Pain and Forgiveness
Kakashi…Tsunade, walked down the long empty hallway. Oddly, the sound of his heels echoing throughout the halls interested him. Although, his feet did hurt and his calves were killing him. Not to mention he was pissed.
And oh, he was pissed.
Sakura never failed to get herself into trouble. Whether she was caught up in enemy territory, or just smashing a strip club to pieces, there was always something that he eventually had to clean up. And this time, it was bigger than before.
He had to admit, Ren had a pretty elaborate plan. Okay, so it was easy to get the girl, then fool the girl. But to get the mom? Kakashi didn't know how he did it. Hanako doesn't like anyone…other than her husband, but she doesn't even like him all the time. Kakashi was known to be pretty charming with women. In and outside of bed. Unfortunately, Sakura's mother wasn't one of those women instantly attracted to his "charm". He didn't mind, of course. It was actually amusing to watch her fuss. But then to have a spy prance into their Village and be instantly liked by Hanako…he couldn't help but be a bit surprised, if not angry. Especially since it wasn't the only surprise of the night. Ren got Sakura, their stubborn teammate who kept her legs as tight as fists, to have sex with him. Whatever he did there, marriage proposal to be exact, he had to be pretty damn slick to get past Sakura.
Nothing ever got past Sakura.
So when he found out that Sakura was getting married to that jerk, he flipped. It was unnecessary and uncalled for, but he needed to tell her something before she made a bad decision. So in the end, Sakura figured out everything they told her was true. Though it was while her boyfriend had sex with her best friend, he couldn't sympathize with her. The hell he's put him through for the past, how many weeks? Have grated his nerves.
And tonight…tonight was the last straw.
She threw him into a table. And one would think, just what the hell did he do, when Ren was the one who deserved the beating. Ren, the one who was cheating on her. Ren, the sleazebag. Ren, the womanizer, got off easy. But Kakashi? Kakashi the teammate? Kakashi the friend? He's gotten beaten beyond compare, and tonight, thrown into a table, but Ren gets a love tap to the balls and runs away into the night. With Sasuke and Naruto on his tail, but that's beside the point.
Nevertheless, Kakashi didn't know what do anymore. He didn't know how he could act around Sakura anymore. It was getting unbearable. Here Kakashi was, searching high and low for their deranged teammate, to talk to her. Because that's all he needed. A few minutes of her time to sort out their dysfunctional relationship, if there even was one anymore. What with the way she left it, he doubted they could even touch where they were before. He sighed. She was becoming more and more complicated by the day, and he just couldn't keep up.
Walking over to the man at the desk, he cleared his throat.
"Moryou," He started in a different voice. "I need that door opened." The man at the desk shot up and bowed.
"Hokage-sama, I don't think that's a very good idea." Kakashi stood in front of the door.
"Now." Moryou scurried over to a screen and pushed a few buttons on a keyboard. The door swung open as air hit his face. He dismissed the warden.
His first thought was that since the door wasn't locked manually, she must've done something pretty illegal to get herself put in isolation. His second thought was that he hoped she wasn't that far gone when he saw her. It was imperative that they talked, so he had to get into that room by all means.
Even if it meant getting sent to jail for impersonating the Hokage.
"Sakura?" She was sitting calmly in a corner. That must've been a good sign, seeing that she was in isolation and you had to be about three types of crazy to be put in there. Her calmness meant she recovered from her mood, which meant it was easier to talk to her. Don't get him wrong, easier wasn't synonymous with easy, in this case.
They had sponge-like walls and floors that felt like he was walking on a mattress. They also didn't forget the straight jacket and shiny metal pieces. It seems as though they added more this time. They replaced her heels with rubber shoes, and instead of securing her arms around herself, she had a cube of foam around each hand.
"Kakashi, you need to leave." He sat behind her with his legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees.
"We need to talk." She rolled her shoulders back.
"You have nothing to say to me." He sighed. He knew this was going to be hard, but he had a feeling the conversation was leaning towards 'impossible'.
"I don't want you to be mad at what I did—"
"It's a bit too late."
"—I want you to understand." Her head turned slightly. He continued on. "I would never intentionally hurt you. I thought the dinner would make you see what we've been telling you all week." She now turned her whole body to face him and pointed a finger at his face. Her cheeks were red and puffy and her eyes were dangerously narrow.
"You didn't think at all! You never once took into consideration about how I felt!" He frowned.
"I did. That's why I set up the dinner. Because I care, Sakura." She glared at him.
"No. You don't. Not really." Kakashi pursed his lips.
"That's not true." He retorted, his eyes coming close to matching hers.
"You only care about the repercussions, Kakashi! The cause and effect! If I'm in a mood, or on a rampage, I'm going to take it out on you. You only really care about yourself." She scoffed and crossed her arms. Wisps of hair fell over her eyes as she broke their contact and looked down. "You know, I always thought that you sponsored me for Anbu because you wanted me to get better. I found out that Anbu who sponsor medics get more high-paying missions. And I thought, 'No. Kakashi isn't in it for that.' But now, in the light of recent events. You were. You only care about how things affect you." His eye twitched as he stood slowly and looked down on her. He didn't know why he did it because he knew she didn't like that. But at the moment, he didn't care. She was trying to get a rise out of him and he knew it. Sakura was trying to get Kakashi, the unemotional, unfeeling bastard, to provoke her. To do something. Because if he was mad, then she was mad. Everyone knew that everything was worse when Kakashi and Sakura fed off of each other's anger. And whatever happened in his mind at that moment, he felt like provoking her.
"You're not getting married." He bit out. He saw her shoulders tense and knew there was a grimace on her face beneath her hair.
"Shut-up." She growled, letting her hands grip her knees tightly.
"He's not in love with you." Her head shot up at this as her hands curled into fists. They dropped to her sides.
"Shut-up, shut-up, shut-up—" Her eyes were closed tightly as she continued to growl.
"Ren's gone,"
"Shut-up, shut-up, shut-up, shut-up—" Her voice ran deeper.
"And he's not coming back." He didn't know why he did it. It was the same feeling she got when Kakashi showed emotion. He loved making her angry. And he thought it was worth it, when she used her fists to push off of the sponge-like floor.
"Shut-UP!" Her fist swung for his face, but was stopped short. "Agh!" Sakura screamed in anguish. Overtaken by pain, she fell to her knees. She completely forgot about the contraptions limiting all chakra use. She grasped her fist tightly as her body shook. The only thing heard in the room was her heavy panting.
"Sakura—"
"Get out!" She looked at him through the wisps of hair falling over her eyes. When she saw he wasn't moving, she yelled again. "I said get out Hatake! Get out, get out, get out!" Finally, he shook his head and turned for the door.
"I came here to fix this, Sakura. Like I always do. If you would switch out of your damned tunnel vision, you could see that." The door opened before him and he paused. "And for the record, you didn't sign onto Anbu as a medic." He walked out and didn't look back as the door shut tightly behind him and locked.
"Hatake Kakashi," He turned to see two large Anbu operatives and the warden Moryou. Kakashi shifted his weight to one foot and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah." It would happen eventually, he knew this. The Anbu operatives started to walk towards him. "So…was it the fact that the Hokage walked in and I walked out, or did you see her somewhere else? Just curious." Kakashi added sarcastically with his eyes narrowed as he was grabbed by his upper arms.
"You are being escorted to the Hokage's office." One of the Anbu said. As if he didn't know. "If you resist, we will use force." This provoked another eye roll.
"I'm Anbu. I know." They started to push him forward. Kakashi jerked his shoulders forward to scare Moryou. He flinched. "To the Hokage's office." He said with false cheeriness and a raised finger.
His night just gets better and better.
Kakashi was often referred to as the intimidator, not the intimidated. No, he wasn't intimidated by the Anbu operatives. It was just that they were really big, and…that was it. He let his sandals slide against the floor as they half-carried, half-dragged him into Tsunade-sama's office. And of course, their revered Hokage currently had her head down on her desk with an empty sake bottle in her hand.
What a picture.
One of the Anbu operatives cleared their throat. "Hokage-sama," They said. It was sad because in all the time they spent together walking throughout the Village, he didn't get a chance to learn their names. And they already took the time to know his. Shame.
She used a hand to prop up her cheek and pushed aside the clutter on her desk. She rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes.
"Put him down," She said with a sigh. Kakashi smiled at both his captors.
"Thank-you, gentlemen." He brushed off his upper arms and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"Dismissed." She ordered with a wave of her hand. The Anbu disappeared between the floorboards. A large sigh emanated from her lips as she used her free hand to rub her temples. "And to what do I owe you the honor today, Kakashi?" She said in a tired voice.
"Well, I actually think I'm here for impersonating the Hokage." She didn't even blink.
"Why?" She closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the desk.
"I had to get into that room, Tsunade-sama. I needed to talk to her." He replied.
"I can't have you harassing my apprentice at odd hours of the night, Hatake." She said, her voice muffled by the fabric on her arms.
"It's only 10." She let her chin rest atop her forearms and frowned. "And I wouldn't have to harass her if she didn't set herself up." She opened an eye.
"What happened this time?" He ran a hand through his hair.
"Well—" She shot up and raised a palm signaling him to stop.
"Never mind. Whatever happened, it got you into a silk shirt and dress shoes. That alone spells disaster."
"Tsunade-sama," He sighed.
"No, Hatake. You need to find a friend so you can stop crying to me. I'm not even supposed to give a damn about your personal lives, yet it seems you're here every night about some problem you two have, and frankly, I'm tired of it." She ran a hand through her loose blond tresses and started to rub the back of her neck. "I can't help Sakura unless she wants to be helped. You and I both know she won't listen to any reasoning if she doesn't want to hear it. I should really just lock you two in a closet somewhere for a few days. Maybe the Village will be problem free. It's too bad you have a mission tomorrow…" She pursed her lips as if pondering the idea. Kakashi's slouch returned.
"What am I supposed to do with that?" He replied, foregoing all formalities. Luckily, she was drunk. She didn't even notice.
"Figure it out yourself. You're a Hatake aren't you? They're geniuses." He frowned. "And next time you want to impersonate the Hokage, can you ask me first?" She drawled.
"Hai."
"Now get out of my office." She started again, picking up her sake bottle and turning it over, only to find out it was empty. She replaced it to her desk with a thud. "This is my 'Off Duty' time you're taking up." He gave a curt nod and left her office. As he exited the building, he saw the swing out front, and wouldn't deny that he was a little disappointed not to see his pink-haired teammate swinging on it. Like the last time they were here. Together.
Kakashi is a very private man. He gives out what is necessary, and only takes in the essentials. He doesn't have many friends, and even the ones he does have don't know much about him. Half of them don't know where he lives. He doesn't see the need in making new friends, either. He's what, thirty-something now? It's a bit too far up the ladder for him to start trying to make more friends and connections. If all of this is true, why?
Why did he feel the desperate need to share his past with Sakura?
Maybe it was because she was so adamant on keeping it from him. Maybe it was because Sakura was heading down the road he once took. The road that scarred him forever. The road he was still on. Loneliness. She didn't want anyone to know what was wrong with her. She didn't let anyone see what was wrong with her. The only problem with that was Sakura was a very open person. If something was bothering her, she'd complain about it. If she was angry or upset, she'd yell. She would take out her anger on anything by any means necessary. It's not that easy to break a habit you've taken to all your life. So when she tried to hide her pain and suffering, Kakashi could see through her ruse. He could say that he caught on to her troubles quickly because he's seen people like her along the line, but the truth was that he's been there himself. It was just that the difference between the two of them was that Kakashi is better.
From a young age he was abandoned. Forced down the road of loneliness. It wasn't hard for him to adapt to the life of hiding himself and his true feelings. And it was because he chose to do that, he ended up like this. A broken, jaded old man with too many things under his belt. And it was because he was a broken, jaded old man, that he didn't want Sakura to do the same. So he told her everything. Things that even Gai didn't know.
Just because she didn't tell him.
This concerned him because he wasn't told a lot of things. He didn't beg to know them though; he just went on his way. Because it didn't matter, because he didn't care. And now Sakura was practically pushing him out of her life, and he just couldn't take it. He knew it wasn't because he told her all of his secrets. Sakura knew when things got personal, and she wasn't that vindictive as to sell out everything everyone wanted to know just because their friendship was over.
Despite everything she said, Kakashi cared. And he wouldn't almost get thrown into jail if he didn't care.
Sighing, he twisted his doorknob and stepped into his flat. That's why he didn't like walking home. He was left to his thoughts, and he sometimes got sidetracked. He was totally supposed to pick up some groceries before getting home. He let out another sigh and pulled off his shoes with one hand, and pushed the door closed with the other. He kicked them by door after pulling the last one off and walked to his fridge. Sadly, the only thing he had left was beer, and that wasn't food.
Despite himself, he took one out, closed the fridge with his foot, and uncorked the bottle. Walking over to his couch, he loosened his tie and pulled it off. He took a swig of the beer and used his free hand to unbutton his black dress shirt. How Naruto got him in a dress shirt and tie, he didn't know. Maybe it was the fact that Kimura wouldn't come if he wasn't dressed up formally. Maybe it was because he looked dashing in silk. Or maybe it was just because Naruto insisted. Whatever the reason, he was never going to wear it again. It was awfully restricting and not at all enforced with flexible fibers. What would happen if he were to get ambushed, right this moment?
He rolled his eyes. That would never happen. He threw his shirt to the other side of the couch and sat down. Taking another swig of his beer, he felt the burning sensation come on as the drink passed through his throat. If he just got drunk tonight, he could sleep, and worry about everything else tomorrow. But then again, he'll have a hangover before the mission. No…Sakura would fix that for him. But then again, Sakura would probably intensify the pain instead of healing it what with the status of their current relationship.
"I'm so screwed." He whispered to himself before taking another drink. He then heard faint knocking on his door and groaned inwardly. If his visitor planned on coming in, they were sorely mistaken. It was far too late for Kakashi to be entertaining, and to tell the truth, he just didn't have the energy.
Walking to the front of his apartment, he twisted the knob and opened his mouth, preparing his protest for the late night visitor.
"Saku—!" He stumbled back a bit as she fell into his arms. With furrowed eyebrows, his arms were still outstretched, not yet welcoming her as he felt the wetness of her tears on his chest. "Sakura?" He said again, clearly confused by her behavior.
"He's gone," She started, the sobs already audible in her voice. "He's not coming back." Her ruby red fingernails were digging into his back as she clung to him with all her might. He stood there, shocked, staring at his opened door. "H-He's not coming back." Her sobs were louder now, and her body was shaking beneath his fingers. His hands never moved to comfort her. He didn't feel the need to.
He was at a loss for words as she continued to cry.
"Ren!" She shouted. It seemed she was taking all of her feelings of frustration out on Kakashi as she started to bang her fists on his chest. Finally getting over his shock, he stopped her coming fist and walked her over to his couch and sat her down. He went back to the door, closed it, and started to pace his small living room.
He never stared at her for too long. It was a quick glance every few steps. Each time, his eyes narrowed further. He didn't know what to do. Yell? No, not yet. Scold? How old was she, 12? That was out of the question. So, he used a sentence that could portray his current confusion.
"What the fuck, Sakura." He said, loud enough for her to hear, but it was barely above a whisper. She lifted her head from her hands as he continued to pace. "What the fuck."
He didn't know what to do now. He got the sentence off of his chest, and other than pacing, he was at a loss. So he settled for smacking his lips together. He heard her start to sniffle and glanced over at her again. Her head was back in her hands. If they were going into a routine, why not continue pacing? He had a feeling that he was going to run a groove into his floor, so he stopped in the far corner, facing the wall. And he got an idea.
