Chapter Fifteen: Epidemic
She sighed in annoyance as she waited, along with two of her former teammates, on the man who would be their fourth for their upcoming mission. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Naruto shifting impatiently on her left while on her right, Sasuke stood stock still with the faintest hint of a frown as the only sign that he was at all perturbed with the delay. From what she understood, their team leader for this particular mission was not given to being late, unlike a certain former sensei of theirs and she was beginning to worry just a little bit about the man’s safety.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden entrance of the Hokage’s assistant, completely out of breath. She stood for a moment, calming her breathing before eyeing the Hokage nervously.
“Tsunade, I’ve just come from the hospital… Raido will not be able to lead this team on the mission.”
The busty blonde woman’s eyes widened along with those of the three other waiting shinobi. “And, just what may I ask has happened to incapacitate him?”
Shizune edged back a bit, eyeing the waiting shinobi a little uneasily. “Um, well, you see, it seems there was a little accident while he was sparring with a couple of the off duty jonin last night and for some reason his condition is turning out to be unusually difficult to heal… Something about tangled jutsu I think it was?”
Tsunade sighed audibly. She should have expected this, especially in light of her relatively recent discussion with a certain silver haired shinobi who happened to not only be in the village, but also unassigned.
“Sakura, go to the hospital and attend to Raido; I suspect you’ll be able to deal with whatever is blocking the healing process – you did very well the last time you handled tangled jutsu.”
Quickly and without question, the pink haired woman took her leave, already guessing what could be wrong with the bodyguard specialist, but not sure what it meant.
As her former student took her leave, the Hokage turned her gaze on the two men in front of her. “You may go for now. I will have you summoned back once I have straightened this mess out and found a captain for your team.”
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances, shrugged and exited the room in search of an early lunch.
Once the two young men had taken their leave, the Hokage turned to her assistant, her anger beginning to surface. “Get me Kakashi, now.”
~*~*~*~
Kakashi turned a page, his eyes focused on the book in front of him, but not actually taking in the information on the page. The Copy Ninja was reclining in one of his favorite trees on one of the lesser used training grounds. He knew they would be looking for him for the better part of the day and had decided not to make it too easy for them to find him.
Inattentively he turned another page as he realized he had been found. The silver haired man could feel a familiar presence as it settled a little further along on his branch. Slowly, he looked up from his book into the flustered eyes of the Hokage’s assistant, Shizune.
“Kakashi, I’ve been looking all over for you!” she exclaimed with exasperation clear in her voice.
“Oh? I’ve been here reading my book all afternoon.”
The annoyed woman glared at him. “Tsunade requests your presence, now. Like, four hours ago now…”
He sighed, having expected something of this sort to happen. “Okay, I’ll be on my way shortly… Almost done with this chapter….”
Having had enough Shizune carefully curbed her temper. “Now means now Kakashi.”
“Okay, okay I’m coming.” He rose to his feet and dropped to the ground without removing his eyes from his little orange book and started off toward the Hokage Tower with the slightly older woman in tow.
~*~*~*~
Taking a deep breath, Kakashi pushed open the door to Tsunade’s office, bracing himself for the tirade he knew would be forthcoming.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” He smiled knowing that she would be just as angry with him whether or not he apologized.
The busty blonde woman looked up from the scroll she had been marking, her gaze turning dark as she recognized just who had finally decided to make an appearance.
“Kakashi,” Tsunade growled, setting aside the scroll. “What the hell did you do to Raido?” She asked without any sort of preamble.
“Eh? Raido?” he asked as innocently as possible, knowing she wouldn’t believe him.
“Yes, you know Raido… the man who was supposed to take your former team out today on an important and time sensitive mission… the bodyguard specialist…” Tsunade trailed off waiting for some sort of confirmation from the stoic man.
“Oh, yes Raido… What about him now?” He asked fully aware that he was walking a fine line between seriously pissing her off and just merely annoying her further.
She glared at him, his expression of total ignorance and innocence complete and believable – to those who had never dealt with the elite jonin before. The Hokage knew better than to trust him.
