With my wide eyes
I've seen worlds that don't belong
My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize
Tell me why we live like this

Broken ― XIX

Anko woke up the next morning confused and disoriented. It took her a couple of minutes to figure out why she was still dressed in her clothes from the night before, and why she felt so utterly miserable.

And then, unfortunately, she remembered.

She'd lost it last night in the park. Gone completely insane. Kakashi must have thought she'd gone nuts. She sighed and rolled over on her back, all the while thinking about everything that had rather rudely flooded into her head the night before.

"Yo."

Anko nearly fell out of bed. She hadn't expected Kakashi to be leaning over her, watching her intently.

"Kakashi!" She sat up abruptly. Her stomach turned over, and for a minute she thought she was going to be sick. She stayed still for a few moments. The room was spinning before her eyes, and Kakashi was holding her shoulders, keeping her steady. "M'Okay." She muttered finally, falling back on her pillows.

"You're obviously not." Kakashi said quietly. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Seven, eight?" Those were normally the times she woke up.

"Try again. It's almost noon."

"Noon?!" Anko almost bolted up again, but Kakashi held her down. "What do you mean, noon? Why'd you let me sleep that late?"

"Because last night was completely crazy, and you need the rest." Kakashi said simply. "Plus, according to Tsunade, you're running a temp of a hundred and three."

Well that explained why she felt sick. "Just take it easy for the day." Kakashi went on. "You deserve it."

"Kakashi―"

He rested a hand on her mouth. "We'll talk later, I promise. Just go back to sleep for now. All right?"

Kurenai and Asuma flew away from the door as it opened. Panicking, because they knew Kakashi wouldn't like the fact that they were eavesdropping, they did the first thing that came to mind and pretended to be making out. Kakashi rolled his eyes when he saw them.

"You're either pathetic or you were listening at the door and don't want me to know. I feel like it was the last one, but I don't doubt you're both enjoying that a little more than you should." They grinned sheepishly as they pulled apart, and Kurenai said,

"How's Anko doing?"

"You were listening at the door, why don't you tell me?"

"You were speaking too soft, we couldn't hear you."

"Asuma!" Kurenai slapped the boy lightly over the head. Asuma blinked, trying to figure out his mistake.

"Uh…" Kurenai rolled her eyes and sighed, looking back at Kakashi.

"So how is she?" Kakashi ran a hand through his spiky hair.

"She's…freaked out. Pretty much what you would expect." He shook his head, sighing. "You guys were right. I should have told her when I had the chance. She probably hates me now."

"I doubt she could ever hate you." Asuma said slyly, smirking. Kakashi resisted the urge to hit his friend; his mind took another, less violent course.

"Yeah you're right. Well, I'm sorry I disturbed you and Kurenai, I'll let you get back to your make-out session." He walked away, leaving them both with stunned expressions. "And don't worry," he called over his shoulder, "I'll make sure to tell the others to stay out of the hallway."

"Kakashi!" Kurenai yelled after him, annoyed.

"You say anything and I'll kill you!" Asuma shouted. Kakashi raised his hand in acknowledgement, giving them a lazy wave.

Minato looked up as Kakashi walked into the cafeteria, stopping long enough to get a bagel. His eyes were filled with concern. "How is she?"

Kakashi dropped down into a seat, resting his head in his hands. "She woke up for a bit. I made her go back to sleep, she looked like hell. I wish I could do something to help her, but…it's out of my hands, isn't it?"

"It all depends on how she decides to handle it." Minato agreed. "Anko's strong, though. I'm sure she'll be okay…with time."

Kakashi picked at his bagel, all of a sudden not sure why he had grabbed it. He wasn't at all hungry. "What can I do?" He asked finally, looking at Minato for answers. The older man shook his head, sighing.

"I don't know, Kakashi. I think all you can really do right now is be there for her. She needs you more than anything now."

Be there for her. Kakashi could do that. He nibbled randomly on a piece of bagel, his thoughts already back upstairs with Anko.

"You're a good kid, Kakashi. When the time comes, you'll know what to do."

Kakashi straightened up, relieved, as Anko began to stir again. It had been almost three hours since she'd last woken up.

"Kakashi?" She sounded surprised. As if there were anywhere else for him to be. He didn't say that though.

"About time." He joked instead, watching her sit up. "How do you feel?"

She shrugged. Her eyes were distant, seeing something else. "Not bad." She murmured, sounding distracted. They sat in silence for a few moments. Finally Kakashi felt the overwhelming need to break it.

"I'm sorry."

They spoke at the same time. Kakashi blinked, staring at Anko in surprise. "You're sorry?" He said finally, his voice betraying his shock. "For what?"

She looked away from him, biting her lip. "For…for everything. For coming here. For ever even meeting you. If I had listened to…to Orochimaru, if I wasn't here, if I'd never known this place even exists…then Obito…Obito would still be alive right now. Maybe Rin-san too—"

Kakashi put a finger to her lips, effectively ending her torrent of words. "Don't ever," he said quietly, "ever, even for a moment, think you belong anywhere but here, Anko. And besides," he cupped her chin carefully in his hand, turning her head so her eyes met his, "if you weren't here right now, I wouldn't have a reason to live."

It was a bold declaration. Even Kakashi was a bit surprised by it. "All I do is cause everyone trouble—"

"Who told you that?" Kakashi demanded at once. "Was it Orochimaru? Don't listen to him Anko, he was just messing with your head, trying to get you to do what he wanted. He doesn't know anything about you. Don't listen to him. Never listen to him."

Anko tore her gaze away from Kakashi, closing her eyes. Her entire body was trembling now. "Why does it matter?" She asked finally. Her voice shook as she spoke. Kakashi tried to figure out the right way to say it…but he couldn't find the words.

"It just…does." He said finally, carefully weighing each word. "Can that be enough for now?"

She looked over at him out of the corner of her eye, her head moving in a slow nod. Kakashi, finally losing his last ounce of self control, slid carefully onto the bed, wrapping his arms around her. To his great surprise, she didn't tell him off, but instead leaned into him, resting her head against his chest.

"Thank you." She murmured after a moment.

"I haven't done anything." He reminded her.

"You did enough." He could hear a slight smile in her voice, and he remembered that this was an on-going argument between the two of them. He couldn't help but smile as well.

"This is never going to end, is it?"

"Nope." She closed her eyes. He could almost feel the tension draining from her body. Minato was right; as long as he was there for her, it would be enough.

Author's Note: So now that we've moved out of total chaos, I find myself unable to write. I'm not good at fluff. And we're about to go into major fluff; including some love confessions later on. It's sure to be painful. But bear with me. This will probably be wrapping up in four or five chapters; I'm not decided on an exact number yet. Well review please! — Sam