A/N: I plan on making this a 10-20 chapter fiction. Sakura is currently seventeen in this story, making Kakashi thirty-one (Poor old sensei!). I've been slowly updating my profile when I have the time. I plan on putting some links on there too as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters (sadly); I just have fun with them! (:

Also! Anyone who does Kaka/Saku drawings, please contact me! Along with that, if you have a deviant art username, contact me as well!

One more thing… Review, please and thanks! I'll make it worth your while. Reviews help me with writing more chapters and more stories so I would appreciate it if you dropped a comment here and there. (:

And with that said, here's Chapter One of Energy.

"Oi, Sakura…do you have a tampon?"

Haruno Sakura struggled to hold onto the last bit of patience and composure that she had left after such an agonizingly long and tired day. It didn't help that her ignorant teammate Naruto was yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs-in unfamiliar territory, mind you-to a nonchalant Uchiha Sasuke, who stood over Sakura's petite form, arms crossed over his broad chest while nudging her every few seconds with his foot just underneath her ribcage to get any type of response from the irate kunoichi.

"-stupid piece of shit! Now my nose is broken and Sakura-Chan isn't gonna heal me because she's already mad at me! Oi, BAKA! I'm talking to you!"

The pink-haired woman wanted more than anything at that exact moment to just be home instead of here-wherever here was-and take a nice and long, hot shower to wash away the build-up of grubbiness and sweat due to one hard day of traveling through Fire to Wind on a mission that seemed almost pointlessly stupid. In a way, Sakura guessed that was a good thing. Missions had been pretty quiet for the most part these past couple of months and that was probably due to the glorious fact that Leaf wasn't wagering or being caught in the middle of any wars recently. Sakura concluded that Tsunade-sama just wanted to keep them-or more specifically, Team Seven-up to par and not let them slack off, as what usually happens when not that many missions are handed out over a certain amount of time.

The mission was simple enough, almost too simple it seemed. Team Seven was supposed to travel to Wind to bring back a valuable gem and return it safely to the hands of the Godaime. Sakura didn't know about any of the "smarter" teammates in her group, but she thought the mission a little too fishy for her liking. It was an A-Class mission after all, but for a simple gem? Was she the only one debating on whether or not her shishou was dealting them bullshit missions or was there something more to this gem then they all thought?

A firm grip on her upper arm broke the pink-haired kunoichi from her thoughts as she was hauled up to her feet in a sharp manner.

"Tampon, Sakura?" Sasuke smirked, not relinquishing his tight hold on her bicep.

Sakura's face took a momentary look of horror as to why her very much so maleteammate would want a tampon, of all things!

"Um…if you don't mind me asking, why-"

"Naruto's nose bleed."

"TEME!!"

"Yo."

The team fell silent as a tall, silver-haired ninja sat on a branch not far above Naruto, though not too distant from Sakura and Sasuke's little pow wow they had going on either. The cool and collected, yet excruciatingly lazy copy ninja held up a hand in his signature wave as his right eye creased in his friendly greeting.

Suddenly the quietness of the arrival of their team leader was destroyed as soon as Sakura opened her loud mouth in a furry of annoyance.

"Kakashi-sensei, thank Kami! I feel like I'm babysitting when you're out doing whatever you're doing! You can watch them now!"

Sakura whipped her arm away from Sasuke's rendering grasp and bent down to pick up her pack and stomped off towards the enticing sound of a nearby stream that lay close by to the camp that Team Seven had set up, but far enough away to have her own privacy unless Naruto hadn't gotten the hint that Sakura needed her own space and time for a while. Though if the obnoxious blonde ninja did not abide by Sakura's unspoken pledge, there was going to be hell to pay.

Hopefully her male teammates were wise enough to understand that Sakura was human and naturally, just like every other human being in the world, she needed time to cool off. The irate kunoichi had been rather indignant today and it was only normal to need alone time to unscramble her thoughts and bring peace to herself.

But it was Team Seven she was talking about.

Sakura had undressed herself rather quickly, except for her bindings and panties, which she had brought plenty of, in need of the soothing water to relax her burning muscles and wash off the grubbiness and stink she had gained throughout the day of the ongoing mission. If Sakura hated one thing, it was the feeling of being dirty and sweaty.

As she made her way into the frigid water, she almost melted at how nice it felt on her heated skin. And finally, when she couldn't help it any longer, she dunked her whole body, including her head, under the water and just floated underneath the surface of the stream for a good thirty seconds.

