Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Note: This is not a one shot!


Chapter 1: Without Even Knowing

Honestly what they were doing in a joint like this, she had no idea. But, for once, it didn't seem like her boys were complaining; and that was more music to her ears than the thumping tunes making her eardrums rattle.

Of course, she was positive it had more to do with the gyrating, scantily clad females lining the walls and the dance floor than anything else.

How they had made their way into this heated box of cigarette smoke, liquor, and sweat was entirely the fault of one Uzumaki Naruto; more precisely his utter ignorance of feminine seduction.

Why Lord Kumiko's precious teenage daughter chose Naruto of all people to fixate on was another question that deserved some serious pondering. Then again, even Sakura wasn't blind to the knowledge that the village idiot had turned into a tasty little morsel.

He was 22, tall, built, had the prettiest sky blue eyes and always seemed to have a killer tan year round. When it all came down to it, her ramen loving teammate was pretty damn hot. As long as he kept his big mouth shut, he was great eye-candy.

However, what the married, handsome stud lacked still remained the same: brains. When the two-faced evil little princess had asked him to accompany her out for a little fun on the town, the naïve brat hadn't thought twice about it. Their bodyguard mission was over of course and they would be returning to Konoha the next day.

Regardless, Naruto may have turned 22 that year, but the part of his brain that dealt with women and relationships remained 12. How he and Hinata had gotten married, much less how they had managed to have relations was beyond her.

Thusly, Sakura had taken it upon her self to accompany the two-some to make sure the little dark haired harlot kept her hands to herself.

Hinata wasn't just Naruto's wife. She was a good friend and friends don't let their friends get molested by some rich floozy made up with one too many layers of makeup. Now do they?

No. They don't. So, naturally, Sakura had requested to tag along and being Naruto's friend and teammate, daddy's little girl couldn't decline.

Oh, and naturally, the kunoichi wasn't about to go alone. Really, the last Uchiha shouldn't have looked so surprise when she had bodily dragged him along behind them. Did he really think she was going to sit there and talk to herself however long Kumiko Tsuki had decided to keep them out?

That answer was an obvious no.

Unsurprisingly, the ex-brother-obsessed-traitor-turned reformee had submitted to her will in the end. No matter what cold things came out of her first love's mouth, she knew he had a great deal of guilt eating away at him for all the shit he put them through during the five long years of trying to get his stubborn ass back.

It really was a miracle that she had managed to save him. Why that idiot had provoked the Hokage-wanna-be into a deathmatch even after they had worked together to defeat Itachi in the first place…

If Naruto's shuriken resengan had been in full form…

Sakura shook those murderous thoughts away. The past was the past. Those memories were best kept there.

He was back and trying his damnedest to earn the trust of the village again. (It went without saying that he already had her's and Naruto's.)

Nonetheless, the dark haired young man to her right side was pointedly ignoring her to stare at more exciting happening on the dance floor -namely some unknown wench's shaking, fat rump. Suddenly, it felt to Sakura as if talking to herself wasn't such a bad idea after all.

As she turned to her other side, she sighed. That just left one other person at their back corner booth: Kakashi. The lackadaisical Copy Ninja had invited himself along with the guise of being the mature chaperone.

Mature, yeah right. Chaperone my ass.

Sakura wasn't buying that sorry excuse for a minute. Kakashi wasn't watching over anyone with his eye glued to every half-naked female that walked by.

The frustrated kunoichi groaned in disgust. Stupid men!

Speaking of sleazy women, it seemed one of them had managed to infiltrate their private area and even succeeded in hijacking the only partner she thought she had for the night while her thoughts had run away with her.

A petite fist hit the table, her eyes finding Sasuke sitting some spaces away chatting with an older women!

My god! Doesn't he have any shame?

In her anger and irritation, she elbowed the side of the last remaining body at the table. "Can you believe that? The nerve!"

If Sasuke hadn't of laid everything out on the table for her -upon his unforgettable return, she might have walked over there and punched the poor bastard through the wall. Alas, he had and she now knew that she wasn't going to be the one to help restore his clan.

Even though it had been close to five years already the bitterness seemed to always creep up on her when the thought was made.

Sister figure my ass

Finally, prying his attention from a gaggle of young ladies near the bar -which Sakura found surprisingly to be around her own age- Kakashi turned to her. "Didn't you come here to play operation keep away with Naruto and Tsuki-sama?" Nodding to the blonde, making a fool of himself on the dance floor with the octopus of a woman trying… but failing to get near him, Kakashi asked, "Why aren't you out there?"

