Misunderstanding

"Bye!" Sakura waved to Kakashi before disappearing inside the great mansion. Now that the girl's condition had stabilized, she had to work to patch her up, which, according to Sakura, wouldn't take long.

Kakashi wandered off towards Stone's marketplace. As he was not skilled in the medical field, it would be a waste of his time just sitting around watching her as she worked. He might as well get to know the place better.

He stifled a yawn. Sakura should be done by either today or tomorrow. He was getting tired of roaming the streets day after day. Pausing at a food stall, he bought himself a dango and moved on.

Over the days, his relationship with Sakura had grown much closer. After opening up, her understanding made him feel better than he ever did in years. For once, he did not feel alone anymore, he felt like he had somewhere to go, someone to love.

He had a nagging feeling that opening his defenses like that spelled trouble, but firmly he pushed it away.

He trusted Sakura to keep his secret, to preserve his dignity. He did not want to end up like his dearest father, dead by his own hand, after succumbing to the pressure of shame.

A bookstore caught his eye. Striding over, he looked in through the glass at the various books displayed. As he was scanning the covers of the books, his ears caught a low voice, a voice that wasn't intended for him to hear.

"Hey, look at that guy over there." The voice of a young boy drifted over to Kakashi.

"Which one?" Another boy asked in equally soft tones.

"The one with silver hair."

"What about him?"

The first boy sniggered softly. "I heard that his dad was willing to sacrifice his country for a friend."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. How did they know?

"That's dumb."

"Yeah. You think it'll happen again?"

"Like father, like son."

"Hmph." The first boy snorted in disdain. There was a brief pause.

"How'd you know, anyway?" The second boy voiced his doubts.

"This lady told me."

Kakashi froze. Lady?

The only female who knew of his secret – apart from the older generation – was Sakura.

No. It couldn't be. He trusted her. She wouldn't…

"It'll be really easy if Stone wanted to conquer Leaf. With people like him around, it would be a piece of cake."

It was all his fault.

How could you, Sakura? I trusted you…

His hands tightening into fists, he stormed off towards the inn that was their lodging.

A dark-haired woman watched him with a satisfied smirk on her face.

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"We're leaving. Now." Kakashi packed his bags, and Sakura hurriedly shoved her stuff in her backpack. "Why do we have to leave so soon?" she asked, a little disappointed that she couldn't explore the place a bit more.

Kakashi did not answer.

Something was off. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It wasn't like Kakashi to leave so hastily. His expression was unusually stony, and she felt a shiver run up her spine.

Two hours later

He had not said a single word since their departure from Stone. She would have liked to stay a little longer, but Kakashi seemed to be in a hurry to go home.

Sakura felt uneasy. Something was troubling him.

"Kakashi," she called, touching his arm. "What's wrong?"

He glanced at her, and for a moment she felt terrified. Hatred and loathing filled his gaze. "You don't need to keep up your façade anymore," he hissed at her. His heart twisted. He loved her, trusted her, and yet she betrayed his trust. He was so stupid. "Like you don't know what's wrong."

"What?" Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. "What are you talking about?"

Kakashi spun around. "Did you have to blab about my past to everyone you see?" he snarled. "I should never have trusted you!"

"I never did anything of the sort!" she cried, hurt and confused. Why would Kakashi accuse her of such things? She would never, ever betray his secret.

"Don't lie to me," he spat at her, turning around and striding away. Sakura stood rooted to the spot, tears streaming down her face. Kakashi…

"Kakashi!" she cried, dashing towards him. He was already a good distance away. "Kakashi, wait-"

A great weight landed between her shoulder blades and, taken by surprise, she crashed to the ground, pinned. A pair of feet landed on the ground near her head.

It all happened too fast for her to do anything but scream.

"Kakashi-"

A cloth was pressed to her face, muffling her words. Recognizing the smell of the drug, she felt a moment of terror before passing out.

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A terrified scream from behind made Kakashi jerk around to look behind him. Recognizing Sakura's voice, he momentarily forgot his anger.

"Sakura!" he called frantically, hurriedly switching his direction. He saw two indistinct forms leap into the leaves, supporting a third person between them. The flash of pink was more than enough to confirm that it was Sakura being carried away.

"Sakura!" He ran after them, but the kidnappers had obviously thought ahead. There was a twang, and meters of wire coiled around him. In his haste, he had completely forgotten to check for traps. Losing his balance, he fell to his knees.

He strained to reach the kunai in his holster, and hacked at his bindings. A barrage of senbon flew at him, demanding otherwise. A lucky combination of ducks prevented him from having his head speared, but it was clear he wasn't going anywhere for the time being.

Two ninja landed on the ground before him. The Stone headband adorned their heads. A woman and a man looked down at him, the man carrying Sakura over his shoulder.

"You're more foolish than I thought, Kakashi Hatake," the woman sneered at him. "Since when did you jump to conclusions, anyway?"

"Let Sakura go!" he demanded.

"Tsk tsk. You're in no position to make demands." The man shook his head and readjusted Sakura on his shoulders. She was, Kakashi realized with dread, out cold.

"As much as I'd like to kill you now, I can't. This is not the time." The man touched his headband in a gesture of farewell. "I'll be seeing you."

The woman chuckled darkly, and the duo departed.

Kakashi's head dropped dejectedly. He was stupid. He had blamed Sakura wrongly, and now she was in enemy hands. He hated himself. StupidStupidSTUPID...

He had to rescue her.

Straining, he lifted his hand to his mouth and bit into his thumb, drawing blood.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke, Pakkun appeared beside him. Eyeing his master's position, he raised an eyebrow.

"Needing help with that?" the dog asked.

"No, I need you to follow Sakura. Once you know where they're taking her, report back to me. I'll be going back to Leaf for backup."

Pakkun nodded. "Yes, sir!"

He dashed off, leaving Kakashi to slowly disentangle himself from the web of wires.

Sakura, I'm sorry. I hope you'll forgive me.

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A/N:

A little short, but I think it should be fine. A million thank yous to those who reviewed.

Naruto does not belong to me.