He monitored her condition the entire way there.

She had remained warm, yes, her temperature was definitely stable now. However, she looked as if she had aged slightly, and her pulse was much too slow. Her skin was a purple, mottled color, and she looked as if she had ingested poison.

He kept her head up on his chest, hoping her breathing would at least not be obstructed for any reason. She felt light in his arms, and his heart raced.

Where does Tsunade live?! He wondered to himself, having never been there before. It's too slow to find her. I'll have to ask Naruto.

Wait. Naruto's married. I don't know where he and Hinata live now, either.

It'll have to be Kakashi. At least I can guarantee I'll find him in the tower.

The hawk quickly reached the gates of Konoha, which were glowing with their warm light in this dark, cold winter night. His hawk was known to the guards, and it flew unhindered toward the large building with the characteristic red roof in the center of Konoha.

Below him, someone called his name, recognizing the hawk, though he hadn't the time to register. The hawk flew straight toward the tower then began to land.

"Kakashi!" he cried just as soon as he carried Sakura off the great back of his hawk, "Kakashi, it's urgent!" He had already cleared the stairs when the door was opened by his sensei.

"Oh? Sasuke, you've - " Kakashi felt the fear in his student's presence, and knew he had no time to comment on the rare homecoming.

"What's going on," he demanded.

"It's Sakura. I need to find Tsunade, now," Sasuke heard the fear in his own voice, and it startled him.

"Come with me," Kakashi took off at lightning speed toward the eastern gate of Konoha. He was thankful in this moment Kakashi thought much like him, no questions, simply business. Sakura depended on this quick thinking, now.

The streets blurred as they ran, finally reaching an estate right outside of the gates. Kakashi barged in the door, calling for Tsunade while Sasuke quickly followed suit. It was a large, empty room with a simple table and couch.

"...What's going on at this time of night," Tsunade's voice called groggily through the hall.

"Tsunade, wake up quickly, it's your student," Kakashi panted, "She's in trouble."

A bed groaned and foot steps sounded from the hallway, and soon Tsunade was standing before Sasuke. She grasped Sakura, placing her on the beige couch beside them. She pulsed green chakra through her student's body, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead in anxiety. A moment seemed like eternity while Kakashi and Sasuke stood over her.

"What happened," Tsunade demanded firmly.

"I don't know," Sasuke filled her in, "I was unconscious. The last I remember was suffocating, and her trying to help."

Tsunade pressed a hand to Sakura's forehead, and her eyes widened.

"...Sakura...," she whispered sadly, and her eyes fell.

"What is it," Kakashi asked, concern in his voice for his student.

Tsunade paused, her brown eyes searching for words. She then gazed up with a forlorn expression, something Sasuke had never seen before.

"...She'll be alright, for now...she just needs to rest."

"You're not telling me everything. What is it you're hiding." When Tsunade did not speak, Sasuke felt his crimson eyes spinning with fury.

"Calm down, Uchiha," Tsunade stepped back slightly, "...It's just that...her chakra is drained, and it would appear she used a jutsu that I insisted she never use, unless absolutely necessary..."

"Which is?" Kakashi inquired.

"...A life draining jutsu."

It was Sasuke's turn to pause now. "...What?"

Tsunade simply turned, gazing at her bookshelf. From the shelves full of medical texts, she pulled a maroon colored book, then handed it to him.

"...I refuse to discuss this matter further. Sakura did what she felt she had to do, and I trust my student's intuition. If you wish to know more about it, you'll have to read. As for Sakura, she will be fine, she just needs rest. She should wake up in a day or two, perhaps...maybe longer, depending on just how much of her life she truly used..."

Sasuke grasped the thick book, examining the cover page. The title read "Forbidden jutsu: Life draining." For a forbidden jutsu to be out in the open as it had been, Sasuke knew deep inside it would have severe adverse effects on the user, enough to ward curious shinobi away from it...

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, placing the book in his pocket.

...

Tsunade watched the way the ex-missing nin placed his true hand and the hand of a Susann'o gently under Sakura's neck and legs, pulling her off the table and into his arms bridal style. He shifted to have her head supported on his chest. She had used many words to describe the powerful man in front of her, but gentle had never been one of them. Never had she seen him this careful about anything, holding her as if she were the only thing that mattered now...

She decided that she had misunderstood their relationship all along.

From the moment she had seen them interacting, when she coaxed him out of a genjutsu placed upon him by his own brother, she had assumed that there was something between them. The way Sakura had grasped him, holding him if her life depended on it, and the way his charcoal eyes had landed exhaustedly on her without pushing her away, she knew it wasn't nothing between them...But as he left the village, leaving her coldly on a bench, and she strove to get stronger to catch up to him, and as they fought at each other's throats, as she was placed in his own genjutsu...she doubted he had any place for love in his heart ever again.