So Kakashi tried the tactic that didn't work at the Hospital.
"Do you want to talk, Sakura." He stated. He should've asked; it probably would've eased her nerves and the embarrassment she was probably feeling. But who was going to ease his nerves? His embarrassment? He fucking killed any chances of them having an actual conversation by feeding into her provocation. He took the bait. He told her Ren was never coming back. If she asked, he could say he was angry, but then she would know he was lying. Kakashi rarely gets blinded by anger and always picks his words carefully. With that in mind, it would make the situation even worse by saying he was angry. He cocked his head slightly.
He couldn't help the feeling of wanting to throw something. He couldn't help it. So he ground his teeth together and kept his foot on the floor in fear that if he started to pace again, he would stomp. And that would only serve to make her nerves worse. He had to think through her perspective. After trying to kill him, she came back to talk. That had to stand for something.
She slowly picked her head up from his pillow and bit her lip. She nodded. Her shoulders dropped and she sighed as she ran her hand through her hair.
"I don't think you can understand what I've been through." He rolled his eyes.
"This again," He whispered. He sat down on the coffee table in front of her.
"What do you mean 'This again'? I'm trying to tell you—"
"Yeah, but I already know. You were in captivity. You were tortured, beaten, deprived, all of that. You can't continue to use that as an excuse, Sakura! You have to get over—" She slammed her fists down into his couch.
"Where the hell were you?" She exclaimed.
"What?" He breathed, in shock from her reaction and clearly not understanding the question.
"Did you take your sweet time, knowing I was to be tortured, or did you want me to come out the same way you are now?" He jerked his head back. What happened to the Sakura that came to him crying? The one that was there roughly three minutes ago? She all but disappeared with remnants of the tears on her face.
"What the hell are you talking about? We came for you, Sakura." She tipped her head back and laughed. She put a hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter, but it only served to make it louder.
"Three months…That's a long time, Kaka-sensei. A lot of things happened down there that you don't know about. That I don't know about." Another laugh escaped her lips. "I've locked the best memories…the sweetest ones, away. Somewhere in the far corners of my subconscious. That's why I didn't sleep. You know what they say. The scariest things come out at night." He sighed, rubbing a tired hand down his face.
"What did I do, or what didn't I do, for that matter, that you have so much pent up frustration towards me?" When he opened his eyes, he watched the trail of a single tear, fall down her face and hang at her chin.
"You weren't there."
"I have to go." She said, looking at him through the corner of her eye as she grasped the doorknob. He slowly let go of her wrist.
"This can work only if you want it to. You have to let go." She opened the door. "I'll be here for you, Sakura. We all will."
"I… I have to go." She repeated. He watched as she swiftly stepped onto the porch of his flat and dashed down the stairs. It was in those few shocking seconds that she seemed to disappear. Out of sight, but most definitely not out of mind. He shut the door and inhaled sharply.
What the hell was he supposed to do with that?
She didn't say she wanted to mend their relationship. She didn't say they could go back to normal. She didn't even nod. He was baiting her with that sentence, he knew. Where was her usual 'I know'? That alone would've reassured him, or gave him some peace of mind. But she said absolutely nothing. The only indication he got that she cared was that she stayed a sufficient amount of time for him to be able to tell her what was on his mind. And then some. But that was it. He told her that he wanted them to go back to the way they were before. Before the complications, the kisses, and of course, the fighting. After that, she just stood. She walked slowly to the door, and that was it. No confirmation, no agreement, not even a nod. Just an 'I have to go.' Twice.
What the hell was he supposed to do with that?
He couldn't be only one who wanted to mend their relationship. He knew that they felt each other drawing farther and farther apart. The difference between the both of them was that Sakura was the one pushing him away. Kakashi lied… a lot actually. But he could be truthful when he said that this was most definitely Sakura's fault. Whether he brought this upon himself, he couldn't tell if it was a fact or false.
If someone asked him what happened tonight, he wouldn't be able to tell them. Now that, that was a fact.
It wasn't because it happened fast, either. Everything played out rather slow, actually. She came to him crying, screaming Ren's name, and then she yelled at him. And of course, they had another argument. She threw a few pillows at him, which hurt, because she decided to lace them with her chakra. She also broke a few of his mugs. Those were replaceable, so he didn't really care. But it was in the midst of their argument that she got a hold of one of his special edition, author-autographed, Icha Icha books, that he had to get her calmed down. And Kakashi found long ago, that when he started to talk about his feelings, it shut Sakura right up.
Exhaling a breath, he walked from his door to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Grabbing as many beers as he could handle, he walked back to his couch and set them on the coffee table. He took his unfinished one, pulled out Icha Icha, and took a swig.
It was going to be one ugly night.
He gritted his teeth as he quickly poured rubbing alcohol over his hand and bandaged it.
Sasuke knew he would do anything for Sakura. And it should be that way after breaking her heart, what, three times? It was better that way. And she would skin him alive if it wasn't. But he didn't do it out of fear, no. He did it because he loved her and he hated to see her hurt. Ren would've gotten way more than a punch if he were in Sakura's shoes. But he wasn't, and that was the problem. And he couldn't even really blame her for what happened, because, to tell the truth, Sasuke didn't see it coming either. Ren was treating her like he was supposed to, and Sakura was fine with it, so why shouldn't he be? So when he heard Kakashi talking about Ren sneaking around, he didn't really want to believe it at first.
Sakura was happy, and he was not going to be the one to ruin it for her.
But he still went along with Kakashi's plan. And it turns out, he was right. As right as he always was. Still, Sakura got hurt in the end, which seemed to be a pattern these days, and Kakashi got blamed for it, also a pattern. It wasn't anything particularly new, but it sure wasn't a welcomed thing. The hostility between his teammates, it was unusual. Kakashi couldn't win whichever way you looked at it, and from Sasuke's point of view, their friendship was practically over with how the night ended.
But technically, the night could be blamed on either one of them. Naruto decided not to act on his instincts. Of course, when the unpredictable ninja is needed for his instincts, he's not there. He saw firsthand how Ren acted at the beginning of the dinner when Kimura and Sakura started to fight. It should've been then that Naruto beat the living daylight out of Sakura's boyfriend. Pardon.
Ex.
If that happened then, he wouldn't have cuts on his hands or a black eye.
"Lucky shot, Ren." He muttered to himself. The Interrogator may be notable in Grass for his information gathering skills, but he was weak in the taijutsu department. He just got a lucky hit, is all.
All in all, the night was pretty normal. Except for Ren pissing off Sakura's parents, then cheating on Sakura, resulting in Sakura breaking a few of Ren's bones and trashing the Strip Club. And just for existing, she threw Kakashi into a table. Then almost biting his head off and damaging the security guard's ego in the process.
That was exactly how he wanted to spend his Sunday nights.
Kakashi never knows how to leave well enough alone, and in this case, well enough was Sakura's heart. But was Kakashi the one who chased down Sakura's ex-boyfriend in pursuit of revenge? No. Better leave revenge to the original revenge-seeker, huh? It would be way more suiting if Kakashi chased down Ren. He's used to taking care of Sakura's dirty work, including him, but now he decided he was going to duck out of this fight. He got to talk to Sakura, while he and Naruto got into a fight. And wasn't that just fun?
He shook his head softly, reprimanding himself. He was a bit salty, having a black eye as a reward for being Sakura's teammate, along with a boatload of cuts on his hand. And he should give Kakashi a bit more credit. Talking to her isn't as easy as it may sound.
Hearing the doorbell ring, he tightened the bandages on his knuckles, flipped the switch in the bathroom and went to cut off the television. Then, walking to the door, he twisted the knob and pulled.
"Sakura?" It was a bit too early for her to be showing her face when she was in one of her moods. And when she got over them too quickly, it was never a good thing. He took a subtle step back. "What are you doing here?" She let out a deep breath, and despite his inner protest, she stepped around him and stomped inside. He let out a sigh and closed the door.
