Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through

Sakura stepped out of the way as two men hauled a support beam down the busy main street of Konoha. A child ran around her legs, hiding from his friends behind her pink floral-print white skirt as women chatted amongst each other in the stalls and shops lining the streets.

Sakura smiled back uneasily at the child who smiled and yelled thanks as he continued his game of tag with his friends before looking around warily. 'It's nothing, Sakura. You're being paranoid. Nobody's looking at you.' But she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. It felt a lot like the dream she had last night. When she looked around, she felt millions of eyes on her. It was like the women in the streets were watching her with a magnifying glass.

She walked further into the street. She could see some familiar faces. Raidou offered her a nod and she flinched before nodding back. He didn't say anything; he only smiled and walked on. Further down the street, in an o-dango shop was Anko. She was talking with someone against the wall.

Anko glanced away from her conversation and spotted Sakura. She smiled sadly at her, but Sakura couldn't tell if it was empathy or pity in her eyes. Considering the circumstances, both would be appropriate, but neither was appreciated. Nodding at the purple-haired woman, she turned and began walking again. She had to get away. Away from the eyes that watched her and the suffocating air around her.

Sakura walked briskly, constantly flicking her gaze over her shoulder to try and spot those eyes that seemed to burn holes between her shoulders. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't paying any attention to what was in front of her.

"Oof!"

The wind was knocked out of her chest and she stumbled on her unsteady feet. A person gripped her wrist and she felt her feet touch the ground as she regained her balance. "Thank you. I wasn't paying attention and-"

The words died on her lips as she looked up. A droopy-eyed gaze looked down on her and she felt her throat constrict her airway as snippets of her dream lashed out at her mind.

He turned his head weakly towards her, his breathing labored at the sheer pain that lanced through his system. He looked into her eyes and he could see the fear and concern mirrored in his own. "R-run."

Lightening shot from the heavens, spearing Kakashi's system and causing him to scream in agony as his body spasmed uncontrollably and Sakura flew from his body, the sounds of his screams echoing in her ears.

"K-k-"

He smiled wider and crawled towards her, closing the gap between them. She crawled back, the rock pressing against her spine stopping her. He moved his hands, pinning hers to the rock and leaned down, his breathing hot and ragged in her ear. "Something wrong, Sakura-chan?"

"K-k-ka-k-ka-"

"Goodbye, Sakura-chan." he sang cheerfully. His hands grasped the kunai handle and he held it over his head. Sakura raised her arms defensively to her face and curled up in a ball as he thrust the kunai down.

Cold metal buried itself in her warm flesh. There had been no remorse, no fond goodbye. Just a sinister smile and a crazed bloodlust in his eyes and then…darkness.

Her pupils were dilated and her eyes darted around wildly. People were staring. They were looking at her and she could feel those eyes on her again. Looking up at him, she snatched her wrist away as if scalded and she held it to her chest. Nursing her wrist, she looked up to see him still calmly gazing on her and she felt a cold hand grip her heart. Shifting her body, she ran down the street.

Not once did she look back at him.

Kakashi stood in the middle of the street. His clothes hung loosely on his gaunt body and his hair was more disheveled than usual. Dark circles and deep lines made their home under his eyes. In the back of his mind, he could feel her lingering warmth on the hand that was slowly lowered and placed inside his pants pocket as a dull roar started around him.

"That's him, right?"

"Yeah. He raped his teammate on a mission."

"I heard it was his former student."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I can't believe he'd do that."

"He shouldn't even be on the street."

"Someone should tell the Hokage."

More women joined the conversation as he stood in the middle of the streets, his head bowed as he listened to every rumor aimed at him. 'That's right. It's all my fault. I did it. It's my fault. They're right.' he thought. He wished they would say more. He deserved it. He'd done so many horrible things, but not as bad as this. He wished he could turn back time, made sure none of this ever happened. God, he felt so wrong. Why couldn't he die? Why wouldn't someone just kill him? Why did Tsunade let him go? Even if it wasn't his fault, he still did it.

"Maybe he's done this before. Maybe this is just the first time he got caught."