It was nice, almost too nice, and it felt absolutely amazing to get away from her male teammates and have somewhat of a peaceful scenery to admire as she came up for air.

But things never did last and Sakura had to admit that she wasn't one bit surprised to see her teammates approaching the small stream shirtless, Naruto rambling about something unimportant probably while Sasuke and Kakashi did their best to ignore him.

Even though Sakura had been expecting them to follow her, this did not make her feel any less stressed or angry that they had not respected her one and only simple wish.

Immersing herself back under the water as she warmed up to the temperature, she tried not to clench her teeth as a loud splash resounded quite a few feet away from where Sakura was swimming around; the splash probably being one of Naruto's famous cannonballs.

It suddenly occurred to her at that exact moment how comfortable she was with her testosterone-wired teammates. Being the only female on the team, she had grown quite accustomed to all of the malehappenings. Being that included morning wood, wet dreams, and never ending talk of womanly features and it didn't gross her out unlike it more than likely would with Hinata or Ten-Ten.

Sakura felt very at home when sharing bedrolls with Naruto, Sasuke, or even Kakashi. It never felt odd to her or anything of the sort; she had known all three of them for the majority of her ninja days and trusted all of them with her life as they did her with their lives.

And of course, the pink-haired kunoichi had unfortunately seen flashes of southward regions of nearly all three of her comrades. It was something she had not asked for, obviously, though when being paired up with Naruto or even Sasuke, she really had no warnings when it was time to relieve themselves of urine or anything of the sort.

Even when injured and their injuries were unfortunately close to thatarea, with Sakura being the brilliant medic she was, it was not in her position to get all queasy and hot and bothered when she had to strip them of their pants.

Of course, with them being men, they would smirk or make crude comments whenever a situation like that ever occurred, even if it were just yearly checkups.

Men (pigs would be a better suited name). Can't live with em. Can't live without em.

"Oiiiiiii! Sasuke-Teme! Come join me and Sakura-Chan!" Naruto bellowed as he resurfaced somewhere near right of the distressed kunoichi.

Sasuke didn't need much urging on after that. He too took off at a dead sprint into the stream of the glacial temperature waters until he was deep enough to where he had to dog paddle.

Sakura floated on nearby as Sasuke dipped under the icy water to only reappear right behind a babbling Naruto. Even though Sakura was angry and quite annoyed with the men's behavior of following her into the stream after she had made it pretty evident that she wanted some alone time, the look Sasuke sent her as he slowly rose his head out of the water was enough to keep her mouth shut from warning Naruto that he was about to get dunked by his arrival and best friend.

Not that she cared anyway. In her opinion, Naruto deserved to be more than dunked by the Uchiha.

Soon after Sasuke had put his hands on top of Naruto's wet head, he pushed with all his might and down did the annoying, boisterous blonde go and the look on Naruto's face was priceless as he ate a mouthful of water.

There was going to be hell for Sasuke.

Soon after Naruto came up sputtering and pissed, the lazy copy ninja made his presence known as he walked on top of the calm water, effectively molding his chakra perfectly as he made his way towards the unoccupied resident of the stream.

Having Sasuke prank Naruto not too long ago had gave Sakura some sly ideas herself as she saw her silver-haired sensei approach her, clad in only his common ANBU pants, the waistline hanging dangerously loose around his slender hips. Hopefully her low thoughts did not make present upon her face.

"Kakashi-sensei, don't you want to take a little dip? The water isn't that cold, I promise." Sakura said slyly, her jade eyes glinting with mischief. Hesitant small hands slid around her sensei's bare ankles, tightening her grip ever so slowly.

She knew he could feel her, that wasn't a doubt, but the thought of him letting her touch him like that was a little shocking. Kakashi was careful of others invading his space; not that touching his ankles was invading his space much, but nonetheless, he had allowed her to.

Sakura knew her poor, old sensei wasn't a fool, as much as she wanted to argue that sometimes. He had to know what she was up to…

"Nay, Sakura-Chan, you know I don't like getting wet. If you suddenly decide to test me on that…" Kakashi said in a low, threatening voice that was all too familiar to her. It was a tone that meant trouble if she decided to proceed with what she was thinking. He knew what she was thinking.

To hell with repercussions and consequences! It was just a joke and he would understand and they would all laugh about it afterwards! Especially when they saw the state that his hair would be in afterwards.

