I don't own any of the characters within this work of fiction, they all belong to Masashi Kishimoto. :)

The trio are in their early twenties, hovering somewhere around 22 years old. This, of course, makes Kakashi's age somewhere around 36.

I have obviously taken some creative liberties within this story, so it's not going to be 100% accurate to the anime or the manga.

**Please read the below note**

A significant amount of violence and gore will be present from here on out. You've been given a fair warning.

Leave a review if you'd like. Enjoy!

Sasuke was still kneeling in the shallow water and clutching the torn open skin of his chest that was steadily leaking crimson. His breathing came in ragged gasps, blood bubbling in the back of his throat with each exhale and dribbling down his chin. To his right, Naruto had grown still, and the menacing chakra of the kyuubi had almost completely fizzled out. Wide eyed, Sasuke watched the poison mist kunoichi veer from her approaching path toward him and redirect herself toward Naruto. The woman's grin was broad and sinister as she flicked her katana lazily from hand to hand. Panic bubbled in Sasuke's gut, and he desperately tried to call out through the gurgling of his breaths, but nothing more than weak rasps left his lips. He lurched to his feet, grimacing at the way the movement pulled at the edges of the gash across his chest, the movement letting loose a fresh eruption of warm blood. Dark spots danced at the edges of his vision as he swayed on his feet. The woman stalked closer and closer to Naruto as Sasuke pushed his lead filled legs forward one after the other, hissing through his clenched jaw with every floundered movement. I've gotta get to Naruto, he thought desperately.

Sasuke knew he didn't have it in him to fight any more. He had dropped his chokutō in the river when the woman sliced him open, his senses were still affected by the poison, and his chakra levels were near nonexistent. Not that any of that really mattered to him anyway. His own life meant nothing to him, but Naruto… Naruto was everything good and right in the world, and Sasuke was going to protect that light, even if it meant sacrificing himself for it to keep shining. He forced his feet forward, breaking into an erratic run that left even more red drifting in the crystal blue water, and, although his body vehemently protested the movement, he closed the distance between himself and Naruto quickly.

He skidded to a halt in front of the blonde and with his back facing the still approaching kunoichi, Sasuke collapsed to his knees, but not before wrapping himself around Naruto like a human shield. Sasuke had Naruto's head tucked into his chest, careful to avoid smearing blood on his whiskered cheeks, and had his back and shoulders curled over the rest of Naruto's unmoving body. Over the top of untamed blonde hair that still smelled like their campfire from the night before, Sasuke's hazy eyes caught the tale-tale sign of someone approaching, the ripples wafting past his knees in the water. He dug his blood drenched fingers into the shoulders of Naruto's flak jacket and waited for the force of the kunoichi's katana to rip through his back like it did his chest. He didn't have to wait long for the fire to spread through his skin.

It first started on his right shoulder and ended in the middle of his back, it then reignited at his waist and extended to his opposite shoulder. The burning in his skin spread until it was all he could feel, and it took everything in Sasuke to stop himself from screaming in agony. He tightened his grip on the fabric in his fists, tucked Naruto further under the protection of his body, and forced his mind elsewhere.

He and Naruto had been traveling together for about half a year before Sasuke had broached the subject of exactly why his companion left his home behind in favor of traveling with him. The response hadn't been what he had expected. Sasuke anticipated Naruto to talk about his duty of ensuring that the Uchiha behaved himself, a responsibility that had been bestowed upon the blonde by the five Kage when they learned of Sasuke's desire to travel. He would of even believed Naruto if he had said that it was because Sasuke couldn't be trusted on his own. But when he had answered, a wide, sweet smile had spread across Naruto's face and his blue eyes had sparkled in the light of the campfire.

"Kohona isn't home if you're not there, Sasuke. I'd stay with you forever if you'd let me."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, closed it, opened it again, and closed it again. He was dumbfounded, and at a complete loss for words. He found himself staring incredulously into sky blue eyes, desperately searching for an ulterior motive hidden within their depths. But he found none. Instead, when Naruto's eyes locked onto his own, they were soft and warm and full of an emotion that Sasuke hadn't seen in another's eyes in quite a long time. The response in combination with the emotions he found in his partner's eyes had startled him and, like a coward, Sasuke had walked away and disappeared into his bedroll without another word to Naruto.

