Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Beautiful Disaster

Chapter 2: Catalyst

Hot wet kisses were pressed frantically against her mouth. Sakura moaned and arched her back to grind her hips into the warm body pushing her firmly into the wall. The chill of night air was quickly dissipated by the burning touch of strong hands running over her tingling skin. His body, her body, the torrid heat of contact was all that existed for her in that moment.

In the very back of her mind it occurred to Sakura just how wrong what they were doing was. Being taken by this man against the rough wall in a dark alley behind a shady bar was most definitely very, very wrong. But, as Genma ground his hips into her burning center and nibbled and sucked her kiss swollen bottom lip, all thoughts fled her mind. She needed his touch, firm and rough and sure. She needed to forget everything but the pleasure of his contact and the burning inferno of his body.

Genma growled as Sakura ran her hands over his chest, teasingly raking her fingernails over his nipples through the thin fabric of his shirt. As one hand pressed her hip firmly back into the wall, the other caressed over her neck and tangled into her messed pink hair, roughly tugging her head back to give him better access to the creamy expanse of her throat. He tasted it with open mouth kisses and searing bites that made her breath hitch with pleasure. Her responsiveness was driving him crazy with desire and he simply couldn't stand not having this beautiful women for a second longer. His hand moved down from her hip, ran over her pert ass and along the back of her thigh and guided her long shapely leg up to hook around his hip. The sudden contact of hard against warm and soft made Sakura arch and softly groan into his open mouth. His expert tongue took advantage of the extra access and frantically explored her mouth and swallowed up soft pants and moans as he ground his manhood against her core.

Hearing a sound from the direction of the bar's back door, Genma hesitantly pulled away from the greedy mouth of the panting vixen wrapped around him. "I think he have company" he whispered huskily against her ear, taking the delicious lobe into his mouth and nibbling until he elicited a feminine gasp before he could turn to tell the intruder to fuck off.

But when his eyes locked onto the form of Hatake Kakashi, standing in the alleyway with clenched fists and a dangerous look in his eye emphasized by the ragged breaths that clearly signaled fury, Genma froze. There were not many people that could frighten the elite special jounin. He had faced countless enemies during his career, even walking away from a battle with Suna's infamous Baki with barely a scratch, but Genma wasn't stupid. He knew what happened to people that were on the receiving end of his friend Kakashi's anger, and he never wanted to be in that position. So the presence of the enraged Copy nin staring at him with deadly intent was enough to make Genma very, very concerned.

"Shit" he said with alarm and squeezed his eyes closed as he leaned his forehead onto the shoulder of the gorgeous woman writhing between him and the wall. He needed a second to think, he felt torn between his consuming desire to take the panting Sakura who had her leg wrapped sexily around his hip, and his even more profound desire to live. Fortunately for Genma, he didn't have to make a decision since the next thing he knew he was torn away from Sakura's supple body and thrown violently against the wall on the other side of the alleyway.

Sakura whimpered at the sudden loss of heat and slowly opened her lust and alcohol hazed eyes to view the scene unfolding before her.

Kakashi rounded on his friend standing up from the ground of the alleyway and bracing himself with one hand against the brick wall.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he spoke slowly and softly in a manner that resembled a growl.

Genma's eyes widened for a brief moment when he heard the dangerously familiar tone in his teammate's voice. But then he glanced quickly over at Sakura still leaning against the other wall, chest heaving with the remnants of arousal, and he suddenly found himself infuriated at his friend's interference.

"Nani? What the fuck do you think your doing?" he spat back at Kakashi as he pushed off from the wall to stand at his full height, unconsciously squaring his hips to signal defiance.

Sakura watched hazily as the men in front of her glared at each other and preformed the banal act of male posturing. Her mind was still foggy with alcohol and lust so she couldn't quite understand what exactly was happening between the two men. The only facts that were able to register were that suddenly the man who had been giving her mind-numbing pleasure was across the alleyway from her and that Kakashi was to blame.

'Kakashi! What the hell is he doing here?' she thought frantically, hazed mind suddenly snapping into focus on his presence. I

Instantly the blissful numbness which had washed over her under Genma's ministrations was lost and replaced by the familiar ache deep in her chest. A cold shiver ran up her spine as she looked back and forth between the men and she suddenly felt all the strength in her legs drain away. She became very grateful for the wall behind her, helping hold her shaky frame up off of the ground. Was it the alcohol or Kakashi that was making her feel this way? She didn't know. All she really knew was the wave of despair which crashed over her and washed away all her warmth, leaving her to feel unbelievably weak and cold.

