A/N: Because I really liked the quote.

Send Me An Angel: Chapter 9

Sakura's throat was so tight she momentarily stopped breathing. In that second she felt the sharp prick of the hay under her, the slight chill of the air, and, most noticeably, the heat radiating from Kakashi's body. She heard the patter of the rain, the soft rumbling of the continuous thunder, and her breath as it finally left her chest.

Kakashi swallowed, waiting. He hadn't expected that. He had pretty much told her he loved her already, before this, so why was her reaction so strong? He agreed that it was important that he said the actual words, but he hadn't known it would mean so much to her, that it would effect her like this. Doubt flooded his mind for an instant

Her body relaxed and she looked down. A slow, soft smile spread across her pink lips. Kakashi's doubt lessened, but still he waited.

"Was it so important to you…to get that off your chest?" she asked in a steady whisper.

"I…" His paused ended. "Yeah, it was."

She closed her eyes, her smile remaining. "Then I think it would only be fair to you…if I told you how I felt."

"And?"

Sakura opened her emerald green eyes and tilted her head. She was regaining her strength. "You're worried about Sasuke, aren't you?" she asked. "Well, I guess I'm just assuming, but still…you should know that I am over him. I'm fine. It won't matter that he came back. I'll be happy to have my friend again, but he doesn't have my heart anymore. He won't…can't break it again."

Kakashi smiled. He was proud of her, and also filled with a triumphant joy. She could be his. That's all that mattered. He raised his hand and ran his fingers along the length of her jaw line, and then cupped her face and leaned in to kiss her. She met him as soon as her body allowed her to. It was short, and he pulled back quickly, leaning his forehead against hers. His mitch-matched eyes remained closed.

"Kakashi?"

He grinned.

Sakura kissed him again. "What's with you?"

"Nothing," he answered. "I'm perfectly fine. Better than fine."

She nodded slightly. "Good."

He looked at her, at the set of her lips. "You're worried, aren't you?"

"What will the villagers think?" she mumbled. "What will Tsunade think, or my parents, or our friends?"

"My friends won't care much," he told her. "Or they will, but it won't be disapproval. The times have changed, and every one knows that. People see relationships much more strange than ours' and much more often. Your friends…will get over it. I've seen Ino flirting with Genma, so this can't be too bad. And Tsunade…well, I'll take whatever she throws at us."

"And my parents?" Sakura asked quietly.

Kakashi's mouth twitched. "I wish I could be of more help with that."

Sakura sighed, and, finding that she could move, buried her face in his chest. "This is just great."

Kakashi wrapped his arms around her securely. "Well, think about it this way. Your father respects me…or should. And your mother has always found me charming. From what I've seen, your mother runs that house more so than your father, so if you get to her first, you have a shot at a blessing. Approval would more or less be guaranteed."

Sakura laughed softly. "Mom likes you."

"That's good."

"No, I mean she likes you."

There was a short silence. "Oh."

Sakura giggled again.

"Can you…use that to your advantage?" Kakashi asked.

She nodded. "Probably."

"Well, then it really is good."

A minute passed, silent apart from the storm. Kakashi's body was warming Sakura. It felt nice. She mumbled quietly, "Do you think Naruto will be all right?"

Kakashi didn't like thinking about Naruto, at least not for the last few days. "I think we'll know by next week. I'm not sure how long it will take Sasuke to bring Naruto back, considering the chance that he might have been injured. We also don't know if anyone from his team was killed, or even if he was with them. Akatsuki's numbers were dwindling, but I still don't feel…good about leaving. But I couldn't stay. We had to get out. I didn't have enough power left to get you both, so Sasuke offered to get Naruto. I guess he would have offered to take you, but you were already in my arms so…"

Sakura nodded silently. She understood. Kakashi hid his face in her hair, taking in her scent. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Are you hungry?" he repeated. "I'm starving."

"Yeah," she said. "How long has it been since we ate?"

"Too long. During our second day in that cage, they gave us some sort of liquid diet meal."

"Oh." She hadn't known that.

Kakashi went to pull away, but Sakura's fingers held onto him. He smiled down at her. "I'll be right back," he promised.

"But you'll be cold," she complained. "It's raining. At least take your shirt."

