Disclaimer: I, Darkpetal16, do not own Naruto.

Warning: This chapter is 50% angst and 50% comfort. Then we'll be back to happy and love.

"I saw a dumbass put a water bottle in the pringles holder on the treadmill at the gym."

-Anon

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Feathers fell gently around us, and I felt the genjutsu wanting to take a hold of me. I immediately dispelled it out, disliking the feeling of foreign chakra inside of me. Kakashi dispelled it over Naruto, and Naruto lunged away from him, his eyes wide as he watched Gaara begin his transformation into Shukaku.

Hinata dispelled the genjutsu over Lee and Shikamaru, and Kakashi barked orders at Naruto to stay back.

"But look! Sasuke's going after Gaara!"

"Shit," Kakashi breathed, then looked at all of us. "Okay, everyone but Sakura, you need to bring Sasuke back."

'Why is he sending so many?'

He might think this is a chance for Orochimaru to attack Sasuke.

'Then why won't he go instead?'

He's a Jōnin. He has to protect the civilians first. Genin don't have that rule, yet.

He wasted no time in summoning Pakkun, and all of them exchanged glances before they followed the cute pug.

"What do I do, Sensei?" I asked him.

"You're coming with me and you're healing the civilians," Kakashi said. "Stay close. When a medical tent is set up, I'll take you there."

"Okay!"

Kakashi and I leapt off the balcony and climbed up to the massive sleeping population above. There were countless shinobi fighting one another around the civilians, and several enemy shinobi tried to kill the helpless civilians. It seemed like the Otogakure shinobi goal was not to kill the Konoha shinobi, but to slaughter the civilians.

The unfortunate truth was that not every civilian could be perfectly protected by our shinobi.

Chūnin were ordered to begin the evacuation, but they could only carry so many, and civilians didn't have the natural resistance to genjutsus that trained shinobi and kunoichi had. Breaking them from a genjutsu would take time—time we did not have—and even if they were broken, there was no guarantee they wouldn't cause more trouble by panicking.

Gai met up with us soon, and the two of them fought off many nameless enemies while I worked to save what lives I could. When I healed someone, I carried them over to a small pile, so they were all packed tightly together and it was easier for Kakashi and Gai to defend them. It was...

It was very different than any fight I had been in.

I wasn't fighting for my life. It wasn't a glorious battle between two matched opponents.

It was—

It was a slaughter. The Otogakure shinobi did everything they could to try and cut our population. In the distance I could hear screams and explosions rock throughout our village and I knew the invasion was going on elsewhere. It wasn't kept to the arena.

The people that I saw today was only a small portion of the people in danger.

The atmosphere was thick and uncomfortable, and more than once I reached a civilian whose heart no longer beat. Eventually, though, all civilians were cleared out (dead or alive) and Kakashi herded me off to a medical tent set up in one of the safe zones.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

It was well into the night before I was turned away from the makeshift medical tents that had been set up. Per Kakashi's orders, I had remained on the grounds offering my medical assistances to all those around. Throughout the day, and on into the night, I had remained there.

I did not see either of my teammates since Naruto left after Sasuke, nor did I see Kakashi since late afternoon.

Hanako Suzumi, chief surgeon at the shinobi hospital, had been in charge of my tent. She had taken note of me, and then sent me on my way home since I had been up for well over twelve hours. She said she would send for me, if needed, but otherwise I was to rest and not return until I felt one hundred percent.

My body ached as I made my way through the destroyed streets. It was disheartening to see such destruction. Streets I had become familiar with were badly damaged, with entire roofs gone. I didn't see any bodies, though, which made me feel grateful that the clean up crew had worked quickly. The village would prioritize rebuilding essentials (hospitals, roads, etc) before they rebuilt the houses. Those whose home was destroyed and did not have anywhere else to go would be given shelter at the community center below the Hokage's tower.

Most people, though, had family to turn to around the village and likely only a handful of families would have to stay there for the week or two it took to rebuild their home.

As I neared my home, I stumbled upon seeing the neighborhood.

'Was Sakura's neighborhood hit in the original story, as well?'

Suddenly feeling anxious, I hurried to my home and—

My breath caught in my throat.

It was a nice, quiet little home that had been filled with pictures, doilies, and flowers. It was well used, and lovingly cared for.

There was a hole in my home.

There was a hole that left a gaping, angry wound throughout my home.

The front door was off its hinges.

Stepping inside, my boots crunched on broken glass shards. There were gouges on the walls, chunks of wallpaper missing or drooping depressingly, destroyed furniture... I felt as if something icy was clutching at my neck, and my body moved stiffly, as if guided by some unseen force.

There was a smell.

A smell I had grown familiar with.

And stains.

I could see the stains.

Discarded kunai.

Scraps.

Burns.

People fought in there.

I reached the kitchen.

I took a deep breath, and I slowly sat down at the kitchen table.

There was a hole in my home.

There was a hole that left a gaping, angry wound throughout my home.

There was no upstairs.

Moonlight poured into the kitchen from the hole, bathing it in a soft blueish light. I folded my hands together onto the table, a chill settling inside of me.

Time passed.

The moon had risen high enough in the sky that I knew it was around midnight. I could hear people moving throughout the streets, and I could sense their chakra.

A man appeared before me, tired. His Jōnin attire was well worn, with a few scrapes throughout it. He had a large, large black messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

"Sakura Haruno?" he asked, presenting me with his identification.

