Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Author's Note: Written for the Kakashi's Lyrics Competition hosted by the not at all evil (*wink*) juniper_11 over at the Kakashi X Sakura community on LiveJournal. My prompt was to write a fic interpreting the lyrics "There's no comfort in the truth/Pain is all you'll find" from Careless Whisper by Seethers.

Also, many hugs to the brilliant ronny-of-yore who beta-ed this at the speed of light. I hope your dinner didn't suffer because of this, hun. I owe you big time!

A final shout out to my girl Aorin107 for helping me bounce ideas around. Sleep is for losers anyway! XD

Broken Promises

You don't want to be the one to tell her.

But someone has to.

And she deserves to hear it from you, before the gossip reaches her.

The barren trees had given way to barren lands, on the outskirts of Wind, where Sasuke's team had been last spotted by a group of Sand nins. Rather than engaging them directly, the Kazekage had ordered the team tailed and sent a bird off to Konoha immediately. Kakashi could at least be thankful for that much. Had the territory been another, the Kage would have attacked the criminals outright and most likely lost good men in the process. Tsunade had done her best to convince all the Kages that only Naruto should be allowed to engage the Uchiha, but some still believed that a ploy, because the Kyuubi still harbored some affection for the rogue nin.

Not that they were far off the mark; Naruto still refused to kill Sasuke outright, nursing the resilient hope that his former teammate could be negotiated with or at least brought back broken and bloody to the village. Kakashi had tried warning the blond several times that there was no possibility of that. Even if Sasuke returned, nothing but a traitor's death would await him. As it was, none of his students had ever listened to him anyway.

There was nothing to be seen with the naked eye; Sasuke's camp had cleaned up after itself well. However, a few summoning jutsus later, his hounds found a scent and the tracking began, tracking that made Hatake Kakashi as uneasy as if he were the prey instead of the hunter.

You were the one who told her to stay behind.

You didn't want her to see the fight, see people she loved die.

You wanted her safe, at home, away from harm.

It's your fault she never got to say goodbye.

It didn't surprise him when long dead Akatsuki members started popping out of the scenery, surrounding his little platoon. He had known they were walking into a trap and had warned Naruto as much. In the end, things were evenly matched. Diedara engaged Yamato while Ibiki and Shikamaru took on Zetsu. Kakashi signaled to Neji and Gaara and the three teamed up to face Madara. The central battle was – as it had always been – Naruto and Sasuke's.

Later, he would wish he had listened more closely to the words exchanged between his two former students, what they had said to each other before the fight that would end it all. But at that time, all Kakashi could concentrate on was blocking one attack after another, be it for himself or one of the men fighting with him. More than once Gaara had sent a sand shield to protect him and twice he, himself, had tried Kamui, with each effort leaving him so drained, his body moved in complete soldier mode in the aftermath. By an unspoken rule of hierarchy, Gaara was protecting him while the copy nin did his best to do the same for Neji.

Two eagles flew overhead, a mother and her young, waiting for the fighters to weaken enough to fly into the fray and claim their kill. Birds of prey, Kakashi mused as another wall of sand rose between him and Madara's next attack. How appropriate.

Sakura should have been with you… She might have been able to make a difference.

She will never forgive you now, not after you promised to bring him back. You promised her he'd be safe.

This will be the second promise to her you've broken.

His left arm was heavily bleeding and Neji's chakra was dangerously low. The Hyuuga was all but spent and the sharingan user could only protect him so much. Neji understood that better than anyone and offered to be the decoy for their next attack, said his life was forfeit anyway so he might as well go down with pride.

The young jounin also said to apologize to Tenten for him.

Kakashi regarded the Hyuuga with new respect before the raven-haired shinobi let down his shield and walked amid open fire, buying them a few extra seconds for Kakashi to copy Madara's last attack and combine it to Gaara's sand coffin. Luck was with them and Yamato's chakra-fused whirlpools joined the attack, forcing the older Uchiha to take a few steps back and resort to hand seals to block the combined assault.

Neji's sacrifice gained them an upper hand, and a new comrade. Diedara's corpse was unceremoniously shoved aside as the battle continued.

Light and dark flashes raged from far away marking the place where Naruto and Sasuke were actively engaged. The eagles above continued to circle.

What was the point of all the prowess you'd made as a shinobi if you were going to let everyone down in the end? Isn't that what you've done?

You let your sensei down, your best friend down. And now you were about to do the same to her.

And failing Sakura hurt more than all the other failures, combined.

