Day 18

The rising flames of the camp began to burn brightly against the pale moonlight that glittered in the sand. Silhouettes of infected soon poured over the dunes towards their location. Clenching the weapon in his hand, Kakashi and Sakura along with the remaining three shinobi in their group kept their defensive circle around the refugees as they braced for the first attack.

"Keep together!" Kakashi cried out. "Don't let your guard down!"

Fear could be felt in the air as some refugees prayed and others cried in panic from watching the chaos unfold around them. Bloodcurdling screams of people fighting for their lives echoed all around them hidden out of their sight behind sand dunes, only to be cut abruptly into silence seconds later. It was horrifying to listen to.

Infected began to stumble down the sand covered hills one by one at first, making it easy to defend from each side of their group. A few infected that had been struck to the ground were beginning to crawl towards them once more.

"Strike their heads!" Sakura yelled to their group, demonstrating this as she crushed a few infected with her incredible chakra strength. "Else they will keep reviving."

Despite the increase of infected that was swarming around them, they were managing as everyone worked together. The small glimmer of hope they were going to survive this quickly vanished as one of the shinobi at Kakashi's side suddenly screamed when he faltered in his step with his attack. Without warning, the man's arms were violently torn apart as he was overwhelmed. Several refugees screamed as infected breached towards their circle.

There wasn't any time to think as Kakashi pushed the dying shinobi forward into the swarm of infected to slow them down as his fingers quickly formed seals. His eyes caught the suffering man shift from pain, to terror and disbelief in those few seconds before he violently died. Guilt hit Kakashi like a ton of bricks as he slammed his palms towards the sand, forming high walls out of the Earth around their group to push back the rest of the infected, but stopped short as he collapsed from his dangerously low limit of charka.

"Kakashi!" Sakura shouted as she tried to reach him, suddenly falling forward as the sand beneath their feet began to lift.

Confusion swept over the group until they realized how they were moving towards the star filled sky above them. High above the burning camp was a lone man hovering on a cloud of sand with an outreached hand.

"It's Lord Gaara!"

Other people scattered across the desert were being picked up in the same manner. Gaara stretched his sand manipulating power as far and wide as he could, bringing people together in a safe area. He placed everyone down at the same time before forming large wall of sand, darkening the moon from above in its size before raining across the camp to smother out the flames. Multiple large sand sculpted hands grew out of the ground next, grabbing mass amounts of infected before being violently crushed with a clenched fist.

Glancing back to Kakashi's slumped form, Sakura pushed herself past people to reach his side. Gently moving him to lie on his back, he let out muffled curse. Her hands stilled when she found fresh blood through his shirt.

"K-Kakashi?" she worriedly whispered, quickly lifting up the fabric to find the source. Unsure if he had been bitten, she began to panic.

"I think I reopened something," he grimaced, struggling against the sharp pain as he tried to sit up.

"Don't move," she commanded, holding him back down. A green glow illuminated from her hands as she desperately worked to mend all that she could. She had no doubt he was in a lot of pain from over exerting himself through his injuries. Feeling his racing heart begin to steady beneath her palms, Sakura let out a small sigh of relief.

"They are attacking!" someone yelled.

Snapping her green eyes back towards the camp, Zu's men were jumping over the walls that surrounded the village and were rushing towards Gaara. The young Kazekage had to be nearing his own limit which they were no doubt counting on, however several small teams of shinobi including Shikamaru, Temari and Choji were already meeting the incoming attackers halfway for a final push.

"Go help," Kakashi encouraged, sensing her hesitation when she looked back down at him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

"Promise," he reaffirmed. "Besides, aren't you tired of looking after this old man yet?"

Sakura smiled slightly. "Not really."

After a moment, she finally tore herself away before making sure one last time that he would be alright. Watching her leave where he laid, Kakashi let the breath he was holding go as he stared up at the moon above. His consciousness was beginning to fade again. He hated feeling so damn helpless like this. It seemed like all he was capable of doing lately was just getting hurt and being a burden. Part of him really didn't want her to leave, but knew how selfish it was just because he wanted to keep her out of harm's way. They were shinobi. This is what they had to do. He knew she was more than capable and Gaara needed all the help he could get right now to take back the village. If they didn't win, there would be no hope left for anyone.

Stirred awake from the bright sunlight that poured through a tall window, Kakashi found himself inside a large bedroom. Recognizing the ornate carved sanded architecture around him, he realized this must be the Kazekage's palace.

