Thirty-Three: Choices

Sakura threw the kunai she was holding, easily downing the first two men. Three more charged at her, and while they were more trouble than the others, the kunoichi still had no problem snapping their bones with a few chakra-enhanced taijutsu moves.

Soon all ten men were down—either unconscious or dead, Sakura didn't know—and it was just her and Kaoru. Again.

"I take it you won't listen to Kakashi's advice?" Sakura asked, although she didn't know why Kakashi would give an enemy as skilled as Kaoru the chance to escape.

"No," Kaoru said hesitantly, looking behind him and betraying the fact that more reinforcements were likely coming. Sakura knew she needed to end the fight quickly, lest someone like Kenji Mizushima show up and decide to fight. There was no way she would be able to take him on and protect Kakashi at the same time. If only she had a chance to heal him, but she knew Kaoru would never give her that time.

"Then I don't have another choice," she said, charging him at full speed.

The captain pulled out a short sword, but he was no match for Sakura's speed and strength. Like in her fight against Hideki, she easily dodged the jabs and thrusts sent her way, and blocked the ones she couldn't dodge. The blade cut into the skin on her fingers, wetting her hands with crimson blood, but Sakura didn't feel the pain.

Once she got close enough, she leaned back, putting all her strength into one punch that sent Kaoru backwards. He skidded across the ground, his head pounding awkwardly against the terrain. His eyes glazed over before shutting, but Sakura couldn't be sure he was dead.

"Captain!" a cry of voices called out, and Sakura knew she didn't have time to check.

"Damn it," she said, grabbing the unconscious Kakashi and hoisting him over her back before taking off into the trees. Thankfully, Kakashi was lean, so she didn't have any trouble carrying him, although the extra weight did slow her down a bit.

"Sa..kra," he groaned, his one normal eye opening slightly to look at her.

"Kakashi!"

"Wha…happened?"

His voice sounded sluggish, and the medic in her knew he was fighting to keep conscious. Based on the way his head had hit the ground, she guessed he probably had a concussion, as well as some major blood loss.

"I took care of everything. It's alright," she soothed. "Kakashi, I need you to stay awake, okay?"

"Mm."

"Kakashi! I'm serious. Hey! Stay with me. Damn it! You idiot. If you die from hitting your head that would be the lamest way for a ninja to go out! Do you hear me?"

The silver-haired man on her back let out what she assumed was a chuckle, and she had to restrain herself from slapping him.

"What?" she snapped, irritated by his apparent amusement.

"Nothin…Would just be…ironic."

"What?" she prompted, but he didn't elaborate. "Whatever. Are you still with me? Kakashi? Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. What's your favorite season? I can guess everyone else in Team Seven's but I can't figure out yours."

Sakura didn't know why she was thinking of that again after all these months, but she was still curious about her team captain, and it bothered her that she couldn't guess his.

"I don't know," he said airily, already beginning to fade back into unconsciousness. "I dislike them all equally I guess."

She snorted. A typical Kakashi answer. "Of course you do."

He was silent, and Sakura wondered if he'd gone to sleep. "Kakashi? Damn it. Kakashi?"

No answer. Cursing, she stopped behind a large tree and dropped her injured team leader gently to the ground. She would have to risk healing him up, at least a little, and hope that no one found them. If they did, she would have to fight, and she would show no mercy.

Her chakra reserves were running a bit low, but Sakura managed to pour all her remaining strength into healing Kakashi. His face contorted in pain a few times, but she was pleased to note that the wounds on his back seemed to heal completely without too much work.

She sat back, leaning against the tree for a few moments to catch her breath.

"Kaiya?"

Sakura froze, hearing the sound of the one voice she didn't want to hear again.

"Mitsuo," she whispered, whipping around to face the man who had been like a brother to her these past months—and, if Kaoru's words were any indication, maybe something a little more, at least on his part.

"It's not Kaiya," she said, unable to meet his gaze. "It's Sakura."

Mitsuo had obviously known, but that didn't stop the shock and betrayal from flashing across his face.

"I'm going to have to order you to stop here and come back with me," he said, drawing a kunai from the pouch at his waist.

Sakura shook her head. "I can't do that. I never meant you guys any harm. Please believe that, Mitsuo. You guys were great friends, and I wish we'd met under different circumstances."

"How can I believe a word that comes out of your lying, traitorous mouth?" he spat.

The hurt was etched in his face, and Sakura couldn't bring herself to lie to him, even if she thought it would help her escape.

"You can't. But I am telling the truth. I never wanted to hurt any of you. You and Takara were the first people to care for me when I came here, and I know you won't believe me, but it did mean a lot. So please, if you just let me go, I won't have to hurt anyone else. Please, Mitsuo."

"How can I? You betrayed us!"

"I was just doing my job."

Mitsuo fingered the shuriken, gripping it tighter. "And by stopping you, I'm doing mine."

He brought his weapon to a battle-ready position, and Sakura noticed right away that he was aiming for Kakashi, not her.

"Don't," she warned, gripping a kunai of her own. "Don't Mitsuo. I'm stronger than you by far. Don't make me kill you, because if you even think about touching him, that's exactly what I'll have to do."

Mitsuo didn't listen, blinded by her betrayal. Instead he jerked his arm back, preparing to launch the shuriken at Kakashi. Sakura didn't think, her body acting purely on instinct as she grabbed Kakashi, moving him out of the way while she twisted to throw the kunai at Mitsuo.