We don't need a victory, Kakashi thought as his sharingan scanned through yet another genjutsu. We simply need a minute. Gaara seemed to be thinking along the same lines and Yamato acted accordingly. Zetsu had retreated into the shadows, abandoning all pretence of engaging Shikamaru, but not before he had claimed Morino Ibiki's life. Shikamaru had joined their ranks, looking worse than Kakashi felt at the time, unable to perform a jutsu due to severe chakra drain. Any energy the boy had left would be needed for him to stay conscious, but Shikamaru was helpful even when unable to fight. He directed their moves as best he could from his position on the ground, keeping a close eye on the eagles overheard as Kakashi and Yamato launched another counter attack with Gaara's offense hidden in its shadow.

It was then that inspiration struck the Copy Ninja, deadly inspiration.

He couldn't remember the amount of times he had had to deflect Sakura's attack from underground, where it had inched towards him undiscovered until the very last moment. Perhaps the same trick would work on Madara, but modified a little? Sadly, Kakashi did not have his lover's excellent chakra control and, because it wasn't a technique but spontaneous use of her ability, he had never been able to copy it. But he had the next best thing – sand and water and an eye for illusions.

Running his plan quickly through with Shikamaru, Kakashi proceeded to signal to Gaara and Yamato to follow the chuunin's lead. Yamato was confused for less than three seconds before catching on and Gaara's impassive face showed no signs of emotions. Much more was at risk but, in their current condition, it was the best shot they had.

Kakashi sent his hounds first, followed by a raikiri tinged with just enough jolts of reality to not be recognized as the distraction that it was. Beneath his feet, he could feel Gaara's sand shooting straight towards Madara, accompanied by Yamato's poisonous vines. Even Shikamaru put in the last burst of effort to use the shadow from Diedara's corpse to cover the area around Madara, never touching him but staying within striking distance.

The trail of hot, poisonous sand reached Madara deep underground, and kept moving.

Kakashi's eyes widened in panic as the sand missed its mark by about twenty feet, only to explode behind Madara as opposed to underneath him. But before he could despair at their lost chance, one of the birds, from above, swooped down and clawed at Madara's face. They had won, the distraction had worked.

After that, it was a simple matter of Shikamaru using shadow strangle on the bird and watching it fall limp beside Madara's crumbling body. The Nara passed out with tears on his face, apologizing to an Asuma only he could see for failing to protect Ino.

Ino gone, Neji gone, Ibiki gone, why are you still here? You should be dead right alongside them, right alongside him.

Because you've as good as killed Sakura. No jutsu may have been involved and she might not sport battle scars after you tell her, but in your heart, you will always be responsible for her death.

The death that only you will be able to see.

Sakura paced the village entrance anxiously, waiting as part of her duty and for her own personal reasons. The bird from Suna had simply stated that Sasuke's team had been defeated and the Konoha party was on its way back. Tsunade had assured Sakura the details couldn't be trusted even to the most complex of codes and the truth of the matter would only come to light when their shinobi had returned. Despite all the assurances and sympathetic glances she had been receiving from Shizune, Sakura couldn't help but feel a deep unease. As if someone had carved out a hole inside her and filled it with dread.

"Bring him back safe, please, I'm begging you," she had cried when they were about to leave and he had promised her he would. He had been surprised and bewildered at her intensity, but he had promised nonetheless. He had said he'd bring them all back. But "all" didn't matter after waiting for days on end, waiting for any news, sign, a wisp of hope floating in the winds. Now all she wanted was him back, safe and sound in her arms, holding her close and promising he would never leave her side again.

The medic felt shame well up inside her as she considered how many friends and comrades' lives she would trade to see him return safely. Neji, Shikamaru, Yamato Taichou, if someone had to be sacrificed, let it be them and not him. She cut off that line of thought before she disgraced herself further, her anxiety morphing into the beginnings of hysteria.

The bird from Suna had arrived six days ago. It was a three day journey, four if some of the travelers were injured and five if they made incredibly slow progress and walked without chakra. But today was the sixth day and there was still no sign of them. Tsunade had scouts looking for them within a few miles of the village perameters but wasn't unduly worried. No doubt the Hokage was being strong for the village, a feat Sakura didn't think she could manage for another day. Even Izumo and Kotetsu had stopped offering her comfort, after she'd snapped at them the last time. They – and anyone who passed by – left her well alone to pace a hole in the ground.

She paced the better part of the day away, watching the sun make its slow progress across the sky. Its waning rays and the resulting breeze had as much effect on her as its full glower at noon had and the pink-haired medic kept up her vigil by the gate. Long after the sun had gone down and the torches of the watch towers lit, her green eyes still scanned the road leading to the village, hoping for a sign, of something, anything.

No, not anything. Him. Scanning for a sign of him.

