A/N: italics font means a flash into the past (or thoughts, if its just one or two sentences).

Chapter 1

The First Steps Away

She rubbed her wrists absentmindedly, a tell tale habit she couldn't quite kick yet.

"So are we good?" Kakashi probed politely enough, "If you...want, we can go to Tsunade together and try to either drop you or me from the mission-"

"Yes okay, old man? Now stop poking the fucking bear."

He laughed softly and watched as the girl looked anywhere, but at him.

Sakura had nearly jumped out of her skin when Kakashi called out to her on the street that afternoon. He waved her over and ordered their usually set of dango at Dangoya, as if amnesia ate away last month from his memories. In her shocked state, she played along mutely. If he could be so perfectly detached, so could she. But of course, on the inside, she bristled and jittered and panicked.

"Good," he mused, watching her chew the glutinous dumplings.

The fat silence that followed sat smugly between them. Kakashi broke first.

"Well," he said abruptly, "I'll see you tomorrow then. Don't be late."

He winked as she snorted and left with his hands shoved in his pockets. The wooden skewer slanted limply in her hand and she stopped chewing. That asshat. Of course she didn't want to go on a mission with him. But what she loathed more was the patronizing way-out he gave her, as if she was still the weak, heartbroken girl with dainty pink locks and overly bright eyes.

She abandoned the dango and just sat back in her seat, wringing and rubbing her wrists. She had hoped he would put up a longer fight. It was a hell of an awkward conversation, but honestly, Sakura missed him more than anything. It wasn't just her little girl crush, it was the simple need to be around the anchor that she unconsciously made him again.

"I mean, would it kill him to be on time for just this once?" she muttered, gazing longingly at the village gates.

The blonde jinchuuriki sat equally unhappy beside her, drawing lazy circles in the dirt. Beside them, a pale-skinned shinobi stood in soldier stance, his face completely blank, though he sighed inwardly.

"He didn't even bother telling us what the mission even is! How the hell does he expect us to know what to pack and stuff? Why must he be so damn selfish, lazy, stupi-"

"stupendous and godly?" A cheerful voice called out. "You flatter me, Sakura." The silver-haired jounin waved a hand matched by his signature crinkly eyed smile.

"About time Kakashi-sensei, we thought that you died," Naruto exclaimed, absent-mindedly rubbing his neck.

"Yes, we were deeply worried about your well-being," echoed Sai with a fake smile sealed on his lips.

Kakashi smiled back at the boys with equal enthusiasm and took out the mission scroll. He examined the scroll through one lazy eye and then abruptly closed it again. With another crinkly eyed smile he started to march off into the forest.

"By the way, I hope you all brought enough stuff to last about a few weeks."

"..."

Just two days ago, the very same grey haired man bribed them into a 'very relaxing 3 day mission.'

Happily, Kakashi continued to stroll towards the forest. Submissively, the three musketeers followed behind his footsteps. The day itself was nice enough though. Cotton white clouds settled on a gorgeous cerulean sky as the occasional winged mammal flew by. The strong scent of earthy wood was heavy in the air; it was a miracle worker for angry/glum souls.

"So where is it that we are going?" Naruto spoke up.

"Somewhere far, far away," Kakashi responded mysteriously. The pains of being teamed up with a cryptic man.

Sakura sighed loudly. Sai could only look away.

"They'll find out eventually."

"I know," Kakashi said, suddenly calm again, "I'll deal with it."

"...yes, of course."

Kakashi pressed the scroll into Sai's hands and gazed up at the sky.

He creased his eyes in a familiar smile and said, "Take this for now. I'm going to inform Naruto and Sakura, and I don't want that on me when I do."

Sai bowed and started to walk away. He unraveled the scroll and scanned through it. Perhaps it really was for the best of the former team 7. He looked at the spot where Kakashi was a minute ago. It was then when Sai realized just how many secrets Kakashi must have carried.

He decided to saunter back to the street where the art store dwelled. On the opposite side, a few stores down, a new grill opened up. Kakashi said himself not to think too much of the mission. Perhaps he'd even look for Kiba and the others for a nice lunch together. Shino too, of course, because Sai felt a strange connection to him, both being socially awkward and all.

