Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Devotion
Chapter 3: Delirium
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Kakashi had always been a light sleeper, so he wasn't surprised when he woke to the light noise of Sakura getting out of bed early that morning and taking quiet steps out of the room and down the hall. Keeping his eyes closed and his ears open for just a moment to make sure she was alright, he quickly went back to sleep.
Luckily, the young woman hadn't had any more nightmares for the remainder of the night. Kakashi knew that she hadn't really gotten much sleep; considering how much she'd tossed and turned, keeping him awake, he guessed that she'd had a lot of trouble getting comfortable. And the floor wasn't the best place to spend the night either. If it had been any one else Kakashi would've gladly shared the large bed...but he was worried about what he'd do if he was in the same bed with his beautiful ex-student.
He hadn't had more than a few minutes of precious sleep before he heard her crying. Drowsily, he opened his eyes, adjusted his mask, threw the covers off, and walked down the hall.
----
Sakura knew that Kakashi was a light sleeper. After all, he was a ninja, and always had to be on alert - so she tried not to make too much noise after she left the room and went to go find entertainment somewhere in the empty house. Kakashi's presence had thankfully let her rest a little more than she had expected, the power of his chakra soaking into everything in the room. The feeling of so much strength and energy had left her secure enough not to worry or think about Sasuke too much.
Bored, Sakura looked around the small living room again, throwing herself onto the couch. Early morning sunlight leaked in through the blinds, and her stomach grumbled. I think those leftovers were a little ancient... she complained, getting up again and going through the pantry for the third time during her stay there. I'm surprised he doesn't get food poisoning more often...guess he's immune or something... Finding nothing good to eat, she walked over to the bookshelf and sorted through what seemed like hundreds of Icha Icha Paradise books, all with the same little orange cover. Needless to say, there was nothing to do here.
So she was left with only her thoughts. Absentmindedly, she sat down again and stretched out on the couch, staring at the white ceiling. Nothing stirred in the apartment, making things eerily silent. She thought about going back to Kakashi's room, stood up, and then changed her mind and returned to her original position.
"Sakura."
A jolt of fear ran along her spine and she sat up and spun around, her hand going to the place that usually held a kunai. She knew that voice...
"No, I'm just imagining things," she told herself sternly before remembering that Kakashi was still asleep and covering her mouth. She didn't want to wake him with her silly daydreams.
Another whisper of her name and she clenched her fists as a glimpse of red flashed across her vision. Suddenly, hands were trailing across her shoulder and the nape of her neck, and breath brushed against her ear.
"Mm...you're imagining me now, huh Sakura?"
"S...Sa...Sasuke?" she stuttered, looking back to see nothing but air. However, those cold hands still raked across her flesh, making her panic and squeeze her eyes shut. "No...you're...you're not..."
"Sakura."
Her eyes popped open and she saw Kakashi standing in the hallway, his one visible eye staring at her in alarm. She mustered up a smile and plastered it on her face, letting out a deep breath.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I...I'm fine," she said, pausing in the middle of her sentence. What had just happened? She'd definitely felt those hands...
The pink-haired girl watched as Kakashi walked across the room and pulled an oily, disgusting snack out of the pantry, pulling off the wrapper and walking to the bookshelf to pull out a volume of Icha Icha Paradise before sitting down across from her. A few minutes of silence passed before he eyed her warily. "Sakura, what's wrong?"
She looked up at him, blushing. "I..."
He waited for her to continue before sighing. "Yes?"
"I think I'm going insane."
His eye widened considerable and he dropped the book below eye level, looking at her instead. "And why is that?"
It wasn't long before tears were spilling out of her eyes and pouring down her face again, and he was suddenly moving towards her. However, when she felt his hands on her shoulders she threw her hands out to stop him, her chakra stabbing out in self-defense. Alarmed, he sat down on the other end of the couch as she let out more of her pain, unable to control the sobs that found their way out of her throat.
When she'd stopped crying a little he frowned at her. "Sakura, what happened?"
She gazed at him through blurry eyes, biting her lip until it bled. "I keep on imagining he's here...I can feel him touching me..." He murmured her name in concern, moving towards her a little, and she pushed her hands towards him again, obviously telling him to stay away. "Don't touch me!" she shrieked, her voice cracking.
