Kakashi's stormy gray eye opens, slowly, as the pounding on his front door continues. He groans and sits up, even mores slowly, rubbing his face tiredly with his cold hand. The sharingan turns to the left and stares at the clock on his nightstand. It's barely 5 in the morning, the sky outside is only beginning to lighten with the oncoming promise of sunrise.
The copy ninja doesn't sleep much. But when he does, he hates to be interrupted.
"This better be good," he sighs as he throws his legs over the side of the bed. The incessant knocking continues. "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" he calls as he pulls on his shinobi undershirt, tugging his mask back up over his face as he makes his way to the door.
There's a second, only a split second, of panic that races up Kakashi's legs and burrows in his chest.
Who died today?
The thought is dark and morbid but it's a valid question. People usually only come knocking on Kakashi's door this early for one of three reasons; to come to bed with him, to summon him to Tsunade, or to break the news that another shinobi has fallen. The last option is possible. But today just doesn't feel like one of those days.
"Well it's about time, Kakashi, I've been standing here forever!"
A pink and red blur rushes past him and into his apartment before Kakashi can even say hello. He stares at the place where she was just standing, listening as she starts rummaging through his kitchen. The copy ninja smiles to himself.
"Oh yeah, sure, come right in, Sakura. It's not five o'clock in the morning or anything." He gives a yawn and a lazy stretch, his spine popping in several places. The kunoichi turns and gives a little glare that makes him rub the back of his head and his sigh. "I apologize. Good morning, Sakura," he says with forced enthusiasm.
She smiles and turns back around as she puts tea on. Kakashi is suddenly conscious of the mess that his silver hair is and tries to smooth it down in all the right places but to no avail. He hasn't even showered yet.
"I brought us pre-training breakfast," she says cheerfully, coming back to the kitchen table where he just took a seat. A brown paper bag sits on his old mahogany dining table and she digs through it.
"You didn't have to buy breakfast," says Kakashi sheepishly, scratching his forehead lightly as he watches her set down a hearty meal of rice with egg, fruit and toast in front of him. "I have food here."
With a quick little twirl, Sakura's over by his fridge and she opens it up to peer inside.
"Just as I suspected. Only beer and eggs."
The copy ninja blushes a little as she grins victoriously for catching him in a lie. But really, his cheeks are growing hot because this is all rather...nice of Sakura. He would dare even say domestic. Of course she's given him presents on his birthday, one is growing by the window right now, a bonsai tree that he named Kota. And she's patched him up countless times in the field but this? This is a whole new level.
The kunoichi sits across from him after pouring them both tea, having a breakfast meal similar to his but smaller and with more fruit than carbs, and looks over at Kakashi. She smiles and he has to look away for a moment or he'll start blushing again. He pretends to test the consistency of her eggs with the end of his chopsticks.
"Are these safe to eat? I mean, they're not like your famous food pills, are they? Because those were disgus—" His hand is slapped as he reaches for his tea and Kakashi laughs, pulling back and giving Sakura a smile now that he's regained his cool composure.
"Don't make me smash it all in your face because I will," she says warningly, beginning to eat. Kakashi sighs and leans back in his chair, watching her.
"What? Oh, that's right. You don't want me to see you without your mask on. Should I turn around?" she asks, pointing over her shoulder with a smirk on her face.
"No, I'm gonna eat. I was just admiring this thoughtful side of Sakura. Even though it is still nearly five in the morning and you've decided it's training time."
"The early bird catches the worm," she retorts in a sing song voice, popping some rice and egg into her mouth. Kakashi is still watching her though, one arm thrown casually over the back of the chair. Her cheeks are starting to get hot.
"Your breakfast is going to get cold if you keep staring at me like a cre—"
"Heyyy, it's Sakura guys!" calls a raspy voice from the living room. The pack of ninja hounds all skid to a stop in the doorway, wagging their tails. Pakkun gives her a wave and then suddenly, all the dogs have surrounded her chair and pester her for attention.
"Well hello," she says to them happily, petting their individual heads and listening to them jabber on about their adventures lately.