Lost in thought, Sai didn't notice the jonin slink away in the shadows.

Naruto and Sakura didn't notice him appear either.

They were sitting side by side on the skinny stools in front of Ichiraku. The blonde was slurping down ramen and the pinkette could only stare, amused.

"Pupils," Kakashi manifested suddenly, casually wringing an arm around Naruto.

He almost chocked on his noodles in surprise.

"Sens-"

"I've got a mission for the two of you," he continued happily, unconcerned with the teen in an orange jumpsuit, "Tsunade insisted that team 7 would be the best match for it."

Sakura stared studiously at the menu in front of her. She kept silent and allowed Naruto to do all the talking.

"Just for us?" Naruto repeated, awe-struck.

Kakashi nodded, smiling. The grin was so fake to Sakura. She could see it.

"It's a nice and easy mission. Meet in two days at noon, by the gates, alright?"

"Great," Naruto grinned.

The whole time, Sakura watched Teuchi boil the noodles, dipping the beige strands in and out of the simmering water. She couldn't get farther enough away from him, but she didn't want to seem weak. She'd just have to grit her teeth and push through it. What ever the hell 'it' was. Sakura wasn't going to let it show how much their severance still affected her when Kakashi obviously came out unscathed.

After a few water breaks, the squad finally arrived at the edge of a village, a village hardly big enough to be called a village. Small, yet sturdy houses were clustered on one side while a few lone shops stood on the other. It was like the whole village had one main street (the great divide) with mini avenues that sprouted out from it. The tallest (and frankly the seemingly oldest) building had a cliché blinking, red neon sign that spelled out 'Motel.' Said motel was also where Kakashi was headed for.

"Never seen this place before," Sakura murmured suspiciously. Not a lot of people wandered around the streets and even fewer looked...hygienic.

"It's the Village of Wheat." Kakashi said softly.

Naruto snorted at the pompous name and Sakura wondered if her sensei was making all of this up as they went. Kakashi continued to lead the way to the motel. After securing two rooms (one for the boys and one for Sakura), the team said their good nights and retired to their rooms.

A healthy chunk of the night already passed by the time Sakura surrendered to the fact that mind wasn't shutting off any time soon. So instead she dragged her sorry self to the hotel's twenty-four-seven gift shop. What kind of gift shop opens twenty hours a day?

"What kind of store opens up all day," Kakashi mused, announcing his entrance.

Sakura immediately stiffened at the voice behind her. She ignored him and kept pretending to look at the stationary section. She willed him to leave her alone.

"Are you not sleeping again?" he asked softly, oblivious.

"Leave me alone," She mumbled, turning her head around enough for a glare.

Kakashi's face showed nothing, which only infuriated her even more.

She paused for a second and said as an afterthought, "I thought you didn't feel obliged to look after me anymore."

He ignored her question and just studied her.

"And I thought you said you were okay going on a mission with me."

"I fucking am. Stop reading so much into things."

During the way here, she thought that everything was back to normal again. She was able to joke, and Naruto and Sai didn't suspect a thing. Kakashi either, for that matter. But when they were alone, that asshole had to go and fuck things up again by dragging out all those memories she was trying to forget.

This time when she brushed him off, he was not amused anymore.

"I don't think this is healthy, Sakura," He said uncomfortably.

"And apparently I'm just not healthy for you either right?" she retorted.

Kakashi shifted and looked at the pen she was fiddling with.

She stopped and looked into his eye, "Look, I got your memo. I'll stay away."

She wordlessly stepped away from him, purchased the pen and left.

Morning come, Sakura slipped into the boys' room. She got maybe an hour of sleep before a chirpy Naruto obnoxiously rapped her door until she threw a kunai at it.

"Glad you could join us today," Kakashi said, somewhat despondent sounding. For once, he simply could not be late as always; to be on time for him was a strange feeling. Whether it was pleasant or not was still up in the air.

Sakura nodded absentmindedly and situated herself beside Sai, mainly because Naruto's hyper-ness was edging towards inhuman. Sai in return flashed her a coy smile and switched his dead eyes back to Kakashi.