That's when she saw it: blood was running down his arm. He looked in the same direction and quickly covered it up. "Don't worry..."
"I'm sorry," she blurted out quickly, "My chakra...it was instinct-"
"I said not to worry about it!" he said quickly, "You need to worry about yourself right now. Anything I can get you?"
She lowered her eyes, gulping down the rest of her tears. "A book would be nice."
"A book?" he asked her, "That's all?"
"Food would be nice too," she muttered, "Something that's not poisonous or expired."
His visible eye brightened and she knew that he was grinning under his mask. It actually made her feel a little bit better too, the positive energy overwhelming the negative. He chuckled, standing up and offering a hand. "A book, I can do. Here, come with me."
She got up and he led her down the hall, stopping at a closet with a plain wooden door. She wondered that she hadn't noticed it before in her boredom, regretting the choice not to adventure down here when he opened the door. Old, dusty weapons, apparel, and books decorated the shelves inside, set apart form the cleanliness of Kakashi's apartment.
"What is all this?" she asked quietly.
"It's stuff from my old team," he answered with the same reverent tone of voice. "Rin - the girl in the picture - was a medic, like you...she had a lot of medical books that I figure you'd like."
"Could I look at more of this stuff?"
He sighed, looking over at her. "Sure," he said, "I'll go out and get some food...and I'll send Naruto over as well, to guard you while I'm gone, alright? You shouldn't be alone for more than ten minutes."
"I'll be fine on my own, thanks," she said without looking at the older man, her gaze traveling along all of the items in the closet.
"I insist," he said, smiling. She looked at him briefly before nodding, and he left the apartment quickly for Naruto's, anxious about leaving her alone with her phantoms.
----
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Naruto screamed in Kakashi's face. The copy-nin sighed in frustration.
"I said she's having hallucinations and that you're not to touch her, Naruto," he replied calmly, "Now, I want you to go to my apartment and watch over her while I'm gone. Understood?" The obnoxious blonde really had matured over the past few years, but he still needed to be ordered around every once and while. "I'll be back soon, but I need to go get some food." He turned to leave, but the younger man caught him.
"Sensei?"
"Kakashi," he corrected, turning back to Naruto. "Yes?"
"Why did Sakura want to stay with you first?"
His brow furrowed in thought as he stared at his ex-student. "I hadn't really thought of that. Why?"
"Just curious. I'll ask her myself."
"Just don't upset her."
"I won't."
Kakashi left the blonde's apartment with the same thought in mind. Why had Sakura wanted to stay with him first? He supposed it was because she felt safest with him...Sakura hadn't really gotten used to Amarante yet, and Naruto was obviously too loud and obnoxious to stay with right after such a traumatic event. But the option that stuck in his mind, which he shouldn't really have been thinking of, slowly pushed its way to the forefront. Does she have feelings for me?
Shaking his head, he pushed the thought right back. No way...
That couldn't be true. Sakura was young and innocent, and had so many other options that it would just be bizarre for her to choose Kakashi over the rest. He was also still trying to deny that he might feel something more than friendly love for Sakura... Alright, just stop thinking about it now, before it's too late, he told himself. He just needed to get the food and get back to his apartment.
----
Sakura jumped when she heard the door open, relieved to see that it was only Naruto. "Hey Sakura-chan!" he greeted happily, raising a hand and smiling.
"Hi," she said, quirking her mouth a little and then returning to the medical books that Kakashi had shown her. Naruto walked over and stared at the objects in the closet curiously.
"What is all this?"
"It's stuff from Kakashi-sensei's - I mean, Kakashi's - old team," she said, correcting herself as she went along and pulling a picture down from the highest shelf. Naruto took it and stared at it. "Isn't it weird? I mean, I never even knew he had a team before us...or, I guess I knew, it just hadn't really ever seemed real."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed, giving her back the picture. "Hey, Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"Why'd you want to stay with Sensei first?"
She stared at her friend, narrowing her eyes in thought. "Oh...I guess it's because...well, do you remember when we heard that Sasuke had killed Itachi?"
