I don't own Naruto.

A/N This is going to be a KakaSaku story, the universe is loosely based on Fallout, and the rating is M for violence as well as language and possible sexual scenarios down the road. I think that's about all I needed to say, so, please enjoy and let me know how I'm doing!

Don't send me no angel, this city's too cold.
Cause I need a man with a black heart of gold.

Dark Nights, Dorothy

—

Four screeching faces appeared from the darkness. Sakura cursed herself and brought the gun in her hands to eye-level as the mutants came crashing forward, scrambling over each other in their efforts to reach her. She hated the feeling of the pistol, cold and heavy, but she couldn't very well go hand-to-hand with these monstrous creatures. Sakura monitored her breathing, counting the ins and outs, detaching herself from the panic that had taken ahold of her mind. If she panicked she would miss, and if she missed then she would be overtaken and devoured.

Flexing her finger, Sakura was rewarded with a sharp scream as her first bullet tore through its target. The other mutants didn't even hesitate, continuing to advance on her in a frenzy of limbs and crazed pain. She almost felt bad for them — after all, they used to be human, like her. She quickly stored that thought away. If she pitied them she wouldn't shoot them, and if she didn't shoot them… well, the consequences were the same as if she panicked.

A second shot rang out and her next target was limping rather than sprinting. The third shot stopped it from moving entirely. One left. It had closed more distance than Sakura had initially calculated for, probably because she had wasted two shots on the second one. She cursed herself again, backing up quickly to avoid its outstretched hands. Intense pain from elongated exposure to radiation had driven these people — no, these creatures — to attack anything that moved, even if they were vastly outmatched. Sakura had found that they were very sloppy in their haste and had trouble changing their course if their prey managed to evade them with swift enough movements. She was nimble and relatively quick. Lucky for her, not as lucky for them.

Sakura raised the gun and sent it smashing down on the mutant's head with all of the force she could muster. Given her natural strength, that did the trick and knocked the thing prone where she then sent a single bullet through its brain to ensure that it didn't get back up.

She had managed to avoid being injured due to her quick reflexes but that was a bit too close for her comfort. Sakura scanned over the ground and the bodies that laid there, looking for anything that might be useful. Although it was rare, sometimes the mutants had pieces of clothing still clinging to their wretched forms and sometimes those pieces of clothing contained money and supplies. She reached out to look through the tattered jacket that covered one, but about halfway there she stopped. Four. The number sent chills down her spine. There had been four. Hadn't there? Yes: there had most certainly been four mutants stumbling out of the brush to attack her.

Sakura stood and whipped her head around, sending pink hair flying about as she searched wildly. Mutants didn't sneak around, nor did they just run away. They were far from stealthy and their pain made them reckless, so they weren't calculating enough to realize they would lose. Her heart picked up its pace, crushing her ribs with its anxious rhythm. Where the fuck—

On the edge of the brush a few meters away she found the absent fourth. It was laying face down and as she approached it, Sakura could see that it had a single bullet lodged in its spine. That bullet must have shattered the bone and sent shards into vital organs because it was laying in a veritable lake of its own blood. Sakura had to admit that it was an excellent shot and it certainly hadn't come from her gun, which meant that there was someone else out here. Why hadn't they helped her with the other mutants?

Somewhat angry, Sakura swallowed her fear and took a step into the bushes, following the blood. Her movements were quiet and calculated as she scanned around for whoever had made that shot. The blood led back to a small clearing within the dense foliage where a man stood with a sword in one hand and a gun in the other, surveying his handiwork. Around him there were multiple mutated corpses, most of them slashed clean through, presumably by his hand. So that was why he hadn't helped her — he had been a little busy attending to his own problems.

Sakura breathed out quietly, not sure whether to announce her presence or not. Yes, this man only a meter or two in front of her had dispatched a mutant threat which probably meant they were on the same side. However, it was always wise to be cautious about who you interacted with during times like these: there were bandits that roamed the abandoned streets in search of people to rob. Funny how nuclear fallout could cause all of this. Limited resources meant that only the strong survived. Sakura absently wondered if the lone man would deem her unfit for survival.

Against her better judgment, she stepped forward into the clearing while opting to leave distance between herself and the stranger. She cleared her throat to get his attention and he turned to face her. He certainly didn't look like a bandit. But then again, how was she supposed to know when his features were largely covered by some sort of mask, probably with the purpose of keeping irradiated air out of his mouth and lungs. Dark eyes met her own and she was consumed with a brief terror at the feral quality she found in them. His muscles had tensed and he was leveling his gun at her. Sakura stood, mouth agape, words frozen on her tongue. Within an instant he had dropped the gun back to his side and the wildness in his eyes had dissipated, replaced with lazy curiosity.

"I hadn't expected anyone to be out here." He must have noticed the fear in her face, because he began to sheathe both his sword and his gun. "Sorry about that," he said in a voice that held no sincerity or concern. She closed her mouth and the tension left her limbs — well, he didn't seem to have any interest in killing her. He didn't seem to have any interest in anything really: all of the intensity his eyes had held was gone.

Sakura refocused with the aid of the stranger snapping his fingers in front of her glazed eyes. She was startled for a moment after realizing he had closed the distance between them and was standing before her with a bored expression now mildly tinged in irritation. She had somehow managed to space out completely in front of a man who could have killed her with any one of his multiple weapons. What was wrong with her today? She wasn't being herself; sloppily drawing the attention of several mutants, losing her usual mindfulness in front of a complete stranger.

"Are you okay?"

Sakura only nodded in reply, finding herself a bit too dizzy to speak. She took note of the way the man's eyes evaluated her, noticing that although they were both dark, one was actually a deep maroon while the other was nearly black. She also took note of how he moved to catch her with incredible swiftness as she fell forward, no longer able to hold herself up. Her jade eyes closed as he took the weight of her slack form into his arms.

—

Kakashi felt concern crash over himself as the woman before him began to sway on her feet. She hadn't spoken a word to him and she seemed to be barely present in terms of consciousness. When she was no longer able to support herself, he moved to sweep her up. He was a bit surprised at just how light she was and realized it had probably been quite some time since she had last eaten. Chances were she had collapsed from a combination of hunger and exhaustion.

Kakashi breathed a sigh as he shifted her around until he was holding her bridal style in his arms. He couldn't just leave her here for any mutants passing by to snack on, that would be … unethical. He also didn't really want to stay in the gore-filled clearing and wait for her to wake up so that he could be on his way. Normally he would've asked her if someone was waiting for her somewhere but she was currently suffering from a minor spell of unconsciousness. That left him with little choice: he would have to take her back to the others. Although he always considered it, he somewhat doubted that she had anyone else, and his base did have a habit of taking in strays. It was probably in her best interest to go, really.

The masked man took a moment to look at her face. It was smeared with blood and dirt but somehow still managed to be pretty. Dark eyelashes covered her eyes which had been a bright gemstone shade that quickly dimmed as she succumbed to exhaustion. Rosy hair framed her high cheekbones and her cheeks seemed to be very gaunt, probably due to weight loss. Food was hard to come by once you exitted the small areas of civilization. He wondered briefly what she was doing out here, at least a mile from the nearest town.

There go my plans for today, Kakashi thought as he moved forward into the trees. His eyes shifted to the girl in his arms once again — You're welcome. His hands were full but he managed to maneuver a small book out of its place in his jacket pocket. He flipped it open with one thumb and began to read as he walked, humming quietly.