kakashi closely observing her. "So, Naruto - how's it going with Hinata?"

"Sakura-chan she's amazing! You should see…" Sakura listened intently as the blonde described his time with Hinata and how happy he was to be seeing her.

"What made you finally realize she was in love with you?" Sakura asked, taking a bite of her ramen.

"Perv told me!" Choking on her food, Sakura sputtered before calming herself enough that the choking sounds evolved into laughter.

"Kakashi had to be the one helping your love life? That's one for the books." The silver haired male shot her a glare, but Sakura paid no mind as she continued to laugh to herself.

"I'm going to go see her now, thanks Kakashi!" An orange, black, and blonde blur rushed away from the counter and Sai deposited his money next to Naruto's. Sasuke almost looked like he might stay, but after a glance between Kakashi and Sakura he dropped his money before leaving.

Sakura wrung her hands, unsure what to say. Should I say anything at all? Kakashi wasn't helping, not offering physical or verbal cues to what he wanted from her. Emerald eyes scanned the counter once, twice, and then thrice before she realized he wasn't going to make an effort and she didn't have anything of substance to say for starting a conversation. Rising while laying her money on the counter, Sakura avoided looking at the man beside her in favor of the ground.

Soft words stopped her exit. "I'm sorry if I gave you the impression you were causing me trouble." Is he…apologizing? "I'm a selfish man, after all." Silence stretched between them as he took a standing position and she wavered on the threshold of holding out for him to continue and speaking to fill the silence.

"Sensei it's alrig—"

"…I enjoy your presence." Pink lips parted and emerald eyes widened at the implications of his words.

Without a thought she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest with a stuttering heave of air. "Thank you." Whether he stiffened from the contact or the comment didn't really matter to her because he hadn't made a move to remove her.

Embarrassment suddenly struck her, and she felt ashamed of her outburst. Sakura stepped back and clasped her hands behind her back. A fiery blush overtook her face and chest as she refused to look at him. Pale fingers brushed her chin and pulled her eyes up to look at him.

Mismatched eyes communicated a thousand words in that moment, but two encompassed all the rest – Thank you. Sakura lifted a hand to wrap around his fingers barely grazing her chin.

"Can I—can…..um…"

"Yes," he confirmed without hesitation. Something was…different.

Pink hair bobbed to and fro as she nodded in assent. "Can I get some things on our way?

"Aa" They fell into step beside one another and Sakura felt her heart overwhelming with happiness. The burdens on her heart didn't disappear, but for the time being they didn't exist in her reality.

Feeling emboldened by his overt show of affection – for him anyways – she began to talk. About her medic work, about Naruto, about Ino, about anything because he was listening, and he cared in his way.

Kakashi followed her up to her room as she shuffled around. "I'll just be a minute!" she notified him before closing her bathroom door and running through her end of day routine to shower, wash her face, and brush her teeth. Reappearing in his clothing, she felt the need to explain herself. "It's all that's clean right now," she commented with a blush.

"Aa."

Kakashi's characteristic sounds and responses had come to be comforting. Consistency could be nice sometimes and it was rare in the life of the ninja.

"Let's go," he said before disappearing down the stairs. She followed and, after locking her door, they exited into the night. Surprisingly, he didn't take to the rooftops like she'd expected, and they walked along the cobblestone path in a peaceful silence.

Opening the door, he allowed her to enter before swinging it shut and locking it. Sakura glanced around the apartment as if something would be since her last visit. An odd thought suddenly struck her – one that likely had been hiding in the subconscious of her mind. Maybe it was why she'd suddenly realized her rudeness to be showing up whenever she deemed it necessary.

Maybe he had someone else here? Emerald eyes darted around the room looking for a sign of life that wasn't Kakashi's. No extra food items on the counter, no shoes, no clothing items.

Insecurity thrust her into a dark mentality. They'd never spoken of what 'this' was, what boundaries it was crossing or if it was crossing any at all. He had every right to see, stay with, and even sleep with other women. So far, he'd always been alone, even when she showed up all hours of the night, but that didn't mean he had any form of commitment. A pillow and not being abhorred to her presence didn't mean anything.

Sakura suddenly felt dumb standing in the entryway of his house, wearing his clothes, and hoping that there was something, even the tiniest something, that had grown between them past drinking and sparring partners. Foolish didn't begin to describe it.

"Maybe I better not stay."

Grey eyebrows rose slightly, and he simply stared at her from his position beside the front door.

"I've been intruding on your life. I'm sure it's getting annoying, if it hasn't already, and it's nice of you to have been this generous." Shuffling back towards the door, she bent to grab her sandals.

It was dizzying how quickly Kakashi grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to look him head on. His grip on her wrist did not release and they stood chest to chest with her looking up to meet his eyes. "Why do you assume the worst of me?"

Lips parted and eyes wide, Sakura wasn't sure how to respond to him. Thankfully, she didn't have to.

"I have never told you you're unwelcome here."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Stop saying that," he growled back.

"Of course. Sorr—"

Words left her throat when he placed his lips on her in a gentle kiss.