"Yeah."
"And I was really upset?"
"Yeah..."
"Well..." she shrugged her shoulders and looked down at the pictures as she thought about it. "Kakashi was the only one who showed up to comfort me. It was like he knew that I was in pain, somehow...and he really supported me, you know? It was really nice to know that someone was there for me, because my parents weren't."
Naruto frowned. "Well, he didn't comfort me, and I don't - "
"You were with Jiraiya," she said quickly.
"Oh." He stopped. "So why do you think he did that?"
"I don't know," she said, "I just feel safe with him, that's all."
She glared when she saw that he wasn't even really paying attention but now examining some surgeon's tools in the closet. "Whoa...what are these...?"
Sighing, she just shook her head. He'll never grow up...
----
Naruto ended up staying the rest of the day, going through the old dusty closet in awe, while Sakura retreated to the couch with one of the books. Kakashi occasionally glanced up at her from his own little orange book, worried that she would start having hallucinations again, but she seemed unaware of anything but the information in the heavy tome. She devoured the medical logs one by one, feasting on the knowledge inside.
They ate ramen for dinner, and Naruto ended up shoveling down the remainder of the pot along with most of the snacks in Kakashi's pantry before leaving with an upset stomach. Kakashi and Sakura shared a short laugh about the blonde before settling back in to their spots in the living room, each of them scanning the pages of their own books and not paying much attention to one another.
But someone was.
As the hours went by, Kakashi slowly drifted off, letting the book fall to his lap. Sakura briefly looked up from a diagram of the human arm and then returned to her reading without thinking of the older man deep asleep across from her, slumped in his chair and breathing deeply. The tick of the clock was the only noise other than Kakashi's breathing and the occasional turn of a page as green eyes examined old sketches by a dead medic nin.
"Sakura."
She looked up from her comfortable spot in the lamplight, shivering. She thought about waking Kakashi, but changed her mind quickly. If it's just a hallucination, I have to be strong...for Naruto and Kakashi...they're strong...
"Sakura..." he said. She looked up to see he was there, standing right next to Kakashi's prone form. His snake-like eyes gazed at her lustfully, the face she once knew changed into something different and evil. "You sure you're imagining things?"
Her eyes widened as he took a step closer to her and she slammed her book shut, willing herself not to let the Sharingan take hold. "You...you're not real..."
He reached out and touched her face delicately, hissing out a breath. "Does this feel real to you?"
"Stop it!" she said loudly. Kakashi should've been awake by now, at least to pull her out of this waking nightmare...
The creature in front of her pulled his hand lower, across her collar bone. "Why should I? I can't be defeated...the only thing keeping me from killing your unconscious old friend over there is the Uchiha boy...and his will is fading fast."
A spark of hope invaded Sakura's mind. "Sasuke's still in there?"
"Barely..."
Looking across at Kakashi, she wondered why he was unconscious, but everything was getting less and less troublesome as the Sharingan lulled her into a trance. Orochimaru - who she now realized was the one controlling what happened - dragged his hand lower until he touched her again where she didn't want to be touched. "Please..." she murmured, "No...not again...don't..."
----
When she woke up again she was back in bed, a splitting headache making her cringe. Kakashi looked over at her from his chair by the side of the bed, putting down the book hastily. "What happened..." she murmured.
"You fell asleep, and started muttering and thrashing around," he said, a hint of worry in his overly calm voice, "I tried to wake you up, but it obviously didn't work."
She grimaced, recalling what must have been a dream. "So why couldn't you..."
"I have reason to believe that these are aftereffects of the Sharingan," he said quietly, "It's the only explanation I can think of."
"Tell me more."
He sighed, putting a head in his hands and looking at the clock. It was now well past three in the morning, and he'd already spent most of the night worrying about the pink-haired kunoichi. "You're showing the same signs that you would if you were continuously being made to see illusions by the Sharingan. I've never seen this happen to anyone, but considering your...experience...with the Uchiha bloodline trait, it could be having a more long-term effect on your mind."
She gulped. "So how long will this last?"
