I know that my face is only too familiar to your sleep,
I can see it in your eyes and I can tell by your body heat,
Why are you taking so long?
You need me to come and find you, honey?
Set your mind at rest, let your dreams run free…
"Kill him."
"What – no!" Sakura tried to wrench herself free, tried to aim another punch at Matsura. Only this time he countered her surge of chakra with one of his own, nullifying her strength. It was like trying to thump a brick wall.
"You're coming with me," he hissed nastily, pushing his face close enough to hers to make her grimace. At least she was pleased to see he was missing a tooth.
Behind her, Jin had handed the vase to a subordinate and was advancing on Kakashi. "Sorry about this," he said, sounding quite apologetic.
"Oh no, it's perfectly understandable," Kakashi replied, just as sensitively.
Sakura tried to reach out a hand to him, even though she was being dragged away. "Kakashi!" She dug her heels in so hard, her sandals gauged through the dirt. "Kakashi-sensei, please! Do something!"
Save her – save himself – anything! Why was he just sitting there?
Matsura jerked her arm again, they were nearly at the doorway. Sakura turned to hiss another piece of her mind at him when a white and black blur made her hesitate. Kakashi was bearing down on them. Fast. She glimpsed a set and determined scowl and an arm whipping forward toward Matsura so fast it was merely a blur to her slow eyes. She heard Matsura make a sharp intake of breath, hand beginning to lift in order to block the sudden attack – but he was too slow.
Then Jin was between them. He'd moved faster and more silently than even Kakashi, and his hand snapped up to block Kakashi's with a sound thump. Blood spurted. Kakashi's kunai slid straight through Jin's palm, but the man didn't even flinch. He simply closed the fingers of his injured hand around Kakashi's fist and grabbed hold of the copy ninja's other shoulder.
Kakashi spun away, taking Jin with him like they were partaking in a bizarre waltz. Sakura's head reeled at the speed of the entire exchange. She glanced over her shoulder at where Kakashi had been sitting before, just in time to see the his tied up clone disappear with a whirl of dust and smoke. His hand bindings dropped to the floor with a clatter.
A decoy, just a decoy. But the Kakashi exchanging hard blows with Jin was perfectly real. The blood spraying from the newly appeared gash beneath his ribs was real.
"Take care of him, Jin," Matsura said harshly, his feathers ruffled by seeing his life flash briefly before his eyes. "And I'll take care of this one."
"N-No!" Sakura fought him again, applying as much strength as she could, though it seemed Matsura was pretty adept at chakra control too. He began pulling her through the doorway of the inn when Sakura reached out and took hold of the wooden rim. He tugged her, but Sakura refused to let go. The wood splintered and cracked beneath her fingers, sending sharp slices of wood through her skin. She didn't care. Letting go was not an option. She had to go help out Kakashi – he was badly outmatched!
"Kakashi-sensei!" she screamed, trying to tell him she would be with him in just a moment, when Matsura pressed a hand over her mouth. He released her arm to pry at her grip on the doorframe. Sakura screamed mutely and bit him savagely till blood filled her mouth. Matsura didn't care, and he barely even seemed to register her kicks against his legs. He was too busy working her hand loose.
Sakura closed her eyes and struggled with every scrap of strength and muscle in her body.
She heard a screech of bird song and an unintelligible cry. She opened her eyes to see half the street explode in a shower of dirt and pure white chakra. A cloud of dust washed over Sakura, invading her nose. She coughed and spluttered, hardly able to breathe.
"Sakura!"
She could see Kakashi's indistinct form running towards he through the storm of dust. She reached out her free hand to him, heart in her throat.
Then he was gone. Tackled into the dusty fog by a slightly singed Jin. She heard their grunts and the dull thuds of impacting fists. A volley of shuriken flew out of the dust, lodging with a series of clunks against the outside wall of the inn. The fighting continued.
"You really are a stubborn bitch," Matsura complained, squeezing her hand so tightly she heard a pop.
Her face contorted and her control waned. The doorframe gave way. Matsura dragged her over the threshold and towards the staircase, barking at the innkeeper to get out of his way. The sounds of battle grew fainter. She thought she could hear Kakashi shouting her name again, but he wasn't coming. He couldn't.
She wouldn't stand now. Matsura had to drag her across the polished wooden floors. He didn't seem to particularly care when they arrived at the stairs and simply dragged her up, letting her hip hit each step with a jarring thud. Sakura tried desperately to claw at the grip on her arm, but he didn't even budge.
What chance did she have really? She was a medic-nin. She'd only been a jonin for a year, and her missions were still in the double digits. Sure she'd fought tough guys before, but usually she had some help from other tough guys.
Matsura was an S-class ninja. His title was 'The Legendary Pervert' (although Jiraiya was doing his utmost best to usurp that name). He was on par with the sannin, and possibly beyond them. Sakura had yet to really gain any kind of upper hand in the practice fights she'd had with Tsunade, no matter how well prepared. She doubted she could fend this man off…
Matsura threw a door open, and in a sickeningly familiar motion, Sakura found herself thrown against the pillows of a pristinely made bed. In a flash she was up, charging towards the window and freedom. Then Matsura's fingers were in the waistband of her pants, dragging her back onto the sheets. A frustrated dry sob tore from her throat. She was wrestled down against the mattress with an enormous weight pressing down on her hips. He was trying to get between her legs, but Sakura resolutely kept her knees pressed together and wriggled to evade his hands.