Feeling groggy, he couldn't remember how he had gotten here as he noticed a hand across his chest. Slowly looking to his right, he found Sakura curled into a ball beside him. Her shoes were still on as she hanged her feet off the side of the bed. Her breathing was slow and steady until she took in a deep calming breath, tugging her pink hair slightly as it spilled across the pillow she had snuggled against.

Staring at her sleeping face, she seemed almost peaceful despite some bruising and cuts that had formed across her arms and cheek. Shifting his gaze to the small unfamiliar weight of her hand against him, he observed her small curled fingers that had been hastily wrapped with gauze. Moving his hand from beneath the blanket that he was neatly tucked under, he gently reached for her hand in an attempt to move her back, but paused as his fingers touched hers. He never really realized just how small her hands were and seemed almost delicate in comparison. Yet appearances were certainly deceiving, knowing exactly how deadly even one of her fingertips could be.

Not used to having anyone this close, Kakashi felt a little uneasy the longer he remained still with her hand in his and her body slightly pressed against him. Slowly lowering her hand along her side, he really didn't mind, but part of him felt afraid to let himself enjoy her company in this way. He had to admit it felt nice and felt strangely right in a lot of ways, but the last thing he needed was to complicate his feelings more than they already were between them. These past couple weeks have been a whirlwind, and he wasn't thinking clearly right now. He's lost so many friends, and he didn't need to lose another. He wasn't going to allow himself to make the same mistakes again, especially with someone who he had mentored all these years.

Sensing she was starting to wake up when she let out loud sleepy sigh, he quickly closed his eyes to pretend to still be asleep. Feeling the sheets shift as she stretched, she cursed once she realized the time and quietly slipped out of the bed. When her footsteps faded into another room, he slowly opened his eyes once more. Hearing running water for a moment, she came back in the room and stopped in her tracks when she saw him awake.

"Sorry if I woke you up, are you feeling alright?" Sakura asked.

"I'm okay," he hoarsely whispered, realizing how dry his throat was.

"You don't sound okay," she replied. "Let me get you some water."

Spinning around, she went back towards what he assumed was the bathroom. She emerged once more with a glass of water and went to his side of the bed.

Slowly sitting up so that his back leaned against his pillow, he murmured he was feeling well enough to hold it and took the water from her hands. Pulling his mask down slightly, he took several large gulps before returning the empty glass. Clearing his throat, he said, "Thanks, Sakura."

"Would you like some more? Can I get you something to eat?"

He shook his head. The thought of eating made him feel nauseous. "No thank you, I'm okay right now. How long have I been out?"

"A little more than half a day."

He sighed. He was tired of being injured and yet once again, his memory struggled trying to remember. "What happened last night?"

With a triumph grin, she replied, "We kicked Zu's ass and we were able to take back the village. We've been working to repair the palace and surrounding buildings right now to make room for everyone. Thankfully there are a lot of survivors to help. The medical wing is pretty full right now, but I figured you wouldn't mind staying here."

He definitely hated staying in hospitals and anything remotely like them. "Much appreciated."

She smiled. "I had fun carrying you bridal style up here."

His face deadpanned. "Wait, you what?"

"Well, how am I supposed to carry you?" she asked with a quirked brow.

"Like a sack of potatoes."

"And risk harming your injuries more?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Yes."

With a sigh, she grinned. "You'll just have to get over the fact that a girl carried you bridal style."

"No," he jokingly replied. "I refuse."

"Okay," she replied with a laugh before her smile faded once more. "I better get back to work. I meant to just take a short nap and ended up sleeping a bit longer than I wanted. I'll be back in a bit with some food though. You really need to eat something."

Kakashi nodded, holding back his protest for food knowing she was right. Watching her leave the room, he found himself with his own thoughts again. It was nice to see her smile again, if only for a brief moment. He could only imagine what it looked like out there compared to his quiet room. Knowing her, she was going to push herself hard trying to help in every way that she can. The least he could do was to finally get back on his feet again and help as well.

With a short sigh, he lowered himself slowly against the bed once more. Closing his eyes to try and get more sleep, he didn't know what their future held, but with Konoha in ruins this was likely going to be their home for a long while. All he could do was hope it lasts.

TBC

*Strumming TLOU guitar music intensifies*

[ Author Note: So, I obviously fell off the writing wagon for awhile. Like a year. Yikes. Visited my friend from AZ (who I indeed forced to play TLOU until ending, muhaha) then wedding planning and getting married consumed my life followed by 'I hate everything I write rut / let's burn it all in a fire and dance around it'.

But, here I am. I'm trying my best to toss up some of the last things I last written and try to carry on. Thanks for putting up with my terrible writing and terrible long awaited updates.

Until next update~ ]