Sitting back in his chair and shrugging his shoulders, he shook his head. "Who knows? Days...weeks? But we'll be here for you." One tired eye showed signs of a smile underneath the mask, and Sakura relaxed a little. It would be OK if she had people there to support her.
A few minutes later he was putting his pillow on the other side of the bed and throwing the blanket to the side of the room as he took off his shirt, shoes, and headband and slid under the covers. They weren't touching, but Sakura was still surprised at the act. "What are you doing this time?" she asked curiously.
"Taking you up on your offer of sharing the bed," he said emotionlessly, facing away from her, "I'm getting old enough that it's not very comfortable to sleep on this floor.
She laughed quietly and turned away from the silver-haired man, a smile on her face.
Maybe she could get through the night without any more bad dreams.
----
Sharingan eyes stared through the window at the pair of sleeping Hidden Leaf Ninja, narrowing as the man climbed into the bed with the beautiful young woman that the owner of the eyes longed for. She'll be mine soon...and then I'll break you, boy, a voice hissed in the owner's head.
Never...Sakura's too strong...and Naruto and Kakashi will protect -
The first voice laughed at the weaker voice, cutting him off. But I can still blame you for all she's been through...after all, she wouldn't be in so much pain now if you didn't still lust after her.
Damn you, the second voice replied simply, not saying anything else.
With that, Uchiha Sasuke leaped off of the roof of the nearby building and into the forest outside of Konoha.
----
A/N: So Sasuke's still in there...acting as an Inner Orochimaru, I guess...I hope this fic isn't too predictable. '
I just finished reading the Nature of the Game - which is a PHENOMENAL story, you should go read it! It's by leafygirl and it's seriously amazing...beautifully written...
All these great KakaSaku stories are intimidating me, but your reviews keep me going. I promise there will plenty of fluff in later chapters, but for now Sakura is dealing with her betrayal by one of her closest friends, and I don't think it would be appropriate to have she and Kakashi just jump on each other right now or anything...she's having serious personal space issues.
On another note, I need some cool words starting with "D" to use as chapter names...that's going to be the theme.
PLEASE continue to review, I love you all! And I hope you liked the chapter!
--Kat
----
Kakashi had always been a light sleeper, so he wasn't surprised when he woke to the light noise of Sakura getting out of bed early that morning and taking quiet steps out of the room and down the hall. Keeping his eyes closed and his ears open for just a moment to make sure she was alright, he quickly went back to sleep.
Luckily, the young woman hadn't had any more nightmares for the remainder of the night. Kakashi knew that she hadn't really gotten much sleep; considering how much she'd tossed and turned, keeping him awake, he guessed that she'd had a lot of trouble getting comfortable. And the floor wasn't the best place to spend the night either. If it had been any one else Kakashi would've gladly shared the large bed...but he was worried about what he'd do if he was in the same bed with his beautiful ex-student.
He hadn't had more than a few minutes of precious sleep before he heard her crying. Drowsily, he opened his eyes, adjusted his mask, threw the covers off, and walked down the hall.
----
Sakura knew that Kakashi was a light sleeper. After all, he was a ninja, and always had to be on alert - so she tried not to make too much noise after she left the room and went to go find entertainment somewhere in the empty house. Kakashi's presence had thankfully let her rest a little more than she had expected, the power of his chakra soaking into everything in the room. The feeling of so much strength and energy had left her secure enough not to worry or think about Sasuke too much.
Bored, Sakura looked around the small living room again, throwing herself onto the couch. Early morning sunlight leaked in through the blinds, and her stomach grumbled. I think those leftovers were a little ancient... she complained, getting up again and going through the pantry for the third time during her stay there. I'm surprised he doesn't get food poisoning more often...guess he's immune or something... Finding nothing good to eat, she walked over to the bookshelf and sorted through what seemed like hundreds of Icha Icha Paradise books, all with the same little orange cover. Needless to say, there was nothing to do here.
So she was left with only her thoughts. Absentmindedly, she sat down again and stretched out on the couch, staring at the white ceiling. Nothing stirred in the apartment, making things eerily silent. She thought about going back to Kakashi's room, stood up, and then changed her mind and returned to her original position.
"Sakura."
