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Kakashi
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It had been three years since Orochimaru unleashed the virus that would change the landscape of the known world. He intended to rid the world of the Akatsuki’s murderous infestation of white zetsus, but instead created an even bigger problem. Almost everywhere had been afflicted, even the remote island nation of Kirigakure. However, since the Land of Oto was just on the border of Fire, it hit Konoha the hardest.
As the home of the military for the nation of Fire, Konoha was certainly better prepared than the nearby peasant villages. However, the Yondaime Minato Namikaze sent his soldiers out regularly to try and help and protect those civilians. A constant guard would patrol the perimeter of the main village and the smaller ones.
As such, the shinobi of the Leaf were constantly busy.
It was on one of those protective details that Kakashi’s fiancé had died on two years ago. Rin had been busy healing the sprains and strains afflicting a small group of survivors — hoping to prepare them for the trek back to Konoha. One of those survivors had a hidden bite mark and during their exam, turned and immediately had bitten Rin on her chin — there was no chance of amputation on the face. If she had been wearing her damn Anbu mask, she’d still be alive. Instead, when she transitioned into the undead, it had fallen upon Kakashi to stop her.
He still had nightmares of her blood washing over him. Ever since that day, Kakashi had gone through the motions — too stubborn to die but not really living either. Taking care of Rin had consumed his life after their teammate Obito died. He promised his best friend, as he lay dying, that he would do everything in his power to protect and care for Rin.
Kakashi had failed. And he hadn’t even been allowed to bring her body back for a proper burial. His teammate had followed standard protocol and Itachi had used his Amaterasu to eradicate the infected in the area — including what had become of Rin’s corpse.
Several months back, Team Seven — consisting of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno had infiltrated the laboratories of Orochimaru. It had been a daring escapade. One that the Yondaime had been reluctant to approve of, but his son was ever so good at convincing people to do things that they shouldn’t. They had succeeded in taking samples of the original virus. They’d managed to escape with their specimen intact and were halfway back home when disaster struck.
Naruto, returned to Konoha with his right arm partially amputated after a vicious zombie bite, carried on the back of the pink-haired kunoichi. Prosthetics were pretty common these days since after an infected bite you had the difficult choice of losing that limb or becoming a zombie yourself.
At the time, their teammate, Sasuke Uchiha had used his sword to cut off the lower half of Naruto’s arm himself. Then he’d subsequently been captured by a man that could teleport and they no longer had any idea what became of him. It was Sakura’s skill as a medic that kept Naruto from passing out from shock — both the operation and subsequent kidnapping of their best friend. Naruto refused to give up on Sasuke and vowed to find him and save him. Sakura vowed to find a cure for the virus. Then would join Naruto on a quest to find their beloved friend and teammate.
It was a sickening sweet tale that in years past would have warmed Kakashi’s heart. Now it just added to the brewing bitterness he felt about the state of the world in general. It didn’t help that with the loss of Sasuke, his teammate Itachi had spiraled. The man had been desolate and forbidden from missions until he was no longer suicidal. Kakashi hid his own mental breakdown fairly well — he wanted to destroy anything he could. His instincts made it difficult to catch him unawares. And he was obsessed with making sure his teammates made it back home no matter the mission.
Then that pink-haired woman made a breakthrough. She’d created a serum to combat the original virus. It could neutralize it before it took effect, keeping a bite victim from turning into a zombie. Unfortunately, Konoha no longer had the necessary resources to create the serum in the necessary volume to actually stop the bloody pandemic. There was only one place in the world that had the necessary resources. With the limited resources that they did have — they’d managed to create fifty doses— not nearly enough.
The Yondaime refused to allow Naruto to leave Konoha due to his previous injury. Though his prosthetic was pretty vicious — it could shoot projectiles, turn into a sword, launched chains. No one would be leaving unless it was the regularly scheduled patrols. But now, Minato needed someone to escort the scientist to Shikkotsu Forest where her supposed cure could be manufactured and distributed to the masses. It would protect those bitten and possibly cure those that had succumbed to the virus — assuming they were not too far into the change. Once the rot set in and the muscles no longer had oxygenated blood circulating, there was no going back.
“So the theory is if someone is injected with this compound they’ll be safe from the virus and if they are already affected, if its less than two weeks and possibly up to three weeks, they can be restored to their former human form?” Minato clarified. He leaned back in his office chair, arms folded over his chest and staring across the space at the woman.
Kakashi watched from the rafters, his Inu Anbu mask secured over his face. Shikkotsu Forest was a rather difficult journey even without murderous zombie and zetsu hoards. It would take at least two and a half weeks to cover that distance with a civilian, though with a shinobi, it could be done within a week. Maybe even five days.
“And while whomever I travel with won’t be at risk of becoming a zombie, there is still the very real risk of being eaten by one,” Sakura answered. Her name was Sakura Haruno. She was part of Team Seven — a powerful team that had been trained by Shisui Uchiha before his untimely death. After the three younger shinobi graduated to Chunin, the teammates split to train under specialists. Sakura trained under Tsunade Senju— the only person with the resources outside of Orochimaru to create the compound. There were materials within Shikkotsu Forest that didn’t exist elsewhere. And they knew the cure worked, because the woman had injected it into herself at one point and did a test run.
Kakashi remembered, because he’d been the one to snatch her back into the protective walls of the village. He pitied whomever had to escort this reckless woman to Lady Tsunade. Shisui would have volunteered, but that was also why he wasn’t around anymore. Half the people in the rafters owed their lives to that saint of a shinobi.
