Thank you all for the new followers. Hope you like this quick update.

Chapter 10

Naruto couldn't discribe the feelings washing over him at this moment. Ever since he and Sakura had been reunited he hadn't once seen her smile this sincere. They had just come back for his mission to look after the children of the Daimyo, and here they were at the Korean BBQ eating, Kazuya's treat for a succesful mission. She was laughing about a mission where Kazuya had conviently forgotten to inform them that he had already gotten what they came to steal, while Sakura and Lucy were diverting the attention of the men at the bachelor party. Apparently Akira had gotten such a bad blush, he looked like he had a bad fever, and Lucy was just about to take of her bra, when Kazuya saw fit to give them signal.

"You did that on purpose," Lucy sputtered in between laughing, pointing an accusing finger at Kazuya. "Pervert."

Kazuya shrugged. "You both were still in underwear," he remarked dryly.

"You were watching!" Sakura added. "Unbelievable!"

"You both were trying your hardest to put on a good show…. I didn't want to ruin that."

"I've got to say in all honestly," Ryoga said calmly, looking from Lucy to Sakura. "If either of you ever decide to take your clothes off in front of me, I won't stop you… No offence."

"Keep dreaming," Sakura muttered.

"How does that work?" Lucy asked, looking at the men at the table. "You have two sets of brains, or what?"

Naruto took a long sip of his drink, not wanting to answer that. Ryoga merely winked at Lucy. Sai and Kakashi remained silent. It was Kazuya who shrugged and answered. "Something like that."

Kazuya eyes rested on Sakura, longer than necessary. Though Sakura didn't seem to notice. She was picking at her food again, not feeling all that hungry after eating only a few bites.

"So what other missions have you been on?" Naruto asked Sakura, oblivious to her not eating. "Anything exciting?"

Sakura took a deep breath, in her head sorting through the many missions she'd been on. "I think the easiest one was when we had to shadow a man. His wife thought he was cheating on her and if she filed for divorce without a reason named in the prenup she'd get nothing. And this guy was definitely a dirtbag."

"So you nailed him?"

Sakura nodded. "Took us less than a day to gather the evidence."

"And the hardest?"

"I… I can't say… It's classified."

Kazuya knew what mission Sakura was getting at. It had been just the two of them, looking onto the disappearances of young women around eighteen years of age, Sakura's age. She almost died that time. They hadn't expected a band of shinobi to be behind the disappearances. They had easily figured out that Sakura was a kunoichi and they had tried to kill her, and almost succeeded. With what little medical knowledge that Kazuya possessed, he had saved her life from the horrific injuries she had sustained. They had nearly beaten her to death by the time Kazuya had gotten to her.

Their eyes met, and the guilt was visible on Kazuya's face. She only had a small scar on her right outer upper thigh to remind her of that day. That night, Kazuya had held her closely, while she cried. Not from sadness, but relief from having survived. She had felt so useless and vulnerable, but the blame wasn't hers. They had been understaffed for the mission, yet they had managed to complete it anyway.

"You can tell me," Naruto said, the word classified had peaked his interest.

"Naruto… I…"

"She nearly died, okay," Kazuya snapped. "Drop it."

Naruto's eyes went wide. He hadn't been there to protect her. His closest friend. The girl he loved. If things had gone differently, she wouldn't be sitting here.

The group remained silent, as Sakura rose to leave. She gave everyone an apologetic smile and left without saying anything. She wans't leaving because of the memory, but she knew exactly what Naruto would say next. He'd make another vow to always protect her and that's what she didn't want. She had worked so hard, only to always be the one who needed to be saved. How could she still be this weak after all the training she endured?

"What did I do?" Naruto asked when Sakura was out of earshot

Ryoga shook his head. "Nothing… She's just…." Ryoga struggled to find the words.

"She's sick of always needing to be saved," Lucy finished for Ryoga.

"Which is bullshit," Kazuya said. "How often has she saved our lives with her medical ninjutsu?"

Lucy nodded in agreement. Both of them wouldn't be here if it weren't for Sakura. "If we're keeping score… She's way ahead of us."

With the distraction of the conversation, Kakashi had thought to slip out without notice. Only Kazuya and Ryoga had shot him a glance as he left, but kept it to themselves. He had left the moment Lucy had finished Ryoga's explanation. In his head he remembered the many times that he had saved her. The first time during the mission to escort Tazuna the bridge builder. And he had done so many times after that as well. Even after she made chuunin he was still saving her.

Unlike what she usually did, she was now simply walking. Her pink hair sticking out in the crowd, making her easy to find. She didn't look up when Kakashi caught up to her, his nose buried in his book. "You didn't finish your meal," he said.

"I wasn't hungry."

"So what happened?" Kakashi asked. "On that classified mission?"

"Weren't you listening?" Sakura asked unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "I needed Kazuya to save me… Again."

"I hear he does that for his teammates," Kakashi remarked dryly. "Something about teamwork."

"Teamwork?" Sakura repeated bitterly. "Needing to be saved all the time isn't teamwork. It's lack of skill…" Sakura felt anger rise inside her. He was just like that, always leaping to save her and it was becoming clear that no matter how hard she worked, she'd never get the same amount of skill that her teammates possessed. "Nevermind… The legendary copy ninja wouldn't know what that's like." The last part came out before she had given it any thought. She clasped her hands in front of her mouth. "I didn't mean that," she said hastily. "I'm sorry."

Kakashi shook his head. "You did mean that," he said calmly. "It's the most honest thing I have heard you say since you've been on your mission."

Sakura cast her gaze to the ground. Had she meant what she just said? Sure eveyone knew about Kakashi, who became a jounin at thirteen years. No one would ever call her legendary. She'd be lucky if someone called her ordinary.

"Do you resent me for not training you, like I did Sasuke and Naruto?"

Sakura's eyes left the ground, to meet Kakashi serious one-eyed gaze. She contemplated his question. This was the first time she was actually thinking about this. After going under Tsunade's tutelage she hadn't looked back. "I don't know," Sakura answered. "I wanted to be… But I can't."

Kakashi closed his book and put it away. "What do you mean?"

"Well... You did always take me seriously. And I don't have to hide my feelings around you. Even if they're stupid, or unfounded. You never make fun of me, or belittle me. Like I've always been you equal."

"You are my equal."

Her gaze softened and the angry feeling ebbed away as quickly as it had risen. "No, I'm not… But thanks for saying it."

Together they returned to the restaurant, where the others were still talking. "I just love our little talks," Lucy said to Kazuya. "You treating me like your slave on missions is just delightful."

"You're not my slave," Kazuya said. "Just my highly appreciated apprentice."

"So why don't you let in on what you're thinking every now and then?"

"That would take the mystery out of our relationship."

"Is that your way of saying no?"

"See," Kazuya said, holding out both his hands as if presenting Lucy to everyone else. "You are a smart one."

Sakura stood still before sitting down, carefully taking in the people in front of her… Her closest friends were all gathered at this table. Only one would forever remain absent until death reunited them.

XOXOXOX

Things quickly went back to normal after returning from Naruto's mission. The team was still split in two, so they could have some time off from watching Naruto. Waking up this morning was hard. Since they were on a mission, Kazuya hadn't trained with Sakura for weeks and sleeping in on the days that she wasn't watching Naruto was really messing with her routine, especially when she had to watch him for the next couple of days.

Her eyes went to the alarm clock. A long sigh escaped her lips. She had set the alarm the night before so she wouldn't oversleep, and now she woke up two minutes before the alarm went off. There really was no point waiting for it to go off.

Leaving her room, she walked into the living room, to find Ryoga fast asleep. She decided that he only needed half the time she needed to get ready, so she let him sleep. After her shower, she went back into the living room, to find him looking sick. "Are you okay?"

He looked up. "Yeah…. Go on ahead."

Sakura remained still. "Maybe I should take a look at you."

"I'm fine," Ryoga said. "Go on. I'll freshen up and join you."

"You sure?"

Ryoga nodded. "Go, before you're late."

Sakura made it to the training field to find Kazuya and Lucy already set to leave. They had been watching Naruto for a week now and looked ready to shower and rest up. Naruto was already training with his many clones. It would always remain impressive how many he could maintain at once. Even with all his skill, Sakura doubted that Ryoga could manage that many at once.

