A/N We buried my grandpa today. It was nice to see family. I'm not sure why the playing of taps always gets to me but... Well onward. Here is the next chapter. We'll see a familiar face this time, I hope you like it!

Chapter 7

Kakashi

Fifty-eight days into the past

The moment Kakashi's legs had been able to bear his weight and he could see well enough, he had escaped from the hospital. Considering how close to death he felt by the time he finally reached his apartment door, it might have been a mistake. Unable to move anymore, he propped himself up against his door and promptly passed out.

That was where a furious Sakura found him. To be fair, she had been the only medic to touch him. Unfortunately there had still been a string of ill tempered nurses bothering him throughout the day. It had been intolerable.

She did not sympathize.

Then she had done something that surprised him. Rather than shouting at him the whole way back to the hospital as he'd expected, Sakura had scooped him up like a small errant child and carried him into his apartment.

"Fine. I know I won't be able to keep you there, but you're a long way from being able to manage on your own." Tucked into his bed and shocked at his luck, Kakashi didn't move as she continued to run glowing hands over him. "If you promise not to be a nuisance and stay in bed, I can take some time off and look after you until you can take care of yourself."

His vision was still a little hazy, but he was pretty sure she was blushing and frowning furiously at the same time. Grateful for his mask, a smile twitched across his face. He reached out to touch her arm. "I promise to be a good patient, Sakura-sama."

With an annoyed glare, she shook his hand off. That definitely did not hurt his feelings. She huffed, and pulled out a syringe, injecting what he realized immediately was morphine.

"What about if I have to go to the bathroom or shower?" It was bad enough to have grumpy nurses helping him, Kakashi did not want Sakura helping him with a bedpan.

Apparently, neither did she, if the deepening blush was any indication. "If you're not comfortable with me doing that, we can always go back to the hospital?"

Kakashi was too sore and tired to be embarrassed by the whine in his voice. "Sakura-san… I know you too well to let you help me pee."

She scoffed and shook her head. "Fine. I'll get Tenzō or Gai to help."

"Gai?" Kakashi sighed. That was the last thing he needed. Might Gai and his enthusiasm had always been annoying to varying degrees. Still, at least it wouldn't be anything his eternal rival hadn't seen before. "That is acceptable."

"Good… Do you…need to pee now?"

Sinking into the comfort of the morphine and his own bed, he shook his head. "No. I want to sleep."

He was pretty sure she was laughing at him, but his eyes wouldn't open. "OK, Kakashi. I'll be here when you wake up."

That sounded nice.

KSK

Sakura

Asamida-sama was surprisingly understanding when Sakura asked for some time off. The students would be fine without her, especially if it meant successfully getting one of the most notorious ANBU patients to actually heal properly.

"Make sure he isn't out training until he's fully healed this time. That young man has been trying to get himself killed for years. From your report, it seems as though he very nearly succeeded." She had given Sakura a knowing smirk that the kunoichi had flatly ignored. "He seems to have taken quite a shine to you, though. Maybe you'll have more luck than any of my other medics ever have."

Asamida-sama had given her leave to take any supplies she'd need for her in home care and sent her on her way with a wink and a 'good luck.'

When Sakura had tried to explain that there were no unprofessional reasons for her wanting to care for Kakashi personally—even as the older women ushered her out of her office—Asamida-sama had clearly not believed her.

But there really weren't.

Sakura just knew how he was. Even if she'd hauled him back to the hospital, he would have just left again. It didn't matter that he was still in terrible shape. The man hated the place and he was stubborn and sometimes foolish.

And worryingly—according to Tenzō and Asamida-sama—suicidal.

That little bit of information had been sitting in the back of her mind ever since Tenzō had mentioned it. And he had said it so casually—as if it was just a commonly known fact about his friend and teammate. To Sakura, it had been a revelation.

She knew Kakashi had a painful past. He was a shinobi, a lot of them did. But until coming to the past, she hadn't known the village had turned him into a soldier at the tender age of six. Considering all she knew of his traumas, it was amazing he had survived as long as he had. Could there be even more? Seeing as he had fought in the last war, there probably was.

Thinking about it made her heart ache.

And then…

Had he been suicidal after his wife died too? He had never seemed like it to her, but really… How well had Sakura ever truly known him before?

Sitting on the edge of his bed, watching him sleep, Sakura wondered when he would meet his wife. Maybe that had been what finally made him happy enough to want to live. Maybe their son had been enough to keep him going even after her death.

Frustrated, Sakura sighed. He had still been asleep when she got back from the hospital, and his body needed rest before she could work on him any more; so there wasn't really anything for her to do.

Not wanting to leave again in case he woke, she stood and walked over to one of his shelves. There wasn't much in the way of personal touches around. No plants, nothing hanging on the walls… Besides his childish bedsheets and a single photograph, it could have been anyone's home.

Checking once that he was still asleep, Sakura picked up the photo and studied it closely. It featured a young blonde shinobi she knew was the fourth Hokage, and three genin. There was a smiling girl, another boy, and a painfully young—yet still somehow jaded looking—Kakashi.