He had slept fitfully that night, bloodied images torturing him every time he closed his eyes. He must have cried out in his sleep, because when Sasuke's eyes snapped open in the darkness of the night, Naruto was sitting next to him, rubbing small circles on his back, and sleepily muttering comforting words. Surprisingly, the rhythm of the circles on his back and Naruto's husky voice swiftly sent Sasuke back to sleep. When he woke in the morning, Sasuke found himself well rested. A light tug pulled him flush against something soft and warm and unyielding. His eyes fluttered open and he blinked blearily at the rising sun, his sleep fogged brain not quite awake enough yet to comprehend the sight of muscled arms wound around his waist.

The object he had been pressed against stirred slightly, and Sasuke immediately feigned sleep. The arms around his waist slowly removed themselves and the body at his back gently scooted away but didn't leave entirely. Lightly, fingers brushed his hair from his face before being replaced by a warm, soft kiss on his forehead. Gentle, whispered words reached Sasuke's ears in the form of Naruto's husky sleepy voice. Shock left Sasuke frozen in place, and mind racing. When the astonishment had worn off, he bolted out of his bedroll with a strange, strangled sound. The movement and noise must have alarmed Naruto because the blonde was back at Sasuke's side in the blink of an eye.

"Sasuke?"

He whipped his head toward the concerned voice, his eyes settling on Naruto's whiskered face. Silently, they stared at each other. One of them concerned for the other's wellbeing, and the other still trying to wrap his brain around the incident that had just played out. Naruto leaned in, closing the space between them, before slowly placing a hand on Sasuke's cheek before he spoke again.

"Sasuke, are you okay?"

Sasuke didn't recoil at the touch; rather, he leaned into Naruto's tender caress of his cheek. Still dumbfounded, Sasuke blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"You… you really meant what you said last night, didn't you?"

Naruto's blonde eyebrows scrunched in the middle as he cocked his head to the side.

"Of course, I did."

Sasuke's eyes searched Naruto's face, looking for any sign of doubt in the blonde, before settling on bleary blue eyes. When blue and black met, a contented warmth seeped into Sasuke's chest and spread through his body. He reached out with trembling hands, laying them lightly on Naruto's whiskered cheeks before gently pulling the other to him. Their lips found each other immediately.

The kiss started off slow and tender, with Sasuke lightly pressing his lips to Naruto's. But, once the two connected, something awoke in Sasuke, and he pulled at Naruto, wanting him closer, and the other boy obeyed. One of Naruto's hands settled on Sasuke's lower back, pulling his body against his own, while the other wound itself into his hair. Naruto pressed himself against Sasuke, pushing his back into the fresh dew of the grass. Sasuke didn't care. All he could feel was the heat in his own chest. Sasuke slipped his hand up the other's shirt, causing Naruto to shiver. The chirping of birds echoed around the deserted clearing, along with Sasuke's hum of content as he ran his hands down the other's sculpted chest. Naruto responded by capturing Sasuke's lips again, this time their tongues dancing with each other.

Panting heavily, the two broke their kiss, but remained intertwined in each other's arms. Naruto rested his head in the middle of Sasuke's chest while he ran his fingers through unruly blonde hair. When they finally managed to untangle themselves, both he and Naruto were still breathing heavily, but a brilliant smile adorned the later's face.

A rough ensemble of growls and jarring thud from behind him ripped Sasuke back to the present. His body was warm where his skin had been torn open, the nerve endings screaming with just the slightest movement, and yet a frigid cold had settled in his bones. He gasped for air around the blood in his throat, taking ragged shallow breaths that gave him no relief. The sound of feral dogs and terrified, shrill screams broke through the buzzing in his ears and, with his fingers still gripping the fabric of Naruto's flak jacket, Sasuke threw a hazy glance over his shoulder toward the offending noise.

A pack of five ninken, all dressed in blue shirts and Kohona hitai-ate, were attacking the mist kunoichi who had been stripped of both her katana and body armor. The woman was shrieking and flailing as the dogs ripped into the flesh of her arms and legs, unrelenting in their assault. The water beneath the ninken was slowly turning red, and the kunoichi's screams only increased in intensity. Sasuke watched idly as the dogs tore the woman apart, his mind not quite comprehending the grisly scene before him. Movement in his peripheral had Sasuke whipping his head away from the screaming nin, his eyes now attempting to focus instead on the exceedingly large bulldog moving toward him. The bulldog padded closer and somewhere in the recesses of his failing consciousness, Sasuke recognized the ninken as one of Kakashi's. Darkness began to obscure his vision when his eyes registered a brief flash of bright blue light, cherry blossom pink, and, just as he began to slip from the world of consciousness, the sound of a thousand birds screeching.