Sakura glared at the scene… and then glared at Kakashi...and then pouted in a little voice that was barely heard above the extremely loud music playing around them. "Can't dance."

Eyeing the offbeat steps that resembled a calf being born the kyuubi-container was doing, Kakashi joked. "I'm sure you cannot be any worse than that."

Sakura wrinkled her nose and continued to sulk. "I have my pride you know."

The older shinobi turned away from the laugh inspiring scene to the un-amused woman beside him, giving her a little eye-crease of a smile. "I guess that means you're stuck here with me then, eh?"

The saddened kunoichi looked at him skeptically. "What? You're not going to up and disappear on me too?"

Kakashi smiled again behind the mask while crossing his arms and leaning back on his piece of cushion next to her. "I don't have any plans at the moment." His eye scanning the dimly club, he teasingly picked out the first woman he saw. "Well, unless someone like that finds her way over to me. Then you're on your own sister."

Sakura couldn't help the punch to his kidney. Really, he had that one coming. Slouching in her seat, sipping her drink through a straw, feeling like and closely resembling a kicked puppy she sniped, "Perverted old man."

Rubbing his battered side, Kakashi laughed, "Old? No. Perverted?" He made a play of thinking it over with a finger to his masked chin. "Possible."

Sakura laughed in spite of herself, holding up her pinky. "Promise you won't leave me?"

The Copy ninja looked at her pinky and sighed. Wrapping his gloved pinky around hers, he promised.

Sakura let his finger go feeling slightly better. At least this way she wouldn't appear too pathetic in her mind.

Kakashi hadn't lied. Sure there were lots of temptations within hands reach, but he knew also the three vices that were known to lead to shinobi downfall, that being: money, booze and women.

The 36 year old man wasn't still at the top of his game for nothing. An elite ninja could also have those things, but only in moderation. Besides, who was he to leave a beautiful kunoichi all alone by herself in this seedy den of wolves?

She may not have noticed, but the stares and whispered talk around them was easily caught by his keen senses.

He had seemingly ignored the once over she had received by the old men around them as the owner of the club had escorted them to their seats. He had also tried not to grind his teeth too much when the rough looking bouncer had personally searched her for more weapons than the bundle she had willingly handed over.

Kakashi was a male. He knew how these lecherous men thought.

There were many factors that lifted the unawares kunoichi above the throng of other women parading around them.

It had to do with the air of naivety around her and the silky, yet highly unusual pink hair. Also, judging from the blue and green jounin uniform –one that the three of them all happened to be sporting due to the fact that not one of them thought they would end up in such a place during their mission to the land of the Sun- she was a paid shinobi.

Men liked 'different' and they loved money and power. They were drawn to it like moths to a flame.

So, of course Kakashi felt it was only right if someone of his stature, who could chase away the unwanted flies, stayed by her side.

It's for her own good

He had to admit, it felt nice to know that he wouldn't be dealing with any foolhardy souls stupid enough to make an appearance. It seemed his vibe was working; it was an air of try and die.

The unmindful woman remained ignorant to these facts as she continued to glare at her two boys. At least she found some comfort in the fact that Naruto's exaggerated flailing kept Tsuki-sama out of his personal bubble. As for Sasuke…

Sakura tried not to notice one of the thawing man's rare smiles being directed at someone other than herself. Inner Sakura bristled.

He's dead to me

Head rolling back on the black vinyl cushion, she sighed in defeat. "I shouldn't have come." Looking down the tip of her nose, catching Naruto doing something she had once heard referred to as 'the robot', she ground her teeth. "I mean look at that fool." Hanging her head to the side between her and Kakashi she moaned self-pityingly. "I should have known things would turn out this way."

She was so morose that the usual anger stayed dormant as a gloved hand destroyed her recently brushed hair.

"You should have more faith in your friends Sakura."

The tired female shinobi straightened with a sigh. "Yeah, I know." Mimicking the Copy Ninja's slouched relaxed state, Sakura leaned closer, her shoulder resting against his. Finally finding it within herself to enjoy Naruto's one man show, her lips twisted up into a smile. "Hey, Kakashi?"

Watching Naruto's sudden case of spasms, he grunted in response.

With actual meaning, the words slipped from her tongue like butter. "Thanks."

It was situations like these that made the older shinobi realize just how much these three had come to mean to him. Feeling nicely at ease from the strong glass of drink and easy atmosphere between himself and the nice smelling kunoichi, Kakashi murmured a low, "You're welcome."


Revelations – small moments in their life that are strung together to create my story

So look forward to more because I'm already working out more material. Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed.