Her Weakness

A/N - Ok so I hope the way I'm telling this story is not confusing to any one else. I am jumping a bit in the time line. If this is confusing let me know. Sorry for the long wait on me updating and the short chapters. This is pretty a much a long PWP. I'm really weird and new to this...lol. Please any thoughts or comments are more than welcom and I love constructive critisism. Ok! On with the weirdness that hides in my head!

Chapter 2 - The Mission


Sakura heard someone calling her name but it felt as if they were miles away. They were calling so softly at first but as her mind slowly shook the groggy effects of sleep away it became more pronounced and she realized it was Kakashi. She opened her eyes quickly looking toward the bed next to her, a smile plastered on her face. He was awake; she had brought him back from the brink of death. It was still night and from the position of the moon it had to be somewhere around 3am. She raised herself to a kneeling position; the moonlight coming in through the window lit the edge of the bed.

"Oh, Kakashi! I was so worried about you!" she whispered excitedly.

The words tumbled from her mouth, she couldn't hold back. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Are you comfortable? You've been asleep for the past week and your wound kept bleeding and I thought you would slowly bleed to death before you regained consciousness, but now you're awake and we can get you bandage enough to get out of here and get you back to Konoha so Tsunade can look at you. I knew everything would work itself out!"

There was no movement from the bed, Kakashi did not respond.

"Kakashi?" Sakura whispered into the swallowing black of the room.

Her heart began to pound wildly in her chest as she slowly reached out and placed her hand upon his, hoping against hope. It was cold. She stood quickly and bent over his low bed straining to see his face. As she moved closer she stepped in something cold and wet, the sensation caused her to jump back and it was then that she saw the pool of blood at her feet. Without hesitation she moved close to him again and began to work on resuscitating him. She placed her shaking hands over his chest and closed her eyes slowly working chakra into his body. The tears began to roll down her cheeks silently. She knew in the back of her head it was too late, but her heart would not let her give up without a fight. After an hour of working on his lifeless body she had to admit defeat. A small voice began to nag at her in the back of her mind. It was happening again. She had tried her hardest to save her teammate and once again her best just wasn't good enough. She would always be the weakest team member and now it would cost her the life of the person that was most important to her.

.o0O ~*~ O0o.

After they had come back from their respective training so many years ago and had been placed in Team Kakashi she had become very close to her teammates. They became her family as the years passed and spent long periods of time out on missions. The trust and loyalty that had been built amongst them was what held them so closely together. Their team was known for its ability to take on high risk missions and being able to complete them every time with little to no casualties. The missions they were sent on often included spying, sabotage, and assassination. All of which they accomplished by playing different roles varying from that of traveling nobility to missing nin to poor farming families down on their luck and looking for work. It was during this mission that Sakura had begun to feel more than respect and admiration for her ex-sensei; it had blossomed into much more. She knew it was a possibility that the circumstances of this mission had caused these feelings to come to the surface and it was for this reason she decided not to act on them. She would wait until they had gotten home and she had a chance to get a little distance and more perspective on the situation.

They had been sent alone this time, just her and Kakashi, to obtain intelligence and depending on the feudal lord Higurashi's intent, to assassinate him. They had posed as newlyweds just passing through needing a room for a couple of nights while Sakura recuperated from a twisted ankle. Kakashi had even managed to keep his mask under the pretense that he had been disfigured in a horrible accident at a young age. This explanation had also worked well for his eye patch that he wore. Sakura had been slightly disappointed, she had been certain that this mission would finally create the perfect opportunity to see his face.

During those first few days in the mansion they had gained enough trust to be hired to do a few odd jobs around the compound to earn more money to travel on before they set out. This had gotten them through a month at the mansion; it was toward the end of the month they had finally gained enough trust that Lord Higurashi let Kakashi in on his plans. It was also at this time that the lord's perverse ways had begun to show. It had started innocently enough during the first few days with the lord making comments to Kakashi about being a lucky man to have such a beautiful wife to which Kakashi always agreed. As they spent more time there the lord had taken it upon himself to keep bumping into Sakura in the dark unused hallways, often trying to trap her. She had known what he was up to and with great tact managed to escape without hurting the lord's feelings. She realized now that she should have informed Kakashi of these simple run-ins when they began but in her mind it was harmless and something she could handle on her own.

It wasn't until the morning after Kakashi had had his meeting with Lord Higurashi about his plans that the lord made his move. The Hokage had been right in her assumptions; Lord Higurashi was indeed a vile man with devious plans and today would be his final day on this earth. He of course had no idea but once darkness fell she and Kakashi would don their ANBU gear, slip quietly into his private rooms, dispatch him and disappear with no one being the wiser. It would be another easy mission to complete with them getting home before lunch the next day.

The day had gone as usual, after breakfast she and Kakashi had gone back to their room and made last minute preparations before Kakashi left to go to work. Sakura was about to leave to go about her work for the day when there was a knock at the door. She opened the door to find Lord Higurashi leaning against the door frame.