"Did you bring us something? You brought Kakashi food. So what about us?" asks Biscuit, the small tan dog with the sly personality. Sakura chuckles and nods, turning back to Kakashi to dig into the brown bag for the dog treats she bought.
Her jaw drops as she sees Kakashi cover the last few inches of his nose, his breakfast all but vanished. The kunoichi's eyebrow twitches.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Kakashi gives Sakura a smile, leaning back in his chair as he pats his full belly.
"You said it was getting cold."
Sakura simply sighs and starts handing out dog treats while Kakashi tips the bag towards him and peers inside. He feels bad. There's a box of dumplings in there, waiting for him.
He rubs the back of his head. "I'm sorry Sakura but I don't really like—"
"Sweets, I know. They're for Lady Tsunade." The dogs have finally scattered about the house, chewing on their bones while Sakura finishes her breakfast slowly. She grins at Kakashi over the top of her tea.
"Jeez Kakashi, my universe doesn't revolve around you."
The world spins furiously around Sakura, making her head pound until she thinks it'll drive her insane. Her breakfast threatens to come back up and the sun glares down on her like the wrath of God. Her eyes, burning from the sting of her own sweat, look up to meet Kakashi's from across the field.
Her vision blurs and for a second, just for a moment, he looks like Yamato.
She's about to pass out. The earth is reaching up to meet her and she races toward it.
"Whoa, easy there," says Kakashi.
Sakura falls onto his back after he transported beneath her, breaking her fall. The exhausted kunoichi collapses against his strong back and he stands, easily maneuvering her weight so that she's cradled in his arms now, his hands tucked behind her knees and her head laying against his chest.
Kakashi can't take his eyes off her as he carries her across the field.
He sets the girl down under the tree, leaning her back carefully against the trunk. Her pink hair is matted to her forehead with sweat and there's a scratch on her left cheek. Kakashi takes his thumb and wipes the dirt from her face gently. She stirs lightly.
"Sakura," he says softly. "Come on now, wake up." He sprinkles water onto his fingertips and flicks them at her face, sprinkling droplets onto her cheeks and eyelids. The kunoichi groans, opening her mint colored eyes.
She sees Yamato first, his voice calling her name sweetly. His strong hand reaches out to tuck her hair behind her ear. She shakes her head subconsciously, sending Yamato away so that his shape and face morph back to where it belongs.
Kakashi peers at her with a worried gray eye.
"Welcome back," he says with a smile, plopping down on the grass beside her. Leaves crunch beneath his weight and Sakura looks slowly up at the tree they're under, the colors of burnt orange, red and gold glimmering back at her as the sun filters through them. Her head still hurts.
"Can we take a break?" she asks in a raspy voice. Kakashi holds out a water jug and she takes it gratefully.
"We are taking a break."
As Sakura takes long gulps of water, she glances sideways at him and glares. The copy ninja laughs as he twirls a large crimson leaf between his fingers.
The ninja wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and leans her head against the trunk, sighing.
"It's been five days, Kakashi. I can't do it," she says ruefully. "I can't." The words are like acid in her mouth but she feels like they're the truth. That old genin doubt is starting to creep back into her head as she stares out at the craters and dust she's leaving behind on the field. "I'm not ready."
Kakashi sighs and crushes the red leaf in his hand. He watches the bits and pieces of it fall from his open palm before he peers out at the sun.
"It's nearly noon. We've been at it for almost six hours." This only discourages Sakura. Her head droops and she blushes. Her arms ache, her right foot has a shooting pain sensation travelling up her leg every time she puts weight on it. Kakashi watches her motivation start to slowly ebb away.
"You're right. I shouldn't have wasted my time. Tsunade obviously doesn't have you ready to advance yet." He kicks back, crossing one leg over the other. "I thought being around Naruto so much would do you some good but I'm not so sure. You don't have half the fighting spirit that he has."
Kakashi smirks lightly to himself, watching her from the corner of his eye. Her eyebrow twitches and the corner of her mouth turns down in a frown. Kakashi fakes a yawn and pretends like he's going to take a nap. The girl's hands tremble but they clench into tight fists.
He gets a light kick to the ankle. Kakashi opens his eye and sees her up on her feet once again, that fascinating fire gleaming in her eyes as she tightens the leather glove on her left hand.