"Yes," I answered.

He opened his bag and he handed me two scrolls. There were each the size of my palm and they had a black label on it that was the kanji for—

I understood.

"Thank you," I said, and I smiled at the man.

He shifted. "Do you—"

"I'll be fine. I know what to do," I lied, my smile stretching wider. "Have a pleasant night."

He left.

I placed each scroll on the table, and I stared at them.

I—

I—

I took a deep breath.

I took another deep breath.

I took another, and another, and I tried to breathe; I tried to breathe, but I couldn't. I gasped, and choked, the air coming in and out of me too quickly. My shoulders shook, and my hands clenched tightly as I fought to catch my breath.

The world was spinning, and spinning and I couldn't breathe. Everything was tilted and cold, and I—

I—

Couldn't.

Breathe.

My hands clutched at my upper arms, and I brought my knees up to my chest, burying my face into them, trying to breathe.

Trying not to feel like I was suffocating.

My lips were turning numb, and my breaths were coming out in hiccups and my body shuddered violently.

There was a hand on my shoulder.

I froze, dread entering inside of me, even as I tried to gasp for air. Shakily, I looked up. Kakashi placed his other hand over my mouth, as he squatted down to meet me at eye-level. "Calm down. Breathe with me. In. Out. In. Out."

It took several tries, but eventually I was able to match my breathing with his. His gaze steadily met my own, and he slowly withdrew his hands. "Do you have family in the village?"

I mutely shook my head, my eyes drifting over to—to—

Kakashi stood up. "Can you walk?"

No.

I nodded my head, and wobbly stood up. My legs were paper, and the moment I put pressure on them, they folded. Kakashi caught me before I hit the ground, and he swung me up to carry me bridal style. I felt wobbly and cold, another violent shudder raging throughout me. "Wh-What about K-Kaa-chan and T-Tou-chan?"

Kakashi picked up both of the storage scrolls and placed them into his back pocket before he shushined out of my—

My home that had big, big hole in it like angry wound.

Everything was a blur, and I knew it was because Kakashi was moving too quickly for me to process what I was seeing. When he stopped moving, it was because we had reached some kind of door, and he had to set me down to unlock it. I fell onto the floor, my legs still not working and my mind circling around the fact that there was a hole in my home.

The door opened and he picked me back up and carried me to a bathroom. Then he sat me on the floor, and he summoned Pakkun, and then he left and shut the door.

"Kiddo?" Pakkun inquired, "What are—you reek. And we're in Kakashi's bathroom."

I stared mutely at him.

Pakkun sniffed me over and he looked around before he nodded. "Yeah, okay. Pup, can you undress yourself?"

I nodded, and shakily I reached to pull off my hoodie—

'Ah. I already took it off at the medical tent.'

My hands grasped at my white cammie and I tugged it off, along with my sports bra. I sat it on a wooden counter that was half way up the wall. Pakkun sniffed at me, then pulled out the bathroom stool. I finished getting undressed and I sat on the shower stool, Pakkun leapt up and turned on the water.

Hot, hot, hot way-too-hot-but-I-didn't-care-enough-to-protest-water poured out from the faucet above me. The contrasting water to my body temperature caused goosebumps to crawl up my skin and I gave an involuntary shudder. I hadn't realized how cold I was until the water hit me.

Pakkun brought over a brush and some basic body wash. My hands moved robotically, and I did as instructed. While I cleaned myself, Pakkun wobbled over to the bathtub then plopped in three red balls (salt balls, likely), before turning the water on.

"Don't forget to wash your hair," Pakkun told me, nudging a two in one shampoo / conditioner bottle towards me. "Get the blood out."

Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

Did they have blood on them?

Did they—

Did they suffer?

"Oi," Pakkun growled at me, hitting me with his paw. "Stop thinking. Don't think, only do as you're told right now. Focus on cleaning your hair."

I stopped thinking and I cleaned my hair.

By the time I was done per Pakkun's satisfaction, the tub had already finished being filled. Pakkun turned off the shower, and then motioned for me to get in the tub. My body moved obediently, and I sat down in the comfortably warm water. My muscles immediately began to cry in relief as the salt balls worked their magic.

"Okay," Pakkun said, pushing the stool over to the edge of the tub so he could sit in it and be eye-level with me. "Now, pup, it's time to relax. What relaxes you?"

Kaa-chan's cooking.

"I don't know."

Pakkun's eyes narrowed, and he snorted. "Fine. Then we'll talk about what relaxes me."

Pakkun began to paint a pretty picture of some relaxing sceneries. It was hard to imagine them, because I felt like my mind was filled with words of home, fault, guilt, kaa-chan, and tou-chan. There was no more room for pleasantries, I believed.

Everstill, I tried to picture them, and I did try to relax.

His constant talking soothed me the most in the end, though. It gave me something easy to focus on, and a chance to not think about anything else.

After maybe fifteen minutes passed by there was a knock and the door cracked open a tiny bit. No one came in, though, and Pakkun hopped off from his stool to inspect it. After a moment, he opened the door more fully and dragged in a plastic bag. "You ready to get out, pup?"

I nodded, my hands already moving to unclog the drain. As the water rapidly disappeared, I wobbly stood up and grabbed the nearest towel. For a moment, I felt my heart grow a bit lighter at the fact that it smelled like Kakashi. A part of me was instantly comforted by that smell, and I took another moment to sniff it before I used it.