She realized now, that she was wrong.

Kakashi had left before him, and he was almost out the door with Sakura now, his shoulders slumping slightly in a way that indicated his dismay in the situation.

"And Sasuke?" Tsunade called, her tone softened.

He stopped, but did not turn to face her.

"Take care...both of you..."

He shifted so that only the purple circles of his rinnegan were visible to her. A slight tremor ran down her spine, reminding her of Pain. But he only nodded, and continued out the door.

The door clicked shut as he left, and Tsunade sat heavily in her chair.

...Sakura...what did you do? ...I guess I trust you, it must have been the most important decision in your life...and...I guess, in a way, I'm glad you found something worthy of it...something to fight for with everything you are...

...

Optional OST: Zoe Jane Staind

Sakura slept softly in her own bed, where he had gingerly placed her and tucked her in. Kakashi and Sasuke sat on her couch, in her apartment, studying the book Tsunade had given them.

The pieces were coming together in Kakashi's mind. Sakura had once again sacrificed herself for this man - using her life as chakra when she no longer had any. Kakashi, while taken aback at Sakura's mastery of medical jutsu, felt simultaneously sorrowful. He recalled his conversation with Sasuke when the Uchiha was contemplating his revolution...

"Sakura...never stopped loving you." He felt so angry then, watching him place a cruel genjutsu on her after her begging him to stop, pleading with him for the place she thought she no longer had in his heart.

"As for me, I have absolutely no reason to love her, and likewise, I can see no reason why she would love me." In that moment, Kakashi had heard enough from this student.

"The only time you need a reason is when you hate somebody! Didn't she just say that she wanted you by her side? She wants to save you, there's nothing more to it! This girl here, who nearly lost her life to you...she still cries whenever she thinks of you. And the only reason was because she loved you so much that it hurt!" His own heart felt heavy in his chest, because he remembered the way he himself had been so cold to Rin...willing to sacrifice her own life for a mission...and he hoped his student would have learned better, before it became too late.

"That's a thing of the past, now."

He knew the Uchiha had apologized to Sakura, vowing to see her again, poking her forehead. He had been present for this, and he had witnessed a change in the Uchiha's heart for the better. Yet he wondered if the young man could truly comprehend the depth of Sakura's love for him.

He gazed back at Sasuke, finding him exactly as he had before: staring into the book with the red tomoe of his Sharingan spinning. His raw emotions startled the 6th Hokage.

"Sasuke," Kakashi finally broke the silence, "...It's not your fault, you know that, right?"

The young man paused for a moment, finally closing his eyes. His head fell; his black bangs hiding his face. "I know that."

"...Then are you okay...? Why the Sharingan?"

"Why would she be so foolish?!" Sasuke finally looked up to the older man, and Kakashi could see the pain in his eyes, "I understand she wanted to heal me, but at what cost?! I never thought she would do something this reckless. If it was beyond help, then she should have just let it be - "

"But it wasn't beyond help."

"It was! If it required this much, then she shouldn't have traded her life for mine."

"You don't know how much she traded. Tsunade can't even know that. For now...she's still here. You haven't lost her, you know?"

"...But she's lost some time. Because of me."

"And whether you like it or not, people care about you. And because of this, they are willing to do things like plead for your case and get you out of prison, or allow you to travel freely, or even this for you. Can you forgive yourself enough to simply take this in? Is it so hard for you to understand...?"

Sasuke's eyes widened at his words, and Kakashi knew he had finally gotten through to his favorite student.

"...I understand, Sasuke. Believe me, because I was there once, with my old team-mate," the grey haired man sighed with this confession. "And if I could go back, I wish I could have forgiven myself enough to let her in. Rin sacrificed herself for myself, and for the village, choosing to die by my hands..." He paused. "She loved me, and I knew that. I loved her too...But I was afraid...afraid to show my true self to somebody, knowing what I had done." Kakashi gazed up from the floor, to find Sasuke's eyes gentler than before. Kakashi's heart warmed slightly, wondering if this is what having a son would feel like. To be able to share wisdom and hope for the best for this young man. Damn, they were so much alike...

"I only hope that you can do better than we did...be able to remember that you are who you are, not what you've done, and be able to share something with her. I will never find love again, having been through that much, but you...you still have chance. And an important choice, to forgive yourself and share life with others."

There was nothing left to say, and he stood to return to the tower.

And with that, the door clicked shut.