"Why would you let her go on such a dangerous mission?" Naruto yelled angrily to Tsunade and she narrowed her eyes in response.

"It's not like I had any say in the matter." She replied coolly. "She was going to do it either way." Naruto shuddered in anger.

"You're the god damn Hokage and you're telling me you couldn't do anything?" He continued yelling. "And YOU!" He turned his attention to Sakura and pointed an accusing finger at her. "Why the hell would you do something so stupid?" Naruto's face had gone a shade of red and vein throbbed at the side of his forehead. Sakura scowled at him.

"So what you're allowed to do S-class missions, but I can't do anything dangerous?" Sakura yelled pulling the blankets off her trying to get out of the hospital bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ino asked dangerously while pushing Sakura back into the bed. She heard Naruto scoff and threw him a venomous glare.

"I wasn't nearly killed on any of those missions. You're lucky to be alive." He bellowed crossing his arms defiantly.

"You were the one who told me these were the risks of being a ninja." Sakura screeched trying pull herself out of bed again.

"For christ's sake Sakura. STAY IN BED!" Ino hollered furiously pushing her back down into the bed.

"I'M FINE INO!" Sakura yelled trying to push Ino's hands from her arms. Naruto opened his mouth to yell again.

"EVERYBODY OUT NOW." Tsunade barked ushering Naruto and Ino out of the room and slamming the door. Sakura could see the door vibrate from Naruto's continual pounding and heard his repeated curses until a nurse came scolding him thoroughly. She heard a yelp in pain and imagined he was having his ear grabbed while being dragged down the hallway.

Sakura's chest rose painfully fast and her fists were clenched tightly into the blankets around her from the anger that Naruto had stirred in her. "I should've known Naruto would cause such a fuss." Tsunade muttered darkly to herself. Sakura let out a snort and twitched from the pain it caused to her muscles. All her wounds had been healed, but she was weak and her body ached with a constant dull pain. Tsunade sat down in the chair beside the bed and waited for Sakura's breathing to return to normal before she continued. "Ah yes before Naruto came in I was going to tell you what happened. Saijou defeated the third ninja receiving minor injuries and Horun had become conscious during his fight. They said when they found you your pulse was weak and you had obviously lost a lot of blood. They bandaged you up as best they could and decided to take you to the nearest village to be healed when they noticed they were being followed. It appeared they were after the forbidden scroll. Saijou decided to take the scroll and lead the enemy away and Horun was ordered to take you to the nearest hospital. They were amazed that you had even made it through the day with your wounds." Tsunade paused slightly leaning back comfortably in the chair. "While Horun was at the hospital you were attacked again by the same group from before. It seems that they were followers of Kagoshi and wanted your groups blood more than anything else. Horun managed to escape with you unscathed and caught up with Saijou. They decided it wasn't safe to stop anywhere for you to be healed and made their way here from Grass country in a total of three days taking the chance that you would survive." Tsunade finished with a bored tone to her voice allowing the information to settle in Sakura's mind.

"It would have been easier for them if they just left me." She said somewhat bitter at causing so many problems for them.

"Yes, but I don't think they would've been able to handle losing another medic-nin. They had been extremely close with their last one and blame themselves for her death. I'm curious how did you defeat Kagoshi?" She asked casually, but Sakura could hear a hint of excitement.

"I let him stab me." Sakura replied nonchalantly and leaned back against the wall closing her eyes when she saw Tsunade's blank expression. "I knew the only way for me to get close enough to kill him was if he thought he had won and dropped his guard allowing me to make my move." She concluded and shivered slightly remembering the empty darkness that had swallowed her whole. Sakura heard the scrape of a chair and looked to see Tsunade leaving the room, but paused at the door.

"I'll tell the nurses to not let Naruto disturb you and you can leave tomorrow. Naruto was right you really are luck to be alive. Seems you have something to live for." Tsunade said nonchalantly and left the room.

"What the hell does that mean?" Sakura asked inanely, but could already feel the back of her mind tickling her with an answer. She let out a small sigh of contentment as exhaustion swept over her and she closed her eyes waiting for sleep to over come her. Her eyes snapped open and a startled gasp escaped from her throat. "Saijou, Horun don't scare me like that." Sakura said angrily giving them a slight glare.

"Glad to see you're ok." Horun chuckled slightly.