"This is none of your business. What the hell are you doing Kakashi!"

Kakashi continued to glare with deadly seriousness at his friend.

"Is this about her?"

It was a rhetorical question. Obviously it was about her.

"What gives you the right to come out here and interfere? This is between Sakura and I. Explain to me how this is any of your damned business Hatake" Genma heatedly demanded, his voice strong and steady despite the deadly glare from the man he was addressing.

Kakashi suppressed the urge to lunge forward and plunge a kunai into the chest of his good friend. He felt like the bastard was baiting him, trying to get him to reveal things in front of Sakura which had always remained unsaid. He took a slow breath and attempted to rein his inner emotions under control before speaking again. However, he found his control was precarious at best.

"She is not one of the typical whores you screw in the back alley of a bar," he shot bitterly, the caustic tone of his voice burning with spite.

"No, she most certainly is not a whore," Genma snapped at the obvious affront to not only himself, but also the other women he found company with. "Sakura is an adult. She is smart, beautiful and single and more than capable of making her own decisions without guidance from her former sensei. And where and if I screw her is none of your god damned business Hatake," he snarled sarcastically.

Kakashi stiffened at the word sensei. 'How dare he throw that in my face. That bastard,' he seethed.

But though Kakashi was beyond furious with his friend, he knew that this situation would only escalate into an all out brawl if they continued on in the same direction they were currently heading. He hated to show emotion to anyone and anger was definitely a very powerful emotion. Of course there was no way in hell he was going to let Sakura leave with Genma, but he realized that using his fist as a means of persuasion, although it would be thoroughly satisfying, would not be very effective in preventing this from happening again. So, bridling the irrational urge to tear Genma's dirty hands off his body, Kakashi decided to cut his losses and attempt to appeal to his friend's rational side.

Sighing, Kakashi released the tension in his shoulders and unclenched his balled fists. It was difficult but necessary for him to stifle the roaring rage burning inside. Though killing Genma would be satisfying at the moment, it would cause more problems than he was willing to deal with. And this wasn't about Genma. It was about Sakura. Surely Genma understood.

Kakashi ducked his head and cast his exposed eye towards the ground in a manner that implied weary resignation. Genma had been there, he had to understand. In a soft and hesitant voice Kakashi pleaded with his friend, "You know Genma…..You know that she's different. You were there, you were there when….." He stopped before his voice could betray any of the sharp emotion welling up into his chest and throat.

Genma listened to his friend with an arched eyebrow, but his anger wasn't dissuaded by the copy nin's emotive plea. For some reason it angered Genma even more. No, not just angered him, infuriated him. He watched the way Sakura's chin dropped to her chest and her shoulders slumped in response to those words and suddenly he was enraged at his friend's stupidity. Stupidity and ignorance and insensitivity all bound together and thrown out carelessly to stab the beautiful woman like daggers. That he would say that in front of Sakura….

"How dare you" Genma's voice rose to almost yelling, chest swelling with anger. "How fucking dare you! That woman behind you deserves to be treated the like the beautiful woman she is! She's not just some broken doll that needs to be handled with care! How dare you imply that she is just damaged goods," he screamed furiously before his mind could register what he was saying.

The pitiful sound that fell from Sakura's mouth at Genma's outburst was somewhere between a whimper and a gasp. Genma's eyes flew wide open and his jaw fell as he realized what he had just done. His face read complete shock as he stared into the flaming eye of his friend.

Suddenly, beyond infuriated, Kakashi pulled back his arm and smashed Genma square in the face with a force and quickness reserved for only the most vile of enemies. The man skidded backwards several feet and slammed into the brick wall with a loud crack before either realized what happened. Kakashi's still extended fist quivered in mid air with dangerous desire to hit again. If not for his firmly entrenched self control, Kakashi would have been unable to keep from pounding his friend to the brink of death for those damned insinuations. His blood pounded threw his veins like a viscous poison tearing up his insides. He wanted nothing more at the moment than to soothe the burning fury in his chest by wrapping his hands around Genma's throat. Kakashi was dangerously close to falling over the edge and giving into the murderous animal urges screaming inside of him.