"Good morning Misato. Would you mind if I came in for a moment." He said as pushed past her not waiting for a reply.

Sakura knew he was up to no good but she had handled him before and she would do the same again. "What may I help you with Lord Higurashi?" she replied in a disgustingly sweet tone as she closed the door and turned to face him.

To this day she was still not sure how he had moved so fast without her sensing it but he had been upon her before she could react. He had grabbed her neck with one strong hand then slammed her hard into the wall behind the door, hitting her head in the process. He threw his body weight against hers effectively trapping her small body under his. Her vision had gone slightly blurry and she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, her head was throbbing and she kept seeing flashes of light. He forcefully grabbed the front of her robes and ripped them open baring her soft flesh to his roving eyes, he then snaked his hand in and roughly seized her breast.

He leaned in close, his face only inches from hers, he gave her a sickening smile and said "It's my belief that business partners should share in all aspects of their life and seeing as how your husband has become my new partner, I believe that this business deal would include you."

With that he pressed against her body harder as she began to struggle. She managed to ignore the wave of nausea that had sprung up on her and while he was talking, moved her leg in between his. With one swift motion she pulled her knee up in hopes it would connect. He had been waiting for such a move and he clamped his legs together now effectively holding one of her legs keeping her off balance. He made a tsk-tsk noise and quickly tightened his grip on her neck causing her to choke.

"So you like to play rough, do you? I like the feisty ones. I have to admit you have evaded me much longer than the other girls have but you seem different, more hardened perhaps? It’s almost as if you aren't just a common farm girl from the village."

Sakura's eyes began to water as she felt something warm run down the back of her neck, she knew it was more than likely blood. As the pain became worse she realized this was it, she had failed yet again. Her vision slowly got darker and darker and then there was nothing.


As she opened her eyes Kakashi slowly came into focus, or more appropriately his book came into focus. It took her a moment before she could remember what had happened last. She looked around her and noticed it was dark and that the pain was much less than it had been. She couldn't remember how she had gotten here or when Kakashi had shown up.

"Kakashi..." she said weakly.

Kakashi looked down at her and she could see the crease in his eye as he smiled at her.

"It's great to have you back." He whispered to her.

Sakura reached up and tentatively touched the back of her head. Her hair was still matted and her head was sore but she no longer had an open wound. Several things suddenly came to her attention: She had nothing on but was covered in one of their traveling cloaks, Kakashi was in his ANBU gear, they were in a strange room she didn't know and her head was resting in Kakashi's lap.

"What happened?" She said quietly.

"This is something we must wait until later to discuss. For now you need to get dressed and we need to leave. They've already sent up the alarm." Kakashi said with haste as he turned his back allowing her privacy.

Sakura pulled her clothes out of her pack, pausing she turned “Kakashi..." Nothing more came for a moment. She was unsure of how to ask what she had been afraid of.

He could hear the hesitation in her voice; he knew what she was going to ask.

"Did he..." She stopped again as her voice began to waver, she looked down at the floor, unsure of whether she wanted to know the answer.

"No, Sakura." He said quietly.

To Sakura it sounded as if there was something he was keeping from her. Almost as if he were feeling guilty, but there wasn't enough time for her to question further.

"He did injure me though, didn't he?" She questioned as she pulled her black ANBU shirt on.

"Yes. Keep in mind though I only know the basics of healing and really the only thing I did was stop the bleeding, you may still have internal trauma. When we have time to stop you really should check yourself over."

She stopped and looked up at her former sensei. "Thank you." she said softly as she finished pulling on her body armor.

Shortly after that they had left their hiding place and fled with the hope of making it to Konoha but they never made it. That was the last time she had spoken to Kakashi before he was injured.


.o0O ~*~ O0o.


She was crying, the tears flowing freely down her face as she sobbed openly. Someone was calling her name again and then they gently touched her arm. She opened her eyes. It was still dark outside and she was back in the accursed hotel room with tears sliding down her face into the already damp hair at her temples. She stared at the ceiling for a while trying to collect herself. Would these nightmares ever end?

"Sakura?"

She sighed and wiped the tears from her face as she sat up.

"Sakura? You were having a nightmare." It was said so softly she didn't believe she heard it at first.

She looked down at her arm knowing it had all been a dream, only there; in her lap Kakashi had placed his hand on her arm. She turned and looked at him in disbelief. He gave her a soft smile in reply making his mismatched eyes crinkle. Sakura could think of no reply, she simply moved to the side of his bed laid across him and threw her arm around his neck and hugged him and began to cry. She cried openly in front of him, not caring anymore who saw her acting like a scared little girl. Her sobs racked her body and Kakashi simply held her and let her cry.

"I was beginning to lose hope and every night in my dreams you would die and I couldn't save you." Sakura whispered, her breath tickling against his neck.

"I'm here now Sakura. We'll get home and we will complete this mission." He said quietly.