“Kakashi, Raido is unable to lead a team on an urgent and essential mission today since he sustained some rather serious and suspicious injuries while sparring with an unnamed jonin last night… Now, you’re telling me that you don’t know anything about this?”
“Oh, now that’s just too bad. I hope you can find a replacement for him,” the Copy Ninja murmured, safe in the knowledge that he hadn’t been the one sparring with Raido. In fact, he hadn’t been anywhere near the training grounds the previous evening, and had several friends who would swear he was at the pub with them casually drinking the evening away. However, that didn’t mean that he hadn’t had a few words with a couple of the jonin who would be training with Raido that evening.
She eyed him angrily, knowing he had something to do with the incident, but unable to actually prove anything without some sort of tangible evidence. The fact that Kakashi had objected strenuously the day before upon hearing just who would be taking his former team on the mission was circumstantial at best, and she didn’t have any other evidence of him somehow interfering with the assignment of the mission. Finally, something snapped and she sighed, knowing he would never admit to whatever it was that he had done and that Sakura would neither confirm nor deny that whatever it was that had been done to Raido was something that only Kakashi was able to do. Whoever had dubbed him the master of over one thousand jutsu wasn’t kidding as the man certainly knew more than his share of strange and obscure techniques.
“Damnit, Kakashi, if you wanted the mission so badly you should have just come right out and said so… But you should know that Raido is more than competent in his specialty – he was the correct choice for this mission.”
Kakashi’s face remained impassive. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. I know Raido is one of the best bodyguards in the village. Otherwise he would not have served the Third in that capacity.”
“Then why are you so disinclined to allow your former team to work under him?” Her eyes narrowed. “If this has anything to do with your medic, she couldn’t be in better hands than his, you know.”
He shrugged noncommittally. “If you say so.”
Tsunade huffed again as she realized she was just not going to get the man to admit that he didn’t trust Raido with Sakura after what had happened the last time he had done so. Now she was stuck with a time sensitive assignment in need of a captain. Contrarily, she didn’t want to give in and give Kakashi the mission, since that was clearly what he had been angling for. But, her inner voice of reason cautioned her that if she didn’t give him the assignment, the next jonin would suffer similar consequences, as would the next and the one after that until he was finally assigned to the mission.
Sighing in defeat, she rummaged about on her desk for a moment before producing a scroll and tossing it at him.
“I want to be absolutely clear on this,” the medic said making sure to catch his eye. “I will not allow this to happen again. If you have a problem with mission assignments come and discuss it with me, and if you still have a problem after that – tough shit.”
Kakashi stared blankly at her. The Hokage shook her head, knowing it was a lost cause.
“The mission is fairly easy in concept, but has been difficult to actually complete. I’ve already lost one medic, had two more severely injured, and a fourth completely ruined for all further medical work after a collapse from combined exhaustion and chakra over exertion. Since you will be taking Raido’s place, you will make sure nothing happens to Sakura. You are to stay with her at all times, no exceptions.” She eyed him seriously wondering if it came down to Sakura’s wellbeing and his dirty orange books how much of an effort it may take him to make the right decision.
“There is an epidemic of some sort of fortified influenza or something similar to it just across our boarder in the Land of Rain. The local Lord has decided we will eliminate the threat before our people become infected and are directly involved. Unfortunately, it would appear that the disease itself is the legacy of a rogue medic and though we can treat those who are infected, it takes much more out of a medic than most other known diseases to date. To cut down on the risk of either of you catching it, you will be staying in a small hotel in a nearby uninfected village – don’t anger the owner as it is the only hotel in the village and it is the only unaffected village within easy walking distance of the infected villages. Naruto and Sasuke are going to accompany you to the area, but will be spending their time trying to locate and deal with the rogue medic and his or her base of operations by whatever means necessary. In the mean time, Sakura will treat the villagers and ensure the epidemic is stopped before it crosses over into the Land of Fire.