"As I was saying, the mission is more complicated than we originally thought it would be," Kakashi explained, "We are only staying here for about another day or so and then moving on to our new destination."

"Why did we waste money on a hotel then?" Sakura inquired, "If we aren't doing anything here, sleeping in the woods like we always did would have been just fine."

"We needed to be seen, Sakura."

A slow, sick feeling churned in her stomach. Silenced ensured for a couple of minutes and Sakura dimly made a mental note to herself that the presents would have to wait till later. Then, she decided to test the waters again.

"Why?"

Kakashi rubbed his tired eyes and sighed deeply.

"I can't tell you," he said flatly.

Not one of them knew what the task was... when Kakashi had came to them, all three of them accepted easily since they were, after all, still on the same team.

Things after the Fourth Great Shinobi War were chaotic and messy; no one really knew how to get back onto their feet. Even though Naruto played a big part in fighting for Konoha, technically, he was still a mere genin. Sakura and Sai though, managed to snatch the title of chunin while Naruto was away training. So to come to think of it, it was like the two years of war never happened and Naruto, Sakura and Sai were assigned back to Kakashi, much to his delight (more sources of money he can eat and then leave the bill with). Luckily though, Naruto entered the chunin exams and out of all the younger, wide eyed children, passed.

Now, they were back to the good old days, trying to repay Konoha's war debts by running themselves into the ground with missions.

So to have been his student for about 6 years now, Sakura knew when his buttons were being pushed. She was walking on a minefield this time, but the all-consuming curiosity on what exactly was under all those mines was killing her.

"Why not?" Sakura stated abruptly.

Kakashi looked at her squarely and before she could turn away, she caught the look on his face, the type that told her that she pressed another wrong button. Scratching a nonexistent itch on her arm, she gazed at Sai and Naruto for some sort of guidance. They seemed as clueless as she did.

"Ok, whatever, I don't really care," Sakura said.

Kakashi sighed another elderly sigh and Naruto continued to pick at a scab. Sai was testing out different smiles to a mirror behind Kakashi. The one that showed teeth came off more menacing than welcoming. It was safe to say that no one took the mission too seriously.

They should have though, because in the next second, a kunai made its way into the window and straight through Sai's gut.

Water droplets gathered on her eyelashes. The rain was a heavy sprinkle, the type that wasn't angry and fierce, but simply exhausted. All this could have summed up Sakura's emotions right now if she was conscious.

Instead, she was lying on her chest with her hands around her face and legs sprawled in weird angles. Underneath her rag doll body were a few slippery, moss-covered roots attached to a Douglas Fir that swayed gently above her. In fact, the entire forest was filled with these trees, stretching along the wet, muddy grounds, untouched by humans.

Well, except for one odd body who just happened to be treading through the forest's undergrowth when he saw the awfully out-of-place pink hair with a slight frown on his face. Fortunately for Sakura, he was a kindhearted man with an overly big guilt conscience.

The traveler spent the next hour or so trying to somehow carry her back home with him. He sighed, brushing back his dark hair and lifted her up.

"Who the fuck are you?"

That was the first thing Sakura said to her lovely saviour who leaned back on his chair beside her bed (guest room). With her hair a mangled mess and massive bags beneath her eyes, the scowl planted on her dainty features completed the look.

"You're welcome for not letting you wither away in the woods," he replied dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"..." Long pause. "What?"

"I said, you're-"

"No, no, no, I'm not deaf, geez," Sakura casually brushed him off. She squinted at him and suddenly, the fogginess was began to wear off. The fact that she had someone to squint at was unsettling. Then, she snapped.

She bolted upright, sprang from the bed and onto a nearby table (kitchen table) with one hand that steadied her and the other feeling the places where she hid needles and kunais; it was the standard reaction system.

She had her legs folded into a neat crouch, tense and ready to leap and run any second. Her eyes were narrowed onto the dark haired target, but her ears open to any other possible movements from elsewhere. She did a quick scan of the area, memorizing possible weapons' pinpoints and potential exits.

The man, on the other hand was simply baffled.

