- K -

"You're just as sexy as Tazawa said."

The calculating expression Sakura wore melted into a ghostly white and she slackened against the man, digging the kunai further into her side. Kakashi weighed his choices. From her reaction, there was some personal relationship between she and Tazawa. This enemy would be most useful alive to be interrogated because it seemed there was a target on Sakura's back without clear reason as to why.

But I was to tear him apart, I want t— He cut off his useless fantasizing, there would be time later to trade ideas with Ibiki.

Kakashi was off to the side from the man, unseen with the attacker's full attention on the men before him. Using his sharingan, he noticed the injury to the man's left leg. Exploiting that weakness by appearing to the man's left would allow Kakashi to attack while the man was delayed in his response time. So that's what he did. Sakura grimaced as the kunai was jostled in her abdomen when the strange man tried to defend himself from Kakashi's incoming form. It took only a harsh blow to the temple for Kakashi to render the attacker unconscious and he allowed the bastard to fall roughly to the forest floor below.

Sakura fell to a crouched position and grasped the handle of the kunai. She appeared to mentally count in her head before pulling the blade free while her chakra glowed and began closing the wound.

Naruto leapt forward to wrap an arm around the kunoichi and scan her for injuries. "Sakura-chan, are you alright?! That must hurt a lot, we need to hurry back to Konoha."

"We cannot fail our mission, Dickless. We haven't found the scroll and Hag seems to have healed herself." While the artist seemed to speak in a callous way, he was right.

Sasuke corrected the man. "We haven't failed. Kai!" The illusion faded to reveal the bodies of the Suna nin lain against a tree. "It appears these rogues only attacked at the last moment when we were about to discover the bodies. We can retrieve the scrolls from their packs."

Dropping down to rifle through the bag of the now unconscious enemy leader, Kakashi produced the smallest scroll in the pack – likely the mission statement. The jonin read aloud his findings. "Intercept Suna nin traveling to the village hidden in the leaves. The information is meant for Haruno Sakura. She has a generous bounty on her head – dead or alive." There was a signature at the bottom he couldn't decipher due to the sloppy cursive and he brought the scroll to the rest of the team to read.

A single glance at the scroll and Sakura was deadly still. "Fucking hell. That's Tanzawa's signature. He's targeting my research - and me."

Kakashi stared at her for a moment before the pieces fell together in a way that left him staring blankly at the pink haired woman being comforted by Naruto.

It was Tanzawa, whoever the hell that is. He's the one who poisoned her – who tortured her.

Straightening, Sakura looked back at her teammates who seemed unsure of how to proceed. "Let's take the bodies and this nin back to Konoha so Suna can retrieve them for a proper burial. I don't want these scrolls out in the open any longer than they need to be."

Before she could attempt to, Kakashi tied the limbs of the unconscious leader and slung him over his back. Sakura clearly felt relieved despite trying her best to hid it and he wanted her to be as far from the stranger as possible. Naruto and Sai went about disposing of the enemy bodies before the three-man Suna team was collected by the rest of the Leaf team along with the precious scrolls.

"Unless we really need a break, I'd like to go without stopping home." Nods responded to her proposition and they set off with Sakura taking the lead. While they traveled, Kakashi made no effort to hide that he was staring at her and he knew she felt mismatched eyes on her the entire time, flickering down to her blood-stained shirt occasionally.

- K -

Walking back through the gates of Konoha at dusk brought sighs of relief from all but Kakashi as they made their way to the hospital to deposit the Suna nin. Sakura went through the motions of setting up the deceased in the morgue with a blank look on her face as she slid the metal doors closed.

"Sakura-chan, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to talk to Tsunade then go home to rest - turn in your mission reports tomorrow." The blonde looked ready to protest, but she made a hasty exit before he could say anything.

Silence overtook the room for several long moments before Naruto spoke again. "Kakashi, go after her."

Kakashi simply raised his eyebrows at the orange clad man. "Why?"

"Because you're the one she's gonna talk to." Kakashi's eyes narrowed, but he exited the morgue ignoring the eyes of his teammates. Maybe Neji wasn't the only one who picked up on something. They're more perceptive than I am at this shit.

- S -

Sakura made the long trek up to Tsunade's office with her scrolls in tow. Tomorrow she would look through them, today she only had the energy to report. Pushing open the doors to Tsunade's office, she caught the woman's surprise at her rapid return. "The Suna nin were killed."

Tsunade nodded and considered her response. "I hope the Kazekage will be patient, I may send Naruto there to talk things out and bring back the bodies after we send a scroll." Tension radiated between the two of them. "What else?"