“However, to truly make a difference, this serum needs to be made into an aerosol format — if we truly wish to eradicate this virus en masse. We will still need a solution to have a chance of reclaiming our lakes,” Sakura added, matter of fact. Her eyes kept drifting to the side of the room where Naruto stood, encouraging her. “The zombies would feast on someone trying to go for a swim and the rot of their bodies pollutes the water. We’ll be boiling it for purity for the foreseeable future."
“Dad, we cannot keep surviving like this. We need a chance to live,” Naruto added. “Sakura-chan has found a way that we can take back our world before its too late. It’s what mom would have wanted.”
Kakashi’s jaw clenched at Naruto bringing up Kushina. The Hokage’s wife had also been a victim of this outbreak. The loss of his wife had made Minato exceedingly paranoid.
“Hound,” Minato ordered, glancing above his head and catching Kakashi’s gray and crimson eyes. “You and Haruno will depart at dawn. I advise you to settle your affairs, just in case.”
Dammit. Kakashi grit his teeth and gave his nod of acceptance before flash-stepping out of the Hokage tower and preparing for his unfortunate journey.
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Sakura
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It had been literal years since she’d seen her former teacher. Lady Tsunade Senju was the inventor of modern day medicine. Sakura learned so much from her during her apprenticeship. However, it had been her time spent in Suna shortly before the outbreak that had made the difference with the out-of-the-box thinking required to create an antidote serum. She had benefited from the rivalry between Tsunade of Konoha and Chiyo of Suna.
With the combination of the knowledge and skills from both women, Sakura was able to create the antidote serum. And as she studied the original virus, the less she believed Orochimaru came up with it on his own — it looked like the combined creation of Orochimaru and Sasori, Lady Chiyo’s grandson. She wished she could have found a way to prevent Naruto’s injury, Sasuke’s kidnapping (she refused to believe he was gone) and Shisui’s sacrifice — but she had it now! While Naruto lamented about Sasuke’s absence and the loss of his mother and their old captain, Sakura dedicated her every waking hour to creating a cure. She became obsessed. It wasn’t that she hadn’t lost her important people too — her parents, her captain, her boyfriend. She would do everything she could to make sure others didn’t suffer the same loss.
Unfortunately, there was no way that Hokage Namikaze would allow his son to accompany Sakura on the necessary journey to Shikkotsu Forest. She was fairly strong herself, but there would be a need to sleep — so there had to be at least one other person. Four would be ideal for a squad, but these days everyone had a good dose of fear when it came to braving the wilds. And if they didn’t make it, someone else would need to do so. She’d only be bringing eight samples with her — four on her person and four on her bodyguard.
She hurriedly shoved her gear into her backpack, including scrolls that had non-perishables, a first aid kit, clothing, and of course weapons. She then loaded up the pockets of her flak jacket. She wore ninja armor under her clothing and chose to wear layers — a bite even with the antidote could easily turn infected or rip off a chunk of flesh — so it was best to increase chances of grazing wounds.
However, the Yondaime had assigned the legendary Copy Ninja to serve as her bodyguard for this mission. With over a thousand ninjutsu attacks in his arsenal and over twenty years of service to Konoha — no one had a more impressive record. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to like her much. He blamed her for Naruto’s injury and Sasuke’s kidnapping. He probably blamed her for Captain Shisui’s death. Why not? She blamed herself too.
Or maybe he was annoyed about the time he had to drag her back to the village after she’d used herself as a human guinea pig. But she had to know her serum worked. What was the point otherwise? And she wouldn’t risk someone other than herself.
Kakashi Hatake was close to the Yondaime. The latter had been his mentor and as such had a certain amount of affection for Naruto. And Sasuke was the younger brother of Itachi Uchiha — one of Kakashi’s best friends and teammates. Sakura was just the girl he blamed for Naruto’s injury, Sasuke’s MIA status, and Shisui’s death.
She would always be haunted by the death of Shisui. Their team had been on patrol. And they’d been confronted by an undead Abarame clan-member. They not only had to worry about the typical gnashing of teeth, but this monstrous version of a man formerly known as Sugaru had unleashed thousands of biting insects — all capable of spreading the virus. Shisui had incinerated most of them, but a single one had slipped past his guard. Sakura’s last image of him was his sad smile as he burned up everything around him. She would never forget the look on his face at that moment before he closed his eyes — the duality of love and loss in a flash.
Sakura knew that Hatake had misdirected his animosity towards her. It wasn’t fun to have the Copy Ninja dislike you. She’d just need to prove to him that she was a worthy comrade. And she’d created a cure! While others praised her accomplishments, he was almost angry with her— not that he ever talked to her. She remembered that his fiancé had been a medical specialist. Maybe he was upset that Sakura figured out something that his fiancé had been unable to do? Or that the cure came too late to help the dead woman.
It came too late to help a lot of their loved ones.
Regardless of his underlying animosity, Sakura was aware that Hatake was notorious for accomplishing the impossible in the heat of battle. If there was a chance they could get to the forest in a timely manner with the sample intact — he increased those odds exponentially.
There was a knock at the tampered glass sliding door of her bedroom section of her studio apartment. Sakura turned towards her third floor balcony and was only mildly surprised to find Kakashi Hatake, without his Anbu mask, waiting impatiently outside her apartment. She walked towards the door and opened it for him, releasing the seals. “Come on in,” she invited.
Kakashi stepped past her, looming over her with his superior height. There weren’t many people in Konoha that stood over six foot tall, but the Copy Ninja was one of them. He scanned her place with his mismatched eyes. The lower half of his face was hidden behind a tight black mask — it did nothing to detract from his straight nose and strong jawline. It was likely very helpful when dealing with the stench of the undead though.
“Would you like something to drink?” Sakura asked diplomatically. “I was about to make some chamomile tea to settle my nerves before bed.”
“It’s three in the afternoon,” Kakashi deadpanned, arching a silvery eyebrow.
Sakura’s breath hitched in her throat. She’d never actually heard his voice before outside of a frantic whisper. It was a deep baritone and in spite of the clear dislike he had for her, she felt chills down her spine. “I don’t image we’ll get much restful sleep on the journey. So I intend to be well rested at the start at least.”
He walked past her, attention riveted to the framed photo on her bookcase. It was a team photo — they’d taken two over the years. There was the initial photo from when the team had first been formed and she’d been an overeager twelve year old. The second had been a reunion photo when she was eighteen— a few months before the outbreak after the team had done their separate training. Shisui had his arm wrapped over her shoulder and she’d fit against his side in a way that would be obvious in the nature their relationship had turned in those last few months.
Sakura busied herself in the kitchen, making her sleepy time tea. Now was not the time to wallow in her loss. It was time to stop the nightmare that had taken everything.
“I didn’t realize you and Shisui were so close,” Kakashi murmured. He slid his hitai-ate over that crimson eye of his. The one that made her think of her Uchiha teammates.
Sakura shrugged one shoulder, throat welling up with emotion. She had to swallow it down in order to speak. “We kept it quiet. People might have assumed something happened when he was training us. It didn’t. We were friends and then we were more.” She risked a peek at his face and caught a flash of emotion in his visible dark eye.
Kakashi nodded faintly. Perhaps he understood. “I’ll take a tea,” he said. He settled onto one of the barstools at the raised bar of her kitchen. “I assume you know Anbu sign language.”
“Yes.” Sakura stared at the kettle, waiting for it to boil. She tried not to think about how certain teammates would have picked up the kettle with their chakra laced fingers and heated it for her in the past. “The sense of sound seems to be the last that the zombies lose. Their sight is the first to go. Smell— I don’t think would do them much good with the amount of decomposition their own bodies are in.”
“What’s your preferred mode of attack?” Kakashi asked.
Ah, he was there to suss out her abilities. It made sense. They weren’t friends. This wasn’t a friendly chat over tea. She only had one friend these days— Naruto. “I have monstrous strength— I can manipulate my chakra precisely. I’m good with projectiles. You have to be with an Uchiha on your team — those guys are obsessed with tossing kunai and shuriken.” Her palms were calloused from years of target training. “And battle axes. I’m not great with a sword, but I can dance with a couple of axes.”
“Axes?” Kakashi snorted in disbelief. “Not my first thought when I look at you.”
The kettle began to whistle and Sakura pulled it off the range and filled the iron seeping pot. After about three minutes, it should be ready. “My father was a logger — living in a forest like Konoha meant plenty of business.” She braced her elbows on the bar and met Kakashi’s gaze. “I’d been chopping wood since I was a little girl. I just didn’t think it would be a useful skill set outside of winter until I realized decapitation or a crushed skull was the only way to kill a zombie.”
They remained silent for a while. He continued to scan her apartment and she waited for the tea to be ready. Eventually, it was and she poured them each a cup. She set his in front of him and held hers between her palms, enjoying the warmth seeping into her flesh.
“Fucking zombies,” Kakashi muttered, lifting his cup and taking a sip under the bottom of his mask.
Sakura nodded, a faint smile. “Fucking zombies,” she agreed.
They drank their tea in silence. She wondered when he would leave. She could already feel the tea calming her nerves, making her drowsy. If she was lucky, she’d have no dreams that night.
“I have ninja hounds,” Kakashi said, disrupting the quietness that had descending upon them. “They can keep perimeter. The zombies cannot harm them. If they get bitten, they return to their dimension and return after a while unscathed.”
“That’s handy,” Sakura mused. “I have a slug summons. I already informed Lady Tsunade of my progress. I would have passed on the formula to her — my notes, but our communication is what Lady Katsuyu can relate verbally. There is too much chance of something being lost in translation. I didn’t expect Lord Minato to risk someone like you coming with someone like me.”
Kakashi set his empty cup on the counter with a soft click. “Someone like me?” He frowned at her and she snatched up both their cups to wash and have an excuse to avoid his gaze.
“You’re invaluable to the village. I know my way to the forest. If I took soldier pills, I could probably forgo sleep and make it there myself. There’s no need to endanger anyone else,” she explained.
“Oh,” Kakashi breathed.
Had he misunderstood her reasoning?
“Don’t be daft.” He stood from his stool and braced his hands on the counter and looked down at her once more. “Meet me at the southern gate in the morning. Dawn.”
“Will you actually be on time?” Sakura asked. She remembered with a brief twitch of her lips Shisui often complaining about Hatake’s notorious penchant for tardiness.
“The fate of the world is depending on it. I’ll be there,” Kakashi promised. Then he was was gone - flash-stepped out of her home. Sakura secured the balcony door once more, pulled back her covers, and slipped into her warm bed.