He gaped at her. "Paranoid, much?"

In the motel, Sakura was tired of waiting. "Ok, whatever, I don't really care," she said. Kakashi sighed. The sky was blue, the clouds so comically fluffy white so what in the world could go wrong? It was safe to say that no one took the mission too seriously. They should have though, because in the next second, a kunai made its way into the window and straight through Sai's gut.

Sakura shook her head and said, "Where have you brought me to? Who are you? Are you part of a-"

"Who do you take me for?" he interrupted incredulously. "Here I am, helping you crawl away from the brink of death, nursing you back to health and the second you are conscious, you bombard me like this?"

The girl had gathered up her saliva while he was ranting and was about to spit out a glob of slime onto his face as means of escape (and honestly to entertain herself) when a bumbling old, plump woman pushed the door open.

"Good morning, sweetheart," she said cheerfully, bringing in a bread basket.

"I don't suppose you think my grandma is part of this master murder plan." he snapped.

"What..." Sakura said, loosening her stance.

"Yeah, we also waited until you were awake to kill you."

Sakura's eyes went blank for a moment.

They streamed in from the window, following after the kunai they threw. Naruto growled and Kakashi stepped in front of her, thin streams of blood running down his arm. He turned around for a split second and mouthed something before a hand found it's way around Kakashi's throat.

He quirked his mouth to the side and eyed Sakura with his unnerving icy pupils, waiting to see if she would lay down her arms. She paused for a long while and sighed loudly, slowly straightening up to an awkward standing position on the table.

"I'm...Sakura," she said uneasily with a leap off the table. If they plotted to kill her, she'd already be dead.

"Kazuo," he responded softly, shoulders drooping in defeat.

"SAI!" the voice screamed, piercing the morning air.

Blood flowed freely from his white stomach, staining the floor and the fingers...her fingers. She was shaking, they were screaming and someone was yelling desperately for her to run.

Run Sakura, run...please please please...

Sai wouldn't look at her. He wouldn't look anywhere. It's hard to tell if he even can anymore.

Run Sakura

Flashes of yellow and orange filled the room, growling and bursting with energy.

Run Sakura

To see him like that was broke her apart. It was like a knife carving agonizingly deep slits into her chest. He flitted around the room, fighting and ravaging. She couldn't even approach him after what happened between the two of them.

Run Sakura

She could see the pink swollen flesh of Sai's stomach.

"Guhh," Sakura gasped loudly, bolting upright from her sweat soaked sheets.

The night was still pitch black and her heart pounded in a maniac-like rhythm. She pressed her hands to her temples and squeezed her eyes shut, willing that warmth away from her eyes. Shinobi can't show emotions. Sakura curled up into a ball and allowed her shoulders shake silently, so focused on keeping herself locked up she didn't notice the man leaning on the other side of the wall, listening to every shudder and breath she choked out.

She just got one glimpse of those lovely dark eyes before she was pushed out the window and allowed her legs to carry her as far away as she could go.

When she got up that morning, a sweet scent wafted into her room. She had let her nose guide her out of bed and out the door in all her bedhead hair and wrinkle-clothed glory. The sunlight outside was blinding so she didn't notice the thing – man, in front of her until it made a strangled sound when she bumped into it.

"Watch where you are going," it said, the voice still thick with sleep.

She looked up to see an irritated pair of light eyes staring back at her. Suddenly, it softened.

"Are you okay, brat?"

"Why?" She sneered.

"Its just that...you look like.."

She froze and narrowed her eyes at him.

The tense silence of Sakura glaring at Kazuo and Kazuo pretending to be fascinated by his shoes was interrupted by a brisk knock on the door.

Curiosity got the better of her as she released Kazuo from her angry spell. She followed him as he practically skipped to the door.

"Good morning," an all too familiar voice spoke, "I'm here to pick up something."

Sakura visibly paled. Her chest clenched painfully and her knees felt like gelatin. Of all of the people in the world, why did it have to be him?

"What?" Kazuo stuttered as Kakashi charismatically invited himself into the house.