Kazuya dropped his bag to the ground, crossing his arms over his chest. "Where's Ryoga?"

"He looked sick," Sakura answered. "He said he needed a little time to refresh and then he'd join me."

Kazuya nodded. "Go on Lucy, you're free to go. I'll stay with Sakura until Ryoga gets here."

Lucy waved goodbye and started to head back towards the vilage when it all went awry. Naruto's clones evaporated one by one at a quick pace. Those yet to disappear were shouting.

Naruto was covered in the fox chakra, four tails had already formed and he was charging at Lucy and then it seemed to go in slowmotion. Lucy turned around, she threw her hands up in defense when Kazuya appeared in front of her taking the full brunt of the attack.

Sakura had rushed over to Yamato who had fallen asleep. He instantly called his wood-style to restrain Naruto. Pulling him away from the two Waterfall ninja and forcing the fox chakra to fade.

As the attack hit, it forced Kazuya back a few steps. He'd been hit across the chest. His face went pale and his knees went weak. Blood covered Kazuya's chest as he fell to his knees. Before keeling over, Lucy caught him and laid him down on his back on the ground. "Kazuya-sensei?"

Her eyes roamed over the man as blood gushed from his chest. Tears formed in her eyes as she was at a lost at what to do. She struggled for a moment when two hands roughly pulled her aside. Looking at who had done so, she felt relieved.

Sakura saw Kazuya fall to his knees. His expression blank, and blood soaking through his black vest. She was there within seconds. Instinct and training took over, as she forced Lucy away from him and started to work. Her chakra started to mingle with damaged tissue and she knew, this would be close one.

"Remove his clothes," Sakura barked the order at Lucy, but she seemed unable to move. It was Kakashi who pulled out a kunai and cut away the fabric, careful not to touch Sakura as worked. His eye regarded her a couple of times as he peeled away the blood-soaked clothes. He wouldn't make it, even someone with no medical training could see that. But deep down Kakashi knew that Sakura had to try.. "Step back," Sakura said when Kakashi had finished.

The more tissue she repaired the more it became clear that her chakra reserves were inadequate. Her hands started to tremble as massive amounts of her chakra were used to repair the extensive damage. "Please," she whispered at a man barely holding on to life as tears fell from her eyes. "I need you."

Kazuya's eyes opened at the sound of a familiar voice. His gaze blurry, taking a lot of effort to look at the person hanging over him. She was crying. "Akane," Kazuya said barely audible. "Don't cry Akane."

His hand reached for Sakura's face, smearing his blood on her cheek. "It's okay."

Kakashi saw the trembling in Sakura's hands spread to her body. He wanted to stop her, when Lucy blocked his path. "We have to stop her," Kakashi said pointing at Sakura. "At this rate she'll run out of chakra and die."

"She knows what she's doing," Lucy said. "Stand back."

At this point Lucy was torn between intervene or do nothing. Sometimes you just had to let things run their course. She made up her mind not to let Kakashi pass.

As a medic Sakura was well familiar with the consequences of chakra deprivation. At best it would lead to a lengthy coma, with little chance of recovery. In the worst case death would follow. It was upon her faster than she had realized. She had healed Kazuya well beyond the point where his life was in danger, and now she had nothing left. He was saved and she…. She could finally rest. This would be her legacy. Dying to save a man who had saved her so many times before. This was okay. She'd finally have the peace she had longed for so many times.

Kakashi finally shoved Lucy aside when Sakura's body hit the ground. He searched for a pulse and found it beating weakly and slow. Her breathing slow and shallow. Her complexion turning cyanotic. He gathered her in his arms and quickly ran towards the village, only to be stopped at the edge of the training field by Ryoga.

His eyes traveled over the training field. Naruto lay way back near Yamato, his skin looked like someone had tried to peel it off. Kazuya lay near Lucy, covered in blood. Sakura was in Kakashi's arms, also covered in blood. "Put her down," Ryoga said calmly.

"She needs a medic," Kakashi said.

Ryoga pulled out his blade and held it at Kakashi throat. "I'm not asking," he said. "I will kill you if it means saving her. Now put her down."