Exhaustion burned in her muscles, her chakra was half depleted, and her brain was hazy. They were moving at an incredible breakneck speed, flashes of branches and leaves blurring past them in their haste. She knew why they were moving so quickly – Pakkun had met with Ūhei, the bandaged dog now traveling with their two-man group, who had shared that Naruto and Sasuke were in extreme danger. Her tired body protested, nonetheless. Sakura grunted as she pushed herself from limb to limb, focusing on following the red swirl on Kakashi's flak jacket.

If the blood curdling screams that wrang through the forest were of any indicator, they were close to the little river the boys had wandered off to earlier in the day. Not for the first time, Sakura questioned how exactly everything had gone to shit. Sure, the night before and the early morning had been a bit awkward and rough, but by midday it seemed as though Cell 7 had fallen back into a comfortable rhythm. And now… well, now they were rushing to the aid of their teammates who were possibly gravely injured and conceivably surrounded by enemy nin. Sakura growled a curse and a vow under her breath – if she lost her teammates today, if the gods dared to take them from her, she'd destroy anyone and everyone that she found to be deserving of the blame. Nukenin and gods a like, she didn't care, she'd rip them apart with her own two hands.

In front of her, Kakashi's steps faltered slightly as he half twisted his body to peer over his shoulder at her. There was a crease in between his eyebrows, and his hitai-ate was pushed up to his forehead, exposing both of his eyes. Sakura's heart skipped several beats when her green eyes met his mismatched ones. The tome in his left eye was spinning wildly and the emotion caught in the man's lone, dark grey eye was indecipherable. He stared at her for half a moment longer before snapping forward again without a word. It didn't escape Sakura's notice that her captain had considerably picked up their pace. When they burst though the tree line, landing on the sandy bank of the river, panicked, shrill shrieking met the pair. The sound was horrendous, but when Sakura's eyes landed on the scene in front of her any lingering feelings other than a righteous rage were extinguished.

The water flowing in the little river was no longer a beautiful crystal blue, instead a gradient of red, ranging from the light pink of her hair to the crimson of the sharingan, floated in the water. The darkest shades surrounded two distinct areas – one area was where Kakashi's snarling ninken were, from the sound of it, ripping apart the form of a woman, and the second area was where two figures in standard Kohona Jonin gear were slumped and unmoving. Their names had barely left her lips before she sprung into action, racing across the short distance between herself and her teammates.

A strangled "fuck" escaped her clenched teeth when she reached the battered bodies of Sasuke and Naruto. What she could see of Naruto from under the protective shield of Sasuke's bloodied body, he was unconscious, and the Uchiha wasn't far behind. Sakura noted that Naruto's skin was red with the tale-tale signs of the nine-tails cloak, and a large gash graced his side. The blonde's face was ashen and his cheeks sunken in, and if he was the only one she was assessing, Sakura could confirm that by all accounts he looked like shit. However, in comparison to the half conscious Uchiha, Naruto looked great. Sasuke's black eyes were open and aimed at her, but there was no sign of recognition on his colorless face. Sakura took stock of the deep slash across his chest and the many that adorned his back and realized that all the blood in the surrounding water was Sasuke's.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Shit!"

Sakura scooped the now unconscious Uchiha out of the water, tossed him over her shoulder, and positioned his limp from into a fireman's carry. While she arranged Sasuke higher on her shoulders, Bull, Kakashi's giant ninken, had grabbed the collar of Naruto's flak jacket and was dragging him to the riverbank. She watched the massive bulldog gently tug the limp form of her teammate out of the blood-stained water, up the sandy bank, and just into the shaded tree line. With her other teammate secured across her shoulders, Sakura followed behind the ninken. Bull had placed Naruto under the canopy of a large tree, the leaves offering him shade from the blazing sun, and when Sakura had caught up with the ninken, she lightly laid Sasuke next to his partner. She shrugged out of her flak jacket, placing the fabric under both of her teammate's heads as a makeshift pillow. She pushed the sleeves of her Jonin sweater up to her elbows, tugged what was left of her hair up out of her face, and quickly mentally ran through a plan of approach.