She muttered something under her breath and plopped down onto the couch. Staring at the television screen that was still humming from its previous use, she turned to Sasuke with a blank expression plastered on her face.
"You were watching your infomercials again, weren't you." She stated. He opened his mouth to protest but she raised her hand, signaling him to stop. "That's not why I came here." Sighing, she pulled her knees to her chest, and propped her chin atop it.
"Are you okay, Sakura?" He took a seat beside her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Sadly, no. No, I am not okay." She unstrapped her heels and let them fall to the floor. "My boyfriend cheated on me, my father is pissed, and I don't even know what to do about me and Kakashi." He frowned. What was he, chopped liver? Surely Sakura's done something to piss him off as well. He should be on that list just as much as Kakashi was. Already tired, he grabbed the bridge of his nose to stifle the oncoming headache.
"So why did you come talk to me? I'm really not the person you should be going to for advice." She rolled her eyes.
"I know that. You're the only one available." He raised an eyebrow. "Ino's on a mission."
"Ah."
"Anyways," She started, smoothing her hair back into a ponytail with her fingers. "What am I supposed to do about Kakashi? I know I messed up—"
"Fucked up." She glared.
"Fucked up, but I really want to go back to normal. Way before I started acting like a bitch to him, and way before I met Ren." He sighed.
"I'm no Ino, but I think her response to this would've been along the lines of 'Have you told him this yet?'" She frowned.
"Well, no, but—"
"Therein lies your problem. Kakashi's a genius, but he's no mind reader. He won't be able to tell that from you storming out of his house." She huffed a sigh.
"I didn't storm. I was actually very calm." Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"For you to be calm, there must've been an argument in the mix. So tell me, did you stab him again, or did you just damage his property." She grabbed the pillow to her right and hugged it to her chest between her knees.
"Alright, Sasuke. Alright. I get it. I've been a bitch, I've been inconsiderate of his feelings, and I've been selfish. With all that happened to night…I just need some time."
"Time for what?" She grasped the pillow tighter.
"To heal." She inhaled deeply and let it out through her mouth. "How can I just drop everything and forget about him? Kakashi told me to let go, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Especially since I still lo—"
"Don't say that." Sasuke warned. Her eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm not going to lie, Sasuke. It's true. Even after tonight." She let her feet hit the floor and wiggled her toes through his plush rug. Her attention was focused on her feet to avoid seeing his face. "I'm not like you guys. I can't just bottle up my feelings."
"But you did, Sakura." She looked up at him to see his eyes had softened. "When you came back from Grass, you didn't tell anyone anything, much less me. You let your subconscious rule your mind. I have to admit, I was really scared for your wellbeing." Her eyebrows narrowed further as she glared. "I know what you're going through—"
"How would you know? How would you know anything!" She yelled. "I don't need you to be scared for me, Sasuke. I can take care of myself." She scoffed and grabbed her heels. "I should've never come." As she headed for the door, he grabbed her wrist.
"Stop, Sakura." Her head whipped around as she tugged at his grip. "We care about you. I care about you. That's why we're worried. That's why you came, isn't it?" Ignoring him, her eyes lowered to his bandaged hand.
"What's that?" She snapped, pointing. He released her from his grasp.
"Burns," He lied. "From a new jutsu I've been working on." Her eyes narrowed as her nostrils flared.
"Liar." In a swift movement, the bandages were off of his hand as her eyes widened. "What the hell is that?" He looked to the ceiling apprehensively, as if asking for his help. Shaking his head subtly, he walked back over to the couch and sat. He sat up straight on the edge of the cushion as a means to let his arms hang off of his thighs. He was being as careful as possible of the still-stinging cuts that adjourned both sides of his right hand.
She examined the bloody bandages and folded them together. She had no knowledge in the chakra burn field, but she at least knew a simple burn from a cut. And that, that was a cut. She followed him back to the couch and stood above him.
"What did you do?" She exclaimed with furrowed eyebrows. Those were nasty cuts, not to mention there were a lot of them, and they were bloody. More than 65% of his skin was gone, and the pink tissue that was left was bloody.
"I cut my hand." He stated nonchalantly. She had half a mind to slap him.
"No shit, dumbass!" She threw his bloody bandages on the table. "How did you cut it?" She feared his answer, despite her demeanor. He rolled his eyes.
"It was supposed to be a simple fist fight—"
"Sasuke!" Her voice was high-pitched as she placed both of her hands on either side of her temples. This solicited another eye roll from him.
"Those Grass bastards have no 'Man Code'!" He shouted back, pointing to the window. "You don't use jutsu in a fist fight!" She covered her eyes with her hands and lowered herself to his coffee table. He sighed. "He used this type of Grass native ninjutsu. It was a branch full of thorns, and I got my hand caught in it. Shredded my skin to pieces." Peering out through her fingers, she glanced down at his hand and the small puddle of blood he was creating on his hardwood floor.
She frowned and grabbed it, feeling satisfaction at the grimace he made. She pulled him after her and led him to the bathroom. It was really horrible, all the skin hanging off of his hand. If her memory was correct, she believed Sasuke left before they started to teach all the genin self-administered first aid. But still, Sasuke must've been in some type of pain to just leave it like that. He at least knew better then to just wrap up a wound. Frowning, she took the hose from its place by the faucet and turned it on. She sprayed his hand with the cold water and rinsed the tissue that was left, along with her now bloody hands. She looked back up to him and noticed a single tear run down his face.
"Sasuke…are you crying?" His right eye started to blink rapidly as he willed the tears, and the pain, to stop.
"No." She turned off the hose and touched her fingers to his eye. She snatched it away quickly.
"Why is your eye throbbing?" She examined her fingers and found they were apricot now. She grabbed the hose and aimed it for his eye. He took a few steps back.
"Don't." He said, holding his hands up. Her eyes narrowed and she beckoned him to her with the hose. When he was close enough, she took a hand and forcefully rubbed it down his eye. He flinched. When she examined it, it looked as if his skin was smudged.
"So…am I missing something? Because it would be a real bad look if my ex-boyfriend turned gay. Not that I would have anything against you if you were gay…you know, this explains a lot." He shook his head fervently.
"N-no, no, no. You've got it all wrong. You see, I'm not gay." She cocked her head to the side.
"Explain the make-up, or I'm pulling up my dress." He sighed and rubbed the rest of the make-up off.
"Sakura, I have a black eye. To save face, I put on your concealer. Just until I could have it healed." She sighed.
"You really have to place your words more carefully, Sasuke." He rolled his eyes and extended his hand for her to finish the healing. She grabbed it.
It was silent for a while, Sakura was focused on her work, and Sasuke was focused on her. Why? He was clueless. What can he do for his friend? She's the type of person who likes to handle things alone, and this time, he just can't let her. Mostly because her personal health is at stake. What Grass did to her was devastating. What Ren did to her was horrible. What he did to her was horrible. And to see their beloved teammate's brightness wither…well, it wasn't a beautiful sight. He was scared for her when she didn't eat. He was scared for her when she didn't bathe, or wash her hair. He was scared her when she started to lash out on Kakashi, the one she was closest to. When she didn't smile as much, when the crying came in abundance, and especially when she didn't seek anyone out for help, that was when he was scared the most.
He wasn't there for her. That was the problem.
Naruto was there for her when Sasuke went off on a quest for revenge. Kakashi took her under his wing and sponsored her for Anbu after he broke her heart. They became closer, and Sasuke watched. He wasn't there for her while she was in captivity, Ren was. He got closer to her, while Sasuke was forced to sit in the Village and wait. Now that she's here, now that she's available to him, it was his turn. He couldn't watch her go down the road he went down. Not when he could stop it.
She caught him staring at her as she dried his hand. She reached for a washcloth, put it under warm water, then placed it on his eye.
"What?" She asked, removing the make-up from his face.