But all that wriggling was having a rather unwanted effect on Matsura. She felt evidence of as much pressing against her thigh and stilled in momentary shock and disgust. It was all he needed to push her knees apart and settle against her.
Sakura screamed in sheer revulsion, pushing and scratching blindly at his face. Matsura batted her hands away like they were just irritating flies buzzing around his head, then reached for her green shirt.
It was a shame, Sakura felt in retrospect. She'd quite liked the shirt, and it really had brought out her eyes. But in a second it was ripped and Sakura found herself wishing that she hadn't forgone buying a bra for the sake of a bath. She hadn't even thought to buy the usual bandages to bind herself with. Now she was bare all over again, and Matsura wasted no time in touching her just as roughly as the last time.
Only this time, Sakura was without the aid of drugs.
Taking his wrists in her hands, Sakura channeled the biggest surge of chakra she could manage and began to push. Matsura fought her, but Sakura was determined. It was almost preposterous – her young skinny arms steadily pushing away his brawny, heavily muscled ones. She gritted her teeth and concentrated, feeling him fighting back with his own chakra. Their connected arms wavered like an arm wrestling match about to take a turn.
He was going to overpower her, even at her full strength.
Sakura's mouth set in a grim line as she felt her arms beginning to buckle. Her biceps flexed painfully, knotting and tearing. It was now or never.
One of the first things Tsunade had ever taught Sakura was how to seal a wound. It involved a complicated process of interlacing the healthy cells of the skin back together, like straightening a torn feather between the fingers until it was smooth and unblemished again. It was difficult for most aspiring medics to grasp because it all worked on a level that was invisible to the naked eye. It was harder to control what you couldn't see. You might as well wear a blind fold whilst mending a wound, because it wouldn't make much difference one way or another.
But once you had the ability to bring cells together, it was just as easy to tear them apart again. While it wasn't generally part of a medic-nin's syllabus to cause their patient bodily harm (unless they were making pervy nurse related jokes), it was just a side effect of the teachings. You didn't need to be a genius to reverse a technique and make someone bleed with only your chakra.
It supposedly came into use whenever a medic-nin was caught without his or her tools. Sometimes you had to make incisions in a patient to relieve them of poison, or remove diseased tissue, and if you'd forgot to bring your kunai or scalpel, you'd just have to use your bare hands instead.
Sakura knew perfectly well how to knit a wound together; she'd pretty much mastered it within her first month of training. She also knew how to break skin. How to slice muscles and crack bone. She knew how to twist nerves to cause explosive pain and how to lull them to sleep to create paralysis. It was difficult and it was against everything she'd been taught. But when you learnt how to mend the feather, it isn't too hard to figure out how to tear it again.
You just didn't go around admitting it.
Sakura had never done it practice though. It was all theory. It wasn't like anyone was lining up outside the hospital, volunteering to be cut up by medics for training purposes.
But it was now or never.
Matsura's chakra countered hers as she tried to push it into his flesh. He had good control, but ultimately hers was better. She channeled her strength away into the places where her skin touched his and let the chakra sink in. Beneath the fat lay muscle, bone and tendon. Sakura focused on this and gave a sharp jab with her chakra.
She cut the ligament of his left wrist.
Matsura gave a pained grunt as the strength suddenly seemed to leave his left arm. He stared at it, almost disbelievingly before turning a furious gaze on Sakura. "What did you do!" he seethed.
And even though Sakura had sliced straight through a major part of his control over his hand, he didn't seem all that weakened when he wrapped it around her throat and began squeezing. She choked and coughed, feeling heat rise to her face as her airways closed. She pushed limply against Matsura's chest, trying to gather her chakra again. She cracked a rib and tugged apart a muscle in his abdomen. But he didn't seem to notice or care. She could cut away at him all day, but he was S-class. These were nothing but flea bites to him, and she lacked the power to inflict anything deeper or more fatal.
Spots danced before her eyes, and her arms were getting heavy. He was choking the life out of her. Clearly he'd given up his whim of wanting to rape her… but perhaps he's pick that back up after she was dead and less liable to fight back. Her life didn't matter after all. He had his stupid vase back and there was no further need to bargain with Kakashi.
Odd memories flashed through Sakura's mind. The day she'd met Ino. The day she'd broken up with her. A random game in the park where she'd paused to look at the dark-haired Uchiha boy sitting alone at the swings. She wanted to cheer him up. Then she wanted to tear his guts out, break his legs and smash his face against the ground because he was stupid! Insane and stupid and trying to kill her, even though she only wanted to help him. But then he was back in the village and it was just like he'd never left… except now he had a tendency to wear provocative shirts…
It was almost embarrassing to think how much her life revolved around Sasuke. Enough to make her want to groan, shake her head and make a new resolution to start revolving it around more deserving people.