Pakkun opened the plastic bag and dragged out a package of brand new underwear and pajamas.

"Kakashi must have bought these," Pakkun commented, biting the package of underwear and holding it out to me. I took it from his jaws and opened it with ease, pulling out a pair of plain white undies and slipping them on. I changed into the pink pajamas (with little strawberries on it), and then I left the bathroom with Pakkun.

The bathroom was down the hallway, it would seem, and there were two other rooms attached to said hallway. One of them was closed, and I sensed Kakashi in the other one. I went into that room, Pakkun trailing behind me. I found a room that was covered wall to wall in bookcases, with a desk shoved against one of them, and stacks of books covering the floor. In the center of the mess was a futon and many pillows and blankets, and all the other dogs in the pack.

Kakashi was holding a tray of food and (maybe?) tea, that he was trying to set down on the desk that was equally covered in books.

"Um." I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet as Kakashi looked over at me.

He cocked his head towards the bed. "Sit."

I sat down on the mat, and Bull immediately pulled covers over my lap, and the dogs converged around me forming a tight circle. Pakkun crawled into my lap, and Kakashi squatted beside me outside the circle of dogs. He handed me a bowl of fried rice and sat the tray down on Bull's back.

"Eat," Kakashi ordered. "I don't care if you're not hungry. You need to eat. Drink the tea, too, it'll... it'll help you sleep."

I gave a small nod to show that I understood, and I scooped bits of the food in my mouth slowly. Kakashi watched me eat with narrowed eyes. No words were exchanged until I was done eating. Kakashi then took the tray away along with the dishes.

When he returned he told me to lay down and go to sleep.

"I can't," I said softly. "I—I don't—"

Kakashi squatted down in front of me, giving me his undivided attention. "There's more to this than grief. What's wrong?"

"It's my fault they're dead," I whispered, my voice cracking.

"It is not—"

"It is," I stated vehemently. It was a fact, entirely undeniable. I knew with absolute certainty that if I hadn't made it to the finals, they would be alive. They would have—they would have lived, somehow. That was the only difference between me and Canon!Sakura. Her parents lived.

Why did—why did I have to be so, so greedy?

Why couldn't I have waited? Followed the canonical story?

They would be alive.

Two beautiful people, who absolutely did not deserve to die, would be alive.

And Haku and Zabuza would be dead if you stayed to canon.

'But—'

Are you really going to say that Kaa-chan and Tou-chan's lives are more valuable than Haku and Zabuza? What about the others you want to save? If you stay to canon, they'll die, too!

'Then who else will die because I strayed?'

If you give up now, then their deaths would have meant nothing.

I buried my face in my hands, as another shudder rocked through me. I felt the dogs move around me, and one of them—Bisque—placed his head in my lap, forcing Pakkun to readjust to make room. Kakashi let out a quiet sigh and whispered, "Words won't stop you from feeling how you feel now, I understand that. But I'll repeat them until they do. Sakura: you are not to blame for your parents' death."

I could only shake my head, the cold guilt clawing at me viciously. My heart was frozen in a perpetual moment of despair and for a moment—

I actually hated myself.

When I realized that—when I realized how disgusted I was with myself, I felt a part of me break.

Even when I was poked and prodded at like a lab rat by my own mother, I never saw myself that way. I never disliked who I saw in the mirror. Even when I died and was first reborn as Sakura, I never, ever disliked who I saw in the mirror every day.

If I looked in a mirror at that moment, I would despise what looked back at me.

And that was heartbreaking to me.

Between the guilt and that, I couldn't keep back my tears any longer. They rushed out of me like a dam being broken and I sobbed loudly. Kakashi placed a hand on top of my head, and the pack moved as one to embrace me from all around.

I cried myself to exhaustion.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

My eyes felt heavy, and my head throbbed painfully when I woke up. It was light outside, and I could hear movements throughout the apartment. Pakkun was on my chest, snoring loudly, with Shiba sprawled across my lower body, and Bisque partially on top of him and on my legs. I was currently using Bull as a pillow, with Urushi and Uhei on my left, and Guruko curled up on my right.

Dog-lover paradise, right there.

It felt nice, actually.

I felt... well, not okay, but definitely better. There was still guilt (and I knew it would be there for a long time), and a sense of bitterness, but I didn't hate myself.

Mild dislike, yes, but not hate.

Hating myself, I knew, would be the absolute last thing Kaa-chan, and Tou-chan would want for me. They were the parents that would want their daughter to live happily after their deaths.

I wanted to say they were the kind of parents, the kind of people, who would not blame me for their death.

I wanted to.

But, it felt a bit like a cop out if I thought that.

Did I have the right to try and feel better so soon after their death? Was I obligated to wallow for a set amount of time?

I didn't know; I didn't understand.

I had all of her memories. Every part of me believed them to be my kaa-chan and tou-chan. I loved them so much that it physically pained me they were gone. How was I supposed to deal with that? How did anyone deal with that?!

It was unfair.

It was disgusting!
'This is why I hate feeling—feeling—this is—this—this is why I don't deal with this kind of thing. I don't know how!'

The frustration bubbled underneath me, and I felt like I had to get up, or do something. Then Kakashi was in the doorway, and he gave a sharp whistle and all of the dogs rolled off me in one fluid motion. They were up, tails wagging, and sniffing at me and Kakashi.

