I'm Just That Amazing

Kakashi stood outside Sakura's front door, hesitant to knock in case she'd come running with a furious fist at him for the little spat they had at the restaurant. He eventually did knock, but then found the door was left open.

Does she ever lock the door, he wondered.

"Sakura, it's me. You in?"

He received no reply. He sneaked inside and gently shut the door behind him before taking a nosy about the house to look for her. The downstairs was completely spotless. On the couch in the living room sat a large carrier bag to what Kakashi assumed was Sakura's travelling bag.

He stood at the bottom of the stairs and heard a sniffing sound.

"Sakura, is that you?" he called, but again, he got no answer.

He slowly climbed the stairs and approached Sakura's bedroom door. He pressed his ear to it and he could hear the noise clearer now; she was crying.

He knocked the door softly and opened it. It was a sad sight. Sakura was sitting in the corner of the room, her eyes red and puffy and several tracks of fallen tears shined in the moonlight. In front of her was a broken picture frame. Glass was scattered across the wooden floor and the glow of the moon revealed the picture of him standing alongside Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke, who were ranked genin at the time.

The pinkette flicked her head up to notice her former mentor now standing at the doorway with his hands in his pockets and the night sky highlighting his silvery hair.

"Oh, Kakashi," she said, frantically wiping her teary eyes, "I didn't hear you come in."

She bent over to pick up the broken glass, but Kakashi got there first.

"I got it," he said, with his general smile, "But you can't go on with the mission in this state. I'll clean this up for you, but I want you to explain to me what's going on when I come back."

Sakura sat patiently on her bed, embarrassed that Kakashi had seen her in such a state. He arrived with the picture in hand minutes later and sighed.

"Talk to me," he said, "What's eating you?"

Sakura shuffled her feet and bowed her head, ignoring the question.

"Sakura."

He didn't like the situation one bit. Seeing her so upset just didn't sit right with him.

"My parents," she began, "When I was out looking for Sasuke… they were murdered."

Kakashi was shocked. He had never heard news of this before now and it was saddening to hear her tell him that in such a quiet tone. It was unlike her to be so quiet.

"They were murdered on their way home from a night out. I only found out about it from one of the locals on my way back from the restaurant. Apparently some punks attacked them and tried to steal their money. Their wallets were gone when their bodies were found."

Sakura clenched her fists tightly as she said this. Seeing her crumbling in front of him like this was unnerving.

"First Sasuke leaves, planning to destroy the Hidden Leaf village, then my parents die. They were the greatest parents a girl could ask for and I took it all for granted. I'm so stupid."

More tears slipped from behind her eyes as her shoulders started trembling.

"That's why I quite being a shinobi. I'm sick of all the bloodshed. I'm tired of being abandoned. I don't wanna keep getting hurt like this!"

Kakashi felt truly sorry for the poor girl. He sat beside her on the edge of the bed and cradled her in his arms as she cried her heart out.

About an hour later, Sakura had finally stopped crying. Her cheeks were sticky and she felt a nasty headache coming on. Kakashi was still holding her to him, his arms wrapped around her skinny waist.

"Look, I'm gonna head off here," he said, releasing his grip on her and standing up, "I'll swing by here tomorrow morning to pick up your stuff. I want you to rest easy, and call me if you need anything, okay?"

She sat on her knees and nodded, hiding her face behind her hair.

"Okay, then I'll see you later."

But before he could take a step further, he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked over his shoulder to see Sakura, now up off the bed, clinging to his shirt.

"Could you stay?" she asked in a croaked voice, "Just for a little longer? 'Till I fall asleep?"

Kakashi gave into her request and pulled the covers over her as she hopped into bed. He stood against the window separating them from the balcony with his hands back in his pockets.

"Come closer."

He did as he was told and propped himself down on the other side of the bed, facing her.

"Too close?"

She chuckled quietly and shook her head.

"There's that smile. Show it more often. It suits you better."

"Thanks," she said, "And… I'm sorry for getting angry like that earlier."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Now try and get some rest."

"Um… You said we're … friends now, right?" She said nervously.

"Yeah, of course we are," He replied with that casual smile of his.

"So then, um…"

There was a slight pause in her speech and her cheeks went a little rosy.

"You still love him, don't you?"

"How did you know I was-"

"I'm just that amazing."

Sakura rolled her eyes at him, but smiled anyway.

"Yeah, I love him," she replied sadly, "It's not like I want to. He's our enemy now, another criminal who wants to destroy the village. I can't bring myself to hate him for all he's done, but I can't forgive him either. And to make things even more complicated, Naruto… he loves me too. Everything's so confusing right now."

"It's a natural thing to feel, there's nothing wrong with that. It's not your fault that things turned out this way. There's not much you can do right now to change the situation. All you can do is let nature take its course, see what comes next."

Sakura breathed out the words "Yeah, I guess you're right," before falling asleep.

Kakashi took off his headband and set it down beside the bed, letting out a tired sigh before drifting off to sleep beside her.

Sorry I haven't been writing much recently guys. I've been busy all year with my exams and coursework, so I'm a bit peeved -_-

Anyways, I'm also sorry for the length of this chapter, but I figured you guys needed somethin'. I'll be writing more when I can so R&R!