Kakashi's face popped inexplicably into her dying head.
I thought I said deserving people…
Sakura grasped the hands on her throat and futilely tried to twist the muscles with her chakra alone. But it wasn't good enough. Matsura just wasn't sensitive enough to care.
Sensitive…
"…just beware that men are considerably more sensitive in these areas…"
What did she have to loose? She was ten seconds away from death…
Sakura's hand groped its way down Matsura's sizable bulk to wedge itself between her hips and his. She was too far gone to care or recoil in disgust when her palm cupped the noticeable bulge pressing against her. She gave an experimental squeeze to test her strength and heard Matsura laugh cruelly. "Too late to suck up now, girl. I've had enough of you."
Sakura gathered her chakra and cut.
Some people said that the most terrifying sound known to man was the cry of a Biju. The people of Konoha agreed with this whole heartedly, recalling all too well the shrieks and screams of the nine-tailed fox that had attacked the village and killed their sexiest Hokage to date. Although Sakura had been too young to remember that time, she'd had enough encounters with the wilder side of Naruto to know that a Biju's wail was something quite terrible to behold.
But it didn't hold a candle to the shrieks a man being forcibly castrated.
Kakashi was still fighting by the time Sakura staggered out of the inn and into the half-demolished street. She clutched her throat and coughed laboriously as she turned and took scope of the enormous damage. At least six of Matsura's underlings lay strewn amongst the rubble, either dead, unconscious, or wisely playing possum to stay out of the blazing battle flitting across the length of the street.
Sakura saw Jin standing a hundred meters away outside a closed bookshop. He seemed to be looking around in mild confusion, probably for the absent Kakashi, though he didn't notice Sakura watching him. He looked a little roughed up. There was blood coming from his hairline and his shirt sleeve was a little burnt, but he appeared perfectly at ease. He looked up at the rooftops, searching for his adversary.
If I know Kakashi-sensei, I'd be looking down right about now, she thought tiredly.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the ground suddenly gave way beneath Jin. The ninja staggered in surprise, but was quick enough to leap back to avoid the fist flying up to meet his chin. Sakura's stomach twisted almost painfully when Jin grabbed her teacher's arm and swung him in a full circle. Momentum was gathered and released. Kakashi went flying, tumbling across the ground like a rag doll.
Jin charged his chakra to the kunai in his hand and darted after him, raising his weapon to deliver the fatal blow while Kakashi was stunned.
Sakura's feet were moving before she even made the conscious decision. This was how it had happened last time too. Even though she was a smart girl and knew throwing herself into the path of a final attack was a sure way to die young and messily, it was better than just sitting back and watching someone she loved be slaughtered needlessly.
The split second she reached Kakashi's side, Jin was bearing down. She threw up her hand in desperation. There was no room for fear. "Wait – please!"
Fortunately Jin's control was better than Naruto and Sasuke's.
He came to a dead stop, blade mere inches from cutting straight through Sakura's chest. She saw the confusion and uncertainty cloud his rather stoic face as she blindly reached behind her to grab Kakashi's arm for comfort. She'd thought he was unconscious, but the faint mutter of something that sounded suspiciously like "…really embarrassing…" let her know he was still with her.
"What are…" Jin suddenly straightened, looking towards the inn. "Where's my father?"
Sakura swallowed hard. "You have to go help him. Now. If you don't get him to a medic within the next ten minutes, he'll die of blood loss."
Kakashi lifted his head. "Seriously?"
Jin looked at her sharply. "What did you do?"
"No, really, if you don't want him to die, go now," Sakura didn't quite feel like explaining to this man what kind of injury his father had – not unless she too wanted to die from extreme blood loss. He looked at her warily, probably calculating if he had the time to break her neck before he went and aided his father. But fortunately he decided he hadn't, and quickly took off towards the inn.
Sakura heaved a shaky sigh of intense relief and turned to Kakashi. "Sensei – you're all-"
Instantly she found herself tugged down in a strong one-armed embrace. "You're so cool, Sakura-chan," he teased as he coughed against her hair. "I think I actually saw my life flash before my eyes!"
"You and me both." Sakura clung to him tightly, breathing in the strong scent of sweat, blood and strawberries. Words couldn't describe how relieved she felt to be with him again. But really, there just wasn't enough time to cuddle and reminisce. Sakura pulled back, giving him a concerned once-over. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"Are you ok? You're covered in blood," he shot back, looking down at her blood soaked pants and lingering on her torn shirt. It was held together at one shoulder only and the hanging material was giving him a broad view of one breast and a pert, pink nipple. Sakura blushed furiously when she realized this and quickly tugged the torn shirt up again to cover herself.
"I'm fine, it's not my blood," she said. Sakura would have told him more if they'd had the time. "Can you walk?"
"Since I was two." Kakashi took her proffered hand and pulled himself to his feet. He sagged a little, favoring his left leg and holding an arm across his stomach as if to hold it in. His eyepatch was missing, so he had to settle for closing his sharingan to conserve his energy. "What did you do anyway?" he asked, leaning heavily on her shoulder as they limped away. "Is he really going to die of blood loss in ten minutes?"
