Hi again. Well, here it is, chapter 13. The fic is almost finished so it'll be over before New Year's. Merry Christmas pplz! (Or any of the other holidays I can never manage to spell right.)

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, but I have volume 1 of the manga now.

Ch.13: Worried

Ding dong!

"Coming!"

Sakura ran towards her door. Setting down the bowl of snacks she was carrying, she leapt over the arm of the couch next to the door and opened the door. "Sasuke!"

"Hey."

Sasuke looked around the room. Her black couch was next to the door. Sitting across it was a glass coffee table and a t.v. sat against the wall. To his right was another couch and to his left were two white chairs, one currently housing Hatake Kakashi. "Hey."

"Yo."

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled at the two men of few words and ushered Sasuke into the house, helping bring his five children in from the cold.

Setting four of the babies into the awaiting arms of Kakashi and Sakura, Sasuke folded up the stroller and sat down in the couch exhaustedly. Kakashi handed Fumio back to Sasuke as Sakura bounced Hiroki and Kioshi in her arms. "That tired, ne?" Sasuke just nodded and rocked Fumio and Chinatsu to sleep before going into Sakura's guestroom and setting the babies down with Sakura following, Hiroki and Kioshi fast asleep.

The two walked out to the living room and stopped as they came upon a great photo moment. Kakashi was bent over, tickling Aiko with a gloved finger while she cooed happily and fisted her small hand into his messy hair. She tugged and watched the man move with her hand. "Hey!" he chided laughingly. She smiled up at him before giggling as he nuzzled her stomach with his nose.

"Ahem."

Kakashi shot up his head as Sasuke and Sakura smirked at him. He blushed behind his mask. "Um…uh…" How would he be explain this?

Sakura just shook her head and plucked the cooing Aiko from the man's hand. She turned to Sasuke. "Was she fed?"

"No, the others were before we got here, but I didn't have enough time to feed her before we had to come here."

Sakura sighed. "You have her bottle, right?" Sasuke nodded and pulled a bottle with powdered formula at the bottom. She nodded her head in the direction of the kitchen. He nodded back and disappeared into the kitchen.

She watched him leave before sitting on her black couch. Looking down at the obsidian-eyed baby girl, Sakura smiled and moved her pointer finger over her stomach, causing giggles to erupt from the Uchiha girl. Aiko moved her tiny hand to grip her finger and moved it to her mouth. Sakura chuckled at the girl. "Hey! That's not your bottle!" she teased as she pulled her finger back. Aiko just quirked her head to the side while Kakashi chuckled at Aiko's behavior.

Sakura and Kakashi were carrying Hiroki, Aiko, Fumio, and Kioshi down the steps of Sakura's house as they followed Sasuke as he carted the blue stroller and Chinatsu down the steps. Setting the stroller down, he set Chinatsu into a seat before doing the same to his other children.

Sasuke went around the stroller to check all the harnesses, pulling on each one. "Are you sure you won't need any help, Sasuke?" asked Sakura.

"Hn. I'm fine."

Satisfied with the babies' safety, he pushed the stroller through the melting slush. "Bye Sasuke!" she exclaimed. Sasuke did a small wave to show he heard and continued his walk home.

Sakura watched the Uchiha family becoming smaller and smaller as they moved farther, the sunset approaching; the time was 4:30.

Sakura felt a small hand on her shoulder and felt it squeeze reassuringly. "Sakura, they'll be fine." Sakura turned her head and nodded to Kakashi before she and him went back inside.

"What?!" Sakura screamed as Kakashi tried to hold in his laughter.

"I'm serious. Genma admitted to fantasizing about you walking around in a maid's outfit when you were sixteen."

"I'm never going to feel the same around Genma again." she said, slightly traumatized.