He stared down at the dirt, unmoving, not flinching at the words. He deserved every cut and stab they gave him. He deserved it all.

The men started to join in, but Kakashi heard none of his colleagues join in. He knew Tsunade told every rank about the mission. The genin didn't understand, to them, this was another trivial aspect to the foreign, but enticing world of the upper ranks, but the others did. The jounin and Chuunin all knew that they might have to give up their body for their village, but what he did had nothing to do with that, but…they seemed to understand what had happened.

He wished they didn't.

He wanted them to join the civilians as they dragged his reputation through the mud. He wanted to hear them make their own remarks, slash at him like they were doing just so he knew that he was truly despised. That he truly deserved to rot in hell.

As he began to move, he could feel their disgusted glares burn holes in his back, and he smiled beside himself, but this wasn't enough. He needed more. He needed more people to say he was the worst man. That he was lower than dirt. That he deserved to burn in hell in the worst ways, just so he wasn't wrong in his thinking that he truly deserved such things.

Sasuke strolled leisurely towards his old training grounds. He didn't know why he was walking down to his old grounds, after all, he had gone training earlier that morning, but something compelled him to do this.

As he walked over the old bridge where Team 7 used to meet, he saw a memory play out before him. He was leaning against the railing of the bridge, his holier-than-thou air around him as Naruto ranted endlessly about how Kakashi was late just to have Sakura cuff him over the head and go back to staring at him. He chuckled and saw her smile at him once more.

'Sakura…'

Maybe that was it. Maybe he wanted to clear his head. Sakura had only left the hospital yesterday and he couldn't stop the worry that clenched his heart. He was tired. Those images he had yesterday afternoon had also plagued him in his dreams. He had only managed to get two hours of real sleep last night. The other hours produced restless dreams where all he saw was his family's massacre and Sakura's body after her rape. He quelled a shudder. When he woke up in the morning, it wasn't a surprise that he threw up soon afterwards, a cold sweat on his face.

A faint sound pulled him from his thoughts and Sasuke looked up to look around him. He was already at the training grounds. Trees surrounded him on three sides. In the middle, not far from where he stood were the three posts from his days as a genin and the memorial stone. He narrowed his gaze and piqued his ears for the small sound. Someone was crying.

He turned in its direction, spotting a large cherry blossom tree, its flower petals raining from the sky. Sasuke shook his head; the lack of sleep was probably getting to him, when he noticed something. 'White?'

Sasuke walked closer to the tree, a kunai in hand as he approached the white object. As he got closer, he noticed the sound was getting louder. 'So it wasn't my imagination,' he thought as he came upon the origin of the sound. His mouth gaped and the kunai fell from his hand. "Sakura?"

The pink-haired woman looked up, tears running down her cheeks. "Sasuke?" He nodded dumbly and fell back as she lunged at him, sobbing heavily into his shirt. "Sakura, what happened?" he asked worriedly.

Sakura looked up, her eyes red and puffy and her breathing hitched with every word she spoke. "It-it…I…I saw…saw…"

"Saw who, Sakura? Who'd you see?"

"I saw him, Sasuke. I ran into him today and I saw my dream from last night. I saw my dream again and everything was so different and he got hurt and he raped me again and he killed me and-and-Sasuke!" She sobbed into his shirt, her hands gripping feebly at his shoulders and he held her close, careful not to spook her. Had she even noticed that she was holding him? That she was allowing him to touch her? Him; a man?

His hands rubbed calming circles in her back and smoothed her hair, he wouldn't deny her the comfort she sought so desperately. He shushed her. "It's okay, Sakura. It's okay."

"I was so scared, Sasuke. I was so scared." she whispered and he held her closer as he shushed her. As he felt her relax against him, her breathing shaky, but calmer than before, he felt his illusions crack once more. Sasuke didn't know what to do as he held her and the broken fragments of his dreams, but he knew one thing for sure.

They could never go back to the way things were before and as Sakura's broken figure sobbed in his arms, he found himself joining her.

A fevered knock was heard at his door and Naruto scowled. "Coming! Coming! Keep your pants on!"