"I just want you to know that we would do anything for you. We can't stand to see you hurt. You're not the only one with a temper and thin patience." It was his idea to find Ren, but he wouldn't tell her that. "I want to help you, Sakura. I really, really do. But you have to want my help for this to work." She sighed and dropped her hand.
"I don't know how to let go, Sasuke." She whispered, placing her hand on the side of his face as her healing chakra traveled to his eye.
"You can't just stop loving someone, Sakura. One thing you can do is accept. Accept and forgive." She looked into his eyes.
"Accept what?"
"Everything. That he took your virginity, pissed your father off, and cheated on you." She frowned.
"That's a hell of a lot to accept." She muttered under her breath. Then she sighed, and removed her hand from his face to search his medicine cabinet.
"Look at it this way." He started as he let her re-bandage his hand. "Your virginity is something that should've been long gone. You're a Ku—" He stopped himself as she looked back at him. Remembering what happened to Kakashi when he used that derivative, he corrected himself. "Ninja, and missions like that are very high-paying. Now that you've gotten it out of the way, you're field of expertise is widened.
"You are your father's only child. And I have a feeling that since this is your first fight with him; it'll blow over pretty quickly. And lastly…" She tightened the bandage and looked up.
"Lastly?" He flexed his hand.
"Maybe the Gods just wanted you to know that Ren wasn't the one. You know the old proverb, 'Everything happens for a reason'. I don't know, I'm not Ino." She frowned; figuring his advice was what she didn't want to hear. "One thing I do know for sure is that once you accept, you can forgive." He said, patting her arm as he moved around her and out of the bathroom.
"How would you…" She trailed off and followed him to the bedroom. She watched as he pulled out a key.
"I've been down that road once before. I don't want you to follow." He said with sad eyes. That brief display of emotion was soon gone as he pursed his lips. "Are you staying?" Her shoulders dropped.
"Well I don't want to go home…" She muttered under her breath. He took the key and jiggled it through doorknob.
"Good." He pulled open the door as a wave of musty air hit her. "Remember the conversation we had about my eyes?"
"Sasuke…one question." She said raising a finger with an arm held under her chest. A confused look was briefly on his face before he nodded his head slowly.
"Yeah?" He replied unsure. She put her finger down and placed her hands on her hips.
"Do you blink when you have your Sharingan activated?" His eyes narrowed as he leaned forward.
"…Why would I?" She groaned and smacked a hand to her forehead.
"Sasuke," She groaned. "You always have to blink to keep your eyes moist and clean. When you don't, your eyes will get infected!" He rolled his eyes.
"It's a Sharingan. It doesn't get infected." She plopped down into the chair by the cabinet.
"And you have to ask me why you're going blind?" He frowned. "Look, in some areas, your chakra channels are using more chakra than usual to keep your eyes uninfected, thus, preventing the blindness from spreading. And then you activate your Sharingan, and more chakra is used to power that. On top of all of these factors, you don't blink. That's why you have chronic bleeding when you overuse your eyes. They're working too hard." She shook her head. "Keep this up; I'd give you about…half a year, at most." He told her that his vision was becoming a problem. He could brush it off before, but now, it was something he couldn't ignore. It was inevitable for him to seek help from her.
When he opened the adjourning door, she didn't know that he would've kept her medical room the same way it was two years ago. Albeit a little dust here and there, but it looked as though he managed it regularly. That was good because she had totally forgotten when they broke up, and it would've been a real hazard if it wasn't kept in top condition. Especially with all of her medical supplies and samples.
"So what do I do?"
"Blink, you bastard." Another frown. "I know it's going to look weird. Most Sharingan users don't blink at all. Take Kakashi for example. But most of the time, he either has his eye covered by his hitai-ate or closed." He rubbed a hand down his face. How was he supposed to blink with a Sharingan? It wasn't normal, and it was very uncommon. His brother didn't do it, so why should he? But that would be a bad counter-argument because he brother was nearly blind before he died.
"Are there any alternatives?" She sighed. He wasn't going to blink, and she knew it. Sasuke didn't do anything he didn't want to do, and they both knew that if Sasuke was blind he would function the same way, if not better, than he did when he could see.
"I could give you eye drops to take over intervals, and it would have to be very strict if it's going to substitute for your blinking. But then again, that wouldn't be very ideal for the battlefield. Your only other option is for me to put in a special request to an optometrist and get an order of contacts for you. This'll provide moisture to your eyes so you don't have to blink, and you'll be protected from outside infections." He narrowed his eyes as she finished.
"Do you still have your contacts?" He asked as she nodded. Sasuke was the first one to notice her vision just wasn't what is used to be. Maybe it was the fact that she accidently mistook Sasuke for Kiba while he was only a few feet away. But she was lucky. Her contacts were only needed for battle because they enhanced her vision and made it sharper, and she could wear her glasses whenever needed. Tonight she just needed her contacts to avoid her mother worrying about her vision if she were to wear glasses. That would immediately spark an argument about Sakura getting killed in the midst of battle because her glasses broke and she couldn't see. Typical.
She reached a hand to her eyelid and used two of her fingers to pull it wider. She used the thumb and index finger of her other hand to carefully slide the lens to the whites of her eyes and picked it up. She blinked a few times and extended her hand to show Sasuke.
"Your eyes will be irritated the first few times, but you'll get used to it." She repeated the same procedure with her other eye. When she had them in her hands, she took a Petri dish out of the cabinet beside her and placed her contacts in them.
"Can you reverse the process?" He asked, speaking of his blindness. She shrugged her shoulders.
"I'll try to reduce the amount of chakra being pumped to some areas and level it out between the chakra channels that run through your eyes. But I don't want to go into this blind; I'll do a little bit of research. If you can get me some of the medical files of your clan members who went to the Hospital for going blind, then I might be able to help you." She answered with a smile.
"I really appreciate this, Sakura." She nodded as she waved her hand.
"It's no problem, really. Now, if that's all, I'm going to retire for the night." He pushed off of the cot and followed her out of the room. Locking the door, he turned back to her as she walked over to his closet to see if he saved any of her clothes.
"Are you packed yet?" She started to move hangers aside and uniforms out of the way as she searched deep into his closet.
"Packed?" She said loudly. He walked closer and crossed his arms.
"For the mission, Sakura." She pulled her head out of the closet with some strands of her hair standing on end. In her hands was a pair of shorts and a tank top. She placed them on the chair beside her and started to slip out of her dress.
"Mission?" She said, kicking the material from her feet and started to put a leg through her shorts.
"To Yugakure?" She grabbed her tank top from the chair and pulled it over her head. She combed her fingers through her hair and put it up in a ponytail.
"Oh, that mission." She started nonchalantly. "I'm not going on that mission." Sasuke narrowed his eyes and leaned forward.
"What do you mean you're not going on the mission?" He asked. She walked to the kitchen and he followed her. She shrugged her shoulders and opened his fridge.
"I don't know," She remarked casually, taking a bite out of a muffin, "I'm just not going." She turned around to look at him and saw that there was a frown on his face and his eyes were squinted.
"Sakura, they asked for you specifically. You can't just not go!" She rolled her eyes and went back to his bedroom.
"I can do whatever I want. I just had a relapse with my mental health, so I don't have to go anywhere without having a signed release from my physician saying I'm fit for another mission." Sasuke sighed exasperatedly.
Her attitude was really getting to him.
"Sakura, are you okay?"
"For goodness sake,"
"Are you sure? Because—"
"For the last time, I'm alright!" Sasuke sighed as Sakura plopped back down on the bed. "Can I please go to sleep now?"
"I really want us to talk about this before you go to sleep." She pulled the covers to her face and groaned. She gave him one little compliment about his advice giving skills. You give him an inch, and he takes a mile. "You said you wanted help with you and Kakashi's relationship.
"I know, and I still do. I just don't know what to do." She said, the dejectedness not hidden in her tone. She sighed. "I don't know, Sasuke. I just don't know." She sat back up and smoothed her messy hair back into the ponytail. "I've been taking him for granted since I came back, and I've been so hostile towards him the past few weeks. Kakashi is so damn annoying, but I really want to repair our relationship. Do you want to help me with that?"