“So far the accompanying shinobi I’ve sent have had a hard time locating the medic in question. Unfortunately, when medics go bad, they can become nasty pieces of work with their extensive medical knowledge to back up their misdeeds. This one seems to be particularly adept at psychology and predicting the movements of trackers as well as disguising themselves and their scent. None of the teams we have sent so far have been able to find even traces of where the misbehaving medic has holed up. Naruto and Sasuke will have their work cut out for them, but I am confident that they will succeed where others have failed. I expect for them to check in with you and Sakura every couple of days to ensure everyone’s safety.” Tsunade sighed more to herself than to the man in front of her. “I will admit that I originally underestimated the magnitude of this particular threat and now it has gotten rather more serious than it should have – which is why I’m sending Naruto and Sasuke to deal with it.”
She made sure to catch his eye to stress the importance of her next statement. “Since I’ve already permanently lost two medics and had two more seriously incapacitated, I would like to stress how important it is that you don’t let Sakura out of your sight, regardless of whatever objections she may have – and I’m sure she will have plenty. You are also to keep an eye on her chakra usage and make sure she doesn’t overdo it. You know as well as I do that her sense of self preservation tends to take a back seat when there are others in need of her services. Generally that’s what makes a good medic. Unfortunately in this situation it can easily lead to a dead medic since there will always be more people in need of her than she has chakra for the first couple weeks at the very least.” The older woman shook her head sadly. She knew from first hand experience how difficult dealing with an outbreak could be and how hard it was to stop when chakra ran low and there were still many people in need.
Pushing the problems of preventing an epidemic from her mind, she continued in another vein. “Sakura doesn’t know it, but she has recently become a much more valuable resource to this village than she or anyone else for that matter realizes. The research she has completed so far into transplanted and unnaturally acquired kekkei genkai alone is invaluable, never mind the potential value of the other areas of research she will be prepared for once she completes her current assignment…” The blonde medic trailed off thinking about some of the rather interesting possibilities the kunoichi had in mind when she started her research before shaking her head to continue. “If I had any other competent medics available I wouldn’t be risking her on this sort of mission.”
Kakashi’s eye widened a little at her last statement. He hadn’t realized how far she had advanced within the ranks of the medics or that her research was much broader than he had originally guessed. The Copy Ninja had been fairly certain that it wasn’t focused completely on his transplanted Sharingan and that she seemed to have some sort of ultimate goal involving his experience with a kekkei genkai that did not belong to him. But, he hadn’t really thought that she was working on such a large scale. Silently he nodded his head as he broke the seal on the scroll and quickly scanned it, finding the details as Tsunade had mentioned.
“The sooner you leave the better, as the longer it takes to nullify this threat, the more innocent people will suffer and die.” She checked her clock. “It would probably be best if you leave tomorrow morning at first light. I’ll need to talk to Sakura a little about this disease and brief her on the notes the other medics have brought back with them. What she will be doing will be completely draining – unfortunately, this can’t afford to wait for another experienced medic to return to the village or become available.”
He nodded. “I’ll go find Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto and let them know about the mission. Should I tell Sakura you would like to see her?”
The blonde woman shook her head. “Not necessary. She will come back once she has finished with Raido.” She checked the clock again, frowning as she realized just how long the pink haired medic had been gone. “Damnit, Kakashi! What the hell did you do to that poor man anyway?! She has been gone for hours now!”
Catching himself before he could admit to anything incriminating he shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I wasn’t the one sparring with him.”
After he took his leave she sighed trying to let her annoyance at the man fade. She knew he had to have had something to do with Raido’s recent incapacitation, but she had no way of actually proving it. Tsunade was also upset that she didn’t quite know what she should do about it. The blonde woman had already warned him once that his attachment to his former female student was unhealthy and would only end poorly if he didn’t catch himself.
She had to wonder. The last time she had spoken to Jiraiya he had brought up what she had thought of at the time as a ridiculous observation. Taking into account Kakashi’s most recent actions she had to force herself to reconsider – and if she found some truth to the perverted man’s observations, she would have to figure out what to do about it.
~*~*~*~
“Kakashi,” Sakura sighed exasperatedly. “I do know what I am doing and I can take care of myself you know.”
He shrugged unapologetically. “Boss lady’s orders, you’re not leaving my sight.”