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Kakashi
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He woke up refreshed from a much needed dreamless sleep. There was still plenty of time before he was due to meet his new charge at the gates. He didn’t fool himself into considering this woman a teammate. He was the bodyguard and she was the human cargo he needed to deliver. To say he’d been surprised to learn that she and Shisui had been together was putting it mildly.
Kakashi must have underestimated the woman because his friend wouldn’t have fallen for someone anything less than amazing. It didn’t make him feel any more confident that she wasn’t foolish. Brilliantly intelligent — yes, or else she wouldn’t have invented a cure. However, she was foolish and self-sacrificing — much like himself. But he’d have to make sure she arrived to the forest unscathed. The fate of the world depended on it.
It had been years since he had traveled with a medic. Rin had been the only one and he lost her. He would have to remind himself that Sakura was in no way like Rin. His fiancé had been quiet, calm, diligent. Haruno was loud, brash, and difficult. He’d seen enough of her, Naruto, and Sasuke about the village to make an assessment.
Minato had given him her shinobi dossier and he’d been impressed by her Academic record and with her missions prior to the outbreak. Team Seven had been a formidable assault team. As he read through their various missions, he couldn’t help but think that he’d have been an even better balance to the squad than Shisui had been. He tried to focus on the female member, she was his pressing concern at the moment — not what-ifs and should-have-beens. She must have been meticulous. Her apartment had been spotless, her books alphabetical, when she’d opened her cabinet briefly in the kitchen - her spices were organized by color. The wards outside her door had also been impressive — not that either he nor Itachi would have had any trouble penetrating them, but others would.
He was curious to see her in action with a couple of battle axes. Though, if he did his job right, that would be unnecessary. His main concern would be the sleep schedule. It was important to not be sleep-deprived when facing a zombie hoard. There was no room for mistakes. He would not be dependent on a supposed cure. He would have liked to take Itachi with them, but he was more a liability these days. The losses of his best friend and brother weighed particularly heavy on the dark-haired man. Kakashi could only hope that he’d be able to get his friend back one day. Tenzo, Genma, and Yugao would all be useful teammates, but once again — everyone of them had that haunted look in their eyes.
Kakashi would rather be on his own with Haruno than risk losing another teammate. And from what he had read of her and seen in her apartment, he suspected she felt the same way.
They met the next morning, precisely at dawn and set out.
“Captain,” Sakura greeted. She lifted her Anbu mask up, settling it in her long, pink hair. It was a damn bunny. Way too freaking cute for what they did. He read her dossier. This woman was capable. And she was fearsome. Maybe if they met under better circumstances, he’d have liked working with her.
“Haruno,” Kakashi answered back, keeping his Ino Anbu mask in place. “Let’s go.” He didn’t wait, but sensed her quickly pursue him a moment later. He kept up a relentless pace, but she didn’t complain. His knee complained more than she did, but he ignored his own discomfort. He’d just tighten his wraps around it more secure when they took a water break.
The most dangerous times would be during their slumber. They chose to sleep in the upper boughs of the trees, but they would need to occasionally touch the ground. They weren’t long out of Konoha before they saw the first stragglers. So long as they remained quiet, the stragglers wouldn’t bother them. It was hard to look at them for long and remember that they were once people — not that long ago. Their bodies were too far gone to utilize the serum on them, but Sakura had said that’s why they had brought extra samples. In case they needed to use them on themselves or if they saw any fresh victims they could help.
The lakes were the worst part for Kakashi. His favorite pastime was to go fishing. He enjoyed the fresh breeze of the lake and the eager fish and the quiet of nature. Now, the lakes were putrid more often than not. The fish that did survive were sickly.
They had traveled for two days without incident. They also hadn’t said a word to each other, communicating through sign language. They had stopped to eat, a small fire to roast the rabbits he’d caught. His ninja hounds were on patrol and he felt relatively safe considering their situation.
“What do you miss most?” Sakura asked, staring at the fire, breaking their silence with her whispered question. “I miss visiting the beach. I love swimming. I wouldn’t risk dipping my toes into a body of water anymore though.”
Kakashi handed her one of the skewers. “A rabbit for the rabbit,” he murmured, a slight tease to his tone.
Sakura scowled. “Bunny, not rabbit,” she grumbled, taking the skewer. “Thanks."
He smiled faintly and then focused on the other skewer, pulling down his mask, not caring if she saw his face. He wanted to savor the freshly caught rabbit. He bit into the smoked meat and practically sighed. “The lake. Fishing.” He glanced over at her, to see those green eyes studying him.
“I wouldn’t have thought of you as a fisherman,” Sakura said smiling faintly.
“And I’d not have thought of you as a lumberjack,” Kakashi answered, inclining his chin towards the axes she had propped up against on a fallen log that she was sitting on. She’d inspected the log extremely throughly earlier, running her chakra thought it. He intended to ask her more about that later.
“Falling a tree is noisy business,” Sakura confessed. “I wouldn’t do it unless I had no choice out in this environment.” She glanced at the axes briefly. “But those were my dad’s and I like that I get to carry a little bit of him with me this way.”
Kakashi said nothing. It was best not to probe about the lost ones of others. He finished eating and then secured his mask back in its usual position. “With our current pace, we should be there in three days.”
Sakura grimaced. “I’m not sure I can keep this pace.” She ran her hands over her calves, green chakra lighting up in the process. “I can heal the micro abrasions and inflamed muscles and tendons, but then I need time to recharge my chakra.”