"No," he said. It wasn't negotiable either. "You have to keep that on. You'll freeze if you don't. Your clothes are all torn. They're rags now."

Ah. Well…how was she supposed to argue with that? "Just stay. We can eat later."

"Sakura, you need to eat. You need to get your strength back."

"So do you."

He smiled. "Exactly. So we should eat. Both of us."

He had won. That bastard. She grunted, "Fine."

He kissed her forehead before he left.

Sakura lay in the dark room, listening to the rain and waiting for Kakashi's return. She felt like he was taking longer than necessary, but that could have just been her imagination. She didn't know the area well, so she had no knowledge of the distances.

But if they were in a storage shed then a house must have been nearby. Kakashi could have just stolen food from there. But he wouldn't do that. Especially not if they were home, which they probably were due to the storm. Couldn't he just ask for some then? On second thought, that would probably have been a very bad idea. A shirtless man with grey hair who looks like he should be in his twenties coming up and asking for food during a thunderstorm was not what Sakura had initially pictured. And Kakashi wasn't able to look homeless. The fact that he looked so well-fed, and muscled, didn't help.

Still, it was worth a shot, right? Nah. Then they would have checked the shed.

Sakura was startled when the door pealed back unexpectedly and a wet Kakashi climbed through. Why hadn't the man made any squishy noises? There must have been tons of mud outside. Did he really feel the need to be so quiet? Ugh.

Sakura rolled onto her back and pushed herself up with some effort. Thankfully, the hay tilted up into a slant behind her, so it supported most of her weight. Kakashi flopped down and crossed his legs, a basket falling against his knees. His grin proved that he was happy with his findings. Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "So, what did you get?"

"I found a bakery," he informed her. "The bread is buttered and still hot."

Oh, he could have been an angel. "And?"

"A bit of fruit, rice, fish, and…chocolate."

That pause had definitely been for dramatic effect.

Sakura held out her hand. "Give me."

Kakashi laughed and tossed her a bread roll. As she began to eat that, he laid a long white cloth across her knees and added an arrangement of the other foods he had brought. He gave her all of the chocolate. It was way too sweet for him. As soon as Sakura had finished her bread, she moved on.

Kakashi seemed to fade into the background as Sakura ate. About halfway through, when the food hit her stomach, she felt it flip. That's right. She hadn't eaten in a few days. Ouch. "Did you get anything to drink?"

He continued munching on an apple as he slid her the canteen. Sakura heard water sloshing in it. She took careful sips and sat back to allow her stomach a moment to settle. She could have sworn she saw Kakashi laughing at her from the corner of her eye, but when she looked, he was suddenly intent on the fish he was eating. She couldn't blame him. She would have had the same sadistic pleasure if their situations had been switched, but they weren't, so she could still feel a little bitter towards him.

She noticed that Kakashi ate in silence. She wondered if it was because of all those years of eating alone or with his back turned to everyone else. Possibly. It was interesting watching him. She still wasn't used to seeing his face. She doubted she ever would be. It still surprised her. The features just weren't the ones she had always imagined Kakashi to have. The lips were plumper than she had pictured. For some reason, she had always given him Ibiki's thin, hard lips. And his nose was straighter. Only his jaw was the same. Defined and cocky, like representing the spirit of a young man. It felt to odd to see it represented by Kakashi.

"It's rude to stare," he teased.

Her eyes narrowed slightly and she forced her blush back down. "Bite me."

"Don't give me any ideas."

Ugh. "You're such a pervert."

He smiled at her, and he suddenly looked dashing. Raindrops slid down the long strands of his hair, still holding in spikes that seemed to have a stubbornness against gravity, and his eyes crinkled in a familiar yet new smile. "You wouldn't have me any other way."

She answered immediately. "Or so you think."

He pouted. "Don't be so mean."

She glanced at his food, only to see it was gone. Of course, he would finish before talking. "Then don't be so dirty."

"Biting isn't dirty," he said. "I could tell you what's really dirty."

"I don't want to know."

"Of course not. You want to stay as innocent as possible, don't you? Well, that's fine with me. I love that about you."

She didn't answer. She didn't know how to.

"I also love your blush."

"Shut up."

He laughed at her, and she threw a peach at his head.

--

"You're an idiot." That was Tsunade's greeting.

"I know."

