1

Agony

Silence.

The growling of the Kyuubi went silent abruptly. Sakura must have finished her mission right at that moment. So the only thing left to do was for Minato to finish his mission. And he had almost finished it.

"W-Why-," a rasping voice asked.

The Yondaime didn't even bother to answer the man with the orange mask. He simply stood there, his kunai deep in Madara's chest near his heart. Minato only had to push it a little bit forward and then everything would be over. With one quick movement, he pushed his hand through his enemy's chest. After a last gasp, Madara slumped down in the Yondaime's arms.

"You'll never threaten us again, Uchiha Madara," Minato said without the slightest emotion in his voice.

Once he pulled his arm out of Madara's dead body, he laid him down in the grass and sealed his body in the ground, so that nobody could steal him since Sakura has never said that he had been the only one behind this entire ruckus. Minato just wanted to make sure that the Uchiha clan had a proof that Madara plotted the Kyuubi's attack just as Sakura had told him.

Right after the Hokage sealed Madara safely in the ground he ran as fast as he could. It was true that it was all over now…Konoha was safe again, but there was one ninja, whose agony was just about to begin, if Minato didn't tell him the truth.

As soon as he arrived on the field, where Sakura had faced the Kyuubi, he stopped right at the moment, when he saw them. Sakura lied in Kakashi's arms. She was almost at her end, Minato could tell only by looking at her face. As he watched the scene in front of him, he felt a lump in his throat. He couldn't imagine how it must be for Kakashi.

"What about me, Sakura? What about me needing you in my life? I need you more than anything!"

Although Sakura had trouble to understand him, she could understand the message of his words.

"But I am in your life, Kakashi," she smiled ruefully also crying silently.

"You won't be there," he told her placing his forehead to hers.

"Yes, I will. Let's meet again, Kakashi. In twelve years in the Academy in team 7. That's where we will meet again. And from there we'll start over, I promise," she lifted her chin up a bit and placed a kiss on his lips.

He also kissed her still crying, but when her lips were gone from his, he didn't even have to open his eyes again. He knew that she was gone. For good.

He could feel the rest of her warmth leaving her body.

He straightened up pulling her upper body with him until her head was against his chest and his cheek against the top of her head. His sobs and cries could be heard throughout the forest, he was sure of it, but it didn't matter. His love - his heart was chopped out of his chest and was never to return.

Kakashi felt some hands on his back and his shoulder. His friends, who had probably seen the scene just now, tried to comfort him silently, but it didn't work. There was no comfort for him. At that moment, he shed all the tears his broken heart could afford.

This world became a dark, cold place and Kakashi didn't want to be part of it any longer. Everything was meaningless without Sakura.

"Kakashi," a low voice said behind him.

Minato stood behind him. He was totally covered in blood - his own as well as his enemy's blood.

"You have to believe Sakura. You'll meet her again, I guarantee it," he told him calmly.

"How? She is dead," Kakashi's eyes were dry again, but his voice shaky.

"No, she is alive and very healthy. You know, there are many things we have to talk about, my son. Take Sakura with you and follow me back to the village," Minato helped him to stand up and walked towards Konoha with every ninja following him.

18 hours later

Now that the ninjas who had gotten injured during the battle with the Kyuubi had been treated, everyone was gathered at Konoha's graveyard. All the dead ninjas lied next to an open grave, where they were about to be buried. But before that, the Hokage would pay his last respect to them.

"Today we did go through a lot…but we ended up losing even more. Let's pray for Konoha's heroes," Minato closed his eyes in order to pray silently.

Everyone else did the same…praying for their friends who gave their lives for the village. But there was one ninja, who only prayed for his girlfriend.

Kakashi was on his knees next to an open grave and held Sakura in his arms like he had done before on the battlefield. He just couldn't let go of her. Even now, he tried to tell himself that Sakura was only sleeping in his arms, but he couldn't lie to himself as he held her cold body to him. He would never look in her beautiful eyes again. Never would he feel her body warmth. Never would he hear her voice again. Never would he feel her embrace again.

No. Nothing of that would ever happen again.

Sakura was dead.

His Sakura was never to return to him. She was gone.

After a few minutes of silence, Kakashi could hear the others laying the corpses into the graves and filling them up with earth. Burying the dead.

Kakashi didn't dare to move. He knew that he had to say goodbye now, but he didn't want to. How could he ever do this to Sakura? How could he bury her? He didn't want to do this. That would be final.

"Kakashi," Minato stepped behind him and put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

Not trusting his voice Kakashi simply shook his head pulling Sakura tighter to him.

"Kakashi, if you don't mind … I could be the one burying Sakura," Minato offered.

When Kakashi didn't shake his head this time, Minato stepped around him and came down on his knees in front of the Copy Ninja. As soon as the Yondaime looked in his student's face, he felt that lump in his throat again. It was as if Kakashi had written 'agony' all over his face. Minato was sure that the young ninja had never suffered as much as he did in that moment. Not even when Rin and Obito had died.

Slowly the Hokage took Sakura out of his arms surprised by the fact that Kakashi didn't resist even once. Not even when he hopped into the grave laying her down on the earth and gently covering her with a blanket he had prepared beforehand. Just as he wanted to climb out of the grave, he looked at Kakashi.