"No… more like in an hour or two," Sakura admitted. "He's a big guy. But I just wanted to get rid of Jin quicker."
"And what exactly did you do to Matsura?" Kakashi asked carefully.
"I'll tell you later," she said. "Let's just get out of here and – oh!"
She suddenly pulled away from Kakashi, leaving him swaying as she dashed towards one of Matsura's fallen underlings. He was still alive because when she attempted to tug the precious blue vase from his grip, he clung on stubbornly. A swift kick in his ribs convinced him to relinquish the pot more quickly.
Sakura trotted back to Kakashi's side, one hand clutching the vase and the other employed in keeping her torn shirt straight. "Did you get the diamond?" she asked when he draped his arm back around her shoulder.
"Yes, shortly before I was jumped by Captain Overkill and his band of merry men," Kakashi winced. "And then…"
He trailed off as an outrage voice floated over the broken street to them. "What the – who's responsible for this? Own up! This is coming straight out of your pocket!"
"Time to go," Kakashi said cheerfully.
They left Matsura to take responsibility for the destruction – most of which had been caused by Kakashi – and made a beeline for Konoha. "They know who I am now," Kakashi explained. "There's no point leaving a paper trail. Let's just go home and hide under the bed for a while."
He was joking of course, but Sakura didn't think it was a bad idea. She didn't fancy Matsura coming after her and taking revenge for… that…
They didn't get too far from the village before they had to stop. Kakashi needed to be healed, and Sakura just wanted a rest. Her arms were aching from the strain and her shirt needed fixing. The moment they came upon a stream and enough dry ground, Sakura indicated Kakashi should sit down.
"I'm alright," he tried to convince her. "It looks worse than it is."
Sakura didn't believe that for a second. He'd taken on an S-class ninja, and while he'd done that before in the past and lived to tell, he was normally left over with some severe injuries. "I'm sure," she humored him bluntly. "Now take off your shirt."
"So assertive…" Kakashi sighed, before shrugging out of his jacket stiffly. "You can wear that by the way. I mean, your shirt…"
"Thanks," Sakura flushed gratefully as she pulled it on over her torn top. It was far too big, and the 'short' sleeves came all the way down to her elbows, but it covered the essentials and that was all that mattered. Kakashi continued to strip till he was down to his vest and mask – one and the same article of clothing it seemed. "I'm going to have to cut that off," she told him carefully. "You've got a burn on your back… and it's sort of melded the fabric to your skin."
"I thought something felt a bit sticky back there," he mused before handing her his kunai. "Here, have a party."
Kakashi was a good patient. He never made her feel bad by hissing in pain when she unavoidably tugged at his wound and kept still to let her work. She'd seen men with lesser injuries than him flailing around and screaming while generally hampering her every effort to help. In fact all Kakashi did was retrieve his Icha Icha book and start leafing through to where he'd left off while Sakura worked on his back, gradually removing his vest in bits and pieces.
"Your mask has to go too,"
"M'kay."
With one slice, the vest and mask fell into his lap. Kakashi set it aside and kept reading. Sakura almost had to wipe her mouth to check for drool. Certainly Kakashi had a rather lovely back (if you ignored the enormous, glossy and discolored burn in the middle of it), enough to remind Sakura that she'd never seen it before.
Ignoring the temptation to grope his smooth, broad shoulders, she set to work summoning chakra to her hands and holding them above the burn. She'd steadily improved over the years, and every time she did this she seemed to get better. Become faster. Three years ago a third-degree burn like this would take her most of the afternoon to fix without scarring. Nowadays it took five minutes.
Kakashi heaved a relaxed sigh as he turned page, clearly untroubled by the pain. Sakura frowned in concentration, watching the burn recede and diminish till it was nothing more than a brown stain on his skin. It was then that she realized how flawless his body was. Aside from a pale line the width of a hair along his shoulder, he was without scars; testament to the number of times he'd been healed by a proper medic no doubt.
It was enough to make her slightly neurotic about not leaving a single mark on him. She worked at the burn further until it was indistinguishable against his naturally pale olive complexion. She gave him a pat on the back to let him know she was done (and felt remarkably perverted for doing so) and moved around to his front. "Let me see your neck."
He had to put Icha Icha Chaos done for this as she knelt before his crossed legs and leant forward to tilt his chin up. Two deep wounds on either side of his throat were the source of a great deal of dull rusted blood staining his collar bones and chest. His body's natural blood clotting mechanism had stopped the bleeding, but even the motion of lifting his head opened the deeper wound on the right till it was weeping fresh drops. She winced for him, offering a sympathetic look as she let his chin drop and placed her hands over the wounds.
She could feel Kakashi's eyes on her face, but she stared resolutely at her working hands. For some reason she felt awkward being this close to him. She was painfully aware of how warm his skin was beneath his hands and how she could feel every rush of blood and beat of his heart. His breath glanced off her forearms, making the small sensitive hairs tingle with awareness. She chanced a look up at his face and noticed his gaze was now fixed on her shoulder.
