Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Beautiful Disaster
Chapter 5: And it all Falls Down
Kakashi stood like a sentry at the same spot he visited every morning. It was bitterly cold and the sun had just barely breached the horizon, and ideally he would be in bed at this ungodly hour. But this morning, he had no doubt further sleep would elude him.
Hands in pockets and shoulders lazily slouching, his body language was deceptively calm. But on the inside Kakashi felt like a storm was raging. He kept replaying last night's fight over and over in his head. The past twenty four hours had seen some of his most ridiculous behavior ever. He had interfered in something that was none on his business, physically attacked one of his best friends, and taken home his unconscious former student to sleep with him in his bed. If not for the fact that the perpetrator was himself, he would have laughed at the absurdity of it all.
'What the Hell was I thinking.
None of it made any damned sense. At all.
Trying to understand his actions of the previous hours was like attempting to read a surrealist poem; there was no way in hell he was going to understand either and all he was able to take away from it were strange unfamiliar feelings.
Kakashi inwardly groaned and if it wouldn't have risked breaking his cool and uncaring exterior, he would have preceded to pull out his long gray hair before whacking his head against the nearest tree.
'That doesn't even make any since! Nobody else is even here!' he internally berated himself. But on the outside he let nothing escape except a small sigh.
He wondered how it was possible to fuck up so badly in such a short period of time.
It had nothing to do with Genma. If he thought honestly, his friend had deserved it. Well maybe not the first attack, but he sure as hell deserved the second. Kakashi hoped he was still sporting a severely busted lip the next time he saw him, which he also hoped wasn't too soon because he'd probably have a great deal of explaining to do and he had no idea what was going on in the first place.
Plus, he was still furious with Genma for several reasons and needed some time to cool off, lest he be tempted to repeat last night's beating. Genma had tried to screw Sakura in an alley behind a bar. His Sakura. The girl that they had both found that night two years ago in the woods, when she had almost died in his arms. The girl who they had failed to protect in the first place when their scouting camp was ambushed. The girl whose name was written right in front of him on the memorial stone.
'Dammit Genma, she deserves better than that.'
Kakashi stepped forward until he was an arm's length away from the hewn piece of polished stone. Reaching a gloved hand out, he gently ran his fingertips over the carved name he had found himself staring at almost every day for over two years. His fingers followed the gentle curve of the S and the angular formation of the A and K, they swooped down and then up with the arc of the U and traversed the elegant structure of the R from the leg to the tail and then returned again to follow the familiar sharpness of the last A.
'Sakura.'
It was like touching a part of her.
No matter how much time passed, how much she or he changed, this name remained here, permanently the same. Something about it was strangely comforting. And then again something about it was also severely disconcerting.
He had often wondered why her name was still there. He resented it and its implications. Sakura was not dead. She was alive and breathing and he had brought her back himself.
So why was her name still here?
It annoyed him for several other reasons. This memorial was for those who had died in service to Konoha. Though they had all at one time thought she had died, she was somehow still alive. And it bothered Kakashi that when he came to pay his respects, he spent more time thinking about her than those friends he had lost in the past. Of course he still visited for Rin, Obito, Minato, Jiraiya and Asuma, among many others, but he found that he was always invariably distracted by Sakura's name.
And it both angered him and saddened him when he thought about how it was somehow appropriate that her name was there. Especially after what he had seen last night, it was evident that Sakura had not returned the same lively girl he had known so long ago. It was undeniable that a very large part of Sakura had died during her captivity. And somehow, that engraving in the stone represented this missing piece.
But still…..
It wasn't just that her name was a distraction. Just seeing it was a trigger to release the dam on all the painful memories and feelings surrounding her 'death.' The battle in which he lost her the first time, her funeral, finding her in the woods, and the pervasive guilt that was always present.
Guilt that he had failed to protect her.
Guilt that he had given up on her.
Guilty that when he found her he wished she had just died. That he would rather she had died than been subjected to six months of torture.
And then there was the new guilt that he had abandoned her. That after everything, he had left her all alone to fend for herself.
But there was also something else.
When Kakashi looked at the graceful indentation of her name on the stone, he remembered most of all what it had felt like to lose her.
What it had felt like to have his heart shattered into a million jagged little pieces.
It had been strange at first, almost surreal. Everything between them had been wonderfully fine, and then all of a sudden she was just gone.
Kakashi sat in a tree and pretended to read his book. But he was actually watching with interest the group settled around the campfire below him. Actually he was watching one person in particular.
And then after I punch him and he goes soaring up into the air, I see Neji here step out of the shadows. And like it's the most natural thing in the world, he casually stretches his hand out and Whack, he close lines Naruto and walks away like nothing at all happened."
The entire group looked at Neji in surprise.
"The idiot had it coming," he dismissively explained and everybody burst out laughing at Neji's passive aggressive revenge.
Kakashi watched as the animated pink haired story teller doubled over with tears in her eyes. She had been entertaining the squadron with Naruto stories for the last hour. He found himself chuckling at several of them he had lived through himself. And everyone else seemed to thoroughly be enjoying the medics infectious light hearted attitude. Kakashi had never heard so much laughter at an ANBU campfire.
It was amazing how natural she was at making people feel better. The once palpable tension about the tough mission ahead had dissipated as soon as Sakura sat down at the campfire and started talking with everyone. Even those hardened ANBU men he knew she had never met before seemed to be at ease with the free spirited young woman. It really was a sight.
She really was a sight. Her cheeks were rosy from laughter and the campfire sparkled off her bright green eyes. And the way her ANBU uniform hugged her every curve. Kakashi had always thought that there was nothing sexier than a woman in an ANBU uniform. They were tight and sleek and showed off a woman's curves in a way that the normal shinobi uniform couldn't possibly. Not to mention how kinky the long gloves looked on them. He had fantasies about kunoichi sprawled across a bed in nothing but those gloves. All kunoichi looked amazing when they donned the outfit. But after seeing the pink haired beauty standing and waiting for him impatiently at Konoha's front gates before their departure five days ago, he had to say that there was nothing more sexy than Sakura in an ANBU uniform.
And it was all made even sexier by the fact that she had no idea.
She was the only woman in their twenty-four man team, and Kakashi was sure she had noticed how eyes seemed to follow her whenever she walked by. But it didn't seem to bother her at all. The other ANBU all treated her with the highest amount of respect. She was after all the Hokage's apprentice and a famous medic-nin. They knew they were damn lucky to have her with them. And though Kakashi could definitely tell that many of the men had noticed her stunning beauty as well, nobody tried anything inappropriate. Well nobody but one lecherous nin. It was more or less implicitly clear that Kakashi was very protective of the young woman he had brought on the mission to serve as medic, and that made her off limits. Genma often served a higher purpose of conveying this message when he stepped out of bounds, which was at least once a day. In fact he was long overdue for his daily beating, Kakashi noted.
The laughter below had calmed down and Sakura was shaking her head happily.
