Sakura woke with a jolt, and breathed in a deep, raggedy breath. She remained still, straining her ears to hear the sounds outside, still unsure what had woken her so suddenly.

She propped herself up on her elbows and turned her head, closing her eyes to focus. When she sensed the familiar chakra outside, she let out a breath.

Next minute, she heard the window open and saw the silhouette of a man making his way inside. Typical, she thought; couldn't use a door at the best or worst of times. The smile that had made its way to her face fell slightly as she realised that Kakashi looked to be lurching over, leaning heavily on one side.

"Kuso, Kakashi!" She hissed through the dark, throwing back her bed sheets.

"It's okay." He said, making his way over to her, favouring his left side, Sakura noted. He sat beside her and Sakura leaned over to her bedside table and turned on the lamp.

The dull light illuminated the scene before her; Kakashi's dishevelled hair was dirty looking, and his clothes had cuts here and there. He was also clutching his left arm.

Sakura leaned forward and pulled down his mask. With a gentle hand on his cheek she turned his face to her.

"I'd ask you what happened, but my stupid question will probably only receive a stupid answer."

Kakashi smiled but it turned into a wince. "Just got back." He said lightly.

"And your team's medic couldn't look at your arm for you?" She asked, trying to reel in her sudden anger.

Kakashi shrugged, "It wasn't really a big deal." He paused. "Before."

"It's okay to ask for help, Kakashi!"

"Please, Sakura. Forget it. It's not that bad."

"Your arm, your leg." She put a finger through one of the cuts in his sleeve. "Look at all –"

"I didn't want to bother the medic with a few cuts and scrapes." He was calm but stern.

Sakura stared at him incredulously before she shook her head and calmed herself. It seemed Kakashi was in one of those moods. Just lately he'd been coming back from missions, sneaking home in the dead of night with these 'minor' injuries, and informing her that it was no big deal. Obviously for it to be an emergency, his leg had to be hanging on by a thread. But what disturbed her more than the fact that he seemed embarrassed to ask for help for these trivial matters, was that he got very quiet for days afterward, like he was continually in deep thought. And when Sakura had asked about it, he had said to her once again that everything was fine. She only hoped that he would open up to her in his own time.

"I'm just glad you're back. I missed you." Sakura leant forward and kissed him briefly on the mouth.

When Kakashi leaned back from her, he licked his lips and sat quietly, not looking at her.

Everything was not fine.

"Kakashi, every time you come home from a mission you close yourself off and I deserve to know why." Sakura began.

Kakashi remained unmoving before he spoke suddenly. "I can't do this anymore, Sakura."

Sakura was startled; her heart fell, "Can't do what?"

"Not us." He said quickly, looking at her and then away again. "I meant… I can't keep going out there." He gestured to his arm, "It might not look like much, but that's the point. It's a… it's a scratch! It shouldn't have happened! I had too much on my mind: the mission, my other team members… you." He finished quietly. "I wasn't focused, I'm endangering my life, the lives of my teammates, as well as jeopardising the missions."

"Kakashi, please. You're being too hard on yourself –"

Kakashi shook his head. "I start thinking, what if I don't come home? I couldn't put you through that." He took a deep breath. "I'm going to speak to Tsunade tomorrow. I'm not going to give it up all together. I just want less dangerous missions. And no more ANBU. I need to be here for you." He reached his hand out and slid his hand around Sakura's waist. "I need to be here for our family."

Sakura's throat constricted suddenly and she couldn't speak. She felt the first hot prickling of tears in her eyes, and placed her hand over his, nodding slowly.

"It's a girl." She whispered.

Kakashi's lips parted in wonderment at her words, and he moved forward to kiss her, his cool fingers on the side of her face, and pulled away again, carefully tracing her lips with his finger.

"If this is what you've been thinking about then why did it take you so long to tell me that you felt this way?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi seemed to consider her question. "It… turned out to be a difficult decision. It's been my life for so long. But when I found out we were having a child… priorities change I guess. My new life with you and our daughter," Kakashi smiled, "became all I could think about. The kunai in the foot is what tipped me off that I should probably consider taking a back seat in these A rank missions."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Kunai in the foot?"

Kakashi just waved a dismissive hand.

They sat in silence before Sakura sighed, "I never told you this before, Kakashi, but… I didn't think this would ever happen. We're ninja. I had that and I had you. And I was okay with that. Now that this is actually happening, I just feel…" She trailed off with a laugh as a tear rolled down her face.

Kakashi wiped it away and looked into Sakura's eyes with so much sincerity. "You've made me so happy, Sakura. You can't possibly imagine how much. And I don't want to risk that for anything." He kissed her again, then moved up to kiss her forehead where he whispered, "I'm yours forever."

Sakura breathed in deeply and smiled, wrapping her arms around the man she loved, for better or worse.

"Do you think you could take a look at my arm now?"

Sakura laughed.

In sickness and in health.