Her aim was dead on, and the kunai found itself lodged perfectly in the center of his throat. Mitsuo gasped, staring at her with wide eyes before his body started seizing. She knew he was beginning to choke on his own blood, and all she could do was hope it ended quickly for him.

Sakura leaned against the tree, clutching her now completely reopened wound. Tears stung her eyes, but it wasn't from the physical pain—although that was almost unbearable as well.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, two more recognizable figures appeared beside Mitsuo just as the blonde took his last strained breath.

"Mitsuo!" Akio exclaimed, while his cousin dropped to their fallen friend's side, searching for a pulse Sakura knew he wouldn't find.

Realizing their friend was dead, the two dark-haired boys turned to Sakura, who looked back at them with a broken expression.

"I…I had to," she said shakily. "I had to do it. If I hadn't…if I hadn't killed him, he would've killed Kakashi. I didn't have a choice."

The cousins looked at each other, clearly confused at her babbling.

"Don't follow me," Sakura warned, regaining some of her composure. "I don't want to have to kill you too."

She dropped to her knees, coughing as blood dripped out of her own mouth. The medic knew she wasn't really in any position to back up her threat, but she had to hope that the boys would believe her.

Sakura heard a sound behind her, and she realized that Kakashi must have woken up. The silver-haired shinobi sat up, quickly taking in his surroundings and realizing what must have occurred while he was unconscious. He moved quietly to stand behind Sakura, silently warning the two enemies in front of him that they would have to go through him if they wanted to get to her. It didn't matter that he recognized them from their days in Gintown. They were his enemy now.

Realizing Kakashi was backing her up, the cousins backed down, moving away from Sakura and toward the body of their friend. Akira picked it up, hoisting it over his shoulders, before turning to leave.

"Let's go."

He moved without a second glance at Sakura, but Akio hesitated.

"Akio," Sakura said hesitantly. Her voice sounded so broken, even to herself.

The dark-haired kid paused, turning around to face the girl he thought was his friend.

"I know Takara won't forgive me, but for what it's worth, I know I'll regret killing Mitsuo for the rest of my life."

Akio didn't say anything, standing still for a few seconds before taking off after his cousin, but Sakura hadn't expected him to. It was enough that he'd listened to her. That was more than someone in her position could have asked for.

"Sakura," Kakashi said, kneeling down in front of her after he made sure both boys were long gone.

"I didn't want to," she sobbed, the tears dripping from her face and drenching her shirt. "I told him to run, but he wouldn't listen. I—I didn't have another choice. He wasn't going to let me go. I had to. He was going to—he would have killed you if I didn't—"

She stopped babbling as she found her face shoved into a warm, safe chest. Kakashi's arms wrapped around her, and one hand worked its way up into her hair, threading its fingers gently through the fading auburn locks.

"Shh. It's okay, Sakura. Just let it all out. Everything will be okay."

She let go then, the tears falling even harder. Kakashi could feel them even through his thick ANBU gear. He sighed, knowing all he could do was continue to hold her until she was able to pull herself together again.

This was the reason he had been so hesitant to support her decision to join ANBU in the first place. Sometimes the mission and the safety of your teammates depended on you killing someone you'd been forced to spend a lot of time with on the mission, maybe even come to like and consider a friend.

Kakashi had always thought Sakura's heart was too big for those types of jobs. And if it had been up to him, she never would have had to take one.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said, her voice muffled against his chest. "You probably think I'm just being a baby."

"No," Kakashi said swiftly, pulling away and forcing her to look at him. "Don't ever think that, Sakura."

She laughed sadly. "But it should be so simple. He was my enemy. What ninja cries after killing an enemy?"

"You of all people should know that it's never that simple," he said softly. He was looking at her, but his mismatched eyes were far away.

She sniffed, taking a composing breath and rubbing her eyes. The sound brought Kakashi back, and he reached out to put his hand on her shoulder again.

"The first one is always the hardest," he said.

"I bet you didn't cry on your captain's shoulder the first time you had to kill someone you didn't want to."

"I'm not like you," was all he said, but it didn't sound harsh. If anything, Sakura thought he sounded sad.

"There's nothing wrong with being upset over the situation you were forced into," Kakashi said. "But what you did wasn't wrong either. That's the hard thing about missions like these. It's not like being out in the field in a Konoha uniform, where everything is black and white. Here there are shades of grey, and you have to be able to make decisions on your feet. There's no right or wrong answer. You just have to listen to your gut and learn to live with whatever choice you made."

She nodded, looking away and wiping her eyes again. Kakashi wasn't sure what made him do it, but he reached out to cup her face in his other hand, unable to stand the sight of her in pain. Sakura looked up at him, confusion swirling in her emerald eyes for half a second before she closed them. One of her hands subconsciously reached up to lay on top of the one on her shoulder before she leaned into Kakashi's hand, a peaceful expression on her face.

They stayed like that for a few moments longer before Sakura sighed, opening her eyes and breaking away.

"We should probably get moving again," she said. "We've stayed here too long."

Kakashi nodded, standing up and offering Sakura a hand. She swayed slightly, obviously using too much of her chakra on him—again. Kakashi hated when she did that, sacrificing her own strength to heal him to completion. She couldn't stand to see any of her patients in pain, but didn't she know he felt the same way about her?

"Stupid girl," he whispered to himself, lifting her easily and swinging her onto his back. She let out an annoyed sigh, but her arms and legs wrapped around him securely, and she let her head lean on his shoulder.

Kakashi smiled, even though she couldn't see it under the mask. He would take annoyed and tired. Annoyed and tired was fine, as long as they were both alive.