"Get up. We still have work to do."
The copy ninja smirks and rises to his feet, dusting off his pants. The two of them go back to the middle of the training field to a spot with even ground. Sakura takes a deep breath and meditates with her eyes closed. Kakashi lifts up his headband and looks at her with the sharingan, waiting. He crosses his arms over his chest.
"Ready when you are."
Sakura's eyes fly open and she does a series of rapid hand signs. With all the fire and determination that she can muster, Sakura pulls back her fist as it intensifies with her specialized chakra. She gives a cry and sends her it flying into ground where the ground splits and cracks beneath them. Kakashi easily snakes over to stand opposite of her, the earth still shifting and breaking apart beneath his feet.
"Do it, Sakura!" he shouts.
"Earth Style: Broken Earth Shards!" She does one last hand sign to release the jutsu. Large pieces of her shattered ground lift up slowly from the earth, inch by inch. She keeps that hand sign planted in front of her face, concentrating hard. A bead of sweat trickles down the side of her forehead but she won't let go just yet. She holds that focus there, not willing to take her eyes off Kakashi as he waits for her attack.
The rocks have almost moved into complete aerial position. She takes a deep breath, her right arm starting to tremble.
"Easy, Sakura, hold them right there where you can see all of them at once. Keep it steady. Now try again. Concentrate your chakra on keeping them levitated and then attack," he calls out to her. His sharingan watches every flow and stutter of her chakra. She's almost got it. Kakashi counts the seconds.
"Now, Sakura!"
She releases the hand sign and races towards the first boulder in sight. But before she can even touch it, it plummets to the ground. The rest of the rock formations follow. Sakura takes a shaky breath after the release of her chakra fades and all that remains is her exhausted body. She doesn't have much juice left to keep trying.
The pink haired kunoichi puts her hand on her knees and pants, sweat licking its way down the side of her neck. Kakashi makes his way towards her. She throws her hands up in the air, frustrated.
"I know, I know, I'm not concentrating hard enough. Save the lecture for later," she mumbles angrily. Sakura puts her hands on her hips and watches sky. It's darkening to the west. Another storm is coming tonight.
Kakashi approaches her coolly and grabs her by the shoulders. She blushes at the sudden physical contact but then he turns her away from him. He stands behind her and says softly in her ear, "I watched with the sharingan and I figured it out. Take your stance."
His breath tickles Sakura's ear and a shiver goes up her spine. The warmth of it spreads through her cheeks like a wildfire. She spreads her feet apart and takes her attack stance. Kakashi places an arm around her waist from behind, his hand splayed across her slim stomach gently.
Sakura's breath hitches in her throat.
"You start off well. You focus your chakra in your core and then shoot it into your right hand to penetrate the ground." His free arm comes around and takes a hold of her wrist. He pulls her arm back gently, the way that she would when she's about to bring her fist down.
Kakashi's body pushes and pulls her own like a mirror until he mimics what he saw with his sharingan. They reflect each other almost perfectly.
"As of now, your chakra is focused in your core and in your hand. But what you need to do," he begins, "is travel your concentration upwards. Imagine that your chakra is rising at the same speed and height as the boulders." His hand on her lower stomach moves upward over the plane of her belly, barely even touching her, and he places it on the center of her clavicle. He can feel her heart pounding where the skin of his fingertips brushes over the skin of her collarbone. Sakura's breathing speeds up and Kakashi pretends not to notice.
But only because his own heart feels like it's going to come smashing through his ribcage.
"You'll spend less energy trying to levitate them if they're in line with your chakra. Think of it as having invisible tethers between you and the rocks. It'll be easier so that when you release them, you'll have that image in your mind to keep them in the air."
Kakashi wants so badly to wrap both arms around her and bury his nose in her hair. But he controls himself, knowing that Sakura would push him away or call him a pervert. She was probably uncomfortable with the touching right about now anyway.
His hands drop back to his side instantly and Sakura's shoulders slump. He thinks out of relief. But in reality, they hunched out of the loss of his skin on hers.
"Lets give it one more try." Kakashi makes his way over to the opposite end of the field and waits, his sharingan open and ready, one hand on his hip.