“I understand that, but do you really have to come with me on my rounds?” She eyed him wearily – trying to see him through the villagers eyes and finding that she couldn’t blame the shyer inhabitants for their fear since from whatever angle she looked at him he just plain exuded danger and menace. “You’re scaring some of the more timid folk, and they’ll never let me heal them if they’re too terrified of you.”
“Sorry, Sakura, your safety is more important than a few villagers who may be frightened of me… Which is as it should be, three of your four predecessors sent here ran into the rogue medic. Since Naruto and Sasuke have so far been able to locate and deal with the enemy it is very possible that you will run into him or her too. I’m here for when that happens, since you’re not likely to be in any sort of condition to deal with a local punk off the street, never mind someone with serious training.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and she opened her mouth to protest, only to be interrupted before she could continue arguing with him.
“No, I agree that you do know how to take care of yourself. But, I have had to carry you back to the hotel every night since we got here and make sure you actually stop to eat three times a day and sleep for a decent amount of time every night.” He chuckled hoping to embarrass her into letting the matter drop. “The woman at the front desk even told me that it was good of me to be so attentive to my young wife – said it was the best chance a dirty old man like me would ever have to keep a pretty young thing like you – but that it was a little over the top for me to carry you in every evening.”
The pink haired medic, forgetting her anger for the moment turned to look at her former sensei with shock clearly written on her face. “She said what?” Sakura had heard almost every oddball conjuncture about herself and her former sensei while they were on missions that she could ever have imagined but no one had ever mistaken them for a married couple before.
Kakashi laughed at her reaction. “I suspect that if her eyesight was a little better she would have noticed that you’ve been unconscious the last three times I’ve brought you back and may have reconsidered her comments.” He paused with a twinkle in his eye and couldn’t resist adding just to tweak her nose a little. “Although, she could be just guessing that I’m wearing you out during the day somewhere secluded…”
Sakura’s eyes widened even more and her face, which was already scarlet with embarrassment, managed to turn a couple shades deeper. “KAKASHI!!” the blushing medic exclaimed as she tossed one of the strong metal tins containing the necessary medicinal items from her larger medical kit at his head.
Kakashi laughed and effortlessly caught the tin. “Easy there, Sakura. I’m kidding. That old woman probably has no idea what to make of us coming and going at all hours with Naruto and Sasuke dropping by every couple days to report in, check on your progress and scare away any of the local men who may have ideas about you.” His face turned serious for a moment. “Besides, whatever it is that she thinks we should probably humor her if she ever mentions it. This is the only hotel in the only unaffected village anywhere close to the infected area. If she were to take it into her head to throw us out we’d have a hard time finding accommodations elsewhere and with the state you’ve been in lately camping is not an option.”
Sakura sighed. “You’re right, but do you really have to come with me every time I go?” she whined, knowing the answer, but hoping if she kept asking he may change his mind.
“Is there someone you don’t want me to meet, Sakura?” He asked as lightly as he could though a small part of him was irrationally seething at the idea.
Her flush returned. “Er, no. No, of course not! I’m just sure that you must be bored out of your mind watching me heal people all day.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Nope, not at all if it means keeping my teammate safe.” He ruffled her hair, much to her annoyance. “Now, are you ready to go?”
She paused for a moment, knowing defeat when she felt it. “Okay, okay I’m ready.”
They made their way from their room past the squat old woman tending the front desk of their hotel. From the corner of her eye Sakura noticed the woman grinning toothlessly at her former sensei and her face colored as she realized he may not have been entirely kidding about what the woman thought they were after all.
~*~*~*~
As Sakura was finished with the last of the worst cases for the day, her chakra low, but not depleted, she felt a deep sense of satisfaction in that she was finally making some progress. Tsunade had been correct; the healing techniques needed to cope with the artificially fortified disease were incredibly draining and despite her complaints, she was glad to have someone there with her when she finished.
The pink haired medic didn’t even have to ask for Kakashi’s help most of the time as he usually could sense what ever it was she wanted or needed from him: food, a hand to pull her to her feet, his aid in returning to the hotel, or as often as not someone to sleep on. Though, much to her embarrassment he had felt it necessary to carry her back to the hotel every evening whether she wanted him to or not. Granted, she wasn’t exactly complaining as the last thing she wanted to do after spending the day, and almost all of her chakra, healing the sick villagers was to walk several miles back to their hotel before she could give in to sleep. Falling asleep in his arms as he made his way back to the hotel was a much more preferable way of traveling in her mind – though thoroughly embarrassing if anyone were ever to find out. Definitely something she would like to keep from Naruto and Sasuke.