"Food?" Bisque barked.

"Breakfast is ready: go," Kakashi ordered, and as one the pack ran out of the room. I stared after them before my gaze drifted up to Kakashi's eye smile and I—

My heart settled, and I gave him a small smile. He returned it with an eye-smile of his own and he held out his hand towards me. "Come on, time to get up. You need to eat."

I took his hand, and in a single smooth motion he pulled me onto my feet. He guided me through his decently sized apartment that was way too neat and impersonal. In the living room the pack ate from large bowls—they were eating some kind of cooked meat that actually smelled like steak—not even pausing when we passed by them into the small kitchen. Kakashi pulled out a chair at the tiny table that only had two chairs at it, and he sorta-pushed-but-not-really me into it.

Blinking vapidly, I watched him turn towards the counter, before turning back around and placing a large plate of omelets in front of me.

"This is about all as far as my cooking skills go," he apologized. "Rice, pasta, and omelets."

"Did you already eat?"

"Yeah," Kakashi answered. "When you're done eating, we'll see what we can do about clothes. I imagine you don't carry essentials on you."

"Not today, er, yesterday."

He nodded. "Since you'll be staying here—"

"What?"

He gave me an incredulous look. "Where did you think you would be staying? I'm not a heartless monster that'll dump a girl out on the street because she can't control her hormones."

That made me giggle. It came out a little strangled and hoarse, though. Kakashi eye-smiled at me again, and I felt warmer.

"Naruto and Sasuke are still in the hospital, but they should be released later today if you would like to see them," Kakashi offered. I nodded my head, then hesitated.

"Um... can you not tell them about...?"

"I won't."

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

After breakfast, Kakashi gave me a three wads of cash, and an umbrella, then sent Urushi and Pakkun to go clothes shopping with me. He told me to get enough for at least two weeks, along with any other essential I needed.

I wore one of his training shirts (it was too big for me, and I had to roll up the sleeves), and extra black sweats (I had to roll up the legs, and tie the waist line with a rubber band). It felt oddly comforting, actually.

Pakkun stayed on my right and Urushi stayed on my left as we walked quietly through the ravaged streets. There were several others who looked like they were wearing borrowed clothes, and when my eyes met theirs, a sense of camaraderie and understanding was exchanged.

I wasn't the only one left homeless.

I wasn't the only one orphaned.

It gave me a sense of comfort, and renewed my guilt at the same time. It was nice to know that I wasn't alone in my suffering, in a twisted sense. That everyone else had struggles, and they managed to make it through them. On the other hand, though, I felt like I could have—should have—done something more to prevent it.

But what? Inner would ask me every time I thought that. Sacrifice yourself? Go to the Hokage and tell him everything? There's no guarantee it would stop the tragedies. If anything, it might create a larger problem that couldn't be predicted.

I never had a response for her.

I would never have the perfect answer.

There was no simple solution. The world I lived in now was messy and complicated. I wanted to change what I could, but I had to acknowledge that there things simply out of my reach. Unobtainable.

I didn't want to acknowledge that, though. I didn't want to admit that things were unavoidable no matter what I did. Someone had to take responsibility for what happened, and it felt like it should be me.

How arrogant.

Most of the marketplaces weren't hit in the invasion, so the streets and shops were up and running without any issue. There were a lot of shoppers that rainy day, and I had to maneuver through quite the crowd.

Thankfully, Urushi tugged on my pants to guide me so I was never lost, and Pakkun brushed against me repeatedly to provide me with comfort and support.

Still, it was well into early evening before I bought the essentials (and saved the receipts so I knew how much to pay Kakashi back, though Pakkun insisted he wouldn't accept my money) and returned to Kakashi's apartment. I didn't get to see Naruto, or Sasuke since I had been out on the errand all day, but I figured I could hunt them down tomorrow. I was certain they were probably both preoccupied themselves with making sure their homes were taken care of, or attending the Hokage's funeral.

(I did make sure that Naruto's apartment wasn't hit, nor the Uchiha District.)

I opened the door to Kakashi's apartment, and Urushi gave me a sniff-over before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Pakkun headed inside and hopped onto the counter. "Looks like Kakashi isn't back, yet."

"Do you know where he was going?" I asked absently, frowning. "Actually, um, do you know if I'm staying where I slept last night, or...?"

"Yeah, that'll be your room," Pakkun answered. "Let's go put your stuff away, pup."

The-once-office-now-a-guest-room was almost entirely empty when I walked in. All that was in there was a guest futon, a desk with a lamp and chair, and a lounging chair.

I blinked in surprise at that, and then again when I realized there was a closet attached to the room.

"Looks like Kakashi finished putting away all those books," Pakkun commented sniffing around the room. "Ah. He put them in the storage scrolls in the closet, so be careful when you go in there."

I placed my numerous bags on the bed, and opened the small closet. There was a box filled with scrolls about the size of my torso on the floor, and many empty hangers. On the top shelf there was another empty box that I decided to use for my underwear.

Idly, I began to put away the clothes I bought while Pakkun began to tell me a story about a sneaky fox. I remembered that it was a childhood favorite of Sakura's, and it felt pleasant to hear it again from Pakkun while I worked.

Half an hour later, everything was put away and I decided to make dinner for all of us since Kakashi wasn't back, yet.