“I had noticed your reserves are low,” Kakashi observed.
She frowned and a moment later, her chakra flashed and he could see her reserves were greater than he thought, but still lower than his or anyone from her previous team. “I’ll need to assess you as well, Captain.”
“Assess me for what?” Kakashi asked.
“Injuries. Minor or major. We have to be in peak physical condition.” She scooted next to him, invading his space. “May I?”
Kakashi wanted to tell her no. He’d not allowed any medic near him (unless he was unconscious) since Rin’s passing. He didn’t want another’s warm chakra invading him. But she was right. They had to be in peak condition to reach the forest. The fate of the world was riding on them. He nodded his head briefly in assent.
Her hands were warm, a contrast to the chill in the air around them. It was early winter — a terrible time for travel. But desperate times called for desperate measures. The invasion of her healing chakra was different than Rin’s had been, and different than that of other medics he’d been forced to use over the years. It was soothing, but also, he felt calm as if all his worries had melted away and he was four years old hugging his father’s neck after he returned home from a mission.
He’d twisted his knee at some point during the beginning of their run and the discomfort vanished. He had a migraine— a common occurrence since his eye transplant. It was gone now. Hell, even his frozen shoulder felt loose again.
“How many times have you dislocated your shoulder?” Sakura met his eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration. “Do you always have a headache?”
“Maybe a dozen times,” he answered the first question. When she continued staring expectantly, he answered the second. “Just when I’m awake.”
“And you can’t turn the Sharingan off?” Sakura clarified.
“No. That’s why I keep it covered unless I’m in battle. It drains my chakra reserves.” He crinkled his visible eye in a smile. “So we’re similar with our small chakra reserves.”
“I worked with Shisui and Sasuke a lot,” Sakura explained quietly. “The Uchiha often go blind from using their Sharingan. Ironically, an eye transplant of another relative’s Sharingan was their clan’s solution. I found a work around. It will probably work for you too, keep the vision and allow you to switch it on and off, hence less foreign body chakra drain.” She shoved his hitai-ate into his hair and he kept his left eye shut. “Let me run a few exploratory scans over the next few days and I’ll come up with something. It would be best if you could use both eyes. You have a very obvious blindspot running around with one eye closed all the time.”
“That’s not necessary,” Kakashi assured her. “I’m fully capable of keeping you safe.”
“Hm.” She retracted her chakra, satisfied with her check up and pulled back her hands. He was loath to admit he missed her touch— it had been pleasantly soothing. “You think I was just the medic on my team.”
“Medics have an important job. There are precious few of you,” Kakashi pointed out, shoving his hitai-ate back over his eye. He did feel refreshed. He hadn’t realized how much the headache and his shoulder had been draining him. He felt sharp and focused.
“True. But I’m no ordinary medic. I was trained by the legendary Lady Tsunade Senju.” Sakura tapped her forehead at the purple diamond seal. “I unlocked this after three years. An impressive feat especially with my subpar chakra pool. An impossible feat for most save Master Tsunade and her grandmother Lady Mito.”
Lady Mito had been the wife of the founder of Konoha. She’d been an Uzumaki and they have insane levels of chakra. “Regardless, I’m the bodyguard here. My mission is to get you and your samples to the forest unscathed.”
Sakura narrowed her eyes, but said nothing to that. Her eyes flickered up towards the trees. “Do you want first watch? Or would you like to rest?” She smiled briefly. “I released a good amount of serotonin into your system— your stress levels were through the roof. Now I understand why your hair is gray. Serotonin tends to make people feel sleepy.”
He was feeling overly relaxed now that she mentioned it, but still fairly sharp. Hopefully, if there was trouble he’d be able to rouse quick enough with his current state. “Wake me in three hours. And I was born with silver hair. It’s not gray.”
The next thing he knew, soft fingers were carding through his hair. “Hm, you’re right. It’s the wrong texture for gray hair — soft and fine. No wonder you can’t tame it.”
Kakashi almost slapped her hand away, but he also secretly enjoyed the feel of the gentle caress across his scalp. Before he could finish warring with himself whether to slap away the hand or enjoy the sensation, her hand was gone.
She smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. My team, we used to give each other scalp massages. No one braids hair as well as Sasuke Uchiha.”
Kakashi felt his competitiveness spike slightly at that. He had noticed that she kept her long hair braided and positioned over her shoulder. “You used to keep your hair short.” He remembered it was short when he saw her perform in the Chunin Exams and a couple of times around the village when he spotted her from afar. It was hard to miss pink hair.
“Yeah,” she said looking away briefly. She threw dirt over the fire, smothering the flames and started to pick up the little bit of belongings they had over their camp. “I’ll wake you in three hours.” Then she leapt up into the trees. Kakashi summoned his hounds and set them on perimeter and then leapt up into the trees himself.
He settled against the trunk of the tree, a good fifty feet above the ground, using a rope to secure himself and then let himself fall asleep.
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Sakura
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She peered through her binoculars into the distance, looking for any trace of movement. There was some activity into the far south. She didn’t think it would be a problem, they were heading east. While it might have been more foolish to travel in the winter as living humans, if they wanted to stay living humans, it was the best time. The zombies were slower in the colder weather, some seemed to hibernate. This time last year when she was with her team, exploring these same areas looking for anything that might help her crack the code to this nasty virus, they’d discovered zombies as frozen ice blocks. And they ran across those same zombies the following spring when they were on their way back. As they thawed, one of them had been the creature that had bitten Naruto. He’d been showing off and bragging about a new jutsu he’d created when he plopped down on a rotten log to rest his feet when it happened. The log shattered and within a half-frozen, half-thawed monster had bitten his hand.
