A/N: Thanks for reading, this is the first time I've ever written any sort of action scene so please give me feedback. There should be an epilogue after this chapter but please rate and comment letting me know what you think! Enjoy!

Part 2

When the ninken returned, they had counted five ninja surrounding a fire in a valley hidden within the forest, and four more sleeping in the makeshift camp. With Sai responsible for the sleeping men, Naruto and Kakashi moved out with agitated nerves towards the flickering flame of the enemy fire. There was a nervous patter in Kakashi's chest, where Naruto's hopes to find Sakura safe had kindled. He could feel the heat of the fire now, and make out some of the banter that the rouge ninja had been yelling over for quite some time,

"We weren't going to get anything out of her anyway," one said, "she was a tough bitch, probably learned it from that slut hokage of theirs…"

"I still can't believe she bit me though," another whined, nursing a wrapped hand that now held a liquor bottle, "what kind of person bites another person?"

Well we don't have to worry about it now," a third spoke again, wrapping his arm around a small figure to his left. Kakashi heard Naruto take a breath as they stopped in the underbrush that gathered right before the campsite.

Upon closer inspection, the small figure actually appeared to be a woman, her hair damp and matted with blood and dirt. Sakura's usually bright green eyes had gone dark, and as they stared vacantly at the fire it had become clear that she had been caught up in some sort of genjutsu.

"Ahhh!" Naruto burst from the brush, flinging himself directly into the throng of ninja, before Kakashi cursed, and followed suit, Naruto was able to knock one out completely due to his surprise attack, but with his battle cry he had alerted the sleeping men, resulting in what sounded like an altercation between the rouges and Sai.

"Grab her!" Naruto called, as four copies appeared, assaulting the other men and causing the perfect distraction. Racing through the camp, Kakashi ran up to the ninja with his arm wrapped around Sakura's frame, lightening gathering in his hand so quickly that he could already feel the chakra burns on his fingertips. The Rouge laughed, letting a blade slip from his sleeve, hovering its tip dangerously close to Sakura's bruised neck.

"Come any closer, and I'll spill her insides on your boots."

Somewhere behind him, Kakashi heard the noise of Naruto's clones disappearing, steel slipping against steel as two kunai clashed.

"I'll ask you once," Kakashi said, his voice deathly calm, "hand her over, or I will destroy the ground where you stand."

The ninja laughed, the blade causing slow beads of crimson to slip from Sakura's neck, no flicker of recognition even passed through her eyes.

Kakashi's chidori slammed into ground, the earth rippling like water before bursting in the space where the rogue ninja once stood. The man had nearly avoided it, using his chakra to lift himself high into the air. Kakashi read his opponents movements quickly, shadowing him into the sky, before making the signs for fire, and blowing a straight line of flames towards his enemy's head.

Surprised, the rogue man lost his grip on Sakura's waist, letting her body hurtle towards the ground as he lifted his hands in pain towards a scorched face. Kakashi took this moment to go after Sakura's descending body, only having a second to wrap his body around hers before bracing the impact of the harsh ground below. A pain ripped through him as rocks and twigs prodded at his back, and his legs burned as he slid to a stop against a thick tree trunk.

"You fool!" the rogue ninja came up to them, his right eye swollen shut as a nasty char darkened half his face, he brought with his anger the scent of burn flesh and hair, "can't you see she's dead?"

Kakashi looked down at the young kunoichi, eyes still unseeing. There was a gash to her head that still seemed to trickle, and her skin, usually a milky silk, was now washed out to something similar to Sai's coloring, her heartbeat almost unnoticeable.

"I will protect this girl with my last breath," Kakashi said evenly, challenging his opponent to come closer, "but you should know, it is you who will die here."

"As will you," the man grumbled, as a second man stood next to him, one of Sai's men no doubt.

"Give up now, Kakashi of the leaf village," the second man spoke, his body scared from many battles, one eyes clouded over, "there is no use fighting over a corpse."

Kakashi rose to his feet, finding that one of his shoulders was already protesting, and positioned Sakura carefully on his back, holding her there carefully with one arm. Sai's voice could be heard somewhere to his left, barking orders at Naruto, it appeared their fights had combined.

"If this is what you want," the first man laughed, "I will take great pleasure in crushing that girl's skull in front of you."

Kakashi wanted to laugh, pushing his mask down, and placing a kunai in his mouth, and forming another chidori in his only free hand. These thugs would never understand; they would never even be able to fathom the fact that he had come here to get hurt.

"You might as well do your worst to me." He replied, between the tastes of metal in his mouth. The memory of Sakura before she left for this dreadful mission filled his thoughts.

"What are you doing here?" he had muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as Sakura smiled nervously up at him.

"Still sleeping, sensei?" there was a blush on her cheeks, as she played with an envelope between her hands, her fingers tapping against the white paper.

"Sakura," his voice was all authority, "what are you doing here?" her hair was perfectly straight, her eyes brightened with the slight hint of something shimmery on her eyelids, her lashes longer. The crimson in her cheeks darkened, and Kakashi leaned against his doorframe in exhaustion,

"Did you come here to get hurt?" he knew he would throw her off guard, she had been so sure that she hadn't been obvious, so sure she hadn't let on to her growing crush.

"Wh-what?" she stammered out, eyes round in shock. Kakashi, sighed, knowing that if he hadn't been looking so hard at the young woman, that maybe he never would have noticed how much kinder she had been to him lately, maybe he wouldn't let her come over so easily, maybe he wouldn't have found it thrilling that the little bit of makeup she had applied today had been for him.

"That's what will happen," he said softly, looking at her lips instead of her eyes, "if I let you say what you came here to say, you will get hurt."

Instead of frowning, or crying like she had with Sasuke, Sakura merely pouted, crossing her arms over herself in slight irritation,

"I'm not an idiot, Kakashi," she huffed, her eyes turning an evil glint of lime,

"What?" he asked, his shoulder slipping slightly from the frame,

"Don't think I don't see the way you look at me," she said with an air of confidence, as it was Kakashi's turn to blush, "here."

Sakura thrust the envelope into Kakashi's hand, letting hers linger for a second, rolling small circles into his knuckle with her index finger.

"I'll be going on a mission in the next day or so, it shouldn't take long. Open the envelope, think things over, and when I get back you owe me a drink." Withdrawing her hand, she gave Kakashi a quick wink and a wave before walking away, a silly bounce in her step.

Sakura's body moved heavily against his back, her muscles lacking life as she ragdolled behind him as his chidori ran its way through the first ninja's heart. The man screamed out, blood gurgling from his lips before finally slumping to his knees, and finally face first into the dirt.

The second ninja wasted no time in confronting Kakashi, his attacks swift and unforgiving.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled from somewhere behind him, "incoming!"

Moving to the side, Kakashi turned quickly to see a kunai in the place he once stood, as one of Naruto's opponents rushed towards him, drawing four more kunai from his side pouch.

"Die!" he called out, forcing the blades out from his fingertips with a controlled chakra that made them curve and charge straight for Kakashi's back; straight for Sakura.

Kakashi moved quickly, taking each kunai to the chest, and then rushing chakra to the balls of his feet to climb the nearest tree.

"You won't get far from us, Kakashi Hatake!" called one of the men below, followed by the chortled laughter of his brethren. Twigs snapped and cracked, alerting Kakashi that his enemies had ascended with him,

"Dammit," he gasped, feeling each kunai that still rested in his flak jacket, rooted in fabric and flesh. Three more kunai flew from the thicket of branches that surrounded him, and he managed to block two of them with a kunai of his own, the other planting itself in his wrist.

"Give up old man!" his enemies taunted, as the blood loss became apparent along with something more dangerous; poison.

"I won't last long here." Kakashi panted, readjusting Sakura before making one final jump to the top of the tree.

"There's nowhere left to run, Hatake." The leader smirked, "you ran yourself into a corner."

"You still don't understand," Kakashi laughed, slowly preparing explosive tags for his remaining kunai, "you might as well do your worst to me, I came here to get hurt."

"Wha?" they looked at the man suspiciously, but Kakashi couldn't stop talking otherwise their attention might shift to the arsenal behind his back.

"If you've come to take her away from me, then you might as well do your worst to me."

One of the men stepped forward, but it was too late, the kunai were ready, and with one final call, Kakashi threw them his attackers' feet. The explosion snapped and splintered the tops of the trees, forcing giant shards of branch to shred apart his foe. Falling between the trees, Kakashi moved Sakura's body to his front, wrapping his arms protectively around her in order to shield her from the wood that flew around them.

The ground hit Kakashi suddenly; knocking the air out of him, and making each hit he'd taken feel that much worse. Two figures approached him, but his arms seemed too heavy to move,

"Stay back!" he growled, hugging Sakura's body closer to his, "you can't take her away from me!"

"Sensei," Naruto called, his figure still blurry and somewhat distorted from the poison that was now rushing through Kakashi's veins, "it's alright Sensei, no one's coming after us anymore." Naruto's voice sounded sad and far away, but his words helped Kakashi relax, his arms loosening from around Sakura, who still had not stirred.

"Go," Kakashi sighed, signaling the boys to remove Sakura from him, "get her back home as quickly as possible, the dogs should be around, send them ahead to warn the hokage of your return."

"We can't leave you like this," Sai crouched next to Kakashi, examining his poor state, "you won't make the journey back in the condition you're in now."

Kakashi wanted to laugh, Sai was so calm, if it had been Sakura looking him over, she would have smacked him over the head for being so reckless.

"Go," Kakashi ordered once more, a finality in his voice that even Naruto didn't dare rebel against.

With the strength he had left, Kakashi moved to the envelope in his pocket, opening it to reveal an image inside.

"I finally found a picture of us," it read, "We should do this again sometime."-Love Sakura

Smiling to himself, Kakashi looked down at the image of himself and Sakura. The picture had been taken on her nineteenth birthday, at a pub just outside of the village, her eyes hooded but none the less dazzling as she looked into the camera. Her mouth was frozen in a laugh, as Kakashi's not so sober face rested up against hers, his eyes just as hooded as he stared at his young kunoichi with a look of adoration and affection.

"Mah," Kakashi chuckled, holding the image to his heart, his eyes growing heavy, "I've been such a fool."