The eighteen or so men at the campfire looked really content. That was probably not necessarily a good thing as they were practically straddling the border between Fire and Sound, but Kakashi wasn't impervious to Sakura's light heartedness either. So he would allow them to continue to relax tonight. He was enjoying watching and listening to her too much. And the shinobi on guard duty around the campsite would let them know if anything was going down. For now it was just nice to watch as Sakura worked her magic and made everyone forget they were out risking their lives.
"Hey Sakura, why don't you come over here and let me tell you a story?" Genma called out and patted his lap while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
And there it was. Kakashi had been waiting and his idiot friend hadn't failed to deliver.
The other men at the campfire began to look around expectantly. They were waiting for Kakashi to appear out of nowhere and teach Genma a lesson once again.
But before Kakashi could close his book Sakura did something that caught him and the other's completely off guard.
"Alright Genma. But it better be a good one," she seductively answered while walking over to him with a slight sway of her hips.
Genma looked overjoyed, like a kid that just got the keys to the candy store. His cheshire cat grin spread across his face and was highlighted by the ever present senbon. The other shinobi simply gaped at the scene unfolding before them. Surely Sakura-san wasn't giving in to Genma-san's advances. And where the hell was Kakashi-taichou?
Kakashi stayed perched in his tree watching his former student with interest. She was most definitely up to something and his inner sadist couldn't wait to see what she did to Genma. However, his glee mellowed slightly as he watched Sakura settle comfortably into his friends lap. He knew it was just an act, but why did she have to make it so convincing? Kakashi was extremely close to getting up and intervening as he watched Genma bring a hand to rest on Sakura's knee and the other to wrap around her waist. Since when did Genma have permission to touch her so intimately? He was definitely going to pay for this.
Sakura reached up and pulled the senbon from Genma's grinning mouth and popped it between her own teeth. He looked at her with shock. Few women had the audacity to take his weapon of choice away. It was possibly the sexiest thing he had ever seen. Sakura looked up into his eyes with big innocent green ones and asked him sweetly "So what's my story Genma-kun?" Her hands rose up to link behind his neck and he could feel her fingertips gently caressing the sensitive skin there.
Fuck everyone else; he was finally getting what he wanted. He didn't care if the other men were looking on. And Kakashi could go screw himself. Genma leaned forward to whisper a dirty story into her ear. His mouth opened but suddenly he stopped.
Everyone stared in tense silence for a moment as Sakura just continued to look up sweetly into his face. And then suddenly Genma was falling backwards and hitting the ground with a thud and Sakura was throwing her head back and laughing manically.
The other men stared at her in shock. What the hell did she just do to Genma-san?
Sakura noticed the somewhat frightened faces of the men around her and stood up to collect herself. She spit the senbon into the trunk of a nearby tree before addressing the nervous men.Relax you guys, I just paralyzed him with the pressure points in his neck. It should last maybe ten more minutes."
Gotta love Kunoichi skills. Men never see them coming.
"Wow, Sakura-san, very impressive," a nearby shinobi complimented.
"Oh that, that was nothing," she smiled deviously at him before reaching behind her to pull from her pouch a black permanent marker and a small disposable camera. She tossed each item to a man nearby.
'Genius,' thought Kakashi.
"Don't say I never did anything nice for you boys," she winked before turning and walking away from the paralyzed man. The look of utter glee that blossomed on the faces of several of the hardened ANBU men was priceless.
Oh, Genma was going to get it good.
Kakashi giggled evilly to himself. There was nothing better than seeing Genma get made an ass of. This was probably the best instance he had ever witnessed. His former student had skill. That and she was sassy, beautiful, brilliantly smart, firey, passionate, frighteningly strong, and slightly evil. Sakura was a woman after his own heart.
He watched with interest as Sakura's face transformed from a manic grin to a soft smile as she approached a shinobi abstaining from the Genma mutilation festivities.
"How are you feeling today Akai-san," she asked as she knelt in front of the sitting man.
"Much better thanks to you Sakura-san," the young man replied.
"Very good," Sakura patted her knee and the young man extended his leg out and rested his foot on it. Apparently this was a familiar routine. His ankle was bound with bandages, which she quickly removed. Sakura formed a few hand seals before laying a hand upon his ankle and releasing glowing chakra into his leg.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, Sakura with her eyes closed tight in concentration. Kakashi watched enamored as she drew her bottom lip into her mouth to chew on as she focused. Her pink hair swung in the mildly cool breeze. She really was so gorgeous.
The young man's shoulders gradually began to relax. Sakura must have been relieving his pain as well as healing him. Kakashi heard a sigh escape his lips. He knew that Akai had sprained his ankle, but he wasn't aware it had been severe enough to cause continued discomfort. Thank Kami Sakura was here to handle those kinds of things.
Suddenly green eyes were snapped open and Sakura was reaching behind to her pack to retrieve a roll of bandages. She speedily rolled the young man's ankle back up and lowered it to the ground before standing up.
"Ok, that should do for tonight. It's looking much, much better now, but I still want you to keep it bound to reduce the swelling," she explained with a smile.
"Thank you Sakura-san," the young man practically beamed at her.
Sakura laughed. "No problem Akai-san. You've been a very good patient." She smiled down at him and patted his shoulder as she started to walk past. "Let me fetch you some extra bandages to carry in your pack just in case. Alright?"
Kakashi smiled. She was always so well prepared.
The young shinobi nodded. And Sakura turned to walk away from the group surrounding the campfire. Kakashi saw her glance around before she disappeared into the darkness.
'I wonder if she's looking for me,' he thought before turning to his forgotten book.
A few seconds later she flickered up in front of him on the large tree branch.
"I see you're enjoying yourself," Kakashi looked meaningfully at the group of men surrounding the now unparalyzed but disoriented Genma, who was sporting a markered unibrow, a twirly mustache, long bushy sideburns, and a penis in the middle of his forehead. So much for subtlety…
"Hmm, likewise," she teased looking pointedly at his book.
"Mmm" was his answer as he flipped the page, even though he hadn't actually finished reading it yet.
"Sensei?"
"Kakashi." He wondered why she insisted on calling him sensei. They hadn't had that type of relationship for about seven years. And besides, their relationship now was definitely not one of student and teacher. For the past four months the two had been relentlessly engaging in flirtatious banter. Kakashi's feelings for Sakura were nothing less than those that a man felt for a woman. If he didn't know any better, Kakashi would say that he had fallen for her…
"Arrrgh, alright Kakashi?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I ask you kind of a personal question?"
'Shit' that was heading to dangerous territory. He looked somewhat furtively at her before cautiously continuing. "I guess."
"I was just wondering if you realize how ridiculous a hobby reading is for someone like you," she asked with a wide teasing grin.
"Are you trying to say I'm stupid or something Sakura?"
She laughed outright at that. "No. It's just the whole reading with one eye thing. It is probably the most ridiculous hobby you could have other than knitting."
"You see that's where you're wrong. I'm a fine knitter."
Her delicious laughter filled his ears once again. "Yea I bet you are Kakashi."
"Are you teasing me Sakura-chan
"No of course not. I highly respect you and your ability to read with one eye and make fine textiles. You're a true shinobi." She plopped down on the tree branch next to him.
