A/N Sorry this is a day late. Gonna milk the new baby excuse lol Here is the darkest day from Kakashi's POV. Hope you love it!

Part 2 Chapter 1

Kakashi

The day he lost her

He knew something was wrong the moment she woke. Her chakra was weak and there was despair filling her beautiful green eyes. When she asked him—her voice almost shaking as she clung to him—to spend the day in bed together, his heart sank. That wasn't a completely unusual request, but the exhausted, barely concealed sorrow was.

Taking her face in his hands, Kakashi really looked at her. There was heartbreak in her eyes and desperation in her grip. He knew. He knew then that today was the day.

The last day.

Closing his eyes so she wouldn't see the feelings he couldn't hide, Kakashi pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you, you know that?"

Forever. For every day after this one.

"I do." Her lips were warm on his. "I love you so, so much Kakashi."

She was everything to him and by the end of the day she'd be gone. There was so much he wanted to tell her. So many things he wished he could tell her that he understood. He wanted nothing more than to reassure her that he loved her and if she went back to the future, he would still love her.

But he couldn't tell her. She wasn't telling him because she didn't want to ruin their last day together. He could do that too, for her.

Instead, he kissed her, and hoped the message was clear to her.

I love you.

He trailed open mouth kisses down her neck and across her breasts.

I will love you tomorrow.

He turned her around, pressing her back to his chest and touched her in all the ways he knew she craved.

I will love you next year.

Kissing her back and shoulders, he shifted her hips and moved between her thighs.

I will love you in twelve years.

His fingers dug into her hips as she cried out his name.

As long as I draw breath, all that I am, all that I will be, belongs to you.

When he came, her name a solemn prayer on his lips, he could no longer hold back the grief that suddenly clutched his heart. Pulling her back against himself, Kakashi held her as tightly as she clung to him and wept silently into her hair.

KSK

He was only half listening to Genma, nagging him about something work related. It was hard to pay attention. Pushing his food around his plate, Kakashi wondered if they'd even be working together anymore. He wouldn't be going back to ANBU when he started working again.

"Hana?"

Aiko's voice was sharp, drawing Kakashi's focus. From the look on her face, he could tell she'd been trying to catch his wife's attention for some time. Glancing up at her, she looked just as dazed as he felt.

"Hm, what?"

"I was just asking if you'd had any contractions yet." Her smile was amused. "You're due any day. My mom said both of my brothers were early but I was late." She chuckled. Kakashi wished he could feel so light. "I wonder if your boy will be early too."

Feeling Sakura shift on his lap, he looked up to meet her eyes and small smile. "No, nothing yet. But I have a feeling we'll be meeting him soon." Not trusting himself to speak, he kissed her shoulder and went back to pretending to eat. Genma might have said something so Kakashi nodded absently, taking a bite so he wouldn't have to answer.

A light clattering to his left drew his attention. Sakura's hand hung in the air over her plate and dropped chopsticks, a slight tremble in her fingers. "Oh."

No.

She closed her eyes tight as if in pain, pressing her hands against them.

Across the table, Aiko stood from her seat and might have said something too but Kakashi was too mesmerized by the thick black lines spreading out from the seal mark on Sakura's forehead. When she turned to look at him, fear and tears in her eyes, he reached up to trace the lines on her face, resigned. The chakra she stored in her forehead was at last leeching away too. He wished he couldn't see it so clearly.

It was finally happening.

"Sakura, look at me." He could see she was panicking. They didn't have time for that. "What's your plan? What do we need to do?"

Chest rising and falling too rapidly as tears slipped down her face, she looked at him like she couldn't understand what he was saying. "Um… plan? I—"

He could be strong for her now. She needed him to be strong. He could break down later when…

Later.

Cupping her face, forcing her to look at him, he spoke as calmly as he could manage. "It's okay. Breathe with me, Sakura." It was as much for himself as it was her. In through his nose, out through his mouth. "What do we need to do?"

Her face twisted briefly and then cleared. Keeping her eyes on his, she held her hand out across the table. "Give me a kunai." Suddenly there was a kunai in her hand and she was forming hand signs and he could smell her blood as she swiped it on the table.

There was a puff of smoke and she finally broke eye contact. A slug the size of a plate watched her from the table. "Mistress."

"How long do I have, Katsuyu?"