"I'm a wanted target." The busty woman only stared at her for a few seconds.

"By Tanzawa?"

"Hai," she replied softly, dragging a hand back through her matted hair. Traveling back with a deceased nin on her back hadn't been kind to her body. "I'll go through the recovered scrolls tomorrow."

"Maybe you should take the day off."

"You know as well as I do that I can't – this is more about Sasukethan it is me. I want to fix this so he'll never know." Tsunade sighed, standing suddenly and crossing the room to her apprentice. Without warning she enveloped her student in a crushing hug. No further words were exchanged as Sakura began to quietly cry against Tsunade's chest. Minutes passed before she shifted and the blonde released her. "This is what's best for me, I need to know the details. I need to know I'm not a risk for the village and that Sasuke will be safe here."

"Sakura…" Tsunade's voice held a warning as she stared at the pinkette. "Every ninja in this village comes back wanted and we accepted the dangers of Sasuke coming home. You shouldn't try assume his presence in Konoha is enough to be our downfall, have a little faith in us." Sakura felt a flicker of nostalgia as Tsunade spoke. "I'm good for more than just a youth jutsu, for Kami's sake."

A light laugh escaped Sakura's lips and she gave a genuine smile. "You didn't teach me to underestimate those around me." Under the busty blonde's tutelage, Sakura had grown a thick skull and received criticism well – even seeking it out to grow. Honesty had the ability to pull her from a looping fear that her choices could hurt those she loved.

Sakura was motivated by her love for others which made her vulnerable to acting rashly on behalf of others. Tsunade knew her well enough to interrupt her on that path.

"I always remember. I'll be off!" Waving over her shoulder, Sakura made her way out of the tower and back toward her house.

Kicking off her ninja boots once she entered the door, Sakura closed her eyes as she placed a hand on the back of her couch. Suddenly, her whole body felt weak and as if it would crumple at any moment. "Fuck…" escaped her lips as the intimidating challenge of getting upstairs crossed her mind.

"Sakura."

Emerald eyes flew open and wobbly legs propelled her backwards towards the front door as she grabbed for a kunai out of her pouch. Before she could even grasp the handle, her fighting stance slackened. "Kakashi, you can't do that," she scolded, leaning her head back against the wall her body was now pressed against.

"I didn't mean to startle you."

"Well, you did startle me." He glared at her with his arms crossed. Sakura suddenly let her legs fall from below her to slide down the wall and crumble to the floor. Allowing her head to fall forward onto her arms crossed over her knees, she let out a heaving sigh. "I don't know what to do."

They didn't have to voice what she was talking about. Kakashi stared at her as she continued shaking on the floor. "Sakura." Her eyes lifted to meet his and tears shimmered on her pale face in the dark of the house. "Get up, you need to rest."

"I can't."

"You can."

For once his logic pissed her off. "I can't. You don't understand, but I just can't. I don't know what I should do, and I don't feel safe even though I know I'm home now." Pink eyebrows scrunched together as she attempted to gather her thoughts. I want to tell him, it hurts how much I want him to comfort me, but I can't give up now.

"I don't care if I don't understand," he began, immediately spiking her temper with her vulnerable state. "I'm not here to understand if you don't want to tell me. I'm here because you're not taking care of yourself and you're the only one that can tell me how to help you." He fixed her with a hard stare. Not angry nor pitying, just a firm look that told her he was serious and wouldn't be persuaded to leave.

"Thank you." Sakura's words hung in the space between them. For one of a few times, entirely willingly and purposefully, Sakura let Kakashi see her inner turmoil. "I'm scared."

"I know," he plainly replied. Passively watching her for several seconds, he suddenly moved to her and dropped into a crouch before her. Fingers wrapped around her left wrist firmly but gently. "Let's go." Kakashi pulled her to her feet before turning his back to her and signaling for her to climb on. The day's mission was weighing heavily on Sakura and she accepted the gesture without question.

Plodding up the stairs and directly to her bathroom, Kakashi let her slide down his back to be seated on the edge of her bathroom counter. Her eyes were hazy with exhaustion and her mind screamed at her to act. To take this private moment of being emotionally raw to fuel asking him questions burning in her mind. She didn't have the composure or filter to hold her tongue, but she didn't quite have the energy to speak. He's right in front of you, he came to you instead of the other way around. Ask him! Do something! Say something! But she remained still without even putting in the effort to look him in the eye. His fingers grazed her skin again, but this time it was at the hem of her shirt.