She was working on removing the tattered and blood-soaked top from Sasuke when she felt a large presence of high ranked chakra appear behind her. Sakura bolted to her feet quick as lightning, flinging a kunai aimed for the soft, delicate skin of the trespasser's throat and the point of the other kunai in her hand plunging toward the junction between the fourth and fifth rib, right where the heart lay. Strong, slender fingers curled around her wrist, stopping the path of her expertly placed attack. Sakura growled, baring her teeth at the offending ninja as she built up chakra in her fist for a strike, but stopped abruptly when the nin grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look into his mismatched eyes.

"Kakashi?"

His name fell from her lips as a question, and, in response, he nodded his head slightly before speaking.

"How are they?"

Sakura whirled back around, immediately returning to her place in front of Sasuke and Naruto. She continued ridding the boys of their flak jackets, Jonin sweaters, and under shirts while she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Not great."

There wasn't a response, but she continued with her report.

"They're both unconscious, and they both have lost a significant amount of blood. Sasuke is worse off than Naruto in that regard, seeing as there is no part of his torso that hasn't been cut open. Naruto's body was ravaged by the kyuubi cloak on top of being sliced open. Neither one has enough chakra to hinge, let alone fight. And, worrisome of all, there's some kind of weird jutsu lingering in their chakra networks."

"Sakura, can you– "

She cut him off before he could finish his question, desperation coloring her every word.

"I have to."

A pregnant silence settled among them as she worked on closing the singular gash on Naruto, and the more serious ones on Sasuke. There was a slight movement next to her, and when Sakura turned her head slightly to look, she found herself face to face with Kakashi. He had pulled the hitai-ate from his forehead back over his left eye, but even with his face mostly hidden she could still see the worry etched there.

"I probably won't be able to heal them completely." She admitted when she locked eyes with Kakashi, her voice hollow and matter of fact. "I'll need the med kit."

Her captain's eyebrows pulled together at her words, his one visible eye flitting between the two unconscious nin. When his gray eye darted from the glowing green halo surrounding her hands back to her face, he gave her a nod and stood from where he had been kneeling. Sakura's eyes fell back to her work as she pushed more of her chakra into her teammates, attempting to force the lingering effects of the foreign jutsu from their systems. She could hear the gruff undertones of Kakashi's voice as he spoke to the pack of ninken that had taken up guard positions around them. It was a few minutes before Kakashi's presence returned to her side.

"I sent Bull and Urushi after the med it. It should be here soon."

Sakura hummed, too focused to form a proper response. She had managed to stop the bleeding from both Sasuke's and Naruto's wounds, as well as close the first few layers of skin of the more serious injuries they spotted. But, unfortunately, whatever jutsu the enemy shinobi used had really done a number on their chakra network and she was going to have to focus a large chunk of her attention to healing it specifically. Sakura placed a haloed green hand directly over the heart of both shinobi and pushed a large wave of chakra into the tenketsu located there. She winced, pulling her hands back slightly, the remnants of the foreign jutsu forcing her own chakra to attack the tenketsu in her palms. She assessed the damage to her chakra network, finding that the jutsu's assault had been minuscule. Sakura idly shook her hands out before replacing them over her teammates' hearts and resumed displacing the enemy nin's jutsu from their system.

By the time the med kit arrived, Sakura had managed to rid both Naruto and Sasuke of the offending jutsu. Their chakra networks were still slightly agitated, but otherwise healthy and flowing with unencumbered chakra. Sweat beaded on her forehead and slid down her temple as she switched her attention from the boys' chakra networks to their remaining wounds. Her breaths were coming in shallow pants and bright spots danced across her vision, yet Sakura still pushed Naruto's and Sasuke's skin to heal.

Calloused hands settled over hers, the slender fingers covering the waning green light of her medical jutsu.

"Sakura, that's enough." Kakashi's voice was gruff and soothing, but it held that stern edge he used when giving orders as cell captain.

Her eyes floated lazily from their entwined fingers to her captain's face and then back again, not really comprehending what he had said. The green glow of her medical jutsu had faded out and Sakura frowned, pulling her hands out from under Kakashi's gentle grip and repositioning them on her still unconscious teammates. She worked her bottom lip between her teeth, the pain keeping her grounded as she pulled more chakra into her hands. The green glow sputtered in her palms, and once again calloused hands covered her own before they gently settled on her cheeks. The slender fingers extending into the hair at the base of her neck softly redirected her gaze from her teammates to a half-masked face.

