Catch me

He would take any opportunity to touch me, to hold me close in his arms.
Our relationship had to be kept a secret so we barely ever touched. Yamato seemed to enjoy the secrecy of it all but I however found it more difficult to not let my feelings be so apparent.

As a result, I would constantly find myself tripping and Yamato would always conveniently be there to catch me.

Although the contact was brief, it was still contact, which was better than none.
Everyone remained oblivious to our secret relationship, and when it was dark Yamato would ruffle my hair, sigh and say, "I can't let a girl walk home by herself, Kunoichi or otherwise." And take me home.

I appreciated the gesture, and if it wasn't for the conspiratorial wink I would have thought that I had mistaken his feelings for me.

I would often lie in bed at night and remember what it felt like when he was holding me or touching me. Not in perverted way, just remembering the warmth that his touch brought and the strong feelings in my chest, that threatened to burst the vital organ.

I wasn't paying full attention to my surroundings, as a shinobi that is a very big no-no but it is in general still a no-no, because you could end up with a predicament like mine.
After treading on a bear trap, (we were currently in a part of the Land of Tea that had wild bears residing in the untamed areas, such as the one we were travelling through.)

and having Yamato, Naruto, Kakashi and Sai break it off my leg, fully aware that the bear trap worked fine, it had done its job.

It had bitten into the skin deeply, I had deep gashes in my leg, and it had cleanly snapped the tibia and fibula of my right leg, and GAWD did it hurt.
Yamato took off my boot and assessed the wound. "You better heal that quickly Sakura so that it doesn't get infected." Flashing a smile, he put my boot on the floor and went off to help the others set up camp.

Damn it, I was holding back the search. If I didn't heal my leg quickly we could lose this vital chance!

I pushed up my sleeves and created the green medical chakra on my hands, and in such a high concentration that my leg would be healed in two minutes, broken bone and all.
I wrapped up my leg expertly with bandages and pulled on my boot, and, walking lightly, I walked back to the camp.

"Wow, Sakura that was quick!" Naruto praised. I smiled at the blonde; his return smile was much wider.

"We can set off again, my leg is fine." I informed Yamato and Kakashi.
Kakashi shook his head. "You and Yamato will stay here and be prepared for us to bring back a badly injured Sasuke and Naruto, while the rest of us will go and capture him. We can't risk, you, the only Medical Ninja getting hurt when Naruto goes at it."

"But, what if the Kyuubi chakra leaks out? Shouldn't Yamato be there?" I argued.
Kakashi eye-smiled at me, "Yamato will feel if the Kyuubi chakra leaks out so he can quickly run to restrain Naruto as this camp is a short way away from where we were tipped Sasuke would be, but not close enough for damage from the battle to reach here." He countered.

That was a good a plan, there were flaws of course, but there was no such thing as a flawless plan.
Kakashi briefed us all and Yamato and I got into our positions while the others got into formation.

They jumped away; my heart went out to Naruto. It would destroy him if he let Sasuke slip through his fingers again.
I turned to Yamato, my face reflecting my emotions. Yamato leaned over and ruffled my hair affectionately, smiling widely.

"Don't worry Sakura. I'm sure Naruto will bring Sasuke back and then everything will be back to the way it should be. Team 7 will be back together again!" Yamato said, with forced cheerfulness.

"And some lovely new additions, Sai is like a carbon copy of Sasuke so the two will either get along well or not at all!" I murmured in Yamato, smiling at him.
Yamato's smile faded at the mention of Sasuke.
I leaned closer towards Yamato, a look of over-dramatic conspiracy etched into my features.

"I'll tell you a secret. I prefer Team Kakashi to Team 7!" I confided.
Yamato beamed, his smile was so bright I cringed.
"My eyes! I'm blind!" I screamed, throwing my hands in front of my eyes, in an attempt to block Yamato's dazzling smile.

I stopped, horror swept though me. Naruto's childishness had finally rubbed off on me. Oh, my Gawd! I was acting like Naruto.
Lord, kill me now! Strike me down, before the infection spreads too deep! It was contagious! Stupidity was contagious, Good, Lord. The world was coming to an end! The Armageddon is nigh!

Yamato's low laughter pulled me out of my mental breakdown.
In between his gasps for breath, I made out words, "You" laugh, "look," laugh, "like you're," laugh, "about to be," laugh "Shot!" He exclaimed before breaking out into hysterical laughter.

I levelled him with a serious stare. How could he laugh at a time like this? "It wasn't that funny, and aren't you supposed to be protecting me?" I hissed, annoyed that he was laughing at me.

His laughter died, smirk etched onto his face, "It wasn't funny, it was hilarious. But you are right. No more distracting me, Sakura. You're putting our whole mission at risk!" Yamato exclaimed, smirk still in place.

My mouth hung open and an indignant huff came out.
I turned my back on Yamato and went into full sulk mode.
A shudder suddenly shook the ground.

I looked at Yamato; all traces of amusement had been wiped off his face. "It has begun." He murmured soberly.
My thoughts went out to my team, who were now desperately trying to bring back our old friend.

I wondered if we would ever see him again.
Suddenly, Yamato pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my head.

I looked up at the grinning Jounin, an eyebrow raised, questioning his sudden action.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I have a better chance of protecting you, if you are close to me instead of far away."

That was his lame excuse. A dead monkey could have thought of a better excuse.
Yamato pressed his mouth against the back of my neck, his breath warm on my cool skin.

He was humming a familiar tune, but I didn't know the name of the song.
The song reminded me happier times, when everything had been good in my life, no death, no pain, no sorrow.

Regardless, sitting in Yamato's arms, I wouldn't have wished to be anywhere else.
I knew I was safe, and I always would be.
'I might have to make a habit of falling.' I thought randomly
After all, Yamato promised he would always catch me...