"Well that's thanks to you two." Sakura replied giving them a small smile. "Thank you for everything that you did. I'm sorry I was such a bother though." Her voice was small and full of shame. Saijou gave her a cold nod and turned leaving the room.

"Oh don't worry about that. He likes you, but he's a hard person to get to know." Horun said when he saw Sakura's hurt expression. She nodded noting Horun had always been the friendlier of the two and had been nice to her after she saved his life. "So when you getting out of here?"

"Tomorrow. Tsunade insists that I rest." Sakura replied sullenly and crossed her arms defiantly.

"Yeah it's probably for the best. She almost took our heads for the condition we brought you back in." Horun chuckled again. "I'll let you rest now. Be seeing you around." He gave a small wave and smile before leaving the room. She smiled and slipped back into the bed falling asleep.

Sakura bounded down the steps happy that she was out of the hospital and saw Naruto waiting in his usual spot. She gave him a venomous glare before coming to stop in front of him. "I don't need to hear any lectures from you." She groused angrily to him jabbing a finger into his chest.

"Ow I know." He said through clenched teeth brushing away her hand. "I came to tell you..." He paused turning his head and Sakura could see that same vein throbbing from his forehead. "That you were right." He grumbled sullenly. Sakura gaped at him in shock. "You're a good ninja and I should put faith into your abilities like you do mine. But next time give me a little bit of warning before you do something like that." Naruto muttered angrily. Sakura continued to stare at him in shock. Usually Naruto was so dense and pushed his way of view until you pummelled him.

"Lets go grab some lunch at Ichiraku. My treat." Sakura said sweetly to him giving him a smile.

The familiar clang of a bell rang out as Sakura walked into a flower shop seeing Ino perched lazily on the counter. She casually made her way through the store eyeing every flower she passed until stopping in front of Ino. Her and Naruto were back on good terms all ready but she didn't know how long it would take with Ino.

"Hey." Sakura casually said while eyeing some hydrangeas in the corner. She heard Ino scoff.

"You really are a jerk you know." Ino huffed angrily. "Oh I've been assigned a mission so I'll be gone for a little awhile." Ino said repeating Sakura's exact words with a fake innocence. "You forgot to mention that you joined ANBU and were going after Sasuke's killers." She finished angrily.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry about me. I really didn't know if I would be coming back here alive." Sakura mumbled feeling the guilt seep into her mind. "I'm sorry." She heard Ino let out a heavy sigh.

"You are forgiven, but ever do that again and I'll kill you." Ino finished dangerously. Sakura gave her a small smile before walking over to the bunch of daffodils and she felt her chest hitch with pain slightly. She sorted through them before choosing one that she thought was perfect and brought it to the counter. "What do you need that for?" Ino asked curiously.

"I need to say goodbye to an old friend." Sakura replied sadly and Ino nodded her head in understanding.

She found herself standing in front of Sasuke's grave sadness encroaching her mind. "Who knows how things would've ended up if you were still alive. But I think it's time I let go of what we could of had. I still love you and always will." Her voice was quiet and wavered slightly as she placed the flower on his grave giving it one last look before turning and leaving all her regrets and doubts with him.

Sakura knocked heavily on Kakashi's door feeling the flutter of butterflies in her stomach. She had decided to tell him how she felt and prayed that he had developed some feelings for her as well. A vision of seeing him on her mission flashed through her mind and she shuddered slightly. He had acted so cold towards her and she swallowed hard trying to quell her anxiety.

"He's not back yet dear." An old lady called out sweetly to her as she hobbled towards the step. "Won't be back for a couple of days I suspect. Could you hand me his mail?" She asked pointing to Kakashi's small metal mail box and Sakura obliged handing the jumble of letters to her. "Did you want me to give him a message?"

"Oh umm no thanks. I'll just catch him when he comes back." She mumbled disappointment ringing in her voice.

Sakura paced in her living room anxiety high vaguely listening to the ramblings of Naruto about Hinata and his problems. It had been four days since she went to Kakashi's apartment and he still had not returned home. Worry had began to set in and she found her mind envisioning him bloodied and mangled dead on his mission. She shook herself saying he would not die so easily.

"Sakura...Sakura...SAKURA!"

"WHAT?" She yelled at Naruto stopping to glare at him.

"Well what should I do?" He asked cautiously seeing her expression. Sakura let out an exasperated sigh before telling herself to calm down.

