A/N - Things are going to pick up a bit now, and thoughts will be in italics but so will flashbacks. Don't get confused. This WILL HAVE MENTIONS OF RAPE. I will try to stay relatively vague, because this is a sensitive subject, but you have been warned. But if you bear with me, things will get worse before they get better, and we will also have a love story.

Chapter five

It had been three hours. Three hours since they had seen any signs of life and it was cold. Torturously so, and now they didn't even have Naruto to keep watch, Kakashi thought bitterly. He'd been knocked out by Sakura a fair while ago, a fact that was infuriating to the remaining three ninja being kept awake by sub zero temperatures while the irritating blonde slept peacefully. And wearing Sakura's extra jacket at that, since she'd felt slightly guilty once her anger had cooled off; irritating kunoichi.

She was now huddled as close to their fire as she could safely get, her teeth chattering because she was worried that Naruto might wake up with a slight bruise for her to kiss better. It was truly ridiculous.

Said ninja was now glaring into the flames determinedly forcing her jaw under control, her chapped lips quivering and her skin pale with rose dusted cheeks, her eyes slightly too bright from the wind that kept whipping into the cave that was their refuge.

Kakashi stiffly got up from his reading perch on top of a rock and managed to force his frozen limbs into the action of walking towards her. He now remembered why survival guides were always going on about keeping active in cold conditions, well he hadn't forgotten, he had just been to lazy to move, and was now regretting it. He stopped directly at eye level with his pink haired medic, and lifted his headband from his eye. Before she could even ask him what he was doing, the sharingan had done its job and Kakashi had only to lean his arms forward to catch the instantly slumbering woman. He carried her quietly to the side of the cave, where it would be warmer when t night reached its colder hours and tried to tuck her into her sleeping bag, having to pull it out from under Naruto in the process.

Mooching little idiot.

Sasuke watched these actions from his corner at the back, and got up to help when Kakashi had difficulty keeping hold of Sakura and simultaneously opening the sleeping bag. Once this task had been managed he leaned forward to whisper to Kakashi, trying not to wake up the other two in the process.

"You should get some sleep. I'll wake you in a couple of hours." Kakashi nodded, and Sasuke sat down again, but by the fire this time, so he could watch the outside, waiting for any sign that anything had changed.

000

Three hours later, when it was time to switch shifts, nothing had except for the doodled that Sasuke had added into the snow using a stick. They wouldn't have made Sai proud, but they had saved him from wondering how long it would take to fall off the cliff and splat at the bottom.

Sasuke leant over Kakashi, smiling slightly at the way they were cuddled up, their arms outside of their sleeping bags to wrap around each other. It was instinctive to move closer to warmth when unconscious, but Sakura did not usually follow this pattern. If anyone touched her while she was asleep it was normal for her to try and punch them in the face, or attack with a kunai if she had one handy. Him and Kakashi had had many an epic battle over who would be the one to wake her up.

And both got hit when they accidentally did.

This was why he was careful not to nudge Sakura as he shook his sensei's shoulder.

"Oi, Kakashi. Get up you lazy git!"

A millisecond later, Kakashi's sleeping bag was empty and the man was standing behind Sasuke with a kunai.

"Have some respect for your elders you little shit."

Kakashi wasn't always the nicest person to wake up either, and it was with very sluggish movements and sleep closed eyes that he stole Sasuke's seat, already cold despite the hours of his body heat warming the space.

Well at least he got his revenge a few hours later when he woke Sasuke up.

He thought he'd just tip a bucket of water over him and save him the time it took to wash. It was petty but it made Kakashi feel less cold, looking at his shivering student use a fireball jutsu to dry off.

Out of mutual agreement, they all left Sakura to wake up on her own.

000

Nearing the evening, they finally reached the small town that was their final destination. It was a large relief to all four of the ninja, who were all tired from lack of sleep and pushing themselves hard on this leg of the journey; they had all wanted to reach the hotel tonight and sleep in a warm bed in a room with central heating. The place was rather remote, but it did have shops and lodgings, and that was presumably why their contact had arranged to meet here.

Only Kakashi would be talking to the contact; he was ANBU and as an ex-ANBU Kakashi was really the only candidate, and his team the only one who could spare the time and be trusted enough to take this mission.

Although, it would really have been nice to dump this on some unsuspecting genin, who would be too caught up in how big and clever the were to truly appreciate how horrendous this was. They had to travel through three counties to get to this one, two of them currently in conflict, and when they finally got to this one they had a week of rough campouts, in the freezing cold mountains waiting to get mauled by bears and therefore only able to take powdered goods with them, lest they get sniffed out by a predator and gobbled up for a morning snack.

Or an afternoon snack. Depends how long it took to chomp all of them.

Sakura smiled as she caught sight of a bookshop.

Guess how long it takes for Kakashi to spot it.

Apparently the silver haired ninja already had. Because he was making a beeline for it despite Sasuke and Naruto's protests that if they didn't get to a hotel soon they were going to have to kill him, and that would be bad news considering their contact.

As usual, Kakashi did not listen. That or he thought that their skills still weren't up to par.

The shop itself suited Kakashi down to the ground. The books themselves may have bright colours, but the colour scheme for the entire place was quite dark and understated, and the windows weren't large enough to let in sufficient light to make the place look lively. This however, did not make the place just a run-down old store. Every inch was covered in books of all kinds with even the most specific kind of information.

Kakashi though, just headed for the back.

Sakura followed him curiously peering down the curtain to see picture after picture, book after book with either lewd titles or graphically adult images on the cover. Every picture flashed quickly in her mind before giving way to something much more solid, and way too real.

He was brutal in the way he touched her, attacked her. He seemingly got no pleasure from it; his face looked in pain, his eyes on hers the entire time. He was grunting with effort in a manner that revolted Sakura in a way that was almost worse than the woman's screams.

"Stop! Stop! Please don't hurt me!"

Not too long later, the screams stopped. That was the worst part.

Sakura's hands were clammy, her body stinking of fear in a way that in a way that a sensitive nose could pick up.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura looked up at Kakashi's voice, willing herself under control.

"I'm fine." Kakashi nodded, taking her at her word.

She did not move until he had picked his book and headed towards the counter, and he pretended not to notice. Then Sakura's curiosity took hold, and she found herself drawn to an infamous orange novel.

Here goes nothing.

A/N - I know that it isn't obvious what's going on yet, but…. I will be updating more frequently, as I have got a new laptop! *yay*.

R&R Guys! xx