The air between them felt charged, as if they were both waiting for something to happen, though Sakura was sure it was just a product of her own overactive imagination. She tried to concentrate on her healing, but it felt as if something more than just chakra was passing between them. And when Kakashi's hand suddenly lifted to cradle the juncture of her neck and shoulder, she almost jumped so badly her chakra flow was interrupted.
"You've got bruises," he said evenly, dragging a finger gently across her throat as if tracing something.
Sakura swallowed unsteadily, knowing Kakashi could probably feel it. "Probably from when Matsura tried to strangle me."
Now it was his turn to shoot her sympathetic look. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you."
"You had your hands full," she said quickly, not wanting him to feel guilty. "Besides, I can't always be depending on other people to help me. Sometimes I have to go it alone, right? And I didn't do too badly."
Kakashi nodded considerately. "So how did you do it? How did you defeat an S-class criminal with only a few bruises and a torn shirt to show for it?"
Sakura felt herself going red. "Um…" It was a little embarrassing to say, and even though there was no one around to hear, she found herself leaning forward to cup her mouth over his ear. Once she'd whispered the truth to him, she resumed her work on his neck, noticing that both his eyes were opened quite wide. Ever so slightly his knees lifted as if trying to shield himself from her.
"Ouch…" he said.
"Ouch," she agreed.
"No, I mean… ouch." Kakashi gave her a concerned look. "He's going to want to kill you for that when he gets better. Maybe you should have killed him while you had him in that… vulnerable position?"
Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "I don't like the idea of killing helpless people. And besides… all I really care about is keeping him from hurting more girls. I think neutering him will do that wonderfully. And I'm not much in for the whole revenge thing. I'd rather let him live and suffer through this than have him dead and ignorant of how much cooler I am than him."
"Hm. I'm learning there's quite a cold, calculating streak of cruelty in you, Sakura-chan," he said flatly, but if he hadn't removed the mask she wouldn't have seen the fond quirk at the corner of his lips. He scruffed her hair up and leant back. "You know, what you did… that's the kind of thing that normally gets people a legendary status."
"What, emasculating perverts?" she grinned.
"Yes. You could be Haruno Sakura, the Punisher of Perverts… the Deballer of Men," he said quite seriously. "'She'll make a eunuch out of you,' they'll say."
She laughed. "Sasuke-kun will never want to marry me now. I'll be doomed to be single for the rest of my life."
The small quirk of amusement left his lips and he looked away into the trees. Again, just a small hint of expression that she normally might have missed had he been wearing the mask. She had to wonder what she'd said.
"Ok, that's fine," Sakura announced, removing her hands from his beautifully healed throat. "Now recline. I want to see that gash on your stomach."
Obediently he flopped onto his back and brought his book up above his head, using it as a sun shield as he read. Sakura had a brief moment where she wasn't sure if she should move to sit beside him to heal his stomach or just crawl into his lap and sit on his pelvis.
Sanity quickly reasserted itself and she shuffled round to his side, privately mortified at her thoughts. Though to be honest, she was holding it together pretty well considering he had his shirt off and she was being exposed to fifty percent pure, unadulterated naked Kakashi. If she didn't have to heal his wounds, she wouldn't have stepped within twenty meters of the guy for fear of being magnetically drawn to him and suckered against his beautiful body like a limpet. She still had some dignity, so she had to keep her head on straight.
The wound on his stomach was deep but clean. It didn't take long to fix it up and have his abdomen back to normal. And 'normal' apparently meant a discreet six-pack.
Well… most ninjas had six packs, including the women. It would be more unusual if he had anything less, but even so, Sakura couldn't help giving the newly healed tissue a quick rub, as if she were stroking the belly of a cat. "All done," she told him with a beaming smile.
"Ah… I think my hip's a little cracked," he warned her lightly. "It's hard to walk on."
Sakura blinked at his lower half. "Which side?"
"Left."
"Whereabouts?"
Kakashi gingerly tapped his fingers a few inches below his hip bone, the very top of his thigh. "Happened when he threw me that last time. I landed pretty hard," he said.
"Does it hurt much?" Really she was just stalling for time. That place was far too close to Kakashi's crotch for comfort.
"Blazing agony," he sighed.
Ok, no more stalling. "Um… I can't do it through your clothes…"
"No problem." He began to unsnap his pants.
Oh, boy…
Fortunately he only pulled them down a few inches to expose the hem of a pair of extraordinarily boring black boxers. He must have noticed her lingering gaze because he said, "Yeah, I know. Sorry they're not more interesting, but I forgot to pack my pink and frilly ones."
Sakura's face blazed. "I'll just be glad you're wearing any at all," she muttered. "Do you have any idea how many times Naruto breaks his femur? It's always on the days he's going commando."
"I like to think I'm above Naruto in overall cleanliness…"
"Clearly! You smell like strawberries after all."
"…you're not going to let me forget that are you?"
"You'd only do the same to me," she reminded.
"If I teased you for smelling nice, I'd be teasing you every day," Kakashi responded dryly.