Molding her chakra to her hands, Sakura gave a firm yank as she tugged her sensei into the chilly waters. With a loud splash and splatter, there was no sign of the Copy Ninja and suddenly Sakura regretted having him in the stream with her in such close proximity. Especially after the face that she had disobeyed him and now, thinking more clearly, there probably was going to be dirty hell to pay for it.

Thinking that maybe she had time to make a quick escape, although Sakura knew her good old sensei better than that, she kicked in the water to propel herself forward, only to find that a strong hand had seized her right below her right leg.

Too late.

In a matter of seconds, she was powerfully pulled underneath the frigid water to be pulled flush against rock hard muscle that Sakura could only guess was the plain of her sensei's chest.

Now, there were countless times when Haruno Sakura had had to deal with vicinity of certain teammates; all of which were for the better sakes of their missions and not usually by choice. There was a time when Sakura had needed to act the role play of being the wife of Uchiha Sasuke. Talk about awkward times much, but they laughed about the whole ordeal many days later.

There was also another rare time when Kakashi and Sakura played an undercover, ordinary pair on a three month long mission. The mission was surprisingly silly, but it called for two of the most elite ninja Konoha had at the time and what better ninja to pair up together than Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura themselves, as they had worked together for a very long time?

This mission seemed a little too overrated in bringing back a silly little sword by all means necessary. Sakura had underestimated the mission quite a bit and she had to admit even her sensei probably had too, though he would never admit that to her. It was a terrible mistake to underestimate a mission based on the briefings.

After gauging and timing exactly when and where the guards at the entryway left after their post was done, Kakashi and Sakura had found themselves able to sneak inside like it was the easiest thing in the world, soon after snooping around the large chamber filled with lots of secret valuables that that certain Hidden Village had found important. Kakashi had noted that many of its' items had been stolen. Sakura couldn't seem to argue with him, what with all his background knowledge but also due to the fact that the village they had taken residence in for the three longest months of Sakura's life had been the scummiest, dirtiest village she had ever visited in all of her life.

As Kakashi and Sakura had been searching the chamber as quietly as possible, guards seemed to have broken their constant procedure of guarding the only door in and out of the chamber and came back sooner than expected.

Had her partner been someone else, Sakura would have downright panicked and not thinking, would go out with a fight, though that would ruin their mission and in the end, that was not an option because terminated missions never looked good.

But since the pink-haired kunoichi was paired up with ever famous Hatake Kakashi, the one and only Copy Ninja that she knew of, she knew she could trust her partner with finding a way that they would make it out of this chamber just fine.

Except his method of "survival" was complete and utter shock to her. The only way that Hatake Kakashi, a brilliant genius, could find a way out of this for both of them to be alive and their cover still hidden, was to shove Sakura plush against the wall and give the notion that they were just lovers that had stumbled in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But did the elusive, smut-reading man had to go so far as to attack her lips in such a way, that if they weren't putting on a show to save the guards from choosing between life or death for them, Sakura might've actually thought he was rather quite enjoying himself? And seriously…was unbuttoning her kimono halfway down to showing her lacy, black bra supporting her apparent cleavage and lifting her against the wall, forcing her to wrap her strong legs around his middle while he attacked her lips in a not so subtle way really necessary?

Well, they had made it out alive, given the benefit of the doubt, and Kakashi had been a little sneak and had successfully stolen the sword during their little "misfit" in the chamber and had hid the sword well within the confines of his robe.

At the end of the day, when it was all said and done, the mission was graded a great success and their employer was ever the more happy so that made Tsunade-Sama delighted which had definitely made Kakashi and Sakura even more happy than they already were in having that mission over and done with.

So it wasn't a question that Sakura had seen herself in many situations when she would have to get up close and personal with her teammates to sacrifice for the mission, but that didn't explain then why all of a sudden she felt rushes of emotions and tenseness and feelings she probably shouldn't have been feeling when Kakashi pulled her flush against him.

Was he testing her in a way that only Hatake Kakashi himself knew the motives? Was he playing her? What exactly was he playing at?

Any rightful thoughts that Sakura had been thinking at that exact moment flung out the window as they resurfaced, Sakura gasping for air while Kakashi's breathing remained steadily even.

"I tried warning you, Sakura," Kakashi emphasized on her name, dropping the suffix off, which wasn't unusual but in this situation, he was trying to get a point across. And boy did Kakashi-sensei get that point across. Especially when he practically breathed it onto her neck and ear.

"You just didn't want to-"

"Kaka-sensei! Why are there two ANBU on the shore?"