Kakashi wasn't sure what Ryoga could do for her, but he lay Sakura down on the ground. Not wanting to wait for Ryoga to delay things any further, his hand searched his poach for a kunai.

With Sakura on the ground Ryoga quickly rolled up his sleeve. With his left hand he opened Sakura's mouth and put his right arm in between her teeth and roughly closed her mouth so her teeth broke his skin. He hissed at the sudden sharp pain that went through him like a jolt of electricity.

Within seconds, Sakura's eyes opened wide with shock.

At first Ryoga looked relieved, then his face turned to anger. "What the hell Sakura!?"

Sakura was startled, still trying to get her bearings.

"Were you trying to kill yourself?"

"Ryoga… I"

"Kenji died so you could live," Ryoga said to her, like he had done so many times before. "He wanted you to live. He gave you the one thing he can take back. And you? You throw that away like an old rag!"

"Ryoga."

"Shut up! What the hell were you thinking? …. Never mind… You know what… Go hang yourself! I don't care."

Ryoga got up, clenching one fist and breathing fast.

"Ryoga," Kazuya's weak voice sounded.

Ryoga looked in his direction and shook his head, before exiting the training field, barely avoiding the Hokage, Shizune and some ANBU.

Before Tsunade could speak, Sakura had gotten up and ran from the training field. A quick look around told Tsunade all she needed to know. A crying Lucy sitting next to a bloody Kazuya and Yamato sitting near an unconscious Naruto. First she went to Kazuya, to patch him up a little more. She could feel the amount of recently repaired damage and her eyes went wide. Either someone had massive amounts of chakra, or they had died of chakra depletion in an attempt to repair all the life threatening damage. When she had done all she could do, Tsunade bandaged the wound and gave Kazuya instructions on how to look after himself.

After being healed some more by Tsunade, Kazuya tried to stand, grunting in pain. Shizune had already prepped Naruto to be taken to the hospital. "Go with them," Kazuya rasped at Lucy. "I'm alright. Go."

Lucy hesitated for a moment before following Shizune and the ANBU.

Tsunade placed her hands on her hips, looking from Kakashi to Kazuya. "I want to see both of you in my office asap." She looked at Kazuya and her gaze softened. That man had just taken a blow from the fox and was already standing.

"I need to do some damage control," Kazuya said softly to Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded. "Come see me afterwards with Kakashi," she said storming of off the field in pursue of Naruto.

Kazuya walked over to his pack, slowly trying to pick it put as Kakashi picked it up for him. Without either saying anything, Kakashi pulled out a shirt and helped Kazuya put it on.

XOXOXO

It wasn't hard to track Sakura down. She was at the memorial stone, sitting there, looking at her feet. Looking up at Kazuya, she felt both relief and guilt. With great effort, Kazuya sat down next to her. For some time they sat there, saying nothing. Sakura leaned against him. "I messed up…. Ryoga."

Kazuya nodded. "I'll talk to him."

Sakura held onto Kazuya, feeling safe that he would keep his word. "I'm glad you're okay."

Kazuya nodded. "But you're not."

Sakura shook her head. "Ryoga is right… Maybe I should hang myself and free you of me."

"He didn't mean that," Kazuya said sincerely. "He was just upset."

"All I've done recently is burden everyone."

"Your not a burden," he said, wrapping an arm around her. "I just… I should've handled things differently. I'm sorry."

Sakura sat up straight, feeling confused. "What are you apoligising for?"

"I know exactly what you're going through. I've been there in that dark and lonely place. Wanting nothing more than to die. But staying alive for the people around you. Those people who give you just enough happiness not to succumb to the peace of dying."

"Akane," Sakura whispered, remembering Kazuya called her that when he momentarily regained consciousness while she was healing him.

Kazuya nodded, pulling a picture from his pack and handing it to Sakura. "I think it's time you know the truth… The whole truth."

Sakura studied the picture closely. On the picture it showed a younger Kazuya with a pink-haired woman, who looked just like Sakura. She too had a wide forehead and bright green eyes. They looked so happy. "Who is she?"

Kazuya looked at the picture as he answered. "I think she's best discribed as my wife." Sakura looked up. "Your older sister."