Suddenly the air around them was filled with the sound of brushing leafs as a cool breeze rushed through the tree tops.
"Brr. Maybe you can knit me a scarf then. These ANBU uniforms are a little cool," she joked but Kakashi could see her hands on her lap slightly shiver.
'Don't do it,' he warned himself. But Kakashi was never one for following the rules, well at least not since he was a kid.
"Come here," he said as he lifted his arm up. She looked at him carefully for a moment before shrugging and scooting over to lean her back against his chest. His arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her close.
They stayed like that for several moments, neither one quite sure what to say. "Wouldn't this be trouble if somebody saw us?" Sakura asked with a small voice.
Probably, but he didn't say that.
"Nah, were just simply sharing body heat. It's a pretty standard survival practice."
Sakura rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. She doubted that this would be looked upon as a 'survival practice.' She hadn't been in ANBU very long but she had yet to see anybody 'sharing body heat' with another teammate. Especially seeing as it was currently the middle of summer. But if Kakashi wanted to pretend, she was more than happy to let him. As long as he kept his muscled arm wrapped around her she wasn't going to complain
She noticed the book still open in his other hand and felt compelled to comment. "I'm so glad to see you haven't changed Kakashi."
"I feel like I'm not going to like where this is going," he said with mock apprehension.
"No, no. I'm not making fun. I like that I can always count on you to be the same. I don't know why, but something about that is really..." she trailed off, searching for the right word.
"Sexy?" he offered.
"Tch. You wish." She shrugged her shoulder into his chest slightly and he squeezed her tighter to him in retaliation. "You're always so ridiculous," she sighed
"Ridiculous?" he asked in an almost pouting tone.
"Yes, ridiculous," she said matter of factly turning to look up into his face with a bright smile.
Kakashi looked down into her eyes. Their playful banter wasn't necessarily distracting him from the dangerously close proximity of her body, or the sweet smell of her hair, or the soft pale pink of her ripe bottom lip…
He blinked quickly and turned his gaze back forwards. For a second the urge to kiss her had been overwhelming. He needed to focus on the conversation.
"How exactly am I ridiculous Sakura?" he asked.
Sakura too was a little shaken up. She had seen something like desire pass over his eye and watched how his gaze fell to her mouth. For a second she seriously thought he intended to kiss her.
But she recovered quickly enough when her eyes followed his gaze back to his open book. She reached forward and grabbed it from his hand. Or rather, he allowed her to grab it. Kakashi was not a man who could have something taken from him without his permission. So for now, he seemed to be appeasing her.
"This is how. You could be reading the finest literature the world has to offer, God knows your smart enough, but instead you read," she quickly flipped the book over and read off the title with an arched eyebrow, "Icha Icha Seductress. Oh please."
"For your information that happens to be 'fine literature.' The plot is complex, the characters well developed, the imagery and dialogue nuanced. It's really one of Jiraiya's best works."
"Oh really now? Then I guess all of these years I've been terribly wrong. Let's see what I've been missing." Sakura flipped back to the page Kakashi had been on before clearing her throat and beginning to read from the top. She spoke in the most slow and sultry tone she could manage as she narrated.
"'Say it,' he growled into her ear as he teased her silky opening relentlessly with the head of his engorged manhood. The kunoichi's back arched up off the bed as her hips writhed and twisted, searching for any friction to satisfy her aching desire. She pulled desperately at the bindings on her wrists, but to no avail. She was completely at his mercy. 'Please...' she whimpered. She felt as though she would be incinerated by the heat of his skin and mouth. The excruciating throbbing grew stronger as his hot mouth closed down over her areola. His tongue darted over her nipple, teasing it between rough bites from his teeth. The kunoichi's head fell back and she let out a pleasured wail as the pad of his thumb rubbed over her clit. 'Oh, god please,' she desperately cried out, straining against his brusingly tight grip on her hip. 'He released her swollen wet nipple from his mouth and pinned her with a fiery gaze. 'Do you want it?' His teeth found the pulse point on her throat. 'Yes,' she weakly panted, turning her face to the side to give him better access. 'Then say it,' he ordered, penetrating her with just the head of his cock. Her whole body jerked as she frenzily struggled against him, dying to be filled up. 'I...I...I'..."
Sakura was stopped abruptly when a large hand firmly covered her mouth. Her breath was rushing in and out, as what she had just read was perhaps the most erotic thing she had ever heard. She could feel Kakashi's chest rising and falling quickly too. It was obvious it was affecting him as well.
Kakashi hadn't been able to listen to her anymore. It was just too much. He had to stop her before she drove him absolutely crazy. Never had a woman gotten him so aroused just by reading to him. He had read this book at least five times, and though he enjoyed that particular scene, he was a little jaded to it by now. But hearing those words fall off of Sakura's tongue, feeling the way her breathing sped up, and seeing how her cheeks were growing pink with arousal, he couldn't bear it. So he had promptly covered her mouth with his gloved hand before she could continue even further.
But for some reason, the cessation of reading hadn't helped to calm him down. And the feel of her parted lips and her hot breaths rushing in and out against his palm was most definitely not helping either. He wanted this woman desperately. But this had to stop where it was.
Sakura gasped slightly when she felt hot breath tickle over her ear. Kakashi's masked covered lips moved against the shell, "Sakura." His voice was low and husky and made her eyes close and her back arch a little. The arm around her fell from her mouth to her stomach and pulled her back into him tightly.
Was this really happening?
"Sakura," his masked lips caressed her ear with her own name again. It was hard to breathe, it was hard to think.
"Hmm?" was the only response she was able to formulate.
"This would definitely get us in trouble if someone saw."
"Oh?" she responded in the most innocent tone she could muster, "But we're just sharing body heat. It's a pretty standard survival practice after all.
He growled into her ear at hearing his own words used.
And then complete chaos broke out.
An explosion from the North rocked the clearing and both Sakura and Kakashi jumped to their feet. Someone below them tossed a bucket of ashes on the fire and they were plunged into complete darkness. The metallic ring of a sword being unsheathed tickled Sakura's ear. She followed suit and braced herself for attack.
"Kakashi," she whispered worriedly.
The moon suddenly broke through the cloud covering and drenched them in cool crisp light. Sakura's breath left her lungs. She knew she should be focusing on the battle coming but Kakashi looked so fiercely handsome in the shadowed light.
He lifted his hiateate up and revealed the sharingan before turning to address the nervous woman standing next to him.
"Sakura, stay out of the way. Don't engage anyone unless you have to. You are our only medic-nin and we need you to stay safe until this is over."
Sakura nodded. "Hai." It was amazing how quickly Kakashi could switch into combat mode. He was no longer the man who had been holding her tightly in his arms and whispering seductively into her ear. Now he was the elite shinobi.
Another loud explosion blasted through the air. The lookouts must have been engaging the enemy and attempting to alert the camp of the conflict. Kakashi looked at Sakura full on with both of his eyes and it made tingles run down her spine. The sharingan both frightened her and excited her all at once.