Preheating the oven to 165 C, I took out three eggs, three-fourths flour, and three-fourths milk. I whipped the eggs until they were fluffy and airy, then poured the milk, and sifted flour into it. I added salt, and other seasonings, then poured the yorkshire pudding batter into a cake pan. After assessing Kakashi's surprisingly scarce fridge, I settled on some ground pork as the meat. I lightly seared the pork, along with butter and many spices before I drained the meat and added it into the batter. Then, I popped it all into the oven and began to work on the vegetables.

By the time I was done chopping the leeks, the front door opened and I heard Kakashi call out, "I'm home."

"Welcome home," I immediately replied, and ignoring the pain I felt in my chest, I offered Pakkun a bit of the pork I had cooked through.

Kakashi stepped into the kitchen, assessing me as I worked. Turning to Pakkun, he asked, "Did she get everything?"

"Yep," Pakkun confirmed. "It's set up in her bedroom."

"Maa. Thank you. Who is available to—?"

"Bull will stay with her tonight."

I turned to Pakkun, frowning. "That's not necessary—"

"It is," they both disagreed with me immediately. Then Pakkun cleared his throat. "Okay, pup, I'll see you later. Take care of yourself."

Then he was gone in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi shifted uneasily, taking off his flak and hanging it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. "Do you need any help?"

"No."

"Okay. I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you."

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Dinner was quiet, but not uncomfortable. I think Kakashi started to realize I found his presence comforting, because after dinner he even sat down next to me on the couch while we read. We didn't exchange any words until it was time for bed, though, and Kakashi summoned Bull to sleep with me.

It was... nice.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

The day afterwards Kakashi had me sign some insurance forms he collected for me yesterday. Once that was taken care of, he left for the day, and I went off to check on my teammates and friends.

Naruto was the easiest to find, since he was still asleep in his apartment. He greeted me enthusiastically, and swung me around.

When we left to hunt down Sasuke, he offered to hold my arm.

"How gentlemanly of you," I teased.

He beamed. "I bought one of those cheesy romance books girls are always reading. This is the the kinda stuff that's good to do, yeah? If I wanna meet this girl that not only supports my dreams, but thinks I'm awesome, and likes me, I gotta hurry up and become a—a—a perfect gentleman."

"That's right," I cooed at him, then laughed.

We walked through the streets with a companionable air, and I felt—I felt okay.

I had to smile bright for Naruto. I didn't want him to worry about me.

Once I started smiling, though, I found it easier to keep my smile. For moments I could forget about grief and what happened, and I could enjoy the warmth and utter affection that practically radiated off my sunshine teammate.

He told me about his epic battle with Gaara, how amazed he was to find a fellow jinchūriki, and how spectacular everyone else performed. He told me how he was sad about the Hokage's death—the funeral was held yesterday, actually, but I didn't attend in lieu of finding clothes; and because funerals were always for the living more than the dead. Hiruzen would rather see his shinobi and kunoichi moving past his death with strength, than dwelling on his greatest mistake.

Almost an hour passed by of one-sided conversation before we reached Sasuke's home and knocked on his front door. It took several minutes before a tired-looking Sasuke appeared.

"What," he asked, but it came out more like a statement.

"We wanted to make sure you were okay," I answered, giving him a warm smile. "So, you okay?"

"Fine," he answered curtly, then eyed Naruto. "You finished healing, then?"

Naruto grinned cheekily. "No bandages for me. I see you still got your concussion."

Sasuke's right hand drifted towards his wrapped head and he grimaced. "Yeah. Is that all you two wanted?"

"Come have lunch with us," I kinda-ordered-kinda-asked. Sasuke frowned at that, then shrugged and stepped out the house. He shut and locked the door behind him, and shoved his hands in his pockets before he moved to walk on my opposite side.

"Where should we eat?" Sasuke asked.

"Let's have ramen," Naruto excitedly answered.

"Okay," I agreed easily.

"Sure," Sasuke relented after a moment of hesitation. "It's been awhile since I've had ramen. I hate that cup crap."

"For both our sakes' I'll pretend I didn't hear that last part," Naruto chided.

Sasuke sneered at him in response.

I draped an arm around Naruto's shoulder, and an arm around Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke shrugged me off almost immediately, but gave up after my seventh time doing so. The three of us headed off, perfectly content.

Perfectly okay.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

The next day, I trailed behind Kakashi. My eyes roamed around the mostly-rebuilt street.

Today, I felt better.

In fact, if I didn't think too hard about what happened, I almost felt normal. There was still something off, though. There was a pang in my chest at seemingly random times, and brief moments that I felt like I couldn't breathe.

They didn't last long, though, and in every instance they did last more than a few seconds, all Kakashi had to do was speak, or touch my head, and everything was okay again.

I wanted things to be okay and stay okay.

I found that if I kept smiling, it made things a little easier for those around me (namely Sasuke and Naruto).

So when I returned home yesterday to Kakashi's with a big smile on my face, I was a little surprised that he threw a book at me and told me to drop it. Then I started crying for seemingly no reason, and he panicked and it turned into this whole fiasco that ended up with me eating several canisters of whipped creaming and sobbing into one of his shirts, and him awkwardly patting my head and reassuring me that I didn't look like a hideously grotesque monster.

I don't know.

The point was, though, that he didn't want me to smile around him unless I was sincere about it. He told me, flatly, that it would only make things worse for me in the long run.

