Chapter 32

The next couple of days passed slowly for the couple. By the morning of the third day, Kakashi had begged and pleaded for Sakura to allow them to leave the cabin and go on a hike or anything that would allow him to get this built up energy out. The bodyguard refused at first, but eventually relented and agreed that it might make the day pass by if they wandered around the property.

She guided them towards the lake that she had mentioned in so many of her childhood stories once they were ready to go. Kakashi was in awe with just how beautiful the property was as he looked around them. It was so much more to actually see it in person in comparison to how she described it in her stories.

"You know, we never came to the cabin in the winter. I've never seen it frozen before." she said when they arrived.

It had snowed the night before so the area had been covered in a fresh layer of fluffy snow. It crunched beneath their feet as they walked along the shore hand in hand.

"It's quite beautiful." Kakashi replied, "Maybe when this all blows over and things get settled, we can come here a couple times a year? Experience every season."

"That sounds nice." she mumbled quietly, "I'd like that."

Kakashi could hear the hesitation in her voice and knew exactly what it meant. They hadn't really talked about life after the fact. What would they do once her assignment was complete and she was no longer working for his company to protect him?

'I think it's time we should talk about it…' he thought to himself, 'We can't ignore it forever.'

"Sakura, about that…" he started as he looked over to her and found her already looking up to him, "We should probably talk about what's going to happen when the investigation wraps up."

The bodyguard looked away and ahead as they slowed to a stop. He watched as she looked out over the frozen lake and struggled to find her words.

"What do you think is going to happen?" she asked.

Kakashi continued to look at her as he spoke.

"Well, once the investigation is done, your assignment is done. I guess we should figure out together what will happen after that. Are you going to leave for another assignment and this becomes a long distance thing? Are you considering staying here with me and maybe leaving your job? Or working within the business? I don't know what you may have in mind, Sakura, and I don't want to make assumptions." he explained to her.

Sakura just released a sad sigh at his words, a small frown found its way to her delicate features.

"You obviously know I can take care of and provide for you, Sakura. You can leave your job if you'd like and have no worries." he carefully pointed out.

"I can't quit my job." she immediately replied.

Kakashi bit his lip and nodded at the answer. He expected that.

"So are you okay with this becoming long distance then?" he asked next.

There was a couple seconds of silence as Sakura's face looked as though it had twisted in pain from the question.

"No…" she managed to get out in a quiet whisper.

It was his turn to sigh quietly. She didn't know what she wanted at this point either.

"Then what do you have in mind?"

"I don't know." she whispered again, the slight crack of her voice slipping through, "I don't think I could ever leave this job, but I can't stand the idea of not being next you like this all the time."

He just squeezed her hand in his for reassurance.

"I've been thinking about this choice since the moment we got together. I figured that in time, an answer would come to me naturally, but one hasn't… I feel awful. Are you mad?" she said next.

He blinked at the surprising question.

"Me mad? Why would I be mad?"

Sakura just gave him a half hearted shrug.

"You want me to stay, right? You're probably annoyed that I'm not giving you a straight answer and that it should be an obvious choice that I quit to be with you. You said so yourself, that you can provide and take care of me if I left my position." she explained.

He just sighed again as he shook his head at her.

"I'm not mad. But I'm not going to lie and say that I don't want you to stay, because I do. Yes, I can take care of you and we can be together like we are now. But, I'm not mad that you're unsure if you want to leave your job or not." he spoke softly to her, "I know you love what you do and the satisfaction it gives you. I don't want to force you to stop doing that because of me and my selfish wishes. It's your choice in the end and I'll support whatever path you want to take."

A small smile came to her as the weight of his words settled in. The pinkette removed her hand from his and made to step in front of him as she wrapped her arms around his midsection and rested her head on his chest. He felt himself relax at the affection and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

'I don't want her to feel pressured to please me.'

"I love you." she spoke first as she buried his face into the fabric of his coat more, "I don't want you to think that just because I can't make up my mind, that I don't care about you or us."