This must be his first team. She hadn't known that Naruto's father had been Kakashi's sensei. Another person he likely cared about, dead. Sakura traced the faces of the other two children, because that's what they were. They looked even younger than twelve. If Kakashi was only six, they were likely younger, too.

The girl bore distinctive facial markings, like the Inuzuka clan. She was positive she had never seen any older kunoichi that looked like her. Whomever she was, she was probably dead too. Sighing, she let her eyes linger on the other boy.

With a start, Sakura realized she knew who he was—Obito. Sakura had met the once-believed-to-be-dead rogue shinobi during the war. While he hadn't said as much to her—of course not, why would he—she knew that losing his former teammate a second time had wounded Kakashi.

Sakura furrowed her brow, still staring intently at the photo. How could she have forgotten that? Was there anyone alive that Kakashi actually cared about? Thinking of it like that, Sakura supposed it was easy to understand his self destructive behavior. She thought about how he'd been injured this time. Tenzō had said he'd thrown the younger shinobi to safety and taken the blast instead. Had he done it to spare someone he'd grown to care about, or did he still just want to die?

"Hmm." It really wasn't any of her business, but—as his personal medic—she felt duty-bound to make sure he wasn't going to run off and try again. He had a whole future still to live. If she'd been the reason he survived this time, maybe she was supposed to keep him alive a little longer.

This time, when she glanced over at him, Sakura found him watching her. She was so startled she nearly dropped the picture frame. His dark eye looked completely blank. It might have unnerved her, had she not been so used to his emotionless, empty glares. They just usually weren't leveled at her.

"Kakashi-san, you're awake." She clung to the picture frame, her skin heating with guilty nerves to have been caught snooping. Clearing her throat, she crossed back to his bed. "How do you feel?" When he didn't respond, his heavy gaze not leaving her, she coughed. "Well… you need more rest before I can really do any more extensive healing... Do you need anything? Tenzō should be here soon. I know you said you didn't want me to help, but it has been a while… If you can't wait, I can help just this once…"

Great. She was rambling. Wonderful. Pull it together, Sakura. You weren't doing anything wrong… not really. It was just a picture he had sitting out in the open. It's not as if you were rifling through his underwear.

She huffed a clarifying breath and tried to smile. His one exposed eye blinked slowly but he only sighed, looking back at the ceiling.

Deciding to push a little to determine more about his mental state—and to sate her own curiosity—Sakura looked back at the picture in her hands. "What was her name?" He didn't answer but she didn't expect him to right away. "I recognize the Fourth, of course. His son is one of my best friends. They look a lot alike…" She glanced at him to find him watching her again. Baby steps. "I recognize him too."

That got a reaction. Kakashi scoffed. "I don't know how you could. He's dead, too." His voice was rough, a far cry from the whiny, flirtatious way he'd spoken to her earlier.

"Hmm… well, let's just say it has to do with what happens to your eye and leave it at that."

She expected him to pry then, but he didn't. Instead, he watched her for a long moment as if he could pull the information from her mind. Eventually he gave up and went back to watching the ceiling. A few more long moments later he sighed. "Her name was Rin. She's dead too, but… I guess you knew that."

Sakura shrugged. "Well… I've never seen her before, so I assumed." Sensing he did not want to talk about it anymore, she set the frame down and moved to sit on the edge of the bed again. "Are you ok, Kakashi-san? I mean…" How to tactfully ask someone as skittish about personal questions as Kakashi if he was suicidal? "Tenzō mentioned you have a habit of… behaving in a self destructive manner. He seemed worried that's what happened this time."

Kakashi sighed, clearly irritated now, his response more biting than she felt was warranted. "I'm not going to kill myself, Doctor Sakura-San. I'm feeling fine. Perfectly emotionally stable."

Sakura tsk'd in annoyance, crossing her arms and glaring down at him for good measure. He studiously ignored her for actual minutes. Just when she was about to get up and leave—she needed a shower dammit and he was being a pain—he finally spoke. "I really am fine, Sakura-san. I… I haven't always been, but—I did what I did to save Tenzō. That's all… I promise."

He still wasn't looking at her, and the last bit had been hardly more than a whisper, but she'd heard. Before she could think of something to say to that, he made a breathy noise that almost sounded like a laugh and glanced at her. "Besides, if you know me fourteen years from now, I obviously have some kind of future to look forward to. What was it you said? 'I'm very important to the future of the village…' You don't need to worry about me. I've been a lot less… self destructive, lately."

Satisfied but feeling a little guilty for prying, Sakura stood. "Well… I'm glad. If you don't need anything, I think I'll head home for a bit. I need a shower. Tenzō should be here soon, so—"

"Actually… there is something you could do for me." She turned back to him, ready to fluff his pillow or fetch him one of his terrible books. "Could you check on Naruto, for me? Since you mentioned him… Make sure he's eating and that he has something clean to wear? He's only six and well… not quite as capable as I was at his age." An affectionate sounding chuckle surprised her. "I wish the Hokage had found someone to adopt him but… well I'm sure you know what he is. I'm ashamed to admit I've been too wrapped up with my own shit for so long, he hasn't been the priority for me he should have been until recently." His expression was almost pleading. "Please? It's not urgent, you can shower first but… I haven't seen him in a few weeks. Just make sure he's ok."