Walking over to the door, he yawned. "Hello?"

"Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Sasuke? What are you doing here? You look like a mess," he said, taking in Sasuke's haggard appearance. His clothes were stained with something and he looked tired.

"Never mind that, dobe." Sasuke snapped. "Can we talk alone?"

Naruto nodded. "You're lucky Hinata has something to take care of at the Hyuuga compound," he said leading Sasuke to the kitchen. "What do you want to talk about?"

Sasuke laced his fingers together and placed them atop the kitchen table. "I saw Sakura today."

Naruto glanced up as he placed two cups on the table and set down a pot of tea. He poured it into the two cups and slid one over to his friend. "Really? Is she okay?"

"No." Sasuke snapped.

Naruto glared. "No need to get testy."

"You don't get it. She's a mess!" he said dragging his head through his hands.

"Come on, it can't be that bad." Naruto said.

"Not bad? Dobe, I found her scared shitless after she bumped into Kakashi. She had a dream last night where he raped her and killed her."

Naruto's face became pale and his hand shook slightly. "But…the therapy…Baa-chan said she'd be-"

"You idiot. If therapy worked, do you think I would be the screwed-up shithead I was after my entire family died? Even after I killed Itachi, I still have nightmares. I can still see my mother dying in front of me."

Naruto looked at him with confusion. "But, you looked fine after the-"

Sasuke scoffed and smirked to himself. "Looking fine and being fine are two different things, dobe. You should know that by now."

Naruto frowned deeply to himself. He really should know better. He stared into his tea before tentatively asking, "So…what should we do?"

Sasuke sighed tiredly, spinning the teacup in his hand. He needed to keep his hands busy. He needed to calm his nerves.

"I don't know, dobe. I really don't know anything anymore." he admitted. It was the truth. Things had changed so drastically in a short time, he was afraid to get comfortable with a single idea lest it change too.

Naruto frowned, his brows furrowed in deep thought. "What if we-Nah."

Sasuke looked up. "What?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"No, tell me."

"I'm serious. Just forget it, Sasuke."

"Tell me."

Naruto looked up at his friend exasperatedly. "No. Sasuke. I'm serious. Forget it."

"Naruto…" he growled, his sharingan spinning lazily.

Naruto sighed and put up his hands in defeat. The last thing he needed was to have to explain to his wife why half the house was broken and why the other half was scorched. "I was thinking…maybe we could get them together and…"

"WHAT?"

Naruto looked up at the man standing in his kitchen looking ready to kill him. This was why he didn't want to say anything before, but now…

"Just hear me out, teme. What if we brought the two of them for a meeting? It'd be a public place and the two of us would be there to keep watch if stuff goes wrong. We could get Sakura to get used to being around Kakashi and other people again and get her back to normal." He looked up from his drink, the teacup sat in his hands. "What do you think?"

"…"

Naruto frowned and shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. "Forget it. It was-"

"…genius."

"See, I told you it was…wait. Genius?" He whipped his head up as his friend sat down. Naruto dug his finger into his ear. "I'm sorry, I thought you said 'genius.'"

"I did," Sasuke said with a cocky smirk.

Naruto blinked. "What? No 'that's a stupid idea,' 'what the hell are you thinking?' No snide remark? Just 'genius?'" Sasuke smirked and nodded. Naruto looked at him suspiciously.

"Why?"

Sasuke reclined in his chair. He could afford to relax a little now. "It might just work."

"Huh?"

Sasuke sighed. Just when he thought Naruto was getting even smarter. "Look. We're probably the only guys Sakura trusts right now. She trusts us with her life. She knows we'd do anything we could to protect her. If we go with her when she meets Kakashi, she'll feel a little bit more comfortable with us there because she knows if Kakashi tried anything, we'd kill him. Get it?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Right…"

Sasuke sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "The only question is where?"

Naruto pondered for a minute before giving his suggestion. "How about Ichiraku?"

"Dobe, this is not one of those times where you should think with your freaking obsession with ramen."