"I know and I love you too. We still have some time to figure it out." he replied as he kissed the top of her head, the fuzz of the pompom attached to her hat tickling his face as he did so, "Let's finish this walk and day on a good note! Okay?"

Sakura took a step back then and smiled up to him before they continued their walk. Sakura told him more stories and he told her a few of his own in return as they meandered around the dense woods before calling it good and returning back to the cabin to warm up before he made them dinner.

Later that evening, Kakashi watched as Sakura set up the disposable phone they had bought a few days prior. It was a few minutes before eight and they were both anxious to make contact with Shikamaru. They were both sitting at the small table that sat near the wood stove to stay warm. The hike took more out of them than they anticipated and where wanting to call it an early night.

They had finished a simple dinner of BLT's not too long ago and passed the remaining time talking about the next few days.

"We're half way through finding out if we can return home or not." he stated as he sipped at his mug of coffee, "Don't get me wrong, I love being here, but I wish it was under other circumstances."

Sakura just hummed in agreement as she snapped the cover back over the battery and flipped the small phone in her hands and pressed the power button. The sound of a series of pings making a simple tune signalled the device was coming to life.

"I just hope the reception out here is decent enough to make a call." she mumbled as she studied the phone with a slight furrowed brow, "I didn't think about that when I organized this plan."

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

Another soft hum left his girlfriend then before she looked up to him with a warm smile.

"Let's hope. What time is it now?" she asked.

Kakashi sat down the coffee and moved to pull back the sleeve of his sweater to check the wristwatch on his left wrist.

"It says 7:58 p.m. now."

"Awesome, I'll call down."

Sakura dialed the phone number and hit call before she pressed the speaker phone option and sat the phone onto the table. The sound of ringing filled the room and the tension grew with each passing second. After the fourth ring, he picked up.

"Nara."

Kakashi felt his shoulders drop as relief flooded him. He never knew hearing the man's voice would be a source of comfort.

"It's Sakura." Sakura spoke back calmly, "We're safe and sound at the location."

"That's amazing to hear. It's been a stressful three days here."

"What's the damage from the bomb?" she asked next.

Kakashi stared hard at the phone due the pause before he spoke.

"When Minato discovered the package, security was able to get all civilians far enough away in time. He and a couple of other officers were hurt in the explosion, but nothing life threatening. Mostly bumps and bruises and Minato suffered a broken arm from flying debris. He'll need surgery."

"What about the building?" Kakashi spoke for the first time as he asked his own question.

"Ah, Kakashi! It's good to hear your voice, man. Don't worry, the building is in good standing. Your office is, well, it's not an office anymore, that's for sure. The actual explosion wasn't that big." he lightly joked, which the CEO appreciated, "The floor above and below your office received minimal damage as well. The entire floor has been taped off and repairs have already been lined up and scheduled to start after the investigators and bomb squad are done with their investigation. Senju Securities had a small army it seems search every square centimeter of the building for anything else and came up empty handed."

Kakashi was thankful to hear the building was safe, but grew annoyed at the empty handed comment.

"Do they know who brought in the package and how it managed to get by the heightened security check?" Sakura asked next.

Kakashi took a welcome drink of his coffee as he listened to the two people talk.

"Not a single clue. The system magically glitched at seven sharp and came back online at exactly eight thirty. Giving whoever delivered it enough time to get in and out without having to rush."

Sakura's face twisted into an angry scowl at the information.

"Have you spoken with Tenzo?" she asked, the irritation clear in her voice.

"No one has seen or heard from him since the evening before the explosion. They went to his house and found nothing and that he had left his phone and car behind. They've already gotten warrants and have seized all computers and hard drives from all his known properties. They haven't found anything yet."

Their eyes met at the news. How could there be nothing? Before either could reply, Shikamaru continued to speak.

"Ms. Senju decided to go ahead and has teamed up with police and began searching for him the moment he couldn't be located and the warrants were granted by the judge with zero issues. So we're already two days ahead of schedule on your plan, Sakura."