"Find Genma and stay by his side. I have to go and engage their leader," these were order's but Sakura could tell there was a hint of worry.
"Hai." Kakashi could see, especially now that his sharingan was exposed. She was nervous and maybe a little frightened. This must have been her first conflict as an ANBU member. He knew she was more than capable of defending herself, she was not among the elite for nothing, but he wanted, no needed, for her to stay out of harm's way. Yes, she was their only medic, but there was something more. He wasn't going to be able to protect her tonight so instead he ordered her to avoid engagement and to stay with Genma. She would be safe…
Kakashi could sense the enemy closing in. The shift in the air told him they were still a little ways off though. He had just enough timeto…
Sakura's eyes widened as Kakashi stepped up close. He was so handsome and so dangerous when he was like this
"Sakura."
There it was again. Her name sounded so different when it came from his mouth. Then suddenly his free hand was on the side of her face and he was leaning in towards her.
'Oh my god,is he going to kiss me?'
Her eyes slid closed as his masked lips drew within centimeters of her own.
'I can't believe this is happening.'
"Kakashi," she unconsciously whispered. It was so sweet and wonderful hearing her whisper his name like that. Like it was the only word in her vocabulary, like he was the only thing that mattered in the world. She looked so beautiful with her closed eyes and slightly parted lips.
He leaned in to close the distance between them. He wanted to feel her lips on his own. That's all that mattered.
"Taichou!"
Shit," he whispered.
And then the explosion burst through the air. He had miscalculated. Kakashi scooped Sakura up into his arms and leapt through off of the branch. The fire of the explosion singed the back of his neck. They had just barely managed to outrun the fireball but the shockwave came next. Kakashi landed on the ground as gently as possible, but was knocked forward when it hit. His body covered the woman beneath him in his best attempt to shield her from any flying debris
"Fuck," he groaned as he stood up and pulled a very unsteady Sakura up with him.
"Are you ok," she asked worriedly.
"Yea, Im alright," he responded quickly. "Get going now Sakura. And don't forget your mask," he called out over his shoulder as he rushed towards what appeared to be the densest area of battling.
"Hai," Sakura replied before pulling her mask out of her pouch and securing it over her face. She cast one last glance on the back of the Copy-nin before heading in the other direction in search of Genma.
The battle had lasted for maybe an hour.
It was sound nin engaging them preemptively before they could get further into Sound territory. Sound had many enemies, so maintaining anonymity by sending out ANBU was essential to the safety of Hidden Leaf. The last thing they needed was to provoke Sound into attacking Konoha again. And the unit hadn't been deployed necessarily for combat. They were sent to scout. The large group had traveled together, but was going to break down into smaller teams once they got closer to their objective. Rumor had it that someone had stepped in to take Orochimaru's place. Though they had their suspicions, confirmation was necessary before Leaf would be able to prepare an adequate response. The ANBU teams were sent to surveill several of Orochimaru's suspected hideouts and were ordered to engage the enemy only if it was necessary.
But then everything had gone to hell.
Sound had spotted them or had been informed through a leak. Either way, they were waiting for a large ANBU group moving along the border of Fire. And they had wasted no time in attacking them as soon as nightfall permitted.
Kakashi had taken on the leader. But odds had been against him since the man was a long range fighter who used explosives. Kakashi hadn't been able to use his Mangekyou Sharingan because of the nature of the battlefield. He didn't want to risk sucking one of his own men into another dimension. So he had fought him as best he could with his copied long range jutsu. But by the end, they both had exhausted their chakra reserves. That's when Kakashi had got a lucky hit with his Katon no Jutsu, and was able to pin the man to the ground with the tip of his sword at the neck.
That's when he had made his biggest mistake. He had asked the man if he was prepared to die. And the bastard had laughed in his face. Kakashi noticed the hand seal too late and suddenly the woods were on fire with explosions. Apparently the Sound nin had been placing explosive tags on surrounding trees during the battle. It was the equivalent to suicide as they were surely caught in the explosions as well, but Sound had no forgiveness for those who failed missions. It was either die or come back victorious. So they had all died. As did over half of his ANBU squad. As did Sakura.
Kakashi had barely managed to escape using his teleportation jutsu. The survivor's had gathered at a point previously designated for this type of event. He had quickly sought out Genma and found him watching the fire ravage the forest in the distance. But Sakura had not been with him. She had never been with him. She hadn't made it out. She had died in the explosion. Well, she had actually been captured and taken before the explosion, but he hadn't known. To everybody, especially Kakashi, Sakura was lost forever.
And Kakashi's world had crumbled down around him in an instant. Loosing Sakura had been the most painful thing he had ever experienced. More painful than his father, than the fourth, than Rin or Obito. Because of all the traumas of his childhood, he had never allowed himself to fall in love. Bu,t all to late, he realized he loved the pink haired beauty. He had loved her…
It hurt that he only realized how much he loved her once she was gone. It hurt that they had come so close to sharing a first and last kiss. It hurt that he would never be able to tell her how he felt. It hurt to think that she would still be alive if he hadn't left her side.
Yes, the guilt was unbearable, but it wasn't the only thing. Sakura had once made it past all of his carefully constructed barriers. And when she had been taken away, Kakashi had been crushed.
It honestly frightened him that she had that type of power.
And no matter how often he stood at the stone, tracing her name on his fingertips and remembering the past, it still scared him that Sakura could do that again to him.
She had been taken away once like everybody else he ever cared about. He didn't have the strength or courage to go through it all again.
And so he stayed away.
"Ino!" a frustrated voice rang out from the direction of the street.
"Aww crap he found me," the blonde moaned as she set her warm cup of tea down on the table and turned toward the voice's orgin.
"Ino, where have you been! I've been looking everywhere for you," Shikamaru stared crossly down at the sitting woman.
"Tch, hiding from you," she grumbled.
"What?" he asked, hands on hips and eyebrow arching so high it almost reached his hairline.
"Aww, come on Shika, you're driving me crazy here. I just went for a walk and stopped in for some tea," she gestured towards the table as if to provide proof of her innocent activities.
He continued to stare at her incredulously but his eyes softened minutely as he studied her form.
"Now quit treating me like some kind of invalid," she huffed. "Don't you know I'm a highly skilled kunoichi who is more than capable of taking care of myself?"
Shikimaru sighed animatedly. "Women are so troublesome."
Ino rolled her eyes and held out her hand to him. He sighed once more to make sure his exasperation was properly conveyed and then stepped towards her, taking her hand in his and leaning down to kiss her affectionately on the lips.
"Well at least let me know when you're going out next time. You had me worried," he asked gently.
"I'm fine. We're fine. See?" she pulled his hand towards her and placed it firmly on her rounded belly.
"Yea I see," he responded with a loving look in his eyes, then leaned in to kiss her forehead before lazily plopping into the empty seat next to her.
"You know, for someone as lazy as you, you sure put a lot of effort into worrying," Ino teased before lifting her cup up to her mouth to sip.
"Well I can't help it. You always seem to be getting in trouble without me around," he responded in a huff.
"Oi, realax Shika-kun. We still have four months to go," Ino patted his knee comfortingly. "I promise you I won't go looking for trouble till after then."
Shikamaru sighed once more and put his head in his hands.
"Besides," Ino continued, "If you get to go out drinking with the boys, I sure as hell can go get some tea without you."
"Yea, yea, yea," he mumered while massaging his temples, attempting to assuage the symptoms of the serious hangover he had from the previous night.
Ino noticed his discomfort and decided to take pity on him. She knew that, unlike his father, Shikamaru didn't drink unless there was a celebration or he was very upset. So whenever he went out for drinks with his team after a mission, she understood and did not get angry with him. "Come here," she whispered pulling his shoulder closer to her so she could place a hand glowing with chakra on the back of his head. He breathed out in relief as her healing chakra dissipated his headache and the nausea that had been bothering him all morning. "Tough mission?" she asked softly as she finished and tenderly squeezed the nape of his neck.
Shikamaru ignored her question, choosing instead to lean in and give her a grateful kiss.
"Thank you, but you know you're not supposed to be giving your chakra away like that this far into the pregnancy," he scolded.
"Yea, yea, yea," she mocked his earlier tone. "I know, I know, but healing one of your hangovers every now and then isn't going to hurt me or the baby."
"I suppose not," he conceded. Ino was a strong willed woman, and Shikamaru had learned a long time ago not to pick unnecessary fights with her, because his logical reasoning would lose to her tenacity almost every time.
"So, why aren't you at the academy today? I looked there before I found you here," he asked. Ever since she became pregnant and was taken off the active duty roster, Ino had been teaching the kunoichi classes at the academy. It was a job she was surprised to find she enjoyed more than standard missions. Plus, she happened to be an excellent sensei, having just the right balance of experience, bossiness, and natural affinity for the type of skills that were taught to young kunoichi. She was seriously considering taking the position permanently after the baby was born.
"Oh, the kids are all out on field training for the next three days," she smiled.
"Mmmm," Shikamaru hummed as he reached out for her teacup. There was an empty one across the table from him, but it would have taken too much effort to stand up and get it. Instead, he decided to just take his wife's. Or attempt to.
"Get your own," she quipped as she grabbed it from his hand, the hot contents splashing over the side and onto Shikamaru's pants. Pretending she didn't notice, Ino continued talking. "I've been thinking about having Sakura come in and talk to my class about going into the medical field. I know I could probably do it as well, but Sakura is pretty famous, and I think she would have more of an impact on the girls, don't you think?"
Shikamaru was dabbing at the stain on his lap with a cloth napkin and only half listening to his wife. "Umm, I guess that's a good idea, if you don't mind bringing Sakura around the kids." He stopped mid dab, suddenly realizing what he had just said and to whom.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean," Ino practically screamed at him, her voice rising to a shrill screech at the end.
Shikamaru's shoulders slumped. He knew that he had just openly instigated a fight. Ino was, without a doubt, Sakura's biggest advocate and would defend her tooth and nail to anyone who dared to be critical of the pink haired kunoichi in her presence.
"I don't know Ino, it's just that Sakura isn't really the most personable person anymore. Having her talk to the girls about why they should become medics may be counterproductive."
"What! You think that she'll scare them off or something," her shrill voice was now at an embarrassingly high level and they were attracting quite a bit of attention from the other customers in the teashop.
"Ino, keep it down," he ordered, noticing the disapproving stares they were receiving.
"Don't you tell me to keep it down!" she yelled even louder.
"Geeze must be the friggin hormones," Shikamaru scowled to himself.
He was rewarded with a swift smack to the side of the head.
"Oh, man. Come on Ino, you know I wasn't trying to say anything bad about Sakura," he said rubbing the side of his head.
"That's not what it sounded like," she mumbled looking down into her teacup. Apparently hitting her husband had siphoned off some of the aggression that was making her so violent.
"How long has it even been since you last saw Sakura?"
"Maybe a month or two. But what does that matter? She's busy with work!"
"Yea but haven't you noticed, Ino, that Sakura is just always really distant and when she smiles it always seems fake."
"Well it's not her fault! With the hell she went through we could all make a couple of concessions for her. Don't be so critical Shikamaru," Ino snapped.
"No, what I meant was that Sakura just seems really-" but he was cut off by his irritated wife.
"Well, I don't care what you say, I think she will be great," Ino said in a pouty tone.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Ino had always been difficult, but since becoming pregnant, her moodiness and temper had been magnified drastically. He was still attempting to adjust to handling her so delicately. Now that she was pouting, he needed to find a way to distract her and quickly, before she lapsed into a full on crying fit. He decided to resort to his good old stand-by: gossip. Ino loved gossip, and she was most definitely easily distracted by it.
"Speaking of Sakura, I noticed something really strange last night at the bar."
Ino instantly perked up. "Sakura was there?" she asked surprised. She knew her best friend hated social gatherings, and therefore avoided bars and other places where people congregated at all costs.
"Yea, I was a little surprised too," Shikamaru said with relief. She had taken the bait.
"So what was happening, what was she doing, who was she talking to, tell me everything," Ino barraged him with questions.
Shikamaru sighed. This is the price he payed for upsetting her in the first place, so he would just have to deal. "Well, when I first got there she was alone. But she looked like she was aiming to get pretty tanked. And then Genma, that ass, goes up to hit on her. And Kakashi-senpai and were watching, totally expecting her to shoot him down, but she didn't"
"Whaa? Are you serious. Sakura and Genma? That lucky bitch!"
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at his pregnant wife who had clapped a hand over her mouth after her outburst. That would be something to discuss with her later.
"Anyways, they started to get really touchy, and I could tell they were both pretty intoxicated. But when Genma started rubbing her back, Kakashi-senpai stood right up and walked towards the bathroom without saying a word."
"Really?"
"Yea, it looked like he was getting really pissed off, but maybe he just really had to urinate."
"Tch, I doubt that," Ino responded.
"Alright women, be quiet so I can finish the damn story."
Ino rolled her eyes but remained silent so her cranky husband could continue.
"Alright, so then Sakura and Genma leave together a couple minutes later," he shot a look at Ino who was trying her hardest to refrain from commentating. "And then I headed to the bathroom to…ah… piss…but when I get there the door was locked. Kakashi had locked himself in there alone for God knows why." Ino had a good idea, but she stayed quiet. "And then I happened to tell Kakashi that Genma left with Sakura, and he went furious on me real fast. I mean the killing intent rolling off of him was scary as hell. And he went running out the door and then I ran into Genma when I was looking for you this morning and his lip is busted wide open." Shikamaru finished with relief. He hated to gossip, it always had troublesome results, but he very rarely had a choice when it came to Ino.
"WHAT?"
Shikamaru noticed that once, again they were getting dirty stares from the other patrons.
"Come on Ino. It probably doesn't mean anything at all."
"Oh, no! This most definitely means something." Ino was well aware how Kakashi had been acting towards Sakura since she was brought back. But she also remembered how Kakashi had acted when he found her.