When Kakashi stepped closer to her, to pick her up, she assumed, she waved him off. “I can and would like to walk.” Sakura flushed a little at his obvious displeasure at her assertion and hastily amended her statement. “Well, for a little while anyway.”
He eyed her suspiciously but shrugged – not wanting to give himself away as he had been, to his inner disgust, very much enjoying the excuse to touch her in a slightly more intimate manner than what their current relationship would usually allow. There was also the fact that the little old biddy who ran the hotel they were staying at did think that he was a dirty old man, but that he was so smitten with the younger woman she could hardly object. Kakashi had done all he could to encourage her incorrect assumption. The older woman was a large fan of lurid romance novels and she seemed to enjoy the idea of having one of the most clichéd plots playing out in front of her in her own hotel, though he had no intentions of ever telling Sakura that.
“Okay, let’s head back then.” He figured he would keep a closer eye on her than usual and make a grab for her if she didn’t seem like she could make it under her own power.
Leisurely, they made their way back to the hotel, passing through the deep woods surrounding and separating the two villages from each other. About halfway through, in the area that seemed to have the thickest undergrowth, the older man cursed under his breath; a moment later she joined him. They were being followed, and Sakura knew she really wasn’t in any condition to fight. She could walk and that was about it, if anything actually happened she would be nothing more than a troublesome burden to Kakashi.
Nonchalantly, he knelt down to toy with his sandal strap by the side of the path with the deepest undergrowth. Sakura wondered for only a moment what he was doing before hastily joining him, moving directly to the side of him, effectively blocking him from sight of anyone behind them.
To cover Kakashi’s movements she sighed impatiently. “What now?”
He murmured something placating to her, his tone too low for someone watching to distinguish his actual words.
The kunoichi shook her head with annoyance. “I knew you should have gone for those new sandals at that last village… Honestly, old man, someone your age should know better…”
As Sakura rambled on about sandals and the inconvenience his were causing her he quickly and quietly summoned his oft used pug – hissed directions into the little canine’s ear before releasing the dog into the underbrush. Once he was finished, he rose and started forward once again.
With a huff and her hands on her hips she joined him, wondering what their plan would be since he hadn’t felt it necessary to elaborate. Inwardly, she shrugged, trusting that he had the situation under control and would let her know if he needed something from her.
Several moments later they sensed the unknown enemy close in on them. The two shinobi tensed, waiting for their watcher to make his or her move. They didn’t have too long to wait as a young woman stepped onto the path ahead of them. She was beautiful to Sakura’s critical eye. Quietly, she groaned; why couldn’t the enemy be unattractive for once? As she wondered what their course of action would be and if she should be concerned, she felt herself firmly pulled behind her former sensei.
“Stay out of this Sakura.” His voice though light, was all business and brooked no nonsense.
Quietly, she heaved a sigh of relief he was ready to protect her from the enemy. Sakura didn’t let her guard down though, knowing that could be a fatal mistake as they still weren’t sure if their enemy was alone or had brought company with her. Oddly enough, the woman didn’t particularly seem inclined to make a move, which was slightly worrying as it probably meant one thing; she was buying time for her accomplices to surround them. Instead, she took her time to study the two shinobi before, seemingly scrutinizing every little detail of their appearances, postures, and actions. Sakura found it more than slightly disconcerting.
Finally, the unknown woman opened her mouth to speak to them. “Now isn’t that precious.” She twisted her pretty features into an ugly sneer. “The old man thinks he’s going to protect his little medic.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm and something else not as easily identified. “So sweet it could make me sick.”
