A/N: Pssst! Read the other story I wrote first! It's called Just a Dream! It explains Kakashi's 'situation.'

If you've already read it or are going to read this one regardless, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1: Limbo

As the breath returned to her lungs in one painful rush, Sakura jerked up, her green eyes flashing around the room in panic. The room, so white it was almost blinding, resembled a hospital room. She was lying in a white bed bolted to the floor with a large, curtained window on her left. A plastic curtain was pulled around the bed for privacy—although she wasn't sure what she needed privacy for.

Her eyes narrowed in confusion—where exactly was she?

The curtain started to creak as it was dragged back by a large, pale hand. Sakura's eyes scanned the room desperately, hoping to find a weapon before the hand's owner could reveal themselves, but she came up blank. By then it was too late—the curtain was pulled back and someone was stepping through. When Sakura's eyes met theirs, her breath hitched. Tearing the starched sheet back, she leaped out of the bed and threw herself at her visitor.

Kakashi stumbled back a step when Sakura jumped on him and if he hadn't grabbed the curtain for support, they would've tumbled to the floor. Sakura was sobbing as she clutched his shirtfront in trembling fingers.

"Oh sensei, I thought you were dead!" she cried, afraid to release him for fear he would vanish in a puff of smoke. "I watched them burn your body and everything and I thought… I thought…" Her words melted into another gasping sob.

She felt his chest rumble against hers as he chuckled. "Hi Sakura-chan," he said.

She reared back and stared up at him. He looked exactly the same as before, complete with uniform and mask and hitai-ate. His right eye crinkled up as he smiled at her and she started crying all over again.

"I am dead, Sakura," Kakashi finally said, drawing back far enough to dab at her tear-streaked cheeks with his sleeve.

"What?" she mumbled intelligently.

"I died," he continued. "In your arms, as I recall."

"But… but you're here," she protested. "You're not a ghost. I can touch you and everything." And for emphasis, she gripped his lapels and shook him slightly.

"I know. This is limbo, Sakura."

Wrinkles formed on her forehead. "Limbo?"

He nodded. "It's between the present and the afterlife. I'll show you." Taking her hand, he guided her to the window and pointed out. "There you are."

Pressing her nose to the glass, she saw herself lying in a puddle of muddy water and blood. Her face was striped with both and her ragged uniform was only faintly rising and falling as red seeped down her hands. In the distance, shrouded in mist, she saw Naruto running in slow motion toward her, his mouth opening and achingly forming her name.

"That's me," she whispered in horror before turning back to him. "But how am I here?"

"The purpose of limbo," he explained, sounding like his old teacherly self, "is to offer people a second chance." He gestured at the windowpane. "When people die before their time, they're sent to limbo and given the chance to go back to their old life or to continue on to the afterlife."

"So I'm not supposed to die yet?" He nodded. "Then why are you here?"

He sighed, stepping away from the window to sink into the mattress. "Well, you've never lost anybody." He patted the space beside him and she sat down. "I'm the only person you know that's died."

"But that's not true," she pointed out. "I knew Lord Third and Asuma-sensei and Lady Chiyo…"

"Ah, but you didn't know them as well as me." He gazed at her. "My death never stopped bothering you."

He was right, of course; Kakashi did mean something to her. "But why are you here?" she persisted. "What's your purpose? This is my decision, isn't it?"

"It is," he agreed, "but I'm here to convince you to go back." He looked away. "Some people don't want to go back even though it's not their time to die."

But there was something in the way his shoulders were hunched forward and the fact that he wouldn't meet her steady, if watery, gaze that told her he didn't agree. He just seemed too sad…

Sakura swallowed. "Do you want me to go back?" she whispered, suddenly and unexplainably afraid to hear his answer.

Still he wouldn't look at her, but his head drooped. "That's the hardest and most complicated question in the entire history of questions," he murmured.

"Try to answer it," she begged softly, reaching for his hand. His fingers were limp and cool, but she felt the muscles tense when she touched him. "Please."

With his free hand, he threaded his fingers through his silvery hair and stared at his lap. "On the one hand, yes. Of course I want you to go back. You still have so much to live for Sakura, so many things you can do to make the world a much better place. You don't deserve to have your life cut so short."

"And on the other hand?"

"On the other hand…" His fingers curled around hers and his eyes migrated to their shared grip. "I've never hated one idea so much." She saw his jaw clench beneath his mask and it seemed to take an age for him to raise his eyes to hers and continue. "I know that when you come back the second time, you won't be the person I remember. You'll be a little old lady with a ring on her finger and a dozen grandchildren, and I can't stand the thought of you like that."

Sakura bristled. "I'll still be able to kick your ass when I'm a 'little old lady,'" she retorted.

He laughed and squeezed her hand. "I'm sure you will be," he chuckled, "and I'm sure you'll still be as beautiful as you are now, but it won't be the same."

"How could you say that?" she gasped. "I'm never going to forget you, Kakashi. You saved my life." Tears were welling in her eyes again. "You died because of me."

When he sighed, he sounded exasperated, almost irritated with her. It was a sigh she hadn't heard in years and she was offended when he used it now. "There is a difference between dying because of someone and dying for someone," he explained. "Do you know what it is?"

She shook her head, annoyed now. There was no need for him to talk down to her like she was some flaky genin.

"To die because of someone implies that it's their fault. But I died for you, which means that it's mine."

She shook her head again, her anger replaced with bemusement. "I still don't get it," she said. "Are you saying you died on purpose? Why would you do that?"

"You really don't see?"

"It's not like I'd kid about that, sensei," she huffed.

"I thought it was more obvious than that," he muttered.

"What was obvious?"

He tilted his head. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

Sometimes he could be so infuriating. "What are you talking about, Kakashi?"

He sighed. "I love you, Sakura."

Did she still have a heartbeat in this place? And if she did, could it skip a beat? "You love me?" she echoed breathlessly. "Since when?"

His face was as pink as her hair and rapidly darkening. "Since you were seventeen."

"But that's two years!" she exclaimed, which only made him go redder. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable," he mumbled, focusing intently on his knees. "I thought if I ignored the feelings, they would go away. But that only made it worse."

The pieces were starting to come together and Sakura began to see the whole picture. "So that day, when that guy stabbed you…"

"He was going to kill you," he said, lifting his head to stare at the ceiling. "It was my worst nightmare. But I knew that if I threw myself in front of you that you would live, but…"

"You would die," she finished, incredulous.

He shrugged. "It was either you or me, and I couldn't bear for it to be you." Finally, his eyes met hers again. "You really didn't know?"

"No." But she should have. Everything he had done began to make sense. The bouquet of flowers he bought for her when she was in the hospital. When he carried her home in his arms instead of over his shoulder like the sack of hung-over potatoes she was. When he hugged her for ten seconds instead of the usual three after her latest near-death experience. The fact that he saved her life at the willing expense of his own. And some of his last words: "Of course I care about you. You're the most important thing to me."

How could she have missed all the signs?

"Then I'll stay here." It took her a moment to realize the voice was her own, but she didn't take it back. Wrapping his hand in both of hers, she started to get excited. "That way, we'll be together. I don't have to get old because I'll be here with you."

She expected him to throw his arms around her and possibly cry out of happiness. She certainly wasn't prepared for the pained look he gave her and the way his hand suddenly struggled to get free. "No," he said firmly.

"But isn't that what you want?" she asked, hurt that he would dismiss her now of all times. "I thought you wanted to be with me."

Kakashi must've realized he hurt her because he was staring at her desperately and shifting his fingers so they could be laced with hers. "Of course I want to be with you," he said. "But not like this." He laughed then, but it was bitter and mirthless. "I'm dead, Sakura. I had my chance and I failed to take it."

"But it's not too late!" she argued. "If I stay here, then we can take that chance. We can try—"

"I won't let you give up your life for me," he snapped. "I'm not worth it."

"Then what do you want from me Kakashi?" she shouted, not realizing that angry tears were pouring from her eyes.

Her anger seemed to sap all the energy from his body and he slouched. "I want you to live your life to the fullest extent. This?" He gestured at the blindingly white room. "This isn't life. It's a cheap facsimile of existence. And you don't deserve that."

He took a deep breath, but his voice shook. "You'll fall in love," he said. "You'll get married, have seven kids, and live in a little house on the same suburban street for fifty years. He'll go first, but you won't let it get you down because you're too strong." She smiled at that. "When you die, you won't be afraid because you'll know it's time. And then you'll join your husband in the afterlife and spend a pleasant eternity together." He grinned, but it was so forced it wrenched her stomach to even look at him. "You'll be happy," he said with false cheeriness.

"But you won't," she whimpered.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does to me." Holding his hand to her chest, she wondered if he could feel the heartbeat she wasn't sure existed. "It shouldn't be like this. Why do we have to choose? It's not fair."

"Life rarely is." He sighed. "Go back, Sakura. Don't end your life prematurely because I was too cowardly to tell you all this sooner."

She wished he wasn't so noble. It would be easier to give up her difficult life as a kunoichi for the blissful eternity the afterlife promised, and it was clear by his trembling voice and the way his hand seemed glued to hers that he wanted her to stay. But he would never let her. She knew he would drag her back to the present kicking and screaming if he had to.