Sakura shot him a slightly surprised look. Kakashi was looking away. "You think I smell nice?" she asked cautiously. It was something she was really quite conscious about. Just because she was a ninja didn't mean she could stop bathing and using deodorant.
But Kakashi just pointed at his hip. "Blazing agony," he repeated.
"Right… sorry." Awkwardly she lifted her hand and moved it towards his hip. "Don't mind me, I'm just…" Without elaborating much beyond that, she timidly slipped her hand beneath the waistband of his boxers and placed it gently over the indicated spot. She knew she found it when she felt him give an unintentional jerk of pain. "Oh, yeah… I can feel it swelling," she told him softly.
"What?" Kakashi's head jerked up, apparently quite disturbed for some reason.
She gave him a blank look. "Your hip," she clarified. "The tissue around the joint has swollen up in response to the fracture. Don't worry, it'll go down once it's mended."
Kakashi relaxed and lay back down, looking exhausted.
Bone fractures were a lot harder to heal that simple flesh wounds. Depending on how bad the break was, Sakura could be at it from anywhere between five minutes to five hours. She remembered having to heal one guy after he'd completely shattered his leg beyond all plausible repair. It had taken seven hours, but Sakura had done it.
Dealing with bone fractures was like dealing with jigsaw puzzles. Some people were better at it than others, but once you knew where all the pieces went, it was just a matter of threading them back together.
If anyone had come across them at that particular moment, it would have been nothing less than compromising. Kakashi was half naked, reading pornography and she had her hand down his underpants. Please draw your own conclusions, ladies and gentlemen.
But the break wasn't as bad as she expected. She soon had the pieces back together and was sealing them tightly with chakra. After another ten minutes, the bone was as good as new and the swelling was beginning to recede. Sakura didn't really need to keep her hand there… but for some reason it lingered a little longer than necessary. What did it matter? Kakashi couldn't tell.
Eventually she dragged her hand away and flexed it while she rubbed her tired wrist. "All better now," she said cheerfully. "You should be able to walk on it now."
Raising an eyebrow at her, Kakashi rolled himself upright and got to his feet. He gave a few experimental bounces and swayed his weight from one leg to the other. "Sakura, you are a genius," he told her.
"I know," she told him with a mock lack of modesty. She held her hands up to her own throat and removed the bruises there in a few seconds flat. Her own body was always easiest to heal.
Kakashi pulled on his shirt and moved to pull up his mask. His fingers found nothing and for a moment he resembled a boy who'd just found someone had eaten the last of his favorite cakes that he'd been saving for himself. Sakura felt sorry for him. "Here," she said, tearing off her already ruined green shirt from under his jacket. "It's a similar material and it should be long enough to tie behind your head.."
"I knew there was a reason you were my favorite," he said lightly as he tied the stretchy material at his nape. He looked distinctly more at ease for it, and Sakura could only hope to high heavens that it didn't smell too bad.
But he'd already said he'd liked her smell, right?
"Ok, let's go," Kakashi clapped his book closed and pocketed it. Together they took off at top speed for Konoha.
Really, the thought of being chased by an angry emasculated S-class criminal could be quite the powerful motivator.
Unfortunately, due to all the sneaky zigzagging around, they were now more than a day and a half away from Konoha, even when pressing as hard as they could. They stopped for a few minutes every now and the to catch their breath and take a drink whenever they came across a clean stream. But a distinct lack of food was making Sakura's stomach rumble unhappily, and she was running out of energy as it started to grow dark. Kakashi seemed well capable of continuing onwards, regardless of the dark and lack of sustenance, but Sakura had her limit.
"Can we rest?" she panted as she came to a halt at the base of a reclining beach. Kakashi was a few branches above her, looking down curiously.
"You want to make camp for the night?" he asked.
Sakura nodded, massaging the air back into her lungs.
"Ok, we'll find a suitable place and perhaps see about finding some food and water as well."
Sakura sagged in relief. "I love you." It slipped out before she realized it, at which point she pressed her lips together quite firmly. Of course she hadn't really meant it like that, but last time she'd said it, things had gotten quite awkward.
But this time Kakashi didn't respond to it. "I can hear water just north west of here. Go have a drink and find a place to make camp. I'll go find something to eat."
Sakura gave a mocking salute, noticing that he was clearly taking charge again, and went to find the water he'd mentioned. He had far better hearing than her it seemed, as it was a few hundred meters deeper into the trees before she heard even the faintest trickle of a river.
Crouching down on its banks, she scooped water up in her hands and drank deeply, quenching her aching thirst. It did nothing for her hunger though, and she wondered if there were any fish to be had.
When Kakashi came upon the river, he found her walking back and forth across its surface, peering intently into the depths. "You won't find anything in there," he told her.
"Might…" she said contrarily, already salivating at the thought of gentle roasted fish over a campfire. She could already smell it.
"Unless you count leeches as a decent supplementary," he pointed out, before holding something out. "Here, I got you something."
It looked semi-circular and a little warped. It could only be one thing. "I am not eating that," she said shortly. "It tastes like crap."
