- S -
"Any period of reports not received every 12 will warrant a search team," the blonde ordered.
"Yes, ma'am," Sakura patiently responded.
"Kakashi's dogs will be available at all times in case emergency messages need to be sent to the village," Tsunade added.
"They always are," Kakashi pointed out before receiving a glare from the hokage.
"You leave in two hours." There was inflection in Tsunade's voice that communicated her dislike of the team chosen, but Sakura knew the most about the target and Kakashi was an expert in tracking.
Within an hour the two were off.
Days of tracking bled together until Pakkun caught a lead that drew them uncomfortably close to the war base Sakura had been tortured in. As they navigated the tree canopy, both ninja remained silent and focused their attention on the skilled animal before them.
Once close enough to ground zero for the fight, Pakkun alerted them and the pace slowed. Their already masked chakra signatures allowed them to settle in the treetops above the campground where Tanzawa was set to be. There were 15 individuals at the campground, but none of them showed significant chakra possession – similar to Sakura's previous captors. Pakkun signaled Tanzawa to be sheltered in one of the tents so the two Leaf nin made quick work of the visible enemies.
Once the tent was the only untouched part of the camp, the two nin unmasked their signatures and approached it. Tanzawa was able to sense their fast 'appearance' and hastily exited the tent in search of backup that wasn't to come.
The area exploded in a fight.
Tazawa went for weapons stored on his person and Sakura reacted with the same. Exchanging weapons, Sakura dodged his untrained efforts. While he was clearly skilled in torture, his abilities to resist her sans shackles was pathetic. Kakashi stayed in close proximity, but respected Sakura's need to take on Tanzawa alone.
The battle stretched on for minutes and it became clear Sakura was simply playing with him, hesitating on the kill for the satisfaction of watching him suffer slightly.
There was a pounding in Sakura's head that seemed to crush her rational thoughts. She felt power at being able to face him while in control. She felt a thrill at the knowledge she could kill him in a moment. She felt excitement to be free of her fear that he would return for her.
But as she raised a kunai to attack and slash his throat, a far more painful form of death than necessary, her hand began to shake. While she knew killing him wouldn't take back what he'd done, it felt like everything weighed on this one moment. The weight shook her arm and made her legs feel weak. A gentle chakra signal moved behind her and she felt relief in it.
Kakashi's move to her and his mouth hovered by her ear while his hair brushed against her temple. "You can do this."
His front pressed against her back and he remained with his mouth hovering behind her ear while his right hand stretched out to wrap his fingers around hers on the handle of the kunai. His arm was fitted along hers and for a moment she felt he was an extension of her body. She pressed back against him slightly as if to say she needed his support.
Tanzawa was leaning back against a tree trunk, barely standing due to exhaustion and the multitude of injuries littered across his body. A particularly deep gash on his forehead bled a steady stream leaving a river of blood down his face that forced him to close one eye. He panted deeply, struggling to take in any air with the ribs penetrating his lungs.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes despite the blood and looked directly into Sakura's own eyes. "You always were a rude bitch."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he fell to the ground with a sucking and gurgling sound as he bled out from the slice across his neck. He convulsed briefly before stilling and becoming lifeless. Sakura stood alone above the body having left Kakashi behind to move for the kill. The kunai slipped from her hand and her body fully succumbed to the overwhelming pressure the standoff had built in her head.
"He's dead."
There was no need for her to say it, they both saw the life exit him, but it was more to affirm to herself she had done it. Sakura collapsed to her knees and absently thought she should move away from the blood pool edging towards her created by his throat. Kakashi moved to her, crouching behind her and waiting for her to decide what happened next. He was prepared for her next move, but that didn't make it less difficult to watch.
Sakura turned and buried her face in his chest, sobs overtaking her entire frame. She tightly grasped the fabric around her face with violently shaking fists. Small, strong fists. He circled his arm around her shoulders, tucking her head under his chin as she cried. He stared at the body of the man. It represented more than just a life. It was the death of the ever-present thrum of fear Sakura had experienced since her mission, the fear that her nightmare wasn't over.
Her cries slowly calmed to gentle shaking of her form as tears had run out long ago. He released her to dispose of the body through a simple fireball jutsu, leaving only the charred skeleton of the man that had long tormented her. He picked up her kunai that had taken the life of her enemy. Anger flickered in his mind at not being able to properly torture and maim the man, but this has been Sakura's path.
He created a shallow grave for the bones and erased any evidence of a fight, kicking up dirt and spreading forest scents around the areas where blood had been spilled. Sakura did not move from her position on the ground with her hands outstretched in the dirt in place of gripping his clothing.
He wordlessly approached her and knelt with his back to her. Despite her emotional state, she understood his intention. With effort from them both she got settled onto his back, her legs hanging down from his grip under her thighs and her arms loosely wrapped around his neck. He moved quickly through the treetops but took a slow enough pace so as to not jostle the female he held. Besides, the urgency had melted away. The objective was accomplished.
As with many times recently, the contact reminded him that her small frame held an amazing level of power, skill, and passion. Tanzawa was the only challenge, the only fight, in which he had felt a near crippling need to use his larger frame to protect her. To hide her. I knew she could kill him. She did succeed.
Despite fully understanding her skill, fighting alongside her had given him many first hand accounts of her power, this had been the one time he desperately wanted to shield her from the battle. Physically she could easily overpower the rogue – without question. She was smarter, faster, and stronger. But it wasn't the physical battle, it was the mental one. It was clear this was a fear that needed to be faced and Sakura was motivated by a protectiveness for other nin in Tazawa's reach.