But then the sound of a soft whimper and thud suddenly broke the deadly tense silence that had settled over the alley way and brought Kakashi back to himself. Genma's gaze flicked off of Kakashi's narrowed black eye and flinched painfully when it settled on Sakura. Kakashi turned slowly to look over his shoulder and felt all of his anger turn and plunge into self loathing because of what he saw.

Sakura's legs had given out from under her and she had slid down the wall of the alleyway to sit on the cold damp ground. Her head was resting against her knees as two thin arms weakly hugged her legs into her chest. Her back rose and fell with quick silent sobs, her face hidden by the shroud of her hair.

Both men watched her trembling form with fear.

Genma slowly rose up from the ground. He cringed slightly and spit blood onto the grimy concrete before wiping his torn and bleeding lip off on the back of his arm. Quietly walking forward till he was shoulder to shoulder with his frozen comrade, he bitterly spoke, "God, we are fucking morons…."

Kakashi continued to stare at the shivering woman over his shoulder. He suddenly was unable to form words in his mind so he simply nodded his ascent.

"I need to take her home," Genma whispered in a pained tone. He shifted to take a step towards her when he was firmly stopped by Kakashi's hand grabbing his forearm. Turning to look at his friends concealed face, Genma was taken aback by what he found in Kakashi's uncovered eye. Guilt and pain were there right at the surface. Kakashi never showed such raw and naked emotion, ever. In all the years of knowing him, Genma had only seen him this way once before. Even in the most terrible situations, Kakashi masked his feelings like he masked his face. But right now he was standing there, showing Genma the raw pain he felt with no filters, and that conveyed more to Genma than words ever could.

The infamous Copy-nin had let down his guard.

Genma simply gave him a small nod and the hand holding back his arm slid off to hang limply at Kakashi's side. Stepping towards Sakura, Genma crouched down in front of her little form.

"I'm sorry blossom," he said gently, then leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on the crown of her pink head. He hesitantly rose and turned to Kakashi before walking out of the alley way. "You better take care of her Hatake," he whispered before turning to leave. His words, however, continued to reverberate through the silence even as he turned the corner and disappeared into the cold night.

Kakashi turned towards Sakura and his eyebrows winced together in pain. They were such fools. Lost in their testosterone driven anger, he and Genma had completely disregarded the fact that Sakura was still in that alley way too. They had become so consumed with scathing words and the desire for violence that the fragile young woman leaning against the wall had been neglected entirely. Damn their selfishness. And now she was there, huddled up on the cold wet ground, immobilized by the horrible words that had escaped both men's mouths. Kakashi's stomach sank and his hands began to shake as he looked down on Sakura's shivering form.

"Sakura, I….." he stopped upon hearing the sound of his wavering voice, not strong enough to find words to make better what he had done. He hated how his emotions were so openly obvious, hated how his voice and body were betraying what was going on inside. But now that didn't matter at all, his damned pride could go to hell as far as he was concerned.

"Sakura…"

She didn't respond. He didn't expect her too. He had acted like a stupid selfish bastard and he didn't deserve to be in her presence.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

She didn't even move to acknowledge him. "Sakura, please, just let me walk you home.."

Kakashi felt a little alarmed by her continuing unresponsiveness. She didn't even lift her head to look at him as he slowly approached her.

"Sakura?" Kakashi's eye widened in alarm. What the hell was happening to her?

He could tell that she was completely lost to the physical world, to the reality of sitting on the ground of an alley way. He had sometimes seen traumatized people in this type of state. She was unconsciously hugging her knees to her chest for the comforting feeling of touch and warmth to soothe the tremors that were wracking her body. Her eyes were squeezed tightly closed and her head, resting on her knees, slowly lolled back in forth.

"God Sakura, what did I do," Kakashi fearfully whispered as he kneeled down in front of her. He reached his shaking hands out to rest on her hunched shoulders. The alcohol and the fight she had been forced to witness in the alley way had sent Sakura into some kind of a dangerously despondent state. He needed to take care of her now, needed to bring her back from wherever it was that she had gone in her mind.

Kakashi gently slid his fingers under her chin and coaxed her face up off of her knees. Her eyes stayed closed and her face was surprisingly absent of any signs of tears. Her mouth slightly parted as shivering breaths rushed in and out.