I called him a hypocrite, then immediately regretted insulting someone I cared for so dearly and started crying again.

That ended up with me having to take another bath while Pakkun watched over me, Kakashi sitting outside the door reading bits and pieces of a children stories' book, and me reassuring him occasionally that I would not ask the Goggle Gods to hurry up and let me meet Obito.

In my defense, in the heat of the moment I forgot that Kakashi was supposed to think that Obito was dead.

I just really wanted some goofy Tobito humor.

Returning to the day, though, Kakashi had something he wanted to give me. He told me to get dressed for the day, and after lunch the two of us headed out.

My eyes flickered about, and I sped up so I was walking beside Kakashi. He looked down at me for a moment, giving me an eye-smile. I reflexively smiled back at him, which made him reach over and pat the top of my head. "See? That's a good smile."

My cheeks turned red, and I couldn't resist smiling a bit more widely.

Then he stopped short, and I ran into him. Kurenai and Asuma were opposite of him, and they both stopped when they saw him.

"Ah, enjoying a date?" Kakashi inquired harmlessly.

"D-Don't be absurd," Kurenai blustered, blushing and looking down. "I'm merely picking up some dango for Anko when I ran into Asuma."

Asuma scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. That."

Kurenai glared at him.

I blinked, as the scene struck me as familiar.

Then I let out a gasp and my head snapped towards the nearby tea shop where I saw—

The. Kisame.

As in.

The Kisame.

The one and only Kisame.

The greatest swordsman to ever exist.

The single most amazing person to breathe since the beginning of time.

That Kisame.

I covered my mouth with my hands, my entire attention focused in on Kisame as I tried desperately not to squeal and run over and hug him. I had to make a good first impression.

I had to!

Unfortunately, he seemed to sense my gaze because in less than a minute he and Itachi left and I was left slowly dying on the inside.

I turned my attention back towards Kakashi, but before I could open my mouth he quickly said, "Wait for me here, don't follow."

Then he was gone.

Of course I followed him.

Now, I wasn't as fast as the three Jōnin who chased after Kisame and Itachi, but I was good enough that I came in right after they broke out of Kurenai's genjutsu. I leapt down beside Kakashi, beaming at all the wonderful people around me.

"Sakura," Kakashi snapped at me, and I knew I would so be in trouble later, but I seriously didn't care at the moment.

"Kisame-sama," I breathed out, my eyes wide and my heart soaring. "I have prepared for this day for all of my life. My name is Sakura Haruno."

Kisame eyed me with a toothy grin, while Kakashi began to drag me behind him. I pulled out a small storage scroll I had carried on me since the day I bought twenty bingo books for the sake of my idol. I threw the storage scroll at Kisame, and he caught it reflexively before looking it over.

"That has a picture of you inside of it," I informed him, "please autograph it and give it back when you can. Please. Please."

"Sakura, now is not the time for your craziness," Kakashi warned me.

"My craziness isn't something to be turned off," I responded.

"Enough," Itachi said quietly, his obsidian eyes bleeding away into red. "We won't waste any more time here."

"Look down," Kakashi ordered all of us, "no one meet his gaze. If you look into his eyes for a second, he'll ensnare you in his genjutsu."

Kurenai muttered, "Then how do we fight him?"

"You don't. I will."

I, of course, never bothered to look down because I wanted Itachi to bring me into his fun little world of goodness and love. I knew what would happen if Kakashi tried to fight Itachi with his own Sharingan, and there was no way in hell I would allow anything that painful to happen to Kakashi. What kind of fan girl would I be if I let that happen?

So, nope.

I kicked out Kakashi's back knees, forcing him to stumble backwards and lose connection with Itachi. In the same instant, I leapt over him to stand between him and Itachi and I immediately locked gazes with him.

"Pein," I whispered to him, and his gaze intensified and then—

HOLY HELL THAT BURNS.

I keeled over, covering my mouth with both my hands to fruitlessly repress my scream.

"Welcome, little girl," Itachi greeted me, and then I realized that the world around us had turned red. "It seems you are sensitive—"

"No time," I said in a rush, "Iknowtheabouthemassacre. Ah, holy fuck this hurts! Danzō! Um! ROOT. AH THIS HURTS."

Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly, and he took a step towards me. "Do you work for Danzō?"

"Fuck no," I screeched. "Look I know you had to kill your family to ahhh save Konoha, don't worry I'm your friend and ahhhhh, ahhh, AHAHA! I-I know about Shisui and, and ahhh holy fuck can't you just read my memories or something?!"

He blinked. "You're chakra-sensitive. Simply being inside my Tsukuyomi is slowly crippling your chakra system and you want me to further push the genjutsu inside your mind?"

I gave a small whimper as the fiery pain kept intensifying.

"I know about the Akatsuki. Tobi is Madara. Except he's not. He's Obito. I know you're good, please, please believe me. BUT RIGHT NOW AHHHHH. Your brother! Needs help! Sasuke! Has! Curse Mark! F-F-From Orochimaru! Combination of—of—of—senjutsu—-fūinjutsu—!"

"Stop," Itachi berated me. "How do you—"

"I know the future!"

The pain was too much then, and I curled up into a tight ball with my eyes squeezed shut as I tried to deal with it.