"God I'm soooo tired," Ino moaned as she trudged through the deep snow drifts.
"Stop whining, we're almost to camp," Shikamaru shot.
"And I'm soooo cold," she continued, disregarding her teammate.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and continued to struggle forwards.
"Well, I'm hungry," Chouji joined in with his opinion.
"Yea, youre right Chouji. I'm soooo hungry."
"Ino…" Shikamaru growled out his warning.
"Knock it off you guys," Kurenai said from behind. "This is what scouting the border in the wintertime is like. Next time you'll know better than to take this type of mission."
Ino hung her head a little. She was the one who had pushed the team into taking this assignment, so it was technically her fault if they were all freezing their asses off now. But she couldn't help it if she had a huge crush on Shirunai Genma and he just happened to be one of the other members of the team.
Also, Kakashi-sensei just so happened to be acting as taichou and Ino really wanted to see if he was alright. Ever since Sakura was killed, she had noticed his absence from around the village. She heard he was taking a lot of long missions, and she presumed he was trying to stay away from Konoha and memories of Sakura. They had become pretty close before she died. Ino had even begun to suspect there was something more than friendship between them. But all that didn't matter now…
Ino sighed, she supposed that she had also wanted to take this mission to get away from Konoha as well. She missed Sakura terribly and it was painful to be assaulted by memories of their long friendship every time she turned around. The teashop they ate brunch at every Sunday, the bar where they had snuck in and had their first, albeit underage, drink, or the bench in front of the hospital where they sat on breaks from training while exchanging the latest gossip. Everywhere seemed to have some sort of shadow cast on it by Sakura's absence, and Ino was glad to get out of the village for a while. It's not that she wanted to forget. She just needed some time. And she was thankful her team seemed to inherently understand this. Though it remained unsaid, she knew Shikamaru had uncharacteristically agreed to come on this long and arduous mission because he was concerned about her. His keen sense of observation and deduction really could be a blessing sometimes.
But so far, after three weeks out in the freezing wilderness of Fire Country's borders, Ino was still having trouble with her grief. She was beginning to wonder if coming here had been a mistake. Besides missing all her creature comforts, she was also disappointed that she rarely saw the two men she had accepted the mission to spend time with. Kakashi and Genma seemed to have more going on than just scouting the border, and often disappeared together without explanation. But she wasn't going to ask questions. They weren't the type of men you questioned.
Rules were different at the border. Because of the close proximity in living spaces, privacy was a sensitive subject. It was an unspoken rule that everyone would try their best to give everyone else their space. And generally silence was maintained by all for safety's sake.
And the silence out here could be deafening.
"Hey, you alright?"Shikamaru's voice abruptly interrupted Ino's thoughts.
She shook her head to bring her focus back to the present. It was never a good idea to get too lost in your thoughts when in possibly hostile territory. She fully expected Shikamaru to berate her or at least call her irresponsible and shot him an expectant look.
"If you're really that cold you can have my scarf. It's troublesome but I'm dressed more warmly than you," he nonchalantly suggested.
Ino was temporarily taken aback by this. Was Shikamaru being nice to her? All she could do was stare at him with obvious traces of disbelief on her face. The cold silence of the forest was punctuated only by their partners breathing and the frictiony sound of boots pushing through snow.
Shikamaru stared at her patiently for all of ten seconds before he rolled his eyes and trudged off ahead muttering something about women and bothersome. Ino watched the back of his head curiously.
'What the hell has gotten into him,' she wondered. He really had been acting strangely.
Kurenai's voice broke through the somewhat tense silence, "Ah, home sweet cave."
"Kai," the three younger shinobi automatically said together, releasing themselves from the genjutsu protecting their base. The ambient world flickered and then a large opening in the rock face appeared. They could see light coming from inside.
"Good, someone's home. That means we don't have to start the fire."
"God, you're so lazy Shikamaru," Ino poked him in the arm as she passed on her way into the cave and towards the warmth and dryness of a fire.
"I'm not lazy, just energy efficient," he responded sorely.
Kurenai and Chouji hung their heads a little more knowing a full on argument was coming. Ino guffawed at his response and looked over her shoulder to toss him another insult. "Energy effiecient? What are you, some kind of home appliance
She turned back forwards, but not in time to brace herself for knocking directly into the brick wall that was Genma's torso. She bounced off of him and fell back onto the floor with a loud "Umph
Damn it Genma. What the hell are you thinking?"she shouted, more out of surprise than anger. The cold stone that made up the cave's floor was not exactly soft on the behind.
A hand was quickly extended down towards her from the side, and she looked up to see it was Shikamaru, for once, being chivalrous. But he wasn't looking at her at all. His gaze was focused suspiciously on Genma, who was just standing there staring at Ino as if he was frozen to the spot.
Oi, Genma what happened," Shikamaru asked as he heaved Ino up off the floor and onto her feet. But he didn't let go of her hand once she regained her footing, instead he absent mindedly held it in his larger one as he waited for a response from Genma. Ino was not quite sure what to do. Her gaze was locked on where they were joined. Though separated by thick layers of insulating fabric, that was most definitely her hand in Shikamaru's. She could pull her hand away, but in truth it kind of felt nice being held in her teammates. But this kind of behavior was so strange for Shikamaru. He always thought before acting, even if it did appear right now that he just hadn't noticed he was holding her hand. Ino knew him better than that.
"Genma, what's wrong," Kurenai's concerned voice echoed off of the rock walls.
Genma seemed startled by Kurenai's voice. His eyes shot off Ino and took in the rest of the people standing in the antechamber of the cave.
"Kurenai…"
She slowly stepped in front of the linked Shikamaru and Ino. Her hands rose to rest on his shoulders in a comforting manner. She could tell Genma was thoroughly distraught. Kurenai had enough field experience to know how to gently pull the information she needed from him.
"Genma, when did you get back?"
"Just now."
Kurenai could tell this was true. She had removed her gloves and could feel that the fabric on his shirt was still chilled from the open air. The cave also felt colder than usual, meaning the fire had just been lit.
Shikamaru was growing impatient. Something was obviously wrong and Genma was hesitating to tell them. Though Genma did look thoroughly freaked out, the strategist in Shikamaru couldn't stand by and wait for important information. Genma needed to get his shit together. "Hey, snap out of it. Whats going on?" he barked out impatiently over Kurenai's shoulder.
Kurenai ignored him and continued her gentle questioning. "Where is Kakashi?"
Genma titled his head to the right and back, signaling towards the living area of the cave.
"Ok, that's good," Kurenai smiled. Genma didn't seem to be injured, nor was he covered with someone else's blood, so that probably meant Kakashi was alright.
"Alright, get out of the way then," Shikamaru pushed past them, dragging Ino along behind him. His patience had worn out. Maybe Kakashi could give them some straight answers.
The sudden jostling seemed to make Genma snap to attention.
"Wait," he called out to the two hurrying further back into the cave. He realized he at least needed to warn them.
"What?" Shikamaru asked. He was getting more and more frustrated with Genma's strange behavior.