Sakura said nothing. She touched the picture, tracing over the pink-haired woman she had just heard was her sister.

"Do you remember the first thing I ever said to you?" Kazuya asked.

Sakura nodded. How could she forget? It wasn't exactly kindest thing anyone had ever said to her. "Oh boy," Sakura said softly.

"I said that not because I saw you had been crying. I said that because I recognized you instantly as Akane's sister. I knew working with you would be a challenge. You were the contant reminder of the one I had lost. Like Ryoga reminds you of Kenji."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "Is this why you never use me as bait?"

"Yes…. I can't risk you… You're all that's left of Akane. Her mirror image in the form of her sister." Kazuya's hand gently brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face.

They sat there for a while in grass, leaning against each other. Finally being able to be honest to Sakura, felt liberating. To tell her about her mother and father who had both died in service to the village. He told her about her sister. How the two met, it all revolving around the scar on his neck, which he confessed had been put there by Kakashi when Kazuya was 17 years old. He had disobeyed orders and gone on his own to rescue Kyrie from the enemy, back then the Sand ninja. He had thought that the Kakashi and the ninja with him were of the Sand so he battled them, only to be taken down by Kakashi who then spared his life. It had been a mistake, but he met Akane on the ICU of Waterfalls hospital. He finished the story telling Sakura how Akane died. She had been pregnant, and while Kazuya was on a mission, she had lost her fooding, hit her head which resulted in an aneurysm. It had been a dark period in his life. So now he would make things right. He would do for Sakura what Ranmaru had done for him.

Kazuya eventually got up, needing to talk to Ryoga as well and then he still needed to talk to the Hokage. "It'll be okay."

Sakura watched him walk away, and when he was gone she turned to the treeline. At first she hadn't been certain. But the longer she had sat there with Kazuya, the more she felt sure that she felt Kakashi's presence, no matter how well he could hide his chakra. "How long have you been listening?"

Kakashi emerged from the treeline. "Long enough." He moved to stand in front of her. His eyes focusing on her face, while she was looking at the ground. "Is it true?" Kakashi asked softly. "Were you trying to kill yourself?"

Sakura's gaze remained on the ground and barely audible she answered. "Yes."

Kakashi's arms closed around her as he pulled her close. Her head against his chest and her arms hanging at her side. This had been the second time that day she regretted trying to end her life. She felt him caring about her, she felt loved. Though she had known all along that there were people who loved her, it made a huge difference when you feel it. A few tears escaped her eyes that were quickly absorbed into his vest.

Kakashi stood there holding her, wondering how he could make her understand. All these things he was feeling. How could he tell her that, after all the conversations they've had, after all the time they had spend together… That he needed her close, maybe even more than she would ever need him. How could he make her understand that he wanted to be close to her? And that…

Two fingers under Sakura lifted her chin, and before she had fully opened her eyes, she felt the soft caress of Kakashi's lips on hers. Her response was slow and timid, her hands reaching up rest on the back of his neck, and then breaking the kiss, when she had regained some sense of what she was doing. Sakura quickly turned away from Kakashi as guilt chewed at her. How could she claim to miss Kenji and then start kissing someone else? "I have to go," Sakura said hastily before disappearing.

Kakashi replaced his mask, berating himself that this had been too soon, and not the way to show his feelings. How could he feel this way about someone who he was suppose to help and protect? Who had been his student at some point.

XOXOXO

By the time Kazuya reached the Hokage tower, Kakashi was already waiting outside. Kazuya nodded at the copy ninja before gesturing Kakashi to lead the way. They stopped outside the door to Tsunade's office. Kazuya took a deep breath through his nose and then looked at Kakashi with an annoyed expression on his face. "Really?" He asked. "You choose today of all days to do that?"

Kakashi knew exactly what Kazuya was talking about, but decided to play dumb. He knocked on the door, and entered the office, followed by Kazuya.

Tsunade regarded the two ninja in her office one at a time. She folded her hands in front of her and sighed. "What the hell happened out there?"

Kakashi moved to speak, but was silenced by Tsunade raising her hand. "You first," she said pointing at Kazuya.