"…So you dislike him, but you want to be…friends? I'm not catching your drift here." Sasuke said as he rubbed his shoulder.
"He's the one who cleans up all the shit I get into. So yes, Sasuke." She rolled her shoulders back. "If that answers your question, it's about midnight, and it's time for the both of us to get some shut eye. Especially since you have that mission tomorrow," She finished with a wink. Sasuke rolled his eyes and started to pull his shirt over his head. Sakura raised her eyebrows and put a palm up.
"Whoa there, hot stuff. What are you doing?" Sasuke's eyebrows were furrowed as he threw his shirt into the closet.
"I'm going to sleep." He drawled. She rolled her eyes.
"Well, obviously. A more accurate question would be: Where are you going to sleep?" He slid into the bed beside her with his jonin pants still on, and pulled the covers just above his waist.
"In my bed, the bed that I'm being nice enough to give you privileges to sleep in, which is in my house, the place that you are also staying tonight." She tugged on the covers and he glared.
"Couch." She demanded with the pointing of her manicured digit. He scoffed.
"You wish." She snatched the rest of the covers off of him. He sat up angrily and threw her a pointed look.
"Then at least go to the guest room." She grumbled.
He pointed to the ceiling. "My house," Then he pointed down. "My bed." She frowned. "Sakura, look. I know we're not dating anymore, and I'm not going to spoon you in your sleep. Just relax." She huffed a sigh and lay back down on the bed. Sasuke did the same, only with his back turned away from her.
"I'm serious, Sasuke." She whispered to his back. "Keep your hands to yourself, because I'm sure you wouldn't want a repeat of last time."
"You spooned her again, didn't you." Kakashi deadpanned.
"I'm pretty sure she started it," Sasuke retorted as Sakura walked dutifully behind him. Naruto snickered as he waved a hand in front of her dazed eyes.
"What do you think she's going to do when she wakes up?" He added, enjoying being able to put his hands in Sakura's face without getting them broken.
"If we just lay her down, I guess she'll be alright." Sasuke replied unsure. Kakashi rolled his eyes and pulled out Icha Icha Tactics.
"Yeah. You guess. Because that always turns out right." Sasuke frowned.
"You know, she was going to skip the mission today. Something about a 'Relapse' in her mental health. Total bullshit." Kakashi looked back at Sakura. Thankfully, Sasuke at least had the decency to dress her up in standard jonin wear. Even if they were his.
"I wouldn't blame her." He replied as they walked into the building beside the Academy.
They walked up the many spiraling stairs to their Hokage's office. Sasuke, every few seconds or so, continued to look back at Sakura with a worried expression on his face. Maybe she'll be forgiving. Maybe he can laugh it off and reprimand her for thinking he was gay.
"Kakashi-sensei, look at Sasuke! He looks like he's going to throw up!" Sasuke turned and shot Naruto a glare. Kakashi knocked on the large double doors. He heard a faint 'Come in', and turned the knob.
"Hatake, you're here early. How'd you sleep?" She added sarcastically.
"Like a baby, Hokage-sama." He replied cheerfully. She rolled her eyes and peered around Sasuke.
"I understand you must've done something horrible to put her in a trance, but this meeting can't go on without her."
Sasuke's shoulders visibly dropped.
He repositioned his shoulder and took in another shaky breath.
Sakura was just so evil. She was a vindictive woman, he should've learned that ages ago. She was mean, and horrible, and just plain nasty. What did he ever do to make her come out like that? Okay, so he left for a few years, and maybe she harbored a bit of hate for him because of that, but he thought they were over that. At the exchanged, he bore all. She told him her feelings, and he told her his. That was the last step for Sakura to let go of their past, and truly forgive him. So what were they doing now? Reliving the past, he'd say. More specifically a 20th birthday party.
He felt the need to sigh, but he was sure that would hurt way more than the release it was supposed to provide.
He regrets his decision. He should've just taken the beating at home instead of being humiliated in front of his teammates and their Hokage. It would've saved face and she wouldn't be that vindictive as to make him walk all the way to her office with another black eye, broken jaw, dislocated shoulder, and two fractured ribs. Those of which he was sporting now. If he didn't have that nasty blow to the head she gave him, he would've figured out at the beginning that his fractured ribs was the reason it was getting so hard to breath. And pay attention to whatever Tsunade-sama was saying about their upcoming mission. He didn't care though. If no one in the room cared that he just got beat up by a woman, who is in fact way smaller than him, then they can brief him later.
That's just how vindictive he was feeling at the moment.
So he quietly separated himself from the group and went to a corner in her office. He wanted attention and he wasn't going to listen until he got it.
"Since you don't have to be there until—Uchiha! Stop being such a baby and get your ass back over here!" Or until he was ordered by his Hokage. He slowly walked back to the group and made sure to stand as far away from Sakura as possible. He was left with Naruto, who thought it would be funny to poke him in the ribs and giggle. The bastard.
"As I was saying, you four don't have to be there until Wednesday. Since you're not getting paid because of that Grass stunt you pulled, I was nice enough to put a little of that money towards a ferry and a nice hotel." There was a 'Yes!' from Naruto. "Kakashi will go over your itinerary later. You are to leave in approximately two hours. Dismissed."
"Sakura-chan, I'm famished." Naruto whined as they left the building. She shrugged her shoulders.
"What do you want to eat?"
Sakura stirred the cold noodles with a chopstick.
The tension at the table was unbearable, and everyone felt it. Everyone except Naruto, who was obliviously gulping down his ramen noodles. Sasuke didn't order anything because he wanted attention for acting like such a little bitch. Kakashi sat to her left, and she already knew his noodles were long gone and he sat turning the pages of his porn every few minutes. There was tension, and she hated it.
She didn't know how to go about fixing it though. The main problem, sitting on either side of her, clearly had nothing to say. How would she talk to Kakashi? They weren't exactly back to normal with the way she left his house. So, since he wasn't at fault here, she decided to make the first move.
She placed a hand on Sasuke's thigh and he turned, a look of confusion on his face. He soon felt her chakra seep into his body and start to repair what she broke. It was only a few minutes later that her hand moved to his face since she could relocate his shoulder herself.
When she was done, she moved to lean on Kakashi shoulder, who immediately tensed upon contact. She placed a hand on his thigh and squeezed.
"Kakashi, I—"
"We can talk in private later." He said, giving her one of his sincere smiles. She shook her head.
"But…" He patted her shoulder and stood.
"Just pretend for now, Sakura. You're the best at that." She sighed, knowing that he meant what he said. She slapped Sasuke in the back and stood as well, ignoring the look he gave her.
"Come on, Naruto. We have to go to my house to pack." Naruto lifted the bowl and hurriedly drunk the rest before jogging to catch up with his teammates.
"So, what on earth did Sasuke do to get beat up…again?" Sakura folded her hands behind her back as Sasuke frowned.
"None of your business, loser." He grumbled.
"I told Sasuke before we went to sleep to keep his hands to himself. I woke up, and he was all over me. It was like a repeat of my birthday." Naruto started to snicker, and Kakashi, seemingly uninterested with his book in place, perked up at this.
"What happened on your birthday?" He asked, a grin in place.
"Stay out of it, Dobe." Sasuke warned. Sakura clicked her tongue.
"I was drunk, you know, I turned 20. But he didn't drink much alcohol and I made sure to tell him not to take advantage of me. I woke up half naked, and he was still all over me." Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"And that was the last time." This earned him a punch in the arm. He flinched; that was he dislocated shoulder. "I still need to be briefed."
"No. It was your own damn fault. You wanted to act like a bitch and stand in the corner, you can figure it out yourself." Kakashi chuckled as they walked up the steps of Sakura's apartment complex to her door.
"Now Sakura, that's not very nice." She frowned and took the key from under the mat.
