Rating: T

Words: 500

Pairing: Kakashi/Sakura

Warnings: Ambiguous ending, some feels, mostly drabble nonsense that I wrote for Tumblr but decided to share here too.

Author's Note: This is a short one, but sometimes I manage to not wrote 5,000 word stories. Rarely. If you have any requests feel free to ask her or on tumblr! Thanks for reading!

"I love you." The words tumble out of Kakashi's mouth before he's fully aware of what he's saying.

There's a moment of stunned silence, during which the battle noise around them dies abruptly. At least, it does for him, and somehow, that's enough.

"I love you," Kakashi repeats, voice firming on the words. "I'm in love with you," he amends.

The shocked expression on Sakura's face is almost enough to make him laugh. Almost. "Wh-what?" Her uncharacteristic stutter is endearing, and he chooses to focus on that. Part of Kakashi's mind warns that they're in the middle of a battle, this is neither the time nor the place. But they're shinobi, hardly normal by any standard that could measure them. In the moment, battle-time confessions make perfect sense.

Kakashi doesn't fight it. "I have for so long that I don't even know when it began." The words drive the air from his lungs, or maybe that's the fight, but either way, he can't breathe. The ground welcomes his collapsing knees.

There's a soft chuckle rising in the back of Sakura's throat. Her green eyes are impossibly brilliant against the drab grey and brown backdrop around them. Kakashi could lose himself in their emerald depths and not care to come back up for air. Her pale lips curl into a smile. "Oh?"

This time, Kakashi really does laugh and brushes a gloved hand over her dirty, scuffed, perfect cheek. "Yes," he answers, working his fingers through the tangles in her vivid hair. "You're the hum of combat, the calm of a rainy day, the fire that pushes me. You're everything."

"I love you too," Sakura breathes, eyes fluttering shut. Her words tighten the knot forming in Kakashi's chest, rather than loosening it. They throw the world into color around him. The blue of the sky has never been quite that bright before. Sakura's pink hair catches the breeze and twists around her forehead. The blood on her chest is achingly crimson as it pulses between the rip in her armor.

"Sakura?" Kakashi shakes her gently and gets no response. He had known it was coming from the moment he saw her wound. There was so much blood.

Uncaring, Kakashi scoops her body into his arms and presses a kiss to her cheek. It's tender and uncertain, two things Kakashi would have never imagined in himself. "You have to hold on," he whispers, voice on the edge of breaking. "You can't tell me that you love me, then leave me alone."

Sakura doesn't reply, and Kakashi forces himself to look away. If he can get her to Tsunade, there might be a chance, but it's a slim one. Cradling the woman he loves against his chest, Kakashi turns north, the last place he saw the medic. Enemy and war torn land stand between them, how much, he isn't certain. But, Kakashi knows the price is worth hearing Sakura say she loves him again. If I can make it time.