"Now, now. I'm pretty sure he had no idea he said that outloud. He was pretty drunk, plus he's over that phase, although it was pretty disgusting." he said. Besides, as soon as the inebriated Genma had said that out loud in the bar that night, Kakashi bashed his head into the table so hard he broke Genma's nose and made him bleed from his forehead while their friends roared with laughter. Of course, he had no right to talk seeing how he had that same exact fantasy a few years later.

Sakura snorted as she set her hot cocoa down besides Kakashi's cup. "You want disgusting. Try having to listen to Ino talk about having sex with your sensei before describing how in great detail."

Kakashi's eye widened in horror, silently thanking that his hot drink was safely on the table. Otherwise, it'd be burning his lap.

Sakura broke into a fit of laughter after she saw his face. "And this was when we were sixteen! I can still remember some of the conversation. Want to hear?"

Kakashi put a hand up in protest as the other propped his head up on the armrest tiredly. "I'd rather not."

Sakura was about to protest when the lights suddenly went out. "Nani?"

"I guess it's a snowstorm. Probably caused a blackout." said Kakashi.

"Think I'm the only one?"

He looked out the window. "Nope. Pitch black as far as the eye can see. Hokage tower and the hospital are the only ones with electricity."

Sakura sighed. "Backup generators. Wait! I have one under my stairs."

Sakura stood up and went to grab her coat when Kakashi stopped her. "I'll do it. Got a flashlight?" Sakura rooted around her living room before finding one. She handed to him and he turned it on. "I shouldn't be long." he said before descending the stairs.

Kakashi shined the lights on the step, careful not to slip. He turned to his right and slipped down the small alley between her house and the one next door. He walked with the flashlight shining a bright circle onto the freshly fallen snow as more clung to his scarf and jounin uniform.

He made another right and spotted the backup generator sitting against the wall. He took a step towards his objective when his head started to throb. He stopped, dropping the flashlight, and held his head as more pain assaulted him. He opened his eye and tried taking another step when he felt dizzy. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt his legs give out from beneath him and the scenery before him spinning before blurring and turning black. His head hit the snow and then, nothing.

Sakura fidgeted on her couch as she waited for the lights to turn back on. She bit her lip nervously. "Where is he? It's already been half an hour!"

She waited anxiously for another five minutes before bolting up from her seat. "That's it! I'm going to go look for him."

Grabbing a coat and a flashlight, she shrugged on the coat and rushed out the door.

"Kakashi? Kakashi?"

Sakura swung the flashlight left to right, scanning the small alley next her house. "Kakashi? Where are you? Kakash-" She landed face down in the snow. "Ow…"

She brushed aside the stray hair that fell in front of her eyes and pushed herself up. She turned her head behind her and shined the light, trying to find an answer to what tripped her when she spotted something sticking up from the snow.

Crawling her way to the mysterious object, she brushed aside the white powder when her hand hit something. 'A sandal?'

She shined her light on the sandal. "Hey, there's more."

She brushed aside some more snow and discovered a pants leg. Gasping, she shined the light the length of the body before resting on a shock of silver hair. "Kakashi!"

'It's so warm.' he thought. Kakashi buried himself deeper into the warmth and tried to go back to sleep when he heard a light clinking sound near his head. His shinobi instincts kicked into high gear as he awoke and shot up into a defensive position only to have a wave of nausea assault him. He held a hand to his head as he staggered backwards, the pain becoming sharper.

Kakashi felt a hand push him down and back into the warmth of the blankets and a hand push underneath his in an effort for him to let go. He leaned into the touch as it trailed to his cheek. 'The hand feels like feminine.'

"Kakashi?"

He opened his eyes at his name and charcoal clashed with emerald. "Sakura?"

The girl smiled at him. Kakashi tried to push himself up, but felt her hand push down on his shoulder. "Don't get up." she said softly.

Kakashi stared up at the off-white ceiling. "Where am I?"

"You're inside my house, on the couch."

"Oh. Is the power on yet?"