"First of all, I'm not obsessed and second, it works. It's a familiar place. Sakura would feel comfortable in a familiar place and she knows all the exits in case something does happen."

Sasuke nodded and looked up to see Naruto looking into his tea, a troubled expression on his face. "What, dobe?"

"Do-Do you really think Kakashi-sensei would really try something on Sakura?" he asked.

Sasuke scowled and fidgeted with his tea. "I told you before, Naruto. I'm not sure of anything anymore."

'The sky's grey today. What day is it? Tuesday? Yeah, Tuesday.'

Kakashi turned back to face the ceiling. 'Today's the day I go to Ichiraku with them.'

It was about three days ago when Naruto and Sasuke went to his apartment asking him to go to Ichiraku with them. He declined, but they refused to give up.

Flashback

Kakashi turned from the door, shutting it with his hand when Naruto held it open. Kakashi looked back and saw the troubled look fleet over his face. "Come on, sensei. We're just worried about you, you know?"

End flashback

And so, he relented and they had set the date for Tuesday and now, it was Tuesday.

As he stared up at his ceiling, he had to wonder why they even bothered. He had never warranted this sort of care after a mission, but then again, not many missions turn out the way this one did.

He sat up in his bed, throwing his legs over the side and stretched his arms when he began to wonder something else. 'Why did I even agree to come?' He couldn't remember the last time he agreed to something like this, so what possible reason could there be? 'Maybe because Sasuke said he'd treat.' His attempt to lighten his thoughts failed miserably and he stared himself in the mirror. Kami, he looked like a wreck.

Though Sasuke footing the bill was rare and it was in his character to never turn down a free meal, he knew it wasn't that, so what was it?

'Maybe I feel guilty?' he wondered. It seemed plausible. After all, he made them worry about him. He had escaped the hospital and was missing for four days, but the way they looked when they found him, they looked traumatized. He hadn't eaten in days, hadn't slept in days, and had a nasty infection in his arm. He didn't remember any of that happening though. Shizune had to tell him the day she came.

'I owe it to them.'

He stepped out of the shower and quickly went through his morning routine before stepping into his room. He got dressed quickly, his normal jounin uniform, and sat down at his desk. Looking out the window, he quickly went over his medication.

There were three small bottles. One was for his insomnia, but he didn't need to take it until 9:00 at night so he skipped over the bottle for the other two. 'Two blue pills for the infection and one white pill for the voice in my head.' he thought as he threw back his head and swallowed the pills. Reaching for the glass of water he kept on his desk nowadays, he gulped it down and placed the glass back on his desk before pulling his mask up and walking out of his apartment.

Sakura stirred her ramen as she bit her lip and flicked her gaze at Ayame who suddenly disappeared behind the curtain of the kitchen. Naruto glared as Sasuke rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, wincing at her initial flinch before calming down. At least she didn't slap his hand away. "Another nightmare?" he asked.

Sakura nodded wordlessly.

Naruto slurped up a noodle. "Wanna talk about it?"

She shook her head and stirred her ramen again. Naruto frowned and slurped up his ramen before looking out into the peculiarly empty streets.

"Looking for someone?" Sakura asked softly. Sasuke glared over her head and Naruto chuckled, hoping she didn't notice the nervous tone in his voice. "Huh? Oh, no, Sakura-chan." he smiled. 'Where is he?'

Suddenly, a figure could be seen walking up the road, their footsteps echoing in the streets and the three peered out of Ichiraku to see who it is. Naruto grinned, Sasuke remained stoic as ever, and Sakura tensed. "Kakashi!" Naruto shouted, waving his arm in the air. Kakashi offered a half-hearted wave when he noticed pink hair and froze to his spot.

An eternity seemed to have passed as Kakashi and Sakura stared at each other and Sasuke looked between them. There were so many possibilities. He could run, she could run, they could verbally lash out at each other, Sakura could break down, there were just too many to think of. All he could do was hope this would work.

Kakashi stared down at the pink-haired girl staring back at him. What was she doing here? Did she know he was coming?

"Oi, sensei!"