"Sakura...Sakura...Sakura...come back" he repeated her name softly, trying desperately to get her to open her eyes.

Kakashi felt a little of the weight lift off of his chest as her eyes slowly opened to reveal muted jade orbs. But the look in them was far off and Kakashi felt a shiver run down his back. It was like she was looking straight through him.

"Sakura, please look at me" he pleaded, leaning forward so his eyes were level with hers.

Suddenly, her pupils violently constricted as her mind found focus on the presence of the man in front of her. Kakashi anxiously watched her body tense and her futile attempt to jerk away from him and press further into the wall. A frightened whimper fell from her lips as she frantically glanced about, looking for an easy escape route. Kakashi knew that she was confused, that her mind believed that she was back there. His chest ached as he watched the fear take over her little form.

Kakashi grabbed her hand and firmly pulled it towards him to rest on his chest. "Look at me Sakura. Please just look at me," he pleaded.

She blinked rapidly, then a flash of recognition crossed over her face. The tension drained from her body and dissipated, leaving her weak and quivering.

"Kakashi" his name fell like a question from her shaking lips. He pulled her forward towards him and her head fell to rest on his shoulder.

'Thank god,' Kakashi thought as he allowed the relief to wash over him.

He closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around her. His fingers found their way to the back of her neck and tenderly laced through her hair as he pressed her harder against his chest, trying to soothe away her shaking. As he listened to her weak trembling breaths, he couldn't deny that it was all too familiar….

Kakashi felt like he desperately needed to do something before the dangerous memories started flooding in.

Wrapping an arm under her legs, Kakashi pulled Sakura closer to him and stood up. He didn't want to look down at her, he knew he shouldn't. It would only remind him of the last time he had held her in his arms like this.

But she quietly spoke and his gaze immediately fell down to her pale face and half lidded eyes.

"Ka..kakashi…I…I'm… c..cold" she stuttered weakly before her eyes rolled backwards and she lost her last grip on painful consciousness.

And with that the damn broke and the images violently flooded his vision.

The metallic smell of blood filled his nose. The olfactory sensation of blood lingering in the air was something he was used to, but somehow it seemed so out of place in the calm whiteness of the winter forest. The pure beauty of the newly fallen snow was tainted by that smell. Kakashi looked over his shoulder at Genma, who had also suddenly stopped and was now crouching on a tree branch looking around warily. He nodded and jerked his head to the right in silent communication and they both suddenly took off into the dense forest canopy to investigate.

Kakashi traveled at a fair distance behind Genma for a few minutes, keeping a wary eye on the surrounding woods trying to sense any enemy presence. Suddenly, at the edge of a large clearing Genma stopped and tensed up rod straight with alarm before he dropped down off of the tree bough onto the forest floor. Kakashi stopped and followed suit before walking through the trees towards his comrade, wondering why he was behaving so oddly. Genma had turned back towards Kakashi and was looking at him, his face reading anxiety and trepidation

Kakashi's heart was suddenly racing in his chest. He didn't know why but something in Genma's face made panic began to course through his body.

"Genma? What is it?"

Genma's eyes widened and he looked at Kakashi with fear, but he didn't say anything.

"Genma?" the alarm was evident now.

Kakashi quickened his pace and rushed past his friend into the blinding white light of the clearing.

But what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks and double over. An unfettered gasp escaped his lips and then turned into a pained wail.

Laying in the center of the clearing, surrounded by a halo of blood, was the nearly naked and battered form of his former student, Haruno Sakura.

The world spun around Kakashi as he fell down to his hands and knees. A vicious wave of nausea rolled over him and he struggled to hear or see anything other than the blood pounding through his ears and and across his vision.

The body in front of him was brutally beaten. But it was Sakura. There was no denying it. The curve of her profile and the shocking bright pink hair did not lie. It was his Sakura. She was covered in blood and emaciated and obviously tortured and lying in the snow. And it was Sakura.

Kakashi felt a hand on his shoulders and looked up to see a very pale Genma holding out the other to help him up. 'What am I doing,' he asked himself. 'This is not how an elite shinobi acts,' he thought briefly then took Genma's outstretched hand and pulled himself up off of the ground.

But when his eyes feel on Sakura again all thoughts of professionalism were quickly dismissed.