Sakura watches him go, trying to steady her breathing. There's a profound absence where his hand had been resting across her ribs. It nearly makes Sakura reach up and check that there's not a hole there somewhere. Her skin craves the warmth of his body and the thought pains Sakura.
This is madness. I'm just exhausted, she tries to reason with herself.
"It's going to work this time," Kakashi calls out to her. "I know you can do it."
His voice snaps her back into reality and Sakura responds, taking her stance. She begins the process all over again.
She closes her eyes, meditating for a moment. Maybe two. And then the hand signs start flying.
Her heart races with the rush of chakra building up in her like a tidal wave. She flexes her hand and it glows with her energy. The fist meets the grounds with a loud cry. Earth splinters and breaks beneath her. Sakura holds the last sequence of the hand sign in front of her face.
Remembering Kakashi's touch up her body, she imagines that her chakra is following his progress, trying to grab onto his hand and keep it from leaving.
The rocks levitate into the air easily as Sakura imagines the strings tying her and the boulders together as one.
One moment passes by. Two. Thr—
"Now!" shouts Kakashi.
"Earth Style: Broken Earth Shards!"
Sakura gives a battle cry and releases the hand sign. The rocks stay in the air. Her fist comes flying back and crashes into the first one she sees, sending it smashing its way to Kakashi. If he allowed the rock to collide with him, he would be sent flying across the field, several bones probably crushed with the speed of the rock hurtling towards.
But of course he cuts it with the lightning blade. Sakura gives a mixture of taijutsu, kicking and throwing the remaining aerial boulders to Kakashi until he's dodging and sprinting around them. The last one is sent his way and Kakashi has barely a second to get around it.
He flips over the boulder to evade being smashed by it and when he touches the ground again, he actually wipes some sweat from his brow. The copy ninja pulls the headband over his sharingan and makes his way towards Sakura who's doing a victory dance, punching the air and jumping around happily. But by the time he gets to where she is, the kunoichi is exhausted and she sits down on the ground. Kakashi plops down beside her, their backs up against each other's, and they breathe.
"Congratulations, Sakura. You just perfected your very own jutsu."
She laughs, relieved and excited all at the same time. Kakashi falls to the side and tries to wait out a stitch that had formed in his side from all that running. Sakura follows suit, laying her head against his stomach as she catches her breath, and they stare up at the storm darkening the west together. He waits a few minutes, enjoying the feel of her so close to him before he attempts to get up.
The copy ninja leans back on his elbows and smiles when the girl doesn't respond to his movements.
Sakura had curled up right there on the training field, one hand clenched at his flak jacket, and went right to sleep. Kakashi watches her fist curl tighter into his jonin vest when he tries to get up once again and he chuckles.
Not wanting to wake her up so soon, knowing that her body needed a short period to recover some energy, Kakashi lays back onto the grass and tucks his hands behind his head. He would wait until she came around or when it gets too late, whichever comes first.
Kakashi suddenly feels a longing deep down in his chest that drops his heart into his stomach as he reaches down and gently smooths some of her pink hair away from her eyes.
He feels like he's been waiting for Sakura to wake up for a very long time.
Sakura runs up the stairs to the Hokage's office. She can't wait to tell Lady Tsunade what she accomplished today. Her very own jutsu.
Watch out, Naruto. I'm catching up to you, inch by inch.
The kunoichi smirks as she sidesteps Izumo and Kotetsu coming down the stairs with towers of boxes. They open their mouths to say hello but Sakura cuts right past them.
"Sorry boys, gotta run!"
"Tell Kakashi that he needs to stop by sometime!" Kotetsu shouts at her over his shoulder, still trying to keep the boxes steady in his hands.
Sakura gives a wave. "Will do!"
His name alone sends her pulse into a frenzy. Today was different. There was a new level of companionship between the two of them today. But Sakura knows that "companionship" isn't the right word.
The way he touched her, guided her through the motions of her chakra distribution was innocent, a common ninja teaching method. She sees other senseis do the same with their younger genin, illustrating in a visual way how chakra is supposed to flow and burst.