"Okay," she conceded, dragging Kakashi with her as she rose off the mattress. "I'll go back."

"I'm sorry it had to be like this."

She could argue that it didn't have to be or even say that this was all his fault, but she didn't. There was no reason to point out facts he already knew and was probably torturing himself over anyway. She just nodded as their hands slipped free.

"How do I leave this place?" she asked blandly, eager to get it over with. She didn't know how much longer she could stare at the face of a man who looked like an innocent being sentenced to Death Row.

He pointed at a door on her left. "Straight through there."

"Okay." And she turned to go.

"Sakura?" Her feet stilled and she slowly twisted her head to gaze at him. He looked embarrassed again as another blush crept over his pale cheekbones. "Can I ask you something?"

She shrugged. If he wanted to confess something as equally astounding as the fact he was in love with her for two years, he would have to do it on his own.

"I was hoping you could grant me my last wish." His arm stretched behind him and he rubbed the back of his head anxiously. "I didn't have time to say anything before, but since I don't know when I'll see you again…" He closed his eyes and gulped audibly as his peachy skin turned scarlet. "Willyoukissme?" he asked in a rush.

She blinked. "Kiss you?" He nodded fervently and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Only if you agree to one condition." He nodded again, apparently struck dumb as a shy smile inched onto her face. "You have to take off your mask."

Blinking, he reached up to comb his bangs back so she could see both his eyes, one red and one black. Hooking his finger underneath his mask, he began to tug the stretchy fabric down his face. She held her breath as he ducked his head to tuck the cloth beneath his chin and slowly raised his eyes to meet hers.

Everything went quiet inside Sakura's head. She took two steps forward, cupped his face in her hands, and let her thumbs graze over his cheekbones. He stood quietly, still as a statue, as her eyes wandered over his elegant features. How could she have gone seven years without knowing her teacher was possibly the most beautiful man in creation?

"Wow," she murmured. It was a paltry description compared to the perfection of Kakashi's face.

"Sorry if it doesn't live up to your expectations," he said, but his lips were quirked in a slight smile. It was fascinating to watch his mouth move to form the words before settling into that easy smile she had never been able to make out.

"No, it's… perfect." Her last word was barely more than a whisper as his grin grew at her compliment.

And then, a shy smile spreading across her face, Sakura rose on her tiptoes and held his head steady as she pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. As their mouths touched, Kakashi's hands lifted to sink in her roseate hair. For a few magical seconds, she forgot that this man was dead. The only thought capable of penetrating her brain was that the most beautiful man she had ever seen was kissing her so sweetly and tenderly she felt like she had died and gone to heaven.

Slowly tugging his lips from hers, Kakashi stared down at her and caressed her cheek with his calloused fingertips, his smile replaced with a slight frown. "You should go," he murmured.

Tears spilled from her eyes as she nodded and stepped away from him. Turning, she began to head for the door that promised renewed life. As her hand closed over the doorknob, she felt her palm begin to tingle and she looked over her shoulder one last time. Kakashi was staring at her sadly, one hand tucked in his pocket and the other raised in a solemn wave. He hadn't bothered to replace his mask, which just made his quivering lips and clenched jaw all the more obvious.

"Goodbye Sakura-chan," he said.

She sniffed loudly and bit her lip to keep from sobbing. "Goodbye Kakashi." Then she turned and stepped through the doorway and began to fall…

She heard voices. They were faint at first, blocked out with static and a deafening ringing in her ears, but they gradually became louder and clearer as they formed into coherent words.

"Sakura! Wake up Sakura! Wake up!"

And then she felt hands on her shoulders, gripping her so tightly it hurt and shaking her body until the ringing and tingling stopped. Forcing her eyes open, she squinted at the blindingly bright blocks of yellow and orange waving in front of her.

"Na… Naruto?" she rasped.

The blocks stopped moving and settled into the panicked face of Konoha's number one most unpredictable ninja. Tears cascaded in a continuous waterfall from Naruto's cerulean eyes as he gasped and jerked her into a painful embrace.

"Oh God, I thought you were dead Sakura-chan," he blubbered. "Sai said you stopped breathing but I didn't believe him and then you woke up and… and…"

"Naruto," she whispered, wrapping her arms just as tightly around his torso. "Oh, Naruto."

"I didn't want to lose you too," he mumbled into her collar. "First Ero-sennin, then Kakashi-sensei, and you…"

"I know. I'm here now." She squeezed him tighter as the mist wavered and shifted to form a man in a Konoha uniform with unruly silver hair and a navy mask concealing the lower half of his face. He smiled and waved at her before the sunlight peeked through the clouds and dispelled the illusion. She waved back and rubbed her eyes against Naruto's shoulder. "And I always will be."