Kakashi jumped slightly. He was already on edge with Sakura here, the last thing he needed was a loud noise to startle him. "Yes, Naruto?" he asked softly. He didn't really want to talk around Sakura. It made him feel uncomfortable, vulnerable.

"Are you going to stand around like Mr. Ukki all day or are you going to sit?" he asked pointing his chopsticks at the seat as he slurped up his noodles.

"Mr. Ukki is dead." he answered and sat down, not noticing Sakura's back straighten further. Sasuke furrowed his brows.

"Oh. Did you water him at all?"

"I did, but when I told Genma to water him while I was gone, he forgot. He was dead when I came back." Kakashi said after giving his order. Naruto nodded.

"…you okay, Naruto?"

Naruto seemed to almost jump out of his seat. "W-why do you say that, s-sensei?"

"You seem tense." he answered quietly, glancing at him from the side and Naruto's back seemed to snap straight. 'That's why. This was all a plan.' A frown appeared under his mask. He rose slightly to go when Sasuke started to talk.

"So how's it been lately, Kakashi?"

Kakashi eyed him peculiarly as he sat back down and Sasuke inwardly sighed in relief. 'Good, he didn't leave.'

"How do you think?" Kakashi said, nodding slightly in thanks as Ayame set down his order.

"I wouldn't really know. I haven't seen you in days." Sasuke said. Kakashi shrugged. "Okay." he answered noncommittally.

Sasuke simply nodded in reply and began eating his ramen. Sakura stirred hers.

Kakashi watched as Sasuke nudge her gently and she looked at him before he coaxed her into eating her food before pulling down his mask, trying to ignore the spluttering sounds coming from beside him.

"H-h-holy-! Sasuke! Are you seeing this?" Naruto yelled. Sasuke nodded dumbly, his chopsticks floating in his bowl.

"Is it really such a big deal?" he asked, a touch of annoyance in his voice. It was bad enough they conned him into coming here, did they have to make a spectacle of him too?

His words went unheard as Naruto tugged on Sakura's sleeve. "Sakura! Are you seeing this? Kakashi's face! It's-it's-"

"I saw it already, Naruto. On the mission." she said softly and Naruto froze. "Sakura-chan, I-I-I-I'm sorry. I-"

She shook her head. "You couldn't have known."

Naruto nodded sadly. Sasuke glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. Kakashi ate his ramen.

"Ahhh…" Naruto smacked his lips and sighed once more in satisfaction at his full stomach. "There's nothing like ramen for breakfast."

"Easy for you to say." Sasuke glowered as he pulled out his wallet. "Besides, you ate for so long, it's time for lunch now."

"Lunch already?" he asked brightly. "Hey Sasuke…"

"No." snapped Sasuke as he handed Ayame the money to cover his bill. 'This is the last time I treat Naruto for ramen.' he thought angrily.

Naruto pouted childishly, folding his arms over his chest. "Stupid teme." he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that."

Then they heard it. It was quiet and brief, but it was still there. A giggle.

Naruto and Sasuke turned in disbelief to the girl who was covering her mouth with her hand to muffle her giggles. They couldn't believe it. Sakura was…laughing.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked tentatively. Sakura looked up, her back straight and the laughter nowhere in sight. "Yes?"

He shook his head. "Nothing." he smiled.

Sakura nodded dutifully and Kakashi cleared his throat. "I'm going to go home now." he said softly.

Sasuke nodded and Naruto waved at him. "Bye sensei." Kakashi offered him a small eye crease. "Bye Naruto. Bye Sasuke." He had trouble with the next one. "Bye…Sakura."

She nodded and bowed. "Goodbye…Kakashi." Kakashi nodded and walked down the street where he came as Sakura turned to her two stunned friends.

"Something…wrong?"

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks before shaking their heads. Sasuke smiled. "Nothing's wrong." he answered and she nodded before turning to look at both of them. "So what are we going to do today? Tsunade let me have the next two months off," she said.

Naruto grinned. "Well, I was…"

As they walked in the village, Sasuke had to smile at the progress they had made today. It wasn't much, but it was a start.