"You know better than this."

"I know."

"Then say something else, damn it."

"What is there to say?" he asked, staring down at the corner of her desk. "You've gotten the whole story, I presume from Sakura, so you know what happened."

"This is your one shot to defend yourself," she told him. "Don't waste it."

"My judgment was clouded and I made a mistake because of it. I deserve my punishment."

Sake and papers splattered across the floor as Tsunade stood up in a fury, her chair making a sliding thud behind her. "You left Naruto!"

"I know."

"You're an idiot."

He didn't answer.

"Why?" Tsunade demanded. "You never make mistakes like this."

"I told you," he said calmly. "My judgment was clouded. It doesn't often get clouded, but it when it does…I'm usually put in situations where I have to be rational, where it's a do or die thing, so when I falter…bad things happen."

"Quit with the pity-party," his Hokage growled. "You're given that burden because you are capable of carrying it. What changed?"

His heart. "Nothing," he lied smoothly.

"Kakashi."

He looked up, meeting her eyes. "Can we discuss this later?"

"What?" He couldn't be serious.

"It will give you time to come up with a suitable punishment, and me time to word my defense in a way that will make me seem like less of an idiot."

"Nothing can do that."

"Yes, because I'm an idiot."

"Yes, you are."

"Of course."

"Damn it." Tsunade kicked her chair back up with her heel and sat down in it heavily. "You never make mistakes like this. You knew the score."

"I know."

She shook her head once, and then started rubbing her forehead, looking out the windows. "You don't sound like you regret it."

"I regret not being able to help more, but I don't regret taking Sakura."

Tsunade bit her lip. "How could you have been so foolish?"

Time to try the mini-lie. "I already had her in my arms. We only had seconds, and with the drugs and the noise, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Obviously." She sighed. "What jutsu did you use to get out of there?"

"Hm?"

"Kakashi, don't play dumb."

He was silent for a moment before he started playing with the metal guard on the back of his glove, tracing the Konoha symbol. "You're on the right track," he told her. "The forbidden one. The Hatake one."

Tsunade closed her eyes. "You know what that jutsu does to you. You aren't yourself for days after using it, Kakashi. Were you really that desperate?"

"Tai-jutsu alone wouldn't have been enough," he explained. "It was the only jutsu strong enough to flush my system clean without destroying my body when I activated it."

She nodded. "I know that. I understand that. I just don't understand why you would take Sakura and leave Naruto behind when…and leaving him with Sasuke. What a fool you are."

"Sasuke will come back," he said. "It was always obvious that he wouldn't know what to do with his life after Itachi's death. Where else can he go? His only chance is to come here. Bringing Naruto back would prove his loyalty and lessen his punishment, perhaps even make it so that people are capable of welcoming him back. It's his chance to prove himself to us."

"That's not enough to have made you leave him." She said it so that it seemed dull, quiet, and yet rang with a fierce truth.

He couldn't tell her yes, not yet. He had to find Sakura. "Can we continue this later?"

"What's so important that you have to leave now?" Tsunade said in a hard voice.

He wanted to breath 'everything', but couldn't find it in his heart, in his courage, to do so. "I want to talk to Sakura," he said, telling her the truth quietly. "I'm worried about her. She's still in the hospital, right?"

Tsunade eyed him, her gaze reading his face once. "What else is there?"

He sighed. "I need to ask her permission for something."

Tsunade's slim eyebrows descended, shading her eyes. "And what could that possibly be?"

"Nothing relevant to this," he assured her, straying from the truth. "But, regardless, it still needs to be done."

"Fine," she said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. "You have fifteen minutes. Make it quick."

Kakashi bowed before leaving.

Sakura was in the Konoha hospital recovering from the devastating drugs and the wounds inflicted on her body that she had been unable to heal. They had only been home for half a day, but Sakura had been admitted immediately. Kakashi had put off reporting to Tsunade, who was stuck in her office. The air had been oddly dry that week. It still remained so, slightly burning to Kakashi's lungs. It hadn't rained here in a while. He supposed he should have been grateful for that, considering how bad Rain country had been, but he found himself waiting for the next Konoha shower.