In the blink of an eye the woman disappeared only to reappear a just behind them with three dripping senbon in each hand secured between her fingers and ready to strike. Or rather, she would be ready to strike if her target had been there. The moment she had disappeared, Kakashi had urged Sakura onto his back, wrapping her legs around his waist, and formed a rapid series of hand seals transporting them as far toward the hotel as the jutsu allowed. As soon as he had his bearings, he immediately took to the trees – his first priority was to keep Sakura safe with a secondary objective to take out the rogue medic if and only if the opportunity presented itself. As much as he hated leaving an enemy behind him, he didn’t want to risk Sakura’s safety in a fight.
Kakashi could feel the woman following them and though he couldn’t sense her gaining ground, he still treated her as an active threat that may strike at any moment. The elite jonin continued along in the branches of the trees, angling off in one direction and then another to try and shake his pursuit. Just as he thought he may have made some progress in losing the rogue medic, he was forced to come to an abrupt halt. The bridge, over a particularly violent set of rapids extending as far as he could see in either direction, had been destroyed. Silently, he cursed as he realized that they had been set up – she had expected him to run and had let him. Now he was out in the open in an indefensible position with a medic who was unable to defend herself.
Kakashi turned, to face the woods he had just exited, his eyes scanning the tree line searching for the enemy medic. He knew that she wasn’t in his class and that he could easily take her out; unfortunately having Sakura as good as out of commission complicated things a little. If she had been just about any other shinobi or client he probably would have risked setting her down so he could fight unhindered, but something in him just couldn’t do it.
As the Copy Ninja was contemplating his next move, his charge squirmed a little against his back, attempting to unwrap her legs from his waist and trying to extricate herself from his firm grasp. Curiously he turned his head slightly to ascertain what she was doing.
“Let go, Kakashi, you can fight better without me weighing you down…” Sakura squeaked in surprise as the arms holding her legs tightened instead of loosening as he had expected.
“No, not an option,” he almost growled, more than aware of how tightly she had been clutching him since he had pulled her onto his back. She knew she had little chance of defending herself on her own – he could feel it in the way she had been subconsciously clinging to him – and he had no intentions of letting her down.
Sakura was about to ask him what he would suggest they do when the woman appeared again, sauntering from the woods and clearly very pleased with herself.
“So… I should be flattered that Leaf has sent the legendary Copy Ninja after such a little nuisance as myself… but somehow I find that I am not.” The woman flicked her long dark hair over her shoulder in a dismissive motion, as though she was dismissing more than just her hair as an annoyance.
Sakura shivered at the complete lack of warmth or even life in the woman’s voice subconsciously pulling herself a little closer to the man supporting her on his back. The dark haired woman sounded, like so many of the shinobi gone bad Sakura had heard over the years, teetering right on the very edge of sanity.
The unnamed woman chuckled coldly. “Looks like you’ve gone soft in your dotage old man, refusing to allow the medic to fend for herself at the probable cost to your own wellbeing.” She sneered. “Pathetic. You should thank me for doing you this favor of killing you honorably in combat… Otherwise, I would suspect you will probably come to an ignoble end during some mundane activity.” Her sneer turned to a smirk, “You’re past your prime grandpa, what with something like 30 years of service to your village… Reduced to playing nursemaid and protector to a child medic… You’re just pitiable.”
Kakashi’s arms tightened again, the only sign of the medic’s words cutting a little too close for his comfort. Steeling himself, he chose not to respond. Instead he kept his mind working on how to quickly dispose of the woman without leaving his kunoichi open to attack from any additional enemies she may have brought with her. He couldn’t sense any other presences, but by no means did that mean that there weren’t any. Since the woman was clearly taking her time to toy with them a little he figured she was setting something in motion while she was doing her best to distracting him.
Before he could make a move, three familiar presences made themselves known to him as his dark haired former student stepped out from the woods behind the rogue medic. The blonde materialized next to the quietly seething jonin along with his summons.
“Can’t let you have all the fun, Kakashi.” The Uchiha smirked. He had been looking for a fight and now he had finally found a real one. “Those henchmen of hers didn’t put up enough resistance to be worth the effort we went through tracking them down and silently taking them out… This one, on the other hand, looks like she might be a little more fun.”