"So what is she going to be? Movie star, dancer…what?" Kakashi clapped a hand on her shoulder as she reached around him to put the key in the lock.
"No, no, no. Our dear little Sakura-chan is going to be…a Prostitute."
"And all of you are okay with this?" He exclaimed, pacing back and forth across her bedroom. She dug further into her closet and stuffed another pair of Ino's heels into her pack.
"Sasuke, it's okay." She yelled, her voice barely heard beneath her clothes and uniforms. "I'm familiar with the job." His eyes widened.
"Familiar with the job? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Naruto rolled his eyes as he turned another page in one of Sakura's gossip magazines.
"It means that she knows how to act like a Prostitute. Duh," He never knew how interesting 'Who slept with who' or 'What movie star did what' would be. Now he finally gets it.
"That doesn't make it better." Sasuke finished with a sigh as he plopped down into her single armchair. Sakura appeared out of her closet with frizzy hair and a pair of red stilettos.
"Sasuke, look." She started, putting them into her bag and zipping it up. "I've done this in Anbu. It was for a mission, and now I can use it for this mission." Kakashi, who's position didn't change since they got into a room, pulled out a life-size poster.
"Who's that?" Sasuke said, pointing.
"Haruka Tan."
-Flashback-
"So…I'm going to be a…"
"Prostitute."
"A Prostitute. Okay." She looked back down at poster in her hands, then back up to Kakashi. "So this Prostitute…me, what's my name?" He leaned against the dresser of the hotel they were staying in.
"Haruka Tan." She nodded and looked back down to the poster. It wasn't long before she raised her head again.
"So my name is going to be Tan?" Kakashi rolled his eyes.
"Prostitutes do things differently. First name first, last name last." She scoffed.
"That is so dumb." She took a quick glance at the poster and decided it wasn't half bad. Her photographer was a shady character, though. He was a small greasy man with a bad comb-over, but he clearly knew what he was doing. He had Sakura die her unusually pink hair another unusual color, cerulean blue. He also painted her toenails blue. He gave her artificial fingernails and long fake lashes that actually looked nice. She was sporting a leather jacket, similar to what Kiba usually wears, and a red g-string that matched her lips. The jacket, however, was too tight and too small, so it barely zipped and made her bust appear way bigger than it actually was.
He really knew what he was doing.
The pose however, she didn't exactly agree with. Both thumbs were hooked into the g-string, with one side being pulled down, showing more of her toned stomach. Her back was slightly arched and one shoulder was raised higher than the other. Her head was cocked to one side as the fan off camera blew her hair around. A slight smile that said 'I want you' was all over her face. All in all, it was pretty decent. For a Prostitute.
"Do you want to know your mission?" She looked up at him.
"What? Oh, yes please." He pulled a scroll out from one of the pockets of his flak jacket and opened it.
"Kumo has a civilian ambassador sleeping with underage women from other countries. This will mess up many alliances, so the Raikage has asked for the Leaf's assistance. This is supposed to be a silent assassination, so it came to me. But, they want no trace left behind, so of course, that meant poison. And who else is better with poison than you?" She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.
"Flattering, Captain. But if I do say so myself, I have the feeling that a size 6 g-string was what got me this mission. This could've easily been done by you." He smiled.
"That, and the fact that blue is just not my color." A pillow was aimed for his head. He easily dodged.
"Stupid man."
-End Flashback-
"At least Sakura told us she was living a double life," Naruto said nonchalantly as he bubbled in an answer for a 'Does he love you?' quiz. "What a teammate." Sasuke placed a hand over his eyes.
"So what are our names? We can't go as Naruto and Sasuke, that'll attract attention." Kakashi sat up as Sakura folded another dress.
"Naruto, you're Kumaji, and Sasuke, you're Sai." Sasuke's head jerked back.
"The replacement teammate? You couldn't think of anything better?" Sakura turned to him, offended.
"Hey, he was here, and you weren't. Deal with it." Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"I was short on time, and you're names are the closest. It'll be easier. For example, my name is Hatashi." Hearing Sakura's pack being unzipped again, he furrowed his eyebrows. "How many hooker clothes do you have?" Ignoring him, she stood and stretched.
"The Daimyo thought that Kakashi and I should be the ones dating, but Shishou argued that me and you already dated so it would be easier to get back into the role." She popped her neck and Kakashi cringed.
"So what are we doing here?" He asked as she moved to sit on the bed.
"You're my boyfriend, but I'm going to cheat on you with Yuuki. Naruto is your best friend, and Kakashi's my brother. Kakashi is supposed to occupy Mei while I have an affair with Yuuki. In the end, I don't know how it's going to turn out, but all I know is that the Daimyo wants the wedding off." Naruto shook his head.
"He doesn't love her anyway—"
"Would you get out of my magazines?" She exclaimed. He frowned, and put it back into the box he found it in. Not before slipping another one into his vest.
"If you're done, can we go now?" Naruto whined, suddenly bored now that he didn't have the magazine to occupy his time. She unzipped the flak jacket and pulled the jonin shirt over her head.
"Yeah, you guys go on ahead. I have to change, so I'll meet you at the gates." She stepped out of the pants and tossed them to Sasuke. Naruto slapped a hand over his eyes as Sakura bent over to pick up her skirt. She fixed her hands behind her back to unhook her bra, but then turned and gave a pointed look to Kakashi and Sasuke. "Um, in private? Geez." She rolled her eyes as they hurriedly left the room. "Bastards." She muttered, throwing her bra in the closet and grabbing her mesh shirt. After that was on, she grabbed her overcoat from its hanger and put her arm through it. She found it smelled faintly of cinnamon, and the sleeves were just a bit too big.
She tensed as her eyes widened in realization.
'He's still here,' She thought, feeling a sharp pain in her chest.
"Sakura, are you okay?" She turned to the speaker and quickly wiped a stray tear off of her cheek. She then smiled.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She removed the jacket and threw it deep into her closet. Finding her own, she slipped into that and put her pack on her shoulders. "Kakashi, were you spying on me?" She said, amusement in her voice.
"On you?" He scoffed. "Not my type." He followed her out of the bedroom and to the door.
"You're not exactly 'Mr. Charming' either." She said, closing and locking the door behind her. They started their trek down the stairs of her apartment complex.
"Where are we going?" He asked. The Village gates were in the opposite direction, and she didn't look like she was about to turn around.
"I'm just going to Ino's to pick up a few of her clothes." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued to follow her.
"I'll go with you." She stopped in her tracks.
"You really don't want to see her closet, Kakashi." He narrowed his eyes, not believing her one bit. She placed a hand on his upper arm and squeezed. "Go. I'll be fine, I promise." She finished with a smile. He sighed and turned around.
"Ten minutes, Sakura. Or I'm coming to find." She broke off into a run.
"Okay!" She yelled back. He released another breath.
He didn't mean to pry, but Ino's house was in the other direction as well.
One floor, blue, two windows in front, deadbolt lock. She raised a fist and knocked three times on a white door that wasn't there previously. Probably because the previous door was destroyed on a rampage.
She heard footsteps and took a deep breath as the knob was turned. She was greeted by a smile that quickly fell. Hers didn't falter.
"What are you doing here?" She knew she was unwanted, and it wasn't just because of the surprise and clipped tones not hidden in their voice. Gathering her bearings, she folded her hands behind her back and inhaled sharply.
"TenTen. I know we've had issues with each other in the past. And I know they started because of me." She brushed her bang aside. "I knew you liked Neji, and with the Spring Festival coming up, you two were destined to go together. But I had no date. Sasuke was still revenge-stricken. With that in mind, I went to your birthday party with a plan. I decided to spend the night with Neji. One thing led to another, and…he kissed me. He asked me to the Festival instead of you.
"I was 16 and selfish. Everyone had a date. Even Naruto could get anyone he wanted to go with him. That event alone caused all of this hate between us." Sakura smiled again and extended her hand. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" TenTen narrowed her eyes as the door was slammed in her face. The wind blew her hair back and she nodded.