But it meant something more to Sakura. His hand pressed to her body and it reacted to him. A fire stirred deep in her belly as his hand came down over her heart and although Sakura does not want to admit it, she wanted Kakashi to pull her into him and hold her when she felt weak.
Sakura suddenly shakes her head, turning the corner and heading down the corridor to Lady Tsunade's office. Those kinds of thoughts are silly, meaningless. Maybe Sakura is attracted to Kakashi. But most women are. It's the cool and casual, yet kind, demeanor that he carries himself with. And the silver bedhead. The strong arms and hands. His alluring, intricate single gray eye that looks like both the eye of a storm and a welcome home. It's the curve of his back and—
Oh god, Sakura, get a grip. Seriously, she chides herself. Like Kakashi would want anything to do with you.
Sakura is just outside of the Hokage's office when she hears Lady Tsunade's voice rise at Shizune. Instinctively, Sakura stays back and keeps out of sight, waiting for her Hokage to be done with whatever she needed to say. The door was open, allowing Sakura to hear bits and pieces of the heated conversation.
But she wishes the door had remained shut. Her heart plummets into her insides and Sakura suddenly feels sick.
"I have faith in Yamato and you should too, Shizune!"
"With all due respect, ma'am, I do. But him and his team have not sent us a report in three days. I think now is the time to be worried."
There's a long silence. Sakura wants to look in and see what's going on but she'll be spotted.
Yamato's name stick to the roof of her mouth and it makes her head swim. He's been gone for nearly a week and a half but Sakura has tried not to dwell on it, choosing Kakashi and his intense training as the ultimate distraction.
There's a twinge of guilt there when Sakura thinks about both Yamato and Kakashi in the same thought. She doesn't want to understand why.
"This isn't about Yamato. This is about Sakura, isn't it?" asks the Hokage.
Her ears perk and sharpen their hearing. The kunoichi gives her full attention to their conversation now, the sound of her name like a bad omen.
Shizune sighs. Sakura knows her well enough by now to guess that Tsunade's assistant is nervously looking at the floor, clutching Ton Ton in her arms. Should Sakura be angry? Concerned about the fact that the safety of Yamato and his team somehow ties back to her?
"His judgment is clouded, m'lady. He's dating his teammate. And not as a peer but as the captain. It's unethical and poor taste in leadership, in my opinion. He can't be trusted to do what's right for his team here at home, how can he be trusted to lead one out there in the field?"
Sakura's cheeks burn with anger. She makes Yamato sound like a love sick, demented puppy because he chooses to come home to Sakura at night. Their relationship has nothing to do with Yamato's ability as a shinobi and as a captain.
The ninja clenches her fist and wishes she could say something to Shizune. Her words feel like a slap in the face. Not against Yamato but against her. She's acting like Sakura is a poison that needs to be sucked out from Yamato's life or she'll ruin his career.
Those words, coming from the mouth of a friend, have a stronger bite than Sakura expected.
Maybe because there's some truth in it.
"Shizune…" The Hokage sighs. Her chair squeaks a little as she leans back into it. "Yamato is one of our best shinobi. And although I can't help but disapprove of his relationship with Sakura for the time being, I don't think that it has anything to do with his abilities as a ninja. He is a fine shinobi and an excellent leader. Who he decides to spend his time with when he's off duty and in his own home is none of our business. He's a grown man, he can take care of himself. So who are you really trying to protect? Yamato? Or Sakura?"
The pink haired kunoichi bites her lip. She's confused. Her head feels all jumbled up as thoughts start to trip over one another. She can feel Yamato's hand against her cheek and his lips on hers. She can smell the sandalwood scent of his skin and the way he holds her in the middle of the night.
But Kakashi's face is there too. His stormy gray eye watching her even when she closes her eyes.
It makes her hurt.
"Should we tell her? Sakura, I mean," Shizune asks. "This is the fourth day without any word from him. I can assemble a search team in an hour."
Sakura feels even worse now. While she's been off training with Kakashi, for these past few days, Yamato's whereabouts have fallen off the grid. Her stomach is sick with worry now.
"No. We don't tell her. And let's give Yamato a little bit more time. If they were in danger or in need of help, we would know. Have some faith in him Shizune."