"It's Sakura…and Kakashi…it's really bad…"
Suddenly Ino felt very weak in the knees. Shikamaru grabbed her by the elbow when he sensed her distress.
"Sakura is dead…"this was Chouji, the only one not good enough at reading the situation to keep his mouth shut.
Genma continued to stare at Ino, Sakura's widely known best friend. "We found her in the woods. She was barely alive then. I don't know about right now. Kakashi wouldn't put her down to let me check her over."
"You found her alive?" Kurenai asked no one in particular.
Everyone was frozen with shock. Sakura had been killed six months ago. Her body had never been recovered because of the explosion, but neither had those of other shinobi. She was dead. They even had a funeral. It had been a nice one too. Practically the whole village showed up to pay their respects to the woman who had saved many many lives in her short career. Ino had felt a little irrationally jealous and had wandered if this many people would show up to her funeral. It's really funny what people think about at funerals…
"Ino," Shikamaru shook her arm lightly. She didn't respond. "Ino," he was harder this time.
She looked up into his eyes with utter shock. Sakura was alive…
"Ino, you're the only medic here."
She gulped, knowing what he was going to say next.
"You have to go and take care of her."
Still unable to form words, she simply nodded her head and allowed Shikamaru to guide her quickly back into the cave. She could hear the footsteps of the others following closely behind.
The closer they got to the light, the stronger the feeling of dread Ino experienced. What if she was dead by now? They had wasted so much time standing in the front of the cave and Sakura could have easily died. It would be terrible, horrible, excruciating, to get her back to only lose her again. She didn't know if she could handle that.
Ino began to run in her aggravation. She wrenched her hand free from Shikamaru's and sped down the long stone corridor. But when she entered the large chamber that served as the living quarters, she abruptly stopped.
A meager fire was burning in the center of the room under the chimney hole. Next to it, on a low cot, sat Kakashi. He was holding a small bundle tightly in his arms and looking down upon it. His traveling cape was concealing whatever he was holding beneath it, but the shock of pink hair peeking out from the brown material told Ino it was Sakura.
Ino couldn't move. She was paralyzed. Kakashi didn't seem to notice her presence either. He just continued to stare down into the face of Sakura.
"Shit." It came from behind her. Maybe Shikamaru or Genma. "Kurenai…" the same voice pleaded.
Got it," Kurenai answered as she walked past Ino and over to Kakashi. Shikamaru stepped beside Ino and wrapped his arm around her trembling shoulders
Kurenai kneeled down in front of Kakashi. "Kakashi…" her voice was gentle.
He didn't react.
"Kakashi, please. Ino is here. Let her look at Sakura."
His eye raised up finally and looked at her. Everyone in the room was silent. The evident fear that shown from his one onyx eye was staggering. None of them had ever seen the Copy Ninja scared before. Upset, yes. Angry, yes. Murderous, of course. But Hatake Kakashi was not a man that feared anything. Or at least not a man that showed it to anybody. But now he was sitting there utterly and unabashedly out of his mind with fear, and that frightened everyone else considerably.
Kurenai's breath hitched when he looked directly at her. It was a moment before she was able to regain her composure and speak again. "Kakashi, Ino is her only chance. Please."
He nodded and looked back down to the face of the woman in his arms. She was still pressed tightly to his chest and concealed by his traveling cloak. He didn't want to let her go. He desperately needed to continue to hold her, to keep her safe, but his rational side knew that she would die. He couldn't let that happen.
Slowly, he rose to his feet and leaned over to lay Sakura out on the cot.
Ino gasped and her hand flew up to her mouth. Sakura looked….
Shikamaru tightened his grip on her shoulder. He couldn't help but be affected by the sight of the girl in front of him. She looked terrible. Emaciated and covered with blood, her skin was almost stark white in comparison. He had seen many terrible things in his career as a shinobi. They all had. But this, this was different…
"Ino!" Kurenai yelled, now standing and facing her. Her voice had changed from gentle and pleading to terrified upon seeing the state of Sakura.
Ino snapped into Medic mode automatically. She ran toward the cot and shoved the blood covered Kakashi aside before falling to her knees. This was not the time to be panicking. She checked vitals first. There was a pulse, but it was dangerously faint. Her breathing was also faint and shallow. Sakura was standing at the edge of the abyss and Ino knew she had to act fast before she lost her once again.
She closed her eyes and started pouring healing chakra into Sakura's chest, stimulating her heart and lungs. She needed to keep her heart beating and keep her out of cardiac arrest. It was scary how close Sakura was.
'Focus, focus, focus,' she chanted her mantra. Yes this was her best friend, but thinking about that wasn't going to help anything. She needed to stay focused on the task at hand.
"Kakashi," Ino could hear something like desperation in Kurenai's voice. There was a rustling of fabric and Ino was vaguely aware that someone had kneeled down at the cot with her, at the foot where Sakura's head was.
Chouji, get the fire going higher and get some water to boil," Kurenai ordered.
'Good,' Ino absently thought. Having Kurenai deal with the others would be really helpful. She needed to give her full attention to Sakura.
Sakura….
"Shit! What the hell is going on?" that was Shikamaru. He was upset; she could hear it in his voice.
The heart started to beat a little faster as Ino continued to compress it in and out with her chakra.
"I…I don't know…" Genma answered. He still seemed out of it. "We found her in a clearing on our way back here…she was just laying there out in the open."
She began to explore Sakura's lungs. They were filled with thick fluid. Puss. 'Shit, pneumonia.'
"What do you mean you found her in a clearing?"
Pneumonia was not good. From her brief inspection of Sakura's external injuries, she had several evident stab wounds and burns. Also, the blood covering her pink hair indicated that she had some kind of bleeding head injury. She had obviously been beaten severely. But it was pneumonia that was most likely to end the life of an injured shinobi out in the wilderness.
Well she didn't get anywhere by herself in the state she's in.Shikamaru again. "Did you see any footprints leading to or from her body?"
"No…but the ground around her was…"Genma stopped.
"Was what?" Shikamaru continued.
"The ground around her was so saturated with blood I couldn't make out any evidence of another's presence."
'Shit, massive blood loss' Ino thought. She sent branches of her chakra down her arteries and into the heart to monitor the blood pumping through. The levels were dangerously low. All the stimulation of the heart and lungs she wanted to do wouldn't do any good if there was no blood to pump. She needed to get some blood in her, heal the open wounds so she didn't continue to lose more, and keep her heart and lungs going. Ino was a skilled medic but she could not do everything at once.
"Did you notice anything else that would help when you found her," Shikamaru continued to collect information and analyze the facts. It was just something he naturally did.
Genma was quiet for a while. He was either thinking or hesitating, but Ino couldn't tell because her eyes were closed.
"Yea, she woke up for a minute when Kakashi touched her."
'That's good, very good, at least we know now that the head injury isn't serious enough to drive her into a coma.'
"Did she say anything?" Shikamaru somewhat patiently pressed on.
"Yea, she said she was cold…"
'Shit, hypothermia. I need to worry about that too if she was out in this weather.'
"And she called out Sauske's name…."