"An hour at most." Kakashi couldn't hold back the whimper as his hold on his wife tightened. "The child is strong and healthy, but he needs to come now…"

There was something buzzing in the back of Kakashi's head as he fought to stay calm and pay attention. She was looking up at him again, tears falling. "Take me to our bed please, Kakashi."

Nodding, he scooped her up into his arms and turned to Aiko. 'He needs to come right now.' Sakura wasn't in labor. That meant they needed Aiko. "Aiko…" He couldn't seem to form the words. Swallowing thickly, he frowned at her. "Please?"

She seemed to understand, already up and following him. He walked quickly, his whole world in his arms, across the hall and to their bedroom. When he lay her down, the thought that she'd never get up again struck him and suddenly he could not breathe.

Then she was calling out to him. She needed him. He moved, hardly feeling the floor beneath his feet. To the other side of the bed and out of Aiko's way where he sat beside her. Brushing her hair from her increasingly sweat-slicked face, he took her hand, kissing it tenderly. "I'm here, Sakura."

Aiko was talking to the slug again but he couldn't tear his attention away from Sakura to listen fully.

"She's a clone… Body's failing."

A clone. That didn't make sense. But Sakura was panting now, trying to stay calm.

"How is that possible?"

"Emergency cesarean… can you?"

"I can… Hana… who is Sakura?"

They didn't have time for this. "Just do it, Aiko." His throat was so dry. "I'll explain everything later, just…" He tried to swallow and turned back to Sakura. "Do what she said."

Sakura's eyes were wide and terrified. She knew this was coming, knew what to expect. But here at the end, he could see all the fear she'd kept from him for months. Taking both of her hands, he leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers. He would be strong for her, he could do this. She could do this.

From the corner of his eye, he could see the green glow of Aiko's chakra as she began. He wasn't sure how much Sakura could feel. When Aiko cut into her, the scent of blood filling the air, Sakura whimpered and squeezed his hands.

"Hey, it's okay, Sakura. Just look at me, okay? Breathe. It's okay." Even to his ear, his voice sounded broken, but he tried to smile at her anyway. "You're going to have him in your arms soon. I know you've missed him." He kissed the back of her hand, not caring if she knew how much he knew anymore. "Our Kazuki, hm?"

Her eyes widened with shock. They hadn't ever discussed names. Kakashi assumed she didn't want to give anything else away and already knew his name, and Kakashi didn't want her to know he knew that too.

"Yeah… our Kazuki."

He smiled weakly at her, glancing over to check Aiko's progress. He wished he hadn't. "Tell me about him."

"He's so smart, Kakashi… and he loves my rakugan." She let out a watery laugh. "He graduated from the Academy the day before I came here…" Kakashi filed that information away, brushing his thumbs along the back of her hands as she sobbed over the memory. "I was so proud of him. So were you."

He kissed her cheek. "Yeah?"

Sakura winced as Aiko shifted. "Yeah. He's the very best of us, Kakashi."

"Okay, Genma, have a towel ready."

She squeezed his hands tighter again and Kakashi watched—mesmerized—as Aiko pulled a bloody, slimy infant from the horrific gash in his wife's abdomen. After wrapping his tiny son in a towel and wiping clear his face, Aiko checked him over quickly with her chakra. "Oh, Sakura, he's so perfect. That hair!" She brought him to Sakura's waiting hands. "Kakashi, help her open her top, he needs skin to skin."

Scrubbing his face, Kakashi nodded and did as she said, quickly, tearing open her—his—shirt. Aiko carefully placed Kazuki on her chest, tucking a clean towel around them both. Kakashi couldn't seem to look away from the chubby red face and sticky pink hair.

"Oh…" Sakura chuckled and sobbed. "Oh hello, little Kazuki."

Tentatively, Kakashi reached out, running his fingers through his son's hair. Sakura hadn't been kidding. Kazuki's hair was as bright pink as his mother's. "I'm your mom." Kakashi felt his heart break at her declaration. For a moment, he imagined his own mother. She had loved him this much too. Like her, Sakura wouldn't get to raise her son. It wasn't fair. "Oh, I missed you so much." She peppered his scrunched little face with kisses. "I love you, you perfect little boy."

Feeling all the false calm he'd forced begin to crumble, he kissed her temple and focused on Kazuki. He was so tiny, hardly larger than his hand. It seemed amazing that he was real, that he was his—theirs. His little face, scrunched and as awe-filled as Kakashi felt, bobbed along his mother's chest until he faced Kakashi.

One of Sakura's pale, slender fingers traced his round cheek. "That's your daddy. Say hello to your son, Kakashi."

He couldn't help a light laugh. He, Kakashi, had a son. It was incredible. "Hey, Buddy." For that one precious moment, reality, the immediate future was forgotten. Kakashi could see his son and the childhood and life he wanted for him. His mother, teaching him her brilliant chakra control and how to make the rakugan they both loved, himself demonstrating the proper way to throw all the various ninja tools and introducing him to his ninken. "I'm your dad." A soft laugh stirred his drying pink hair. "I'm a dad."

When he looked back at Sakura, he felt his smile fall apart under the weight of reality. All the calm he'd managed, the strength he'd mustered for her, crumbled. Kakashi dropped his forehead to her temple, pressing his face against hers, her neck, her hair as he quietly let loose some of the agony he was feeling.

Aiko was talking to Sakura, but he couldn't hear anything beyond the ringing in his ears. She was fading away beneath him. When he'd looked at her, he could see her dwindling chakra. She had just given birth to their son, a child she loved more than he thought he could ever understand, and soon she would be gone. All that would remain of her in this time was a hungry, pink-haired infant and his broken heart.

"Kakashi?"

She needed him again. Taking a steadying breath, Kakashi slowly lifted his head. They were alone: Aiko and Genma had left. He wondered where they'd gone. "Hm?"

"I…" Her lips trembled as she looked at him, wounded by what this was doing to him. He wished he could reassure her, but now that he was facing it, he found there was nothing to say. Losing her was breaking him so much more than he'd imagined.

She turned away from him to focus on Kazuki. "Can you help me sit up, please?"

Something tangible that he could do for her. He gathered their pillows and helped her up, stacking them behind her until she looked comfortable. "There, is that better?"

"Yes, thank you." Watching her first—and only, he thought bitterly—attempt at nursing Kazuki, something he'd heard Katsuya say floated back to his mind. This Sakura was a clone. He tried to make sense of this. Something told him it was important, but he could not understand it. Her soft, tender voice demanded his attention again. "He's so perfect, Kakashi."

As she wiped him clean and kissed his fuzzy head, a small smile crept up his face despite how sad he felt. "Yeah, he is." Maybe she knew what her slug summons had meant. "Sakura?"

"Hm?"

Leaning in close, brushing his nose along her jaw, trying to memorize her scent. Would she smell differently in the future? How similar were clones? "What did Katsuya mean, that this body is a clone?"

She sighed. "Exactly that. We don't understand how. It must be some new, extremely stable kind. Part of whatever jutsu that sent me here, I'd imagine. Katsuyu said she thinks my real body, wherever it is, is likely comatose from lack of chakra… and maybe soul."

Hmm. A normal clone halved your chakra. Indeed, whatever had been done to Sakura was new. And somehow, this clone had been sent into the past. If that was true, her real body was somewhere in the future, waiting for this clone to expire. A small sliver of hope formed in his heart. "Do you think that means that when… when you—" He swallowed hard, unable to say it out loud. "Do you think you'll wake up in your real body, back in the future?"

She traced a finger along Kazuki's cheek and blinked back tears. "I hope so." Finally tearing her eyes away from their son, she gazed up at him, her expression heartbroken, green eyes wide with fear. "I'm scared, Kakashi. If that's what happens, my body will be so weak and I'll be alone with those men that kidnapped me. I don't want to wake up alone, Kakashi. What if they don't need me anymore after this? I don't want them to take me from you twice."

"Hey…" He wiped away her worried tears, kissing her softly and making a decision. "You won't be alone, Sakura. I'll follow you, I'll be there. I won't let them hurt you. I promise."

Relief flooded her face as he kissed her again and dropped his forehead to hers. "Kakashi?"

"Yes, Sakura?" He gently touched Kazuki's tiny fingers, letting them wrap tightly around one of his.

"I need you to promise me something, again."

He met her eyes, he was ready to promise her anything. "Alright."

She took a breath. "I need you to promise me that you won't ever leave our son, Kakashi. No matter what happens, no matter how hard it is, no matter how much it hurts, promise me that you'll always be there for him."

For just a second, Kakashi couldn't quite believe that she thought she needed to ask that of him. Did she think so little of him? Then he remembered his own father. Surely, his mother had loved and respected him, believing her son would grow up safe and happy with Sakumo. But when his life got too hard, he'd killed himself, leaving Kakashi alone and vulnerable to the whims of the village.