There was a heartbeat of silence and then I could kinda-sorta-but-not-really hear Itachi and I barely understood what he said. "Okay. If I keep you here any longer you will become crippled. We shall talk later, Sakura-san."

Then red faded away and I fell into the water as the last bit of consciousness left me.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

When I woke up, it was to Hinata holding my hand and humming a gentle tune.

Achiness settled into me and I let out a low groan. "What the fuck."

"Welcome back, Sakura-chan," Hinata greeted me with a warm smile. "Naruto wanted me to tell you that he'll be sure to bring back Tsunade-sama for you, so rest up."

"Wha—"

"Here," Hinata said, reaching at the foot of my—'Ah, I was in the hospital'—bed and handing me a medical clipboard. I analyzed it before I let out a small groan.

'Shit. Tsukuyomi is something else.'

After I handed her back the clipboard, and she put it away, then the door opened up and Kakashi stepped inside. "Hyūga-san, would you mind giving me a minute with my student?"
Hinata nodded and hesitated a moment before leaning over and kissing my cheek. I winked at her reflexively, which made her giggle, before she left.

Kakashi quietly closed the door to the hospital room, and gave me a tired look. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me," I joked weakly.

He rubbed at his face. "Have you talked to a doctor, yet?"

"No."

"Do you need to?"

"I know how to read medical boards. I understand that my chakra system is severely strained and that I won't be able to use any ninjutsu until it's repaired. I understand that could take upwards of a year, without Tsunade. Good thing Naruto is going to bring her back."

"I don't even want to know how you can sound so confident," Kakashi muttered. "Sakura, do you understand what you did wrong? You challenged Itachi."

"I knew what I was doing," I said confidently. "If you had kept your gaze any longer, he would have ensnared you in his Tsukuyomi. Better me than you, Kakashi-sensei."

"That's not going to work."

I only shrugged in response, not budging from my belief. My goals were accomplished.

He shook his head. "You need a reason to take care of yourself. You need a reason to be—to want to be okay. You need a reason to come home, and have a place to call home. You need that, Sakura, because right now—"

"I have plenty of motivation to keep living," I defended immediately. "I'm not suicidal, really."

"Not actively seeking death, and wanting to live are two very different things," he said softly. "I understand this is a hard time for you, and while I cannot know perfectly know what you're going through, I know enough to see the symptoms to look out for. Taking on an S-Ranked missing-nin in place of your sensei is not healthy no matter how you spin it. You're underreacting to how much danger you were truly in; no, you're underreacting to everything."

"So?"

He pointed at me in a gesture of frustration. "That. That right there is not okay. I've dealt with that long enough to—to not want my own student to go down that path. It's not going to make things easier for you, Sakura. Your emotions aren't going to magically disappear if you ignore them."

"Then how would you deal with them?" I asked, curious.

Kakashi cocked his head at me, assessing me with an unreadable expression for a solid minute before he gave a short nod. "I'm going to take you to where I was originally going to take you before we ran into Itachi."

I frowned at that.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

I had to use a wheelchair for the foreseeable future. It sorta stunk, but I couldn't really complain.

Kakashi wheeled us out of the hospital and straight towards the Inuzuka Compound. It was past noon, then, and no one stopped us when we strolled right in. He took us to a large warehouse-looking building in the back, and upon entering I found numerous puppies with their mothers and several kunoichi tending to them.

One of them, I recognized as Kiba's older sister, Hana. She hurried over to us, a smile on her face. Her smile twitched for a brief second when she looked over at me. "Ah. Are you still wanting...?"

"Yep," Kakashi answered with a pop.

"Right this way," Hana said, gesturing for us to follow her.

She lead us down a corridor, away from the puppies and towards a quiet section of the building. She explained while she walked, "Our rehabilitation program is tied into our breeding program. We find that most patients work best when with the young, although we do occasionally get our exceptions."

She stopped short of a gray door.

"If it were anyone else, no way we would even consider it," she told us, her tone somber and brusque. "We know she'll be in good hands with you, Kakashi, and if you trust her to your student we won't fight it. As long as you both understand she will never become a ninkin."

I blinked rapidly at her. "Wait. Are you guys talking about a dog? What's wrong with her?"
"She's a rescue," Kakashi responded. "Open the door, Hana."

Hana gave a shrug and unlocked the door and swung it open.

It was a small room, with a large water bowl, food bowl, plenty of toys, and a soft bed on the floor.

In the center of that bed was a mass of fur and scars.

Kakashi rolled me into the room, and Hana closed the door behind us.

The mass of fur and scars, which I realized was a brown and black puppy, started to growl at us. She backed up against the wall, and I noticed one of her legs was missing.

"I'm not the kind of sensei who knows how to, how to teach his students how to cope, or deal with loss. I don't even know how to do that. I can't fix you, nor will I ever be able to," Kakashi admitted quietly, kneeling before the snarling pup.

Unminding of how she growled and bit at him, he picked her up and started to carry her over to me.

"I can give you a dog, though," Kakashi said, as he set her in my lap.

She shivered in my lap, snarling at me and Kakashi. Kakashi squatted down in front of me, a hand on the dog's back. With weak hands, I carefully began to run my hands down her back and head. She bit onto my right hand, digging as hard as she could with her gummy mouth and broken teeth. Kakashi removed his hand, as I began to use my other hand to stroke her back, unminding of her grip.