Sauske! What?' alarm bells went off in Ino'shead.
"All of you, shut the hell up," she snapped opening her eyes and looking around. "I need quiet to focus."
All the eyes in the room except Kakashi's fell on her.
"Kurenai, get me some blood pills fast!" she ordered, her anger at being distracted dissipating and bringing her focus back again to how desperate the situation was
Ino, how is she?" Shikamaru asked quietly from behind.
"She's really, really bad. I…I need to heal these bleeding wounds but I also have to keep her breathing and her heart beatingII need another medic…"
"No..." Genma sunk down along the wall with his head in his hands. The evident panic in Ino's voice was unsettling.
Kurenai returned from the other side of the cave with a vial of copper colored pills. She cast Kakashi a furtive look before reaching out and placing several between Sakura's parted lips to dissolve in her mouth.
Tears began to fall from Ino's eyes as she tried not to panic. She nonetheless continued pouring chakra into Sakura's chest.
"Ok Ino, it's alright. You heal these open wounds and I'll give her CPR. That should keep her stable for a little while right?"Shikamaru spoke from where he had kneeled right beside her.
She nodded her head at him gratefully. Though stimulating respiration manually was not as effective as with chakra, it would definitely buy her some time to deal with the profusely bleeding wounds scattered across Sakura's body.
Shikamaru reached out a hand to rest on Sakura's forehead while the other went to hold her chin. But he was stopped when a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist roughly
"Kakashi!" Kurenai shouted.
Kakashi stared into Shikamaru's eyes with an unreadable, though definitely intimidating expression. Shikamaru didn't know what to say. Truthfully, he felt a little frightened by the tight grip on his wrist and the level glare of the Copy-nin. Kakashi was definitely not himself, and this fact made him even more scary than usual.
"Kakashi, stop it," Kurenai pleaded again. "He's trying to help her."
Kakashi released Shikamaru's wrist from his grip. He then turned his eyes to Ino. She was staring at him as if shocked with his behavior. "I'll do it," he quietly spoke before hooking his fingers over the top of his mask and tugging it down.
Everyone's jaws dropped, with the exception of Chouji, who had his back to the scene as he tended the fire. Hatake Kakashi had just revealed his face to the whole crowd. This fact left them all dumbstruck. Even Genma had never seen Kakashi's face. But here he was with no mask in front of several of his colleagues and they were all stunned.
Kakashi either ignored or didn't notice their reactions. He was too busy moving to the side of Sakura's cot. He gently laid a blood covered and gloveless hand on her forehead, using the thumb and pointer finger to pinch her nose closed. The other went under her chin and lifted gently to open her airway. The entire room was staring at him in awe. But he didn't notice. Sakura was the only other person that existed at that moment.
Kakashi bent forward and brought his naked lips to Sakura's parted mouth. He breathed in through his nose before forcing his breath through her open lips and down to her lungs. He watched her chest rise and ever so slightly fall to signal the oxygen was getting to where it was needed. He closed his eyes and sent another breath down.
This was hard for him. Terribly hard. To be so close, lips touching hers, his mouth sealed over Sakura's, but not for a kiss. He never wanted to feel her lips and skin for this reason. He never wanted this.
Kakashi lifted his mouth from hers and removed his hands from her face after carefully turning her head slightly to the side in case she vomited. He placed one hand on her bare torso and traced up the jutting line of her ribcage with his middle finger. When he felt the notch of bone in the center of her chest, directly between her breasts, he laid the next two fingers down as a ruler. Gently he placed the heel of his unoccupied hand next to his fingers. It was important to have the right positioning. Kakashi didn't want to injure Sakura anymore than this had to. He lifted the hand he used for measuring and placed it on top of the other, lacing the fingers together and pulling back slightly. He squared his shoulders and leaned over her tiny form.
The next part was the hardest for Kakashi. Even harder than feeling her lips on his own Because he knew this would hurt her. He breathed in and then quickly pushed down on her chest. Immediately he felt a pop as her fragile ribs snapped from the pressure. It was sickening, but he continued to quickly push down and up. This was to save her, not to hurt her. He just needed to keep reminding himself that.
He had to do this. Sakura was dieing. He was going to lose her again. He was so unbelievably scared. She couldn't have been brought back to him to just be taken away again. It was like he was cursed. But he didn't want Sakura to suffer because of him and his curse. This couldn't be happening.
'Please don't die…'
Ino just watched in awe as Kakashi proficiently tended to Sakura. Initially it had been the sight of his bare face that attracted her full attention. But now it was something else. Kakashi was completely focused on Sakura and his ministrations were almost unnecessarily gentle. There was a type of raw desperation to the way he touched her and looked at her. When his lips sealed over hers to give her his breath, Ino sensed something very deep going on.
"Ino, get it together,"Shikamaru shook her shoulder roughly. "The bleeding is getting worse he nodded to a wide cut running along her hip and up onto her belly that he was covering with his bare hands. It was now gushing out richly red blood. It made sense, seeing as Kakashi was now pumping it through Sakura's body manually.
"Oh god," she placed her shaking hands over his, and he quickly pulled away before the glow of chakra began to emanate from hers.
The injury was more serious than she thought. The liver had been severely damaged, but that would easily heal itself given time. It was the severed blood vessels that concerned her. It seemed like they were somehow burnt, as if someone had stabbed her repeatedly with a heated blade. This was bad.
"Kurenai, go right now and radio this to Konoha. Tell them to inform the Hokage that Sakura is direly injured and we will need a fully equipped medical unit sent asap. We will need a lot of blood as well as antibiotics to treat her pneumonia. Tell them they have to hurry!"
Ino looked back at Kakashi who was in the middle of a set of chest compressions, the look on his bare face more despairing than before. To see such a strong shinobi that frightened both saddened and scared her.
'Don't worry Kakashi-sensei. I'll do everything I can to save Sakura. I promise,' she silently vowed.
"Do you remember, Shika-kun?" Ino asked.
Shikamaru had been staring at his wife who had suddenly gone very quiet. "Remember what?"
"In that cave, do you remember Kakashi-sensei?"
"Oh," he sighed. "Yea, I do. He was acting really strange. I've never seen him like that since."
Ino nodded her head absent mindedly. She was still sorting through her memories, trying to pull out the ones necessary to support her hypothesis.
Shikamaru watched his wife. He knew that look. That was the look that signaled scheming. Ino was a busy body who liked to get involved in everybody else's business. That look never foreshadowed good things.
"Ino, please stop right there. I know where you're going with this, and I am NOT ok with it. It's none of our business…"
Ino smiled sweetly at him. "Whatever do you mean by that?" she asked innocently.
"Come on Ino, he's my taichou. And Sakura has repeatedly asked you to stay out of her personal life. She doesn't want you to meddle, Ino."
"Oh come on Shika-kun. I just want everybody to be as happy as we are. Is there anything wrong with that?"
Shikamaru groaned loudly with frustration before bending forward to crash his head onto the table with a resounding bang. Once again they received numerous dirty looks from all of the other customers.
"Check please," Ino called out sweetly.