A jolt of fear ran along her spine and she sat up and spun around, her hand going to the place that usually held a kunai. She knew that voice...
"No, I'm just imagining things," she told herself sternly before remembering that Kakashi was still asleep and covering her mouth. She didn't want to wake him with her silly daydreams.
Another whisper of her name and she clenched her fists as a glimpse of red flashed across her vision. Suddenly, hands were trailing across her shoulder and the nape of her neck, and breath brushed against her ear.
"Mm...you're imagining me now, huh Sakura?"
"S...Sa...Sasuke?" she stuttered, looking back to see nothing but air. However, those cold hands still raked across her flesh, making her panic and squeeze her eyes shut. "No...you're...you're not..."
"Sakura."
Her eyes popped open and she saw Kakashi standing in the hallway, his one visible eye staring at her in alarm. She mustered up a smile and plastered it on her face, letting out a deep breath.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I...I'm fine," she said, pausing in the middle of her sentence. What had just happened? She'd definitely felt those hands...
The pink-haired girl watched as Kakashi walked across the room and pulled an oily, disgusting snack out of the pantry, pulling off the wrapper and walking to the bookshelf to pull out a volume of Icha Icha Paradise before sitting down across from her. A few minutes of silence passed before he eyed her warily. "Sakura, what's wrong?"
She looked up at him, blushing. "I..."
He waited for her to continue before sighing. "Yes?"
"I think I'm going insane."
His eye widened considerable and he dropped the book below eye level, looking at her instead. "And why is that?"
It wasn't long before tears were spilling out of her eyes and pouring down her face again, and he was suddenly moving towards her. However, when she felt his hands on her shoulders she threw her hands out to stop him, her chakra stabbing out in self-defense. Alarmed, he sat down on the other end of the couch as she let out more of her pain, unable to control the sobs that found their way out of her throat.
When she'd stopped crying a little he frowned at her. "Sakura, what happened?"
She gazed at him through blurry eyes, biting her lip until it bled. "I keep on imagining he's here...I can feel him touching me..." He murmured her name in concern, moving towards her a little, and she pushed her hands towards him again, obviously telling him to stay away. "Don't touch me!" she shrieked, her voice cracking.
That's when she saw it: blood was running down his arm. He looked in the same direction and quickly covered it up. "Don't worry..."
"I'm sorry," she blurted out quickly, "My chakra...it was instinct-"
"I said not to worry about it!" he said quickly, "You need to worry about yourself right now. Anything I can get you?"
She lowered her eyes, gulping down the rest of her tears. "A book would be nice."
"A book?" he asked her, "That's all?"
"Food would be nice too," she muttered, "Something that's not poisonous or expired."
His visible eye brightened and she knew that he was grinning under his mask. It actually made her feel a little bit better too, the positive energy overwhelming the negative. He chuckled, standing up and offering a hand. "A book, I can do. Here, come with me."
She got up and he led her down the hall, stopping at a closet with a plain wooden door. She wondered that she hadn't noticed it before in her boredom, regretting the choice not to adventure down here when he opened the door. Old, dusty weapons, apparel, and books decorated the shelves inside, set apart form the cleanliness of Kakashi's apartment.
"What is all this?" she asked quietly.
"It's stuff from my old team," he answered with the same reverent tone of voice. "Rin - the girl in the picture - was a medic, like you...she had a lot of medical books that I figure you'd like."
"Could I look at more of this stuff?"
He sighed, looking over at her. "Sure," he said, "I'll go out and get some food...and I'll send Naruto over as well, to guard you while I'm gone, alright? You shouldn't be alone for more than ten minutes."
"I'll be fine on my own, thanks," she said without looking at the older man, her gaze traveling along all of the items in the closet.
"I insist," he said, smiling. She looked at him briefly before nodding, and he left the apartment quickly for Naruto's, anxious about leaving her alone with her phantoms.
----
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Naruto screamed in Kakashi's face. The copy-nin sighed in frustration.
"I said she's having hallucinations and that you're not to touch her, Naruto," he replied calmly, "Now, I want you to go to my apartment and watch over her while I'm gone. Understood?" The obnoxious blonde really had matured over the past few years, but he still needed to be ordered around every once and while. "I'll be back soon, but I need to go get some food." He turned to leave, but the younger man caught him.