"No, my generator's working now. You passed out under my stairs and I had to bring you in here and strip you down to your boxers before trying to warm you up. Can you remember anything?"

Kakashi stared at the ceiling as he searched his mind. "I was walking to the generator when my head started hurting. I tried to shake it off, but it came back stronger. I got dizzy and everything started spinning and then, nothing."

Sakura looked at him. "How do you feel now?"

"A bit dizzy still."

She stared at him quizzically when she placed her hand on his bare forehead, his hitai-ate resting on the coffee table. "No wonder, Kakashi, you have a fever! Honestly! First Naruto, then Sasuke, and now you! What am I going to do with you guys, Kakashi?" she asked, hands in her lap as she smiled teasingly at him.

Kakashi shrugged under the covers. "I don't know about them, but you can heal me."

"Oh no."

Kakashi looked at her from under his mask. "Why not?" he asked, a pout evident in his voice as he sat propped up on his elbows.

She wrinkled her nose in annoyance and prodded his bare chest. "Because a fever is how your body tries to right itself. If I cure your fever, whatever virus you have is going to multiply in your body and make you feel worse. What did you do to get sick? Usually, you're healthy as a horse."

Kakashi shrugged. "It might have been because I've been sleeping in just my boxers." he said nonchalantly.

Sakura had a mental drool moment. She had had one earlier when she stripped her ex-teacher, but had no time to actually enjoy it. She shook her head and glared at him. "Well, it was your own fault. Really Kakashi, you have to be more responsible! You could've died out there! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" she shouted.

She stared into her lap as Kakashi watched her hands bunch the fabric of her shirt. "I thought you were dead. You were so still and so cold." Kakashi looked up at her, heart clenching in guilt as he watched a tear fall down her face. "I was so scared. I really thought I lost you." she whispered.

Sakura felt a hand brush her hair while the other wound its way around hers. She looked up to see Kakashi looking at her with sad, intense eyes. "But I'm not. I'm right here beside you and it's all thanks to you." Sakura looked to the side as more tears threatened to fall, but Kakashi pushed her chin to make her face him. "I'm sorry for scaring you Sakura, I really am. I'll be more careful from now on."

She looked at him softly before wiping her tears. "You better. I'm not going after your butt again. Do you know how heavy you are?!"

Kakashi chuckled and Sakura's serious face fell and she joined in the laughter. She stopped to catch her breath. Reaching over and patting his knee, she smiled at the man. "Well, I'll be checking up on you every now and again to make sure your fever doesn't get too high. After you eat, I'll move you to my bed."

"Sakura, you don't have to-"

"I insist. A person's health comes before all else, now behave yourself while I get the food." But before Kakashi could protest, she had already disappeared through the kitchen doorway, the clock ticking on the wall.

Sakura watched the steady rise and fall of Kakashi's chest as he slept. She took the cloth from his forehead and dipped it into the basin of water before wringing it and placing it back on his forehead.

She felt her eyelids become heavy and tried to shake off the feeling with no success. She sighed and took the cloth again. His hair fell over his sleeping face and she brushed it away. He sighed contentedly. She smiled and placed the cloth on his head and brought her hand to caress his face.

She studied his face, the straight nose and smooth skin, unmarred except for the lone scar on his eye. She let her thumb graze over the scar that added to his beauty and let her hand settle against his cheek. She felt her lids become weighted by sleep and laid her head on the bed near his arm. She shivered as the cold prickled her skin through her clothing. She yawned and eyed the empty spot next to him. 'He won't mind. Besides, it'll just keep him warmer.'

She got up from the floor and walked over to the other side of the bed. Lifting the covers, she crawled in beside him. She laid her head on the pillow and felt Kakashi shift to his side, an arm snaking it's way around her waist possessively. Her eyes closed shut and she moved closer to his body heat as she drifted closer and closer to sleep. "Sakura…" he murmured and she smiled before the beckoning of sleep became too great and claimed her, the moon shining its light on them both from her window.