Kakashi just watched Sakura as she processed through everything the advisor had said.

"Good." she spoke confidently, "We are still going to remain at the location until the next scheduled call in four days. You can use those two extra days and hopefully he can be located and questioning begin by then. We'll contact you in case of any emergencies."

"Sounds good. I'm glad you two are safe. Later."

After that they hung up and silence filled the air for a long time.

"It was him, wasn't it." Kakashi whispered after a while, "It had to be for him to magically disappear like that."

Sakura continued to stare at the cell phone with a blank expression.

"I usually like it when my hunches are correct, but I don't like it this time. I should've acted sooner. I started to think it could be him doing this way back in December, but dismissed it since he seemed so passive. His personality didn't match our profile. I should've just taken him out then."

Kakashi reached out and grasped her hand tightly in his.

"Don't dog on yourself so hard, darling. You said it yourself, you had to gather sound evidence against him before you could act on that hunch. Sakura… You've done an amazing job so far keeping us safe. I would have never been able to think of a plan this intricate like you've done." he reassured her.

Sakura squeezed his hand back then and shot him a thankful smile.

"You're right. I've wo-" she started to speak, but stopped when the power suddenly cut out and the room was engulfed into darkness.

He felt Sakura release his hand as she stood up and walked around the table and towards the door.

"Sakura, wh-"

"Shh!" she whipped around and shushed him from talking.

When she turned and took another step, the door was suddenly kicked open and a man stepped inside.

"Hey!" Sakura yelled as she lunged at him to disarm him, but he rose and swung down the base of the gun and connected it with her face with a sickening thump. She crumbled onto the floor into a heap without another word and stopped moving.

"Sakura!" Kakashi yelled as he stood to rush to her side

"Don't move another inch or I'll shoot her." the man finally spoke.

Kakashi froze in place as he stared down at his unconscious girlfriend. His heart sank when he saw a small puddle of blood pool onto the floor from somewhere under her head. He couldn't see her face to see exactly where she had started bleeding from.

"Don't hurt her." he whispered as he looked up to the man, "I'll do whatever you want, but please promise me you won't hurt her. She was only doing her job."

Kakashi suddenly recognized the blonde haired man. It was the same one who had slammed into their car the other month and shot at them. The same man that had gotten away because he stopped Sakura from apprehending him. It was like karma was playing some sort of sick joke on him now.

'I can't let him win…'

"Hands up and follow me." the man spoke next as he pointed the rifle from Sakura to him, "If you try and run or do anything I don't like, you can say bye-bye to her."

He just swallowed thick at the command before he raised his trembling hands in defeat. He stepped around Sakura's unconscious body and the man took out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed them behind his back before he pushed him out the door of the cabin. It was pitch black when he stumbled down the steps of the porch and onto the path. The snow was falling heavily. He could make out the outline of a vehicle parked next to their SUV.

'He arrived with the headlights off and when we were distracted by the phone call. How were they able to plan for that? No one outside her, I, Shikamaru, and Tsunade knew about the call. Or anything involving this place.'

Suddenly a gunshot echoed through the night from behind him. He dived to the ground when he heard as the guy shouted in anger.

"What the fuck?"

Kakashi rolled over in time to see Sakura marching down the steps with her hand gun drawn up as she fired another shot at the guy.

"You damn bitch." he shouted as he quickly moved away and dodged the second bullet.

Kakashi watched as he swung the rifle towards him, but another gunshot echoed and the rifle in the hitman's hand was struck and he dropped it. The CEO stared in awe at the scene as he laid there in the snow before another shot fired and he watched the man jump back away from him.

"Stay away from him." he heard Sakura command as she approached them, "You move a muscle and you won't like the end results."

Kakashi remained speechless as Sakura made to stand in front of him as she kept the gun aimed at the hitman. Snow was beginning to fall even more heavily around them. He sucked a breath in when he saw the trail of blood running down the side of her face.

