Sakura had expected to find her flat empty, to find no one and nothing waiting, except for her shower, and after that her bed, where she wanted to curl up and forget everything she had learned today; but her flat was not empty. She did not notice this until she had pulled her sandals off of her feet, and – as getting back up seemed far too much of an efford at this moment – dropped down in her doorway, where she then sat, her face buried in her hands.
She heard footsteps coming from the kitchen, and shortly afterwards saw the light change through the slits between her fingers as someone knelt down infront of her.
"Is something wrong?", Kiba asked.
Sakura shook her head. No, nothing was wrong, she wanted to tell him, but the words did not come out. She allowed Kiba to help her up and tried to smile.
"Did you really wait for me to come home?", she managed to sound almost amused.
"I bought some food, too", Kiba replied, showing his teeth as he grinned.
For one second Sakura felt as if maybe she really could forget, could pretent that everything was alright and just have late breakfast with her – it still felt strange and new to think the word – boyfriend. Then everything around her started to spin and the next second she was stumbling to the bathroom.
She should have sent Kiba away immediatly, she thought while staring at the remains of last night's dinner swimming infront of her, he should not have to see her like that. She wanted to tell him to leave, but before she had had the chance to say anything at all he was already by her side, one hand warm and comforting against her back, the other one carefully holding her hair.
"Do you need a medic?", he asked, once Sakura felt safe leaving the bathroom and had allowed him, albeit reluctantly, to carry her to her bed. She smiled weakly and shook her head.
"No, a glass of water will do."
"I can't", Sakura whispered.
"'d you rather be alone?"
For a brief second Sakura considered saying yes, she would prefer to be on her own for now. But then instead she pulled Kibas arm closer around her. She closed her eyes and let his hands sooth her. There was nothing sexual about the way he touched her at that moment. Every touch was meant to comfort, to calm her. Nothing else.
And slowly Sakura did calm down, drifted into a state of half-sleep where the recurring memories of this morning seemed more distant and not like her own at all.
There it was a different Sakura who stood in the Hokage's study, it was a different Kakashi who explained to her how to kill him, disintegrate him, with nothing but a few hand seals. A different Kakashi who explained it with such ease as if he was teaching her the basics of chakra-control again, who seemed so utterly oblivious of how hard it was for her to keep her hands from trembling, to keep her voice steady, to maintain the eagerly attentive face of a good student.
It had been a different Kakashi who, once he felt confident that she would now know what to do, had given her the most carefree smile in the world, who said "My life is in your hands", as if it was not, and then, before Sakura had thought of anything to reply, changed the subject and asked how things had been in Sunagakure, and how she and Kiba had gotten along. It had been a different Kakashi, who then sent her away, told her to meet him later in his office, with not so much as a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.