Thank Kami for Naruto and his loudmouth sometimes because Sakura wasn't sure what she would've done if Kakashi continued to hold her against him like he currently had been and speaking words that closely to her. The pink-haired kunoichi guessed that her lazy, old sensei thought nothing of the close proximity; all the more reason Sakura was glad Naruto had interrupted and that two ANBU clad ninja were in fact standing on the shore.

Kakashi let go of Sakura, almost reluctantly it seemed, and dove right under the pink-haired kunoichi, the tips of her toes barely brushing the Copy Ninja's naked back. He didn't come up for another breath until he basically reached the shore and gradually strolled towards the two ANBU, as if it wasn't the biggest deal in the world.

The three remaining teammates of Team Seven slowly came together in the water, seriousness settling in between all of them. It wasn't everyday on a mission where you found two Konoha ANBU sauntering around like it was one of the most normal things you could imagine because in reality, ANBU never interfered with missions unless it was for backup or some sort.

"What do you think is going on?" Naruto whispered as he bobbed up and down in the water as the blonde ninja closely studied the situation going on before them.

Both Sasuke and Sakura remained quiet until one of the ANBU lifted his mask so it sat perched on top of their head and Sakura recognized right away who it was and by damn, Sakura was going to remain in that freezing water if she wanted to preserve what little dignity she had left after the incident with Kakashi.

"Since when is Genma ANBU?" Sasuke asked curiously, which was a rare sight for the usually withdrawn raven-haired man. Anything ANBU related always piqued Sasuke's interest, possibly due to the fact that Sasuke had yet to achieve that rank.

Well that's what leaving your home village for three years did to someone.

Sakura felt rather relatively safe in the waters, seeing as it was mostly all business with Kakashi until said man turned around and waved over all three of his minors.

Fabulous.

This was going to be interesting.

Naruto and Sasuke swam through the water until they could jog over to the fuss ahead of them with Sakura running behind them to use their tall, broad figures to shield herself from Genma's soon to be prying eyes.

As they reached the shore, the other ANBU shoved his mask on top of his head as well and this mask revealed Yamato, a familiar face to both Naruto and Sakura. The tall, yet strikingly intimidating man had been their old team leader from four years ago.

Suddenly Sakura was very thankful that Hatake Kakashi was her leader.

"Sakura? Care to join us?" The sound of Kakashi's smooth voice rolled in waves on the tense air as both Sasuke and Naruto stepped aside to reveal a cold, teeth-chattering seventeen year old kunoichi.

Something about Kakashi's casual, yet stern and commanding voice seemed to call a certain respect about him and abruptly end the playful banter that the two had encountered not too long before, though the two ANBU clad men had ended that quite easily.

Sakura suddenly felt all eyes on her and she could've sworn the senbon-sucking man went a little further down than just her face. Thank Kami she had left her bindings and panties on unlike she usually didn't, though that still didn't keep a pink, hot blush from creeping into her face as she noticed Genma smirking at her in a way that was far too inappropriate for what was going on.

"Nice to see you again, Naruto and Sakura." Yamato smiled, flicking his gaze over to the tall, daunting Uchiha. "Sasuke, I don't think we've met. I'm Yamato."

With Sasuke being the ever cheerful and polite man whom he was so very known to be, the raven-haired man gave a slight "Hn" in Yamato's direction. It seemed that Team Kakashi's replacement captain wasn't expecting anything more or less from the typical closed-off ninja or maybe he just hid his perturbation very well.

"Anyways, we've already covered details with Kakashi-senpai and he can explain them further to you because we have a tight schedule to run by and we must depart soon-"

"Unfortunately," Genma tsked, the senbon rolling between his lips as he fixed his watch back over to Sakura, who in return wanted to shrink behind either Naruto or Sasuke once again.

Yamato brushed an annoyed glance in Genma's direction.

"I will not have anymore interruptions so I would advise you to keep your mouth shut please." Yamato bit out, causing Naruto to somewhat shiver in fear as the aggravated ANBU continued on with his briefing.

"As I was saying, I would like to make this short so if you have any questions, please wait until the end. Now, where was I? Oh yes, your mission has been aborted by the wishes of the Gondaime. She has brought back all current teams out on missions due to the fact that there has been Akatsuki sightings throughout the Fire Country and into Wind Territory."

Immediately, Team Seven's attention span increased wholesome as "Akatsuki sightings" were mentioned. This instantly compelled Sasuke to give his one hundred and ten percent awareness to the man giving the update on their mission.

Akatsuki meant finding the Kyuubi container, which inevitably was bad for Naruto.