"Simple. Stop being an ass." She replied incredulously to him. Naruto narrowed his blue eyes into a scowl.

"What's wrong?" He finally asked.

"Nothing."

"Yeah right. You've been snapping at everyone these past few days." He muttered darkly as he stood up.

"It ugh...nothing." Sakura mumbled feeling guilty for her behaviour.

"Fine. I'm going to Hinata's to stop acting like an ass." Naruto said sarcastically. "I'll see you later." And closed the door with a sharp tap. Sakura let out another sigh.

"You need to calm down." She told herself darkly and began to pace in her living room again. Her stomach growled and she went to her fridge only to slam the door when she saw nothing edible. "No you need to get out of here." She muttered angrily and pulled herself out of her apartment.

She found herself oddly calmer outside with a slight breeze blowing through her hair and the sun shining harshly. Sakura bumped into the odd person as she made her way across the busy street to a fruit stand where she was tempted by all the delicious looking fruit. She picked up a peach and squeezed it gently to find it was perfectly ripe and inhaled it's perfect sweet fragrance. She stopped eyes widening slightly as she sensed a familiar chakra and turned to see his spiky silver hair through the crowded street. Sakura felt relieved to see him home then immediately anxious knowing what she was planning to do. Her hands trembled as she replaced the peach while a knot formed in her throat and she turned to see that he was about to pass by her.

"Kakashi." She called out only to see his attention remain on the road in front of him. Maybe he didn't hear me. She thought desperately to herself as she called out his name louder. Nothing. Her heart sank and she found herself stepping in front of him putting her hand up to his chest so he would stop. Sakura could feel the warmth of his body seeping through his clothes and she had the urge to wrap her legs tight around his waist and kiss him. She pulled back her hand immediately as if his very skin burned her and dropped her gaze to the ground. "Glad to see you home." She mumbled quietly fighting the urge to pull him into an embrace. Sakura studied him seeing that his clothes were dirty and he looked tired and worn from his mission, but his gaze made her breath catch in her chest. It was blank and he seemed to be staring past her. Her throat tightened painfully as she tried to speak. "Um we need to talk, but after you go home first of course." Sakura added quickly and continued when Kakashi stayed silent. "We can meet at that small restaurant close to my place at six." She mumbled and saw him give her a small nod before stepping out of her way and continuing down the street.

888

Kakashi felt something tighten in his chest when he saw her eyeing up some peaches at a fruit stand. His mind flashed to the last time he saw her.

Something just didn't feel right to Kakashi when he left her camp in the morning with his group. It gnawed on the back of his mind and made him twitch uncomfortably as he sped through the forest. He just needed to check on her once to make sure she was ok and his mind could rest in peace. It had taken everything in him last night to not sweep her into his arms when he saw her, but he knew better. She couldn't afford a distraction because they often ended up getting you killed. He heard her painful cry echo through the forest and his blood froze with fear. A painful knot formed in his throat when he saw her lying in her own blood, chest rising heavily with each breath and he thanked god that she was still alive. He came to stand over her seeing her precious face splattered with blood and his heart ached when she whispered his name. He felt guilty for wanting her to stay with him, but prayed all the same begging for her to live. He saw her team mates shocked faces when he explained what happened and handed her gently to Horun asking them to hurry and save her. He left requesting they leave this out their report and sped off back to his mission heart heavy with fear and sadness.

He was surprised to feel her hand on his chest snapping his thoughts from his mind and ached to press every inch of him against her. He saw the way she withdrew her hand from him and his chest tightened in pain. The tone of her voice confirmed what he had been thinking. She's ending it. But that's ok as long as she's alive it doesn't matter. He nodded his head in response because he knew his voice would betray him and ached further as he remembered the feel of her sweet lips against his skin knowing he would never feel them again.

888

"INO." Sakura hollered as she came skidding to a halt in her apartment ignoring the pain in her chest. She could hear her friend bounding down the stairs and come to a halt in front of her.

"What's the matter?" She asked slightly panting.

"He barely even acknowledged me. How am I supposed to tell him I love him now?" Sakura asked hearing her voice waver and tears gathering at her eyes. Ino scrunched her face in confusion for a moment.

"He came back? When did you talk to him?" She asked while pulling her friend into the living room to sit on the couch.