"Sakura, I mean it, that's enough. You passed the level of acceptable chakra exhaustion long ago. If you keep going…." Kakashi paused, a crease forming between his eyebrows. Sakura watched her stoic captain's lone grey eye flare with fire as he forced the next words out through a clenched jaw.

"If you keep going, if you keep pushing yourself like this, you'll kill yourself. And that's not something I'd ever be able to forgive you for."

Sakura blinked senselessly at the man in front of her, her exhausted brain short circuiting from the weight of his words. The unyielding urgency to keep healing Sasuke and Naruto no matter the cost had been extinguished, and in its place was an unexpected feeling of contriteness. With her face still entrapped in Kakashi's steady grasp, Sakura managed a feeble nod of understanding and agreement. The burning emotion she had seen in his dark grey eye had largely simmered out, and, with a quickness that only an elite shinobi could, Kakashi had disappeared and then promptly reappeared at her side with the med kit.

"What do you need?"

Kakashi's deft fingers unzipped the kit and faced it toward her. His voice had regained its gentler tenor, something that Sakura was thankful for. She tugged the med kit a little closer, examining the contents before pulling out two blood pills, two chakra pills, and an obnoxious number of rolled bandages. Sakura fiddled with one of the green chakra pills, rolling it between her fingers before snapping it into fourths. She popped one of the fourths into her mouth and chewed, the chalky texture causing her to scrunch her nose.

"Chew this." Sakura said, handing another fourth of the pill to the shinobi beside her without looking.

The section of the pill disappeared from her palm, and Sakura hummed at Kakashi's decision to do as she instructed. A slightly disgruntled huff met Sakura's ears and when she turned to look at her captain, his eyebrows were furrowed. Suspecting that he also didn't appreciate the experience of the unpleasant texture of the pill, she turned her attention to replacing the remaining parts of the green pill into the med kit.

"Sakura."

"Hmm?" She answered, turning her gaze back to Kakashi.

"What exactly did I just take?"

"Oh, just a chakra pill."

"A chakra pill?"

Sakura hummed a positive response before realizing that she hadn't really explained herself. She spoke as she picked up the other green chakra pill, holding it out for Kakashi to see.

"This is a chakra pill. It's currently still in an experimental phase, and not available for widespread use. But, since I'm the one who created it, I decided that bringing a few with us would be helpful."

She paused, rolling the green pill between her fingers.

"The problem is, they don't replenish chakra reserves enough, not like the soldier pill does. But it also doesn't cause such a bad crash once it's worn off like the soldier pill."

She shrugged her shoulders, turning back to the med kit to dig for the small canteen of water she had stashed in it. She snapped the chakra pill into halves, placing a half with each one of the dark red pills she set aside earlier.

"Those," she said, pointing at the red pills, "are blood pills."

Slender fingers plucked the the dark red pills from their resting place, the owner bringing it closer to inspect. After a moment, Kakashi spoke.

"They're labeled by blood type."

"Of course."

"Let me guess, you designed these too."

Sakura smiled slightly, her hand extended palm up to receive the pills.

"I did. They're not perfect, still in the testing phase like the chakra pills, but they do enough."

Kakashi placed the pills in her palm, his eye crinkling as he spoke.

"You're going to save a lot of lives with these, Sakura."

"Thank you, Kashi."

Heat rushed to her cheeks, but she forced her voice to remain even toned when she continued speaking.

"I'll need your help getting these into the boys. We'll start with Sasuke since he lost the most blood."

Kakashi hummed and nodded his head before moving to perch near their unconscious teammate. Sakura picked up the blood pill that was labeled with a little engraved "AB", as well as the half of the chakra pill and the little canteen and scooted toward herself closer to her patient. Kakashi gently sat the unconscious Uchiha up, letting the back of their teammate's head rest against his shoulder and his torso rest against his flak jacket. Sakura crushed the pills in her palm with a squeeze, before opening Sasuke's slack jaw and allowing the powder to spill into his mouth, and quickly followed the crushed pills with a tiny swig of water from her canteen.

