Stripped Bare (kakashiXsakura)

chapter 24

Sakura's brow creased as she concentrated on painstakingly removing the toxins bit by bit from Miyabi's damaged brain tissue. She wasn't sure how long she had been at it. The procedure required that she immerse herself completely in the task as she hunched over the bed back at Wet Dreams.

Their return from Houseki had been swift and uneventful...or at least that's what she had been told. She had slept most of the way, draped over Kakashi's back as she recovered her strength. She had awoken only a couple of hours before their arrival, and had insisted that she immediately resume healing the mysterious girl as soon as they arrived at the club.

Cold and dreary skies welcomed them when they finally arrived the club. She was greeted tearfully by the remaining girls, their pretty faces flooded with relief as they all tried to hug her at once.

The moment Jitsu spied the girl hanging limply in Naruto's arms, she immediately rushed toward him to take her hand, sobbing so hard that her words couldn't be made out by any one.

Tora had explained that the girl they had rescued was Aiya, a girl who used to work at the club and the friend Jitsu had missed so much. She had been the last to disappear before Sakura's arrival but for whatever reason, she had managed to avoid the deranged doctor's procedure long enough to get rescued.

Their joy was short lived as Sakura wearily explained that there was no guarantee she would be able to heal Aiya or Miyabi, but she was going to try. She ordered a room to be temporarily designated to the task of reviving them, and Jitsu had insisted her room be used for the job. Naruto and Yamato marched the girls up into the room and laid them out on the beds before Sakura asked that she be left alone for the next few hours.

Hesitant to let her out of her sight, Kakashi had grudgingly agreed, but remained in the common room on the couch thumbing through his copy of Icha Icha. His uncovered eye did little more than stare blankly at the pages.

Two hours later, Sakura had finished flushing all the toxins from Aiya's system and mending damaged brain matter. The only thing left to do was to wait and see if she would wake up or not. After eating a meal at Kakashi's request, she started work on Miyabi, repeating the same process of working on only small groups of cells at a time.

More than once, Kakashi had forced her to take a break when he could feel her chakra reserves dwindling from down the hall, sometimes resorting to force to pry her away. He refused to let Sakura put herself in any more danger on this mission, not when he had only just gotten her back.

And now here she was, about halfway through treating her second patient, when Kakashi again stepped into the room. She didn't want to take a break, but didn't feel like fighting him this time. Wordlessly, she let him guide her across the hall to the familiar bunk bed she shared with Misaki. She climbed in wearily without changing her clothes, pulled the covers up to her chin, and was instantly asleep.

Kakashi pulled up a chair, having appointed himself as sentinel to make sure that she actually was sleeping and not sneaking back into the room to heal some more. He turned away Naruto, Misaki and even Sasuke who came to see her. There would be time for visiting later. Right now, Sakura just needed to rest.

He realized he could never again go on a mission with this beautiful woman. He care for her so much that it clouded his judgment. He did stupid things that were out of character for him, made decisions that could jeopardize the mission. His feelings in his heart overruled the logic in his head, and he knew a shinobi like that was a hazard on the battlefield.

He loved her, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wouldn't work. Assuming she did want to pursue something with him, the fact remained that he would continue to take dangerous solo missions while she worked relentlessly in the hospital. Every mission he took came with the high risk that it might be his last, and Sakura didn't deserve to worry about him like that. She often worked nights, and even if he was in the village, their conflicting schedules would ensure that they would see little of each other.