Sasuke had reacted quickly killing the monster and Sakura tried to see if she could use her medical chakra to stop the spread of the virus, but it was no good. He’d been grim, but Sasuke had been the one to do the hard job. He wouldn’t let Sakura use a chakra blade to maim their best friend, he’d done it himself with his katana. Naruto took it better than either of them had. They’d both been devastated and that’s how the man in the orange mask had caught them unawares a few hours later.
Sakura’s hands clenched into fists, her fingerless gloves creaking in the process. And that’s when she heard it scurrying in the underbrush. She looked at the forest floor fifty feet below their branches. Tunneling within the very earth, a half-rotten hand shot out of the dirt, rummaging through the still warm ashes from their fire.
It was a blessing that the animals had been spared the virus. If they had also been infected there would be no hope of ever recovering their world. There was still little hope, but the little hope that there was remained inside eight small vials secured between her and Kakashi’s person.
Her eyes widened as not one, two, or three zombies emerged from the earth. They were not just zombies, but white zetsus. The two had somehow merged. This was bad news. She withdrew a handful of kunai and threw them at the zombie’s heads, looking to pierce through the coronal suture of the skull. With enough force the zombies would have heads explode like melons. Which was all well and good for the six she slayed. She glanced up at Kakashi. She toyed with the idea of waking him, but by the flickering of his eyes under his eyelids, he was in REM and he might attract more attention if she were to waken him now. She didn’t know him well enough to know how he’d react.
She looked back down. More zombies had appeared, clawing their way out of the earth. There hadn’t been a deep freeze yet, so they were still fairly active. She unsealed her axes, said a quick prayer, and then got to work, silently dispatching the threat.
She wore ninja armor, her boots had steel in them. She wasn’t worried about getting bitten, but she was worried about getting overwhelmed if she didn’t move fast enough. So she danced. She was a flurry of movements — sometimes her axes would cut through, sometimes her fist where she gripped the handle would smash skulls.
When all was said and done, the campground was littered with zombie corpses. They were all too far gone to contemplate using her serum. She climbed back up the tree to finish her watch. She didn’t feel tired and when Kakashi awoke, she’d suggest that they continue moving east for a few hours. She’d take a shift at sleeping then.
“What happened?” Kakashi’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
She looked up, aware that there was probably gore in her hair. But it was too cold to use a water jutsu to clean off. “Just some uninvited guests. You have another hour.”
Kakashi released his rope and jumped down to rest on the same branch as Sakura. He was probably grateful for his mask because she was certain she stank now. Silently, he released a water jutsu and ran it over Sakura’s body, she was about to protest, when she realized the water was warm and then a warm wind followed afterwards, drying her almost immediately.
He pulled up his hate-ate and peered down at the carnage.
“They came up from the earth,” Sakura explained. “Burrowed through the ground like moles.”
“That’s new,” Kakashi murmured, frowning down at the forest floor. “We should go.”
“Agreed.” Sakura said, securing her gear.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” Kakashi turned back to her. “An invasion would be the appropriate time to wake up your partner.”
“I didn’t know how you’d react. Some people are more dangerous half-awake than it would have been with me taking care of the situation myself. I know my limitations and abilities.” She angled her head to the side. “I don’t know yours.”
“Wake me next time,” Kakashi growled. He ran his fingers through his hair, musing it in the process. “Dammit. This was just reckless.”
“I’m hardly a damsel in distress. I handled it,” Sakura snapped. Sasuke should have smirked at her in approval. Naruto would have hugged her and whooped. Shisui would have ——. “It’s over. I’ll wake you next time.”
Kakashi grabbed her upper arms, his hands like vises, bruising her triceps where his fingertips dug in. “This is no time for heroics, Sakura. Under better circumstances we would have trained together before this mission, but this is our reality. We don’t take chances. Do you understand?”
Sakura nodded.
He released her. “Sorry if I hurt you, be sure to heal yourself. And let’s go.”
Sakura said nothing as she followed him. But she didn’t heal her bruises. She kept them for a reminder. This man was not overflowing with patience like Shisui had been. He was not her friend like Naruto and Sasuke. This man, Kakashi Hatake, was the longest-surviving combat specialist on active duty in all of Konoha.
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When he had released his ninja dogs from their summons, none of them had sensed the underground zombies. It was incredibly disconcerting. And some of the zombies weren’t regular undead humans — but some kind of mix between zombies and those white zetsus.
To be fair, he’d been really impressed with Sakura’s handling of the carnage below their camp. And he’d thought she’d been sexy as hell covered in zombie gore with the evidence of her silent battle on the forest floor. He couldn’t believe he’d slept right through it. She must have been completely silent. It had been a long time since Kakashi had been impressed by someone else’s fighting abilities. It had been a longer time still since he’d been attracted to someone. Only halfway on their journey and he felt a magnetic pull bringing him and Sakura together. And if it was another time and another place, he’d have wanted to shove her against the back of the tree and take her right then and there. But now was not the time. He blamed his dream. The lingering effect of her healing chakra made him imagine her writhing underneath his body, her soft curves cradled against his hard planes. He wanted to see that long, pink hair spread out like a halo around them.