Kakashi, feeling relief at suddenly having the means to get Sakura out of harms way, turned to the blonde man standing next to him, finally allowing the woman to slip down from his back to the ground. “Naruto, take Sakura back to the hotel and wait for us to return. Do not leave her under any circumstances. Pakkun will go with you to find a way around the river.” He knew Tsunade had told him no exceptions, but the rogue medic had cut a little too close to some of his darkest fears for him to be able to turn his back on her so easily. Even with Sakura’s wellbeing at stake, he felt secure in his decision to have Naruto escort her back to the hotel.
The enthusiastic man looked as though he wanted to complain but thought better of it after taking in his female friend’s drained state. Instead, Naruto nodded and reached out to the exhausted medic. He realized that protecting her was just as important, perhaps more considering his longtime friendship with her, as taking down the rogue medic.
With a sigh of frustration and annoyance Sakura allowed herself to be picked up and taken by her blonde friend back to the hotel before the rogue medic could launch whatever attack she may have planned. The pink haired woman knew that she would be nothing more than a hindrance and possibly a distraction in her current state, but that didn’t stop her from wishing she could be there with them and help take her down. Instead she would have to satisfy herself with the knowledge that she was taking down the woman’s ‘gift’ to the villages in the area instead.
Wistfully she turned her head as best she could to see how her other two teammates were going to handle the enemy medic. She needn’t have turned as the sounds of her former sensei’s trademark jutsu filled the air shortly followed by a second chorus of birdsong signaling both men were deadly serious about taking their target out for good.
~*~*~*~
Kakashi awoke feeling foggy and confused; his body seemed to be sprawled in a not particularly comfortable position on what he could only guess was the floor. Though mentally he amended his thought as he felt something he could only vaguely think of as nice and comforting. He concentrated on the sensation and after a moment was able to identify it as someone slowly running a hand though his hair. Without thinking he sighed and relaxed, leaning into the enjoyable sensation and allowing his mind to drift pleasantly.
After several moments something really started to bother the Copy Ninja and he realized it was it was most likely the uncomfortable position he found himself in coupled with the fact that his entire body ached and he had no idea why. He was fairly certain it wasn’t completely due to the painful position he found himself in. Concentrating a little more he gradually began to discern which dull pain belonged to each of his limbs. His arms seemed to be wrapped tightly around something firm but still soft while most of the rest of him, aside from his head, upper chest and one of his legs, seemed to be on the floor. He groaned softly as he started to shift himself a little, noting that the hand seemed to have stopped moving through his hair, and a part of him really wished it hadn’t.
Groggily he lifted his head just a little and cracked open his natural eye just enough to take in his surroundings. Frowning a little he puzzled over the immediate sight that met his eye – what seemed to be two red fabric covered… Hastily he lifted his head higher to meet the gaze of a flushing but still clearly amused medic partially propped up on her elbows, horror struck as he realized that she was under him.
As quickly as he could he disentangled his arms from her waist, pulled his leg off of hers and pushed himself onto his knees in a sitting position between her legs, completely removing himself from her. He sat for a moment, his head spinning with the effort of moving himself so quickly and the combination of assorted aches and pains wreaking havoc on his nervous system. After a couple minutes he was able to shake the disorienting sensations and return his gaze to Sakura.
Feeling entirely embarrassed since he had no idea how he had ended up practically pinning her to the floor with his face firmly pressed into her abdomen, he lifted a hand to the back of his neck, trying hard not to flinch at the dull throbbing of pain the movement caused him. “Er…” he tried looking for the right thing to say and hoped like hell that she wouldn’t take offense at his apparent unconscious actions.
A rather large portion of his mind panicked, wondering if he had tried to act upon some of the inappropriate thoughts and feelings he had been having more and more trouble keeping under wraps. He had no memories whatsoever of… anything… Thinking about it, he remembered sending Sakura away with Naruto and Pakkun from the impending fight against the rogue medic, but then… nothing.
Sakura watched as the conflicting emotions she so rarely saw the older man express flickered across the visible portion of his face. Deciding to take pity on the clearly concerned shinobi she chuckled. “Sleeping Beauty awake at last?” she asked with what he was relieved to identify as a teasing lilt to her voice.