Kakashi had been suicidal for a long time. Sakura knew that. And while she knew the future, as she'd said the last time she'd asked him to promise her something, so far as she knew that was only one version. There was no way to be truly certain what would happen. Maybe she worried that if she didn't ask this of him, in one of the darker moments that were no doubt coming for him, he might give in as his father had.

It hurt that she thought he could do that to their son, but then… he knew she was terrified to leave him. She must have some idea how hard the next twelve years would be for him, and there was absolutely nothing she could do for him to make it easier. She must feel as helpless as he did.

Sighing, he gave in. "I promise, Sakura. I won't leave our son."

She sniffed and nodded, but instead of looking relieved, her face clouded with pain as she looked down at their son. "Oh Kakashi, I don't want to leave him." She choked on a sob. "How can I? It isn't fair. He needs me. You need me." She wept as she curled around Kazuki, kissing him everywhere she could reach.

She was right, it wasn't fair. Kakashi wished then that he could trade places with her. Their son needed her more than he needed him, surely. Having just given birth, her body flush with hormones and her heart breaking, their imminent separation was too much to bear.

Kakashi had had two years with her, their son would have less than an hour. Gathering her close, he pressed his face against her shoulder. She smelled like herself, like blood and salt.

With a sob, she turned in his arms and reached for his face. He kissed her palm and covered her hand with his.

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi. I knew… from the very beginning that this would happen. But I had to—" Another sob, her face twisted in agony. "—I meant every second, I love you so much, Kakashi. And I'm so sorry I have to leave you now. I hope… I hope you'll be able to forgive me."

Now he knew she was utterly lost to exhaustion and grief. There was nothing at all to forgive. He had chosen this just as much as she had. "Shh…" He kissed her once and tucked her under his chin against his chest. "There's nothing to forgive, Sakura. I told you, remember? I knew it was a risk and I chose you anyway." He wept into her hair, kissing her temple and holding her tight as if he could somehow keep her there. "I love you, Sakura. I promise I'll love our son too. And someday, I promise I'll be there when you come back to me, okay?"

She nodded, unable to speak. There weren't any more words to be spoken. So they stayed like that, her clinging to their son, Kakashi holding them both.

Much too short a time later, Katsuyu squirmed onto the bed and onto Sakura's thigh. Panic gripped Kakashi's heart and he tried to fight against it so he could hear what she was saying.

"I'm so sorry, Mistress." She sounded like she meant it. "I'm afraid you have mere minutes."

"No." Sakura reflexively tightened her grip on Kazuki, nuzzling her face against his head. "Oh…" With a heavy sigh, she looked up at him. "Kakashi, take him from me, please."

He didn't want to. He wanted to keep her in his arms, but that wasn't possible. Here, in these final moments together, Kakashi was strong for her one last time. "Okay."

Reluctantly, she handed him their son. "There, hold him like that… watch his head. His neck's a bit floppy." A watery, sad little laugh escaped her lips as she watched him hold Kazuki for the first time. He could see she wanted to smile, to enjoy this. It should have been a nice moment.

Self-doubt clouded his senses, blending with the panic. "Sakura I can't… I can't do this without you."

"Oh, Kakashi." She reached up with both hands, cupping his face. "You can. You're going to be the best dad any little boy could ever want." She pulled his face down for one last kiss. No amount of time would have been long enough, but too soon she pulled away. "And you won't be alone. I promise." He knew she was right, but at that moment it didn't matter. "I love you, Kakashi… so much."

He drank her in, memorizing how she looked in this moment. Her green eyes filled with love and fear as she waited for him to respond. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to her forehead. "I love you too, Sakura. I always will, I promise… I'll be waiting for you."

Sniffling, she nodded and dropped her eyes to their son, blinking up at her from his arms. "And I love you too, Kazuki, my precious, sweet little boy. I'm so sorry Mommy has to leave you, but I'll see you soon. I promise." Kissing him once, twice, tears dropping on his round cheeks and into his hair.

Then she lay back against the pillows, her body shaking slightly. "Katsuya?"

"Please summon me as soon as you are able, Mistress."

Sakura nodded. "I will. In the future. Goodbye, Katsuyu."

As her summons replied in kind, Sakura's beautiful green eyes met Kakashi's. "Goodbye, Kakashi."

And then, suddenly, just like any other clone, Sakura, his beloved wife, was gone in a puff of smoke.