'She's hurt…'

"Hands up and behind your head." she spoke next and the guys arms flew up and into place.

"Back up is coming. You can't get away now." the blonde man smirked as they stood there.

'How did they figure out where we were?!' he thought.

'How the fuck did they find us?!' she frantically thought.

"Then I guess that this means my interrogation is going to be quick." she smirked before she glanced down to Kakashi, "Are you okay?"

The man nodded a few times and made to get up off the ground. She realized his hands were cuffed and she frowned. She had been knocked out for a minute before she woke back up and realized he was gone and grabbed her closest gun. Facing back to the other man she jerked her head towards the cabin.

"To the cabin. Now. Kakashi, you stay behind me."

She quickly located the key in the man's pocket while keeping the gun pressed to his head and got Kakashi freed.

"Grab the rope from my bag." she instructed him quickly

A minute later, Sakura had the man sitting in a chair as Kakashi brought the rope and a roll of duct tape to her. She made quick work of apprehending the suspect as Kakashi kept her hand gun pointed at him. Turning back to face him, she made eye contact with him and mouthed the words "I'm sorry." before she quickly walked over to the fireplace and grabbed the shotgun and crowbar she had placed on the mantel.

She watched as surprise registered on his face and she avoided any more eye contact with him as she continued with her plan and stood in front of their hostage.

'I can't believe he has to see this side of my job…' she thought as she brought the crowbar above her head and struck it down across the guys right hand and screwed her eyes shut as his scream pierced through the room.

Sakura felt something change in her then. Like a switch had been flipped. She was suddenly so angry that her mind went blank. Her fight or flight was on overdrive and it was stuck on fight. She was going to fight hard.

"Where did you plan on taking him?!" she screamed as she raised her foot and knocked him over in the chair.

She stepped over him and cocked the gun and pressed it against his forehead.

"You fucking bitch!" he yelled as he tried jerking away and breaking free from his restraints.

Sakura pulled the gun away and raised her foot and stomped down onto his manhood with all her might. He screamed and withered in pain.

"Tell me!" she shouted again, "Where did you plan on taking him?! You were going to take him to Tenzo!"

The blonde haired man only continued to cry in pain.

"Answer me!" Sakura screamed again as she took clear aim of his head.

"I won't tell you a fucking thing!" he spat at her.

The pinkette just smiled as she moved the gun and fired it, destroying his left knee.

"Argh!" he screamed again as all pain from his privates was forgotten and refocused on his bleeding and destroyed knee.

"How about now?" she bit out, "Or do I have to blow your other knee too? Or the elbow I shot the other month? It's probably nearly healed by now, right? Man, that would suck if that got messed up again!"

"Sakura!" she heard Kakashi call out to her, but she ignored him.

The man just stared up at her in horror.

"You're fucking crazy!"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh out loud at him.

"I will take my job seriously and I will protect my client! However, my client is also my boyfriend and the love of my life. So, you my friend, you have gotten a raw deal. Why? Because now I will take any and every measure necessary to protect and save him." she said as she rose and pointed the crowbar behind her and towards Kakashi, "Now answer my fucking questions!"

No reply came as he continued to stare at her while glancing down to his bloody knee.

"I don't have all night, damn it!" she shouted as she cocked and fired another shot and blew out his right knee.

"We planned on taking him to the old Root headquarters in South Konoha!" the man screamed, "That's where Yamato is and that's where he plans on killing Kakashi! We were supposed to kill you here."

'Yamato?'

Sakura just slumped her shoulders and sighed. She let the gun drop to her side, the guy wasn't going to be moving any time soon she reasoned.

"See, was that really that hard?" she scolded him, "Now you better tell me everything you know. Your cooperation will help you in the end. Do you know why Tenzo is doing this?"

He just shook his head as he laid there in pain.

"No, I don't. He hired me just before Christmas to off you and Kakashi when you guys came back from vacation."

Sakura just pursed her lips as she listened closely. Everything seemed to line up with her timeline of events. But why did the guy say a different name?