"Just a few moments ago. He looked like he just came back from his mission and I ran into him on the street. It went badly." Sakura stuttered taking deep breaths and suppressing the tears.

"How do you know?" Ino asked confused.

"Because the whole time I had to keep myself from tearing off his clothes in the middle of the street and he barely even looked at me." She mumbled averting her gaze. "What if what I thought wasn't true? What if he was only in it for the sex?" Her voice wavered again as her heart sank deep into her chest.

"He did show you his face before you left right?" Ino asked shaking Sakura slightly. She nodded slowly. "Well then that counts for something. Men are stupid you know. Sometimes they just need to be reminded of what they could have and you Sakura are in luck because this is my area of expertise." Ino said gleefully with a particularly evil glint in her eye.

Butterflies flittered in Sakura's stomach as she walked nervously to the restaurant. She felt nauseous and ignored the gawking of the men as she told herself she would rather go through all of last month again then have to do this. To distract herself she ran through what Ino had told her to do. Show up late. Got that covered. Sakura thought bitterly to herself as she noted she was 45 minutes late, but considering this was Kakashi he was probably just arriving. Wear something provocative. Sakura shuddered when she remembered the fight that ensued for an hour and a half over what she was going to wear. She had finally settled for a white summer dress with pink petals that looked innocent enough but hugged all the right curves. Her mind halted when she saw a familiar corner and knew who would be waiting for her around it or at least she hoped he would be. Sakura held her breath as she came around the corner and peered down the street. She sighed slightly letting a smile grace her lips as she saw him, slouched with his hands in his pockets leaning against the wall. Well he's there so that's a good sign. She told herself feeling her body tense as a new anxiety settled in her. His back was turned to her and Sakura fought the urge to yell out his name when she felt a hand wrap around hers and stop her gently. Her face scowled as she turned to yell, but her eyes widened in shock and her heart stopped.

"Hello Sakura." She clasped her mouth and could feel tears sting her eyes.

"Sasuke." Sakura whispered in disbelief. She felt her hand drop to her side as a flood of emotions swept over her. "You're alive." She looked into his eyes and felt a dull ache in her chest. She saw him give a slight nod and turned to see Kakashi shocked. He shook himself slightly before giving his customary wave and saw him turn to make his way down the street. Sakura brought her attention back to Sasuke and anger swelled inside of her. She felt her hand sting with pain from the force of her slap and yelled at him. "Why would you do that to me?" She asked angrily and felt a hot tear slip from her cheek. Sakura wiped it away not allowing anymore to fall and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "A part of me died with you that day." She whispered sadly and listened to the sound of his heart soothing her.

"I'm sorry." His voice was calm, but Sakura knew he truly meant it as his arms tangled behind her. "I was badly injured that day by Kagoshi and we decided to use it to our advantage. We made it appear like I had died that day to help with the mission." He pulled back slightly and cupped Sakura's face in his hands. "I never expected you to do what you did." His voice was gentle and she felt her knees shake slightly. Sasuke's hands dropped to her shoulders as he rested his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry I never saw how truly strong you were. I think I've wasted enough of our time." Sakura felt her knees buckle at his words and pulled him into another embrace. She released and felt his arm slip over her shoulders as he began to lead her away.

"Wait." Sakura called out and pulled herself from his grasp. "I..." She faltered feeling her heart ache at the words that were going to pour from her mouth. "I'm sorry." She kept her jade eyes on his not willing to look away. "But I can't be with you. Please don't hate me." She turned from Sasuke all thoughts on Kakashi as she walked away from him. Sasuke had told her everything she had craved to hear, but it was no longer what she desired. Her heart had changed and somewhere along the way Kakashi had nestled himself deep within her and she wanted him to feel the same about her. Sakura could feel herself becoming anxious when she turned the corner and saw him walking slowly down the street. Her heart beat painfully fast as she approached him and her mind wandered with all the possible outcomes, but she only wanted one. She felt her fingers entwine with his as she came to walk beside him and kept her gaze ahead of her scared to see his reaction.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked surprised, but didn't remove his hand. Sakura swallowed hard trying to remove the knot from her throat.

"Going home with you." She replied casually trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. She felt his grip tighten on hers and all doubts were gone. Sakura turned giving him a smile knowing that this was where she belonged.

Ohh what fluff, but I love it! Just a quick note though. During Kakashi's flashback the his is referring to Sasuke's name. Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it.

Cance