However, his worry greatly trumped his awe for her abilities and the battle lust. He definitely understood why her former squad had been the Assault team sent out most often to deal with formidable foes. Kakashi’s Ro Anbu team had been mostly sent on search and rescues over the years. Sakura’s team had been the ones to face these monsters.
Maybe that’s why she wasn’t scared of them. Or maybe she had a death wish. He wondered if she had a backup plan for if their mission was unsuccessful. She struck him as they type to have several alternative plans.
Twice more, they ran into zombies. There had been one tied to a tree in the upper boughs where they preferred to run. That had been nerve wracking. The creature had snapped its jaws repeatedly until Kakashi ran his katana through its skull.
The second time had been during a pitstop. Sakura had been doing her business in the woods, screamed, and Kakashi had swooped in like a bat out of hell and decapitated two zombies that had crawled out of a halfway frozen stream nearby. Sakura had been embarrassed that she’d been indisposed and they decided that during bathroom breaks, regardless, they wouldn’t be too far from each other. They were human. Somethings couldn’t be avoided.
Then, a major setback occurred. There was a huge swath of forest in ruins, a fire had decimated acres and acres. There was no way they could cross through there. They’d have to find another way and that would add time to their journey. Kakashi scanned the horizon, trying to decide on an alternate route. He didn’t want to brave the mountains. The valley was a possibility. He could smell a storm brewing in the air. They might need to find shelter instead and lay low for a day or two.
“Orochimaru has an abandoned lair nearby,” Sakura said. She led the way, dispelling traps and then resetting them — obviously familiar with the area. “We can rest there for the night, start off fresh in the morning.” She squinted into the distance. “Unless the storm is bad.”
Kakashi allowed her to take the lead. She’d sensed the storm as well. Once she led him into an underground fortress, Kakashi whirled on her. “How do you know of this place?”
She looked up at him, shoving her mask up into her hair. “Naruto, Sasuke, and I spent a year looking for the lab where the original virus was created. We explored almost all of Orochimaru’s lairs. We lived here for six weeks during a particularly brutal winter.”
“You’re very close to your teammates,” Kakashi murmured.
“The best of friends,” Sakura agreed. “After I fix this zombie mess, Naruto and I will find Sasuke.”
“If he’s not dead, he’ll be a zombie,” Kakashi pointed out.
Sakura frowned. “Then we’ll capture him and I’ll figure out a way to fix him.”
“You can’t fix everything,” Kakashi protested, annoyed.
“I can try,” Sakura vowed.
He sighed. “Mah, mah. You’re going to make it very difficult for me to keep you out of harm’s way.”
She blinked up at him. “I wouldn’t expect you to. After we get to the forest, you’re obligation to me ends there.”
“Afraid not. Now you’ve grown on me. You’re one of my people. And I’ll dog your steps every inch of the way,” Kakashi promised. He shoved his mask up into his own hair and shoved aside his hitai-ate. He peered at her with both eyes, memorizing the image she made. “Did you have a back up plan, Sakura? Is this a suicide mission for you?”
It was the first time he used her name. By the widening of her eyes, she noticed. “I don’t have a death wish, but I’m not afraid to die either. Shizune has a copy of all my notes. I left her the majority of the samples.” She angled her face to the side. “Are you feeling okay?” She reached for him, a surge of healing chakra flooded his system scanning for injury. “You didn’t get bitten did you?”
“No,” Kakashi growled, but he let her flood his system with her chakra. It was nice to feel this warm after spending so much time freezing outside. “I’m just, glad to not be dead — for the first time in a long time.”
She released him and stepped back. She smiled faintly. “Me too,” she whispered.
He took a deep breath and then summoned his hounds for them to do a check of the lair. “How about a tour?”
“Sure.” Sakura reached of his hand, surprising him. He let her pull him along. It became apparent that the lair had been abandoned for a several months at least. Likely their squad had been the last residents. “It’s unlikely any zombies got in, they’d need the higher brain function to get past the wards. Unless someone corralled them inside and left them as a watch dog.” She gestured towards his Inu mask. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Kakashi murmured.
“There’s a library. It has charts and maps. We can figure out an alternative route that way,” Sakura explained. “There was a pantry, but I doubt if there is any food left. There’s a natural hot springs though. After we boil the water to make sure it’s free of contaminants, should be good to drink.”
“You really think even the water this far down would be contaminated?” Kakashi asked.
“Best not to risk it.” Sakura released his hand once they reached the library. She kneeled in front of the door and held her palm over the keyhole and then before his eyes, created a key out of earth chakra to fit the lock. “Learned from the best how to pick locks,” she murmured.
The door swung open. Kakashi stepped through first, ready for trouble. There was none. The leader of his ninja dog summons showed up at his ankle and pawed at his pants leg.
“Yo, Boss. Nobody’s home,” Pakkun explained. He glanced up at Sakura and smiled. “Hey, Floral Green. I was wondering when we’d get to meet.”
“Floral Green?” Sakura asked.
“Your shampoo,” Kakashi explained. “Though, I’m impressed he can smell it past all the zombie gore.”
“Well, it is a bit faint. You helped one of our pack before, about a year ago. I never got to thank you,” Pakkun explained, his tongue lolling to the side.
