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chapter twenty-six

"It can't all be sorrow. After all, what is grief if not love persevering?"

- Vision

-

"My lord, you summoned me?"

"Are the preparations made?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Then it's time for us to make a move. Inform Kakuzu that we'll be taking the Hidden Waterfall's Jinchuriki first."

<>

It was heartbreaking how little of Sakura's possessions remained. Sakura took the two average sized boxes from the Uchiha police with the most blank expression that Kakashi had ever seen on her. Kakashi picked up the second cardboard box without thinking about it. He knew that Sakura could carry these heavy boxes with one pinky if she felt like it but he felt like he should, anyway. Maybe this would show her that he was willing to help her take the weight off her shoulders. Sakura didn't start a fight with him because she was far too tired to.

Kakashi would've preferred his student chastising him about how it was the twenty-first century, and things are changing, and Sakura should be allowed to carry her own boxes. Sakura didn't do that.

Kakashi knew, now, why Sakura had chosen to stay with him instead of with Lady Kushina or Lady Mikoto. Sakura had been staying at his house for a week, now, and Kakashi had never once seen her this quiet. It wasn't that she was sad. She hadn't cried once in his sight since the first time. She hadn't cried at night, either, because Kakashi had excellent hearing and no matter how late he stayed up, he had never heard his student cry. But she was numb, and quiet, and almost empty of the former vitality that used to run through her veins and explode out to everyone she loved. She was robbed of her youth, and her joy. And she was tired. Kakashi knew it. But Sakura didn't seem to care about that, instead doing everything that she used to do.

He held Team 7 meet ups three times in that one week that Sakura had been staying with him, and Sakura went to every single one of them. Kakashi had expressly told her that it was okay to stay home and rest, but she hadn't listened. Sakura bought groceries yesterday, on Saturday, and she'd cleaned his apartment on Tuesday and Thursday.

She had been acting disturbingly normal, she'd just been more quiet, speaking only of informative things, or important subjects. When she was around Naruto and Sasuke, her brothers in arms and best friends, she was her usual, charming, talkative self. She forced a jovial spark into her eyes around them, and Sasuke and Naruto just seemed relieved that their friend was okay.

But when she came back to the house with Kakashi, she quieted down. It was like she let down a barrier, and allowed Kakashi to see her true self, because oddly enough it was only after she returned to Kakashi's home that her eye bags were visible, and she shut up about trivial things. Her eyes reminded Kakashi of dead leaves.

Kakashi desperately wanted to help his student, but he knew from experience that the only thing that would help was time. No amount of therapists, no amount of 'talking it out' with strangers would take the pain away. Sometimes talking it out with friends and family helped, but that had to be done willingly. He wanted to tell his male students that their friend was suffering, but it wasn't his truth to tell. Sakura would tell Naruto and Sasuke when she felt up to it, but until then, Kakashi decided that he would be a silent support.

Today was the day that Lady Kushina threw a little party to celebrate Minato Namikaze's return to the workforce. Minato had been forced into an extra two weeks of bed rest, much to his irritation, and had even taken to doing his paperwork in his bed. To the irritation of the nurses. When the Hokage was finally let out of his prison two days ago, he got straight to work in his office.