"What's wrong with it?" As if he had to ask. He'd given her enough of these in the past to know her aversion to it. "It's edible and high in energy."
"It's mold that grows on trees!" she snapped.
"It's just a mushroom."
"I hate mushrooms."
"You also hate starving," he said.
"I'm working on solving that with fish." She went back to searching the waters.
"Give it up, Sakura," he told her flatly. "There aren't any fish in that stream. Now where are we sleeping?"
She pouted and pointed to a weeping willow sitting at a bend in the stream further up. Kakashi followed her finger and nodded. "Fine… that should keep the elements off us for a few hours. Come on and have your supper."
"God, you sound like my mother," she complained, kicking her way through the reeds to reach the solid ground again. After quick once-over to check for icky leeches, she stomped after him beneath the curtain of hanging willow leaves.
He reclined against the tree trunk almost instantly and held out the fungus to her which she snatched grumpily. "I'm actually pretty tired myself," he admitted as she began nibbling reluctantly. "Getting the shit kicked out of you can sure knock you off your feet."
"Luckily you had me to save you," she reminded him.
"You're going to gloat about that for a long time, aren't you?" he asked mournfully.
"Forever!" she declared happily. "Oh, come on, you're always the one who saves me. It's time I get credit for doing something neat."
Kakashi folded his arms across his chest, eye falling close. "Couldn't save you this time though," he said, rather morosely.
Sakura shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You can't help being late sometimes."
At this, Kakashi gave an unexpected bark of laughter. "Story of my life."
She grinned back at him. "You had a decent excuse this time though."
Wanting to change the subject to a less depressing matter, she looked down at the half eaten mushroom thing in her hand. "You hungry?" she asked.
"Nope," he replied.
His stomach rumbled its own response.
Sakura gave her old teacher an incredulous look. "I guess that was just thunder, huh?"
"Of course."
"Come on, Kakashi," she cajoled, crawling closer to him on her knees. "It's edible and high in energy!"
"I'm not hungry…"
"Bull. You just don't want to eat this," she retorted.
"It tastes like crap," he bemoaned.
"You're going to eat it whether you like it or not," she told him bluntly. "I'm not having you hold me back tomorrow by dying of hunger halfway home."
"I won't."
"I know, because you're going to be a good sensei and eat this like you're told."
"No."
Sakura bristled. "Kakashi-sensei…" she began warningly. "You're going to eat this."
He gave her a look that clearly said, 'Make me.'
Well, alright then.
With little warning she leapt forward, tugged down his mask and drove the remaining half of the mushroom toward his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise, and he slipped backwards off the tree trunk in an effort to avoid the food morsel. Sakura followed him down, scrambling to sit on his stomach as she tried to shove the crumbling mushroom between his lips, but he had them pressed shut firmly, despite the poorly contained smile. His hands tried to push hers away, so she trapped one beneath her knee and pinned the other next to his head. Her strength was superior. He couldn't break free. When he tried to roll away, she clamped her thighs tighter around his middle.
"Open up," she commanded, breathless after their short tussle but mostly from excitement.
"Mm-mm," Kakashi hummed negatively. He too was breathing hard; she could feel every rise of his chest beneath her.
"If you don't, I'll… I'll tickle you," she threatened.
He opened his mouth long enough to tell her "I'm not ticklish," before sealing his lips again.
"Alright then…" She tried to think of something else. She didn't have enough hands free to tickle him anyway. "I'll… I'll steal Icha Icha and throw it in the river over there."
Kakashi gasped, shocked. "You wouldn't da-mmph!"
Sakura smashed the larger piece of the broken mushroom half into his mouth. She laughed as he spluttered and couldn't seem to decide between chewing and spitting it out. He wound up doing both. But Sakura still had a small piece left over. "You're not finished yet, Kakashi-sen-"
She suddenly found herself on her back as Kakashi promptly reversed their positions and rolled her over. Now it was her hands that were pinned, as Kakashi pried the last small chunk of mushroom from his fingers and held it up victoriously. Sakura's thighs were still clamped tightly around his middle, and even though he had her submitting, she knew that she could easily break lose.
But she didn't. Because that would have spoiled the fun of the game.
Instead she settled for straining helplessly against him with her basic strength which was no match for his. She felt a little vulnerable in this position, but it didn't trouble her. If anything it was quite exciting. The feel of him pressed over her triggered all sorts of instinctual reactions she'd never known even existed before. It made a sweetness fill her belly as her breasts tightened beneath the rough cloth of the flak jacket he'd given her. She could feel her hardened nipples grazing the material.
Something about this disturbed her. It was deeply wrong to be feeling these things around him, because she knew it was purely sexual. She felt all the familiar twinges of arousal that she normally only felt when she was alone with her rather limited imagination. She'd never felt it around another person. No one had ever caused her to tingle so deliciously the way Kakashi did.
And was he even aware of this effect on her?
"Seems only fair you get the last piece," he said, quite unconcerned that her heavy breathing had nothing to do with exertion. "Me being such a gentleman and all."