But Akatsuki also meant Itachi, which was critical for Sasuke.

It was a double loss situation, no doubt.

"The fifth has ordered that Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke follow us back to Konoha or else face severe consequences." Yamato finished, folding his muscular arms over his expansive chest, eyes glinting with some sort of sentiment that Sakura couldn't put a name to.

But did Yamato, Genma, and even Tsunade really, truly believe that just because the fifth ordered so, it was going to force Naruto and Sasuke back home? Did Tsunade really think they were going to give up so easily?

Swiftly, the atmosphere changed from somewhat tense to all out on-edge and unsureness of what was going to happen.

"Akatsuki…" Naruto spat, his hands on his sides clenching into shaking fists in an almost dangerous way that Sakura had seen one too many times that always led to something more treacherous.

"What about Kakashi and Sakura?" Sasuke suddenly said, a malicious glint making itself known in his beautifully, exquisite sharingan eyes. Even though the sharingan was a mystic wonder and would always fascinate Sakura in how mysteriously gorgeous and frightening they were, the sharingan had its treacherous downfall and anyone caught in the middle of its dangerous side was sure enough going to either die or become very, very badly injured.

"Kakashi and Sakura have been asked to trace Akatsuki's movements. Not engage, just simply trace. Sakura is a profound medic and Kakashi's tracking would make them an almost inevitable, perfect two-man cell and incase anything were to happen, Sakura's exceptional healing abilities would come in use. That is why Tsunade has asked them to continue on while you two drop back." Yamato explained, his justification most reasonable. "Naruto, Sasuke, you must understand the fifth is doing this for you safety and in the end, that is one of the things that counts the most. Konoha can't afford to lose two brilliant ninja and if you would think not of your selfishness but of the future ninja world, what could possibly happen if Akatsuki captured Naruto? You would be the last Jinchuuriki Akatsuki would need to complete their goal. Life would be chaos from then on and thousands and thousands of innocent people as well as us ninja would crumble."

Hearing what everyone had been thinking the moment Yamato mentioned Akatsuki in words was almost mind-boggling as everyone took a few seconds to think over Yamato's wise words. Hidden villages across the world would fall to Akatsuki and life really would be a never ending cycle of chaos. Nobody wanted that to happen.

It wasn't going to be easy to accept, but in the end, Sakura knew Sasuke and Naruto would both make the right choice in following Yamato and Genma back to the village. If they wanted to keep world peace, that's what they would in the end decide.

As for Sasuke, revenge would have to come another day it seemed.

"Do we have an agreement?" Yamato asked, glancing between both Naruto and Sasuke.

Kakashi waited patiently, his hands shoved deep into his pockets as he waited for the answer he knew was coming. Naruto and Sasuke couldn't afford to say no.

With a solemn nod, Naruto stepped forward as he looked back towards Sasuke, expecting him to follow him. "When do we leave?" The usually rambunctious ninja asked, though his tone of voice was anything but rambunctious right now.

"Right now." Yamato declared, his eyes moving swiftly to Sasuke. "You coming?"

It was hesitant and it took a while, but a few moments later, Sasuke gave a faint nod and the deal was done.

Naruto turned back around to walk towards Sakura and gave her a last hug, holding his dear cherry blossom close as he rested his chin on top of her pink tresses as his strong and comforting arms wrapped around the petite teen.

Sakura returned the warm hug and rubbed Naruto's bare back as he whispered a faint "Be careful, Sakura-Chan." But it was enough and it was all Sakura needed as Naruto reluctantly let his pink-haired teammate go, turning back around towards Yamato, Genma, and Sasuke to pick up their packs and lost articles of clothing.

Sasuke's departing goodbye wasn't as warm and amiable as Naruto's, but the look in Sasuke's eyes bittersweet eyes said enough as the four men jumped off into the surrounding trees. It was going to be a while, but Sakura knew she would see them all fairly soon again, depending on how long this new mission of Kakashi's and Sakura's lasted.

"We should probably go rest. We have a long day of traveling ahead of us tomorrow." Kakashi's velvety voice rang out as the silver-haired Copy Ninja turned to pick up his things as well and stalked off back into the trees in which their camp was set up.

Sakura gave a melodious sigh as she too picked up her scattered contents and her pack as well and pursued her ex-sensei into camp.

Kami be with her, Haruno Sakura could already tell it was going to be a long, long mission.

End of Chapter One. Hope ya'll liked it!

Reviews=love.