Chapter Eleven

Sakura sat in stunned silence, her hand placed delicately on the lips that had just kissed Kakashi's. For a few moments, all she could manage to do was simply blink and breathe, too shocked to do anything else. Mind whirling, she tried to comprehend what had just happened. I told Kakashi I love him and have felt this way for a long time…he kissed me…he kissed me?...he kissed me!...and then he ran away…Wait…What?! I told him what?! We did what?! He did what?!

Completely confused and bordering on a headache, Sakura shook her head roughly, rubbing her aching eyes. As her thoughts swirled around in her mind, she gazed about the apartment, feeling as if the walls were closing in on her, just as her confusion was trapping her. Swallowing thickly, Sakura stood up, racing to open the nearest window. Taking a couple deep breaths of air, she remembered that she wasn't in clean, fresh Konoha anymore; the air of Amegakure was definitely fouler.

Sakura coughed, turning back towards the small apartment, her gaze caught on the stairs Kakashi had disappeared down. Closing her eyes tightly, her thoughts still muddled, Sakura desperately decided she needed to escape, needed some time to clear her thoughts. But she knew she definitely wasn't going to find it here, not with Kakashi's scent surrounding her, and the man himself in the store below. So, without a second thought to the dangers or the risks, Sakura leaped out the window. In quick, precise movements, Sakura jumped from rooftop to rooftop, oblivious to her surroundings, too tangled in her musings.


Meanwhile, Kakashi sat at his stool with his Icha Icha book open in his hands to a familiar yet tantalizing chapter. But, no matter how much comfort he knew he could gain from this one, single chapter, his eyes were unable to scan the pages. Instead, they were focused on the stairs, the same stairs that led to the woman he had not seen for three years, the woman that held his heart, the woman he wanted to protect the most.

As he stared at those stairs with extreme longing, both wishing and dreading the thought that she would race down the stairs to confront him, to leap into his arms. At these thoughts, he strained against the urge in his joints to touch her again, after having been denied her sight for so long, his lips still burning from her touch. But he didn't, couldn't. I've dreamed of this moment for so long…of having Sakura back in my life again. But though I've dreamed of it, I knew the reality of it is that it cannot be. I stayed away from her for three years to save her from the dangers that knowing me could bring…and I won't stop now. I'm doing this for her sake.

But, no matter how much his mind admonished him, he still wanted to race up those stairs, kiss her senseless, tangle sheets with her until the sun came up. But he didn't. Against these urges he resisted, simply staying on his seat in his store, his book open but his eyes continually straying to the store.

Hours later, when Kakashi could no longer drag out his shutting down routine (which consisted of flipping his OPEN sigh to CLOSED, locking the door and turning off the lights) he slowly made his way up the stairs. With cool yet hopeful anticipation, he slowly made his way up towards Sakura, walking the way a famished man would walk to a ten-course meal…and the way a criminal would walk to his execution.

Peeking around his apartment, Kakashi slowly realized that Sakura was not there. At first, he shrugged it off, but as he glanced around, the warning bells began to go off in his head, sending him into a nervous frantic. Where is she?

Thinking about his options, Kakashi frowned slightly. Not only was he unable to locate Sakura with chakra, since ninjas were basically dead meat in Amegakure, but it probably wouldn't have helped even if he could, because of that fact. Sakura, being the smart girl that she is, would have concealed her chakra, same as him, in order to walk about town without calling up trouble.

Noticing that the window was open, something he rarely allowed because of the foul air, Kakashi's frown deepened. With a graceful, fluid motion, Kakashi hopped out his window and flipped up onto his roof, slowly scanning the town. But he knew his attempt at finding her simply by standing on the roof and looking was in vain, at best. Not only would mostly likely be wearing a disguise, but it seemed to him that Sakura was entirely different from the innocent girl he once knew. Her dark, cloudy green eyes which had once been clear with joy conveyed a mature, dark knowledge of the world. There was no telling what kind of escape she had sought.