The walls of the hospital were visible, white and hard. He pushed the door aside, stepping into the air conditioned room. The chill felt wonderful, though not calming. His need to see Sakura had not lessened or changed. He walked pass the desk, waving to the nurses and disregarding the rules. He didn't need to sign in. Or, he felt he didn't need to, and no one was going to tell him otherwise.

Sakura had gained consciousness. She had been knocked out when the medics had needed to go through certain procedures, ones that might have been painful had she been awake. He smiled at her and shut the door behind him.

"How did it go with Tsunade?" Sakura asked, returning his smile.

He sighed, pulling up the lone visitor's chair. "Well, it's not over yet. We're taking something of a break."

"Oh. Why?"

Kakashi grinned. "Because she needs to come up with my punishment for leaving Naruto, of course."

Sakura frowned at him. That hadn't been his fault. If anything, it was hers. "There's more to it," she said. "Tell me."

Kakashi took her hand, turning it over and tracing patterns across her palm. "Tsunade…isn't satisfied with my explanation. She knows there's something else."

But Tsunade wasn't aware of their relationship. Sakura sighed. "What are you going to tell her?"

"What can I?" he asked quietly. "I won't say anything that would make you unhappy, that would potentially harm you."

"Then you're left in a rut, huh?" Sakura mumbled.

"Yeah, something like that." Kakashi felt like a moron. He could bring himself to ask her. He knew that he wouldn't. How were you supposed to ask a girl if you were allowed to tell her boss that you love her? How did that work? Kakashi didn't have the answers.

Sakura's hand closed over his. "What are we left with?"

"I don't know," he answered.

There was a moment of silence. "Would telling her make any difference?"

Kakashi wanted to groan. Instead, he spoke as his thoughts formed. "It might. There's no guarantee of anything. I was actually avoiding asking about that, because I know that it could probably cause more trouble that it's worth. Especially now."

"Kakashi, it will be all right," she whispered. "Everything will be fine, remember?"

He had promised her that. Kakashi nodded, grinning in an attempt to comfort her. "Of course it will. We knew this was going to be hard, and we knew that facing Tsunade about it was going to be scary. I just didn't think that Tsunade would be the first to find out. I guess I wasn't really prepared for that."

Sakura smiled softly. "Yeah, me neither."

Kakashi's courage was coming back. "At least I'll take the brunt of it."

"Yeah, at least there's that."

Kakashi chuckled.

"So we're okay?" Sakura asked quietly.

Kakashi stood up. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "We're okay. We'll be fine. I need to get back."

Sakura nodded. "Promise you'll come back?"

"As soon as I regain consciousness."

"She won't be that bad."

"We'll see."

Sakura sighed before releasing his hand and letting him go.

Tsunade was surprised to see him back so quickly. She sat behind her desk, pushing papers to the side and waiting. At least she had regained some form of patience. Kakashi sat down in the seat that had been laid out. He assumed Shizune had been the one to do it. No one else here was so thoughtful. After a second's thought, he changed his mind. That chair was now a weapon.

"Ready?" Tsunade asked, her voice strangely calm. "Did you get your permission?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then get on with it."

Kakashi swallowed, steadying his voice. "I'm not entirely sure how to start."

Her honey eyes darkened.

"Well, what I mean to say is, it's strange. Hard to believe, really."

"What is it?" There was a demand, not a request, deep in her throat.

Kakashi squared his shoulders, preparing himself for the beating. "I fell in love."

--

Sakura jumped as a loud stomping echoed from further down the hall. Someone was grunting, and another was growling. Her door flew back to reveal Tsunade. A shiver of fear ran through her, but it was too early. The real fear struck when she saw Kakashi hunched over, being dragged by his collar. There was a dark red spot matting his silver hair, and a stream of that blood rolling down his cheek. His headband had been lost.

"What did you do to him?" she whispered.

"Don't give me that," Tsunade spat. "What the hell did you two do?"

It was funny in a strange sort of way how she managed to make something so romantic and joyful seem so filthy. "I'm sorry, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura continued to whisper, unable to regain her voice. "I didn't mean for…"

Tsunade's jaw was tight, and Sakura could almost hear her teeth grinding. For the first time she saw the small drops of blood staining her Hokage's blouse. Her eyes darted back to Kakashi. He didn't need this. His body had gone through so much lately. This was going to break him. Sakura's worry was eating at her very soul.