Sakura can't take it anymore. She inches away from the door and when she's far enough, she sprints.
I'll be home soon, Sakura, he says in her memory, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he turns to leave. His thumb traces her cheekbone and he turns to go, his helmet tucked under his arm. Sakura remembers thinking that he looks like a soldier, heading out to war.
The thought makes Sakura want to throw up. Her mother was right. She wasn't capable of being with a civilian.
But being with a shinobi is a different, intense kind of pain that Sakura isn't she sure she can stomach today.
The Hokage watches her pink haired apprentice run from the building and back home. And without knowing for sure, Tsunade is almost certain that Sakura had heard their conversation. She leans her head against the window and sighs, a weary eye now on the storm coming in from the west.
"Yamato will come home, Shizune. Because now he has someone to come home to."
"Genma, move!"
Yamato shoves his second in command out of the way of a lightning strike. It hits the Captain in his right shoulder instead.
The earth rushes up to meet him, his wrist twisting uncomfortably beneath his weight. Yamato's body spasms and writhes as the electricity curls up into his bones. The shinobi grits his teeth and waits it out, praying on his men to cover him while he's down.
God, the pain. The pain is nearly unbearable.
There's the all too familiar sound of kunai against kunai. The crack of lightning and the flap of Raido's black crows to cover the tracks of his poisoned blade, Kokuto. Yamato can smell the burn and smoke of Akira's fire jutsu. There's cries of battle all around him, the smell of dark and dangerous chakra assaulting his nose until Yamato's eyes water. He can't move yet. He can't see.
The enemy is wearing them all down to the point of irreversible exhaustion. Yamato and his team are almost entirely out of chakra.
His muscles finally stop pulsating painfully with shock waves. There's a deep, unprecedented ache in his limbs as he tries to stand, eyes bloodshot and full of smoke. He rises to his feet, knees weak beneath his weight, and stumbles his way upright. He tries to assess the situation and is immediately stopped dead in the middle of his hand signs.
Genma has been captured.
He sits in the middle of a chakra cage, each side marked with one of the characters for the five elements of chakra, including the top. By the looks of it, Yamato assesses, all of his comrade's chakra is being drained from his body, feeding that energy into his own trap.
"If I let go and allow the Chakra Cage to feast on your partner at will, he'll be drained of his very life force in a matter seconds." The leader of their enemy pack, tall and menacing with sharp eyes and jet black hair to his waist, keeps his hand bound to the electricity side of the chamber. With a smirk, he sends a wave of lightning into the cage, shocking Genma for seconds at a time.
The leaf shinobi grunts and writhes on the ground, his body seizing in agony as his captor rotates the chamber around Genma. His hand now rests on the water side. The enemy fills the cage with water until Genma is drowning in it, unable to perform any kind of jutsu to escape without his chakra.
"Surrender," the leader calls out to Yamato. Genma can't hold his breath for much longer. "Surrender or I will kill your partner in a matter of moments."
Yamato grits his teeth. Genma, who's on the verge of passing out, shakes his head. The captain's stomach lurches.
He has to make a choice. His partner or the mission. Their captivity or Genma's life.
The captured shinobi slams his hand against the barrier and points at Yamato. Even though he can't speak, the cage now entirely filled up with water, he stares down his captain and shakes his head.
He's a shinobi. He knows what he must do for the Land of Fire. His eyes are already starting to say goodbye.
Yamato is ANBU. He is a soldier of the leaf. He knows the law; Mission above all. The Land of Fire above all. The Hokage is his king and the village his kingdom. Yamato has a responsibility to uphold his duty as a shinobi, even if it costs his life or the life of those around him. The captain prepares to make a series of hand signs, pleading with the sky to give him this victory. Genma's life hangs in the balance of those who win and those who die. And that's a gamble that he's willing to take.
But Sakura's green eyes flash before Yamato's face and he can't bring himself to do it. He can't bear to tell her that he left Genma to die. Nor can he face his family knowing that he chose the mission over his comrade.
The Land of Fire would see all of them back, alive. Yamato just needed time to think.
This just isn't the way to go.