That was all she needed. And with amazing clarity, she felt better. She wiped her eye and smoothed her hair back.
"How long have you been standing there?" Kakashi jumped from off of the roof and landed behind her.
"You were always best at the masking technique." She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her overcoat and began to walk as Kakashi fell into step beside her.
"I'm a medic. If I can appear dead, I should at least be able to mask a little chakra, or tell when chakra is being withheld." He nodded as she started to kick pebbles that came across her path.
"What was that about?" She shrugged her shoulders.
"I used to think that she started it. She slept with Sasuke, so I hated her. But I stole her date. I was the one who created this mess." Kakashi jerked his head back.
"She hated you because of a date?" She rolled her eyes.
"Kakashi look, we were all turning 17, and the Spring Festival would be the first grown-up Festival we got to go to. If you didn't have a date, you were cursed to stay that way for another 17 years." He blinked.
"Is that true?"She let out a small laugh and pushed his shoulder.
"No, you Baka. It's just another myth we made up as kids." She let out a deep breath. "I thought that maybe if she could forgive me, everything could go back to normal. But it's not just about that. It's about me letting go. By accepting the fact that I stole her date and she slept with my boyfriend, I could forgive her. A huge weight has been lifted off my chest." When Sasuke told her to accept, she thought it to be impossible. How could she forgive someone who did something horrible to her? But it was Sakura who did something horrible to TenTen. The hard part would be accepting what Ren did to her. "I can't let go, Kakashi. I'm not going to be able to do it."
"That's Bull." Her head whipped around to face him.
"Where did that come from?" He hasn't said that since forever. And it warmed her heart to hear it.
"You told me yesterday that you wanted to go back to normal. To the bets, the racing, just plain old Kakashi and Sakura. So I'm going to help you let go." She bit her lip as he continued to look forward. "Ren was the only one there for you in captivity. That's true. It's because of that fact that you harbored hate for us, your teammates, because we weren't there for you." Her eyes widened.
"That's not true! I can't—" He raised a palm.
"Let me finish." She closed her mouth as he stuffed his hands back into his pockets. "You cried for us every day, and we didn't come for you, Sakura. So you clung to Ren. There was a little part of you that hated us for not holding true to our promise of coming back for you." He knew the tears were to come sooner or later. Her lip was faintly quivering and her focus was on the ground. "Your mind won't let you accept that we came back for you. You couldn't see us; Setsuna covered your eyes. You didn't know that we escaped because you were unconscious. Your mind is making you think that you're still in captivity. That's why you killed Grass at the Exchange. That's why you fell in 'love' with Ren. Your mind isn't connecting with your eyes. What you're thinking isn't corresponding with what you're seeing.
"Forgive us, Sakura. Forgive me, forgive Sasuke, and Forgive Naruto for not coming for you in time. When you forgive us, you can accept what Ren did to you. You can forgive him because you won't care about him. Because you'll know that we're here. That we'll always be here." Tears were streaming down her face as she nodded vigorously. She put her hands over her mouth to stop the sobs from escaping as she felt the wetness trail down her hands and arms.
He watched her cry for a few minutes, but she soon used the sleeves of her coat to wipe her tears from her face. They've long since stopped walking towards the gates and she was leaned on a tree while he stood in front of her. He heard heavy footfall as Naruto and Sasuke dropped in front of them.
"Where have you been, Sensei? You were right behind us!" Naruto had an orange ring around eyes, telling him that he had to use his Sage Mode to find them.
"Shut-up, Naruto." Sasuke warned, seeing the slight puffiness of Sakura's face. He didn't know what happened between that period of time, but he just hoped that she didn't see Ren.
"Alright everyone, it's about time that we got going. We've got about thirty minutes to get to Otafuku Gai or we'll miss our ferry."
"How long has she been in there?" Sasuke asked, leaning over the railing. Naruto sat a little ways over in a corner, indulging himself in the magazine he borrowed from Sakura's room.
"Since a little after we got on the ferry." Naruto replied, flipping a page. He didn't know what was wrong. Sakura hasn't told him anything lately, so he was just going to go with his instincts and say she was on her period. It was as good as any guess. Sasuke frowned.
"Kakashi, I think you should go check on her." He was propped up against the railing with one foot on the floorboards and the other foot balanced against the bar.
Sakura was getting better, and he was sure everyone could see it. She made conversation on their way to Otafuku Gai and to the Port. She smiled more, laughed more, hell, she even teased them a bit. But after they boarded the ferry and checked in, she retired to their room. No one has seen her since. Now, it was a fairly large boat. Anyone of them could easily sneak off without the other knowing. But Sakura, as a means to avoid confusion, would at least come and tell them before going off to enjoy many off the free amenities they received. Seriously, Tsunade-sama splurged on their tickets.
He pushed off of the railing and walked across the deck to the other side, tugging at his heavily layered scarf. He started down the steps. Hearing noise, he stopped abruptly on the landing before their floor.
"Sakura?" It could be anybody, really. But their room was closest to the landing. He continued to walk and reached into his pocket to pull out a key. He jiggled it into the lock and pushed the door open. "Sakura?" He repeated. She was sitting cross-legged in front of the bed with a picture frame smashed in front of her, another picture in her hands. The room was a mess.
"I'm so sorry, Kakashi. I'm so, so, sorry." She took a deep breath and choked it out as tears fell from her eyes. She was a mess. The hair that wasn't in a ponytail clung to her face. Her cheeks were rosy and her lips were bruised. How many times has he told her not to bite them? His eyes trailed to her clenched fist.
"Sakura, you're bleeding." He closed the door and rushed to her side. He wasn't a medic, and his view of first aid was a bottle of beer, a needle, and some thread. Basically, he roughed it. So he didn't know if he was helping or hurting her when he opened her hand and pulled out the shards of glass embedded in her skin. He snatched his fingers back as her hand started to glow green. "Whoa." The deep cuts in her skin were soon closed and all that was left was dried blood. If they weren't in such a serious situation, he would comment about how cool that was. He shook his head lightly and turned his attention to the picture in her hand as she continued to cry.
It was their team.
The most recent picture of them, to be exact. It was sometime after Sakura's birthday. They had to take an updated picture of their squad as equals. This time, it was the truth. They were all in their standard jonin uniforms. Kakashi and Naruto were on the ends, while Sasuke and Sakura were in the middle. Kakashi had his hands stuffed in his pockets, while Sakura, who was next to him, had her hands on her hips. She was gushing of course, standing beside Sasuke, who had his arms folded across his chest and the usual smirk in place. Naruto was as carefree as ever, slapping a hand on Sasuke's back with a grin on his face. He barely remembers taking that picture. Probably because that was back in the happier times. When everything was as it should've been. Kakashi withdrawn, Sasuke dating Sakura, and Naruto a best friend to them both. Now that things have changed…
He looked in front of her where the smashed picture was. This one was of her and Ren. He remembers that outfit because that's what she wore when she blew him off for rock climbing. His eyes turned back to her.
"You came for me, Kakashi. You really, really came." She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her closer. "Thank-you for coming for me." She inhaled his scent deeply. The scent that smelt faintly of wood, with a hint of spice. The scent that she's become accustomed to. The scent that warmed her, that made her feel like everything was alright again. This scent accompanied a person who was dearest to her. One who cared and did everything damn well possible to bring her back. This scent accompanied the person who saved her from her own demons. She released the breath through her mouth and smiled.
"Kakashi?" She asked, one hand gripped the back of his neck, the other held onto his hair.
"Hm?"
"I forgive you.
Well, it's finally up! It took a lot of editing, and a lot of starting over. The computer that the original chapter was on crashed, so I had to go back to my old one and revise it again. Sorry for the wait though, hopefully the next chapter can be up faster. Clash is still ongoing; I won't put it on Hiatus. It just won't come as fast as it used to…so don't hold your breath. Seriously, you might die. Review please!
-Keoo19