Bring her back

Chapter 9

Kakashi was laying in bed but couldn't fall asleep. His mind was all about her pink-haired kunoichi. He was confused by how kindly Ren behaved. He expected him to be a jerk. He wondered if he misunderstood Sakura. She actually never agreed on being abused but never denied it either. And if not that, then what could be her problem that, destroyed her that much.

He suddenly sat up in bed, because of a memory.
A memory from a few months ago. The night when she told them about dating Ren. Kakashi walked her home from the pub because she was drunk.

/Flashback/

Kakashi held her by her waist to support her steps and she had her arm around his neck as they walked towards Sakura's home.

"Kakashi sensei" Sakura called his name "Is it wrong that I started dating someone?" She asked.

"Why would it be Sakura?" Kakashi asked surprisedly.

"I've loved Sasuke-kun for so long, and he never cared about me. I want to be loved too. I met Ren by accident and we had a good time together then he asked me out and we seem to get along really well. He talks about me as his girlfriend, so I guess we're a couple now...Anyway, I just feel like...that it seems from the outside as if I just hooked up with the first guy in desperation since no one heard from him before." She explained

Kakashi stopped and turned toward Sakura as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"No one thinks that Sakura...we were just surprised when you told us about him, as we don't know who this guy is. But no one sees you as desperate...Actually, I'm happy, that you stopped waiting for Sasuke and moved on. You're an amazing and beautiful kunoichi, who deserves to be loved."

Sakura's eyes opened up, she blushed and then went in for a hug. Kakashi wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "Thank you" she said into his chest as she shed a few tears. Kakashi felt the wetness on his clothes, so he gently pushed her away by her shoulders to see her face.

"Why are you crying Sakura?" he asked confusedly as he wiped her tears off

"I don't know" she giggled "No one really said anything like that to me before." she continued

Kakashi smiled as he held her waist again and put one of her arms around his neck to continue walking. 'I hope that guy won't hurt her as she's really vulnerable emotionlessly, especially if it comes to love.' he thought

"So tell me about Ren. What is he like?" asked Kakashi kindly "Since no one saw him, so he might not even exist" he added teasingly.

"He's real!" Sakura chuckled " Well, at first he was like Sai a little bit...cold and weird, but as I got to know him, I realised that he's actually really kind and loving. Which surprised me, since I thought he will be emotionless. Although sometimes he's a little bit bossy and tries to be dominant, but I just laugh about it. I mean, I can punch him in half any second, whatever he thinks of himself" laughed Sakura

"I'm sure about that" chuckled Kakashi

/End of flashback/

"Bossy and dominant..." he whispered

Anger run through him as he realized what is happening. He clenched his fist so hard that his fingers turned white. He was shaking from fury.
'I should've taken seriously what she said back then! I should've noticed the signs, this could've all been prevented!'
His instinct told him to go to that bastard and beat him until he regrets the day he was born. But his mind knew that he can't do that. Sakura never admitted to being abused, she never said a bad word about Ren either. All Kakashi had against Ren was his assumptions.

The realization that he's actually powerless in this situation made Kakashi mad. He went out on the street and started walking aimlessly. He had no destination, but he couldn't stay in one place because of his anger.

"Kakashi?" A familiar voice called his name. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked concerned.

Kakashi looked around and had no idea how he got that far from his home. Naruto, Sasuke, Sai and Lee were standing on the other side of the road a few meters from him.

"Nothing. Why would there be any?" He answered.

"I've never seen you walking that fast." Naruto said

"Also even with your mask on it's visible that you're furious." Sasuke added

Kakashi didn't want to get Lee and Sai involved, but he wanted to tell Naruto and Sasuke. Maybe they could get her to talk about Ren.

"It's just a book I read. The ending was awful." Kakashi explained. "Naruto, Sasuke tomorrow at 7, the usual?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows as he didn't believe Kakashi's explanation.

"Of course!" Naruto smirked "We should invite Sakura-chan too. She had such a great time yesterday too." Naruto smiled

"Sakura-san?" Lee asked curiously. "What are you doing? Can I join?"

"OMG Lee! Still?! He has a boyfriend, you should let her go. Actually, you should've let her go a long time ago." Naruto said in a bored tone.

Sasuke noticed that Kakashi's fist clenched when Naruto said the word 'boyfriend'. Sasuke was suspicious of Ren too. He noticed that her behaviour was different since he appeared and she lost a lot of weight. 'Kakashi knows something that we don't.' he thought, thinking of his furious behaviour.

"My youthful heart will never give up!" Lee shouted.

"I'm just gonna go home..." Naruto said unbothered

"Wait Naruto-kun, tell me please..." Lee ran after Naruto who walked away with his hands on the back of his head.

Sai went after them but Sasuke stayed where he was and waited for them to get out of earshot.

"It's about Sakura, isn't it?" He asked Kakashi as he turned towards him.

"Yes, it is." He answered. "She's in trouble, but I assume you noticed it too. We must help her, otherwise, it won't end well." Kakashi said

"He's hurting her." Sasuke stated

"Yes." He sighed. "We'll talk about the rest tomorrow."