Sakura sniggered and turned her head away as he tried to push the bad tasting mushroom into her mouth. He followed her, so she twisted the opposite way. Eventually he was forced to relinquish his hold on her wrist to grip her chin to hold her still. This time when he pushed the food to her lips, she opened them without resistance and took it into her mouth…
Along with his finger.
She didn't know why she did it, but at that moment it seemed perfectly reasonable, and he'd been partly responsible too. She felt drunk. A heady sensation had been creeping over her since the moment she'd straddled his chest. It felt only natural that that when his finger dipped slightly too far between her lips that she should stroke it with her tongue and suck it the same way he'd sucked her thumb about this same time last night.
The mushroom didn't matter. She swallowed it quickly, more to get it out of the way than anything else. Her lips fastened around his index finger, scraping it gently with her teeth and swirling her tongue around the tip, as if she'd enjoyed the crappy mushroom so much that she wanted to suck off every leftover taste from his skin.
He didn't pull away. If he had, she would have stopped, but he didn't. She looked up at his face and saw that it was slack and impassive. She would have mistaken it for his normal expression if his lips hadn't been slightly parted and he hadn't been staring so intensely at her mouth. He was breathing a little hard as well, but it had been too long since he'd pinned her for it to be from physical exertion.
His finger gave a gentle thrust against her mouth. It was such an instinctual motion, and it reminded Sakura rather vividly of a different kind of thrusting. The thought brought heat to her cheeks and had it rising in her belly. She arched and gave a tiny moan, flexing her hand where it was pinned beneath his.
Then his finger left her mouth, dragging a damp trail down over her bottom lip, chin and down her throat. She could see from the blank look on Kakashi's face that he was merely an observer, unable to control what his hand did, though he was clearly enjoying the show. His finger followed on its direct path down to her sternum, where it met resistance from the zipper of her pale flak vest.
He began to push it down, hesitantly, as if unsure of his actions.
Sakura was in two minds. Her breasts were tight and aching, demanding to be touched. Her body was virtually beyond her control, writhing and arching encouragement to the finger pushing her zipper down. But she couldn't shake the bad feeling pressing heavily over her conscious. This was wrong. This was wrong on so many levels. It was sordid and taboo and it was Kakashi-sensei.
Just this little bit of attention from him made her light up from the inside… but it shouldn't have. She should have been immune to this kind of want, after having known him for years and viewing him as nothing more than 'one of the grown-ups'. And he should have known better too. She'd been his student and surely everything he felt for her was just reserved to normal and platonic teacher-student relations.
Clearly this was not normal.
Kakashi seemed to realize this the moment he'd pushed the zipper far enough to expose the valley between her breasts. Ever so slowly he pulled the hand away, fisting it against the moss to her side as his expression hardened and his eyes narrowed grimly. He sat up and moved to recline against the tree, knees drawn up to rest his forearms against. He looked mildly upset about something.
Sakura was left on the ground, panting from residual want and an unfulfilled aching. In a way she was relieved that he'd stopped… but the damage had already been done.
Slowly, she pushed herself upright, trying to calm her galloping heart as she looked at his stony profile. "That was a bit weird…" she said, laughing a little in an attempt to lighten the mood, though it was a bit forced.
Kakashi didn't find it as funny. "I'm sorry," he said, quite formally. "That shouldn't have happened. I don't know what came over me."
"No… I was the one who started it. It's my fault," she said quietly, chewing her lip. "I thought… I thought it felt nice." But obviously that wasn't enough to make it right.
Kakashi shook his head. "We're both a bit tired… not really thinking straight." That's right, there had to be some excuse and reason to explain. This time they were without a safety net. They weren't acting for the benefit of Jin, and he wasn't attempting to make a point to her.
But still… denial was a wonderful, sanity-preserving thing.
"It won't happen again," Kakashi said quietly.
Sakura didn't know how to feel about that.
Somewhere nearby, an owl hooted. She was suddenly reminded of where they were and how cold it was getting. She'd been so warm up until a moment ago…
Sakura shivered. Kakashi looked at her, alert enough to notice her small tremor. Wordlessly he held out his arm, inviting her. "Body heat," was all he said.
It was an ordinary procedure, but considering what had just happened, it probably meant a little more. Sakura curled up against his side, feeling a tightness begin to unwind in her chest. She was glad he hadn't decided to snub her completely.
"It's best if we just sleep," he said firmly. "I'll take first watch."
Sakura frowned. "Kakashi-sensei…?"
"Mm."
"Could you… um… I think I might just have another nightmare," she began awkwardly. "Do you think maybe you could…"
"Use the sharingan?" he supplied. "If that's what you want. But don't forget I'm not always going to be sleeping with you to do this… um…"
Wow. That came out wrong.
"I know," Sakura said quickly. "But since you're here. Please…?" She gave her best melting eyes and pouting mouth combo.
Kakashi swallowed hard, evidently becoming less resistant to this charm the more she used it. "Alright," he said reluctantly, and opened his sharingan.
When the familiar warmth dragged her under and her head fell against his shoulder, she could have sworn she felt a warm pair of lips press against her forehead.
But it was probably just wishful imagination.
TBC