But he was gone.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

"Kakashi, can't we throw that damn clock out of the window? I can't sleep with that annoying ticking noise!" Sakura pouted in a very lovely way while looking at Kakashi.

"Sorry, Sakura, but that's the only clock here. Not that time matters to me, when I am with you, but I think Minato-sensei would be very angry with me, if I were to be late," Kakashi smiled snuggling closer to Sakura in his bed.

"Fine, but as soon as I get you another clock I will personally crash that damn ticking thing," she grumbled placing a soft kiss on Kakashi's lips.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Kakashi stood in his apartment gazing around. He went down the small hallway to his living room, but stopped as a pink raincoat on his sofa caught his eye. He stared.

"I hate rain," Sakura gritted her teeth, as she entered the apartment completely soaked.

"I figured as much," Kakashi grinned at her from the hallway.

"You're just grinning because you didn't have to go out in this downpour! I swear, I'll never leave your apartment again, if I even so much as feel that it might be raining soon," she sighed taking off her soaked shoes.

"What a pity. Then I guess I have to give this back," the Copy Ninja said while he was waving a pink raincoat in front of her.

Sakura gasped.

"Oh my god! We saw this raincoat in the shop down the street yesterday! You bought it for me?" She asked incredulous.

"Of course," Kakashi answered embarrassed.

With one quick movement, Sakura flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Kakashi!" Pulling down his mask, she kissed him passionately. Kakashi was very eager to deepen the kiss, but Sakura leaned back.

"Hmm…I got you all wet, Kakashi. Maybe we should go take a nice shower now…I don't want you to catch a cold, you know," Sakura smiled that evil smile of hers.

"Can't oppose to that," the Copy Ninja replied lifting her up and carrying her to his bathroom, as Sakura chuckled.

His feet took him to where his memory led. Now he was standing in the bathroom gazing around. Everything was where they had left it. His gaze stopped at his bathtub, where his dry blood lingered.

"Jeez, Kakashi! Will you ever learn not to overdo it?" Sakura lectured him, while stitching a wound on his arm.

"Sorry, Sakura," he smiled smugly at her, "But I wouldn't want to miss a chance of being treated by my personal, favorite medic."

Sakura only snorted.

When she fixed Kakashi, she got up from the floor and he from the edge of the bathtub. That was almost a ritual for them, when Kakashi came back from a mission injured. They nearly always ended up in the bathroom.

"See? This happens, when you are too careless during a mission," Sakura pointed to the edge of the bathtub, where some of his blood flowed down, "I just cleaned everything this morning. How are you going to make up for that?" She asked crossing her arms under her chest.

"Oh? Hmm…I think I just came up with something," Kakashi said.

He took a step forwards and lifted Sakura's chin before kissing her. While his hunger for her was growing, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to his bedroom. Once he put her on his bed, she purred against his mouth, "I think I might like that."

Kakashi could only growl, since his lust wouldn't allow him to form a whole sentence.

Now he was standing in his bedroom. His gaze lingered on the crinkled blanket. It was like she wasn't gone at all. He could still feel her presence. He could still smell her. He closed his eyes in order to concentrate on her. It felt like she would call him at any time.

"Kakashi," he heard a female voice calling.

With one quick movement, he turned to where the voice came from.

"Sakura?" He asked into the following silence. As he went out of the bedroom to the living room, he felt tears running down his cheeks.

He was sure that he had heard her just now. She had called him. He was sure of it!

"Sakura?" He wasn't going mad! He had heard her!

He listened carefully.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Right at that moment he snapped. From one second to the other all of his hurt, agony, and sorrow overflowed and he snapped. He ran to the clock crying and screaming at once and snatched it off the wall throwing it against the opposite wall. In his rage, he destroyed everything, which was in his way. He threw everything, which could be thrown and crashed everything, which could be crashed. In a few minutes, Kakashi had devastated almost his whole apartment. When he came to his bedroom again, he intended to rage there too, but as soon as he saw his bed, his screams, and cries turned to uncontrollable sobs. Now that his rage subsided slowly, his sorrow got the upper hand.

He wobbled to his bed and let himself fall onto it. He tried to calm down, but it was senseless. The moment his head lay on his pillow, he knew that his sobs wouldn't end soon. Her smell lingered on his pillow.

Only her smell.

The person who left it there was gone.

Kakashi tried to suffocate his cries and sobs with the pillow, but failed. He was sure that everyone could hear him even through the thick walls. But it didn't matter anymore.

Nothing mattered anymore for him.

Minato was about to knock on Kakashi's front door, since he heard how Kakashi destroyed his home. The Hokage was about to enter, when he suddenly noticed that Kakashi's cries turned to something else. Something, which made his heart, throb in pain. His student's sobs where poison for Minato. He couldn't stand being so helpless. But it was true. He couldn't help Kakashi now. He wouldn't even listen to him, if he tried to explain the situation.

Slowly Minato sat down in front of Kakashi's door and listened to his sobbing. The most painful thing for the Yondaime was that Kakashi was about to lose to his agony. Yes. He was losing to it.

As Minato sat there and listened silently, his own tears started to trail down his cheeks.

This is what time did to them, he thought crying.