But had she really changed? mused Kakashi, his gaze turned toward the edge of the town. Not one to ignore intuition, Kakashi jumped back into his house, deciding to follow his gut…but with the slow walking habits of a normal civilian.

As he made his way through the winding streets, Kakashi's gaze stayed on his destination. For, though he doubted himself for a moment, in his heart of hearts he knew where Sakura was. No matter how much she may have changed, he knew she would be there, without a single ounce of doubt.

Reaching the point where the town ended and the forest began, Kakashi's pace began to slow considerably. Wariness crept into his heart, seeping it with a cold dread, filling his mind with slight fear. The last time I entered a forest…they died. Because of me and the foolish choices I had made in my youth. Shaking his head roughly, Kakashi forced his train of thought to a stop, for its path was all too familiar and one that led to a dark place.

Scanning the treetops, Kakashi soon saw a shock of pink hair hidden amongst the green. Leaping up next to Sakura, he said softly, "It's dangerous to be undisguised here, Sakura."

She looked up at Kakashi, who was currently using a henge no jutsu, his scar and silver hair gone, Sakura nodded. Kakashi watched as she performed the hand seal, watched the pink hair fade into a mediocre shade of brown. Turning her gaze back to Kakashi's, Sakura said, "I know being undisguised is terribly foolish, but…I just couldn't…I just can't…" With a shaky breath, she tried again. "I haven't truly been myself in such a long time and I couldn't handle it any longer. I had to escape from there…it was like being trapped."

Squatting next to her, Kakashi took a deep breath of the not-so-polluted air. "I think this is the freshest air I've smelt in years." When that did not gain a laugh from Sakura, whose nose was wrinkled slightly at the still pungent air of Amegakure's forest, Kakashi made another attempt. Reaching out a hand, he lifted a hunk of her brown hair. "It doesn't suit you. It's much too plain."

With an irritated huff, annoyed that Kakashi had already found the one sore point she had about her current appearance, Sakura replied, "You're one to talk. If everyone back in Konoha saw your hair, they'd think you're trying to look young again."

Sputtering, Kakashi said, "What do you mean, again?"

After a few moments of enjoying Kakashi's sensitivity about his age with a nice, evil smirk, Sakura let out a laugh, light and true. Shaking his head at her, glad that he finally got her to laugh again, Kakashi chuckled his deep, lazy chuckle, the odd tension around them disappearing. Realizing it was getting pretty late, Kakashi gestured back to the town and said, "Well, shall we?"

"We shall," Sakura said, effectuating a proper tone, and immediately smiled warmly. As they leaped down from the tree, Kakashi could not help but notice the dark sadness in her eyes slowly dissipate in her happiness. It seemed her eyes were transforming once more, a combination of lost innocence and dark maturity, causing his heart to beat tenfold.


When they returned to Kakashi's apartment, he made a makeshift meal of food he had in his kitchen, a talent he had gained from years of bachelorhood and missions. After a quiet, peaceful dinner, they snuck up to the roof and stared at the stars together. But, while he gazed simply to enjoy the peace he had not felt in a long time, Sakura gazed upward to gather her courage about her. Kakashi could practically feel the anxiety roll off of her in waves, so he was prepared when she finally spoke. It was a question that had plagued her for the past three years, and finally she was able to voice it with the hopes of getting the real answer. "Kakashi…what happened?"

After a moment of silence, as Kakashi looked at the stars to gather his courage, he spoke. "Are you truly ready for the truth, Sakura?"

With a fierce nod, Sakura replied without hesitation. "Since the day it happened."

Nodding sadly, Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to share the event that had troubled him for three long years. Finally, he opened his eyes, and they swirled with the pain and exhaustion that he had managed to conceal all this time. Rubbing a hand roughly over his face, Kakashi began.

"Naruto, Sasuke and I finished our mission with relative ease. In fact, we were coming home a day early."


Whee! Holy moly, I haven't updated in a long time! Sorry. Well, at least the next chapter will finally reveal what actually happened on that day when everyone's lives changed. Whoo! I'll try not to make it another 3 month wait. Heh. Okay, well, that's all I have to say. Laters.

I do not own Naruto.