"Sensei?"
"Kakashi," he corrected, turning back to Naruto. "Yes?"
"Why did Sakura want to stay with you first?"
His brow furrowed in thought as he stared at his ex-student. "I hadn't really thought of that. Why?"
"Just curious. I'll ask her myself."
"Just don't upset her."
"I won't."
Kakashi left the blonde's apartment with the same thought in mind. Why had Sakura wanted to stay with him first? He supposed it was because she felt safest with him...Sakura hadn't really gotten used to Amarante yet, and Naruto was obviously too loud and obnoxious to stay with right after such a traumatic event. But the option that stuck in his mind, which he shouldn't really have been thinking of, slowly pushed its way to the forefront. Does she have feelings for me?
Shaking his head, he pushed the thought right back. No way...
That couldn't be true. Sakura was young and innocent, and had so many other options that it would just be bizarre for her to choose Kakashi over the rest. He was also still trying to deny that he might feel something more than friendly love for Sakura... Alright, just stop thinking about it now, before it's too late, he told himself. He just needed to get the food and get back to his apartment.
----
Sakura jumped when she heard the door open, relieved to see that it was only Naruto. "Hey Sakura-chan!" he greeted happily, raising a hand and smiling.
"Hi," she said, quirking her mouth a little and then returning to the medical books that Kakashi had shown her. Naruto walked over and stared at the objects in the closet curiously.
"What is all this?"
"It's stuff from Kakashi-sensei's - I mean, Kakashi's - old team," she said, correcting herself as she went along and pulling a picture down from the highest shelf. Naruto took it and stared at it. "Isn't it weird? I mean, I never even knew he had a team before us...or, I guess I knew, it just hadn't really ever seemed real."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed, giving her back the picture. "Hey, Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"Why'd you want to stay with Sensei first?"
She stared at her friend, narrowing her eyes in thought. "Oh...I guess it's because...well, do you remember when we heard that Sasuke had killed Itachi?"
"Yeah."
"And I was really upset?"
"Yeah..."
"Well..." she shrugged her shoulders and looked down at the pictures as she thought about it. "Kakashi was the only one who showed up to comfort me. It was like he knew that I was in pain, somehow...and he really supported me, you know? It was really nice to know that someone was there for me, because my parents weren't."
Naruto frowned. "Well, he didn't comfort me, and I don't - "
"You were with Jiraiya," she said quickly.
"Oh." He stopped. "So why do you think he did that?"
"I don't know," she said, "I just feel safe with him, that's all."
She glared when she saw that he wasn't even really paying attention but now examining some surgeon's tools in the closet. "Whoa...what are these...?"
Sighing, she just shook her head. He'll never grow up...
----
Naruto ended up staying the rest of the day, going through the old dusty closet in awe, while Sakura retreated to the couch with one of the books. Kakashi occasionally glanced up at her from his own little orange book, worried that she would start having hallucinations again, but she seemed unaware of anything but the information in the heavy tome. She devoured the medical logs one by one, feasting on the knowledge inside.
They ate ramen for dinner, and Naruto ended up shoveling down the remainder of the pot along with most of the snacks in Kakashi's pantry before leaving with an upset stomach. Kakashi and Sakura shared a short laugh about the blonde before settling back in to their spots in the living room, each of them scanning the pages of their own books and not paying much attention to one another.
But someone was.
As the hours went by, Kakashi slowly drifted off, letting the book fall to his lap. Sakura briefly looked up from a diagram of the human arm and then returned to her reading without thinking of the older man deep asleep across from her, slumped in his chair and breathing deeply. The tick of the clock was the only noise other than Kakashi's breathing and the occasional turn of a page as green eyes examined old sketches by a dead medic nin.
"Sakura."
She looked up from her comfortable spot in the lamplight, shivering. She thought about waking Kakashi, but changed her mind quickly. If it's just a hallucination, I have to be strong...for Naruto and Kakashi...they're strong...