"Why did you call him Yamato?"

The injured man just stared at her and when she raised a brow he flinched slightly.

"That- That's what he called himself. He said that his name is Yamato, not Tenzo!"

The bodyguard pursed her lips before she quickly glanced over to find Kakashi equally as surprised to hear this name change.

"Who else was here? At the headquarters? How many? Names? How many other people does Tenzo have working for him in this?" she asked question after question.

The failed assassination just groaned for a second as he closed his eyes.

"You talk too much."

Sakura cocked the gun again and he flinched violently in response.

She felt Kakashi's hand on her shoulder and she forced herself to remain focused on the bloodied man on the floor.

"I drove here alone! Kakuzu and Hidan are coming to take him away in a van. I-I don't know how many others exactly he has working for him! I think there's maybe fifteen or so of us?!"

Sakura dropped the gun then and leaned over and grabbed the man by his shoulders and started pulling him back up until he was sitting up again. He cried out in pain as she lifted him up, but ignored it.

"What are you doing?" he whined as he hunched over in the chair.

"Leaving." she said as she turned and finally faced Kakashi.

The look on his face said it all. He had seen probably the most violent side of her. She had warned him that she would go overboard and he sadly got a front row view.

"Kakashi. He's not going to bleed out, but he isn't going anywhere. We need to leave now."

He just nodded as she walked by and together they went into the room. She grabbed a backpack they had bought when they stopped for supplies and started filling it with a few clothes and ammo.

"Dress warm. Wear layers, both shirts and pants. Quickly. I'm grabbing some food and then we're leaving."

She walked out to the kitchen and grabbed the bags of jerky she had bought and glanced at the blonde man who had been silent since they walked away.

"He'll find you… He'll always find you. You can't hide from him." he chuckled quietly.

Sakura just ignored him as she reached over and grabbed the cell phone and threw it in the fireplace as she walked back into the bedroom.

"Sakura…" Kakashi spoke quietly when she walked up next to him and stuffed the food into the bag and started dressing herself in layers. She noticed Kakashi hadn't even dressed himself yet.

"Get dressed! We need to leave now before the others come." she mumbled as she holstered her handgun to her side before she zipped up her jacket.

The sound of a car door closing a couple minutes later jerked her from her wandering thoughts. She and Kakashi looked at each other before he turned and grabbed the backpack and she turned and shut the bedroom door and locked it. She grabbed the other gun she prepped for Kakashi off the bed and readied it as she walked to the window and silently motioned for him to follow.

They didn't have to exchange words as she quickly opened the window and Kakashi crawled out into the pitch black of night and she quickly followed after and closed the window before turning and together they ran hand in hand into the edge of the woods as the falling snow changed into a blizzard.

A loud bang came from behind them as she realized they broke into the bedroom and she heard muffled shouts from two men.

"The woods!" they heard them scream as one opened the window, "They ran off into the fucking woods!"

She felt Kakashi squeeze her hand as they ran as fast as they could in the storm and maneuvered through the dense woods.

"We'll be okay." she whispered as she pulled them in a different direction, "Do you believe me?"

"I do." he replied as he squeezed her hand again.

A/N: Hello! Long time no see, eh? Sorry! I was a big kid and got a big kid job and I work full-time once again. I still write nearly everyday, but it's not as long as I used to do. So chapters are a little slower to complete. However, I wrote some ahead so hopefully this will allow me to post more regularly instead of once a month!

Okay, so, a lot happened in this chapter. What do you guys think of 'true bodyguard Sakura'? I wrote about how she was ruthless, but never really showed it. There's a reason she's #1, y'all. ;) What do you think is going to happen next? So many ideas are swimming in my head, ehehehe.

Thank you as always to Taytay95 for being an amazing beta and friend. She's been dealing me randomly messaging her to review things and bounce ideas off of her for nearly two years now, baahah. Seriously go check out her stuff, she's rewriting her first major kakasaku story and if you're a fan of Avatar: TLA she's writing a captivating zutara story!