He throws down his weapons and holds his hands up in the air. Genma slams the barrier again in anger. The enemy leader lets the water slowly drain from the cage. But not without shocking Genma once more.
The shinobi rolls onto his back and howls, the water intensifying the shock of the attack. He coughs, spitting out water, lungs on fire as the rest of his body is set ablaze. Yamato closes his eyes, trying not to watch but he can't close his ears.
Genma's cries reverberate through his entire being.
"Raido, Akira. Surrender your weapons," he orders. The two other shinobi do so, following their orders. The enemy leader instructs them to get on their knees and put their hands behind their heads.
The soldiers of the leaf submit themselves, gritting their teeth and staring straight ahead. If they were going to be taken captive, they would do so with honor. Yamato can only pray that they don't just kill them all now. They need the leaf shinobi for information. And Yamato has what they want.
"Search them."
Hands start tearing off the shinobi's weapons. They take everything they can, even their headbands. Raido struggles when they try to take his off, threatening to tear them to pieces if they touch it. A soldier of the enemy comes and smacks him around, stomping on his ankle until it breaks. Raido falls forward in pain, groaning at the hot agony crawling up his right leg. Akira suffers far worse than his teammate. Yamato tries not to turn around and look as Akira screams.
One of the leader's henchmen kicks Yamato in the stomach and he doubles over, coughing and wheezing. The enemy removes his flak jacket and starts digging around in the pockets. He pulls out the picture of Team Kakashi and says something vulgar about Sakura and what he would like to do to the pretty face of a shinobi like that.
"Give it back," Yamato commands.
The foreign shinobi laughs and whispers terrible things about what he would do after tying Sakura up and forcing himself on her. Yamato's eyes narrow and his heart beats erratically in his chest. His imagination can't help but picture this disgusting monster of a man hovering over Sakura's body in Yamato's bed. He can hear her screams in his mind.
He won't have it.
"I said give it to me or I will beat the living shit out of you," Yamato threatens, his almond shaped eyes cold and unwavering as he stares up into the enemy's grotesque face.
"Yamato, stop," Genma pleads in a groan, watching his captain from the floor of his cage.
"You should listen to your friend." A huge rock like fist comes and knocks Yamato aside with a single blow. He's sent flying into a tree, his faceguard slipping off his head and clattering to the ground a few feet away from him.
Blood trickles down the side of Yamato's face and his left shoulder is dislocated. But the henchmen isn't finished with him yet. He grabs Yamato by his hair and drags him out into the center of the battlefield so that all his teammates can watch and do nothing.
Yamato stares up at the man as he comes bearing down on him with fists that could rival that of the Hokage. Bones break and shatter. Yamato spits out blood and his lungs feel as if they're going to collapse. BAM, his jaw is shattered. Yamato's hands dig into the ground beneath him, refusing to show any sign of weakness or pain.
He imagines he's back home with Sakura.
She's cooking him dinner, prancing around his house in nothing but one of his shinobi shirts. Her green eyes look at him from over her shoulder and she smiles at him. Yamato goes and wraps his arms around her small body, kissing down her neck as she laughs.
"I love you," he whispers against her shoulder.
"Kido, that's enough." The leader holds up his hand and motions for his thug to stop beating Yamato. The captain rolls over onto his side and pukes. Agony covers his entire body like a blanket. He can feel every cell on fire yet he can't feel anything at the same time. He's gone into shock.
They haul him up to his feet along with Raido and Akira. Genma watches from his cage, screaming something at Yamato but he can't hear very well. His reactions are slow, sensing the presence of something rushing towards the side of his face.
But he can't force his body to move. He doesn't even want to move.
A final fist comes blaring into Yamato's skull They do the same to all of the other leaf shinobi until they collapse back onto the ground, blacking out beneath the gray sky.
Yamato sees stars and he watches the rain begin to trickle down from the clouds. He enjoys the cool feel of water on his battered skin.
The world starts to spin and it's getting harder to keep his eyes open. Someone talks but it sounds like they're underwater. His heart rate slows and Yamato begins to slip into a deep, cold sleep.
Someone picks him up and roughly throws Yamato over their shoulder.
"Sakura…" he moans quietly to himself. Yamato passes out.
I love you.