"Sakura..." he said. She looked up to see he was there, standing right next to Kakashi's prone form. His snake-like eyes gazed at her lustfully, the face she once knew changed into something different and evil. "You sure you're imagining things?"
Her eyes widened as he took a step closer to her and she slammed her book shut, willing herself not to let the Sharingan take hold. "You...you're not real..."
He reached out and touched her face delicately, hissing out a breath. "Does this feel real to you?"
"Stop it!" she said loudly. Kakashi should've been awake by now, at least to pull her out of this waking nightmare...
The creature in front of her pulled his hand lower, across her collar bone. "Why should I? I can't be defeated...the only thing keeping me from killing your unconscious old friend over there is the Uchiha boy...and his will is fading fast."
A spark of hope invaded Sakura's mind. "Sasuke's still in there?"
"Barely..."
Looking across at Kakashi, she wondered why he was unconscious, but everything was getting less and less troublesome as the Sharingan lulled her into a trance. Orochimaru - who she now realized was the one controlling what happened - dragged his hand lower until he touched her again where she didn't want to be touched. "Please..." she murmured, "No...not again...don't..."
----
When she woke up again she was back in bed, a splitting headache making her cringe. Kakashi looked over at her from his chair by the side of the bed, putting down the book hastily. "What happened..." she murmured.
"You fell asleep, and started muttering and thrashing around," he said, a hint of worry in his overly calm voice, "I tried to wake you up, but it obviously didn't work."
She grimaced, recalling what must have been a dream. "So why couldn't you..."
"I have reason to believe that these are aftereffects of the Sharingan," he said quietly, "It's the only explanation I can think of."
"Tell me more."
He sighed, putting a head in his hands and looking at the clock. It was now well past three in the morning, and he'd already spent most of the night worrying about the pink-haired kunoichi. "You're showing the same signs that you would if you were continuously being made to see illusions by the Sharingan. I've never seen this happen to anyone, but considering your...experience...with the Uchiha bloodline trait, it could be having a more long-term effect on your mind."
She gulped. "So how long will this last?"
Sitting back in his chair and shrugging his shoulders, he shook his head. "Who knows? Days...weeks? But we'll be here for you." One tired eye showed signs of a smile underneath the mask, and Sakura relaxed a little. It would be OK if she had people there to support her.
A few minutes later he was putting his pillow on the other side of the bed and throwing the blanket to the side of the room as he took off his shirt, shoes, and headband and slid under the covers. They weren't touching, but Sakura was still surprised at the act. "What are you doing this time?" she asked curiously.
"Taking you up on your offer of sharing the bed," he said emotionlessly, facing away from her, "I'm getting old enough that it's not very comfortable to sleep on this floor.
She laughed quietly and turned away from the silver-haired man, a smile on her face.
Maybe she could get through the night without any more bad dreams.
----
Sharingan eyes stared through the window at the pair of sleeping Hidden Leaf Ninja, narrowing as the man climbed into the bed with the beautiful young woman that the owner of the eyes longed for. She'll be mine soon...and then I'll break you, boy, a voice hissed in the owner's head.
Never...Sakura's too strong...and Naruto and Kakashi will protect -
The first voice laughed at the weaker voice, cutting him off. But I can still blame you for all she's been through...after all, she wouldn't be in so much pain now if you didn't still lust after her.
Damn you, the second voice replied simply, not saying anything else.
With that, Uchiha Sasuke leaped off of the roof of the nearby building and into the forest outside of Konoha.
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A/N: So Sasuke's still in there...acting as an Inner Orochimaru, I guess...I hope this fic isn't too predictable. '
I just finished reading the Nature of the Game - which is a PHENOMENAL story, you should go read it! It's by leafygirl and it's seriously amazing...beautifully written...
All these great KakaSaku stories are intimidating me, but your reviews keep me going. I promise there will plenty of fluff in later chapters, but for now Sakura is dealing with her betrayal by one of her closest friends, and I don't think it would be appropriate to have she and Kakashi just jump on each other right now or anything...she's having serious personal space issues.
On another note, I need some cool words starting with "D" to use as chapter names...that's going to be the theme.
PLEASE continue to review, I love you all! And I hope you liked the chapter!
--Kat
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