Title: Early Morning Summer and Solace
Fandom/Community: Naruto / kakasakudrabble
Characters: Kakashi, Sakura
Pairing: KakaSaku
Rating: PG-13
Word of the Week: Guilt

Author Notes: This is a result of something that is happening within my own life. My grandmother is passing away. Also, if this has really bad grammar, it's because I'm wearing fake nails. I had Homecoming Saturday night.


It was as it should be; Naruto on her left and Sasuke on her right. She twirled, dragging her hands through her hair.

It reached below her shoulders.

"Sakura."

The word was garbled; distorted so much that she had to do a double take to realize that Sasuke was speaking to her.

She turned slowly, everything moving far too slow. The blonde boy grabbed her arm, not painfully, but forcefully enough to cause her to halt. Her head moved faster. Naruto was standing before her.

Suddenly, she was rocked on her feet; everything felt disorienting.

The Naruto that stood before her now wasn't as she had pictured before, with laughing blue eyes and a flush of excitement in his face at the anticipation of training. The boy in front of her was taller than she was, with a distant and almost cold look to his expression. His eyes were darker than they had been before. He was older.

"Don't look at him now," Naruto whispered to her, tugging again. She opened her mouth, but found she couldn't speak. "He thinks as they do now. It'll be too painful, Sakura-chan. I don't want to see you cry."

She couldn't understand what this Naruto was talking about.

She made to turn again, but this strange, frigid young man tugged her again. She refused to acknowledge him, attempting to pull away and turn her head. It drug out, slowly, painfully. When her head finally reached around, a force like Tsunade's chakra-enhanced fist hit her in the gut.

Sasuke stood there with a fist through his stomach, another Naruto behind him. He said her name again, but it was as if someone had put him on mute—his mouth merely moved, no sound came out. She grabbed at her head, trying to scream.

Her hair was short in her hands.

The Naruto grabbed her shoulders gently from behind, shaking her.

"Sakura!"

Her head jerked up.

Bleary-eyed, she took in the hospital around her.

She was sitting on the floor outside room 283, back pressed up against the wall, legs pulled up, arms resting on her knees.

From the room, she could hear the soft murmur from Hinata against the louder squall of Naruto's boisterous yelling. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, brushing her hair from her eyes as she tried to get her feet. "I didn't mean. . . I should get back to work. . ." Tsunade's hand caused her to stop.

"Sakura, go home," Tsunade instructed, in her mentor-voice. "You're dead on your feet. What good is a medic if she can't even keep her own eyes open?"

Sakura sighed and nodded her head. "I'll come back later."

"Don't. Go home, shower, eat, sleep. Namely in that order. You can come back in tomorrow."

She knew when she was being dismissed.

She left the hospital, still feeling trapped in that slow, lethargic dream. She didn't even focus on where she was going, allowing her feet to lead her to where ever they directed her. The street she walked was familiar. Her eyes trailed up the complexes, searching without realizing for one apartment in particular. She didn't know why her mind had subconsciously led her here, but now that it had, she was glad.

The door was unadorned; a gray color she'd once joked matched his hair.

She was surprised to find it unlocked.

Her key jingled lightly in her hand as she slipped it back into her shirt pocket.

The apartment smelled like him. It was a peaceful sort of underlying odor that unless you were specifically aware of it, you probably wouldn't notice at all. Musky, she'd once told him. Like sandalwood or some other sort of dusty smell. Foresty. It made sense in her head. She locked the door behind her, letting herself take comfort in the environment.

"Don't look at me like that, Sakura."

His shadow shifted on the couch, distinguishable in the darkness only by the shock of silver hair. She slipped towards him, settling on the end of the mattress of the pullout couch, fisting dark, silky sheets between her fingers.

"It's not your fault, Kakashi."

She could barely see his eyes in the dark.

"C'mere."

His request was quiet; almost unintelligible. She was so attuned to him that she felt the vibrations of his words in her chest more than she heard them. She slipped out of her jacket, kicked her sandals off as she slid along the bed. She half-crawled to him, but the way she did it was far too slow and careful for him to find any sort of pleasure in it. When she was close enough, he reached his right hand out and slid it along her jaw, tangling his fingers in the nape of her neck, stroking her cheek with his thumb. His left held the blanket up so that she could slip under it.

Sakura crouched over him for a minute before lowering her body against his. His warmth against her chilled form felt like food for the starving.

"You're cold."

She smiled. "It's raining outside." Her green eyed hardened. "Stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault."

"If I'd only—" She pressed her lips against his, effectively silencing him. She sighed against his lips, moving in perfect harmony against hers. Her hands pressed against his chest. His held at her face and clutched at her hips. She drank in the scent of him, reveling in the feelings that stirred in her stomach.

Kakashi sighed as he pulled back. "We shouldn't do this. Not tonight."

"Then what should we do?" Her eyes held his as she pulled back and slipped her top off. "Sasuke is dead because of his own choices. I want you to make love to me Kakashi. Not because I'm sad and need comforting, but because you make me happy. You're my little piece of paradise."

The man pulled her down and rolled her over. When he pressed his lips passionately to hers, she could swear she saw heaven.