As soon as she caught his eye, Sakura felt a flood of relief mixed with hesitation. The air stiffened and their movements were rigid; the last time they met seemed to be at death's door and it was a miracle that Sakura only gave a small twitch instead of a dramatic outcry at the sight of him. However strong she was, Sakura's eyes still started to sting and Kakashi's lazy eye widened slightly in alarm. Quickly, he turned to Sakura and gave her a big bear hug.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" He sang out.

Squeezing her tighter, he whispered, "Where is your stuff, we've got to get out of here."

Sakura was still shell-shocked at the sudden contact, but finally regained herself when Kakashi made a subtle poke at her waist. She hesitantly lifted her arms around his neck and buried her nose in the crook of his neck. He didn't smell good exactly as she doubted he took a leisurely shower before coming, but, just warm, musky and...familiar. Safe.

"First room to the left. Stall him and I'll go get it," she mumbled back. Then, taking a deep breath, Sakura said, "Oh gee, I've missed you a lot!" awkwardly.

Kazuo stood quietly beside them, bemused by the two of them.

"I take it that you know this man," he said, looking down at his sandals. For some reason, he seemed disappointed.

"Yes, he is an...acquaintance of mine. Kakashi, Kazuo, Kazuo, Kakashi," she said, rudely dropping the honorifics. Kazuo, though, took that as a sign of closeness instead of spite.

Sakura slipped out from between them and crept back to her room. She wasted no time in packing what meager things she still had on her, her newly washed sweater she was wearing the day before and a few rolls of bread she snuck into her room early last night for a midnight snack. The small pile of stuff looked too pitiful so she also took a towel. Her chunin vest she had on when they were ambushed was nowhere to be seen; there was not enough time to look for it though. Satisfied, she stuffed everything under one arm and used the other to hoist her out the window.

"...are no longer coming out, but the originals are still very good. The detail in them is amazing and it'll make you feel as if you were the main character himself," Kakashi continued blabbing to an uncomfortable, red-faced Kazuo, "I think the best one to start with would be Icha Icha-" he stopped suddenly when he caught a glimpse of pink flashing into the trees.

"Oh, look, a mosquito," Kakashi said abruptly, pointing into the kitchen.

Though it screamed, 'TRAP,' Kazuo still turned around and said, "What?"

When he turned back, the pervy man had no doubt already disappeared.

There were no tremendous teary eyed exchanges or even a single second of eye contact. As soon as she saw him heading towards her, she didn't stop and wait for him; Sakura kept on leaping from tree to tree, lips sealed and brows furrowed. She kept on racing through the forest while Kakashi cautiously kept at least a few feet behind her.

It was when she was drenched in sweat and her muscles felt painfully strained did Sakura land on the ground instead of another scarred, russet branch. Kakashi landed a few metres behind her with his shoulders casually slumped and hands dug deep in his pants pockets. His eye was heavily lidded but he patiently stood there and waited for Sakura to say or do something; anything.

He expected her to turn around and scream at him despite the fact that he just saved her. They were alone and she didn't need to pretend anymore. She hated his guts. He knew that. Sakura knew he knew too. It was always there in her eyes, simmering and threatening to morph into something more disgusting and sinister. Naruto and Sai were his shield, but there was nothing stopping her now.

Sakura quickly covered the distance between them and lashed out her hand. It didn't slap across his face though. Instead, it snaked its way around Kakashi's and pulled it against her quivering mouth. Her bangs obscured her face, but Kakashi could see her shaking and feel her vibrating against his hand. Sakura's hands were cold and her lips were chapped against his fingers. Nonetheless, she still clenched onto Kakashi's fingers in a death grip, and left small, crescent shaped imprints into his skin with her fingernails, but he didn't care.

For once in his life, he was at a loss of words. The war made him forget just how much heart Sakura putted into everything, into everyone. He forgot that the hellishly strong woman in front of him wasn't made of rock.

"Sakura."

She held onto his hand tighter.

It was wrong of him and he'd hate himself later, but slowly, he pulled her towards him with his free arm and allowed Sakura to continue crying silently against him. He enjoyed the scent of her hair too much for his own good, but for the moment, it was okay. Besides, they were human. And humans always make mistakes.