Deciding to start with the easiest questions and build his way up the harder ones he started with one of the most obvious. “Um… how long…” He tried.
She waved her hand negligently. “Don’t worry about it.”
He frowned as a few things didn’t quite add up in his foggy mind. “Why didn’t you just shove me off?”
She sighed. “Couldn’t – no strength or chakra. I used the last of it treating you after Sasuke brought you back on the brink of death a couple days ago… You may be lean, but you’re all muscle and way too heavy for me to move without augmenting my strength…” She flushed a little and was barely able to suppress a giggle, as embarrassing as it was she could still find amusement in the situation. “Besides you have a really strong grip. Even if I had been able to shift you off me I would still have a heck of a time getting you to let go. Far easier in the end to wait for you to wake up on your own.”
He had the decency to flush a little as he nodded, it sounded just like her, but it still didn’t shed any light on how they had ended up on the floor. “But that still doesn’t explain how…”
Sakura laughed, hoping he would buy her light explanation. She did not want him to know just how frightening he had been the previous evening and that she had actually been a little afraid of him. “Sasuke brought you back after the fight with that rogue medic two days ago very, very sick. The last chidori you used to take her out ruptured a vial of the toxin she was using to spread the virus and you received a… near fatal dose of it…” Her cheeks colored a little at the memory. “I was able to get it under control and drive it from your system, but it left both of us exhausted, you’ve been mostly asleep since then – so have I for that matter. Last night you got out of bed, delusional I think… Or maybe you were having nightmares I really couldn’t say which.” Sakura shook her head, not wanting him to know how close he had come to attacking her. “Regardless, I had to use what little chakra I had recuperated to knock you out again before you caused any trouble. Unfortunately I didn’t quite think my way through what I was doing and was unable to get out from under or support you when you fell.”
“Eh, sorry about that… Can’t imagine what could have come over me…” Rather unsteadily he rose to his feet wanting to give the poor medic some space.
“Don’t worry about it, you were and still are very sick. It’s definitely not your fault.” Sakura shifted a little and grimaced as if in pain before sighing. She looked back up at him. “Could you give me a hand?” She extended a hand up to the still unsteady man.
Inwardly Kakashi frowned at her request for help. He could barely stay on his feet, as a healer she must know that. Gamely he took her hand and pulled her to her feet with a slight grunt, noting her flinch in pain as she put weight on her right foot.
The medic blushed under his scrutiny – not wanting to tell him that he had once again sprained her ankle. Carefully she limped to a chair, feeling his eyes on her as she moved. She sighed when she finally met his gaze.
“I’m fine Kakashi and it’s not your fault. As soon as I have enough chakra to spare I’ll fix it.” She shook her head at his pained look. “Now you on the other hand are still very sick, get back into bed – I’m surprised you’ve been awake as long as you have.” Sakura pointed at one of the two beds in the room. “Naruto and Sasuke will probably be back in a day or so. They went to check out the rogue medic’s base of operations – now that she is gone, the jutsu she had been using to keep it hidden and confound those looking for it has dissolved and they were easily able to locate it.”
Finding that he was fading fast, the silver haired man complied and gingerly sunk onto the closest bed, sighing as he settled into the soft blankets. Despite his distress at causing her so much trouble, he found his eyelids drooping closed as sleep claimed him almost before his head touched the pillow. His last thought as he was drifting off to sleep was that he had accidentally fallen into her bed as the bedding smelled of the same light floral scent he associated with her and an unseen smiled formed on his lips as he drifted off to sleep.
Sakura watched him fall asleep in her bed with a sigh of relief. She had been afraid he might do something foolish upon waking to find the two of them in such a compromising position. Or worse, for Naruto and Sasuke to return and find them like that. Absently she chalked it up to the virus he had been infected with – she knew it would take another couple days before it left his system entirely and he could really begin to recover. In the mean time, she figured she too could use some sleep, or at the very least a nap. Carefully she hobbled to the vacant bed and eased herself into it, smiling as she inhaled her former sensei’s comforting scent still lingering on the sheets. As long as she had known him, his scent had never failed to make her feel safe and secure, and she was happy to realize that it probably never would.