Sakura's safety greatly outweighed the needs of some faceless strangers in his eyes, but he had the wisdom and restraint to know she needed to do this. The rage and fierce protectiveness he felt for her began to calm and his breathing synced to the gentle exhales of sleep in his ear.
The life of a ninja wasn't a peaceful one and neither of them were foolish enough to believe this kill would rid her of all paranoia. It was instead meant for closure and a pinnacle step in regaining herself.
"Ka…'Kashi…." she whispered in her sleep
- S -
"Mission report," Tsunade prompted.
"The target was found and executed along with remaining enemy comrades," Sakura spoke confidently. She was fresh faced after a shower and night of sleep Tsunade offered before having to report. "Any trace of the event was also erased."
Kakashi has a lax posture, standing slightly behind her as if to symbolize Sakura's leadership on the mission.
"I expect a detailed written report within the week." Tsunade stood after the statement, approaching her apprentice. She maintained a stone faced expression for a moment before reaching out to envelope her student in a rare embrace. Sakura hugged the woman back fiercely, acknowledging the intensity of the mission she had accomplished.
Tsunade quickly released the pinkette and nodded sharply. "Dismissed."
As they departed the tower, Kakashi fell into step beside Sakura wordlessly. They exited out of the hokage tower and entered the streets of the just waking Konoha. Only once they reached the center of town did Sakura stop, turning to view her entire surroundings.
"Safety is subjective," she quietly said while reaching to clasp her hands behind her back.
"Aa," Kakashi assented.
"It's nice to feel it again."
Kakashi turned to fully look at the woman beside him. He noted her more confident posture and the youthful way she stood with her hands locked and a gentle smile on her face. This version of Sakura had been notably absent since her mission and Kakashi found slight relief in seeing it reemerge.
"I'll leave you here," she commented, turning to leave. The statement held a lot of gravity – both implying that she was going to walk home and that she assumed their arrangement had ended.
"From experience dreams don't disappear overnight, you know where to find me," he said, echoing his words from the first time he invited her to return to him.
Sakura faltered in her beginning steps to return home. Her expression was nothing short of shock, but she managed to utter, "What?"
"I also have tea at my house. I have no idea what kind, but it is there."
She narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly not expecting his response. "Tea can be nice after a long mission."
"It can," he responded plainly.
They began the walk to his home, a peaceful quiet stretching between them. They arrived at his home and removed their shoes before he went about filling the teakettle and flicking on the stove eye. Sakura stared at him, clearly looking for an explanation as to why he didn't let her part ways.
"I can't handle things as they are."
The statement took her off guard and her mouth dropped open. "You're the one who invited me here and told me I could come here for my nightmares!" she snapped.
"I did."
"But you just said you couldn't deal with things as they were."
"I did," Kakashi replied while removing his vest and entering the living room to stand before her.
"I know!" She sounded so worn down, so done. "I don't understand why you keep telling me in different ways you're done with me. I got it, but you're being confusing."
"You're the one who confessed to me," he remarked.
He could see the hesitation and anxiety at his comment with her face developing a red hue. "You don't return my feelings."
"I can't give you what you want."
"Then don't! I'm an adult, a jonin, and a medic. I've taken down an Akatsuki member without a team, survived a war, and healed every ninja in this village twice over – at least!" With every word her muscles coiled tighter and she shoved him back as she stood, leaving him standing with his calves pressed into the coffee table. Defiance burned in her eyes and she leveled him with a glare of intensity he'd never seen from her. "Don't feel obligated to chase humor me with your invitation to sleep here, you don't need to."
"I want to."
An unsure silence stretched between them. Her anger dissipated and he saw the words looping through her head as she attempted to grasp at their meaning.
Kakashi took half a step forward before she lifted her right hand, shaking heavily, to press against his chest and halt his movements.
"It's not funny."
He quirked an eyebrow at her strange comment. "I'm not laughing."
"I've made a fool of myself too many times. I've cried too many times. I can't bear to have my feelings be made a joke of. Please, Kakashi." She took in a shuddering breathe and curled the fingers on his chest into a fist. "Let's just continue as we were before I left for Rain. I don't want to lose you entirely, I'm content to stay by your side as a medic and teammate."
The sounds of the morning were the only thing filling the air – the chirping of birds, rustling of trees, and distance echoes of voices from neighbors.
Kakashi lifted his hands to grasp the cheeks of the woman before him as he'd found himself doing so many times, drawing her face up to clash her emerald eyes against his obsidian ones. Studying her face and the tears sliding down it, Kakashi couldn't deny she was beautiful. It was understandable so many men wanted to claim her.
His grip on her face tightened subconsciously, his thumbs brushing along her wet cheeks.
"I'm not sorry I let you to come to me, but…." she stared at him as if her world hung in the balance and what he said next could make or break her. "….I'm not the same person because of it."
Sakura barked out a sarcastic laugh, "I know! I'm not stupid." She shifted in his grasp, but he held her firmly looking at him. Her features softened into a melancholy look and she barely whispered her next question. "What do you want from me?"
"I choose you."
She seemed to miss his words and began to ramble. "I've already borrowed some shirts and I'll bring them back by tomorrow—OH." Her eyes widened impossibly large and her mouth froze slightly open. Opening and closing her mouth a few times, she finally managed to get words out. "What did you say!?"
"I choose you."