More than a little stunned, Sakura nodded. A sudden rush of shame hit her too. She hadn't once thought of checking on her friend. "Of course, Kakashi-san. Um… should I let him see me or… does he know you're checking on him?"

He sighed again, slowly dragging a heavy hand across his face. "Yes. Just tell him his ANBU friend sent you. Our identities are supposed to be secret and I've only ever seen him in uniform so…"

Nodding, and noticing he was watching her from under his arm, Sakura smiled. "I know where he lives. I'll shower and change and go see him, ok?"

He whispered his thanks and she left. Now nervous for a whole new reason, Sakura hurried to her apartment. She was going to see Naruto.

KSK

When she did not find Naruto in his apartment, Sakura nearly kicked herself. It was a school day. This was not only her first year at the academy, Naruto had started this year too. With a couple of hours left before he would be out for the afternoon, she decided to let herself into his apartment. There was food in his fridge but not very much. He probably survived on cup noodles and convenience store snacks.

Hands on hips as she stared into his fridge, Sakura decided he needed to eat better than that. How much could she help him? How much could she interfere in his life? If she assumed she had always been there, and she made him food for a while, would that make a difference? He was only six… Would he remember?

Making a decision, she closed the fridge and looked for his laundry. Just like Kakashi had said, Naruto was definitely a normal six-year-old. There was a pile of soiled clothing near his balcony and the washing bucket was bone dry. A single pair of socks hung from his laundry clips dangling in the breeze. Sakura suddenly felt angry.

Where the hell was the Hokage? How could they let a child live this way? Kakashi had been on his own at six as well, but he was a child genius. Even then, someone should have taken him in. There was no reason she could understand for Naruto to be alone like this. Who had cared for him when he was a baby, and why had they turned him out?

Huffing angrily, Sakura picked up the bucket and headed for the bathroom to fill it. For the next thirty minutes, she took out her frustration on his filthy clothing. She would have to have something clean and dry by the time he got home so she could wash his orange jumpsuit. If memory served, it usually smelled a bit.

Once everything was clean and hanging out to dry, she gathered up his trash and took it out. Then she made his bed and swept the floors. Sighing, tired, she checked the time again and decided to pick him up from school. He probably hadn't ever had anyone to meet him, and if she couldn't be there forever, he likely wouldn't again. Letting herself out, she headed to the academy.

Children swarmed out, shouting and excited to be free for the day. From where she stood near the tree she remembered always seeing Naruto by, she caught a glimpse of a little girl with pink hair. Her chest clenched. The pink haired little girl was trailing after a little Sasuke—along with several other little girls. Then she saw Naruto, his blond hair and bright orange outfit eye-catching even among the crowd. He was calling out to her younger self, a bright smile on his young face. But Sakura didn't have time for Naruto when she was a child. Spoiled and obsessed with Sasuke already, she had found him incredibly annoying. She couldn't remember this moment and she couldn't hear what was said, but Sakura could tell from where she stood that it must have been nasty. The look on her small, pudgy face was cruel and shame lanced through her. Naruto, for his part, stopped chasing her, his little shoulders slumping. His head hung and he kicked at the dirt. But it didn't last long. He looked up with a wide grin on his face and headed towards the swing on the tree where Sakura stood.

Before he got to her, she stepped out from behind the tree and smiled down at him. He slowed to a stop right in front of her, looking up at her nervously. His eyes took her in, lingering on her hair and he frowned, looking back over his shoulder where he had last seen her younger self. When he turned back, he was staring at her warily.

It was no wonder he was nervous: she remembered how adults treated Naruto until even after the Chunin exams. Smiling, Sakura crouched down so she was eye level with him. "Hi, Naruto. My name is Hana."

His head cocked to the side and he squinted at her. "Do I know you?"

She laughed lightly. "No, you don't. But you and I share a friend and he asked me to check on you for him."

"My friend?"

"Yes." She nodded seriously. "Your ANBU friend."

Naruto's face lit up. "Oh! Where has he been? I haven't seen him in ages!"

Her smile fell. "He has been on back to back missions and on the last one he was hurt very badly. Don't worry, I am an excellent medic and I have been taking care of him personally. That's why he sent me. He's worried about you."

He frowned. "You're sure he's ok?"

She nodded.

"Well, tell him he doesn't need to worry about me. I'm going to be a shinobi just like him someday, I can take care of myself. Believe it!"

Oh, but she loved this little boy. Her laugh made him smile wider and eventually laugh too. "I believe you, Naruto. But for now, you should have a grown-up looking out for you. Since he can't be here today, I am going to take you shopping for some groceries, and when we get home, I'll cook you a whole bunch of food so you will have good things to eat in your fridge. And maybe after that… I can take you out for dinner."

His face lit up. "Really? Can we get ramen?"

"Definitely." Standing, she took his hand and let him pull her along towards the market.