Sakura leaned over and scratched the pug behind his ear. “You’re welcome and it’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
“Pakkun,” he answered, tail wagging. He turned back to Kakashi. “Me and the others will stay vigilant. You two should wash up and get some sleep.”
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Sakura
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It was awkward. Not only had Kakashi been hovering over her for the entirety of the trip, but she couldn’t even take a shit in privacy. It had been extremely embarrassing when she’d almost let herself get attacked with her pants around her ankles. She had a choice — crap her pants or cry out for help.
She chose the latter, but she wasn’t entirely sure it had been the right choice.
For instance, now, there was a natural hot springs within this lair. They’d scanned it for any zombies lurking beneath but it wasn’t that deep and they’d confirmed it was safe. So, then why was Kakashi staring at her with his arms folded over his chest and his no non-sense even-eyed stare?
“We’ll check each other over,” Kakashi said again. “You have a cure. If one of us has a bite, then we’ll just get healed up.”
“Don’t you think we’d know if we were bitten? It’s not like the bites have an analgesic in them. If you’re bitten it hurts like hell.” Sakura held up her right arm, it’s where she’d allowed herself to be bitten when she’d first discovered her serum and had to test out its efficacy. It had been extremely risky and stupid. But she’d been successful. There was a small scar on her arm. “This was how we met. You’re the one that collected me while I was doing my experiment.”
“I didn’t forget,” Kakashi growled. “I almost killed you right then. You’re lucky I didn’t.”
“Fine.” Sakura grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over head, right then and there. She was rewarded with the widening of Kakashi’s eyes as he stared at her in shock. She then unlaced her boots, toed them off, and yanked down her pants, standing only in her underwear and chest bindings.
Without a word, Kakashi tossed his hitai-ate to the floor, removed his boots, shirt, pants until he stood in a pair of tight black boxer briefs and his black mask. He stepped towards her, his hands falling to her upper arms. “You didn’t heal yourself.”
“It would have been a waste of chakra,” Sakura murmured, staring up at him. She reached up and pulled down his mask, he let her. He had a handsome face. “It’s a shame no one sees your face. But it’s better than smelling death everywhere.”
“That’s not why I wear a mask,” Kakashi answered. He leaned down and scooped Sakura into his arms and she tumbled against his hard chest. It was littered with pale scars. He stepped into the pool and settled them on the stone bench that had been carved onto the side of the subterranean hot spring.
Sakura traced her fingers over the scars scattered over his chest, up his neck, then his chin. Her thumb traced over his bottom lip. “I don’t have a death wish.”
“Neither do I,” Kakashi’s deep voice rumbled. “Not anymore.”
Sakura shifted so that she straddled Kakashi’s waist, her thighs on either side of his hips. She held his face gently between her hands while his hands rested securely on her hips, thumbs on the front and his long fingers caressing her low back in lazy circles.
She tilted her head back and Kakashi brought his lips down to meet hers. They would only be in this quiet little underground lair for a day or two at most, but now she was more motivated than ever to fix the world.
Kakashi pulled back first, biting her lower lip gently before he smiled down at her. “I’ll get you to that forest, Sakura. And then you and I are going to fix this fucked up world.”
“Damn straight we are,” Sakura agreed.
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They found their way to Shikkotsu Forest via an alternate route that they’d mapped out back at the lair. They’d only run into two more small parties of zombies and they’d worked much better as a team against them.
He hadn’t intended to sleep with her, but after the hot springs, one thing led to another. And she’d done something to his eye — he could switch his Sharingan off and on now. Sakura was something amazing.
He’d watched her reunion with Lady Tsunade from a careful distance. It was only mildly surprising that Jiraiya was also living in the protected slug forest. No zombies were able to pass through the barrier, but there was evidence of their acid-eaten bodies near the entrance.
The resources within Shikkotsu Forest made Konoha seem like a poor village indeed. He’d observed while the scientists managed to create an aerosol version of the serum. He would see that Sakura returned home and he’d be there to help her find her friend. For now, he was as convinced as her that he was still alive.
Somehow, Sakura Haruno managed to change Kakashi’s outlook from fatalistic to optimistic. And he’d thought only the Yondaime’s son had that ability of spreading hope.
Then she turned back towards him, those jade green eyes looking up at him with something akin to love. “Looks like we have some time to sit back and relax. It will take some time for the aerosol and the distribution devices.”
“You’re actually going to leave the details to someone else?” Kakashi asked.
Sakura gestured towards the building Tsunade was in along with the other survivors she’d brought into her forest. “There are several scientists and engineers from Cloud in there and even a few from Suna. The future of humanity is in good hands.” She held her hand out for him.
Kakashi took her small hand inside his, threaded their fingers together, lifted her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles with his cloth covered lips. “What’s this I heard about a treehouse?”
“It used to belong to the First Hokage. Master Tsunade thought we might like to live there while we’re here,” Sakura answered. “She says it’s similar to the Hokage’s penthouse — since he built both places.”
“Are you asking me to live with you in a treehouse in an enchanted forest, Sakura?” Kakashi asked, a faint smile on his lips.
“Yes, Kakashi Hatake, will you live with me in a treehouse in this enchanted forest?” Sakura asked, slipping her free hand around his neck and burying her fingers into the hairs at his nape. “Where we can put our feet up and rest a while after doing our part to save the world?”
“Why, yes, Sakura. There’s nothing I’d love more to do,” Kakashi murmured, yanking her flush against him and kissing her once more.
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