"You're beautiful," I whispered to her, my cheeks feeling wet and cold, "and I'm going to love and treasure you."

Kakashi stared at my face, while I continued to watch the terrified wolf pup. He nodded once, and stood back up. "Are you up for some shopping for dog supplies?"
I could only nod my head, my throat too tight to speak.

I named her Brightheart. I hoped the name would aptly fit her personality in time.

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Third Person POV Kisame & Itachi

Kisame let out a chuckle as he sat down on the porch of a tea house beside Itachi. "What an interesting day."

The sun had started to set, and the duo had already managed to lose the ANBU Hunting team sent after them. They decided to enjoy a decent dinner before they began their journey back to Amegakure to report to Pein about what transpired in Konohagakure.

Itachi blinked slowly at his partner. "Do you still have the scroll that girl gave you?"

"Oh, yeah." Kisame remembered, then laughed again at recalling the girl's plain adoration on her face. "The hell was that about, anyway? Honeypot?"
"I do not think so," Itachi answered.

Kisame shrugged, and pulled out the delicate-looking pink scroll she tossed at him. After confirming there were no obvious traps on it, he unsealed it and a few things popped out. One, was a picture of him from the bingo books blown up to fit a decent portrait. Another was a letter addressed to him, and lastly was a bundle of large blue mittens, a blue knitted scarf, a blue knitted hat, and a white pillow with a stitched shark design on it. Kisame stared at everything in his lap in disbelief.

He looked over at Itachi. "Oi. You had her in your Tsukuyomi, right? Was she... serious?"

"I could only glimpse at her emotions," Itachi stressed, "but, yes, I was left with the impression that she was quite... enamored with you. A self-proclaimed fangirl."

"She's... she's twelve. I'm almost thirty."

A ghost of a spark entered the Uchiha's eyes. "I'm not here to judge."

"Shut up," Kisame snapped, flustered. "Ugh. I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"

Itachi shrugged gracefully. "What does her letter read?"
Kisame picked it up and looked it over before sighing and reading it out loud.

Dear Kisame-sama,

Hi! My name is Sakura Haruno and I have been a huge fan of yours ever since I laid eyes on you. I knew instantly that you were an amazing person, and I have been blessed by the Goggle Gods to have confirmation that you are indeed an amazing person. I know we won't have many chances to interact with one another (yet!), but I want you to know that I do think of you, and I sincerely wish only the best for you.

I hope one day we can meet on good terms and you will allow me to shower you with all the love and devotion you rightly deserve.

Please enjoy these small tokens of my appreciation.

Love,

Sakura

PS: I promise I will never lie to you.

Both men fell silent after Kisame finished reading the letter.

"This is a little creepy," Kisame confessed. "Is—Is this how you feel every day?"

"The women who are attracted to me are attracted to me purely from an aesthetic point," Itachi pointed out. "Sakura is fond of you for who you are."

"How does she even know who I am, then? She can't possibly know me. We've never met, and she's a Konoha Genin."

Itachi thought for a moment.

"I know the future!"

"Only time will tell."

A pause.

"The fuck does that mean."

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Eyy. I turned 21 yesterday. So here ya'll go.

*Okay, so in Japan there's typically two separate "bathrooms". One for the toilet, and sink, and another for cleaning and bathing. You don't get in the bathtub when you're dirty. The bathtub is for people who are clean and want to soak. The actual bathroom is like a shower room, with the floors meant to get covered in water, and you sit on a stool or something and you wash yourself in that room. There is a bathtub that you can then soak in after you clean yourself.

In case any of ya'll were wondering wtf was going on during the bathroom scene.

I purposely made this chapter feel rushed and awkward. When in grief / shock, at least in my personal experience, time both seems to stop, and move too quickly. One moment you're here, and the next you're someplace else with only a vague idea of how you got there. Sakura's never dealt with negative emotions properly, let alone with something so awful, so it's awkward in her mind.

Done with angst, I promise. We'll be going back to happy, fluff, love, funny, crack, and cuddles all the way up to theeeeeee next time Itachi and Sakura talk in person.

The third POV at the end was in hopes of bringing a smile on your face after so much angst. Sorry if it made any of ya'll sad. I love you guys, and I wish you the best.

Extra stuff in case you're still sad:

Kakashi: *taking a shower*

Kakashi: *reaches out to grab a towel*

Sakura: *hands him a towel*

Kakashi: *takes the towel*

A pause.

Kakashi: Why am I not surprised.

.

.

.

Sakura: Okay, dear. How would a gentleman flirt?

Naruto: Uh. You. Your face. I like it.

Sasuke: That would be about when the girl walks out.

Naruto: Baby no, come back. PLEASE MAKE BABIES WITH ME.

Sakura: THAT'S MY BOY.

Sasuke: Dear God, why am I on this team?

.

.

.

In the middle of a market place, on a mission, both in disguise as civilians.

Sakura: AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOUU.

Kakashi: *buries face in hands*

Sakura: *drops down onto her knees*

The crowd: *hushes* *whispers* *excited squeals*

Kakashi: *is mortified*

Sakura: That's why I have to tell you that your shoelace is undone.

Kakashi: This is why I don't go anywhere with you.

Sakura: You love me anyway.

Kakashi: I categorically deny that with every fiber of my being. Now put on a jacket, it's cold outside and I don't want you to catch a cold.

Sakura: *smirks*

Reviews are love!