Kazuya rubbed a hand over his face, wondering where to begin. Starting with the beginning and keeping the story short seemed like a good idea. "When Sakura got there this morning, I noticed she was alone. So I offered to stay until Ryoga arrived. Apparently he wasn't feeling well. Then I dismissed Lucy and when she was almost at the edge of the training field, the fox chakra took over Naruto and he went for her. I took the hit for her. And Sakura had went to… I don't know… Get that Yamato dude to do something. And then she was healing me. Next thing I know Ryoga is yelling at her."

Tsunade looked over at Kakashi. "Have anything to add?

Kakashi nodded. "Sakura nearly killed herself healing him, and then when I wanted to bring her to you, Ryoga showed up, put a blade at my throat and threatened to kill me if I didn't put her down. He did save her by letting her bite him." Kakashi spoke the last more as a question, looking at Tsunade to elaborate. It was Kazuya who answered.

"It's a very rare kekkei genkai within the Uzumaki clan," Kazuya said. "You bite him, breaking the skin and all injuries are instantly healed."

"Why didn't he do that to you?" Kakashi asked.

"It's suppose to hurt like hell," Kazuya replied, his voice turning cold. This really was none of their business, so he wouldn't explain further why Ryoga had kept this to himself or even why he didn't do the same for his friend. "Even with small injuries."

Tsunade let Kakashi's words sink in for moment. "Did you say that Sakura healed Kazuya to the point where her chakra was critically low?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes and Lucy wouldn't let me stop her."

"Is this how your team always conducts itself?" Tsunade asked Kazuya. "Threatening my ninja and preventing them to save Sakura."

Kazuya stepped forward and put his hands on Tsunade's desk. His glare enough to make many grown man piss himself in fear. "I told Ranmaru she wasn't ready, but you absolutely wanted her to come here. I warned Ranmaru that this could happen. Lucy blindly trusts in Sakura's judgment, as do I. And if Ryoga threatened Kakashi it was to save Sakura's life, which he did. Any questions?"

A silence followed. No one really knew what to say. It was Kazuya who spoke first, breaking the silence. "I need three months alone with her," he said.

"And you expect me to just let you take my apprentice on a trip and just wait and see when you'll return."

Kazuya smiled, but in the arrogant sense. "Yes… And she's my apprentice now."

Words could not describe how pissed off Tsunade was this moment. First off this punk had the balls to lecture her, and what he said about Sakura not being her apprentice anymore was a hit below the belt. "Absolutely not."

Kazuya scratched the bridge of his nose. What was it with these people? It was always so easy with Ranmaru. Maybe it was because they didn't trust him. Or maybe they were afraid he'd do more damage to Sakura's psyche than she had already suffered. He would have to resort to other methodes then. "Let me lay down the options for you," Kazuya said, his voice sounding menacing. "Option one: I get the time I ask, take Sakura on a little trip and we come back and she's all ready to rejoin the team. Option two: I send word to Ranmaru that Sakura had a breakdown and that this isn't working out. He will send another team, and I will go home and still get the time to help her. Before making your choice, keep in mind that with option two, odds are you won't be seeing her anytime soon. Make your choice."

A few things could be said about Kazuya. He was an asshole to anyone he didn't like. He was generally not the person to make you feel welcome or appreciated. But he did know how to make a point come across. He also had a talent for pissing off the wrong people. Tsuande was one of those, but even she knew that Sakura no longer fell under her orders. She was a Waterfall ninja now.

Tsunade considered her options for a moment. Her gaze almost as intense as Kazuya's. Part of her wondered if he was serious, but from what she had heard from Kakashi, he was serious when it came to his team. "Alright," Tsunade said. "But I expect you to keep me informed."

Kazuya nodded and left the office, not waiting to be dismissed by Tsunade. He figured that he had already pressed his luck enough that day.

With Kazuya gone, Tsunade felt free to speak freely with Kakashi. "Did you know she was …" Tsunade bit back her emotions, trying to keep her voice steady. "Did you know she wants to die?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I knew she was in mourning, but I didn't think that she'd take things this far."

The conversation with Tsunade lasted longer than he had intended and by the time he left the building and rejoined Naruto, it was Ryoga who informed him that Kazuya and Sakura had already left. Now all he could do was wait for them to return.

Thanks for reading.