Confident that her patient wasn't going to choke on either the medication or the water, Sakura nodded, her indicator that Kakashi could lay Sasuke back down. She turned slightly, retrieving the blood pill that was labeled with a "B" and the other half of the chakra pill. When Sakura turned her attention to their other unconscious teammate, Kakashi already had Naruto sitting up in the same manner that he had positioned Sasuke in. She gave the man an appreciative nod and he returned one of his crinkled smiles as she scooted closer to her patient. She followed the same protocol for Naruto as Sasuke; she crushed the pills in her palm, poured the powder into his open mouth, followed it with a small amount of water, and, when she was confident he wouldn't drown, she let him return to his previous position.

She was so damn tired, and all she wanted was to take a fat nap. But that was something that would have to wait, because her and her team, which now consisted of two unconscious shinobi, were still in enemy territory. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Sakura sighed heavily, exhaustion settling forcefully into her bones. Kakashi's hand tugged hers lightly from her face as he spoke.

"You've still got a scroll and ink with you?"

Sakura nodded her head and turned back to the med kit. She pulled a small scroll out of the side pocket and placed it into his singular half gloved hand. Kakashi expertly opened the scroll itself with one hand and end of the scroll where the ink and brush were located with the other. Sakura watched him scribble out a coded message, seal the scroll, and then hand it off to Ūhei who took off into the woods at high speeds. She kept an eye on the ninken until he had disappeared into the foliage and then returned her focus to Kakashi, who was now drawing seals on their teammate's chests. He must have felt her staring at him because he began to speak as he worked.

"They're teleportation seals," he said pointing to the kanji, "it's an ANBU technique we use to transport subjects to the interrogation unit. But, with a few slight changes here and there, the seal can be altered to transport subjects to the restricted section of the hospital."

The implications of his words startled Sakura. Sure, Naruto and Sasuke could be transported back to Kohona's hospital but if they end up in the restricted section it could be hours, or even days, before someone knew that they were there. As if he could read her thoughts, Kakashi turned to face her with one of his eye crinkling smiles.

"Don't worry Sakura, they'll be found right away. I threw in a seal that would alert the Hokage to their presence once they're in Kohona. That, along with the letter Ūhei is carrying, will give Lady Tsunade all the information she needs."

He extended his ungloved hand toward her, the other rubbing at the back of his head.

"Unfortunately, with all the alterations to the seals, we'll both need to use our chakra to activate the transportation jutsu."

Sakura's eyebrows scrunched together as her eyes moved from Kakashi's outstretched hand to his masked face. She placed her hand in his, her voice quiet when she spoke.

"I can't guarantee that I'll be useful to you after exerting more chakra. Like I said earlier, the chakra pills don't replenish enough to really be useful."

Kakashi's fingers wrapped around her hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze as she moved to stand by his side.

"I've got you; you don't have to worry about that."

She frowned, wanting to protest, but too tired to really argue. Since she didn't know the hand seals for the ANBU's specific transportation jutsu, Sakura decided that the easiest way to help Kakashi was by sharing her chakra with him. She tightened her grip on his hand, lacing her fingers through his, and pushed what little extra chakra the small pill had given her into Kakashi. A green halo encompassed their intertwined hands as Kakashi's free hand singularly flew through hand seals, the written ones on her teammate's chests glowing and the light increasing in intensity with each completed seal.

Kakashi's eye closed and his fingers stilled in front of his face, his pointer and middle finger on his left hand pointing up while the others remained curled in his palm.

"Jikūkan!"

He pushed the hand seal out toward Naruto and Sasuke, his eye flying open as their bodies were fully illuminated in light in one second and then gone the next. Sakura sagged heavily into Kakashi's side, a weird mixture of white and black spots clouding her vision.

"'M sorry, Kashi." She mumbled trying to right herself and failing, the movement sending her plummeting to the forest floor.

Instead of ending up in a heap of useless limbs on the ground, Sakura found herself fuzzily gazing up into a lone grey eye that was crinkled on the side. She was tucked into the safety of Kakashi's arms, her head resting against his Jonin sweater that was exposed through his half zipped flak jacket. Exhaustion tugged at her consciousness and her eyes closed under the burden.

"Pakkun…"

She could feel the rumble of Kakashi's voice in his chest as he spoke to the ninken, although the words were lost to her. Sakura floated somewhere in the land of semiconsciousness, her mind only vaguely aware of the wind rushing past her and the deep tenor of a voice in her ear. The last sensations she felt before unconsciousness consumed her ragged brain was a gentle warmth pressed to her forehead and a rumble of whispered words.