He hesitantly took a step towards her lifeless form. Then time stopped. He noticed something significant that he hadn't seen before. Small puffs of steam rising above her open mouth showed she was still breathing. She was still alive. Time resumed as he ran towards her across the expanse of white ground.

Kakashi feel to his knees besides her body, pooled blood soaking into and through the material of his pants. He reached out a shaking hand to touch the skin of her upturned palm, as if trying to make sure she was real. But the tactile feel of her cold skin under his fingers could not persuade his stunned mind.

He brought his shaking hands into a seal. "Kai" his stern voice called.

But the scene before him did not disappear. He said it again, this time his voice sounded more frantic. "Kai!"

He wanted so desperately for the form of his broken student to be an illusion. If she was an illusion that would mean that Sakura had met the quick death he had convinced himself to believe in six months ago when she had disappeared. It was too unthinkable, unbearable to think that she had been alive all this time. To think about what she had been experiencing for the last half a year, how long she had been suffering God knows what….

"Oh God please….Kai!" Kakashi's wavering and desperate voice filled the cold still air of the forest.

But Sakura was still there, still bleeding into the snow, still laying unconscious and exposed to the biting air. She wasn't an illusion and Kakashi hadn't walked into a genjutsu. The reality crashed down onto his mind and knocked the wind out of him.

Behind him he could hear Genma brace himself against the trunk of a tree and retch the contents of his stomach onto the snow.

Kakashi leaned his head down to press his ear against her bare chest and listen to the weak rhythm of her heart. Though the temperature of the air was below freezing, her skin felt burning hot against the skin of his face. Fever and infection were quietly ravaging her little body.

She wasn't going to make it much longer.

The end was dangerously near.

Kakashi felt her stir slightly and heard her breaths wheeze through her chest as she gathered air to speak. He sat up and looked into her battered face to find her eyes barely peeking open at him.

"Sauske?" she weakly breathed, eyes opened further now, but still unseeing.

"N-no, Sakura, it's Kakashi," he found he was barely able to reply.

"Oh my god, what the hell…." Genma breathed, still unable to move from shock.

Kakashi reached out his trembling hands and hesitantly pulled her into his arms and rested her weight in his lap.

She let out a soft whimper as her body was flooded with pain from the movement.

"I know it hurts baby, just hold on," Kakashi weakly tried to sooth her.

He was so scared he was going to break her fragile body further. He cradled her head in the crook of his arm and brought his other hand up to trace the curve of her face. His fingers covered with blood, covered with her blood, left red smears over the swollen bruised skin of her cheek..

"Sakura…"

Sakura's body suddenly jerked to the side in his arms as she coughed violently, tremors seizing her frame, bright red blood splashing from her mouth onto the white ground. The juxtaposition of warm and crimson against white and cold was violent and disturbing.

Her eyes lolled around in her head as her breaths became even more labored. Her emaciated body quaking with shivers.

Quivering lips struggled to form coherent words as her mind tried desperately to keep hold of reality. Her breath hitching violently in her chest showed that speaking was excruciatingly painful.

"S…ss…so..c...cc..old"

Kakashi stood staring into the now sleeping face of the girl in his arms as the painful memory played before his eyes. He had seen so many horrible things in his life as a shinobi, but it was the memory of the day he found Sakura that haunted him constantly. Whenever he let his guard down he found himself reliving it all over again; in his dreams, in the quiet moment of the morning as he stood before the memorial stone. It wasn't just another painful curse he carried with him. It was deeper and more profound. Whenever he saw her he felt the pain arching through his body as the memories threatened to take over. The guilt had manifested itself into a deep wound that would scab over only to be ripped open again in an instant. 'It's all my fault….'

And the sudden realization that he wasn't the only one still suffering was terrifying. He had wanted to believe that she would be fine. She had walked to the brink of death and been pulled back again, given a second chance. She had friends and loved one's to surround her and help her recover from the terrible trauma of what she had experienced. Sakura had always been resilient. He had trusted her to them, to heal and fix her.

However, it was now painfully obvious to Kakashi that though her physical wounds were long ago healed, so much damage still remained.

Kakashi cursed himself for being so powerless as he leapt into the dark night, angry and sad that he was back here again.

He was carrying this broken little thing in his arms once more.