"Sakura! How could you? Him? He's worthless."

Sakura might have laughed had the atmosphere been a tad bit lighter. Kakashi's worth to this village was probably what was stopping Tsunade from killing him. But perhaps she had meant his worth to Sakura's well being. "I couldn't help it. It wasn't our fault."

Tsunade let go of Kakashi and he fell to his knees. He hadn't looked up since they had arrived, and he still didn't now. The worry was going to kill her. But perhaps not as soon as her fear would. Tsunade towered over her, placing her hands on either side of Sakura's body. Her gaze was black. "Did he fuck you?"

Sakura had an unexpected spark of bravery. Her eyes slid back to Kakashi, and they did not leave. She had an overpowering urge to get to him, to help him.

"Sakura."

"Yes," she answered. "We did."

Tsunade's body began to shake in her rage. Her eyes closed as she tried to control it, or at least tame it enough so that she didn't smack Sakura and send her detached head flying through the stone wall. "And you morons thought that would just be a brilliant idea, huh? Do you have any clue…No, you couldn't possibly. And Kakashi wouldn't care."

"What is it?"

Sakura actually could hear Tsunade's teeth grind in her answer. "First, he leaves Naruto. Then, he fools around with you, his student. And of course for both situations he decides to leave it up to fate to determine the outcome. It's like he made sure that he was guaranteed no possibility of ever becoming Hokage."

Of all the things she could be pissed about, it was this that ranked above the others? "I don't understand," Sakura admitted.

"He was next in line. He was meant to replace me."

"He was?"

"Well he didn't know!" Tsunade yelled. "Not for sure. He never wanted to be Hokage, I get that, but to make mistakes like these?"

"So he…put you in a situation where you have no options," Sakura mumbled to herself.

"No," Tsunade grunted. "He put this village in a situation where it is left with less-than-satisfactory options. He was the best choice, and now he isn't even a candidate. And none of us know if Naruto will even survive."

"And you?" Sakura asked in a whisper.

Tsunade's eyes glazed over. "I don't have much time left."

All of those years had finally taken their toll. Her jutsu had killed her, and now it was only a matter of time before she met her end. Sakura's eyes burned, but her tears did not come. Not in her presence, she promised herself silently. She swallowed. "So what are we going to do?"

Tsunade sat down on the edge of the bed heavily. "I don't know."

She sounded hopeless.

Sakura knew that the tension she felt was plainly written on her face, but she didn't have the energy to hide it. She turned her gaze back to Kakashi, and was surprised to find him on his hands and knees, as steady as any rock, wiping something from his eye.

"Fuck," he grunted, leaning back and balancing on his knees to use both hands in getting what was obviously blood out of his eyes.

"So you're back?" Tsunade asked, her voice hard again.

"I was never out." Kakashi looked up at her. He made an amused sound before using his hands to push himself off the floor, landing on his feet. It wasn't his most agile feat, but it was a small display. When he turned his eyes back to them, Sakura couldn't look away from the red smeared across his face. His mask was so dark it hid the rest of it. All in all, he looked very healthy. Odd.

"The village will be fine," he said. "I'll make sure of that."

It wasn't the only promise he would die to keep, but it was the only one that he would break his other promises for. Sakura knew that, and understood it, and so in that moment he seemed more a true hero than anyone else in her world.

"And how to do you expect to do that?" Tsunade asked. "You took yourself off the roster."

Kakashi sighed, but there were the obvious indentions of a tired smile beneath his mask. "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

"Yeah, and where do you 'stand'?"

His eyes creased as he grinned. "There's more than one way of going about something."

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched. "Care to explain to the rest of the class?"

"Not really. If I did, it would seem a lot less impressive when I did it."

Tsunade restrained a growl, breathing a deep breath and standing up. She began to walk towards the door, but as she walked by Kakashi she put a small, feminine hand on his shoulder. Her voice was soft. "I trust you. I've seen so much that I know without a doubt that I can. Just don't make mistakes you can't fix, Kakashi. You've seen what that does."

"It wasn't a mistake."

Sakura didn't know whether he was talking about himself or someone else entirely.

With a sad smile, Tsunade left the room.

This chapter and the next one are shorter than my usual chapters, but I was tired of putting off ending it. Sorry for the wait.