It seemed like hours after Sakura had sunk to the ground that the shouts came. Jubilant shouts, shouts of welcome from the scouts posted to greet the ninja from Sand. She couldn't hear his voice but when had he ever been one to shout? Getting to her feet, she dusted off her clothes as best she could and wiped a hand across her face to hide the fact that she had been crying. He wouldn't like seeing her like that, sad and broken. She would be strong, as strong as she needed to be to stand by his side.

Slowly, as if in a dream, Naruto's blond head emerged from around the bend, followed by Shikamaru's dark ponytail. Yamato Taichou came next, being pat on the back by some scout she knew only by face. Bringing up the rear was another blond, Ino's father.

But where were the rest of them? These numbers weren't right. Twice as many ninja had left Konoha to follow Sasuke's lead and only half the number was returning. The panic and dread in her stomach churned uneasily, chewing deep chunks of her insides as the world spun around her. He wasn't with them… He didn't… He promised…

When Naruto caught sight of her, his face turned whiter than it already was; his eyes avoided hers guiltily and that was all the answer she needed. The young kunoichi stumbled to the ground as the surroundings blurred, before being replaced with a dark oblivion.

Sasuke and Naruto were locked in heavy combat, each just managing to stave off the other until the next attack. The battleground, scarred, cracked, charred and dug out as it was, was even. It would have tipped in their favor had Naruto chosen to go in for the kill from the start, but Naruto, being Naruto, had chosen to waste words upon the boy he still loved as a brother. And only one bird remained.

Kakashi spared a moment for Inoichi Yamanaka's soul circling overheard. How did it feel to watch the bird containing his daughter's essence being strangled by her own teammate? Kakashi knew first hand that some sacrifices just weren't worth it, not for the village, not for honor, not for anything. Lucky for them Inoichi Yamanaka loved his village more than his daughter. Yes, the shinobi would live the rest of his life knowing he had done nothing to stop his daughter's death, but he would also be hailed as the key to bringing Uchiha Madara down. His daughter would be a hero and he would try to console himself with that empty title.

Ino knew the risks, he told himself as he sped towards the main battle, Yamato and Gaara at his side. And so do I. When the time came, he could only hope to be as brave as the female chuunin had been.

As fate would have it, the time came soon enough.

Naruto was cloaked in all the Kyuubi's nine tails while lightening and storm clouds became Sasuke's shield as his thin sword tried to rip Naruto's heart from his body. Electric currents shot both ways as the sheer collision of such awesome chakra filled the air. Yamato did not dare attempt his sealing jutsu, claiming that Naruto's kyuubi may well be the only thing keeping them alive while Sasuke… Sasuke fought as violently as he always had, both eyes bleeding profusely and more blood spilling from a torn calf. The Uchiha must have been in extreme pain, moving on that leg with his vision blurred by ruby tears, but there was no sign of slowing down in him. Naruto's own skin was on the verge of breaking with the effort of using the Kyuubi at full strength, but nothing could have made him back down.

In the end, it was like it had always been. Kakashi had had to step in to break the fight before some serious damage was done. Last time, it had been words the boys could never take back. Now, it was actions.

They had both been his students once, and they still were. Somehow, deep down, the sense of failing them had been gnawing at his soul. Sure, it had been forgotten for a while with Sakura and her gentle kisses and tender words, but in his dreams and nightmares, it was still present. And now Kakashi had a chance to fix it.

"Yamato, do me this last favor. Look after Sakura, alright?" he said gruffly as he made his way to the heart of the battle, Gaara maintaining a sand shield all around him until he reached the crackling storm in the middle.

The reports listed four dead.

Hyuuga Neji - died from chakra depletion in a last ditch attempt to inflict damage on the enemy.

Morino Ibiki - slashed from shoulder to groin, his body torn open by Zetsu.

Yamanaka Ino - trapped Madara's soul inside a bird host she was occupying long enough to be strangled by Nara Shikamaru's shadow jutsu.

Hatake Kakashi – piggy backed with Yamanaka Inoichi to take over the Ninetail's powers and deliver the final blow to Uchiha Sasuke, before perishing due to resistance put up by the kyuubi at a foreign host.

The fifth death is not listed, but you see it just as well. It reads Haruno Sakura – died because Uzumaki Naruto couldn't keep his promise to bring Hatake Kakashi back. Died of a broken heart.

End Note: I've always claimed I can't write action but this piece forced its way into my head and demanded I write it like this so it goes without saying that I'd love some feedback on how I cleaned up. And if for some reason you like this entry, please take a moment to vote for it at the kakasaku community on LiveJournal.