She woke up...

She woke up and I didn't respond to anything she said, almost instantly going to get a nurse to which she stopped me. Apparently she had actually been awake for hours. Maybe if I hadn't snuck past the nurses this time I would have known that, but regardless, Sakura was finally awake and I had a boulder fall off my shoulders. I thought I lost her, thought I got her killed and it had been weighing me down for months. Not to mention the strange thoughts and dreams I had been having.

Every night I would come to the hospital when nobody was around and sit with her unconscious being for hours, sometimes falling asleep and leaving in the early morning before anyone arrived. Only once did Naruto get in and find me passed out in the chair, to which he loudly woke me up and I left reluctantly.

Truth be told the dreams I had felt so real they hurt some days. The thoughts plaguing my mind were impossible but somehow pulled me to try and do better for the pink haired woman laying in that bed. I felt this dying need to protect her, not that I hadn't done so before as her Sensei and a friend, but this was more than that even if I didn't want to admit it to myself.

"Kakashi, what happened to me?"

I didn't have an answer...I wasn't sure what she remembered or how badly her mind had been altered by the events that took place. The explosion that changed everything as we knew it, the man with the makeshift eye and lab created jutsu's left a trail of ruin that day. Not only effecting Sakura, but all of us. I should have known he would come for me one day. It was too long since he last did and I was careless to have assumed he was gone after our last fight.

For now, what mattered was making sure Sakura was alright and getting her healthy. Three months is a long time to be unmoving in a hospital bed and her road to recovery wasn't going to be pushed aside, especially by Tsunade.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about all of that right now. There will be time to talk later". I squeezed her hand tightly, not ready to let go. "We need to get you back to good health and then we can discuss whatever we need".

She didn't like that answer, which was clear on her face. "I'm in good health, I was already told about being found in Lady Tsunade's office, and about being missing. I just need to know if anyone knows what happened between the accident and then".

"Sakura...I don't know. Nobody knows and we were hoping you had something you could tell us when you came around, but you don't remember, do you?"

She laid her head back against the pillow and looked at the ceiling. "No, I remember hitting my head and waking up. I mean I have fuzzy sounds, words, and dreams sometimes, but nothing that would make any sense".

I understood that in a way, because of my own dreams lately. Was it something to do with the jutsu? Maybe that man had something that altered thoughts or—

"Why are you here, Kakashi? I heard what you said. You come here every night...why?" She was looking at me again, her bright green eyes full of confusion and desire for answers that I honestly didn't have.

"I failed to protect you. As your Sense—as your comrade, I should have done more. I was just thrown off by what was going on that I hesitated and it almost cost you your life. For that I'm sorry, Sakura".

She scrunched her face in confusion. "What was going on that threw you off?"

Now was my turn to be confused. She remembered the tree hitting her and the explosion, but not me stumbling upon her about to kiss the imposter posing as me in the woods? So there was a big lapse in her memory...that would need further investigation, but I knew I had to give her something, so I explained that we had been on a mission and we were ambushed. I left it at that, hoping it would jog some sort of memory.

"So the explosion that took out the trees was caused by a single man? That's some intense power. Did we get him?"

I shook my head. "No, unfortunately the blast took both of us down. I didn't get hurt as badly as you did, but he got away. He was gone by the time Naruto and Sai got to the area, but so were you".

That didn't help with anything. Her mind was clearly trying to make sense of the disappearing act. I assumed I had been knocked out for so long that she wandered off to try and find help, but then days passed and we couldn't find a trace of her. It was just as much of a mystery then as it was now.

"I wish I had answers for you, Sakura". I sighed, letting go of her hand finally. "We'll take time to sort through memories and work with Tsunade to try and bring something forward but for now you need to focus on recovering, getting in tip top shape so you can come back to us".

She nodded, looking back at the ceiling. I sat there for a few minutes in silence before standing up. "You get some rest, I'll make sure Tsunade knows you're awake so she can give you a full evaluation in the morning".

"You don't have to go..." Her voice said in a hushed tone after I had turned around to leave. Something pulled at my chest hearing those words. The phrase I heard before in one of my dreams coming right from her mouth tripping me up and stopping me in my tracks. "I mean, I don't really want to be alone right now..."

That's all I needed to hear. I turned back and found my seat next to her bed. Her hand turned up waiting for me to take it again, which I did. It seemed like she relaxed once our skin touched which made me smile. "Rest now, Sakura. I've got you".